"Stay down! It's coming this way!"
"Heh, I guess dying side-by-side with a friend isn't so bad…"
"It will all be worth it… just a little while longer…"
"Hey! Give me your hand!"
"Don't do this! We're your friends!"
"Get out of here! I'll hold them off! Just go!"
"It's my fault… they died trying to-to… maybe I am better off dead…"
"How could you do this?! We trusted you!"
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"Let's finish this… Once and for all…"
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"Are you confused?"
"Do you feel lost?"
"You don't understand, do you?"
"Of course not…"
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"…But you will…"
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The shudder of the aircraft jolts Chris Kilrain awake, still feeling groggy despite his vivid dream, he turned his head and rubbed his eyes. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he was welcomed by a clear blue sky and a crystal blue ocean. Looking to my right, and he noticed a familiar face and a familiar goofy grin.
"Morning, sleepyhead." Smirked Diego, Chris' Hartfeld roommate, and best friend.
"I'm not still dreaming, am I?" He asked with a grin.
"Nope." Replied Diego. "Doesn't feel real, does it? But we're finally on our way!" Chris looks around the passenger cabin and listens to some of the chatter of the other ten students who had won an amazing week-long tropical vacation.
"One magical week in paradise, here we come!" Said a red-haired girl with a knotted white button-up.
"All expenses paid, what whaaaat!" Shouted a brawny-looking guy in an orange and white varsity jacket, he pumped his fists in the air with excitement.
"Good thing too." Chris' attention turned to a rotund man with curly black hair. "I'm so deep in student debt, I couldn't even afford instant ramen right now." Chris let out a soft chuckle before a sudden headache came upon him. He shook his head and as soon as it came, the headache was gone. Diego noticed his friend's discomfort and placed his hand on his shoulder.
"Hey... you okay, Chris?" He turned back to his best friend. "Bad dream?"
"Not so much bad, more like a weird dream, I dreamt about..." It was then that Chris saw something, or rather someone which made his eyes bulge out of his head. "...about HIM!"
Coming down the aisle of the charter plane was a tall man with a broad frame, short, curly dark brown hair, and wore a white and blue polo shirt. Chris had instantly recognized him from his dream, confusion and awe were written all over his face. He couldn't understand, how could this be possible, for a moment, his mind flashed back to the dream, and the image of that same tall individual reaching out to him. His train of thought was derailed when he heard Diego speak up.
"No WAY! You had a dream about SEAN GAYLE?! Well, what are you waiting for? Go talk to him!"
Before he could say another word, Diego had pushed him out into the aisle right as Sean was passing by. The two bumped into each other, with Chris nearly falling flat on his backside if not for Sean grabbing him by the arm and steadying him.
"Whoa! Hello there." Sean smiled. From where Chris stood, Sean was much more imposing than he first thought.
"My friend Chris here has something he wants to say to you." Smirked Diego, Chris quietly muttered a curse at his best friend.
"I uh..." His mind was all over the place, speaking in itself was a difficulty. "I dreamt about you." He internally winced after he spoke, but Sean chuckled.
"Is that so? A good one, I hope."
"Actually, it was kinda terrifying..." He grit his teeth after he heard the words that came out of his mouth. "Oh, not because of you! It's just-" Again, Sean chuckled and waved off Chris's frantic response with a smile.
"Don't worry, I'll take it as a compliment anyway." Sean shot a smile at him before continuing down the aisle to his seat.
Chris sat back down next to Diego and put his face in his hands, and massaged the bridge of his nose.
"God..." He began. "That had to have been the biggest bomb since Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Diego chuckled while looking at his phone.
"Yup, and I got it all on video, you gotta see your face!" He shot Diego a dirty look.
"Yeah, laugh it up..." Said Chris in mock anger. "...when the NETFLIX password gets changed, you won't be laughing anymore."
"Do that, and you'll find this video of your epic fail on YouTube, so Ha. ha." Diego looked back down at his phone screen and frowned. "Huh..."
"What is it?"
"It's weird..." Diego showed his phone clock to him. "My clock shows 5:15, we should have landed an hour ago. I mean, it didn't feel like you'd been snoring THAT long..."
"Hilarious." Muttered Chris sarcastically, he stood up in the aisle and looked to the open cockpit. "I'll go ask the pilot if something's up..."
As he began to make his way up the aisle, he passed all the other students, who talk loudly over each other. As he inches closer to the cockpit, a distinctive accent is heard over all of the other voices.
"Excuse me, will you all PLEASE cease your babbling?! The tour guide is trying to speak!" The voice carried a British accent, and it came from a tall, pale male, with blue eyes, short blond hair which was so light it could legally be considered white. He wore a blue striped white sweater and a white shirt underneath, with a purple tie to compliment it.
