TOBY
I woke up to the sound of seagulls and waves splashing, it was almost eleven when I woke up, an ideal time to wake up when on vacation. I had made up my mind to bypass any early morning activity even though I had to admit I had fun yesterday.
"He lives," Ruby said from where she sat when I finally emerged from the room bathed and dressed, "I thought you'll never wake up," she added.
"Hey! I thought we were free this morning."
"We are but the last thing I expected was for you to sleep like the dead. I checked on you twice just to make sure you were alive."
"Ha, she cares if I live or die."
"It's none of my business if you die but please do it when I'm absent."
"Very funny," I said dryly, "What are we doing today?"
"We have a haunted house tour by twelve which I'm not too thrilled about, lunch right after and then an open helicopter tour at sunset We still have a little time so you can order breakfast before we leave."
"The haunted house sounds fun," I said not adding the fact that I had a debilitating fear of heights. I called up room service and ordered breakfast and we left for our haunted house tour.
The deeper we walked into the dark halls of the haunted house the more Ruby clung to me. I had to give it to them, the set-up and the special effects were good but I could not understand why she was so scared. It was just like a horror movie. I wondered how they got it to look so dark inside when it was so bright out, the windows must be fake I thought. An actor dressed like a Zombie popped out of a door beside us causing Ruby to shriek and move closer to me.
"Oh my, Oh my! Toby help me." She pleaded, "please don't let them get to me." The zombie moved closer to us chanting " I want to eat your brains," in an exaggerated monstrous voice causing me to chuckle.
"It's not real," I whispered into Ruby's ear, at this point she held me in an embrace, her eyes shut tight.
"I don't care! I want out!" She cried pushing me back
"There is no out, we entered and the door has been locked behind us so we have to go through the entire hour and come out through the back door," I explain slowly like I'm speaking to a toddler.
"Is it gone?" She said, referring to the Zombie.
"Yh, can we move now?" I said.
"Okay, okay." She mutters to herself.
"Are you going to walk with your eyes closed?" I said with a chuckle.
"Yes, just guide me." She said, holding on to my hand firmly.
We kept walking for a while before twisted villainous laughter pierced the stillness around us. As if on cue, Ruby opens her eyes as a crazed clown comes hurtling towards us, this time she jumped on me, so I end up carrying her bridal style and bearing her whole weight which is not as much as I thought it would be.
"Oh good gracious lord." She mutters, and she says some more gibberish and what seems to be a prayer. I just kept walking through the house with her in my arms, her eyes closed.
"Are we out yet?" she asked after it went quiet for a few seconds.
"No, we still have a little way to go," I replied as a howling sound started to reverberate through the room. She resumed another round of pleading and promising to the powers that be to save her while I just laughed and ambled through the room. A wolfish-looking man came into view and howled in our faces.
"Oh God, oh God." She said repeatedly, clutching me tighter and making me throw my head back in laughter.
"We are almost at the door." I promised I can even see the light from here," I said, causing her to open her eyes.
"Finally." She breathed out but she had spoken too soon because an airy-looking woman seemed to appear from things and move in on us. Her pale skeletal hands reached for us, she clutched my face and looked me in the eyes. Even though I was scared at this point, Ruby's screams echoed in my ears as I stumbled through the exit, nearly dropping her on the threshold but she held on.
"You can come down now, we're outside." I said, "my arms are already dead." She jumped down from my arms, steadying herself.
"The great Ruby is scared of make-up and special effects, unbelievable." I laughed. She glared at me and then walked away.
My heart was beating rapidly as we got geared up for our helicopter ride but I did my best not to let it show. Beside me, Ruby was all pumped up and ready to fly.
"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, "no I am not okay, do I look okay?" a voice in my head screamed. I had my head thrown back, eyes closed and my hand clutched to my chest trying to steady my breathing and stop myself from hyperventilating.
I felt the helicopter swoop down, the guide continued his narration, we were at some sort of shipwreck sight.
"Oh my goodness, Toby, look over there," Ruby said excitedly. I managed to pry open one eye and then the other and I spotted a shipwreck twisted upside down at a weird angle sticking out of the water. The helicopter swooped up again, "I think I might throw up." I whispered.
"Are you air sick?" Ruby asked, "it's the same thing as being in a plane or jet."
"No, it's not." I managed to answer," the doors are missing."
"OMG! How didn't I notice, you're terrified of heights aren't you?" She exclaimed with a laugh." No way, here hold my hand," she said and when I made no move to take her hands she took my hand in hers.
"I promise it helps." She added so I held on for dear life and took deep even breaths. We passed Island after Island and a few volcanoes from the narration that droned on as we went.
"You have to see this, open your eyes." Ruby said, “you'll regret it if you miss this view. Just open them,” she encouraged. I opened my eyes cautiously and the first thing I saw was just an explosion of colour painting the skyline, I stared at the horizon and then made the mistake of looking down at the vast expanse of blue below.
"Oh God," I said, shutting my eyes, Ruby squeezed my hand and everything felt a little better.