The Island Excerpt

July 12, 2019 | 2 comments

CHAPTER ONE

Terre-de-Haut, Guadeloupe

VICTOR COUDRIER WALKED briskly down the dark beach. Sweat covered his upper body, causing his T-shirt to cling to his torso. He always perspired when he was nervous, and tonight he was as nervous as he’d ever been.

Hearing voices ahead, he came to a stop. Two silhouettes walked toward him, and his pulse quickened in response. As they drew near, he saw it was a man and a woman holding hands and whispering to one another. Two lovers. Victor breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn’t the police. Pairs of officers patrolled the area after dark and wouldn’t have been happy to find a teen wandering around on his own.

As he set off again, Victor glanced at the ocean on his right. He had been so jittery that he hadn’t truly noticed it until now. As he watched, a tiny wave hit the shore and washed silently over the sand. Like most Caribbean bays, the water’s surface was as smooth as glass. The perfect conditions for what he and Antoine had planned.

The two French teens had journeyed to Terre-de-Haut with their parents. The four adults were staying at adjoining homes on a hill overlooking the bay, while Victor and Antoine stayed in a small detached bungalow just behind them. According to the leasing company, the bungalow had served as servant quarters in the early twentieth century.

Initially, Victor and Antoine had enjoyed their time on the island. Their days were filled with snorkeling over coral reefs, and their nights were spent roaming around town or watching movies at the bungalow. But after several days, the repetition grew old. And being adventuresome, Antoine suggested they raise the stakes. When Victor asked what he had in mind, Antoine unveiled a bold and risky plan to spice up their vacation. They would steal a boat from the local marina and venture out to L’Ilet à Cabrit, a small island at the outer edge of the bay. L’Ilet à Cabrit was sparsely populated, making it the ideal place to get away, drink, and explore.

Once Victor was on board with the idea, Antoine had revealed a surprisingly detailed course of action. After their parents left for dinner at an upscale restaurant in town, the two teens would set out in different directions. Antoine would travel to the marina to find a suitable boat. Taking one wouldn’t be difficult, he had determined. Terre-de-Haut had little crime, which meant many of the boat owners left their keys on board.

While Antoine secured their transportation, Victor had snuck into his parents’ rental house to steal a bottle of liquor. He had a key, so it was simply a matter of going inside and picking out what he wanted. Fortunately, his parents were heavy drinkers and wouldn’t miss a bottle.

Victor’s phone buzzed in his pocket, jarring him out of his thoughts. He looked at the lighted screen. Antoine’s message was short: Pier Three. White boat at the end on the left. Victor’s heart beat a little faster. They were really going to do it.

Victor picked up the pace. The sooner they got out onto the bay, the better he would feel. After coming around a promontory, he saw the marina’s boardwalk directly ahead. Cones of light shone down from poles situated at regular intervals. Victor stopped behind a palm tree and studied the area. A night manager was always on duty, but he made his rounds only at the top of every hour. That meant he wasn’t due for another twenty minutes or so. Still, Victor wanted to make sure the man hadn’t changed his routine.

Seeing no movement, Victor stepped onto the boardwalk and walked quickly down the wood planks, turning right at a sign that read 3. Now hidden from the marina office, he sprinted as fast as he could. As he neared the end of the dock, he saw a twenty-three-foot pearl-white powerboat with a black canopy. La Jeune Fille was printed in black letters along the hull.

Antoine emerged from under the canopy and made a gesture with his hand. “Welcome to our ship.”

After glancing down the dock one last time, Victor clambered over the gunwale.

“Did you get our adult beverage?” Antoine asked.

“Of course.” Victor set the backpack down on one of the seats.

“Let me see what you got.” Antoine unzipped one of the pockets and pulled out a bottle filled with amber-colored liquor. “Jose Cuervo Especial. Nice.”

Victor pushed the bottle back into the bag. “Let’s get going.”

“Easy, easy. No need to rush.” Antoine nodded toward the marina office. “Our pal with the beer gut just finished his rounds, so he won’t be back for a while.”

“No need to push our luck.”

Antoine placed a hand on his shoulder. “Calm down. We’re done. We made it.”

