The Island

The sun began to slip away behind the mountains, tired of her long journey across the sky. Her colors broke into a million rays as she painted her canvas brilliant shades of oranges and pinks and yellows, dancing across Anna’s retinas. Her time was running short. The lengthening shadows curled ominously across the ground, splitting the light into long lines on Anna’s scabbed and bruised skin. She adjusted her leather pack on her shoulders and began to run towards the sound of the crashing waves.

She’d been a part of a crew of 30, and she could still see their ship beyond the curling waves, a lone haven away from the beautiful island. They’d anchored their vessel, the Perduta Anima, just beyond the reef and taken their rafts to shore. Anna was a cartographer on the crew, whose purpose was to explore the small piece of land. Through a series of unexplainable events, the entirety of Anna’s crew had either been killed or gone missing whilst on the island. When the first of their crew, Adam, was found impaled on a branch, they began their efforts to return to the ship.

Communication began to fail on their journey towards the ominous mountains, and died completely when they reached the shores. Their supplies would keep them alive for several days before a return trip was necessary, but they found all their boxes to be rotted from the inside. The native plants were all unrecognizable, and the animals proved too evasive to be captured.

A twig snapped beneath Anna’s boot, and she froze, looking behind her. The shadows were getting considerably darker, but tide was highest at nightfall. Now was her only chance.

The days they’d been marooned were no longer numbered. Anna had lost track. The hunger had driven them to feed on the mysterious plants, which all proved fatal to the intruders. Jenna had sworn she’d seen what looked like a deer feeding on a plant she returned to their camp with, but the moment she swallowed her first mouthful, the swelling began. There was nothing anybody could do.

The ground grew softer and the sound of the waves grew as images of the group burying Adam and Jenna flashed across her mind. Several other people attempted to fish, but their makeshift gear always came up empty. Others followed Jenna’s footsteps, and each lived only long enough to choke out last wishes. It was Steven, their captain, who came back to camp, another crew member slung over his shoulder. Ryan, the man Steven held, was dead. He’d been found in a similar situation as Adam. It was Steven who began to build a fire and strip the clothes from Ryan’s body, gravely pulling his knife from his belt.

Other members of the crew silently helped, skewering large pieces of meat and burying the other end of the spike into the ground, allowing the fire to cook their dead friend thoroughly.

Anna had refused to eat that night with a handful of others. They sustained this stance for only three days before their resolve began to weaken with their bodies as their numbers continued to dwindle. Their rafts had all been punctured by rocks and shells beneath the shifting sands just moments after their arrival. In an attempt to sail the choppy waves back towards their ship, they’d built their own raft from materials on the island. Six people met their deaths on the rocks in the sea.

“Those rocks weren’t there when we came in,” Beth had said to Anna. “This island is alive, and it’s mad we’re here.”

Her humanity shattered as another body was mutilated and cooked for the sake of those still alive, and she finally chose to eat. She took off her shoes the next morning on the beach and felt the waves on her toes. The water was icy, reminding her of her home on the Oregon coast. She had splashed the water up her arms and legs, trying to rinse her mud-caked sores.

Steven disappeared that night, and Anna fell asleep holding Beth. They’d begun to cling to each other, desperate to keep the other alive. The meat began to dwindle, and Anna gave up her portions to Beth, who was feverish from an infected wound. Their efforts to boil water and clean her infection were useless without the aid of herbs, all of which the remaining crew were too fearful to touch. The next morning, Anna woke up to each of her comrades, save for Beth, dead. They’d all frozen in their sleep, though Anna didn’t remember the cold.

“You have to swim,” Beth choked, sweat dripping into her hairline as Anna lifted a bottle of water to Beth’s cracking lips. “Deep. Below the waves.”

“Not without you,” Anna said, the fear edging its way into her voice.

“There’s no way I’ll be able to go,” Beth smiled gently, blood pooling as her lips tore. “I’ll be dead by morning.”

Anna’s eyes began to burn as the sun drooped lower, and she wrapped her fingers around the pendant Beth had worn. She could see the beach now, with the tide significantly higher than it had been. The rocks the last crew members had crashed on were invisible now, though Anna didn’t allow that to lull her into any sense of security.

The cool air began to bite at Anna’s exposed skin. She’d left her jacket wrapped around Beth’s body.

