The Missing - Kiersten Modglin (the reading strategies book TXT) 📗

deserted island, with no guarantee of tomorrow, and you’re wildly attracted to me.”

I furrowed my brow, pressing my lips together. “I’m not wildly attracted to you.” My body physically revolted against the lie. I felt my core tighten, my words sounding strange and foreign, but he just laughed dryly and lay back on the ground, his hands under his head.

“Whatever you say, Buttercup. Sooner or later, you’ll come around. I just hope I’m still living to see the day.”

“We should get some rest,” I said, shutting down the subject. I lay down beside him, mere inches between our bodies, but I’d made sure they weren’t touching in the slightest. I could hear his breathing, feel the warmth from his skin, the warmth from the fire by our feet. I closed my eyes, listening to the sounds of the forest, the crackling of the fire, and the rhythmic music of our breaths syncing together, slowing.

Then, sleep found me, and I let it take me away from the pain and worry. At least for a few hours.

Chapter Nineteen

Nice work. One down, three to go until one of you leaves the island for good.

The note had been laid across Harry’s grave, held down by a small rock. When we awoke the next morning, the sun had risen high in the sky. It was the latest we’d ever slept in on the island. The thought made me feel sick because I realized that meant we were beginning to grow accustomed to our surroundings enough to find deep, restful sleep.

Now we were making our way back toward camp, the note hidden in Noah’s pocket, but its words still echoing in my head. It confirmed what we all thought, that whatever game or experiment we’d found ourselves involved in, for any one of us to leave, the others had to be dead.

I didn’t know if the ‘nice work’ was referring to us surviving, or the fact that Harry had died. We walked side by side this time, traveling as one force, rather than three separate individuals as we had on our way to the cliff. We passed the trees we’d marked, the weight of both machetes in my hands weighing on me.

We passed the bit of mud where Harry’s shoe had slid on our way here. Neither of us pointed it out as we walked past, but I saw us both clock it. I knew we were thinking of our friend, hoping to remember everything we could about our time together.

I also knew we were bracing ourselves for the harsh reality of having to deliver the news to Ava and James. Ava, in particular, had been as close to Harry as I was. The news would be a shock to her, and she was already in such a frail condition. I only hoped that rest had done her well, and that we’d find her healthy and prepared for what was coming.

Not that any of us could truly prepare.

As we neared the campsite, I heard the trickling of water and the lilts of their voices.

“That’s what it means,” Ava was saying, panic in her tone.

“It can’t.”

“It does.”

They were arguing, I realized, their heated tones carrying across the forest.

“It has to be a trick, then,” James was saying. “You’ll see. They’ll be back any minute—”

“And if they aren’t? What if they don’t come back? What if they were part of it all and—”

A branch snapped under Noah’s shoe, and their voices stopped suddenly.

“Who’s there?” I heard James cry out, and I thought instantly of the guns they both had access to.

“We come in peace,” Noah called out, teasing them with his hands in the air as we rounded the corner and came into view. They were standing near the water, their eyes wide with fear. When they saw us, relief flooded their expressions. Then, practically at once, the worry was back.

Here goes nothing.

“Harry?” Ava asked, a certain kind of knowing in her expression that broke my heart. I opened my mouth to speak but lost my nerve. She spotted the moment it happened and shook her head. “No…”

“He fell off the cliff,” Noah said. “Slipped when we were climbing down.”

James took a protective step in front of Ava, as if he could somehow shield her from the heartbreak itself. “How bad is it?”

“He’s gone,” Noah told them, tears flooding my vision once again as we relived the pain. Ava’s eyes were locked on mine, and I watched tears begin to fill her almond eyes. “It was quick… He was gone within a few minutes.”

“I don’t understand…” James’s eyes darted between the two of us. “What happened? His neck broke? Did he land on his head? Why didn’t you come get us?”

“It was internal bleeding,” I said. “There was nothing any of us could’ve done. It happened so quickly.” My eyes fell to where Harry’s book lay on the ground, next to the fire, and my chest filled with a new, fresh ache.

James sniffled, rubbing his hand under his nose aggressively as the other hand gripped a crying Ava’s waist. “Where is he now?”

“We buried him,” Noah said. “By the cliff.”

“We marked it. In case we want to go back… Or for when we’re found, so they can take his body.”

Ava and James were quiet. He pulled her around to face him, her cheek pressed into his chest as he rubbed a hand across her face. “Shhh…” He tried to console her as she broke out into sobs.

“We did everything we could,” I said, trying to quiet my own tears. “He, um, he had a daughter, Daisy. He wants us to tell her he was sorry. And that he loved her.”

“Why are you telling us this?” James demanded.

“In case something happens to me,” I said. “I shouldn’t be the only one who knows.” They seemed to be contemplating something, their faces holding more than just sorrow. “I’m sorry you couldn’t be there. We can take you there, if you want to say your goodbyes.”

“Yeah, maybe,” James said