"I was so close".
Malakai locked eyes with the guy, "Are you sure you don't have the wrong guy?" He asked, not intimidated. The guy was about 5'10, so he was looking down at Malakai. Well, most guys did, as Malakai was short.
The guy looked Malakai up and down, "IT'S YOU!" Out of nowhere, the guy lunged and tried to bring Malakai to the ground. Malakai saw it coming from a mile off, so he easily evaded it. He still held onto the bag full of sweets; he wanted to take them home.
"GUYS! I FOUND HIM!" The guy shouted. When Malakai turned his head, he saw five other people look towards him.
"Long day", Malakai said to himself. He took off and ran to where his friends were. They hadn't moved from that spot. It looked like they were waiting for him, or Benjamin couldn't move William and Lucas.
"Yo, we need to go!" Malakai hastily said to them.
"What's in the bag?" William drunkily pointed.
"I'll show you later. We need to go", Malakai replied, checking his shoulders.
"Mally, you need to carry Will again. He can't move, he thinks he's floating", Lucas giggled.
"Ben, why didn't you move them?" Malakai asked, ignoring Lucas.
"I tried, but they were having their own conversation. You try disrupting two drunks talking", Benjamin replied, defending himself. "Where did you go?" He asked. Malakai looked behind him and saw six people running towards him. "Oh.." Benjamin saw the same image Malakai saw.
"I need to go. Take care of them two", Malakai said. He gave one last look to William and Lucas, who looked clueless. "Go home", he told them.
Shouts of "GET HIM" drew closer. That was Malakai's cue to run off. With the sweet bag in his right hand, he left his friends and went on a mission to escape. He swiftly moved past people and tables; miraculously, he didn't bump or knock into anything. His eyes analysed everything. He needed to find the exit but couldn't remember where it was. The flashing lights made it confusing and made it hard to spot anything. The place was huge, which was surprising as the entrance made it look like a tiny back room. His pursuers were still following him in the distance, but they would eventually catch him if he couldn't find the way out. He had to be careful not to find a dead end; if he did, it was game over. Malakai wasn't at full speed, but he was still rapid. He didn't have much space to run; his quick-stepping was enough to get away from them for now, at least.
"HEY!"
A shout, but it wasn't from behind him. It was to his right. He turned his head and saw the black door and what looked like the outside peeking through the bodies blocking it. The shout was coming from people arguing at the door. People wanted to get in, but someone wasn't allowing them inside. Malakai swivelled on his feet, changed direction and went towards the door. He pulled the ski mask over his head so his whole face was covered, and only his eyes showed. He reached the door and pushed past the people that were there. No one stopped him. Most of them didn't know what moved them because Malakai ducked down and kept low. It was like a little kid pushing through them. Luckily, he wasn't grabbed by someone; he was already out by the time he was noticed. He made it. He was outside. He could stretch his legs and run at his max. He's more or less escaped; they weren't going to catch Malakai. Malakai's night was entertaining, for sure.
Here is what Malakai did in more detail. When he separated from Benjamin, he walked around tables and secretly brushed cocaine off them while he walked past. He covertly stole a few blunts and pills from people and threw them on the floor. He then saw a person take off their mask for a moment to take a drink; while they weren't looking, Malakai nabbed the mask. The mask was a full-face mask with a similar design to the masks in Money Heist. With this new mask, he became adventurous. More daring. Instead of secretly accomplishing his mission, he decided to be more obvious. Now, he would go to the tables and strike up a conversation with these people. When they warmed up to him and even offered him some drugs, Malakai would do what he wanted. If someone passed him a blunt, he would throw it on the floor and stomp on it; if someone gave him a drink, he would pour it on the floor; if someone offered him a needle, he would drop it; and if they offered him cocaine, he would blow it off the table. All of this in front of them. There were a few close calls where he was almost caught, but he was a slippery guy. He made it out of every situation. The scenario that caused him to call it a night was when someone grabbed his face and pulled his stolen mask off, revealing his face. Luckily, he had his ski mask underneath pulled up; otherwise, he would've been exposed. He slipped away because the guy was off his face, drunk, high or both. He then wandered around the party to try to find one of his friends, and after some time, he managed to find Benjamin. Malakai thought he was safe, but they recognised his clothes despite not seeing his face.
