Young Writers Society

Nailah | The Fort

I was amused, and outraged at the same time. She fell for that?!
Seth was sobbing (fairly realisticly, but it didn't fool me) into Domi's shoulder, whimpering and whining patheticly.
My mouth was awide in amazement at this womans stupidity and gullibleness.

Domi patted him awkwardly, but with an obvious look of caring in her eyes.
Seth let out another dramatic sob of apparent sorrow, and she wrapped her arms around him, trying to console.
Ugh. Seth already had her wrapped around his little finger- a second ago she'd been flinching away from him.

I tried to convince myself that this amused me- So what? She may be pretty, but she is no where near as clever or as sharp as me.
Domi was held back by her emotions; I bet she had been used all her life, just like Seth was using her now.
I was bright enough to know that feelings get in your way, and into bad situations.
In fact, Seth was probably just trying to make me jealous. Well, sorry Seth, I don't fall for petty ploys like that.

I told myself this, but I knew I was just jealous. Jealous that he had her attention at this moment.
Not that it would last.
I know boys like Seth; once he's had his fun and got the girls trust, he'll get bored, and turn to the next one obtuse enough to fall for him. Classic.
He'll be back for me.

I was tired of watching Seth snuggle into the foolish girl.
Tired of him playing 'the lost soul.'
Tired of him giving his attention to Domi.

Well, two can play at that game.

Seth Working a angle.

It had worked! Go figure, acting weak and pathetic actually worked. Seth filed it away for future use as he held onto Dom. He had his face buried in hair as he was taller then her. She rubbed his back reassuringly sending chills down his spine, half out of the contact and half out of the thrill of the conquest. Her body was soft and warm and he would compare it to a baby kangaroo nestles in its mothers pouch. So comfortable that he almost did not want to let it go. The idea that he was comforted by this surprised him for just a moment as an old memory surfaced. He had not simply hugged a girl in a long time.

The last time was with Tory. It was only a few days after he had first met her and she had come over to their house to study with him. He opened the door to be awarded with a hug that sent a warm feeling coursing through his body like a drug. It had been so dizzyingly comfortable that simple hug. He hugged her several times after with similar effects. Since her, he had avoided the practice believing it was too familiar of an action, too comfortable. He pulled away from her slightly, but remembered his goal and remained in her arms. He thought about breaking the hug by ensnaring her in a more intimate embrace, but knew this wouldn’t work so he let his arms dangle in feigned defeat. He focused on his goal and his goal alone, pushing out the comfortable warmness that came from her arms around him.

He took a few glances over his shoulder and Nailah while he sobbed into Dom’s hair which had a pleasant woodsy smell. He had expected the locals to smell like dung heaps. To be honest smell was the last sense he ever considered while with a girl. In fact he hated all those flowery perfumes back home that most of the girls seemed to bathe in.
First Seth prized a girls looks. This was a must and he would not even consider a girl if she did not at least have a pleasing face.


His second ranked sense was tase. The taste of sun kissed skin could not be matched, then it was the way they felt to the touch. He was not having bony thighs or rough skin anywhere near him.

Then he valued smell. He preferred girls to have their natural sent with a small hint of a fruity smell; nothing as mundane as apples, or oranges. He remembered one girl he met had hair that smelled like ripe pairs. It was nice and comforted him, but it was unnecessary bonus. If the girl smelled like rotten eggs he’d simply breathe though his mouth, if the other categories above were adequately represented. Lastly was sound, if the girl had an annoying voice he’d just block them out. It was simple to ignore what girls were saying as they rarely said anything worthy of note. Dom was ranking high in all of these categories at the moment.

Seth glanced at Nailah from time to time. Maybe he had set down the ground work for breaking both girls. She looked uninterested, but he could see a small glimmer of jealousy. As he suspected she was the type that preferred attention on them. By shifting his focus he had become more desirable to her.


