Soul of the Phoenix

Chapter 19

"Wait... Does that mean- Oh my God!" Maranda stood up and started walking around the room. She started crying and biting her nails, not knowing which way to turn. Sakiya got up and walked over to her in hopes of trying to calm her down. "Ran.. I know this is all hard to take in, and I know it sucks to have the possibility that your mom could be a part in all of this. But.. We have to hope for the best. This is hard on all of us, Ran. Look at Sylis.. I mean he just found out he was a werewolf, and in the worst way. In the middle of a fight at that, Look at me, Maranda." Sakiya placed both hands on each side of Maranda's shoulders, urging her to look up at her. She had Maranda's full attention. "We WILL get through this. We will find out what's going on, and get to the bottom of all of this. I promise. Can you trust me, please?" Sakiya asked her. Maranda took a moment before she finally nodded her head. "Thank you. I love you, Ran." Sakiya told her and pulled her in for a hug. Maranda wrapped her arms around Sakiya tightly, as if she didnt want to let her go. Sylis got up from the bed, wrapping his arms around the both of them and joined them in a group hug. "I won't let anything happen to any of you either. That's my promise to both of you, with my life." He told them, making Maranda and Sakiya both smile. Maranda let go of Sakiya and wiped her tears, chuckling at the irony of Sylis words. He was a werewolf after all. She was sure though that he would keep them safe. "Now that that's out of the way, I wonder why we've come to a stop." Sylis said, the boat feeling bumpy for but a moment. They didn't manage to move anywhere though before they heard a knock on the door. It could only be Zachary.

Sylis opened the door, Zachary cheesing on the other side. "We've reached our destination, youngins." He smiled. Sylis turned around to the girls and they stood up nervously to follow Sylis and Zachary up the stairs. Maranda grabbed Sakiya's hand as they made their way to the deck of the boat. They were parked at a dock, which Zachary ad already tied off. The view that was revealed once they reached the main floor of the boat caused Sakiya and Maranda's mouths to drop. They reached an island, palm trees lining the sand scattered throughout, each with lights wrapped perfectly around each one causing it to light up the island in a romantic setting. There was a medium sized wooden gazebo stationed in the middle of the island, lights and flowers adorned throughout. It really was the view of what you would assume in a fairytale. There were people dancing to music on the wooden floor of the strucure, couples of men twirling women and a few children spinning around in circles with their haughty laughs a they danced under the moonlight. There were a few gentlemen playing violins and looking in their groove, an upbeat vibe around the whole place. "Wow. This is beautiful." Sakiya said. "Ditto." Maranda and Sylis said at the same time. "Jinx, you owe me a soda!" Sylis laughed, Maranda punching him in the shoulder playfully. "When ya'll are done admiring the scenery, which I know is beautiful, we can go check it out." Zachary wiggled his brows in a playful manner, Sakiya laughing at his childish demeanor. "Let's go!" She said, waiting for Zachary to lead the way. They all hopped off the boat, a wooden walkway path that lead them to the island. As Sakiya was walking along side Zachary, she noticed Sylis and Maranda walking closely to eachother behind them, it definitely made her heart smile. There was no doubt there was something between those two.

They walked up to a small stand before the Gazebo, an older phillipean gentleman with golden skin and silver hair sitting down with a small laptop on the stand in front of him. "Well Hello, welcome to Gaze Island. What can I do for you lovely travelers tonight?" he asked. They all looked bbetween eachother, debating on what to say. "We're actually here to enjoy ourselves for awhile, Mr...?" Sakiya asked. "Just call me Mr. Diddle." He said before closing his laptop and standing up, making his way to shake each of their hands. "You're at the right place then. Come on, I'll show you lovely ones around." He said, motioning for them to follow.

