Chapter 41
Mireya
Play - Again by Noah Cyrus and XXXtentation
Omniscient
By the time we made it inside, the club was already unhinged.
Seraphin Bay isn’t known for good clubbing places; Actually most of them are probably unsanitary and really unsafe.
We’ve been here before, this street is filled with bars, drunk people and drugs. I got my first tattoo after drinking too much in the club we’re going in tonight.
So many people…
If I wasn’t a bit drunk before entering I’d probably be more overwhelmed than now.
Fog spilled over the dance floor, lights flashing red all around us. Someone had committed fully to a plague doctor mask, a trio of witches argued loudly over whether the bartender was allowed to refuse service to someone dressed as a blood bag.
“Look at this, Reya!” Hayzel shouted. “This is how you celebrate being older.”
“You’re yelling,” I said, leaning close. “And you’ve been yelling for ten minutes.”
“It’s my birthday,” she replied, shrugging, “I’m allowed.”
Ethan laughed and slid us our drinks. “Cheers to surviving another year of you.”
Hayzel clinked glasses as she jumped up and down to the music’s rhythm “Don’t provoke Reya, she might stab you tonight.” She leans in to whisper something but I can hear her clearly. “She’s in her angry drunk mood so, keep it respectful, Bennett.”
I took a careful sip, letting the familiar warmth spread through my throat and laugh at his reaction. More…I need more.
The entire drink was empty a few seconds later.
“Can you get me another one?” I asked Ethan as he looked at me with eyes wide open.
“Same thing?”
“Yeah, please.” I sound pathetic, hoping the bartender will be heavy-handed with the pour for the next one.
“Okay,” Hayzel said, grabbing my hands suddenly. “Dance with me. Now.”
“In a second,” I replied, looking at Ethan coming back with a new drink. “Let me finish this.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You said that twenty minutes ago.”
“I’m pacing myself.”
“Who are you, and what have you done with my reckless friend?”
I grinned at her as I started walking toward Ethan. “I’m evolving. Go have fun now!”
“Gross,” she yelled as she found a few of her friends from the class there.
The music swelled, bass vibrating through the soles of my boots and I laughed as Hayzel was immediately swept away by a vampire in a velvet cape who bowed dramatically before pulling her onto the floor from her group.
Ethan sat with me and looked at me for a few seconds before asking, “You actually okay?”
“Yeah,” I said automatically. “Just tired, I think.”
He studied my face a moment longer than necessary. “Text me if you need anything, I’m never too far away.”
I raised my glass in salute. “Go. Be free, don’t worry about me.”
He smiled as he stood up and let out a small, “Have fun, Reya.” Then he disappeared in the crowd, probably searching for our birthday girl.
I’m alone now, and everything around me feels louder. I can feel eyes on me, maybe I’m paranoid. But what if I’m not? Fuck, I need more alcohol… Or a cigarette.
Both actually.
I finish my drink quickly and stand, passing by way too many bodies to finally feel air. It’s so late already. Blue is probably sleeping and I miss being there.
I really don’t like crowds. Loneliness has a way of becoming unbearable when it echoes around you. I light a cigarette and inhale until my chest burns. People love reminding you that smoking kills. I’ve never understood why they think that’s convincing.
Guess I never felt alive enough to give a fuck about dying because of cigarettes.
I inhale deeply again. Better.
A group of drunk witches stumbled past, a few angels and demons followed, wings shedding feathers everywhere. Someone in a plague mask leaned against a streetlight, head tilted slightly in my direction.
Weirdo…
Another inhale, another horrible thought, and the plague person is still here, but when I close my eyes and reopen them a few seconds later, he disappears.
Maybe I’m imagining things.
I drank too much alcohol before coming here, a stupid amount, honestly.
I stayed outside a little longer, letting the cold air convince me I’m more sober than I actually am. And it’s working. So I put out my cigarette and went back inside.
I notice Hayzel dancing with Ethan and some other people, and give her a little wave as she smiles. She looks so happy and she’s having fun, it makes me smile too.
My feet led me straight to the bar.
“A vodka Red Bull, please. More vodka than Red Bull,” I ask the bartender, and he nods.
“Okay, more vodka than Red Bull, noted.”
I wait, glancing around at everyone who seems to be having a good time, but before I realize it, someone rushes at me and knocks my bag over.
“Watch out, damn it.” I bend down to pick up my things when I see the person wearing the same weird and fucked up plague mask. I freeze for no reason. But in a few seconds, the person moves forward and disappears again.
I'm not crazy, then.
A hand lands on my shoulder and I turn around, holding my breath.
“Your vodka Red Bull without Red Bull is ready.” The waiter points to the drink, which was already on the bar.
“Thank you, sorry, I didn’t see it.”
He nods and resumes his service while I grab my drink and sit down at the table where I have a better view of my friends.
I take a sip, then another one and my stomach lurches violently. Nausea slams into me so fast I have to grip the edge of the table. Heat floods my veins, like my blood has been replaced with something heavier, poisonous almost.
