CHAPTER SIXTEEN: The Courtroom

I was slightly confused at the recent turn of events. And, as I walked through the forest, I tried to make sense of them. First, Adelaide was here. Adelaide, my twin sister who hated my very existence and had tried to kill me nearly every chance she got. Once she'd tried to drown me in a metal basin in the washroom. Another time she'd almost bashed my skull in with one of the ponies in the shed. I'd thought she would've let go of all that by now, given we'd been apart for about seven years now. However, I didn't think that was the case now...And those flowers. I didn't even want to know, mostly because I wanted to remain ignorant, but a little because I just didn't want to handle it right now. I needed to talk to Maurice-but as I broke out of the foliage, feeling the sun graze my already rough skin for what seemed like the first time, I sighed in relief and tried to forget about that too. He'd abandoned me, hadn't he? He went to Jack's side right away. So had Roger. I couldn't trust them anymore.

"Alice!" Ralph shouted across the glistening beach. I glanced the scene over. The blonde waved at me excitedly, and it looked as if he was having a real grand time, perhaps the best in all his times on the island. He was about knee-deep in the ocean, the salty tongues of the waves lapping hungrily at his sunburnt skin. The twins splashed each other a bit farther out, screaming when a blast hit too close to home. Piggy watched worriedly from the shore, right near where I know stood. He had a ratty old jacket thrown over his shoulders. I glanced to him, and he nodded politely back, but I didn't take a seat next to him. I didn't feel like this was the time for that.

"Alice!" Ralph repeated, "You've been gone a while! Where'd you go off to?"

I squinted my eyes and cupped my fingers around my pale eyes so the glistening water and sun wouldn't hurt them. The sand too, was dangerously white. Unfortunately, this must have taken a lot of concentration, because I completely forgot about the ocean. It rushed up with a crash and wrapped itself around my ankles. I shrieked and leaped back. My heart was racing.

No more water for me. At least, not for a while.

I stood there for quite a while, not responding to Ralph. He didn't seem to care all that much. Actually, he went back to enjoying the surf with Samneric. Those two still perplexed me to no end. How did they get along so well, to the point of even finishing each other's sentences? Wearily, I sighed.

Should I tell them? Anyone? Yes, probably. If I didn't, it would only bring trouble for me later when they found out...and more predicaments were the last things I needed. But, how many of them should I tell? I trusted Piggy whole-heartedly, so definitely him. And Ralph was the leader of our little rag-tag team, so he was also a must. I might as well throw the twins in there too, because they also deserved to know what in the world was going on around here. That made everyone, except for the occasional littlun, but I hadn't seen any of them in quite a while...they must have either run off with Jack's pride-tribe or...or...

"Ralph!" I called out, trying to raise my still-hoarse voice above the roar of the waves, "Can we call a meeting?!"

"Really?!" He yelled back, "Why?"

"It's really important!" I persisted.

"Okay!" He agreed, "Everyone, meet up by the platform!"

"Should I blow the conch?" Piggy queried. I'd almost forgotten he was there...

"No, it's fine." Ralph said in between punctuated breaths once he got a little closer, "There aren't that many of us anyway."

We all trudged back up to the pearly-pink rocks that served as the platform in our better days. Struggling, I clambered up onto the top and took a seat on one of the main three fallen trunks, fidgeting with anxiety. So, this was it. The things I'd wanted to keep a secret were going to be out the open. Ralph and Piggy sat on either side of me, and Samneric sat on the spindly log that tended to tip over under the weight of the rambunctious littluns. They, however, had the tact and maturity to keep their feet planted firmly on the ground.

"So..." Ralph began, "What's this about, Alice?"

"It's about..." I began nervously, "...what happened today when I was in the woods."

Piggy snapped to attention. I also had managed to forget that he was the only one who knew about my noon-time meetings with Roger. Of course, he would naturally assume the worst. If I hadn't been me, and instead been him then I might have drawn the same conclusions. But, I was me and he was him...so...now I was just confusing myself. In plain, I was a little surprised that it wasn't Roger causing the problem. Though, who knew at this point.

"First off," I started to explain, trying to calm Piggy's frustration and douse the other's confusion as to why I'd been disappearing during sun-high, "I should probably tell you that I've been visiting Roger near Jack's camp for a few days now..."

"What?!" Ralph exclaimed, turning a little red with anger, "You...you're crazy! Do you know how dangerous that is?! They're..savages!"

A new fury bubbled up in me. I had to fight to suppress entirely, and even then it didn't work. "He's not that bad, actually, and this isn't about him...well it is...but that's not the point! Just let me finish, this is really serious!"

Ralph consented with an upset grumble, and I went on.

"I have a twin sister." I stated. The twins nodded in understanding. "She's always wanted to kill me, which is why I lived with my aunt in England. But, somehow...or another...she's here. And she still hates me. I don't even know why...I've never done anything to hurt her..."

"Well, that's news." Piggy sighed.

"So that's why-"

"-You were staring at us." Samneric said in their broken, eerie speech. I nodded in reply.

"Yes. Yes, I was wondering how you two get along so well. It's incredible, really." I smiled frailly.

"So, go on." Ralph urged, "Why are you telling us...and what does this have to do with Roger and Jack's tribe?"

"Roger knew about her...I think he's known from the beginning. And from what I can deduce...I think Jack's already in contact with her."

"And what does that mean for us?" Ralph insisted, every word laced with weightiness, "Why does this matter, Alice?"

I frowned and looked down at my feet. The scars were healing quite nicely. Or, at least as nice as they could be in a place like this. At least I could walk without pain now.

"Because now there are three murderers on the island." I whispered, "The two most brutal ones are with Jack. They'll do anything toget what they want. Jack now has what he wanted all along, because I know what my sister's going to do next...I wish she wouldn't but...and now Roger's angry with me. And Maurice probably is by now too."

"You said three?" Piggy puzzled, "Who's the third?"

"It's me."

BAGH. THIS CHAPTER PISSES ME OFF BECAUSE IT DELETED HALF OF ITSELF. It's a long story, but it made me really mad and it prevented me from getting it up last night. Anyway, I hope it was at least an okay chapter for what it was. It used to be twice as long before...sniff.

Okay, since I haven't updated in a long time and I really have nothing to else to say:

REVIEW RESPONSE TIME.

(sorry if I don't get your review. I'm doing reviews for the previous chapter ONLY. Just a heads up. I don't mean to be rude...)

JASMINE~~

Thanks for your review! I need more constructive criticism like yours to improve my writing, so it's greatly appreciated along with all the other reviews! The fact that you took the time out of your day to say anything really conveys a message, and I'll try to work on the things you mentioned!

Yeah, I know it's getting a little crap-filled and dodgy. I'm trying to reign it in a bit, honest. There actually aren't that many subplots though, but there is more than I usually include. And, for you and anyone else who is confused as to what happened- Yes, Charisma is Adelaide. or, at least a form of Adelaide. More on that in a later chapter...I think. YEah, I'm clueless. This isn't good...I'm going to have to go back through my planning notebooks and see where exactly I was going with this...sorry, it's been a while.

AmethystWren~~

Thanks for your review! I'm very glad you liked it! I hope you'll continue to read...*cough* even though this fic just keeps getting more awful by the minute *cough* I have a feeling that all my girl-on-the-island fics will go bad. If any of you have been around for a while, you probably saw my other girl-on-the-island fic.

There's a reason I took that down.

Yeah, but thank you very much for your review and your time!

so...I guess...I'll write ya later?

Yeah. yup. yes. This is going smashingly.