Chapter 1- Stranded on the Island

Ella looked at her smart phone, which was already discharged. She had thought of charging it once she boarded the cruise. But then, unfortunately, she missed it. Or to be more appropriate, she had been forced to miss it. Her own friends had betrayed her  

She pulled at her hair in anguish. She screamed and yelled aloud, but then there was not a soul to listen to her. She was all alone with the wildlife. “Why the hell did I trust Sophia? Was Jade also a part of the conspiracy against me? And what about Lisa and Ivy? It was least expected of them to be backstabbers. Although they did it under threat, did a friend’s life not matter to them at all? How could they be concerned only about their future? Isn’t it a sin to let somebody die?” All these questions swelled up in her overstressed brain.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she held the two different notes: one left by Sophia, who was the mastermind behind the conspiracy, and the other by her best friend Lisa’s.

She read the notes all over again. Sophia’s note read:

Dear Ella,

So, I have had my revenge. You seduced my boyfriend, and so I marooned you on the island. I hope to meet you again if you return alive from the island. Hahaha.

Your sincere enemy,

Sophia.

“Was it my fault if Jade started loving me instead of Sophia? When did I ever try to seduce him? Is it a crime to be beautiful and hardworking? Weren’t these traits what attracted Jade to me? How could Sophia think of taking revenge in such a brutal manner? Do I deserve to die at the young age of eighteen?” Ella burst into tears at these thoughts.

She was about to read the other note, but then it was already dark. Fortunately, she had her smart watch still on her wrist. It was just 5 p.m., and it was already dark.

She got alarmed as she heard the hissing sound of the snakes from a distance. The next moment, she could hear a lion roar. She was already shaking in her boots. “How would I at all survive on this island all alone?” Ella thought.

She had spent the day fearlessly looking for a ship or a boat so that she could get some help and escape from the island. Besides, the animals didn’t seem to be very active during the day, but with the onset of dusk, the scene on the island seemed to have changed.

She quietly went inside the tent, which seemed to be dark initially, but slowly it got slightly lit as the full moon dazzled in the sky. She tried to search for some leftover food, as her stomach seemed to be rumbling. She remembered that she had not eaten anything throughout the day. But all her efforts to find it seemed to be in vain. What she discovered were only packets of pizza and burgers littered around the floor of the tent. Her mouth seemed to be drooling at the sight of the packets.

When all her efforts failed, she finally started looking for a water bottle, hoping to find at least a sip or two to quench her thirst. After rummaging the tent for almost an hour, what she found was a bottle that had only 100 ml of water left in it. She sipped it slowly, with the feeling that this might be the last time she was getting clean water to drink.

She decided to sleep in the tent for the night, as going out would be dangerous. “But what if the wild animals sneaked into the open tent at night? Whether they kill me or not, the very thought makes me shiver.” She thought. She remembered that she had kept a few logs of wood in one corner of the tent. She looked for a matchbox in the pocket of her jeans, and luckily, she found it.

“I will light the fire outside the tent. I have enough logs to last for the night. This will keep the animals at bay.” She decided. She spread the carpet that she had packed in her bag so that she could return to her own city along with her friends on the cruise and lied down. Although she was famished, the warmth of the fire lulled her to sleep on the cold night.

She was woken up, as she felt too cold to tolerate. The fire was already blown away by the cool breeze, and the mist falling over it had made it so damp that it couldn’t be lit again.

Ella was wearing a jacket, but then the chill seemed to pierce into her bones. She had hardly overcome the feeling when her eyes caught the attention of a cobra that had sneaked into the tent. It was there, raising its mighty body and spreading its magnificent hood. She could see that it was almost three times her length, and if the King Cobra decided to bite her, she would have no escape from the venom, and her chapter would be closed at once. A chill ran down her spine.

Despite the biting cold, she felt the sweat beads trickling from her forehead. As a reflex reaction, she just broke into a run. Within seconds, she was out of the tent, and she started running towards the forest nearby. But then she turned back and found that the cobra was already following her. It was gliding slowly, as if in no haste, to catch its prey. She increased her speed, and so did the cobra. It was the monarch, and it could not let its prey go off.