LURKING IN THE DARK

What is going on?

The morning came with all the hustle and bustle it could bring along as the adventurers were lined up and given tags for identification right before they would be transported in a long 100-seater bus down to the outskirts of a mountain with a cave in it. The enormous mountain was known to house some humans whose ancestors had long been living in the mountains from the time of war and, since then, made the mountain their abode, along with other creatures one would never have imagined existed.

Although history says the wild creatures, who had long been in the mountains before the humans came, had long gone to extinction, rumors say they still live in the mountains, but far away from the humans. Now, their adventure won't be about looking for some facts to prove the existence of some weird creatures. They are instead there to look at the beautiful scenes the mountain has, which was fun to listen to as their tour guide kept going on and on about how beautiful the scenes are while reassuring the adventurers not to tour another way that could possibly lead them to any creature of some sort.

They had earlier been given instructions on how to dress for going on an adventure. And so, the bus was full of people in their sportswear and snickers with massive soles and bags hanging around their bodies with, of course, foods, snacks, and other goodies in them. Mere sighting of the bag full of food and all made the tour guide reiterate the warning he had been telling them since the start of the day: "Do not take in almonds with you as they attract those creatures. You wouldn't want to possibly add a nightmare to your day already beaming with excitement," the tour guide added, a little laugh following.

Soon, they had all of them put their bags down for inspection to make sure everyone of them followed the rules, and when they were done, they were given instructions to start entering the bus.

Sarah and Collins wore matching blue sportswear with heavy white sneakers. They had planned to both wear it back in Nicaragua when they got to the mountains, a decision Sarah has started to feel uncomfortable about.

Her husband had started to make her feel uncomfortable since they had arrived, especially the night before. It was one thing to wake up in the middle of the night to an empty bed beside you and, while still thinking of where your husband might be, hear him sneak in and kind of check if you are still asleep, and then start to behave weirdly afterward, like he was bothered about something.

She had seen him pacing up and down, troubled as if he just witnessed something she couldn't possibly place her hands on, and when he had turned to check if she was asleep again, he had pretended to just be waking up, and then boom!

He requested for them to make love—the intense type they had never had before. It was on a whole new level, and just when she was about to get the rush of pleasure to circulate her body fully, he left her abruptly. He had never done that before.

He always made sure she was satisfied, but yesterday night, it seemed as though something else was on his mind that made him request love. What it could be was what she didn't know, plus she is still feeling tingly and horny from the night before. She had never felt that way before. Maybe close, but she had never felt that way. And so, she had to sit at the rear end of the bus to not make her uneasiness obvious and to just have her space and time to ponder what has been going on between herself and her husband, especially him, since the night before.

Collins, on the other hand, had been looking for his wife, who had just left casually from their room some minutes before that morning after she had somehow tried to make him fall in love with her again. He didn't feel like it, and so he just kissed her and waved the s*x part off, telling her she would get what she wanted when they got back, a conclusion she had reluctantly agreed to. He had been more than satisfied the night before, and so he didn't feel it in him to make love to his wife again that morning, something his wife wasn't obviously happy about.

He had been trying to flush his mind from those filthy images in his head too, and so far he has been making progress. All he wanted to do at the moment was not think about the strange lady from the night before but make up with his wife again and just get back to the way things were normally, with his wife in his mind instead and by his side.

"Sarah, there you are!"" He said, approaching her after seeing her at the rear end from the front of the bus. "Nice spot you have chosen, babe." He said this, settling down beside his wife with a wide smile. " Hmm.." Sarah managed to reply, forcing a smile as he turned to him sharply and then back to staring out of the window.

"C'mon girl, I said I would satisfy you when we get back." "What happened to you last night?" Sarah asked bluntly, staring at Collins straight in the eyes. After several emotions passed through Collins face for a split second, he managed to ask, "What do you mean? ..." "I mean, last night, before you asked me to make love to you, what happened earlier?" She repeated, still staring at Collins with a straight face. "What?! " Collins exclaimed silently between irregular breaths.

