Chapter 2

"Yeah, that was the original plan, but sometimes those things happen. Wait, you do have a boyfriend, don't you?" Kai looked at Taylor disgusted, causing him to quickly recover the conversation. "No, I'm not making fun of you. You know almost everyone at school; I just thought someone would have asked you out! So does that mean you never had your first kiss?"

"No, I haven't," Kai replied.

"Wow, that's a bomber. You don't know what you're missing. That's why it bothers you," Jessica said, butting in. Kai quickly got upset and began to walk off. "Hey, no need to get upset. I was saying, how about you experience your first with us, if it's such a big deal? I mean, I know you have a crush on Taylor anyway. Why wouldn't you? He is one of the hottest guys in school, and hello, I am the hottest female. No offense, you're somewhere in the brackets, and at least you're on it, right?"

"Jessica!"

"What? It was meant to be motivational and one of the best ones I came up with today."

"Kai, I would love to share your first kiss with you. We can go slow, one small kiss, then we can keep chilling, or I will walk you home. It's just to break all the tension and awkwardness," Taylor stated, trying to persuade Kai.

"I don't know, I'm nervous," Kai answered.

"Look, Jessica, and I will do it first," Taylor grabbed Jessica by the waist to share a kiss. Kai tried to ignore it at first but soon leaned in with curiosity, biting her lip as she stared at them kissing and leaning on the cave walls.

Taylor began to smile, "Did it look that interesting," he laughed.

*Cough* "Sorry," Kai expressed, blushing.

"No, it's cool. Come here and show me what you learned." Taylor grabbed Kai by the chin, and the other hand gripped her waist as they began to kiss. This experience began to take a turn when Jessica noticed a bulge in Taylor's swim trunks as he kissed Kai. 

"Uhh, so how was it?" Jessica asked. "It must have really made your blood rise, huh, Taylor?" 

He quickly looked down at his shorts and turned around, giving the appearance of being embarrassed. "I don't know what the hell just happened, but I have NEVER felt like that kissing a girl."

As Kai blushed, Jessica turned to jealousy, "My turn, let me see what it does to me. Maybe something in my shorts will rise if she's that damn good".

Jessica leaned into Kai, and they began to kiss. Instantly, Jessica began to feel weird inside, and her breasts started to show through her bikini top. A sudden change of attitude with Jessica, and without Kai noticing, she waves for Taylor to get closer, placing his hands into her bikini bottoms. Taylor liked what he felt and joined in on the kissing as Jessica slid her hand inside Taylor's shorts.

Jessica began to breathe heavily, catching Kai's attention. Taylor noticed and began to kiss Kai more, trying to get her to focus on the mood. The plan cracked when Jessica let out a loud, seductive moan. Kai immediately pushed away from Taylor and looked concerned.

"I think I'm going to leave. It's getting late. I like the kissing, but I don't think I'm ready for what comes next," Kai stated as she began to walk away.

No longer able to feel that spark, the bulge in his shorts went down, and the leak in Jessica's bikini bottoms dried. "Wait, you don't know unless you try it, right? Like the kissing, we will ease into it," Taylor said with a creepy, desperate smile.

"No thanks. I'll see you guys later. I know my way home. Please don't let it ruin a good time for you."

"I told you she wasn't up for it. She's just an attention seeker. If it weren't for her keeping me on the A honor roll, I would walk past her without hesitation. We don't need her, come on baby, I want you-"

"Jessica, can you not! Plus, you are drier than my grandmother. Kai, come back," Taylor angrily shouts, grabbing Kai's arm.

"Taylor!" Kai said, looking him in the eyes. "Before this gets out of hand. Let me go, and don't ever grab me like that again!"

Jessica then grabs Kai, trying to help Taylor pin her, "Hey, don't act like that. You should be lucky he wants to share himself with you; besides, he's doing you a favor. Nobody likes an inexperienced slut."

"I said get off of me," Kai shouted, snatching her arm away and punching Jessica in the nose. 

As Jessica retreated, a haunting fear of a broken nose compelling her, she miscounted her steps and plunged from the cave into the waters. Taylor, focused on Jessica's condition, inadvertently created an opening in which Kai, seizing the opportunity like a creature escaping the jaws of a predator, was exploited. With a swift and determined leap, Kai joined the water, aiming to outpace the others and secure a speedy exit to the shore.

Unplanned, Taylor, demonstrating the reflexes of a seasoned hunter, jumped right behind her and intercepted her mid-stroke. His grasp firm on her foot halted her progress with a force akin to gravity. Unseen beneath the rippling surface, Jessica, like a phantom, surfaced to execute a stealthy maneuver. She swam under Kai, trapping her by the bra and dragging her into the aqueous depths.

Panic seized Kai's senses. Limbs flailed with a desperation that echoed through the aquatic arena as Jessica, hidden from Taylor's view, engaged in a submerged struggle for dominance. Oblivious to the underwater duel, Taylor unleashed a volley of urgent demands, imploring Kai to cease her frantic resistance. In the complex depths, the fight continued. Kai repeatedly kicked Taylor, attempting to snatch away and balance herself out. At the same time, she desperately tried to reach Jessica or unloosen her grip. Instead, with three frantic movements, Kai ended up kicking Taylor in the head.

Aware of Taylor's notoriously short temper, a facet Jessica had witnessed on countless occasions, especially after wrestling matches lost, she approached the scene with a cautious recognition of the potential storm brewing within him. As Taylor recuperated from the collision with Kai's frantic kick, Jessica released her grip on Kai.

