Illusion

by J. S. Cooper

  “I think we’re in danger.” He changed the subject.

  “How do you know the Bradley brothers, Jakob?” My fingertips squeezed his arms tightly, and his fingers reached up to mine. He was silent for a moment, and I could feel his heart pounding through our embraced fingers.

  “I don’t know them well, I’m afraid.” He shook his head and stepped back. “Let’s gather the wood.” He walked away from me and I felt my heart thudding in my stomach. This man that I’d given myself to was still hiding something from me. I was sure of that. Why would he be hiding something from me? Would I ever be able to fully trust him?

  We gathered the wood in silence and then walked back to the beach. “I’ll be right back. I dropped some branches.” Jakob called out to me as he turned around and walked toward to the jungle.

  “Okay,” I mumbled, and watched him hurry away. I jumped as Steve appeared next to me. “You scared me.” I took a step away from him, suddenly feeling apprehensive of him.

  “Sorry, it wasn’t my intention to scare you.”

  “It’s okay.” I shrugged. “Just try to make a bit of noise when you approach someone. I didn’t even hear you.”

  “Sorry, I’m used to having to be quiet in my line of work.” He smiled with a wry look on his face.

  “It’s fine.” I wanted to ask him what line of work he was in, but I was pretty sure he wouldn’t be honest about it anyway.

  “Would you like to go for a walk, Bianca?” Steve offered me his arm, and I tried to think of a reason to decline.

  “That sounds good, but let’s wait for Jakob. Maybe he’ll want to come with us.”

  “I was rather hoping that we could take a walk without him.” Steve’s eyes narrowed. “There are some things I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “Things like what?”

  “Forgive me if this is an intrusion into your private life, but I can’t help but think that you and Jakob aren’t really boyfriend and girlfriend.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “I don’t see any sexual chemistry between you. You seem awkward around him.” He shrugged. “You know you can tell me anything, Bianca. I will protect you if you need me to.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Is Jakob your master?” He took a step toward me, and I frowned at him.

  “My master? What do you mean?”

  “Are you a slave, Bianca?” His voice lowered. “I remember you talking about trafficking on the first night, and I wonder now if you were giving me a clue.”

  “Do I look like I’m a slave?” I shook my head. Was Steve crazy?

  “Like I said before, appearances can be deceiving.” He grabbed my arm. “If you come with me, I can take care of you.”

  “I don’t need you to take care of me.” I shook my arm and his hand fell to the side. “Thanks for your concern, Steve, but I’m fine.” I looked up the beach hoping I would see Jakob walking back toward us.

  “Can I tell you something, Bianca?” He spoke urgently, and I looked at him in surprise at his tone.

  “Sure, go ahead.”

  “Those who watch are the watched, those who listen are never heard, those who love are bound for heartache, and those who seek the truth are always lied to.”

  “Okay.” I frowned at him. “What does that mean?”

  “It means, my dear, that you’re in danger.” His eyes widened and he stepped away from me. My heart started racing, and I wanted to call out to him to ask him what he meant. There was something so off about him. He was starting to remind me of a wizard.

  “Everything okay?” Jakob’s voice carried down the beach, and I stood there unsure of what to do. As I watched him approaching us, I could see the distrust and anger in his eyes as he stared at Steve. He looked at me searchingly for a few seconds to make sure I was okay, and I nodded quickly. His expression changed to one of satisfaction, and I ran toward him, knowing that someone who wanted to harm me wouldn’t be worried about my safety.

  “Do you need any help carrying those?” I gave him a short smile and offered to take some of the branches from his hands.

  “No, I’m fine.” He frowned at me. “Your forehead is sweating. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. It must be the sun,” I lied, not wanting to tell him what Steve had said and the fleeting doubts I’d had about him.

  “I shouldn’t have left you alone.” His eyes searched my face. “We have to be more careful about safety.”

  “It’s fine. I can take care of myself.”

