The scream

Isla

We stood at the baggage carousel, waiting for our luggage. We were done with all the airport procedures, and after we get our bags, we'll be good to go. Liam, Carl, and I are standing near the carousel with a trolley each, while Ethan and Claire are bringing their respective trolleys for the luggage. Sophia and Iris have gone to the washroom to freshen up and will soon join us. My eyes are fixed on the carousel as our luggage finally comes through. We pick up all the bags. As we are all ready with our trolleys carrying our suitcases, we make our way to the exit of the airport, from where we'll get taxis. We take two taxis: Iris, Ethan, Sophia, and Liam in one, and me, Claire, and Carl in the other.

The taxi drives us to a place about an hour away from the airport. I take my phone out of my purse to check my messages. I ignore most messages, but one message in particular grabs my attention. It's Olivia, my most loyal employee. I open her chat to see what she has texted me.

She texted me about some issues at work and about what all I'll have to take up at work once I return. I talk to her for a while about work, and I ask her for the report. I'm taking daily reports from her since I want to make sure that everything at work is going smoothly.

After I talk to her, I just look out the window, smile, and close my eyes. Not so long later, we reach the place we were headed, and we get off.

So the plan is that we're going to take a helicopter from here to the island directly. We get out of the taxi to see the rest of them already waiting for us. We then make our way to the roof of the heliport, from where the helicopter will take off. We all sit inside the helicopter, as it's made sure that we are all accommodated.

It soon took off as we looked out the window. The view surrounding us was incredible, as we were finally in the air. We were all amazed by the view. Neither of us had been on a helicopter before, so this was a first-time experience for all of us. Some of them took videos, while I just etched the view deep into my memory. I was used to traveling a lot, but even for me, this was the first time on a chopper.

After about an hour and a half, we landed on the heliport, which was situated on the ground. We went to where the boats were kept. We had to go across the other side of the river, where the island we wanted to be on was situated. It wouldn't take very long—just about another half hour. We all sat inside the boat and enjoyed the atmosphere as the boat started shortly.

Soon enough, the half hour passed, and we reached the island. All of us got off, and our guide took us to a mansion. I didn't expect such a huge mansion on this small, secluded island. But it didn't seem like there was any life other than this mansion.

In fact, it didn't seem like there was life in the mansion either. This large mansion was situated on this small island, with outgrown grass surrounding it on all sides. It had moss collected on parts of it, giving it a dirty look. Its windows had dust collected on them, and the curtains hung low, hiding any view of the inside from out here. The sky was a pinkish shade, but if the sky had been just a bit darker, this place would look just like the ones in haunted movies. The type one should stay away from. The manor gave such an unsettling feeling, which would make anyone feel goosebumps, and one with a weak heart might piss in their pants; they most likely would. Just then my eyes moved to a tree nearby; it's leaves dangling down, and there are hundreds of bats on that tree. This whole place gives off an extremely creepy aura.

Looking at the faces of my fellow friends, they share the same thoughts as me. Before it could get darker, we were guided into the manor by our guide. We were given a total of 5 rooms, with 2 rooms shared by a couple each and the other 3 given individually to me, Claire, and Carl. I didn't understand why Iris would choose this place for her fifth anniversary; it really didn't make sense. But also, the bookings were quite last-minute; maybe that's why she chose this place. Probably. That was the only reasonable explanation I could think of.

The guide left soon after explaining how things worked around here. It was a self-service system, so neither did he stay nor did the place have caretakers or maids. I mean, I think I get why there isn't anyone to take care of. They'd be too creeped out to work here anyway; it does make sense.

Iris stepped into the center of the hall, with us standing around her in a circle. "Hey guys, let's all go to our respective rooms and freshen up. We'll rest a bit and meet back down here," Iris said, as if making an announcement. All agreed. I mean, everyone was tired, but we'd meet back down because tomorrow is their anniversary, and even if we gather at midnight, at least we can celebrate a bit before being done for the day. Both the couple's rooms were upstairs, while the rest of ours were downstairs. Iris and Sophia went upstairs, followed by their respective husbands. We too went to our rooms to rest a bit before meeting back down.

I was sitting on the couch next to Carl and Claire when Sophia came towards the hall with Iris, with Liam following behind her. They sat on the individual couches in the hall since the one we were sitting on had no space for others. It was around 11 p.m. right now, as we all but Ethan were gathered in the hall. Liam then turned to look at Iris and asked her, "Where's Eth?" "In his room." "Could you call him?" "I'll go fetch him," Iris said as she got off the couch and went upstairs.

Iris

I opened the door to our room to see Ethan doing something on his laptop. His work, probably.

 "Han, are you working?" I asked, his back facing me as he seemed to be working on his computer.

 "Yes, I'm working." 

"It's going to be our anniversary in an hour, and here you are working!" I whine 

"Sorry, darling, but this is important." I sigh. 

"Fine, but be down in 30 minutes at most, ok?"

 He nodded in response, and I left the room to go back to the hall downstairs.

"Sorry, Liam, he's working, but I told him to be here in half an hour at most."

"Seriously? It's your anniversary in an hour!"

 "Yes, I know! But he said it was important, so I agreed. 

"You're too lenient with him,"

 I smile. "I know, but he'll come; don't worry. We can just talk for a while." 

Liam nodded, and the others agreed. We talked about some incidents that happened, past relationships, and joked around. 

Soon enough, it was already close to midnight. 

Liam looked over at the watch on his wrist and groaned in frustration. 

"There's only 5 more minutes for your anniversary."

 I looked at the time and said, "Oh yeah."

"That's it. I'm bringing him, or that guy will be working for the next 3 days."

 I nodded as a gesture for him to go bring Ethan.

He then rushed upstairs, looking so done with Ethan. I chuckled as he went to bring Ethan, and the rest of us talked, reminiscing on our last meetup, which was a long time ago. Just as we were talking, laughing, and joking around, we heard a scream—the scream of a man. 

There was a sudden silence around us.

 Sophia looked worried as she said, "That's Liam's voice."

All of us just stared at each other for a moment before we got up and rushed upstairs towards the room.

As soon as we entered the room, the sight in front of us explained Liam's scream. It was Ethan. His head jerked back, and he was stabbed mercilessly all around his torso. His right arm had something carved in blood.