So now we are here, Malakai running away. Malakai was outside on the campus. It was around fifteen minutes past midnight. It was dark out, and only the street light illuminated the place. Malakai had a good lead, but they were still in sight. Malakai knew he was safe; he just had to keep running. Malakai didn't take anything the whole night, so he was technically sober. But the entire night, he was high on adrenaline. Even right now, he is running for his life. Maybe coming to this party was worth it after all. Malakai made a few detours, turning corners and running to places without street lights. He didn't realise he lost the people chasing him a while ago. To tell the truth, the people chasing him gave up a long time ago. To be more precise, they gave up after Malakai turned the first corner outside of the club. Malakai didn't notice as he was too paranoid, so with every voice he heard or shadow he saw in the corner of his eyes, he thought it was them. Malakai finally looked back and saw no one.
"They're gone", he said, out of breath. He took out his phone and looked at the time. It was 23 minutes past midnight; he ran for about 8 minutes straight. He texted in the group chat asking if they were alright and made it out. Benjamin replied with a video showing him and Lucas carrying a lifeless William. Malakai smiled at the video. It looked like the night was over. It was a pretty successful night for him; he had fun and got a bag full of sweets.
Home time. Malakai walked back to the dorm building, tired. He entered the building and entered the elevator, pressing his floor number and waiting for him to arrive. The doors opened, and he stepped out. He walked down the corridor to his dorm. The dorm keys were cards, and Malakai kept his key on the back of his phone with his phone case, keeping it safe. He pulled out his phone and was about to take off his phone case to get his key until,
"AAAAHHHHH!"
He heard a muffled scream coming from next door. Maria and Tanisha's dorm. He then heard some muffled talking.
"They're probably watching a movie", he thought. Curious, he went over and knocked on their door.
"AAHHH!"
Another muffled scream. His knock must have startled them. Malakai smirked, "I wonder who that is". The door slowly opened, and someone peeked through the tiny gap.
"Trick or treat".
"What are you doing?" Tanisha asked as she fully opened the door, revealing her green night pyjamas. What she was looking at was Malakai standing back with a ski mask covering up to his nose, revealing his messy hair and white eyes. He was also holding a bag up to her.
"What does it look like? I'm trick or treating", Malakai replied, holding up the bag.
"What's in the bag?" Tanisha asked, looking at it.
"It's sweets, I stole it from the party", Malakai said.
"Why are you standing so far back? She asked, looking at Malakai weirdly.
"I stink. I came from a party that had drugs everywhere", he casually replied.
"Drugs?" Tanisha said, looking concerned. Tanisha leaned forward and sniffed the air around Malakai. As soon as she caught a whiff of it, she covered her nose and scrunched her face.
"I didn't do any", Malakai quickly said before he was accused.
"What type of drugs?" Tanisha quietly asked.
"Weed, LSD, heroin, cocaine and some other shit", Malakai listed. "It was fuuuuucccckkkked".
"Why did you go?" She asked, sceptical that Malakai was lying about taking anything.
"Willy got told there was a secret Halloween party, so we went. We didn't know it would be like that, though", Malakai replied.
"What did you even do? You said you didn't take anything", Tanisha wanted to know more.
"I didn't. I ruined the party. I was throwing joints and blowing cocaine off tables", Malakai grinned, but Tanisha couldn't see it because of the mask.
"And nothing happened to you?" Tanisha asked, looking Malakai up and down for any injuries.
"Naa. I got chased, but that's it. You can't tell, but I'm sweating; I had to run around campus to get away", he replied, sounding proud.
"I didn't hear about any party", Tanisha said.
"It was a secret one. Only certain people know. I think we were the only first years there", Malakai replied.
"Who else went?" Tanisha kept the questions rolling.
"Me, Willy, Ben and Lu", Malakai answered. "It was fucked up, but it was fun. There were people passed out on the floor and shit. There were even some teachers there".
