I glanced down toward Kiev’s side of the bed. It was empty now.
“Kiev?” I called.
I checked the bathroom and all the other rooms upstairs and downstairs. I could only assume he’d gone for a walk. Since I couldn’t sleep, I decided I might as well go for a walk myself.
I exited the house and stepped onto the beach. I walked to the water’s edge, dipping my feet in the waves. I looked out at the still dark horizon. The stars twinkled overhead, the moonlight making the sea glisten.
I wasn’t sure where I was going. I just kept walking along until I eventually realized that I was nearing the island’s port. I shifted away from the waves and moved further inland. It was only once I’d left the beach and climbed up the steps to the platform along which the subs were lined that I noticed two figures standing at the end of the jetty.
I had to look closely in the gloom—they could have almost been mistaken for one figure, they were embracing so tightly. I wasn’t sure which lovebirds were making out at this time of the morning, and it felt intrusive to keep staring, so I was about to turn around and walk back toward home when I heard it.
A deep groan, and then a whisper—soft, but still clearly audible in the quiet of the early morning:
“Sofia.”
I looked more closely, and now I could recognize Kiev’s silhouette in the moonlight, and Sofia’s long red hair.
I stared in horror.
This must still be a dream. I never woke up.
I was about to pinch myself when I heard the snapping of branches behind me. I whirled around to see the dark shadow of none other than Derek Novak. We both locked eyes. He looked as dumbstruck as I felt.
If Derek is here… witnessing exactly the same sight as me… how can this be a dream?
I looked back at Kiev and Sofia. His hands rested on her lower back, holding her flush against him as their lips kneaded against each other.
This isn’t a dream.
I’m seeing this with my own eyes. This is happening.
I woke up. Kiev wasn’t there. He’d come here… to meet Sofia.
My hands were shaking, my mind was on fire as doubt after doubt blazed through it.
Could my dream of them in the lighthouse have been a vision? Has it been Sofia on Kiev’s mind whenever we’ve made love? Did he ever even love me? Was I just a distraction for him? How long have they been seeing each other since we arrived on the island? Is this why he wanted to return here? For Sofia?
I stumbled back further into the shadows of the trees. Although my heart was burning, I didn’t know that I had the courage to hear it from his own lips. To hear him admit that he loved Sofia over me. I didn’t know that I could handle the pain that would cause. I was in enough agony already.
So I ran.
Vanishing myself away from the Port, I reappeared in our bedroom.
Suddenly all the love, all the pleasure, I’d thought we’d shared in this room together seemed to vanish into an empty hole. I felt like I was losing my mind. All I could see around me now were traces of the redhead. Hell, I even thought that I could smell her here.
Anger coursed through my veins.
All this time, both of them have been playing me for a fool. I trusted them both, and they betrayed me in the worst possible way.
I felt fire heating up my palms, and as rage and grief consumed me, I could no longer control it. Flames burst from my fingertips, lighting up the bedsheets and licking the walls until soon the whole room was engulfed in the blaze. The heat was so scorching, tears could barely spill from my eyes before they dried out.
I looked around at the fire devouring the room. A room I’d once cherished. A room that now held nothing for me, except…
My eyes fell on my mother’s jewelry box, still sitting on my dressing table. Its gems glimmered in the flames.
As I stared at that box, it suddenly felt like it was the only thing of value left for me on this deceitful island.
Chapter 30: Derek
The Port.
Where I’d shared my first kiss with Sofia.
Now where I saw—or thought I saw—my wife sharing a passionate kiss with Kiev Novalic.
Either the pressure I’m under has finally driven me to insanity, or I’m still dreaming.
Yet seeing Mona standing opposite me, sharing the same shocked expression—it somehow made the vision before me seem real. Another person could clearly see what I saw.
I was frozen to the spot. I could barely coordinate myself enough to move my feet as I stared at my wife kissing Kiev as though her life depended on it.
Even when I was finally able to move and walk forward, I still couldn’t find my voice. It was as though I’d swallowed my tongue, or forgotten I even had one.
As I reached the jetty and began walking toward them, Kiev caught Sofia’s hand and they leapt off the edge. I couldn’t see where to at first, but when I sped up, I caught sight of a submarine disappearing beneath the waves.
What?
I stood staring at the waves for several moments, blinking, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
“Derek?”
I didn’t think that the night could become any more insane, but as I turned around to see Sofia running out of the forest toward me, I found myself reeling.
As she approached me wearing her nightdress, a bewildered look on her sleepy face, I looked from her to the water I thought I’d just seen her disappear beneath.
I reached out and gripped her arms, then caught her lips in mine. I kissed her hard, partly to make sure she was real and partly because I was still suffering from the torment of watching Kiev claim her.