Isla

 

I could get used to this.

Placing down my pencil, I stretched and stood up, smiling at the page covered with sketches of Kai’s cats. Lulu being sweet and cuddly, Spooky staring into space, Bonsi lying on his back, Gallant sitting up straight at the window, Jet slinking by, Nacho bewildered by a shadow on the wall, and Zuku pointedly ignoring me.

They were quite a gang of cats and I found myself unable to help but love them a little. Nor could I help but melt a little as I watched Kai out of the corner of my eye with them. He was scrupulous about keeping them happy, as well as making sure they got equal attention.

Damn. There was something about a big muscular guy and a fluffy cat that snuck past all my defenses and made me like him in spite of myself.

But I don’t trust him, I assured myself. I wasn’t a sucker.

However, with each passing day, as we fell into a comfortable rhythm, I found myself thinking back on all my interactions with TLO. Here, it was becoming easier to believe Kai and wonder at my naiveté regarding the TLO. Specifically, Tina.

Tina was another artist, a blossoming musician with a sultry voice who was about my age. She’d been promised a big-name mentor to work with in Northern Cali and a tour. Yet that had been at least a month ago and I'd realized I hadn't heard from her since she left on her trip. Tina and I had been close, so I was surprised she hadn't texted but I'd told myself she was busy.

But sitting in a safe house in Hawaii, I couldn’t help but start to worry about her. Tina was one of the most considerate girls I knew and she didn’t have much of a family to notice an absence.

Exactly like me, I’d thought, staring up at the ceiling in the dead of night.

The other TLO artists, sometimes called initiates by Hale in a careless manner, were much the same. Young, struggling kids down on their luck and with family either absent or far away.

Now my stomach clenched every time I thought of Tina, with her silver-tipped ringlets and that wide smile. Was she okay? And if she wasn't – what had happened to her?

Was it the same fate I’d been rescued from?

More and more puzzle pieces, grim and unnerving, were starting to appear on the board. Kai’s questions swirled around my brain in a relentless loop. Where had that money been coming from? Why wasn’t TLO more widely known? I recalled googling it once and coming up with very little. Why hadn’t that tipped me off? What was wrong with me?

Who was Dr. Crane? And what did he want with me? With any of us?

I had a feeling the answers to those questions would finish the puzzle in front of me. As well as explain why Kai had said: "Ignorance is bliss."

Speak of the surfer. Kai walked in, wrapped in his usual towel and didn’t even glance at me as he went to his room. My eyes rolled of their own accord.

While Kai was more than willing to cook and teach me surfing, he also had lapsed into a kind of indifferent friendliness. Unless I initiated it, Kai didn’t go out of his way to talk to me.

He cares more about the damn cats than you, Isla, came a snide thought and I instantly shook my head. I didn’t care if Kai paid attention to me.

Then he walked by, shirtless and in a pair of worn shorts. Perking up, I smiled at him.

Not even a glance.

I shook my head. Ugh, why did I care if Kai paid attention to me or not?

From what I could tell of Kai, he didn’t go anywhere or have much of a life. I knew he got up early, never missing a sunrise and then would work out for an hour or two. After breakfast, he relaxed with the cats and a book, sometimes writing or playing guitar. Surfing for a few hours, then lunch, more surfing or a nap. Dinner and early to bed.

While Kai didn’t seem restless, sometimes there was a look on his face that made me think he’d resigned himself to a simple and routine cycle of days. And something about that sent a pang through my heart I couldn’t explain to myself.

 

Later that afternoon, I wandered outside in my bathing suit and down to the water. It was choppier than usual, the horizon dark off to the south. What I’d thought was a large cloud for several days was actually “the Big Island” as Kai called it. Now it was swathed in fog.

Resting my chin on my knees, I dug my hands and feet into the sand. Anxiety was starting to rise up in me about tomorrow. Meeting the Director. Getting answers. Though this nausea-inducing limbo hadn’t been a jaunt, after tomorrow, I couldn’t pretend things could go back to the way they were. A sharp ache pulsed in my throat. I had to start over and find a real job.

Maybe give up on art altogether.

Unable to take those thoughts, I got to my feet and lurched into the water, diving under. I wanted to wash away all of my past and all of the pain. Floating on my back, I stared up at the sky and let myself drift with the current.

What am I going to do? I wondered numbly. I’d sublet my apartment and now had nowhere to go. It wasn’t like I could tell the girl to find somewhere else for three months.

For a fruitless moment, I wished I had someone to fall back on. Someone who could extend a hand and pull me out of this mess. I closed my eyes as tears burned. It wasn’t fair.

