Island Jumper 4 Page 7

  The girls rushed to Sherri and Emma as they lay on the floor. I glanced between them and the old man. He looked frail, but he could have the power to hurt us, and I wasn’t going to let that happen. I struggled internally to stand straight and not show the slightest sense that I was weakened to the point of exhaustion. I bet I could barely hold a spear. Speaking of…Where were my spear and my knife?

  Aubrey had an arrow pulled back and trained on the old man.

  “Just give me the word, Jack,” Aubrey said as she glared at the man.

  He held up his hands with a smile. I knew then that he didn’t fear death, nor was he scared of us.

  “No need for that, darling,” he said with a soft British accent, then lowered his hands a tad.

  An arrow flew from Aubrey, cut through the old man’s hair and stuck into a cabinet behind him. A couple of inches to the right and it would have stuck him straight in the neck.

  His hands shot back up.

  “I assure you, I mean no harm here,” he said with a bit more urgency in his tone.

  While he looked cautious, I didn’t sense any terror from him. The overwhelming emotion was excitement, laced with amusement. The feeling in him, contrasting to his expression, sent a chill over me. It was a manipulator’s tactic that I knew very well.

  “The next one’s going in you,” Aubrey said.

  “You guys okay?” I asked, side-stepping closer to Sherri and Emma while maintaining vision on the old man.

  “Yeah, just fucking tired and wet,” Sherri said, sitting up and dripping wet.

  “I’m about as shook as a wet dog, but I’ll be all right,” Emma said, getting to her feet and flinging some of the water off her arms.

  “Cass, Benji?”

  “Yeah, I’m okay,” Benji said, struggling to get to her feet and eyeing the bow in Aubrey’s hands.

  “Been better,” Cass said, holding her head as she sat on the wet floor near Sherri and a pile of dead eel.

  I glanced at Carmen, who stared wide-eyed at the man across the room from us as she held onto Shaya. Shaya had her curved knife out and looked as deadly as Aubrey.

  An eel, which I assumed for dead, darted toward Cass’s leg. Before I could react, the eel froze just inches from Cass’s ankle. She jumped back, holding her knife at the sea snake.

  “Thanks, Jack,” Cass said. “Thought it was about to get me.”

  “I didn’t do it,” I said, and turned to stare at the old man.

  He shrugged with a smile and then winked at me. “Couldn’t let the lass get bit, now could I?”

  The old man had just saved Cass from what could have been a terrible injury. Shit, I had a debt to this guy now.

  “You can do what I can do?” I asked, taking a step closer to the man.

  “It’s still alive,” he said. “Would you mind killing it? I never liked doing it with my mind.”

  I went over to the eel and stabbed it behind its black eyes. Some blood and liquid spilled to the floor, and a moment later, it collapsed with a loud slap.

  “Gross,” Benji said.

  “Thank you,” the old man said. “May I lower my hands now? These muscles aren’t what they used to be.”

  “First, step out from behind the counter so we can see all of you,” I said.

  “Certainly.”

  The old man hobbled to the end of the counter and a couple of feet into the room.

  “That’s enough.”

  The room itself felt like a ship, with steel walls and wood cabinets in a small kitchen. The kitchen itself appeared to have a few plates in an open cabinet and one on the counter near a sink. A gas cooktop was near the middle but had a pile of ash on it. The hood above had black soot that reached to the ceiling and the ventilation pipe.

  Where we stood, could have been considered a family room. There was a single, white upholstered chair, whose armrests were a mash of exposed cotton with parts of the wood frame showing. The cotton had been stained a brownish color from long use and only a small section of the chair revealed the original white color.

  On the walls of the family room were shelves, holding a few tattered books—some with missing covers and paper pealing over in the corners. The ceiling had can lights, but only a few were still working, and I wondered what was powering this place. The sight of the lights—and really, electricity—took my breath away. Such a simple thing, but the light felt like a sign from the angels. I glanced at the floor and our extinguished torches.

