Anya
There was eighteen hundred dollars in his checking account, and absolutely nothing in savings. My sisters had personal savings accounts tied to Dad’s, and they had another two thousand dollars between them, but I bet they would’ve expected to have more. I checked the history and discovered he’d been slowly borrowing from their accounts on months when he didn’t have enough to cushion the shortfall. Of course he had. If he would borrow from a loan shark, he wasn’t above emptying his daughters’ savings accounts. I was almost amazed that there was any money left in them at all.
Fortunately, I had my own savings account in another bank, but it was rather anemic too. I’d used a majority of it to pay for my last two semesters of school after Dad cut me off. He claimed it was time for me to stand on my own, but now I realized why he hadn’t paid my tuition. He simply hadn’t been able to afford it.
When he refused to give me his tax returns for grants and loans, I’d had to quit for a semester and work a full-time retail job in order to cover the two semesters myself, putting me off schedule to graduate. I’d been furious at the time, but it seemed inconsequential now.
It got worse as I searched through a drawer full of correspondences. It seemed like he owed everyone. There were multiple collection agencies attempting to get him to honor his debts. I wasn’t so concerned about those, because they weren’t my debts now. Unlike Ivanov, none of those companies could try to force me to pay them off.
My stomach sank when I came across a letter from the insurance company. It was short and terse, reminding him that since he hadn’t paid his premium for the last three months, his life insurance policy of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars had been canceled. The letter alluded to a refund check for the balance he’d paid into the policy that was attached, but all I saw was a stub. Going back to his bank account, I saw he had deposited a check that was for a balance of eighteen thousand dollars, and then transferred it to his business account. Apparently, he’d used it to pay payroll, which was admirable, but left us without any protection at all.
I wasn’t even sure if life insurance would’ve paid out since he committed suicide. With a sigh, I leaned back in his chair, staring at the screen as I tried to think of what I could do. There was literally no way I could think of to get together five hundred thousand dollars in two weeks.
The only other option seemed to be to take my sisters and run, but I was scared to do that. If we were caught, that would bring CPS down on us. I wasn’t officially their guardian, and I wasn’t sure if they would allow me to be since I wasn’t twenty-one yet. I’d planned to keep things discreet and try to stay off the radar of schools or anyone else who might cause us problems until my birthday in a few months.
A pinging sound distracted me, and I looked at the screen in time to see a new screen pop up. I hadn’t touched anything, so it was completely unexpected to see the program loading. A moment later, a logo popped up, along with the words “The Island.”
A British male voice started speaking, but the camera didn’t show the narrator. Instead, it showed scenes that looked like something out of a hunting show to start with. As I listened to the narrator recapping the last episode, one of the images featured a slightly overweight man grappling with a shorter black woman. He held her down, forcing her onto all fours before climbing on top of her.
It was obvious he was about to mount her when the screen cut to another scene of a woman running. The footage appeared to be shot from a camera mounted to her head, so the audience could see what she was seeing. Abruptly, a man jumped out in front of her and grabbed her, and the footage skipped to another couple.
I was appalled, yet still confused about what I was seeing.
“That was just last week’s exciting recap. Sit back and prepare for the next episode. This week, we have four contestants, along with twenty-five hunters. Hold on as we see if they’re successful in evading their captors, or if they’re forced to give up everything.”
Reluctantly curious, I leaned forward, able to see fairly well on my father’s large monitor. A disclaimer quickly came up, and it appeared to be reminding the viewers that if the men captured the women, there were no safe words, and anything went. The only things forbidden were murder and extreme bodily harm. Neither the women nor the men could kill each other. There was also a reminder that cameras followed every moment, and staff of the show wouldn’t hesitate to intercede if things got out of hand.
The show started with a brief introduction of the four women, along with a few soundbites from them. The hunters, as they were called, didn’t get individual introductions, but the screen moved to what looked like a party. The women and all those men were mingling and appearing to chat amicably in a twisted get-to-know-you sort of scenario.
