As we move, Kate writhes in Aaron’s grip, struggling feebly against him. He is dragging her along by the wrist, she is on her feet but she is struggling to keep up with Aaron and I. Every few steps or so, she loses her footing and fights to regain balance. There is not enough light to illuminate the path in front of us, and Kate seems to be stepping in every hole there is. We are not moving nearly as fast as I want to be.

‘’What was Alex’s letter?’’ I ask, trying to break the silence.

‘’‘S’,’’ he says, he doesn’t even look at me.

I don’t respond and I certainly don’t think of trying to apologize. Not here, not in front of Kate. I don’t want to give her the satisfaction of seeing me apologize for my idiocy. How did I fall for it? How did I betray the boy I loved? I certainly wasn’t thinking. I had been under pressure from Kate to act fast. I was so stupid.

‘’What do you plan on doing with me?’’ asks Kate as we walk towards the LIS.

‘’Well once we’ve input Alex’s letter, we’re going to torture you until you tell us exactly what we want to know. Then we’re going to need help guessing the word. As you know, the LIS penalises guessing, so we’re going to let you guess for us,’’ explains Aaron, Kate glares at him with hatred.

‘’I will do nothing for you,’’ she spits at his feet however he ignores it.

‘’You’ll be surprised what people will do when they’re scared, and who they’d betray,’’ I respond.

I feel Aaron’s eyes fall on me, but I do not meet his gaze. This small attempt to let him know I only left him because I feared the worst may not be ideal, but he’s smart enough to understand what I am suggesting.  

‘’I fear the people that run this a lot more than I fear you two,’’ she explains.

Neither I nor Aaron responds to this, we simply continue walking at a steady pace towards the LIS building that has come into view – the moonlight reflects off it and the immediate area surrounding the spherical building is illuminated.

As we move, I find myself constantly looking around us, making sure Niamh isn’t somewhere close, lurking in the bushes waiting to attack. She managed to escape earlier and she could be hiding anywhere so I keep my eyes peeled. We cannot falter so close to the finish line, we’re almost there. For her sake, she better hope she stays away from us, because I am not in a forgiving mood.

***

Cautiously, the three of us ascend the steps to the LIS building and enter quietly. After a quick perimeter check and when we are assured of our relative safety, we approach the keypads. I stare at the screen before me, there are four letters displayed on the screen along with two empty boxes. Each letter represents a life so cruelly taken, each represents a cold blooded murder.

Again the thought occurs to me of how long we have been here for. It seems like weeks but in reality it cannot have been more than a few days. So many lives taken in such a short space of time. So many families that will never have their child back. I cannot join those people. I must get off this island. I have to.

I will not die here.

Before I can punch in Alex’s letter, Kate rips her hand free from Aaron’s grasp and turns, making for the door. She must have been planning something, because instead of running for the door we entered through, she runs to the entrance to our left. I act quicker than Aaron and dive towards her, grabbing the girl around the waist. I pull her to the floor and she lands hard. Thankfully her legs break some of the fall for me. I quickly climb on top of her – ripping my dagger from my belt and then I pin her to the floor.

‘’I guess the interrogation is starting now,’’ I say, looming above the girl – the traitor.

I stare at Kate and bring my dagger to her throat, pressing gently at first. Although only for a brief second, I notice an emotion flash across Kate’s dirt and sweat soaked face – fear. I keep pressing, and judging by her face, I can tell she is holding her breath. She lets out a slight whimper however I relax slightly when I see blood.

‘’This can be done two ways, you can cooperate or I will force you to,’’ I warn.

‘’I guess you’ll have to force me,’’ she replies.

I move the dagger and press my fingers on her wound. She screams in pain but I do not pause. She screams and roars for me to stop and when I do, she begins to breath loudly, as if I was cutting off air to her lungs.

‘’Tell me,’’ I demand, placing my blood-covered fingers on her wound once more.

‘’What do you want to know?’’ she asks.

She clearly she values her life more than her loyalty to the people behind this, despite her attitude just moments ago. Like I said, it’s surprising who people will betray when they are scared.

‘’Who’s behind this?’’

She doesn’t speak at first, so I gently press my fingers into her wound. She screams and then I remove them.

‘’I don’t know,’’ she responds pathetically, a meagre shell of the over-confident and cold-hearted bitch she was earlier.

‘’Don’t lie to me!’’ I roar, pressing down with the dagger this time.

