I do feel the need, based on previous misunderstandings between myself and pre-readers, to emphasize the fact that while the story was inspired by actual events, the characters are not based on any real person. I will say again, no character in this story is based on any real person!
Also, I'm gonna go ahead and just give this an R rating, due to some swearing, mention of drug use and a bit of gore. I think I could have gone much gorier, but then I decided to just leave it alone.
As always, leave me some love at the end!
Ren
If there was one thing Ashley Merchant was sick of, it was weddings. This month alone she had been invited to a half dozen of her friends' nuptials, and the arrival of each invitation made the reminder of being perpetually single at the age of 30 more and more depressing.
The difference with Emma's wedding, however, was that it was in St Croix.
So, after maxing out two credit cards and agreeing to share a room with a complete stranger, Ashley packed a bag and boarded a plane from rainy upstate New York to the hot and sunny Virgin Islands.
The long weekend started without a hitch. Ashley met her roommate, May, who was a cousin of the groom, and, despite a minor misunderstanding, the two hit it off well.
Thursday was Ashley’s first night. She had just gotten in at about half past six and was famished. The two women were lounging on their beds staring at the television, a strong, warm breeze blowing in through the open terrace door, when Ashley’s stomach made a noise akin to a monstrous beast rising from a deep slumber. They looked at each other for two seconds before May burst out laughing. Ashley abashedly put a hand over her offending belly.
"Damn, Ash! When was the last time you ate?"
Ashley shrugged, trying to figure out when they had bonded to the point that May was allowed to call her 'Ash,' and shook her head. "I'm a nervous flyer," she answered, throwing in a casual chuckle. "If anything's in there when the plane goes up, it doesn't stay in for very long."
May continued to attempt to stifle her giggles while Ashley stood from the bed and grabbed her purse.
"I'm gonna go search for sustenance," she said to the still giggling girl. "You want anything?"
Hand firmly over her mouth, May shook her head in the negative.
Ashley casually strolled out the door, and as soon as it was closed made a beeline for the hotel restaurant. It turned out to be Mexican night, and the chicken enchiladas were to die for. She ate slowly, hoping to run into Emma or somebody else, anybody else, she recognized, but had no such luck. After finishing off a second margarita she finally headed back to the room.
The room itself was nice, especially considering the somewhat low rate. It was on the top floor and had an amazing view of the ocean and surrounding mountains. The only problem was that there was no elevator and Ashley was quickly regretting the second margarita as she leaned heavily on the railing for the entire three story climb.
At last reaching the room, Ashley fumbled with the key before finally sliding it into the doorknob and turning. The knob turned, but the door didn't budge. Ashley tried again, but still had no luck. She tried to shove the door open a third time, putting her shoulder into it this time, before finally realizing the deadbolt was locked.
"Okay, no big deal," she muttered to herself. She pulled the key out of the door knob and slid it into the deadbolt. But it didn't turn. She jiggled, turned and jiggled again. This key did not fit the deadbolt, and there was no other key.
Sighing, Ashley pulled the key out of the lock and knocked on the door. And then knocked again. And again, harder this time.
"May," she called through the crack in the jamb. "May, it's Ashley," she called louder, knocking again. "Let me in."
Ashley put her ear to the door. She heard absolutely nothing, not even the TV.
"Great," she said aloud. "Just perfect."
Giving up, Ashley made her way back to the hotel office in hopes that they had a spare for the deadbolt.
As it turned out, there was no key at all for the deadbolt. Not even the master key would open it. Half an hour later, prepared to stand outside pounding on the door all night until this bitch of a roommate got annoyed enough to open the door, Ashley returned and carried out her plan. It took another ten minutes of continuous pounding before the lock finally clicked and the door opened to reveal May wrapped in a towel, her dark hair dripping rivers of water all over.
"Where the hell have you been?" Ashley was livid as she stormed into the room, slamming the door as hard as she could behind her. "Did you not hear me knocking?"
May seemed taken aback, her mouth agape. "I-I guess not," she stammered quietly. "I was in the shower.”
The difference with Emma's wedding, however, was that it was in St Croix.
So, after maxing out two credit cards and agreeing to share a room with a complete stranger, Ashley packed a bag and boarded a plane from rainy upstate New York to the hot and sunny Virgin Islands.
The long weekend started without a hitch. Ashley met her roommate, May, who was a cousin of the groom, and, despite a minor misunderstanding, the two hit it off well.
Thursday was Ashley’s first night. She had just gotten in at about half past six and was famished. The two women were lounging on their beds staring at the television, a strong, warm breeze blowing in through the open terrace door, when Ashley’s stomach made a noise akin to a monstrous beast rising from a deep slumber. They looked at each other for two seconds before May burst out laughing. Ashley abashedly put a hand over her offending belly.
