Nightmare Island (A Partial Draft)

Chapter 3

The gang finally wove their way to the abandoned water park. Lexie wished they'd never bothered to come there. It was bad enough to be in an abandoned, creepy location. It was far worse to be in a place where whatever water was in the pools was gross, smelly, and looked like something out of a horror movie.

Even Emersyn eventually seemed to think better of being there and relented, allowing them to leave and go to another part of the park. Lexie still had that feeling of being watched as she had for the past few hours they'd been there. There hadn't been as much time when Ren, Kyla and she could talk- since Emersyn didn't have any buildings she wanted to inspect, and there hadn't been a time when she'd even been far enough away to begin a conversation with anyone else.

Even when Lexie, Ren, or Kyla would attempt to get a ways away to begin a conversation, Emersyn would either get suspicious, or she would interrupt. At times, she seemed to actively resent their trying to get to know one another better without involving her.

As soon as Emersyn decided to pop into one of the old stores where they sold souvenirs and ride photographs, Lexie glanced in the window. Absently, not wanting to talk about the obvious- that they all felt as if something was lurking around the corner for them... she said, "I can't believe there are still items in the store... I would have thought that either they would clear it all out- like a going out of business sale... or perhaps, everything would be looted, or taken home with the owners or something... But it appears most of that crap is still in there."

Kyla was the only person who responded. "Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. By the way, does anyone actually know why the hell this place closed? Even though it was past normal seasonal operation, there always seemed to be a lot of people in the park, and the last time I was here, everything seemed fine..."

Ren shrugged. "Nobody knows, Kyla. It's a bit of an urban legend around here. I don't know, and neither does Lexie, nor any of the rest of us..." He muttered, stalking off in the direction of the grey and purple behemoth which loomed behind a fence, and was surrounded by the concrete slabs and the railings indicating the line for the rollercoaster. Lexie, feeling more than a little irritated, but also strangely compassionate for the guy with the dark mop of hair. Somehow, he was bothered by something Kyla said... or something Lexie herself said. She couldn't quite be sure. Kyla obviously didn't know what to do about it. And since Lexie had been the one he would talk to, Lexie felt she had the duty to do so. She followed him, and put a conciliatory hand on his broad shoulder.

He whipped around as if her gesture had been more like a punch or a slap.

Ren was in Lexie's face in a heartbeat. Her breath came in a gasp. Now, she didn't think he'd ever hurt her... or anyone really... but there was something she didn't like about having her space so quickly invaded. It made her acutely uncomfortable.

"I hate this place! I feel really on edge, and you're not helping, Lexie. Neither is Kyla. I shouldn't have snapped, but like I said, this place is giving me the creeps. I don't like it at all. I was attempting to put a bit of distance between us... so I wouldn't overreact to something again..."

"Ren, it's ok. We're all on edge... That's why I was trying to make small talk even though I knew that the subject of souvenirs might not be the best thing to talk about, but I didn't want to talk about the fact that I feel like I'm being watched, not just by Emersyn, but by some unseen force... who's trying to get my attention. Trying to get all of our attention... I don't know if we're all simply crazy, or if there really is something out there trying to make itself known to us... but what I do know is that we all need to look out for one another."

Ren's chocolate brown eyes suddenly looked warm and sentimental. There was a pause between them which lasted longer than it probably should have... And to her surprise, Ren squeezed her shoulder affectionately. If she wouldn't be considered crazy, Lexie could almost sense a little tenderness in that small gesture. It took her aback. But as quickly as it appeared, it vanished on his face- that tenderness and affection. As much as she'd resisted the idea of the two of them together- for no reason other than the feeling that he didn't like her, and nothing would ever change his mind; Lexie wished for that warmth back. Currently, however, there was nothing in his eyes or body language to suggest he felt any more than slight familiarity with her. She was ok with that, wasn't she?

Yes. Sure.

But as he turned his back on her like a dog irritated with its owner for giving it a bath- Lexie realized the painful truth that no, she wasn't ok with him not liking her. Not one stupid, infuriating bit.