Smirking, I pick up a leaf from the ground and hand it to her saying, "Nope."
"Gross, Emma! You so owe me for this!" She stands there scowling at me with her hands on her hips. "Well? Let's go!" She says.
"Argh, okay," I say getting up slowly. My body filled with kinks and aches from the night spent on the tough ground.
A few minutes later, with empty bladders, we head over to the base of the waterfall to wash up. I look down at my reflection in the water and cringe. My eyes are red and bags are starting to form giving me a tired and weary appearance. I look over to Kaylee's reflection to see her perfect little face staring back at mine.
She puts her hand on my back and says, "You really need to get more sleep Emma."
I let off an exhausted laugh, "Yeah, I look that bad huh?"
"No honey, you could never look bad. You just look tired and overwhelmed." She turns towards me and says seriously, "No matter how hard you try, you will never be able to carry the world. So you need to get it off your shoulders before you break your back."
Looking at her, I think about how good she is at making up analogies. Although it would make a great quote, I'm not trying to carry the world. I am just trying to save the people I care about. "I know, but as long as I'm here...as long as I'm alive, I need to try Kaylee. I will rest when this is over with."
We both stare each other down, trying to decide if we need to continue with this conversation. Kaylee nods and is the first to break eye contact, turning back towards the water to wash off her face. I follow suit.
The smell of bacon and coffee wafting over to us draws our attention back towards the camp. Stomachs growling in return, we both smile at each other and head back to the site. Nothing speaks better to a teenager than food.
Tristan has set up a portable two burner, gas camp stove near the table and he's slaving diligently over it making a bacon and egg scramble that makes my mouth salivate. On the other burner he has a Coleman camp coffee maker brewing up a fresh pot of aromatic coffee. Knowing how expensive camping equipment like this can cost, I say to him, "You really went all out Tristan; I hope you didn't purchase all of this for me."
He turns around and smiles at me, which is nice to see since our wake up call this morning was none too pleasant for him. "I may love you Emma, but I'm not rich. I borrowed it from the Kealoha's."
Kaylee jabs me in the side with her elbow and gives me an expression, which silently says, awe, how sweet. I don't have time to really appreciate his words; instead nervous anxiety starts pounding through my brain. "Tristan, you told the Kealoha's?" I say, not so nicely.
"Of course not Emma. I'm not stupid. They had it in the garage and I just borrowed it. My mom knows I took it. I told her I was going on a camping trip with some of the guys from my Army Reserve unit who were in town." He says with a hurt expression.
Feeling like a total jerky face, I apologize. "I'm sorry Tristan, I'm just a little on edge. I'm also sorry that you had to lie to your mother for me."
"No big deal Emma. As for my mom, yes I hate lying to her, but what I said wasn't entirely false. I am on a camping trip and some of the guys from my unit are in town. They are staying at the Marriot though.” He says nonchalantly. “We have to rough it all the time in training, so the last thing they would want to do on vacation is camp." He flashes me a smile showing off his perfectly white teeth. I return it with a well lacking half smile.
Tristan finishes up the food while Kaylee and I start setting the table. Our breakfast was perfect and the conversation at the table was kept to lighter subjects, which was nice.
After we finish our meals and put everything away, Kaylee excuses herself so she can go and change out of her pajamas.
"So, what's the plan for today?" I ask Tristan now that we’re alone.
"I have an errand to run. I got a lead from one of the guys who helped your dad with some camera work while they were island hopping getting interviews for his documentary." He says.
That well-known guilt that has been my constant companion lately rises up when I think of my dad. I wonder what my life would have been like if my dad wasn't a paranormal investigator and if he never got offered to do that documentary on the Night Marchers. While I wouldn't be going through all of this danger and pain, I also wouldn't have gotten the chance to meet Tristan or Kai. "So what kind of lead?" I ask.
