St. Petersburg

"Hurry up loser! We're going to be late to the airport!" Shaun called out to me from the window of his 2017 silver Buick Encore. He had his pink board shorts on with a plain white v-neck t-shirt and his black Ray-Ban sunglasses. His dark brown curls, fluttered with the summer breeze.

"Hush." I shouted back. "I'm coming." I continued as I ran out the door with travel bags in each of my hands. I wore a white sun dress with pink flowers embedded into the fabric, a pair of plain white gym shoes, Calvin Klein sunglasses, and I had my light brown hair done up in a high messy bun. I hopped into the car, and we began our hour long drive to the Buffalo airport. During our ride we gabbed about how excited we were for vacation and debated about what we should do first when we get to Florida.

We arrived at the airport around two in the afternoon, our flight was scheduled for a three forty-five departure and we made it through security within ten minutes, then ordered food at the airport Burger King. I got a double cheeseburger meal, with french fries, a sprite and an order of chicken fries with buffalo dipping sauce. Shaun got his usual Bacon King meal, large with orange soda, french fries, and an eight piece chicken nugget. We scarfed down our meals as if it was the last time we would eat for days. After we finished eating, the began boarding our flight so we gathered our carry-on's, and got on the plane.

After approximately three hours, we arrived in Tampa where we picked up a rental car and drove the rest of the way to St. Petersburg. We stayed in a condo owned by Shaun's aunt. The condo was two stories and had a view overlooking the courtyard and pool area. The palm trees danced in the summer breeze. We went to a restaurant called Paul's Landing for dinner, the enjoyed a walk around the neighborhood. During our walk I repeatedly ran after some tropical house gecko's that I was trying to catch. I had every intention of letting it go free, I just wanted to see if I could catch one of the little fuckers, I couldn't. Shaun laughed and said it was entertaining to watch.

The sky grew darker, and the stars twinkled in the night. "Want to go down to the hot tub?" Shaun questioned while giving me a gentle nudge.

"Hell yeah!" I shot back in reply. "I love hot tubs!" The both of us searched through our luggage in search of our bathing suits then went to separate rooms to change. He finished getting dressed before I did, so I told him to head down and that I would meet him down there. I wore a black and white snake print bikini with thong bottoms. When I met Shaun down at the hot tub, he surveyed my body up and down like a ravenous wolf gazing at their prey. Shaun licked his lips and outstretched his arm, offering me his hand. I took it and climbed down into the hot tub and straddled him. He grabbed my ass and began kissing my neck and chest. We spent over an hour in the hot tub, holding and kissing each other, as if it may be last night together. I had never felt closer to anyone as I did to him in that moment. I fell asleep in his arms that night.

The next morning we left for a day trip to Fort Desoto at around eight in the morning. The fort was about a half an hour drive from the condo we were staying in. We walked along the white sand beach first, hoping to collect some shells and sand dollars. To my delight, we found many. Once, I was content with the size of my shell collection, we began to explore the fort. The buildings were composed of brick and had been worn by time and weatherization. We played with the old cannons, pretending to blast one another away with them. Shaun was much more than just my lover, he was best friend and spending this time together filled me with so much joy.

We decided to explore one of the buildings, which we thought may have been used for prisoners, as the windows throughout the building were barred. When we went around the corner of one of the rooms, we found we had reached a dead end and when we went to turn back, the floor opened up and we fell down about ten or fifteen feet. The air was damp, and a musty odor tainted my nostrils. The ground was hard, concrete, I think it was. The only light was that of a small glow at the end of a tunnel that seemed to stretch past a mile. Confused and terrified, we started toward that glow.

We marched onward in the hopes that we would soon stumble upon an exit. Then, in an instant, the glow disappeared and we stopped right where we stood. Shaun sheltered me in his arms and we stood there, as if frozen in time, cuddling close to one another. A single menacing laugh broke the silence, then another voice joined in the laughter, and then another, and another until a thunderous applaud of villainous chuckling, echoed throughout the pitch black cavern we found ourselves lost in.

Shaun was ripped away from me, and I tried to search for him with my hands but to no avail he was gone. I began to cry and hyperventilate. The air felt heavy and my mind frail. Then my body went limp, I collapsed to the cold, hard ground and lost all consciousness. When I woke I was in an underground, candle lit chamber tied to a stone slab surrounded by tall beings, draped in tattered black cloaks. I could not make out any individual face, I could only see that the skin was ghostly pale. Their hands were wrinkled and boney, with long crooked fingers. Their nails were sharp and blood stained. One of the figures smiled, and presented his sharp fangs, from which there was blood dripping before they all turned and left the room.

My eyes glistened with fear, my body trembled, and I lost control of my bladder. I frantically scaled the room with my eyes searching for my partner, and I found him. Or rather what was left of him. I saw Shaun's face first. Luckily, his face was still in tact. He had a black eye and a cut beneath the opposite eye but I could still see that it was him.

"Psst.. Psst.. Shaun. Baby, wake up." I whispered to him in a panic. "Baby, wake up, we gotta get out of here." I spoke again, slightly louder than before. Finally, he started sputtering some unintelligible vocabulary, babbling like an infant. "Shaun, baby, get up." I continued to press him but he continued to mumble and lie there motionless. I glanced at the rest of his body, and that's when I realized that from the bottom of his neck down to his feet, Shaun had been skinned alive. There was a puddle of blood circled around the slab he was lying on, and I could see the exposed muscles and arteries. Instantaneously, I reached the conclusion that Shaun was dying and quickly. And a flood of panic breached my thoughts. I began to thrash my body around, flailing to and fro in the hopes that I might be able to free myself. I was not able to.

Shaun began convulsing and gasping for air. His head shook violently and blood became funneling out of his mouth. He was dead in seconds and as he drew his last breath, the candles that illuminated the room, went out. I started screaming, and pleading for my life but to no avail. Thump. Thump. Thump. Heavy footsteps entered the room, getting closer and closer. I glanced up and saw one of the cloaked figures standing over me with a straight razor, grinning a most sickening grin. The monstrous being began carving at my shoulder, peeling the skin from my muscles. The more he cut from me, the louder and more shrill my shrieks became until I had no energy to keep screaming. My screams fell silent, my body went limp, and my blood ran cold. Finally, my suffering had come to an abrupt halt, and I left this world. I can only hope in my next life, death will come to me in a kinder form and later on into my journey.