"Thank you, Aleister!" Replied Lila, the guide. "As your tour guide for this week, I just want to say that we should try to... you know, be friends!" Lila had short brown hair, and wore a yellow collared shirt with a company logo on it, along with khaki shorts. "It is an island after all, so... you're kinda stuck with each other." She giggled at the end of her short announcement.
A girl groaned in the back.
"Is it too late to jump out of the plane?" She asked, the girl had an undercut, he hair was black with a few pink streaks in it, she wore a white t-shirt with a skull in the middle, and over it a black leather jacket.
Chris finally reached the doorway to the cockpit and stuck his head in. Only to find the pilot's combat boots kicked up on the dashboard.
"Excuse me, it's Jake, right?" Recalling the pilot's 'less than enthusiastic' introduction. "Weren't we supposed to have landed by now...?" He looked down at Jake in the pilot's seat, he didn't move. "...hello?" He began to look further in and noticed his eyes were closed. "Wait, ARE YOU ASLEEP?!"
Jake jumped in his chair as he opened his eyes, and when Jake looked up at him, he instantly recognized the pilot from the same bizarre dream. Chris did his best to recall the dream, but could only draw portions and fractions of his reverie. Like Sean, most of the dream was still a daze, and he could only recall Jake reaching out and shouting to him.
"Listen, Boy Scout..." Jake's voice pulled him from his thoughts. "Don'tcha know it's rude to wake someone up when they're taking a nap?"
"...'Boy Scout'?"
"What can I say?" Jake flashed a cheeky grin. "I give nicknames to people who annoy me."
"Alright, wise guy." It was his turn to smirk. "In that case, I'm calling you 'Jared Leto'." Jake's smirk quickly dissipated as he does a quick double-take.
" 'Jared Leto' ? Whoa! Hang on! I do NOT look like Jared Leto!" His look of shock turns into a look of contempt. "I had this haircut LONG before Jared Leto did, okay?" Chris merely shrugged and held up his hands while trying (and failing) to hold back his grin.
"No judgment here, we all get our style from somewhere." Replied Chris, a chuckle escaping him.
"Alright, Comedian..." Now Jake smiled if only lightly. "When I come back in a week to pick you all up, YOU, my friend, are riding in the cargo bay."
"Okay, okay. What if I just called you Joker?" Jake looked at black haired college student for a moment, before nodding.
"Fine. But I'm picturing the Heath Ledger one instead." Chris remained smiling but did not forget what he had seen in his dream. Never having seen either Sean or Jake before, his mind was racing as to why they were in his dream.
It is possible he could have met Sean at Hartfeld, possibly in a class or on the quad, and Jake anywhere off-campus or in downtown Boston, possibly even Philly, but he could not recall a moment or instance of having met either of them beforehand.
"Did you need something Boy Scout? Or did you just come up here to give me an unwelcome wake-up call?" Once again, Chris was shaken from his thoughts and remembered why he went up to the cockpit in the first place.
"Oh yeah, I was going to ask when we were landing?"
"Oh, that? Relax, we ain't landing 'til-" Jake looked at his instruments and was taken aback. "The HELL? That ain't right, and that ain't right either." Jake began to whack at the instrument panel a few times in a haphazard manner, all the while, concern grew on Chris' face.
"Uhhh, you SURE you know what you're doing?"
"Hah." The smug grin returned to the pilot's face. "If you knew half the things I survived, you'd bet on me to get you through anyth-"
It was then that sudden turbulence manifested itself from nothing and began to hammer away at the aircraft. The jostling caused the airplane to convulse and shudder violently, slamming Chris into the wall of the cockpit. As he tried to steady himself in the doorway of the cockpit, he could see the clouds move in and darken the sky almost instantly.
"SHIT!" Jake immediately leans in and grabs the yoke in an attempt to steady the aircraft, the instrument panel turned bright red with emergency lights surrounding the small space. "THIS STORMFRONT'S COMING IN FAST! GET YOUR ASS IN A SEAT, HEAR?!" Jake was fighting hard to maintain control. "AND TELL EVERYBODY TO BUCKLE UP!"
"But-"
"NOW, BOY SCOUT!"
Without wasting another moment, Chris returns to the aisle, where all hell appears to be breaking loose. Outside, dark clouds close in around the plane, heavy gusts of wind erratically rocking it from side to side like a heavy pendulum. Inside, the cabin is filled with red emergency lights, everyone is gripped with panic, with only a few clear voices in the scattered cries and shouts.
"Oh, I am really regretting that airport Chipotle!"
