Bound to the Island: Our Family of Seven Is Marked

Voices rose in a clamor as everyone scrutinized each other. There was nowhere to hide."Who on earth is the family of seven?""Step forward right now! Are you really going to let us all die?"Alex's eyes were like lanterns, cutting through the fog and sweeping over Mable and me meaningfully, like a snake coiling around its prey.We held each other's hands tightly and lowered our heads, trying our best to make our presence as small as possible.Suddenly, someone pointed at me. "She knows! It has to be her! She said this is all just superstitious nonsense earlier and that the flooding has nothing to do with a family of seven. She's been arguing since the very beginning."The moment I was accused, the thick fog lifted, and the murky floodwater returned to how it looked before.The crowd's excitement spiked."I overheard her mention that the woman next to her is her sister. They're siblings. The other five must be around here too."Mable and I were instantly surrounded in a tight

Someone turned to Alex."Is it him?"Dad shouted, "Of course it's not me! You can't just accuse me like this! If you want to find the people, then look for them properly. Why push me to my death?"He looked terrified, but there was something so honest about his face that made it seem like the others really had made a mistake."Time's almost up," Alex said. "Three minutes left. If you don't find one of the remaining two people, then someone else will have to die in their place."The crowd descended into chaos. Dad tried to slip back, but someone shoved him out again. Then, someone even stronger kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying nearly ten feet into an open space.The man said with clear hostility, "Since you're already out there, you might as well die in place of whoever it is. Don't come back."When Dad tried to return to the crowd again, he was completely ostracized. He had no choice but to stand there alone, wiping his tears, pretending to be wronged."Ten minutes

"Be a good girl and go somewhere else. This isn't a place for you," my parents said as they chased me out the door, not letting me see the bloody scene inside.Not long after, I heard the pitiful woman wake up. She cried and begged, "Please let me go. I won't sell fruits anymore. The fruit stall is yours. My son is still young. I need to raise him."I swear, just let me go, and I won't call the police or come after you."The grief and desperation in her voice twisted my insides. I wanted to crawl over and convince Mom and Dad to let the woman go.But the seven-year-old Mable stood in my way. "Do you still want candy?"I nodded. "I do."But more than that, I wanted to stop my parents.Mable grabbed my arm. "If you want candy, then don't interfere. Because once we kill that woman, the fruit stall will belong to our family. We'll be able to make a lot of money, and then you'll be able to have candy every day.""Then, I won't eat candy. I don't want that woman to die," I said, stil

Alex laughed cruelly. "I told you. Since I was going to wipe you out, I would wipe out your entire family. My hatred for you all has only grown deeper with time."My mom was just a fruit vendor. That mobile stall was free for anyone to take. Just because she got there early a couple of times, your father poisoned her and killed her. How could I not hate you?"When my mom died, I was still a kid. Do you have any idea how I survived all those years? No, you don't, nor would you understand. I scavenged trash. I was humiliated. I was bullied. I lived as a homeless person for so many years."He became agitated, and the more he spoke, the more his eyes reddened. The hatred that filled his gaze was one so intense it felt like he wanted to grind my bones to dust.He had suffered for over a decade. And now, I would suffer for the rest of my life."You're just walking the same path I once walked," he added.While I was overcome with emotions, he suddenly turned and tied me up. He dragged m