Burning Up

Helpless

"Iago." I gasped, a slither of rational thought tearing through the fog inside my head as I reached for my phone.

Where was he? Did they get to him too?

I couldn't breathe, the events of that night seeming to hit me all at once. My head was pounding and my vision blurred as I forced myself up and onto my hands and knees.

Big mistake.

I heaved, barely managing to move my hand out of the way before I was hurling a combination of bile and alcohol over the floor below me.

"Fuck." I whimpered, forcing myself to crawl away from the mess I'd made before slumping against the wall.

I stayed there for a moment, breathing deeply before dialling Iago's number, trembling as the dial tone echoed through the empty apartment.

Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.

'You have reached the voicemail of... Iago... Please leave a message.'

"Iago where are you?" I sobbed into the phone. "Iago you have to come and get me. Please."

My voice cracked as I spoke.

"I know - I know we fought but I don't know what to do and I'm scared." I could feel another sob bubbling in my throat as my pleas were met with silence. "Iago please."

My hand shook as I held my phone up against my ear, my heart thudding against my ribcage as the realisation that he wasn't going to answer began to sink in.

I hung up.

God, what the fuck had I gotten myself into?

I pressed my back up against the wall, covering my mouth with my hand as I stared at the smeared blood that covered the floor, tears leaking from eyes.

Time seemed to pass in chunks after that, the sun getting progressively higher as my eyes grew heavy, and if not for the light seeping in through the windows, I wouldn't have believed that six hours had passed.

"Mila? Mila oh my god what happened?"

I looked up at Nadia through slightly dazed eyes. I hadn't been asleep, each sound having startled me out of my numbness, and yet somehow, as though my body knew I could trust her, I hadn't noticed her come in.

"Something about the coke."

My voice felt raw and I knew by the way Nadia was starting at my neck that it must be bruised.

"Oh God."

She looked panicked as she knelt down beside me, her long fingers moving to cup the side of my face.

"M' fine." I said, my mind too foggy to think up anything else.

"No you're not fine!"

She was crying now, her tears leaving rivers of mascara down her cheeks.

"God, look at your face."

I hummed in acknowledgement, pressing my hand against the cheek she wasn't cupping, wincing as it seemed to slide across the wound.

I pulled it away, my eyes fixated on the blood that now covered it.

I felt sick again.

"Where were you?" I asked, looking up at her.

A flash of guilt passed across her features.

"I thought you went home with that guy you were dancing with. I wanted to give you some privacy."

I nodded, my eyes glazing over as I stared past her at the opposite wall.

"Why did no one hear us?" I asked a minute later, voicing the thought that had been running through my head for hours.