“This girl, ain’t a virgin,” Erin said pointing at herself. “I swear.”
“Well, this guy ain’t a virgin,” Perry replied pointing at himself.
They stopped outside one of the rooms.
Erin held up the key to make sure the number was correct.
“Alright Perry,” Erin said leaning against the door. “I think you’ve walked me home safely now.”
“You mean I don’t get to come inside?”
“No man. You blew it. I just don’t have those kind of feelings for you. The chemistry is wrong.”
“Oh shit,” Perry exclaimed.
“I know right. You’re such a loser.”
“I am. Totally.”
“It’d be so funny though, if you made out with Bryonie.”
“What?”
“Think of how fucked up it would be for them. Put their whole little romance to shit.”
“But I thought Bryonie was your friend.”
“Yeah,” Erin rolled her eyes. “Best friends forever.”
She opened the door. Backed herself inside the room.
“So I’m going to go and make out with Bryonie then,” Perry said. “You know. Cause that’s what you want.”
“Uh-huh. You ain’t getting in here, that’s for sure. I’m way too good for you.”
“I know you are.”
“Bryonie’s shit though, so maybe you don’t just kiss her. Maybe you fuck her as well.”
Erin closed and locked the door, leaving Perry standing there with a big grin on his face. A grin, that was contagious.
Her breathing slowed.
Became deeper.
She backed away from the door and listened for footsteps in the hall.
None.
Was he still standing there?
Erin pushed open the door beside her. It led out to a spacious bathroom with a large shower and spa bath.
Erin backed away inside it. She put her handbag on top the sink.
She removed her shoes.
A bracelet from her wrist.
A necklace from around her neck.
Erin pulled off her jumper top and unzipped her jeans.
She could see the closed bedroom door from where she was. She went to the edge of the bathroom and closed the door, shutting out the room and all its contents. Its possibilities.
Erin looked at herself in the mirror. Let out a sigh. Took of the rest of her clothes and stepped into the shower.
He wasn’t coming in here of course. But had he taken her seriously about Bryonie? Surely he hadn’t. She was just kidding around. Although it may not have seemed that way.
Erin put her hair under the water.
She reached round for the shampoo.
The thing about Perry was that even though he hadn’t actually said anything that implied he –
BANG!
Erin dropped the shampoo and it bounced off the shower floor.
Someone had just broken into her room.
“Perry,” she called out sticking her head out the shower.
Heavy footsteps across the bedroom carpet.
Frantically, Erin fled from the shower and rushed to the bathroom door. The knob began to turn. She caught it and held it in place.
“Who’s there?” Erin shouted. “I’m warning you –”
Bang, bang, bang!
What the fuck?
Were they trying to break the fucking thing down?
“STOP IT!” Erin shrieked. “DON’T!”
Her weight against the door gave away.
As she turned to run she grabbed her handbag across the counter and it fell to the floor with her.
A shadow passed over her body.
“Please,” she whimpered. “Get away…”
And then –
Nothing.
Her shoulders twitched. Her lips quivered.
Perry’s laughter echoed from the bedroom.
“What the fuck?” Erin said angrily.
She stood back up and picked up a towel to cover herself.
She peered out the bathroom doorway to see Perry sitting on the bed.
“Asshole!” Erin shrieked. She grabbed the lamp from the bedside table and threw it at him.
It bounced off his back and Perry stood back up, still chuckling.
“I promise,” he said, “I promise I didn’t see anything.”
“Fuck you,” Erin hissed back.
She ran at him and he caught her.
He held her wrists with all his might.
“What are you going to do?” he challenged. “Did I scare you?”
“Shut up!”
“No, really. Poor baby. Look at you. You’re such a mess.”
“I said, shut up!”
But Perry wasn’t shutting up. And Erin wasn’t really fighting him.
The towel fell away from her with a small swipe of his hand. He put his arms around her back and pulled her into him. He kissed her passionately and Erin could feel her eyes closing. Surrendering.
They walked backwards into the bathroom together.
They kept going until they were in the shower.
Perry removed his pants.
“You’re fucked up,” Erin said, pressing herself up against the wall.
“Maybe,” Perry replied. “But not as much you.”
He walked underneath the shower stream, seizing her up.
Her vision blurred, the kisses descending all over her.
Perry’s face was fading into the mist. His skin was changing color. His jaw was growing wider.
His eyes were moving out to the sides.
“What is … What is happening?” Erin whispered.
Buzz, buzz. Buzz, buzz.
Her phone.
Her phone on the floor.
“That’s mine,” she said.
Perry held her in place. “So?”
“Let me take it.”
“No.”
The mist was so thick she could hardly see him.
“Yes!” Erin said firmly.
She stomped on his foot and dived out from the shower.
She crawled across the ground and answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Erin?” came a male’s voice on the other end.
“Who is this?”
