AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The island was a maze, I realized, as the five of us followed Camille along a twisting little sandy path. The routes zigzagged through the trees in a way that contrived to make the forest feel much larger and denser than it really was. Tip to tip, the island was quite long, at least a couple of miles, judging by what I’d seen from the boat. But now that we were actually on it, I realized there was no way it could be more than ten minutes from side to side. Nico and I had walked from the boat, which was moored up on what must be… I glanced overhead, trying to get my bearings, and deduced from the position of the sun that the boat must be on the east or northeast side of the island. The villas were mostly clustered along the western shore, facing the coral lagoon, and it had taken us only a few minutes to go from one side to the other. But the paths were deliberately constructed in a way to make each part of the island feel as secluded as possible. I also realized that I had yet to see any of what must surely be the island’s infrastructure. There had to be a desalination plant somewhere, as I’d said to Nico, and presumably some kind of electrical generator, whether motor-powered or solar. Plus, of course, the construction huts the producer had mentioned. But none of them were apparent from this part of the island.
Just as I was beginning to think that Camille had gotten us lost, and we were walking in circles, we popped out onto the beach, in front of the Ever After Villa.
“So, ladies,” Camille said, waving a hand at the floating gangway leading out to the villa. “Make yourselves comfortable! I’ll be back in a couple of hours to collect your questionnaires.”
Zana, Romi, Angel, Santana, and I glanced at each other, and then across at the veranda of a villa where a crew member was standing with a tray of brimming champagne flutes. A tempting array of bean bags, hammocks, and loungers was scattered around the deck. There was a moment’s silence, and then Angel stalked onto the gangway, grabbed a glass, and draped herself into the most comfortable-looking chair—a kind of wicker throne strewn with kilims, cushions, and throws.
“Hell yeah!” Romi said. She tossed her platinum-blond hair over one shoulder and crossed the walkway with surprising speed, given the height of her platform sandals, then flung herself into a striped hammock with a little whoop. Santana gave me a grin and a shrug, kicked off her heels, and stepped onto the gangway too.
Only Zana and I were left, and I realized, as I turned to her, that we’d barely exchanged a word.
“Ready?” I said with a smile. Her eyes were huge and light brown, fringed with lashes that, together with her willowy limbs, gave her the look of a startled baby fawn.
“As I’ll ever be, I guess. After you.”
“No, after you.” I held out a hand. She was the youngest person here, I’d realized, and I felt a sudden rush of protectiveness. Bobbing her head with a kind of nervous acceptance, she stepped onto the platform, closing her eyes as she did.
“Are you okay?” I asked curiously, and she shook her head.
“I’m… I’m just… I’m quite scared of water. Not swimming pools, I’m fine in those. I’m even okay on big boats, if I don’t have to see the sea too much—but that trip across from the yacht in the dinghy was horrible.”
“So, it’s not that you can’t swim?”
Zana shook her head.
“No, it’s not that. I’m actually a pretty good swimmer. It’s something about the depth of the sea. I always think—” She stopped, swallowing convulsively, the muscles in her slender throat working under the pale skin.
“Yes?”
“I always think there might be something down there, waiting. In the darkness. Waiting to… grab me.”
On the face of it, it was stupid. A child’s fear—a monster under the bed, something in the water. Images of rubber sharks or giant squid. But something about her face, or maybe her voice, low and full of dread, made me shiver involuntarily. Then I forced a smile.
“The good thing about this water is it’s so clear, you can see the bottom. Look, nothing there at all.”
I pointed down at the clear turquoise depths, and she leaned over, forcing herself to look, and then smiled. But the expression was clearly fake, a pretense of reassurance that she very evidently didn’t feel, and when we got across the gangway to the veranda, I noticed that she took a seat as far away as possible from the water’s edge and downed her champagne like someone throwing back medicine.
The others had already pulled out their questionnaires, and after a moment watching Zana, trying to make out if she was okay, and whether we should ask to move back to the island, I took out my own envelope and began reading.
The questions were fairly standard, and I started to fill them in, pressing the pencil awkwardly against my knees.
Name: Lyla Santiago
Star sign: Pisces
What do you think that says about you?
Huh, that was a poser. I was definitely not a believer in astrology.
“Hey, Angel, can I ask you something?”
“If you wish,” she said, not looking up.
“Do you know anything about star signs? What kind of person are you if you’re a Pisces?
That made Angel put down her pencil and look at me over the top of her oversized sunglasses, her dark eyes narrowed in a frown.
“Tu rigoles?” And then, as I looked at her blankly, “Are you joking me?”