"Damn, Ash! When was the last time you ate?"
Ashley shrugged, trying to figure out when they had bonded to the point that May was allowed to call her 'Ash,' and shook her head. "I'm a nervous flyer," she answered, throwing in a casual chuckle. "If anything's in there when the plane goes up, it doesn't stay in for very long."
May continued to attempt to stifle her giggles while Ashley stood from the bed and grabbed her purse.
"I'm gonna go search for sustenance," she said to the still giggling girl. "You want anything?"
Hand firmly over her mouth, May shook her head in the negative.
Ashley casually strolled out the door, and as soon as it was closed made a beeline for the hotel restaurant. It turned out to be Mexican night, and the chicken enchiladas were to die for. She ate slowly, hoping to run into Emma or somebody else, anybody else, she recognized, but had no such luck. After finishing off a second margarita she finally headed back to the room.
The room itself was nice, especially considering the somewhat low rate. It was on the top floor and had an amazing view of the ocean and surrounding mountains. The only problem was that there was no elevator and Ashley was quickly regretting the second margarita as she leaned heavily on the railing for the entire three story climb.
At last reaching the room, Ashley fumbled with the key before finally sliding it into the doorknob and turning. The knob turned, but the door didn't budge. Ashley tried again, but still had no luck. She tried to shove the door open a third time, putting her shoulder into it this time, before finally realizing the deadbolt was locked.
"Okay, no big deal," she muttered to herself. She pulled the key out of the door knob and slid it into the deadbolt. But it didn't turn. She jiggled, turned and jiggled again. This key did not fit the deadbolt, and there was no other key.
Sighing, Ashley pulled the key out of the lock and knocked on the door. And then knocked again. And again, harder this time.
"May," she called through the crack in the jamb. "May, it's Ashley," she called louder, knocking again. "Let me in."
Ashley put her ear to the door. She heard absolutely nothing, not even the TV.
"Great," she said aloud. "Just perfect."
Giving up, Ashley made her way back to the hotel office in hopes that they had a spare for the deadbolt.
As it turned out, there was no key at all for the deadbolt. Not even the master key would open it. Half an hour later, prepared to stand outside pounding on the door all night until this bitch of a roommate got annoyed enough to open the door, Ashley returned and carried out her plan. It took another ten minutes of continuous pounding before the lock finally clicked and the door opened to reveal May wrapped in a towel, her dark hair dripping rivers of water all over.
"Where the hell have you been?" Ashley was livid as she stormed into the room, slamming the door as hard as she could behind her. "Did you not hear me knocking?"
May seemed taken aback, her mouth agape. "I-I guess not," she stammered quietly. "I was in the shower.”
“For almost an hour?” Ashley asked incredulously.
“Yes,” May confirmed meekly. “I thought you had a key."
"I do," Ashley answered. "But it doesn't open the deadbolt. Don't lock it anymore if we're not both in here. The master key doesn't even open it."
Ashley was still fuming and May shrunk in on herself as she edged back toward the bathroom. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."
Ashley sighed and sat on the edge of her bed. "I know you didn't, I'm sorry for being an asshole. I'm just... Drunk." She looked up at May. "Forgive me?"
May smiled back. "Of course."
And that was how the weekend started.
The two were nearly inseparable after that hiccup. Neither knew many other people there and even though they now knew about the problem with the door, Ashley wasn't eager for an accidental repeat and hardly let May out of her sight. They went to the beach together, they went on the group scuba trip and saw barracuda and leatherbacks and a few shipwrecks. They snorkeled the reefs in the ocean right behind the hotel and held starfish and lobsters.
"I do," Ashley answered. "But it doesn't open the deadbolt. Don't lock it anymore if we're not both in here. The master key doesn't even open it."
Ashley was still fuming and May shrunk in on herself as she edged back toward the bathroom. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."
Ashley sighed and sat on the edge of her bed. "I know you didn't, I'm sorry for being an asshole. I'm just... Drunk." She looked up at May. "Forgive me?"
May smiled back. "Of course."
And that was how the weekend started.
The two were nearly inseparable after that hiccup. Neither knew many other people there and even though they now knew about the problem with the door, Ashley wasn't eager for an accidental repeat and hardly let May out of her sight. They went to the beach together, they went on the group scuba trip and saw barracuda and leatherbacks and a few shipwrecks. They snorkeled the reefs in the ocean right behind the hotel and held starfish and lobsters.
They were having a great vacation.