"A possible lead on how to bring a Night Marcher back. I don't know if it will result in much of anything, but it's worth a shot. I've been calling and emailing basically anyone I can think of who has any types of dealings or knowledge of the Night Marchers. This guy emailed me yesterday telling me that he has a book that was passed down to him from his great-great grandfather. He is going to loan me the book, but I have to drive out to get it and he lives near the airport." He looks at me concerned then asks, "Do you think you two will be okay without me for the day?"
Before giving him a solid answer I think back to all the ‘interesting’ situations Kaylee and I have gotten into over the years. I can’t say we are very good at staying out of trouble; it’s more like trouble finds us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t at least try. "We’re big girls Tristan, we can handle ourselves. Just go get that book. Anything can help."
"I know you two can handle yourselves. I just don't know if you can stay out of trouble." He pokes me in the rib with his index finger to show that he's joking. Feeling he’s getting too close to the truth I try and dissolve the situation.
"Well, we’ll try not to do anything too wild and crazy." I reply giving him a smirk.
"Good cause, while it may be spring break, this isn't the best place to go all Girls Gone Wild on me. At least, while I’m not here." He gives me that incredibly sexy half smile of his. I swat him on the arm jokingly. "I’ll be back well before night falls. Please stick around the site though, I don't want to risk you two getting lost." He adds seriously.
I nod, but he gives me a look that says he wants more of a commitment than a simple nod so I cross my heart and say, "I promise, we won't venture off from this area."
Looking conflicted, like he's torn between going and staying here to play protector, he nods. We both stand up and he gives me a quick unexpected kiss on the lips then heads back to his tent to grab his things to head out.
Even though the kiss was short and sweet, it still sends my head into a dizzy spin. I must feel something big for Tristan if I get all fluttery when he kisses me. Right? I don't allow myself to ponder on it more because I know that will just send me back to thinking about the confused circle of feelings I have for both Tristan and Kai. Instead, I head over to the tent to change out of yesterday's clothes and to talk with Kaylee.
Unzipping the tent I duck inside to find Kaylee dressed only in her bathing suit, lying on the air mattress messing with her phone. "You get reception out here?" I ask her amazedly.
"Nope, I wish. Just playing a little Angry Birds while I was allowing you two lovers some time to chat or get all kissy-kissy, or whatever it is y’all do."
"Ha! Well thank you Kaylee for being so considerate. So are you going swimming or something?" I ask.
"I figured I might as well. It's not like I can go to the mall or watch a movie. Our entertainment options are a bit limited out here. Want to come?" She asks.
"I guess. Friends don't let friends swim alone, or so I’ve heard." I say thinking about the lectures both Tristan and Kai gave me when I went for a swim in the Pacific. That was before everything got so crazy.
"Cool." She says and then gives her attention back to the game while I change into my swimsuit.
Towels in hand we both head out of the tent. We catch Tristan just as he's about to leave and he gives us a whistle, waves goodbye and heads out towards the trail that leads to his Jeep.
"You're it!" Kaylee tags me and starts running towards the base of the waterfall.
"Oh my gosh, are we in like seventh grade or something Kaylee?" I yell after her.
Kaylee turns around, sticks her tongue
out, puts her thumbs in her ears while doing that childish hand waving thing and says, "Nana-nana, boo-boo." Then she dives into the water giggling.
"OMG Kaylee, you are such a total dork!" I say laughing hysterically. I run after her and dive in trying to tag her back. We may be nearly adults, but I guess nobodies too old for a good game of tag.
I swim after her around the base of the waterfall for a few minutes trying to tag her. When I nearly catch up to her, she diverts me with a huge splash to my face. The water rushes up my nose and stings my eyes. It takes a few seconds for me to rub the water out of my eyes so I can open them again and continue our childish game.
When I open them though Kaylee's nowhere to be seen. I stay still, dog paddling to keep afloat while I search around the small area of water waiting for her to re-appear from underneath. Thirty seconds pass, then a minute. Knowing how hard it is to hold your breath for a minute, I start getting nervous. "Kaylee?" I say and then I yell louder, "Kaylee!" I don't hear from her. My heart starts pounding furiously as I think about my best friend possibly drowning while I am bobbing around here calling her name like a fool.
