The Devil's Den

I gagged a little in my mouth as I pulled the tissue away from Mother. The bright white paper was stained with dark red blood. A splatter of her blood was on my hands. I felt like throwing up. This was so disgusting. I glanced at Mother. Her face was ghostly white, with dark purple circles under her eyes. Her skin had a leathery texture to it. It looked paper-thin. Her lips were small, dry, and cracked. A couple of drops of blood were on the corners of her mouth. Her hair, if I was being generous, resembled an actual rat's nest. It was wiry and oily. Her hairline was matted with sweat. And don't even get me started on the putrid smell coming from her body.

    At one point my mother was a beautiful woman. That was before the cancer the doctors noticed after she gave birth to me. I spent my whole life taking care of her and wondering if she would be healthy if I just wasn't born.
    I'm 17 now. I was always taking care of Mother, so I never got to go out with my friends, and I never had birthday parties or a normal childhood.
    "Anastasia, get me some water," she croaked.
    Without a sound, I walked to our kitchen, poured her a glass of water, and I was beginning to leave when my phone buzzed. I set the glass on the counter and checked my messages. It was my friend Drew asking if I wanted to go a party tonight at 9. I looked up at the clock on the stove. It had just turned 8. I typed my answer, grabbed the glass of water and walked back to Mother's room.
    She was laying in bed, the same position I had left her in, staring at the sky with a glassy look in her eyes. I turned the lamp on, handed her the glass, and sat down on her bed as she drank the water. She handed me the empty glass and I set it on the table next to her bed.
    I stared at the window as well for a moment, gathering up courage.
    I looked at Mother.
    "Mother, can I go out with my friends tonight?"
    She was still looking at the sky.
    Finally she opened her mouth.
    "No, Anastasia, I need you to stay and take care of me."
    "Mother, please."
    "Anastasia, don't make me tell you again," her voice was stern now.
    I stood up. "Mother, I never ask you for anything. I've never gone out with my friends, all my life. Please, Mother, just this one time" I could feel my face turning red.
    "You're not going, Anastasia. End of story. Now go make dinner, please"
    I narrowed my eyes and balled my hands into fists. I had tried to control my anger.
    "I sacrificed everything for you. All I'm asking is for one night. Just one. That's it. Surely you can handle one night on your own"
    "Do you want me to slap you?"
    I stepped back in shock. My mother had never slapped me before.     "Year, try slapping me, old lady. Can you even get out of bed? You're far too weak to even go to the bathroom by yourself" I regretted the words as soon as I saw the look on my mother's face.    "That's enough, Anastasia. Leave me now," she said quietly.    "I'm going whether you like it or not," I said over my shoulder as I began to walk out.     "Anastasia Elizabeth Worthington. Get back here this instant."    "GO TO HELL!" I screamed.    There was an uncomfortable silence. You could hear a pin drop.     My heart pounded in my chest louder than a train. "JUST DIE ALREADY, YOU OLD HAG!"     And with that, I ran to my room to get ready.     Ten minutes later, my friends were crowded in my room, dolling me up. I had never worn makeup before, because I really had no one to show me how. And sitting there, in front of my mirror, my friends dressing my eyes and highlighting my cheekbones, I felt amazing.     "So where's your mother?" Kristen asked as she peered into my closet.     "Oh, um, she's in her room"    "She's letting you go out with us?" Drew asked, raising a perfectly waxed eyebrow.     "Well, no. But I don't care. She can die, for all I care. All the money will go to me," I said, tilting my head so Drew could braid my hair.     Piper laughed. "True," she nodded as she slipped into a pair of my shoes.     "She's so old. I think it would be best for her to die, you know, because she's so unhealthy," Kate said.     Kristen and Piper burst out laughing. I joined them. In the mirror, I could see Drew's expressionless face as she all of a sudden began braiding my hair really tightly. It started to hurt.     "Ow," I spun around in my chair. Kristen and Piper stopped laughing. "That hurt," I said.    "Sorry," Drew said as she grabbed her purse and walked towards the door. "I was done anyway. Let's go."    Kristen, Piper, Kate and I exchanged looks. We shrugged and followed her.     I was the last one out and as I reached to close my door and heard a thud. I opened the door again and saw that the cross above my bed had fallen.     I had never been to party before. I had only seen them in movies, and this one looked exactly like the ones I had seen. There were flashing purple, blue, green, and pink lights. The air was filled with a mixture of heavy perfume and cigarette smoke. Upbeat pop music was playing so loud I couldn't hear myself think. A huge crowd of teenagers my age were dancing like wild animals. Several kids were already passed out on  the floor, surrounded by pills and whatever kind of alcohol this place had.     I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. I didn't belong here.
