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1,096 Days on That Island Made Me a Monster They Can't Control
Novelix
Completed
"I survived three years on a deserted island. Starving. Alone. Fighting bears, building shelters, losing my mind—and my unborn child. Then a helicopter landed. My brother pulled off a bear costume. My husband told me he had been posing as my hallucination. My parents handed me flowers and said congratulations, sweetheart, you just won Best Actress. The shelter destroyed twenty-six times? My brother. The poisoned stream? My father. The baby I lost? They took it to save my husband's new girlfriend's sick child. Every person I loved built my prison."
Chapters (5)
第1章
I've survived three years on this island. Three years of sleeping in the dirt, eating insects raw, and catching rainwater in my cracked hands.
My ribs press against my skin. What was left of my clothes rotted away two winters ago, and I can no longer remember what it feels like to be full.
One day, the island’s most vicious brown bear came back. Blood dripped between its yellowed fangs, and scraps of flesh hung from its claws.
I'm standing over its den with a stone spear clenched in both hands when a helicopter thunders overhead. The bear glances at my weapon and laughs.
Not a growl. A human laugh.
Then it reaches up and pulls off the bear's head.
Nathan.
My brother.
"Three years ago, you just had to go after Mia for that Best Actress award. You even tried to have someone assault her."
"So Ethan said we'd dump you on an island for a few years. Let Mia get some payback."
I can't move. Can't breathe.
Behind me, the second version of myself, the one my mind created to survive the endless loneliness, steps forward and gently rubs my head.
"I'm not a hallucination either. I'm your husband, Ethan Weston."
"You brought this on yourself. You just had to go after Mia."
Three years. Three years I survived on this island like a wild animal.
And it was all a lie. A prison built just for me.
My whole body is shaking.
The helicopter door opens. Mom and Dad step out hand in hand, smiling at me like this is a family reunion.
"Your starring role in Modern Castaway has already premiered worldwide."
"We promised you a Best Actress award, remember?"
"Come accept it, then we'll bring you back here. The sequel's waiting to shoot. Mia wants a Best Director award next."
Ethan waves his hand, and a swarm of cameramen appear out of nowhere, lenses aimed at me like weapons.
He smiles, eyes bright with excitement.
"Claire, those 1,096 tally marks you carved into that rock wall? That became the film’s astounding opening shot."
"It broke the internet. Fans are begging for high-res photos."
Nathan turns to the crew, his voice calm and almost gentle, but every word cuts me open.
"Make sure you get the destroyed shelter too. Close-up."
My chest seizes. Even breathing hurts.
Just minutes ago, that bear, that thing, smashed my shelter for the twenty-sixth time.
I chased it down like a maniac, ready to die fighting.
And now I find out it was my own brother. Every single time.
"Why?" My voice cracks. "Why did you keep destroying my shelter?"
Nathan looks at me, casual as anything. Like I'm being unreasonable.
"You stole twenty-six years of Mia's life. A little punishment is getting off easy."
He pauses, then smirks.
"Oh, and that 'wild man' you spent three years terrified of? The footprints that destroyed your wheat field the first year? That was Mia."
My brain goes blank.
I remember that day. The stalks crushed into the mud. Trampled beyond saving.
I wanted to scream but didn't dare make a sound. I pressed my hand over my mouth so hard my jaw ached.
The terror was a tidal wave. Every rustle of leaves, every snapping twig sent my heart into overdrive.
Three months. Three months of pure paranoia before I finally slept through the night.
Mom steps forward and shoves a bouquet of flowers into my arms.
"You have no idea. Mia scratched up her shins walking through that wheat field."
"So I came up with a solution. We swapped out your seeds for roasted ones."
"Anyway! Enough of that. Congratulations, sweetheart! Our Claire is going to be Best Actress!"
I stare at her loving face, and I feel like I'm drowning in ice water.
The second year, I clawed open new soil with my bare hands. Planted those seeds with so much hope. Watched the dirt every single day, waiting for something green to push through.
