“I couldn’t let you do this alone.” His face was manic. “I would kill myself if anything happened to you.”

“What are you two talking about?” Steve looked back and forth at us, and then his eyes narrowed as he stared at me. “You weren’t really fighting, were you?”

“Did you think you’d get away with this, Steve?” Jakob’s voice was loud and angry. “Did you think you could play this game with us?”

“You didn’t know each other when you got to the island.” Steve stared at me. “Listen to me, Bianca. This man is playing a game with you. None of this has been an accident. I’m here to protect you. I’m here to help you seek your truth.”

“He’s lying to you, Bianca.” Jakob grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him. “I promise you, this man is up to no good.”

“Why don’t you tell her why she’s really here?” Steve stepped forward and pulled the knife off of the bottom of his flask before flinging the flask to the ground. He pointed the knife at me and it glittered in the moonlight, and I screamed as he ran toward us, knife high in the air.

“Shut up!” he shouted at me as I continued to scream. He lunged toward us, and I immediately noticed that he was no longer limping.

“Step back, Bianca.” Jakob pushed me behind him and lunged toward Steve. He grabbed Steve’s arm, and I watched as Steve kneed Jakob in the stomach. He doubled over, and Steve took the opportunity to right hook him in the gut.

“Jakob!” I screamed as I watched the two men fighting. I didn’t know what to do, but I nearly dropped to the ground in relief when I watched Jakob stand tall and punch Steve in the face. He grabbed Steve’s face and hit him again.

I stared at the fight and felt tears running down my face. I had never been so scared before in my life. Jakob definitely had the better build, but Steve had the knife. “Jakob, be careful!” I shouted as loudly as I could, trying to warn him as I saw Steve step forward to try to stab him.

“Run, Bianca.” His voice was hoarse, and I saw both men fall to the ground. “Run!” he called out to me again, and he turned to look up at me. I stared at him in shock and watched as a suddenly very agile Steve pushed him down and held the knife to his neck.

“Stop!” I stepped forward to hit Steve on the head, but the look Jakob gave me froze me to the spot.

“Run!” Jakob commanded once more. “Don’t worry about me, Bianca. You need to run and hide.” I stared at the two of them fighting for a few seconds and saw Steve look back at me. His eyes looked like evil slits, and I could see that he was no longer pretending to be a nice guy. “Run, Bianca!” This time I didn’t hesitate.

Eleven

As I sprinted up the sandy beach, I heard the two of them fighting, but I didn’t look back. My legs were aching, and my mind was numb, but still I didn’t stop. “Be okay, Jakob, please be okay,” I mumbled to myself as I ran.

I ran to the jungle and through the trees on the path to the shack. My mind was blank with fear, and all I could think about was the look in Steve’s eyes as he had watched me standing there. He was out for blood. I stopped as I thought about Jakob getting hurt. My breath came out fast and erratic, and I turned around. I needed to go back to the beach to help him. I needed to make sure he was okay. I couldn’t leave him there by himself. Maybe if I jumped on top of Steve, I’d be able to distract him long enough for Jakob to grab the knife.

My breathing grew heavier as I thought about the knife. When had Jakob realized that Steve had a knife? Why hadn’t he said anything before now? I collapsed to the ground, suddenly overcome by tears. I was scared, really scared. Maybe the most scared I’d ever been in my life. And I was also confused. Nothing was adding up, and nothing was making sense. I dropped to the ground and sobbed, not knowing what to do.

I heard a cracking noise above me and jumped back up. “Don’t break down now, Bianca,” I muttered to myself, and jumped up and down for energy and then dusted off my legs. I looked back toward the beach and thought for a moment. “Self-preservation, Bianca.” I started running farther into the jungle. “You can’t figure out the truth if you’re dead.” My heart wanted me to run back to the beach to help Jakob, but my brain was telling me to look after myself. I ran toward the shack, anxious to get to the hideout. I ran so fast that I tripped over some small rocks and went flying into the bush. I scraped my knee, and it started burning, but still I continued on. I almost cried in relief as I made it to the small building, which I’d been so afraid of returning to. I opened the door eagerly and hobbled inside. My eyes immediately went to the table in the corner. It was no longer empty. I walked over to it and saw a bunch of candy wrappers and a pen. I frowned as I stared at the table. I was positive that those candy wrappers had not been there before. I looked to the ground to search for anything else. There were a couple of pieces of paper that I snatched up, but they were blank. I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes, trying to control my breathing. It was then that I saw something white sticking out of a piece of fabric lying on the floor in the other corner of the shack. I walked over to it and pulled the fabric up. I gasped as I saw that it was a photo. I grabbed it and stared at it, the blood draining from my face.

The photo was of my mother, my father, and me.

It was one of the only photos I had of the three of us. The last time I’d seen the photo, it had been in my father’s box, in my apartment. I held the picture to my heart, which was racing now, and I was starting to feel claustrophobic. I looked around to see if I could find anything else as I waited. I surveyed the rest of the shack quickly, and all I found was some blank pieces of paper; the same paper that the notes had been written upon. Sinking to the ground, I closed my eyes and prayed that Jakob would defeat Steve. Steve was the man who had been writing the notes. He was obviously working with my kidnapper. The fact that there was a photo of my family in this room told me that someone had been in my apartment and through my personal belongings. Maybe the photograph was even a warning. Maybe this was Mattias’s way of telling me to back off. I dropped the photo onto the ground and started crying. I picked the photo back up and stared at it for a few minutes before turning it over. It was then that my heart stopped again as I saw the message. How did Steve know I was going to see the photo? Unless, of course, it was part of his plan. Or a part of the plan that he hadn’t gotten to carry out as yet. I walked to the door and opened it so that I could read by the light of the moon.