The music was pounding in my ears. Strobe lights hurt my eyes, making me want to escape to the bathroom just to get away from it all. The bodies of a good hundred teenagers pulsed against each other, some even pushing and shoving. I hated nightclubs for two reasons. Human interaction, and the fact that the whole place smelled profusely of sweat and cheap perfume, a deadly combination. I made my way rather violently out of the crowd, pushing with quiet ‘excuse me’ s and ‘pardons’. Finally, I broke out of the ring of sweaty people and bright coloured clothing. I took in a sharp breath of air, running my hands through my ebony hair, damp and starting to curl up from the sweaty dancing. I made my way to the bathroom, deciding it was best to go with my original idea. My legs were heavy and leaden, making me walk slower than usual, and the large crowd around me didn’t help in the slightest. Finally, I made it past the crowd of people and into, well, an even bigger crowd of people. The line for the bathroom snaked all the way out the door and merged with the dancers. I rolled my eyes. No way was I going to stand in line for hours just to relieve myself when I had a perfectly good, non public bathroom at home. Turning around, I more or less elbowed my way through the crowd this time, putting my rather noodle-like arms to use.
“Zero! Zero!” I heard someone yell, and I groaned inwardly.
“Polo!” The guy beside me yelled, and I shot him a dirty look before attempting to find the owner of the voice.
It didn’t take very long, and I was soon face-to-face with my best friend Becca, the one who had dragged me here in the first place. Her hand clasped onto my forearm and dragged me away, and all the way out the door, where she stopped in the empty sidewalk.
“He ditched me!” Becca snapped, and I paused, giving her a disapproving look.
You see, the whole reason I was look for an escape, even if it required escape en route public bathroom, was of Becca’s bang up job of a boyfriend. But, it was her idea for me to tag along and, I quote, ‘get away from that stupid drawing pad of yours’. So, in conclusion, I was third wheeling so hard you could have called me a tricycle. But nevertheless, she insisted, even though my constant protests saying that she was going to ditch me, and then he would ditch her.
“Call me a prophet.” I muttered, and she glared.
“Come on, we can walk home.” Becca snapped, angrily looping her arm through mine, though she still wore a tiny smile on her face.
There was no doubt that when we got home we would be going through some serious douchebag-boyfriend talk. One of the many we have had in the span of our three year friendship. I smiled inwardly and she shook her head as we began to walk. Our heels clicked on the hot concrete, echoing in the dark. We would have both been lying if we said that we weren’t scared, and no, not because we were afraid of the dark. It’s because the club we were at (that she didn’t bother to find the name of) wasn’t in the best part of town, and I would bet a pretty penny that more than one person had spilled blood on the very place we were walking.
Beside me, Becca swallowed nervously. Thanks to my mother, which I was actually thanking for once, we lived on the outer parts of the slums. Not exactly the ghetto, but it certainly wasn’t a gated community. From where we were at the top of the cement hill, I could see the flickering glow from the house at which we were currently residing. I wouldn’t say that it was luxurious in the slightest, but it wasn’t rat infested. Or so I hoped. We walked the short distance quickly, and Becca turned to look at me with wide eyes.
“Can I crash with you tonight? Your neighborhood kinda’ wigs me out.” She muttered.
“Thanks, Bex. But sure, you can. I wouldn’t make you walk home in the dark where there’s monsters and you have a slightly higher than normal chance of being mugged and shanked.” I replied cheerily, pulling my keys out of my pockets.
Becca rolled her eyes. “Your compassion is overwhelming, really.”
I laughed lightly and slid my key into the doorknob, and I was mildly surprised to see that the door was already cracked open. I swallowed thickly and turned to look at Becca, her eyes widened even more, and she let out a shaky laugh.
“Mom?” I called out softly, taking a step inside.
My hand reached out blindly, and I fumbled for the light switch, but it was to no avail. Becca muttered something behind me about a horror movie she saw once, and I guessed it was an attempt to lighten the mood.
The thing inside my house didn’t like it very much, apparently. Because as soon as my fingers found the stub of the light switch, a cold hand clamped over mine and yanked me forward, and I stumbled a bit over the rug, but the thing…person, pulled me close to its chest, and the door slammed behind me, seemingly rattling the whole house. I went to scream, gasp, or something, and the hand over mine released, and clamped over my mouth. From outside the door, I could hear Becca yell a muffled stream of jumbled syllables and undistinguishable letters, of which quiet a few were those of the rated R type.
I would have laughed then, if I had not been being held hostage.
“Not a word.” The voice hissed, male.
Like he really needed to say it? I couldn’t have even moved if I tried.