"What?!" Tanisha couldn't believe it. Her voice raised slightly, so she quickly covered her mouth afterwards.
"I got a video of one of them sniffing cocaine", Malakai replied.
"Tan, who is it?" A voice said, approaching the door. Malakai and Tanisha flinched like they were almost caught and stopped talking. A figure came behind Tanisha. "Malakai?" It was Maria covered in a red blanket.
"Trick or treat".
Maria giggled at his gesture. "Why are your eyes white?" she asked, instantly noticing. Tanisha stood a bit in front of Maria so she couldn't smell Malakai.
"It's contacts. It's part of my outfit", Malakai replied.
"Outfit? What are you dressed as?" Tanisha asked, looking at what he was wearing.
"Myself".
"You can't be serious", Tanisha disappointedly said, the same disappointment Malakai's friends felt.
"Did you go to a Halloween party?" Maria asked.
"Yeah, I came back now", Malakai replied.
"Was the party good?
"Yeeaaah, it was good", Malakai said.
"Were everyone's outfits scary?" Maria curiously asked as she thought the outfits were the main thing about a Halloween party.
"Scary scary", Malakai replied, smiling, having two meanings behind his answer. Tanisha understood what he meant.
"You do realise Halloween is over. I'm not giving you any sweets", Tanisha told him.
"I'm not asking for sweets. I was gonna give you some", Malakai replied, holding out the bag to them.
"Really?" Maria excitedly said, her eyes lit up.
"Yeah, I took this bag from the party. The bags kinda full, I can't keep all these sweets around Willy", Malakai replied. Malakai handed the bag to Tanisha, saying, "Here, take what you want".
Tanisha opened the bag and put her hand inside to look through what sweets were inside. After scavenging around the bag, her brows furrowed. "Why is there a bra in here?" she asked, pulling it out.
Malakai's eyes opened. "I ... don't know".
"Did you put this in here?!" Tanisha interrogated him, instantly thinking he was behind this.
"Bro, I told you I took the bag from the party. I didn't properly look inside it", Malakai defended himself. Tanisha gave him a look of disgust, not believing him. "You can have it if you want", he said, putting his hands up.
"Have it?" Tanisha said, shocked he would even say that. She curiously looked at the size. "It doesn't fit me".
"Huh?"
"It's 36 DD (US). That's big for me", she replied, as if Malakai were a store employee.
"Why are you acting like I know what that means? I don't know bra sizes", Malakai replied. "Aryt then, Maria can have it", he said.
"36 DD is a bit small for me", Maria shyly replied. Tanisha stared daggers at Malakai after she said that.
Malakai covered his ears and turned his head, "I didn't hear anything", he said, even though he blatantly did. "Just put it back in the bag then. I'll find someone to give it to".
"Like who?" Tanisha asked as if he had no options.
"Hmm. I could give it to Delilah as a joke", Malakai thought out loud.
"As a joke? You're going to make fun of her chest size", Tanisha said, pressuring Malakai to make him look bad.
"Ah-", Malakai got caught out. He couldn't think of anything to say.
"What cat got your tongue?" Tanisha asked.
"Aryt, forget what I said. I'll probably give it to Lucas or I'll keep it", Malakai replied before Tanisha could go further.
"Keep it?" Maria and Tanisha said in synchrony.
"I don't know; maybe it was fate. Maybe my wife will have 36 DD boobs", Malakai said.
They both looked at him, unsure what to make of what he said. It was clear he was joking, but it was only clear if you were close to Malakai.
"You're disgusting", Tanisha frowned, about to turn around.
"Wait, gimme my sweets", Malakai stopped her.
Tanisha kissed her teeth, turned back around, and held the bag for Malakai. "Take it then", she said.
"Don't you want to take any?" He asked Maria.
"I do", Maria said. Maria took the bag from Tanisha and scrummaged through it to find the sweets she wanted.
"What were you lot doing? Watching a horror movie?" Malakai asked.
"Yeah, I love horror movies", Maria answered.
"Who was the one screaming?"
Tanisha looked away and stayed quiet. "Tan", Maria giggled.