He refrained from smiling as it would give away his act. He pulled away from her taking in one last sniff of her apple spice scent. He let his lips graze the top of her hair as he pulled back so lightley there was no way she would have felt it and even if she did she would think nothing of it since his face had been in her hair in the first place. He wiped the tears from his face with the back of his hand.

“I’m okay now,” he said shakily.

“Whatever you do, just don’t lose
hope.”

“Okay,” he said finally clearing away all the tears from his face. “So I can sleep out here on the floor if you don’t have the room,” Seth said glumly all the time smiling on the inside.

Domi

I pulled away and bit my lip. Sleeping on the ground wasn't exactly a good idea, any of us originals could tell you that. I looked up to the boy and resisted the urge to wipe away his tears. Seeing someone cry was almost to much to bare.
"I'll talk to Tarrion... just, just hold on."

I glanced back at the broken boy once or twice. I wondered what his story was... everyone here had a story. He had told me about his mother dying... that must have been horrible for him. Losing his mother. I knew what it was like to lose someone that close to you.

I spotted Tarrion. He looked, distressed. To say the least, and Mai was walking back towards her hut upset looking as well. My brow furrowed and I rushed over to Tarrion.

"What's wrong with Mai?" I asked, hopping next to him and wrapping my fingers in his. I hoped that would calm him down at least a bit.

"We'll talk about it later. What's wrong, Domi?" he asked, wrapping an arm around me. I let the side of my head lean into him, relaxing me considerably.

"We need to find the new comers a place to sleep, we can't just let them all sleep on the ground. Seth just started crying because he's so miserable here."

Tarrion | The Fort With Domi

Seth. My muscles tensed up and my arm tightened around Domi. "He was crying?" There was something about this that I found completely unbelievable. The little snake...

"Yes. He really hates it here, Tarr."

I looked down at Domi, not bothering to hide my frown. I had other things to deal with right now, my top priorities being making sure Mai didn't get herself kidnapped and helping Ryder get better. Seth messing around with Dominique was not something I wanted to take care of.

"They can sleep in the kitchen," I muttered bitterly. I'd keep him as far away from Dominique as possible if I could help it. And, this was my camp-- or, I'd say that it was for now-- so I could help it.

Domi blinked at me, returning my frown. "Okay... we'll have to get them something better soon, though."

I nodded, still frowning. There was a bit of an awkward silence that followed, where my mind just so happened to wander back to Maiara and her little situation. Should I tell Domi? She might be able to help, after all... but if it slipped, and somebody else heard, or she accidentally let it slip... I shook the thoughts off before I started to panic again.

"We should... probably go get Sophie from Mai and Duncan," I muttered absently. My frown widened. "By the way... Seth didn't happen to mention Sophie, did he?"

"Yes, he told he about his mother. He loves children!" She answered so brightly...

I gritted my teeth, wondering how long it would take for steam to start coming out of my ears. "He does not love children..." I trailed off to take a deep breath. "I should go sock him right now-- again."

Domi

I froze, staring up at Tarrion. Both confused and worried. His grip hadn't exactly let up, he was tense. A tense Tarrion was an angry Tarrion.
"A-Again? Tarrion, what's wrong?" I asked, a hint of concern strengthened my voice.

He let out a long huff of air and looked back down to me. Was there something about Seth that had went right over my head? I licked my lips nervously and peeled my eyes out of his as I laid my head back on his chest. His steady heartbeat relaxed me.

"It's nothing. I'm going to punch him out now."

I snapped my head up and wrapped my two slender arms around his larger one, "You know you can tell me anything," I whispered up to him. His expression softened and his hand tangled into my hair. I sighed and smiled weakly up at him.
"He... He called Bubbles ugly and you... forget it."

I tensed.

"He called my baby ugly?" My voice cracked audibly and I felt tears welling up in my eyes. Tarrion looked away and pressed my head into my chest as his fingers ran through my hair.

"That's why I'm going to kill him. Well, half the reason,'' he mumbled before kissing the top of my head. I breathed slowly and forced myself to relax.

