Among the flashing lights and heavy clouds of artificial smoke, Lillia sat leaning against the bar table, a glass in her hands fizzing with a clear liquid. The music from the dance floor pounded her ears, different melodies and tunes clashing against the grey stone walls of the club.
Her eyes danced across the crowd. Where is he? The spinning of her head was causing her vision to swirl, yet she strained her eyes pleading with them to obey her. When she finally caught sight of the blonde boy amongst the crowds her heart leapt. Don't get too excited. He's not going to see you. Yet the corner of her lip still curled as she watched his dancing smoothly, his golden hair was messy with gel over his head, sweat dominated this forehead, and his half-closed blue eyes still glowed happily.
There was a girl with him. Pretty faced, blonde-haired, with a little too much concealer. Lillia hated her already.
Yet somehow Toby didn't care, he kept dancing alongside the girl, looking down at her smiling. As much as she was happy that he was having fun, she didn't like the way he looked at that girl. He never looked at her like that.
This was her childhood friend she was talking about, her best friend. There had never been anything romantic. She couldn't be jealous, it was unfair. But I am jealous.
The blonde girl continued dancing next to him, circling him effortlessly. She was wrapped in a black bandage dress and high heeled shoes adding a couple of inches to her height. Her platinum blonde hair flowed in waves of sunlight down her back, the pale colour of her skin flashed pink and purple as the lights changed. Lillia wished she could move like that, compared to this woman, she was a child. Toby saw her as a child.
She took a sip of the bitter liquid again, wincing as she did so. The nauseating sickness dripped into her mind yet again. Her own heartbeat echoed loudly over the familiar music. Alcohol wast supposed to make you feel so sick, she remembered, but surely not after one glass...
Lillia stared down at herself, the black dress hung loosely over her body, it was too baggy around the waist and the hem sat awkwardly above her knees, she could tell it was only meant to reach her thighs, but she was small. Smaller than she liked. The dress belonged to one of Toby's friends, she had leant it to her for tonight, after arguing for five minutes as to why she couldn't wear jeans and a T-shirt to a club.
Lillia wanted to leave. She was sick of the banging noises and the rancid smell of sweat and floral perfume. The humid air was causing her long brown hair to frizz, the ends were curling upwards as they stuck to her arms. But she couldn't leave. She needed Toby if he saw her he could help her get home - take her home. It was selfish, but she wanted him to help her. It was his 18th birthday, he had practically begged her to come with him. And being the polite girl that she was, she agreed, with the condition that she could leave whenever she wanted. She had been here an hour, and that was long enough.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Lillia remembered leaving her bag at Toby's house, she couldn't call a Taxi without her phone, and besides, she had no money to pay for one anyway. Before the party a few of his friends had been at his house getting ready, his house was big enough for her to find her own room to sit in - she knew it well enough.
Why had she forgotten her bag? She never forgot anything like that.
"You okay?" A voice from the bar asked, she snapped her gaze away from Toby, who now held the blonde girl in his arms, swinging her to the music. She giggled swishing her hair back and forth, biting at her rosy lips.
"Yes," Lillia stammered. She looked up to see an older girl, with honey skin and long frizzy black hair, she had pulled it out if her face with a red headband sewn with golden threads. The woman smiled over at Lillia, still holding an empty beer glass in her hands. She looked quite young to be a bartender, Lillia thought.
"You don't look it, what's your name?" The girl asked, putting the glass back under the counter, popping her head back up, not once breaking her smile. Lillia bit down on her tongue, her eyes studying the strangers face. Don't talk to strangers, she heard her mother's voice clearly in her head. How long ago had she said that? She must have only been about 10. It didn't still apply, did it?
"Lillia," She sighed, ignoring her mother's words. She hardly realised when her hand started trembling, the bartender looked down at her scrunching her eyebrows. Lillia pulled her hand down from the table and held it on her knees. She could feel herself shaking now, her head spinning, the familiar sickly feeling washing over her.
"Do you need anything?" She asked - she looked genuinely concerned, though Lillia struggled to understand why.
"No, I'm okay." That was a lie. There was a lot of things she needed right now. Toby included.
The bartender nodded her head, and reluctantly walked away, she looked over her shoulders once before going to serve a dark-haired boy beside her.
