Bitter

twenty-five - lydia

   A completely empty bedroom. That was what I saw when I sprinted through the door. Then the sound of a huge splash, something smacking into water. There was a sliding door left open straight across that led out to a balcony and thin, white curtains blew softly as a slight breeze entered the room.

   I darted outside onto the balcony and peered over the low railing. The pool was no longer lit up and had become black, rippling ink. Bubbles were still surfacing from below the water. Meg's voice carried over from the doorway. "Did they go over the side?"

Looking back at her I nodded, and that was when I whirled around, rushed back into the bedroom, and felt something latch onto my ankle from underneath the bed. Meg screamed as I fell to the floor, my hands smacking the carpet, saving me from hitting my head. Whatever was gripping my ankle was tugging at me and it was strong, so I pulled my free leg back and kicked at whatever it was as hard as I could. A grunt sounded from the strip of darkness underneath the bed and my leg was released.

   Eyes wide, I scrambled backward, right into Meg, who yanked me to my feet. We didn't have to say anything to each other to know to run, through the door and down the stairs. We both slipped on the steps a couple times, but that was the least of our concerns as we raced past Zach and Meg's friend. Not one of us, not me or Meg, stopped to answer them when they yelled after us, asking what was going on. We just didn't have time. With West, you couldn't hesitate.

   Meg and I pushed our way through all of the clusters of people, the smell of smoke and alcohol and cologne hanging in the air. Meg was a few feet behind me and a few girls accidentally bumped into her, cutting her off from me. I turned around and without a second thought, I reached out for Meg, into the group of people. Her hand instantly found mine and I pulled her through the purple light of the hall, both of us just stumbling forward, eyes set on the sliding glass door ahead of us.

   Once we burst out of the hallway and into the kitchen, I slid the back door open and sure enough, there in the deep end of the pool, was Cal, swimming over to the edge all while struggling to hold Marco's head above water. I didn't see West anywhere.

   Meg and I hurried down the patio steps and over to the pool, where we both knelt down and met Cal who was first, bleeding from his nose, and second, trying to set a soaking wet, unconscious Marco onto the edge. Meg and I wasted no time, dragging him from underneath his arms and pulling him onto solid ground.

   "Is he breathing?" Cal asked, lifting himself out of the water to sit beside Marco. Cal was looking down at his friend, hair dripping in his eyes as he searched for any signs of life while Meg felt for Marco's pulse.

   Before anyone could do anything else, Marco gasped and started coughing up a bunch of chlorinated water. No one spoke as he came to, rolling over on his side, taking in as much air as he could. He didn't say anything at first, just shivered in waves, and Cal and I looked at each other then. It was the look of realization. That West was more dangerous than we'd remembered. That something had to be done or this would continue. Or something worse would happen if we didn't stop him.

   Meg was holding Marco's hand as he remained speechless, blank eyes burning a hole through one spot on the backyard fence. Cal followed his friend's gaze so I did too, noticing how there were damp footprints trailing up the wood, like someone had climbed over the fence with wet shoes on.

   Cal stumbled to his feet and ran over to the fence, blind in his rage to track down West after what he'd done to Marco. I didn't know what compelled me to go after him too, but I did. Maybe it was because I hated West, or maybe it was the fact that Cal could possibly die if he went after the lunatic alone. Not that I cared much for Cal, but I definitely didn't want him dead. Even after everything he'd done to me.

Cal had just climbed the fence when I called, "Wait!" The word just slipped from my mouth, causing Cal to look down at me while perched on top of the tall fence. I didn't say anything as I peered up at him. Then I stuck out my hand. Climbing up that fence was going to be a little difficult for me since I could barely reach the top of it.

He narrowed his eyes at my outstretched hand. It took several seconds for him to process what was going on. I was definitely considering just snatching my hand away and finding some other way to West (even though it'd take much longer, running around the entire neighborhood instead of cutting through it). Of course Cal had to make it harder for everyone.

Several more seconds and he rolled his eyes, leaned down, and clamped his hand around mine. He pulled me up, squeezing my fingers so hard I thought they might break, and I lifted myself onto the top of the fence. He immediately let go of my hand as if I'd burned him, and with one glance said, "Keep up."

He leapt right back down into someone's backyard, and never in a million years did I think I'd actually follow him.