A hiss and harsh slap of water recalled me back to reality. Twisting around in the water, I glanced back and forth, realizing I’d drifted far from the bungalow. It was barely visible up the beach. Suddenly, something sucked at me, pulling me out. A riptide.

Turning, I saw a pile of rocks jutting up, waves slamming against them. That was making the noise. Kai had warned me about them, then laughed and said, “Well, I doubt you’d end up down there, but it’s dangerous.” But Kai didn’t realize he was dealing with a goddamn jinx.

Arms burning, I tried to angle myself towards shore, but no matter which way I tried to go, I wasn’t getting anywhere. The rocks were still behind me and I was still being dragged in.

Shit, shit, shit! I thought, coughing as a wave heaved against me and pushed me back. The water was becoming rougher and the sky was darkening. Rain splattered on my face. I’d been so busy feeling sorry for myself I hadn’t noticed the storm rolling in.

Suddenly the sun broke through the dark clouds and hit the rocks in a blinding array of light. One rock was sharp and wicked, the light piercing my eye like a needle.

Pain flared in my arm and I gripped it. A memory suddenly swamped me and I went still, treading water as I remembered.

One-oh… Nine.

Walking with Hale and Dr. Crane to the room.

109. A room like a nightmare from a horror movie hospital. Trying to escape. Heavy boots and then Hale had caught me. Jabbed a needle in my arm and said I was important.

My breathing was growing shallow and I shook my head, trying to push it down. But the memory had me in its grip and I couldn’t think straight.

There had been a confusion of darkness and moving shapes. A woman tackling Hale.

Then someone holding me in shaking arms. Saying my name. Checking my pulse. Filled with relief that I was alive. A complete stranger, but someone who cared.

Kai.

His agonized face burst into my mind, but at that moment a wave slammed me and I choked on a sudden inrush of water. Tumbling over and over, I was disoriented, unsure which way was up.

Red hot pain sliced along my leg and I burst onto the surface, letting out a cry of pain. My head was spinning as I spat out water. The rain was lashing down and the wind was howling by me. Desperate, I stroked towards shore, trying to breathe, but then another wave crushed me down.

Brain screaming for oxygen, I tried to swim, but my body wasn't responding. Panic and confusion filled me. No, no this is not how I die.

But I was sinking, the agony in my leg growing and my movements were listless.

Something warm crashed into me and I was propelled to the surface in one motion. Gasping and coughing, I flailed as an arm locked around my stomach, dragging me back to shore.

Shallower, warmer water was around me as two arms pulled me against a chest and I was carried out, before being laid in the sand. Water poured from my mouth and nose as I gasped.

Two shaking hands grabbed my face and Kai was staring down at me. “Isla,” he breathed, his chest rising and falling, eyes dilated and white underneath his tan. “Isla. Can you hear me? Where’s your injury? Did you hit anything else besides your leg?”

The image seemed to fracture as I stared up at him.

“She’s alive,” Kai was saying, a small smile appearing on his face and his shoulders sagging with relief. We were in room 109. Pain flared in my arm again, almost matching that of my leg.

Closing my eyes, I sucked in a deep breath, trying to make sense of it.

“Isla!” Kai was shouting now.

Opening my eyes, I saw Kai haloed by sunlight piercing the storm clouds as rain pelted us. “You,” I said slowly, as part of the puzzle came together. “You saved me.”

"Jesus, Isla, of course, I did." He was starting to get angry, I could tell by the way his mouth had set into a line. "What the hell were you–" Taking a deep breath, Kai asked in a scarily calm voice. "Are you sure you didn't hit your head? Or your spine? I don't want to move you if–"

“Just my leg,” I said, trying not to wince and he looked down.

In one fluid movement, Kai picked me up and was striding down the beach. The sun was swallowed by the storm again and everything was dark. I said nothing, staring around in confusion as Kai kept walking. How far had I drifted?

At that moment, I realized he was muttering something in a language I didn’t know under his breath. But from the gist of it, he didn’t sound happy. Shame engulfed me. I’d almost drowned or been dashed to pieces because I’d been so lost in my own thoughts. What was wrong with me?

Finally, we got back to the bungalow and Kai took me straight to the shower. The faint dry smell of the air conditioner and silence of the house was disconcerting after the crash and rumble of waves. Sitting me on the wide edge of the tub, he grabbed the showerhead down and turned it on.

Tension had knotted up his shoulders and he said nothing as he cleaned my wound.

