Thanks so much:

SaraSyco

PineconedOwl

TurtleMoose

Pink-Polar-Bear

…for reviewing! You guys are awesome and make me want to continue writing. :)

I'm slowly overcoming writer's block, so keep on bearing with me.

Psychotic= hallucinating, not thinking right, etc.

Disclaimer: William Golding is the amazing man who wrote LOTF while teaching schoolboys, all rights ('cept this plot and my girl characters) go to him.

4 reviews for the Chappie 7, peoples. 4 is a good number.

I attempt fluff in this chapter…so tell me if it's good or if not, how I can improve.

Enjoy, and thanks for reading!

Love,

A C E

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"I know I sound crazy, but with you I feel sane" -Metro Station: Japanese Girl

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Rose POV:

As soon as I realized there was nothing I could do to magically make my pills appear, I laid down on the dark green palm fronds in the corner of the hut. Ralph let me sleep without any 'roommates' tonight, fortunately, because if I did have a roommate, they'd see me as I cried in the small corner. I cried silent tears. I didn't want to see things, I didn't want to hurt anyone, I didn't want my animalistic instinct to slowly control me. I glared at the empty pill bottle as I cried, and thought angrily, 'Why didn't I take my pills last night? What will happen to me after two nights without medications? Will I become…' As my crying became reduced to occasional sniffling and hiccups and as those horrible thoughts drifted away, I drifted off into an uneasy sort of sleep.

It was burning hot and extremely dry wherever I was. I fanned myself and stared down at the cracked earth. The dry cracked earth. I stared off into the expanse of never-ending nothingness. The sky was blue with no clouds, and the earth seemed to have a set pattern of cracks engraved into it. What was this place? Nothing. This place was nothing. An expanse of nothing.

"Hello…" a velvety voice whispered. I glanced around. There was no person in sight. "In front of you…" she whispered again. I spun around, and stared face-to-face with what could be my identical twin.

It suddenly became hotter, and I noticed why. Behind my twin, instead of vast nothingness, was a Hell-like expanse of flames, and the sky had turned black, with barely any trace of the moon left.

"You're…me…" I mouthed, because when I tried to talk, no sound came out of my mouth.

"Yes," the Other Me said, flipping her straight brown-blonde hair back. The only difference between us was her hair and her clothes. Her hair was straight, not wavy like mine, and she wore what appeared to be a short version of a ball gown made of a python's skin.

"Are you my conscious?"

Other Me smirked, and held out her slim hand. In the palm of that hand, a picture of Amarie appeared. I recognized it as her 9th grade school picture. She ignored my question completely. "Don't you want to hurt her?"

"No. She apologized," I mouthed again. After a few silent moments, my chin was quivering. I really did want to hurt her, didn't I?

"How about him?" she asked, as Amarie's picture dissolved in the smoking air, and Roger's appeared.

I growled silently. "I'd love to hurt him…"

Other Me let out an arrogant laugh, and the picture disappeared. A picture of Jacqueline took its place, and she questioned, "How about her? She never apologized, and she's the one that convinced Roger to hurt you…but you already knew this, didn't you? Deep inside your heart, you knew this was all Jacqueline's fault."

At this, my mouth dropped open. I did kind of know, but did I not want to believe myself? This was all. Jacqueline's. fault. A savage glint shone in Other Me's eyes, and she slowly disappeared along with the now-melting flames. Soon, I was stuck in nothingness again, an evil laugh ringing in my ears.

As I contemplated whether or not it would be wise to kill a certain redhead, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned my head to profile in time to see Other Me again. This time, there were no flames to add to her dramatic appearance.

She twirled her hand around the way a belly dancer would, and an expanse of chains surrounded her. What seemed like thousands of dark red locks were intertwined with the chain.

"What is this?"

"These locks are holding you back. The locks are like your pills. Your real pills are gone, but if you want to be your true self you'll have to slowly revert to your old habits and unlock these 'locks'."

"I don't want to…I don't like the Other Me!" I cried out, though only a harsh whisper flew out of my mouth.

"You can't hide your true self without your pills, my dear. All you have to do is unlock these locks and remove these chains," Other Me laughed.

"Shut u--"

I woke up suddenly, sweat beading off my forehead, breathing heavily, and spluttering air.

