CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 14
IAN STAYED ON THE BALCONY TO “KEEP WATCH,” BUT NESS FIGURED he just wanted some space. She wondered if someone should stay with him, but she dismissed the idea when he continued to snap at everyone who tried to talk to him. She’d keep an eye on him later tonight, she thought, after they dealt with whatever was happening with Tyler.
Libby dumped the now-soaked shirt on the couch and led them to a bedroom one door down from where Ness had tried to sleep the night before. Inside, someone was moaning.
“Um . . .” A blush spread charmingly across Daisy’s cheeks. “Do we know what kind of moaning that is?” She lowered her voice. “What if he’s using some of the, erm, extras this place stocks?”
Ew. Ness desperately shoved the mental picture away as it tried to form.
Hayes knocked. “Hey, Tyler. You okay in there, bud?”
The moaning stopped. “Go away. I could be contagious.”
They exchanged alarmed looks. Contagious? An outbreak would really be the icing on a particularly unpleasant cake.
“What’s going on in there, man?” Hayes continued, using his every-dude lingo.
They got a prolonged groan in response.
“I’ll be . . . elsewhere,” Libby said, already walking away.
Bradley watched her go, then stepped to the door and rested a hand on the knob.
“I’ll do it. I’ve been immunized against thirty-six of the most common travel illnesses.” He took a deep breath and his face settled into the role of Serious ER Doctor. “I’ll ascertain what we’re dealing with here. No one else breach the entry until I give the all-clear. Understood?”
Hayes coughed into his hand.
“Got it,” Ness assured him, taking a step back to give him space.
Bradley turned the knob and strode in. He’d barely crossed the threshold before he turned and walked out again, slamming the door behind him.
“He’s beyond help. It’s the plague. Or measles. Possibly a severe case of adult chicken pox, but it’s difficult to say without running a full panel.” Bradley walked quickly down the hall. “I’m going to make sure Libby hasn’t been spraying more of her poison. My throat is itchy.”
Ness shoved the door open again and stared into the room. Tyler was sprawled out on the bed in his underwear, covered in red bumps. He scratched madly at his stomach and groaned again.
“Make it stoooop,” he pleaded.
“No,” Ness said, marveling at the number of mosquito bites on his pasty skin. “This is karma. It’s your fault we’re here in the first place.” She coughed. “Not that I’m a petty, revenge-seeking individual.”
“Of course not,” Hayes said, coming in to stand next to her. “But it is somewhat satisfying nonetheless.”
“Is he dying?” Daisy called from the door.
“No,” Ness and Hayes said at the same time Tyler screamed “YES!”
Ness rolled her eyes heavenward and walked back to the door. She stuck her head out into the hallway and yelled, “Hey, Bradley?”
A pause. Then, from the kitchen, “Yeah?”
“Can someone die from mosquito bites?”
“Not usually. I guess malaria is a risk. Does the patient have malaria?”
Ness looked over her shoulder at the writhing Tyler. “You got your malaria shots?”
He nodded.
“Cool.”
She resumed her hallway yelling. “Let’s assume no on the malaria.”
“A poultice of macerated leaves and healing herbs mixed with cool mud has been used by the natives of . . .”
Ness walked back into the bedroom, leaving Bradley to finish his monologue. It sounded as though he’d been waiting for the perfect opportunity to bust it out. She didn’t want to rob him of the moment.
“I think I saw some calamine lotion in one of the bathroom cabinets,” she said to Hayes. “I’ll go grab it and some damp cloths. I don’t know what else we can do.” She looked at Tyler. “What were you doing, anyway?”
“None of your business.” He groaned again and rolled to face the wall, sliding a hand down the back of his briefs and scratching enthusiastically.
“I’ve heard if you superheat a spoon and press it to a mosquito bite it cooks the itch right out of it,” Hayes mused.
Tyler’s eyes opened wide. The scratching paused.
“Calamine lotion will be fine.” He clenched his fists and forced them to his sides. “See? Already getting better.” He smiled, his mottled face stretching painfully around his grimacing lips.
Hayes took an involuntary step back. “I’ll help you find that lotion,” he said, starting for the door.
They closed the door behind them to drown out the sounds of nails on skin and pathetic whimpering.
Ness let out a breath. “Yikes,” she said, heading toward the stairs. “How does that even happen? We all have bites, but nothing like that.” She shuddered.
