200 Unwelcome Visitor (3)

From the shadows, Iris watched as a car reached a driveway. Its headlights soon flitted out, and two people stepped out. They were hard to see from the distance, but Iris could tell that the one who stepped out of the passenger seat was a woman, since she wore a dark dress.

She said something to the man, but he shook his head, pointing at the sea. The woman didn't agree, pointing at the house, then the car. The noise of their speech was carried over by the wind, but Iris couldn't make out what was being said.

"Dear Em, why are you so silly. Just agree to come," Marge whispered nearby, her hands clenched by her sides. The two of them were lying on a sand dune, behind some shrubs to avoid being noticed.

Before Marge there was a professional camera, which was covered for the moment to avoid attracting attention. They would take pictures only when the two came closer.

A few minutes later, Ted seemed to have won and Emily agreed to check out the sea. Iris felt nervousness trickle through her bloodstream, worrying for Ted. Although she had only seen him and Em a scarce few times, her heart still beat faster at the thought of what was to happen. Would the proposal succeed? Probably, but who could ever say for sure.

Soon, Ted led Emily to the shore, and she shivered from the cold. Her words were soft, stolen away by the strong sea breeze. But it had to be something about the weather for Ted took off his jacket and put it around her.

She refused for a second, but then was distracted by a couple flowers carried over to her feet by the waves. Bending down, she picked one bloom up and sniffed it. A smile blossomed on her lips, and she raised it up to Ted.

Before he could reply, a dozen more flowers drifted over. The whole sea filled up with them, and soon the shore was covered in bright-colored blossoms. While Emily stared at them in awe, Ted went down on one knee.

Marge then nudged Iris, and she remembered to click a button. Warm golden light washed over the shore, bathing the two people and stealing them away from the darkness.

A box with a ring appeared in Ted's hands, and Emily took a step back, hands on her face. Marge froze by Iris' side, but the next moment, Emily fell to her knees. She wrapped her arms around Ted's neck and started crying. Her voice even reaching the observers.

But there was a smile on her face. She was speaking something through broken sobs, holding tight onto her now fiance.

"YES!" Marge fist pumped the air, her voice surprisingly quiet even though she was shouting. The two people lost in their own world didn't hear her.

Iris nodded, her smile as wide as it could go. There was just something special in seeing someone succeed in love.

"Let's go down!" Marge declared five minutes later, once the two lovebirds had stood up.

Without wasting a moment more, she ran down the sand dune. Emily looked up at her in surprise, then was enveloped in a bear hug before she could make a sound. "Finally, he finally did it! I'm so happy for you! So so happy! I love you girl, I'm going to throw you the best party ever, don't doubt that!"

Both of them were crying then, Marge speaking whatever came to her mind in congratulations. She wasn't even making much sense anymore.

Ted in the meantime stood nearby, looking a little lost. He seemed to want to go to his fiance, but she was hogged over by her best friend.

"Congratulations," Iris said in a soft voice, coming down as well. It was quite weird to be present on such an intimate moment of a stranger, but she couldn't really stay behind either.

"Thanks." Ted nodded at her, a smile on his face widening. Then surprise entered his expression. "You are?"

"Iris, I'm with Kyro."

"Ah, nice to meet you."

He shook her hand, and Kyro and Jimmy took that moment to return to the shore. They pulled the rowboat out of the water and came over with their trousers wet to the knees. They said their congratulations, and Jimmy gave Ted and good pat on the back, almost sending him to the ground.

Marge pulled away then and they started joking about how this had been forever in coming, making fun of Ted for taking so long to save up for the ring. It was all done in good humor, and everyone was in good spirits.

Their stories, their jokes were something whose history Iris didn't know, so she just smiled and nodded. There was no time for her to say a word, for she knew nothing of the background for their humor.

In the end, everyone decided to go take a night boat ride. Besides the small rowboat, Ted's family also owned an old fishing boat. It was aged, but still working and in good condition.

There was a bit of hiking to the pier, but no one minded it. Although Marge had promised to question Iris later, those words had long left her mind. Ted and Emily were in the spotlight, and no one was going to take it away.

Once they reached the boat, all of them boarded right away. Kyro helped Iris in, and she stayed by his side.

The waves led to a little rocking of the boat, and dread climbed into Iris' heart. She had never been seasick, but her stomach began to roil. The cold breeze passed through her, and she realized that her back was drenched in sweat.

The realization left her stunned for a moment, then she grabbed onto the railing, pretending that she wanted to look back. But it didn't help. Unexplained fear spread through her like wildfire, and her vision darkened.

She thought she could see a cramped up place. No, not see. It was dark, too dark too see. Her knowledge came from sensing the place, feeling the walls next to her.

And everything was shaking. Rolling. There was nothing to hold onto, nothing to grab, so she hit one wall, then another, or was that the ceiling? The ground? Too dark. She couldn't see anything.

"Iris!" a shout broke through the chaos in her mind. Her vision cleared, and she saw Kyro holding her by the shoulders, worry on his face. "Iris? Can you hear me?"

She nodded lightly, and would have fallen if not for him holding her steady. The ground beneath her was going up and down, rolling about as if drunk. "I-" She began to speak, but her voice came out as a squeak, incomprehensible. "C-can we get b-back to t-the shore?" she asked in a whisper, shaking all over.