SS9


“She’s dead. Jessica is dead.”


Everyone is quiet. You can hear a pin drop. Billy has managed to wrestle the gun away from his girlfriend but he stares at the gun in disbelief of what just happened. It’s Syx who has bent down to check Jessica’s body. He’s checking her pulse. He’s listening for her breath. It’s clear she’s dead without even doing any of that though.


It’s Billy who turns to his girlfriend, “What the fuck did you just do?”


The others are in shock. I think one of the Spanish girls are the first one to breakdown and start crying. Soon after the other Spanish girl and Helen are crying. Syx is just looking down at Jessica. He is breathing heavy. He is holding his ex-girlfriend completely shocked.


“She was lying…Billy. She was fucking lying on me,” Sevyn says. She stands there and she has this strange expression on her face. I’ve seen the expression before on court cases. Sevyn has somehow convinced herself so deeply of her lie that I think she has internalized it. I honestly think Sevyn believes that Jessica had been lying on her.


It was impossible though. Jessica was a good friend of Sevyn. What reason did she have to lie?


Luckily the reaction by everyone seems to be the same.


“You killed her,” Billy is saying.


He’s in shock I think. He repeats it three or four more times. His eyes are buggy. He’s having the biggest reaction but the others aren’t too far away. It’s clear panic is setting in. We were a bunch of teenage kids who just saw someone get murdered in front of our eyes for the very first time. This wasn’t something you just accepted. People looked scared, nervous and confused.

“Jesus Christ,” Richie responds.


“Billy. Baby. She was lying on me. She was going to keep lying on me if I didn’t do something,” she explains, “I didn’t crash that plane.”


Sevyn is lying out of her ass. I’ve seen stuff like this back home on television. I’ve seen court cases where someone was so obviously guilty but they had internalized their crime in a way that made sense to them. Right now she tries to reach out to Billy.


I think she honestly tries to touch him.


“GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!” Billy says jumping back away from her, “You fucking killed Jessica. What the fuck?”


“Why are you screaming at me?” Sevyn says, “Billy. You never scream at me! Why is everyone looking at me like that? STOP! Seriously? You people are going to look at me like that because of Jessica. Jessica was fucking…JEALOUS. She was broke. My Dad had to give her family a fucking loan last year and this is how she repays me? You guys are mad that that fucking lowlife is dead?


Sevyn is raising her voice. It’s weird. It’s a little scary. Everyone is keeping their distance. Billy had his hand on his gun still. He has this look in his eyes. He’s such a handsome guy. Light skin, perfectly clear complexion, thick eyebrows and pink lips. Billy was one of the most handsome guys I’d ever known yet somehow right now he had this ugly look on his face. He was disgusted by her. It was a look that a lot of us shared right now.


I didn’t even have to say anything. Sevyn had dug her own grave on this one.


“Sevyn, how could you?” Syx asks her.


“You turning on me too?” Sevyn asks, “Oh my god. My own flesh and blood. Richie. Really? You not going to respond? Helen. I fucking made my brother invite you on this trip you fucking lame. God. You guys are fucking losers. I don’t believe this. Stoney. Stoney you always liked me right?”


Stoney raises a really concerned eyebrow, “This bitch is crazy.”


Stoney was saying what just about everyone was probably thinking right now.


Sevyn doesn’t give up. Desperately she looks at Billy again. She shakes her head, “Billy. C`mon Billy! STOP looking at me. You did some shit in your life too. YOU FUCKING KISSED Jurnee. You want to talk about that? You were probably going to fuck him, remember? I didn’t judge you. I stayed with you. You love me. You can’t let this break us apart. Stop LOOKING at me like that Billy. This is the Phantom Island. People haven’t found this shit since the 15th Century. It’s not like anyone will ever find out about what I did. There are no rules here. You guys are acting like I’m breaking some law or something…”


Sevyn stops talking. I think she knows she said something strange.