"You have fun with that, I'm going to get my beautiful baby girl."

I spun out of his arms and started walking towards Mai's and Duncan's hut. I swore I heard him mutter 'gun.' Right now I didn't care, I wanted my baby.

Seth~ Phase two

A brief memory flashed in Seth’s head when Dominique left. He was sixteen, at this point he had smothered his previous weaknesses that had gotten him hurt in the first place. It had been a whole year since he had last seen Tory and he decided to go to her house to talk to her. He shook off the thought, not allowing the memory to fully form. He had bigger things to worry about anyway.

Tar was coming towards Seth with his ape like face contorted in apparent anger. Seth sighed. He had of course dealt with jealous boyfriends, ones much bigger then Tar, but still his expression scared Seth a bit. His mind whirled for an out as he played through several scenarios. It hit him like a lighting bolt. He looked over at Nailah, whose face had turned form irritation to an emotion he could not discern as she watched Tar approach. In those few seconds a plan formulated in his mind. He fought back a smile as he let his genuine fear for his safety surface.

He held up his hands defensively. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, before you smash my face in or something I must tell you something to put my unkind words into perspective. “

Tar did not look convinced punched Seth in the face. Seth could taste his own blood as he hit the ground. A thin stream of blood fell from his nose into his mouth. He wiped it away with the back of his hand.

“I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry,” he said prodding his lip. “You see everything I told your wife was true. My mother did die and she prized children above all. Of course my father did not see me or my siblings as miracles,” Seth let bitterness seep into his voice. “He saw us as reminders of his lost love and I most of all was the reason for her death. He treated us like scum, lower then that even. I will not go into details, but when we finally got away from him I was so happy. I was happy. We were happy. We bought an apartment and lived together away from our father. We were… we were finally happy after years of abuse and ridicule. Now I find myself taken away from that life, away from my brother and sister, and stuck in this dung heap. Excuse me if I’m a little cranky. I’m hungry, I’m tired, and I want to freaking go home. I apologize for my rudeness, but that child only reminds me of how I was never wanted by anyone, but my mother, who I killed. Your daughter is adorable. I’m truly sorry I said otherwise. It’s just… hard….” Seth stared off into the distance. “As for your wife. I can see that you love her and I will say nothing ill of her again.”
Seth could see processing all this.

Even if he believed Seth he doubted that Tar would ever trust or like him. He directed his next statement at the whole group of newbie’s. “You all will be sleeping in the kitchen. It is the only place for you at the moment. He turned back to Seth. “Stay away from my family or I’ll give you more then just a punch.”

“Of course,” Seth said nodding earnestly.

Tar turned his back mumbling as he walked off. Seth rolled his eyes. These people were far too high-strung.

“Nailah?” he said still watching Tar’s retreating form.

What?

“Do you believe in love?”

“What?”

“Love,” he said exasperated. “You know, the four letter word that indicates affection.”

“I see no use for it. Why?

“I’ve never seen a point in it either. Unfortunately its existence can not be debated. Those two love each other I have little doubt. In honesty I have not dealt with such a situation. Seducing someone in love is possible, but it is time-consuming and if I press too far, Tar will likely kill me. So I must take a less direct approach. For that I’ll need your help"

“Why should I help you?”

“Dom is pretty would you not agree?”

“I suppose.”

“But you are prettier of course. Don’t you want to prove that by taking Tar from her?”

She narrowed her eyes.

“You see love, as much as a hate it does exist. If you and I are going to have a chance at them we must crush their love.”

Nailah raised an eyebrow. “And how to you propose we do that?”

