Influencer (Influencing Trilogy Book 2)

by Daniel Hurst

  I pass through the throng of scantily-clad guests, most of whom don’t even notice me as their heads are buried in their phones. I’m not going to get rid of this tray unless they actually look at me and see the food that I’m offering them, but I don’t care, at least it looks like I’m doing something now.

  As I reach the edge of the deck I look out and see the skyline of Miami growing smaller on the horizon. Soon the yacht will be surrounded by nothing but deep blue sea and there may even be some wildlife swimming alongside the vessel as it cuts through the water on the way to Bimini.

  Part of me thinks that I should have blown the boat up already and denied all the ignorant self-obsessed people on board these great views. But patience is a virtue and I know that it won’t be long until all these people around me are nothing but ash. I can’t wait.

  ‘Excuse me, can we have some?’

  I turn around to see Mason Manor reaching out for one of the canapés on my tray. Emily and her boyfriend stand beside her and I get that familiar tingling of excitement that I do whenever I’m this close to one of my targets. Usually it is just before I kill them, when I get to look right into their eyes as the life drains out of them, but this time is a little different.

  They don’t know that I am here to kill them. They don’t even know they are going to die shortly. They just think I’m some crappy waitress who is stuck servicing their needs all day.

  Mason takes one of the canapés and pops it into her mouth before giving the thumbs up to her friends. The guy with Emily reaches out for one too but Emily seems hesitant.

  ‘Excuse me’ she says, ‘do you know if any of these have peanuts in?’

  I stare at her for a moment, taking in her blue eyes and her blonde hair and the excessive amount of makeup on her face. She has made an effort for today but there is something about her that seems different to the rest of the people on this yacht.

  She doesn’t possess the same confidence that the rest of them do. She is still a little self-conscious and aware of herself, unlike everybody else here who clearly think of themselves as the best thing to ever happen to planet Earth. Mason has that aura about her, but Emily doesn’t. She definitely seems to be the most authentic person at the party. I wonder how she ended up here, with all these people, living a life of fame and glamour.

  How did she make herself stand out from the crowd? What makes her any different to all those people who were waiting in the harbour to get an autograph or a photo with their favourite influencer? And why is she asking me about peanuts?

  ‘I’m allergic’ she says, as if reading my mind and of course it’s obvious now.

  But I don’t know the answer. I wasn’t paying attention when the chef told us what is in the canapés, so I have no idea what kind of food I am handing out to all these people. I am here to kill them, not feed them.

  But Emily is still waiting for an answer and so I better just give her one, regardless of whether it’s the right one or not.

  ‘There are no peanuts in them’ I tell her, smiling widely and she smiles too before taking one of the canapés and stuffing it into her mouth.

  If there are peanuts inside it then she will die. If there aren’t any then she will live to be blown up in a few hours’ time. Either way, this young woman in front of me, with the nervous smile and the excessive amount of makeup, is going to die at some point today.

  Enjoy your canapé Emily. It’ll be one of the last things you ever get to experience in this fucked-up world we call a home.

  #YachtLife

  Emily Bennett

  This is one of the best days of my life. I’m on a yacht sailing to the Caribbean. The weather is perfect and the party is just getting started. There’s champagne, canapés and incredible music. There are so many famous faces and I’m hanging out with Mason Manor. And the best thing of all is that my incredible boyfriend is here to enjoy it all with me too.

  All that time that I spent this morning worrying about whether Ryan was okay and why he hadn’t messaged me back and it had just turned out that he was flying into Miami to surprise me at the party. Furthermore, he had managed to sneak on board before me so he could make the surprise even bigger.

  He really is the best.

  I’m currently lying on deck at the front of the yacht as it cuts through the crystal-clear waters on its path to Bimini. Mason is lying beside me in her stunning bikini that is definitely the reason why so many of the guys at the party keep looking over here every few seconds. And Ryan is lying on the other side of me, in his red swim shorts which are the reason so many of the girls at the party keep looking over her every few seconds too. But that’s okay, they can all look as long as they don’t touch.