“Did you just call this place the Phantom Island?” I ask.


Sevyn doesn’t answer. She looks at me, “No. What the fuck are you talking about?


Sevyn is a pathological liar. She can’t even lie straight. She just said that we were on the Phantom Island. She says it with a straight face. Her eyes get wide. She’s caught in some shit right now and she knows it.


It’s one of the guys who says, “She knows where we are!”


All of a sudden Sevyn panics. She can’t lie anymore. She just admitted to knowing where the fuck we were. She jets off running past Aaron, knocking him down and attempting to toss herself down the ladder of the tree house! There is panic in her eyes! Pure fucking panic.


“STOP HER!” someone screams.


They catch up to Sevyn on the second floor of the treehouse. She’s cornered. Billy is the one who has her. He has his gun pointed at her. Any love that he had for this girl was gone. It was clear now that she was the one who crashed this plane. She knew where we were. Jessica had admitted it and now she was admitting it out of her own fucking mouth. I can see the anger in everyone eyes.


I’m angry too. I’m so angry that I feel like crying. This bitch killed how many people blowing up that plane? She set this up perfectly having Stoney seduce me for everyone and embarrass me so that she could distract people.


“Where the FUCK are we Bitch!” Billy screams.


Sevyn doesn’t respond. She just shakes her head. She is resistant and almost angry at us for not believing her shit anymore. My eyes are red with pain and anger. So many people have died because of Sevyn and she had no sense of regret. She was still acting like the victim. Everything was done to her. Everything was because of her.


“We should kill her. We should put a bullet in her fucking head right now,” Stoney suggests.


Shouts follow Stoney suggesting. They are shouting in agreement. Sevyn deserves to die. Sevyn deserves to die for doing what she did to us. She deserves to die for the students and pilots who didn’t survive the crash. She deserves to die for killing Jessica.


Billy is listening to everyone. He raises his gun. Ex-girlfriend or not this girl has ruined his life. She has ruined all of our lives.


A part of me wants it. A part of me wants it but then I realize that Syx has joined us. He’s walking down the steps having finally left Jessica.


“Don’t,” I say.


They look at me. All eyes are on me at that moment.


“Are you fucking serious?” Richie asks, “This BITCH took down the plane. We could have all died.”


“None of you were in serious threat. I placed the bombs in the right way,” Sevyn says, “C`mon. It’s me. Sevyn. I’m your friend.”


“KILL HER!” is the response that echoes.


Aaron, Maria, Josephine, Helen, Richie and Josey are all chanting loudly. There is a look of pure murder in their eyes. I look at them and then I look at Syx. He looks like he wants to speak out for his sister but I think he is still in shock. He’s still trying to figure out what just happened. His sister just killed his girlfriend. I don’t feel bad for Sevyn, but looking at Syx I feel bad for him.


“SHUT UP!” Billy screams out at that moment, “Everyone shut up! Jurnee decides what to do with her.”


“Me?” I ask.


I’m shocked that Billy is putting his girlfriend’s fate in my hands. Not only that but Billy face softens up a little bit when he looks at me. He looks tender. He doesn’t look like that bossy, conceited, control freak that I knew from back home. Billy is looking at me for the first time as though he really cared what I said. I wasn’t that unpopular kid back home right now. What I said meant something to him.


I’m not the only one surprised by what Billy is advocating.


“Him?” Richie asks, “Billy he’s a no-body. Why the fuck are you letting HIM decide?”


Billy gives Richie a hard push. He pushes him so hard that he falls on the ground. I’m a little shocked by it and so is Richie. The other boys don’t dare go up against Billy…not even for Richie. They just allow Richie to fall hard on the floor, bust his ass and stare up in confusion at what Billy just did.


“I said Jurnee decides,” Billy announced, “This whole time we fucked with him. We blamed him for shit he had nothing to do with. We allowed Sevyn to victimize Jurnee. So he decides what to do with Sevyn. Period. Anyone got a problem with it.”


