Pain

My head is throbbing, my limbs bursting with pain, I wake up, then try to stand and I cant move. The pain is too overwhelming. I open my tired eyes to see Jake laying next to me covered in red sand. His dirty white t-shirt is soaked in blood. I look around and start to realize where we are. We're on a island full of trees and surrounded by the most vivid blue water I've ever seen. But we are alone, and stranded. I try to remember how we got here and nothing came to my mind. Last thing I remember was Jake and I eating supper in our kitchen. I had cooked his favorite; Garlic mashed potatoes and nice juicy steak. We sat at the table and talked about how our days were. I remember him spilling the wine on our new carpet.. But from there, everything went blank. I hear Jakes yawning as I brush sand off his skin.
   He looks around and says, "Decided you wanted another honeymoon babe?"
   I scolded him. "This isn't the time, Jake."
   He must have thought this was a dream, because as soon as he saw his blood-stained shirt he realized this was reality.
   "What the heck is this? And where are we? How did we get here?"
   "I don't know! Why ask me? I am clueless just like you!"
    We hear our stomachs cry for food and decide to scavenge for something satisfying. We climb up the rocky hills and hiked inland. We came across a pool of clear spring water. I gazed at the beautiful fish brushing against the stones. After hours of searching, we managed to obtain three fish, four bananas, and a few coconuts. We knew we couldn't eat it all right then. What if we were here a while?
    "Jake, what's the last thing you remember?
    "Us at supper, and me spilling the wine. I went to clean it and came back and you weren't in the room."
                                                                    ~

     We spend our days on the island taking walks to find food, and bathing in the cool spring water. We have been on this island 34 days now. Not one of these days have I stopped questioning how we got here. One cloudy afternoon we took a walk. That's when I heard it. It wasn't Jake's voice. It was something much more dark, and fierce.
    "Umm what the heck was that?!"
    "I don't know, Melony, but I don't think we are alone. Come here!"
    I quickly got close to him so he could protect me from harm.
    "If you do as I say I will return you home, but if you choose not to then you will stay here forever." There was the voice again, only this time there was a person in front of me to go with it.  
    A man appeared wearing a black tank top with jeans. My eyes traveled up and down his body as I studied his intimidating figure. He was tall, a skyscraper to Jake, and his muscles were like cannons. His veins would bulge from his neck as he spoke, and then I saw the scar on his cheek. His grey eyes gave me a glare that made me feel unsafe. I looked like a scared little dog, helpless.
    "What do you want from us? Who are you?" Jake said.
    "All I want is a little favor, then you can go home."
    He handed us a small envelope.
    "Read this when I leave, think about it. I will return in a few days to hear your decision."
    He disappeared through the trees and Jake grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him. We then opened the envelope. There were pictures of a house and people with detailed instructions on how to... kill them.
    "Jake.. Isn't this.. Mary's family?"
    I flung the envelope into his lap. He looked at the picture. It was his secretary's family. Mary, George, Casey, and little Jimmy.
    Mary had an affair with Jake three years before. I had caught them at the office. Is this something I could do? Could I kill her for something that happened three years ago? I decide to think about the offer. I would be off this island, back home in my comfy bed, my skin would no longer be pealing from the harsh rays of the sun. Three days later we found ourselves on the subject again. Jake was dead set on his decision. Little did he know so was I. I planned to secretly tell the mystery man who possesses our future that I was in.
    As he promised, he returned to hear our decision. Jake wasn't back from getting water though, so now was my chance to get what I really  wanted. I walked over and jumped into his arms. He kissed me and said, "I missed you babe." We knew we had little time until Jake would return. We hurried and dumped the fake blood on the ground, my blood. James and I ran into the woods once we finished making the beach look like I had been attacked and taken.  We watched silently through the trees as Jake returned from fetching water. He fell to the ground shaking and crying. Why would he cry? He didn't love me. Do you call those countless beatings, and affairs love? This is his time for punishment. I am done. He will be left here to rot like I was left all those nights he spent in the office. Or how I was left alone in the hospital after I got my head slammed into the counter. Maybe next time, he won't cheat.
                                                                       ~
     They don't call me Melony anymore, it's Stacy. Wife to James. Killer of ex-husband. I started a new life in Cali. New job, kids, loving husband. You ask why I did it? Why I had to leave him there to suffer in agony, alone, and stranded? I say, you will never know my pain.


-A.N.