The Weight of the World in a Drink

TW: Teen substance use, violence, accidental suicide, brief language

"Let's go, Lucy, we're going to be late!" Jenny drags my hand behind her.

I groan and follow behind her. Going to this party is the last thing I want to do tonight, but it's Halloween and maybe the last time I'll be able to hang out with friends before graduation. The only thing is, I hate everything that has to do with horror and ghosts and fantasy, so this is worse than a nightmare to me.

We climb into Jenny's car, me driving because I know she'll want to pregame.

"You know," she says, taking a swing from an unlabeled bottle of brown liquid. "I really like your dress. I almost got it for myself."

I flush, keeping my eyes firmly on the road ahead. I hate my dress. The tight black fabric and low-cut neckline has never been my vibe. It feels too revealing, like I could make one wrong move and the whole thing will fall off. "Thanks," I mutter. Jenny's own dress is worse than mine. Two pieces of almost sheer fabric twine around her body, covering no more skin than is necessary.

The party looks awful, even from the outside of the house. Turns out the rich and famous of LA are obsessed with Halloween. Fake blood drips down the sides of the house, synthetic cobwebs strung along the walkway and between trees.

"Do I seriously have to go to this thing?" I cringe, knowing that the half-wasted Jenny sitting next to me would die before letting me leave.

"No way. You finally look hot, so don't waste it." She climbs out and I follow her to the door, knowing if I leave, she might not make it back in one piece.

The party is... loud. So incredibly loud. I can't make out voices, footsteps, anything over the bass pumping through speakers I can't see. The walls are drenched in the same fake blood as the outside of the house, and plastic eyes protrude from various surfaces, illuminated with some kind of LEDs. Jenny is already walking away, heading in the general direction of the open bar. I hurry after her, shoving aside wasted party-goers to keep up.

"Two shots of whiskey and something strong." She says to the bartender. Looking back at me, she adds, "And a vodka with coke." She takes the drinks and holds one out to me when I finally catch up. I actually don't mind a vodka with coke, so long as it's mostly coke. This one, it turns out, isn't.

"Here," Jenny giggles, holding out a shot, one already in her hand. I take it. "To getting wrecked!" She taps her cup to mine, downing the drink in one gulp. I drink mine slowly, gagging as the alcohol burns its way down my throat.

I don't drink. I really never do, but tonight feels like a good time to let go of some nerves.

"That's the spirit!" Jenny laughs, finishing her "something strong". I offer her a small smile as she twirls away, right into the hands of a handsome stranger that whisks her to the dance floor.

I let out a tight breath, trying not to think too hard about the night ahead. I make my way to where most of the guests are dancing to an upbeat song I haven't heard. I sway to the beat, the last half of my drink left on a table. My feet already hurt from the tall, glittery black stilletos Jenny had forced onto my feet before we left.

After a few minutes, I can already feel the alcohol doing its job. My head feels lighter. Come to think of it, everything feels lighter. I start to dance my way to the middle of the room, where the music is loudest. The room starts to move, or maybe that's just me as the press of bodies blocks out the purple and orange strobe lights. One shot probably shouldn't do this much damage, I think. But it's fine, who cares. A tall man with tattoos creeping up his neck approaches me.

"Hi!" I scream, trying to be heard over the music.

His lips turn up and grabs me by the waist pulling me to his chest and moving us to the beat. I feel suddenly faint, grateful to have something solid to lean on, at least for now.

After a few songs, I pull away from the man, vision swimming as I look around for Jenny. I spot her in a dark corner, twirling her blonde hair, one hand on the chest of the same boy that had stolen her away earlier. I stumble over to them. I really don't want to ruin her date but she needs to know how much fun I'm having!

"Jenny!" I laugh. Bracing a hand on her shoulder to keep from falling over.

She turns to me, looking slightly annoyed before she realizes it's me. "Hi, Lucy! Garrett, Lucy. Lucy, Garrett. How's the party treating you, sweetie?"

"Ahhhhhhh! I feel great! You know, I don't even care about the weird eye things anymore!" There must have been something in my drink, but I can't be bothered to care because I just realized the world is SUCH a great place.

"Mmhm," She looks a bit uncomfortable at this. "Garrett, I'll be right back. Let's go over there for a minute, Lucy."

She drags me to a corner, Garrett glaring at me the whole way.

"Are you gonna be okay? Do you want to call an Uber?" Her lips purse, looking more sober then I had ever seen her. "Honey, how many drinks have you had?"

"I-" I almost answer, but something catches my eye. A bright red figure, practically glowing with hellish energy, stands in the center of the room, unbothered by the throng of bodies around it. Something about it makes my heart stop dead in my chest. "I- Jenny look." I shake her shoulder a bit, pointing to where the demon- isn't.

"Yeah, okay. Too many drinks. We should go."

But I'm not listening to her. A sharp ringing fills my head as I turn to look back at the thing lingering even closer now. "Jenny!" She whips around, but somehow it's gone again.

"Holy shit. I don't- Let's go home. We can get something to eat later."

I collapse to the floor, clapping my hands over my ears to drown out the high-pitched sound bouncing around my head. The demon fades back into view, and suddenly I'm screaming. Stop, stop, STOP.

"What the- Lucy, there's no one there!" Jenny tries and fails to pull me up, drunken limbs weak from dancing.

My breath comes in short gasps as I punch uselessly at the monster. Its hands, hot as fire, grasp my throat, squeezing, the ringing growing louder with every passing second.

Somehow, Jenny still can't see the demon because she just reaches for my own hands but I don't even know where they are anymore. Fingers slipping on what I can only assume is my sweat, she falls back.

Louder and louder and louder and- Black spots cloud my vision.

I take one last clipped breath, begging Jenny to do something as the world fades to black.