A few weeks had passed since the Bohemians returned to the city. To their relief, Benny never showed up to reprehend them in any way for what Roger and Maureen had done. However, they had found a small bottle of first aid spray specially formulated for pot bellied pigs outside Emily's door the day after they got back, along with a note that read 'For Wenceslas'. But nothing else was ever mentioned.
"Well, it's ready," Mark announced, hovering over his projector, which held the footage he'd prepared from their vacation in Texas. Collins, Maureen, Joanne, Roger and Mimi were sitting around the couch, waiting for the unveiling.
"Where's Emily?" Collins looked around, seeing no sign of the photographer.
"She said she was picking up Penny from the school. She's getting back from winter camp today," Joanne explained. "Emily said she'd be back in time for the showing." As if on cue, the door slid open, and Emily and Penny stepped in.
"Hold up!" Maureen's jaw dropped. "Emily! Why is your hair frizzy again?" Emily grinned, combing her fingers through her hair, which has back to its usual frizzy appearance.
"Oh, I decided it was too much hassle to keep putting that stuff in everyday. I'm a photographer, not a cover girl, after all. Besides, why should the condition of my hair matter? A very good friend of mine told me…. any guy who'd just pass me off as just another girl...it's his loss." Mark looked up to see Emily was smiling at him, and quickly found himself smiling back.
"Yo, Mark!" Roger threw a pillow at Mark's head. "Are you going to show the fu… sorry Emily." Roger stopped in mid swear, seeing the death glare Emily was sending him, her hands poised to cover Penny's ears. "I mean, are you going to show your footage, or continue making eyes at Emily."
"I was not making eyes!" Mark cried. "Emily and I are just friends!"
"Yeah, what he said," Emily agreed, equally adamant.
"Enough arguing, guys," Mimi chuckled. "Let's just watch Mark's footage." Willing for the discussion to end, Mark started up the projector, and the friends sat back to watch the images projected up on the wall. Among the images was Collins and Nana proudly displaying the money they had won after beating the card shark at Texas Hold'em, Maureen and Joanne getting massages, with Joanne silently telling Mark to take the camera elsewhere, and Roger and Mimi in the Bamboo Room, making out in the pool. Finally, the projector showed images of the sun setting over the lake, and Emily taking pictures of the scenery. As the film came to a close, Emily's projection turned to face the camera, and with a smile, got up and moved out of sight. Seconds later, the picture shook a little, as if there was a slight struggle for the camera, and then changed position to show Mark in front of a patch of trees, meaning Emily was now holding Mark's Bolex. Mark nervously grinned and waved.
"Wait, what's that?" Penny pointed at something behind the image of Mark. The Bohemians looked closely at where Penny was pointing. On close examination, they saw what looked like a strange reptilian creature hidden in the vegetation, its eyes faintly glowing red.
"No," Emily blinked, stunned. "It… it couldn't… could it?" She and Mark looked at each other in shock.
"The… chupacabra?"
AN: My apologies for the ending being so abrupt. But that's how I wanted to end it: with people guessing. Was the chupacabra really there?
Next up: Apocalyptic Future. It's a Roger-centric epic Sci-Fi/Drama story that I'm having a lot of fun with. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I will. There's gonna be a lot of surprise twists in that story. Until then, this is Data Girl 3, signing off...