I wake up in my bed facing my window. The dark curtains cover the window almost entirely, leaving some annoying gaps. I can't really tell if it's light outside, so I assume it's still some point during the middle of the night. I don't feel tired anymore, so I get up and look through my curtains. It's starting to look bright outside- probably early in the morning.
Too bright,
I think. So I shut my curtains as best I can. I lie back down in bed and turn on my radio. Holy Grail is playing somewhere from the middle now on the chorus. As I'm listening, I suddenly realize I'm in a weird mood this morning. I try to think back to yesterday, but my mind comes up blank. I lie there for what seems like the next few minutes, not paying attention to the next song that plays. Bored, I reach my hand over to my radio to change the station. Then the memories finally hit me.
-
I'm sitting on my porch swing as it rocks back and forth. I don't go outside just to sit on it that often, but today is different. It's not so hot and humid like usual and there's a nice breeze. I've been sitting here for awhile and it's probably around 7 p.m. Suddenly, there's a loud bang on my fence on the other side of the back yard. I stare at the gate, waiting to see if anyone passes by. A few seconds later, someone does. Three people, actually. Two guys and one girl. They're all about my age- maybe a year older. One of the guys is tall, while the other is shorter...About the same height as the girl. All three of them have the same caramel-colored skin tone and curly, dark brown hair.
Maybe they're all related.
The girl's hair looks nice, it flows down to her waist. All three of them look at me at the same time as they pass, which is kind of creepy. I notice that the taller guy looks hot, and the other guy and the girl look good, too.
Later on, I decide to go to the park. It's pretty cloudy so it starts to get dark as I walk there. I end up going to sit on the swings. As I'm sitting, I look around for anyone I might know. The park is practically empty. Then, I notice people sitting on the bench right near the entrance to the field. They're laughing and talking really loudly. I can hear them clearly from here. Soon, they all get up and start walking right towards me. That's when I recognize them- the three people I saw from my back yard. They stop directly in front of me.
"Hey," says the shorter guy as he walks over to me.
"Um, hi," I answer. I look up at him from the swing. He smells like weed.
"You have a lighter?" He walks closer and gets into my personal space, so I stand up and take a step away from him. He's actually taller than I thought he was- maybe a few inches taller than me.
"No." I stare back at him, waiting for his response. His eyes are hazel. He says nothing and I start to feel more uncomfortable. I look over his shoulder at the other guy and the girl standing behind him. They look at each other and start to giggle, and then the giggles turned into loud laughter.
What the fuck?
They both turn to look at me. All three of them are looking at me now and I'm starting to feel awkward. All of a sudden, the girl walks up to me. I guess the guys get bored of standing there so they walk away from the swing area. As she gets closer, I notice that she's the same height as me. It feels like her amber eyes are burning through me as she talks.
"You live around here?" she asks.
"Yeah."
"What's your name?" she asks this in a weird, giggly voice. She's acting very friendly.
"Nia. What's yours?"
"Amber." How ironic. "Nice to meet you. Hey, me and my friends over there-" She stops to point at them, even though it's obvious that I already realize who she's talking about. I hear one of them whistle a cat call from the distance. "-are about to go get wasted. You wanna come? Four's a party." The way she talks is kind of weird. It's as though there's an underlying meaning behind every word she says.
I hesitate. I don't know them at all. And why does she want me to join? She doesn't even know me.
"Where?" I ask. My voice cracks. That's embarrassing. I hope she doesn't think I'm nervous or something.
"Here. There's no one in the park." She's right. I look around and it's completely empty and dark now. I look back at her.
"Okay." She squeals and jumps up once while clapping her hands together. What's so exciting?
We walk back to the bench where the guys are now sitting again. They stop their conversation and look up at us. Amber sits down next to the taller guy and I sit down next to her on the corner of the bench.
"Micah, do you have it?" She asks the guys.
