"Hey! What did you want to see me for?" Dustin asked as he arrived through Gibbs's front door.

Gibbs was seated at his almost futuristic looking computer. The brightness of the panels was almost as brilliant as his eyeball as he clacked away at the keyboard. Besides his pulp glass of orange juice and plated muffin on the desk, there was a phone attached to the computer by a rainbow cord.

"Um... I wanted to ask if you lost your phone a couple weeks back. I found an exact replica of your phone which I saw someone place behind the school. Didn't realize it was yours till I saw the same name and address etched into a piece of paper in the case!"

"Um no. I haven't lost it, it's right here in my pocket"

"That's odd... I got into it earlier... it was like trying to get into a fortress! And it doesn't have any data on it except apps and one location written in notes Don't worry, I'll try to return it to the owner at that location. Thank you for coming though!"

"Yeah! No problem! Oh and by the way... don't ever disappoint Mandy again!" Dustin threatened looking through Gibbs, who froze for a second, with a sharp look, clutching the door knob.

"Trust me, I won't!"

9:13 a.m
Pulling into the gigantic gourmet supermarket equipped with a gas station perched to the left of it was Carson, his father, Dustin, Beth, Mandy and I. Randomly, late last night he called up the rest of our parents to let them know he wanted to take us to the south of Saint Lucia in the beautiful Soufrière for the weekend. He had a multitude of things mapped out to do and said he would take care of all expenses. So we prepared our belongings and stood outside our houses for his car once the sun rose.

I got into the six-seater SUV and in the back I changed into my clothes of choice. My tight fit grey pants, white top, wedge sneakers, and my kinky afro. With the ends of her hair now colored blonde, Beth wore a crop top and a short black skirt with suspenders over it. Mandy had on jeans, a cropped top tied to the back with a ponytail, and her hair styled in space buns with flowery edges. Carson came up with the idea of Dustin and him wearing button up shirts and aquamarine beach slacks together with a brown bucket hat. With a hundred bucks each, kindly provided by Carson's father, we all exited the car and began stunting our outfits.

After passing through the automated doors, we got a trolley and bought the snacks we needed for the descent. For lunch, we piled high on a ton of sandwiches, freshly made fried chicken, and a few boxes of juice. After that, Dustin and I each gathered a bag of sugary, high-fructose biscuits and cookies as our personal snacks. Carson snatched up some yogurt with oats and raisins and some premade sweet potato fries. Without planning to pay for the honey roasted peanuts, Beth took a bag and pocketed it. Lastly, Mandy purchased several white chocolate bars.

Once we checked all our items we peeled out of there but were stopped by a security guard. Beth felt her throat get tight and her joints stiff. But the tension eased off her once he handed us the rest of our change as we forgot it at the counter.

We sprayed ourselves with insect repellent before getting back into the car, myself more so than the others because those pests left scars on my sensitive skin from their bites, unlike when they bit someone else. All we did for the remainder of the drive down was crank up the music in the car, featuring a variety of artists like Cardi B, Flo Milli, Tinashe, and Megan Thee Stallion. I was aware that both my mother and father had many family members that lived around so I was glad I sat at the back with tinted windows.

12:48 p.m
He brought us kids to the guest home he had rented on the Deux Tou Monoir so we could place our bags and change because we had a busy afternoon planned. As soon as we got out of the car, we were in complete amazement. The house's surroundings included hills, trees, breathtaking fauna, the sound of a nearby waterfall, and the aroma of charred coals from some men who were bubbling up a one pot over the road. The two-story house's green outside delighted us, but the inside rattled us way more.

The archways included splotches of stained brush finishes with gothic dark oak tints. The ceilings extended above our heads, and chandeliers hung like magnificent circus performers, dangling by their hair as they performed radiantly. The only complaint was that lizards were running about in this beautiful area as if it were their own enclosure.

"Ok! The master bedroom is mine. Mandy and Beth you two can share the room upstairs next to it. Carson and Dustin you can have the one downstairs. And Tony- sorry I meant Toy... you can have the other room downstairs all to yourself!"

"She gets a whole room to herself?!" Mandy and Beth protested. But whilst they were complaining I slid down the wooden railings and locked myself in my personal castle.

The two did beat me at my own game when they began chatting and having a blast together which made me put my tail between my legs and go upstairs to share my snacks and chat. But whilst we were doing that, Dustin and Carson had the door shut, smooching all over each other, Carson even licking his pits like a dog in heat. We eventually decided to check up on them as they were being too quiet and heard the kissing sounds as we pressed our ears against the door. So, we inched out the house to that room window and jumped through scaring them and causing them to scurry to get their shirts back on. And all we did was run out the door giggling.

When they emerged, they discovered us sitting on round net chairs with plush cushions on the patio, barely suppressing our laughter as we pretended we weren't criminals. We soon regretted our actions as we were held accountable for them. When Dustin started tickling us, things got out of control and we made a terrible attempt to flee to safety from an athlete. Eventually, we all fell to the ground, laughing and staring up at the radiant sky.

Then Carson's father emerged, holding a couple of buckets in his hands as he stood above us, staring down. We were intrigued, so we sat up and listened as he described his plan to use clay to create masks of our faces that we could then decorate as an entertaining arts and crafts project.

