#it’s kind of light? i mean it’s recognisably brown. but the sun will bleach blonde streaks in it

[fingertipsmp3]

Is it just me who cannot figure out their colour season

[samuelcrobinsononlinearchive]

island .1

I don't remember a lot about my first day, I remember the feeling of the sand in my toes. My body was shaking from what I can only still assume was being washed to shore. The sudden exposer to light burning my vision, a cool but warm breeze swooping over the island’s sandy landscape slapping into me. I didn’t panic, I stayed collected like a proper lady. That was until I stood up, I looked down the beach over the sand bump and saw a pile of wooden shacks and caravans decorated in light bulbs. In the center of the islands black sandy landscape my mother’s run-down house, it sat proud in the middle like the island was welcoming me. Then towering over them all a tall city sky scraper on the right. I hadn’t seen the tower before, but I could imagen the tall building sharing space in a tight city somewhere. Nothing made sense, it was terrifying but seeing my mothers house in the center of it all made me sick to my stomach.

A thick rusted metal bracelet was locked around my wrist, it let out a shock every time I tried to make a step closer to the buildings. My body fell to the ground with every attempted, my legs fell numb and my Bladder felt weak. I drew a line in the sand with my fingers and collapsed onto my knees, dipping the bracelets I to the cooling sea water. I short hiss let out as the bracelet cooled off, my shorts filled with water with every invading wave. I felt violated as I fleeted my hands over my body checking for scars, if the tide comes in I will have to make a choice. Burn or drown. The moon soon replaced the sun with what felt like a blink of the eye.  

light bulbs looped around the shacks in a decorative manner then straight across to my mother’s house. They finally led all the way up to one of the scrapers balcony's. Large metal plates of some kind that let off a strange humming sound were fixed on two sides of the sky scraper. It looked as if it had been ripped from the ground it was once fixated to and dropped on the island by mistake. This was no mistake, someone has gone through a lot of effort to put me here, to put my mother’s house here, something was going to happen and I knew that it was meant for me. I laid on my back looking directly at the stars, not a single cloud had past since I woke up. The stars and the ocean waves were calming, if it wasn't for the shocking metal bracelet and the fact I was starving this could have been a lucid dream.  

why me? I'm an average boring teenager with no hobbies or much sex appeal. I left school last year and started working in an office, I still live my neurotic mother who insists that we all sit down to dinner every weekend. The tide finally went out and my body could dry a little, it was warm but nothing too extreme. I don't know how long I can last laying here with out anything to eat or drink? I don't remember the last time I ate, in fact I don't remember anything about the last few days. I remember work but it felt like so long ago, how long have I been on this island? How long did I spend traveling unknowingly to the island? Am I older now? I guess I must be right? I'm at least one day older than when I woke up here.  

The moon moved slowly behind the cliffs next to the skyscraper, the island seemed almost still, voided of life. The only man-made noise came from the humming of the metal plates, maybe I should have called for help? I figu    the more attention I drew to myself the more I'm likely to get the attention I'm not looking for. My hair was frizzy and dry from the oceans embrace and my eyes felt run down from all the drama and silent tears. They started to feel heavy until I finally gave into the forth coming sleep, the last thing I remembered about my first day on the island was thinking. "I hope I wake up tomorrow"  

Day two.  

“Who are you” a little boy, I guess around eight or nine was standing over me.  

“Who are you?” I was never very good at conversing in the morning.  

“I asked first, who are you?” He stepped back as I started to sit up.  

“Hey! You have a bracelet too?” I pointed at his wrist.  

“We all do” he turned his head towards my mother’s house.  

As I stood up I could see people of all ages starting to stand up, a man laid on the beach no more than ten feet away from me.  

“Is he okay?” The little boy grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him.  

“ I can't it will shock me!” I yelled at him, you shouldn't yell at kids unless you have a shocking chunk of metal on your wrist.  

“Mine shocks me too” he looked down at his wrist.  

It was only now I could see the burn marks on his arm. The metal had singed into his skin, it was red and full of puss.