“Kai?” I asked as he finished and bloody water swirled down the drain.

“Don’t move,” he said tersely, getting up and vanishing.

The gash on my leg was ugly, a bruise forming around it, but I was looking down at my arm, rubbing the spot where Hale had jabbed me with the needle. There was a faint bruise there as well.

Kai came back with bandages, sat on the floor beside the tub and gestured at me to swing my legs around. Wrapping up my leg, I watched and tried not to take a tiny bit of pleasure in being taken care of. Even though it was the last thing I should have been feeling.

After he finished, he leaned against the tub and closed his eyes. “I’m sorry,” Kai suddenly said, raking a hand through his hair. “I didn’t realize you’d gone out…”

“It wasn’t your fault – it was mine.” I couldn’t bear the look on his face and I moved to sit opposite him on the floor. “Kai, thank you. You saved my life–”

“It shouldn’t have even gotten to that point, Isla,” Kai said harshly, pressing a fist to his forehead. “I was almost too late. You’d drifted so far…”

“How did you get to me so fast, though?” I asked slowly, thinking back. The last time I’d looked at the beach it had been empty – mere minutes before I slammed into the rocks.

“Ran,” Kai said dully.

“Hell of a runner,” I said lightly. “Sprint in high school?”

Opening his eyes a slit, Kai regarded me and my heart leaped. Then he closed his eyes again. "You don't have to be nice. You and I both know I screwed up."

“You didn’t, Kai!” I snapped, frustrated with him. “I’m a jinx. It was out of your control.”

“A jinx?” He opened his eyes and regarded me. His brown eyes were flecked with dark obsidian and traces of gold.

For a moment I didn’t respond, then I nodded. “Bad luck. Always have been. Everything ends in a big failure or screw-up, trust me. So, if anyone would get conned by a twisted doctor, it would be me.”

“Isla, that’s not being a jinx. That’s life,” Kai said, a little cynically. I raised my eyebrows at him and he made a face. “But I mean, only if you’re focused on the destination. It’s the journey that’s more important. And failure teaches you things.”

“There he is,” I said with a smile and he smiled back. Heat sparked in my belly and I hastily looked down, tucking my hair behind my ears. Then I stopped and stared.

Our right hands were inches apart on the bathroom floor. And on Kai’s wrist was the same circle, only his was far older and more scarred.

Grabbing his hand, I looked at him and pointed. “What the hell is this?” The smile faded off of Kai’s face and he gently freed his hand, rubbing his thumb over it. “Why do I have one, too?”

Face growing serious, Kai reached out and took my hand. He looked down at the red circle on my wrist and his face grew sad. “I was hoping this wouldn’t scar.” My entire body lit up as he gently brushed a thumb over it. “It was a tracking device. Until I removed it.”

I froze, remembering the weird stamp Dr. Crane had applied to that exact spot a few months ago. How it had kind of hurt and itched for days after.

“Almost invisible and very hard to remove,” Kai continued. “A small, metal ring. Be pretty impressive if it wasn’t being used for something so twisted.”

He let go of my hand and I caught it against my chest with the other. “Why? Why did they need to know where I was? What did they want with me? With you?”

“Director will be here tomorrow. She’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

Kai went to get up and I caught his forearm tightly, stopping him. “Need to know?” I asked. “So not everything? Like for instance, would I have been told that this is the second time you saved my life, Kai?” He went still. “I remembered,” I said, my fingers tightening. “I remembered Hale jabbing me in the arm with that needle and then you were there.”

Shock raced across his face and then Kai averted his eyes. “Oh, shit,” he muttered.

“It happened in the water. Something about the light, it triggered the memory.” I paused, then my voice broke a little. “Kai, I had a friend in the TLO. But I realized I haven’t heard from her in over a month. Is she… Her name was Tina. Do you think she could have rescued, too?”

He grimaced, running a hand over his face. “I couldn’t say.”

Biting my lip, I nodded and then giving into impulse, I threw my arms around Kai’s neck, letting my head fall onto his shoulder. A shudder went through him, but then he carefully looped his arms around my back. When I snuggled closer, his arms went tight and our bodies became flush.

Suddenly a cold twinge of guilt went through me. “Sorry,” I murmured, lifting my head.

A big hand cupped my head. “No. You hold on for as long as you need to. I’m not going anywhere.” His breath stirred my hair. “Rushing hugs is not allowed in Hawaii.”

Letting out a soft laugh, I closed my eyes and settled against him. “Wouldn’t want to break the law.”

“No,” Kai agreed. “We wouldn’t want that.”