Misfits, Inc.
Authors: Holly Copella
Misfits, Inc.
Holly Copella
Copyright
© 2014 Holly Copella
All
rights reserved.
ISBN:
0986441694
ISBN-13:
978-0986441691
To my very own mystic warriors,
Daniela & Anthony
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Copella
Books: First Paperback Edition 2015
Cover
Artist:
Shardel
SelfPubBookCovers.com/
Shardel
Printed
by CreateSpace, An Amazon.com Company
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This
is a work of fiction. Names, character, places, and incidents either are the
product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events
or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control
over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites
or their content.
Table
of Contents
Table of Contents
S
muggler’s Bay Hotel was an impressive resort along the white,
sandy beach of the secluded, tropical island. The luxurious hotel was twenty
stories high with private balconies facing the scenic ocean. Ivy climbed the
sides of the building, giving it an old-world charm and added to its tropical
appeal. A young attractive woman in her mid-twenties, Hailey Aramis, walked
along the empty, moonlit beach. The moon glistening off the dark ocean was the
most romantic image she’d ever seen. Small waves gently crashed to shore then
pulled back into the ocean leaving behind hidden treasures, mostly broken
seashells. The only thing missing from her romantic, moonlit walk was a
handsome man by her side. It wasn’t that she didn’t find the time for romance
and relationships. Time was all she had. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t an
attractive, young woman. She was more than attractive enough to gain plenty of
male attention. Hailey just didn’t feel that heart pounding attraction toward
any man. She desperately wanted to fall in love; she wanted to feel the way
others felt, but she just didn’t.
The man of her dreams was out there, she was
positive. She even knew what he looked like--sort of. She’d met him once in a
dream when she was a young teenager. She fell in love with him, or perhaps
with the idea of this perfect man. A few years later, she’d had the most
erotic dream with the same man. There was a pond surround by flowers with a
gorgeous, tropical waterfall, and they’d made love in the glacier blue water
alongside the falls. It was a romantic illusion, but it was one she enjoyed
and kept with her the last few years. She allowed the surf to rush past her
bare feet and enjoyed feeling the wet sand between her toes. Hailey drifted
off into her own world. She wanted to meet the love of her life. She wanted
to be with him so badly; she could almost will him to join her on the beach at
that very moment. Hailey suddenly felt compelled to look toward the hotel.
The dark silhouette of a man could be seen near the
dimly lit poolside cabana. Although she couldn’t make out his features, he was
a lean man, possibly built athletic. He had his hands casually in his pants
pockets and watched her in the distance. Could it be him? Could this really
be the man of her dreams? As she stared at him, a thousand inappropriate
thoughts raced through her mind. It was then that a woman’s shrill scream
shattered her fantasy. The woman’s scream was somehow familiar to her. Hailey
turned in the wet sand and looked toward the nearby path in the woods, but she
didn’t see anyone. She felt concerned for the woman and slowly walked closer
to the path.
A young woman ran from the woods and stopped when
she saw Hailey on the beach not far from her. The woman looked familiar, but
she couldn’t place her face. Her nightclub dress was dirty and torn. Hailey
could almost make out the tears streaking her face. She was terrified by
something she’d seen. That’s when Hailey saw the blood covering the woman’s
hands. Hailey took a step toward her, attempting to think of something
comforting to say. A strange snarling sound was barely heard behind the woman
causing Hailey to stop in her tracks. The woman was suddenly thrown face down
on the sand where she once stood. She screamed while clutching and clawing at
the sand as she was dragged back into the dark woods by her ankles. In a split
second, she was gone. Hailey stared at the empty path with horror on her face
as the woman’s screams trailed off. She turned toward the man standing near
the poolside cabana to see if he’d help. His hands were now out of his pockets
and hung by his sides.
“Help her!”
The man, although she couldn’t make out his face,
appeared more interested and possibly alarmed by something behind her. Hailey
heard a strange rumbling sound from the ocean. She slowly turned and looked
behind her. A large wave had built up in the ocean and now rushed toward her.
Hailey screamed as the wave crashed down upon her, engulfing her in a powerful
rush of water. She gasped for air but only inhaled salty ocean water. She
floundered within the water, but there was no way to reach the surface.