Nothing ever grew.
I told myself it was the soil. That I'd picked the wrong spot.
The third year, I moved back to the original plot. Weeded every day. Made fertilizer. Rationed my precious fresh water to keep those seeds alive.
Dad claps me on the shoulder, grinning. Proud, even.
"Oh, and that stream where you went fishing? The piranhas? We put those there."
"This was your punishment, after all. Couldn't let you get too comfortable."
The bouquet slips from my fingers and hits the ground.
Tears pour down my face. I'm screaming before I even realize it.
"Why?! Why would you do this to me?!"
"Wasn't I your daughter for twenty-six years? Aren't I your sister? Aren't you the man who swore to spend his life with me?"
"Everything you say I did to Mia, I never did ANY of it! Why won't you believe me?!"
Mom's face goes cold.
"You said you wanted to leave. I bought you a plane ticket myself."
"But instead, you turned around and hired someone to take nude photos of Mia to destroy her reputation."
"I DIDN'T!" I scream.
She opens her mouth again, but Nathan cuts her off with a raised hand.
"Mom. Drop it. We agreed to three years of punishment, then we'd move on."
"Even Mia's forgiven her. Besides, Mia still needs Claire for that Director award."
第2章
I stumble backward. I just need to get away from them.
Three years. One thousand and ninety-six days.
Every time I saw a flicker of hope, it was ripped away the next second.
But I held on because I missed them and loved them.
Through every near-death moment, I clung to that love.
Until my mind fractured and created a second me just to survive.
I whip around to face Ethan.
This man. The one who stood at our wedding and vowed to love me forever.
"Every time I almost died, you appeared."
"But every time, you made me crawl through the rain, climb to the cliff's edge, kneel and bow to the sky, begging God to send you all to save me!"
Something flickers in his eyes. Pain, maybe.
He crosses the distance fast, his fingertips brushing the thick callus on my forehead as his eyes redden.
That callus came from slamming my head to the ground in prayer a million times.
"Every time you bowed, it broke my heart. I wanted so badly to hold you."
"But for the authenticity of the film, I held back." His voice drops to something almost reverent. "Claire, you are Mia's greatest masterpiece."
"What if I had DIED?!" I grab his collar, eyes bloodshot.
"You wouldn't!" He yanks me against his chest, voice raw. "We had a full medical team on standby!"
"Even if you had died, I would've dragged you back from death myself!"
He presses a kiss to the callus on my forehead.
I nearly vomit.
A ringtone cuts through the air. Sharp. Distinctive.
The one he set specifically for Mia.
Ethan's lips curl up without him even realizing.
"Babe, what's taking so long?" Mia's saccharine voice pours through the speaker. "The ceremony's in twelve hours. My leading lady still needs hair and makeup."
Her voice yanks me backward through time.
A different awards ceremony. Ethan on one knee, sliding a ring onto my finger. The room exploding with cheers.
Then Mia stood up.
She wore a cheap, outdated dress. Her voice was small and shaking, but the microphone carried every word across the venue.
"Claire… can you give me back the life and the reputation you stole from me?"
Camera flashes erupted, turning the night sky white.
My fan club dissolved overnight. Every brand deal canceled. My name trended with nothing but hate for three straight months.
Ethan was my last lifeline. I clung to him with everything I had.
We tangled together in bed, and he whispered it over and over:
"Claire, we've been together since we were kids. Ten years."
"I don't care who you are or what family you come from. I won't abandon you."
But he lied.
At the last second, he pulled the film I'd poured three years of my soul into from the awards list.
He looked at me like I was something disgusting.
"Why do you keep going after Mia? Spreading lies, buying trolls to attack her, even drugging her?"
"If I hadn't gotten there in time, those men would have hurt you."
"Now she's carrying my child. This is me paying YOUR debt!"
I fought back. "I never did any of those things!"