Saturday night was the rehearsal dinner. Emma and Jason went through the motions three times before the officiator deemed them perfect. The dinner was a delicious buffet style of local cuisine in the hotel's party hall overlooking the beach. After the speeches were made and everyone was so full they were fit to burst, the bride and groom made the rounds to mingle with the guests. Ashley and May made polite small talk with the guests at their table. There was Jason's brother, Mark, who fronted a heavy metal band and had been working throughout dinner, using a dive knife, to hack open a coconut he had picked as he continuously took long pulls from a bottle of rum, much to the amusement of the wait staff. Joaquin, Jason's best friend since high school, sat quietly, for the most part. He seemed to be shooting glances toward Ashley, but she dismissed it as her imagination. After all, she was on her fourth mojito. And last at their table was Rachel, Emma's 16 year old sister. She was nursing a margarita in a styrofoam cup in an attempt to hide it from her parents. Ashley was pretty sure they knew, though.
A hand clamping down on Ashley's shoulder startled her out of her thoughts as she nearly jumped out of her seat, spilling half her drink into her lap.
"Oh, shit, Ash!" Emma quickly grabbed a spare napkin off a passing server's tray and dabbed at Ashley's silver sequined dress. "I'm so sorry! I thought you saw me walk over!"
Ashley took the napkin and continued dabbing the drink from her dress, giggling despite herself. "It's okay, it's just a dress. It'll come out." Ashley gave up and tossed the napkin to the table to stand and give her friend a kiss and a hug. "Look at you! You're beautiful! This dress is amazing! And it's not even the dress! I can't wait to see how gorgeous you are tomorrow!"
Emma turned beet red and grinned, looking down at her off-white summer dress, with floral embellishments across the chest. "Thanks, Ash. You look fantastic, too! Are you having a good time?"
"Of course," Ashley said. Was she even allowed to say no to that? She wasn't about to bring her friend down the night before her wedding.
"Wait until you see the-" Emma suddenly broke off and looked behind Ashley, out toward the dark beach and scrunched up her face. "Do you smell that?"
Ashley turned and took a whiff of the sea air and... Weed?
Emma's expression turned sour. "Who the hell is smoking pot at my rehearsal dinner?"
Mark looked up, knife stuck halfway into the coconut. "Who's got pot?"
"I don't know," Emma said. "But we should go find out. Maybe they'll share."
May suddenly joined in by standing up and picking up her clutch. "You guys are ridiculous. I'm going to bed. You're going to get yourselves killed."
The rest of the small group watched as May turned on her heel and stormed off toward her room.
Emma turned to the rest of the table and threw a smile on her face. "So," she said. "Who wants to take a walk?"
The beach was dark. The few clouds in the night sky managed to block the moon and walking across the sand was a glorified guessing game. The five only had the sound of the surf to their left and stink of weed in front to guide them in the right direction. Rachel had brought her drink and leaned heavily into Mark as she tried to walk and sip at the same time, giggling intermittently. Mark held tight to his prized coconut with one hand while he kept Rachel upright with the other. Emma and Ashley walked arm in arm and Joaquin lead the way. With each step the stench got just a little stronger... Until it stopped.
"Does anyone see anything?" Ashley asked quietly. She could just barely make out the shapes of several lounge chairs scattered in the tree line to their right. The group paused and listened. The only sounds were the wind and the crashing waves of the ocean.
"I think I see someone up there," Joaquin whispered as he pointed ahead. Ashley could vaguely make out a shape in the shadows that could have been a person; or an iguana. "Come on," Joaquin waved and continued on.
The five took three more steps before a bright white light popped on and blinded them, shining directly into their faces. Rachel screamed and dropped her cup while the rest instinctively took a step back and attempted to shield their eyes.
"What're y'all doin' out here?" The voice was deep, gravelly and no-nonsense. He was irritated, at the very least. This was someone who did not want to be disturbed.
"It's a public beach," Joaquin answered boldly. "What are you doing out here?"
Ashley cautiously took a step to the side, out of the range of the stranger's flashlight. As her eyes adjusted, she could make out a white man with long, blond dreadlocks and several tattoos decorating his arms. He screamed surfer dude, if an old surfer dude judging by his lined face, with baggy board shorts and sleeveless white tee.
"Whatever I want, what's it to you?" the man answered Joaquin, shooting to his feet. They could now see that while he held the flashlight in one hand, his other hand held a menacing machete. Ashley absently thought that Mark could have him open that coconut.
Joaquin threw his hands up in surrender and backed away. "Whoa, okay man, it's cool. You can have the beach."
Ashley grabbed onto a speechless Emma and started to pull her toward a footpath between the trees which lead back to the hotel. The other three followed, as the man stood and watched them disappear into the trees.
As soon as the young group was out of sight, the man sat back down and lit his joint back up.
Once the group left the soft sand for the packed dirt, the acrid scent of marijuana invaded their noses once again.
"What'a assssshole," Rachel slurred.
"Seriously, he don't own the fuckin' beach!" Mark was pissed. Still holding the coconut. The dirt path circled around back to the pool area of the hotel, nearly back to where they had started. Mark walked to the edge of the pool and spiked the coconut into the water.