No one says anything. Billy has run the show for a very long time now. It’s clear by the way he puts his chest out. It’s clear by the way Richie hasn’t even gotten up off the floor. There is something defiant in Richie’s eyes though. It is a defiance that I’d never noticed before when he spoke to Billy.


Still. He doesn’t say anything.


Billy looks over at me, “Jurnee. I guess we all agree. What should we do with her?”


I am hesitating for a little bit, “Tie her up.”


Stoney gives me a weird look, “Jurnee. She is dangerous.”


“She knows where we are,” I explain, “Maybe if we know where we are we can figure out how to get home. C`mon everyone. We aren’t animals. I know we are stranded on this island but we are still civilized. We can’t just lose ourselves to this island.”


I don’t know how people are really taking what I’m saying. If they disagree none of them are saying it though. I’m sure it’s more because of Billy than me however. None-the-less none of them fight me on it.


Billy nods, “It’s settled. Aaron. Joey, find something to tie her up with. Tie her up really good to the base of the treehouse. We’ll take turns watching her.”


“Him too…” Stoney says.


Stoney points to Syx. We all look at Syx. Syx has been quiet this whole time. He is trying to fly under the radar and I know why. There is an anger in the group that he isn’t trying to push. People aren’t being themselves. We’d just been discussing whether or not to kill someone for god sakes. We’d just seen someone die right in front of our eyes. Still…I notice another thing about Syx. He seems honestly shocked by his sister’s actions. I wonder if anyone else saw how shocked he was.


“I had nothing to do with this,” Syx says.


The reaction makes it clear that people don’t believe him. People who were ass kissers to Syx just 24 hours ago were now turning their back on him. I’m not surprised people turn on Sevyn but the fact that they are so quick to turn on her brother blows my mind.


Stoney joins in on the ruckus that follows, “Bullshit you weren’t involved. Jurnee! JURNEE tell them what we saw that day in the forest. We saw them PLOTTING!”


“I didn’t plot shit with my sister,” Syx says all of a sudden, “Why the fuck are you lying on me?”


“Is it true?” Billy asks me.

Once again they turn to me. I look at Syx. I look at Stoney. I look at the craziness in people’s eyes. Syx was plotting in the forest with his sister. I heard him tell his sister that he was going to try to kill me. I knew that I should have believed what I saw but I just…didn’t. My gut was telling me to trust Syx even though my brain was telling me he was guilty.


Then there was my heart. What did my heart think about this situation?


“No. It wasn’t Syx…” I state.

“Are you fucking KIDDING ME?” Stoney gets mad angrily throwing his hands around.


“It wasn’t him.”


I repeat the words. I know I am pissing my best friend off. I know he’s wondering why I am lying for Syx. Every part of my brain thinks that I’m being stupid…but honestly…honestly I don’t know how to feel about all this. My heart is telling me that Syx is innocent.


And I listen to my heart.


Billy has the last word regarding this, “I believe Jurnee. He hasn’t lied to me so far. I probably trust him more than I trust anyone at this point. So it’s settled. We are going to tie up Sevyn and get some info out of her. No one fuck with her. NO ONE let her go.”


That night we bury Jessica in the forest. We don’t have shovels so we all take time scooping out the dirt with parts of the plane that we’ve been using as tools around the camp. There is a silence that has filled up the area. All of a sudden we realize that we were sabotaged. All of a sudden shit has gotten really crazy.


For the entire night they torture Sevyn. Screams rattle the trees when I hear Billy, Richie and a few others take turns trying to get info from her. I stay away from everyone. I’ve been spending time alone for the most part. I don’t trust my sister ever since she lied for Sevyn. I know Sevyn somehow got in her head but a part of me can’t understand how she could betray me like that. Syx stays far away from everyone as well. I think he doesn’t want to hear his sisters’ scream. He doesn’t talk to me but I think he wants to because he keeps looking my way. I give him some space though. His ex-girlfriend is dead and I know that can’t be easy on him. Stoney has been treating me funny. He is probably mad that I lied for Syx. I don’t care what he feels though. This isn’t about Stoney.


