"These houses are huge." Michael stuck his head out the window like a dog. It's a surprise his tongue wasn't hanging out.
The houses only got bigger and bigger, some contemporary and some classic. Balanced on sloping mountains like they were part of the landscape. The car in front took a left turn, and the others followed in a cloud of dust as they headed to Corey's estate. The vegetation became more lush when they turned into the long driveway, as it changed from wild to manicured. The house was a huge stone structure yet somehow looked like it belonged there, like part of nature, nestled in the foliage.
"Seriously. I'd hate to think how much he pays just to have someone trim his hedges," said Michael as he wound his window up.
"Agreed. No one needs this much space," said Olivia.
"I bet he's had some epic parties here though."
"Now we can have an epic party here." She already felt good as new after a few hours of sleep.
"I think I need a break from all that."
"I miss television so bad. I'd kill to binge watch a show right now."
The tyres crunched over the gravel drive and came to a stop behind the sports car. They all emerged and congregated at the front of the mansion.
"Welcome to casa de Corey. Now lets get that booze out of the car."
The inside was just as impressive as the outside, all huge spaces and extravagant but quirky furniture. None of it matched, but somehow it worked.
"Of course you have a chandelier. Did you decorate this place?" Olivia nosed around.
"No way. I don't know anything about that kind of thing. I paid someone. One of the best interior designers. A friend of a friend. They gave me a good discount."
"Awesome." Olivia stood in the doorway to another room and found a pool table. This will keep us entertained for hours."
"I've got a tennis court and a basketball court too if you're interested."
"Nah, pool is enough exertion for me."
"Speaking of pool you need to check out this swimming pool." Michael had his face up against the glass at the back.
"There's a hot tub as well," said Corey.
"A hot tub's not going to work now though is it?" asked Dana.
"You guys want to claim your bedrooms? I have plenty of guest rooms upstairs. I bet you guys are begging for a good mattress."
"You don't have to tell me twice." Dana hurried towards the staircase.
"Michael" Olivia walked over to the window where he stood. "You want to find a room?"
Corey came up behind her. "Actually Olivia, could I borrow you for a minute?"
"Uh, yeah. Michael, do you want to put our stuff in the room?" She got the impression Corey wanted some privacy.
"Okay. See you up there then." Michael walked over to the pile of bags by the front door.
"What is it?"
"It's Zoe. I have something really special planned and would like you and Michael there."
"I'm flattered but foursomes aren't my thing." Olivia grinned.
"I want you guys there as a buffer. She told me some stuff about her past and I thought it may be better to have someone else there. Less pressure, you know. I just want to have a nice time."
"What did you have planned?"
"I don't want to ruin the surprise. Trust me, it's awesome. We should leave around sunset. It needs to be dark when we get there. I've got some things to prepare first." He started to walk towards the kitchen.
"Get where?" Olivia followed. "What are you planning? I'm curious."
"Patience is a virtue."
"But I don't do surprises." She continued to follow, and they stopped in the kitchen.
"Just get ready, will you. Do you have a swimsuit?"
***
DATE
"You going to tell me where we are going or what?" Zoe leaned forward and badgered Corey as he drove. The sun had almost completely set now. The distant roar of the ocean drifted in through the open car window, and Zoe's hair blew wildly as the breeze streamed in.
"We're almost there." The car hugged the curves in the road as Corey turned. They could hear the sea, but the tree line blocked the ocean from view. Corey's eyes were glued to the road.
"Are you just taking us to the beach?" Olivia asked.
"That depends."
"Depends on what?"
"Could you lot just stop with the questions. You're like a bunch of kids." Corey's brow furrowed as he continued to concentrate on the road ahead. "We're here. You can all relax now."
He stopped the car in a small parking bay shrouded in darkness as trees loomed over it. "Can someone get the torch from the trunk? There's some beer in there as well."
Corey kept the car lights on and pressed the button to open the trunk as the other's got out the car. He pulled another torch from the glove box and turned off the engine.
"Shit, it's dark." Olivia stumbled on a tree root and cast the light of the torch at her feet.
"Uh, Olivia, could you help me out here?" Michael shuffled in the dark, with his arms outstretched in front of him like a zombie. She shone the light on him.
"It's down here." Corey cast his light on a wooden stairway. "Just be careful, all right."
Corey held Zoe's hand as they descended. Olivia grabbed the handrail with one hand and clutched the torch with the other as Michael followed behind. It wasn't far to the bottom of the steps, and Corey led them on a sandy path.
"It's called the red tide." He guided them over a sandy bank. A gust of salty sea air hit them as they reached the top.
"Oh my god." Olivia stood, transfixed. "But it's blue."
"This is like, an amazing natural phenomenon and that is all you can say."
"What is it?" Zoe asked.
"It's algae, or plankton. Something like that. Bioluminescence, they call it."
Waves rippled in neon blue as the black water reached the shore. Where the water broke against the sand, it glowed like a light show. As they walked closer Corey explained that the algae emitted a light as a result of movement and Olivia couldn't believe she had never heard of this phenomenon before. The closer they got to the water, the brighter it was. Zoe gasped as her footsteps lit up in the damp sand. "This is nuts."
