The End of The Beginning

Chapter 36:

            Rose and I fell asleep on the ground, facing the sky. Her arm is across my chest and her knee is against my leg. Carefully removing her from me, I got up. I heard noises coming from somewhere on the island. Panicking, I thought of the best places to hide. I put a palm frond in front of Rose, in hopes of hiding her. I quietly walked towards the source of the sound, trying my best not to step on any leaves or twigs.

            I ended up making small noises here and there but nothing loud enough to alert the intruder. I picked up a few stones, hoping he (or she) didn't have a weapon. God I'm screwed.

            The light of the full moon cast a faint glow over this sandy Hell. Through the lighted trees I could see a figure hunched over on a rock. It was throwing pebbles at a near by tree. It caused a hollow sound but really did no damage. It seemed to be choked up. I believe it is a he. His breaths we uneven and an odd sound was emitted. I would have believed it to be crying except...

Except the person is Kyle.

            I walked up to him slowly. He is still throwing pebbles when he looks up to find me. The pebbles are hitting a new tree that is father away. It's actually leaving a mark now. I want to comfort him but I can't exactly help him the way I help Rose...I don't exactly think Kyle is the of the "hug type". He grunts a hello at me and returns to the receding pile beside him. I sit down next to him, waiting to be shooed away. I'm not.

"Kyle, what's wrong?"  I ask, breaking the awkward silence. He only grunts in response. We sit in silence. Kyle is picking at his nails, seeing as his rock pile has disappeared. Sighing, I get up. It's nearly sunrise anyway. Kyle grabs my arm before I get too far.

"It's her," he says. And then he gets up from his rock and walks away.

            Looks like I have more competition than I thought. I sigh, again, and walk towards where I hope Rose still is. The palm frond is still covering her so I toss it to the side. As I touch her flames of red hair lovingly, she wakes up. Smiling at me, she playfully moves my hand to the side. I laugh, more of exhaling through my nose, but a laugh all the same. "Morning, beautiful." My face goes ghost white remember the last time I said that to her. My hand instinctively goes to hers. She looks slightly confused but takes it anyway.

            "We leave today," I say, getting up. She grabbed my arm but then looked at my face and let go. I studied her face for a few second before turning around. I look around the island for Kyle but he is nowhere to be found. I sit by the waters edge throwing rocks until I realize they spell something. It no longer says Owen. It now has a message.

            It read, Owen, I had to leave, the impulses were too strong. I flew out but I built about so you and Rose can get off if she can't shadow travel. See you on the other side. — KY.

            KY? Oh, right I was throwing the rocks away. Oops! I looked up to see a small wooden boat with paddles. If Rose can't shadow travel...oh God. Seems like everyone I've met has run away or died. That's...that's just great. I got up and walked back to where Rose was sitting. She was throwing stones at a spot in the sand. (Is there anything to do on this island besides throw stones??)

I sat down next to her. I leaned back in the sand casually, one leg crossed over the other. I put the arm that wasn't holding me up over her shoulder. She looked over and smiled at me then shrugged it off. Jokingly, I pushed her. She fell over into the pebble pile causing them to roll everywhere. Holding my sides, I laughed until I fell over too. We were quite a sight, two misfits laughing on a deserted island. (One with abnormally bright hair...) She brushed her hand through my hair, likely trying to flatten it out. "You're hair is on flames," she said, smiling.

"You're on flames." I joked. This time she pushed me. "Okay, okay! We leave now."