“We haven’t gotten away with anything yet. He might have seen me coming down the dock.”

Antoine shook his head. “If he had, then he’d be out here by now. Last I saw, he was playing video games in the back room. I could fire a gun out here, and he wouldn’t hear it. Besides, even if we did get caught, we’re teenagers. They’d slap us on the wrist and tell us not to do it again.”

“Dad wouldn’t slap me on the wrist. He’d ground me for several months.”

Antoine pointed at the bottle sticking out of the bag. “Don’t worry. Jose is going to make you feel better.”

“Well, the sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can partake.”

“On that we agree.”

After putting the bag away, Antoine settled into the driver’s seat and started the boat. Victor cringed when the engine roared to life, but after a moment’s reflection, he realized there was almost no chance the night manager could hear them. And even if he did, he would assume it was one of the local fishermen coming in.

Antoine guided the boat out of its slip then thrust the throttle forward slightly as they passed through the no-wake zone. About two hundred yards out, he opened the throttle completely, and the bow rose out of the water. A V-shaped wake appeared behind them as the boat shot out into the bay. “Yeah, baby!”

Although he was only fifteen, Antoine had a great deal of experience on the water. His father owned a small boat that they took out regularly along the Rhône River near Valence, France. That was one thing that made Victor more comfortable with their outing—Antoine knew boats as well as most people knew cars.

Their destination was L’Ilet à Cabrit, but Victor soon realized they weren’t traveling in that direction. Instead, Antoine had directed the boat to the northwest of the islet.

“What are you doing?” Victor asked.

“There has been a change in plans.” A wry smile played on his face.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

“Whatever you have in mind, I didn’t agree to it.”

Antoine looked over at him with a smile. “Come on. You really thought it would be exciting to just sit on the beach at L’Ilet à Cabrit? We could do that back at our place.”

Victor felt a wave of anger rise inside of him. Antoine was an adrenaline junkie who seemed to thrive on anything that might lead to danger. He had no safety filter, nor did he seem to care about consequences. Victor knew he needed to gain control right now, or Antoine would find a way to get them into serious trouble.

“Stop the boat,” Victor said.

“Look, we’re almost there.” Antoine pointed ahead. “It’s just a little—”

“I said stop the boat.”

Antoine throttled back and slowed the craft to a crawl. “Please, let me just show you what I have in mind. I promise there is zero chance we’ll get into trouble. Zero. If anything, this will be safer because there won’t be as many people around.”

Victor frowned. “What do you mean there won’t be as many people around?”

“Actually, I don’t think there will be any people around.”

Victor’s frown deepened. “What are you talking about?”

Antoine said nothing.

Victor pointed at Antoine’s chest. “I want to know exactly what we’re doing, or we’re going back and calling the whole thing off.”

“Look, it’s not a big deal. It’s basically the same plan we had before, only this will give us more privacy. If we’re lucky, we may even get to explore some really cool places.”

Victor held his gaze. “You still haven’t answered my question. You’ve got ten seconds to explain, or we’re going back.”

“Okay, fair enough.” Antoine faced forward and pointed at something in the distance. “That’s where we’re going.”

Victor studied the dark horizon. Just northwest of L’Ilet à Cabrit, another slightly smaller island rose out of the dark waters. He looked at Antoine. “What’s that?”

“You don’t remember?”

“Quit playing games. What is it?”

“It’s that place Olivier told us about.”

Victor’s brow furrowed. Olivier was the man who led their daily snorkeling cruises. But what place was Antoine talking about? Then it hit him. Two days before, Olivier had pointed out the small island while they were stopped at a coral reef about a mile away. He said it was privately owned, having been purchased by a wealthy man several years ago. He also said some unsettling things about its history.

Antoine studied Victor’s expression. “You remember it now, don’t you?”

“I’m not going.”

“Why not?”

“He said the place was dangerous.”

“He never said that. He said it’s deserted. The owner doesn’t even live there.”

“So you don’t remember him telling us about all the people who’ve gone missing over the years?”

Antoine smiled. “Look, he was just trying to spook everybody. He gets a kick out of that. Hundreds of people go missing around the world every day.”

“That’s different. This is a tiny island.”