But no one believed me. Every piece of evidence pointed my way.
My world collapsed.
All I wanted was to run. Overseas. Start over.
"Almost there." Ethan's voice goes soft, dragging me back to the present. Gentle, like he's coaxing a child. "A little delay on the road. You'll have your Best Actress trophy soon."
Every drop of blood in my body rushes to my head.
I swing with everything I have and slap him across the face.
"There is justice in this world! What you did is imprisonment! It's abuse."
Before I can finish, Nathan snaps.
"Claire Ashford!"
He pulls a stack of documents from his bag. Every page has my signature. My fingerprints.
"Fully executed contracts. Voluntary participation. Survival challenge. Psychological stress consent. You even signed off on the mental health evaluation."
His gaze turns hard, and his voice carries no warmth.
"This was a legitimate production."
第3章
The second the helicopter touches down, I see her.
Mia. Standing in the garden in a flowing dress, watching me with those big, pitying eyes. All fake.
A two-year-old boy crouches in the sandbox nearby, digging happily.
I grab Ethan's arm. My voice comes out shattered.
"The baby… I was one month on that island when I realized I was pregnant."
"Then one morning I woke up… and it was just gone."
If my baby had lived, he'd be the same age as that little boy.
The memory hits, and my knees almost buckle as tears spill down my face.
Those first six months after losing him, I was a walking corpse.
Ethan sighs. Like he's explaining something mildly inconvenient.
"The thing is, our son, Mia's and mine, got leukemia. We needed cord blood. So we had to take your baby early."
White-hot fury floods through me.
I stare at his face, searching for remorse. There's nothing. Just calm.
"Ethan. That was YOUR child too!"
Mia skips over and wraps herself around Ethan like a bird settling into its nest.
"Don't worry, sis." She tilts her chin up at me. "Once I get my award, I'll take you to visit the grave."
"And hey, if you help me win Best Director next time?" She smiles. Sweet as poison. "I'll let Ethan give you another baby."
Mom and Dad hold Mia's hands, beaming at her like she hung the moon.
"Oh, sweetie, you're just too kind."
"Ethan was always meant to be yours, your childhood sweetheart and your husband."
"Anyway, now that Claire's back, let's get those divorce papers done already!"
Ethan pulls out the divorce agreement and holds it in front of me.
"We both know you're obsessed with me. That you can't live without me."
"Mia said if you're willing to be my mistress, she'll let you stay."
Nausea slams into me so hard I almost gag.
I snatch the papers from his hand and sign without a second's hesitation.
"I don't want that. I just want my child's ashes. Give them to me and I'll go."
Ethan watches me sign, and something flickers across his face. Irritation.
Nathan grabs my arm and shoves me toward the house.
"Quit stalling. Get inside and get your makeup done. The shoot's waiting."
"If you mess up Mia's chances at that award, I swear to God, you'll regret it."
I'm pushed into what used to be my home.
Three years ago, every trace of me was already erased.
My bedroom is Mia's walk-in closet now.
The old oak tree outside my window was the one I used to talk to when I was a sick little girl. I called it my guardian tree.
Mia said it gave her nightmares, so they cut it down.
I sit in the makeup chair. One hour passes. No one comes.
Then a group of security guards bursts in.
No questions. Just fists.
“What the hell? Some homeless woman broke into the estate?”
“It’s the middle of winter. Why is she dressed like that?”
They rush in, grab me by the hair, and slam me to the ground. My head cracks against the corner of a table. Pain shoots through my skull and tears through my entire body. I can barely breathe.
“I’m this family’s daughter!” I scream.
They laugh.
“Cut the bullshit. This family has one daughter, and that’s Miss Mia!”
They kick me again and again. I try to explain, but no one listens.
Blood trickles from the corner of my mouth, slow and warm, dripping onto the cold floor.
By the time they drag me out like a dead dog, Mom and Dad finally appear.
"STOP! Who told you to touch her?!"