"Man, I really just want to go pummel that guy, man," Mark fumed, now pacing along the pool's edge. "Who does he think he is? Huh?"
Mark's biceps rippled as his fists repeatedly clenched and unclenched.
"He can't just kick us off a public beach so he can smoke," Mark continued his rant.
"And yet, he did," Emma interrupted. "Look guys, the guy is obviously crazy. Let him have his fun. I'm going back to the party."
Emma turned and walked off to the party hall. Rachel stepped over to Mark and drunkenly wrapped her arms around his torso.
"Come on, Mark. I want to watch the waves." She was practically whining like a spoiled three year old.
Ashley rolled her eyes and turned away as their footsteps retreated, offering a shy smile to Joaquin.
"Gee, you'd think they'd be more obvious about it," he said, adding on a wink for good measure.
Ashley sat on a nearby lounger and laughed nervously. "Right? Sound a little more drunk and horny, Rachel."
Joaquin chuckled and joined Ashley on the lounger; closely on the lounger.
"So..." Joaquin's voice trailed off as he stared intently at Ashley, who blushed and looked away, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
"So..." Ashley repeated.
The moment was becoming awkward. Ashley was busy trying to figure out a polite way to make her way back to the party when Joaquin spoke again.
"You enjoying the weekend?" he asked.
"Yeah, I mean, a wedding in the Caribbean, how could you not? Right?"
Another moment of uncomfortable silence passed. In the pool at their feet, the coconut floated toward the filter. Behind the cover of the trees, the sound of the surf and some moans reached their ears.
"So how do you know Emma?" Joaquin asked.
"Oh, well, we went to college together and-"
A strange sound, like a whoosh and a thunk, cut Ashley's answer off abruptly. It was quickly following by a loud splash as something fell into the pool from God knew where. Ashley and Joaquin jumped up, sending the lounger flying backward with an ear piercing scrape of metal against concrete.
"Holy fucknuts!" Joaquin screamed out. "What the fuck was that?"
Ashley was still frozen in terror. She took a hesitant step back while Joaquin took a hesitant one forward and peeked over the pool's edge. After a moment, the water cleared of bubbles and calmed. From behind him, Ashley saw Joaquin start to shake. He inched toward the pool, shaking his head, and the shaking got worse.
"Joaquin?" Ashley whispered. "Joaquin, what is it?"
Joaquin suddenly spun around and released the loudest belly laugh Ashley had ever heard. It echoed around the pool and she was pretty sure the party inside could hear it.
"This mother fucker!" He laughed again and stomped his foot on the ground before turning toward the trees that separated them from the beach. "Mark! You scared us half to death! Finish getting laid, you douche!" He turned back to Ashley, still chuckling. "Come here and see what this asshole threw at us."
Ashley slowly approached the pool, peeking around Joaquin to see another coconut bobbing in the water.
"Oh my gosh," Ashley released the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or go find Mark and slap the shit out of him.
"I really let my imagination go," she said to Joaquin. "I thought for sure it was a-"
Ashley was again cut off by another whoosh and thunk, and they both looked up as something sailed through the tops of the surrounding palm trees, rustling the greenery before landing with another splash at their feet.
"Come on, Mark, cut it out!" Joaquin yelled. "We get it! You think you're hilarious!"
But Ashley was staring down at the object that was floating back to the surface of the pool, and was slowly realizing it wasn't a coconut. To her horror, as the object reached the surface it turned over and Mark was staring blankly up at her.
Joaquin was about to shout something else toward the beach, but Ashley tugging on his sleeve stopped him and pulled his attention to her. Her slight tan seemed to have disappeared and she looked like she was about to faint as she stared down into the water, which was quickly turning red as the blood seeping from Mark's severed head spread out into the pool.
Ashley tried to scream, but it wouldn't rise past her throat and instead sounded like a strained whimper. She looked up to Joaquin, silently asking what do to. Joaquin met her eyes with a look of determination. He could see she was about to fall apart. He had to stay strong, at least for now, until he could get them both to safety. He took her hand and ran, pulling her along behind him. His first instinct was the front desk.
They ran down the path that led from the pool area to the main lobby, away from the beach. By now Ashley was starting to cry and was having difficulty keeping up with Joaquin between sobs. Joaquin didn't stop running until they were at the unattended desk and violently banged on the bell to get someone's attention.
"Hello?! Hey, we need help out here! We have an emergency!"
The lobby was deathly silent. Finally coming to her senses, Ashley reached over the desk and grabbed the phone, intending to dial 911, but was met with silence when she put the handset to her ear.
"Joaquin," she whispered shakily, glancing around the lobby, "I don't think anyone's... OH MY GOD!"
