Swallow

Chapter 1.63:

"Follow me." A high-pitched cackle cut through the fog as I stared up at the lights in the bar's ceiling. They kept flickering on and off in rapid succession. We still had some time before the show started. It was still too early. They shouldn't have been messing with the lighting until right before it was time for us to go on.

The lights went dim again when I closed my eyes. The whole place was swallowed up in blackness. It took me a few more seconds to realize it wasn't the signal that the show was about to begin.

It was just me blinking that turned everything dark.

Fuck, my ass was gone.

Mia's fingers dug into my chin and she pulled my head back down to redirect my attention back to her. She was standing on her tiptoes less than a foot away from me when she grabbed the front of my shirt and yanked me closer to her. The room spun around in the background as my body fell into hers. If it wasn't for the tacky orangish lipstick she was wearing acting like a focal point for my fuzzy vision, then I would have been puking my guts out from the motion sickness.

I narrowed my eyes and gazed down at the shiny, off-color sherbet tint to keep myself from spinning out with the room. Mia's lips twitched and wiggled disturbingly similar to a rabbit. The way the light glared off them reminded me of the colored plastic wrap my mom used to buy around Halloween. She would use it to cover the leftovers she sent home with my Uncle Charlie when he came over for dinner.

At least Mia understood the assignment tonight. She did her job by coming to the bar disguised as a half-regurgitated doggy bag to send home with Mark. Hopefully, he would be able to get a little pleasure tonight when he warmed her up and ate her. 

I snorted out loud and grabbed at the rings on my face to twist them, which drew a confused expression from Mark. I noticed no one else around me was laughing. It soured my mood immediately. Nobody ever appreciated my humor. I was a completely misunderstood outcast who was well overdue for another drink.

I started to lean back against the bar to wave Levi down again to ask him just to hand me the bottles-- only the bar wasn't behind me. I fell slightly sideways into something a lot softer with a hell of a lot of sweaty hair.

"Easy big guy. Don't want you to break anything." Mark slurred slowly. He held onto my arm to help keep me upright. 

"Who fucking decided to move the bar?" I screamed out to anyone who would answer me. My eyes scanned the floor near my feet for the stained, sticky surface where I left my drink.

"No one moved it. We were headed outside. You said you wanted to go smoke before the show, remember?" Mia pressed her hips into mine and danced against me.

Getting high sounded like a fantastic idea. Riley could come out with us when she got here to let loose too. We would have so much more fun together this way. 

"RILEY!" Mark bellowed in my ear.

He must have been thinking about her partying with us too. I nodded and smiled at the mention of her name.

Yes, Riley. Riley Davis. I fucking loved that girl.

No other girl in the world could ever come close to her. She was so beautiful and sweet. I had to pinch myself every time I was around her to make sure she wasn't something my twisted brain created during a drug binge. I wouldn't survive if I ever found out she wasn't real.

Mia shifted her eyes to the other side of the bar and her jaw dropped wide open for a split second before she caught herself. She sucked in the side of her cheeks and pursed her lips until a deep scowl covered her face. I wasn't sure what caused the wretched expression, but whatever it was, it had my curiosity to enough to turn my head to find out.