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L
ooking
at myself in the mirror, I try to remember who I am. Not who I’m supposed to be now, but who I was a little over a day ago. I’m quite sure the Creator expects us to just forget, but there are pieces of the old me lingering just out of reach. I know better than to admit it, or let it show, but I can feel the “old” me there, and I want her to break free.

I’m tough, strong, and smarter than I ever remember being, but I also
feel
, and I somehow know that’s new. I feel like we’re making some kind of grave mistake as we fly towards Buccaneer Archipelago, off the cost of Australia. We know the threat is coming from there, but we don’t know what we’re walking into. All the spy and detective genes in the world can’t tell us something we can’t see. Satellite and infrared images were blocked, so we’re going in blind.

I know there are snakes, crocodiles, sharks, and a tide that could kill a human easily. I don’t think we’re fully human, but since I don’t know exactly what we are, I don’t know what I can survive. Going in blind is never the best option, which also tells me the Creator doesn’t care if we live or die, as long as we complete the mission.

I shouldn’t have fought Abigail for dominance, but there’s something wrong with her. Not just her personality change, but something else. She doesn’t just enjoy being mean, she seems to revel in it. Does she not feel like I do? Like there’s part of her still left from before? Do none of them feel it?

I can’t ask, but I want to know. I
need
to know, because I want to come back from the islands alive, and I don’t believe any of us will do that if we’re kept apart. We need to work together as we face whatever’s coming our way. Even Sabrina wouldn’t be able to make that happen, though. We’re immune to each other—at least I think we are.

I shake my head to try and clear these thoughts I’m having, and walk back into the body of the plane. The Creator is looking at me with an almost fond expression, and I force myself to smile back. I’ve never faked anything
ever
, but now I feel as if lives depend on it. Not just my own, but others, too. I don’t know how or why I have this overwhelming feeling, but it’s there.

For the remainder of the flight, I go over information on the islands once again. There are roughly one thousand, but our strike will be focusing on just the one. The pictures of the snakes make me want to shudder, but showing weakness right now isn’t something I can do. The energy around me is tense, but excited, and I’m not in the mood for another fight. The “new” me should be, but that old part is still testing the hold on my brain. I bring my face into a disinterested sneer, and keep reading.

I have a photographic memory, and I’ve been over all of this already, but I keep thinking I’ll find something I missed. I don’t know what, but there has to be something that can help me—help us all. Two hours later, and I’ve found nothing.

I
’m trying
to remain calm, because I don’t think anyone else heard it—heard him. The voice in my head, telling me not to trust my Creator. He started speaking to me once we left the building and were walking outside to the airplane, but since we’ve been inside again, I’ve heard nothing.

I want to believe it’s just a hallucination, or my subconscious telling me something is wrong with all of this, but I know that’s not the case. Until the voice was in my mind, I didn’t doubt what I had to do. My mission was—is—clear. Find the bad guys and take them out. I won’t stray from my mission just because someone’s trying to mess with me.

That’s the only explanation I can come up with; it’s gotta be someone messing with me. Maybe even one of the others. I don’t trust them, and I know they don’t trust me, either, but I wouldn’t mess with someone. Why do that? We have too much to worry about without trying to get a laugh or two. I’ve got no time for anything frivolous.

“Fasten your seat belts, everyone. We’re making our descent into Derby.”

Derby, in the Western part of Australia, is the closest place to the island that has an airport where we can land. We’ll be taking a boat over there, and with all I’ve read, it looks to be a wild ride. I honestly can’t wait for the fun to begin.

The landing is smooth, and we disembark with no problems. Flying on a government plane means there are no customs, and no one to check us for weapons. Even here in Australia, where gun laws are so stringent, we can walk off a plane with bags filled with ammo, and no one stops us. God bless the U.S.A.

“Are you ready?” the Creator asks us.

“No,” the voice whispers to me, “you’re not ready.” I ignore it.

“Yes,” we all say in unison.

“Good. You’ll each find a boat waiting for you at the Port of Derby. Make your way there, and get to the island as fast as you can. Time is of the essence.”

We’re splitting up? And he’s not even taking us there? Something seems wrong.

“It’s all wrong. Run, but not to a boat. Run from here. I’ll show you the way,” the voice tells me. Once again, I choose to ignore it. I run, but to my destiny, and not away from it.

S
omething is very wrong
. I can feel it in the air around me. My brothers and sisters aren’t all focused on the mission. Back at the facility, we were all working as one, but now there are those who doubt what we are doing. They doubt the Creator, and our mission. The others are dedicated to what we have to do. I can’t pinpoint who feels what, but I know it will become a problem.

Right now, I need to run. The seaport isn’t far, and I don’t want to be last. I have no control over the boat I’ll be taking, or its captain, but I can try and make sure no one has a head start on me.

We must look strange to the people here—five teenagers who seem to be running a race through this small town. It’s a race where we all want to win, but we should be doing that together. I don’t like that we’re splitting up, but I’m not in charge, and I inherently know I won’t be able to sway my siblings. If I could, we’d be running together instead of all trying to beat each other to the boats.

