Page 4 of Take Me
Jade Rivers
Mr. Danger came back as promised with a red plastic cup. I couldn’t see the contents in it as he got closer and for a moment I felt silly. I knew the dangers that came with these men and sometimes drugging girls came with the territory. I could admit that I liked a true blue bad boy but being drugged wasn’t on my ‘to do’ list. I could go without that one. He didn’t smile at me as he got closer. He shoved the cup into my hands and looked me in the eye as he took a sip from his. I eyed his lips as he swallowed down his drink.
He chewed on the inside of his lip. “I’m Rafe,”
“Jade,”
He nodded his head like he already knew then he eyed my drink. “You gonna drink that?”
Nervous butterflies ignited in my stomach. I didn’t make a move to take a sip even though I whispered, “Yes,”
He snatched the cup from my fingers and took a huge gulp from my cup before he put it back in my hand. I couldn’t fight the smile that took over my face. I took a sip then and let the alcohol burn through my body.
Any other time, any other party I would have been able to tell you if it was the good stuff but as it slid down my throat Rafe’s eyes practically glowed in the dark and the last thing I was worried about was if I was drinking the good stuff. All rational thought flew right out the window and I imagined if he kept it up with his glowing eyes, my panties would be next. I pulled my bottom lip in between my teeth and he moved in toward me again. My heart did that weird skitter again and I wondered if this was the guy that was going to take me home tonight. It was still relatively early but that hadn’t stopped me before. His molten liquid eyes flicked to my lips and I knew I was a goner.
* * *
My head was a fuzzy mess. Was I lying down? Was I on a bed or had I fallen on the floor? Where was I? Had I drank that much? The last thing I remembered was one cup of alcohol. I didn’t think I had gotten sloshed that quickly. I could hear Tracey’s voice filtering through with Rafe’s. Something wasn’t right. My eyes burned as I tried to roll over. Nothing was making sense in my brain.
“You promised me you would stay away from her,” Tracey yelled.
“Everything is different now, you don’t understand,” Rafe replied back.
“Youpromised,” Tracey pleaded.
What were they talking about? Tracey and Rafe knew each other? That didn’t make sense. She had seen him on the stairwell, why hadn’t she said anything? Or maybe she hadn’t seen him after all. Nothing was adding up. My legs felt funny as I tried to move. My eyes felt like they were glued shut.
“All bets are off, I can’t have her die.”
Tracey scoffed and I finally managed to blink my eyes open. The room was dark. “Die? DIE? I would never let anything happen to her, I promised you that much.”
“Do you not listen? Everything is different now, Tracey!”
“Rafe, I’m warning you, walk away.” Tracey’s voice came out in a growl. I blinked in the darkness. Growl? Something was seriously messing with my head. This had to be drugs.
“Fine,”
I rolled my shoulders and the room came into view. It wasn’t a very quick progression but I was getting mobility back and that was all that mattered. I needed to get away. Fear coursed through me. Adrenaline was gone and had been replaced with panic. With dread. My mouth felt like I had been chewing on a ball of cotton, like after I had my wisdom teeth removed. My stomach dropped as it hit me.
Oh crap, he had drugged me. I rolled over and felt nausea building in my stomach. No, no, no, I couldn’t throw up now. I needed to get out. Footsteps sounded on the other side of the room and I zeroed in on the worn boots. I couldn’t pretend I was still out of it. I had to go, now. I shoved off of the bed and tilted sideways as I tried to get my bearings. Everything spun around me.
The room was dark but I could still make out the shape of Rafe as he prowled to the bed. I managed to roll away from him but then I saw something shiny clutched in his fist. A syringe. I didn’t worry about the fact that I didn’t have my purse. I had to go, that was all that mattered.
I had to live and I couldn’t live as a junky. That had to be what was in the needle, right? Or were there more dangerous contents in that syringe that could kill me? I had done a lot of things, but nothing like this. I had never been this close to terror. Tears blurred my vision as I scrambled away from him. Tracey must have seen the syringe at the same time. As soon as I was off the bed, she was screaming.
“RUN! Don’t look back!”
I wanted to worry about Tracey but for some reason, I knew he didn’t care about her. This was all about me. My feet didn’t want to work as I stumbled to the door and crashed into it. I wrapped my fingers around the doorknob when I felt the sting of the needle in the back of my neck.
I tensed up before I ripped the door open and ran for my life. I don’t know how I got down the stairs or even how I managed to maneuver my liquid legs around the bodies littered everywhere. The sun was peeking through the windows and all I could think about was getting home. I couldn’t trust Tracey, and I wasn’t going to try to get into her car. A few miles wouldn’t hurt. I could get there, even with my body feeling like this. All that mattered was getting home alive.
Fire slipped through my back where the needle had struck me. Was this what heroin felt like? What was this feeling? I stumbled out of the frat house and onto the lawn. Rocks dug into my hands but I pushed myself back up and ran. My gait was slightly sideways but I continued on. A few joggers looked at me concerned as they passed me by but no one offered me help. I was sure I looked a fright but it didn’t matter. I doubted I was the weirdest thing they had seen on a college campus before.
I leaned over and took a deep breath. My purse was gone and so was my phone. The only thing I had left was my watch on my wrist and my clothes. My panties were still in place which was good, I didn’t think I needed to go to the police station. Though I had heard that they weren’t much help around here. Me being drugged and possibly injected with who knows what wouldn’t be at the top of their priority list. I had seen them turn away rape cases. I wasn’t going to subject myself to any more humiliation. The last thing I wanted was for someone to not believe my story. I knew that happened more times than not. I swallowed back shame. I had done all of this to myself. I had put myself in the position and things could have gone so much worse. But at least I was alive…
One street after another and then another and I was almost home. Sweat poured down my face as the sun continued its journey into the sky. I leaned against a tree and ran my hands down my tear-streaked face. I hadn’t realized I had been crying. Even now, I hadn’t stopped. My chest shuddered with a sob. I had been so incredibly stupid. I had trusted a bad boy and look at what had happened to me. I couldn’t even remember the previous night. What if he had killed me? And Tracey… I had left Tracey with him. I looked back in the direction I came and felt my shoulders fall. No one was following me, I was almost home. Just a little more to go. I could make it.
Chapter 6