“It’s your turn,” Richie says all of a sudden.


It’s the next day. The sun is going down. I know they want me to talk to Sevyn. I think about refusing but I don’t think Richie is going to give me a pass especially since it was my idea to keep her alive and get information from her. He’s been negative ever since we made the decision. You would think since he was such a good friend to her that he would defend her. I’m noticing these people only really care about themselves though.


I approach the edge of the tree where she is tied to. No one else is around. Sevyn gives me a sharp look as I approach. Her eye is black. Scars are all over her body. It kind of makes me sick to know that they tortured her but I don’t feel bad for her too long. She puts on a smile at that moment as I approach.


“You’re enjoying this aren’t you?” she says at that moment.


“I’m not enjoying anything,” I ask shaking my head, “Tell us where we are and this will stop Sevyn. I promise you. They are listening to me…”


I don’t know about Richie and the others. Hell. I don’t even know about Stoney. I do know that right now Billy is listening to me and he is the most important person to have on my team right now.


“You like that, don’t you?” she laughs, “My brother is on your side. My boyfriend is listening to you. Hell even Stoney who’s had a crush on me all year long has turned his back on me. All the boys who protected me are now protecting you. You must like that. Getting all of that male attention.”


“This isn’t about attention.”


“It’s all about attention.”


“What do you mean by that?” I ask her.


“Daddy’s priorities changed. That letter wasn’t fake,” she explains to me.


She’s ridiculous. She is still thinking that me and my family somehow forced her dad to change his will. I knew my mother. I knew my mother well enough to know that she didn’t marry Mr. Valentine for his money and she would never convince him to push his own kids out of his will for me and my sister.


“If your dad pushed you out of his will, he did it on his own,” I tell her.


“Bullshit.”


I roll my eyes, “Listen. I’m not going to argue with you. I’m not going to torture you. I’m going to reason with you. I don’t know why you blew up that plane. I don’t know why you’d risk your own life for this reason.”


“It’s not just me…” she says.


Strange thing to say.


“Syx?” I ask, “Are you doing this for Syx too?”


Sevyn looks away. She doesn’t answer my question. Who was she doing this for if it wasn’t just for her? What was she trying to achieve by stranding us on this fucking island like this?”


I realize I’m not going to get an answer.


I continue talking. This time I’m quick, “If you’re doing this for Syx as well then please for his sake let us know where we are at least. Do you want him to spend the rest of his life on this fucking island Sevyn? Is that what you want for your brother?”


She is silent again. This bitch isn’t going to tell me anything. It’s clear. I shake my head. I can’t believe her. She is such a fucking bitch. It’s so obvious that she is a little crazy as well. She really didn’t care about her life when she blew up that plane but did she care about Syx? Syx was on that plane as well. So if this wasn’t just for her or Syx then who was she doing all of this for?


I’m walking out when she stops me.


“Wait. I’ll tell you where we are.”


“For real.”


“Yeah come here. Closer. Come here…I’ll whisper it to you. Lean in…”


I lean in and Sevyn delivers a wad of SPIT right in my eye! I swear to god I want to slap the fuck out of her right now but the girl is already bruised and battered. I’m not going to let her get under my skin right now. As she laughs I just walk away. She is losing it.


Instead of arguing. I wipe the spit, get up and let her know in a cold, dark way, “I’ll make sure to take care of all the men in your life for you.”


The laugh fades from Sevyn.


“You’re DEAD!” she’s screaming at the top of her lungs, “YOU HEAR ME! YOU’RE FUCKING DEAD!”


