Gil is gone I walked down the path where I heard a plane buzzing and I was completely shocked so shocked that the plane started leaving I had to think quick. I grab some tree branches and gladly there was a stone next to it ,I started rubbing them together yes it worked. I ran waving the fire and screaming please help please the plane turned around came as fast as it can I was happy that I can leave. He asked are you ok I said I'm ok just dehydrated and tried he said here some water. I'm glad your ok cause we couldn't find anymore people on the Island..

I just got back wow my home thank you God. I took off my clothes that Gil made me I took a long bath and had one or two glasses of Champagne Gil I hope you are doing ok with out you I would never made it out alive thank you..

I coped with it knowing these scars will never go away I'm happy because this is poof I'm still alive and it made me more wiser I will never regret living..
Months later I started helping people on how to survive whose  been in a shipwrecked...

Last edited by Meizai (09/02/2016 at 01:37)

Link to external image
they did leave quite a trail, after all. Notching marks into trees isn't really the easiest way to hide your tracks. If you follow them, you'll end up in a hut that looks to be recently abandoned, the ashes are still warm... and there's a rustling noise nearby, as though someone was stalking you as well. Inside the hut are supplies, but will you risk the person stalking you, given that you're in such an enclosed space? And will you manage to escape in time before you miss the plane?

Another line was carved into a tree, that's how Maya kept tracked how many days had passed since she got to the island. She still tried to hang on to hope, but with each passing day she felt more hopeless. The good thing was that she had water and berries to eat, being isolated from the civilization she wasn't picky about her food and she wasn't about to skin an animal. Somehow she thought that monkeys wouldn't quite taste like chicken, besides she was pretty sure the ones she saw had rabies and she didn't want to catch it on.

The other day she had another encounter with the spear throwing person, again she barely escaped, but she did get a cut on her leg as the spear grazed it. She later treated the wound in the lake, wondering about the mysterious person behind the attacks. This time it was pretty obvious that the person aimed at her, seeing how there were no monkeys this time. The mystery person wasn't the only thing that didn't add up, the army clothes she found lying there for her to found were weird too. Maya wasn't sure if she was just being paranoid or if something was really happening with the island.

Having eaten a handful of berries, Maya was ready for yet another day of exploring, as she went on, she thought there was no end to this island, it was huge. And then she noticed strange markings on the tree trunks, a symbol of sorts which kept appearing as she went, as if it marked some kind of trail. She decided to follow it, it wasn't like she had anything better to do anyway. So she embarked on a little journey that led her to a hut. She wasn't sure she wanted to get inside, and then she picked up on the sound of leaves rustling from behind her. Nothing could ever came from rustling leaves, Maya knew better than to check it out, she was out of there in a heartbeat.

It definitely seemed like a trap and she saw enough horror movies to know that you should never check the weird sounds, that's when you get killed and she still hadn't given up on her life. Maya kept running until her legs couldn't take it anymore, she stopped behind a tree, holding her improvised knife made out of a branch and sharpened with a rock. It was not much, but it was something, and with it she felt safer somehow, not that she even knew how to use it. Actually, it was a real mystery how she managed to stay alive thus far. Maybe God(?) or some higher force was looking after her? Or maybe it was just dumb luck, whatever it was she was happy.

Maya kept listening closely, waiting for her tracker to reveal itself, if it was still pursuing her, maybe it gave up. She decided that she would wait a little more before getting up. As she sat there, listening in to any foreign sign, Maya thought about her mysterious spear person. She couldn't wrap her mind about it, she was no threat to anyone, so why was that person so adamant on killing her? And then she heard it, footsteps approaching, she gripped her knife hard, waiting to use it, but then nothing. It was as if that someone stopped walking, then the rustling of leaves could be heard again, but on a much bigger scale.

Then she heard it, something was landing or about to land, an airport or a helicopter, and then hope filled her up. She finally had a way out, but she didn't move quite yet, that person was still lurking around. She was afraid to even take a peak, as she didn't want to give away her position, so she waited until she heard the footsteps backing away. Once she could barely hear them, she slowly got up, now she was brave enough to take a peek. Once she was sure there was no one nearby, Maya started running in the direction of the airplane or whatever it was.