“It didn't stop until the sun came back” he pulled me towards the man who still laid motionless. I could see at least ten people gathering just outside my mum’s house, some were crying and others were shouting. The man must have been in his early twenties, maybe even my age. He was wearing a black suit with an expensive looking tie, his shock bracelet was different to ours, it was slim and red.  

“Is he okay?” The little boy let go of my hand and begun to search through the mans pockets.  

“You shouldn't touch him kid” I couldn't help but sound condescending and old.  

"What's your name?" The little boy looked up at me with his big brown eyes.  

"Phillip" he pulled out the mans wallet and begun to look through it.  

"His name is Luke Thomas Ryan and he's nineteen yea-"  

"I'm almost twenty actually" Ryan sat up and put his hand out towards Phillip.  

"You shouldn't be taking things that don't belong to you already Philip" Ryan took the wallet shoved it into his pocket and stood up. He looked at me for a while, as if I was the first women he had seen in days.  

"What do you mean already?" I mean that would imply he's been here for a while and that he was aware of his being here?  

"I mean this is only day two on the island" He looked as if he was startled by a woman speaking openly to him.  

"So, you know where we are?" I felt like Sherlock himself deducting words and taking in every inch of him with my eyes. He was tall, almost seven feet with daft looking blonde hair that fell in front of his eyes. His suit was perfect, no wrinkles or sand patches.  

"I woke up last night, I'm guessing like both of you?" He flashed me a quick smile showing off his perfectly white teeth. He must have bleached them, nobody has teeth like that. "Who are you anyway?" Great how do I answer that one?  

"I guess I'm Julie and that's Phillip" burgh why did I say that.  

"Well Julie and Phillip, let's go find out why we are here"

Phillip grabbed my hand as we walked towards my mother’s house, a group of at least twelve people were gathering. Ryan walked ahead of us and shouted for everyone to calm down.  

"does anyone have any water?" He took control of the situation but I'm not sure that was a good thing. Everyone looked no older than twenty with the youngest two being Phillip and a girl his age called Phebe. There was seven boys and seven girls totalling to fourteen of us, we all sat on my mother’s wooden porch waiting for something to happen. Ryan kept asking people to raise their hands to stupid questions he was asking, I guess he thought he was Sherlock too.  

"Has anyone been to this island before" Nobody raised their hand.  

"Is anyone here a member or was a member or a terrorist organisation" What does he think this is? Political kidnappings.  

"Did everyone wake up outside" Everyone but Phillip raised his hand.  

"I woke up inside a cave" Phillip sounded scared, like the cave had somehow hurt him.  

"I nudged him a little and asked him where the cave was.  

" I can't tell you Julie" He looked down at his wrist.  

"It hurt me"  

"Not this time Phillip I promise"  

I didn't think It was a good idea to tell anyone this was my house, I mean they could think I had something to do with it. I'm not even sure this is my house. A boy just a bit young than me told everyone that all the doors were somehow locked, he had tried to kick them down but they were too hard for just him.  

"Does anyone recognise these houses?" A ginger girl in an oversized yellow jumper raised her hand.  

"Well actually, that's my house" She pointed to the tower.  

"It's mine too" a boy no older than me raised his hand. Soon almost everyone concluded that they knew or had stayed in one the buildings on the island. I still didn't think it was a good idea to own up to the fact that this was my mother’s porch we were sitting on. The fact my house was in the centre of the island had to mean something.  

"We should at least investigate the tower" Ryan couldn't help but sound like a leader. The leader of what I have no idea. I finally spoke up and said I would come with him. Phillip stayed with Phebe on the porch of my mother’s house with another girl called Jane. She said that she would make sure they didn't get too scared, another boy called Charles asked if he could some with us. See if his apartment door would unlock with his card key.  

Soon there was five of us, marching towards the tower. It had looked close than I thought, each step I took the tower looked no closer. My body was aching with exhaustion, I felt not a day older but decades older. The black sand was deep, my feet sunk a couple of inches like a snow day back home. The size of the building makes it appear closer than it is, it has shiny tinted windows with steel looking fixtures. Sloppy welding and rusty frames, it was as if the building was revealing its age and imperfections to us. The humming grew louder as we started to close in on it, almost unbearable. Who could live here like this?  