I placed a shaky hand on my sticky cheek and glanced around. I was still in my hut, still sleeping on the palm trees and sand. I sighed, and stared out into the open expanse of ocean and sky. The black sky had turned into a burst of pink, gold, and orange. It was early morning. A few seagulls called out to their kind with a cawing noise while flying out into the horizon. The sun was slowly rising, and the birds' figures disappeared. I wished I could be free like a bird. Flying freely, leaving and staying wherever I wanted, as I pleased…wouldn't that be nice?

After watching the orange sun rise for about ten minutes, I decided to sleep for a few more hours. I flopped over to the side where the sun didn't shine so sleep would come easier, and saw Other Me.

Her python dress flowed around her, and her straight hair was flipped back. Her wide blue eyes seemed amused, and her red lips were curled into a smile. She wore no shoes, and her skin was tanned and flawless.

The demon from my nightmare had somehow become a living being, laying in front of me.

"Hello, Rose…"

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3rd Person, Island POV:

Jack strode briskly into the massive jungle, smacking away flies and other unwanted pests. The sun had just finished rising, and it was a brilliant yellow-orange orb in the deep blue sky. For once, Jack's sidekick Roger wasn't by his side. He was sleeping in the hut they shared. Jack wanted time to contemplate over what Roger had told him after he found him knocked out in a bloody meadow. "Idiot," he mumbled, barely audibly. "Oh, I was about to rape Rose as revenge over what her mother did. It was so much bloody fun! You should've seen her cry, Jack! And he says this while tied up and surrounded by pretty little daisies! Really, he could've at least waited…instead of terrifying everyone from the second the girls got here!" he whispered loudly, mimicking Roger's deep voice in the beginning of his rant.

Right now, Jack wanted nothing more than to hunt down a piglet or a sow…hell, if he could hunt down a bee he'd be happy. But Maya was in possession of his knife. 'I only have my fists to defend myself…' Jack thought. He felt vulnerable. Not weak, but vulnerable.

At this, he kicked a sturdy tree angrily. There was no time for feeling vulnerable.

As an afterthought about Maya, he questioned himself out loud, "Why the hell do I act so nice around her? Most of the time I ACT nice, but when she said that she wanted to keep the knife, I felt like I didn't want her to be unprotected." With that thought and a sigh, he continued deep into the heart of the jungle. He noticed that the creepers turned a darker shade of green here.

And then Jack stopped dead in his tracks as he heard the snap of a twig. He turned around just in time to glimpse a figure with long hair hide behind a tree. "Get out…I can see you," he growled, fists clenched up in case he needed to fight.

Slowly, an olive-skinned figure crept out behind the tree. Her brown hair was messy and a bit matted, and her brown eyes were staring down at the muddy ground.

"M-Maya?" he stuttered. He usually didn't stutter, but he'd been talking about her a couple minutes ago, and if she'd heard all he said, talking to her would be extremely awkward. He quickly snapped into his usual self and barked, "Where you following me, you little bitch?"

Her blush darkened and her hands were clasped together tightly behind her back. A frown formed. "Uhm, no. Actually, I, uh, went to fetch some water, but I saw you. And you're never awake this early and you're never without Roger, so I wanted to see if you were okay."

"So you DID follow me? For how long?" Jack snapped.

Maya was silent, and her eyes were glued to the earth.

He took a threateningly close step towards her and snapped even louder, "I asked you a question, now answer it!"

The brunette rummaged through her short pocket and pulled out a knife. Jack's knife. His eyes went wide as he saw his possession. 'Is she gonna try to kill me?' he thought. But she just kept it close to her side, not even bothering to look up. Jack could've sworn he heard a silent giggle.

"The whole way," she sighed, while finally meeting Jack's eyes.

Jack snorted, in an attempt to make it sound like the conversation he had with himself was no big deal.

A smile slowly formed on Maya's pink chapped lips. "What you said about letting me keep your knife…it was really…err…sweet." She decided not to say anything about the Roger incident, because everyone wanted to forget about it.

Jack turned around to hide a blush creeping up from his neck to his cheeks. He didn't know how to respond. All his replying options flashed through his mind. 'Should I reply sarcastically or nicely? Should I gain her trust or screw with her mind?'

"Yeah, well, don't get used to me being…nice," he scoffed. He said 'nice' as if it were a forbidden word.