She began to run, hoping to elevate her body heat before she would plunge into the icy saltwater. The waves seemed tame as they gently rolled onto the soft sand. Anna’s eyes wandered the sea line, and saw what she knew to be a body on the beach’s edge. She felt her limbs shaking as her boots finally hit the sand, her fear being the only thing both propelling her and holding her back.

She stopped where the sand turned wet, watching another wave recede into the giant mass of water. Her bag slid off her shoulder as she sat, pulling at her laces and slipping her boots off. She dug into her bag, her fingers clutching for the small picture she knew was concealed. She tugged at the corner when she found it, and pulled it away from the bag.

Tears welled in her eyes as she stared at the photo of herself and her partner, embracing at their first place together. She flipped it over, searching for the message she knew was written in her love’s hand.

Come home to me

-Stef

“Always,” she said aloud, repeating their usual mantra to one another. She tucked Beth’s pendant under her shirt and folded the photo, sticking it into her underwear line. If she made it, she’d always know what it was, even if the water made it unrecognizable.

The water was icy cold as Anna waded into it, staring at the ship with a steely fervor. It couldn’t be more than half a mile from shore. She stared at the white waves as they curled, each no more than two to three feet high: positively tame for the island, and Anna felt a slight surge of hope.

She plunged.

Each molecule in her body protested as the icy cold pressed in on her, her eyes stinging as she tried to open them. It was too black to make out even shapes.

The current didn’t fight her, and as she came up for air, she found she’d passed the majority of the waves. The water was choppy, but she couldn’t see any rocks blocking her direct path as she swam, trying not to let her mind wander to the icy unknown beneath her.

She could hear the waves slapping against the metal frame of Perduta Anima, and her heart beat faster in her chest as she finally felt the metal scrape against her fingertips. She found the ladder of the vessel and began to ascend, her fingers cramping with each rung.

Her entire body flopped onto the deck as she heaved over the edge, each muscle screaming in protest. She choked and spat out water as she sat up, reaching into her underwear line for her photo.

Her heart sank as she felt the entire lining, but no soggy photo met her grasp. She let out a scream that pierced the dark sky, but no noise returned it save for the creaking of the ship. She stood, searching for the room that would allow her to call for help. Her bare feet slapped the deck as she ran, and she found the door just as a bright light fell on the ship, illuminating her surroundings.

She lifted her hand as she turned towards the light, squinting into the distance to find the source. Her heart leaped as her eyes fell on the ship on the horizon, shining its spotlight on the Perduta Anima. Her eyes began to fill with tears, completely unaware of the boat shifting beneath her feet.

“Over here!” Anna screamed, waving her arms above her head, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Over here!” The other boat let out a loud horn, and Anna knew she needed to return it. “I’m coming home to you,” she whispered as she turned towards the door and twisted the knob.

The ship gave a violent jerk, and she felt herself being lurched backwards against the metal rails, a searing pain shooting up her spine. Her eyes searched the sea as she spun around, the spotlight still providing the light to see a massive rock protruding into the side of the vessel. Her stomach plummeted as a wave hit the other side of the boat, pushing it further onto the boulder, and tipping the entire vessel. Anna was pitched over the rails, and only just managed to grab on as she dangled above the water, which was now turning fiercely.

The spotlight finally moved away, plunging Anna into blackness.

There was nothing left.

A loud, ominous singing began to emit from the depths below her, and she felt a slippery something latch itself to her ankle. Her fingers tightened their hold, and the singing grew louder.

“All mine,” it was saying. Over and over, the eerie voice sang.

Anna’s mind jumped to her Stef, home and likely worried for Anna. Her heart ached, her will to survive keeping her fingers curled around the iron railing. She squeezed her eyes, willing her conscious to return to that place in the photo. The porch. The soft glow of the rising sun as the smell of coffee wafted through the door. The warm embrace that Stef wrapped her in, kissing her temple and breathing deeply.

“You are my home, Anna,” she could hear Stef’s voice.

Anna was ripped back to her present as she felt the sea yanking her downward. She felt the tears rise in her eyes and a lump swell in her throat as she imagined Stef trying to find her.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and she felt the bones in her fingers break as her grip failed, and the sea swallowed her.