Trashed and Highly Treasured

Smells Likes Danger

Smells Like Danger

It’s livid in here, the smell of weed and alcohol mingle with the scent of sweat accumulating on each and every body. It’s a house party gone wrong, and I’m loving every tainted moment of it. Inhibitions tossed to the sky I raise my drink in the air, some strange sweet liquor I don’t care to question. Pink lips round along the outside of the rim, to take one more sip and then I raise it back up, up into the air. I don’t do this. I don’t do this. But tonight I do.

My girls are somewhere around here. Aimee I can see already has her guy for the night, he has her pressed against some highly decorated closet. Karen I see a few meters away from me, dry-humping some guy she doesn’t know, and Rachel? Hell I don’t know where she is and I don’t care.

Nichole.

I’m hallucinating as I swirl around, shake my hips to the music and pump my fist in the air. I don’t know what the song is, but I don’t care.

“Hit the lights!” Someone screams.

Fear has no place in the drunken me, the loose Nichole. I don’t feel a damn thing when the lights flick off. I’m enjoying it, the way it feels to be in such darkness as I twirl around, around, dangerously free. Eyes close and mouths open to taste the weed and alcohol in the air, I’m consumed. The feeling is amazing; the euphoria is hard to get rid of.

Nichole.

Some jerk is calling my name, some jerk is unaware that I need this moment right now. I need to feel empty right now. I need to forget right now.

Its only dark for a moment, because soon neon lights swirl around; green, orange, and blue flash as neon glow sticks are thrown around. It truly is out of hand now, and the glow sticks make it very apparent. One rolls until it hits the side of my weathered tennis shoes. I cease dancing and bend down to pick it up, admiration apparent in my smile. Soon the blue stick is in my hand and I’m waving it around just like everyone else.

“NICHOLE.”

Senses aware, I abruptly turn to the sound of the voice. Karen jerks at my arm, her green eyes wide and trembling, “Where’s your guy?” I smirk.

He has to be around here somewhere waiting to slip her panties off. I saw the lust in his eyes, dark brown eyes, and dark enough to be mistaken as black.

“Somewhere, I don’t know. I don’t care, we need to find Rachel. NOW!” Her pale hand grips my wrist, its as hard as vice the way she holds it. My drink splashes all over my jean jacket, sweet red liquor all over my clothes.

I could be mad, but I’m so faded I don’t pay it any mind as Karen pulls me through the crowd of dancing lights.

“What about Aimee?”

Shouldn’t she be with us too?

She doesn’t miss a beat as she continues walking or rather running, “Forget that skank.”

“But she’s our friend.”

“She’s somebody else’s friend tonight.”

Logic passes over my head and I can’t quite seem to put together the puzzle of what she’s saying. The air is hot though as I stumble and as she races out the door with me right behind her.

All that trouble we went to, to crash another universities party all to leave it. I mean to tell her that too, but by that time the rank smell of weed and the ridiculous amount of liquor and beer has me in a daze.

I don’t ask her why we’re looking for Rachel either, I assume it’s because she’s the most vulnerable of the group. She’s probably somewhere reading a book, or knitting a scarf for the homeless right now. All of those are exaggerations but she’s sweet like that, sweeter than me anyway.

Her figure moves back and forth as the images in front of me blur and mingle, I see a door and her hand, and then trees and cars. More hot air hits me in the face and the feel of constriction that my jean jacket causes is enough to make me want tear off my clothes.

 It wasn’t this hot before I left home, I swear it wasn’t.

Just beyond the house rests a group of trees, a sad lot of frees but the woods nonetheless. I can smell the trees, the scent as heavy in my nose as the smell of sweat and must. Karen huffs in front of me, her long tunic blouse billowing around in blurry whites as the hot air blows.

A wave of nausea overtakes my body as we continue, past cars, past houses and into the woods. I stumble a couple more times, I cough even, I gag several times and I beg for her to stop.

But she won’t.

“No we have to find her now.” Urgency and sobriety in her voice alerts my senses if only for a brief moment.

“What’s wrong? Why are we here?”

“Shh! Quiet Nichole.” She hisses.

Then I smell it; faint, but distinctive nonetheless, like metal. Rust. I picture it then, red, thick, metallic blood.

“Oh God no, no no. RACHEL!”

The image before us is anything but peaceful. Her hair is spread around her head like a red Chinese fan, and her legs are contorted in odd angles. Underneath the silver glow of the moon her pale skin shines, and the blood pooling underneath her stains the fresh green earth.

There Rachel lies, naked.

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I’m the first one to act, I strip myself of that god awful jean jacket and cast it aside. It lands on the edge of a bush only to fall back down to the ground, but I could care less as I reach down for the bottom of my too long black t-shirt.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Karen screeches.

Slowly I pull the shirt up and pull it over my head as I ignore her.I may be slow and I may be slightly drunk off my ass, but I know when someone needs help. Rachel obviously needs some clothes, alive or not.

Alive or not…

Down to my pink and blue polka dot bra and levis I make my way over to her still body. Am I scared? Yeah. How scared? Shitless

Its enough to rid me of whatever drunkenness I had as I stare wide eyed at her. She’s just laying there, her head turned to the right and her body out ther for the world to see, yet Karen stands still wathing her.

“No, no don’t touch her.”

Now its my turn to question her, the girl who grasped me by the arm and dragged me here, “Are you serious? She could still be alive.”

On cue Rachels chest rises and falls gently, her head lolls to the side.

“Oh thank God. Karen, fucking do something!”

You’d think she was the drunk one instead of me as I scramble to her body. At last she makes a move, dropping to her knees right next to Rachel as well. Rachel’s body is umblemished, but pale, pale enough to make me wonder what really happened. Her usual skin color, a slight tan with a tinge of pink is nowhere in sight.

“Where did this blood come from?”

Why is she naked?

But I already have a pretty good idea what happened. Some punk drugged my friend, raped her and left her out here to die.

“But she has no marks.” Karen speaks out loud.

No bruises, nothing. Only naked skin and blood.

“She’s breathing.”

Suddenly here eyes flutter open, as big as a does and brown as the eart she is on, “What happened?”

Me and Karen exchange bedazzled looks, “That’s what we want to know.”

She looks around, her eyes roving the entirety of the forest, until it lands back on us, “Where did he go?”

“Who is he, Rachel? Who raped you?”

I’m scared for her, I’m saddened for her.

“No one, raped me.”

“Why are you bleeding?”