Chapter 21-Shipwrecked

I blinked my eyes open slowly. The morning light assaulted my eyes and I felt soft grass beneath my back. "Where am I?" I thought, sitting up quickly. I sat up quickly and looked around. I stared out at the open sea, which was calm and beautiful, unlike last night. I was about 6 feet back from the edge of the cliff we had scaled the night before. I looked behind me and saw my four friends curled up in various positions on the grass. Beside me, a man sat with his legs crossed and his back straight, the half-lotus-position. His eyes were closed and his handsome face had a look of serenity. He must have been meditating. He was wearing a pair of loose black pants but his upper torso was bare, exposing a well-muscled chest. I wondered who he was but turned to look behind me again.

I had glanced at a house when I looked at my friends but took a minute to see all of it now. I gasped at the site of it. The lawn that we had slept on stretched up to the front of the house between two sections of thick jungle. The front of the house was circular with huge windows that must have given a breathtaking view of the sea. It stretched to each side into the jungle, so I couldn't even see where it ended. Thick marble columns lined the sides and I could see the shapes of statues between them.

"It is beautiful," said a voice beside me. "Is it not?"

I whirled around to see that the man who had been meditating was now on his feet, staring at the house. "Y-yes," I said. "Very, is it yours?"

He turned his face to me and smiled, then nodded. "Yes," he said with his voice full of pride. He looked like he was from this area but his voice had a very American sound to it, with only a slight Patois accent. I could hear my friends stirring in the grass. We must have woken them up. "Your friends have decided to join us," he said, staring down at them.

I smiled and looked back at them. They all looked confused as they rose from the grass. I realized we were all wearing our costumes still but they were ripped and dirty. I looked down at my dress, it was all I had still been wearing, and I sighed. The dress had been my favorite but it was torn and streaked with mud. Joseph rose near me and smiled brilliantly when he saw me looking at him. I remembered that he had told me he loved me the night before and my heart was able to enjoy it now. I scooted over to him and leaned against his chest. "Good morning," he said too me and gave my nose a kiss.

"Good morning," I said with a smile.

"Welcome," came the man who owned the house. "To my island."

"Your island?" asked Kat. I glanced over at her. She was staring shamelessly at him. I chuckled to myself.

"Yes," he replied. "My name is Cerant Cion and I own this island, which you had the misfortune of crashing into last night." I felt a shiver run down my spine from remembering the night before.

"How do you own an island?" asked Kyle.

Cerant looked at him and shrugged. "Its property like any other," he said. "There are so many islands out here that more than one of them are privately owned."

"So are you rich or something?" asked Mitch, leave it to him to be blunt.

He chuckled. "I guess you could say so," he said. "I was left a fortune from my family and have managed to invest that money with quite a bit of payoff. I also collect and deal art, it allows me to keep my collection ever changing."

Kat seemed to perk up, she had been checking Cerant out before and now she began leaning toward him. "Art?" she asked interestedly.

Cerant turned his eyes to her and smiled. "Yes," he said. "I have paintings, photography, and sculptures from all over the world."

"Really," she said breathlessly then seemed to compose herself. "I'm an artist. I'm going to study it in San Francisco."

"The Academy of Arts?" Cerant asked.

Kat nodded proudly. "Yes," she replied. "I was so happy to get in."

"I'll show you, all of you, my collections," he said then turned back to Kat. "You'll have to show me some of your art as well."

Kat looked amazed. "You really would like to see some?" she asked. He nodded. "Well," she began. "I had some sketches in my backpack but well, I don't know where that ended up." The mood of the cheery morning completely flipped to sadness when she said that. I could see all of our expressions changing as we realized all our stuff was gone.

"Money.." said Mitch.

"Plane tickets," I said sadly.

"Passports," said Joseph with a sigh.

Cerant looked between us and then said, "Yes, about all that, I can't say how terribly sorry I am that it all happened."

"Oh, no need," said Kyle, pulling on some grass. "Not your fault."

"As I own the rocks that tore everything up," he said. "I can't help but feel a little guilty, even though I know it wasn't my fault."

"That's very considerate of you," said Kat, rising. She stepped toward him a little but stayed in place. I had expected her to start hanging from him but she treated Cerant differently.

"Atta girl," I thought.

"Well," said Mitch. "If you feel so bad, then could we perhaps use your phone?"

Cerant's face looked troubled. "I wish you could, but the storm didn't just tear up your boat," he replied. "It was unexpectedly bad and most of my staff was away at the festival last night. There were two with me but the three of us couldn't get everything secured. We saved the electricity but lost the phones, cable, and things like that. The rest of the staff left with my boat and haven't come back. They're probably just partying still and will be

back eventually."

"But," said Kyle. "That means we're pretty much stuck here until they come back?"

Cerant nodded. "I was going to invite you to stay for awhile anyway," he said. "My island is better than any resort and I don't get many visitors out here. Not to say I don't like it that way, but when I do get company, I enjoy it."

"Well, that's very nice of you," said Joseph. "But-"

"But what?" asked Kat. "I don't think that there's any problem with staying. It's not as if anyone is expecting us. We're going to have to stay a few days anyway."

"I have to agree with her," said Kyle. "I would like to be able to relax for awhile."

"How can you relax after what's happened?" asked Joseph.

"You could forget about it for a few days," said Cerant. "I assure you, the luxuries of this island will make you forget anything."

"It would be nice," said Mitch. "To forget for awhile."

"What do you think Mel?" asked Kyle.

"Well, I wish I could call my mother," I said. "But since I can't either way, it would be nice to stay here for awhile and put off what we're still going to have to go through legally."

"Its just delaying the inevitable," muttered Joseph. "But, I understand and if Mel and the rest of you think its okay, then I'll go along." He put his arm around my shoulder but it was less warm than his usual gestures and I sighed internally.

Cerant clapped his hands together. "So you're staying then? Good," he said. "I shall enjoy having company, very much."