Chapter 20 — An Unpleasant Surprise
Arriving at the swimwear store, Dante looked at the saleswoman and asked, his tone polite but firm as he approached the counter lined with colorful swimwear displays:
— Sorry to bother you, but do you have any swimwear?
The saleswoman looked at Dante and at the two girls with him. She nodded with a friendly smile and said:
— Yes, we do. What would you like?
The store smelled faintly of coconut sunscreen, and the bright fluorescent lights reflected on the shiny metal racks. Dante scratched the back of his neck casually and said:
— Well, I just want a normal swim brief.
He then looked at Jasmine and Amber and said:
— Girls, you can choose.
Both girls perked up immediately, their eyes sparkling as they scanned the store like predators circling prey. Then Dante hears a voice behind him:
— I'm here too, guys!
Dante turns around and sees Briget, a little out of breath from catching up.
— Sorry, I didn't see you… since we're tall, you kind of disappear in the middle when we walk together. But I didn't see you when we left, — Dante asks, confused.
Briget answers, fixing her hair behind her ear:
— My dad said you were buying swimwear and told me to meet you here. After all, I don't have any swimwear.
Dante smiles gently, softening his expression:
— Well, then let's go. Jasmine and Amber, take your little sister with you to choose a swimsuit.
Jasmine says:
— Alright. Come on, Briget. Amber and I will choose something pretty for you.
The three girls walk deeper into the store, chatting excitedly as they touch different fabrics. Watching them disappear into the aisles, Dante sits at the shop entrance while they buy clothes inside. A vending cart passes by, and he buys an ice cream. He leans back, enjoying the cold sweetness melting in his mouth, and thinks:
"Sweets really are my weakness."
The peaceful moment makes him sigh contently. Families walk past the store, kids laugh in the distance, and the park music plays softly over the speakers. Suddenly Dante looks up and thinks:
"That's strange… why did I smell blood?"
His cheerful expression fades for a second, replaced by instinctive alertness. He narrows his eyes, scanning the corridors.
He answers himself:
— Well, it's probably nothing… must be just a kid who hurt themselves or something.
Dante forces himself to relax. He stops thinking about it when Jasmine and Amber come out of the store wearing their bikinis: Jasmine in pink and Amber in black. The contrasting colors highlight their personalities perfectly — Jasmine bright and playful, Amber dark and bold.
Looking at them, Dante says:
— You look beautiful.
He then pulls Jasmine and gives her a warm kiss. After she takes a deep breath, he pulls Amber and kisses her too. Both girls giggle softly afterward, cheeks flushed.
The men passing by rub their eyes, thinking, "I'm not high…" One guy looks at his friend while seeing Dante walk away with two girls in his arms, them laughing and kissing him, and asks:
— Jack, I have a big question… are we background characters in real life?
Jack looks at Dante and the girls who had already walked away:
— If you have doubts, Davi… I have none.
Meanwhile, inside the park pipes, giant piranhas were pulling and devouring a security guard as they entered through the ducts, the water sloshing violently and echoing through the metal tunnels.
On the other side, Dante and the girls finally reunited with the rest of the group. Bob looked at Dante and asked:
— Why did you take so long?
Jasmine and Amber answered:
— Well, we were trying on a bunch of bikinis to find one that Dante likes.
Dante says:
— Well… you're beautiful no matter what you wear.
Briget, shyly tugging at the strap of her swimsuit, asks:
— Am I beautiful too?
Dante looks at her wearing a swimsuit that looked like an old lady's outfit. It was beige, full coverage, and outdated — something straight out of a 1950s catalog. And then he does the only correct thing to do: lie. Lie shamelessly. He smiles:
— Well… you're beautiful too.
Rob, looking at his clueless son-in-law who lied without even sweating, was about to say something, but Briget asks:
— And you, dad? What did you think? Am I pretty in this swimsuit?
Dante looks at his father-in-law with a provoking look like "go on, tell the truth now… the truth sets you free."
