Solstice

by Lorence Alison

  “But why would you join a festival crew if you knew it was doomed from the start?”

  Paul scoffed. “I joined so I could keep people safe. I trained my people to make sure kids didn’t wander away from the festival boundaries—from what we’ve learned, Diab doesn’t like open spaces, instead preferring the dunes, the rocks, the wooded areas, or the water. I emphasized to Zack that we must never let people wander away. But he just shrugged me off. And then people did wander away. I should have guessed they would once only one food truck arrived and there were no shelters. When I saw what happened on the cliffs, I screamed to Frazier that I knew something like this might happen.”

  I nodded, remembering when he’d said that on the beach, as the men loomed over Eric’s body. What were we supposed to do? Zack had asked. Put up a barbed-wire fence?

  “But he didn’t seem to hear me, not even then. He thought that kid just got drunk and fell.” Paul rolled his eyes.

  Sweat prickled the back of my neck. I’d known Paul didn’t believe that Eric had fallen. Now I knew why.

  “So that’s how Eric died?” I said quietly. “By Diab?”

  Paul nodded solemnly. “I think so.”

  “And that second death? Madison?” My heart started to pound. “The monster got her, too?”

  Elena let out an incredulous whimper of fear. I stared into the sky, marveling over the fact that I was looking at the very same stars that shone over my house in Atlanta. How had I wandered into a world where there was a … beast? Some kind of magical, monstrous thing that could move from sea to land, gobbling up humans? How could this be real?

  “Anyway,” Paul said quietly. “After I saw Eric’s body on the beach, I found his T-shirt snagged on a rock, and I grabbed it. I want to test it for DNA. I want to see what the creature that did this to him most closely resembles, genetically.” He looked at us pleadingly, real truth in his eyes. “I didn’t kill Eric! I’m just trying to keep you guys safe! This concert never should have come here. And now people might die. The concert organizers don’t seem to give a shit.”

  Elena let out a whimper, and in the moonlight, I could see a crystal teardrop running down her cheek. “What are we going to do?” she cried. “How can we stay away from that … thing?”

  “We’ll figure that out.” Paul reached out his arm hesitantly, like he wasn’t quite sure of himself, but suddenly Elena flung her body at him, burying her head into his chest. He awkwardly wrapped his arm around her shoulders and let her sob. “It’s okay,” he said. “I’ll make sure you don’t get hurt.”

  I watched as he comforted her, his posture so different from the brittle, angry man I’d thought he was. This was a guy, I realized, who was brittle and angry not because he resented all of us for being on his island but because he was fighting a losing battle of keeping all of us safe. I really did believe he was going to do everything to make sure we wouldn’t be hurt. But once again, I considered everyone else on this island—they were all so exposed and vulnerable.

  I cleared my throat, and Paul looked up. “What about the people still at the festival?” I asked quietly. “What’s going to happen to them?”

  Paul’s face clouded. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “But now that Diab is back, I’m afraid it won’t be good.”

  Myla Breaking News:

  WHERE IS ZACK FRAZIER?

  EAST MYLA ISLAND: One day into the Solstice Festival, with multiple acts canceled and rampant complaints of unsafe conditions, and Zack Frazier, festival organizer and major YouTube personality, has gone missing.

  Some sources last saw him trying to calm an angry crowd that was demanding answers about why they’d paid tens of thousands of dollars to attend a concert that had fallen apart. A few festivalgoers who returned to the United States say they last saw Mr. Frazier on a raft leaving Myla East—“looking pretty desperate and angry.” But since then, Mr. Frazier has not been heard from. Meaning there is no one to answer for the atrocity that is the Solstice Festival. Has Frazier run away from his self-made disaster? Where will he turn up next?

  (This is a developing story.)

  Comments:

  @boomer92: Such a wimp. I’ve lost all respect.

  @KNArdley_O: Unsubscribe, unsubscribe, unsubscribe!

