Blood Games

    ‘Glad it worked,’ Vivian said. ‘I might’ve done it, myself, if I’d thought of it.’

    ‘God,’ Helen muttered. ‘How creepy. He must’ve been sneaking around in here while we were right outside.’

    ‘I wonder where he came from,’ Abilene said.

    ‘He could’ve been in here all along,’ Cora pointed out. ‘Even before we came down, you know? Maybe he was in the water and we just didn’t spot him.’

    ‘Wonderful,’ Vivian said. ‘Watching us undress.’

    ‘Nothing he hadn’t seen already,’ Finley told her.

    They lined up along the rim of the pool. Cora and Vivian aimed their lights into the water. Everything except the air-bloated T-shirt had sunk.

    ‘There’s no point in all of us getting wet,’ she said.

    ‘We’re the dry ones,’ Finley remarked, and clapped a hand onto Vivian’s shoulder.

    ‘Yeah. I'm not going in.’

    ‘We’ll hold the lights,’ Finley said, ‘while you three bring up the stuff.’

    Helen moaned. ‘Don’t let anybody sneak up on us.’

    ‘Just hurry,’ Vivian urged.

    ‘Maybe we should light the lantern first,’ Abilene suggested.

    Cora crouched, picked it up and shook it. Fuel sloshed in its tank. ‘Didn’t run out,’ she muttered. She twisted a knob at its base. There was a brief hissing sound, then silence. ‘He shut it off.’

    ‘Figures,’ Finley said.

    ‘The matches are upstairs.’

    ‘We could go get them,’ Abilene said. ‘It’d be a lot better if we had some decent light.’

    ‘Geez,’ Helen said, ‘I hope he didn’t bother the stuff up there.’

    ‘Didn’t look like it,’ Vivian told her.

    Cora set down the lantern. ‘Let’s just get this over with. Shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes.’

    She stood, stepped over to the pool and jumped in.

    Abilene considered going after the matches herself. Finley would probably be glad to accompany her. But the thought that someone might be up there changed her mind.

    She sat on the edge, lowered her legs into the water, and hesitated. She scanned the pool. The flashlights brightened only the small area surrounding Cora, who had already grabbed her T-shirt. The rest of the pool was shrouded in darkness. A beam shone on Cora’s gleaming buttocks as she curled forward, kicked and plunged.

    Abilene pushed off. She dropped, the heat rushing up her body. Peering down through the clear water, she saw towels and flashlights, shoes and a few garments near her feet. She ducked under and started to grab for them.

    A heavy splash thudded in her ears. Currents buffeted her. Helen coming in.

    Struggling to keep herself close to the bottom, she snatched up a towel, a flashlight, three socks and a pair of panties. She sprang to the surface. Cora was already turning away, having deposited a heap of sodden clothes in front of Vivian.

    Abilene set her load onto the edge, then waded past Helen’s submerged body. She spotted her cut-offs. They were down near the bottom, quite a distance from the side of the pool, barely visible in the murky light. She dove. Swimming toward them underwater, she glided past Finley’s shirt. She grabbed it, continued on her way, and finally snatched up her jeans. She was about to rise with them when something ahead caught her attention. She could hardly see it through the gloom of the poorly lighted water. But it seemed to be fabric undulating near the bottom, very close to the bars of the grate that covered the hot spring.

    Had she strayed that far from the poolside?

    She suddenly felt very alone and vulnerable. She ached to turn back. But the thing near the grate was probably clothing. And she was almost close enough to grab it.

    Though her lungs were starting to bum, she swam forward and reached down. Her fingers snagged fabric. She clenched it, kicked to the surface and stood up. Gasping for air, she twisted around.

    She was alone in the middle of the pool, surrounded by darkness. Neither of the flashlights were on her; they were aimed down at Cora and Helen.

    ‘Hey!’ she called.

    A beam darted about, then found her.

    ‘Thanks.’

    As she waded toward her friends, she lifted her hand out of the water to see what she had retrieved. Helen’s plaid, Bermuda shorts. She had snagged them only by one leg, and they hung upside down.

    She gathered them in against her belly. Holding them there along with her shorts and Finley’s shirt, she trudged through the chest deep water. She took only a few steps before the light abandoned her. She almost called out to complain, but decided not to bother. She would be with the others soon.

    It was slow going, though. She thought about the darkness at her back. The nape of her neck tingled. A few times, she glanced over her shoulder, but saw nothing.

    She gasped when something brushed her thigh. Goosebumps scurried up her skin.

    Telling herself it was probably just an article of clothing, she reached down. Her fingers hooked a strap, and she lifted a bra out of the water. From the size of the thing, it had to be Helen’s.

    Ahead of her, Helen flung some things at Finley’s feet, then boosted herself out of the water.

    Exactly what I’m going to do, she thought. Get out. I’ve had enough of this.