“But we couldn’t have done any of it without our friends, because they really make the whole thing worth it. So, I want to introduce my friend …”
Edie’s mind went blank. What was the name she’d been repeating all day? She felt the gaze of everyone on the island, including James and Cassidy. Both waited with piqued curiosity as though neither of them knew what she was about to do. She searched in the wings beyond them, hoping to find the face of the person she wanted to name, but saw only disinterested stage hands.
It felt like ten minutes had already passed in an embarrassed silence, though it must have only been a matter of seconds. Edie unwrapped her left hand from the right and peered down, but to her dismay her palm was empty without even the smudge of permanent marker.
“… but I can’t.” Edie finally finished. “Because this place has taken something from me. It’s taken something from all of us!”
A murmur rose up from the audience and she saw the people in the front row exchange glances.
“I came with someone who is missing, and so did Cassidy, and I bet a lot of you did, too! But the island and James have taken them from us. So maybe we should take something back.”
She turned to face James fully. Behind him, Cassidy stepped out of the spotlight and was looking around like she intended to make an escape from the situation.
“Give us our friends back, James.”
“I don’t have as much power over you as you think,” James said, hands held at his side.
“James Oliver was a liar and a cheat,” Edie shouted into the microphone. The sound boomed out into the night and feedback rang in her ears. “But now he doesn’t exi—”
James smacked the mic out of her hand, and it landed with an explosive thud that rang feedback through the night. Edie flinched, and only then did she register the silence of the crowd. Beyond the spotlight she saw a front row full of dark, passive faces with their eyes fixated on her. It was like she was right back in the basement of the cabin. Except now her fear and confusion were broadcast on giant screens and Cassidy was nowhere to be found.
“You watch your mouth, Edie,” James said. He didn’t need to amplify himself she could hear him with ease over the hush.
“I’ll say whatever I want to say. Or are you scared, James? Are you scared I’ll do the same thing to you that you tried to do to me?”
“I haven’t done anything to you. I’ve barely even thought about you. You’re not worth my time.”
“I know the tunnel was your doing,” Edie insisted. “You tried to kill me once and I survived, and then I made all of this happen,” she swept an arm out over the audience, “because I figured out the rules. I’m getting off this island whether you like it or not.”
“What makes you so sure?” James asked. His voice remained neutral.
“Because I said so. And you know what? So did you. So, you’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
James laughed. “Oh, you mean I said this?”
Behind him, the screen flipped from the live feed of them onstage to a video of James. Edie could just barely see the image from where she stood, but the familiar audio blasted through the speakers.
“Hey guys, I just wanted to thank everyone who helped make this whole experience one of the best I’ve ever had,” James’ voice came.
“James, don’t, we look like shit.”
“How are you doing this?” Edie asked the James standing in front of her. He said nothing.
“Edie and Cassidy have been communing with nature or something and aren’t camera ready, I guess, but I still want to thank them for joining me and becoming my island friends, because Edie is going to die tonight.”
“I guess you and I remember things differently,” James said, and still his voice was calm.
A pair of meaty arms grabbed Edie around her middle and she shrieked. With both arms pinned to her sides all she could do was writhe.
“Or maybe you shouldn’t trust everything you see on the Internet,” James said.
“Fuck you, James! Fuck you!” Edie shouted as her faceless captor carried her backward and off the stage. “You’re nothing! You’re dead! Do you hear me?”
The musicians and artists backstage ignored her screams but watched as the man carried her away.
“And now, The Gits!” Edie heard James say into the mic. The audience roared back to life.
“Let go of me!” Edie shouted, but even if the bustling figures in black could have heard her over the screeching of guitars and Mia Zapata’s vocals they would not have cared. Edie knew this because as she crossed their paths, they stopped to let Edie and her warden pass but did not intervene.
