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Nate and the entire group came running over. Nate's flashlight swept across the body and I saw his eyes widen. He immediately pushed everyone back. "Echo, could you take everyone back on the tour?" he said, trying to be calm but insistent. Echo looked at him with confusion, but got the fact Nate was giving an order, not making a request. "If we don't catch up with you, bring everyone to Bitter Beans at the end and remain there," Nate commanded.
Echo had the good sense to listen. There was an excited buzz from the crowd as he announced. "The tour proceeds! The undead call me from over there!" He pointed his finger toward the Grand Hotel. Everyone rubbernecked, but walked away.
The moment they were out of earshot, Nate immediately went back to the body. I could see he was building up his courage for what we both knew was there. "Paige? Could you call Fred and Stan and tell them we need an ambulance?" he asked.
"Wait! Don't do that, Paige!" said the body.
And then he stirred and sat up.
I could have killed him.
"Trevor? What are you doing?" I shouted as I realized who it was. I socked him in the shoulder as my fear became anger.
He waved sheepishly. He was dressed in a bloodied sweater and there was blood on his face. But he was also wearing makeup and contact lenses that made his pupils white. "Um... hey. I was... atmosphere. Boo!"
Nate threw up his hands in disgust. "You were pretending to be a dead body???"
He shrugged, a little embarrassed. As far as I was concerned, he should be a lot embarrassed.
But Trevor said, "Yeah. Tango and Madison thought it might make our tour more interesting." He pointed into the trees. "There's some ghosts and stuff hidden in the forest and it was supposed to be a fun haunted Halloween thing." He then tried to make this our problem, like this whole thing was our fault. "Isn't your tour supposed to be one block over? Why are you even here?"
"Well, our guide had some ghost equipment that said there was a vortex of evil this direction," Nate informed him.
"A vortex of stupid," I said, wanting to smack Trevor upside the head.
"Hey! Listen, it was just part of the show!" he protested.
"That's great," I fumed, "but next time, let us know so that we don't think we have an actual murder to deal with."
"Don't be like that," Trevor said, getting up and brushing himself off. "You poached my clients."
I could not believe this guy. "I poached your clients? I'm not running a ghost tour. I'm supposed to be having a fun night out with my boyfriend."
Trevor's eyes shifted to Nate with the word 'boyfriend.' He's always been a competitive person, and even tried to make a play for me when he first arrived on the island. Not that he actually was interested in me, but more because I was interested in Nate.
"I didn’t mean you," Trevor clarified. "I meant Johnny."
"Johnny is a grown man who makes his own decisions."
"Then why did you go on his tour before mine?" asked Trevor. There was even a little bit of a whine that dropped into the tone of his voice, which made me hate him in this moment even more.
"Because we're going on your tour tomorrow!" I shouted with frustration, throwing up my hands. "Although now? Listen, Trevor, that girlfriend of yours once convinced you to dress up like a seal. And I thought that was the lowest you could stoop. But to be lying dead in a field covered in fake blood? What is wrong with you?!"
Nate held me back by my shoulders, as if trying to remind me not to go kicking Trevor in the kneecaps for being an idiot.
"I wasn't hurting anyone..." he griped. "It is a part of Halloween! Have you never heard of a haunted house before?"
"We're not in a house!"
"Well, a haunted forest! Or haunted field!"
"What if some kid found you instead of me?"
"They'd figure out it wasn't real."
"After you scarred them for LIFE!"
We could see the flashlights from the other tour coming. Nate took my hand. "Let's let the man do his job, Paige. Seems faking people out is what he does best."
"I'm running for the city council!" he called after Nate as he lay down in the grass. "And then you'll see what true leadership is like!"
"I hope he gets ticks," I muttered.
As we got back to civilization, we could hear Tango's group shriek with delight as they stumbled across Trevor's body and they were directed toward the woods. Stupid ghost tour.
Meanwhile, we caught up with Echo and his gang. I saw several of them craning their necks, listening to the fun being had by Team Tango. They were looking mutinous. Not to say I could blame them entirely. Echo was a snore, but I made the executive decision to pretend like I was having the most fun in the world on this tour. I wasn't going to let Johnny down. And even more, I wasn't going to let Trevor win.
Echo noticed Nate and I had returned with interest, but continued his spiel. Finally, he handed over his equipment and allowed the group to roam around Main Street and see if they could find some ghosts. That seemed to make them look a little happier.
He took the opportunity to come over to Nate and me. "Is everything okay?"
Nate shook his head and sighed. "The saloon is running its own ghost tour and they decided it needed some theatrics. They had a guy douse himself in fake blood and hide in the field."
Echo's brow furrowed. "Who is leading their tour? Someone in town?"
"Some guy named Tango?"
I could see that Echo was about to explode. "Oh. OH! TANGO did this. He's here?" He turned to me and Nate for confirmation. "Well, this is just like something he would try to do. He treats this calling as a joke. His lies cause people to mistrust the truth." He took in our group like a general protectively surveying his troops. "I would never stoop so low. It makes a mockery of our profession."
Nate tried to soothe. "People will know to come to you if they seek an authentic experience." He placed a reassuring hand on Echo's shoulder. "There is room enough on this island for everyone."
Echo glowered at him with fury. "No. I don't think there is."