"At last! Two whole weeks without having to deal with Shauna and her new boyfriend!" Claire dropped her bags on the floor and flopped onto one of the twin beds. She peered up at her older sister, narrowing her eyes in a mock-glare. "The only thing that would make it better would be not having to share with an old lady."
Lauren shook her head, setting her bags on the other bed. "I'm only three years older than you, brat! And we haven't hung out in ages, it'll be great sister-time." She looked at the door to the outside, where the sun hung low in the sky. It cast the whole room, as well as the beach outside, in a red-orange glow, and she smiled slightly at the beauty of it. "Besides, Mom and Dad are in the next cabin, it's not like you'd be left alone without me here anyway."
"A girl can dream, though." Claire picked up a pillow from the bed and tossed it at Lauren, who caught it and flipped it back. The pillow took the eighteen-year-old in the chest, and she flopped over dramatically, clutching it to her. "Augh! Killed at the ripe age of eighteen! And by my own flesh and blood!"
Springing into action, Lauren leapt over to the other bed and started to tickle her sister's sides. "That's right! And now you can't escape!" She straddled the younger girl, tickling her mercilessly while Claire writhed and flailed with laughter.
After a few minutes, Lauren smiled at her sister and hopped off. "Okay, goofball. Unpack and let's get changed! I want to hit the beach before dinner with the old folks!"
Fifteen minutes later, both girls walked out onto the small porch of the rental cabin, towels over their shoulders and bikinis on and at the ready. Lauren strode out into the sand, her tan skin ablaze with setting sunlight. Her bikini was white with red polka dots, strings tied around her hips, behind her back, and at the nape of her neck; the sun cast the background into a vivid, glowing orange. The color set off her dark hair almost better than the white did, and her gray eyes gleamed with the reflected light as well, making her pixyish features look almost otherworldly.
Claire's bikini was more modest: A pair of black boyshorts and a yellow-and-black striped bandeau top, contrasting with her lightly tanned skin nicely. Her hair was a lighter brown, almost dark blonde, and longer. Her eyes were a deep green that the sunlight turned into hazel. Her more petite curves were snugly held by the suit, and her features were more elegant; more almond-shaped eyes, a more defined bone structure.
Lauren stopped a few feet from the water's edge, hands on her hips. "This is beautiful, isn't it? Just look at that sunset." She sighed and stared for a moment, the wind ruffling her shoulder-length dark brown hair. Then she turned snapped her towel out, spreading it out on the sand before smacking her sister's ass. "Last one in's a rotten egg!" she yelled as she ran to the water, kicking up a spray of sand as she went.
Claire sputtered in surprise and indignation before dropping her towel on her sister's and joining her mad dash to the ocean. "Dammit, Lauren, you cheated!" Her pert breasts bounced with the motion, and two men who were walking toward them stopped for a moment to stare at the freshly eighteen-year-old beauty who scrambled into the surf after her older, curvier sister.
As she reached Lauren, Claire splashed water at her. "Cheater!" she accused, giving the other girl a fake pout. Without waiting another moment, she drove into the water, swimming out toward the horizon. "I'll beat you out to the buoy!"
"Not even!" Lauren yelled, swimming after her. They raced out to a buoy, neck and neck. Claire had a head start, but Lauren's reach was longer. They both touched the base of the floating structure at the same time, and straightened up, breathing hard. "Told . . . you!"
Claire splashed at her again, a bigger spray of water this time. "Doesn't change that you cheated!" The splash fight that ensued got them both dripping wet and spluttering. Finally, Lauren jumped, breaching the water and grabbing Claire's shoulders, ducking her under the water. Her legs wrapped around her younger sister's waist to keep her from going too far down.
After a few minutes of splashing, sputtering, and laughing, they both floated on the surface, hands grabbing onto the buoy to keep from floating with the currents. "God, we haven't played like that in years!" Lauren gasped, kicking her legs slowly under the water. "You're a lot harder to out-swim than you were when you were thirteen."
"I hope so!" Claire said, tossing a wet hank of hair out of her face. "Come on, let's head back. I wanna shower before dinner." She pushed herself off of the buoy and started stroking toward the shore.
"Okay." Lauren looked out at the horizon, catching a glimpse of a small figure further out to sea. She blinked, then raised one hand in a wave. She wasn't sure, but she thought the other figure waved back. Finally, she pushed off as well, heading toward the shore with smooth, powerful strokes of her arms and legs.
~ ~ ~ ~
The night was quiet, the sound of the ocean lapping softly at the sand and the quiet sounds of seabirds were the only noises breaking the blanket of silence. Claire sat up in bed, tossing the covers back. "Lauren, I can't . . . ." she trailed off, looking at the other -- empty -- bed, and sighed. "Huh. Where did she go?"
She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and tugged down the hem of her tank top to make sure it met the shorts she was wearing. Getting up, Claire walked through the small kitchenette to check the bathroom, but the door was open and the light was off. "Maybe she went outside?" she whispered, tilting her head to one side.
Padding through the cabin in her bare feet, the teenager peered out a window and then opened the door, heading outside onto the small porch. There was no one outside, just a cool mid-August moon shining down overhead. But there was a trail of footprints leading from the steps of the porch off toward the beach, and a half-empty glass of water sitting on the railing.
"Ohhhhh, you are in so much trouble," Claire muttered, heading to the steps. "Sneaking out to meet a boy in the middle of the night, Lauren, mom and dad are gonna flip!" But she had to have evidence. And if it were something else, she'd want to be able to call for help. Nodding once, decisively, she dashed back inside and grabbed her phone from the bedside table. "Camera phone, best thing ever for busting sisters."
The trail wasn't terribly long, and it wasn't very difficult to follow; there were a few times she had to stop and study it, to make sure she wasn't getting turned around in footprints from earlier in the day. But in a remarkably short time, Claire was at the edge of the water, on a secluded part of the beach that had almost sheer cliffs of rock on two sides, and a big boulder that blocked most of the view from the third.