"No it wasn't! It was you!" Tanisha embarrassingly said. Malakai laughed a little. "Why are you laughing? You're probably too scared to watch horror movies", Tanisha projected.
"Yeah, I'm so scared", Malakai sarcastically replied. "Wait I have something for you", he said. He got something in his pocket, "Here, open your hand". Surprisingly, Tanisha listened and opened her hand. Malakai dropped the item.
"AHHHH!"
The scream startled Maria.
"Hahahaha. Yep, I deffo heard that scream", Malakai laughed.
"What did you do?" Maria asked, trying to find what Malakai gave her.
"What's wrong with you!? Why would you do that!?" Tanisha angrily asked. Malakai picked up the item that he gave her. "Why you mad? Why're you scared of a toy spider?" he smiled, holding up the small toy spider he had picked up at the party. Maria giggled a little, too.
"Tch. Maria, let's go. Slam the door in his face", Tanisha said, upset, turning around and leaving Maria and Malakai alone.
"She doesn't like bugs. Sorry", Maria apologised.
"Naa, it's my fault. I might've taken it too far", Malakai replied.
"Here you go", Maria handed the bag back to Malakai.
Malakai took the bag. "You can take more if you want", he said, seeing Maria already with a handful of sweets.
"This is more than enough", Maria replied. "Besides, if I want more, I can come over and ask", she quietly added.
Malakai smiled as he heard what she said. "You gonna go class tomorrow?" he asked, keeping the conversation alive.
"Yeah, the movie is almost finished", Maria replied, as soon as she said that.
"MARIA, HURRY UP, OR I'LL START THE MOVIE WITHOUT YOU!" Tanisha shouted from the couch.
"Aryt, I'll let you watch your movie", Malakai said, getting ready to leave.
"Are you going to class tomorrow?" Maria asked before he left.
"Depends. Most likely, yeah", Malakai replied. "Oh yeah, take this", he said, holding out his hand.
"Huh", Maria held out her hand, and Malakai dropped the toy spider in her hand.
"If she ever teases you, you can scare her with that", He said, smiling. Maria couldn't see his smile, but she could tell he was smiling because of his eyes.
Maria grinned from ear to ear. This was like a gift that Malakai had given her. "Thank you," she said.
"Aryt, bye", Malakai said, walking to his dorm.
"Bye", Maria replied. Before she closed her door, she watched Malakai go into his dorm. When Malakai was gone, she closed her door. She looked at the tiny spider in her hand. Although it was just a small plastic toy, Maria was going to treasure it. She wasn't going to use it to prank Tanisha; she was going to keep it in a safe place. Malakai probably didn't mean much by giving it to her, but Maria considered it a present. It was much more than a toy spider. Is everything given to you by the person you love special, no matter how small it is? Maria smiled while looking into her palm. She clenched her fist and returned to the couch to finish the movie with Tanisha.
1:01 AM
William entered his room stumbling. The walk home took longer than it should have, mainly because Lucas kept fooling around. William made his way to his desk and put his hands on it to balance himself. He went into his pocket and grabbed something; he pulled it out and looked at it. It was an unopened small packet of cocaine. He didn't buy it, he found it on a table at the party and picked it up. He didn't do any drugs like Malakai told him, so he didn't sniff or try any cocaine, but he had his hands on some cocaine now. William stared at the packet. Tempted.
Click!
"Yo, your back", Malakai said while opening the door.
William quickly scrunched his hands and put them in his pockets. "Yeah", he awkwardly replied.
"What happened to your costume?" Malakai asked, looking at him.
"Ah, I uuh ditched it. When walking back. It was getting in the way", William replied, struggling to look at Malakai.
Malakai looked at William, "Are you good?" he asked as his body language was weird.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm good", William nodded, trying to act normal. There was silence for a moment.
"Aryt, take a shower. You'll feel better", Malakai said, leaving the room.
William waited for the door to close. When it did, he took his hands out of his pockets and unfolded them, showing the packet again. He stared at it again for a few seconds, fighting temptations. He won. He opened a drawer and threw the packet near the back. He hesitated to close it but forced himself to do it.
"I'm never touching that again".