SISTER EATS BROTHER

4

The sofa dips, and I look over as Adam throws her bare legs over mine, yanking the remote from my hand. She powers the TV off and tosses the controller across the room carelessly. It bounces against the carpet, landing face down. "Your wife is putting the kids to bed. She's reading them bedtime stories."

I glance down at my watch. That's early... "Why?"

"To give us time together, of course," Adam grins.

I blink distastefully down at Adam's legs, at the bold tattoos and unshaven skin, and shove them off of my lap to stand up. "You should be going now."

Adam watches me with an eerie carefulness. "I don't think so. I need to keep an eye on you for the rest of the night, you know."

"Hmm?" I mumble, swaying slightly on my feet. I feel weird...

"Don't you feel it yet?" Adam asks, tilting her head curiously.

I look down at her. "Feel what?"

Adam just blinks at me, fingers tapping absentmindedly against the sofa cushions. Her face blurs for a second, and the dim lamplight seems to surge, then fade. What the hell is that about? Then, my eyes widen in realization. Oh, no. "What did you do?"

She smirks up at me, twirling her golden keys around on her finger. "I put a lil somethin somethin in your food, dear brother."

I feel like I'm going to throw up. I take a step back. My heart beat is getting louder. Was it always this fast? "What...what is it?"

Adam's eyes follow me, glinting in the soft lamplight. "Oh...just fun guys."

"What?"

"You know, fungi. Mushrooms. Psilocybin-"

"Yeah," I cut her off, raising a shaking hand up to my face, raking my fingers through my hair. I hesitate, gulping. "How much?"

That's when things really start to shift. Adam stands up, and my eyes stare behind her. The wall...is the wall...breathing? Her hands land on my shoulders, and I feel like they're heavy as lead, slowly drilling me into the floor. "Oh, I'd say it was around five, six...maybe seven grams. I kinda lost count. So buckle up, little guy."

"No," I mutter, pulling weakly at her hands, trying to get them off me. But her grip is like iron, and I'm sinking into the floor. I'm losing it. I'm losing control. "No, no no no, this can't be happening-"

"Hey, now," Adam's voice cuts through my freak out, firm and gentle. The only thing keeping me tethered to the real world. "You can either have a melt down here - in front of your family - or you can come with me and do it privately."

My hands tighten around her wrists as I continue to slip. I glance toward the hallway, where I can hear the muffled sound of Anastasia talking to the kids, the slam of a bathroom door, running water. There's nothing I can do as the world shimmies and stretches and buzzes around me. This is bad. They can't see me like this. I won't allow it.

"Take me," I breathe out, my voice tinny and small. I just have to get through this. I'll get through this, then I'll deal with Adam when it's over.

"Aye aye, captain."

Time warps. I fade in and out of a swirling reality, hearing a motor running, a door slamming, then absolute silence as I stare into the void. Voices echo in my head, I can't feel my legs, I open my mouth but I can't speak.

Am I dying?

I don't know where I am...who I'm with...or how fast time is passing until all of a sudden I blink, and I'm on top of a hill, lying on my back in the grass. The ground is cold, seeping through my clothes and chilling my skin, and the stars blink lazily down at me, black sky stretching all around me like a cocoon.