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"Sir, your attention is needed outside. I think it has to do with the key to your room." Silently in his mind, he thanked God for saving him from what seemed like his own nightmare was about to start at that moment when his wife asked him that question. "How the hell did she know?" Was what kept ringing in his mind—other words being said sounding indistinct? "Sir! " The lady who had come to call him asserted, jolting him back to reality from his subconscious. "Oh, you were saying someone wants to meet me outside concerning the key?" "Yes," the lady replied and left. "You okay?" Sarah asked, concerned. "Yeah, I am fine. Now let me go give them the key to the room; I will be right back," he said without looking at his wife, and he walked out of the bus.

After taking deep breaths outside, he walked slowly to the girl who had come earlier to tell him he was needed outside. "Who did you say wants to talk to me?" He asked. "The lady in the green suit over there." She replied, turning back to doing what she was doing. The so-called lady in green had curly black hair with berets on. She seemed like one of their staff in the hotel, he thought while walking up to her. But as soon as he got closer to her, she started walking away from him. "Hey ma'am! You asked to see me," he said, walking faster to keep up the pace with her. She then stopped and walked up to a room, her back still turned. "Drop the key on the table and leave." She said it slowly. "Wha... okay then." He said that and dropped the key on the table. He was about to leave again when the lady in green said, "Please make sure you close the door when you get out." " Okay… But is there a reason you aren't facing me to speak to me? I mean, like the other staff do? Collins inquired, looking at the figure in front of him more intently. Her body figure was banging, and he wondered for a split second what it would look like without the wide and long suit on. It looked familiar to him, although he couldn't... His trail of thoughts was cut off. "Is there a problem with that? You did what I called you for already," she said, tilting a little sideways like she wanted to turn to face Collins. "Uhnnn.. It's fine then..." "If I may."" A loud horn caught Collins off guard. "What is that? "Collins asked, trying to peep outside the window. "The bus is leaving." The lady replied with a grin.

reflecting in her voice. "Ohhh, Sarah!" he said, running back outside towards the bus. "Don't worry, the bus will come back for us. It still has to go like three more times." A man in his mid-thirties said, smiling at him. "My wife is on it. She might be worried." There and then, he sighted his wife on the bus, and they both waved at each other. Collins gestured to Sarah, saying that he would meet her there when the bus comes to pick the rest of them up. Sarah in turn nodded, smiling at him and back at the person sitting beside her, a dark, well-built guy.

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While he creased his brows to get a better view of who took the seat beside his wife, a slight tap on his back cut off his trail of thoughts, making him turn back to see a red-headed young lady in short sports wear and snickers, her skin around her thighs and legs showing visibly.

On second thought and with a more creased face, Collins pointed a finger at her and said, "You are Stephanie, right?" "Uhnnn?... No, I am not." "You are not? But…" "Okay, I am, if that will make you follow me. Now come, I need to show you something." She said that and then pulled Collins along, walking back to the office Collins had come out of.

"Hey…hey.. Where are you taking me, too? And what are you doing here?" "What am I doing here? I also came here with my boyfriend and sisters on vacation. She is waiting for you." She said that and started to pull Collins right to the office.

"Wait… wait… who?..hey." Collins called out while trying to loosen her grip on his hand. "Here we are," the red-head lady said, turning to face another red-head lady who obviously was sexier, more beautiful, and more attractive. "Thank you, Mirabel. I love you a bunch," the red-headed lady said to the one who had brought him in. "Save it, Jocelyn. You mimicking Big sister Monica doesn't very well suit my mood this morning. Where is she? I need my money, and I need to go back to my boyfriend. He must have been waiting back at the lounge for too long." Mirabel's voice suddenly turned serious, much to Collins' surprise.

"What's going on here? I don't think I know you two, nor do I know your big sister Monica, and why do you both have the same resemblance to Stephanie? I met her yesterday, and she looks like you both." Collins said, totally confused. "Ughh, wait for your Elsa to be here to answer your trashy questions, Mr. Man. I am out of here." Mirabel said bluntly, and just as she was about to step out of the door, she turned back and said, "Please send my money to me before I get back home, Jocelyn."

"Why don't you wait and ask big sister Monica yourself?" Jocelyn replied with a teasing look on her face.

"What in the hell is going on here, you girls? I don't have time for games." Collins shouted.