She jumps slightly, clearly frightened by my sudden outburst. I feel so angry, I just want to slit her throat now but I do not. I restrain myself. Not only is murder a sin I hope to never have to commit here, we still need Kate alive, for now anyway. I glare at her instead, trying to intimidate her; however I do not press the dagger down anymore.

‘’I’m not lying; I’ve never seen the people I work for. Only representatives that are below them,’’ she explains, sounding as though she may be fighting back tears, ‘’I swear!’’

‘’What can you tell us about this?’’ questions Aaron from behind me, standing over us and glaring at Kate.

Kate briefly looks at him, then back to me.

‘’Well?’’ I say.

She sighs, ‘’I’m one of their spies. I was planted here to make sure things go to their plan.’’

‘’What do you mean?’’ I ask, ‘’elaborate.’’

‘’I have to make sure you start killing each other,’’ she continues, ‘’although this time I didn’t have to do that. You decided to yourselves anyway. And I have to turn you all against each other.’’

‘’This time? You’ve done this before?’’ asks Aaron, ‘’ignoring the second part – the part that involves myself and him.

She nods briefly, although stops when the dagger blade cuts at the skin of her throat.

‘’Go on,’’ I say.

‘’I’ve been working with the company for three years now. Each year we come to this island with a different group of teenagers and the same thing happens.’’

‘’But why?’’ I ask in horror, ‘’why would they want to do something like this?’’

‘’Why does anyone do things like this? Because they’re sickos, that’s why.’’

‘’Why are you a part of it then?’’ asks Aaron.

‘’It pays well,’’ she responds, ‘’I need the money, my family needs the money.’’

‘’It pays well?’’ I repeat in disgust, ‘’you’re fucking worse than them!’’

‘’I do what I do to get by,’’ she explains.

‘’There are other ways to get by. This is murder!’’ I explain in anger, trying to remain calm but failing.

‘’How much?’’ asks Aaron, ‘’how much does it take for you to allow the murder of innocent teenagers?’’

Kate doesn’t respond.

‘’How much?!’’ I roar, dropping the dagger and wrapping my hands around her throat.

I slam her head against the ground twice, she yelps in pain and I feel Aaron’s hand on my shoulder.

‘’Enough,’’ he instructs quietly.

‘’Fifty-thousand,’’ she blurts out fearfully.

‘’Each time?’’ I question.

She nods her head.

‘’So five thousand. That’s what my life is worth to you. That’s what each of our lives are worth to you and the other traitor,’’ I say furiously, she nods her head once more.

‘’How were we chosen?’’ questions Aaron.

‘’They had people watching you, following you. They wanted to make sure they got the right mix of people, and they did.’’

‘’What do you mean?’’ I ask.

‘’A group of contrasting people, it creates tension. People like Eve and Robbie don’t get along with each other, or people like you. It makes murdering easier.’’

I shake my head, I cannot speak. I cannot believe what I am hearing.

‘’It makes for a better show,’’ she adds.

‘’What do you mean by that?’’ asks Aaron, ‘’there’s no way this is a television show.’’

‘’No, it’s not. But it is recorded. Every bloody second has been captured on film, like a movie by the people running this.’’

‘’Why?’’ I gasp.

‘’To watch it back, to help train their spies, to prepare them for what they have to do.’’

As she explains this, she smiles maniacally.

‘’This is so fucking messed up,’’ I say in horror and stare at the girl below me who has begun giggling, ‘’where are the cameras?’’

‘’All over the island,’’ she smirks.

‘’This is crazy,’’ I mutter and Kate begins laughing crazily, shrieking almost.

‘’What’s wrong with her?’’ asks Aaron.

‘’The people that run this don’t like what you’re doing, they’re injecting something into me so I’ll stop talking,’’ she explains, now laughing aloud.

I glance at Aaron; this is the first time I have made eye contact with him since we left the clearing. I stare at him fearfully, if they can do this to Kate, what’s to stop them from doing it to us? Aaron looks just as concerned as I do because he has clearly put two and two together in his own head.

‘’What do you mean?’’ I gasp.

‘’They’re going to fill me with goofy gas,’’ she begins, pausing for a moment to laugh at the word ‘goofy’, ‘’and then they’ll poison me.’’

I glance at Aaron once more, he gulps in fear.

 ‘’And very soon, they’ll kill you by doing the same.’’