Chapter 4: The Island

Sheriff Ryan arrived at Hotspot Bar and Grille just in time for lunch. He pulled his patrol car into the parking space labeled “emergency use only” and shut off the engine.

The bar was somewhat crowded because it was lunch rush hour and this bar just so happened to serve some of the best food in the area. After scanning the crowd, Sheriff Ryan walked up to the bartender, “Do you know who closed last night?”

The bartender looked at the badge and wondered what would bring the Sheriff to the bar today, “Yes, Susan was the one who closed last night.”

“Do you know where I can find her?”

“Yes I do, she’ll be here in 15 minutes to start her shift again. Why don’t you sit down and grab a bite to eat? I’ll tell her when she arrives that you are waiting for her.”

“That sounds like a mighty fine idea, thank you.”

Sheriff Ryan found an empty table near the entrance and picked up a menu.

“Good afternoon Sheriff, are you ready to order?”

Sheriff Ryan glanced over the top of his menu at the young waitress. “Yes Ma’am, I’ll have a Double Bacon Cheeseburger with Fries.”

“Would you like anything to drink?”

“Do you have Dr Pepper?”

“We sure do, would you like a small, medium, or large?”

The Sheriff thought for a minute to himself, “Better make it a large, I’ll need all the caffeine I can get today.”

The young waitress nodded and left to relay the Sheriffs order to the kitchen.

***************

It was a warm sunny day. A slight breeze was blowing and the sound of the waves crashing on shore was rather soothing to listen to.

“Wait a minute” thought Bill to himself. He opened one eye slowly to look around and he realized he was laying face down in sand. He turned his head to see and sure enough those were waves he was hearing and it was indeed warm. He noticed he was damp with sweat. He was still dressed in the clothes he remembered wearing the night he met Jim at the bar.

His pants and jacket had to go, it felt like it was damn near 80 degrees here and it was obviously no longer winter wherever he was. He stripped down to his boxers and got to his feet. He looked around but there wasn’t anyone around, for a minute he thought he might be all alone here.

That’s when he remembered his encounter with the demon and talk of an Island that he would wake up on so that he could play out some game under the demons supervision. Apparently he had created “The Island” for himself by being unhappy with his real life. To Bill it sounded like a bunch of bullshit. The Island is what the demon referred to this place as. What was wrong with calling it “Bills Magical Land of Bitches?” This thought made him laugh out loud and he felt like an idiot. At least no one was around he to see him standing there in his boxers laughing by himself.

He began to remember the details of the game. He was supposed to create the perfect relationship with the woman of his creation or he would remain here indefinitely. He looked around again. “This doesn’t look like any island I’d have created. Where’s the hotel and the bar?” he joked to himself.

The wind suddenly shifted and began blowing strongly from behind him, Bill turned around and found himself face to face with the demon. This time he was no longer afraid.

“It was nice of you to join me on The Island Bill, I wasn’t sure whether or not you would make it, but now that you’re here I’m going to explain how this works. Make sure you pay close attention to what I’m about to tell you because these will be the rules that govern The Island. Should you violate or break any of them, you will die. Let me know when you’re ready to hear the rules.” The demon looked at Bill expectantly.

Bill nodded, “Go on, I’m listening.”

Azrael took the queue from Bill and began.

“Rule Number 1: You can pick any woman that you want or create one entirely in your mind. If you choose someone that already exists in your world as a model then you can keep or discard any traits you don’t like about that person and change what you wish. The only limitation on who and what you can have here on The Island is your imagination.”

“Rule Number 2: At anytime you wish, you can decide to keep or replace the woman on The Island. To do this, all you need to do is close your eyes and envision everything about her that you want, from personal appearance to personality. You can place her anywhere on this Island that you wish. When you open your eyes they will be exactly where you placed them. Upon entering the Island these women will have no idea who you are, unless they knew you in your world, or why they are here. They will think they are in a dream. You will have to start the relationship with these women in the same way you would start one in your world.”

“Rule Number 3: Any characteristics that you don’t envision for your woman will be randomly chosen from a pool of characteristics that already exist in your world.”

“Rule Number 4: You may only have one woman on The Island at a time.”

“Rule Number 5: You will have 5 chances to create the perfect relationship, after the 5^th one, you can bring no more women to The Island, however, if you have not had a successful perfect relationship by then, you will be allowed to pick the best of the 5 of your choosing, and try to make it work. You will be stuck with this person for eternity here on The Island until you create the perfect relationship with them or you kill yourself.”

Azrael looked at Bill waiting for him to acknowledge that he understood the five rules.

Bill was staring off into the distance as if he was considering what the demon had just said. Suddenly he looked right at the demon with a boyish grin on his face. “So any woman I want, anyway that I want them, five chances, and all I have to do is create a perfect relationship?”

Bill waited for Azrael to respond. Azrael nodded at Bill hesitantly.

“Got it, this will be a piece of cake.”

Azrael laughed, “Since I like you I will leave you with a few words of advice. First, it would behoove of you to explore The Island in its entirety. First impressions are a huge factor in starting a relationship, as you may already be aware. Second, appearances can be deceiving. You may not understand this now, but it’s truly what’s on the inside that counts.”

Bill stood there pondering what the demon had just said but before he could respond the demon spoke again.

“You may begin whenever you are ready, remember you only get five chances. If you fail you will be stuck here forever. Good luck, you’ll need it.”