"Anyone want a beer?" Corey held up the six-pack. Everyone took a beer and sat back to watch the show. There was something unreal about what they were seeing. Something that could be so easily explained by science just felt magical.
"You can't be depressed when you're looking at this." Michael took a sip of his beer.
"It is amazing." Olivia watched the rise and fall of the glittering waves and took a cool, deep breath of fresh air. The cool breeze rushed past her skin and made her feel alive. She looked over at Zoe smiling, it was the happiest she had ever seen her. Every now and then, Olivia would have to remind herself that every single person around her was their own separate entity, with their own thoughts, dreams, struggles, and desires. Sometimes it was hard for her to think of people like that. It was easier to just write them off and think of them as some character in a computer game, a prop in her story. If she thought about people that way, she didn't have to acknowledge their pain. If she thought about other people too much, she would have to face an entire world full of suffering. War, famine, hatred, rape, murder. If she let herself absorb everything that bombarded her on a daily basis, she would be even less capable of navigating her life than she already was. Dragged down by the weight of the reality of just how damned hostile the earth is. Most of the time she resented having to participate in life, even though she tried to make it as easy as possible on herself and took on minimal responsibilities. This perfect moment made up for it in some small way, reminding her that there was still something good to hold on to.
"Penny for your thoughts?" said Michael.
"Sorry. I was in my own world for a minute there."
"The waves are kind of hypnotizing." Olivia laid down and put her head on Michael's lap. She looked up at him and smiled as he took her hand in his. There was a surp
rising amount of stars in the sky, mirroring the sparkling sea below. It amazed Olivia how much of an effect the lack of light pollution had.
She shut her eyes and listened to the voices around her. Corey's spoke softly. "My parents are okay. My mom pushed me a lot. Sometimes I wondered if her love for me was conditional on me becoming a star. She was your textbook pushy mom. My dad just went along with it."
"It was sort of the opposite for me. My mom is great, but my father is never happy. Honestly, I couldn't do anything right. Yet for some reason it's been my life's mission to make him proud in some way. Looks like I fucked that up. I'm an emotional wreck.
"You seem fine to me. I get it though. You always want to approval of the parent that won't give it."
"I can just imagine his reaction to my suicide attempt too. He'd think I'm weak, for sure. He'd probably think I was attention seeking. I still don't think he believed what happened to me. I saw this look of doubt in his face when I told him."
"What a prick." Olivia interjected. "Sorry for eavesdropping."
"She's right." Corey added. "I hate it when people say suicide is for attention, or a cry for help. Some people just want to die. People may do it as a cry for help, but not just for attention. The way I see it most people who try to kill themselves do it because they want to be invisible. To disappear."
"Right enough about them. Who's for a swim?" Zoe stood up. "It is safe, right?" She looked at Corey.
"Hell yeah. It's so cool too. Wherever you touch, it lights up like a firework."
Zoe took off her t-shirt to reveal a bikini underneath. Olivia kept her top on as she was self conscious about her stomach, but no-one mentioned anything. She kept looking over at Michael, wondering if he was checking out Zoe's slim figure, but he just looked at the sea. Olivia probably spent more time looking at women's bodies than men did. Comparing, contrasting, envying. The frigidness of the water made Olivia scream as she wasn't expecting it to be that cold. Goosebumps raised up across her arms.
"Wow." The coldness became a distant memory and Olivia watched the water around her legs light up in two bright blue rings. "Ha, check this out." She ran her fingers over the surface and her hands left trails like fairy dust that quickly vanished.
"Oh my god, something brushed against my leg." Zoe screamed and ran back towards the shore.
"It was probably just a fish." Corey ran after her, leaving a trail of blue sparkles behind him.
Olivia laughed and swam towards Michael. "I can't get over this. I've seen some cool things in my life, but I think this is my favorite. Beats the northern lights."
"I'd love to see the northern lights." Michael took her shivering body in his arms.
"We'll have to do that sometime." She felt something against her foot and jumped, splashing up a cloud of blue water. "Let's get out of here. I don't care if it's just fish, it's freaking me out."
"You got it." Michael lifted her out of the water in his arms, fire-fighter style.
"I'm too heavy. Put me down." She laughed.
"You sure."
"Yes."
He dropped her into the water and she screamed in shock.
"Screw you." She laughed hysterically, trying to catch her breath. "I didn't say drop me."
"Well, you should have been more clear."
They joined the others on the beach and grabbed some towels to dry themselves down. Feet stuck to their wet feet in clumps and they brushed it off before getting dressed.
***
BENEATH THE SURFACE
The next day everyone decided to lounge by the pool. The water was silky and cool on Olivia's skin as she ran her fingers over the surface, watching the ripples spread out. Luke cannon-balled into the pool, breaking the perfect smooth surface, and the water sprayed all over her.
"Luke, you fucker." She splashed him in the face when he surfaced.
