Till The Clock Strikes Gone

19 | unstable

"That's not a valid reason."

"Fine. I was angry with you," he confessed, placing kisses on her neck as his hand caressed her thighs. She was wearing a black tank top and her sleep shorts, one of his favourite costumes for her. He let out a low groan.

"Why do you smell so good?" he commented in a raspy voice, kissing her jaw. His hand moved to the waistband of her shorts and he started to tug them down but she held his wrist, making him drop his hand back.

"Why were you upset with me?" she asked.

His eyes darkened for a moment. "You weren't paying much attention to me. You were too busy checking out that damn William Ray."

Eliza felt guilty at those words. She had not only checked him out, but she had kissed that damned William Ray. How bad she felt when he stopped the whole thing and left her embarrassed. She was furious at him for doing that to her but now she felt sick after James' confession.

"I..." she began, trying to find the right words. "I'm sorry."

James lifted his head to face her. He gave a small smirk.

"You can make it up to me. Just get rid of those clothes and let me do the rest." The evil grin on his face made Eliza understand his words too clearly. Ever since he was introduced to the world of 'erotica', he had tried to pull some stunts on her but she had refused to comply.

"No, I'm not sleeping with you when you are drunk," she reminded him.

He pouted and then fell back on the bed closing his eyes again. "Well..then come to tonight's party at Arabella's house. We have got something new to try out."

She knew what he meant by that. Her body was begging her to not listen to him but after what he had just told her, she wanted to make herself forget about William Ray and pay attention to James.

"Okay."

He turned to look at her and smiled.

"That's my girl," he said and pulled her closer, pressing her to him. She brought her fingers up to play with the soft waves of his hair and hummed lightly till he fell asleep.

***

"I don't think I can handle that," Eliza said, making James look at her from the white powder that rested on the palm of his hand. Arabella threw her a bored look.

"This is the best stuff," she gloated and Eliza hissed at the harsh tone.

Ever since their return, James had been more restless than usual and Arabella looked like every time she laid an eye on Eliza, she was ready to kill her.

She wouldn't be surprised if something did happen. James was closer to Arabella than to his girlfriend.

Eliza was able to wake up James and get him out of the house before her father showed up. Fortunately, he didn't see James as the boy quietly slipped past the back door, just as the front door opened and Harvey Scott stepped in.

She let her father know that James was back and had invited her to spend some time with him and the group. Her father liked James but didn't approve of the rest. He thought that the red-haired Thomas was too obnoxious and the blond boy Knight was too loud and that Arabella was too spoiled. Eliza had laughed as he imitated each of them. She shared her father's thoughts.

She wasn't very close to the group as she was with James but she put up with them for James's sake. When she got dressed in her black jeans and was back to her leather jacket, she looked at herself in the mirror and was disappointed at her reflection. She was growing weaker and weaker day by day. The previous night, she had tried to move her desk a bit closer to the window but even the slightest effort made her arms ache. She pushed away all the dark thoughts that occupied her and climbed down the stairs. For a moment, she had a deja-vu as she saw her father near the stairs. She almost wished that William would show up just like the other night and tell her to take care of herself. Her father gave her a small smile.

"Take care," he said.

"Yeah," she assured him and now she wasn't very sure she was taking care of herself.

The white powdery substance that was on her palm was supposed to be sniffed in through the nose. Eliza didn't know what it would do to her but James said that it was one of the best.

"I just don't think I should take it," she put a voice to her suspicions.

"Babe," she heard James say. "You promised we will have fun."

"I'll have fun but is this necessary?" She tried to reason.

"Well, then don't take it. But remember, I'll take it and you'll have to have sex with me in that state," James smirked at her. "You said I could have you for the night."

Eliza sighed. She did say that to him. She wanted him to get out of the house but he wasn't going and so she told him that if he were gone, then she would let him have her for the night.

"I don't like the idea of this," she said but then she saw the others getting ready to sniff their share and not wanting to be left behind, she quickly brought the powder close to her nose and sniffed.

She was blinded for a moment and then the thing started to kick. She didn't know how much time had already passed but she could see James and Arabella from the corner of her eye. Arabella's party was full of people; there was screaming and shouting everywhere around her. She put her hands up to cover her ears as she tried to block the noise. She felt hot and with sweaty hands, took off her jacket.

James and Arabella were too busy dancing, screaming and shouting and Eliza wondered why she wasn't feeling the same.

She was feeling sick, like something inside her was tearing apart. Opening the jacket didn't do much good and so she pulled out of her T-shirt too. She was standing there, among the crowd, in her bra and jeans and yet she still didn't feel comfortable. Her head was pounding and she could feel her breath constricting. She was pushed back by the swarm of people and she felt someone grab her from behind. She turned around and there stood a lad whose eyes were almost closed but he was grabbing her and tucking at the buttons of her jeans. She pushed him away and he fell on the floor. She let out a small scream and then tried to find her way to a corner of the room.

She found a spot near the couch and surprisingly, the couch was free of people. She lied down, falling face-first on the soft material and let out a painful moan as her headache grew more and more. She felt so hot as if she were wearing a thousand layers of clothes in a dessert. She turned around slowly to lie on her back and then, with shaky hands, she took out her phone from her jeans. All was blurry and she squinted her eyes to look at the small screen.

Fortunately, she had her father on speed dial and she could do that without having to physically look at the screen. With hurried movements of her fingers, she dialled her Papa.

The phone rang but he wasn't picking up. She was almost about to drop the phone as her vision started to darken but then, she heard someone pick up.

Not her father but she knew that voice very well.

"Hello?" William answered from the other end of the call.

Eliza tried to speak although her dried mouth was making it difficult.

"Eliza?" William said, frantic now.

"Help...me," Eliza managed to let out.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"Arabella...house," Eliza whispered in a low, very low voice as the phone started to slip from her grip.

"I'll be there," she heard him say before the phone dropped from her grip and Eliza's vision blackened completely.

For a moment, she thought if that's what her mother felt before she died.