  “I want to make sure.” He looked over at Steve. “There is something off about him.”

  “I know.” I nodded. “But I don’t think he would try to hurt me with you here. I think he’s harmless. Or at least I hope he is.”

  “Everyone looks harmless in the beginning.” He dropped the branches and walked over to his pants to pull out the lighter. “Pull the leaves off the branches, and let’s get this fire started.” He walked toward me again, and I couldn’t help but stare at his legs once more, so sturdy and muscular. I wanted to feel his legs in between mine. I could remember the feel of them under me as we’d made love. I stared at his legs and then his chest longingly and tried to ignore how badly I wanted to touch him. The truth of the matter was that even though I was still angry at him I still wanted him. I just wanted to press my whole body against his and feel his warmth and comfort.

  “Are you cold?” Jakob watched me as I shivered, and I nodded. “Let’s get this fire started, then.” He exclaimed and then dropped to his knees.

  I didn’t want him to know the real reason why my body was trembling.

  ten

  The fire added another dimension to the beach. It almost made me feel like I was out at a party on the beach somewhere. Almost, but not quite.

  “I’m hungry,” Steve complained, and I nodded in agreement.

  “Shall we go and get some more bananas?” I looked at Jakob, hoping he had another suggestion.

  “We can.” He nodded. “Or we can see if there’s some other fruit we can pick.”

  “How will we know if they’re poisonous or not?”

  “We just won’t pick any fruits we aren’t sure of.”

  “I saw some green berries in the jungle.” Steve spoke up. “I think they looked ripe.”

  “What sort of berries were they?” Jakob looked at him, and Steve shrugged. “Berries are the worst types of fruit to just pick and eat. They can be highly poisonous. I’m going to say that we should stay away from berries. We don’t know which ones may kill us.”

  “That sounds like a good idea to me.” I nodded. “I’m not a huge berry person anyway; I always get the seeds stuck in my teeth, and it’s a pain to get them out.”

  “If you need any help, I’ve got a super-duper tongue.” Jakob grinned at me, and I laughed.

  “I think I’ll be able to manage.”

  “So are you two ready?” Jakob jumped up. “Let’s go into the jungle.”

  “Should we just leave this open fire?” Steve frowned and remained seated.

  “It’ll be fine.” Jakob’s face was hard. “I suggest you come with us into the jungle if you’re hungry.”

  “Fine.” Steve stood up awkwardly, and we all walked into the jungle in silence. “So, Jakob,” Steve began. “Tell me more about you.”

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Why do you think you were kidnapped? You seem like a pretty big guy. Someone would have to be a fool to draw your wrath.”

  “There are plenty of fools in the world. Trust me; I’ll have the last laugh.”

  “I’d be scared to get on your bad side, that’s for sure.”

  “You don’t seem very scared.” Jakob stopped and turned toward him. “In fact, it seems to me that you’re making it very clear that you aren’t scared of me.”

  “I’m a good actor, I suppose.” Steve laughed weakly, and I frowned as Jakob charged toward him.

  “Jakob, what are you doi
ng?” I took a step forward and placed a hand on his arm. “Don’t hurt him.”

  “I’m not going to hurt him.” Jakob’s lips were in a thin line, and he looked grim. “I just want Steve to know that he’s right to be scared of me. Not many people cross me and live.” There was silence in the air as we all stood there. I could see the vein popping in Steve’s forehead. I felt slightly bad for him, but then I noticed the expression on his face. There was a small sliver of a smile, as if he were happy that he had made Jakob crack. I looked away and frowned. Maybe Steve wasn’t as scared as he had let on. Maybe Steve was playing a game with us and we were his unwilling pawns.

  “He might have a gun, Jakob.” Back off and stop playing like you’re a superhero!

  “What gun?” Steve frowned and looked scared. “I don’t have a gun.”

  “We heard a gun the other day.” I scratched a small ant bite on my arm and stared at him to see if he was telling the truth.