She giggled again, and her dark brown eyes seemed to turn a lighter shade of brown. "I won't."

Suddenly, the booming noise of the conch sounded throughout the forest. Jack rolled his eyes and Maya stared up at the sky as colorful tropical birds flew out of their treetop homes. "Should we go?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Yeah…I need to meet with Roger so, uh, bye…" he muttered, turning around and dashing through the deep jungle. He couldn't be seen walking with Maya. His hunters would think he was turning into a softy.

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Ralph stared up at the sky while walking towards the platform area. He had just blown the conch. As he was walking, he contemplated as to whether he should talk about the moral rules the boys would have to follow because of the girls' arrival and the way the girls should treat each other. 'What happened to Rose and Amarie can't happen to them or anyone else again,' he thought bitterly.

He finally arrived, and saw with a pleased smile that boys and girls gathered around the logs used as seating. The logs surrounded a grassy area, where Ralph would give his speeches.

Samneric sat down, and April sat next to them, chatting pleasantly. Mae and Mimi sat down next to each other, Mimi laughing loudly at just about everything the blonde said. It seemed like Mae and April didn't want to have anything to do with Jacqueline anymore. Jack ran out of the jungle (as if HE wanted to arrive just in time for the meeting), slowed down his pace as he saw the group of people, and took a seat next to Roger. Maya strolled out of the jungle shortly after and sat next to Simon. Simon asked her something, and she nodded. Jacqueline and Rebecca arrived, sitting next to each other. They glanced around suspiciously. Maya was too busy talking to Simon to notice the two girls' glare. Soon, almost all the logs were filled with chattering boys and girls (Ralph had brought more logs yesterday so that everyone would be able to have a seat), but neither Amarie nor Rose were present.

Ralph sighed. He was about to trek up to the girls' huts to inform them about the meeting when Amarie strolled over to Ralph. Her blonde hair fell over her right eye, and one of her palms was wrapped in what looked like tissue paper.

"Hello, Ralph. As leader of the girls, I'd like to give them a very short speech," Amarie said eerily happily.

"Well…whenever the conch is blown that means a speech will be taking place. I'll start off with my speech, and then you can start yours. By the way, have you seen Rose?"

Amarie sighed, "Oh, Rose. I think she's still sleeping. She had a rough night, didn't she…I think you should let her sleep and then I'll summarize the meeting for her."

"Good idea. Thanks," Ralph nodded.

Amarie sat down on the only log available, and paid close attention to Ralph.

"As you know, there are now mixed genders on this island. The moral rules will be exactly as they were if we were still in England or America. We need to respect each other…"

His sandy blonde hair was messy, and his perfect torso wasn't covered by a shirt. His skin was tanned and peeling around his shoulders. And his big, blue eyes…Amarie didn't know how long she was staring, but--- "Amarie?" Ralph asked, handing the conch to her.

A while, obviously. He was already done with his speech.

She coughed and regained her composure. She allowed her manipulative side to take over. "Good morning, dears. How are we doing?" Her voice was sweeter than a jar of honey.

Murmurs of 'good' and 'fine' rand through the crowd. "Good, good. Now, a certain incident happened yesterday," Amarie started, glaring at Jacqueline and Rebecca. "…And, well, to be frank, I'm pissed off about it!" Her voice rose so much, some young littleuns started crying.

Amarie's green eyes were wide with hate and anger. The group of older kids kept on staring fearfully at the manipulative leader, resisting the urge to tear their eyes away. "Listen up, and listen up well! No one, and I mean, NO ONE, will mess with me again! I can beat the hell out of any one of you, so watch it!" she hissed.

"You can beat the hell out of anyone, can you? Well obviously, that doesn't include me," Rebecca smirked, standing up.

In the blink of an eye, Amarie was striding towards Rebecca, fists clenched. She grabbed Rebecca by the throat and held her up against the trunk of a palm tree. "Do you have a death wish?"

"Amarie, let go of her!" Ralph commanded.

"No--" she struggled, gasping in air.

"Would you like to test my strength?" Amarie asked again, squeezing her throat tighter.

"Amarie!" Ralph warned, standing up. His voice was much closer now.

"No!" she cried out, and by now her face was turning reddish-blue.

"Then let's shut up," the green-eyed girl said sweetly, dropping the other blonde to the floor.