“Those people were probably on L’Ilet à Cabrit. There are more people there. They probably got robbed or something.”

“No, that’s not right. Remember the case Olivier told us about, the one that took place a couple of years ago. The man who rented a boat to a group overheard them say they were going to explore the smaller island. They left around two in the afternoon and never came back. Olivier told a couple of other stories too. Want me to keep going?”

Antoine shrugged. “Like I said, there are missing people everywhere. We have them in France, in case you haven’t been paying attention.”

Victor said nothing.

After a minute of silence, Antoine looked at him. “How long have we been friends?”

“I don’t know. Ten years, maybe.”

“And have I ever gotten you into trouble before?”

“We’ve come close.”

“Three hours,” Antoine said. “That’s it. That will give us time to have a drink then look around a little. After that, we go home.”

Victor stared at him.

“If we don’t go, we’ll regret it,” Antoine added. “Don’t you remember why we planned all this in the first place? We came out here because we got tired of the same old crap.”

Victor wondered if he was being too cautious. Antoine was right—they had come out for a little excitement.

“Two hours,” Victor said. “I’ll go for two hours.”

Antoine smiled. “Deal.”

Victor held up his phone. “I’ll be watching the time.”

CHAPTER TWO

“YOU HAVE TO admit it’s beautiful,” Antoine said over the low hum of the motor.

Victor looked up from his phone. A few minutes before, their destination had looked like a featureless dark mound, but the details were slowly beginning to emerge. Just beyond the thin strip of white beach was a thick rainforest. Like most of the islands in Guadeloupe, this one’s terrain was mountainous and rugged. But Victor also noticed something else: Unlike the other islands, there were no lights at all. No sign of human presence whatsoever.

“We’re going to be the only ones out here,” Victor said.

“That’s the whole idea. We’ll have the whole place to ourselves.”

“What if there’s a problem with the boat?”

“You worry too much.” Antoine patted the console. “One of the reasons I picked this baby is because it’s relatively new. Besides, if something happens, then we’ll just call for help.”

“You make it all sound so easy.”

“That’s because it is. Now get yourself a drink and relax.”

For once, they agreed on something. A shot was just what Victor needed to take the edge off of his nerves. The whole idea of spending a couple of hours on an abandoned island gave him the creeps.

He unzipped the bag and removed the bottle of Cuervo and one of the two glasses he had taken from his parents’ kitchen. He had also packed some ice and seltzer water to mix it with, but that would have to wait. He needed a quick delivery. After pouring a small amount into the glass, he swigged it back.

Antoine smiled at him. “That a boy. Bottoms up.”

“Remember, you said two hours.”

“You’re going to have so much fun you’re going to beg me to stay.”

Victor poured another shot and tossed it down. “Don’t count on it.”

As they neared the shore, Antoine slowed the boat to a crawl then removed a flashlight from the console. After clicking it on, he shined the beam into the clear water.

“What are you doing?” Victor asked.

“Making sure we don’t hit a reef.” Antoine maneuvered around the dark masses just below the surface. About thirty yards out, he killed the engine and let the momentum carry the boat all the way into the shallows. Once they were in waist-deep water, he dropped anchor. “See how easy that was?”

“I never said we couldn’t get here.” Victor put the bottle of Cuervo in the backpack then slung it over his shoulder.

Antoine looked at his phone. “Interesting.”

“What’s wrong?”

Antoine frowned. “No signal.”

“Maybe it’s your phone,” Victor said. “Mine was working just a few minutes ago.”

“No, either we’re out of the tower’s range, or the signal is being blocked.”

Victor looked at his phone. He had no signal either.

Antoine slipped the phone into his pocket. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t matter? So now if something happens, we have no way to call for help.”

“Look, we’re here, and we’re safe. If something happens, then we’ll just get back in the boat and go home. We’ll paddle back if we have to.” Antoine opened a compartment on the starboard side of the boat and directed the flashlight beam inside. “It looks like we won’t need the phones after all.” He reached into the opening and removed two radios. After making sure they had power, he handed one to Victor. “Voila.”

Victor slipped it into his pocket. It wasn’t much, but at least they would be able to communicate if they got separated in the woods.

