"To girl's weekend!" Sandy raised her wine glass. Emily followed suit happily, but Haley lifted hers begrudgingly.
"Stop being a grump," Emily said to her sister, shooting her a glare.
"C'mon, Haley," Sandy said, nudging her in the side. "Loosen up. We're going to have fun."
Haley shrugged. "I guess."
"So you're not with that stupid boyfriend of yours," Emily said. "Who cares? He's a tool, anyway."
"I know you don't like him," Haley snarled at her sister. "But I do."
"How can you like that?" Emily argued. "He's a jerk to you."
Haley shrugged and looked into her wine glass, sipping slowly.
"Stop bickering," Sandy said to them as she adjusted her sun hat. "No guys. No jerks. Just us having fun at the beach, yeah?"
Emily rolled her eyes. "Tell that to Haley."
Sandy looked passed Emily and smiled at Haley. "Girl's weekend. It's going to be fun."
Haley nodded and forced a smile, but inside she was nervous to return home. She didn't exactly tell her boyfriend she would be having girl's weekend.
Sandy scanned the beach. "We need to find a good looking guy for Emily."
Emily made a sound of disgust. "Why?"
"Why not? You're single. Put yourself out there, girl."
Emily met Sandy's enthusiastic gaze with a hesitant glance and shrugged.
"I bet she'll find Mr. Perfect," Haley muttered. "Unlike me."
"At least I don't go for the assholes," Emily snarled.
Haley opened her mouth to fire back, but Sandy stood and put herself between them.
"Quit it," she shouted at them. "Or I'm sending you both home and having a vacation from the two of you."
"How about that guy?" Haley said, pointing to a blond man who dragged a large row boat into the water. He straightened and flipped his long hair over his shoulder.
Emily rolled her eyes. "Ugh. No, thank you. Not my type."
The man looked in their direction and smiled at the three women watching him.
"He looks like he's more into his hair than you are," Sandy muttered to Haley.
Haley got to her feet and brushed the sand off her dress.
"Where the hell are you going?" Emily called after her as Haley approached the man.
"Hey there," she said flirtatiously. "My sister over there has been eying you."
The man looked passed Haley towards Emily and Sandy. "Oh yeah? And which one is your sister?"
"The one with the blue hair."
He smiled. "Is that so?"
"Oh yeah," Haley said, nodding. "Way into you."
He cocked his head to the side. "I don't get that impression," he said casually. "Your other friend, though..."
Emily hurried to Haley's side, pulling at her wrist. "Don't listen to whatever she's saying," she said to the man, then, to her sister, "Let's go. No guys, remember?"
"No guys, huh?" he said.
"Not interested, buddy," Emily said, narrowing her eyes.
The man raised his hands in defense. "What makes you think I'm not already spoken for?"
Emily looked him up and down and laughed.
"Don't be rude, Emily," Haley said, pulling her wrist out of her sister's grasp.
"So now we're into this guy?" Sandy said as she approached.
"Haley's just being a bitch," Emily said.
"At least I have a boyfriend," Haley shot back. "You need to get laid."
"Life isn't about men, Haley."
"I'm sensing a lot of tension here," the man said carefully.
"This was a bad idea," Sandy mumbled. "Girl's weekend is a total bust."
"Could I interest the three of you in a boat ride?" The man gestured to his boat.
"Disgusting," Emily spat at him. "Do you really think we're those kind of girls?"
"He means his boat, you idiot," Haley said.
Emily rolled her eyes. "Please. I'll tell you what he really means."
"Ladies! Give me a break. You don't even know me."
"Exactly," Emily said. "Thank you, but we'll be on our way now."
Sandy sighed. "Come on, get in the boat."
"Are you insane?"
"Listen, I want to be far away from the public when one of you kills the other, and at least there's a whole ocean to hide the evidence." Sandy climbed into the boat and crossed her arms. "You guys are ruining everything. We're going on a boat ride. Or I'm going without you."
Emily and Haley exchanged a glance before hesitantly following Sandy into the boat. The man pushed the boat into the ocean and jumped in after it.
"Good choice," he said to them as he navigated away from the shore. "We're gonna fix this relationship here."
"He's gonna murder us," Haley muttered.
The man smiled. "I'm Elliott." He bowed to them.
"Sandy," Sandy said. "Emily, Haley."
"Girl's weekend doesn't seem to be going too well," he commented.
"Blame that on them," Sandy said. "They've never gotten along."
"Why's that?"
"Because Emily thinks she's the perfect child," Haley hissed. "I'm always the one that does something wrong."
"You are!" Emily shouted at her sister. "All you care about it yourself and being the perfect trophy wife for your stupid asshole boyfriend."
"She just hates that I have someone and she doesn't."
"He just uses you," Emily hissed. "He doesn't give a rat's ass about you."
All right," Elliott said slowly. "There's no anger in my boat."
Emily and Haley crossed their arms and turned away from each other.
"Emily, why don't you like her boyfriend?"
"Because he doesn't treat her right."
"You're just saying that," Haley said.
