by Quell T Fox
We get out of the taxi, Lenny grabs the suitcase and tries to take the bag, but I won’t allow it. He’s such a gentleman but I want him to know that I can take care of myself. I don’t want him or any of them thinking that I am trying to mooch off them, because that isn’t what’s happening here.
We walk into the suite and I don’t see any of the other guys. Lenny helps me bring my stuff into my room. I dig into the bag and pull out the small, round keychain that reads “you make me wish I had more middle fingers”. I walk into the hallway and see that Alec’s door is closed, no surprise there. I turn to the left and notice that Maddox door is partially open, so I knock quick and open the door.
A sharp gasp escapes my throat and both hands go to my mouth, causing me to drop the keychain to the ground. No words escape my mouth, but a million thoughts run through my head. I have no idea how to react to what is going on in front of me, so I turn and run. All the way out the door and into the hallway.
“What the fuck, Maddox?!” I hear Lenny shout before the room door closes fully.
I jab the button for the elevator too many times, knowing it won’t make it come any quicker, but my anxiety and fear won’t allow me to keep still and I am terrified of one of the guys coming out to follow me. The elevator door opens and I run on, turning swiftly and jabbing my finger at the button to close the door. “Come on!”, I miss it the first time and hit the button for floor four. Either way, as long as the door closes and the elevator moves, I’m fine. Okay, not fine but…anything is better than here.
I hit the button over and over, willing the door to close faster before someone comes after me. Everything is going in slow motion. Except my heart. It’s beating a mile a minute. I hear Lenny’s voice calling my name just as the door closes and I feel like I can breathe behind the safety of the door.
I push the button for the bottom floor and move back to the corner of the elevator, my shaky hands running down my face and then through my hair. The elevator stops on floor six and I hold my breath as the door opens. When I see a woman and a child standing there, I release it quietly. They step onto the elevator and wait for the doors to close. We continue our decent in silence, only stopping again at floor four, no one gets off or on. When the doors open on the bottom floor, I rush out through the main lobby and outside.
I have no idea what to do.
I have no idea where to go.
I have nothing.
What did I get myself into? I knew this whole thing was too good to be true.
Did I really see what I think I saw? Is that possible?
No, monsters aren’t real...are they?
Maddox was...his mouth was...fuck.
What the fuck!
Maddox was fucking drinking Callan’s blood. Like a... vampire. A vampire?
Fucking. Vampire.
For the love of fuck, Friday. How on earth did you end up here? They took me so they could eat me? Drink me? Whatever the hell it is they do. I made jokes about them killing me, but I thought it was just that...a joke! What were they waiting for? Were they trying to fatten me up? Does that make a difference…I have no fucking clue.
Wow.
Just fucking wow.
I walk for, I don’t even know how long. I have nothing with me but my phone. I left everything there. Everything. My entire life is in that room. And my purse! With my wallet, my ID and money.
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
I should have waited, but his door was open! It was open! What the hell was really going on? Was I seeing things? No. I am sure of what I saw. Maddox was on his knees in front of Callan, who was sitting on the bed. Maddox had Callan’s wrist to his mouth, and he was biting...sucking, fucking drinking his blood! The blood that was smeared on Maddox’s face and dripping down his chin. I will never forget that, what I saw. That image is burned into my brain right on the side of Skank riding Dickface. Leave it to me to have the most fucked up memory in existence.
I walk down the busy street, the sun shining behind me. It’ll be dark soon. Hundreds of people walking by, not knowing my pain. Everyone struggling with their own problems, their own...demons. Or living in perfect harmony and then everything in between. Completely unaware of what is going on around them. Yet, here I am. My world completely crumbling around me, with nothing but the clothes on my back, a cell phone in my pocket and a brain full of fucked up memories.
I walk and walk and walk. I check my phone.
Nothing. I have no one to call, no one to call me.
I stop when I come to a park, deciding to walk through. I come to a large open field and sit on the ground below a large oak tree. The soft, warm breeze blows causing my hair to fly in front of my face.
What am I going to do? I can’t stay here. I have to go back, at least to get my stuff. I could call the cops…and tell them what, Friday? They’d probably put me in cuffs and lock me up for being a nutjob. I don’t have a key to the room to sneak in, I don’t have any of the guys numbers. If I did, I could ask that they leave my stuff at the front desk. I could call the front desk. I could call Todd…no, fuck that. I’m not calling that weirdo.
Think, Friday.
My chest hurts. I feel…empty. Like something is missing from me. I was feeling good when I was with those guys, it felt right, I felt whole. And now it’s like there is a giant chunk of me missing. How is that possible? I’ve known them less than a week. The tears well in my eyes, I try to hold them back but I can’t. The weight of everything pulling me down, down, down. I wipe the tears away with my still shaking hands. I scrub them on my pants to dry them and notice a small black circle on the inside of my left wrist. It’s the size of a large freckle or mole. I wipe it away, but it doesn’t move. On closer inspection I realize that it’s actually in my wrist. Like a tattoo.
What the fuck.
I hug my knees to my chest and rock myself back and forth trying to calm my brain. Maybe once I calm down a little I can think straight and come up with a plan. I take deep breaths and lean back against the tree. The park is empty, aside from me and a few birds. The sun is slowly going down and I hope like hell that I have an idea of what to do before it gets dark. I don’t know what this place is like at night. I don’t know what kind of people linger around here. If it’s dangerous. Fuck, what do I know? It seems like not a damn thing.
I close my eyes and focus on my breathing, after a few moments I feel myself relaxing. I’m no longer shaking, I can breathe better, my heart is beating normally. It no longer feels like it’s going to race out of my chest. The giant hole in my chest is closing. I knew if I took a moment to calm down that I would, and I’d be able to think and figure this out. I’m okay, like everything is back to normal. I had a little meltdown but it’s okay, it happens. My brain is clear and now I can figure this out, I know I can.
A tingling sensation crawls up the right side of my body and I open my eyes, immediately moving them in the direction.
“Friday, I need to tell you something.”
I look up to bright blue eyes and everything in my brain is telling me to run. To get as far away as possible and never look back.
But I don’t. My body is relaxed, I’m calm. That giant hole is filled and I’m back to feeling complete.
Back to feeling like this is where I belong.
The end…for now.