"Don't puke bro! If you puke, I'm gonna puke!"
"Where the hell did this storm come from?! It was a clear day two seconds ago!"
"It happens, okay? This is totally normal!" Shouts Jake, from the cockpit.
"Yeah. Sure." Says the girl with the undercut, pointing out the window. "THAT looks normal."
Outside, the lightning appears in the form of what can only be described as fireballs. The balls of orange electricity surge around the aircraft like a swarm of angry hornets, exploding near the fuselage in a crackle of sparkles. A young woman in an orange sweater and glasses looks in awe at the violent balls of energy.
"It's like ball lightning..." She begins, with both fret and astonishment in her voice. "But I've never seen anything quite like this!"
"This is all wrong! I can't die here, surrounded by these morons!"
"Oh god, oh god..."
"Everyone, just breathe!" Sean's voice is heard over all the others. "We're gonna get through this!" He makes every attempt to calm the others down, as does Lila, the tour guide, but the distress in their voices is still present.
Just then, a blistering crack of thunder, louder than an artillery shell deafens everyone inside the plane. Soon after, a ball of lightning strikes right at the fuselage, causing sparks to fly from the control panel in the cockpit.
"Welp, engines just lost power..." Jake says in both bewilderment and terror. "Bringin' her down manually! EVERYBODY, HANG ON!"
The panic in the passenger cabin grows worse, Chris is still standing in the threshold between the cockpit and the passenger cabin. He's frozen in fear, scared to move, scared to think. His hand moves to his neck, which grips at his Saint Michael's medallion while reciting a prayer in his head. The panic grows in his stomach, he wants to throw up, he wants to scream, he wants to close his eyes and hope that it will all go away, but he holds it in. He manages to maintain some kind of composure, despite his heavy breathing and darting eyes giving away his fear. He looks around the cabin, everyone is in some form of hysteria, all except one.
Far in the back of the plane, in the last row of seats is a girl with a tight ponytail and wearing a light blue hoodie. She sits silent, unfazed by the panic, her face betrays no emotion, arms crossed as if what was happening was an everyday occurrence. She does not need to try and stay calm, she is the embodiment of calm. Chris stares at her, amazed by her poised attitude, the sound of the shouting, the thunder, the lightning, seems to vanish as he focuses on this one individual. She turns to briefly gaze at him, exposing a scar running down her right eye.
"Chris, Safety first!" Chris is brought back to reality by the voice of Lila. "Please, find a seat." He doesn't have to be told twice, ungracefully, he tumbles into a nearby seat as the plane lurches violently, and lands next to the redheaded girl.
At a quick glance, Chris can tell that she is afraid, she makes no attempt to hide it. Her hands have a death grip around the armrests, her knuckles are white from how tightly she is holding on, and her eyes are shut tightly. He then notices the shallow rise and fall of her chest and shoulders, she was beginning to hyperventilate.
"Hey, just breathe." Chris was trying his best to sound calm. "It'll pass."
"This can't happen..." Her eyes stay closed. "Not yet... It's too soon."
Chris tried to think, he knew he had to find a way to calm her down, he thought back to times before this, when he would get frightened, then he was hit with an old memory. He remembered an old trick his father would use whenever he got scared, and he had to calm Chris down.
"Why couldn't the melons get married?"
"W-wait, W-what?!" She opened her eyes and looked right at Chris.
"Why couldn't the melons get married?"
"I... I have no idea..."
"Because they cantaloupe." He couldn't help but snicker.
She stared at him blankly for a few seconds, and Chris wondered if his plan had the intended effect. Then, when he thought that his plan had completely backfired, a wide smile broke out on her face, as well as the most infectious laugh he had ever heard.
"Because they... can't elope?" She laughs. That's the worst joke I've ever heard!" She tries to hold back, but her laughter only grew louder, and quite a few of the others joined in.
"Are You Positively MAD?!" A few of the others. "This isn't the time for JOKES!" The man with the blonde-white hair shouted at both Chris and the Redhead.
"No, it's the perfect time for jokes!" She smiled sweetly at Chris. "I'm Quinn by the way."
"Christopher, but most people call me Chris."
The plane continued to be battered by the storm, but now it was reaching its fever pitch. Jarring the plane with such force, that it might have caused the fuselage to break apart.
"Just a little farther, I think we're almost out!" Shouted Jake, and true to his word, they were out of the storm. The aircraft burst through the clouds and was once again welcomed by the clear Caribbean sky.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO! WE'RE ALIVE!" Shouted the portly student.
Everyone felt relieved, especially Chris, under his breath he murmured a thank you and gripped tightly on his medallion before Quinn grabbed his attention.
