Shadow

Chapter 1 - Abbie Matheson Takes A Hit

The hallucinations had started again. First, it was the colorful auras that surrounded the people who occupied the room, and then, rising from the ground up, was a floating, black shadow that resembled a four-legged animal that drew closer to her with every breath she took. The shape of the shadow, dense and thinned out, changed every second as it moved around her. It disappeared into thin air, then reappeared as if to take care of some unfinished business. Her flesh crawled by the mere sight of it because she figured once the shadow-animal reached her, then it was game over. No more Abbie Matheson.

She stayed sat there on the couch, her eyes drooping, struggling to stay focused. Usually, after two lines of coke, Abbie would not only be floating in the sky but also have a fervent desire to feed her sexual urges. But this time she wasn't floating, she was falling, and fast. And to her surprise, she wasn't even thinking about the physical act of love (which would be her first thought and course of action after the drug rushed into her system).

Drugs and sex. For nearly a year, this was all she knew.

Her heartbeats rapidly hammered in her chest, and she figured it was a way of telling her that she wouldn't make it through this.

You went too far this time, the shadow-animal whispered in a hoarse, prickly voice. I can hear your beating heart from here; when it's down to its last beat, I will take you. You can be with your daddy again.

'D-Daddy,' she grumbled. Her voice scratched and hurt.

The shadow-animal moved around the people, invisible and dull, and transformed into a shape of her late father. Although she had binged on cocaine on several occasions, this was the first time she had seen her father while under the influence. She was so moved by the sight of him, but before she could reach out, the shape then turned back into the shadow-animal.

Until next time, the shadow-animal said, then disappeared alongside with the auras that surrounded the people.

This was a relief for Abbie. She had been seeing the shadow-animal for the last couple of weeks, but this was the first time it spoke to her. It was scary, yes, but also quite intriguing. She wondered what Tony had put in the coke this time. Crack, possibly? Some other household ingredient? Whatever it was, it was doing its purpose: getting her high and making her delusional.

'Abbie,' a familiar male voice said. 'Wake up.'

She recognized it this time. Tony Pearson. Her supplier and lover. He kicked her in the leg, and she winced. He sat by her, grabbed her by the hair and shook her head persuasively.

'Open your eyes, damn it,' he urged.

She thought her eyes were already open, and it had to have been, because she could still see everyone in the room, coked out of their minds.

The room itself was dark and filled with red neon lights, making it seem as if the entire place was splashed with blood. On the other side of the room was a sofa, and she could just about make out a couple. A girl was on top of him, grinding her body against his. Something that Abbie wouldn't have minded doing whenever she did a line or two. But forget sex, she didn't even know what time it was right now, or whether it was daytime or night, or even the actual day.

Was she meant to be at school today? Not that she cared enough to bother with academics. The way she figured, she was practically learning and doing chemistry daily, and at times biology whenever the funding for chemistry ran out.

Abbie moaned. 'Isn't it... isn't it open?' she whispered in a hoarse voice. Her eyelids slowly closed again.

A hard smack against her cheek followed as a response to what seemed to be an infuriating, absurd question.