That’s not—
I stand up quickly, scanning the room. Hayzel was still dancing and laughing, Ethan was talking to a girl next to her. My phone was in my hand before I consciously decided to call.
I need to get out now. The floor starts leaning and tilting to the side.
Gosh, I feel so fucked.
I laugh at myself on the way out because that’s ridiculous. I’m fine. I’ve had maybe two drinks. Three, if I’m being generous. Plus the bottles at the dorm, but… I don’t get this drunk with just that…
The door is heavier than I expect it to be and I miss the handle the first time. “Wow,” I mutter. “That’s fucking rude.”
Cold air hits my face but I’m sweating. The music thumps behind me, it’s all muffled, like it’s underwater. I blink a few times and the sidewalk snaps into focus, orange lights, pumpkins and a few broken bottles on the pavement.
I lean against the wall because it’s there, and not because I need it. I’m okay…But I stumble as I place my hand on the wall.
Okay. Maybe I need it a little.
My phone buzzes in my hand and I stare at it too long before remembering what it is. Letters swim when I try to unlock it. I did it wrong twice. Texts, from Hayzel, from Ethan, asking me to come and fance…? No, Dance. Fuck…
I need someone, I need him. I call him without really deciding to and he answers immediately.
“Mireya?” His voice, focus on his voice.
I grin because it's comforting to hear my name coming out of his mouth. “I think,” I say slowly, “I…I think you were right.”
“Are you drunk?”
I scoff and shake my head like he could see me. “No. I just—” I stop because the sentence falls apart halfway through. “The floor is doing a thing.”
“What kind of thing?”
“A very rude thing.”
“Where are you?” he asks.
“Outside,” I whisper. “I needed air. Or space. Or…I don’t even know. I can’t see clearly…”
“Are you alone?”
I open my mouth to say yes but I don’t. Across the street, under a streetlight, a plague doctor mask appears. I’ve seen him twice, I’m not insane. My stomach drops and I want to scream at him to leave me the fuck alone.
“Mireya?” Damien repeats, waiting for me to reply.
“I’ve seen that guy before,” I say, and my voice sounds wrong to my own ears. “Inside.”
“Who?” He asks on the other side of the screen. I forgot he was still on the phone.
“The bird doctor,” I whisper.
“Listen to me,” he says seriously. “I need you to focus. Are they moving?”
The figure tilts its head and I laugh, but it comes out shaky. “They’re doing that thing where you tilt your head so people think you’re mysterious.”
“That’s not funny,” he says. “You don’t sound okay.”
“I am okay,” I insist, even as my legs decide they’ve had enough of pretending. I slide down the wall until I’m sitting on the cold pavement. “I just need you to come here. Like, soon.”
“How soon?”
“Now soon.” My throat tightens. “I think someone drugged me.”
“What?”
“I don’t like this.”
“I’m coming,” he says instantly.
“You’re at least twenty minutes away.”
“I’m coming,” he repeats. “Where are you exactly?”
“Next to Oak street, by the pumpkins decor in front of the club everyone goes to.”
“Stay there. Don’t drink anything else and don’t leave.”
I smile faintly. “You always give orders like that?”
“Only when I’m worried.”
My voice softens as I reply, “Okay then.”
The plague doctor takes a step forward and my heart stutters. The street feels longer suddenly, emptier, and scarier. My body is paralyzed, and my eyes are not focusing on anything. I think I know this person.
“Are you still with me?” Damien asks. My fingers tighten around my phone as I reply a small “yes.”
I’m here, but I don’t feel like myself. The figure moves again, and the anger that has been sitting underneath everything all day finally finds somewhere to go. My laugh comes out fast and the person in front of me pauses.
“You really thought this was going to work?” The words come out surprisingly exasperated. “You really thought you’d fucking drug me and then what?”
Damien’s voice changes through the phone. “What are you doing?”
I don’t reply, I look at the mask instead, the stupid costume and cowardice hidden underneath it. “Take one more step, and I’ll fucking rip your eyes out.”
For a second he stops, tilts his head and laughs. Slowly he lifts his wrist, the watch catches the streetlight and I stare at it, confused.
My body answers for him, everything starts slipping away. The lights smear together, my heartbeat is way too fast, and I blink. “What did you… What did you put in my drink?”
My legs give up entirely and I fall down to my knees.
The world tilts and all I can hear clearly is Damien’s voice who’s still on the phone.
“I’m on my way,” he says. “Stay with me. Don’t hang up.”
The figure walks closer.
“I can’t move...” I whisper, fighting the urge to close my eyes.
His voice changes as the gloved hand brushes against my cheek.
“You’re not going to let him hurt you. I know you.
” I don’t have the strength to reply to Damien and try my hardest to shove this person away.
“Don’t give him your fear, Mireya,” he continues and my eyes catch the cracks in the paint of the plague mask from how close he is now.
I see my reflection on it, pale, tired, disappearing slowly.
“I’m coming,” is the last thing I hear before the phone slips from my fingers.
And then everything goes dark.