When I still don't hear her or see her, I dive under trying to grasp at anything. Nothing. Kaylee is nowhere. I come up for air and then repeat. I dive deeper this time, straining my eyes to try to see as far as I can under the water. No Kaylee. I stay under for as long as I can, scanning the area around me. Having no choice but to come back up for air, I start kicking for the surface. I break water and look around to see if Kaylee may have re-appeared. Not seeing her, I take a deep breath ready to go under again but this time I'm pulled under by my ankle! I swallow some water in surprise as I submerge. Kicking violently trying to free my ankle from whatever has a hold of it, I finally break free. I take that moment to push myself away from whatever or whoever had a hold of me and in my retreat I feel my foot make contact with something...someone. With the knowledge that I'm in danger I don't allow myself to worry about who or what I kicked. I just swim as fast as I can to the surface and away from whatever pulled me under.
That's when I hear her groan, "Emma..." I turn around to see Kaylee paddling in the water holding her hand to her head.
"Kaylee!" Relief pours out of me knowing that she's okay. Then the anger sets in. She was messing with me this whole time! "What the freak Kaylee? You totally suck! I thought you were dead or something!" I'm so frustrated that I want to lash out at her, but I see the red mark forming on her forehead where my foot met her skull only a few moments ago.
She paddles over to me and apologizes. "I'm sorry, I found something really cool. I was coming to get you and just jokingly pulled you under by your ankle. I didn't expect you to kick me in the head!"
"You deserve it for scaring me to death! How in the world did you hold your breath that long anyhow? I didn't see you come up, not even once!" I ask out of breath.
"Oh, I wasn't holding my breath. Just wait till you see this!" Excitedly she grabs my wrist and together we start swimming towards the waterfall. I try to ask Kaylee what she's talking about but the roaring noise of the spilling water hitting the base makes it impossible to hear anything.
Kaylee gestures with her hand for me to hold my nose. I comply and then, holding her hand, we dive under the pounding waterfall. We emerge only a few seconds later behind the pouring water. Because there is so much water spilling down, we can't see the outside pool that surrounds its base anymore. I turn around to see what is behind me and see that we are backed up against a rock wall. One foot above my head is a crevice. It looks like it might be a cave or a small inlet behind the fall.
I look to Kaylee and she mouths the words, 'told you,' to me. A look passes between us and then nodding, we both work to lift ourselves up to get a better look. It's a cave and it looks pretty deep. It's so dark that I don't think we will be able to see much of anything in there. I try to yell out over the rushing water to Kaylee, "We need a flashlight!" She looks at me questioning, since she obviously can't hear me.
Mimicking her earlier mime gesture, I tell her to hold her nose then grab her hand and swim back under the waterfall. When we get to a point in which we can actually hear each other, I repeat myself. "We need a flashlight."
"Oh! Good idea!" We jump out of the water and head over to the campsite. I grab a waterproof Ziploc bag that I so conveniently just happened to have and stuff two mini flashlights into it. Then we both run back to the water and make our way to the other side of the waterfall.
This time we lift ourselves all the way out of the water and into the cave. Opening the bag, I hand Kaylee a flashlight and take one for myself. We turn our lights on at basically the same time and both suck in all the breath we can. The view from where we are is breathtaking. Stalactites point intimidatingly downwards from the tall, cathedral like ceiling. While I can’t really say I’ve been officially spelunking, I will say that this cave is definitely unique since it is made from volcanic matter. Everything around us mimics a dark black obsidian color with the rough texture of volcanic rock. The cave ceiling has to be at least twenty feet high and there is about twenty feet from one side to the other.
Back in Texas my dad and I would make short weekend trips to some of the caverns around us. But this one is completely different, this is a wild cave and it screams dark, mysterious and dangerous.
Kaylee turns to me at the same time I turn to her, both of us searching for the right words here, but neither able to come up with any. “Wow,” is all I hear Kaylee whisper.