Joaquin followed her line of sight up to the ceiling fan that spun slowly, and was adorned with one head set on top of each blade. He immediately picked out Jason and Emma. Each head was still dripping blood, forming a large, red puddle on the floor beneath.
Now Ashley did scream, loudly and hysterically, as she grabbed at her chest with one hand and her hair with the other. Joaquin grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him, away from the horror not ten feet away.
"Ashley! We're going to get out of here! But we have to stay calm! We have to keep our heads, because if we start to panic-"
Thwack.
It happened so fast, Ashley barely had time to register the warm spray of blood across her face. Joaquin was no longer staring into her eyes, instead his head was rolling through the red puddle under the fan, and his hands slipped from her shoulders as his body fell to the floor.
Ashley stood shaking, tasting the metallic saltiness of Joaquin's blood on her lips as she stared at a tanned man covered in tattoos wearing what once might have been a white sleeveless tee and board shorts, but were now completely saturated with blood. His dreads, which Ashley now recognized as having been blond only a short while ago, were a rusty reddish color.
The two stared at each other for a moment while the man silently raised his machete and flicked it so that the build up of excess blood flew off, spattering the nearby wall with spots of red. This startled Ashley into action. She ran, kicking off her heels as she went, as fast as she possibly could out of the lobby and along the footpath that led to the building where her room was. She periodically checked over her shoulder to see if he was following. She paused when she looked for the third time and couldn't see him anywhere. She breathed a sigh of relief before remembering every horror movie she'd ever seen, and turned to keep sprinting along the path. Her room was in the third building. As she ran by the second building, bushes to her left rustled and a flash of silver cut across her path. She ducked and rolled herself, just missing the sharp blade. She jumped back to her feet and kept running on to her building and didn't pause as she took the stairs two at a time, fumbling in her clutch for the key as she went. She couldn't help thinking that if this were a movie she was watching at home, she'd be screaming at the main character that she was a moron and only trapping herself by running up the stairs. But there was nowhere else to go and at least if she got into the room she could barricade herself until help came. Someone would have to eventually notice that the entire resort had been slaughtered.
Her legs felt like lead weights as she took the last step and rounded the corner, struggling to fit the key in the lock. She was shaking so hard, she kept missing the keyhole.
The familiar slap of feet against concrete reached her ears, getting louder with each step. He was on the stairs.
She took one deep breath and slid the key into the knob, and turned.
The door didn't open.
"Fuck," she whispered. Tears were free flowing down her cheeks now.
"MAY!" she screamed, pounding on he door with both fists and kicking with one foot. "MAY!! OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!"
The footsteps were much louder now. He was on his way from the second to the third floor.
"MAY! GODDAMN IT OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!"
The deadbolt clicked and the door opened and Ashley nearly fell into May, shoving her back into the room, slamming and dead bolting the lock immediately, staring wildly around the room.
May stared at Ashley dumbfounded and Rachel sat calmly at the small table near the terrace.
"What are you doing here?" Ashley asked her.
"I had to get away from Mark," Rachel laughed. "The man is gorgeous, but all paws."
"Ashley," May began hesitantly, "What happened to you? Is that blood?"
"They're... They're dead," Ashley squeaked out. She sunk onto the nearest bed.
"Who's dead?" May asked.
Ashley looked up and met May's eyes and whispered, "Everyone."
A knock on the door had Ashley jumping off the bed and frantically searching for some kind of weapon.
"Don't answer it!" she shrieked. "He followed me up! He'll kill us, too!"
"Don't be ridiculous," Rachel said as she pushed Ashley out of the way and went to the door. "It's just Mark looking for some pussy."
"Mark's dead you idiot!" Ashley screamed at her.
Rachel rolled her eyes and opened the door, stepping back to let the visitor in.
It wasn't Mark.
Ashley grabbed Rachel and pulled her away from the man, but he didn't seem to be worried about Rachel. He went straight for May, who was still trying to figure out what was happening as the machete came down and lopped her head off, sending it rolling one way while her body fell another.
Ashley watched the man as he advanced slowly on her and Rachel, even as she kept retreating. Soon there would be nowhere to go. They were running out of space.
"Leave us alone!" Ashley commanded, but it sounded more like pleading. "Why are you doing this?"
The answer didn't come from the bloodstained man in front of her. Shockingly, it came from the girl next to her.
"We were bored," she whispered sadistically into Ashley's ear.
Ashley spun to look at Rachel, horrified, as she felt the sting of the warm blade slice into the flesh of her throat, dragging across and cutting off her air as her windpipe was severed and blood spilled like a waterfall to the white tiled floor.