"Look at her face. She's bleeding from the mouth."
I lift my head. For one stupid second, hope swells in my chest.
Then Mom finishes her sentence.
"Her face is swollen! How is she supposed to stand next to Mia at the ceremony like this?"
"You want the press to make Mia look bad?!"
第4章
Mia doesn't give me anything decent to wear.
The fabric is rough and shapeless, barely covering what needs to be covered. Every scar on my body, old and new, is on full display.
She calls it "authenticity." Says it matches my character in the film.
The ceremony is being held in the country garden where I loved to play as a child, and the moment I step inside, I instinctively lower my head and hunch my shoulders.
I accept the Best Actress trophy like a robot. My hands are stiff. My face is blank.
There is no applause, only screaming for Mia.
I stumble offstage. Whatever was left of my dignity shatters on the floor behind me.
Then the crowd erupts again.
Onstage, Ethan is on one knee. A diamond ring catches the light.
Mia clutches her Best New Director trophy, gasping, hand over her mouth like she's shocked.
"Mia," he says, his warm, steady voice carrying across the room, "for the rest of my life, I want to give you all the love and happiness you deserve. Will you marry me?"
She nods.
The venue erupts as an extravagant fireworks display bursts across the sky, turning the night into a fairy tale.
I thought my heart was already numb.
The dull ache in my chest steals my breath.
Nathan glances at me, smirking.
"All of this was always hers. It's just going back to its rightful owner. You really think you have the right to feel wronged?"
I stand there like a statue with no soul.
No tears left. Just emptiness.
Nathan stares at me for what feels like three full minutes, then softens his voice as if he's coaxing a child.
"Be good. Don't make a scene. Mia worked so hard to get here."
"Once the sequel wraps and she gets her Director award, I'll give you some money and send you abroad. You can disappear."
Reporters swarm me. Microphones shoved in my face.
"Claire! Your performance in Modern Castaway was extraordinary. Did Mia coach you?"
"Claire, you stole Mia's identity for years. When are you going to publicly apologize?"
"Mia repaid your cruelty with kindness and made you Best Actress. How will you show your gratitude?"
"Your ex-husband just proposed to Mia. Any well-wishes for the happy couple?"
My fists clench so hard my nails cut into my palms. I don't say a word.
Then liquid hits my face.
A crazed fan of Mia's has thrown red oil-based paint at me.
I scream and try to run on pure instinct.
But Nathan grabs my wrist. His expression is nothing but impatience.
"Relax. It's not acid this time. Just paint."
"Ethan's proposal isn't over. We're not leaving yet."
Red paint drips down my hair, my face, my body. Thick and acrid, sliding down my cheeks like blood.
I stand there, numb and helpless, without even the right to fight back.
I don't know what I look like. I don't know what headlines they'll write.
I don’t come back to myself until they drag me onto the private helicopter and I hear someone say,“Get this embarrassment back.”
Mia is admiring her engagement ring, tilting it this way and that, grinning.
I force words through my ruined throat. "You promised. Once you got your award, you'd take me to see my child. Where is he?"
Mia's hand freezes mid-pose. She looks at me like I've said something hilarious.
She leans in close. Her lips brush my ear. Her voice is pure venom.
"You actually believed that?"
Closer still. A whisper.
"Turn around. See that little mummified decoration behind you?"
"That's your child."
Something in my brain snaps.
White-hot hatred floods every cell.
My hands close around Mia's throat. I squeeze with everything I have.
"I'll kill you! You'll pay for what you did to my baby!"
Nathan explodes. He grabs a fistful of my hair and yanks.
Ethan scoops Mia into his arms and kicks me square in the chest.
They order the crew to tie me to the tail of the helicopter.
Nathan's eyes are bloodshot. "Mia gave you a Best Actress award, and THIS is how you repay her?!"
Ethan's jaw is clenched so tight it could crack. "We forgave you! Why do you keep trying to hurt her?!"
