Echo [11] (ON HIATUS)

Chapter 28

"And for appetizer number twenty-three, Fraulein: steak and blue cheese bruschetta with onion and roasted tomato jam," a servent held out yet another plate, offering it to Teresa as a stylist fretted around her.

Holding back a sigh, she picked it up and ate the entire thing in one bite. "Oh, please don't move too much or you'll be pricked," the stylist warned her. "The green suits you just as I expected. But by god, you've formed more curves. We're going to have to make so many alterations."

"Fraulein, please list the name, age, and occupation of this man," another servant held out a picture of a young man.

"Thomas Murphy, nineteen, heir to Murphy Industries," she listed monotonously.

"Option number twenty-four..."

"You will wear..."

"Next, identify this..."

"Tess is surprisingly good at this," Tanya observed, watching the heir balance the three tasks. She had expected Tess to snap or growl at someone way before now.

"Well, she was born into this life," Steve pointed out. "I don't know how she managed to put up with all this for seventeen years." Privately, Tessa wanted to rip all her hair out and kick the stylist in the face.

Finally, Teresa was through with her tasks. She changed into something more comfortable, running up to her friends.

---

"Any idea what to do now?" Tanya asked as I approached.

"We're going out. Martha! Us five are going into the city. We'll be back by ten," I called.

"Very well. I'll inform your parents," Martha called back.

"Come on. We're going to actually have fun," I led them to the garage. "Who's up for surfing?"

"Isn't it really cold outside?" Steve questioned.

"I've got some really thick wetsuits. Besides, the cold makes it fun," I responded.

"I can go without," 'Luke' said, crossing his arms. Tessa handed the other three wetsuits, pointing them to the bathroom down the hall. After everyone was changed, she passed out old surfboards and they set out.

-

I spent a long time teaching them how to get out into the water and dodging waves, and of course, standing up. "Alright, let's hit the waves," I laid down on my board, paddling out to a good spot during a lull.

We paddled around and rode a couple of waves for a few hours. Steve and Carol kept falling into the water, and Loki opted to just swim around. Tanya was actually pretty good at surfing and was able to catch all the waves I did.

"Shit!" Tanya exclaimed suddenly.

"What?" I questioned, sitting on my board.

"There's something in the water!" I glanced around, seeing a fin cutting through the water.

A shark.

"Get out of the water!" I shouted, pulling myself onto my board and paddling towards the shark to distract it. I jabbed at its eyes and gills, trying to drive it off. Eventually, it turned and swam off so I paddled back to shore.

"We should head back, now. If there's one shark, there's bound to be others," I advised, tucking my board under my arm.

"What did you do to it?" Carol asked as we started walking back.

"I just poked at the gills and eyes and drove it off," I shrugged.

"Is this the first time this has happened?" Steve questioned.

"No, there's a couple of attacks every year, but no one's died around here in ages," I said.

"Have you ever been bit?" Tanya asked.

"Yeah, on my leg. I'll show you the scar one day,"