I was starting to piece together it was some kind of show that was probably illegal, and if not, was definitely morally questionable. My father appeared to have a subscription to it, which made me uneasy. I never would’ve guessed he would like that sort of thing, but I’d never spent even a moment wondering about his sex life or sexual interests.
In spite of that, I was still surprised when the camera footage moved to the next morning, and it showed the women outfitted in running shoes and sturdy clothes, all wearing backpacks. They split up when there was a siren, each going their separate ways.
The camera panned to the group of hunters, who appeared to be waiting for their turn. A few minutes later, their siren sounded, and they took off after the four women. It was impossible to deny the show was about men who hunted women like prey, with the intent of doing whatever they wanted to them if they caught them. It appeared to be consensual, but it was shocking.
I watched for the next twenty minutes as each of the women were pursued, falling one by one. Only a tenacious black girl seemed to be giving them a run for their money. The other three had been captured and taken to cottages.
Each time they were “claimed,” as the narrator called it, the screen offered an option of following them to the cottage, or continuing to watch the women who were still running. I didn’t follow them to the cottages until the last contestant was captured by two men who appeared to be working together. There didn’t look to be any rules against it, because the show producers didn’t intercede, and they quickly had her in a cottage.
I forced myself to look around the room for a minute as the camera panned, showing what appeared to be a level of luxury on par with a three- or four-star hotel, which was unexpected after seeing them move through the dirty jungle for most of the day.
I felt vaguely guilty as I watched the men wrestle her to the bed, one of them holding her down while the other one started undressing her. She was still fighting them and cursing when the white man between her legs pried apart her thighs and started licking her pussy. I was embarrassed to feel a throb of arousal shoot through my own.
Chapter 4AnyaThe other white guy tied her hands to the bed, and his hands were free to move over her body. He started squeezing her breasts, and I brought up a hand to play with my own nipple. I knew I shouldn’t be getting anything out of this except pure disgust, but I couldn’t deny I was turned on watching the two of them vanquish the black girl.She maintained her fight for a while, even biting one of them on the cock the first time he tried to put it in her mouth. Her reluctance gradually faded as they focused on touching and teasing her. I doubted they were contractually obligated to ensure she enjoyed it, but they seemed to want to win her over to their idea rather than hurt her.The one who’d eaten her out now slid between her thighs, his cock lining up with her pussy. The camera angle showed that, but not actual penetration. Instead, it went to her face. She was clearly shocked for a moment, and then it was obvious she was enjoying it. Her mouth fell open, and when the other
Chapter 5AnyaI slapped on another layer of makeup, trying to hide how tired I was. I had to leave a day later than Sid had hoped, since it took me a little time to arrange for my sisters to both stay with friends while I was gone for the weekend.I hadn’t yet broken the news to them that we were going to have to move out of the house, because I didn’t want them to let it slip to anyone else. My plan was to get the check, which Sid had promised me would be delivered to me at the end of the weekend, cash it somehow, and get my sisters to pack a bag. We were going to flee in the middle of the night as soon as I could arrange it once I returned home.First, I had to get through this weekend though. Travel had been grueling, because it was truly a remote island. I honestly had no idea where I was. The last place I’d known was at Denpasar Airport in Bali, where people from the show had met a few of us, and we’d spent the last ten hours traveling by yacht to reach the island.I knew how da
Chapter 6SpencerFor a moment, I wanted to kill Foster. Not literally, because he was my baby brother, and I guessed he meant well, but he had certainly lured me to this island under false pretenses. “You said this was a hunting trip. I told you I don’t hunt, and you told me it was no big deal. I could learn. You impressed upon me the importance of male bonding, but you never mentioned just exactly what we were hunting. I should have been suspicious when you said I had to submit a letter from my doctor declaring me healthy.”Foster had the grace to look abashed, and it was obvious he was unprepared for both me and Nash to not be as receptive to the surprise as he’d expected. “It’s no big deal. You guys, the women participate of their own free will. They’re paid to do this, and they know what to expect. It’s just for fun.”When he spoke, Nash went up a bit in my esteem, even though he was Foster’s best friend and just as reckless as my younger brother usually. “I don’t feel right abou