Antoine continued to go through the compartment. “So much stuff in here…”

“What about a gun?” Victor asked. “Now that would make me feel better.”

“No, but we do have this.” Antoine removed a large scaling knife and slid it behind his belt. “Might help us fight off all the crazed monkeys.”

“You don’t know how to use that thing.”

“It’s a knife. Everybody knows how to use a knife.”

After rummaging some more, Antoine held up what looked like a large pistol. “Well, well… look what I found.”

Victor’s eyes widened.

“It’s not what you think.” Antoine held it in the beam of his flashlight, revealing a flare gun. “If something happens, then we just fire this baby into the air, and help is on the way.”

Victor had to admit he felt better knowing they had a way to call for help. A number of fishing boats were still out on the bay, and a flare could be seen for miles.

Antoine produced a folded tarp and handed it to Victor.

“What’s this for?” Victor took it and shoved it into his backpack.

“After we get done exploring, we’ll set up on the beach and enjoy a little refreshment.” He winked at Victor. “How does that sound?”

“I think we should just skip the exploring part.”

“You need some more tequila.” Antoine closed the compartment lid and looked at Victor. “All set?”

“I guess.”

Antoine swung his legs over the gunwale and dropped into the shallow water. Victor handed him the backpack and dropped in next to him. Even though it was nighttime in October, the water was still comfortable.

After the two waded ashore, Antoine pulled the tarp from the bag and spread it out over the sand. Once everything was situated, he pulled out the bottle of Cuervo and poured himself a glass. After downing it in one gulp, he repeated the action two more times.

“Easy now,” Victor said. “You have to drive us back.”

Antoine stared at the ocean. “Tell me this isn’t heaven.”

Victor followed his gaze. The moon hung on the horizon, its light reflecting off of the glassy surface of the bay. He was right—it was the perfect setting for a night of drinking. “That’s why we should just stay here.”

“Not a chance. We’re going to find out why that rich guy wanted to buy this place.”

Victor turned and looked behind them. About twenty yards away, the rainforest rose up, dark and foreboding. Underneath the trees was a thick and seemingly impenetrable tangle of undergrowth. The vegetation was so thick it gave Victor hope that they wouldn’t be able to enter the jungle at all. Perhaps Antoine would settle for a long walk down the beach. Probably not. Then again, Victor knew he at least had to try. “Good luck finding a way through that.”

Antoine set the bottle of Cuervo aside and stood up. “What?”

Victor nodded toward the trees. “The jungle. No way we can get in there.”

“We’ll be fine. It’s not thick everywhere. I found something interesting on Google Maps. There’s a dock about a mile from here, and it looks like there’s a dirt road that leads into the interior.”

“Getting down there and back will take up a good chunk of those two hours,” Victor pointed out.

“You really going to hold me to that?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Well, then let’s get moving. Come on.”

Victor let out a little grunt then stood. He might as well get it over with. Maybe they could explore for an hour then sit on the beach for an hour. That was what he was going to suggest, anyway. In fact, if they made it safely back to the beach then he just might be willing to stay a little longer.

After crossing the thin strip of sand, they followed the line of trees to the left. Antoine played his beam around on the vegetation, stopping on occasion to examine several openings more closely. None seemed large enough to fit through.

As they continued on, Victor noticed the jungle was much noisier than he had expected. A steady buzz of insects was broken by the occasional call of a nocturnal bird. There were also a few barks and sounds of unknown origin. It was like walking through their local zoo at night.

“Here we go.” Antoine directed his flashlight toward a large opening between two palms.

“It looks pretty tight.”

“We’ll be fine.” Antoine stepped back and directed his beam above the trees. “This island is actually the top of an old volcano. There’s a ridge of hills around the perimeter, with a valley in the center. One of the reasons I picked this spot is because the ridge is a little flatter here.”

“So we’re going uphill? Sounds like a lot of work. Doesn’t sound too relaxing.”

Ignoring the comment, Antoine stepped between the trees then directed the beam at the ground. “Hey, check this out.”

Victor looked down and saw what appeared to be a large number of tracks scattered across the soft earth. “Animals.”

Antoine pointed at a place on the right side of the trail. “That one is pretty big.”