“Simple. I can not seduce Dom without risking a beating, but you can seduce Tar. You see the foundation to any relationship is trust. If we undermine their trust the rest of their relationship will fall apart. Tar will never trust me, but as long as I keep acting nice, sweet, and broken, he can’t lay a finger on me. I can get closer to Dom and all the time Tar will get more and more frustrated. You saw her back there, she has a kind heart. With the proper sentiments she’ll feel sorry for me and forgive me for my previous transgression which I’m sure Tar told her about by now. As far as Dom will be concerned and everyone else in this camp, I’m going to be a scared, hurt young boy. If Tar raises a hand against me he will look like the monster.”

“You sound sure of yourself.”

“I grew up in a family of manipulators. I was literally born to mess with people. So of course I’m sure of myself. By the time we’re done, you’ll have Tar in the palm of your hand and I’ll have Dom in mine. It’s a win, win and maybe on the side we can win together from time to time.”

“I’m not saying I’m agreeing, but what exactly would I have to do.”

“What I suspect you do best. Your job will to be to get closer to Tar. If we can get him in a compromising position and I can be the one to show her. Her trust in me will grow and her trust in him will fall.”

“What exactly is the purpose in all this?”

“Look around Nailah, we are going to be here awhile. We might as make the best of it. These people have made themselves a comfy little home. Cute and quaint I suppose, but I find it boring. You’re a strong girl I can tell. The two of us together could turn these people’s perfect little paradise upside down.”

Seth smiled. "Now I have to go apolgize to Dom. More then likely Tar will have told her about my previous statements about their child. If this is going to work I must clear the air of such bad energy."

"What are you going to tell her?"

"How children are a reminder of my abusive childhood and when I first saw it all those horrible memories came flooding back."

"And she is going to buy that BS?"

"It's not total BS," Seth said not wishing to elaborate. "Anyway, what do you say, partners?" He extended his hand towards Nailah.

GEMMA - medic tent

"Gemma..." croaked Ryder, "I'm sorry." The look in his eyes brought tears to my eyes once again. In the past 24 I had lost touch with myself, gone was the strong girl who never cried. In her place was a scared girl who couldn't go five minutes without bursting into tears. The thought made the tears fall faster.

I leaned in and wrapped my arms around Ryders neck, praying I wasn't hurting him. "Please don't ever say that again. This is not your fault, not one bit. Try and blame yourself one more time and you will have to face my wrath." I said, forcing a laugh.

Ryders hands grabbed my infected one, keeping careful not to rub the rash too much. "It may not be directly my fault, but I would always feel guilty if anything ever happened to you. I'd rather face your wrath, at least it will eventually fade. My guilt would be forever."

"You don't need to worry, okay? We will both be just fine. I promise you." I said. But would we be? There was still the small voice in the back of my head that said I was only giving false hope.

~Annie May~

I was half aware of Tiaan carrying me back to camp, I was half aware of everyone running around like mad, taking care of everything, ignoring the fact that I was in Tiaan's arms. This was comforting, in an awkward way. I didn't want to be noticed, I didn't want them to care. I half wanted Tiaan to take me back to where she had found me and let me sleep. I half wanted to tell her to lay down with me, to fall asleep next to me.

But the other half of me wanted everyone to disagree with me being happy with her. The other half of me wanted to world to tell me it was wrong, just so I could rebel. Because that was what I was--what we all were. Rebels. We refused to die, to let this island take us, to let the beasts kill us. We refused to give up on hope that we could be normal.

Deep inside my head, I was thinking--uncontiously--about how much I needed Tiaan, and how much I knew I had to let Kyle go. He was gone, forever, and there was nothing I could do about it. Tiaan was all I wanted now, and she was perfect--even if she didn't see it--in her own way. She was beautiful, and, from what I've seen, the sweetest person in the camp. She was a fighter, we all were. Stubborn. But she was perfect to me.

I had to let go of Kyle, that was first priority at the moment.

There, a post. Sorry it's not great, but I posted. So, I'm staying in, yes... I'm trying my hardest... sorry no Damon, Ishy! No time!

Nailah| Seth's Proposition

"Anyway, what do you say, partners?" Seth said, holding his hand out to me.
Seth, I had to admit, was my sort of person.
We were beautiful, sly, and had the same intentions; we would have been great business partners.