Saturday night was the rehearsal dinner. Emma and Jason went through the motions three times before the officiator deemed them perfect. The dinner was a delicious buffet style of local cuisine in the hotel's party hall overlooking the beach. After the speeches were made and everyone was so full they were fit to burst, the bride and groom made the rounds to mingle with the guests. Ashley and May made polite small talk with the guests at their table. There was Jason's brother, Mark, who fronted a heavy metal band and had been working throughout dinner, using a dive knife, to hack open a coconut he had picked as he continuously took long pulls from a bottle of rum, much to the amusement of the wait staff. Joaquin, Jason's best friend since high school, sat quietly, for the most part. He seemed to be shooting glances toward Ashley, but she dismissed it as her imagination. After all, she was on her fourth mojito. And last at their table was Rachel, Emma's 16 year old sister. She was nursing a margarita in a styrofoam cup in an attempt to hide it from her parents. Ashley was pretty sure they knew, though.
A hand clamping down on Ashley's shoulder startled her out of her thoughts as she nearly jumped out of her seat, spilling half her drink into her lap.
"Oh, shit, Ash!" Emma quickly grabbed a spare napkin off a passing server's tray and dabbed at Ashley's silver sequined dress. "I'm so sorry! I thought you saw me walk over!"
Ashley took the napkin and continued dabbing the drink from her dress, giggling despite herself. "It's okay, it's just a dress. It'll come out." Ashley gave up and tossed the napkin to the table to stand and give her friend a kiss and a hug. "Look at you! You're beautiful! This dress is amazing! And it's not even the dress! I can't wait to see how gorgeous you are tomorrow!"
Emma turned beet red and grinned, looking down at her off-white summer dress, with floral embellishments across the chest. "Thanks, Ash. You look fantastic, too! Are you having a good time?"
"Of course," Ashley said. Was she even allowed to say no to that? She wasn't about to bring her friend down the night before her wedding.
"Wait until you see the-" Emma suddenly broke off and looked behind Ashley, out toward the dark beach and scrunched up her face. "Do you smell that?"
Ashley turned and took a whiff of the sea air and... Weed?
Emma's expression turned sour. "Who the hell is smoking pot at my rehearsal dinner?"
Mark looked up, knife stuck halfway into the coconut. "Who's got pot?"
"I don't know," Emma said. "But we should go find out. Maybe they'll share."
May suddenly joined in by standing up and picking up her clutch. "You guys are ridiculous. I'm going to bed. You're going to get yourselves killed."
The rest of the small group watched as May turned on her heel and stormed off toward her room.
Emma turned to the rest of the table and threw a smile on her face. "So," she said. "Who wants to take a walk?"
The beach was dark. The few clouds in the night sky managed to block the moon and walking across the sand was a glorified guessing game. The five only had the sound of the surf to their left and stink of weed in front to guide them in the right direction. Rachel had brought her drink and leaned heavily into Mark as she tried to walk and sip at the same time, giggling intermittently. Mark held tight to his prized coconut with one hand while he kept Rachel upright with the other. Emma and Ashley walked arm in arm and Joaquin lead the way. With each step the stench got just a little stronger... Until it stopped.
"Does anyone see anything?" Ashley asked quietly. She could just barely make out the shapes of several lounge chairs scattered in the tree line to their right. The group paused and listened. The only sounds were the wind and the crashing waves of the ocean.
"I think I see someone up there," Joaquin whispered as he pointed ahead. Ashley could vaguely make out a shape in the shadows that could have been a person; or an iguana. "Come on," Joaquin waved and continued on.
The five took three more steps before a bright white light popped on and blinded them, shining directly into their faces. Rachel screamed and dropped her cup while the rest instinctively took a step back and attempted to shield their eyes.
"What're y'all doin' out here?" The voice was deep, gravelly and no-nonsense. He was irritated, at the very least. This was someone who did not want to be disturbed.
"It's a public beach," Joaquin answered boldly. "What are you doing out here?"
Ashley cautiously took a step to the side, out of the range of the stranger's flashlight. As her eyes adjusted, she could make out a white man with long, blond dreadlocks and several tattoos decorating his arms. He screamed surfer dude, if an old surfer dude judging by his lined face, with baggy board shorts and sleeveless white tee.
"Whatever I want, what's it to you?" the man answered Joaquin, shooting to his feet. They could now see that while he held the flashlight in one hand, his other hand held a menacing machete. Ashley absently thought that Mark could have him open that coconut.
Joaquin threw his hands up in surrender and backed away. "Whoa, okay man, it's cool. You can have the beach."
Ashley grabbed onto a speechless Emma and started to pull her toward a footpath between the trees which lead back to the hotel. The other three followed, as the man stood and watched them disappear into the trees.
As soon as the young group was out of sight, the man sat back down and lit his joint back up.
Once the group left the soft sand for the packed dirt, the acrid scent of marijuana invaded their noses once again.
"What'a assssshole," Rachel slurred.
