Thank you to those who reviewed, followed, and favorited this story. I will do my best to make this great.

This story is going to start (relatively) canon, but then go in another direction. I'm sorry if this chapter is a little slow, but school has been killing me. My goal here is to set things up for the next few chapters, so hopefully this won't make anybody take back their follows...

Chapter 1: The Playa

The Playa de Losers was a vacation resort. You would think it would be the place you would fall away and get distracted by the opulence. Instead, it was where things started to become clear.

I realize now that my first days were marred by anger for Scott and exasperation with Staci. I couldn't understand why my team would vote me off just because of something he said, or why Scott would do such a thing. I was only trying to help, and I had done a damn good job of it. There was no doubt that I deserved to stay more than some of the others. And yet, my biggest regret was that I hadn't been able to speak for myself. Of course, I know now that Scott was trying to sabotage the team, the little weasel. Unfortunately, it took longer to realize than it should have because of Staci's non-stop jibber-jabber.

When I say non-stop, I mean non-stop. As hard as I tried to avoid her, she seemed to be just as determined to follow me.

"So my great-great-great-great-blah blah blah, blah blah blah-"

Well, you know how that went. I could not, for the life of me, focus on anything. I was truly surprised that she was able to breath, with how much she spoke. Eventually, it would catch up to her, but that's a story for later.

Nothing really changed until the second night I was there. Nobody had come the first night, which was almost as disappointing as the fact that Scott hadn't been sent here.

Over Staci's chatter, I didn't hear anything except for a splash. I turned my head back to the lake, but nobody came out of the water. No other splashing. Maybe it was a fish, I thought to myself.

But that didn't explain the size of the ripples in the water. I didn't know of a fish, other than Fang, that could make something that big in that short of a time. Praying that I was wrong, I threw off my jacket and jumped in.

In the darkness, it was almost impossible to make anything out. All I could do was try to remember where I saw the center of the ripple. Finally, I found the bottom of the lake. The pressure was almost bursting my ears at this point, but I ignored it as I started to feel around.

A fish swam across my hand. I pushed it out the way, but it swam back. Another fish swam on my face, and in surprise I lost a mouthful of air. The fish by my hand nipped my index finger, and I tried to shake it off, but it held on. I felt a funny feeling at the bite. What was it...it was trying to pull me somewhere. To guide me somewhere. I stopped fighting back, and let it show me.

My lungs were almost bursting when I found what it was leading me to. I couldn't see it, I only felt it. It was a burlap sack, but it didn't feel mossy. It hadn't been down there for long. Trying to figure out what it was, I felt the inside of the sack, and my heart sank below the bottom of the lake. Somebody was in the sack.

Grabbing the bag, I started to swim back up to the top. Every molecule of my body screamed for air, but the sack weighed me down more than it should have. Each second felt like an eternity, until my head burst through the water and I filled my lungs with sweet summer air. I would basked in that forever, but I remembered what I had to do.

Scrambling onto shore, I pulled the sack behind me and ripped a hole in the side. As soon as I saw who was inside, I felt the urge to throw up.

Dawn was scrunched up in the sack, as if she had been thrown inside. This had been my closest friend on the island. She was a little...odd, but she was sweet and genuine. She seemed able to understand me without me having to talk, which spoke wonders. And I couldn't forget her specialty with animals. That must have been why the fish had been tugging me. It was trying to save her.

But looking at her, I honestly thought it might be too late. Her already pale skin was unnaturally white, her blonde hair strung limply. As I pulled her out through the hole, I shook her in an attempt to wake her. At first, there was no response.

Suddenly, she convulsed, coughing violently in my arms. I almost dropped her in shock, but she managed to get into a kneeling position, still trying to expel the water from her lungs. Then, the coughing was replaced with a sound I was much less familiar with: crying.

Dawn threw herself into my arms, tears streaming down my back. I hugged back just as hard, trying to tell her silently that everything was going to be okay.

"I'm so sorry, B," she sobbed. "I-I thought I-"

I pulled away slightly, so she could see that I wasn't upset, only relieved that she was okay. I gestured to the rooms. Dawn nodded.

"Yes, B. I'll explain what happened. And t-thank you,"

You're welcome, I thought.

A second after I thought that, she smiled weakly at me, as if she had heard my thoughts.