Beach Week

Chapter 8- "Soon."*

The group had spent the night camping on the beach outside of Brett's house. Their camping adventure had included lighting a bonfire to roast marshmallows and hotdogs. Brett got to finish his ghost story on the Marsh Monster, much to Amy's displeasure. They made sure to take the time to enjoy the outdoors, without electronics interfering with their interactions, and the lights to block out the stars. They took this as a time to relax, and especially, to get away from the busy crowds of tourists that were now taking over the downtown area where all of the attractions were located.For Sara, the tourists brought nothing to the island but annoyance, and she was grateful to be isolated from them for a night with her friends.

The camping trip had been a great time, except for when Aaron put a snake into Avery's sleeping bag. Not only did he scare Avery with his little stunt, he also scared the rest of the girls, who couldn't sleep afterwards and spent the rest of the night worrying about snakes. The boys were also kept up thanks to the sand and it's unexplainable ability to find ways into the most uncomfortable areas.

When they all finally fell asleep, it was uneasy. Especially for Taylor who has trouble sleeping anywhere out in the open, and this time her irrational fears weren't so irrational. There were eyes on them, from where or who they couldn't place, but they felt watched. They had felt it since coming to the beach. They had hoped there were other groups, but they seemed to be the only ones. After Taylor finally spoke up and complained, the group set up the single tent Brett had brought, and the girls slept inside, guarded by the boys who slept out at the front and back of the tent. The tent was cramped, but they felt better since no one wanted to be the one to end their camping trip.

The next morning when they finally returned to the beach house, Taylor was the first one to the door, wanting to shower before anyone could beat her to the bathroom. She stopped when she noticed a photo stuck between the door frame and the door. She trapped the photo between her fingers and pulled it from it's position to look at it. Her eyes grew wide as she stared at the picture; a photo of them all from the night before, naked, and racing into the water.

"Oh my god," Taylor gasped as the rest of the group joined her at the front door.

"I thought you were going to be inside by now, what's up?" Aaron asked, staring at her in confusion as she was frozen in place. When she didn't answer, Aaron rolled his eyes and plucked the photo from Taylor's hand, wanting to see what she was all worked up about. As soon as he glanced at hit, his mouth dropped open and the words, "Oh shit" spilled out.

"Someone really was watching us, and it wasn't Grayson and his friends," Avery stated, leaning around Aaron to look at the picture. "What kind of sick freak spys on people, photographs it, and then leaves the picture for them to find it?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Sara questioned, pushing past them and trying to get into the house when she noticed the photo in Aaron's hand. She plucked it from his fingers and looked it over. "Someone wanted us to see this. They wouldn't leave it here for us otherwise. They want us to know that we had been seen and that they were watching us."

Avery shivered at the thought of someone watching them all night. "Thankfully I kept my clothes on," she said before she entered the house Sara had unlocked and headed inside.

"We did kind of put ourselves on display. Really, anyone could have taken that photo. It's just strange that they decided to leave it at here to let us know they saw us," Aaron said with a shrug as he followed in after Avery.

Brett widened his eyes, "The real question we need to ask is not why they left it here for us, but how they knew that you lived here. The island is small, but this time of year, with all of the tourists, not everyone knows everyone anymore. Did they follow you around or something?"