“It’s Kieran.”
Erin groaned. “What do you want?”
“Where’s Taylor? Why isn’t she answering?”
“I don’t know,” Erin gushed. “Why are you calling me?”
“You’re supposed to be with her.”
Perry’s great mass loomed over her body. “Put it down,” he ordered.
“Who the fuck is that?” Kieran demanded.
“None of your business.”
“Look, is this some sort of prank? What’s going on?”
“You’re interrupting, that’s what’s –”
“Why aren’t you and Taylor here? Are you with Lucille?”
“No.”
“Cause I’m at her party and she hasn’t shown up. There’s other people too that are missing. It’s like you’ve all gone somewhere else and left me behind –”
Perry took the phone out of Erin’s hand.
“Your old boyfriend?”
“No,” Erin said truthfully. “Not this time.”
Perry ended the call and handed the phone back to her.
Erin let it fall to the floor.
“I want you to see me,” Perry said. “I want to show you my true self. But I don’t think you’re ready.”
“Fuck it,” Erin said. “I’m ready.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
It was as though she’d been sleeping for a thousand years. Her eyes drifting open, her groggy consciousness beginning to fade in. She was at a point where she didn’t recognize anything in the room surrounding her. At a point, where she still couldn’t remember who she was.
Until the world articulates.
Lucille’s hands wouldn’t budge. Neither would her feet.
She was tied to the bed.
“Oh my … Oh my gosh…” she gushed aloud.
How did she get here?
When was this happening?
Had she been in the middle of roleplay with a potential lover, and then somehow fallen asleep? If so, where was he? And what was exactly the last thing that she could remember…?
Gas. Gas in the car.
It wasn’t her driver.
She couldn’t breathe.
“Oh fuck,” Lucille gasped. She tugged violently, the rope tearing into her hands. “Help…”
Tears. Sweat.
Boiling temperatures.
Look at her. Lying around like this.
She was so helpless.
Scared.
Pathetic.
Or – Or was she…?
“Grrrrrr,” Lucille cried, ripping her hand across the rope again.
There was a gap.
Not quite large enough to squeeze through. She had to make it bigger.
She had to keep going – Keep forcing it –
Footsteps. The bedroom door was opening.
She instinctively closed her eyes. Pretended to be asleep.
His footsteps lumbered on past the bed.
Then they stopped.
She could feel him standing over her.
Watching her.
Waiting for a sign of movement.
Seconds passed. Too many. A bead of sweat rolled down her head.
Then he was off again. Into a nearby bathroom. The door was closed.
Lucille opened her eyes. This wasn’t real. This couldn’t be real. How the fuck was this happening?
She teared at her hand, harder this time.
“Aaar-owww…” Lucille moaned quietly, her hand breaking free.
She looked down at it and saw through tear filled eyes, that it was bleeding. She shuddered a little and then tried to sit up.
The shower began running from inside the bathroom.
Lucille pulled at her other hand, untying the knot. After another minute of agony, she was able to get her other hand free. Then it was on to the feet.
She slid across to the bottom of the bed and saw something shiny lying on the floor.
It was a kitchen knife.
“Fuck,” Lucille whispered.
Wincing, she picked it up and cut through the rope on her ankles. Free at last she dropped the knife again and stood up to the floor.
The shower’s running water stopped.
Panicking, Lucille rushed out into a lounge room area type and hurried passed various furniture. She grasped hold of what first seemed to be the handle of a doorway leading out, but instead found a closet.
Penelope Stringer’s bruised and bloodied corpse was waiting on the other side.
“EEEK!” Lucille shrieked uncontrollably before clasping her mouth.
The sound of the bathroom door creaked open.
Lucille turned away, hurrying as fast she could out of the room. She made it to the furthest side where she found a door leading out into a narrow hallway.
She went left, the ceiling, the walls, gravity itself.
All of it moving.
Side to side.
She had no idea where the fuck she was.
Lucille ripped the door open and stumbled through into a spacious, well-lit passageway. Squinting, she thought she could see some people ahead of her.
As she began to get closer to them, the blur started to fade.
“Bryonie?” she choked. “Leah…?”
The elevator doors opened. Her friends stepped through.
They hadn’t seen her.
“Wait!” Lucille screamed. “Please, WAIT!”
She ran up to the doors just as they were closing.
Too late.
They were gone.
“Happy Birthday.”
A whisper behind her.
“Happy Birthday to you.”
Lucille whirled around.
A tall muscular figure wearing a rubber shark mask was standing there.
Holding a chainsaw.
“Happy Birthday, Lucille –”
“AAARREEEEEGGH!”
Lucille’s screams were drowned out by the sound of the chainsaw as he lumbered after her.
Running as fast she could, Lucille bolted down the hallway, banging on doors, crying out for help.
“PLEASE! SOMEONE! ISN’T ANYONE HERE?”
