No Place to Hide

Six people- all enemies in some sort of way- are to come to Wraithwood Isles to enjoy a feast of togetherness and empathy. You have been chosen to be one of the six, [enter name here]. You shall travel to Wraithwood with the plane ticket entombed. You shall not ask any of your peers if they got the same letter. This must remain secretive at all costs. There are no rules on Wraithwood. Use that to your own peril.

Cyril Reeves

*********

Lilian Walker

I stared at the letter in my shaking hands, questioning every letter. I’d never heard of Wraithwood Isles. Ever. And my family was weird about traveling to rural beaches and islands every summer. I thought I’d seen every island there was on the East coast. I guess I was wrong.

Something about the letter messed with me- what do you mean I was one of the chosen? And I didn’t have any enemies, right?

Maybe Charlie, but we were okay now, right?

I opened the envelope, revealing the plane ticket. I googled the price; it was over five thousand dollars. My jaw dropped open immediately- no plane ticket was that expensive. My mind must’ve been messing with me. I shrugged the price off, as it had already been paid for, so that's that.

Surely it would be fun. I mean, being trapped on a stranded island? A girl’s dream! Especially my dream. Nobody would know who I was.

**********

Harrison Green

What the actual heck. I just came home, wanting to crash on the couch and turn on Survivor. I checked the mailbox, expecting a few catalogs and some junk mail, but no. I found a letter in the mail with my name plastered in calligraphy. It read, Six people- all enemies in some sort of way- are to come to Wraithwood Isles to enjoy a feast of togetherness and empathy. You have been chosen to be one of the six, Harrison Green. You shall travel to Wraithwood with the plane ticket entombed. You shall not ask any of your peers if they got the same letter. This must remain secretive at all costs. There are no rules on Wraithwood. Use that to your own peril.

Cyril Reeves

Holy guacamole. I opened the plane ticket and gaped. It was super nice, and it looked expensive; too expensive to be inside my mailbox. I stared at the letter, wondering what the heck I would do. The plane said it would depart on Wednesday. It was Monday. I hurried inside to tell Mom, but she wasn’t there. She never was. I saw a post-it note on the fridge.

Left to get groceries. See you soon.

I sighed and started packing a suitcase. The whole time I was packing, I was thinking what the heck would happen on the island. I didn’t know who was going, and Cyril Reeves, or whoever he is, definitely doesn’t want me to know. All I have left is waiting for Wednesday, and my dog if he ever comes back. He ran away yesterday. I would’ve run away with him if I had the guts.

**********

Nora Parker

“Uh, Lincoln? You might want to see this…” I said, grabbing the letter and opening it. I read over it, and then regretted saying that my brother, well, stepbrother, could see it. It read, Six people- all enemies in some sort of way- are to come to Wraithwood Isles to enjoy a feast of togetherness and empathy. You have been chosen to be one of the six, Nora Parker. You shall travel to Wraithwood with the plane ticket entombed. You shall not ask any of your peers if they got the same letter. This must remain secretive at all costs. There are no rules on Wraithwood. Use that to your own peril.

Cyril Reeves

I smiled weakly at him, wondering how I was going to contradict my sentence from earlier.

“What is it?” He asked, staring at the letter in my hand. I gulped.

"Uh, something personal. Sorry, I didn't realize." I said, gripping the letter in my hand. Lincoln looked at me with a confused look, and shrugged. I don't know why I thought it was going to go so deep; it was just a letter he couldn't read.

I rubbed my temple and walked into my room, the only private space I had besides the bathroom. In a house full of pets, children, and arguing parents, there wasn't a lot of space, so I took anything I could. I had just recently upgraded from sharing a room to unlocking my own room. There were four bedrooms in my house, and six children. Three of my mom's, three of Miles' (my stepdad).

So you could say it was a little cramped.

Anyway, I placed the letter on my desk and looked at the sentences, trying to crack whatever code was hidden inside the letter. I mean, we would fly on Wednesday. How was I going to tell my parents? Were we supposed to tell them? How were we going to get on the plane?

I set aside the questions- my therapist had told me if I ask myself too many questions, I might spiral into something bad.

That usually happened.

Oh well. I started packing my secretive bag and sighed.

Maybe this was for the better.