I ignore her and walk away. I make my way to the stream. I can hear massive screaming in the distance as Sevyn is still trying to get my attention. A couple of others are sitting around camp. I wonder if they think I tortured her or something. A few eyebrows raise especially when I walk over to the stream but no one says anything. I walk right past my sister. I swear I hear Jolie grunt a little bit. She hasn’t spoken since she lied for Sevyn. Now she is just drawing the Infinity symbol in the dirt again. She draws the infinity symbol over and over and over. It’s the weirdest fucking thing.


I roll my eyes at Jolie and make my way to the water. I’m not there alone. Stoney is in the water and he wades over to me. I notice that Stoney doesn’t have clothes on when he gets close. A lot of the others are doing the same thing lately. The girls walk around with no top on. The guys bathe naked even though they can be seen from the treehouse.


People are shedding their clothes with the tropical weather and becoming a lot barer.


“Did you get anything from her?” Stoney asks me.


“No. She’s not giving in.”


“Figured she was giving in. Did you see the black eye I gave her?” Stoney asks me.


He says it as though trying to prove something. It’s the weirdest thing. I give my best friend a weird look at that moment. He has a smile on his face. I’m annoyed by everyone lately. Jessica just died, we should still be mourning, not celebrating torture.


“You proud of that?”


“Hell yeah I am,” he says, “That bitch deserves what comes to her. People are pissed Jurnee. People want her dead. And you know what…they want Syx dead too.”


I give Stoney a hard look, “There is no proof Syx helped her bring down the plane Stoney.”


“Are you joking me? He wanted to kill you. Why are you protecting him? You must have been kissing on him too when I’m not around,” Stoney says.


I give Stoney a weird look. I’ve never seen Stoney really get like this. He is being defensive as fuck right now for no good reason.


“Is there a problem?”


“You kissed Billy. Don’t think I didn’t hear that.”


I laugh, “Wait. Are you jealous?”


I can’t help but smile at Billy. I could have sworn Stoney was straight. Isn’t that what he would like me to believe. He was straight. The time we had together was just because he was horny and he wanted to make me feel good. So why the hell was he acting like this now.


Stoney seems annoyed that I’m enjoying this, “Don’t be dumb. I’m not jealous. I’m straight. Do what you want. Kiss Billy. Kiss Syx. I don’t care. I’m just saying that people have been talking. They want Syx tied up right next to his sister.”


“Richie…” I roll my eyes.


“Yeah. And honestly I don’t blame him,” Stoney responds, “Syx isn’t going to be trusted.”


“Well Richie is scared of Billy. He won’t do anything.”


“How long do you think that will last,” Stoney asks me, “People are still pretty shocked about Jessica but how long will that last? At the campfire I heard Josephine bring up your kiss with Billy. Richie’s going to run with it. You know that. These people are homophobes. You saw that before the plane crash. Billy is clearly getting soft on you. How long is Billy going to protect you once they turn on him?”

“They won’t…” I say.

Truthfully I don’t know if they will or if they won’t.

A few days pass. The rains are starting. I think it’s the rainy season because it’s non-stop rain. Everyone is cold and drenched. Luckily we have the tree house to stop from getting wet a little bit but it doesn’t protect us from the cold. It’s the third night when it gets really bad. Everyone has cuddled up from the storm. No one is talking. We take turns watching Sevyn who has been referred to only as “The Bitch” for the last few days.


Billy is standing over me in no time. He looks over at me, “Hey. Come over here. My blanket is a little drier than yours. We can share.”


This isn’t the first nice thing he’s done for me in the last few days. He gave me his leftovers when the boys went to get fish. He let me wear his socks. He doesn’t really have much conversation with me but he’s been really sweet.


“I’m OK. I’m on duty to go watch Sevyn…”


“I made Josephine do it,” he says.


“Why?”


“Because you been working hard on collecting water the last few days,” Billy says and smiles, “I felt like you needed the rest.”