"Seriously, he don't own the fuckin' beach!" Mark was pissed. Still holding the coconut. The dirt path circled around back to the pool area of the hotel, nearly back to where they had started. Mark walked to the edge of the pool and spiked the coconut into the water.
"Man, I really just want to go pummel that guy, man," Mark fumed, now pacing along the pool's edge. "Who does he think he is? Huh?"
Mark's biceps rippled as his fists repeatedly clenched and unclenched.
"He can't just kick us off a public beach so he can smoke," Mark continued his rant.
"And yet, he did," Emma interrupted. "Look guys, the guy is obviously crazy. Let him have his fun. I'm going back to the party."
Emma turned and walked off to the party hall. Rachel stepped over to Mark and drunkenly wrapped her arms around his torso.
"Come on, Mark. I want to watch the waves." She was practically whining like a spoiled three year old.
Ashley rolled her eyes and turned away as their footsteps retreated, offering a shy smile to Joaquin.
"Gee, you'd think they'd be more obvious about it," he said, adding on a wink for good measure.
Ashley sat on a nearby lounger and laughed nervously. "Right? Sound a little more drunk and horny, Rachel."
Joaquin chuckled and joined Ashley on the lounger; closely on the lounger.
"So..." Joaquin's voice trailed off as he stared intently at Ashley, who blushed and looked away, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
"So..." Ashley repeated.
The moment was becoming awkward. Ashley was busy trying to figure out a polite way to make her way back to the party when Joaquin spoke again.
"You enjoying the weekend?" he asked.
"Yeah, I mean, a wedding in the Caribbean, how could you not? Right?"
Another moment of uncomfortable silence passed. In the pool at their feet, the coconut floated toward the filter. Behind the cover of the trees, the sound of the surf and some moans reached their ears.
"So how do you know Emma?" Joaquin asked.
"Oh, well, we went to college together and-"
A strange sound, like a whoosh and a thunk, cut Ashley's answer off abruptly. It was quickly following by a loud splash as something fell into the pool from God knew where. Ashley and Joaquin jumped up, sending the lounger flying backward with an ear piercing scrape of metal against concrete.
"Holy fucknuts!" Joaquin screamed out. "What the fuck was that?"
Ashley was still frozen in terror. She took a hesitant step back while Joaquin took a hesitant one forward and peeked over the pool's edge. After a moment, the water cleared of bubbles and calmed. From behind him, Ashley saw Joaquin start to shake. He inched toward the pool, shaking his head, and the shaking got worse.
"Joaquin?" Ashley whispered. "Joaquin, what is it?"
Joaquin suddenly spun around and released the loudest belly laugh Ashley had ever heard. It echoed around the pool and she was pretty sure the party inside could hear it.
"This mother fucker!" He laughed again and stomped his foot on the ground before turning toward the trees that separated them from the beach. "Mark! You scared us half to death! Finish getting laid, you douche!" He turned back to Ashley, still chuckling. "Come here and see what this asshole threw at us."
Ashley slowly approached the pool, peeking around Joaquin to see another coconut bobbing in the water.
"Oh my gosh," Ashley released the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or go find Mark and slap the shit out of him.
"I really let my imagination go," she said to Joaquin. "I thought for sure it was a-"
Ashley was again cut off by another whoosh and thunk, and they both looked up as something sailed through the tops of the surrounding palm trees, rustling the greenery before landing with another splash at their feet.
"Come on, Mark, cut it out!" Joaquin yelled. "We get it! You think you're hilarious!"
But Ashley was staring down at the object that was floating back to the surface of the pool, and was slowly realizing it wasn't a coconut. To her horror, as the object reached the surface it turned over and Mark was staring blankly up at her.
Joaquin was about to shout something else toward the beach, but Ashley tugging on his sleeve stopped him and pulled his attention to her. Her slight tan seemed to have disappeared and she looked like she was about to faint as she stared down into the water, which was quickly turning red as the blood seeping from Mark's severed head spread out into the pool.
Ashley tried to scream, but it wouldn't rise past her throat and instead sounded like a strained whimper. She looked up to Joaquin, silently asking what do to. Joaquin met her eyes with a look of determination. He could see she was about to fall apart. He had to stay strong, at least for now, until he could get them both to safety. He took her hand and ran, pulling her along behind him. His first instinct was the front desk.
They ran down the path that led from the pool area to the main lobby, away from the beach. By now Ashley was starting to cry and was having difficulty keeping up with Joaquin between sobs. Joaquin didn't stop running until they were at the unattended desk and violently banged on the bell to get someone's attention.
"Hello?! Hey, we need help out here! We have an emergency!"
The lobby was deathly silent. Finally coming to her senses, Ashley reached over the desk and grabbed the phone, intending to dial 911, but was met with silence when she put the handset to her ear.
