My headache was searing. A burning sensation spread from the top of my skull down my neck, and into my shoulders. It was all-consuming; a never-ending Hell of my own making. The strobe lights only made me more disoriented, and as if I was a lost child, my hands reached out for anyone. I grappled on to a shoulder, and my eys fluttered as I attempted to make out the person’s facial features. I could see the wispy facial hair and acne-covered face of one of my friends. “Dude,” I rasped out.
“Woah, man. You greened out,” Matt said with a chuckle. Judging by the fact that the world was off its axis, I concluded that I had in fact greened out. My stomach gurgled, and Matt’s hands gripped my shoulders as he forced me to sit down. “See, man. I told you you couldn’t handle taking that edible,” he said like a disappointed parent. I let out a distressed moan, as he rubbed my back. “Look, I’ll get Jess, and we’ll get out of here, alright?”
Before I could even say anything, he had ran off. I sighed, and sunk into my chair. I tried to focus on anything other than my body. At first, I attempted to stare at the strobe lights. The chaotic colors burned into my retinas, and I felt a headache coming on. I looked down at the crowd of bustling, bumping bodies. Hands roamed, and sweat dripped on to the already dirty ground. My body attempted to curl into itself to avoid the dancing masses. As I shifted, my feet had knocked into a few others.
I gave an apologetic smile as they shot me dirty looks. I decided it was better that I stayed stationary. I tried to count the seconds it had been since Matt left. The thumping of feet and the bass-boosted music made it impossible. As my eyes scanned over the crowd, the music seemed to dim. My lips and pressed together. I arched my head toward the DJ to see if he had stopped his set. The sound of feet jostling was the only sound coming from everyone. I wondered if it was real, and pinched myself with the hope that I was hallucinating. My headache lapsed and my body adjusted. It was utter silence; a black hole of where the noise should have been. My heart pounded against my chest. Sweat dripped down my forehead. I had felt afraid before, but it had been a rational fear. It was the panic of waking up too late, or watching the climax of a horror film. This was not that fear. It was a primal, animalistic urge in the deepest vestiges of my mind that screamed to run. I wondered if this is how gazelle felt right before the lion pounced on them.
My head swivelled around in search for Matt. He was nowhere. My search for Matt was being replaced by the need to locate the source of danger. My eyes darted so fast I had almost missed it, but I turned my head back to a fixture point. A man was standing alone amongst the others. He seemed normal. The normality was so blatant it was frustrating. He wore a pair of dark blue-jeans, and a tight brown belt wrapped around his waist. My eyes continued upward to his forest-green buttoned-up shirt. He had a glass in his hands, with the glass filled to the brim, but I could not identify the substance inside. As my eyes moved towards his face, I recoiled.
His face was as ordinary as can be. He had a five-o-clock shadow, and his dark brown hair flopped to the sides of his head. A locket of hair dangled across his forehead. He must have been early to mid thirties. What brought my attention to him was his expression. His eyes peered into my very soul. The color of his irises were an unimpressive brown, but the lighting made them black. An endless black sea of hatred swirled in those depths. A grin stretched across his face. Despite his unassuming nature, a wave of pure malovolence radiated off this man. His eyes bore into me, and I shrunk. Those black orbs scanned my body, and I watched him raise his drink to his lips. He cocked his head back and sipped with an exaggerated swagger. His hand shot up, attemping to be human. He raised the glass to me. An offering.
I shivered, and tried to avoid to looking at him further, but I could still feel his gaze settled on to me. The sweat made my shirt damp, and my hands shook with renewed terror as I gripped the table next to me. I needed to get away; needed to be far away from this man as possible. I stood straight up, and steeled myself from the temporary lightheadness that hit me. As I stood up, I heard the sound of walking to my left. I let out a surprised yelp, and didn’t dare look as I pushed myself through the crowd.
“Sorry, excuse me, I need you to move,” I said as I clamored through the crowd. I turned to look behind me, and found only a sea of unrecognizable faces. He could be anywhere. The sound of his footsteps echoed through the club. I pushed harder as my breathing intensified. I was hyperventilating at this point. “Matt! Jess! Where are you guys?” I called out. I whimpered as I shoved someone to the side roughly, and saw a large table where people had gathered around. With a quick dive, I crawled under the table, and ignored the surprised exclaims as I came out the other side.
I heard the man chuckle like this was a mere game for him. It came from right behind me, and miles away at the same time. The laugh was certain. He knew that he’d catch me, if not now, but later. I felt the tears well up in my eyes, and noticed that I had neared the wall of the club. I clutched on to it, and surged forward, using my hands to map out my trajectory. Finally, my eyes gazed upon two sets of doors. They were the bathrooms. With a leap, I grasped on to the male restroom door, flung it open and collapsed inside.