She didn't stop running until she found herself on the beach, running towards to someone who seemed to have come off the plane. Tears welled in her eyes as she thought about going home. "You're fine." the man said reassuringly "We're getting you out of here." she could only nod, it was truly unreal to hear another person's voice. "Are you hurt in any way?" the man looked around and Maya simply shook her head "What's your name?"

She hesitated at first before finally revealing her name "Maya Colton."

"I'll have some one look at that cut." her eyes trailed to where her pants were cut and there was a faint trail of dried blood.

"Thank you." she whispered before being helped inside. Once she sat in her seat, she couldn't hide her surprise as she saw more people inside. She knew that she wasn't alone, but she had no idea so many people were here, than a thought crossed her mind, what if the mysterious spear person was here as well. She looked around, expecting each person, as if she could read on their faces if they were the culprits or not.

* * *

A week had passed since Maya got back. She was back at her parents' place, in her old room. They insisted she should stay with them ever since they picked her up when she arrived in the States. They wouldn't leave her side, always checking up on her, as if they were afraid she would disappear again out of the blue. Maya was slowly getting back to her everyday routine with a help of a psychiatrist. But while she kept going to auditions, thoughts lingered at the back of her mind, whispering, barely audible.

She couldn't stop thinking about the island. She kept mapping the place from her mind and writing down everything she found and saw. She also started going to a Krav Maga class and started running on a daily basis as well as swimming and rock climbing. She wanted to be able to take care of herself and at times she found herself thinking about going back. She didn't know why or how, but she was slowly getting obsessed with the island. She would dream about it almost every day and she had a hard time concentrating because of it. She wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the island, she had to go back and face it once again.

Last edited by ArtemisRose (09/02/2016 at 17:47)

Libby was close to falling to the ground and crying hysterically. She was so close to being home safe, but here the whole thing was about to explode and she had five minutes. FIVE MINUTES? She realized there is no time to be a weak woman, she had to think, run and be the fastest she has ever been. There was no more fear about the thing/people that could be following her. The coordinates were there for her and she had to make a move. Libby checked the sun, re-checked the coordinates and made a run for it. From time to time she could hear some footsteps following her, but she pretended it was the wind and only focused on her destination. As she was approaching she heard the sound of a plane and the adrenaline boosted her running. She jumped into the plane and it instantly lifted off the ground.
She watched various shadows moving at the edge of the jungle, still not revealing themselves. She was hyped, she felt alive, more than she ever had felt before. The thrill of blood rushing had exposed her to new kind of feelings.
When she landed, of course she took a shower and other unimportant things. But the actually important thing she did, was get a new set of clothes, tickets to exotic places and left her past life in her home town. She was now an adventurer. She wanted to experience the world and feel the adrenaline rush through her veins once again. She even contacted a manager asking to manage her new career as maybe an actress that would film documentaries on places people have rarely visited. While flying around she decided to write a book of how her need for adrenaline and adventure had actually started. No one had to believe it, but she wanted to put it out there in case she died or grew old and forgot all the details.
Link to external image

---

There was one thing Meredith was absolutely certain about. She would never go on a cruise again in her life.

She would only speak of her experiences years later, in the safety of her own home and surrounded by her closest family. The only thing she wasn't proud of. The only truly horrible thing she's ever done.

During the years, she tried to justify herself over and over again. To explain to her own mind why she couldn't have saved Indie, why it wasn't her fault that she had left the poor woman on that island. If only she had been stronger, she could have carried Indie to that plane. If only she had been faster, she could have outrunned the attackers, shoot them with her bow and help Indie. If only she had been more courageous, she could have forced the pilot to go back for Indie. If only...

And so she made a promise to herself not to do anything like that, ever again. She quit her previous job at the faculty and found her calling as the headmistress of a small halfway house in Detroit. She promised herself that she would help all the children and teens that came to her - and one day, maybe, if she was good enough - Indie would forgive her.

It's been over a month and I still wake up at night screaming, and shaking, praying that the nightmare somehow wasn't real...

After Red grabbed me and I grasped futilely for Marie in the darkness, I told him that I had to go back for her, and he agreed, but only on the condition that I let him come as well. I wish that I'd told him "no", then there'd be less blood on my hands.

