Bluffing the Devil

chapter 17



The heads up portion after the break felt like it lasted all of my life. The time could not have gone slower unless it stopped all together.

The next break started an hour later and by that point, I was ready to shoot myself in the face to stop the need to return to the floor. The break was set to be thirty minutes so Rey and I decided to grab a snack and head down to the beach for some much needed fresh air. Rhea and Victoria were nowhere to be found, so I assumed they were chatting up Devin and Carly back at the suite. No news is good news, right?

"Even I wanted to be out of there this time, geez. Did it feel like the walls were pressing your soul, too?" Rey asked as soon as the door opened to the outside.

"Yes!! I was suffocating!"

The warm air wrapped around us and I took a deep breath, releasing all the stress of the night. I could feel it simply lift off of my shoulders. Amazing what a little fresh air will do for your spirit.

We stopped by a little shop to grab a bite to eat. Rey offered me a salad and I rolled my eyes at him, reminded him that I am not a rabbit, and reached for a chicken sandwich.

"A girl that likes her meat is always welcome to have dinner with me," he said with a snicker.

"If I don’t eat enough protein, I get all wimpy and it’s just not a good look for me," I said as we headed to the beach. I munched on the cup of grapes I had bought at the shop. Maybe food and beach together could shake the odd feeling I kept having.

We arrived at my favorite spot on the beach. I kicked off the shoes that were threatening to make my feet defect from my body and sat down.

I looked over at the peer to see if any boats were in dock. I wanted to go on a boat ride before leaving to go home the next day. I was about to look down at my midnight snack when something under the peer caught my eye; a woman standing in the water.

It looked as if she had lost something and was looking for it. I put my food down and told Rey that I would be right back.

"What? Where are you going, woman?" he said, sounding annoyed. He was enjoying the break too much to have to walk again.

"That girl, she looks like she needs help," I answered as I kept on walking, my eyes were narrowed to try to get a better look at her. "I am going to just go see if she's okay, that's all. I'll be right back."

As I got closer, I realized that wasn't just any girl, it was Carly. And she wasn't looking for something, she was… drowning someone.

I immediately burst into a run. I didn't know what was going on, but something was terribly off and she needed me.

The water swirled and lashed around her arms as she held him under. He fought and clawed at her arms until she pulled him up with a bored look washed across her brow. Her fist was full of his hair and she shook him like a ragdoll as if he were weightless.

"You had something more to say? I thought you were all finished talking?" she snarled with a menacing chuckle.

"You… you're…" he choked out. "Does she know?"

"No, but she will find out soon enough," as she looked up and locked eyes with me. "I don't need you as a distraction," she said as she shoved his face under the rushing water again and held him until he stopped fighting.

"That's what I thought," she mumbled, as she released his lifeless body and trudged up the shore just as I got there.

"What the f*ck, Carly? What are you doing?"

I sloshed through the tide to pull Devin up to safety. Gasping for air and reaching for me; he had been left to die. This time it was by someone I loved and thought I knew.

Rey arrived just as I was pulling Devin to shore, as Carly stood staring menacingly at us.

"Um, I'm no expert and truly a bad person inside, but that's definitely not how you treat your friends," he said, as I lunged at Carly. Raw fury lashed from me as I landed a punch straight to her face then swept her legs from under her. I wanted to pounce on her and beat the life out of her, but I had to make sure Devin was going to be okay.

I turned and the world went black.