Witch Island Read Online Free Page B

poked her head into his room. She stood in the doorway. “Big plans for tonight?”
    “Just a little get-together with the gang,” Jim said, sliding his cell into his pants pocket.
    “Do you know what today is?”
    Jim sighed. “Yes. How could I forget? I think about him every day.” He turned and took a seat on his bed. His mother walked into the room.
    “I know it’s hard. We all miss him. Did you make it over to his grave yet?”
    A chill ran down Jim’s spine every time his mother or father said the word “grave” when referring to his brother. It had been five years, and although he was accepting of the fact, it still bothered him to think about Greg’s rotting corpse lying six feet underground. He hated visiting his brother on the day of his death, preferring to visit on Greg’s birthday, a celebrated occasion. But his parents didn’t see it that way.
    “Not yet,” he said, “but I’ll stop by on my way over to Gwen’s.”
    “Do you want to accompany your father and me? We’re heading over there as soon as he gets home.”
    “No, that’s okay. I’ve got some things I need to do. I’ll go later.”
    “Okay. I’ll see you afterward, then.” She rubbed his head, turned and walked out, closing the door behind her.
    He still couldn’t fully comprehend that his brother was dead. For some reason, he felt he’d get to see him again, yet he wasn’t sure how he felt about the afterlife. He guessed the details weren’t important, just that when the time came, all would be okay again. As time went on, the pain dulled, but at the same time, the longing to see his brother grew. Death was just plain weird.
    On top of it being the five-year anniversary of his brother’s drowning, which took place just off the shores of Witch Island, his friends had planned an outing there.
    The original idea came from Paul, and after a quick okay from Jim, the destination for their graduation party was set. The island was the perfect place to get away from everyone. There were a lot of parties going on—at people’s houses, up in Black Rock Mountain—but Jim’s friends wanted a small gathering just for themselves, close friends and a place the police wouldn’t think to show up.
    Of course no one, not even Jim, had realized that the last day of school fell on the anniversary of his brother’s passing. Everyone had cleared their schedules, including Steve who hadn’t had a night off in months. Jim couldn’t change the date, and truth be told, he didn’t want to. Greg would want him to go, have fun and get over his fear of the place. His brother would’ve been extremely disappointed in him if he backed out and ruined everyone’s fun, or went and didn’t have a good time himself.
    Still, he felt a great uneasiness creep into his bones. He was going to be heading to the place where his brother had died, the infamous Witch Island, a supposedly cursed place.
    He hadn’t been there when his brother had drowned, but he’d heard the story from Greg’s friends, the people who had been present.
    After a night of binge drinking, Greg and a few friends went down to the lake for a midnight swim. The moon was full, casting a soft glow over the water. Greg was a fantastic swimmer, and whether it was because he was drunk or just wanted to show off, he felt the need to impress a girl he was with. He swam out to Witch Island, his friends hooting and hollering, teasing that the witch would get him. Everyone was having a good time. They were able to watch Greg swim out, but eventually they lost sight of him, the moon’s illumination only supplying so much light. Greg was supposed to yell back when he reached the island, but he never did, nor did he return.
    Panicked, his friends eventually called the police. Greg’s body was found just off the shore of the island. It was assumed that his legs became entwined with underwater weeds, he grew tired and drowned.
    As soon as the news hit the Ryans, Jim’s grandparents came into