STORY ARC # 5: VACATION ROULETTE
Follow the Enemy
Despite your dislike for her, you can’t help but feel a wave of desire.
This is part of a Choose Your Own Adventure story, ‘Vacation Roulette.’ Go back to the first chapter by Linden Schneider here. Or return to the previous chapter. Find out how you can write collaborative Choose Your Own Adventure stories with other authors here!
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? That sashaying, annoying goddess Sandra slipped out of the hotel buffet. She’s probably up to no good. Plus, she’s one of the Vacation Roulette organisers. According to your mysterious messenger, she will want to kill you.
A part of you asks how wise it is to pursue a potential killer. But you tamp down on that voice. Better to follow the fox and find out what she’s doing, rather than to wait like a sitting duck.
Before you set off, you quickly send your partner a text:
If I don’t come back in an hour, call the police. I’m following Sandra.
Your partner is out getting food at the buffet, but you have no time to lose.
Like a deranged bird, you dart out of the buffet. Thankfully, there are still a lot of people in the lobby, so you sneak around, trailing behind her while ducking behind people. Sandra doesn’t seem concerned, though, since she’s not glancing about. She walks straight towards the elevators.
Uh oh. Is she just going back to her hotel room to rest? Or is she about to have a sinister meeting?
You curse that you can’t turn invisible, but you keep moving anyway. After Sandra disappears into the elevator and the doors shut, you watch the number dial above. It stops at the number 7 before coming back down to the ground floor.
You take a deep breath. Then you get inside the elevator when it pings opens again. It’s annoying when other random guests tumble in, too, and their floors are on 3, 4, and 5 respectively. You have to wait a long time for everyone to get off before you can reach the 7th floor.
When you finally reach your floor, you check your phone and are dismayed that your partner still hasn’t replied. Maybe they’re too hungry to care, you think angrily.
Now to figure out which room Sandra is in. If only you had a bloodhound with you. Instead, you do it the old-fashioned way. You brush yourself up to make sure you’re presentable, and you start ringing doorbells.
Each time someone opens the door, you pretend that you’re looking for donations. You say that you’re fundraising for an animal rescue, and even have a few animal pictures handy, which you had used back when you were still a thief.
To your surprise, many people sympathize and give you donations. You promise yourself that you will give their money to a real animal rescue soon. But you’ll have to make it out of this vacation alive, first.
At length, you arrive at Room 703. Even before you ring the bell, you have a feeling that this is the one. Maybe that was why you stalled and kept hitting up the doors farther away first.
No one responds even after a few minutes. You ring the doorbell again, and wonder if the occupant is out.
But then, the door clicks open, and you see Sandra! She’s wrapped up in a towel, with water dripping from her golden hair. She says, with a blithe smile, “I was in the shower, honey. Did you need me?”
The way she speaks makes you tingle, and the way she holds her towel, hardly covers her important parts. Despite your dislike for her, you can’t help but feel a wave of desire.
But you steel yourself against it. You’re not falling for any tricks, and you love your partner.
Sandra gives you a bemused look. “Why don’t you come in and we can talk?” She steps aside and, like a fool, you enter her room. She locks the door behind you.
There isn’t anything peculiar about her room, except that it’s very beautiful, with large windows overlooking a spectacular beach.
Sandra pats you on the arm, and in doing so, her towel drops a little, and you hastily turn your eyes away. She laughs. “I didn’t realize you were so shy. Come sit on my bed. Let me get dressed.”
When she comes back out, she’s wearing a shirt that leaves her shoulders bare, with a low cut neck. Sandra sits too close to you, and you smell the fragrance of her perfume. Clear blue gems dangle from her ears. “So, tell me what brought you here. Is there anything you need to talk about?”
How do you respond?
- “Nothing, really. I just wanted to see you and chat.”
- “I want to know what we’re doing tomorrow.”
- Laugh and ask, “Are you trying to seduce me?”
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