Blood Lust

My legs had given up only a few miles in. Lee had propped me up on the raft and peddled us the rest of the way to shore.

"What happens if they don't meet us at the shore?" My head rested on the raft looking behind us. Hoping that I would see something off in the distance. I hoping it was him.

Lee was silent the rest of the way, he just focused on getting us to the shore. Trying not to look behind us. Maybe he was afraid that he would see that they weren't coming? I tried not to bring it up.

On the shore, Lee pulled me all the way onto the dry sand, "I'll be right back." Then, He disappeared.

I rested my head back down on the warm sand. It had been years since I felt sand in between my toes. "Hey lady, are you from that wreck?" A unfamiliar hand poked me.

"Huuh?" I looked up to find strangers circled around me. Lee was no where to be found.

"Should we call the police?"

"Should we be searching for other survivors?"

"I don't think anyone else made it."

"It doesn't look like she'll make it."

The voices talked over me as I laid completely frozen in the sand. My body was too tired to move and Lee's disappearance had sucked all strength I had left.

"Ma'am can you tell me your name?"

I opened my eyes to see a cop leaned over me, "Christine...Marchand."

"She's a missing person Sargent."

My eyes closed.

"She's been missing for a little over four years. I can't believe she just washed up like this."

I woke up to a brightly lit room. Neatly tucked into a hospital bed with flowers on a bedside table and cards with balloons. I was warm and felt like I had gotten the best nights sleep in my life.

"Knock knock." A cheery voice entered the room. I expected to see Doctor Toulouse with a cup of tea, instead a strange new doctor appeared. "Good morning. How are we feeling?" The only thing he carried in his hand was a chart and pen.

"Uh, great actually." I stuttered and pulled myself together.

The doctor had grabbed a chair and pulled it up to the bed, "Now before we get to the serious stuff I want to ask you a couple quick questions." He clicked his pen and held it down to the paper without looking at me. "Do you know where we are and what year we're in?"

"No." Of course I didn't. I didn't even know where I was when I was on the Island.

He scribbled something down, "But we know our birthday, family members' names and so on?" His face still glued to the paper.

"Yes, I can give you my parents address and phone number if they still live there." I looked out the window for a brief moment. I hadn't gotten to sit in the sun for so long, I forgot what it felt like to have the sun beam down on me.

The doctor was silent for a moment. Like he knew I was taking in the sun like a guilty pleasure. "Alright. A police officer will be in to take your statement. Are you ready for that?"

"For what?" I asked. I looked back at him to find his head still in the paper that he was writing on.

He looked up at me to give me a odd look, "You've been missing for four years. We'd like to know what you can remember."

I wanted to comment on what he said, but was distracted by a new knock on the door. A muffled 'May I come in?' came through the door. The doctor proceeded to open the door and let a policeman walk past him.

"Good morning. Mind if we talk?" The officer was tall and menacing. He took over the doctor's chair and dismissed him with a flick of his hand. He pulled out a small notepad, "These next few questions are going to be repetitive, but please answer them."

The first question was asking for my name. Where I was born and who my parents were. The questions seemed harmless until we got down to the exact addresses and phone numbers of family and friends.

"I'm sorry, but I haven't gotten to see my parents yet, let alone anyone familiar. Are we almost done?" I sounded agitated.

The officer crossed his leg and sighed, "We will call them once we finish. Now please, let's continue."

He asked basic questions again. Who was the president? What color was the sky? Did a french fry taste sweet or salty?

I answered the questions quickly, "Thank you. Now we can get on to the tougher questions. What was the last thing you remember after going missing? Did you do it intentionally or did someone kidnap you?"

"I was kidnapped. I went to a rave and the cops showed up and started beating us." I remembered that night very well. I relived that night every night for the first year I was on the Island.

The officer uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, "Were you resisting arrest?"

"No, they rolled in like that. I woke up somewhere different with other from that rave. We were taken by v-" I caught myself coming unraveled. Maybe, that was what he wanted.

I could hear him snort, "Do you remember who kidnapped you?"

Lie.

My intuition told me to lie, "No I don't. It was a bunch of people. They locked us in cages."

He nodded and stared at me, "Is there anything else that you would like to tell me Christi?" He grinned.

I don't remember ever telling him my name. I don't think I ever gave anyone my nickname. I felt like something was off.