Rebecca took in deep breaths of air, shaking wildly because of her near-death experience.

Ralph helped her up, staring wide-eyed at Amarie and her incredible strength, and her incredible capacity for hate. She hadn't seemed that strong while fighting Roger. He couldn't feel much sympathy for Rebecca, though, because she tried to kill Amarie. Jack had a small smirk on his face. 'That Amarie girl would be a good addition to the hunters…if she were a boy,' he thought smugly. Roger glared at her. 'She's strong, but not as strong as me. Right…?' he thought angrily.

Through all the commotion of Amarie's sudden outburst, only Ralph noticed Rose trudging through the sand. Her normally bright blue eyes were dark, and a depressing shade of grey painted the slightly sunken area underneath her eyes. Rose's hair was matted just like every other girl's hair, and her smile was now a straight line. She looked so different, in fact, that Ralph had to make sure she wasn't a girl lost in the jungle. "Rose…?"

"That's my name," she said flatly. At that, everyone stopped their talking, bickering, or yelling and stared at Rose. She appeared so different…

"What the hell do you guys want? Stop staring!" she snapped. Everyone resumed their conversations nervously. Roger was the only one staring at the angry girl.

"The meeting's over," Ralph said abruptly. Everyone except Roger and Jack dispersed.

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Rose POV:

Roger stared at me with his beady brown eyes. That bastard. How dare he stare at me like I was some toy to be played around with? Especially after what he attempted.

"Rose? You okay?" a voice asked, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder.

Ralph.

"Yeah. I'm fine," I said through clenched teeth. He was still staring.

What are you doing? Other Me hissed. Ralph didn't hear her, obviously. She stood on my left, while Ralph was on my right.

'I'm being nice to the guy who saved my life,' I thought.

Well stop it! Remember what I told you? No one is your friend but yourself and me, of course.

When I found her sitting next to me this morning, I was terrified. She was a product of my imagination, I guessed, but it was still scary to have something from your imagination talking to you…practically controlling you. After half an hour of frantic worrying and desperately trying to find my pills all over again, I gave up and went to sleep. She was still there when I woke up, so I had to learn to live with my evil twin. Other Me was almost controlling me, and I wouldn't allow that. I would be nice to my friends, end of story.

"What are you staring at?" he asked with a small laugh. His laughing stopped when he turned around and saw Roger, a small smirk plastered on his dark face.

Ralph narrowed his eyes, and Roger and Jack walked away snickering.

"Thanks," I said, flashing an appreciative smile.

"If you ever need help dealing with him, don't be afraid to ask me," he said. "Wanna take a walk?"

I nodded eagerly. Maybe if I forgot about Other Me, she'd disappear.

"Follow me. I know this wicked place…you get a view of the whole island!" he said excitedly.

I followed the blonde teenager happily. Unlike most of the boys on this wretched island, Ralph was a gentleman. He led me through the jungle (which seemed to be the path needed to get to everywhere), helped me up several boulders, and made sure I didn't have any scrapes on me or anything after I rolled down a grassy hill.

We finally reached a grassy cliff overlooking, just as Ralph said, almost the entire island. I could see different colored specs playing in the sand (probably the littleuns) and chasing each other. I saw the cluster of girls' huts near the grassy hill I rolled down. A giant expanse of green was the jungle. A steady breeze blew through the island, and the green grass slowly shifted towards the edge of the cliff. The trees from a beautiful forest we passed by all shifted, and leaves gently swirled out of them. The smoke from the giant fire set up on a mountain nearby also moved with the wind.

"Ralph! This place is beautiful…" I sighed happily. I looked to my right, where Ralph was standing. He grinned down at me (he was around a head taller than me).

"Told you it was wicked," he smiled.

"Thanks for bringing me here. It really took my mind off everything," I said, while smiling. Even Other Me wasn't in my thoughts at this moment.

He turned towards me, and lowered his lips onto my cheek.

I blushed around a thousand shades of red before smiling again, this time softly.

Our romantic moment was killed, though, as a voice laughed:

"Hmmm…? Two lovebirds? Ralph, isn't that dangerous since you're chief of the boys? What would happen if they found out their leader was in LOVE? And Rose…finding love right after the whole Roger moment…some would call you a whore!"

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Left you with a cliffy again. ;) 4 reviews!