  Because if they touch then they will be going overboard.

  ‘This is the life’ I say, as I feel the warm rays of sun tanning my skin.

  ‘You can say that again’ Mason replies, flicking back her hair and trying to get the right angle for her latest selfie.

  ‘Are you glad you came?’ I ask Ryan, as I look at him sunbathing beside me.

  ‘I’ve definitely been to worse parties’ he replies, flashing me his cheeky smile.

  ‘How many people have asked you to tell them a joke so far?’ Mason asks him, as she continues to try out various angles for her photo.

  ‘Only three so far, which is pretty good going’ he says, and we all laugh.

  Being a comedian means Ryan is constantly asked to tell jokes everywhere he goes. People always want him to be funny as soon as they find out what he does for a living. He doesn’t mind because he loves to entertain but it must get annoying when he can’t go anywhere without somebody telling him to make them laugh.

  ‘I don’t think that many people here recognise me’ he says, looking around the deck of the yacht and he’s probably right. It’s not that he isn’t famous yet but unless you are really into your comedy then you wouldn’t have heard of him. But I know all that is going to change in the near future, once he starts making more television appearances and selling out bigger venues.

  ‘Enjoy it’ Mason tells him. ‘Once you reach a certain level of fame then things will never be the same again. You can’t go anywhere without somebody trying to film you or get you to be in their photo. It’s nice at first but the novelty soon wears off.’

  ‘I think I’ll enjoy it’ Ryan says. ‘It must be great to have so many fans.’

  ‘Fans aren’t the problem. It’s the weirdos you have to watch out for’ she says, finally getting the right angle she wants for her selfie and taking the shot.

  Now there is just the small matter of editing it and putting it online to deal with but I’m sure she’ll have it figured out by the time we get to Bimini.

  ‘I can handle weirdos. I’m dating one of them after all’ Ryan teases me.

  ‘Hey!’ I shout, playfully hitting him on the arm. ‘I’m not a weirdo. I’m a very respectable young woman.’

  ‘Yeah right’ Mason says, and then it’s her turn to get a slap on the arm.

  We all laugh as the DJ transitions into another song that keeps the party vibe going perfectly for the next part of the journey.

  ‘Excuse me, sorry to bother you guys. But could we have a photo with you?’

  I open my eyes to see two girls standing over us, obscuring the sun and looking a little drunk. I recognise them immediately from a few photos that went on PhoGlo recently.

  ‘Sure! You guys won the competition, right?’ I ask them, sitting up on the deck.

  ‘Yeah! I’m Kim and this is Kelsey’ one of them says, as the other one waves wildly. They are both definitely drunk. Good for them. This is their prize after all.

  ‘Hi girls, nice to meet you’ I say as I get to my feet, but not before giving Mason a nudge to remind her to do the same.

  ‘Hi girls, how’s it going?’ she says, reluctantly putting her phone down so she can get this over with as quickly as possible and get back to what she would rather be doing.

  ‘Great�
�� Kelsey answers, before accidentally letting out a burp and causing us all to laugh.

  ‘Go easy on that champagne’ I advise her. ‘We’ve got a long day out here.’

  ‘Oh my god, I’m so sorry’ she replies, horrified at herself for burping in front of her idols. ‘You must think I’m a pig!’

  But I smile to show her she’s wrong. ‘No, it’s not that. I just want to make sure there’s plenty of alcohol left for me.’

  Kelsey laughs, which pleases me because I just want people to have a good time when they are with me. I’m definitely getting better at dealing with fans. When I first became PhoGlo famous I felt awkward around people who clearly looked up to me. But I’ve gotten used to it over the past few months and now enjoy my interactions with my fans. I am definitely not as weary with it all as Mason is, but then again, she has been doing this a lot longer than me.