Hayes shrugged. “Maybe he was trying to set up a solo camp in the mangroves. Tylerville.”
“Tylerburg?”
“Tylerhaven.”
They reached the small, dark-purple guest bathroom. Hayes ducked into the adjacent bedroom in search of some reasonably clean linens they could soak.
Ness flicked on the bathroom light, taking a split second to enjoy how convenient it was having power, and started rummaging through the cabinet under the sink, shoving aside crusty bottles of cleaning product and spare light bulbs. How long do we leave the generator running? With her luck, the moment they shut everything down would be exactly when someone was trying to find them. Maybe they should revisit taking shifts and keeping a fire going on the beach.
She could only imagine how that conversation would go. Hey guys, anyone want to spend the night on the beach, fighting off insects, peeing in the grass, and keeping the fire stoked? That was assuming they could even get another fire going. There was a 90 percent chance she’d be the one searching for dry-ish wood in the dark, and while she was willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good, she couldn’t help being annoyed well in advance that that’s how it would shake out.
Finding only a robust supply of cherry-flavored All Natural, Long Lasting, Ultra Effective Aphrodisiac Supplement in the cupboard, she stood and pulled the fly-excrement-speckled mirror outward, revealing a smaller storage space and a bottle of calamine lotion (expiry date: February 2016). Ness twisted the top and peered at the contents, sniffed.
It looked pink and runny. It smelled . . . fine? She had no idea what bad calamine would smell like.
She had just turned off the light when something caught her eye. She pivoted slowly, trying to figure out what had grabbed her attention. Probably a reflection on the shower tiles, she thought, a mosaic of purple and iridescent colors that reminded Ness of a mermaid’s tail.Along the wall opposite the sink loomed a ridiculously ornate black lacquered wardrobe. A gilded full-length mirror hung beside it. Ness wondered who’d been tasked with transporting all of this awful furniture up the hill from the beach, then pictured it being lowered piece by piece from a helicopter. She shook her head and tried to focus on her task.
Her stomach growled.
Taking one more look around and seeing nothing, she shrugged it off and started to leave. She was halfway back to Tyler’s room when she remembered seeing a small bucket in the walk-in shower. It would be way easier to use that to refill the toilet tank than the larger, unwieldy cooler of seawater they’d parked in the main bathroom for flushing.
Ness trotted along the hallway yet again. Her dry throat itched and reminded her to top up the drinking water jug again before killing the generator for the night. They’d need at least enough to get them through the morning. Hopefully by then they’d be out of here, making haste to a paradise of unlimited icy beverages and professionals who could at least try to reverse the effect the last couple of days had had on her body.
Not bothering to turn the light on, Ness shoved the glass shower door along its gunked-up sliders and leaned in to grab the bucket.
She was halfway to standing, one leg still extended behind her for balance, when the rat launched itself across the shower floor, bouncing off the glass in its panic to escape and ricocheting onto Ness’s foot.
Its claws were scrabbling over her bare ankle, its tiny, cool nose pressing against her shin. Her extended leg flew downward and her toes caught on one of the ornate handles of the wardrobe, pulling the door open. Something inside shifted and crashed against the inner wall. She pitched forward, her chin bouncing off the rough wall tile, teeth cracking together as her jaw was forced shut.
The rat was still clinging to her, its claws pricking her skin. Panicked, she lifted her leg, flinging it back and forth. Again, she lost her footing, and this time she landed in a split-second plank before crashing down chest first.
The startled rodent ran over her calves, out of the shower. From her position on the ground, cheek pressed to the floor, she watched it climb up the wardrobe’s curved leg and disappear inside.
Groaning, she used shaky arms to push herself up and leaned back against the wall to catch her breath. She glared at the offending piece of furniture and wondered how many fresh bruises she’d have for her poor makeup artist to deal with. She hobbled to her feet, swiped up the stupid bucket that she was sure was entirely to blame for this entire incident, and walked toward the doorway, shoving the wardrobe door as she passed. Inside, movement caught her eye. Something far too large to be the rat.