Of course the rooms were empty. As was the rest of this deck.
She catapulted out the door at the end, breaking free into the fresh outside air.
Now she could see where she was. She was on a frickin’ ship.
Lucille ran to the left and dived off the railing, just as the chainsaw was unnecessarily demolishing the door.
As she hit the water, further panic gripped her. She hadn’t looked for which way the shore was. Her head bobbed up, searching frantically. She couldn’t see it. There was nothing but ocean.
“Fucking hell,” Lucille wailed.
She started to swim, hoping to make it to the other side of the ship, when she suddenly heard a splash behind her.
Oh no.
Had he dived in after her?
Lucille turned to see a dark shape moving underneath the surface towards her.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck –”
She tried kicking. She tried tearing through the waters with everything she had left.
But soon her feet were caught in the shark’s mouth.
Soon her body was eaten up and devoured.
Her last thoughts.
Her last memories being.
Was Bryonie actually wearing a bikini back there?
There was no way she could pull that off.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Sunset. A perfect time to be at sea. The wind seems to change direction. Baking waters turn from warm to cold. The shadow casts itself. Oranges, pinks and purples hit the deck.
“I wish you could always be here,” I whispered aloud. “I wish that you would stay.”
And I could see what was left of her too. My beautiful sunset. Reduced to a bubbling mess of red and white beneath the dark oceanic waters.
“Do you have something for me? Is there something you wish for me to take?”
I gripped the ship’s railing.
Four floors above me they were playing music. Splashing in the pool. Laughing out loud.
They had not heard. They did not know. I would have to wear this mask for a little longer.
Not the rubber one.
Part Two
EVENING
CHAPTER ONE
Rides and places. Places and days. The present moment wasn’t as constant as it appeared to be. As the sun set on one afternoon, it was also setting on another. Bryonie was standing at the edge of the cruise ship’s upper deck, looking into the path of the swaying waters. In the right light, and at the correct distance she might have had a chance of making out her reflection. The reflection itself probably wouldn’t be clear. In all likelihood it would just be a shadowy mass. From where she was she couldn’t even see that. However, the pictures in her mind began to project themselves into the ocean, and oh yes, there were things she did see…
First it was the uniform. The black woolen sweater. The white shirt underneath. The bright red tie. The school’s embroidered logo. She could see her fingernails. Her hands. What a reflection she had in the waters that evening.
“Now if you follow me this way, I’ll show you what the engine room looks like,” the guide’s voice rumbled in the background.
Shapes and sounds drifted in and out of Bryonie’s peripherals. She wasn’t paying them much attention. She was too busy in her own world. Dreaming her own dream. But soon there were shapes and sounds she couldn’t ignore.
“Hello Bryonie.”
Bryonie turned slowly.
It was Taylor who had spoken her name. Taylor, the cool kid in school
who hated her guts. To the left and right of her were Leah and Erin, Taylor’s cool friends who were staring at her without sympathy. Some guys were chuckling in the background, watching on.
“What do you want?” Bryonie asked softly.
“I think it’s time you went for a swim,” Taylor said.
“What?”
Pain.
Pain in her throat.
She knew what was going to happen before they even grabbed her.
“Hey!” Leah said breaking Bryonie’s reflection from the past. “There’s no one around here. What are you doing?”
Leah stood beside her.
Bryonie glanced up uncomfortably. “I was just thinking about this time from school where we were all on that boat together.”
“Oh.” Leah blinked. “Why?”
“I was just remembering how you all threw me in the water. And it was freezing. And I couldn’t stop crying afterwards.”
“You always were a bit of a baby.”
“It’s just funny, how we all wound up friends eventually. After that, I mean.”
“I don’t think about that stuff anymore,” Leah said. “It’s done. It’s history. So what’s up? Why don’t you tell me what’s really going on? You’ve gone all quiet.”
Bryonie sighed. She nodded.
“I don’t know. I’m feeling a bit weird.”
“Because of what Finn said before?”
“Maybe it’s not even him. Maybe I’m just not supposed to be throwing myself out here like this. You just do nothing for so long you have to do something crazy to make up for it all.”
“Are you saying you want to go?”
Bryonie shrugged. “You’re my friend. You tell me what’s happening. What my situation is. How I’m feeling.”
“Mmm,” Leah nodded. “I should start charging, you know.”
“What do you make of it all?”
Leah glanced behind them.
The pool’s waters were still.
“I think you need to relax,” she said. “Take it easy. As it comes. Don’t worry so much.”
“Yeah,” Bryonie said cynically.
“These little problems between you and Finn … they’re about you.”
“Right.”
“I’m being serious. Listen to me. All Finn was hinting at was that you shouldn’t be like throwing yourself at him.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Bryonie.”
“What?”
Cruisin' With Sharks (Paranormal Mysteries #1) Page 5