When we returned to the camp, almost everyone had scattered, but there were three people left, a woman I'd known only as "Scabs", her mousey friend who I never heard say a word, and Marie. I could tell that Scabs and her friend were in the midst of a heated argument, or rather that Scabs was yelling and her friend was cowering, I didn't realize why until Scabs picked up a rock and lifted it over her head...over Marie who was likely unconscious.

Both Red and I charged out of the bush at the same time, he tackled Scabs to the ground while I grabbed Marie, begging her to wake up.

The next few moments whizzed by in a blur of blood spray with Red managing to subdue Scabs with a cut to her thigh. I thought that would be the end of it, I thought wrong.

He could have captured Scabs and her friend who'd been too scared to run, but just as we heard the whirring of the plane above us, he slit their throats while I sat there slack jawed in horror. With Marie still unconscious in my arms I wondered if I could make a run for it...

"This is for the best" I heard Red say, and then there was a sharp pain in my head as everything faded to black...

I woke up on the plane, wrapped in a blanket, flanked by Red on one side and an awake Marie on another.

"Congrats love." she said sleepily.

"On what?" I asked, my head still throbbing.

"On the engagement, duh." she smiled.

Before I could say a word, I felt Red grab my hand and squeeze hard.

"I only did what I did for you." he whispered.

It's funny, but that's the same logic I used when I poisoned his coffee a few weeks later...I only did what I did for me...

Last edited by Dare (08/02/2016 at 17:55)

Link to external image

Results will be posted later on within 24 hours!

---

Link to external image
Well, apologies for the delay! With Chinese New Year celebrations, I find my own timetable a little thrown out of whack...

Thank you for writing as much as you did - the writing was a blast to read, and for a simple contest I enjoyed reading what each of your characters got up to on the island. Even though it was optional, all of you wrote and as a result, I couldn't in good conscience just lump everyone into one category. So there was a change of plan - instead, the banners will be split into "Best Story" and "Best Outfit", with a participation banner for everyone.

So, without further ado - the results! The maximum score for each category was out of 40. For Best Story, ArtemisRose came with the highest score of 31; for Best Outfit, Meizai came with the highest score of 33. The other scores I won't post, but I can assure you it was a very close call.

And as for the banners...

Link to external image
Link to external image
Link to external image

Link to external image
Link to external image
Link to external image

Link to external image

And that's it! Thank you for joining the contest, and more importantly, however, I want to thank every one of you for sticking with this contest to the very end - I don't know if you expected what was going to happen, but I hope you had fun on this journey!

Link to external image

No, really, that's all folks...

The morgue is a cold, empty place. Superstitious people would say that it was bad luck to walk into these, especially in the middle of the night - and to break into it. But they were never fussed with superstition. People didn't get far with superstition, but they got further with ambition.

The place relied a bit too much on its reputation - not to mention, usually no one stole cadavers. The security was lax - at the moment, all they needed to do was to claim to be the night guard, produce a semi-reputable looking ID card, and then waltz in through the front door.

"Watch out for the spooks, boy," the other man gruffly addressed them. "I know you lads like to pretend you've got adrenaline, but it's no laughing matter." They thanked him, and left.

A few clicks, and the doors swung open, the lock picked. With a frown, they looked at the rows and rows of doors, and checked the number on their phone. Number 106. Not too hard, and they didn't need a ladder. A pull, a heave, and they were staring down at the body. One-eyed, tattoo on his arm, scars down his knuckle. And now, slightly discoloured from the poison in his tea. They snorted.

"You should've killed them both too," they commented, voice quiet and thin in the stillness. "But you played too much. Idiot. And now I have to clean up."

They pulled out their phone, and called. It took three rings before the other side picked up. "Hello? Yes. Dead. Definitively dead... Leave him there? Yessir. Thank you sir."

With carefully gloved hands, they pulled out their own dogtag that had identified them on the island - Gil - and carefully tucked it into his shirt pocket. The autopsy - and the results - were dealt with accordingly, to the exact specification they had asked for, and if all went to plan... well, it would be interesting to watch. That island, after all, was just phase one.

---