I have a shower and hop into a new pair of clothes that we got given on the ship, then I order some breakfast before curling back up on the bed and flicking the television on. As soon as it flickers to life, Eric and my faces are all over the screen. I sit up, and stare at it in shock. Our pictures are all over the news with labels like “Miracle survival after a yacht accident.” I get off the bed and walk closer, listening to the report as a woman with mousy brown hair speaks into a microphone as if she knows what she’s talking about.

She doesn’t.

“Indigo Waters and Eric George were found late yesterday, after they went missing over two weeks ago. The two were on a yacht that was taken down after an accidental explosion. The waters were searched for a few days after, but there was no sighting. It was said the captain of the yacht was taking a shortcut, and wasn’t on a normal route. The two have been recovered safely, and are both well. More to come in an hour.”

John was taking a shortcut? He took us into those waters? Is that what they’re saying? I shake my head, and rub my hands over my stomach, feeling off. Now the entire world knows, and yet they don’t, really. They’re so far from the truth. I get off the bed, and am just about to head to the phone to ask Lyle about the media having our photos when there’s a knock on my door. With a weak sigh, I walk over and swing it open to see Eric. He’s pale, and trembling. Maybe he saw the news too?

“Eric, what’s…”

Before I can finish my sentence, Kane steps into view. My entire world stops. I open my mouth and inhale with shock as I lay eyes on the man that I was running from, and the man who somehow steered me here. He looks different, and yet so much the same. His eyes are still as cold and blue as they always were, and his once short blond hair is now long and whipping around his neck. To onlookers, Kane is an extremely attractive man. To me, he’s a monster.

“K…K…Kane, I don’t…”

“Hello Indigo, long time, no see.”

He moves further, and raises a gun. My knees wobble, and I reach out and grasp the door, holding myself upright as fear shoots through my body.

“Well, aren’t you going to invite me in?”

I step back, unable to do anything else. Eric meets my terrified stare, and he begins to tremble harder. Kane shoves him through the doorway, and then slams the door behind him before spinning to us both, pointing the gun in our direction.

“Sit, now.”

We both take the few steps back toward the bed, and slowly lower ourselves onto it. Kane begins to pace the room, tapping the gun into his palm.

“H…h…h…how did you get here?” I whisper.

He spins to me, and a low, throaty chuckle escapes his throat. “It was easy. The media had a story on you, and had been plastering your face over the news for the last week when the yacht that went down got reported in. Only one body was found, and the rescue boat was gone. I figured you would survive - either that or you were dead, but I wasn’t risking the off chance that you would show up and I’d miss my chance to kill you like you deserve, so I flew over and started scouring these small islands.”

He stops and chuckles coldly.

“Then, yesterday, I saw your faces all over the news again. They’d found you, and you were safely on an island until you were to be flown home. There’s only one island in this area, and I recognized the background of the interview with the reporter who spoke to the navy. I got on a plane and was here in less than two hours. I was out this morning, wondering about my next move, when Eric shows up in the store I was in. It was like everything I had ever planned was falling into place. I threatened him with a gun to his balls, and told him to pretend I was his brother and take me back to his room. Your idiot officer friends didn’t even question him.”

Oh.

God.

I try to get into survival mode, and think about all the things we were taught about removing oneself from a situation like this. Keep them talking, don’t make them angry, try and get help. I let my eyes flicker to the phone on the kitchenette. I just have to get to it…and call Lyle. I need a distraction first, something to take Kane’s mind off me.

“Go right ahead and kill me, Kane. I couldn’t care less,” I mutter, in a monotone voice.

His face flickers with confusion before he makes a snorting sound. “Don’t even try that one on, Indigo. I’m not letting you get away with it that easily. No, I’m going to make this hurt. I’m going to make you watch your friend here scream, then I’m going to kill you slowly, painfully, while you relive every moment you put me through fucking hell.”

“You deserved it!” I spit.

So much for keeping him calm.

He storms over, and he hits my cheek so hard with the butt of his gun that my head spins. I topple backwards, and I whimper in agony as I feel a strong, intense ache begin pulsing in my cheek and moving through my head. That’s going to bruise.

“Get up,” Kane bellows.

“Please stop,” Eric cries.

“Shut the fuck up, Nancy boy, or I’ll cut your dick off and shove it down your throat.”

Eric makes a whimpering sound, and Kane grips me, hurling me up. I cry out and land on the floor in front of him with a thump. My knees scrape across the carpet, and my cheek burns. I have to blink numerous times to stop the spinning that is threatening to make me pass out. Kane’s fingers tangle in my hair, and he lifts me off the ground, screaming.

“Let me go!” I wail, lashing out and kicking his shin.