Chapter 25-Crashes in the Night

Everyone watched somberly as Hugh and Cerant carried the body of the tiger out. "I’m so sorry Mel," said Joseph with his arm around me. "That must have been traumatizing."

I hadn’t spoken much about it. Though I was sad, I mostly felt humbling gratitude for the tiger. "I’m really okay," I said. "I wish it hadn’t died but I feel like honoring it because of what it did." He stared at me for a moment with a dubious expression then a large, comforting smile spread on his face and he nodded.

"And that’s why I love you so much," he said, placing a kiss on my forehead.

Despite my strong words, I decided not to go out on my own anymore. Whoever had done this was out there still and they were probably after me. I think everyone else was uneasy as well. We decided to stay in a group and go swimming for the rest of the day. We hadn’t ever really gone swimming on the trip yet. Puerto Rico, we decided, didn’t count.

We decided to try all the varieties available and, after we had changed into swimming suits we found in our rooms, began with the pool. We splashed around in it and dove off the sides, since it would be the only area with any edges. When things started to settle down, I got out of the pool and dried myself to put on sunscreen. Joseph followed and helped me get those hard to reach places. Well, perhaps they weren’t that hard but I let him anyway. Soon, everyone decided it was time to move outside.

"Where to first?" asked Kat while wrapping a sarong around herself.

"Let’s go to the ocean first," suggested Joseph.

Kyle added quickly, though I think Joseph was going to continue, "Then the fresh water will be last and we won’t have salt all over us.

"Good thinking you two," I commented. Kyle seemed pretty pleased and I gave him an odd glance.

We moved the ocean and splashed in and out of the waves. We occasionally attempted to bodysurf but usually ended up with more sand in our face then the brief rides were worth.

"I bet Cerant has some surfboards somewhere," said Mitch.

"You don’t know how to surf," said Kat, throwing a glob of sand at him.

"Well," he said. "I’m sure I could do it." He tossed some back at her and that escalated into an all out sand war. It was everyone against everyone, though Joseph and I didn’t throw sand at each other out of anything but playfulness. Kat and Mitch seemed intent on burying each other though. Toward the end, Kyle literally covered Joseph in a huge amount of sand he had stock piled.

We all laughed at Joseph but then I gave him a big kiss and called him my sandman. Then Cerant’s voice interrupted us. "Ah, here you are," he said. "I’ve been looking all over for you."

I began to apologize for all of us but Kat ran to him quickly. "Sorry, I went swimming and forgot what time it was," she explained. I raised an eyebrow at them curiously. Kat noticed and said, "I’m going to paint more for him." I smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. She grinned and dragged him off before he could barely bid us all a good afternoon.

"Well," said Mitch. "Lets go to fresh water and clean ourselves off.

"Sounds good," I said and we raced off toward the river.

A few seconds later we were all dunking ourselves in the fresh, cool water. I had always liked fresh water from rivers and lakes much more than chlorine or salt water. Now that I was finally in it, I absolutely soaked in its luxury. We all relaxed and let the river gently carry us through the gardens. It was an entirely different, beautiful experience than walking through it. Often the river was shaded and it felt as though we were passing through enchanted grottos. Soon I could hear the waterfall approaching quickly and I shot up in the water. Not because I was afraid of the waterfall, it might be pretty fun, but because the glade was right next to it. Even though I was trying not to get depressed over the morning’s events, I found myself frightened to go there.

"Guys," I said, stopping myself on the bed of the river. "Let’s get out here." All three had been in various stages of a nap and my voice surprised them, which I couldn’t help to chuckle over.

"Why?" asked Mitch. "We’ve been over the waterfall already."

"It’s not that," I said. "I just don’t really want to go to the glade."

"Oh," said Mitch. "That’s cool then."

"Yeah," said Joseph. "We don’t need to go down it. I’m sure we’re all getting pretty pruny from this water and we don’t need it anymore."

"Its okay with me," said Kyle. "We’ve been there enough."

We wandered back to the house and went our separate ways. Something had upset Joseph’s stomach so he went to take a nap and I decided to wander around the house myself. I found a library that hadn’t been on the tour, Cerant probably thought we weren’t interested, and browsed through the books. I emerged later to see Kyle coming out of Cerant’s wing of the house, which I had avoided. He froze when he saw me.

"Kyle!" I exclaimed. "You’re not supposed to go in there."

