Island Of The Cryptids

15

The cabin of the plane contained four sets of chairs, two on either side of the aisle. They were reclining chairs, padded with a beige colored leather and punched with matching buttons.

In between each of the seats was a table with a laminated wood counter top bolted to the wall. On the right side of the cabin sat Manuel and Kaeli, who were both nursing wine glasses filled with scarlet elixir.

"Do you think they'll mind us using these?" Manuel asked. Kaeli laughed.

"Of course they won't," she said. "The cart said 'serve yourself', and even if we weren't supposed to, a guy is dead. We could practically do whatever we want and get away with it." Manuel bit his lip.

"It doesn't feel right mocking his death like that..." he said.

"Relax. We deal with dead people all the time, don't we? So why does one guy matter?" Manuel swallowed a gulp of wine, then sucked his teeth.

"Even then I still feel remorseful for every patient that dies because of me. No matter who they are, it's always defeating. This man is no different. Even so this just feels inappropriate given the fact that he was murdered by something."

Kaeli placed her glass down on the table then cracked her knuckles.

"Working in the ER is exhilarating, isn't it? You said it yourself."

"Yeah, yeah it is," Manuel admitted with a sly chuckle. In the silence that followed, they stared at each other intently. The dim lights of the cabin cast a romantic glow onto the room. Manuel leaned back in his chair.

"What's wrong?" asked Kaeli. Manuel shook his head and stared. Then he began.

"When I still lived in Mexico, my father cared for me beyond anything else. That man was like a god to me, he did everything he possibly could to make me safe. To make me happy. He didn't always just give it to me, but even when I earned it I still felt like it was his doing. He used to tell me in this cheerful voice, 'Son, whatever you do in life, do whatever makes you happy. No matter how much money you make, if you're poor in your heart, what does it matter?'"

"Wise words," Kaeli said, but Manuel ignored her and kept talking.

"So when I moved to America to become a medical student, I really questioned what I was doing. Turns out, being a great cardiac surgeon and being put in stressful situations really does make me happy," he said, a hint of a smile on his face. Kaeli laughed a cute, kittenish laugh. Manuel's smile faded.

"Then I met this girl," he explained, his voice somber and dull. "She literally meant everything to me. I gave her everything. My heart, my soul, my tears. I loved her and she loved me. I could've have been happier. We were together, and that was all that mattered." Kaeli's face flushed a little, but Manuel was staring out the window.

"But then, one night, I got a phone call from a police officer. He said that she had died in a car accident. I was in shock. I really couldn't believe it at all. It was like I had lost a part of myself."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kaeli said with genuine concern.

"Don't be," Manuel told her. "It was long ago, and I've moved on. I'm trying to try again." Kaeli chewed her lip.

"I had a love just like that, too," she said. "Except mine left me. He got really angsty with me, like I was cheating on him or something. He kept accusing me of all these horrible things that I didn't do."

"That sounds terrible," Manuel said, trying to comfort her.

"You don't have to sympathize with me," she said. "I understand that you want to care, but you don't need to. What's done is done, and he was a prick anyways."

Kaeli stood up and stretched in the aisle, a smug smile on her face.

"What?" asked Manuel. She smiled wider.

"Nothing."

Kaeli sat down in the aisle, her legs extended in front of her. She knocked the toes of her boots together playfully.

"What did you say about being ready to move on?" she asked. Manuel quickly shot a glance down at her.

"I think I'm ready to find someone else, if that's what you're getting at," he said uncertainly. Kaeli crawled to her knees, eye level with him.

"I think I found someone," she whispered, and leaned in.

Manuel felt her lips touch his, the soft embrace of her mouth as their tongues intertwined, and her soft skin against his. They pulled out of each other's grasp. Kaeli climbed onto Manuel's lap.

"I just had this feeling about you," she said as she guided his hands onto her shoulders.

"I think I feel the same way," he said, and she smiled.

There was a clattering in the hangar of the plane. The two of them snapped their vision to it, frightened.

"What could it be?" asked Manuel. "Might Tucker be back?"

"We would've seen the lights or heard it on the tracker," Kaeli responded. Manuel gently set her into his seat and got up.

"Could the captain not be dead?" he asked. They had used a rain tarp from the cargo bay to wrap up his body like a temporary casket cocoon. They stuffed him onto one of the empty shelves and left him there to relax inside.

"Not a chance, you should know that," Kaeli scolded. "He lost way too much blood and those wounds were harsh." Manuel gulped.

"Could somebody else be back there?" he wondered aloud.

"I don't know," Kaeli said, worried. She was shaking up and down now. "And I'm not going out there to check." Manuel looked uneasily at the open cabin door leading to the runway.

"Fine, I'll go," he conceded. "I'll be back soon." He approached her carefully, gently sliding his arms around her waist. They kissed for a long moment before Kaeli shoved him outside because he was taking too long.

The rain was tremulous on Manuel's skin. It soaked him to the bone, and hurt as it plopped aggressively down on his head. The puddle of blood had washed away, leaving behind only a myriad of crimson stained rocks. He ran along the underbelly of the plane, and approached the hatch.

He carefully crept up against the metal hull of the plane, hugging the wall with his back. The soaked metal bled into his shirt, and it felt cold on his skin.

He came closer to the back hatch. It was wide open, unable to shut. He had tried it earlier, but it wouldn't budge. He heard no sound emitting from the hold. He stepped closer.

Then he swung around the corner.

There was nothing in the room.

Which was the strange part, besides the miscellaneous tools and supplies, there was nothing. No body. No blood stains. No claw marks. No person or thing in sight. It was as if something had vanished.

Thunder boomed above so loud it made the puddles shake and Manuel duck for cover. He decided to shelter from the rain for a moment to think, so he went further inside the cargo room. From there, he could hear Kaeli shout;

"Is everything okay back there?!" from inside the cabin. He walked close to the wall and yelled back;

"Yeah, the body's missing though, I might stay back here a while."

Kaeli told him to be safe and Manuel could hear her sit down as he paced over to inspect the room.

Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a dark shadow move through the jungle to the right of the bay, towards the shack. He stepped out into the rain to see nothing.

He eyed back onto the workbench, and saw a poncho folded neatly atop the corner of the desk. He grabbed it, shook it out, then wrapped it around himself. Lastly he stepped out into the rain, still feeling the heavy drips on top of him despite his new coat. He set out towards the jungle.