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Charlie’s sense of tranquility didn’t last long.
As soon as the sun went down, insects came out in force—bugs bigger than she’d ever seen. Even the smoke and occasional sparks from the fire didn’t keep them away. They buzzed and whined by the side of her face, soft wings flicking her skin, making her squeal and flap like a mad woman.
Plus, though the idea of sleeping on the beach, to the lullaby of waves gently crashing on shore, had seemed like a novel idea when the sun was up, now night had fallen and all she had was a few palm leaves to lie on, it wasn’t so much fun. Thankfully, the scorching heat of the day had waned with the setting of the sun, but it was still a balmy night, causing her now filthy clothes to cling with perspiration. She was torn between not wanting to be anywhere near the crack and pop of the fire because of the heat, and wanting to get closer for the insect repellent and light. The stink of old fish rose from her fingers, and now the thought of dressed crab turned her stomach rather than made her mouth water. Her skin tickled constantly, and she brushed and slapped at herself, certain giant spiders crawled across her as she tried to sleep.
Annoyingly, Tyler didn’t seem to suffer from the same bout of insomnia. He lay on his side, facing away from her, snoring gently. She had to resist leaning over and shoving his smooth, brown shoulder, just so she’d have someone to talk to.
How much of this were the viewers at home getting to see, she wondered. She guessed cameras were hidden in the trees, high up to get a good view. She hoped people at home were at least feeling a little sympathetic. Surely no one would want to be in her position right now.
Charlie rolled onto her back and sighed.
This is the longest night of my life.
Despite the incessant buzz and whine of the insects, exhaustion from the day’s events took hold and her eyes slipped shut. Her thoughts grew jumbled and confused, and she began to give herself in to sleep ...
A blood curdling screech came from deeper within the island and Charlie bolted upright, her heart pounding. What the hell was that? She froze, listening hard, unsure what to do. From a slightly different direction, another scream sliced through the darkness. Her head darted toward the noise, her eyes wide, peering into the night. The absolute black contained within the trees now held her worst nightmares—crazy people, monsters from the deep.
She reached over and shook Tyler awake.
Instantly, he became alert and sat up. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Her voice came out as an urgent whisper. “Something is out there! Something is screaming in the middle of the forest.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Screeching!”
He frowned, his features barely made out in the dimming firelight. “You mean like an owl?”
She shook her head. “It was worse than that. It sounded almost ... human.”
While she really didn’t want to hear the sound again, part of her willed it to repeat so she didn’t look like she was making stuff up or losing her mind.
They sat poised together, ears straining.
Within a few minutes, the scream came again, cutting through the night and turning her blood to ice water. Automatically, she reached out, her hand wrapped around Tyler’s bicep, instinctively scooting closer to his side.
But Tyler didn’t seem to share her fear, and to her surprise he laughed, a deep throaty sound.
“It’s a monkey, Charlie. That’s all. They’re calling to each other, marking out their territory.”
“A monkey? Seriously?” She shivered, despite the heat. “It sounded like someone being murdered.”
“I promise you, there’s no crazed axe-man in the forest killing people. From the search I did earlier, there aren’t any people to kill—except us, that is.”
The isolation of this place fell over her in a blanket, how the sea stretched on without a soul in sight, the forest at their back devoid of human life. “You’re not making me feel any better.”
She realized she still sat by his side, her fingers wrapped around the hard swell of his bicep. Though she knew she had to, she really didn’t want to let go.
“Now are you going to let me get back to sleep?” he said. “This whole thing will be a lot harder to deal with if we’re sleep deprived on top of everything else.”
Reluctantly, she traversed the small patch of sand between his sleeping mat of palm fronds and her own. She lay back down and placed her hands beneath her head to create some kind of pillow, even though she knew her limbs would be numb within an hour.
She’d never be able to sleep with so much noise and movement going on. Every little sound made her muscles tighten, her heart rate tripping with anxiety. Something tickled across her back, between her shoulder blades, and she shook herself in a way that was close to a shudder, reaching back to try to brush whatever it was off. Tyler had begun to softly snore again, and she hated him in that moment—hated his easy way of fitting right in with his surroundings when she felt like a jabbering wreck.
Her eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them away, angry at herself.
Pity-party for one, Charlie?
She’d never wanted to do this stupid show, but she’d still believed she was stronger than this. Despite everything, she’d wanted to prove to everyone, and to herself, that she was more than just a pretty face and an expensive closet.
Something big, with sharp claws and a tail, ran over her leg.
Charlie screamed and yanked her arms and legs into her body. In the flickering light from the fire, she caught sight of a sleek, furry body, a little larger than fist-sized, which ran away, nose to the ground.
She jumped to her feet. Oh, God. A rat!
Tyler gave a sigh of exasperation and rolled to face her, half-sitting. “What is it now?”
“No,” she said, putting her hands up in a ‘stop’ signal. “That’s enough already. I am not sleeping with rats. I refuse.”
His eyebrows arched. “What do you suggest I do? Call the local motel?”
“Yes, exactly. Tell your producer I’m out of here.”
“Charlie, considering no one has found us yet, I think we need to seriously consider that the plane went down. Assuming that’s what happened, Harry would have gone down with it. I’ve no idea if he’s even still alive.”
“Stop saying that!” She rounded on him, tears blurring her vision. “Why do you keep saying that? I get it; you’re supposed to play along. But I just said I quit, so you can stop the whole ‘survival’ bullshit. Okay?”
He got to his feet and folded his arms across his chest, squaring his shoulders. “You can’t quit this, Charlie. I’ve already told you this isn’t some survival setup. It’s real.”
“No.” She shook her head. “No, no, no.”
“Do you really think the show could fake the plane’s engine failing? Do you think they would have left us in the ocean hour after hour? We could have died!”
“No, we wouldn’t have. Someone would have been watching us the whole time to make sure we were okay.”
He tilted his head to one side, searching her face with deep brown eyes that appeared almost black in the firelight. “Think about it, Charlie. Did you see anyone else while we were out there? Any boat nearby or helicopter hovering over us? We were alone. We’re still alone! And it’s about time you faced that fact.”
“Why are you doing this to me?” She finally gave in to the tears she’d fought earlier, and an alarming bark of a sob burst from her mouth. Tears spilled, hot and salty, down her cheeks.
He must have seen the state of her, because his features softened and he reached a hand out toward her. “Come on, Charlie. Come and lie back down. Things will look better in the morning when we’ve both had some rest.”
What else could she do? She didn’t exactly have any other options. She didn’t want to face up to the possibility what he was telling her was real.
Tyler gathered up the fronds she’d been lying on and scattered them directly beside his own. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep off the rats.”
She sniffed and lay down on her side, still angry with him, but so torn. With a huff, she turned to face away from him. His arm found its way around her waist and he pulled her closer, so her back pressed against his stomach. She froze at the proximity of their bodies, but then relaxed. His other arm lifted her head and slipped beneath, creating a pillow of his bicep. He sheltered her with his big body, keeping away at least some of the fears of what lay in the dark. Tyler was all rock hard muscle, even softened in sleep, and his body heat burned through the thin material of her t-shirt.
Eventually, sleep claimed her.