    I turned and grabbed Piper's arm. "I want to go home, Pipes."
    She was waving at someone on the floor. She swatted my hand like I was an annoying insect and made her way towards the gaggle of drunk and high teenagers.
    "Hey, is that Amy?" Kristen cried excitedly. She and Kate giggled like anime school girls and ran towards a blonde retching into a bucket while her friends laughed and recorded her.
    I looked at Drew. She could be a model, being extremely tall and thin. Her chestnut brown hair billowed behind her perfectly symmetrical face in a curtain of a chocolate colored waterfall. Her lightly tanned skin looked amazing in the harsh fluorescent light and it made her Mediterranean blue eyes pop. She scanned the crowd, a perfectly manicured finger resting on her plump dark red lips.
    I felt like a troll next to her. I was nervously chewing on my nails, my knees shaking as I hunched over my phone, pretending I was doing something important so no one bothered me.
    I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Dance with me," I heard a female voice say. I whipped around and saw a girl I went to school with. She looked completely drunk and was grinning sheepishly. She tried grabbing my hands and I didn't know how to react. I stood there, my eyes widened, as this girl danced around me. I felt people staring.
    "She's with me," Drew interrupted and grabbed my hand and led me away from the small crowd.
    Her hand was warm.     We stopped at the"refreshments" table. She poured me a cup of water, but I didn't drink it. She saw me awkwardly standing there next to her, gripping my cup like my life was connected to it. She took a flask out of her jacket and poured something in it.
    "Just for tonight. It'll make you feel better," she smirked.
    Mother always warned me about drinking alcohol, but I was pretty much almost an adult. And it was only for one night. And I trusted Drew. I grew up with her.
    I took a sip. The taste instantly warmed me. It was fruity, though I could taste the alcohol in it. Everything around me intensified. The lights became brighter. The music became louder. The people became crazier. Drew became more beautiful.
    I tossed the cup onto the table, knocking over a platter or drugs or something. I tripped into Drew's arms. "Better?" she laughed.
    I nodded. I tried to, at least. I couldn't really feel anything.     "Come on. Let's dance. You need to loosen up," she led me to the crowd.
    Like a dumb sheep, I followed her.
    It was all a blur. I felt the beat of the music in sync with the beating of my heart. I danced for hours with Drew right beside me. I don't know how long it was until I noticed that I was sweating a lot. Sweat dripped down from my face and onto my chest, making its way down my shirt. I shrugged it off as me dancing a lot. I noticed Drew looking at me slyly. Everything was such a blur. I felt bodies bumping into me, I felt hands touching me, and I felt a scorching fire ripping through my skin. The music was beginning to echo. I blinked and when I opened my eyes, everyone was gone. The music was still blasting from the speakers, though.
    "Come on, Stacey. Let's dance," Drew put her hands on my shoulders from behind me.
    I shrugged her off and turned around. "Where is everyone?" I asked. My voice sounded so heavy.
    "Does it matter?" she poured herself a glass of wine.
    "Drew, seriously. Let's just go home," I was beginning to struggle at keeping my eyes open.
    "Stacey, you are home. This is where you belong," Drew drank some wine, sighed, set her glass down, and grabbed my hand. "Now dance with me."
    I didn't know what else to do, so I did what she told me to. There was something about her that I couldn't stay away from. She was dancing like she had not a care in the world. Not missing a beat, she looked into my eyes and I was startled. Her eyes had flecks of grey in them. They were so bright and beautiful. She laughed and twirled me around. I blushed and looked at the ground.     That's where I messed up.
    Instead of expensive designer heels, there were hooves, like some sort of goat. She had the legs of a goat, the fur all shaggy and tangled and matted with blood. I slowly looked up. Drew was no longer Drew. The man had dark red skin, splotches of black on his face, fully black eyes that sparkled like the night sky, sharp cheekbones and a sharp jawline, and pointed fangs that I could see through his evil grin. When I looked at his horns, I knew who he was.
    I fell to my knees. "Mother, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean any of it! I love you!" I begged.
    The creature looked down at me with pleasure. I felt sick.
    He put a finger under my chin and forced me to my feet. He had his lips so close to mine. I could feel his warm breath against my closed mouth.
    "Your apology is not accepted," he purred in my ear, and flung me to the other side of the room.
    To say that it hurt would be the understatement of the century. I was sure I broke some bones in my back, and my ankle was definitely not supposed to be bending that way. I could see bone.
    He was on the other side of the room, standing in such a menacing way. He tilted his head back, let out the most ear piercing scream I have ever heard, and the last thing I saw were dark human-like shadows with four legs crawling towards me, their pearl white fangs dripping with blood. He stood behind them all, a wall of fire appearing around us.