Sakiya walked on one side of the man while Zachary walked on the other, Sylis and Maranda still walking behind them. "These right here, are the stands you want to visit for all your food and drink needs. They have everything from sandwhiches to shrimp dinners." Mr. Diddle said while waving his hand across a line of stands separated between eachother about three feet. It reminded Sakiya of the beautiful getaway islands that you see in movies, the food and drink stands having little hay roofs with a wooden counter, small benches perched in front of each one. So far, Sakiya could point out about 12 different stands with different signs and options they had to offer. Sakiya had her eyes on one in particular. It had a neon light across it's hay roof that read 'Fresh Margaritas and Virgin Daiquiris' A beautiful dark skinned and dark haired woman across the bar. She was making drinks for customers who were sitting in the bar stools in front of her stand. The red slushie with whipped cream and a cherry on top made Sakiya unconsciously lick her lips. Mr. Diddle caughth that and chuckled. "Have you never had a drink like that, young lady?" He asked her. She shyly shook her head no. "You should visit then, we'll circle back around after I finish walking you around the island to gve you a brief idea of what to expect around here. What brought you three here tonight?" He questioned them as they continued walking through the sand, past the stands and towards the Gazebo. "Family issues, needed some time away." Sylis quickly interjected. "Oh yeah, well I'm sorry to hear that man. I do hope things get better for you, though." Mr. Diddle said. Once they got closer to the Gazebo, they came to a stop in front of it. "This here, is the action of the island. We islanders here love to dance and let ourselves go, free spirits if you will. It's the main attraction, and everyone loves it. We've had multiple return customers just for that attraction." He continued. "It's lovely." Maranda chimed in. "Yeah, I'm sure they could all use some free time to destress." Zachary told him. "Are you not staying on the island, sir?" Mr. Diddle asked him. Zachary shook his head. "Unfortunately, I'm not able to. I'm just the ride." He smiled at him. "Oh I see. Well, you're more than welcomed to if you ever change your mind. People leave here alot happier than they come." Mr. Diddle said matter of factly. "Now that you've seen for yourself what the gazebo is like, let's head to show you where everyone sleeps. I don't want to hold you up too long." He said before walking towards the other side of the gazebo, the crew following him closely. They came to a stop in front of rows of small teepees on the other side of the island. "These are the sleeping arrangements we have here, it's much more of an outside experience which our visitors seem to love. We assign them based on your needs. Here." Mr. Diddle pulled a black walkie talkie looking device out of his pocket. "This is a beeper. We will beep you if we have any info for you or any changes. I will beep you when I get back to my stand, and I'll enter your teepee numbers on my laptop. It will show up on this small digital screen here." He pointed to the small square on the front of the device. He powered in on and showed them an example. "This button here on the side, if you press it, someone will come to you if you need anything. Do you guys have any questions?" He asked them. "This place is so nice, seriously, thank you for the hospitality and being so welcoming." Maranda said to him. He simply smiled and nodded at her. "I think we're fine for now, thank you so much again." Sakiya added. "Well, I'll leave you guys to it. I hope you enjoy your stay!" Mr. Diddle said excitedly. "Oh, and I assume you won't forget to go try those drinks that young lady was drooling over." He chuckled before walking away. They all waved him off, and gathered to figure out what they wanted to do first. "Okay guys, now that I've got you here safely, well for the most part, I think I'd better head off. There might be some trouble waiting for me back home at the docks." Zachary sarcastically said, shrugging his shoulders. "Wait, you're going so soon?" Sylis asked, and Zack nodded his head. "Unfortunately, I think it's for the best. I don't want to give any chances for anyone knowing I brought you here, or for anyone to start searching and put this together. We don't know who those guys were that we fought, and don't want to leave a chance for anything more to happen. Sylis, you know how to reach me, and I'll reach out to you to keep you updated. I'm gonna look into some of the stuff we talked about with that weird boss guy, and try to get ahold of my son. Until then, stay safe, and don't hesitate to call if you need anything." He told them. Sylis was the first to walk up to give him a hug, followed by the girls. When Sakiya went in for the hug, she thanked him for everything. "Goddess be with you all." Zack said before heading on his way, leaving them behind to hopefully have a peaceful time away from all the craziness. Except, he had a feeling that this was only just the beginning of their troubles.