The school field trip had been less of a drag than Ray had anticipated, though that had little to do with the field trip itself. They had gone to the bay to study the waves and the life along the shore, both coastal and marine. On the way, however, as he had been trotting along, somewhat away from the group with his friends, he had seen a girl off to the side, and he couldn't very well hide from his friends the abrupt attraction that he had felt. She had been beautiful. There was just something about her that caught his eye. The bikini probably didn't help much. On a dare, he had gone to talk with her. And, surprisingly, she had talked back.
He didn't have much time, however, as the group was going on its way, and he couldn't get left too far behind. To his amazement, however, she had agreed to come with him, and they went back to his group of friends together. His friends teased him endlessly, with no regard for the fact that she was right there beside him, but she merely laughed along with them and poked her own fun.
The trip was a long one, ending with a dinner event inside of a submarine. It was crowded, but somehow the teacher didn't notice the extra girl slipping on in along with the rest of the group, and the buffet style of the food meant that she wasn't left hungry.
"I still can't believe you actually agreed to hang out with us," Ray said between mouthfuls.
Miranda smiled. "I guess there was just something about you that caught my eye," she said teasingly. "Something about your messy hair, or that dumb look on your face that said you had never even talked to a girl before."
The group laughed, and Josh jabbed Ray in the ribs with his elbow. "And damn, what a looker you got to come with us," he said, more than loud enough for the people around them to hear. "What are the chances you're gonna be able to invite her into your bed, too?"
Greg laughed and pulled Ray into a choke hold, giving him a hell of a noogie. "Yeah, right," he said. "Like anyone would want to get that close to this loser."
Miranda grinned and played with her hair. "Who knows?" she asked coyly. "Somethings about me just might surprise you."
There was an audible oohing from that comment, which was quickly shushed by the teacher as one of the crewmen came out to talk to the group. As he was talking, Ray felt a chill run down his spine, and looked back to where Miranda had been sitting to find that she had seemingly slipped away. "Must have gone to the bathroom or something," he muttered to himself.
Suddenly, there was the sound of the steel door of the submarine slamming shut in the distance, followed by a heavy lock. The crewman bolted to attention, as did several others posted around the room.
"What are you pranksters up to now?" the teacher demanded. The class looked around, trying to see who was missing, but all of the classmates were there. Ray and his friends got a sick feeling in their guts. Miranda was still missing.
Then the lights went out. Only a moment passed before the deep red emergency lights flipped on, and suddenly Miranda was back.
"Miranda," Ray whispered under his breath. "Where did you go?"
"Where is it?" Miranda hissed back. Ray jumped back in surprise. He didn't know what she was talking about, and there had been a sudden malice in her voice.
"What are you talking about?" he asked. "Where is what?"
"Don't give me that shit, kid," she hissed, and suddenly there was a blade in her hands. Greg gasped, but the sound lasted for only a moment before being replaced by a gurgle as the blade sunk into his throat. The entire class began screaming, but Ray and Josh were locked in their seats, staring at Miranda. The entire class saw what had happened. But no one knew why. "Don't hide it from me," Miranda continued. "Give me the key."
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Ray screamed, and then the knife was sticking out of Josh's chest, and he fell back, dead.
Miranda was up in an instant, pushing Ray flat onto his back in the enclosed space. Crewmen were coming, but Miranda didn't have an ounce of fear on her face. She looked as though she knew she had all the time in the world. "Last chance, kid. Now or never."
Ray felt a fire burning in his chest. He couldn't tell if it was fear or pain. "I don't-"
The sentence was cut off by the blade.
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