  @45bb: Anyone else watching the active weather and ocean map over Myla? What’s with that weird swirl on the eastern side? Some sort of underground tornado?

  Reply: @KNArdley_O: Who cares??

  @HaydenATL: Adri? If you’re reading this, please give me a sign you’re okay. I should have never encouraged you to go to that festival. I’m so sorry.

  20

  PAUL GAVE ELENA AND ME big glasses of water and made us peanut butter sandwiches. We hovered in the doorway, glancing cagily into his space suspiciously. I noticed the same stack of newspapers on the coffee table.

  Paul noticed me looking and pointed at them. “I pulled out all the research I’d done on the Diab—but I never found exactly what I was looking for. I think it was stolen.”

  I took another bite of my sandwich, trying to hide my skepticism. I couldn’t fathom who might want to sneak into Paul’s cabin and steal random research about a monster that may or may not be real.

  Then again, Diab had to be real, didn’t it? Because what else explained those savage noises? I glanced at the coffee table. The scrapbook was still there, facedown as I’d left it. Suddenly I wanted to leaf through every page. I wanted to read about all of these strange deaths. I thought of the way someone had phrased what had happened in one of the letters I’d read: It got Sidney. It. Diab.

  Paul disappeared into his bedroom and came out with Eric’s T-shirt in his outstretched hands. “I still want to test this for DNA, but I haven’t had time with managing the festival and making sure no one else goes off the grounds. But you see this mark here?” He pointed to some dark smears near the collar. “It’s not human. It might be some kind of ink.”

  Elena swallowed. “You think it’s from the … Dia—whatever? It’s a giant squid?”

  “That can also walk on land?” I asked incredulously.

  “I don’t know, but other historical accounts of similar deaths found nonhuman material on the bodies—the same color as this, too. Maybe Diab ejects some kind of liquid when it’s angry or eating. There isn’t much record of finding this stuff in the woods or rocks after the monster disappears—but then, when Diab’s around, usually people are so afraid to venture anywhere outdoors, so there isn’t much research to go on. Once I get around to testing it, I’ll have a better idea.” He set the shirt down gently on his table. “But that’s not important right now. The important thing is to figure out how we’re going to make sure everyone’s safe.”

  He stared at us as though expecting we’d have some sort of answer. I looked helplessly at Elena. She opened her mouth, then let it fall wordlessly shut.

  My gaze drifted to the small window. It offered a clear view through the trees, straight to the water. I could just make out the tiny, twinkling lights of the remaining yachts bobbing in the distance. I was so surprised by their presence I had to do a double take.

  “I can’t believe yachts are still here,” I gasped. “Don’t they realize that some sort of person-eating … thing is on land?”

  Paul crossed his arms and followed my gaze. “They probably don’t. They’re farther out than you think—I doubt they heard the screams. And it’s not like anyone can broadcast what’s happening with all the cell service being out on this side of the island.”

  “Yeah, what’s with that?” Elena asked, and then straightened like she had a thought. “Do you think the festival organizers deactivated the cell tower or something? So none of us could report to the world how horrible the festival is?”

  “I wouldn’t put it past Zack Frazier,” Paul muttered.

  I shifted my weight. Before Zack disappeared, he’d seemed so earnest. Like he really was trying to do good. I didn’t know what to believe.

  Elena crossed her arms over
her chest. “Maybe we should find Zack. He has access to Captain Marx’s yacht. That’ll get us closer to the other boats, and we could figure out a plan to reach them. They could help rescue people on the island. Get everyone out of here.”

  “That’s a good idea,” I said, though I felt hesitant. Last Zack and I had talked, he’d thought Paul was behind all of this. What if we found him, and Zack did something to Paul? On the other hand, surely he’d heard the noises from the monster in the woods. Surely he understood that that was the thing killing people, not Paul.

  Elena and I tried to remember where we’d seen Zack last. “Maybe he’s still at the concert site?” I suggested.