She stopped then, wondering how hard she’d hit her head. She closed her eyes, opened them again, and decided she wasn’t hallucinating. The wardrobe’s wooden back had a sneaky secret panel, which had seemingly disengaged from its hinges during Ness’s altercation with the rat. It had fallen diagonally into the storage space, leaving an opening just large enough for someone to step through with some light contorting of limbs. But instead of now having a clear view to the hideous purple paint of the wall, Ness was looking into an alcove built into a longer hallway running between the bathroom and bedroom. It was furnished with a leather love seat (of course), a red-velvet-shaded floor lamp, and a small table with a built-in cupboard. On the opposite wall was a two-way mirror, through which she could see Hayes in the bedroom next door. He was tearing bedsheets into strips like they were in a war zone.
“Hayes?” she said.
“Hayes!” she repeated, louder. His head shot up and he bundled the half-ripped sheet under his arm, making it to the door in four long steps.
He rounded the corner into the bathroom doorway.
“You okay? Why are you in the dark?”
He turned on the light. Ness continued to stare through the wardrobe, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
“I came for a bucket.” She raised said vessel. “There was a rat, and then . . .” She gestured in front of her. “Narnia, but make it porn-y.”
“What? Did you hit your head?” He stepped into the room and gently took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, turning her face toward him. The lump of sheet fell to the floor. He smoothed her hair back from her forehead, still staring into her eyes.
“Hayes,” she said softly, running a hand up the side of his face, taking a second to enjoy the feel of stubble under her palm.
“Mmhmm?” His gaze was on her lips now.
“Look.” She turned his head so he was looking through the gap at the back of the wardrobe. She watched as he took in the hidden room, tripod, and small camera pointing into the space where he’d just been.
His hands fell to his sides and his mouth dropped open.
As they stood there, Daisy walked into the empty bedroom and grabbed a pillow. A red light on the camera blinked.
She sniffed the pillow, scowled, sighed, and carried it out with her.
The blinking stopped.
Hayes and Ness looked at each other, then back at the camera.
Hayes’s shoulders drooped.
“I hate this fucking island.”
* * *
Ness had hastily deposited the bucket—now filled with cool seawater—along with strips of sheet and the bottle of calamine lotion at Tyler’s bedside, ignoring his pleas for her to apply the lotion for him.
Now she stood in the hallway outside the purple bathroom as Daisy, Coco, Libby, Bradley, and even Ian crammed in, staring into the wardrobe with matching looks of wide-eyed horror.
They started talking at the same time.
“This is disgusting.”
“Who was this guy?”
“I can’t say I’m surprised.”
“How long has that camera been here?”
They paused, considering. Bradley broke the silence.
“Well, who’s going in?”
Daisy looked at him, aghast. “Um, no one?”
“There could be supplies.”
“There are rats,” Ness said. “Big ones.”
“What if it’s booby-trapped?” Libby asked.
Ian snorted. “Ha. Booby. On the porn island.”
Ness rolled her eyes.
Coco groaned. “This can’t be real. I’m no saint, but I haven’t done enough bad shit to deserve being here.”
Dust tickled Ness’s throat and she coughed into her elbow.
As one, the group turned to look at her.
“You should do it,” Libby said. “You found it.”
As if that made it her responsibility.
“Yeah,” Ian chimed in from where he crouched in the corner, forearms resting on his thighs. “And you already fought the rat. It associates your scent with danger. You’ll be safe . . . from that, at least.”
Ness stared at them in disbelief.
“I’ll go.” Hayes edged into the room and stuck his head into the wardrobe. His shoulders hit both outer edges of the door. He pivoted sideways and stuck a leg through.
“Should have done more yoga,” he grunted, trying to execute the world’s widest squat.
“Fine. Fine. I’ll go.” Ness shoved past Bradley, grabbed the back of Hayes’s shirt, and heaved until he backed up enough for her to pass. It was a spacious bathroom, but not meant for seven adults.
Before she had a chance to consider her life choices, she hopped into the wardrobe, feeling the cracked floor of it bow beneath her. Quickly, she jumped down to the other side, into the hidden room, landing in a crouch, ready to leap away from any traumatized rodents that might be awaiting her, seeking revenge.
Dust motes floated around her head, but nothing squeaked or bit her or otherwise incited immediate panic. Ness stood and looked around.
The walls were papered in dark-red and gold damask, and the well-worn black leather love seat sat against the far wall, centered on the mirror looking into the bedroom.
She turned in a slow circle and could suddenly see Daisy standing on the closed toilet seat, staring apprehensively at the wardrobe.