In the fleeting moment of respite, Jessica emerged for a much-needed breath of air as Kai regained an upright posture. Her eyes locked with Kai's in an unspoken exchange. In an attempt to seize an opportune escape, Kai commenced a desperate escape, but her freedom was short-lived. Taylor, a representation of uncontrolled rage, intervened once more. This time, his grip was not on her limbs but on her very throat— "I told you to calm down," Taylor said, carrying the weight of authority.

Jessica smiled as she saw another opportunity to engage with Kai; she dived back down, wrapping her arms and legs around Kai's legs to prevent her from treading and weighing her down even more.

In the relentless aftermath, Taylor's voice echoed through the aquatic arena like a thunderous symphony of frustration, "I said stop; why couldn't you have just stopped?" Kai's desperate attempts to navigate the rippling water rendered her face a fleeting apparition, alternately surfacing and submerging in a struggle time the moment to spit out the water she had swallowed while simultaneously grasping for precious breaths.

Her father's training, a distant echo in the turbulent water, proved futile against the wreakless, uncoordinated assault of two opponents. The ceaseless cycle of gasping for air and expelling swallowed water mirrored the rhythmic dance of her futile resistance. As the struggle ended, Taylor and Jessica released their prey to observe the haunting spectacle.

Kai's body, now surrendered to the undulating currents, bobbed on the water's surface. Her form, a silhouette against the night sky, drifted on her back, with the full moon witnessing the unfortunate event. Moonlight, a spectral brushstroke, cast an ethereal glow upon Kai's face as she stared toward the celestial orb, caught between the realms of surrender and defiance in the ebb and flow of her struggle. 

 Although the others see Kai as dead, in her breathless body, something else is taking part, visible to no one except Kai. A woman in black revealed herself in the moonlight, hovering over Kai as her clothing swayed in the wind. Watching the life vanish from Kai's body. "After hearing rumors about you years ago. I finally found you, and this is our introduction. You never got a chance to learn how hard it is to be life itself. Not everyone will cherish it, and not everyone will give it. Though the world is full of those who will take it." She whispered to Kai before fading away.

Jessica dipped her head in the water and backed up, wiping her face as she breathed heavily, "Wow, that was wow. I have never done anything like that. You are a natural; I see why you and your dad are criminals. This stuff is serious but fun."

"Yeah, not always," Taylor expressed disappointment. He didn't attend to killing Kai and didn't know Jessica's part in it, but it's not something he could change either.

"Well, now is your time to get some. Have you ever had sex with a dead body? Oh, and she drowned, so imagine how it is now," Jessica laughed.

"You're an idiot. Let's get out of here. I need to tie something to her leg so she sinks. This water is clear, so we must sink her directly under the waterfall."

"Why?"

*Sighs Laboriously* "Because that's the less visible area due to all the white water created by the waterfall. I will make sure Kai isn't found. Hopefully, she sinks far enough; even if someone dives, they don't find her, and if they do, hopefully, the fish will have taken care of her by then. Maybe I'll dump a few piranhas in here this weekend. They should have some on the black market."

"You are so smart, Taylor. I love it. Come here. I would be glad to give myself to you. You know I can make you feel good," Jessica said, trying to be seductive.

"I need to find something to weigh her down, and I need to ditch her clothes. How about you find something to do or care for that broken nose?"

"You dare me to do something wild, like kiss her dead body?"

"If that's what you want to do with your time, knock yourself out."

Jessica laughs as if she is having fun while swimming toward Kai's floating body, "I told you I could be spontaneous and fun, Taylor. Isn't that what you like in a girl"?

Taylor shook his head and whispered, "We're supposed to be doing something about her body, yet you focus on being spontaneous and fun. I should pin this all on you, then see how much fun you are having." 

Jessica didn't hear as her separate thoughts flowed in her head, "I'm only doing this to get with Taylor. Then again, I want to know what she has that I don't. It makes me sick that Taylor was ready to jump all over her. Though I can see why, my body felt so weird kissing her. Holy crap, does this mean I like girls? Do I go both ways? No, I know the love of my life, and it's Taylor, but I can't believe he said I was dry. Maybe I should check." She said, reaching her hand in her bikini.

 Jessica extended her hand to her nose, seeking olfactory reassurance in the submerged mystery. Ever the voice of curiosity, she suggested that the water might carry an unusual scent or that perhaps the habitual wearing of jeans had disrupted her pH balance. Her mind then wondered about Kai's skin, gleaming in the moonlight. She wondered what production Kai used to keep her skin perfect even when swimming.

Casting a fleeting glance back at Taylor, who remained immersed in the collection of rocks, Jessica boldly declared her intent to undertake the daring venture. And then, with the courage to embrace the unknown, Jessica leaned in to fulfill the audacious dare. As Jessica began to kiss Kai, an unexpected feeling waved over her, sending her into another place as she continued to French kiss Kai's floating body.

"Jeez, are you done? The fact you started to get into it!

"NO! Jessica said, pushing Kai's body. I was thinking of how you touched me and how I can't wait until we get time later." 

"Right, but we're not going anywhere. You need to take care of that nose, and I'm heading home after this. I shouldn't have to tell you this but don't tell anyone about this. If you want to brag, leave me out of it."

"Ugh."She rolled her eyes.

In the impromptu act of improvisation, the realization dawned swiftly that Taylor was no stranger to the acts unfolding in the moonlit waters. Despite his emotions being entangled, a testament to the human complexities that even seasoned participants couldn't quite suppress

 A graceful leap into the water brought him in closer proximity to Kai's lifeless form, where he skillfully bound her jacket to her feet and weighted the makeshift anchor with stones. The river, now a stage for a dark grave site, accepted its unwilling participant.

As Taylor submerged Kai in the waterfall's relentless embrace, a shroud of secrecy hung in the air. He continued looking back, ensuring Kai's body went under. Feeling his secret was safe, he dressed and headed home.