“You’re not coming?” a male voice asked sadly.
“No,” a female voice smiled, “I’m going to go into town to do some shopping.”
“But we’re here for a while, you can go shopping later,” the male offered.
“And I can go to the pool later too,” the female rolled her eyes.
“But…” the male protested.
“Have fun with your friends,” she waved as she walked down the stairs.
The man turned around and smacked his fist against one of the bars supporting the window. It rattled briefly from the impact.
“Don’t hurt yourself,” Deanna smiled, “You wouldn’t want to spend your vacation in the hospital.”
The man turned around and gave a half smile, “You’re right.”
“Oh, it’s Nick.” Ashley greeted.
Deanna brushed back Ashley’s hair and whispered
in her ear, “His smile is heavenly.” She giggled.
Ashley rolled her eyes and mumbled, “I told you a girlfriend wouldn’t stop you…”
Nick smiled again, “Ashley and Deanna, right? I’m so bad with names.”
Deanna nodded, “Yup, that’s us!”
Nick leaned against the window, “Will you be joining us in the pool?” His form began to lighten and for the first time, the girls noticed he was already wearing navy swim trunks with matching sandals and, much to Deanna’s surprise, was also shirtless.
Deanna blushed violently and wrapped her fingers around the top of her towel, “Yes, of course. Sunny days were just made for the water.”
Nick smiled again, “I think so too.”
Deanna looked down as her cheeks continued to pink. Had her bikini been visible beneath the towel, her cheeks would have resembled its shade.
Ashley repressed her laughter, “You know, we can talk outside when we’re at the pool. There’s no need to get it all out of the way here.”
Deanna growled under her breath, “You jerk, you just wanna see Kevin.”
Ashley winked, “You know me too well, let’s go.” She started to lead Deanna toward the stairs. “See you Nick,” she waved.
“Wait!” Nick called, straightening from his leaning position. He caught up to the two girls and put one hand on a shoulder of each girl, pulling them back toward him. “I’m all ready to go, why don’t we walk together?”
“Okay,” Deanna smiled, “Let’s go! Here we come, pool!”
Nick stifled laughter, “Is she always… so energetic?”
Ashley groaned, “If this bothers you, try living with
her…”
Nick smiled, “No… It’s very refreshing.”
“Come on! Come on!” Deanna prodded, “The pool can’t come to us! Let’s walk!”
In spite of themselves, Nick and Ashley both started laughing cheerily. Deanna’s enthusiasm was infectious.
The sun sparkled as it shone down on the party occupying the pool, all eight of them. The remaining occupants of The Mayan Princess had either chosen their rooms as sanctuary from the sun, gone into the local town like Paris, or had not arrived yet. So, surprisingly, they had the pool to themselves. Ashley and Deanna had hopped in the moment they laid their eyes on the sparkling water. They took turns going off the diving board and leaping into the glistening waves of the pool. The five boys and Leighanne sat on lounge chairs and watched from the deck, some more intently than others…
“Sunny days were just made for women in swimsuits…” Nick sighed, his eyes on the twins.
Leighanne shoved him a bit, “You horny pervert.” She rolled her eyes and turned to him disdainfully, “Besides, they’re too young for you and you already have a girlfriend.”
“Well,” Brian laughed, “I’m not sure about their age, but you do have a girlfriend, Nick.”
“You said they were twenty-four, right AJ?” Howie questioned.
“They’re gonna get a lecture from me, what are they thinking dressing like prostitutes and jumping off the boards where everyone can see them?” AJ grumbled.
Nick leaned back on his hands, “It’s a good day to be alive…” He nodded.
Kevin put his head in his hand, “Nick… Didn’t we already agree that you have a girlfriend?”
“I’m not doing anything!” Nick protested, “Besides, looking is different from acting. I can look all I want.”
Leighanne chuckled quietly, “You know what they say about men whose eyes wander, Nick…”
Nick crossed his arms and scowled, “Why are you all ganging up on me? If I hadn’t invited you here, it’d just be me and Paris.”
“Paris who?” AJ joked, pretending to look for someone.
Nick shoved him, “Shut up!”
“Anyway, Nick,” Howie started, “You didn’t invite everyone here to enjoy a romantic resort. We’re here because you’re chasing crazy rumors on the internet.”
Brian nodded, “And they are crazy rumors. This place is beautiful, what makes you think it’s crawling with ghosts?”
Nick opened his mouth when Kevin interrupted him, laughing a bit, “Because he’ll believe anything he hears.”
Nick scowled again and was about to retort when he was interrupted by a dripping noise. His eyes widened, “You guys were saying, it’s—”
“Blood dripping from the walls,” Brian put his fingers near Nick’s face and grinned evilly.
“Murderers with knives?” Howie questioned.
“Blood drenched ghosts…” AJ put his hand on Nick’s neck.
Nick shuddered and covered his eyes with his hands. The others began laughing hysterically.
“Ah! I’m sorry!” a female voice exclaimed.
Nick looked up and met Deanna’s eyes. Water dripped from her swimsuit and down the curves of her body as she stood with her hands clasped near her face, which carried a worried expression. His cheeks darkened as he realized he had been jumping to conclusions.
“I didn’t mean to worry you…” Deanna stumbled on the words and looked down as she nervously wrung her hands.
Unable to meet her eyes, Nick’s dropped as well. The jewels on Deanna’s bikini glistened brightly in the sunlight, giving off radiant glows of color. “Uh huh, uh huh…” he nodded.
