Page 49 of Shadowman

Closing my eyes, I think hard,deep, searching my mind for any memories from earlier…

Andres shot me up, and I sort of collapsed into him. The feeling is…indescribable. Like a wave of soft ecstasy. A blanket of tranquility that folds you up and carries you in weightless perfection.

I tend to black out a bit when I shoot it, which is why I prefer not to do it that way often. I don’t like to waste the high lying around like a zombie.

Maybe that’s why Andres chose that method tonight…

Because he wanted me out of commission.

This thought sparks a recollection… The sensation of being carried. Someone was carrying me…

Andres helped me out of the bathroom and into the living room.

Alice’s voice…

“Oh my God, what did you do to him??”She rushed over, taking me from him. I canfeelher touching me… Irememberher arm around my waist and her lips kissing my neck.“Trevel, baby, are you alright??”

“I told her goodnight…” I whisper now.I remember getting those words out.

“Okay, goodnight, beautiful stranger,”she’d chuckled. Hearing it in my head breaks my withered heart into even smaller, jagged pieces.

Then she helped me into the bedroom, lying me down in her bed. After that, it’s all darkness. My memories are of a dark room…Her bedroom.That’s it.

Running my fingers up into my hair, I grip it hard and pull. “Think thinkthink. Come on!”

Voices…

I hear them… Slowly, they come back into focus.

They were speaking in the living room. I’m not sure I could hear what they were saying, though.

“Focus,”Leo insists.“What were they saying? Listen to them…”

“I don’t…know,” I groan hopelessly. “The next thing I remember was waking up with Alice next to me… But when did she come into bed? And how did she get that mark??”

“You know you want to try it…”Leo says. But his voice doesn’t sound like him.

It sounds… like Andres.

“You know you want to try it, Sis,”he said to Alice.“There’s a reason loverboy in there is so obsessed with this shit.”

“Because he’s hurting,”Alice clapped back.“He’s suffering with his own shit, and you’re preying on that.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,”Andres huffed.

“You wanna talk aboutdramatic?”she muttered, her tone accusatory.“Let’s talk about why you find it necessary to take my boyfriend into the bathroom alone to do drugs…”

“Maybe they’re fucking,”someone chuckled.I think it was the friend.

“Yea right.”Andres growled.“I ain’t no homo.”

“Real mature,”Alice grunted.“Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past you…”

“Wouldn’t putwhatpast me??”Andres snapped.

“Fucking around with my boyfriend behind my back,”she went on, sounding angry, but also not all that shocked.“You’ve always been jealous of me… Always trying to steal my stuff.”

Quiet. Tense silence, for a few beats before…