“No, they expect to see proof that this island is haunted, and if any place is the epicenter of the hauntings, it’s gotta be this,” he said.
Rose let out a condescending guffaw and pitched forward at her waist to project her laugh directly at the man.
“Oh, you think that’s funny?” the man asked.
“It’s not funny, it’s fucked up to say shit like that out here,” Edie said, her words coming quickly, giving Cassidy the impression that the model was just as scared as she was. Knowing that someone else was scared only added to Cassidy’s fear. The woods around them suddenly felt darker and more oppressive beyond the safe warm light of the torches.
“I do think it’s funny because ghosts aren’t real, and this is just an island,” Rose said.
“You can think that all you want, sweetheart, but this place isn’t just haunted, it’s fucking cursed. It’s been all over Twitter all day! Everyone is posting about how fucking run down all of the buildings on this island are,” Bermuda Shorts said.
“And that’s a sign that the island is cursed? Because I think I stayed in a cursed apartment in Nice,” Rose said, turning to Edie with a smile, but her friend simply let out a single laugh that sounded more like nerves than amusement.
“Did you do your homework and look into the island to make sure you weren’t getting scammed? Because I sure as hell did, and you know what I found?” Bermuda Shorts took a step toward Rose and slipped on the wet rocks but continued with his diatribe. “The dorms and the villas were already here before the Island Xperience bought the island. The only things they had to put up were the shacks and the tents. And you know what else? There’s no public record of who even bought this island. The last known owner defaulted on payments when hedisappeared, along with everyone else who was working to build the infrastructure here.”
Many of the people below the waterfall gathered around Cassidy’s small group as the argument progressed, and it was one of these spectators who spoke. Two skeletal women wearing bandanas as bandeau tops stepped aside and from the crowd the speaker emerged. The man was clearly intoxicated and wore a muscle shirt damp with sweat. “Shut the fuck up! Everyone is tired of hearing about your stupid stories you’re telling to freak everyone out and make them buy your fucking subscriptions!”
The drunk man’s muscles gleamed in the fire light that also gave a fierceness to his eyes. He slurred his words as he shouted. In his left hand, he held a nearly empty handle of vodka by the neck. What little was left of the clear liquid inside coated the glass and ran down in uneven rivulets.
Apricot brought her phone out, likely thinking she was discrete as she tapped the screen and lifted it to focus on the shouting men. The crowd watched in rapt attention. Muscles stepped forward, and on Apricot’s screen he closed the distance between himself and the Polo Shirt.
“I don’t know who owns this fucking island, do you? Do you know who the investors are?” The man in the polo asked, puffing out his chest and taking a step toward the second man.
“I don’t fucking care. I’m just here to have a good time,” Polo said.
“Oh yeah, I bet you’re having a great fucking time, hanging out in shacks paid for with blood. Did you pay for your ticket here, or did the money come out of daddy’s bank account?”
Muscles took a step forward and pushed Polo, who lost his footing on the slick rock and fell backwards.
“Woah, what did I miss?” a voice now familiar to Cassidy asked. Everyone she’d walked to the falls with turned to verify the source and saw Ryan LeHane trying to peek over the top of the heads of the people in front of him. A cell phone’s blue light lit up his hand, giving his fingers and face an unnatural glow.
James was still standing near enough to Cassidy for her to hear him groan.
“Looks like he managed to find his phone,” he said.
Ryan didn’t seem to recognize Cassidy or her group, and for that she felt thankful. She stepped away from the waterfall, where a group of men were still struggling to separate the brawlers. Edie followed, but Apricot still attempted to capture what she could with her phone’s camera, and Rose seemed equally entranced with the drama.
A group of people sat in a loose circle of rocks and fallen logs near the edge of the wooded area that butted up to the stone clearing. Cassidy and Edie sat down on a damp log and caught the end of a conversation.
“… I’ve been seeing shit on TikTok and Twitter all day about how it is, but I think people just like to say that stuff is haunted,” said a short haired man in an oversized basketball shirt as he passed a joint to his left.
“What do you think of all that?” Edie asked.
It took Cassidy a moment to realize she was asking her.
“Of all what?”
“The … I dunno, ghost stuff.”
The memory of the child’s shadow in Apricot’s video played over in her mind. Before she could answer, Apricot and Rose were standing in front of them.
“That was so dumb,” Apricot said. “People need to, like, leave their drama at home. I’m definitely posting the video I got later. He does not need to be here if he’s just going to start shit with people. I’ve seen enough weird shit today, and I don’t need anyone saying this place is haunted just to get likes or sales or whatever. Anyhow, have you seen Daisy anywhere?”
Cassidy’s barely registered Apricot’s words as she continued to think about the child in the video. She stood so quickly Apricot startled backwards.
“Hey, can I actually talk to you about something?” she asked, reaching for Apricot’s arm. “Did you do something to that video you showed us at dinner?”
“What do you mean?” Apricot asked.
