me: so like do I have to meet your friends haha seems like a big step. Like we aren't REALLY a thing, right. Like
girl: you gotta relax mads, we're just meeting up to like smoke some weed and chill out. Its gonna be a great time. you do smoke, right?
me: (lying) Yeah all the time haha
---- at her friend's house ----
friend 1: heyyy maddie ive heard all about you
friend 2: woo! maddie's here! weve been dying to meet you
friend 3: cmon in we made space on the couch for you
girl: you're gonna be sitting next to me though heheh
me: are you sure there's.. uh.. room..?
friend 4: don't worry, i'm gonna be standing.
me: okay.. [sitting on the couch]
friend 1: [putting some cheesy 90s horror movies on and taking a hit of the bong] weve heard you're like really hot lol. is that true
friend 2: girl! don't say that!!
girl: i mean she is cute-
friend 3: omg yeah I can TOTALLY see it
friend 4: [tapping me on the shoulder] hey
friend 4: come with me real quick. i gotta show you something
me: okay.. you girls mind if i get up real quick? we'll be right back..
friend 1: of course girl do whatever you want make yourself comfortable
friend 2: make yourself VERY comfortable heheh
girl: girls cmon you're scaring her
friend 4: [walks me out the back to the backyard. before me stands rows and rows of unmowed greenery, standing tall and wild and untamed. it's night. the single porch light bounces off the decaying awning to give the entire space an ethereal feeling. the viel feels thinner, here] i know, madeline. i know
friend 4: [holding my hand. stepping into the grass. pulling me with her] you see it too, don't you? [she parts some grass to reveal something. A rotting dog carcass. Flies buzz around it's putrefying form. Beneath its decaying skin, something pulses. No, not pulses. Moves. There's something squirming underneath. The sight feels incredibly familiar.] You see it too, don't you.
friend 4: [squeezing my hand tight. her palms are clammy and her skin is pale. i hadn't noticed before, but she is cold to the touch. colder than you should be, while your heart is still pumping. she looks up at the sky. she directs me to look] do you see that? those aren't the stars, you know.
friend 4: [continuining to look up] that's not the sky, either. we aren't here, maddie. We're somewhere else.
Friend: [before i can respond she pushes me hard into the dirt, towards the dog carcass. I expect to feel my face sink into its rotting organs but I don't. Instead, I feel something much worse. I feel my body start to sink into the ground. Deep. Deep beneath the earth, until all that surrounds me us dirt. I open my eyes. I am inside a small wooden box. Around me is nothing but dirt, and silence. I scream. Nothing happens. I try to kick and squirm. Nothing happens. I can't feel my own heartbeat. I know it, but I don't want to say it. I am dead. I have been dead, maybe since the day I was born. No. Since it happened. I know this is all I will ever be. I look down at myself. My chest cavity has been torn open. There are entrails all over my clothes. My entrails. My breathing gets rough and heavy. It looks like the meat. I hate the meat. After a few moments of crying beneath the earth, the door opens. It shouldn't open. I stare. Before me sits the bar, with its varnished interiors, old stools peeling at the seams, aged halogen lightbulbs casting a warm glow around the room from above. I step out into it. She's there. She walks up and she greets me, hugging me tight. I don't move]
girl: there you are, maddie. I've missed you so much. Why don't we continue our conversation? Go on. You were telling me a joke.
me: [I open my mouth to respond, but blood spills out onto the floor and all over my shirt. She approaches me from her seat and pushes me down onto the hardwood flooring. She's on top of me. She takes her hands and begins ripping off my clothes, taking her claws and tearing into my skin, tearing, gnawing, pulling the meat from my body and devouring it like a wild animal, blood staining her mouth, ripping into offal like she needs it, and somecpart of me knows she does. She needs this. I just let her. My vision starts to go black as I start feeling dizzy, before I lose too much blood and I lose conciousness next. When I open my eyes I am there. In the backyard. In the grass. The porchlight casting a glare onto my eyes. I stand. There is no dog. The 4th friend is gone. It's just me. I walk back inside. The others are on the couch. They're smiling, laughing, they're happy. The tallest one notices me and waves]
friend 1: hey maddie! long time no see, you doing okay?
me: uuh.. uhm. yeah, i'm. fine. i was jjust uh. smoking with your other friend.
friend 2: ...other friend?
friend 3: we don't have another friend.
me: oh.. i thought there were.. 4 of you..
friend 1: maddie, are you doing okay?
friend 1: oh.. uh.. okay, it's just-
there's blood on your shirt
