Author: admin

New plan: must eat Ordus. 17 Cindi My skin is only getting paler. Dryer. My body weaker. The pounding in my head is worse. I can barely keep my eyes open. The only thing I’m capable of is sleeping. I shouldn’t have spent so long in the sun yesterday. Sweating and burning has made it…

The soft cotton sheets feel wrong against my dry, grimy skin. Every inhale is sandpaper against my dry throat. I need water. Hell, a coffee would make me worse, but I would kill for one. The bed creaks when I move, and both creatures whip their heads my way. Ordus is up and on his…

My mind conjures memories of Dad. For the first decade and a half of my life, we would have fish for dinner every eighth day in memory of the woman who gave birth to me. Apparently, Mom was horrendous at fishing. After years of trying, she finally caught one, then eight days later, she caught…

“I need water, Ordus,” I whisper. He motions to the sea. “The?—“ “Water,” I repeat. “Drinking water. Human water. Fucking mineral water. Aqua. Air,” I say in Indonesian, in case that registers in his thick skull. “And I need to wash and cook the fish.” No one ever fucking listens to me. It’s like I’m…

“Of course.” He nods, brow wrinkling in annoyance that I’m even suggesting he doesn’t. “More than anything.” His answer tips my axis. I believe him at the same time I reel at the blatant manipulation. I’d rather be a cynic than be made a fool of again. “Then you can’t keep me down here. I’ll…

There. It is a good compromise. Although Vasz may not agree, I will bribe him with coconuts. Cindi blinks. Once. Twice. If I thought the little human was angry before, it is nothing in comparison to the static that zaps from her, electricity thundering through burning water seconds before an explosion. Oh no. I think…

Cindi stumbles away from me and carefully turns on the heel of her foot to survey her surroundings. I hold no pride over this island. It is both a source of shame and a place for a coward to seek comfort, a prison of riches and freedom. Cliffs taller than the human buildings on the…

Hunger pains stab at my stomach. My throat is raw from crying, the heat, dehydration, and many mouthfuls of saltwater. My skin feels like it’s peeling off my body from the hours I’ve spent in the sun, staring into the distance, willing someone to see me. I think the tattoo on my back has blistered….

I carefully maneuver her body to avoid any scrapes as we reach a bend in the tunnel. The edges of dull green leaves sway up ahead, and light descends on us. Cindi’s arms and legs tense around me. She looks up, unnervingly quiet. A sinking feeling settles in my stomach. I spare a glance at…

I should have stayed awake, ran at the first sign of trouble days ago. I should never have stopped moving. My tongue flicks over my dry, chapped lips. I covertly feel the ground around me for the weapon I fell asleep with, but I come up empty. I start to shuffle back, only to stop…