  We started on the path back to the festival. As we walked, I thought more about how much disdain Paul had for Zack. I’d gotten a different picture of the guy—someone who seemed genuinely shocked that his careful plans weren’t working out like he’d hoped. Had he really brushed off Paul’s warnings so cavalierly? The very same guy had worriedly checked out a concertgoer’s wounds, looking deeply guilty, as though he’d caused the injury himself. It seemed like we were missing a piece of this puzzle. I just didn’t know what it was.

  I felt only marginally safer with Paul with us as we traipsed over the dark dunes. The air inside the woods was eerily still. I kept thinking I heard mysterious noises—gurgling, growls, clicks, lip smacks—but it was possible I’d contrived all of it, paranoid that Diab was watching.

  Elena stepped over a large, deep puddle that had been left from the flash flood earlier in the day. “So why is the creature only local to Myla? Like, why does it never go anywhere else in the Caribbean?”

  “I’m not sure,” Paul answered. “That’s what I’ve been studying—it has to be something with the ecosystem. Or maybe Diab feels safe here. Maybe this is its territory.”

  “Do you think there’s more than one of its kind on earth?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know if one has just lived a long, long time … or if there were two Diab and they spawned another—but whatever the case, it’s been part of the Mylan lore for centuries.”

  “And no other biologist is interested?” I felt water seep into my sneaker as I took a soggy step into a shallow puddle. “But I thought scientists loved discovering new species.”

  “We’ve kept it really quiet,” Paul admitted. “We don’t want to be inundated. Of course people would love to study Diab. But we worry that if they came, studied the thing, tramped all over the island, and then left us alone with it again…”

  “It might anger the creature?” Elena guessed. “And it would lash out at the locals even more?”

  Paul twisted around and grinned at her. “You’re a smart one. Mylans need to protect their own, you know?”

  Despite it being too dark to see, I could feel a small, sudden shift in the atmosphere. “I get it,” Elena said bashfully. I could tell she was smiling.

  We could hear the hubbub at the festival site before we actually arrived. As we pushed aside the palm fronds, a figure in a Solstice T-shirt suddenly stepped in front of us, wielding what looked like a canoe paddle over his head. He raised it up like he was ready to smack us, and we cowered back. Elena let out a scream.

  “Whoa, whoa!” Paul cried. “It’s just us!”

  The guy’s wild eyes adjusted. I recognized him—this was Indigo, the same cheerful guy who’d ushered us off the ferry on our first morning here. But now his eyes were sunken. His mouth wobbled. His shirt was torn at the front, revealing a big bruise on his torso, and the veins in his arms bulged in a way that seemed almost grotesque. Slowly he lowered the oar. “Paul. What the hell are you doing out here? Haven’t you heard?” Indigo glanced around as though making sure no one was listening in. “There’s something over the dunes,” he whispered. His voice trembled with fear. “We heard … screams.”

  Paul gave Indigo a level look. But once the guy’s back was turned, he exchanged a glance with Elena and me. People were figuring it out. Of course they were. And this—mutiny, barbarism, defending oneself with boat oars—was what was coming out of it.

  As we walked across the field, there was evidence everywhere that things were starting to … deteriorate. Girls were in screaming matches with one another over bottles of water. People lay hoodies, shoes, and even spare pairs of underwear flat on the ground to mark their territory; I noticed a guy inadvertently step inside someone’s circle and the circle’s inhabitants went ballistic, two of them attacking him around the waist. People sat in huddled groups, gazing wildly into the woods. Some clutched makeshift items as weapons: belts, metal water bottles, a stiletto-heeled shoe.

  They all knew—I could just tell. Everyone had heard those screams. I wondered if anyone had dared to venture away from the festival site to see what had happened. I don’t know if I would have.

  Paul put his hands on his hips and scanned for Zack. I did, too, taking in the tipped-over food truck, the abandoned customer service table, the looted stage—several amps had been smashed. I didn’t see Zack anywhere.

  “Maybe he went back to Marx’s yacht?” I suggested.

