Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from this story other than
Ivy. I do not own any rights to the book Lord of the Flies or any books by
the corresponding author.
"Cold hands. Cold hands around my neck. That's the first thing I remember. Everything was pitch black. A cold emptiness. There was a mist in the air and the sight that entered my head was that of an empty abyss. Thunder was booming around me, encasing me and engraving fear into my mind more and more each waking second. I could hear crashes, and voices in the distance. Male voices. As I sat there longer and longer, each second a century; I grew so terrified I wondered if I was even alive. I knew not of what kind of fear a human mind could endure. I was wishing for death, now that I think of it. I was waiting to see myself in a cold casket lined in soft silk, flowers serenading my humble corps. There at least the darkness can't get me. Or worse yet, what lurks amongst those monstrous trees."
"Whose hands were they? Where were you?" The soft male voice enquired from a cold damp corner amongst the shadows of the cave.
"They were strong. Abusive. But still, it was like they meant not to hurt me. Their motive not to quench my breath and end my consciousness. After they grabbed me it stopped engulfing me with anger, and slowly embraced me, caressed my bare shoulder lightly as if cherishing my virgin skin."
The girl sat back and curled her legs protectively underneath her abdomen. She stared out the hole that must have been the only way in or out of the cave. The rain was heavy, and the scent of melancholy was in the air. She tenderly stroked the small wound on her chest and watched the young man emerge from what he seemed to loom in and use as his sanctuary.
"I am, or was, Ralph. I came here much alike you did. Set astray, abandoned by civilization, cast aside to this forbidden land, this accursed place. The voices, the hands, they belong to those I use to call allies. Now they live in baron hopes that slaughter will fulfill themselves and bring them happiness and stability. I am not like them. I don't crave death. Merely to be rescued from this retched rock in the middle of the Atlantic. What is your name?"
The young man stood before her. He was about what she estimated to be roughly 6'1. He was slightly lanky, but still boated large muscles. He stood in such a manor she would imagine him to be a dancer. So graceful and elegant. His hair fell past his ears and slightly curled I dripping golden- brown locks. The chiselled definition of his broad face would have been enticing had she not been worried about death, rape, or capture.
"My name is Ivy. It's one of the only things I am sure of. I don't even know how I got here. I think by ship. Yes, I remember fire. An explosion. People aflame. Screaming, panicking, trying to escape the scarlet inferno. I think I'm the only one. But there might be others! I have to search for them! My people. My friends." She felt a soft stream of burning fluid trickle down the contours of her face. She was slightly embarrassed in realization that she had let her emotions get to her when she should be mentally piecing together the next expedition she would embark upon. The cave seemed safe to her. She traced the walls with her eyes assessing each small cavity, each nook and cranny. Above all she hoped that this man before her, Ralph, was the only one she currently shared the cave with.
"There will be no searching tonight. It would be a blind march to wander in that rainfall. Even the islands beasts have halted and buckled down for the night. Wait until sunrise. If there were any. survivors. they will either be hidden amongst the creepers, or god forbid, captured, no, not captured, held by Jack."
He tried to sort out words in his mind. Topics that he would avoid mentioning in her presence. He felt such a beauty should not be corrupted and soiled by the evil that stalked them.
"Who is Jack? Who are the others? Were they trying to hurt us? Me? You?" She trailed off in realization that besides her, Ralph was alone. He was hunted by these barbarians and all the while running in fear by himself. Isolated. That meant that the prize they desired the most, the trophy kill they could but taste the kill of, the most dangerous object to be around was the only thing protecting her. It was the man she was with. Ralph. The object of the others' insanity.
"Jack Merridew. Once an anything-but-humble choirboy was my friend. Now he is the leader of a bloodthirsty hoard bent on my disembowelment. The others are his choir. His gathering of angels turned sour. Lucifer set their trail by hand, and now they follow it like black sheep. Heavenly angels of death. They are merciless. They can and will kill us. Unless we flee their grounds. This cave is on their grounds." He let himself be carried backwards by gravity against the moist cave wall. His head tilted back exposing the rough skin of his neck, and the bulge of his Adams apple.
Ivy recoiled at the thought of a bunch of men near her age by appearance controlling her. She then realized she knew almost nothing about her captor she had slowly started to trust.
"How did you get here? How can I be sure I can trust you Ralph, if you were once like them?"
"Have I shown you otherwise? Have I dealt you any harm? I have lived a life of solitude these last 4 years since I was but a prepubescent lad. Now I am a man, and I have been blessed with the pleasure of delightful company. I will keep you from harm the best I can. Better than I've kept myself. I came here from above. It is still hazy to me. A plane came down. Made a scar in the island and a scar on my soul. I fear I will die here, but now at least I will not be alone when that day comes."
He looked at Ivy with glassy eyes. She thought she saw a mild flicker of hope ignite deep inside him momentarily, but a crash of lightning extinguished it instantly. It was deeply wounding to her to see someone who had been through so much, and yet be what must have been months within her age.
"I am 16. How old are you?" She asked lightly. "I don't even know. I believe it is close to that. 17 I guess. But now I am sure of very little about myself. I do know this second I am slightly happier than the moments before I pulled you from the bushes." He said with slight charm. Though it had been many years, it could still attempt to charm someone of the opposite sex.
"Well, I can safely say I am more confident of my survival being in here with you than seconds before you pulled the cold hands from my body into a slightly warmer embrace."
She stood and walked over to him. Sensing she could trust him, she sat beside him and pulled his hand towards her. She placed it on her chest slightly above her breasts and looked to the ground.
"I feel my heart might not be beating right this second had you not found me." She looked back at him and he had a tear running down his cheek. She sat and slowly they both drifted off to sleep at the rhythmic drum of the rain on the rocks.
