Chasing Euphoria

Chapter One

Cassie Pierce

Horrifically strong smells of sweat filled the air, only making my mood worse. My ears were already ringing and my whole body felt like it was vibrating from the sheer volume of the rave music. Pounding heads was not something I signed up for when I came here.

Nightlife in Northlyn Hills was a lot different compared to what it was in Vancouver. Don't get me wrong, BC wasn't a bad place, but here it was so much... more. Even the lights were bouncing around the room as though today was our last. It was safe to say that anyone who was sensitive to flashes would have dropped dead by now.

Tonight I hesitated to even leave the apartment, but my boyfriend insisted that I had one more night of fun before university classes. Despite being the one to force me out of his place and inviting my only other friend here along with us, he was nowhere in sight. He hadn't been for about half an hour when I went to the bathroom.

Alone at the bar, I knew I needed to at least try and find them. The sooner I went, the sooner I could convince them both to leave. I tried to call Liam, but his phone went straight to the answering machine.

Hey, this is Liam Becker, leave a message!

As if leaving a message meant that he would eventually get back to me. It didn't. He was awful at responding and his inbox was full of unopened calls. The chances of his phone being dead were high. Groaning, I rubbed the corner of my eye and finished the last of my soda. We left his house over five hours ago and he's constantly glued to it, he would be lucky to make it last longer than two hours.

Instead, I tried to call Sierra. She was a tad more responsible than him (when it came to her phone that is) and a lot more considerate. She wanted to create a whole soft and aesthetic persona, so she took up painting and spent all of her time in an art studio. It could be worse, she was actually very good at them and is successfully selling them and trying to start a business out of it. One day she wants to travel the world and spread her talents further.

When I tried to call her, she didn't answer either.

I didn't know anyone else to try, they were the only people I knew well enough here. I had been in Northlyn Hills for the summer, but since I stayed with Liam the whole time, I never had the chance to get to know anyone other than Sierra.

Immersed in my misery and frustration, I stood up a little faster than intended and gave myself a head rush. I needed to find at least one of them, but if I refused to move, it would be impossible. They clearly weren't returning soon.

My breathing was slightly restricted whilst I pushed through the crowds of people dancing and singing, completely oblivious to their surroundings and most of them too drunk to function normally. The world didn't matter to them anymore and I wished that I had the time to fall so deeply into the moment.

Finding my way out of the mob was hard enough, finding other possible areas was even harder. First off, I tried the VIP section. The chances of either them getting anywhere near seemed insane, but they had the money for a semi-successful bribe.

All I had to do was ask the security if anyone had gone in recently. Should be easy enough.

I was far from drunk. Being the responsible out of the three deprived me of the option to drink. We were in public and someone had to ensure that we all got home safely. My boredom was beginning to peak and my patience with them was about to go over the edge. After struggling to climb a flight of stairs with a group of tipsy girls blocking the way so they could take enough photos to last a lifetime, I managed to make it to the red rope barrier where I was met by two very hostile-looking security guards.