The wedding toasts were done. They’d cried, laughed until their cheeks hurt and raised their glasses time after time. 

He’d said his “I do” and so had she. 

The rest of the night had been passed in newly married marital bliss. Passing moments of family and friends expelling well wishes flitted through his mind. What no one had mentioned about getting married though was the post wedding hangover or what to do when you discover your partner is hiding something that could get you both killed. 

Dan shook the Tylenol bottle and a small pile of red and blue pills spilled into his palm. Carefully he placed two of the pills onto the white figured faux marble vanity top. He grabbed one of the small paper cups nearby wondering to himself if they charged for using even those now. He shrugged to himself. The trip was all paid for by some rich uncle or cousin of his wife’s anyway. With a gurgle the faucet spat water as he turned the handle on. He squinted trying to block out the glaring bathroom light as the water climbed towards the lip of the cup. With three quick movements he flicked the water off, slammed the liquid back like it was one of last nights beers and popped both pills into his mouth, swallowing them before he even felt them hit his tongue. 

He quickly changed into a pair of gym shorts and put on his running shoes while outside blue water sparkled and palm trees cast mid morning shadows in a tropical paradise_. _Getting the blood flowing was his favorite way to cure a hangover 

Five minutes later, Dan tried to decide if the man behind the reception counter in the hotel lobby, was a very tall man sitting in a small chair, or a short man standing up. As Dan approached the reception counter, the man, who resembled a cross between a number two pencil and an undertaker stood up eyeing him with enthusiastic apathy. 

“Hi.” Dan smiled.

The man merely stared in response. 

“Alright…” Dan being an amateur google reviewer knew just what to do about poor customer service from a front desk attendant. He mentally filed away his scathing opening line. 

“Could you tell my girrr…wife, that I went out for a run? I’ll be back in 30 minutes or so.”

The man waited longer than was comfortable then slowly drawled,

“And you are?” 

“Dan, from the honeymoon suite…we checked in this morning…”

“Ahhh, yes. Mrs. Digby’s room.” The rumbling drawl came slowly like a fog clinging to the earth at mornings first light. 

“Mrs. Digby?”

“Yes, the room is booked for Mr and Mrs Digby. I assume you to be Mr. Digby.” 

“Uh?” Dan queried. “That’s Maddison’s maiden name?”

“Taking your wife’s name. How forward thinking of you sir.” The man’s face betrayed no hint he thought anything of the sort, or that he felt any emotions, at all, whatsoever. 

“Nevermind. Can you just let her know when she comes through?” The man acknowledged his request with a vacant stare. 

Dan made another mental note to leave the bad review after they got back to the states.  He took one last look back as a breeze blew through the open air lobby. The man stood unmoving, look unchanged. Dan began to run. Because he had planned on a run. Certainly not because of the seriously unhinged vibes he got from the front desk clerk. Dan did, coincidentally, however, set a new personal best time for the first mile of his run away from the resort. 

“Did you get a new suitcase?” He peered around her at the black roller bag. The reception clerk had just brought it out before disappearing into the back room again.

“Hmmm? No.” She turned following his gaze. “Oh yes. I did.” 

She paused a moment. 

“Actually, my work sent it. They had some issue come up and needed me to do some work while we are here. It shouldn’t take long. Part of the morning tomorrow. We have the rest of the honeymoon together. I promise.”

She gave him the puppy dog look…and he fell for it. He always did. He knew what he was getting into when they started dating. She was ambitious. He liked that about her. 

She smiled as he put on an air of mock grudgery acting like he had to consider it. Her smile melted away his poor acting abilities like gummy bears in a car on a hot Phoenix day. 

“Fine, fine.” Dan smiled.

“I promise it won’t take long. I’ll be back before the afternoon.”

He nodded. “Take however long you need.”

“Thank you for understanding.” She said, meaningfully. “I’ll be right back.” 

He watched as she headed for the restroom off the main lobby. She glanced back and gave him a smile as she turned the corner. 

“She’s not who she says she is.” 

Dan whirled. 

He was the only one in the lobby. 

The tall man re-entered from the door behind the reception desk. Dan noticed his name tag, “Ash”. 

“Did you say something?” Dan thought it unlikely it had been Ash since the voice didn’t have a drawl.

“I’ve said many things, sir.” 

“Did you say something just now?”

“No.” 

Realizing he disliked any conversation with Ash, Dan decided to drop the subject. 

“Ready?” Maddie appeared.

Maddie held the black luggage close to her side as they made their way out of the lobby. 

A morning sun reflected off the gently lapping water as Dan reclined in an Adirondack chair. In a twin chair nearby, sat Maddie. Eyes closed, brunette hair splayed over the top of the chair and her t-shirt rolled to maximize her time in the sun. Their fingers interlocked relaxedly between them. Her diamond ring sparkled. Not even a speck or smudge on it. He had scrimped and saved for more than a year to afford that ring. He was pretty sure she didn’t know exactly how much it cost. Otherwise, she probably would have made him take it back for something cheaper. 