  “Do you hear that?” Jakob’s eyes were alert as he whispered and pointed to his ear. “Listen carefully.” He put a finger to his lips and looked around quickly. I closed my eyes and listened carefully to see if I could hear what he was talking about. What I heard made my heart stop. Something was running. And whatever it was was running fast.

  “What’s that noise?” I grabbed on to Jakob’s arm in fright, and he pulled me toward him.

  “Listen,” he said after a minute grinning. “Do you hear that?”

  I closed my eyes again and listened. I heard an odd grunting sound. At first I thought it was the sound of a man out of breath, but then I realized exactly what it was.

  “It’s a wild boar,” Steve exclaimed out loud, and Jakob nodded.

  “Do you guys want to eat boar tonight?” His eyes glittered as he looked at me.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Follow me.” He grabbed my hand and started running toward the grunting.

  “What about Steve?” I exclaimed as we ran.

  “He’ll be fine.” Jakob let go of my hand and picked up a rock. “He’ll just slow us down. Stay close to me, and it’ll be fine.” I watched him running ahead of me, and I struggled to keep up with him. It was then that the boar must have heard us, because I suddenly heard the grunting get louder and the sounds of branches cracking as the boar started to run again. I watched Jakob sprinting after the boar and ran as fast as I could to catch up with them both. I heard a crashing sound and then a loud cry in the distance and ran as fast as I could through the bush to see what had happened.

  I stopped as I got to the gathering. Jakob was on the ground sitting on top of the boar and bashing the rock into its head. I cried out, and he froze.

  “Look away, Bianca!” he commanded me from his stance on top of the animal.

  “I don’t want to hear it either.” I felt like I wanted to cry as I stood there staring at the trees, trying to ignore the sound of the dead hog grunting and dying as his head got bashed in. I finally heard Jakob dropping the rock onto the dirt and I looked over at him

  “You killed it?” I was shocked, and my voice was low as I stared at the dead animal.

  “You wanted to eat something other than bananas tonight, right?”

  “But you killed it.” I got choked up as I stared at Jakob. His chest was rising quickly, and he was panting. His eyes looked manic, and his hands were full of dirt and blood.

  “What did you think was going to happen, Bianca? Did you think I was chasing it for fun?”

  “No.” I shook my head and looked to the ground. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. “I just didn’t expect you to catch it.”

  “Bianca”—he walked toward me—“we’re stranded on an island. We have to do what we can to survive.”

  “I just didn’t expect to see you kill it.” I stared at the boar and the rock on the ground next to Jakob. “It just feels so primal.”

  “It is primal.” Jakob grabbed my shoulders and forced me to look up at him. “This is the situation we’re in, Bianca. We’re not on some resort, or competing in a TV show. We’re not playing a game of Survivor. We’re living it. We have to do what we have to do.”

  “But you killed it.”

  “And I would kill it again, if it meant we’d be able to eat.” His eyes were hard as he looked into mine. “Am I a bad person for saying that?”

  “No.” I bit my lower lip and then leaned up and pressed my lips against his. “I’m not naive, Jakob. I understand the situation we’re in.” I closed my arms as his arms pressed me toward him. “I just never expected to see my dinner killed before my very eyes.”

  “Didn’t you know that the fresher the meat, the better?” he whispered against my lips, before kissing me hard. I held on to him and kissed him back passionately. I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience; everything around me seemed surreal. I was here with a tall, dark, dangerous hunter, and I was letting him touch me and kiss me as if I didn’t have a care in the world.

  “We should get this boar back to the fire.” He pulled away from me and stared into my eyes with a lighter expression. “Do you think you’ll be able to help carry it back?”

  I nodded and tried to hide my shudder. I really didn’t want to touch the boar, but I knew that if I expected to eat some of the carcass, I should help in some way.

  “Actually, it’s okay.” He shook his head. “I can carry it by myself.”

  “What?” I frowned. “No, I can help.”