"Hey, you look worried" Ryan dropped back from the group to walk beside me.  

"I'm okay, just thirsty that’s all"  

"Yeah, we really need to find something to eat or drink soon before we start eating each other" Ryan nudged into me.  

"I'm afraid I don't eat meat" I couldn't help but wonder if he already knew that.  

Waking up on a strange island somehow makes you paranoid about everything and everyone.

"Have you noticed yet?"  

"noticed what exactly?"  

" Well now Julie, I thought you had more whit about you" He laughed at me. Jerk

" There are how many people on this island so far?" He slowed his pace down so that the distance between us and the others grew.  

"Seven girls and seven boys?" I did that thing where you heighten your voice at the end of a sentence so that it sounds like a question.  

"Good now, have you noticed that my bracelet and yours are different colours?" He looked smug.  

"well, actually it was the first thing I noticed"  

" So there are exactly seven silver bracelets and seven red" he stopped walking and faced me.  

"Julie, what if that's because there are supposed to be two groups?" I laughed at his ridiculous question and carried on walking.  

The doors to the tower were grand, expensive looking but dirty from the sand. The black tinted doors had a beautiful 30's art deco pattern around them.  

"The key doesn't work" Charles was getting annoyed.  

"wait, that's new" He said.  

Next to the beautiful doors was a black techno looking thing. Like one of those eye scanners you see in spy movies. I walked through the group and put my metal bracelet against it, it beeped a few times and then flashed red.  

"Charles try yours" He pushed his red bracelet against the door scanner. It beeped again then flashed red.  

"Okay someone else try" Ryan being the born leader called each of us up one by one until finally he pushed his bracelet next to the scanner. Nothing happened for a while until a few seconds later it flashed green. The door unlocked with a mechanical clunking noise. "Access granted".  

"Sorry did the door just talk to you?" I couldn't help but laugh at how stupid that would be. Ryan pulled open the door first and made a heroic declaration about how he would be the first to see if it's safe. My hero. Charles followed him and then returned to inform us unheroic folk that it was safe to come in. Tyrone and Joanne went in next follow by myself. The hallway was a grand room, filled with smart looking furniture. Typical rich English décor, with a beautiful white marble floor and a large front desk. I could imagine the smart dressed receptionist denying people access for not being presentable enough. The elevator was already at the ground floor when we arrived. The lights were out but somehow the elevator had power. We didn't question it for too long because Charles had mentioned that he was on floor seventeen. 17 flights of stairs in wet knickers. I went in first followed by Ryan and then Charles, Tyrone and finally Joanne who wasn't a small girl. Ryan had his back to me when Joanne pushed backwards to avoid the closing doors. His hand crashed into mine causing our bracelets to connect. They let off a short but hard shock knocking both of us to floor. I could hear Joanne screaming and tyrone hovering over me asking if I was dead, I was still conscious but barely breathing from the shock. In the panic and cramped elevator someone must have pushed the buttons because the speaker announced our arrival at the penthouse top floor.  

***

My mind and body started to reconnect, adjusting to the pain. I snapped out of REM and my body flung up, mouth wide open letting out sharp gasp.

"Oh my god, we for sure thought you was both dead" Tyrone wasn't the most optimistic. "I'm okay, I think" Again I did the body pat down, checking for any cuts or burns. My mother worked in a hospital, she always talked about people who had no access to medicines and that even a paper cut could be life threatening.  

"I'm all here" why did I have to say that out loud.  

"Sorry, what?" Tyrone looked confused.  

"Don't worry, is Ryan okay" I asked.

"He's fine, we put him in his bed" Joanne was stuffing her face with some strange looking mush.  

"What do you mean his bed?" I asked.  

"yeah, look" tyrone pointed to the wall. A painting the size of my bath hung above the marble fire place, in the centre of the painting a grey-haired man sat with authority. Next to him stood a beautiful young wife and on the left, was Ryan, he looked just as unhappy about the painting as I was.