  ‘Do you mind?’ Kim says, holding out her camera phone to Ryan so he can take our photo.

  They have no idea who he is and so don’t want him in the picture.

  ‘Sure’ he says, smiling and not letting it bother him.

  I put my arm behind Kim’s back and Mason does the same with Kelsey and all four of us flash our best smiles for the camera.

  ‘All good’ Ryan tells us, handing the phone back to Kim.

  ‘Oh my god, thank you so much’ she says as she and Kelsey scurry away across the deck in a bid to quit while they are ahead.

  As they leave, Ryan, Mason and I all take up our positions again on the decking and, just like that, we are back in relaxation mode.

  After a few moments of silence between us, I look over at Ryan and notice he is looking out to sea. Feeling mischievous, I decide that now is as good a time as any to tease him some more about his level of fame.

  ‘Don’t worry babe, I’m sure one day people will ask you to be in the photo’s too.’

  Mason howls with laughter and while Ryan tries to pretend that he is mad, eventually he can’t hide his smile any longer and turns to me with a look that tells me that I am in for some playful punishment.

  By the time he has finished tickling me and I have gotten my breath back again, I am ready for another drink. I am having the best day of my life with my favourite people and, as the yacht continues on to The Bahamas, I wonder how things could possibly get any better than they are right now.

  #BeachBabe

  Mason Manor

  Some people save up their whole lives to be able to visit a place like this. Some people book time off work and get on a long-haul flight just to see a place like this. And then some people get taken here for free on a millionaire’s yacht.

  I love my life.

  I, along with the rest of the guests at Zack’s party, arrived in Bimini just over an hour ago and we have wasted no time in making ourselves at home on the tropical island in the Caribbean Sea. There’s a barbeque on one section of the beach, serving delicious meats and vegetarian options. There’s a large white marquee, where colourfully-dressed locals serve colourfully-dressed cocktails. The DJ from the yacht has moved his show onto the sands and is continuing his pulse-pounding soundtrack. And all along the perfect shoreline are influencers; sunbathing, swimming and partying like it’s just a typical day in their lives.

  Because for most of them it is.

  I’m on my way back from my second visit to the cocktail tent and have a particularly large alcoholic beverage in my hand. I’m not sure if the reason that I’m a little unsteady on my feet is down to the undulating surface of the sand or to the number of drinks I’ve consumed since the party began.

  I’ll presume it’s just the sand.

  I reach the part of the beach where Trey and Harriet, two of Sebastian’s former employees, are relaxing with equally impressive cocktails of their own.

  ‘Enjoying the party guys?’ I ask them as I sit down, feeling my body sinking into the warm sand beneath me.

  ‘Mason! Oh my god, I didn’t even see you on the yacht’ Harriet shouts, throwing her arms around me and spilling half of her drink onto the beach in the process.

  ‘Yeah it’s easy to miss the hottest girl at the party’ Trey says, winking at me before giving me a hug too.

  ‘You guys’ I reply, smiling at them.

  I haven’t seen either of them in a while. From my memory, which I’ll admit is a little hazy right now, I think the last time I saw Trey was at a party in Madrid and as for Harriet, I think it was a fashion show in London. Even though they don’t have the same high follower count as me, they are both huge PhoGlo stars in their own right, and so have schedules that are just as crazy as mine.

  But the biggest thing we share in common is our past experience with our former boss. We all know what it was like to live under Sebastian’s strict regime for so many years. But Harriet and Trey also know what Emily and I did to get us out from under his control because they, along with Rochelle Turner, helped us on that fateful day when we all took a stand and managed to bring down the man who was threatening our lives and those of the people we loved.

  All three of them had stopped posting what Sebastian had asked them to and so had incurred their written warnings from him on the same day that Emily poisoned him and I killed his hitman. They were working as decoys, keeping Sebastian occupied and the hitman overstretched, whilst Emily and I ensured the main part of the plan went smoothly.