"Yeah," says the taller guy as he takes a medium-sized liquor bottle out of his bag. He passes it over to me first. I open the bottle and stare at it then look up at the three people sitting next to me. They're smiling encouragingly. I smell the liquid inside the bottle and get a weird feeling inside my nose. It's strong. I take a sip, then a swig. I pass it back to Micah. Almost instantly, I start to feel its effects.
"The weather's nice tonight," Amber says to the guy whose name I don't know. He says nothing back and turns to look at me instead.
"Nia, is it?" he asks. He smirks when I catch his eye.
"Yeah." I drop my eyes from his face and look at all three of them in turn. That's when I realize no one else is drinking. "Why'd you put the bottle away already?"
"We only save this bottle for special occasions," Micah says. That doesn't really answer my question, but I decide not to push any further. I'm starting to feel very lightheaded.
"So... are you guys related?" I ask.
They all look at each other then back at me and begin laughing. Their laughter slowly starts to sound more and more distant to me. That's when I realize I'm about to pass out. I start to get up to leave, but end up collapsing back onto the bench. I can still hear their laughing.
Did they spike the liquor?
I panic. I get up again and start to run, then I trip and fall flat onto my back on the ground. I can't hear the laughing anymore. My vision starts to blur. I hear faint footsteps coming toward me. I feel pressure on my torso now. Suddenly, I feel someone's hot breath on my ear. I barely make out the whisper.
"By the way, babe, name's DeAndre" says a deep voice. I can no longer keep my eyes open.
I feel his lips press against mine. Then I feel nothing.
I wake up with a bad headache. My vision is still blurry. I feel something soft underneath me...
Struggling to look around, I realize I'm in a dim room, on a bed. What the hell is going on?
Shit.
All of what happened before hits me in a rush. The people I talked to. The liquor. They drugged me.
I have to get out of here.
I start to get up but nothing happens. I still feel numb from what ever they put in the drink. I look to my sides and realize both of my hands are tied up. I panic, struggling against the thick wire. The more I try to pull free, the more the wire digs into my wrists. I look down at my body, dreading what I might see. Phew, I'm fully clothed. They tied up my legs, too. One to each bedpost. I don't even bother trying to pull against those ties. I can hardly move my body anyway.
I lie there for what seems like hours. Then I hear a creak and someone comes into the room. It's the guy... Micah.
"Oh, look who's awake," he says to the dark doorway. Amber and ... DeAndre step through the doorway, into the room. They all turn to look at me. I feel my skin begin to heat up. I'm not sure if it's more from embarrassment or fear, or some other feeling. Why did I get myself into this mess?
DeAndre walks over to the side of the bed I'm lying closer to. He bends down to my face.
"I guess you know where this is going..." he half whispers into my ear. His voice sounds low and raspy. In that second, I realize I do know where this is going. My heart starts to pound faster. I don't say anything back to him, but instead, just turn away from his face. I don't have enough strength in me to fight back... the drugs haven't worn off. Suddenly, he pulls my hair...hard... and I have no chose but to face him.
"Don't ever look away from me while I'm talking to you." His words come out in low grunt, even though he's smiling. Amber walks up to stand beside DeAndre, while Micah remains at the foot of the bed. I feel surrounded.
"Now...what do we do with you?" Amber says, as her hand travels slowly from my upper thigh to my chest. Her voice sounds different...lower and seductive.
"Why are you doing this?" I ask in an almost pleading voice.
"This is what we do," she says, smiling innocently.
Ouch.
I suddenly feel a pressure that's almost painful and realize she's squeezing my breast...hard. I try to struggle out from her grasp, but DeAndre holds me firmly in place. Amber is squeezing both of my breasts now and is massaging them in a slow circular motion. No matter how much I resist, I feel my nipples starting to turn very hard... I feel them rubbing on the fabric of my bra. I hope they don't notice that, or else they'll think I'm enjoying this.
Then... Amber gets on top of me and straddles me on the bed, continuing to massage my breasts. I feel a pinch and almost cry out because it's so unexpected.
Oh no.