"Why didn't he tell us?" I was angry, somehow it felt like he had lied to me. Jerk face  

"well it's obvious, isn't it?" Charles walked out of what I can assume from the flush was a bathroom.  

"Why?"  

"Because Julie, his family own this building." Charles sounded resentful. That would make sense, his bracelet was the only one that worked.  

"Can I see him?" I asked nicely.  

"It's not my house, you don't need my permission" Charles was a snappy boy. I got up from the sofa I had awoken from and past the stacks of metal boxes that Joanne was helping herself to. The pent house looked over the entire island, the left side of the living room was made from perfectly clear glass. I took a moment to take it all in, the ocean’s tide had come back in. I could see mountains made of black sand for as far as I could see. It was almost the perfect view, you know. If we weren’t stuck here and all. The living room felt tense, like the others had already decided they didn't want to go back outside or share food with me. Ryan was laying under the covers with his suit still perfectly crease free, I looked around his bedroom at all his books. The classics like, Moby dick, the catcher in the rye and of course Bridget jones. His CD collection was small but sweet, some strokes and a six-disc set of driving music. I assume this was a present from his probably very beautiful girlfriend. Nobody would voluntary purchase a cd set that's over twelve hours long.

"Julie come here" he whispered.  

"You're awake" He looked pale but still beautiful.  

"Quickly, before they hear me" He snapped.  

I walked over to his modern looking bed, it had a silver chrome base with a thick memory foam mattress and black silk sheets.

"Is this bed supposed to levitate" I laughed at him  

"Like is this one of those NASA beds?" I'm too funny sometimes.  

He grabbed my arm and pulled me closer.  

"They know" He said.  

"They being and know what?" I'm so confused.  

"I heard them talking" He said in a serious tone.  

"They know about the bracelets" He looked at my wrist.  

"What about them?" I'm not catching on.  

"You're the only silver one here" He pointed at the door.  

"help me up, I need to change and we need to get out of here" He sounded so urgent.  

What had they been talking about? Was I going to become subject to a fashion war? So,     what if mine is silver and they all had red ones.  

Ryan flung his jacket on the bed and pulled off his white shirt over his head, his body wasn't crease free like the suit. His body is so toned, each part of him covered in muscle and perfection. It was wrong to look but who knows if I will live long enough to see another mans body. He tapped the wall and flung open a hidden wardrobe.  

"How come you never told me that you lived here?" I asked.  

"I don't, well not really."  

"This is my dad's tower"  

"I just stay here, every other weekend, that's the deal anyways" He pulled on some skinny black jeans and a black t-shirt.

"We need to get you out of here" He said with such urgency again.  

"I don't get why?" I asked him again.  

"They've figured out that you and Phillip and the others have silver." He sounded concerned still.  

"That doesn't mean anything Ryan?!"  

"Hey, we should take some food and water to the others” Ryan walked into the living room like what he had just said was nothing.  

“If you want to call this food” Joanna lifted her head up out of one of the metal boxes.  

“We should take this one” Charles closed shut the box Joanne was stuffing her face with. “Just the one? There is fourteen of us” I couldn't help myself.

“Yes, but they will eat it all” Charles snapped back at me.  

“Some of them are just kids Charlie” by the face he pulled he didn't like being called Charlie. “Yes, they are kids Julie” he picked up the case and headed for the door.  

“If we give them all the food, they will eat it leaving nothing for me” Charlie slammed the door shut behind him.

“for us” I snapped back.  

“I guess I'll get the water then” Tyrone tried to move a barrel, tried being the key word there. I skipped out on the crowded lift and decided to take the stairs, each floor was beautifully decorated with marble flooring and exotic plants. Floor after floor drowning with unbearable silence, not even the humming of the plates. I couldn't stop trying to decipher what Ryan had meant by ‘they know about the bracelets’. who cares? I don't care. To my surprise only Ryan was waiting in the lobby with his perfectly good-looking hair, he was slumped over a Victorian looking sofa looking all droopy.  