“Yeah, wow.” I reiterate.
We shine our lights around the room looking at all of the different curvatures in the walls. Both of our lights meet up towards the point of the room that seems to veer off to the right. Turning to Kaylee I bite my lower lip, “Should we see where it goes?” Why I am asking her this, I have no clue. It’s not like Kaylee is the restrained one of the two of us.
“Well, yeah!” Kaylee says while putting some spunk to her step. She’s on a mission now; there is no stopping her. I lag behind a little, still unsure about this cave. I have no idea what to expect, and maybe I am overthinking all the deadly dangers lurking at every turn.
The cave begins to constrict little by little the further in we go. I am starting to get a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach but I try to ignore it. The cave walls feel like they’re closing in on me and panic begins building in my veins.
“You okay back there?” Kaylee calls from up ahead.
The distance she has put in front of me makes me quiver so I begin picking up my pace. I definitely don’t want to get left behind. “Yep, just great,” I manage to muster.
The light of my flashlight beams off the walls creating spooky formations. While I'm still working to catch up, I am stopped dead in my tracks when I hear a shrill scream. My heart begins to race as I struggle to find Kaylee. In my panic I trip over something and land hard on the volcanic rock. “Kaylee!” I yell. “Kaylee, are you okay, can you hear me?” I’m trying to feel my way around because everything around me has turned to black…my flashlight broke.
“Oh my gosh Emma, I’m freaking out. Where are you?” The panic and desperation in her voice is sending my panic into overdrive.
“I’m over here; I dropped my flashlight and can’t see a thing.”
“Emma, don’t move. I’m turning around now to try and find you.” While she says this, her voice gets comfortingly closer and I manage to get in some deep breaths. Finally I begin to see a small light bouncing off one of the walls as Kaylee rounds the corner. The light hits me straight in the face as I shield myself from its overwhelming brightness. Kaylee rushes over and helps me to my feet.
“What happened?” She asks me. I can see the panic in her eyes and hear the franticness in her voice.
“I just tripped over something when I was trying to get to you after I heard you scream. What was that all about? You about gave me a heart attack!”
A look of utter horror flashes across Kaylee’s face, “I—I found something.”
I’ve known Kaylee long enough to know that she isn’t easily flustered. It doesn’t take long for me to figure out something isn’t right—something seriously isn’t right. Kaylee helps me to my feet and grabs my hand. Squeezing it tight she takes me around a few bends in the rock. We manage to wiggle through the last narrow opening and another great room opens up before us.
The sight that lay before me makes me want to throw up and curl into a ball. I am beyond stunned and I can tell Kaylee feels the same. It’s not often she is at a loss for words. All around us are meticulously placed skulls seated upon carved pillars. They all face different directions, almost like they are keeping watch beyond the grave. Necklaces and other artifacts lie next to some of the skulls in a sacrificial manner. I find my body shaking uncontrollably as I try and understand what I’m seeing.
“Burial Cave,” Kaylee whispers above the deafening silence.
“How on earth do you know what this place is?” I ask Kaylee just barely above a whisper.
“I read about it in one of my books. It looks like an ancient burial site to me. But this one is unique because it looks like it hasn’t been touched. All of the artifacts are still intact and the skulls don’t look like they’ve been moved.”
I'm shocked by Kaylee’s knowledge, but also comforted by it. In my panic I forgot to understand the historical significance of a place like this. Kaylee lets go of my hand and begins to wander towards the skulls. I wrap my arms around my middle and squeeze. It is the only thing holding me together right now.
“Look at this one Emma, it’s so small.”
She was right. The skull was about half the size of the others. “It must have been a child.” I find myself saying aloud. I guess when we think of the dead, elderly people come to mind, not usually a child. Whoever lost that child was probably never the same.
I try to move on from that though when, out of the corner of my eyes, I spot an empty pillar about twenty feet away. “Kaylee, pssstt.” I call, trying to get her attention.
Redemption (Night Marchers #2) Written by: Rebecca Gober and Courtney Nuckels Page 7