Chapter 1: Illusions of Understatements and Islands

Reader: Become the posh blond.

Oh, would you look at that? You're now both posh and blond. However, you would never just limit yourself to being only two things. Not only are you posh and blond, but you also have feelings and a personality (which you feel is quite nice), along with likes and dislikes. Please, you would never even look at someone else and stereotype them, let alone yourself. You would further like to let yourself know that you do have a name and wish to be called by it. Not "the posh blond", because no one is just that one dimensional.

Fine. Reader: Become Rose Lalonde.

Ah, that is much better. Yes, you have a name, and yes it is Rose Lalonde. You are currently about 26 years of age, and have recently quit your job as a therapist. You have come to realize over time, that you do not really care how other people feel, unless you truly care about that person. And you know them through your personal actions. After listening to countless stories, it has become known to you that you do not really give a single shit about who lives and who dies and who may be in danger, nor do you give a shit about how they feel. You did not mean to swear in that last thought, you apologize. However, you did not care; and from that lack of care came boredom. After that boredom seemingly took control of your whole mind, you realized that you needed to stop participating in the job you had. And that is why you signed that resignation paper on Monday. Luckily, you were given something new to do immediately. How interesting.

You are not normally the person to jump on any spontaneous whim of one of your clients, but in the end, curiosity always gets the better of you. And although you would only admit this to yourself, cherry vodka tends to get the better of you even more so. You agreed to partake in this activity whilst intoxicated, the day you quit your job. You are not quite willing to admit this, but you were also intoxicated when you quit your job. Even though you are one of the most intelligent people you know, you have a really large problem with that. You should fix it.

Reader: Give up your insane drinking habit.

Go and die in a small hole filled with miniature, poisonous octopi. You haven't drank in years. Except after you- never mind that. You'll think about that later. Right now, you need to keep thinking about why you agreed to go on this holiday.

Whilst intoxicated and angry after a difficult day, you got a strange phone call from one of your past clients. He introduced himself as "a good friend" and asked you to politely take a trip to his island. You sighed, not really wanting to take a holiday. However, you would do anything to get away from your pain and money-loss, not to mention your drunken, elderly mother. You jumped right on the opportunity. However, now that you remember it, it was sort of odd to go and decide to do something like that on a whim. But you were intoxicated.

Now, you are starting to have second thoughts. What were you doing, really? You even forgot to phone David about it, and he's going to be flaming once you got home. And now he'll have to take care of your mother, who is quite difficult, you might add. But you were never one to back off on an agreement, and it should be entertaining to say the least. Perhaps now you can begin on one of those fantasy novels you have been trying to write.

Currently, you were stuck on a train. Well, perhaps not "stuck", necessarily...You were never a large fan of trains. Living in London, this became a bit awkward. You rarely ever traveled as a girl, which made it easier, but trains and tubes were still the main form of trafficking, aside from taking cabs. But trains always made you feel a bit motion-sick; and traveling alone was not making this any less difficult. You were a better listener than you were a speaker, but it still was a lot easier to have someone there to talk to. And you were not one for making conversation on trains. This is why you were both relieved and aggravated when a girl came practically skipping into your car.

You took a look at her, she had long, dark hair that swayed even below her hips. Her emerald eyes were hidden by thick, round glasses that you could only describe as being cartoon-worthy. She wore a jumper which was far too large for her, hanging off one of her shoulders. The jumper was a purple color with a large, green peace sign in the middle of it. She also wore neon green stockings and obnoxious purple pumps to match her jumper. You sighed, knowing this girl would most likely be a pain. She seemed to be looking at you too, with a very large smile.

"Hello!" She said, "My name is Jade Harley. May I sit with you?"

"Of course," You said, examining her accent. She sounded American, which was no surprise by her stupid way of dressing herself. You have noticed that Americans tend to do have poor style, most likely because their improper diets and constant television-watching kills the majority of their brain cells. Perhaps some sense of fashion died along with it. "My name is Rose Lalonde."

