MIDNIGHT AT THE BAHAMAS
CHAPTER 3 — FIRST NIGHT, FIRST FEAR
The sun dipped beneath the horizon like it was running away from the island, leaving behind a sky smeared with deep blues and bruised purples. Night fell fast in The Bahamas—too fast—swallowing the beach in a thick, heavy darkness that felt alive.
The resort lights flickered on one by one, casting long, trembling shadows across the sand. The five friends gathered outside their cabins after dinner, laughing, teasing, trying to settle into vacation mode. But the air held something strange… something sharp.
Aiden felt it first.
He paused mid-laugh, staring toward the tree line.
"Did you hear that?"
Jayden tossed a chip into his mouth. "Relax, bro. Probably just a crab or something."
But Aiden shook his head. It didn't sound like a crab. It sounded like footsteps—slow, deliberate—crunching through dried palm leaves.
Talia wrapped her arms around herself, shivering even though the air was warm. "Why is it so quiet tonight?" she whispered.
Quiet was an understatement.
The waves sounded distant, muted.
The wind refused to move.
It was the kind of silence that made your breath sound too loud.
Zara tried to lighten the mood. "Guys, please, don't start acting like this place is haunted. I'm trying to enjoy my vacation."
But Kiara wasn't listening. She was staring at the bushes near the cabins, her chest rising and falling unevenly. She felt watched—not by curiosity, but by hunger.
She had felt it since morning.
And she hated that she knew exactly who it could be.
Kairo.
She hadn't seen him yet… but she felt him. Like a shadow slipping under her skin. Like a presence that clung to the back of her mind. He always moved silently, always lingered where she couldn't catch him, always appeared when she least expected.
A sudden crack echoed through the night.
Everyone froze.
A twig. Broken.
Aiden's voice lowered. "Someone's out there."
Jayden swallowed hard. "Stop. Don't do that."
Talia took a step back, closer to the cabin doors. Zara gripped her necklace so tightly her knuckles paled.
And then—
A rustle.
A shift in the bushes.
A shape.
Small at first… then taller… and taller… until it looked like someone standing there, watching.
The porch light behind them flickered violently, then steadied.
The shape vanished.
Aiden's hand trembled as he pointed. "See? I'm not crazy—someone was right there."
Kiara's heartbeat thundered in her ears. She knew that shape. She knew the stillness, the silence, the way he moved like the night itself.
Kairo was close. Much closer than he should be.
"Let's go inside," she whispered quickly.
Zara didn't argue. Jayden didn't joke. Talia didn't analyze.
They rushed into the cabin.
The door slammed shut.
Aiden locked it twice.
The group stood there in darkness, chests heaving, reality sinking in.
They weren't alone on this island.
Something—or someone—was already watching them.
Already waiting.
Already choosing.
Kiara pressed her back against the wall, sliding down, her breath shaking.
She pulled her knees to her chest.
She knew that wasn't a random man.
Not some stranger hiding in the bushes.
She whispered under her breath, voice trembling:
"…Kairo."
Outside, in the dark, the bushes rustled once again.
A low exhale—almost a laugh—drifted through the air.
A shadow moved, slow and satisfied.
The hunt had already begun.