Victor bent over. He was right. One set of tracks looked larger than the others. “What do you think it is?”

Antoine crouched for a closer view. “Looks like a human foot but hard to tell.”

“Maybe the guy who owns the island has people out here guarding the place.”

Antoine shook his head. “I doubt it. If it’s a human print, then it’s probably someone who was doing the same thing we’re doing now.” He looked at Victor. “But just to be safe, let’s kill the lights.”

After they extinguished their beams, Victor followed Antoine into the trees. About ten yards in, the trail widened, making travel easier. The only problem was the assortment of knobby roots that made walking difficult on their sandaled feet.

As they traveled deeper into the jungle, they encountered several forks in the path, as well as a number of crossing trails. Antoine’s choice of which one to take didn’t always seem to adhere to any rule, but in general, he seemed to take the one that continued straight or perhaps slightly to the left. At first, Victor worried about how they were going to find their way out, then he remembered that Antoine was a man of the outdoors. He could probably get back to the beach with a blindfold on.

About a mile in, Antoine stopped in the middle of a large intersection.

“What’s wrong?” Victor asked.

Antoine cast his gaze in several directions. “I’m… it’s probably nothing.”

Victor gave him a hard stare. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I don’t know. This clearing… it looks like one we crossed through a few minutes ago.”

“I knew this was a dumb idea.”

“Chill out. It probably just looks like the one we went through before.”

Breaking his own rule, Antoine turned on his flashlight and ran the beam around the exterior of the clearing. Light splashed across tangles of vegetation. As best Victor could tell, at least five trails ran off in various directions.

As the beam crossed one of the trails, Victor thought he saw a flash of red light. “Stop,” he said.

“What?”

“Shine it on that last trail one more time.”

Antoine moved his beam to the left, but Victor didn’t see the flash of red again.

“You see something?” Antoine asked.

“I don’t know.”

Antoine stood in silence, his flashlight pointed at the ground. For the first time ever, Victor thought he saw fear in his friend’s eyes. But instead of pity, Victor was filled with a growing sense of anger. “You got us into this mess, now get us out of it.”

Antoine held up a hand. “We’re going to be fine.”

“Then tell me where we are.”

Antoine took another look then pointed his beam at one of the trails. “The hill slopes up in that direction, which means the interior of the island is in that direction. That’s the way we need to go.”

As Antoine started to walk off, Victor grabbed his arm. “I’m giving you one more chance. If we don’t reach the valley in the next fifteen minutes, then I’m out of here. You’ll be on your own.” He shook his friend’s arm roughly. “You hear me?”

Surprisingly, Antoine didn’t argue. If anything, his lack of a response unsettled Victor even more. Antoine was always the one who stayed calm, no matter how difficult the situation. It was the main reason Victor always went along with his crazy ideas. But Antoine’s confidence was gone, and to Victor, that was an ominous sign.

Antoine turned off the light then took the path that led up the slope. They had traveled only about fifty yards when a sharp click sounded off to the right. Both of them stopped and looked in the direction of the noise.

“Did you hear that?” Antoine’s eyes narrowed.

Victor frowned. “Yes, I did.”

“What was it?”

“It sounded metallic, but that doesn’t make sense out here.” Suddenly Victor remembered the flash of red he’d seen down one of the trails. Then it hit him. He knew what had made the sound. “I think we just tripped an alarm.”

Antoine looked at him. “An alarm? What are you talking about?”

“Remember how I thought I saw something down one of the trails? It was a flash of red, and now I realize it was a laser beam of some kind.”

“Like a trip wire?”

Victor nodded. “The beam was so thin that it’s hard to see unless light hits it just right.”

Antoine was about to respond when a distant noise cut him off. It was a screech or a wail, and it sounded like it was about a half mile away.

Antoine looked in the direction of the sound. “What the hell was that?”

“I have no idea.”

“An animal?”

Victor shook his head. “I don’t think so.” He looked at Antoine. “I think it’s related to that alarm. It must have alerted someone—or something—to our presence.”

Seconds later, another wail sounded, and this time it was closer than before.

“What the…” Antoine whispered.

Victor felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

Whatever was out there was going to arrive in a matter of minutes.