BABYLON //a.f.i//

• R E C K O N I N G •

I woke up feeling as if I had the weight of the world on me. I gasped for breath, and for a few terrifying moments it felt as if it wouldn't come. My head felt heavy, and I could barely push myself up. I had to blink several times before my vision cleared, but that didn't help my pain and confusion. And as I sat up, I suddenly realized that I had absolutely no idea what happened the night before. Was it the night before? What day is it?

I pressed my hands to my temple to try and steady my aching thoughts, but it was to no avail. It felt as if fireworks were going off in my conscious, hindering my ability to think and remember. Last night came back in flashes too blurry to make sense of. The feeling was all too familiar though; it's how I've been spending the past couple of years. I must've taken something. Something strong.

I looked around to assess my surroundings and found that I was in the bedroom in which I had showered. Ashton's bedroom. He was nowhere to be seen though, and I was still in the black dress I had changed into. For some reason and eerie feeling began to make its way through my blood. Something felt wrong, but I couldn't quite place it. I decided to chalk it up to after-high paranoid; god knows I've experienced that before.

I got out of the bed slowly, my body almost rejecting the movement entirely. My head pounded in protest and my blood like it was rushing. Goddamn, what the fuck had I taken? I pressed my palms to my temples again, and made slow movement towards the door. I didn't quite know where I was going or really even why, but everything just felt odd. I could barely remember anything from last night, and Ashton and Luke were nowhere to be seen.

I didn't even bother attempt to look in the mirror. I'm sure I looked as bad as I felt, and there was nothing I could do to remedy the situation. I just felt so suffocated; I needed to get out of the room.

I opened the door and looked at the neon lit black marble hallway ahead of me. Into the abyss. I walked slowly, the engulfing me in its mysterious splendor. Several times I had to shade my eyes, as the luminosity only caused my headache to worsen. It took several minutes but eventually I found my way to the lobby.

As I looked around, I was stunned to notice that it was dark outside. Besides the harsh neon and stage lights blinking and glowing in their seemingly never ending fashion, the darkness prevailed. I rubbed my eyes, now really confused. Was it the same night? Was it the next day? It began to dawn on me that maybe I had been left at this place. Perhaps Ashton and Luke had enough of me. Perhaps I had done something while high to scare them off. Unfortunately that option was very possible.

It was as I wandered aimlessly into the casino/restaurant portion of the hotel did I realize just how hungry I was. When was the last time I ate? I couldn't remember. I looked around at all the metallic table and chairs and plush booths, but before I had a chance to choose one to slump into, a voice came from behind me.

"I should've seen it."

I turned around clumsily only to find a man dressed in a navy blue suit behind me. He looked disorientated though, messy. His jacked was slung over his arm and his shirt was halfway unbuttoned. His midnight black hair was tousled as if he had just gotten out of bed, and he held a half empty bottle of liquor in one hand. His ice blue eyes were slightly glazed over, shining in a fashion that radiated a sort of seriousness and sadness. His appearance had a sobering effect on me as I felt myself tense up. It was Max Ronan.

"Where's Ashton?" I asked cautiously, now knowing what he was talking about.

He raised his eyebrows at me before touching the liquor bottle to his lips and taking a long sip. He finished, looking back at me. "You have her eyes. She was the only one in this god damn world with eyes like that. I should've seen it the second you sat down."