"Well it's rocky!" Sarah said as they climbed from the boat onto the rocky shore.
"Oh shush Sarah, don't start complaining already" Meg laughed.
"I'm not!" she retorted.
Ben was used to the constant bickering between the two sisters by now. In fact, he quite enjoyed it, having not seen his own family for many years. Well, apart from Derek.
"We better get moving up to the house, it looks like rain's approaching" Michael said from the back of the group.
The whole group groaned. It wasn't exactly ideal weather, but at least the had the house to enjoy this weekend.
Meg and Ben had decided to keep the party small. Sarah was joined by her boyfriend Casey, and Michael by his girlfriend Vanessa. Alongside the three couples was Gabi, Meg's best friend and Maid of Honour. Gabi's boyfriend Ricardo had declined the invite that Ben had given him through gritted teeth.
Ricardo hated Ben with a passion, and over the past five years, the feeling had become mutual.
A small path led up to the massive house, which seemed to be surrounded by trees and rocks as far as the eye could see. When they got to the door, Ben took out the key that had been left under the doormat, as instructed in the email he had received from the owner. He had thought it was an odd thing to do, but didn't question it. Maybe that's just how things worked on this island.
The weather-worn door swung open after Ben unlocked it, revealing a dark, damp entrance hall. He looked over at Meg. It wasn't exactly what had been advertised. The furniture was old and battered, yet effort had been made to clean it at least.
As they moved towards the living room in silence, a piercing scream rang out to the high ceilings.
Sarah was running in circles, flapping her arms, "it's on me, it's on me!" she squealed.
"Come here" Casey laughed, inspecting Sarah's back, "there's nothing there".
"There was a SPIDER" she yelled.
"Sarah, calm down, there's no spiders" Meg chided.
Ben suppressed a smile. He was glad he had the less high maintenance sister. Meg glanced at him, knowing what he was thinking.
The living room wasn't the luxury they were promised but it was livable. A few sofas surrounded a log fire, with a moth eaten rug on the ground, and a few musty smelling blankets to finish it off.
Into the kitchen, things picked up. Ben found a selection of his and Meg's favourite foods on the counter and in the fridge.
"Strawberries" he laughed, waving them in Casey's face, who recoiled immediately. Casey was allergic, and Meg had once fed them to him accidently.
"They have literally all our favourites Ben", Meg beamed. It made him happy to see her so pleased that he didn't even question how the owner knew their favourite foods. He certainly hadn't told them in their email correspondence.
He put it down to a coincidence, until Gabi picked up a large bottle from the counter, "Hibiki Whiskey" she read from the label.
Ben did a double take, how on earth would they know that Ben's favourite whiskey was Japanese? "Wow they must've done their research somehow", he said.
"Oh there's a note too" Gabi said, and Ben gestured for her to read it out.
"To the Evans/Cummings Party. Welcome to Nighthorn House. Please find a selection of complimentary food and drink in the kitchen. Your bedrooms have been made up individually. We very much hope you enjoy your stay. Nighthorn is an old house, so you might hear the odd creak here or there - but don't worry, it's just our resident ghost! Regards, Mr. K. Rede".
"Has he left his phone number?" Ben asked. "The one he gave me went dead when I tried to call him, I could only contact him via email".
"Nope nothing" Gabi said, turning the card over.
"I'm sure it'll be fine, maybe he's more of an email guy" Vanessa suggested.
"Apart from we don't have internet here" Sarah said.
"Well then we'll just go down to the fishing port if we need help" Vanessa replied, the practical thinker as always.
"We won't need help! It's all good" Michael said positively, "we're all smart capable people, we'll figure it out if that ghost starts haunting us".
Everyone laughed, even Sarah.
Two of the bedrooms were downstairs, accessible via maze like hallways. One of these had Michael and Vanessa's names on a note on the bed. As they settled in, the rest of the group went upstairs.
Upstairs, Casey and Sarah's room was next, with Gabi a couple of doors down. Meg and Ben's room was the largest at the end of the corridor. The note on their bed said "To the happy couple. I hope this is a weekend you'll never forget".
Ben tossed the note to one side and lay down on the bed. Meg curled up next to him.
"Thank you for organising this" she said.
"You don't need to thank me, I should be thanking you" he said.
"For what?"
"Well between Annie trying to break us up, and my brother...well you know, I'm surprised you've stayed this long".
Meg looked up at him, "none of that was your fault, you have to stop blaming yourself".
"I should've known" Ben said gravely.
It was a conversation they'd had many times. Ben had thought his identical twin brother Derek had died years ago. That was until he had kidnapped Ben last year, stealing his identity and Meg in the process. If Ben hadn't escaped in time Meg would be dead, and so would he.
"It's over, he's gone" Meg said for the millionth time. This time she knew what he was thinking.
They had both watched Derek plunge over a cliff side. He was dead. Ben had to believe that or he'd never rest.
"Right come on" Ben said with renewed energy "let's get this party started".
For the rest of the evening, the group spent their time in the living area playing typical bachelorette and bachelor party quizzes.
Ben felt a warm glow as he sipped on his whiskey. He never thought he'd find someone again, let alone someone who deal with all his baggage.
"Question number ten" Gabi announced, tipsily standing on one of the armchairs. "What's your man's biggest regret?"
They were playing Mr and Mrs with the couples battling it out, and Gabi as quiz host. The aim was for each couple to have matching answers.
Michael and Vanessa's answers matched (not asking Vanessa out sooner), as did Sarah and Casey's (eating Meg's strawberry muffins).
Ben hovered his pen over his card. Everyone knew what his biggest regret was. Not being able to save her. But how could he write that in a game like this?
He scrawled down "not travelling the world" and held it up. Meg held hers up and it matched. He gave her a quick kiss and tried to force the moment out of his head.
Some days he was fine, he could look back on all the happy memories without drowning in sorrow. But there were some days, days like today, where she kept darting back in his mind uninvited. The water. The devastation on her face, turning to fear and panic. The touch of her hand slipping from his. Her screams…
Stop it. He told himself. Today is not the day for this.
He looked over to Meg to settle his thoughts and come back into the present. He had learnt to cope with memories of that night since being with Meg, and the nightmares didn't come as frequently as they used to. He could only hope they'd stop eventually.
But he was sure of one thing, whether good or bad, not a day went by that he didn't think of Maria.