We all took turns laying on the pullout couch inside as he carefully poured the cold substance on our faces as we stayed still. Beth was the hardest to get done as she felt claustrophobic and would leap up whenever a new batch was poured onto her face. Dustin got sick of it and held her down until the process was done and once he let go she chased him around the rose garden. They ran through the clothing line that hosted slightly dry bedsheets that Dustin eventually tangled himself into and once he came back inside he smelt like lavender bliss. She got double revenge as whilst we were painting our masks she threw paint all over him.

1:30 p.m
Dustin landed in the icy ocean with a loud splash that nearly broke the surface of the waves. Carson felt at home again as he followed with an amazing angelic dive, moving his arms with the water. In order to prevent our hair from getting wet, Mandy and I sat on some rocks that dipped into the river. With our necks twisted, we gazed bewilderedly at Beth as she stood in the shallow area, the water reaching her waist. She was shaking her ass in her skimpy bathing suit while wearing headphones.

"What the fuck kinda phase is she going through?!" Mandy said as I tried to figure out an answer to that question myself.

Being in the water for more than thirty minutes allowed us to get use to the iced temperatures but once we hopped out to have lunch, our teeth were clattering, fingers were pruned and our skin became ashy once dried. We sat in a circle on the sand speeding through the sandwiches with an extended family near us who had propped up a sound system to blast music on the shores. Carson nailed his vision to their kids worriedly as they bopped around in the sea unsupervised.

   Mandy was enjoying the music, lip syncing to herself as she lay on her back a few inches away on the sand once she had finished her sandwiches looking into the sky with her sunglasses on, sun micro needling into her body. For once in the past two weeks she wasn't worried about where Gibbs was. She watched as Dustin who had packed a huge water gun filled it with water and chased Beth around spritzing her as she begged him to stop.

Whilst they horsed around, Carson and I sat laughing but I knew once he was done with her that I'd be his next target. That's when Carson spotted his father returning to our location with a bunch of cold Malta's wearing a tank top in the colors of the LGBTQ pride flag. I smiled at him, my heart aching.

"Why is he wearing that?! I think I ratherd him when he secretly judged me for being gay!" He joked.

"Don't say that. You have no idea how lucky you are. You're being ungrateful with the amazing love and acceptance from your parents the universe has provided to you!" I said killing the vibe, immediately jogging back into the water and floating around leaving Carson to ponder.

8:15 p.m
Like a wandering trader in Minecraft, the darkness suddenly appeared. Bringing in a large number of fireflies and cicadas, clearing the streets. In contrast to the hot day, the south was exceptionally cold at night, and the strange breeze created a symphony with the plants and trees.

The six of us sat outside in a circle, a fire molded by Carson's father with logs and a lighter as our light source. Each had a metal chopstick in our inventories's he'd packed, roasting marshmallows for our s'mores. But all I wanted to do was go inside as there were random bugs finding themselves on my skin every other second.

At that point, he started telling us tales of his early years and how he had grown up in a location quite similar to this. He pulled out the items he had in a duffle and told us about this drink they liked to create. He handed each of us a plastic cup and then added some Coca-Cola. After that, he used his teeth to make a hole in the top of a can of milk, which he then poured in as we mixed with plastic spoons. We were surprised by how lavish it tasted.

However, his boyhood tales eventually gave way to terrifying tales of his experiences both before and after his transfer to Saint Lucia, when he stayed in this very cottage on the Deux Tou Monoir. From stories of babies cries that when checked on were actually tricks so evil spirits, some being mermaids, could lead you to your death. To women in white dresses and sun hats with no faces that had the legs of a horse or goat tailing you on your way back up from the market.

Some of those stories were old news to Dustin and I as our mothers told them to us before being that they grew up around and or close to here. Dustin's mother stayed in Dennery which is prone to outrageous flooding and known for their population of many witches and demonic entities that humans take on. They've always given us warnings about such areas and even hearing of the location of this trip made my mother give me a long lecture retelling these stories, telling me to take precautions.

I was equally as skeptical as Dustin, who believed it was all bullshit, but I was also concerned that there might be some truth to it. When we arrived back, that alone forced me to move my mattress, covers, and pillows to Mandy and Beth's room where I set up a cot in the corner. And, very terrified, Carson ran to his father's room, leaving Dustin by himself. Dustin was certain it was all in his head, so he insisted on remaining to dispel his anxieties.

    Carson wanted to sleep with his father for another reason. What I said stuck with him for the whole day. He gave his father a huge hug and let him know how much he loved him before the two crashed, Carson in his arms.

The place went silent as soon as we were all down. However, at two in the morning, a knock on the door startled me. Since Carson's father slept heavy, incapable of being awakened, Dustin responded. With our blankets wrapped around ourselves, the four of us stood beneath the steps, observing Dustin from a distance. His expression was patchy with annoyance since he felt that our fear was pitiful.

It was the lady, Mrs. Prospere, that owned the guest house. She was wearing a black cloak over her body with a hood over her face and her resemblance was uncanny to a witch. She spoke with a grating voice and used her hands to animate her words with her long, dark, cracked fingernails that could almost scratch you if you stood too close.

She wanted us to know that although the electricity can sometimes go out, we can always count on it to come back on soon. However, her appearance frightened us more than the darkness. In fact, just picture her in the dark! That would make me lose my marbles!

She withered away in a cloud of fog leaving a few cryptic words with us "Take heed of who you speak to, where you go, what flows, where you stay, what you say and you won't pay! That's the number one rule of the Deux Tou Monoir. Enjoy your stay!"