I was suspicious- sure that there was a hidden purpose in this whole plan.
However, I am always suspicious.

"Sure, I'll play along with your game. I had my eye on Tarrion anyway." Although I knew this sounded like a attempt to play with Seths ego, it was also true.
With my keen eye, I had already caught on to the fact that Tarrion was the leader, the chief of this primeval camp. If I gained his trust and affection, the others would follow suit.

To play effectively in the game of jealousy, trust and lust, you have to have a plan and a subject.
Our plan was simple enough; messing with these people wouldn't be hard. Seth and I would slowly pull the couple apart with our charm and irresistable features: simple.

My subject was Tarrion, and he was going to be touch cookie to crack- I could see he was deeply in 'love' with Domi.
That just made me more determined.

Tousling my hair and applying some quick clear lip gloss, I winked at Seth, and pranced off to the storming man.
I was going to go for the innocent, infatuated young girl, not the sexy seductress. I had come to this conclusion by looking at his partner, Domi, a cute, wide-eyed type of girl.
However, I may pull out my provocative side later.
He was angry, I found this on of the best times to strike. The male brain is flustered and confused by the fiery rage, therefore their inhibitions are too.
His right hand was balled into a fist, and was grinding against the palm of his left.

As I came up behind Tarrion, I placed my hand gently on his forearm. His muscles were tense and lean.
Tarrion looked down at me, a slight frown on his face.
I widened my eyes, and shuffled around.
I smiled up at him, using my dimples to their best ability.

"You know, violence doesn't get you anywhere." I told him, in a sweet, trying-to-be-helpful voice, "Not that you dont know what your doing..." Cue big, smitten smile.

Immediately, his eyes softened and he ducked his head, ashamed that he had 'set a bad example' for this young, charmed girl.

"I'm sorry..." he started, but I interupted.

"Don't apologise! I heard what he said about your beautiful baby!" I faked disgust, glancing at Seth with my mouth sneering.

"No, dont apologise. I just think... I dont like seeing anyone being hurt." I sayid looking at the ground.
I could almost hear his train of throught.

Doesn't like violence + shy = Abused?

Tarrion put his hand on my shoulder.

"I won't hurt him again." He smiled at me. I smiled back up at him, letting my eyelashes flutter.

Tarrion walked away, leaving his hand on my shoulder, then sliding it off.

I smiled. Phase one complete.

Tiaan: So It Begins

Just as Tiaan lowered Annie and went to follow the others. She felt herself being grabbed, swinging round she saw Annie her face resolute, "I've enough space in my quarters." Tarrion rolled his eyes before walking off muttering, "Anything to get people off my case."

Sensing unease Tiaan replied, "What does this mean Annie?"

Looking at her feet she said nothing. Meanwhile Tiaan knew really why Annie had chosen this, but didn't mean she felt like she was betraying Samatha. It felt like that in the kiss, during time she helped her and now they were going to be sharing quarters. This was moving too fast and even though she was flirty Tiaan still felt they should slow down. But then Annie had kissed her back, it felt different, it felt holy almost. She was no believer, but this seemed to be sign. A chance to finally find happiness forever. But was it worth the cost? Samantha what was she going to do about this?

As Annie pulled her into her room Tiaan shied and tried to come up with an explanation. Soon all worries vanished as her lips were stuck by her female friend. This was nerve racking, but before she could pull away she felt her head give in and her heart cry out. Dizziness hit her and electricity flowed through them, the kiss itself feeling dangerous but tempting. Annie was a good kisser and this was hot.

Finally their lips broke and before she could say anything Annie spoke, "I heard you on the beach. I'm ready."

"For what?"

She smiled, "To join the madness."

"Oh..."

Tiaan felt her cheeks burn up and being unable to think she simply said, "...okay..."

[I am so utterly lost. This is just to get me back in the system. Yes, I'm alive, shocker.]

