Cady
When Cady had woken up, it hadn’t been instant. Though usually the type of person imbued with irrepressible enthusiasm the moment she stirred to wakefulness, the temptation to lay in the middle of a sunbeam on the warm sand, vivid red strands of hair covering her face from the light, had been hard to fight. Voices had ghosted across her awareness, changing in tenor and volume, and she thought that she felt movement around her. She didn’t know who all was there, or why any of them were there, how she’d gotten there the night before (or had it been in the early morning?), but it just… didn’t seem important. When her thoughts wandered in that direction, she felt a chill across her skin that instinctively made her want to avoid seeking any answers.
Anyway, she was tired and the twilight was pretty.
That there had been daylight only a moment ago didn’t seem unusual.
That in the next moment there was a blue sky when there'd just been stars seemed normal.
Had she even opened her eyes? She couldn’t remember.
Teddy had been there. So had Sally, and Max. Her people were accounted for. They were around.
That was why, when Cady finally sat up and brushed the sand from her skin, she wasn’t alarmed that she was by herself. There was a moment when she felt like she was drifting, but when she stood, Cady felt a snap of energy and it finally felt like her body and spirit were working the right way again. Bouncing on her toes, Cady shaded her eyes with her hand and looked around her. Her face brightened with a smile when she thought that she saw someone, but when she waved, they disappeared further along the coast and she lowered her hand with a shrug.
Cady didn’t remember anything about the night before; she didn’t remember agreeing to sleep on the beach, but over the last few days, she’d learned that some weird stuff happened on the island. She meant, a part of her had been hoping that some of the stories were true and that she and her friends would have an extraordinary time during their trip, but as much excitement as there was in experiencing some of those things firsthand, some of it was genuinely… like… yeah. But Sally had ended up in a tree the other night and she’d been fine. Cady figured that something similar was happening now.
Which still would have been the result of some super reckless behavior and she was probably going to have to have words with someone about some of this, at least, but they’d survived so far. They only had a couple of days left on their trip, anyway.
Right?
It didn’t make sense, but when Cady thought about that, she couldn’t escape the nagging feeling that she was running really late for something. Reaching for her phone to check the time, she realized that it wasn’t with her. Turning in a circle, she tried to see if it was in the sand somewhere, but when she couldn’t find it, she hummed with uncertainty and turned to look at the hotel.
She started walking. Hopefully, her phone was in her room. Hopefully, so were her friends.