by Lara Hues
Shardul rubbed my arm with the back of his hand and then removed his muddy lab coat and draped it over me. Beneath it he wore a sky-blue button-down sport shirt. I didn’t imagine that it was very comfortable. It looked tight across his chest. I looked away, my face growing red at having taken any time to think about his body at such a time of terror as this.
"Thanks," I whispered, scooting into him. I hoped that he would see it as a way to keep warm, not as if I was making advances on him. Was I making advances? His hand felt warm on my skin and when he moved away I wanted to follow it. The very idea was absurd. Shardul was Shardul and I was…well I was me. And we just witnessed a bunch of men fall to their deaths. Hardly the time to get cozy.
We’d been on the run for what had to have been several hours now. It didn’t make sense for me to sleep. Nearly every traumatic event that had ever happened to me took place in the past 24 hours. I’d witnessed the incredible strength and violence the tigers were capable of, I’d seen a man tear apart a treadmill as if it were a stale cracker, and I’d been taken to a back room by a male stranger and asked about my sex life. And now this. Held as a hostage. Shot at. It hardly seemed real.
Leaning into Shardul’s shoulder, I caught a whiff of his deodorant or cologne. Did he wear cologne? I didn’t know, but the scent caught me off guard and I shut my eyes to better focus on it. Could I really be leaning into the same guy who had teased me about cheap bangles in high school? I looked up at him. Yes, the same serious brown eyes and gentle face. He’d changed a little bit, as I’m sure I had, but he was still Shardul.
Sleep crept up on me, but it was not the kind of night that passed without note. I woke countless times to chills or wind in the trees or because I rolled over onto a sore spot. Eventually Shardul laid me on the ground and packed mud around my legs and his own before lying at my back. It was warmer after that, and though I still woke several times, wishing it was morning and the torturous night was over, the sunlight finally did break over the horizon.
The brightness of the sun was little indication of the time. Based on how low it hung in the sky, it was still very early. My body ached more now than it had before which I didn’t think was possible. I sat up slowly and gingerly touched my wrist, shoulder, and lower back. Now that it was bright I could see small slices all over my arms from branches and glass in the river. Pulling a few twigs and pieces of glass from my hair I tied it back again out of my face.
My stomach growled, and Shardul looked to me before brushing the mostly dried mud from his legs and arms. He stood, reached his hand to lift me up, and stretched. He spoke very softly, even compared to his usual quiet tone. "You okay?" It was such a vague question. I couldn’t be sure if he was referring to my cuts or bruises. Was he asking if anything was broken? Had I slept all right? Was I hungry? I had to pick the most pressing and try to respond minimally. I wasn’t a tiger expert; he was. If he thought that talking might attract the tigers, I didn’t want to jeopardize our safety with complaints or small-talk.
"I’m hungry," I said, though my stomach’s grumbling was clear enough. Though I was still in shock from everything, I had to focus on food. Hunger was the least of my concerns, but if I made it my primary interest, maybe I would stop imagining how Shardul’s hand would feel on my waist or how my bones would crunch inside the gaping mouths of the enormous felines.
"Just hungry," I repeated, redirecting my attention on my stomach ache. Shardul nodded and dipped his hand into the water, sipping. I knew the water had contaminants and carried bacteria of all sorts, but the reason I couldn’t bring myself to drink was not the unseen; it was the image of the blood pouring into the river the night before. Yes, we had gone upstream and I knew that it was impossible for the blood to be here, but that river was a grave, and I would forever associate it with death. Though the water was clear at the top, my eyes imagined pigments of pink and red or corpses of the men. I shivered from both cold and dark thoughts.
"Drink." Shardul gestured to the water. I shook my head. He nodded. I shook it more furiously. "Why?" he asked.
"Um…blood." I said and turned away.
"That’s illogical. We're upstream," he insisted in a whisper.
"I know," I said. "But I can’t."