"Joaquin," she whispered shakily, glancing around the lobby, "I don't think anyone's... OH MY GOD!"
Joaquin followed her line of sight up to the ceiling fan that spun slowly, and was adorned with one head set on top of each blade. He immediately picked out Jason and Emma. Each head was still dripping blood, forming a large, red puddle on the floor beneath.
Now Ashley did scream, loudly and hysterically, as she grabbed at her chest with one hand and her hair with the other. Joaquin grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him, away from the horror not ten feet away.
"Ashley! We're going to get out of here! But we have to stay calm! We have to keep our heads, because if we start to panic-"
Thwack.
It happened so fast, Ashley barely had time to register the warm spray of blood across her face. Joaquin was no longer staring into her eyes, instead his head was rolling through the red puddle under the fan, and his hands slipped from her shoulders as his body fell to the floor.
Ashley stood shaking, tasting the metallic saltiness of Joaquin's blood on her lips as she stared at a tanned man covered in tattoos wearing what once might have been a white sleeveless tee and board shorts, but were now completely saturated with blood. His dreads, which Ashley now recognized as having been blond only a short while ago, were a rusty reddish color.
The two stared at each other for a moment while the man silently raised his machete and flicked it so that the build up of excess blood flew off, spattering the nearby wall with spots of red. This startled Ashley into action. She ran, kicking off her heels as she went, as fast as she possibly could out of the lobby and along the footpath that led to the building where her room was. She periodically checked over her shoulder to see if he was following. She paused when she looked for the third time and couldn't see him anywhere. She breathed a sigh of relief before remembering every horror movie she'd ever seen, and turned to keep sprinting along the path. Her room was in the third building. As she ran by the second building, bushes to her left rustled and a flash of silver cut across her path. She ducked and rolled herself, just missing the sharp blade. She jumped back to her feet and kept running on to her building and didn't pause as she took the stairs two at a time, fumbling in her clutch for the key as she went. She couldn't help thinking that if this were a movie she was watching at home, she'd be screaming at the main character that she was a moron and only trapping herself by running up the stairs. But there was nowhere else to go and at least if she got into the room she could barricade herself until help came. Someone would have to eventually notice that the entire resort had been slaughtered.
Her legs felt like lead weights as she took the last step and rounded the corner, struggling to fit the key in the lock. She was shaking so hard, she kept missing the keyhole.
The familiar slap of feet against concrete reached her ears, getting louder with each step. He was on the stairs.
She took one deep breath and slid the key into the knob, and turned.
The door didn't open.
"Fuck," she whispered. Tears were free flowing down her cheeks now.
"MAY!" she screamed, pounding on he door with both fists and kicking with one foot. "MAY!! OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!"
The footsteps were much louder now. He was on his way from the second to the third floor.
"MAY! GODDAMN IT OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!"
The deadbolt clicked and the door opened and Ashley nearly fell into May, shoving her back into the room, slamming and dead bolting the lock immediately, staring wildly around the room.
May stared at Ashley dumbfounded and Rachel sat calmly at the small table near the terrace.
"What are you doing here?" Ashley asked her.
"I had to get away from Mark," Rachel laughed. "The man is gorgeous, but all paws."
"Ashley," May began hesitantly, "What happened to you? Is that blood?"
"They're... They're dead," Ashley squeaked out. She sunk onto the nearest bed.
"Who's dead?" May asked.
Ashley looked up and met May's eyes and whispered, "Everyone."
A knock on the door had Ashley jumping off the bed and frantically searching for some kind of weapon.
"Don't answer it!" she shrieked. "He followed me up! He'll kill us, too!"
"Don't be ridiculous," Rachel said as she pushed Ashley out of the way and went to the door. "It's just Mark looking for some pussy."
"Mark's dead you idiot!" Ashley screamed at her.
Rachel rolled her eyes and opened the door, stepping back to let the visitor in.
It wasn't Mark.
Ashley grabbed Rachel and pulled her away from the man, but he didn't seem to be worried about Rachel. He went straight for May, who was still trying to figure out what was happening as the machete came down and lopped her head off, sending it rolling one way while her body fell another.
Ashley watched the man as he advanced slowly on her and Rachel, even as she kept retreating. Soon there would be nowhere to go. They were running out of space.
"Leave us alone!" Ashley commanded, but it sounded more like pleading. "Why are you doing this?"
The answer didn't come from the bloodstained man in front of her. Shockingly, it came from the girl next to her.
"We were bored," she whispered sadistically into Ashley's ear.
Ashley spun to look at Rachel, horrified, as she felt the sting of the warm blade slice into the flesh of her throat, dragging across and cutting off her air as her windpipe was severed and blood spilled like a waterfall to the white tiled floor.
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