Micah | The Fort, Wandering, Alone

Everything was happening... a bit fast. I don't know how, but I'd drifted after what looked like the most promising person to follow, and had ended up here, in something that resembled a fort (Father never failed to recite the story of his contributing to a battle in his hometown long ago, which very much involved a fort). Whoever it was that I had trailed behind was gone.

Why was I always finding myself in this position? Alone with not much more than a notebook and the occasional accusing stare to keep my company? And I was getting those. Now and again someone would walk by and then look away, as if they had some pressing matter to tend to, which they did. I almost wanted someone to put me to work so I wouldn't have to be this... awkwardly alone.

I started sketching out the buildings around me. I was noting too; if my pen ever lifted from the page, I'd find something to record or estimate, and there would be a patch of streaky words covering a corner or a doorway, little spatters of ink marring the walkways. I was starting to become several things: scared, curious, impatient, disappointed (in myself, who else?) and most of all, hungry.

I wandered into the first doorway I saw. Eyes flickering between the page and the world behind me (would I be able to run back to home, to days spent hiding in tall fields and feeding fires? I wrote it down without a second thought), I parted my lips for the first time in... a while.

"Is there any food I could eat?"

I know you’ll hate it. I'm quite lost. But I've managed to make something work here.




The darkness slowly grew into a faint blue light. It grew brighter and brighter till I could make out what was in front of me: dark gray skies pouring down rain; a deep blue ocean swirling; and a boat – a small boat quaking amidst a stormy sea. In it was Mother, happily waving at me as the waters rage on.

I tried to warn her: “Mother! Do you not see the waves?” But she just stood in the boat, steady, as if the boat was calm itself.

I looked around me, trying to figure out where I was. I was in a helicopter, just like the one who had brought me to the unknown island. Had I escaped? – just to see myself saved, and my mother die? I made my way to the front seat to try to plead to the pilot to save my mother; but no one was piloting the helicopter.

Panicking, I headed back to the door, and looked down at the waters, then at Mother. The boat was carrying her further away from me. Did I dare to jump? Did I dare save her myself? No. I was a coward.

I held my chest as tears flowed down my cheeks. “Mother!” I watched her drift away. She was going to die there. Why couldn’t I do anything? If only I could pilot the helicopter and dive down to get her. If only…

Suddenly, a huge, strong wave splashed over the boat and swept her away alive before my very eyes. I screamed – a long note of agony drowned in the noise of the storm.

Then, lightning flashed before me. It struck the helicopter. Soon, the helicopter itself was spinning down, and plunging into the waters. I tried gripping onto something, but I couldn’t grasp on anything. Water entered my nostrils. I kicked. But I just couldn’t swim. Death was my destiny…

I opened my eyes. Light flooded my vision and I had to squint before looking around me.

“Are you okay?” a soft female voice uttered.

The waves, the boat, the helicopter, Mother. Had it been all a dream? It took awhile for my vision to focus. I was in a hut. In a corner a man sat on the ground, eyes closed, head bowed, arms crossed – snoozing.

“Jackson?” I softly uttered.

“Are you okay?” the voice repeated. I turned my head to the right and saw Naz. “I’m sorry for pouring water on you. But you had to wake up.”

I took a deep breath, and looked down on my shirt; it was soaked with water. That was why the dream felt so real. I blushed. “I’ve been unconscious…?” Weak, I thought. I sat up and looked behind me. I was lying on my bag.

Naz forced a smile as she stood up, purple clothe in hand. It was my jacket. She walked up to Jackson and slowly covered his face with it.

“Umm…” I wanted to ask her what she was doing, but I didn’t.

She faced me, smiled, and turned around again. “You can change now. Don’t worry… I’ll guard him.”

“Umm…” was all that I could say.

She looked back at me. “C’mon. You can’t wait for that shirt to dry up, right?” She looked away again.