The majority of people are asleep but there is one person who is up. Richie is up. He’s cuddled up between Maria and Helen. They are all sharing a blanket. Richie’s eyes are watching Billy and me in the darkness. I know he is watching us. He looks suspicious as hell. Billy probably notices too but I don’t think he gives a fuck especially when he raises his arm as though telling me to come closer to him.


I don’t want special treatment but my blanket is soaked. My hands are fucking raisins. I’m freezing. I’ve never been so uncomfortable in my life. The rain won’t let up and I’m in hell right now. Maybe I did need to cuddle up next to someone.

So I go next to Billy.

Right when I am about to sit I get a touch on the shoulder. The person who is trying to get my attention is Syx.

“Can I talk to you?”


“Are you OK?” I ask him.


Syx’s eyes are red. I think he’s been crying. He’s been even more distant from the group than I have. I don’t think it’s by choice either. They have been treating him weird. They have been avoiding him like the fucking plague. I don’t think Syx is used to that. He’s always been the popular kid. Things were changing relatively quickly on this island.


“Can I talk to you? Please.”


“Sure…”


“Alone.”


Syx looks over at Billy when he says that. Billy sighs a little bit. He’s not saying anything to Syx but I don’t think he really cares for Syx right now either. I wonder if Billy is just being a little more patient with Syx because of me.


I nod however and leave with Syx. On our way out we see Josephine. She stares over at me at that moment.


“Where are you two going?” she asks.


She is especially looking at Syx. She doesn’t trust him. The look in her eyes says it all. Josephine is watching Sevyn who has fallen asleep by now.


“Mind your business,” I tell her.


She rolls her eyes at me but doesn’t argue. Her suspicious eyes stare at Syx the entire time until we are out of view.


We head out underneath the waterfalls which has a little bit of a cavern. It is away from the others. My heart is beating when I get to the caverns. It’s pitch black and the waterfall is covering the exit to the cavern. If I were to scream here no one would hear me. My heart is beating. Why the fuck did I agree to come here? Why the fuck was I standing here with Syx of all people?


“I never been in here,” I admit to him.


It’s so dark. I swear I hear a bat in the distance. I stay around the entrance. I don’t know how deep this thing goes and I don’t want to find out. The moon is reflecting on the water near the entrance and I stay close to there because I feel like I can see a little bit.


Syx reaches out and grabs me all of a sudden. I jump and scream.


“Whoa calm down,” he tells me, “We are both soaking wet. I was just getting close to keep us both warm. That’s all. I promise.”


He’s right. We are both soaking wet. Syx has on a white shirt and it sticks to body like a second skin. It’s so sexy. I’m seeing all nipples. His blond dreadlocks are wet as well. They fall down his back. His new growth on the top of his hair looks frizzy a little bit but it’s kind of endearing. Syx’s lips are so intensely pink and he has a little bit of blush in his cheeks. When I look at this guy I don’t feel fear really. I think SEX. I mean he’s sexy as fuck.


“I’m sorry,” I tell him realizing I’m jumpy.


“You’re scared of me,” he says. It’s not a question. It’s an observation. Before I can respond Syx leans in, puts his arm around me, “Why?”


“I did hear you plotting in the forest with your sister Syx. I lied for you Syx. I didn’t want you to get in trouble but I know what I heard. And I want you to tell me what’s going on.”


“I was not in that forest. I swear.”


“Syx…”


“Jurnee. I don’t know what’s going on but I swear to God. It wasn’t me. I would never hurt you or play you. You’re the only one who stuck up for me. Those people want to kill me. You think I don’t know that? You think I would lie to the one person on my side?”


There is something about Syx that I want to believe. I heard what I heard in that forest. I heard him tell his sister he was going to kill me. Still I wanted to believe him. The way he is dripping wet at that moment is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. He’s looking at me with these innocent fucking eyes. I should be aware that his sister pulled off the innocent look well too. Still, I believe him. He could have brought me into this cave to kill me now and I’d still believe him.


“What do you know?”


“What do you mean?”