Bob, seeing his daughter's expectant look, can only make one decision:
— You're beautiful, sweetheart.
Lenny sees the scene and laughs, while Charlie says:
— Well, everyone, we came here to have fun, so let's have fun!
They run toward the attractions, splashing through shallow water puddles as the sounds of rides echoed around them.
Meanwhile, Roxane, Glória, Diane, Sera, and Sally are on the beach chairs sunbathing. The sun reflects off their sunglasses, and the smell of tanning oil lingers in the air. Roxane then asks Sera, curious:
— Girl, you still haven't said anything about your son being with Rob's daughters.
Sera says without looking up from adjusting her towel:
— And what can I say? After all, they're the ones who don't care about the situation. So I can't say anything.
Roxane thinks after hearing Sera: "How could they complain about the situation?" She remembers how loudly the two screamed in pleasure when she passed near their room, and after checking on Bob, she passed by again and they were still screaming.
Roxane thinks:
"With a man like that… what woman could resist?"
She even feels her body warm up involuntarily.
At that moment, Diane says:
— Look, girls.
She points at a muscular guy. Sally and the others look at the buff man posing dramatically under the sun. Roxane observes him and thinks, remembering Dante:
"Well… compared to Dante, he's really not much."
Sera also watched the guy while playing with the girls. Seeing Roxane's completely uninterested face, Sera thinks:
"This friend is lost for good… you can't compare a supernatural body to a human."
She sighs.
On the other side, they're in line when Lenny's kids say:
— Dad, it's taking too long. Why don't we go somewhere else?
Lenny says:
— Erik, it's up to you, buddy.
Erik looks at everyone with a mischievous grin:
— Follow me, guys.
He leads everyone to a secret entrance behind some bushes. He opens the fence for everyone to pass. His daughter asks:
— Dad, are we allowed to go here?
Erik laughs:
— Of course not, sweetheart. But your super-dad here found this secret entrance. It saved me and your uncles from waiting hours in line.
Dante says:
— Girls, hold my hand. It looks a little dark inside, so be careful not to fall.
The corridor is narrow and smells like metal and chlorine. After arriving, Lenny looks through the door gap:
— Get ready… we'll enter when no one is looking. Kids first.
On the other side, with the women, the muscular guy walks toward them in slow motion. They watch excited… until he gets close and opens his mouth with a cartoon-like childish voice:
— Hey girls! Are you from around here? I'm from—
Before he finishes, they start laughing like crazy. The guy yells:
— You're all insane!
And leaves angrily.
Roxane says:
— Don't leave! I need a clown for my son's birthday, give me your number!
Diane says:
— Come here, big boy! And you,and only stop using helium gas and we can talk!
Sera was also laughing, until she smelled the same scent of blood Dante sensed. She looks toward the pool, serious:
"Where is that smell coming from?"
At the zipline, Dante looks at Lenny arguing with his old school friend and asks the girls:
— Do you want to go down?
Jasmine says:
— Well, I will.
She jumps and falls into the water. Amber kisses Dante and jumps as well.
Dante looks at and at the guy about to jump and says:
— Man, you better not do that. The chance of things going wrong is really high.
But the guy says:
— You're with Lenny's group, right? We're not scared here.
And jumps.
When Dante looks at the water, he sees a giant piranha swimming without anyone noticing. He thinks fast:
"big Man… did you REALLY have to put horror movies in this universe?"
"Shit… if these are the piranhas from that movie, it's never just one."
He then leaps and jumps straight down without using the zipline. Everyone applauds, thinking it's a performance.
Dante swims toward Jasmine and Amber:
— Come with me!
He looks at Lenny:
— Mr. Lenny! Grab your son and get out of the water now!
Lenny sees Dante's serious face, grabs his son, and gets out.
When everyone is out, Lenny asks:
— What happened?
Dante is about to answer when a scream bursts out. He turns and sees a person being attacked by a piranha, the water turning dark red.
Dante thinks:
"Damn it… in a situation full of people, I can't use my powers…"