As if he sensed her presence, the boy next to her looked her way, as the bartender whispered something to him. He had a certain look about him that made Lillia shiver. Maybe it was his bulging muscles covered in black tattoos, or the angry frown he wore so naturally. She could have sworn she sore his eyes flash yellow beneath his dark eyes. Lillia bit her lip and glanced back at Toby in the crowd. He's not coming to save you this time.
Abruptly, Lillia stood up and began walking towards the back door of the club. The mans gaze seemed to follow her as she walked, but she kept looking straight ahead. Why's he staring at me, she heard her conscience scream.
She didn't know where she was going, she just knew she had to get out of there. Her legs felt weak, and the spinning sensation which was rattling through her brain didn't help. Panting, she opened the back door letting the cold air smack against her skin. The door swung closed behind her, leaving the dark-haired girl stood in a gloomy courtyard, lit by a single flickering streetlamp.
The faint sound of music mixed with the distant roaring of traffic, but the loudest sound was her own blood pumping through her veins forcefully. Goosebumps infected her body as the temperature fell with each gentle breeze of wind, spiralling its way through the narrow streets.
Collapsing to the ground, her legs gave way. Her whole body was shaking nervously. She gagged, covering her hand with her mouth. Lillia knew she couldn't throw up now, she couldn't bear it if she did. Too much had already gone wrong.
Leaning against the brick wall, she looked up at the tall buildings above her. You're all alone now. Nobody is coming to save you...
"Why am I so weak," She murmured with a sob.
Ever since she was little, she had been afraid of the dark, the monsters which hid in the shadows. She would wake up screaming if her mother had turned the light off after she fell asleep, crying under the covers until she turned it back on. There was something about darkness that made her feel vulnerable, weak, helpless... It was dark now.
A sudden clatter from the dustbins beside her snapped her out of the memory. Her teeth bit into her tongue to stop her from screaming. It's just the wind... The harsh metallic sound darted through the air again, this time it got louder. Another clatter caused Lillia to jump to her feet, feeding on the adrenaline leaking into her bloodstream. She leaned against the wall and waited.
Through the shadows, she saw a flicker of movement. There was definitely something there... Slowly, she began backing away, guiding herself with the wall. Don't move too quickly, she thought - but something else told her to run.
The noises didn't stop. Instead, they grew stronger, closer. Heavy breathing joined the clattering, and the sticky sound of footsteps hitting the dirt floor was stronger than ever. Heart racing, eyes wide with fear, Lillia watched as a creature crawled out from the darkness, forming an inhuman shape only metres away.
It growled. Lillia gulped as she heard its panting, the deep, cracking sound of uneven snarls and breathing. As the creature began walking closer, the light from the dim streetlamp washed over it. Under the yellow glow, Lillia stared at the beast in front of her. It held the form of a large dog, with razor-like teeth hanging from its open mouth. It walked, cracking its bones, twisting its limps as if just adjusting to its new body.
When it growled again, Lillia let out a croaky scream. The fear overcame her and she stopped walking, standing deadly still. Without a moment of hesitation, the beast launched itself at her, reaching with its claws for her flesh. The force behind its jump was enough to knock her to the ground. Her head smacked the concrete floor below. Her vision blurred. Her heart stopped.
She felt its claw scratch deep into her stomach, pulling her flesh from her skin, tearing away at her body; it splattered blood across the floor. She screamed out louder, the pain echoing in her voice. Sick stained the floor as Lillia felt herself throw up. Yet, the beast continued ripping at her half-dead body. Across the concrete, her sick had started to mix with the thick warm blood.
The thing opened it's mouth wide, blood-stained saliva dripped from its teeth, hitting her skin, burning it away like acid. Her voice was hoarse, and before she could realise it, she had stopped screaming. Her body spasmed as blood continued to leak out into the floor.
Someone help me... "Toby!" She cried. "Toby help me!"
Her eyes rolled back into her head, cutting of the last fragment of vision she had. Death had its claws in her now, it was pulling her down, pleading with her to give up. You're stronger than this, you have to keep fighting... It was too hard. Breathing was a challenge, fighting against the pain took every ounce of energy she had left.
There was no use. This thing had practically killed her.
As she swam around the pool of darkness, she felt her body begin to rise. Her head fell down as she was lifted into the air. Slowly. This is what it's like, she thought, this is what it's like to die... I can't keep fighting. It's too strong...
I'm sorry.