"Thanks! It's nice to meet you!" The girl smiled again and sat down next to you, opening one of her bags. You crinkled your nose as it opened because the stench which spewed out of it could be described as nothing other than cow shit. The girl must have noticed the look on her face because she opened her eyes wide with an apologetic energy. "Oh! Sorry, I wanted to bring some manure! It's in my suitcase, well, because I like to garden!"

"Alright." Was all you could manage. You really did not care what she liked or disliked, at the moment. And you were too busy cursing yourself for wanting a "conversation buddy", to really notice whether she was talking or not.

You learned a lot about Jade Harley during the next two hours. Evidently, she lived alone on an island for the majority of her life with her grandfather. You wondered what happened to her parents, but in the end, you decided not to ask. Her grandfather evidently unexpectedly died. Then she went on to drone about her love of plants and oceanography and evidently killing defenseless animals. You could have sworn you saw a bit of darkness behind her radiant eyes when talking about hunting, but you immediately decided to ignore it. This girl was anything but dark, and in the end she seemed anything but altered by death. This was almost alarming in itself, but you decided to ignore that as well. This girl was nothing more than a person you met on a train; someone you would never talk to again. That was all.

Suddenly, she fell onto your lap in the middle of her endless ramble. You jumped a bit in your chair in fear something horrid had happened. In the end, however, she was just asleep. The girl had narcolepsy. Just what you needed.

After a bit of peace and quiet, you opened your book to begin reading. Right as you finished your chapter, however, she woke up again and continued her sleep-inducing tales, almost as if she had never fallen asleep in the first place.

You realized that Jade Harley was an interesting human being, whether you were able to admit it aloud or not. But interesting in the way an animal test subject is interesting. You could never exactly tell what was truly going through her brain, or whether she was just as plain and shallow as she seemed.

"Uh...hello?" She stammered after a few moments since her last question, whatever it was. You looked back at her.

"Hmmm?" You asked, fixing your eyes on her.

"Oh! Sorry, I was just wondering if you heard me!" She let a slight giggle out. Ugh, how appalling.

"I did." You gave her a small, fake smile. "I am headed to a small island off the coast of Liverpool. That is why I'm headed there."

"Are you really?" Her eyes lit up immediately. "I am too! I got an email from my pen pal telling me to come meet her! Evidently she's pretty rich and has her own island!"

"How odd." You frowned. There weren't many islands off that coast, and it seemed quite a coincidence. However, you were honestly hoping you would not have to spend the next week with Jade Harley. She seemed far too young and happy to be able to have a serious conversation with. "Ms. Harley, may I ask a question?"

"Uh, sure!" She smiled.

"Have you ever spoken with your pen pal in person before?" You looked at her. There was a sudden feeling which you could not shake.

"No, actually!" She let out another obnoxious giggle. "In fact, I've never met her before! I don't even know her name!"

You couldn't help but frown at her. Then you realized what you were partaking in was not any better. You sighed and looked out the car's window. All you could see was farmland for miles. You wondered how old Jade was and what she was doing going all the way out to an isolated area with someone she had never met before. You had promised not to care about people anymore. But there was something young and naive about her, and you knew something bad was going to occur in her life. You just could not walk away.

"Rose?" She asked as she looked at you, but you knew you would have to do this.

"Here's my cell number." You wrote it on a scrap of paper. "If you run into any trouble at all, I would like you to phone me up."

"Okay!" She agrees, as she smiles back at you.

You have no idea what you just got yourself into. You really should not have ordered that martini.

Letter from the author:

Hi there! So, I've never written a fanfic before! This should be a pretty interesting one to say the least...I lead a busy life and I'll try to write as much of it as I can though!

It should be a relatively long story, and it may get a bit complex. The rating might go up if it becomes too violent and/or sexually active! I'll only do that if that's what reviews ask for, though. Also, I'd like to let you all know that I am up for any shipping! Just request one, and if I get enough requests for it, I'll make it fanfiction-canon! Also, I don't own the characters for this story, and the plot is based off a few things...but I'll disclaim those as they go along!

It is so exciting to (kind of) meet you all! Thanks for reading, I hope you continue!

Oh, and please review! I need all the critique I can get!

Thanks!

Hemlockforensics