“Hey are you okay?” He shot up into what I guess he thought was a more appropriate posture.  

“Sure, I didn't hear you come down”  

“I will announce myself next time, like the front door”  

“the others didn't want to wait around, I tried to get them to but-”  

“you don’t need to explain”  

The lobby was fun, it had tons of sofas and arm chairs with little candy bowls. The lights were out and the tinted glass almost made it dark, but it felt a hundred times safer than outside. I couldn’t tell if it was Ryan or the building but I feel better.

“What did you mean upstairs, about them knowing?”  

“Listen, this is going to sound insane but when I woke up I felt something” his eyes avoided me like the plague.  

“You felt something for me?” weird.

“No Julie, I felt something” he stood up walked over to me and whispered into my ear  

“not here Julie”  

Time felt so still, I don't know if it was the way he said it or the fact his face was so close to mine.  

“We should go find Phillip, he's probably worried” I walked towards the door.  

Ryan looked confused as if somehow, I was supposed to breakdown or beg him to talk. Not me. I know boys, they love a helpless girl.  

Charles was halfway through my mother’s window when we got back to her house. He had smashed it with a part of the wooden porch. I half expect my mother to smack him over the head with something and march him out the front door. The windows where covered in dirt from the sandy landscape and gushing winds, it felt safe before but now everyone could see into my home. Charlie was trying to unlock the door from the inside, banging into it with his stupid body. I pushed through the Crowd and put my wrist up to the scanner, the door unlocked with the same computer like sound. “Access Granted” I could hear people talking about me but I'm too angry to care.  

“Charlie, get out of my house!!!”  

“Get out you idiot”  

“now”  

I was too angry to see it at first. This wasn't my house.  

“You live here?” Ryan had followed me through the door.  

The living room looked the same but not the same, the walls white, the furniture missing. No photos, no sofas even the rug was gone. In its place was a stack of TVs, I counted almost twenty of them. They all faced towards the front door, different sizes and generations. A mint green 1930’s TV sat next to a high tech flat screen, TVs all in a row facing the door. Some were stacked on top of each other, somewhere slightly behind others. Charlie started to walk around the back of them, checking for any cables.  

“you said you lived here Julie?” Charles stopped and started at me, as if implying the TV’s had something to do with me.  

“yes and no” I turned to look at Ryan just as the back row of televisions turned on. A black screen with basic white text flickered on, each one saying welcome. The front row turned on next with a sinister powering up sound, displaying the same black screen with the same basic white text saying HOME. I could hear people starting to panic on the porch, peering through the broken window. Phillip pushed his way through and gripped my hand. Ryan ordered that everyone should leave the area but me, Tyrone, Charles, Connor and Jess. Three reds and three silvers.

Ryan closed the door and walked straight up to the TV in the center of them all, it had four brown legs with a matching TV frame. On the front was another bracelet scanner, he pushed his wrist against it but nothing happened.  

“You next” he pointed at Charles. Nothing happened.  

“Now you” he pointed at me. I pushed my wrist up against the scanner and started to walk back in line. Suddenly the screens turned red, then black then even blacker until they were all off.  

“Welcome Megan” the TV in the center stayed on.  

“Who is Megan” Jess looked at me. I shrugged it off, I didn't want to tell them my real name. I had no motive to lie but even Ryan didn't admit to owning the scraper straight away.  

A symbol faded onto the televisions.

“what is it?” Charlie looked at me.  

“why would I know” the screens were old, not shabby chic but old. They flicked making the symbol almost impossible to understand.  

It could have been an animal of some kind, a man’s voice started to talk. “Welcome, I wanted to start by saying this will be your new home” he paused for a while. “Let me start with the rules, there are fourteen of you but only seven can survive” his voice didn't flinch, no sound of concern or empathy. A cold man. “Not six, or eight, only seven” Ryan grabbed my hand, I looked round at him and everyone else. We were all stunned by his words.  

Ryan doesn’t look surprised; does he know who the man is?