"Haley, give Emily a chance to talk," Elliott said. "Why doesn't he treat her right?"
Emily turned to her sister, her face sad. "You call me all the time in tears because of something stupid he did. He's always out late. He never takes your feelings into consideration. He's cheated on you. Why can't you see that he's no good for you?"
Haley swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "I love him," she mumbled.
"How can you love someone like that?"
"We've been together for so long. I can't just throw that away. We can work these things out."
"Are you insane?"
"Emily," Elliott cut in in warning.
"You just can't handle being alone."
"Like you?"
"What's so bad about being single? You don't need to depend on any man. You go from guy to guy and for what? You have this need to be with someone, every minute of your life. You need to learn to be on your own. To love yourself. Because someday, there's going to be no one left, and you'll just be stuck with yourself. And I don't think you'll be able to handle that."
The boat was quiet as Emily finished.
"Well," Haley muttered. "I'm sorry I'm not perfect like you."
Emily rolled her eyes. "Will you just stop it with the petty crap? You are perfect, Haley, and you deserve to be treated like a queen. Don't be with anyone who treats you as less, okay?"
Haley looked to her feet. Emily sat beside her and pulled her into a hug.
"I don't want to fight with you."
Haley nodded as she blinked back tears. She leaned into her sister and let her head rest on her shoulder.
"The boat makes everything better," Elliott said, happy with himself.
"I'm just glad we didn't have to toss a body overboard," Sandy muttered. "Can we get on with our weekend now?"
Elliott turned the boat around as the sky began to darken.
"Homeward bound, then," he said happily. "A lovely voyage, if I do say so myself."
"Do you really think you can smooth talk women like that?" Sandy said to him.
Elliott shrugged. "I only smooth talk women who appreciate a gentleman."
"Just what Haley needs," Sandy said with a wink.
"Haley seems to have a good head on her shoulders, and a good support system. I think she'll find Mr. Right soon enough."
Haley looked to the sky in hopes of getting lost in the beauty of the night sky, but there was only darkness. No twinkling stars, no moon to light their way back to the beach.
"Why is it so dark?" she asked, still peering at the sky. The others followed suit, turning their faces upward, curiously.
"Strange," Elliott muttered. "This is no night sky I am accustomed to seeing."
"Where are all the stars?" Sandy asked.
"It's just cloudy," Emily pointed out. "See?"
"Those don't seem like ordinary clouds," Sandy said.
The sky seemed to swirl in a deep, purple-grey color, blocking all light from reaching them.
"It's not even twilight," Elliott remarked, checking his watch. "The sun should still be out."
They continued to watch the sky as Elliott brought them back to shore, but the beach was dark and empty.
"What happened to everyone?" Haley asked. It was too quiet. Only the water lapping on the shore could be heard.
"Something's wrong," Elliott said softly. He pulled the boat back onto the beach where the three women got out quickly.
"Can't see a thing out here," Emily said.
"Come," Elliott's voice said. "I live just up here."
They followed him quickly on his heels until the stumbled into a dark building. A small hut, just on the edge of the beach.
"Don't you have any lights?" Haley complained. Elliott hissed in the darkness, quieting them.
"Get down," he instructed. "Away from the windows."
Confused, they did as he instructed, keeping close to the wall, huddled together.
"What's going on?" Sandy asked.
Elliott peered out the window before ducking down with them.
"Shadow People," he said quietly.
"Shadow People?" Emily repeated.
"Here," Elliott said. "On the beach."
"What are they doing here?" Haley asked.
"I don't know," Elliott said. "But I have a feeling we don't want to be caught, or we'll end up wherever everyone else ended up."
Sandy swallowed. "Are they dead?"
"Who knows," Elliott said. "But I don't want to find out."
"What do we do?" Emily asked.
"Stay here, hidden, and keep quiet, and hopefully they'll overlook us."
They each held their breath and waited.
*****
It was near midnight when the Shadow People disappeared from the beach. Their eyes no longer glowed along the shores. They seemed to have give up their search for any left over survivors, ignoring the run down shack just as Elliott had expected. Elliott fumbled with the radio, searching through static, but They ventured out of the house and back onto the beach, flashlights in hand guiding their way. They were alone.
"What the hell..." Emily muttered.
"I don't understand," Haley whispered.
"We need to get home," Sandy said quickly.
Elliott shook his head. "I have a feeling there's no home left," he muttered. "The Shadow People wouldn't be here if the war was going well."
"Wonderful," Sandy muttered. "We're captives in our own home."
"The Shadow People aren't creatures we want to be facing alone. We don't stand a chance. Who knows what's going on out there, but I have a feeling our best bet is to stay where we are and remain in hiding."
"Perfect," Sandy said. "Just what the creepy man wants. Three women at his disposal."
Elliott narrowed his eyes at her. "We're going to need to learn to trust each other." He paused. "Of course, you're free to leave if you so choose. I won't stop you."
"I'm not going out there," Haley said crossing her arms. "We'll be walking right into our deaths."
Emily nodded. "Doesn't look like we have a choice."
Sandy sighed. "So much for girl's weekend."