"Chris, look! There it is..." Chris looked out the window and saw a mass of land grow larger and larger in the distance. It was a lush green tropical island with astounding rainforests, astounding beaches, rivers running through it like veins, extraordinary mountain peaks, and a massive volcano with white smoke rising out of it.
"Get a good look now, cause we're comin' in fast!" Said Jake over the intercom speakers. "Welcome to La Huerta." The airplane sinks towards the gorgeous sprawling island.
The plane lands on an airstrip on the edge of the island and cheers erupted from the Hartfeld students as the landing gear kisses the tarmac. The private charter plane pulls up to a decent-sized hanger and its passengers disembark. Chris was one of the first to get off the plane, and he took in his first glace of the island of La Huerta. He took a deep breath and basked in the warmth of the tropical sunshine, he then noticed Jake looking around the hanger, before he stepped outside.
"Rough landing, Joker, hope you don't work for tips." Said Chris with a cheeky grin.
"Ha, you kidding? I'm a damn hero for even getting you on the ground." Jake turned and again started to look around, and walked further down the airstrip. "CARLOS! Where the hell are you, man! I needed a tune-up two weeks ago! CARLOS!"
Chris chuckled as Jake screamed his head off, trying to put the last few minutes of terror behind him. He decided it was best to get both his bag and Diego's since he was one of the first people off the plane.
He took a quick scan of his surroundings and of his fellow contest winners. He had met Sean and Quinn on the plane, and while the circumstances were not the most ideal, they seemed to him to be nice people. Raj, he had bandied a few words in the airport before leaving, then Craig, the beefy fellow in the letterman jacket, whose name he knew from him and Raj loudly discussing their plans for painting the island red. Then there was Zahra, the girl with the undercut and leather jacket, who was nowhere near excited to be on this trip as most of the others. Next, there was Grace, the girl in the orange sweater, Chris knew her from his class on World History at Hartfeld, the two never talked, but everyone mentioned her to be a prodigy in every subject she touched.
Chris and the rest of the group had gone to the back of the plane to the cargo bay, to collect their luggage, everyone grabbed their respective bags. All the while, Chris was waiting for the appearance of the blue ribbons that Diego decided to use to mark their respective bags with. As he searched for those ribbons, Chris could overhear the eager voices of the others around him.
"This island's supposed to be one of the most beautiful places on earth!" Quinn says excitedly. "I heard so much about the waterfalls, the beaches…"
"It's also home to a plethora of rare flora and fauna!" Grace says, looking just as enthused. "Some that can't be found anywhere else in the world!"
"Pssht... Only ten spots on the trip, and they had to give one to this dork." Said Craig, visibly vexed.
Chris manages to spot the two suitcases with blue ribbons, he first grabs Diego's then goes for his own. But as he grabs the handle of his suitcase, Sean's hand brushes up against his as he tries to grab Chris' bag.
"Oh, sorry!" He pulls his hand back, slightly embarrassed, but Chris smiles and waves it off, determined not to again make an ass of himself.
"Hey, if you want to carry my bag, please, feel free." Sean returns the smile, and appears about to say something until a voice cuts in, and cuts deep.
"Oh my god, could you be any more desperate?!" The owner of the voice, a pretty young woman in heavy makeup drapes her arm around Sean, all the while, glaring daggers at Chris. "People like you always hover around the spotlight like moths. Honestly? It's just sad..."
"I'm sorry, spotlight?" Chris tries not to look flustered, but he is genuinely confused by the girl's hostility and accusations.
"Oh yeah, RIGHT. as if you don't know who Sean is."
"Should I..." He had only met Sean on the plane a few moments ago, he couldn't possibly recall him or anything about him before less than half an hour ago.
"Seriously?" Craig steps in, looking as though Chris' ignorance offended him personally. "Our superstar quarterback? The Heisman frontrunner?"
"Craig, Michelle, it's cool," Sean holds his hands up, in a vain attempt to calm the other two down. "Chill out-"
"Look," Michelle, folded her arms and gave Chris a cold glare. "Sean doesn't need any fame hounds hanging around, got it?"
Now Chris had been thrown for a loop, all he was trying to do was get his suitcase and be on his way, he wasn't trying to make enemies in the first five minutes of being on the Island. The easiest thing to do would have been to walk away, but Michelle appeared to be the kind of person who would either take that as a sign of weakness or worse, an insult. Chris tried to think of something to say in order to diffuse the situation and again was reminded of an old tactic his old man would use in confrontational situations.
"My apologies, I should have seen straight away that someone as gorgeous as you, must be together with someone like Sean, isn't that so?"