“Anyway…” she wrung her hands some more, “Are you going to come in, Nick? You said you like pools…”
Nick kept his gaze firmly glued as he continued to nod, “Uh huh, uh huh…”
“And it’s getting really hot out, the water’s really nice…” she continued to wring her hands. Her stomach was doing flips.
“Yes, yes, hot…” Nick agreed.
“So, you’re coming?” Deanna blinked.
Nick blinked his eyes a few times, in an obvious attempt to focus. “Yeah,” he smiled.
She smiled back at him.
Nick stood up from the lounge chair and gave the boys and Leighanne a wave resembling a salute. “Well, I’d love to stay and chat, but I’d better be going.” Nick’s grin covered the width of his face.
AJ stood up and grabbed Nick’s shoulder tightly, “If you do anything, you pervert…”
Nick glared at him, “Why am I a pervert? They’re my age…”
“You have a g—”
“Nick!!!” Deanna called. She smiled and waved as she stood on the edge of the deck.
“I’ll be there in a second,” Nick smiled, then turned back to AJ and shoved his hand off his shoulder, “Don’t think that way about me. Besides, I’d never act like a jerk to your relatives.” Nick headed toward the pool; his scowl faded back into a smile as Deanna cheerfully waved him over.
“I’m so happy you’re coming,” she grinned, “It’s so gloomy to have such a big pool with only tw—”
“BOO!” a laughing female voice cried out.
“Ghosts!!!” Deanna shrieked and jumped a little from the startle.
“It was a joke,” Ashley laughed.
“Ashie, you’re so mean!” Deanna exclaimed. Her foot hit the deck, however, since she had been standing on it for a while, it was covered in puddles of water. She lost her footing, like slipping on ice, and fell backward. She shrieked as she tumbled into the water.
Ashley raised her arm to her face to act as a shield from the splash. She clenched her eyes tightly as well, but laughed cheerily. A few moments later, she lowered her arm and opened her eyes. She blinked, “Deanna… Deanna…” She growled a little, “This isn’t funny! Come back up! Quit trying to scare everyone!” She blinked again as her voice lodged in her throat, “Come back up! Deanna!”
By this point everyone had stood up and was heading toward the pool. AJ was going at a quicker pace than the others. “Hang on, Deanna!” he called.
Nick had long since reached the edge of the pool. He clenched his fist, “Crap!”
“Deanna!!!” Ashley wailed. She opened her eyes long enough to see a male form dive into the water. She blinked and sniffled, “AJ?”
AJ leaned down and pulled Ashley up so that she was sitting on the edge of the pool, “No, but don’t you fall in too, okay?”
Ashley wiped her face with her hand and stared into the water. Everyone else’s gaze followed hers.
Deanna choked as her eyes blurred and the water swelled around her. She could only see a dark blue color spread across her field of vision. Darkness… And nothing else. Her breath shortened; she felt as if the water had wrapped its hands around her neck and refused to let go. What little air she retained escaped as she tried to cough out the water she had swallowed. The world around her was consuming her, she would become a part of it soon. A figure swam toward her, a… mermaid? She shut her eyes as the hands reached out for her. So warm, so soft, so peaceful… A bright light warmed her face. She opened her eyes slowly; the world in front of her was blurred and covered in white like a snowstorm. As she regained her vision, she began to cough. As drops of water fell from her face, she stared up into a crystal blue pair of eyes. They resembled the beautiful water that surrounded them. She blinked as her vision focused. Her savior’s damp blonde hair clung to their face just like their hands clung to her. She was pressed tightly against the pectoral muscles of her savior. Blonde? Blue-eyed? Man? She coughed once more and blinked, “Nick…?”
He smiled, “I’m glad… I got there in time.”
Her eyes shook as they began to fill with tears, “Thank you… I don’t know how to… I guess I owe you…”
Nick chuckled a little, “Don’t worry about it.”
Deanna raised her hand to his forehead and brushed his hair off his face. It became tousled; some pieces looked slicked up while others fell loosely about his face. “Wear your hair like that, okay?”
Nick stared at her blankly for a moment, then began to laugh. “Nothing gets you down, does it?”
“Nope,” she grinned, then turned to everyone sitting on the deck, “Who else is gonna come in?
The water’s great!” She smiled cheerfully.
“My God…” Nick stammered in amazement, “Someone could try to kill you and you’d just stand back up like nothing happened.”
“Deanna…” Ashley growled.
Deanna smiled, “What, Ashie my love?”
“How can you scare everyone half to death and then come up and act like nothing happened!?” Ashley exclaimed.
“Only half to death?” Deanna pouted, “I was at least looking for three quarters…”
Ashley growled, “I’m gonna get you…”
Deanna laughed, “Yay! You’re coming back in!”
Ashley stood up, “Of course I’m coming back in!” She plugged her nose and hopped into the pool.
Deanna grabbed onto Nick’s neck momentarily, but as soon as Ashley came back up, she hopped into the pool as well. Nick tried to grab for her, but she appeared a few feet from him. “Just come and get me!” she exclaimed, sticking her tongue out.
Ashley swam toward her and the two played a game of cat and mouse across the pool. Deanna laughed hysterically as Ashley growled and lunged for her. Deanna was her prey, but even after her experience, she still eluded capture.
AJ sat on his knees and sighed as he shook his head and put it into his hand, “My poor aunt… How did she raise those monsters?”
Nick stared at the girls bewilderedly as they chased each other. “There’s only one conclusion,” he paused, “God created twins to torture the rest of the planet.”
