Degenerates

0

Heroin.

A combination of opium and morphine created to send users into a dream-like state.

Known to be highly addictive, with fatal and often deadly withdraws.

She knew this.

Of course she knew, for she was taught, like most teens, all about the horrors of alcohol and drug abuse. She was told about the damage it will do, not only to your body but to your life.

She was warned of the detatchment, the dependency, and the withdraws.

And yet, at the age of 18, she didn't think twice before injecting the potent substance into her veins for the first time.

The sensation was almost instant. It began with a wave of warmth, followed by an immediate lightness to her limbs. Her body was both stimulated and relaxed as her pulse slowed.

It was amazing, the feeling - the rush. Suddenly, none of life's problems really mattered. She was only focused on her body, limp and tingling. She could only hear her breathing, smooth and slow. She watched only the droplets of rain on her windowsill as they ran down like tears on her cheeks.

"It's just until I graduate,"

That's what she told herself every morning, when she shot up before class.

"just to make it through the year," she promised, as she tied up her arm, watching as it drained down the tube, and into her very own bloodstream.

It started out cheap, a quick hit here and there to make it through the day. But as weeks turned into months, using seemed more like a necessity than a choice.

She can vividly recall her first experience with withdraw.

With only 6 days left until graduation, their condition had finally ran it's course. Just like she had vowed, it was time to quit.

14 hours clean was all she reached before the symptoms began. Sage began waking up in sweats every night, throwing up multiple times a day. Her hands were so shaky that she could barely hold a pencil, and all she could wonder is if they noticed her antsy itching and tapping.

She couldn't focus on a task as simple as writing her name for more than a few minutes, and every thought consisted of the thrilling high that she missed so much.

She lasted 3 days.

Only 3 days before giving in.

3 days before ransacking her father's room looking for something - anything - that could take the pain away.