  With the panic settling down, the girls were also taking in these new surroundings. The floor might have been pure white at one point. Now, worn paths around the kitchen, to the doors and his chair, revealed the grey stone underneath. There was another door to the right that didn’t have a worn path leading to it.

  “You can lower your hands, but she will shoot you if you give her a reason,” I said.

  The old man nodded and slowly lowered his hands. He tapped his bare feet on the floor as he smiled at us. I paid attention to his emotions as he took in the girls. There wasn’t any lust in his mind, but he did admire them.

  If he had the same ability as I did, then he most likely could be reading me. Perhaps he could with the women as well. Curiosity curled out of him now as he gazed at me.

  “You are the one that called to me while I was outside, right?” I asked.

  “You know, my mother said you can never know a person until you have been properly introduced. I would love to meet you all properly. If you don’t mind?” His voice, while crackling with old age, had an air of sophistication to it.

  “I’m Jack,” I said, and then went to introduce all the women.

  Each name seemed to intrigue the man, and I saw his lips moving as if he was saying the names repeatedly, a good trick my father once taught me for meeting new workers. He considered it vital to know the names of the people who worked for him. He told me to say a name three times in the initial conversation and you’ll remember that name.

  “Well, it’s certainly a pleasure to me you Jack, Sherri, Eliza, Emma, Kara, Cass, Benji, Aubrey, and Shaya, of the Shultar tribe, I take it? Lovely to see your kind are still thriving.”

  Shaya gave a slight bow.

  “I see the king still has your tongue. Vile little bastard, he is. My name is Ben Straw.”

  “Ben, you know the king?” I asked, shocked at the admission.

  “Sure, who do you think put me in this…place?”

  “How long have you been here?” Aubrey asked.

  “Oh, I’m not entirely sure. Long enough to stop looking in the mirror. Long enough to make a noise when I get up from the armchair.”

  “Is there anyone else here?” Benji asked, eyeing the two doors.

  “Unfortunately not. I’ve been alone since the start. Well, me and the fishes, that is.”

  “Eliza?” I asked.

  “We’re supposed to learn something from him. I think it’s in the other room.” She pointed to the room with the worn path.

  “Do you have a stone here?” Carmen said. “A black one?”

  Ben seemed confused and glanced at the bookcase. “Not sure what you mean, darling. No stones here.”

  Benji glared at Carmen, and she looked at the floor.

  I nodded toward the room Eliza mentioned. “What’s in it?”

  “Oh, just my eye on the world. The only reason I haven’t gone insane, I suspect. I’ve enjoyed the few moments we’ve spent together.” He eyed Kara, and for the first time, a hint of lust came from him.

  I moved in front of Kara and toward the door.

  “Open it,” I said, pointing my knife at the door.

  “You know, you don’t need those weapons. I’m just some old fellow that is happy to have some people to share this with. Come on. I’ll take you to the observatory.”

  “Hold Emma’s hand,” I whispered. “Just in case he tries something on us. Lock him down.”

  Carmen, wide-eyed, nodded, and reached for Emma.

  Ben hobbled across the room and
then opened the steel door. The steel door groaned as much as Ben as he struggled to open it, fighting the worn hinges. From past the door, I spotted something I never thought I’d seen again: the soft glow of a television.

  None of us spoke as I took point. Eliza and Aubrey were close to my side. I glanced back at Sherri, Emma, Benji, and Cass, who all looked worn out but were on their feet, moving.

  “Careful,” Eliza said. “This place isn’t honest.”

  “I could have told you that,” Kara whispered, touching the wall near the bookcase.

  I reached the door as Ben moved inside. At first, I kept my attention on him, but the soft glow of pixelated wonders drew my attention.

  On the far end of the small room stood a wall of TV monitors. They were the old black and white, CRT style TVs my parents would tell me about. All of them were the same size and type, about seventeen inches across, perhaps fifteen of them total on the wall, stacked three high in a curved row like a security room from the seventies.