“Everything. I want to know everything you know.”


Syx grabs my face. He lifts my face up at that moment. It is intense how he does it. His finger is under my chin. It stays there leveling our eyes together. Our lips are just a few inches apart. My dick is getting hard from being this close to him. He’s so gentle. I couldn’t imagine these hands ever hurting me. The way he gently rests his hands there is making the rain and the cold seem bearable. I am in hell but I feel like I’m in heaven because of his touch.


“Look at me. I promise you I didn’t know about the bomb,” he states, “I didn’t know Jessica played a part. Look in my eyes. Please tell me you believe me.”


“I believe you.”


“Thank God. Listen. I do know something…I know that my sister planned the trip to Bermuda. It was her idea, not mine. I just invited people. It was her idea to invite you as well but I don’t think she wanted Jolie to come, because she fucked with her hair. Remember?”


Interesting. She wanted just me to come? Why?


“What do you think she wants?”


“I honestly don’t know. If I had to guess, I’d say she panicked when she found out about the will. I promise you I didn’t know about the will either, but before she planned the trip she became obsessed with the idea that you and your sister were trying to steal the family fortune. I think this is all about money. I think…she wanted you on this island. I don’t know why. I think this is all about you…”


Shit.


It scared me at that moment.


I stare deep into Syx’s eyes. I don’t think he’s lying. His eyes are so big. So bold. He’s holding my chin up. Every few seconds I look over at him. I know he was my stepbrother. I know that he was “Straight” or whatever the case was. I just couldn’t help but to keep looking at those lips of his.


“I believe you.”


“Really?”


“I’ll believe you…anything you say,” I tell him.


I sound stupid. I sound dumb. I don’t care. If he was lying to me he had to be the most beautiful liar in the world. If lying is what it took to get Syx Valentine this close to me then he could lie to me any day. He’s only a few inches away from me when he licks his lips.


“I didn’t want you to just trust me blindly. I wanted to pull you aside. Just you. I wanted to explain everything. I feel like me and you have this bond. I know it sounds dumb. I probably shouldn’t just assume you are on my side and that I can trust you with everything but for some reason I’m not trusting my head. I’m trusting my heart.”


The way he says that is the same way I felt earlier. It’s the sexiest thing anyone really ever said to me. The way he says it as well is so sexy. He’s inches away from my face. He licks his lips and I swear by accident he licks my lips.


I touch where he licked me by accident, “Dam…”


“Sorry I didn’t mean to do that…” he says stepping back, “I shouldn’t have been so close to you. Let me get it.”


He tries to brush his spit off my lip. It just becomes an awkward situation when he does. I want to laugh but I can’t. I’m too turned on to laugh.


“It’s OK,” I tell him.


“No. I just get nervous around you. It’s been like that even before we came to this fucking island. Ugh. Can’t believe I just did that. That’s embarrassing.”


Syx was on edge a little bit. I grab his hands, “Syx. It’s OK.”


I don’t know what makes me put his hands around my waist. I rest his hands on my butt. I do it on purpose. I know I’m taking a risk but then I realize Syx doesn’t remove his hands. We are both breathing heavy. This whole time I think we both assumed that the other one was being anti-social. Right now though it felt right how Syx was doing this.


Syx breathes heavy, “I’m going to kiss you…finally.”


Finally. The way he adds that word lets me know that this was long overdue. He’s been wanting to kiss me for a long time. I’ve been wanting to kiss him for a long time back. Now was the perfect moment. Now was the perfect time.


His tongue enters my mouth. He starts small with a gentle nibble on the lips. It’s like all this anticipation that has been building was finally here. He incorporates a long, firm squeeze of my ass. He teases me with the tip of his tongue. He runs his tongue along my bottom lip and then traces my upper lip. Our tongues slowly connect and we quickly find a rhythm. He tugs at my bottom lip and pulls it towards him before letting go.