**********

Charlie Ross

I looked around to see if Dave was watching while I undid the letter with my name in seamless calligraphy. My eyes skimmed the paper and widened. The letter read, Six people- all enemies in some sort of way- are to come to Wraithwood Isles to enjoy a feast of togetherness and empathy. You have been chosen to be one of the six, Charlie Ross. You shall travel to Wraithwood with the plane ticket entombed. You shall not ask any of your peers if they got the same letter. This must remain secretive at all costs. There are no rules on Wraithwood. Use that to your own peril.

Cyril Reeves

My jaw dropped. Was this a prank? Surely Dave was up to this. The plane ticket looked nice. It was probably a fake. I cleared my throat, which had weirdly tightened. It's been doing that a lot; I've burned less and less calories over the days. Dr. Brown said to never ever touch a weight again unless it was for medical purposes.

She also said to eat, eat, eat. To discard any electronic devices with calorie monitoring. For Dad to scratch out any calorie markings on packaging.

She said that I had an obsession. Something about that word made me lash out that day, kicking and screaming and writhing.

But I don't like to think of those days.

I shifted my focus to the letter: who was my enemy?

Oh, yeah, I knew of a name that would for sure be on there.

Lilian Walker.

Freaking cheater.

Focus, Charlie, Focus.

Oh, right.

I furrowed my eyebrows in befuddlement and stared at the signature.

Cyril Reeves.

I had never heard of that in my entire life, all sixteen years and counting.

Anyway, Dave would never find out about this. Or Lilian. Just because he's the Golden Twin, with a capital G and T, doesn't mean that he can control me. I had an eerie, twisted feeling of pride that I got the letter and he didn't.

I wandered into the kitchen, grabbing a protein bar, which Dr. Brown allowed me to eat. Next thing you know I'm going to get diabetes, all this food she's telling me to eat. And to drink chocolate milk. I'm convinced that every carton of chocolate milk at high school is secretly poisoned, so drinking milk is a big no-no. But I will drink water and juice and sometimes smoothies.

Maybe I need this break on the island. Maybe I can finally escape.

**********

Valerie Fairbank

"Val? You have a mail," Said Ellery, my six-year-old little sister whom I adored. She toddled up to my bed- I allowed her to break the rule of not passing the tape along my bedroom door post- holding a letter, my name written in astonishing calligraphy that I envied.

"Thank you, sweet. I need to read this now. Can you leave for a bit and then I'll come play Barbies with you? Does that sound okay?" I asked her, her baby blue eyes staring up at me.

"Yeah, that sounds okay," She said, turning and walking out of the room after I planted a kiss on her head. I was sixteen, and she was six, so there was a noticeable age-gap, but honestly, I loved my little sister.

We felt like the perfect family, really. Picture-perfect, Hallmark, Ralph Lauren type family. It was Dad, Mom, Ellery, and me. Our parents were the type to kiss in public, even at school events, and be envied by all of our friends, whose parents were divorced like every other kid in the world. But nothing is really ever how it seems, isn't it?

You see, my parents didn't know that I had a secret. I saw the papers. I know what's coming in just two months. I know that our picture-perfect family will be ripped apart because outside looks are nothing.

Nothing.

I cracked my knuckles and carefully tore open the letter, reading carefully what was enclosed.

Six people- all enemies in some sort of way- are to come to Wraithwood Isles to enjoy a feast of togetherness and empathy. You have been chosen to be one of the six, Valerie Fairbanks. You shall travel to Wraithwood with the plane ticket entombed. You shall not ask any of your peers if they got the same letter. This must remain secretive at all costs. There are no rules on Wraithwood. Use that to your own peril.

Cyril Reeves

Okay, where's the confetti? Where's the pie-in-the-face? Where's the clown nose? This has to be a joke. The plane leaves in just two days. Two. Days.

You know what? I need to leave. I need to leave Mom and her plastic smile. I need to leave Dad and his successful law firm. I will miss Ellery and her plastic Barbies like crazy, but this is for the best. They can survive without their backbone for one day.

Everything will be okay.

**********

Henry Reese

I trudged to the mailbox in just my underwear, ignoring our neighbor, Ms. Berta, yelling and threatening to plunge me with the garden hose. Mum sent me out here yelling; I had to escape someway. I found three things enclosed in the mailbox.

A catalog for Old Navy, a letter that was addressed to Mum, and- oh my God, the day has finally come- a letter addressed to moi.

I threw the catalog in the direction of Ms. Berta's yard. She always enjoyed the catalogs.

I ripped open my letter, and found a small piece of paper.

