Everyone was laughing and talking and shouting across the bus. None of them had any idea that there was magic in the world. Not a single other person on the bus knew that we shared our ship with people who weren't even human. And none of these people knew a vampire was hunting them. The bus started to pull away, and to my surprise, I didn't get any more time to think about it. Even though everyone on the bus was signed up for one of the yacht trips, we were all mixed up. People started changing seats, trying to get everyone on the same yacht together. Nine other people from my yacht were on the bus, and we all moved to sit together. I knew three of them from my classes, but I only recognized the others. We spent the entire bus ride getting to know each other, talking about previous ports, and going over our itinerary. The chatting about very unmagical things was so distracting that by the time we got to the airport, I had practically forgotten all about the vampire.

Our flight was waiting at the gate, and we rushed through the airport in minutes. According to the itinerary, our yacht had a sixteen-person capacity, and we found four more students and two chaperones on the plane. All sixteen of us sat together, and the conversation from the bus was repeated. Time rushed by in a blur, and I hadn't given the vampire, or magic at all, a second thought by the time we landed. There was a little harbor by the airport, and we grabbed our bags, met our guide, and took a bus down to the port. There was so much to see, I hardly had time to take it all in. After we got off of the bus, a small motorboat picked us up and shuttled us through a bunch of yachts to ours. The back of the yacht had a platform just inches above the water that the motorboat pulled right up to. We climbed out and went up a couple of steps onto the main deck. Our guide gave us a quick safety talk, assigned rooms, and then set us free to explore.

The yacht was bigger than it had looked from the water, but had to be a fraction of the size of our ship. The lowest deck was totally underwater and had nothing but cabins. The main deck had a small area on the bow where we could sit, more cabins, a dining room, and the small place where we had boarded. It took me a while to figure out how to get up to the third and highest deck, where my cabin was. I eventually found a ladder on the back and climbed up, hauling my bag behind me. The top deck was so small that there were only four cabins and small benches in the front and back. The walking space between the cabin doors and the railing was so narrow that, even though I rested one shoulder on the wall, I was still afraid of dropping my bag into the water. I bumped into a girl going the opposite way, and she had to turn around and go back! I found my room and opened the door. Whitney, my roommate, was already inside and had to back up into the bathroom just so that I had room to enter and close the door.

"I'm never going to complain about the size of our rooms on the ship again," she laughed.

"Neither will I!" The room was probably a quarter of the size of the cabins on the ship.

"We're going to be cozy," Whitney said, throwing her stuff on one of the extremely narrow bunk beds.

"Yeah." I tossed my bag onto the top bunk. It was so low I could see over it. We heard a loud bell ring and went back down the ladder and into the dining room. Our guide pulled out a whiteboard and started telling us our itinerary for the evening. Then, we were off! We went straight to a little bay, anchored, and took the motorboat out wildlife spotting. I couldn't get enough of it. I knew that my best friend and cousin, Shannon, would kill me if I didn't take a million pictures; she loved animals as much as I did. We had just enough time on the yacht for a snack, and then we anchored at another island. We went hiking and snorkeling, until the sun started going down. I started feeling nauseous during dinner and took some medicine. I climbed up into bed insanely early and was out for the night.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

The following day was just as packed. We ate breakfast at the crack of dawn and got out to explore an island we had anchored at during the night. We spent the entire day hiking, swimming, snorkeling, and taking pictures. I didn't feel seasick that night, but, like everyone else, I was exhausted. The third day was more of the same. I was just drifting off to sleep, amazed at how fast the trip had gone, when my phone beeped. I was using it as an alarm clock, so it was easily within reach. I grabbed it and frowned. It was a text message from a number I didn't know.

u up? come out

It was a New York area code. I quickly texted back, asking who it was.

sry its mariana

Curious, I slid down from my bunk, trying not to wake up Whitney. I eased open the door and stepped out onto the narrow walkway. The lights from our yacht hardly illuminated anything. I couldn't believe how dark it was. There was movement right in front of me, and all of a sudden, I realized that there was a face inches from mine. I was too shocked to do anything other than jump back and gasp. I didn't get very far. Half a step slammed my back into the door behind me and only took me a few more inches away from the face.

"It's okay, it's me," laughed a familiar voice.

"Dani?" I gasped.

"Yeah. Having a good trip?"

"Yes. How did you…" I realized that he was standing on the other side of the railing, with no way to have climbed up from the water. "How did you get up here?"

He chuckled. "I jumped of course. Get your wand. Let's go for a swim."

Well, why not? "One sec." I slipped back into my room, grabbed my wand, and went back out.

"Okay." Dani held out his hand. "Come on."

"Whoa, you want me to jump off from this high up?" I said. I wasn't afraid of heights, but it was a long way down to the water.

"Would you rather jump from downstairs?"

"I think so."

"Meet you there." Dani kicked off of the side of the ship without even turning around, flipped once in the air, and dove right into the water with hardly a splash. It was too dark to see if he surfaced again. Shaking my head in amazement, I tiptoed to the ladder and climbed down. Dani sat on the platform behind the yacht, dangling his legs in the water like he'd been there for ages. I went down the steps and crouched next to him.

"You can get me back to the yacht, right?" I asked.

"Absolutely. Got your wand?" I held it up. Dani stood and offered a hand to me. "Ready?"

I couldn't believe I was about to leap off of a moving boat and into the middle of the ocean. "I guess."

Dani counted to three, and we jumped. The water was chilly, but not terribly cold. The yacht kept right on going. Mariana's head popped out of the water a few feet away. There wasn't enough light to tell what color her hair was, but it looked a lot darker than normal.

"Hey, Jen," she said.

"Hey." I realized that she must have sent her text from the water. "Isn't your phone wet?" I asked.

She shook her head. "It's waterproof. Magically, I mean."

"Neat." She looked exactly the same, aside from the hair. "Are you all mermaid now?"

As an answer, she leaned back a bit, and the end of a large, dolphin-like tail curled up out of the water.

"Wow," I breathed. "That's so cool."

Mariana giggled and lowered her tail. "Thanks."

It was getting darker and darker as the yacht pulled away. I had almost forgotten that Dani and Mariana could see in the dark. "I'm not going to be able to see soon," I admitted.

"I hate to say it," Dani began, "but you've got a fire wand."

Oh, yeah. TS had said I could use it to give myself night vision. I held it up and nervously pointed it at my eyes. I couldn't blind myself, could I? I hesitated. No, Thomas had said be confident. I took a deep breath and stared at the wand as best as I could in the fading light. I could do this. I imagined the light turning on in a dark room and took another deep breath. "Mar," I said loudly.

It wasn't quite the bright light I had imagined, but suddenly, everything was lighter. It was like being in a dimly lit room. I could see curious looks on Dani and Mariana's faces. Mariana's hair was still dark, but I was fairly sure it was green.

"Did it work?" Dani asked.

"Yeah," I said in awe. This was so much cooler than setting paper on fire.

He ruffled my hair. "Well done." I couldn't help but smile.

"Let's go!" Mariana said.