"I... you..." She had been taken aback, Michelle did not expect a compliment of all things to come out of the mouth of someone she had accused of hounding around the spotlight. "Well, yeah. Thanks." She breaks out a wide smile. "And you are definitely right, on both counts." Michelle appeared pleased, but Sean wasn't smiling anymore, he appeared incensed, pissed even.
"We're in reality Michelle, remember?" he says with a coldness that's a complete reversal from his previous demeanor. "In reality, we're not together anymore."
The two of them start arguing, Chris takes the opportunity to grab his suitcase and inch away. From what he could gather, Michelle and Sean had been together at one point, but from the negative reaction from Sean, the breakup must have been ugly.
As Chris continues to back away from the heated argument, he hears a faint clink and feels something against his sneaker. He looks down to see something small, red, and poofy.
"Huh, what's this?"
He kneels down to pick it up, and upon closer examination, his eyes go wide with disbelief, and a chill runs down his spine.
"Hey, man! Thanks for getting my bag!" The sound of Diego's voice makes Chris jump. "Whoa! Hey buddy, is something wrong..." His eyes drift to what is in Chris' hand. "Is that a... a tranquilizer dart?"
"Yeah, looks like it..."
"Vial's nearly empty," Diego observes. "It must've hit its target."
"Yeah, and the dosage is pretty big, whatever it is they were after, it must have been HUGE if they needed this much to take it down."
"Don't you mean if they took it down?" Diego shows a wicked grin, while all Chris can muster is a nervous chuckle.
He looks up, and he can see someone staring at the pair only a few feet away.
The scarred girl in the hoodie.
She makes no attempt to hide that she's been listening to the conversation between the two, staring intently at the tranq dart in Chris' hand.
"Hey, Diego..." Chris lowers his voice to a whisper. "Who is that, the girl in the hoodie?" Diego takes a quick glance and shrugs.
"Dunno..." A familiar grin materializes on his face. "Got eyes for the mysterious hottie, huh?" Diego nudges him playfully.
"There's something... off about her." Diego looks at him quizzically.
"What gives you that idea?"
Chris thought back to her unnaturally calm demeanor during the storm, but maintaining one's composure isn't a reason for suspicion. He looked around at the other students, doing a mental headcount. He saw Sean, Craig, Raj, Quinn, Michelle, Grace, Zahra, and the pale fellow, without counting Jake and Lila, and including Diego and himself, the answer hit him like a ton of bricks.
"...There's too many of us..."
"Too many? I don't follow."
"Look." He gestured towards the others. "We were told that ten students from Hartfeld had won this trip, right? Count us off, and without counting Jake and Lila, she makes eleven."
"You..." Diego pales a bit and looks as nervous as Chris does. "You're right. And I don't think I've ever seen her around before. So… who is she?"
Chris looks back towards her again, and she stares directly back at him. Their eyes lock, and despite wanting to, Chris cannot look away. The girl says nothing, she does not even so much as twitch. Her gaze is cold and unrelenting, it was like staring into a solid wall. Chris was frozen, he felt like a cornered mouse, and like a cornered mouse he didn't dare move. It was as if she was pulling him in with her gaze.
"HEY, LILA!" Shouted Jake who was storming back towards the group. "Where the hell are your people?
Somehow, the sound of Jake's voice manages to grab the attention of both of them, and the strange hold over Chris dissipates and he is able to shake it off. He makes sure to avoid her gaze as he pockets the tranq dart.
"THERE'S NOBODY HERE!" Shouts Jake as he strolls up to the crowd, everyone looks around, they still remain the only occupants of the airstrip.
"They should be here in a shuttle," Lila answers, concern written all over her face. "They were supposed to be here a few minutes ago to take us up to the main resort…" Her concern evaporates quickly as she musters a wide smile. "But I'm sure it's just a slight delay! No need to fret! They'll be here any minute!"
"Ha! The hell with that!" Jake scoffs. "I'm going up to the control tower to get some answers."
"What do you think is going on up there?" Asked Chris.
"No idea." Jake appeared troubled. "Call it a gut feeling, but whatever's up, it ain't good. So, Boy Scout. You comin' or not?" Chris was dumbfounded, he didn't expect Jake to want ANYONE to tag along with him.
"M-Me?"
"That's what I said." Replied Jake with a nod.
"I could go with you-" Offered Michelle before Jake cut her off.
"Wasn't talking to you, Maybelline."
"Um, okay! Good luck with that!" Lila lets out a nervous laugh but keeps her smile up. "I guess the rest of you, please follow me! We'll take a short walk up the hill to the resort! Sounds fun, right? Yay!" Then, out of the corner of her eye. "Umm, Quinn? Where are you going?"