My stomach growled again, and watching the water made me thirsty. I would have to find a leaf filled with water in the jungle or something. I knew stagnant water was more likely to host bacteria and insect eggs, but even still that seemed more bearable to me than the river water. I looked into the jungle, not feeling hopeful in the slightest about life, food, or water.
"Kathryn," I turned to see Shardul walking out of the trees holding a large leaf. It was shaped as a basin and held at least two cups of clear water. It was as though he read my mind. Just as I had hoped, here was some water I could manage to drink.
"Thanks. Wow, thank you," I said, taking it and swallowing quickly. Once the water touched my lips I realized that I was much thirstier than I had recognized.
“Shardul,” I said, cautiously. “What really happened? What are you doing here?”
Shardul moved close to me. “That day we got back from Panama, and I offered you a ride home, I climbed into my car at the airport. But then, Richy was there with Alec. Richy took my car. Alec took me back to the airport. Drugged me. I woke up here.”
I didn’t want to believe that story either, but it made way more sense than his previous version. I knew he hadn’t run away.
“You were kidnapped…and drugged…” The image of seeing him stabbed with a needle and pulled onto a plane made me hurt in an entirely new way.
“Yes,” he admitted.
“By my uncle…” I said, needing to work through it all verbally.
“Yes,” he said.
My mind raced. “But how did Richy even know that you could help with the cub?”
Shardul just stared at me, his eyes getting sad as I connected the dots.
“Oh,” I finally said. “It was me. Richy knew you could help because I told him about you.”
Shardul being kidnapped by my uncle was hard enough to digest, but realizing that I had been the cause made me start dry-heaving again.
“I don’t blame you for any of this,” Shardul said, moving toward me. “It’s okay. We are going to be okay.” I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. If it hadn’t been for me, going on about how brilliant Shardul was over Thanksgiving dinner, he would still be home.
A crunch of branches to my right made my heart thud loudly against my ribs.
From the brambles wandered out what appeared to be a huge hedgehog. It had the mouth of an anteater though, and I remembered seeing this before in a book or a zoo. Echidna. That was it.
Using its snout to scour the floor for food, it walked along, apparently unaware of our presence. The first question to my mind was whether or not we could eat it. True, it hadn’t even been 24 hours since my last meal, but I’d thrown up, and I had no way of knowing how long I’d be in the jungle.
The spikes were sharp, but maybe we could take them out. The animal was raw though, and I was sure that Shardul wouldn't approve of building a fire. He and I stared at the animal as it wandered nearer to us. I turned to look closer, and startled it. It curled into a ball and I almost wanted to chuckle. I stepped towards it, brushing it with my foot, hoping it would uncurl itself so I could watch it dig some more. The ground was uneven though, and the small nudge from my foot sent the ball of a creature down the incline of the bank into the water. As it hit the surface, I felt terrible, assuming that it couldn't swim. Whether or not that was true didn’t matter because as soon as it hit the water and uncurled its body, large-toothed jaws snapped down on it, pulling it underneath the surface.
The crocodile was only partially visible for a fraction of a second. Its scales and teeth flashing in the morning light stirred once again the fear from before. I only needed to see it for a fraction of a second to know that this creature was nothing like its other crocodile counterparts. The snout h
ad been too long. The face too big. The teeth too sharp and the reaction too fast. How many animals had Richy given the drug to?
I gasped. My curiosity had sent the echidna to its death, but I couldn’t help but wonder if we would have become its meal if I hadn’t happened to test the water with other prey.
"Incredible," Shardul murmured, stepping further from the river, pulling me by the elbow.
We stumbled backwards through the trees to get away from the now unseen crocodile. I wondered why nothing had happened when Shardul had dipped his hand into the water to drink. Picturing him in place of the small round echidna was traumatizing to imagine.
"Why was it so big?" I whispered.
"I don't know," Shardul said, walking faster through the trees. "Your beloved Uncle Richy may be testing the drug on various species- reptiles, birds, insects and mammals."