Chapter 7AnyaI finally got to meet Sid Moreau the next morning and quickly identified him as the narrator of the program. There were five of us together, standing at our start point, and he stood in front of us. The hunters were over to the left, cordoned off behind a section of paper tape while another staffer went over the rules with them as Sid was doing with us.“Remember, you can use whatever is at your disposal and in the environment, including to fashion weapons. You can’t kill someone, and you can’t cause grievous bodily harm, but everything else goes.” He looked at us expectantly, and several women around me nodded, so I did the same. “Also remember there are no safe words, and anything else goes. There are cameras everywhere, so we’ll be able to monitor you at all times. You each have dedicated camera people tracking your every move to ensure your safety throughout the process. You might not walk away without pain this weekend, but you will walk away. That’s my personal gu
Chapter 8SpencerThe fucking jungle was all around me, and I couldn’t make head or tails of any of it. I could see an occasional broken branch where someone had crashed through, but that was the extent of my tracking ability. It certainly wasn’t easy, and the spongy floor covered with dying and dead vegetation did a surprisingly poor job of maintaining shoe prints. It was frustrating and maddening as hell, but at least I wasn’t bored.I stumbled down what could’ve been a path in front of me, but it was hard to tell. There was slightly less vegetation growing here, but there were no formal trails, and there sure weren’t any markers to help us find where we were or discover our prey. I could hear other men crashing around me in the bush, and they were making enough noise to scare away any prey animal—especially an intelligent woman.That was good though, because I didn’t want anybody finding Anya before I did. I had a name now, having looked her up last night in the paperwork we receiv
Chapter 9AnyaI think I was getting on Dai’s nerves, but I was doing my best. She could move with stealthy silence, as though she was floating over all the obstacles in her path despite our rapid pace. Whereas I seemed to find every single one of them and crashed through the jungle with enough noise to attract every hunter in our vicinity. I was frankly amazed she hadn’t ditched me yet, though I appreciated her allowing me to keep tagging along despite slowing her down.She paused for a moment, leaning against a tree to open her backpack. I took advantage of the moment to collapse onto a log nearby. It felt spongy and weak under my butt, but it didn’t crack with me.My hands were shaking as I opened the backpack, and that was pure exertion. I was already worn out, though we’d only been at this a little more than an hour. I had no clue how I was going to make it through the whole weekend if I somehow managed to avoid one of the hunters. If I didn’t, there was little doubt how I’d make
Chapter 10Anya I literally crashed into the short blonde who the other man had identified as Kelly. The name sounded familiar, but I hadn’t been formally introduced to her, since I’d missed the first part of the meet-and-greet party. She hadn’t been in the group that came with me from Bali on the yacht either, though I had deliberately avoided most of those people, because all had been hunters except me. I hadn’t seen her at all since she split off with that other woman at the start of the hunt.“I’m sorry.” She had a deep, throaty voice.“I think it was my fault.” I took a moment to make sure my zip and snap were secure, somehow having managed to get them back in place even though I had been rattled a few minutes before.“Do you want to stick together for a while?”I nodded eagerly at the question, knowing I’d appreciate having someone at my side. As we started moving, it quickly became obvious she was more proficient at moving through the jungle than I was, but not nearly at Dai’s
Chapter 11SpencerWhen I first approached her fire, I had every intention of claiming her right then, but she looked so cold and miserable that I couldn’t bring myself to do it yet. Instead, it seemed kinder to allow her time to rest, and she was reasonably safe with me. It would’ve taken a brazen hunter to try to take her when I was sitting just a few feet away. If one had been brave enough, he would’ve quickly realized the error of his ways, because I wouldn’t tolerate anyone putting their hands on her, or trying to claim her as theirs. I wish I knew who had ripped her shirt, because I would have hunted down his ass too.No, I would focus on her, because she was the most important part of this. I was starting to feel a bit of desperation to possess her, which made it all the more noble and self-sacrificing that I’d given her a brief reprieve. I snorted aloud. “Yeah, I’m practically a fucking saint.” I was talking to myself too, so did that mean Anya was driving me crazy?The need t