†
H
ailey suddenly woke with a gasp and jumped upright on the
leather bench seat in the back of the helicopter. She attempted to catch her
breath, still tasting the saltwater in her throat, and quickly looked around
with disorientation. The loud thumping of the helicopter’s rotor blades was
almost hypnotic. She could feel the seat vibrating beneath her, reminding her
that they were still in the air and she hadn’t drown. She looked at the woman
sitting alongside her in the back. Her young companion was also her friend and
co-worker, Melana Thayer. Mel stared at her with a look that conveyed surprise
and possible concern to her sudden outburst. Hailey slowly straightened in her
seat and attempted to shake her dream while putting on a false smile.
“Guess I dozed off,” Hailey said timidly.
A moderately attractive woman in her late thirties
with plump, red lips stared back at Hailey from her position in the front.
Both women shared the same expression. Obviously, Hailey had made enough noise
to startle her boss, Lucinda, as well. Considering the noise from the
helicopter, she must have been quite loud.
“Really, Hailey,” Lucinda huffed. “I’m starting to
think I hired a basket case for an assistant.”
“Just a bad dream,” Hailey gently informed her as
she slowly looked around. She couldn’t admit just how much the dream had
bothered her, at least not to her boss. She couldn’t shake the sensation of
drowning she had felt. It seemed so real. “I’m just not used to flying.”
Hailey hated lying to her boss, but she wasn’t
going to admit just how frequent her nightmares were. She hadn’t worked for
Lucinda Keenan long enough to share such personal details. It was true; she
didn’t want her boss to think she’d hired a basket case. Lucinda remained
turned in the front seat while staring at them and played with an old, stone
pendant necklace she wore. It mostly looked like a polished rock, but she
cherished the thing. Her look conveyed moderate concern. She possibly wasn’t
buying the ‘flying’ story. She finally smiled and appeared to brush off her
concerns.
“A few fruity drinks will cure that,” Lucinda
announced cheerfully. “You’ll have the afternoon to unwind before our meeting
with Nevin Brody.” The chain on Lucinda’s necklace suddenly snapped and the
pendant fell onto her lap. Her boss seemed horrified that her treasured, flea
market necklace had fallen off. Her attention immediately shifted to Mel, and
a hint of their less forgiving boss surfaced. “I thought I told you to get the
clasp fixed, Melana. Do you have any idea how valuable this stone is?”
“The jeweler said it was fixed,” Mel protested.
Hailey slouched slightly in her seat and hoped
Lucinda’s verbal lashing would be short-lived. The thought of her cheap
necklace being valuable was almost humorous to Hailey, but that didn’t mean
Lucinda wouldn’t berate her personal maid for the remainder of their journey.
“Did you want to bring her in for a landing, Ms.
Keenan?” their pilot asked almost as if swooping in to save Mel from her verbal
lashing.
Lucinda’s foul mood immediately disappeared and
glee filled her face as she turned forward in her seat. “I’ve always wanted to
try a rooftop landing.” She eagerly took the controls before her.
Hailey and Mel were both relieved by the pilot’s
timely save, whether intentional or not. Mel shifted uncomfortably in her seat
and tightened her safety harness.
“Brace yourself,” Mel muttered to her friend.
Hailey smiled and laughed softly. Mel finally eyed
Hailey and appeared curious while possibly attempting to get her mind off their
boss crashing the helicopter while landing it.
“Which nightmare was it this time?” Mel asked.
“The one with the snakes in the cave? That one is nasty.”
“No, the enormous tidal wave,” Hailey replied and
again shifted in her seat. She didn’t even want to think about it.
“You know what you need?”
Hailey rolled her eyes and avoided looking at her
young friend. “Here we go--”
“You need to meet some bronzed cabana boy with
rippling muscles,” Mel announced while grinning lustfully at her own thoughts.
“Life is too short--”
The helicopter suddenly jerked and jolted
downward. Hailey was immediately reminded of that time Mel had gotten her to
ride the mechanical bull at a nightclub. Mel and Hailey clutched their seats
and held back their startled gasps.
Mel looked at Hailey with concern evident in her
eyes. “Literally too short.”
The helicopter was nearly upon the hotel’s rooftop
landing pad at the island resort. Mel and Hailey again gripped their seats
while witnessing Lucinda bringing the massive, flying machine closer to the
roof for a landing. It was a terrifying view from the backseat, making
Hailey’s nightmare almost the lesser of two evils.
“Wee!” Lucinda giddily squawked from behind the
helicopter controls.