Six people- all enemies in some sort of way- are to come to Wraithwood Isles to enjoy a feast of togetherness and empathy. You have been chosen to be one of the six, Henry Reese. You shall travel to Wraithwood with the plane ticket entombed. You shall not ask any of your peers if they got the same letter. This must remain secretive at all costs. There are no rules on Wraithwood. Use that to your own peril.

Cyril Reeves

I stared at the letter, stuffing it into my boxers. (Yeah, I know, that's like, the most disgusting thing to do- but where was I gonna put it? In my mouth? Heck no.)

I didn't want to snoop in Mom's letter, so I walked back into the house and plopped that on the kitchen table. Then, I walked into my room and opened the plane ticket. It left on Wednesday.

Maybe if I left quietly, Mom wouldn't notice I was gone.

**********

Lilian Walker

I stepped onto the plane, my mouth slowly opening. It was beautiful. A flight attendant directed me to first class. We weren't to see who else was aboard the plane, she said, by request of a very large donor sponsoring this flight. That should've been my first warning.

I placed my baggage on top and sat down in the cushioned seats, wondering how long the whole entire plane ride would take.

***

Suddenly, the plane lurched to a stop after just thirty minutes in the air.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome yourselves to Wraithwood Isles. I am your captain and figurehead, Cyril Reeves, and all six of you have received my letter, I hope. Remember, there are no rules. Please step off the plane and greet each other now. I will be here for the next six days, when you will be here. Good luck."

The crackling intercom system came on, and I could feel my heart stopping. We were here. These people did know me.

**********

Charlie Ross

I stepped off the plane, gazing around at the island. It was densely covered with trees, and then I saw everybody else step off.

Lilian Walker.

Harrison Green.

Nora Parker.

Charlie Ross.

Henry Reese.

Valerie Fairbank.

I knew all of them. They all went to Brinehaven High, and all had some role in the wicked hierarchy system of high school.

Lilian was the cheater, most famously known for 1, cheating on the SATs, and 2, cheating on me. Yeah, what a rep. Harrison was the crackhead. His mom wasn't around, and his dad had left a while back. He was always wearing clothes that couldn't quite fit, and always smelled of smoke. Nora was the brains, but she was too soft. She had a gigantic family, and was always a people-pleaser. I was the... I don't like labels, okay? But I was probably the fragile one. I mean, I was the only one who'd been in a mental hospital for all that I know. But people don't know that. Henry was the class clown, but I'd caught him wiping away tears in the bathroom before. He'd gone missing before, so that's interesting. And Valerie was just the golden one. Straight As, popular, a volleyball player, picture-perfect family. I know she cracks, though. I can see things other people can't. Hospitals do that to you.

**********

Valerie Fairbank

Why was Harrison here? And Nora? I swore to myself that I would never look at their faces ever again; I'm not one to break promises. This has to be something so weird. But I can't think about anything except for Ellery. What was I thinking, leaving her? I want to go home, I want to go home.

A man dressed in a full black three piece, like he was attending a funeral, came up to us and introduced himself.

"I am Cyril Reeves," he said, "I am the owner of this island. Again, welcome to Wraithwood Isles. You may not leave unless you are in immediate medical danger, and remember, there are no rules. Use that to your own peril, children. Again, good luck."

And just like that, he left. I plucked a loose hair from my slick-back and walked towards one of the huts that would be our living places for the week. I was always leading, I was used to this.

One more break before everything broke.

**********

Nora Parker

I was on that island for the same reason as everybody else; to escape. But I had one more thing...

I was done being nice.

**********

Harrison Green

That night, all hell broke loose. I mean, no rules, right? Maybe I took advantage of that rule.

**********

Henry Reese

I laughed when she screamed. That's when I realized that something is terribly wrong here at Wraithwood.

**********

Lilian Walker

No matter what people say, revenge feels good. Like, really good. Especially if there's something in the way of you succeeding.

**********

Charlie Ross

We're all monsters when there are no rules. That's what this all proves, truly. One second talking, the next screaming. Monsters.

**********

Valerie Fairbank

That's it. There's no place to hide anymore, friends. Come and face yourselves. That's the only way we can escape.

**********

Cyril Reeves

In the end, nobody ever gets a happy ending. That's not how the story goes. Not everybody's life is a fairy tale. At Wraithwood, there were no rules. They used that to their own peril, and their own peril was not very pleasant indeed.

But as we said, we're all monsters when there are no rules. Monsters.