Chapter 9
793words
I wouldn't be able to get out of the car anytime soon. It would be against my best interest to provoke Erin.
So I said, "Erin, I really have no idea what you're talking about. Can't you give me a hint? Did something bad happen to you recently?"
Erin immediately slapped me hard across the face. "How dare you try to lie to me!"
She'd probably used all her strength. My right cheek burned immediately after, and soon, it began to swell.
"Don't think you've won," she hissed. "Do you know where we're heading? We're going to the pier. I already told Dean you're coming to the island with me."
I said nothing and turned to look outside the window. We were getting closer and closer to the pier. My body started to tremble in fear.
Erin sneered. "Didn't you say you had no idea what's going on? Then why are you so scared? I'm only bringing you to the island as my guest."
Just then, I heard Dean's voice coming through the car's speaker. Only then did I realize that he'd been listening to our conversation.
"Cassie, don't be scared. I've always been gentle with you, haven't I? I'll be waiting for you two."
The pier seemed to loom before us as Erin said, "I never would've figured it out that you've played me like a fiddle if it weren't for Dean. Cassandra, I have to admit. You're a good actress. Too bad you fell into my hands. Dean is going to make you suffer."
There was a boat docked at the pier. All we had to do was walk down the long gangway to board it.
Despair and resentment rose within me as I saw the boat's propellers churning the water.
I never expected to be dragged into the abyss, even after all my meticulous planning.
We switched to several different boats along the way. As we made our journey to the final boat, it was going so fast that one of the two burly men and Erin both got seasick. They leaned against the cabin wall, retching.
I pointed at a yacht in the distance and asked, "Is that the one?"
The man driving the boat was a local. He was an expert boatman, and he'd kept his cabin squeaky clean. I could tell he loved his boat.
I gestured at the queasy duo and said, "Can you speed up? If you don't, they might just throw up all over your boat.
The man immediately hit full throttle when he heard my words. The two, who were already nauseous to begin with, instantly turned green. He hastily started yelling at them to stick their heads out of the cabin.
The second they leaned forward, I grabbed their legs and threw them overboard. Then, I dove into the water and swam hard in the opposite direction.
The yacht that was supposed to pick us up was still some distance away, but someone had already jumped into the water to rescue us.
I took advantage of the chaos and swam away.
The ocean stretched on for miles. After 15 minutes of nonstop swimming, despair began to set in.
I thought to myself, "Dean and Erin might not be torturing me to death, but I'll probably die here. I'm going to drown out here and be torn apart by sharks."
I kept swimming for over an hour. Honestly, I never imagined that I'd possess such a strong will to live.
At this point, my limbs might as well be deadweight, and I was only paddling out of sheer spite.
Perhaps I was destined for something other than death by sea because I managed to swim into a coastal aquaculture zone. A fisherman who'd come to check on his fry spotted me and pulled me from the water.
…
I wasted no time contacting Eric when I was ashore, hoping he'd be able to fulfil my sole request.
When he heard what I'd ask of him, he fell silent for a long while. Finally, he said he understood.
"Can I trust you?" I asked.
"Yes," he replied solemnly.
…
I stayed in the fishing village for a month.
I only returned home under Eric's arrangement after Erin and Dean appeared on the news with their faces blurred.
I didn't go home. Eric had decided to pay his debt in full by helping me terminate my lease and getting rid of everything else I didn't want. He'd also gotten me a position at one of his branch offices in a completely different city.
I created new social media accounts and changed my number.
One day, Eric asked me when I found out that Dean was into wild parties.