  None of us could have achieved what we did without the help of the others and just like we were all in it together when Sebastian was alive, we were all in together when Sebastian was killed. We hadn’t discussed it much since then, mainly because we are very rarely in the same place together and it’s not exactly the kind of thing you discuss over emails or text messages. But also because even though we had been successful in our mission, we are still scarred by both the memory of the fear we had lived in and also the fact that we had been a part of killing two people.

  I certainly do my best not to think about those things. It’s the only way that I find it possible to live with the knowledge that I shot a man who had been coming to kill me. That’s not exactly something that you can just brush over. I’ll probably need to go to therapy one day. But for now I’m just sticking to my self-medicating diet of positive thinking and alcohol. Results have been mixed so far but I haven’t broken down yet so I guess it’s working as well as I could hope for.

  But I am intrigued as to how Trey and Harriet have coped since we freed ourselves from Sebastian. They seem to be managing externally if their follower counts and array of online selfies in exotic locations are anything to go by. But we all know that what we see online isn’t a true indicator of what somebody is feeling on the inside.

  I could broach the subject by asking them how things are going and maybe we can discuss our thoughts and feelings a little more openly now we are together. But then again maybe this isn’t the place to do it. We’re at a party. We should be enjoying ourselves. Maybe it’s best not to mention the past ever again. Some things are better left unsaid and discussing the plot, execution and aftermath of the murder of your tyrannous boss and his bloodthirsty accomplice probably falls firmly into that category.

  ‘Are you okay? You seem quiet’ Harriet asks me, and I realise I have been pretty quiet since I sat down next to them.

  Silence is hardly in keeping with my party girl persona. Maybe I have had too much to drink already? Usually when I am drunk, I am just a louder and more confident version of myself. But sometimes, very rarely, I have been known to withdraw into myself. It usually happens when I’ve got something on my mind. And even though I keep trying to forget about it, I think the fact that I am being so introspective now shows me that it isn’t working.

  I’m still worried about that text message.

  ‘Yeah I’m fine, just taking in the view for a moment’ I reply, using the clear blue ocean in front of us to disguise the fact that I am clearly not fine.

  ‘It’s lush’ Harriet says, taking another sip from her dwindling cocktail. If she
drinks any more then she won’t be able to get up off this beach and back on the yacht. But maybe that’s not such a bad thing. It’s so beautiful here that it makes you think about just staying on the island and never going back to the crazy, fast-paced world that awaits us when we arrive back in Miami.

  ‘It sure is. And the best thing is that we’ve got a signal again’ Trey says, scrolling through his phone and reminding me that I haven’t looked at mine for most of the time since we got here.

  There was no signal for most of the journey over on the yacht, which was to be expected considering we were out at sea, miles from anywhere. But now we are back on dry land, we are once again available to become slaves to the constant barrage of notifications that are pinging away on our personal devices.

  But I have chosen to try and enjoy this privacy as much as I can and so, since I lost my signal on the journey over here, I haven’t used my phone other than to take a few selfies. Ignoring it for so long gives me a general feeling of anxiety, which is a clear sign that I ought to cut down on how much I use it.

  ‘I need another drink’ Trey says, sliding his phone back into his black shorts and leaping up from the sand. ‘Can I get you girls another one?’

  Harriet and I look at each other and quickly agree that one more drink does sound good right now.

  As Trey walks away to get more refreshments, Harriet sits up for what I suspect is the first time in a while. But once she has managed it, and once the beach has stopped spinning around her, she looks at me with a serious expression on her face.

  ‘Mace, can I ask you something?’ she says, in a hushed voice that is only just audible over the thumping music from the DJ decks across the sand from us.

  ‘Sure’ I say, smiling at her and wondering what it could be.

  Maybe she wants to invite me to an upcoming event. Or collaborate with me on a future promotion. Or maybe she just wants me to take a photo of her lying on the beach right now so she can post it to her PhoGlo page.