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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Dr. Harper
Read between
July 31 - July 31, 2024
Even though we already kissed a long time ago, we hadn’t kissed since he agreed to go on a date with me, so it sort of felt like we needed to go through the first kiss awkwardness all over again. Or maybe I was overthinking things, as usual.
Between Zach’s investigations of the pedophile ring and the cult, there was so much public outcry that Doc was quickly exonerated and able to come out of hiding.
“You did all of this?” “I did!” I said. “I wanted our first date to be special.”
I did my best to conceal a huge smile. He had no idea how much that put me at ease — or, I don’t know — maybe he did.
We didn’t kiss that night, but when it got a bit chillier, he put his arm around me and I felt my heart soar into the night sky.
I laughed nervously. I wasn’t quite sure if he was talking about the festival — or us.
The woman shrieked and writhed on the ground as The Chicken danced around her body, mimicking her cries. I shut the laptop, unable to watch any more.
“What doesn’t make sense?” Kierra pressed. “It doesn’t add up,” I said. “Activists are supposed to have a message. There’s barely any message here. It’s torture porn disguised as animal rights. These are crimes of passion — anger — there’s so much anger. She’s being abused, defiled, humiliated!” “And…?”
Surveying the lunch area, it was like some sort of mass plague had been unleashed. Everyone was staring bug-eyed at their phones, crying, screaming, and throwing up. People were jumping up and running toward the ocean to vomit — turning the clear blue water into murky brown sludge.
The live stream had resumed, hours earlier than planned. But The Chicken wasn’t in the same room anymore. And Maggie wasn’t anywhere in sight. “SLAUGHTERHOUSE SURPRISE!” The Chicken stood in an industrial kitchen and zoomed in on a huge tub of ground beef. Then it began dumping in bags of something bloody and lumpy, and stirring it all together. “HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE BURGERS!”
Why would I knowingly eat a burger made of human meat. I must be some kind of psycho, right?”
But for the rest of the day, I couldn’t get his words out of my head. Why would I hurt Noah?
“We’re like old people.”
I thanked the fear for trying to help me. Then I reached out my quivering hand and put it on his.
I’m just along for the ride. And that’s precisely what happened with Linus Solomon.
I would get the hell off this island if I were you, before the quarantine starts and they block off the airport.”
“So what’s his deal?” whispered Zach. “Is he some sort of hypochondriac?”
I rolled my eyes and stormed out of the kitchen, searching for some sort of emergency exit. We were not spending a month in this hellhole.
My eyes darted back and forth between them and Noah. How was I supposed to make this decision? But then, to my complete and utter shock, Linus appeared at their side.
Then he gazed into my eyes, swaying from side to side. “Do you trust me, Doc?”
But I noticed something else tonight. I noticed that even in his drunken state, Doc always seemed to be in complete control of every single thing he said and did. And I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.
So today, I’ll share a story about my past. There is no twist to this memory. No reveal, no red herring, no surprise.
But apparently when you started acting out, it was too much for him.”
Dr. Cole said to write about feelings and emotions, but those were exactly what caused this whole situation. So what was I supposed to put down?
The voice was endless and guttural. It did not come from this world. “I AM YOU.” Then it ripped out my eyeballs and dove straight into the bloody sockets, screaming with rage and delight as it consumed me.
I couldn’t believe I threw a tantrum and demanded a kiss. Who does that!
“What’s going on?” Zach bowed his head. “There’s been a rape on the island.”
He stepped aside to reveal Bruce — the head of security — with a gun to his back.
“I get it!” I said. “I fucked up, okay? Can we let it go?” “No, I don’t think we can,” said Kierra. “Raise your hand if you think Dr. Harper is ruining everything.” Noah eagerly raised his hand again.
“Zach Johnson!” he shouted. Zach’s eyes went wide, like a deer in headlights. And then, to my absolute horror, they tackled my best friend to the ground and cuffed his hands behind his back. “By order of the FBI, you are hereby under arrest for the rape of Ethyl McDougal.”
“Then where the hell did your sperm come from, Zach!” “I don’t know.”
As the three of us walked back to our rooms along the shadowy jungle trails, a bolt of lightning cracked through the sky and unleashed a torrent of rain on the island. The storm was here.
My heart lit up, and then I realized that I couldn’t wait anymore. I didn’t care that this was our worst date yet. I didn’t care that Kierra was in the other room. I didn’t care that every single detail of the night was wrong. All I wanted to do was kiss him. So I took a deep breath and softened my lips. But I didn’t make it very far before we were once again interrupted.
It pictured a young man on the ground with ten swords in his back, bleeding out — alone in the woods.
Aurora looked up at Noah with bulging eyes and trembling lips. “Sweet boy… I sense a devastating betrayal in your future.”
Before I could continue over-thinking everything, Doc suddenly pulled me closer and looked into my eyes. My heart raced. What was happening?
And then he leaned in, closed his eyes, and kissed me. It was the most incredible kiss of my life — like a million fireworks exploding inside of me. Everything was just like I remembered from his rooftop. Soft, tender lips. Gentle, caring touch.
My eyes widened as I realized what was happening. Mass panic ensued as swimmers scrambled to get out of the pool. Hundreds of people, stuck in a giant vat of water turning to acid.
She punched him in the balls — hard. He fell to the ground and then I was surprised to see her kick his body out of the spray. Acid now freely showered the people in the pool again. I’ll admit that I felt a horrible selfish relief that Noah was out of harm’s way, despite hundreds now burning alive.
She just stood in eerie silence as acid melted the skin from her body and face. I had to look away from her. Why was she doing this?
As my mind raced with a million imaginary arguments, Zach peeked his head through the door and asked me a simple question — one that would soon come to define the rest of my life.
