Holographic glitter, smokey eyeshadow, and clouds of hairspray. Tonight was a special occasion, my friend Anne’s 21st birthday. Tonight was humid, the air clung to our skin like a thick oil. We stood at dimly lit, grimy sinks, scrubbing off the sharpied X’s on our hands. Another girl stumbled her way into the bathroom. Clad in a bright pink top and matching shorts, long teal colored hair, and smudges of eyeliner rimmed her bright yellow eyes. The eyes caught me off guard, but colored contacts were the new fad. She made her way to the adjoining mirror, tussling hair away from her face. Even in the pale blue lighting she was breathtaking. She turned to me with a sly smirk, noticing my staring. I quickly turned to Anne, still rubbing away her X.
“First time?” The girl’s voice was raspy and heavy. Words dripped off her tongue like thick molasses.
“Yeah,” words seemed to stick in my throat, hot glue trapping them in place.
“Word of advice, if you see me again, leave.” She seemed concerned, and quickly left.
Taken aback, I stood there questioning this interaction. Was she threatening me? Had I offended her? But quickly I was pulled from my thoughts. Anne had finished her magic, flashing a clean hand. We made our way to the bar, the floor sticky and coated in old alcohol. Floods of people stumbled in, bright flashing colors like jewels in a midnight sky. Thick wafts of heavy perfume and body glitter clouded the area. The bartender made his way over to us. Skinny and tall, with long black hair slicked into a ponytail. His eyes were dark, the color of a deep burgundy. Long spindly fingers tapped on the counter, gathering our attention.
“We’re only selling one drink tonight. The Glowing Elixir.” He grinned, his teeth so white they glowed in the blacklights set up in the ceiling.
“We’ll take two.” Anna smiled.
The bartender nodded, working behind the counter to mix our drinks. Handed to us with lids on top, the beverages glittered in the light. Sparkles swirled around forming a tunnel. They were sickly sweet, sugar crunching in between my teeth. Moving to the dance floor, laser lights beamed over the crowd, weaving in between bodies of the dancing crowd. Sweat clung to my skin in droplets as I danced. Bumping shoulders with others, seeming to tangle together. As time passed through my fingers like pouring water. It became harder to breathe, taking in quick gasping breaths. Desperate for a full breath, but the air was warm and thick. The same song seemed to play on repeat, a jumble of different sounds resembling EDM. People jumped furiously, managing to hit every beat. My legs grew tired and sore, each muscle aching for a place to rest. Sending out high alerts to every nerve. Nausea billowed in my throat, pushing through the crowd I hurled into a nearby garbage can. Mounds of writhing glitter settled at the top, squirming around and burrowing deep holes in discarded cans. My head was foggy, vision blurring into a muddled mess. Something’s very wrong.
Anne was nowhere to be seen, disappeared into the dense crowd. The jumping was erratic and quick. There was no bounce back, their bodies seemed to lift up and down as gravity seemed to turn into a loose definition. That’s when I saw her, at first a blob of teal and pink, quickly coming into a sharp focus. She was not jumping, rather perfectly still. Her head snapped toward me, boring holes into my body. She opened her mouth to say something, pointing towards her smudged red lipstick. I squinted to clear out my vision, hoping this was not a threat. She repeated the same word, over and over. Until it finally clicked, the gears turning in my head to make sense of why she would tell me this: RUN.
I made a dash toward the crowd, shoving through, desperate to find Anne. She was still jumping, a terrified look on her face. Her eyes burned with a deep fear. I took a strong grip to her shoulders, holding her body down. It fought me, trying hard to jump. My fingernails cut into her flesh, blood slowly pooling underneath my hands. I wrestled her off the floor, people swarming around us like hornets protecting a nest. Their heads began to shake, side to side so quickly their faces blurred. Sounds of popping joints flooded, overpowering the music. Anne had dropped- dead weight in my hands. I dragged her by her arms, using the little strength I could muster to prevent her from being trampled. I moved as quickly as possible toward the emergency exit, a useless effort. It had been locked shut. With Anne still in tow, I moved to the windows. They did not open either. I quickly grabbed a bar stool, heaving it over my shoulder and into the window. It cracked, a loud crackling sound ringing in my ears.
I turned to the crowd, nervous of new attention. They were all turned to me, still jumping and heads shaking. Glitter dripped from their eye sockets, red chrome pooling onto the floor. Dribbling down from their mouths, frothing like rabid animals. I hit the window once more, it shattered in broken shards, crunching beneath my feet as I dragged Anne through. She had begun to wake, fighting her way back inside. The crowd was beginning to move, like a school of fish in perfect synchronization, toward the window. Their mouths dragged open in hollow screams. I shoved my fingers far down Anne’s throat, and watched her hurl. Spasms of glimmering webs coated the back alley ground. Anne began to stir, gasping in short bursts. I dragged her to her feet, and hobbled back to my apartment.
Anne mentioned nothing of that night the next morning, only complaining of an angry hangover. I had wondered if it had been a nightmare. But on my way to classes, I caught a glimpse of the teal hair. Quickly I rushed over to her, grabbing on her bony shoulder. She turned on her heels to face me, her eyes now a deep brown, twinkling in the sunlight.
“Glad to see you made it out okay. Crazy night huh?”
Too astonished to respond, she turned back to her original destination. Feeling as though I was being watched, I made my way back to my apartment. Huddled deep beneath layers of blankets, I wondered as to why she had decided to warn me. What had she deemed of me to be worthy of saving? That was when my phone dinged, a ringtone I did not recognize. Pulling it toward my face, I carefully read the message from an unknown number:
‘Congratulations! You have been carefully selected to host our next Rave Night! We can’t wait to see you there.’