Said girl steps past Lila giddily, unbuttoning her blouse.
"Some of us want to explore the beach a little first!" Quinn says. "We'll meet you guys at the hotel!" She fumbles with her top button. "This one's stuck. Chris, could you help me out?"
"Um," He tried to sound nonchalant. "Sure…" She drew close to him, and he undid her last button and his eyes immediately snapped to her face.
Quinn slides out of her top, revealing her aqua-blue two-piece.
"Ah, that's better! You're coming to the beach with us, right?"
"Oh! Uh… yeah, sure, but I'll catch up with you later," He says before she skips off with Michelle, Raj, and Craig following.
He turns away, forcing himself not to linger on her retreating form.
"Perv," He notices Diego smirking at him, and Chris lightly kicks him in the shin in response. "OW!" Diego rubs his shin and laughs. "Well... Anyway, I'm gonna go check out the hotel. See you there, alright?"
"Yeah, see you," he takes his bag and leaves with Lila, Grace, Zahra, Sean, and the scarred girl…
…Chris shudders as he remembers the way she held his gaze.
He turns to his left and notices Jake was already off to the control tower. Leaving his suitcase against the hanger wall, he jogs towards the tower, calling after him.
"So it's cool if I join you?" He turns to Chris and grins.
"Ask permission for everything, Boy Scout? Come on." He gestures to Chris for him to follow.
The pair go up the tower's staircase, full of rusted steps that have definitely seen better days. Each step they take upwards tottering under their weight but managing to hold firm.
"Walk slowly," Jake advises. "There are old, rickety-ass rope bridges that are in better shape than this death trap."
Chris looks out on the vast, vibrant rainforest stretching out in front of him, the sight of lush green under the warm Caribbean sun. It was like a dream, an equatorial Valhalla surrounded by ocean.
"Wow, I have to say, this place is gorgeous." He breathed. "Do you fly out here a lot, Joker?"
"Oh yeah," Jake's voice is full of derision. "Here and every other privately owned resort island in the Caribbean. The favored vacation spots of the young and privileged."
"You don't sound too fond of it."
"Meh, It pays the bar tab," He shoots Chris another grin. "What's not to love?"
"So, Jake, what did you do before this?" He prods. This wasn't just the act of making idle conversation, Chris wanted to know if he had ever met Jake at some point, if Jake was ever in Boston or at Hartfeld, then it would likely explain in part why he dreamt of him.
"Hey, what is this, twenty questions?" Snaps Jake, clearly annoyed.
"Sorry…" Chris rubs the back of his neck, embarrassed, and decides not to say anything else.
The silence continues for a few awkward seconds until Jake breaks it.
"Fighter pilot. Navy," he says curtly. "I was good at it too. Best in my whole class after training in Pensacola. That is, I was, until I got discharged."
"What happened?"
"Punched my Commanding Officer in the jaw."
For a moment Chris was speechless, that was the kind of thing that happened in action or war movies, not reality, where consequences for such an action could mean death.
"I, uh… I'm sure he deserved it," Said Chris, awkwardly.
Jake was once again, silent.
"...Yeah. He did. Anyway, I've been ferrying rich folks around the Caribbean and sleeping in a beach hammock in Costa Rica ever since."
"That sounds kinda lonely..."
"Uh, yeah, that's the appeal."
"I mean, I get wanting to get away for a while, but don't you want anything more? Something, someone to come home to, someone to talk to, someone to listen to your problems and talk about theirs?"
"You offering, Boy Scout?"
"What? No, I…" Chris blushed. "I just meant…in theory…"
" 'In theory', I wanted to be the best pilot the Navy's ever seen, like Tom Cruise in "Top Gun". In practice, well, you can't beat an ice-cold beer and a Caribbean sunset."
Before Chris could say anything, he felt the step underneath him crack in two and breaks away beneath him, causing him to fall through.
"Jake!" He yelped. And with lightning speed, Jake grabbed him by the arms and pulled Chris up out of the hole and into his arms.
"Gotcha!"
The rusted metal fragments twirl their way fifty feet to the ground, hitting the dirt with multiple loud thumps and clangs. Chris takes a deep breath and wraps his hand tightly around his medallion and counted his blessings.
"I think you just saved my life," Said Chris.
"You're welcome," Jake replies. "Now you owe me one, come on."
As they continued up, Chris remembered that this was not the only time Jake helped him, remembering part of his dream in the deep jungle where Jake shouted a warning to him. Again his head began to spin, and the sound of television static rang in his ears, but it quickly faded. Chris decided to chalk it up to a slight case of vertigo from his near experience with a fifty-foot fall to his doom.