I scrambled on the floor, and backed my way to the wall. The rational part of my mind recognized I had trapped myself. I looked to the stalls, and raced over to try and open one. I heard surprised grunts of the poor drunkards inside. I would not find refuge in these stalls. “Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck,” I murmured, and paced. I couldn’t gather my thoughts.
In a moment’s time, the bathroom door flung open. The scream that erupted from my gut sounded more like a wailing animal than a human being. I never thought my lungs could force out air like that. All the color had washed away from my body, leaving only a pale trembling mess in its wake. I whirled around to face the door, only to find Matt staring at me with a worried and bewildered look on his face.
“What the hell, man?” he asked. I was sobbing at this point, and found my arms grasping his shoulders as I embraced him in a hug.
“I can’t—there was this…oh god, I was so scared Matt, please, I need…please, let’s leave—” I rambled. It was nonsensical even to my own ears.
Matt’s brow furrowed and he embraced me tight, patting me on the back as he swung upon the door. “Alright, man, let’s leave. You’re all good, don’t worry,” he said. Even though the sound of the music had returned, his words reached through the sea of noise and reassured me.
We weaved through the crowd as he led the way, and my eyes lit up as I noticed the two front doors leading outside. He pushed them open, and guided me.
The cold night air washed over me like a mighty storm. The feeling was heaven compared to the oppressive heat that weighed on me inside. I felt an imediate sense of relief. Jess had been waiting with her phone. I could see she thought that we'd be laughing about my circumstances. That was until she saw my shaking form, and Matt's troubled face. She rushed over.
“Is everything alright?” she asked.
I was unsure who she was asking, but felt compelled to speak. “I don’t know. I…there was some guy inside. I don’t know what he wanted, but he was following me. I had to run,” I muttered. I remembered being a child, afraid of the dark corner at night. I had never thought I'd return to that place of adolescene. When I looked up at the two, I expected to find judgement, but found their eyes looked at me with a soft and kind glow.
“Hey, let’s take an Uber home, okay?” Jess said. I nodded.
“We can stay over night,” Matt suggested. I was about to respond to refuse, but Jess had already nodded, and had sent the order for the uber.
“T-thank you,” I said.
The Uber had arrived not a moment soon, and Matt opened the door and guided me inside. The two piled in after me, and we were off. My eyes glanced up to the rearview mirror, and the strobe lights of the club lit up the night sky. The panic subsided as the club lessened in size, until it was nothing more than a tiny spot of color in the mirror. I sank into my seat. My ears expected to hear the sound of the boots against the ground, or the man’s chuckle, but they were left wanting. The distant sound of cars honking, and dogs howling were the only things I could discern. I looked up at the sky, and the stars faded away from view, like everything else, into the expansive depths of the night sky.
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“Woah, man. You greened out,” Matt said with a chuckle. Judging by the fact that the world was off its axis, I concluded that I had in fact greened out. My stomach gurgled, and Matt’s hands gripped my shoulders as he forced me to sit down. “See, man. I told you you couldn’t handle taking that edible,” he said like a disappointed parent. I let out a distressed moan, as he rubbed my back. “Look, I’ll get Jess, and we’ll get out of here, alright?”
Before I could even say anything, he had ran off. I sighed, and sunk into my chair. I tried to focus on anything other than my body. At first, I attempted to stare at the strobe lights. The chaotic colors burned into my retinas, and I felt a headache coming on. I looked down at the crowd of bustling, bumping bodies. Hands roamed, and sweat dripped on to the already dirty ground. My body attempted to curl into itself to avoid the dancing masses. As I shifted, my feet had knocked into a few others.
I gave an apologetic smile as they shot me dirty looks. I decided it was better that I stayed stationary. I tried to count the seconds it had been since Matt left. The thumping of feet and the bass-boosted music made it impossible. As my eyes scanned over the crowd, the music seemed to dim. My lips and pressed together. I arched my head toward the DJ to see if he had stopped his set. The sound of feet jostling was the only sound coming from everyone. I wondered if it was real, and pinched myself with the hope that I was hallucinating. My headache lapsed and my body adjusted. It was utter silence; a black hole of where the noise should have been. My heart pounded against my chest. Sweat dripped down my forehead. I had felt afraid before, but it had been a rational fear. It was the panic of waking up too late, or watching the climax of a horror film. This was not that fear. It was a primal, animalistic urge in the deepest vestiges of my mind that screamed to run. I wondered if this is how gazelle felt right before the lion pounced on them.
My head swivelled around in search for Matt. He was nowhere. My search for Matt was being replaced by the need to locate the source of danger. My eyes darted so fast I had almost missed it, but I turned my head back to a fixture point. A man was standing alone amongst the others. He seemed normal. The normality was so blatant it was frustrating. He wore a pair of dark blue-jeans, and a tight brown belt wrapped around his waist. My eyes continued upward to his forest-green buttoned-up shirt. He had a glass in his hands, with the glass filled to the brim, but I could not identify the substance inside. As my eyes moved towards his face, I recoiled.