The kiss lasts so long. It gets heavy as he leans me up against the wall of the cave. He presses a hard dick up against me in the cave. The hard dick rubs against my inner thigh causing this sexy friction through our wet clothes.


He takes off his shirt.


“I waited so long for this,” I admit.


“I did too but before we do this I have to admit something.”


“Admit it later,” I tell him.


I grab unbuckle his pants. I grab a hold of his dick. He lets out a moan. He kisses me deeply. This time it’s not slow and sensuous. This time is aggressive. His tongue is licking in my mouth. There is a heavy exchange of spit. He is groping every part of my body from my ass to my dick to the side of my face. It’s getting so heavy when I pull his dick out.


Syx takes a deep breath struggling to maintain himself, “Wait. I need to admit it. This is important. I don’t want to lie to you. There is one more thing that you need to know. I think I know…where we are. I think I know where my sister brought us.”


“What?”


“This place is…” he stops at that moment, “It is…it is…oh shit. Jurnee. Oh shit. Do you smell that?”


“Don’t change the subject.”


“SERIOUSLY. DO you smell that!”


I take a deep breath.


Fire!


We run out at that moment. The panic sets in. By the time we get out of the cave we see what happened. The FUCKING TREEHOUSE is on fire. I hear screams as I see the others running out of the treehouse. My heart is racing at that moment. How the fuck could this have happened? How the fuck could the entire treehouse have caught on fire so quickly?


“Is everyone safe?” I ask, “IS EVERYONE SAFE?”


I run up to Billy. He had his hands on his legs. He’s breathing heavy. He’s panicking. I start seeing the majority of everyone else outside of the treehouse. They are gathered around in shock. It’s just our luck that the rain was finally letting up now that we needed it the most.


The treehouse was burning down.


Some people are crying. The majority of people are confused but then there are others who are mad. It’s Richie who crosses over and punches Syx straight in his face.


“It was him! It was fucking him!”


Richie starts punching Syx harder and harder. Syx fights back grabbing Richie and throwing him to the ground. He gets on top of Richie and starts wailing on him! Syx is beating Richie’s fucking ass. Unfortunately, it doesn’t last long though. I watch as Aaron and Joey jump in. Aaron knees Syx right in the fucking face to get him off of Richie. As soon as Syx gets down both Aaron and Joey start kicking Syx. They start stomping on him.


I jump in. I tackle Aaron to the ground. Before I can even punch him Stoney comes from behind and pulls me off.


“This isn’t your fight!” Stoney tells me.


Is he joking? I am so annoyed but luckily Billy is already calming it down before the boys continue to jump Syx.


“Everyone calm down!” Billy said.


“He snuck out of the treehouse. He burnt the treehouse down. He released his sister!”


Fuck.


“Sevyn is gone?” I ask.


“She escaped,” Richie explains to me shaking his head, “Who else would have let her go? Who else would have wanted Sevyn to be released? We all could have DIED in that fucking fire if I hadn’t woken up to go pee.”


I understand why Richie is mad but I have a feeling that if Billy wasn’t here, he would have gotten his friends to KILL Syx.


“He was with me!” I stated, “The entire time. He didn’t release Sevyn. He didn’t burn down the treehouse.”


A scream pierces the night. We all turn and run over to see that it is Maria screaming. She is crying and Helen is holding her. I hadn’t even noticed that all the girls were gone while the boys were fighting. Maria is in Helen’s hands and she’s still crying something desperate.


It takes us a second to notice why.


“Oh my god…someone crushed Josephine’s skull,” Stoney announces.


He’s right. Josephine is at the base of the tree where Sevyn was tied up. Sevyn is long gone and Josephine is dead! Someone killed Josephine. Someone released Sevyn.


Something isn’t right.


That’s when I come to a realization. Sevyn isn’t the only one missing. Someone else is missing from the group as well.


I look around, “Where is my sister?”



To read the next chapter in advance go to www.crushedcrown.com