Finally, they reached the top, with Jake pushing open the doors of the control tower and storming in shouting.
"Carlos! You dumb bastar-" Jake stops mid-swear. "Hey, what the…?"
Chris walks in right behind Jake, he scans the room to find all the equipment intact, but not a soul was inside.
"There's no one in here!"
"Thanks, Eagle Eyes," Snarks Jake. "I couldn't tell."
Chris lets out a sign and begins to scrutinize the area as if it was a crime scene, there was nothing that particularly stood out except for the shut-down computer monitors and a few swivel chairs a foot or two away from some of the desks. Chris slid his fingers over one of the desks, the dust accumulating on his fingertips.
"This place looks like it's been deserted for some time," He notes. "Are you sure they're even using this airstrip?"
"Of course I'm sure," Jake replies. "I was just here a few days ago, and I'm pretty damn sure…"
Chris waits for him to continue, but he just remains quiet.
"Jake? Something wrong?" He turns to him, and notices he's staring past him through the window.
When Chris turns his head to see what he's staring at, his jaw drops. In the distance, he sees flashes of red and blue light outlining everything on the island. The colors make the trees, cliffs, and sea glow with the two colors in a rippling aurora. It's like a tropical version of the northern lights, but instead of in the sky, it's… everywhere all at once.
On impulse, Chris placed his hand on the glass, as if in a vain attempt to capture a small bit of the beauty in his hands. He's drawn to the colorful light like a moth to a flame, captivated by the beautiful colors surrounding the two.
"What... is this?" Chris rubs his eyes and like the storm, as soon as the lights appeared, they had vanished. "Jake, did you see that! What was that?!"
Jake was still staring off into the jungles of La Huerta, still in a daze, almost in a dreamlike state.
"JAKE!"
"Huh?" Jake shook his head and regained his composure. "Don't know... don't much care neither. C'mon, ain't nothin' here to see."
Jake then ducked out of the control tower, Chris lagged behind, hesitating for a moment, before finally walking out the door. On the trek back down the stairs, Chris looks back, wondering if he'll see the lights again. But everything appears as it should, no lights, no rippling aurora, nothing. The pair reach the ground, and Jake arches his back, stretching.
"Whelp." Begins Jake. "I'm headed up to the hotel to catch up with Lila. Carlos has gotta be up there. Which way you heading?"
"I told Quinn I'd catch up with her at the beach. Good luck finding your friend."
Jake nods before leaving, making sure to check the lock on the hanger doors where he had stored his plane.
It's a short jaunt to the beach from the airstrip, and as soon as Chris sees the mass amounts of sand, he kicks off his sneakers and socks and proceeds to bury his feet in the sand. The feeling of warm sand on bare feet brings a whole new feeling of tranquility to both body and soul.
"Ahhh... That's nice." He says to himself.
In the sand before him, he spots a seashell sticking out. He reaches out for it and looks at it closely, it was in a concave shape, taking a form similar to that of an ice cream cone, with smooth grooves moving from top to bottom in the form of a pinecone. It was like nothing he had ever seen before.
At the sound of Quinn's infectious laughter, Chris looks up from the shell to see her twirling across the sand.
"This must be heaven!" She says contently.
"Yuuuuup!" Chris turns to see Raj lying flat in the sand, his arms and legs spread wide with a large grin all over his face. "I'm just staying here all week. I'm never ever moving again... could someone get me a beer?"
"Isn't this place wonderful, Chris?" Michelle waves at him, beaming as she stands barefoot in the water, small waves close to the shore washing over her feet. "It's like our own private paradise!"
"Yeah!" Chris notices Craig, sitting on a big rock protruding out from the water's surface a few feet from shore. "This is our turf!"
"Isn't this magical?" Quinn practically bounces over to Chris, smile infectious as ever. "It's almost like we have the whole island to ourselves!"
"I know, it's so peaceful," Chris looks longingly at the water. "I wish we could go swimming."
"Who says we can't?" Quinn grabs his hands and begins to pull him towards the surf. "Come on!"
"Haha! Whoa, just a sec," He laughs. "It's a good thing I wore my swim trunks under my jeans!" Tossing the shell back on the ground, he shrugs his pants off and leaves his shirt with it.
"Come on!" Quinn calls when he's fit for the water. "Hope you're a good swimmer!"
"Oh, me?" He grins as he joins her. "I'm practically an Olympian!" He recalls swimming in the Brandywine back home as a kid, and how well he took to swimming in middle and high school.
"Good, 'cause I'm not the best at it. If anything happens, just carry me back to the beach and give me CPR, okay?" she winks at him, while he responds with a chuckle and the hope that he is not blushing too much.
