A pinch woke Susan from her drugged sleep. She had been dreaming of running from something dark with sharp white teeth and viciously curved claws when suddenly two fingers brought her back to the real world with the ferocity of an alligator clamp on her right breast.
“Ow!” she complained, cringing from the sudden throbbing in her head. When she tried to reach up to feel her forehead she found her arms were stuck at her side. Did I wind myself up in the blankets again? she wondered to herself as she half-opened her eyes.
The sun was pouring into her bedroom in a way that made it hard for her to see. Then, slowly, as her eyes adjusted to the light, she noticed shadows of trees on the ceiling. That’s funny, she thought, there aren’t any trees outside my window. As she opened her eyes further, the green of the leaves startled her into lucidity.
They weren’t shadows at all – those were real trees. Where the fuck was she?
“Good morning, beautiful.”
The voice came from beside her, a voice she had heard before, someone familiar. She turned her head to look in that direction and the trees cartwheeled above her. She gasped from the sudden onslaught of nausea that rippled through her and closed her eyes tightly to keep from having to watch the world spin.
The voice beside her laughed. “Darlin’, you sure can’t hold your liquor.” She could tell the voice thought this was hilarious.
Her mind was racing, trying to grab hold of anything that made sense. Last night – last night she had worked late…no, no that had been the night before. So…what was last night? She worked Thursday night so…Friday night…? Yes – Friday night and the company party at the Old Pro. Ok…think, Susan…she went to the party with Ellen…and then…something about line dancing…oh, god, and the kiss from the company president…it was all coming back in a rush…her coworkers all dancing like fools…and that one guy in the back…he had just refused to stop staring at her…smiling when she looked over, but never moving from the shadows…she wanted to run away and hide, but there was something about him that made her stay…even brazenly swaying her hips while she knew he was watching – what the hell, you know? She wasn’t used to the attention, why not enjoy it, live a little?…Later she had danced with the group, then…stopped to get a coke…and Ellen wanted to go home with someone…yeah, she’d get a cab…more dancing…then…fuzzy…she felt too hot, too…thick…the music started swirling around her, knocking her off-balance and leaving her giddy…she couldn’t think straight…the pounding beat was going straight to her head… she had to get a little air out in the back…ohhhh, yes, the cool breeze felt good and her head started to clear and, as she stepped down out of the doorway, a voice…”here, let me help you”… then…nothing. Susan struggled to recall what had happened next, but all that came to mind was inky blackness.
“You look a little…confused,” the voice said with a chuckle.
Susan turned her head slowly, trying to steel herself for the rush of nausea she knew would hit her as she moved, and looked up to see the face from the bar…the guy in the back…the one that had stared at her…those eyes…that voice…
“Hello again.”
Muahahahahahahaa… oh, ahem, I mean.. very nice, honey. This guy from the shadows is a very, very bad man..
Your description of the hangover gave me a flashback.. it’s very accurate and that whole thing of waking up and being confused about where you are.. I’ve thought about how to write that before and you totally nailed it. Excellent work.
This is a hot fantasy, I’m totally sucked in and I want to know more..
Nicely written! I like this and the accompanying picture. Well done, sugar.
Very well written as always. We will get more of the story eventually, I hope?
Oooohh very very bad man….
I love this!!! Eagerly waiting for more….
[...] September 11, 2009 by sroxy (Continued from Awake) [...]