Lead Me Out of the Dark

48 Hours

Buzz, buzz, buzz. Buzz, buzz, buzz. Buzzzzzzzzzzz. I woke up with a groan. My back was killing me. Something was trying to attack me from inside of my pocket. I jumped off of the rock. A tiny black rectangle fell out of my pocket. It was my phone! Damn it, I was an idiot. There were two missed calls from Taylor, twenty one missed calls from Deck, and seven from Linda. The time said it was eight forty two… at night… two days later.

                “Holy Hell!” I cussed, looking around quickly. How come I didn’t recognize where I was!? I tried to calm my now rapid breathing. I knew this part of the woods. Deck had cut himself here. I tried to remember the way back and I got lost twice, but eventually I made it out of the woods. How had I slept for two days!? There were dozens of cars surrounding my truck, including two police cars and an ambulance. I recognized Linda’s car and… a black truck. My heart fluttered. Deck was here, somewhere. I felt kind of dizzy, and relatively confused, so I just walked to the back and Deck’s truck. I climbed in and I waited. He would come find me. I knew he would. I rested my head on my knees, but I didn’t fall asleep.

                “God fucking dammit!” someone screamed, kicking the side of the truck some minutes later. There was a pause, and I heard them take in a huge breath.

                “Oh my God. LINDA! She’s here!” the voice screamed. I looked up just in time to see Deck vault himself over the edge of his truck. Everything that happened after that was kind of a blur. The police asked me question after question that I couldn’t answer. The paramedics asked if I had been on any drugs, if I’d been drinking, if I’d been doing something I shouldn’t have. No one could answer my question- why had I slept for so long? Deck had barely said two words to me. He’d remained by my side the entire time.

                “We’re going to do a blood test to see if there are any toxins in your blood,” one EMT informed me. She walked over, a syringe ready. She didn’t even seem bothered that she wanted to stick a needle into my skin. I had done drugs, but I’d never used needles. The possibility that there might be blood had always sickened me.

                “No!” I shrieked. “I haven’t done anything illegal!? Why you can’t you just believe me!?” I was yelling now. This was absolutely ridiculous.

                “Honey,” The EMT began, but I wasn’t about to let her win. Hell, if I had it my way, I wouldn’t let her ever finish her sentence.

                “Don’t call me that!” I yelled back. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the syringe. It was so sharp, so disgusting. My stomach dipped at the sight of it.

                “Skye-” Deck began, but I whirled on him. It felt like I was being backed into a corner.

                “Shut the fuck up!” My voice was so shrill it hurt my vocal chords. Deck looked like I’d stabbed him in the stomach with a knife. For some reason, I thought of the BMTH lyrics on his navy hoodie that he’d worn on the day I’d met him: If I had it my way, I’d slit your throat with the knife you left in my back. Huh. It was oddly accurate, now.

                “Look, we don’t think you did anything illegal. Someone could have drugged you, and we need to know as soon as possible if that’s what happened,” the EMT explained. I was crying now. Of course they wanted my blood. When the EMT’s had arrived, they couldn’t even save my dad. They were useless, pathetic human beings, intent on pretending that they could fix everything when in reality they couldn’t.

                “I don’t give a fuck! You aren’t fucking touching me with a needle and that’s final!” I hissed, leaning forward so vehemently that I dipped off of the truck slightly. I had lost count of the number of times I’d used the ‘f’ word, but I couldn’t care less.