"Cold hands. Cold hands around my neck. That's the first thing I remember. Everything was pitch black. A cold emptiness. There was a mist in the air and the sight that entered my head was that of an empty abyss. Thunder was booming around me, encasing me and engraving fear into my mind more and more each waking second. I could hear crashes, and voices in the distance. Male voices. As I sat there longer and longer, each second a century; I grew so terrified I wondered if I was even alive. I knew not of what kind of fear a human mind could endure. I was wishing for death, now that I think of it. I was waiting to see myself in a cold casket lined in soft silk, flowers serenading my humble corps. There at least the darkness can't get me. Or worse yet, what lurks amongst those monstrous trees."
"Whose hands were they? Where were you?" The soft male voice enquired from a cold damp corner amongst the shadows of the cave.
"They were strong. Abusive. But still, it was like they meant not to hurt me. Their motive not to quench my breath and end my consciousness. After they grabbed me it stopped engulfing me with anger, and slowly embraced me, caressed my bare shoulder lightly as if cherishing my virgin skin."
The girl sat back and curled her legs protectively underneath her abdomen. She stared out the hole that must have been the only way in or out of the cave. The rain was heavy, and the scent of melancholy was in the air. She tenderly stroked the small wound on her chest and watched the young man emerge from what he seemed to loom in and use as his sanctuary.
"I am, or was, Ralph. I came here much alike you did. Set astray, abandoned by civilization, cast aside to this forbidden land, this accursed place. The voices, the hands, they belong to those I use to call allies. Now they live in baron hopes that slaughter will fulfill themselves and bring them happiness and stability. I am not like them. I don't crave death. Merely to be rescued from this retched rock in the middle of the Atlantic. What is your name?"
The young man stood before her. He was about what she estimated to be roughly 6'1. He was slightly lanky, but still boated large muscles. He stood in such a manor she would imagine him to be a dancer. So graceful and elegant. His hair fell past his ears and slightly curled I dripping golden- brown locks. The chiselled definition of his broad face would have been enticing had she not been worried about death, rape, or capture.
"My name is Ivy. It's one of the only things I am sure of. I don't even know how I got here. I think by ship. Yes, I remember fire. An explosion. People aflame. Screaming, panicking, trying to escape the scarlet inferno. I think I'm the only one. But there might be others! I have to search for them! My people. My friends." She felt a soft stream of burning fluid trickle down the contours of her face. She was slightly embarrassed in realization that she had let her emotions get to her when she should be mentally piecing together the next expedition she would embark upon. The cave seemed safe to her. She traced the walls with her eyes assessing each small cavity, each nook and cranny. Above all she hoped that this man before her, Ralph, was the only one she currently shared the cave with.
"There will be no searching tonight. It would be a blind march to wander in that rainfall. Even the islands beasts have halted and buckled down for the night. Wait until sunrise. If there were any. survivors. they will either be hidden amongst the creepers, or god forbid, captured, no, not captured, held by Jack."
He tried to sort out words in his mind. Topics that he would avoid mentioning in her presence. He felt such a beauty should not be corrupted and soiled by the evil that stalked them.
"Who is Jack? Who are the others? Were they trying to hurt us? Me? You?" She trailed off in realization that besides her, Ralph was alone. He was hunted by these barbarians and all the while running in fear by himself. Isolated. That meant that the prize they desired the most, the trophy kill they could but taste the kill of, the most dangerous object to be around was the only thing protecting her. It was the man she was with. Ralph. The object of the others' insanity.
"Jack Merridew. Once an anything-but-humble choirboy was my friend. Now he is the leader of a bloodthirsty hoard bent on my disembowelment. The others are his choir. His gathering of angels turned sour. Lucifer set their trail by hand, and now they follow it like black sheep. Heavenly angels of death. They are merciless. They can and will kill us. Unless we flee their grounds. This cave is on their grounds." He let himself be carried backwards by gravity against the moist cave wall. His head tilted back exposing the rough skin of his neck, and the bulge of his Adams apple.
Ivy recoiled at the thought of a bunch of men near her age by appearance controlling her. She then realized she knew almost nothing about her captor she had slowly started to trust.
"How did you get here? How can I be sure I can trust you Ralph, if you were once like them?"
"Have I shown you otherwise? Have I dealt you any harm? I have lived a life of solitude these last 4 years since I was but a prepubescent lad. Now I am a man, and I have been blessed with the pleasure of delightful company. I will keep you from harm the best I can. Better than I've kept myself. I came here from above. It is still hazy to me. A plane came down. Made a scar in the island and a scar on my soul. I fear I will die here, but now at least I will not be alone when that day comes."
He looked at Ivy with glassy eyes. She thought she saw a mild flicker of hope ignite deep inside him momentarily, but a crash of lightning extinguished it instantly. It was deeply wounding to her to see someone who had been through so much, and yet be what must have been months within her age.
"I am 16. How old are you?" She asked lightly. "I don't even know. I believe it is close to that. 17 I guess. But now I am sure of very little about myself. I do know this second I am slightly happier than the moments before I pulled you from the bushes." He said with slight charm. Though it had been many years, it could still attempt to charm someone of the opposite sex.
"Well, I can safely say I am more confident of my survival being in here with you than seconds before you pulled the cold hands from my body into a slightly warmer embrace."
She stood and walked over to him. Sensing she could trust him, she sat beside him and pulled his hand towards her. She placed it on her chest slightly above her breasts and looked to the ground.
"I feel my heart might not be beating right this second had you not found me." She looked back at him and he had a tear running down his cheek. She sat and slowly they both drifted off to sleep at the rhythmic drum of the rain on the rocks.