“Jakob,” I whispered softly as my eye caught something. “Jakob,” I said again, harder this time, and grabbed his arm. My breathing was coming faster, and my words sounded slightly excited.
“Yes?”
“I see something.” I stared ahead, not sure if I was seeing things. I rubbed my eyes and looked again.
“Not another alien or gorilla.” His eyes twinkled at me.
“Funny—not.” I glared at him. “I think I see a building.”
“What?” His eyes narrowed, and he stared at me. “Where?”
“Look.” I pointed to a spot between a gathering of trees. “Over there.” His face turned to look in the direction I was pointing, and I saw him looking hard.
“I don’t see it.”
“Look between the two trees.” I grabbed him again. “I think there’s some sort of shack. It’s covered in shrubbery, but there’s a small window. Do you see it now?”
“I see it.” He nodded and started walking. “Let’s go check it out.”
I wanted to grab him again and tell him to stop. We didn’t know what it was or who was there, and I was scared. I wished I hadn’t complained now. I wished we had kept walking. I would have felt safer. Now I felt anxious and scared. What was waiting for us in the cabin? I took a deep breath and tried not to start screaming. What if Steve was in there with a gun?
The shack in front of us was small and wooden. It would have looked comfortable in the middle of a horror movie, a fact I kept to myself as we walked toward it. My heart was beating rapidly, and I could feel the fear in the tips of my fingers and bottoms of my feet. My face was flushed with heat, and I followed behind Jakob, scared of what we were about to see.
“Do you think someone lives here?” I whispered.
“I don’t know.” His voice was stiff, and I had a feeling that he was as shocked as I was. “I’m surprised that there’s a shack here. We’ve seen no other signs of the island being inhabited, aside from Steve showing up.”
“And this one looks like they tried to hide it. There’s shrubbery all over the front and back.”
“Yeah, it looks like they tried to camouflage it.” He looked back toward me. “Stand back while I go in. If you hear me shout, run back to the beach.”
“And do what?” I mumbled, but he didn’t answer.
I watched as he opened the door to the shack and took a step in. I followed him slowly, not wanting him to go in alone and not wanting to stand outside by myself. While I was worried about what was in the shack, I was also worried about the creature I had seen in the trees earlier.
“Jakob,” I spoke softly as I stepped into the sparse shack.
“Someone’s been waiting for us to find this place.” He looked at me with a thoughtful expression.
“Huh?” I stared at him in confusion. “Do you think it was Steve?”
“I don’t know.” He sighed. “Look.” He pointed to the corner of the room at a table.
On the small wooden table, there were two white envelopes. One envelope was addressed to Jakob, and the other envelope was addressed to me, Bianca London. I froze as I stared at the envelopes.
“Here you go.” He handed me my envelope.
I opened it slowly and read. My fingers trembled as I read the short message, and I felt my heart stop.
“What does yours say?” Jakob’s voice interrupted my thoughts.
“I, uh . . .” My voice shook, and I looked up at him with wide eyes.
“Mine says, “ ‘Everyone has a price. Every action has a consequence.’ ” He frowned and looked at me.
“ ‘Your life may be saved in death.’ ” My voice trembled, and I pressed my palm to my forehead to reassure myself that everything was okay.
The letter was printed on the same paper as the first note that had arrived at my apartment a week ago. My skin felt cold even though the sun was extremely hot outside, and the hairs on my arm stood on end as I shivered. I reread the note, trying to figure out if there was a clue I had missed on the page.
What was the connection between this note and the one I’d received before? What was I being saved from? Who was doing this to me? And why bring me here with Jakob? Why leave him a note as well? I didn’t understand him. Some parts of the day, he was light and friendly, while at other times, he seemed guarded and thoughtful. There was a look in his eye that scared me—a look that said no matter how long we spent together, he would still have his walls up.
A part of me was hurt that he seemed so closed off. I felt stupid for being hurt. Rationally, I knew that I didn’t know him, and he didn’t know me, yet it was still hard for me to let go of the fact that I wanted to feel closer to him. I’d already opened up to him partially about my past. Yes, I hadn’t told him the whole truth, but he knew more than anyone else. I’d told him more than I’d even told Rosie. And then there was the attraction I felt to him. Sexually, there was a magnetism to him that made me want to touch him and feel him on top of me. When he touched me, my skin lit up like a stove that had just been turned on. I craved his touch. I wanted to taste him. I wanted to feel him inside me. My time on the island was bringing out very primal urges in me. I felt like I was living each hour as if it were my last. For the most part, I enjoyed our banter. I felt like he really cared about me. I could see the concern for my safety in his eyes, and I could hear it in his voice. I knew that he legitimately felt something for me. I just wished that he trusted me as much as I’d already trusted me.
“Are you okay?” His voice interrupted my thoughts, and I looked up to see him frowning.
“The letter just took me aback.” I nodded slowly, not ready to tell him about the other note I’d received. Not until I felt like I was getting more from him.
“I understand.” He sighed. “We will get to the bottom of this.”
“How?”
“We’ll figure something out.”
“Do you think we’re going to die?”
“Only if we have to kill each other.” His words were soft, and I froze.
“I’m confused.” I spoke slowly, as if I were just now thinking about the question I was about to ask.
“About what?”
“Why would they leave you a note?” I scratched my head. “I mean, it just doesn’t add up. They see you with me once at a coffee shop and all of a sudden you’re prime suspect number two?” I licked my lips and studied his face carefully. I could see throbbing in his throat as he stared back at me. “What’s the point of leaving you a letter? And such a deep letter as well?”