"Sure thing, I'll be your hero," a few feet away from Quinn, He is up to my waist in surprisingly warm water. Feeling the currents curl soothingly around his legs. "So are you always this spontaneous?"
"No, I wasn't always like this… but after… after last year," Quinn's eyes turn to the horizon, and something solemn takes over her features. "I've tried to make the most out of every day."
As she fell silent, Chris wondered what could so be so grave as to make Quinn want to make the most of her time? His curiosity to know what happened, growing. He opened his mouth to ask her what she means, but decide against it. He didn't want to pry and make her uneasy. Everyone has a right to their secrets, and he didn't want to dig up anything unpleasant as he did with Jake.
So instead, he scoops up a handful of water, splashes it all over Quinn. She squeals in surprise, all the while Chris grins smugly.
"Hah!"
"Oh, I get it," she starts laughing. "You're pretty spontaneous yourself!" Quinn starts splashing him back. The pair begin splashing each other and while Chris tries to dodge her, she rushes towards him and gives him a playful shove.
He falls with his back into the surf…
…with Quinn on top of him.
"Oops!"
"Don't apologize to me" He laughs nervously as he feels himself going red. He suddenly notices Quinn's eyes light up and she gets up off of him.
"Chris, look!" He looks to see something that looks like a prism, small and dazzling in the light, shoot out of the water. Wings unfurl, gleaming like jewels, and it hovers just a few inches from Quinn as he looks on it with bewilderment.
It appears to be a seahorse… with butterfly wings?
The creature's wings catch the sunlight as it stays in the air like a hummingbird, facing Quinn as she faces it back, gazing at it in awe and wonder.
"Whoa…" is all Chris can muster, as both he and Quinn continue to gaze upon the creature that can only be described as... magical.
Suddenly, it zips off into the distance like a bullet, leaving no trace it was ever there.
"Did that seriously just happen?!" Quinn turns to him. "Have you ever seen anything like that?"
"No, never!" He answers. "I mean, the island's supposed to have rare species… but that? I didn't think something like that could exist!"
Quinn turns back to the shore and calls out to the others.
"Guys! Did you see that?!"
"Huh?" Craig turns his head to them briefly. "Who cares? Do you see this?!"
Craig gestures to Raj, asleep and buried under a pile of sand.
"Ugh, everyone else already went up to the hotel!" Michelle shrieks. "Come on, let's catch up! Who's gonna carry my bag?"
Everyone starts to head away from the beach, leaving Quinn and Chris in the water as the surf swirls around them.
"They…" Chris' shoulders slump slightly "They missed it. I can't believe they missed it! It was incredible!"
"Aw, cheer up!" Quinn pushes his shoulder lightly. "You and I are the only ones who saw it! It's almost like... like we shared a secret!"
"I guess," He chuckles.
The two look at each other for a moment.
"I'm glad you were with me, Chris."
"Me too."
The pair leave the water, get dressed, and grab their bags before following the others.
The small group goes on for a few minutes on a winding road towards the resort. Chris starts to feel a bit winded as they continue onward, hoping that sooner or later, a shuttle will come by and take them the rest of the way. He checks his phone and notices that he still has no reception.
"Maybe cell service is only limited to the hotel." He says to himself.
The small group continues on until Michelle points up ahead eagerly.
"This must be it!"
"The Celestial!" Quinn gasps.
Everyone looks forward, and they finally lay eyes on the resort. At several stories tall, the Celestial was a welcome sight, it gleamed in the sunshine against the great blue sky, the entire hotel appeared like a jeweled palace in the heart of paradise.
"Wow..." Exclaimed Chris. "One week free in THIS place?! Holy. Crap."
"Aw, hell yeah!" Craig cheers. "Now THAT'S is what I'm talking about!"
"Is this place even real?" Raj marvels.
"Let's go already! My luxury suite awaits!" Michelle bounds forward eagerly.
The group walks through the long, ornamented overhang, and the marble pillars that hold it up, resemble those that support ancient Greek temples. They rush through the automatic doors, the cool air from the air-conditioned lobby washes over them...
...then they all freeze.
"Uhhh..."
"What the..."
The group that left with Lila is standing in front of the others, bewildered. Beyond them, the entire lobby is devoid of life.
"I… I don't understand…" Lila's stammer breaks the silence.
Aside from the group, there's no one else in the lobby. The silence is deafening, the front desk stands deserted. Suitcases and luggage carts lie still, unattended. On a table, a half-finished wine glass gathers dust.
"Hey, uh, Chris?" Sean asks. "Do you happen to know… where the hell is everyone?!"