Hearing Richy referred to as "beloved" made my face red and my ears hot. I had only a distant relationship to this man, and if were it up to me, I would have none at all. He was my flesh and blood, but now he was also a murderer. He’d killed the men. His own men and for what?
"Is he?" I asked.
"Or it’s possible that the drug is still strong enough in the bloodstream to be transported to other animals by mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, and other blood sucking animals. Even a bat could do it."
"How do you know if the drug is still strong in the blood?" I scratched at the bits on my arms, trying to keep the scabs intact.
"Well, it’s just a theory. We have been taking blood samples from Habib to see his levels though we have never actually given him the drug. Even so, his GH levels are inexplicably high because his parents were given such a high dosage. As I am sure you've gathered, we've been unable to collect blood from Amar or Amala to see what the GH is doing now that it’s been almost two years since they were given any dosage of GH 10 at all."
"GH is short for growth hormone, right?" It seemed obvious, but I'd hate to jump to conclusions.
"Yes, but sometimes we joke that it stands for Gehenna." He stepped over the huge ferns and I followed, slapping the mosquitoes more aggressively now. The last thing I wanted was to have any of GH10 in my system. I didn’t want to get big. I didn’t want to get muscular. But I did, eventually, want to be a mother to a few healthy, strong, non-deformed children.
"Gehenna?" I repeated.
"Historically it was a place outside of Jerusalem. A place where men took their children and sacrificed them. But now it's become synonymous with hell. Richy didn't seem to catch on to why we call this island Gehenna. Or if he did, it didn't bother him that they’ve all been living in hell for the past few years. Even after a couple months it’s worn on me."
My legs throbbed as I forced them forwards, and I wondered if it was from the running, the kicking in an adrenaline rush, or the fall. It didn’t matter because all I could do was step over the roots that protruded from the soft ground and hope that no poisonous snakes or spiders were on the leaves that brushed my neck and arms.
Shardul continued. "Richy is 'The Cobra'. He gives everyone the drugs which makes his bite more dangerous. This place is Gehenna, as I'm sure you've noticed…" he looked me over, or checked me out. I'd like to think it was the latter. "And we usually just call Amar, Amala, and Habib 'The Stripes'. They're the only thing Richy cares about. Them and his precious GH10."
A buzz grew loud in my right ear and I ducked out of the way of a huge beetle. I could have seen creatures and insects of every variety and color, had I taken the time to look, but I didn’t want to see anything. Especially not "The Stripes".
Then I stopped. Shardul stood at the base of a short tree which resembled a house palm. There, hanging in a bunch at the base of the palms, were some nuts. I’d done several hours of research before leaving home. Botany appealed to me so I’d looked up some plants, particularly edible and poisonous ones. This small tree was familiar. Edible. I was sure enough to bet my life on it. Literally.
I pulled the nuts off, broke them open and handed a few to Shardul. He didn’t bother asking if they were edible. I guess he had faith in me. We both ate them way too quickly. Introducing food to my body had a different effect than I had wished. Rather than quenching any portion of my hunger, it intensified it.
Our pace through the trees was quick, but we still managed to step quietly, both fearing the tigers. They were so huge that I convinced myself that I’d hear them coming from far off though the reality might be quite different.
A loud crackling left me and Shardul frozen in position. Our eyes scanned the trees frantically until we heard Richy’s voice over the intercom system. It was not very loud or clear, but it was distinguishable.
Chapter Thirteen: Silver Lining and the Inevitable Problems
Richy’s voice reminded me of the tigers’ growl; low and menacing. "I don’t know who is out there that can hear me, but I have a few things to say to both Kathryn and Bryce. Kat, if you’re okay, which I am sure you are since you come from a strong family of fighters, just hang in there. Hide away where the tigers can’t hear you. I have armed twelve of my strong and trusted friends in here with tranquilizer guns and they’re coming out to sedate Amar and Amala. Once they're sedated, you can yell, and one of the hunters will hear you. We have divided up the terrain into twelve parts. Once you meet up with one of the shooters, stay with them. They have flares to get my attention." He paused and his voice became threatening. "As for you Bryce, if you aren’t dead, you will be. Let's just say they're armed with more than tranquilizers."