“I guess not.” I took a shirt from my bag – a pink one with a design that says, Love the life you’re in. I loved those kinds of lines. I seemed to be optimistic, even though I really wasn’t. Inside, I was an Emily Dickinson.

I stood up, and noticed Skipper. He was circling around my legs, tail wagging and tongue out. I think he wanted to play. I sighed. Nothing wrong with being watched by a dog while changing a shirt. Still, it felt – weird. After all, even though I was a geek, surprisingly, I wasn’t bony and I had a quite good shape.

Nonetheless, I slipped out of my wet shirt.

The dog bark.

I laughed, saying, “Hush, Skip!” and wore my dry shirt as fast as I could.

"Naz," I called, trying to find something I could put my wet shirt on to dry, "is there anything to eat?"

Maiara | Maiara & Duncan's Hut:

I sat on the bed, staring at Duncan playing with Sophie. I was....nervous, I guess. He looked happy entertaining the baby and I couldn't help wondering about the future....about when I actually had my baby. Duncan looked up at me then and smiled. That smile took my breath away.

That was about the time Domi walked in. I looked away from Duncan and towards Domi, frowning. She looked...upset? I sighed. Duncan just kept smiling, then he turned to Domi, Sophie in his arms. Domi rushed forwards and gently took the baby from him. "Sophie," she whispered, holding the little girl close.

When I returned my attention to Duncan, he had this funny look on his face. Uh oh. I didn't want Domi to notice that look. It was a look that I sometimes saw on Tarr's face. I swallowed, trying to think of a way to get Duncan's attention, but Domi looked up before I could.

She frowned at Duncan. "What's that look for?" She asked. Duncan just looked towards me. I felt my face heat up and knew I was blushing. Great, perfect way to make her suspicious. I swiftly looked away. "Mai?"

I didn't reply, gaze trained on the floor beside the bed, face burning. Ugh, what was with me? Duncan looks at me strange and then Domi notices and now she's staring at me! I swallowed, shaking my head just a little. I couldn't tell her. I'd promised Tarrion I wouldn't....but she'd find out eventually. They all would.... When I started to show. No, no, Maiara. Don't think about that!

Suddenly, another voice interrupted the tense mood in mine and Duncan's hut. "Is there any food I could eat?" I looked up slowly to see a lanky, dark haired boy standing in the doorway. He had a book of some kind in his hand and a pen. A notebook? I frowned at him, then glanced towards Duncan and Domi, little Sophie still in her arms.

I stood quickly, smoothing my shirt down over my stomach and crossed the room. "I'll show you to the Kitchen," I muttered as I brushed past the boy, glancing back once to see Duncan frowning at me, concerned. I looked away again. I didn't want to see that. Not from him. "Come on. This way."

Tory-


Tory looked out of the helicopter as it approached the island. She smiled now that she was finally home. She no longer had to pretend to be interested in the blabber of pubescent teens lamenting on about boy problems or makeup. The very idea of listening to another girl cry because her boyfriend broke up her made her want to wrench.

The helicopter landed not to far from the complex. Tory had not seen it in six years and Samantha had obviously been busy with upgrades. She got up from her seat and put on her sun glasses as she exited the helicopter. Two guards flanked behind her, but she paid them no mind. The air smelled fresh and the light breeze lifted strands of her hair and cooled her skin. This place was indeed home. She snapped her fingers and one of the guards unloaded her bags. She took the briefcase with her files from him a nestled in under her armpit as the approached the complex.

The guards at the front entrance knew she was coming and instantly moved to the side as she approached.
“Take those bags to my room,” she said without looking at the two following guards that lugged her suitcases. Not bothering to see if they had listened she headed down the hall at a quick pace. She had to see Samantha. She had called Samantha from time to time to give her updates, but for the most part Tory knew nothing of what had occurred on the island while she was gathering information. She got snippets here and there. Two of the survivors had a baby and things like that, but honestly she didn’t even recall getting their names. The new islanders on the other hand were a different story entirely. She knew almost everything about them down to their favorite color and food.

