THEM

Chapter 12

Aithne shot up in bed, her breathing heavy. There had been no fire, yet it had somehow been worse. As her eyes opened, the memories slid out of the grips of her mind, like water cupped in her palm slipping through the cracks between her fingers until there were only a few drops left in her hand. She hadn't been in pain. That, she knew. Physical pain, at least. But she had done something terrible. She blinked and saw those eyes again, filled with desperate pleading, directed towards her. She got up and showered, hoping the cold water might clear her mind. She didn't have the entire memory yet; she couldn't jump to conclusions. Maybe it wasn't that bad. Like how sometimes watching the trailer of a horror movie was even scarier than the movie itself. She got dressed and stepped out of her dorm room. It was early in the evening; she had been napping to avoid the suffocating heat of the afternoon sun. It was early June, yet the temperature was that of late July. The sun beat down on them daily, without the reprise of a single, small fluffy white cloud, as though the clouds were sulking for having been complained about all winter and were now taking their sweet revenge; making themselves be begged for.

She had promised Isadora and Raphael she would join them at the bar after her nap and, even though she was in no mood for crowds or socializing, she never broke her promises, so she made her way in that direction.

She got to the bar and it was packed; evidently everyone was trying to escape the heat of the sun underground; she didn't know whether the heat of the dozens of bodies was any better. She scanned the crowd a few times, the excuse of not being able to find them already materializing in her mind as she readied herself for a one-eighty to leave, when Isadora, who always had eyes everywhere, shouted out to her. "Aithne! Over here!"

She looked over the bobbing heads in dread at the two familiar faces in the middle of the room. She sighed and started making her way through the sea of bodies, trying not to push or shove anyone, but not having the same favor returned. When she was in arms reach, Isadora grabbed her hand and pulled her out from behind the two people she'd been too shy to walk between.

"We've been waiting for youuu!" Isadora drawled, evidently not having waited for her to toast her first drink.

"Here, take one." Isadora passed her a bear in a plastic cup she was sure had previously been used. "You've got a lot of catching up to do."

Aithne bristled, already feeling the anxiety course through her as she looked at the murky liquid sloshing in her cup. However, she looked around and realized she couldn't leave when she had just arrived, which meant she had to get through the next at least half-hour somehow. And the faster the time would feel, the better. It also might help her forget the snippets of her memory still wandering around in her head. She braced herself and took a big gulp of the bitter brown drink; it burned as it went down her throat, but she felt her nerves already loosening, as if the action of drinking was more efficient than the alcohol itself.

Isadora pulled Aithne along as she introduced her to one person after another, Aithne forgetting their names as soon as she was told. With every new person, Isadora would exclaim, "We sooo have to take a shot together." Aithne, not wanting to kill the mood, would take the drink, until she lost count of how many they had had and it wasn't much of an effort to accept anymore.

After Isadora had finished her round, they headed over to the couch Raphael was sitting on, arm in arm, not only out of friendship, but also out of necessity. Isadora seemed to hold her alcohol quite well; even with her head start, she had drunk as much as Aithne since she had arrived and was still upright and coherent with people. Aithne, on the other hand, wasn't used to drinking alcohol and could feel the ground shifting beneath her feet. They threw themselves onto the leather seats next to Raphael and Aithne was relieved to be on stable support.