  “He should be here,” Paul grumbled. “He should be trying to save people.”

  “He was,” I said. I kept thinking about how gently Zack had helped the hurt girl. “He came back to grab reinforcements—he was worried about everyone in the ocean.”

  Another shriek sounded from the woods. I froze. Elena grabbed my arm tightly. It was so dark in the trees that it was hard to know what was going on. I listened for monster sounds—roars, screeches, that horrible gurgling. Nothing. But there were no more shrieks, either. I still felt a little clench in my chest. What had just happened?

  “Come on,” I said. “We should go to Marx’s boat regardless of whether Zack’s there or not. We’ll beg him to let us on. We can broadcast to other boats over his radio.”

  “On an open channel. Good idea,” Paul said, nodding. He rubbed his chin worriedly. “But I’ve already tried to convince Marx about the creature, too. He laughed in my face even more than Frazier did. What makes you think it’s going to be any different now?”

  Elena straightened and started rummaging in her pocket. “I have something.”

  She tapped the screen until she got to the photos app. The last image was a video still of what looked like a dark, abandoned road. She hit the triangle button and a video began to play. It didn’t take me very long to realize that she’d shot this when she and I were cowering behind Paul’s van. For a few seconds, nothing moved in the video, but suddenly a shriek rang out. And then another, and then another, and a horrible, sloshing, slurping gurgle of an enormous thing—a Diab—swallowing down a body without even bothering to chew.

  We stared at it until the video ended. Paul looked visibly shaken. Elena cleared her throat. “I hit record because I knew something sketchy was going down,” she said, glancing guiltily away from Paul. At the time, we’d thought the sketchy thing was him.

  “This is great,” I said. “Marx will have to believe us.”

  But as we turned toward the shoreline, that eerie gurgle echoed in my mind again and again. I had a feeling I’d never forget that sound for as long as I lived.

  Text message log:

  To: Gigi

  From: Mom

  Sent: 10:04 p.m., Friday, June 19

  Honey, please write back when you get this. I’ve heard scary rumors. Please tell me you aren’t one of the kids in the water trying to swim to the yachts. There are so many random tweets flying right now that I don’t know what’s true and what’s a hoax—I think that’s how the Mylan officials are seeing it, too. Please send word if you can! I’m so scared for you.

  To: Mama

  From: Avery

  Sent: 10:23 p.m., Friday, June 19

  Mom IDK if u will ever get this but i’m huddled under a tree and haven’t eaten in days and there’s some kind of multi-eyed giant octopus in the woods and if i die i’m sorry for all the shit i put you through because i’ve totally been an a
sshole and u don’t deserve it. love u so much.

  (Message unable to send)

  To: Juliana

  From: Rob

  Sent: 10:37 p.m., Friday, June 19

  Hey, it’s Rob—we met at Coachella? Listen, this is going to sound totally random, but I’m here at the Solstice Festival and I’m pretty sure none of us are going to survive and I just want to say that I’m in love with you and I should have told you that night but I was too afraid … and now I’ll never get the chance. Live life to the fullest. You never know which day’s gonna be your last. I always thought that was just random BS they put on Hallmark plaques for above your stove, but boy is it TRUTH.

  (Message unable to send)

  21

  MOONLIGHT RIPPLED ACROSS the water. The tide was out, but the waves were choppy, and we could see heads bobbing out at sea. Hysterical voices rose in the air. It was all the people who’d climbed onto the boats earlier. They didn’t know where to go. All I could think of was Paul’s research about the creature in the water. The strange ecosystem around Myla Island. The fact that sharks, even huge ones, were too afraid to enter this territory because of … the thing.

  I bit hard on my thumbnail, cracking it down the middle. “What’s going to happen to them?” I asked nervously. “I mean, what if the creature decides to go for a swim?” I wondered, too, what they thought they were going to accomplish in the ocean. They seemed so far from the yachts. And it wasn’t like salt water was suitable for drinking …