Azrael vanished into thin air leaving Bill all to himself and his thoughts.

Bill stared at the spot where the demon was just a few seconds ago and then considered everything he had heard. “Well,” thought Bill to himself, “I should probably have a look around The Island before I start putting women here. Besides, how am I supposed to use the pick up line of giving them a tour if I don’t know my way around.” he joked to himself.

He turned around slowly in a complete circle and decided to head toward the mountain in the center of The Island so he could get a better look around.

***************

“Double Bacon Cheeseburger with a Dr Pepper?”

Sheriff Ryan looked up from the paper and at the new waiter. “Yep, that’s me.”

“Here you are sir, can I get you anything else?”

“No, I think I’m fine for now, thank you.”

“Your’e welcome.”

The waiter walked to the next table to check up on some other customers.

“Wow, that was quick” he thought to himself. He took the bun off of his burger, grabbed the ketchup on the table, and slathered his burger with ketchup. After placing the bun back onto the burger he flattened it down and took a bite. The burger was cooked to perfection. This place really did have the best food in the area.

He began thinking about Susan and then his thoughts shifted to poor Bill, who was walled up in the ICU of St. Mary’s Hospital. He was in stable condition but was showing no signs of coming out of his coma. He noticed a woman walk in through the back door. She conversed briefly with the bartender. The bartender then pointed right at the Sheriff’s table. This must be Susan he thought.

She waved at him and walked over to the table. “Hi Sheriff, what can I do for you today?”

“Hi Susan. Why don’t you grab a seat across from me? There’s a few things I’d like to ask you about last night.”

She sat down on the bench seat across from the Sheriff looking up at him expectantly.

Sheriff Ryan saw that she was nervous. “Oh don’t worry, you’re not in any type of trouble. Something happened last night to one of your customers that I am investigating today.”

She released some of the tension from her body and relaxed a bit, clearly relieved that the Sheriff wasn’t here to arrest her.

“Do you know Bill Sanderson?”

Susan thought for a minute. “Yes, he was in here last night with Jim I believe. They were seated over there.” She raised her arm and pointed toward the back by the pool tables.

“Well, apparently he left the bar on foot last night and left his car outside. Do you know approximately what time he left?”

“It must have been a bit before our closing at 2 AM, he wasn’t here when I closed at that time and I remember him leaving just before then.”

“On his way back home on foot, we think he accidentally strayed off into the woods and ended up walking over Jefferson Pond, the ice broke, and he fell in. He was rescued but he fell into a coma and is shackled up at St. Mary’s right now. Do you have any idea why he was on foot or did he say anything about walking?”

Susan looked slightly shocked. “Oh my…that’s terrible Sheriff.” She paused for a minute before continuing, “He didn’t mention walking. I know he usually drives home, I have no idea why he would have walked home. It was freezing out last night.”

“Do you know if he left with anyone or there was anyone strange in the bar last night? I haven’t ruled out foul play in this case, but I have no leads yet.”

She thought for a moment. “No Sheriff, I’m afraid it was all of the regulars last night. Jim had left before Bill did, and as I recall, Bill left by himself. He hadn’t been talking to anyone but Jim the entire night.”

Sheriff Ryan was disappointed but yet relieved at the same time. “Thanks for your time Susan, it was a shot in the dark, but I wanted to cover all of my ends.”

“Sure thing Sheriff.”

Switching from business to casual mode a smile overtook the Sheriff. “By the way, this is one of the best burgers I’ve ever had in my entire life.”

Susan smiled back. “The food is so delicious here isn’t it? I’ll give the cook your compliments.”

Having said that she excused herself and got up to start her shift. The Sheriff watched her walk away and then continued eating his burger. After he finished, he left a $10 bill on the table as a tip and headed out the door back to his squad car. All he would be able to tell the press is that it was an unexplainable accident. He had ruled out foul play and was left to believe that Bill must have been having a rough night and decided to walk. Perhaps he had too much to drink. Whatever the case may be, this appeared to be an accident.

***************

From this high up you could see for miles in every direction. The Island was beautiful. There were waterfalls, streams, and plenty of coconuts and other fruits available on the island.

After spending all day exploring, Bill had found a nice cave that could act as a shelter and place to sleep at night. It would protect him from the elements, “if those even exist here” he thought to himself. Regardless, he was prepared.

He looked to the south down the mountain by a waterfall and noticed a beautiful dark haired woman standing there marveling the waterfall. “This is going to be easier than I thought” he joked to himself.

He began hiking down the mountain to where she stood but when he got close to her he stayed just out of view. Remembering what the demon had said, he realized that she probably had no idea where she was and he didn’t want to startle her or make a bad impression on her. So he sat admiring her waiting for the right moment.

She was the same height as him. She had dark hair that fell to her shoulder. Her eyes were a light green color. He had always admired those eyes. She was by no means a ten, but she was attractive. He had always found her attractive.

She moved with such ease as she walked around the shoreline near the waterfall. It wasn’t hard to tell that she was athletic, for she had been in gymnastics most of her life. Finally, he got his opportunity. As she walked up to the shoreline close to the waterfall he walked out on the opposite shoreline near the waterfall. The look on her face was one of surprise and curiosity, “Bill is that you?”

He walked across the water and under the waterfall until he was standing just a few feet away. A huge smile spread across his face, “Hello Tiffany, it’s been awhile hasn’t it?”