The announcement ended. I assumed he’d tell us once the tigers were sedated. I couldn’t honestly say that I felt bad for Bryce, but the threat didn’t reassure me.
Shardul gathered blue fruits in clusters from a small tree with shiny leaves that grew in bunches near the ends of the branches. He tasted a few, then handed me a bunch.
"Do you want to find a place to hide?" he asked, eating a few more and staring at me with his wide, hazel eyes.
"I guess we should. If armed men will be roaming through the jungle loudly, they should attract the tigers rather quickly, wouldn’t you think? And I would sure hate to be at the end of a tranquilizer meant to take down a creature the size of Amar and Amala."
"Then we should go to the riverbank where we can mask our scent in mud and find some roots to hide in," he advised.
"Will the crocodile come back?"
"Unlikely, if we don't disturb the water."
"Okay," I agreed, and he turned the course, resuming silence. The silence was unfortunate because we finally had privacy but not the luxury of being able to talk.
It was probably only twenty minutes later when we reached the river, and I, following his lead, coated my arms in a light layer of mud. I couldn’t say much for the tigers, but the mosquitoes seemed to have lost track of me. As long as I kept the mud moist, the bites didn’t itch very much either.
We climbed into the tangled roots of a tree, careful to brush aside all the bugs in sight with branches. Sitting near Shardul, I felt safe. I wouldn’t have thought of using the mud to cover our smell or to keep me warm the previous night. The heat of the day had dried my clothes, and I was much more comfortable now, but despite the minor increased level of comfort, sleep would absolutely not be an option. The last 24 hours increased my level of fear, and my mind felt anxious and unsettled.
Now that we were sitting and I had a little bit of food in my stomach, my mind went back to the myriad of questions about the tiger, me, Bryce feeling captive, and the lies I was sure that I didn’t yet recognize. How dire would a situation have to be for someone to feel the need to threaten another person’s life?
In a quiet tone, I vocalized some of my questions, hoping that Shardul would reply with truth unmasked in Indian proverbs. "Why did Bryce do that?"
Shardul looked at me, pursed his lips, and looked away. "He wants to get away."
"From the island?"
"Yes," Shardul replied.
"Why didn’t h
e just leave? Why did he have to threaten me?"
"It’s not what it seems- this place. He came here willingly, thinking he was getting an amazing job offer. But it was a scam. We’ve all been taken captive. Not all victims of outright kidnapping like me, but trapped here. We have, almost all of the people here, attempted to leave either by escape, coercion, or farcing friendship with your 'father'." I scowled. "You know, I've never met your real father."
"I know. I'll introduce you when we get back," I shrugged. My dad would love Shardul. He loved him even when I'd done my best to explain to him why Shardul got on my nerves all the time. I'd intentionally never had Shardul come over to study at the house because I didn't want my dad to meet him and grow attached. I knew he'd encourage our competitive friendship into a courtship. And maybe that wouldn’t have been such a bad idea.
"When?" Shar smiled, his half-smile that gave me goosebumps on my neck. "That's optimistic."
"Has anyone been able to leave?" I asked, refusing to get caught up in imagining what my dad and Shardul would say to one another.
"Not that I know of. Lots of those here have taken the drug because Richy promised that if they helped to further the research on humans, he would give them their passport and unlock the gate. Obviously, he did not follow through on that promise. I assume the drug to be quite addictive since few have actually stopped taking it." Shardul sighed and turned in the direction of the Observatory. "And there’s Drake. He got close to leaving. He was the first to sneak out, but he’s back. I hate to imagine where he is now."
The moment from the Observatory surfaced in my memory. The tigers ate the deer quickly. Maybe it was painless. I couldn’t address the situation with Drake but more questions nagged me. "How is Richy paying for everything? As far as I knew growing up, he wasn’t this wealthy."