“I have to go soon.” Her eyes remained closed and only her lips moved as she spoke.

“Sounds good.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “I’ll probably go for a run and catch some of the game at the bar.” A thumb casually pointed vaguely towards the resort bar on the beach. 

“Ok, I’m just going to get to it.” She let out a breath and popped up. With a kiss she headed towards their room. 

“Love you.” He called after her. 

She flashed him a smile and held her hands up in a heart.

“She’s not who you think she is.” 

Dans eyes snapped open. He scanned the beach. No one was close enough to have been the voice. 

Dan began to analyze what he knew One time hearing a voice he could play as a one off. Hearing things, imagining something, etc. hearing it again, he thought it best to break down what was happening. He went through three possibilities. He was being pranked, he was going nuts or someone was sending him a warning.

Mulling it over, he thought a prank unlikely. He didn’t have any friends that would do it. The ones that would do it, couldn’t afford to travel this far. He could absolutely be going nuts, but no one usually knows they are. A sort of catch 22 situation and seeing as the result was the same either way, he decided it was best to continue as if he was sane. Dan figured he had best focus on the last option left. He was being warned. 

The bartender hadn’t acknowledged him yet. Of course. Another TV was showing some sort of local parade celebration and a third had a silenced soap opera with Spanish subtitles scrolling across the screen. Nets hung from the dried palm leaf ceiling around the bar. 

Dan took a seat on a stool made from driftwood and mentally added a second line to his devastatingly critical google review of the resort that he planned on leaving on Google. He glanced at the bartender with his curly flaxen hair in a man bun and shook his head. He convinced himself it wasn’t worth asking the bartender to change the soap opera tv to the baseball game. He knew, like everyone did, you couldn’t trust someone with a man bun anyway. It certainly wasn’t because within minutes he had become engrossed in the Spanish soap opera.

Three ice waters and an episode and a half later of the Spanish soap. Antonio, the heartthrob, had just “rompe” a pair of twin sisters “corozonas”. Dan managed to cover his gasp, with a manly cough, as Antonio got slapped. 

“Look” 

The voice was clear and distinct.

Dan felt his eyes drawn to the second tv where the local parade celebration continued, playing out in vivid colors. 

“She’s not what you think she is.”

Dan did a double take as the camera focused on a section of the crowd. 

“Maddie?” 

There she was. On the tv. A face in the crowd. What was she doing at the parade? She looked so serious too. Her intensity radiated off the screen as she focused on something off camera. 

“How was work?” Danielle greeted Maddie as she walked into the honeymoon suite.

“I’m just glad it’s done and we can spend the rest of our time together.” She gave him a kiss and sat on the bed.

He studied her face. Something out there was trying to send him a warning. Was it about her? No. He couldn’t go down that rabbit hole. Trust was too important in a relationship. Doubt was a slippery slope. 

“Did you enjoy the parade at least?” He asked moving on. 

She gave him a quizzical look.

“The parade?” 

“Yea, the local celebration in town.” He almost told her about seeing her on tv, but something about her response made him pause. 

“Oh no. I was up town to meet our client. Didn’t get a chance to catch any of the parade.” 

“Did you get caught in the parade traffic or something?” Dan gave it another chance, not wanting to assume the worst. 

“C’mon Maddie. Give me something here.” He thought.

“Nope. Wasn’t near that part of town at all. We wrapped up after it was over anyway.” She eyed him suspiciously. 

“Did you go? I bet it would have been fun.”

“Maddie, I saw you at the parade. You were on the tv.” She turned following his gaze to a breaking news story unfolding on screen.

A female reporter stood holding her microphone as text scrolled by on the ticker. Dan read it slowly. “Body found along parade route.” He recognized the same corner Maddie had stood on during the parade earlier as English subtitles appeared. 

“The body was found after the parade wrapped up. The police haven’t released any details, but I was able to get a look.” 

The reporter smiled, most likely smelling a possible promotion on the horizon. Maddie lunged for the remote, but Dan snatched it away. A sketch appeared depicting a man lying crookedly with a duster that looked almost like a robe and a fedora slumped against a wall. The reporter continued but Dan tuned it out as Maddie turned back to him. Something akin to horror painted across her face. 

“Dan, it’s not what you think.”

“Did you…kill someone?”

“Ok, it is what you think…but he wasn’t like us.” 

“What? Like he was an alien? What do you mean not like us?”

“No, he wasn’t an alien. That’s silly. Aliens don’t exist.” 

“But you did?..” he made a slicing motion across his throat and motioned towards the tv. 

“Yes. It’s my job.”

“You kill people? You? An assassin?”

“I told you. He wasn’t a person and technically, my job title is a hunter…”

“What do you hunt, if they’re not people?”

She looked at him. 

“Wizards.”