Ryan's grip tightened. “you cannot leave the island, you cannot hide from the island and you cannot defeat the island” the man’s voice stopped and the screens shut off almost Instantly.  

The screens powered on one at a time, they all displayed the black screen with white letters spelling out i-l-d-n-s-a. island.

I knew what this meant and I knew that Ryan knew what this meant. Seven. Seven only.

They want us to kill, Kill children.  

Without a flicker of hesitation, I walked past the televisions and run up the stairs towards my bedroom. The floor boards were bare and creaky, my bedroom door was locked.  

“Ryan” I screamed down to him.  

“Ryan” he came stomping up the stairs towards me.

“what's wrong?” He looked genuinely panicked.  

“kick down this door?” He titled his head a little.  

“I would do it myself but I'm not in the mood” I slipped him a half smile and turn to watch his foot clammed into the door.  

I need to play the game, if he thinks I am weak I have the element of surprise later. No children are going to die on this island.  

The wood cracks slightly with every kick, someone from the called up the stairs and asked if he needed any help. It almost sounded sinister like he was going to take me out. The door finally gave way and swung open, Ryan grabbed my hand and pulled me in slamming the door shut behind us. The room was full of metal cases and one silver bag, it was all foreign to me. Ryan walked over to the window and looked down at the children playing.  

"They want us to fight each other?" he said.  

"who exactly are they?" He laughed.  

“The people, the ones doing this”

Why is he so calm? I need food.

"We should find somewhere to sleep" he said.  

“I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s going on” I pulled him away from the window and looked directly I into his deep eyes.

“listen to me” he held my arm.

“I don’t know what is going on, but what I do know if Charles had already figured out that half of us are red and the other silver” he paused.

“after that show, or whatever it is he will make a divide”

“seven reds or seven silvers” I thought out loud again

“me, you, Philip and that little girl Phebe I think. We will stay at my house tonight, tomorrow we can work start a search group” he smiled and walked out if the door. I peered out of the window and saw Ryan starting to address the group, he was telling everyone to ration the food in the case they had taken from the tower and find someone where to sleep. He suggested that they sleep at least in pairs of two and in the shacks or caravans. Charles and Joannea volunteered to start handing out the food and water. No surprise, keeping the best for themselves. I’ll search the rest of the house and then grab Phebe and Phillip. Just as I was about to walk away from the window Ryan shot me a glare, I caught his eye and gave him a half-hearted smirk.  

The trunks in my room were filled with dried food packets, they were white paper like squares with black writing in the centre. They mostly read things like pasta and mash, an occasional pudding packet. I pulled out two puddings and a bottle of water, I noticed the silver bag on the floor again. It felt heavy, like a bag of blankets. The zip had been broken off, like someone clumsy had packed it in a hurry. Without another thought I grabbed he bag and headed for the front door, I slammed the door shut. “door locked” people turned to look at me on the porch, I had hoped that I could slip out unnoticed.  

“why did you look the door” Charles shouted.

“it was an accident” I tried to shake the comment off and walked down towards the caravans.  

“Phillip” he must be in one of them.

“they are in my cabin at the end” Jane caught up behind me.

“listen Jane, can you get Phillip and Phebe to tower”

“The tower?” she stopped walking.

“it’s not safe, I will tell you everything later”

“erm” Jane paused for a moment her brown short hair waving in the cool breeze.

“just bring the kids to the tower in ten minutes, try not to let them see yo-”

“let who see us” her face dropped

“everyone”  

I slipped through a gap between two caravans and walked behind the row of shacks and cabins, I could hear people starting to walk down on the other side. Chatting about who’s place they were going to stay at tonight. How can everyone be acting to calm about the situation? We will most likely die here, who knows what they will do if we don’t kill each other? I got to the last house in the row, my house. I could hear Joanne, Charles and Ryan talking. Ryan told them to stay together tonight and stay alert, Charles wanted to stay in the tower, he wanted to go to floor 17 and find out if his clothes were their but Ryan suggested that he stayed at Joanne’s caravan because it was getting dark quickly.

Jo and Charlie started to walk away and giggle, she was clearly into him.  