I look at their faces, twisted with rage. And I speak slowly.
"You think this is still your little island? You think you can still control everything?"
The words barely leave my mouth before a swarm of drones tears through the night sky, closing in on the helicopter.
Their phones start ringing. All at once. Frantic.
Mia glances at her screen and lets out a shriek.
"It's trending..."
第5章
At the ceremony, I wrote SOS on my seat. In oil paint.
I slipped a scrap of fabric with a plea for help scrawled on it to every reporter who shoved a mic in my face.
Before they dragged me onto the helicopter, the venue was already in chaos.
I grabbed a phone that was streaming live and shoved it under my tattered dress.
So everything Mia just whispered to me? Already broadcast to millions.
The comments pour in:
[Oh my God, at the ceremony I thought the wounds on Claire's body were special effects makeup! She's coughing up blood now, were those injuries REAL?!]
[What did Mia just say to her?? She turned Claire's baby into a mummified decoration?!]
[Boosting this. I already called the police. Claire's mental state is clearly not okay!]
[Signal boost, my phone's at 79%, staying on this stream.]
Drone after drone closes in on me.
I scream for help despite the raw pain in my throat.
Mia stares at her phone, frozen.
Tears spill instantly. "Babe, Nathan, she did this on purpose! She's still trying to destroy me."
I wrench myself free of the ropes.
Hanging by nothing but my own hands, swinging in midair.
Ethan's face drains of all color. His voice cracks into a scream.
"Claire! Are you insane?! You're hundreds of feet in the air!"
Nathan's eyes widen, and he shouts in panic.
"Pull her back! GET HER BACK IN THE HELICOPTER!"
I let myself smile. Just barely. I watch them scrambling to reel in the rope.
Then I turn to face the wall of drone cameras.
My voice comes out calm. Clear. Steady.
"The scars on my shoulders came from bear claws. The cuts on my hands came from three years of branches and rocks in the wild. The bite marks covering my body came from piranhas. The wound on the back of my skull came from falling off a cliff."
"I was stranded on an island. My brother dressed as a bear and destroyed my shelter twenty-six times. My husband pretended to be my hallucination and tortured me when I was too exhausted to think straight."
They haul the rope up fast.
Nathan's hand is inches from mine.
I slap it away.
I know the bigger the scene, the better my chances.
Ethan screams: "Land this thing! NOW! On the roof of Weston Tower!"
Nathan's voice is hoarse. "Claire! This is NOT the time to throw a tantrum!"
The second the helicopter touches down on the rooftop, I sprint to the edge of the building.
No hesitation. I pull out the livestreaming phone and aim it at them.
"Don't come any closer. This phone is broadcasting live. Right now. To everyone."
They freeze.
A beat of silence. Then they rush toward me, faces turned to the camera, scrambling to explain.
"Everyone watching, what you're seeing is the filming of Modern Castaway 2."
"This is all scripted. Please don't be alarmed."
The comments on screen shift instantly:
[No wonder that movie won awards, her acting is INSANE!]
[Okay I was genuinely terrified for a second… but if it's a shoot, that explains why she was hanging from a helicopter. Makes sense now.]
[Mia, when does the sequel drop?? I'm watching it three times opening weekend!]
I don't dare flip the camera. I just keep talking, picking up where I left off.
"The hallucination I thought was my split personality… told me that if I knelt and bowed ten thousand times, I could leave the island."
"The first year, I prayed for my husband to come save me."
"The second year, I prayed for my brother and parents to forgive me."
"The third year, I prayed for them to forget I existed."
"I bowed over a million times. And then they told me it was all just my punishment."
Maybe it's how matter-of-fact my voice sounds, but the flood of comments stops for a moment.
Even Ethan and Nathan stop mid-step.
Mia lets out a choked sob. "Claire… you've lost yourself in the role."
"You're sick… please come back inside. Let me take you to get help!"
"We'll stop filming! No award, no glory, nothing matters more than your health!"