"I know, I know," he said quickly. "But I was so curious. I couldn’t resist. I didn’t really go in any-well, very many rooms. Please don’t tell them I was in there." His voice was full of fright at the last part.

"I won’t, I won’t," I assured him and put an arm around him.

"Thanks Mel," he beamed at me then turned serious. "All three of them are just really adamant about us not going in and they say it almost threateningly. I wouldn’t want to find out why."

"You didn’t see anything that might have explained it to you?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Some of the doors were locked though," he said with a grave look. "The others were pretty standard, well, for this house. One room I would have liked to use was the gym he has there."

"I’d imagine he must work out pretty hard for that body," I murmured.

Kyle laughed loudly and that then quieted down suddenly and looked around quickly. "Let’s get out of here," he said. "I’m afraid that they may have heard me."

I nodded and we ran into Madeline a little ways down the hall. She looked at us suspiciously. "Where were you two?" she asked.

"The library," I said quickly and tapped a book I had picked out for emphasis. A smile quickly returned to her face.

"Oh all right then," she said merrily. "By the way, dinner will be ready shortly so get ready and be in the dining room at 7 o’clock sharp.

Kyle and I let out a sigh of relief when she left then quickly went to get ready. Dinner was wonderful, again, but all too soon another day in paradise had ended.

Later that night, I settled back in the giant bed with a copy of Ann McCaffery's Acorna, the book I had gotten from the Cerant’s library. It appeared that Cerant was a huge fan of Ann's and had every one of her books sent to him the moment they were released. She had even signed a few copies of them. Acorna was one of her newer series but there were already a few books in it. I was wearing the nightgown I had the night before, it was my absolute favorite, and I arranged it in an elegant way like I imagine a royal lady would. I had only begun reading when I heard some movement in Kat's room. It was fairly heavy, not like hers. I sat up for a moment to listen, then remembered that Kat had gone to say "goodnight" to Cerant right before I went to bed. I also heard her giggling when she entered her room.

"Wowie Kat," I murmured to myself. It wasn't like her to move that fast but they seemed to really like each other. It wasn't any of my business either so I tried not to listen and focus on my book. Suddenly, there was a huge thud on the wall between our rooms. I shot up quickly since it startled me and looked toward the wall with a frown.

"Hey," I called. "Could you two keep it down. I'm really trying hard not to listen but-" A muffled scream, barely loud enough for me to hear, interrupted me. I was on my feet in an instant and for the door. Better I embarrass us a little than have that turn out to be a scream of pain. My hands gripped the knob and turned at it quickly but it wouldn't budge.

"What?!?" I thought. This couldn't be happening. I pulled and yanked on the door. Beside me, there seemed to be no more secrecy involved and there was noise abound. I could hear glass smashing, some seemed to crash together and other was against walls. I could hear a low curse occasionally but not well enough to distinguish who it was. I occasionally heard a female scream that I knew was Kat. The tearing of fabric, breaking of glass, thuds everywhere, and a giant crash, of what was probably Kat's wardrobe, all mingled in my ears as I tore at my doorknob and threw myself against the door, trying to get it open.

"Mel!" I heard Kat shout. "Please Mel! Are you there! Help! He's-! Ahhh!" Her last scream was the loudest and most anguished of all and then suddenly there was nothing. I heard the door open and footfalls pound away from it.

"Kat, kat," I said with tears running down my face. I quickly went to one side of the room and then ran at full force toward my door. When I hit it, it sprang open easily and I kept on going until I crashed into the other wall on the opposite side of the hallway. My head spun but I got to my feet and stumbled towards Kat's door, which stood ajar. I could barely force myself to take each step. My mind was filled with visions of her lifeless form lying next to the door. I slowly pushed the door open.

The room was in shambles. Nothing seemed to have been spared from whoever or whatever had been in there. The hanging fabrics were torn down and shredded. The pillows were spread all over the room; some torn open with their stuffing spilled around the ground. Her wardrobe was on the ground, clothing strewn around it. Of Kat, though, there was no sign except small streaks of blood near the door. I felt myself trembling as I backed out of the door and straight into Joseph.

"What's going on?" he asked, his face was confused.

I threw my arms around him and cried. "I heard Kat," I said. "Someone was attacking her. They practically tore the room apart. She tried to call to me but my door was locked. I had to break through it to get out and when I got there she was, she was gone." A sob interrupted my last word and he held me tightly to him. I could feel tears escaping his eyes, though he was trying to be strong for me.

"Let’s get out of here," he said and I nodded and let him lead me out into the living room.