  “I can see from your expression that you’d rather not touch it.” He smiled and stroked my cheek. “And that’s okay. I don’t have these muscles for nothing.” He flexed his biceps, and I groaned.

  “Show-off.” I rolled my eyes at him. “We could always go and get Steve to help you carry it.”

  “I’m sure we could.” It was Jakob’s turn to roll his eyes. “Hold on, let me just grab the boar before rigor mortis sets in.”

  “Doesn’t it set in as soon as someone dies?”

  “I have no idea.” He crouched down and grabbed the dead animal.

  “Do you think its brothers and sisters are watching us and planning their revenge?” I whispered to Jakob as he picked up the boar. It had suddenly gotten really dark, and I was starting to feel uncomfortable being in the jungle. I could sense that there were animals staring at us from the trees. Animals that had most probably witnessed Jakob killing one of their friends. Animals that were most probably scared that they would be next. It was Watership Down all over again, only, this world consisted of more than just rabbits.

  “I think we’re okay.” Jakob walked ahead of me, carrying the dead animal as if it were as light as a feather.

  “Did you ever read that book Animal Farm when you were growing up?” I followed behind him closely.

  “I think everyone had to read it in school, right?”

  “Yeah, I guess so. I mean I know it was an allegorical novel about society, but have you ever wondered what the world would be like if animals did decide to fight back?”

  “Fight back?” His voice sounded amused.

  “I mean, I’m sure they don’t appreciate being killed just so we can get food and clothes.”

  “Are you a vegetarian?”

  “No, no.” I shook my head. “But I have to admit I have sometimes thought about what life would be like if animals decided to fight back. What if instead of running away from you, the boar had run toward you and tried to attack you?”

  “That wouldn’t be very unusual. Many wild boars attack people.”

  “You would have been scared, right?”

  “I would have retreated.”

  “See, once animals figure that out, they will start fighting back.”

  “That’s what they did in Planet of the Apes, I suppose.” I could hear the laughter in his voice and frowned.

  “You think I’m silly, don’t you.”

  “Not at all. I think that you like to think out of the box, which is refreshing.”

  “I think it’s because
I grew up with a father who was always encouraging me to think outside of normal parameters.”

  “That makes sense.”

  “Sometimes, I don’t wonder if I’m a little crazy.”

  “We’re all a little crazy,” he responded seriously.

  “Were you going to hit Steve earlier?” I asked, hoping he wouldn’t be mad at my question.

  “I wasn’t going to hit him, no.”

  “You looked like you were going to hit him.”

  “I was just giving him a warning.”

  “A warning or a threat?”

  “He can take it whichever way he wants.”

  “Do you think he was scared?”

  “Not as much as he should be.”

  “There’s something about him that gives me the creeps.” I admitted at last. “I feel horrible saying that, because I don’t really know him, but there’s just something about him that seems really off.”

  “I know exactly what you mean.” He stopped still and looked at me for a few seconds before continuing. “I’ve got a bad feeling about him, Bianca. Please be wary around him.”

  “I will be.” I nodded, and we continued walking. My stomach rumbled, and I could feel the tension in my back. I rubbed my arms as we walked back through the jungle and tried to get rid of the image that had just popped into my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about Jakob standing there next to the boar with the bloody rock in his hand. My brain was ticking, and all I could think was that maybe I should be wary around both Jakob and Steve. I was pretty certain that I was underestimating what both of them could and would do. I only hoped that their targets were each other.

  Steve was waiting on the beach for us when we made it back with the boar. His eyes widened as he saw the beast, and I noticed an exchange of looks pass between him and Jakob.

  “I’m going to get some sharp rocks to see if we can get this boar’s fur off.” Jakob glanced at me and walked away. I stared after him and wondered if he wanted me to come with him.

  “I have something for you.” Steve walked over to me quickly. His limp was more pronounced, and I wondered if he had injured himself even more by walking through the jungle with us.