The smell of chlorine stung her nostrils, but she loved the smell. It reminded her of the carefree days of childhood being taken to the pool where she would stay until her fingers wrinkled like prunes. Her body craved chemical smells for some unknown reason. There was nothing like the smell of gasoline, or a good whiff of nail polish.
"Champagne time." Zoe walked up to the edge of the pool and knelt down with two bottles of champagne and the glass chinked against the concrete as she set them down.
Olivia swam up to the edge, took one magnum, and drank straight from the bottle, which was so large she held it with both hands.
Luke grabbed the second bottle and poured it into a glass Zoe had left on the side for them. "Some people have class."
"Really, where are these people?" She looked around.
"We're going in to do some bowling, you two in?"
"I'm going to swim for a little more. I'll be in soon," said Olivia. The feel of the water was too alluring.
"Yeah, I might stay out and watch the sunset," Luke said.
"Well, if you're both too chicken because you suck at bowling I guess I'll just have to leave you out here." Michael followed Zoe into the house.
Luke's body cut through the water like a knife as he did a length of the pool, and the ripples shone purple as they reflected the twilight sky. A flock of birds soared overhead in a v-shape formation and Olivia looked up, wondering where they were headed. It always amazed her how they would coordinate, even when they shifted in the sky. The orange sun refracted off the clouds, casting a soft, warm glow over the trees.
"Isn't it beautiful Luke?" There was no answer, and she couldn't hear the others' voices drifting through the open doors anymore. "Luke?" She spun around in the water to find the pool empty and still, and all she could hear was the water lapping gently against the side of the pool. She hadn't heard him getting out.
As she made her way to the pool ladder, she saw something dark. The shape contorted and changed as the ripples passed above it. She submerged her head below the water, and she could hear her blood pumping as the water blocked her ears. It was hard to keep her eyes open as the water touched them, stinging. It was surprisingly dark under the surface, but he was there, floating limply, his body suspended like a puppet on strings.
She swam down lower and grabbed him from behind, trying to pull him to the surface, but it was impossible. He wasn't that heavy, but her arms were like jelly. The surface beckoned as her lungs screamed for oxygen, and she allowed herself to float to the surface before she went to try again. She picked up speed, propelling upwards, and her hands banged against something solid. She looked up and could still see the sky. Her hands pressed up against the hard surface. Glass. But it was moving. Her brain burst into panic mode, unable to comprehend what was going on, and she scrambled underneath banging, and writhing like a silver fish. There was a mechanical whirring sound, and her brain finally worked it out, in its panicked, oxygen deprived state. She swam forward to try to find an opening before the pool cover closed completely, but she got to the end of the pool and it was too late. There was just enough of a gap between the water and the glass for her to suck in air before going back down.
Luke was now right at the bottom of the pool like a lead weight, heavy and unresponsive. She tried to lift him up, but it was hard to get enough momentum, and she couldn't keep her mouth closed any more, as her body protested. The need was more urgent than anything, and the water burst through her lips like a dam, flooding everything in its path. There was no stopping it, and then there was a pain like no other. That unnatural feeling of fluid where it shouldn't be. Sharp, burning, stinging. Then it came. The euphoria she had read about once. The last of the sun flickered above, and the weightlessness of letting go beckoned her.
***
Patterns formed in the darkness like a kaleidoscope. Colorful shapes and blobs shifted in and out of view. Somewhere between a migraine aura, and what happens when you rub your eyes too hard.
"Olivia."
As she jolted upright, water expelled from her like a hydraulic hose and spread out across the concrete. She laid on the pool's edg
e, and Luke's face hovered over her. He knelt beside her, very much alive.
"What happened?" The fog had yet to shift.
"I was being pushed down. It felt so real but it can't be."
"What pushed you down?" Olivia's chest tightened and goose bumps raised all over her wet arms as every hair stood to attention.
"This guy. It was so long ago now. He'd talk shit about me at school. Threaten me. But this was different. I really thought I was going to die. It happened tonight, just as it happened back then. He pushed my head down under the water and wouldn't let me up again."
"That's horrible," She spluttered.
"I know it probably wasn't real but I could have sworn on my life it was."
"Every single thing that has happened here has felt more real than the life I have before. It's hard to describe."
"I feel it too."
OUT OF THE BLUE
Dazzled by the low, burning sun, Olivia sat in a puddle of water trying to muster the will to move, but she and Luke just sat by the water's edge. She scraped her damp hair out of her face and pulled her clinging t-shirt away from her skin. The floor felt like a magnet keeping her pinned to the spot, and she had no choice but to look out at the surrounding hills that changed color with the shifting light.
It started as a subtle fog, clinging around the mountains, particles coming together from the atmosphere to form a whole. Low-hanging clouds seemed to suck the palette of colors straight from the sky until it was an empty gray void. The mist condensed as it lowered to the ground, uniting like the first-wave attack of an unstoppable army, and advanced in their direction. It was so blue, the kind of glowing blue she had seen only once before. A super-cell thunderstorm about to pummel the earth with hail the size of baseballs. Hail that smashed windows and dented cars.
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