“The full-length bathroom mirror is a two-way,” she called out, receiving a chorus of groans and expletives in response.
Ness went back to the opening, where Hayes’s concerned face looked back at her.
“There’s a hallway,” she said, pointing toward it. “I’m going to see where it goes.”
“Wait!” said Coco.
Ness sighed with relief. She didn’t have to do this alone.
Coco nodded at the camera. “Can you turn that off first?”
Ness’s nostrils flared, a wealth of aggressive, unhealthy feelings bubbling up. Friendship only went so far, it seemed.
She wrapped her hands around the tripod to collapse it, picked the whole thing up, and threw it into the wardrobe, where it landed with a satisfying crash.
“You do it,” she said, and walked off, trying not to touch anything.
Ness followed the narrow hallway around the perimeter of the bedroom toward the back of the house. Her shoulders pressed against the walls on either side as she edged through, and she wondered how anyone larger could ever fit.
There were ornate sconces mounted high on the walls. Someone had, not surprisingly, chosen light bulbs that mimicked candlelight. They flung odd shadows and seemed on the verge of going out at any moment.
She rounded a corner and found herself at a heavy metal door. She paused, out of sight of anyone watching her go, and talked herself into continuing in a low voice.
“There’s no reason to be scared. Sure, someone is maybe spying on us. And yeah, that’s really creepy. But probably the only things in here are the rats, and they know you’re invincible. There is a small, very small, minuscule chance that whatever hell-beast left that skin by the shed knows how to get in here, because what would secret rooms be without secret monsters? But that seems far-fetched. It would hate the smell of stinky, scared humans. I know I do. Right? Right. Now, onward. Scope it out. See if you can find anything useful. Maybe there will be candy. Not that you should eat the candy.”
“Who are you talking to?” Daisy whispered in her ear, making Ness scream. She clapped a hand over her mouth and doubled over, thankful she hadn’t wet herself.
“Myself,” Ness hissed. “What are you? Some kind of stealth ninja? Jeez.” She took a deep breath, collecting herself, and exhaled loudly.
“Anyone else joining us?” Ness peered around Daisy, her heart still hammering.
“Uhh, no. They’re checking the other rooms for cameras.”
“Right.”
“So, what’s the plan?” Daisy whispered.
“Why are you whispering?” Ness whispered back.
Daisy looked momentarily perplexed, then said, “It seems like a situation that calls for sneaking?”
“I refuse to sneak,” Ness said at a normal volume, startling them both with how loud it sounded. She gave herself a moment to recover before continuing.
“The plan is to go through this stupid door and see what we find. If there are cameras, we’ll turn them off. If there are snacks, we will eat some and then take the rest back.” She took in the look of horror on Daisy’s face. “What?”
“It’s . . . team spirit? It feels, I don’t know, criminal to eat food the others don’t know about.”
“Did Libby offer you any of her vegan protein gummies?” Ness demanded. “Did Bradley bring out his collection of calorie-dense bulk-up shake powders? Or maybe Ian let you sample his honey-chili-infused dried mangoes?” She didn’t wait for an answer, or explain that she didn’t actually know if anyone was hoarding secret calorie sources, though Bradley’s seemingly boundless energy for strenuous workouts was more than a little suspicious.
Always watch out for Number One.Her dad’s voice sounded in her head, making her shudder.
She continued. “No, of course they didn’t. Because they’re a bunch of self-centered assholes who think they’re smarter and sneakier and more important than everyone else. It’s our turn, Daisy. Let’s be the assholes.”
Their opportunity for selfish gain was cut short when the door swung open into what could loosely have been called the backyard, but only in that it was at the back of the house. There was nothing particularly yard-like about it in the traditional sense. Tall grass tickled Ness’s calves. The cool breeze brushed against her face. She inhaled deeply, letting the smell of the ocean, accented with a touch of gas from the generator, start to wash away the extreme ick she’d been feeling.
The night was surprisingly dark, the crescent moon covered by gathering clouds. A heaviness in the air promised rain.
“Hey, Ness?” Daisy’s voice was filled with dread.
She sighed, wishing for the millionth time she was literally almost anywhere else.
“Yeah?”
“Look.”
She really didn’t want to, but she did.
Along the back of the house, nestled into the overgrown creeping vines and foliage high on each window, was a ragged array of blinking red lights.