  Some displays were black, blank, or static, but the interesting ones were of somewhere else. From the stationary look of the pictures on the screens, I thought they were still images. Then I spotted a wave rolling in over dark sand and then back out.

  “When I first got here, all of the cameras were working, but over time, they started falling off like dead leaves from a tree. Each one that went dark was like losing a child. Now, only seven remained. Once those fail, I think I’ll kill myself,” Ben said with more whimsy than he felt.

  “Lovely,” Kara said, rubbing her wrist.

  “You have cameras around this island?” I asked.

  “One, but most of them are elsewhere,” he said, walking up to the screens. “This is the one that I first saw you guys in. There weren’t as many of you back then.”

  I walked closer, and the image, while dark, seemed to have this soft glow that shimmered in a rhythm. Then I noticed the hill and the cave and the small amount of light coming from the cave’s entrance.

  “Holy shit,” I said. “You have a camera in Cave Island.”

  “I call it Luminescent Cove,” he said with a big smile.

  “Jack, you and I—” Kara began to say.

  “I know,” I said grimly.

  “Young love is a special thing. It warmed my heart to see such a display of passion,” he said.

  Some heat hit my cheeks, and I looked to Kara. Since getting to these islands, having others see me have sex wasn’t completely uncommon, but I didn’t like the idea that some other man had seen her. The little amount of embarrassment I had boiled off and the curiosity of how and why took hold.

  “Look,” Ben said, holding out his hand. “I mean no disrespect. You two are beautiful people and have nothing to be ashamed of.”

  “Is there a recording?” Kara asked.

  “No, these are only live videos.”

  Kara frowned and then rolled her eyes. It did little to edge my anger.

  “I’m sorry for peeking. I thought my mind had conjured the images, and once I saw you release the monsters…well, I thought that would be the last I’d see of your lot. But here you are! Looking bright as a sunny day in July.”

  Emma cleared her throat.

  “You know of the monster?” I asked.

  “Listen, you all look put out and beaten. Why don’t I get some dinner going, you guys can relax for a bit, and we can talk about this over a proper meal?” Ben said. “I haven’t had a real guest in a long time.”

  “No, we’re going to discuss this now,” I said.

  “Okay, as you American’s might say, shoot,” he said and made a slight glance at the corner of the room behind us.

  My eyes narrowed.

  “Don’t look at it,” Ben said with a smile. “If any of you look at the camera in the back of the room, he will know you know about it.”

  I frowned, and a fit of new anger built in me. “Who is watching us?”

  “He can’t hear us. Same as these. They are just visual—”

  “Who?”

  “Well, the king, of course.” Ben glanced at the camera behind us again.

  Chapter 13

  Shaya, standing directly under the camera, in one swift motion, jumped and sliced through the cable leading to the camera with her knife. Sparks flew from the incision.

  “What have you done?” Ben yelled, and for the first time, I felt his hot anger pulsing toward me.

  Rage from a man—something I hadn’t felt since Mario. The thin threads that were holding Ben together had burst. The real emotions came through, a maniac hidden behind a mask of his creation. In a way, it fascinated me that he could keep his true self hidden from me, when so much was just below the surface. It opened many questions, but mostly, it terrified me.

  “Shoot him!” I said and tried to move forward, but I was stuck.

  Not stuck in any physical way, but my whole body was unable to respond to my brain’s commands. I knew what this was, as I had used it on the Crultar, and Lyra had briefly used it on us. I froze them and then used them as puppets to pull information.

  Dread filled me as I realized the girls weren’t moving either. I expected an arrow to come flying from the bow Aubrey still held, but nothing happened. The room grew quiet except for the electric hum of the TVs. Their soft glow now painted a different look on Ben’s face.

  Ben stepped forward, glaring at us with wild, unblinking eyes. I still felt the man, and the concentration that he held astounded me. The mastery of his senses made me feel as if I had been painting stick figures my whole life, only to find a Picasso.

  “Carmen?” I said through clenched teeth and gazed as far to my left as I could, just getting her into my sight.

