I'm five chapters into a terrible book about a zombie apocalypse when I hear a noise behind me in the trees. When I turn to find out what made it, I see a clutch of long-limbed monkeys studying me from high in the canopy.
"Hey, guys. Wassup?" They blink at me. God, they're cute. "FYI, avoid this book. It's terrible. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to totally keep reading it, but get ready for some ranting, okay? The author has zero clue about how to fight zombies. Total idiot."
More wide-eyed blinking.
"Okay, good talk. I'm going to have a swim now. Watch my stuff for me, alright?"
I drop my book and walk down to the water. Without thinking too much, I run and dive in. The cool temperature is a shock to the system after the warm sun, but at least it's refreshing. Feeling energized, I swim out into the center of the lake. Even out here, the water is so clear, I can see fish below me, as well as crabs and rocks on the sandy bottom.
In awe of the incredible location, I lie back and float for a while, enjoying my first real tropical experience. I'm just bummed I'm not sharing it with Liam. I pray the time passes quickly until he arrives.
After a few minutes of floating, the sound of the waterfall lulls me into dozing, and I close my eyes as all my limbs relax.
Balancing on the edge of consciousness, I lose track of time. When I open my eyes again, the sun is lower in the sky and has been dulled by a bank of dark clouds on the horizon.
"Okay, that doesn't look good."
I swim back to the beach and grab my towel. As I'm drying myself, I see that the monkeys are still in their spot, staring at me. I also notice my book and drink are missing.
"Alright, who's the thief?" I wrap my towel around my chest and head toward them. "I asked you to watch my stuff, and you steal it. Not cool, guys." They watch warily as I approach. "You can keep the drink, but how about you give back the book? I have to see how that train wreck ends, okay?"
Looking up at them, I can't see any evidence of my stuff. Maybe they dropped it.
I scour the ground before going farther into the forest to see if it's in the undergrowth. I've only gone a few yards when I see a break in the trees. It's a clearing, and smack bang in the middle is a huge piece of rectangular stone.
"Oh, wow. Could that be the creepy death altar? I think so."
I walk over to examine it. The top is smooth, almost glassy, and there's an indentation leading off one side.
"Probably to drain all the blood," I whisper to myself like a total creeper. I've always been fascinated with the macabre. Guess that's what comes from reading a crapload of Stephen King and Dean Koontz while I was growing up.
I run my hand over the surface. It's cold, but the temperature isn't what makes me shiver. I'm tracing my fingers over the blood channel when I hear a noise over to my right. I look up into the trees to see if my friendly neighborhood spider monkeys have followed me, but the canopy is empty. Then, I hear the noise again and realize it's not coming from above.
My breath catches in my throat when I catch a glimpse of what seems to be a figure standing there, watching me, half obscured by a tree.
"Luis?"
There's only the outline of a head, but even in the dim light I know it's not Luis.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. "Whoever you are, I'm warning you, I've been trained to kill a man with my bare hands." Well, I've been trained to punch a man in the balls with deadly force, at least. Liam didn't get to the part where he transformed me into a walking weapon.
There's a hooting sound right above my head, and I glance up to see the monkeys also staring toward the mysterious figure. When I glance back, there's nothing there.
"Lost tourist?" I whisper to myself. "Or vengeful spirit?" Okay, that's too scary to contemplate, even for me.
With a tight whimper, I take off toward the beach as fast as I can, which isn't terribly fast considering my main form of exercise is walking to the fridge to get cheese.
I'm pushing through the last patch of bushes on the edge of the beach when a strong hand grabs my arm.
I scream and turn to see Luis's concerned face. "Miss Holt? Are you all right?"
"Luis! Were you just over near the altar?"
"No. There's a storm on the way, so I thought I should come get you. Why?"
"Nothing. I thought I saw someone in the forest."
He looks to where I've come from and frowns. "Well, we're the only people on the island right now, so I doubt it." He turns back to me. "Perhaps we shouldn't mention this to Alba. If she thinks you saw Espírito Vingativo, I'd never hear the end of it.” He pats my shoulder. “I'm sure you just saw a shadow. Sometimes the light plays tricks with our eyes in the jungle."
"Yeah, I guess."
As I go back to the beach and grab my towel and bag, there's a rumble of thunder from the dark clouds closing in on the island. "Sure. A shadow. That's all it was. No problem."
Except shadows don't disappear when they realize they've been seen.
???
By the time I finish up dinner, torrential rain is pelting the plate-glass windows as lightning carves up the sky.