Redemption

Chapter 14

My heart is heavy. What have they done?
~Bezaliel~

My head pounded, breathing hurt, and my entire body felt like I had been dunked in a vat of liquid lava. Where was I?

I groaned. Even my eyes hurt. They were gritty and dry, and I forced them open as I turned slowly to take in my surroundings. A mass of people surrounded me, the familiar setting causing my eyes to widen. I was at Everett's! An old image of my friends and I partying flitted through my brain.

"Monroe?" I whispered hoarsely.

My eyes scanned the dark room. A bar on the outskirts of Lodeston, Everett's wasn't an unsavory place, but it wasn't somewhere you went alone either. My head swam as I squinted at the other patrons. Could I have come alone?

Wait. No. What day was it?

Glancing quickly down at the screen of a cell phone next to me, I squinted. The date and time glowed neon. The numbers blurred together, and I reached for the phone, almost falling over when a hand came down on it swiftly.

"Hey!" the phone's owner exclaimed before jerking it away and placing it soundly in her purse. "Nosy much?"

Her screech sent a wave of pain radiating through my head. I'd seen enough. It was my birthday and I was sitting on a stool in Everett's in the early, still dark hours of predawn with a fuzzy head and what felt like a nasty hangover. I didn't remember getting here but looking at the large number of shot glasses in front of me, it wasn't hard to figure out why. And yet, even that didn't make sense. I wasn't much of a drinker. Especially after last year. Why was my memory of the past day a blank? My head spun wildly.

"Dayton?" a voice asked warily.

I turned quickly but saw no one, my brows knotting in confusion as the voice called out distantly again. I tried to rise and nausea slammed into me, the need for air suddenly desperate. A hand brushed my shoulder, but I waved it off and stumbled away from the stool, not quite sure which direction I was going but knowing I had to escape the sudden fuzziness. I was suffocating! The club lights were too bright, the air too hot, the bodies too thick, and I was disgustingly close to being completely and utterly sick.

"Hey, watch it!" someone yelled angrily.

I blurred past them toward the door, my head spinning as the lights around me coalesced into a fascinating halo of wavering colors. My heart thudded loudly. It was all so strangely beautiful and disorienting at the same time. And I fought to keep my focus as I battled the sudden strange urge to just lie where I stood, becoming as one with this new, overwhelming ambush on my senses-the rainbow of colors, the musky scent of sex, and the intoxicating sound of low moans that filtered just below the flow of screaming music. A stray arm brushed against my breast as I weaved unsteadily, and I gasped. My body was on fire, my breasts heavy, my thighs damp, and I cursed inwardly as I realized I was turned on by the music, by the cacophony of raw need that surrounded me from all sides. Oh, sweet Jesus! What had been in those drinks? I really needed air!

"Yo, hey now!"

More angry exclamations followed me as I jerked towards the edge of the wall, stumbling over a pair of alcohol besotted lovers on the floor, their movements jerky but obvious. I quickly averted my gaze, cheeks flaming as I groped for the door.

"Sorry," I muttered helplessly.

My hand finally found the knob, but it wouldn't budge. No! This was fucking ridiculous! I kicked at it but still it wouldn't budge.

"Dammit!" I yelled.

I shoved at it desperately, throwing all of my weight into the wooden frame, my hip burning with the impact as air suddenly gushed profusely against my face.