All Charlie is into is himself love.  

“you can come out now” Ryan shut the metal case and turned around to face my house.  

“how did you know” I moved around the side if the house slowly to check we were alone.

“my dad used to take us hunting”  

“hunting, that’s awful” I sat on my porch and fiddled with one of the planks on the floor.

“what you don’t eat animals?” he laughed.

“nope”

“even in all of this?” he waved his hands around as if introducing a scene at a theatre  

“have you looked at the food?”

“no” he looked confused

“meat free baby” I flipped up a peace sign and laughed at him

The wooden plank finally gave way and one of the nails fell out, I slipped the nail into my pocket whilst Ryan was preoccupied with checking the food packets.

“you’re right” he slammed the case shut.

“even in all of this, you’re upset about going vegan?” I laughed and mimicked his hand gestures.

“why are you pulling up the porch?” Ryan walked over the help me with another plank.

“curious, help me with another one”  

After we had removed three planks, I laid flat and stuck my head under the porch floor.  

“what is it?” Ryan shouted, despite being only inches away from me.

“more sand” I pulled my head up and covered the hole with the planks again.  

“what was the point then?” Ryan stamped down on the planks.

“wires, the house has power; wires would lead us back to the source of the power”  

Just as Ryan sat down Jane and the kids came running around the corner of my house.

“we should go quickly” Ryan said as he pulled me up from the floor.  

The walk felt even longer this time, with only a string of white bulbs to guide us to the tower we shuffled along in blinding darkness. My mind going into overdrive. Ryan knows more than he is letting on, what if he wants us to come back to the tower because he thinks we are weak? Kill us off whilst we sleep in his own home. Ryan wouldn’t do that would he? He wouldn’t. He can’t, I won’t let him. Me, Phillip, Jane, Jess, Skyler, Tyrone and Amy are silver. That means Ryan, Charlie, Jo, Connor, Rex, Claire and Phebe are Red. Whoever is doing this wants two children to fight until death. I won’t let it happen, I must act weak in front of Ryan, Connor, Charlie and Jo. They are my only challenge here, but Ryan. How could I kill him? Tomorrow I’ll find that cave, take Jane and the kids. If we wait things out until the other fight it out, then they should let us go, right? Seven no more or less, that’s what the man said but he wouldn’t leave us here to die. Would he?

Ryan opened the door, although it was loud we were far enough to not have to worry about the others hearing us. The ground floor was in complete darkness, only the elevator buttons were visceral.

“everyone to the light, I’m going to shut the doors” Ryan was last in. The realisation that we were strangers forced onto an island set in, my hands started the shake uncontrollably. Each step towards the elevator in total darkness, avoiding my urge to cry. Scream.  

“why did you lie to me?” Phillip grabbed my hand out of the darkness

“I haven’t?”  

“you said your name was Julie” the boy stopped  

“I’m sorry Phillip”

“it’s okay, my name isn’t actually Phillip” he smiled  

“what?”

“it’s Pip”

“well pip, do you want to press the button?” the boy raced to the elevator and slapped into the control panel.

“Door locked”  

We made it to Ryan’s Pent house floor, Phebe had fallen asleep in Janes arms; her mouth wide open. “you two can take my parents room” Ryan pointed across the living room.  

“Megan, help me keep the doors open whilst I get something to wedge them” Ryan pushed the door back.  

“why, you shut the doors didn’t you?”  

“let’s just take extra care tonight” Ryan dragged over a small sofa, he pushed it through the doors so that the light doors were forced open. I climbed over the sofa and scooped up Pip, I didn’t really take in how grand and spacious Ryan’s house was before. A modern electric fire burned in the centre with three grey sofas surrounding it, small bronze and glass side tables beside each one with rustic looking lamps.  

“Why are the lights on?” Pip looked around the room

“it’s a timer, don’t worry guys” Ryan walk over to the open plan kitchen area.

“anyone hungry?” he started to unpack some of the packets from the metal boxes.  

“let’s go find you a bath and some clothes” I carried pip through Ryan’s bedroom into his on suit,