  She stared at me, holding onto Emma’s hand, and blinked. A simple thing, but in a moment of complete paralysis, the simple movement might as well have been a sprint across the room. Her hand tightened over Emma’s, and I fell forward.

  It took a couple of steps to get my footing, and an arrow flew from Aubrey, striking Ben in the shoulder. He ripped the arrow out and stared at it in complete shock.

  “How did you…?” Ben muttered. “This is impossible.”

  “Carmen, how long?” I asked.

  “I can hold him for a long time, Jack,” Carmen said.

  That’s when I realized I had lost my extra senses. The colors and temperatures became muted, and the whole world felt a little duller. She was blocking me and from the looks the girls had, she was blocking us all.

  Ben dropped the arrow as blood soaked through the thick fabric of his sleeve. The dark stain spread wider, and I didn’t think it possible, but he turned a shade paler.

  “I can’t feel…anything,” Ben said in horror.

  “We’ve got you pinned,” I said. “Don’t move or the next arrow is going through your face.”

  Benji took the bow and arrows from Aubrey and nocked one into the string.

  “And I won’t miss,” Benji said.

  “You’re looking at a state champion right there, bitch,” Sherri said and then hunched over, breathing hard.

  “Now, we have some questions,” I said. “If you answer them all, we’ll help you with that hole in your shoulder.”

  “Questions?” Ben said, spit flying from his mouth. “I have eaten more powerful men than you. I have been on these islands since before your time, and you think you can hold me like this?”

  He growled, showing what yellowed teeth he had left. His sickening smile sent chills over me.

  “He’s pushing back,” Carmen said. “But, I can hold him.”

  “Impossible,” Ben said. “Who are you people, really?”

  “Why are you here? Who put you here?” I said.

  “The king put me here, of course. Who else could?” Ben said. “And don’t worry. He’s gotten a good look at you by now. He will love to see all the pretties you have.”

  I wanted to slap him for how he looked at my women, but I had to keep focused, as I wasn’t sure how long Carmen c
ould hold this guy.

  “Why did he put you here?”

  “Here or death, so better to rule this hell,” he yelled, moving his arm around in a grand circle, “then serve your father in heaven.”

  “Star Trek, Wrath of Khan,” Benji said.

  “More apt, the Bible,” Carmen said. “It’s kind of what Lucifer said when cast to hell.”

  “You’re his kid?” I asked, shocked.

  “Yes. Daddy’s little disappointment. So what if I took a few of his pets and cleared a few islands off for myself? I wanted a piece of this world too. It was my right, as his son. He took the unnatural path of not dying. So he shoved me in this hole, this hell, and let me watch his world with…these windows,” he pointed to the screens. “I watched as the barrier passed over each of my islands.”

  A trickle of blood ran out from Ben’s nose and over his lips. He wiped the blood with the back of his hand and stared at the red smear.

  “No,” Ben said, looking confused. “This isn’t possible. You fools are giving her a chance. You have to let me back. She’s going to escape!”

  “Shit,” Sherri said. “He’s got that no-talking-about-the-king thing.”

  “Don’t speak or you’ll die,” I said, holding my hand out toward Ben.

  He looked at the ceiling. “The blocking of me. It’s left me exposed. Turn it off,” he pleaded.

  “You know we can’t do that,” I said.

  He gripped the sides of his head. “I can feel it. Make it stop.”

  “Don’t speak,” I said, taking a step closer to him.

  “We have so many questions,” Kara said. “You can’t die.”

  “Do you want me to try and give him some time?” Emma asked.

  “No,” I said. “It’s too dangerous. The second we give him a chance, he will kill us.”

  “I won’t!” Ben said. “I promise. She’s coming. Please, stop blocking it from me before it’s too...” He fell to his knees and placed his wrinkled hands on the floor. “It can’t end like this. Not like this.”

  “Stop talking, you damn fool. That’s what kills you,” Sherri said.

  “He’s pushing back on me,” Carmen said tensely.

  “Don’t make us hurt you,” I said.