I’m the third one to make it there, with Hinton and Abigail right on my heels. I jump into the nearest boat and yell for him to go. Coalton and Michaela aren’t that far ahead of me, but since we’re supposed to split up, I have a choice to make. Who do I follow?

I choose to follow Michaela, because I
feel
that she’s the right choice. The tide is whipping us around, and as we make our way through a chasm between the rocks, our boats are both airborne, cresting on top of a wave that shoots over thirty feet in the air.

I try to hold on, but it’s no use, so I turn my body and dive for the ocean. I hear screams as I go under, and know they belong to the two captains. I feel the change in the water when they follow me under the tide. I also smell the blood in the water, and know trouble will be coming our way.

I spin around and see blood.

I follow its trail and reach the men right as Michaela does the same. Both are bleeding, one from a gash on his leg, and the other from one on his head.

We each pull one to the surface, because while we don’t seem to have problems breathing underwater, these men are only human; they won’t last long. We break the surface and spot the boats right away. Now that the water has calmed for the moment, getting them back on board is the safest thing for them. Their blood is trailing behind us in the water, and I can sense that Michaela is feeling as nervous as I am. Just as we reach the first boat, it happens.

A great white crashes down on the other side of the boat, turning it into useless pieces of timber. Our only hope for these men is the other boat, but when I turn, I see that we are now surrounded by sharks on every side. I look to Michaela and she nods. Neither one of us will give up the captains to save ourselves. It’s not that we care about them, specifically, but it just doesn’t feel
right
to let them die. At least not to me.

I feel the shift in the air as she tenses, and I know she’s planning a strike. “No. You’d have to let him go to attack.”

“We can’t just sit here and wait to be eaten.”

“Let me…try something.”

“You think you can?”

“Maybe?” I answer with a shrug.

“Go ahead and try, but if it doesn’t work, I’m going to kick some shark butt.”

I close my eyes and focus on the sharks swimming away from us. I picture it in my mind as I look for the threads of their feelings. It’s different than experiencing the feelings of a roomful of humans, but I can feel a mental wall crumbling around me as the sharks swim away.

“Well, that was pretty cool.”

I nod. “Let’s get them on the boats, and call for help.”

I
saw
what happened to Sabrina and Michaela’s boats. How could I not see it? I was right behind them, and it looked pretty awesome. The captain of my boat didn’t think so, but I backhanded him, and he shut up pretty quick.

I have a mission to complete, and if my comrades have to fall in order for me to succeed, so be it. I’m not like them, and even if they don’t know it yet, I do. I am the only one supposed to fulfill the destiny we were created for. The Creator didn’t tell me this, but I
know
. I will make him proud, and he will let me lead whoever is still alive once we finish here.

The sharks were circling the bloody water as we stayed on our course to the center of the island. A niggling part of me hopes they survived, but it’s small and pesky, so I give it a mental slap as well. Death is going to happen, and sometimes sooner is better than later.

“You can go check on the corpses of your friends,” I tell the man as he drops me on the shore.

“You are not concerned with your own friends?”

“They aren’t my friends.”

He looks at me with wonder and compassion in his eyes, which makes me angry. I pull one of the knives from my messenger bag, and wave it at him. He gets the hint, and makes a hasty retreat from the island.

I make my way across the hard-packed sand to a low outcropping of rocks. This entire island is made out of rock, although trees and brush spring up here and there above me. The islands in the Archipelago are typically close together, but this one is a little more isolated than the rest and definitely not inhabited by any humans. I should be worried about the non-human inhabitants, but snakes don’t scare me, and neither do any other animals I may encounter. I understand survival of the fittest, and yes, I know that’s me right now.

I choose the easiest path to the top of the island, knowing I could climb if I had to, but why would I want to exert the extra energy now, when I might need it later?

As I walk through the trees, I start to sense that I’m not alone. I can feel eyes on me, and strangely, I somehow know that they’re not human.

“Show yourself!” I yell into the thick trees on my right.

A bullet zings past my face, close enough to make my loose hair move. I reach for my gun, but I’m too stunned to move as fast as I should. Either that, or they’re better than me. No…that’s not an option. Whatever just happened, I’m suddenly being held in a hold that I’m having a hard time breaking free of.

“Stop struggling. It’s no use.”

I look up and see a boy about my age in front of me. He’s got mocha colored skin, brown wavy hair, and eyes that are a color between blue and green; turquoise maybe, although I’ve never seen eyes that color before. He’s also got lean muscles, and I can tell he’s stronger than he looks. If I could feel scared, I might right now.

“Who are you?”

“You can call me Levi,” he says with an Australian accent.

“Why are you and your friends attacking my country,
Levi
?”

“We’re protecting ourselves,
Abigail
. You should appreciate that since you’re one of us.”

“I’m nothing like you.”

“We have different Muses, and different Creators, but otherwise, we were built exactly the same way.”

“You’re lying to save yourself.”

“Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I don’t appear to need saving right now.”

“My friends will come for me!”

“Friends? You mean the sisters you left to die? Or the brothers you haven’t given a second thought to?”

“You know nothing of us.”

“I think I’ve made it pretty clear that
we
know everything about you. Enough about that for now, though. We have a cell waiting for you below?”

“Below?”

“You don’t think we’re going to stand here in the open, do you? Silly girl, the satellites are going to be watching soon, and all they’ll see is your ‘friends’ looking in places they’ll never find us. Not unless we decide to be found, that is.”

I’m pushed forward, but the hands on me don’t loosen any. I was wrong earlier about not feeling fear. I’m scared now. Scared and pissed off.

M
y muscles burn
as I finish the climb up the third and final waterfall. I could’ve just climbed the rocks ringing them, but the physical challenge of the falls appealed to me. I don’t remember anything before I woke up and walked to the facility, but I think I must have been active. I have some pretty ripped muscles, and I inherently know how to use them. Maybe one day I’ll figure it out, or ask, but it’s not a concern for me now.

I bat away a couple of snakes who hiss at me as I get to my feet, and shake the water from my short hair as I straighten up. What I see up ahead on the path causes me to jump back over the edge of the cliff. Abigail is being led off somewhere by a group of teens, and from what I could see in those few seconds, she can’t break free from the grip they have on her.

Since I’m pretty sure Abigail’s as strong as me, I made the decision to hide instead of try and fight. I’m not afraid of a fight, but it’s probably best if both of us aren’t captured. I know we’re supposed to stay apart, but I feel like I need to find the others and let them know what’s going on. Abigail’s not the easiest person to get along with, but she’s still our sister.

Once I’m sure they’ve gone wherever they’re going, I jump up and start to run across the flat top of the island. This place isn’t that big, and I know I’ll run into someone soon—if they haven’t been taken already. I stop in my tracks as I think that thought, wondering if maybe she wasn’t the first, but the last. No, I’m the last if that’s the case.

“Coalton, man, I’m glad I found you,” Hinton says, coming out of the trees on my left. “Something doesn’t seem right about this place.”

“Some kids our age took Abigail, so yeah, I’d say we’re in for the fight of our lives.”

“What do you mean they took her? Doesn’t she have our strength?”

“I saw them when I climbed up here. I’m pretty sure she does have the strength, but she couldn’t break free. I was going to look for everyone else before I try to find them.”

He shakes his head like he’s clearing it of something before he responds. “We need to find the other girls.”

“I know. I’m thinking they’re on the other side of the island, so I was heading that way.”

“Let’s go!”

We take off at a run, and he keeps perfect pace with me. Something about that feels odd, but again, I’m not going to try and analyze anything right now, except how to get our sister back. It doesn’t take long to get to the other side, and as we peer over the side, I see Michaela and Sabrina climbing up the rock wall.

A brief thought flitters through my mind, telling me I should kick some pebbles over the side to see if they’ll lose focus and fall, but I mentally slap it away. What’s wrong with me?

I know they don’t need my help, but I shouldn’t be thinking about them getting hurt—and enjoying the thought of it. I’m the one shaking my head now.

“You okay, man?”

“Huh? Oh yeah. Just trying to process what’s going on here.”

He gives me a curious look. “That’s all it is?”

“What else would it be?”

“Just checking.”

“I’m good.” I look over the edge again. “They’re almost here. We should step back a little so we don’t startle them.”

“Good idea.”

We both walk back a few feet, and wait. A minute or so later, slender hands grip the rocks on top, and then they’re pulling themselves over the top. They both hop to their feet, but then Michaela lets out a scream as she throws a snake off of her.

“Did it hurt you?” I ask, running forward.

“No,” she says, shaking her head, and looking down at her hand in wonder. “It bit me, but it didn’t hurt. I guess that’s a good thing?”

“Unless it numbed you with its venom.”

“I didn’t see that in the information about them I found online.”

“Me either,” she says, looking around to make sure the large snake hasn’t come back. She’s shaken up, so I’m not going to tell her that I’ve seen many more throughout the island.

“He didn’t numb you,” Sabrina says.

“What, did you ask him?” Hinton asks
her
with a laugh.

“Yes. As a matter of fact, I did.”

I stare at her with my mouth open before I speak. “You can talk to animals?”

“Yeah. I didn’t know I could, until I did, but I can. Maybe all of us can if we focus.”

“I think we should just focus on whatever skill we seem to be best at, and help each other out,” Michaela tells her. She looks calmer now, maybe because the bite marks on her hand have disappeared.

“Yes. We need to find Abigail, and take out the people who have her.”

“Someone has her?” Sabrina asks.

I explain it all to them, and we agree that we need to get her back. In that brief glimpse I got, I saw them heading down the rocks on the Northern side of the island. There really isn’t any place to go down there, so we devise a plan to use the rock walls to our advantage, catching them on the beach. We all run to a different point on the side, and start our descent down. Down to a beach that is most definitely empty. Where did they go?