Sorry about the wait. Track's started, and my muse has been dead, and teachers have been evil homework-wise, and-

Well I'll just get on with the story. That's the important part.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight..

At first, I reveled in the quiet of the waves. Swimming was much more fun now that I was a vampire. I didn't need to worry about drowning (or breathing for that matter), or catching a cold after being wet. I could keep my eyes open without them stinging, and they let me see very well, even in deeper water. And of course, I could swim pretty fast.

But I was yanked to reality when I heard the slight buzz of shouts in my ears, coming from the direction of the rapidly receding boat.

Oh, great, I thought. We've been noticed. Maybe jumping off wasn't the best idea.

But we couldn't go back to the boat unless we were willing to face counseling and possibly an asylum when we were rescued.

Before long, I surfaced near the rest of the family. The sun had come out in full force, and we made a radiant sight, sitting in the middle of the ocean sparkling, with the drops of water on us making rainbow prisms on our skin.

Rosalie held her soaking little bag, as was Alice. They both opened them, sighing when they saw their shoes were safe.

I coughed a little water that had seeped into my mouth out. "What now?"

"We could swim for shore," suggested Carlisle.

"But we don't really have an idea of where we are," Edward pointed out.

"Don't rain on the party, Edward," Emmett scolded. "Swimming is fun."

Esme shaded her eyes. "I can't see any land."

"If we swim for it, we'll be very thirsty when we arrive on land," Jasper said.

Alice zoned out. "There will be a cruise boat coming soon. If we can manage to pull ourselves onto it, we'll manage to get somewhere- or at least figure out where we are.

So we waited.

Emmett got bored and started submerging and blowing bubbles. He popped out of the water after a few minutes. "There's fish down there!"

We all ducked down into the water, and we saw what Emmett was talking about. There were huge schools of brilliantly colored fish swimming under us.

We watched them for a while, then bobbed up.

Edward smiled crookedly. "We've found the fish super-highway."

We all laughed at that.

After a few more underwater excursions, we sighted the cruise boat on the horizon. We started to swim for it, ducking out of sight underwater when we got closer. Even with the clouds back, we might still be noticed.

On the back end of the ship, there was a huge figurehead of an orchid. Luckily, no one was near it. We all managed to get a grasp on it. From there, it was easy climbing- the carved wood had plenty of hand and foot holds. We just had to be careful to not grasp it too tightly and leave a hand-shaped mark.

We pulled ourselves onto the deck, and hurried away.

"What do we do now?" I asked. "We've just stowed away on a cruise ship."

"Well, first thing first, we have to look like we belong," Alice said brightly. She opened her little bag, and dug around near the bottom until she pulled out a credit card. "We need some fitting clothes. Everyone here it dressed up all nice, and we're in sopping wet traveling clothes."

Carlisle shook his head. "Alice, they'll know we're stowaways if you use a credit card."

Edward nodded. "Even if it is a special one under a fake name you created just for buying plane tickets while playing the tag." He paused. "We'll need a ship card- everybody charges on those things. No names- the payment goes to the room number."

Esme didn't look too happy. "Stealing?"

Jasper smiled. "It doesn't have to be stealing. It's borrowing. And we'll send them the money we spent after we get off this boat."

Though Carlisle and Esme weren't happy with the plan, it was soon set into motion. It was easy- Rosalie (who had committed herself to getting that card after she'd caught a glimpse of some of the clothes available in the shops) slipped into an unlocked room a couple had just abandoned for the pool. She was out in a minute, with the bit of plastic that meant so much.

We then traipsed to the shops. We received some odd looks, but we explained how the men had thought it would be funny to drag us into the pool. And that the women had needed revenge.

We walked out dry (we'd been clucked over and given free towels and the use of the fitting rooms to dry off) and dressed up quite nicely. The men all wore suits, and all of us ladies had on elegant evening dresses. We also had a few changes of clothes.

We strolled about the ship, admiring the views of the night sky. The air smelled like brine, which I was glad off- it covered the scent of humans decently. I felt slightly guilty about enjoying the cruise for free, but Edward cheered me up.

"We're not eating, and we've bought plenty of stuff in their clothing store. And we won't be attending many of the activities." He kissed me lightly. "And, if you still feel guilty, we can always send them money too. Alice's better than ever at Wall Street."

We managed to stay on the ship without rousing suspicion until we docked. That was no big feat- the cruise stopped the next morning.

We stopped in Kingston, Jamaica. It was, the captain announced, a fueling stop and a lovely island where all the passengers could disembark and have a guided tour. The ship would be sailing off again at six in the evening- eight hours from now. The weather would be overcast in the morning, with the sun coming out later.

Well, our luck with the sun had been good for a while. It had had to run out originally.

My mind drifted for the rest of the speech, which was a list of places that would be visited, and restaurants that everyone who has actually boarded the ship legally could use some kind of free vouchers at.

But my sense of smell picked up a faint scent. It puzzled me at first, but then I realized I'd smelled it before. I searched my memories, and then realized where I'd encountered it before. Timisoara.

"Vampire on the island," I said.

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