His face was as ordinary as can be. He had a five-o-clock shadow, and his dark brown hair flopped to the sides of his head. A locket of hair dangled across his forehead. He must have been early to mid thirties. What brought my attention to him was his expression. His eyes peered into my very soul. The color of his irises were an unimpressive brown, but the lighting made them black. An endless black sea of hatred swirled in those depths. A grin stretched across his face. Despite his unassuming nature, a wave of pure malovolence radiated off this man. His eyes bore into me, and I shrunk. Those black orbs scanned my body, and I watched him raise his drink to his lips. He cocked his head back and sipped with an exaggerated swagger. His hand shot up, attemping to be human. He raised the glass to me. An offering.
I shivered, and tried to avoid to looking at him further, but I could still feel his gaze settled on to me. The sweat made my shirt damp, and my hands shook with renewed terror as I gripped the table next to me. I needed to get away; needed to be far away from this man as possible. I stood straight up, and steeled myself from the temporary lightheadness that hit me. As I stood up, I heard the sound of walking to my left. I let out a surprised yelp, and didn’t dare look as I pushed myself through the crowd.
“Sorry, excuse me, I need you to move,” I said as I clamored through the crowd. I turned to look behind me, and found only a sea of unrecognizable faces. He could be anywhere. The sound of his footsteps echoed through the club. I pushed harder as my breathing intensified. I was hyperventilating at this point. “Matt! Jess! Where are you guys?” I called out. I whimpered as I shoved someone to the side roughly, and saw a large table where people had gathered around. With a quick dive, I crawled under the table, and ignored the surprised exclaims as I came out the other side.
I heard the man chuckle like this was a mere game for him. It came from right behind me, and miles away at the same time. The laugh was certain. He knew that he’d catch me, if not now, but later. I felt the tears well up in my eyes, and noticed that I had neared the wall of the club. I clutched on to it, and surged forward, using my hands to map out my trajectory. Finally, my eyes gazed upon two sets of doors. They were the bathrooms. With a leap, I grasped on to the male restroom door, flung it open and collapsed inside.
I scrambled on the floor, and backed my way to the wall. The rational part of my mind recognized I had trapped myself. I looked to the stalls, and raced over to try and open one. I heard surprised grunts of the poor drunkards inside. I would not find refuge in these stalls. “Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck,” I murmured, and paced. I couldn’t gather my thoughts.
In a moment’s time, the bathroom door flung open. The scream that erupted from my gut sounded more like a wailing animal than a human being. I never thought my lungs could force out air like that. All the color had washed away from my body, leaving only a pale trembling mess in its wake. I whirled around to face the door, only to find Matt staring at me with a worried and bewildered look on his face.
“What the hell, man?” he asked. I was sobbing at this point, and found my arms grasping his shoulders as I embraced him in a hug.
“I can’t—there was this…oh god, I was so scared Matt, please, I need…please, let’s leave—” I rambled. It was nonsensical even to my own ears.
Matt’s brow furrowed and he embraced me tight, patting me on the back as he swung upon the door. “Alright, man, let’s leave. You’re all good, don’t worry,” he said. Even though the sound of the music had returned, his words reached through the sea of noise and reassured me.
We weaved through the crowd as he led the way, and my eyes lit up as I noticed the two front doors leading outside. He pushed them open, and guided me.
The cold night air washed over me like a mighty storm. The feeling was heaven compared to the oppressive heat that weighed on me inside. I felt an imediate sense of relief. Jess had been waiting with her phone. I could see she thought that we'd be laughing about my circumstances. That was until she saw my shaking form, and Matt's troubled face. She rushed over.
“Is everything alright?” she asked.
I was unsure who she was asking, but felt compelled to speak. “I don’t know. I…there was some guy inside. I don’t know what he wanted, but he was following me. I had to run,” I muttered. I remembered being a child, afraid of the dark corner at night. I had never thought I'd return to that place of adolescene. When I looked up at the two, I expected to find judgement, but found their eyes looked at me with a soft and kind glow.
“Hey, let’s take an Uber home, okay?” Jess said. I nodded.
“We can stay over night,” Matt suggested. I was about to respond to refuse, but Jess had already nodded, and had sent the order for the uber.
“T-thank you,” I said.
The Uber had arrived not a moment soon, and Matt opened the door and guided me inside. The two piled in after me, and we were off. My eyes glanced up to the rearview mirror, and the strobe lights of the club lit up the night sky. The panic subsided as the club lessened in size, until it was nothing more than a tiny spot of color in the mirror. I sank into my seat. My ears expected to hear the sound of the boots against the ground, or the man’s chuckle, but they were left wanting. The distant sound of cars honking, and dogs howling were the only things I could discern. I looked up at the sky, and the stars faded away from view, like everything else, into the expansive depths of the night sky.
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