Tory found Samantha in the monitor room. She sat in her seat watching the monitors closely as the islanders mingled. Tory glanced at them briefly and saw Seth holding a blood nose. It almost brought a smile to her face as it was so typical for him to have pissed someone off enough to clock him in the face. She repressed the smile as usual and focused on Samantha. To her annoyance Damon was in the way. He had his chin rested on the top of Samantha’s head as he observed the monitors too. Tory had never liked Damon, his emotional capacity was far too evident for Tory's liking. Tory often in her mind equainted him to a dog. Dog's were tempremental creatures that showed a gambit of emotions from happiness to anger without even a moments hesitation. Damon was very much like that from what Tory recalled.

“I see you two got close while I was gone,” Tory said situating herself in a chair next to Samantha. She placed the briefcase on the counter and looked over at the two with completely blank look. “I suspect the new islanders have adjusted well?

Samantha nodded as Damon stood back up straight. "Everything is going according to plan."

"Good," Tory pulled a green lolipop from her pocket and pulled off the wrapper before putting it in her mouth. As she watched Seth and ther other islanders on the screen she wondered if they had idea what would be coming their way. Hopefully Seth would survive the outcome.

(Sorry about my inactivity! I was out of commission for two weeks [much longer than I had anticipated], and then I figured my SB characters were all abandoned, so I never made an effort to revive them.)

Jackson

She laughed. "You missed again!"

"Whatever! Your arrow was in my way."

"But Jackson, you didn't even hit the tree."

"That's not a tree. That's a twig. No way I can hit a twig."

"I did!"

"Okay, so I'm a bit rusty."

They laughed some more. Shelly gave him a couple more pointers before recovering their arrows from the tree, and they shot some more. The sun was starting to set, which meant they had to wrap things up soon and go inside. Shelly was always a responsible older sister and took them inside at sunset so as to avoid any issues with wildlife.

Eventually, they walked back into the house. Shelly and Jackson set their weapons by the door with the others. Before they could take one step further into the house, Molly ran up to them, holding hemp in her hands.

"Look, guys! You know some of those trees we found that we carved faces and pictures into?"

"I bet my goblin's still there," Jackson said.

They laughed before Molly continued. "It is! So is Shelly's dog and my... what's supposed to be a monkey. Anyway, I took some of that tree back without you guys noticing, apparently. And look! I made these for us." She opened her hands to show three hemp necklaces--one with a wooden dragon token, one with a dog token, and the third with a monkey.

"What are those red stones?" Shelly asked, inspecting the dog with awe.

"I'm not sure. I found them in the sand when we went to the river last weekend. They looked like rocks, but they made really cool eyes. They were last-minute additions. Here, Jackson." She pocketed the monkey and helped Jackson put the dragon around his neck. "I wasn't quite sure what a goblin looked like, but what I made turned into a dragon lizard thing."

She tugged it, trying to get it around his neck.

"He's out like a light," Naz said. She kicked his foot.

"But he's holding his necklace. He can't be that deep into sleep, can he?"

"Set the dog on him." Naz whistled behind her. "Here--what's his name?"

"Skip, I think."

"Here, Skip! Come help Jackyboy here--"

"It's Jackson," Jackson muttered. He yawned and stretched, but Skipper was a much better alarm. Doing just as Naz suggested, the dog pounced on his master and licked his face until Jackson's sides hurt from his laughing and the dog's paws digging into his gut. "All right, all right! I'm up, boy."

"We've got some food over here if you want a bite. It's not much, but it'll have to do." Naz nodded her head behind her before finally leaving him in the corner.

Sallie laughed, petting the ecstatic dog. His tail thumped loudly, which was rather impressive since the floor's not exactly hollow.

"Your dog's wonderful," she said.

Jackson laughed, standing up. "Yeah, he's quite a pal." He scratched the dog's head before ruffling his own messy hair. "Dunno how I made it this far without him."