If he’s not out in a minute, I’m calling the cops. Damn the consequences.
A commotion sounds from down the hall, then a shirtless Theo appears, his jeans undone, his torso covered in scratches, bitemarks, and hickeys. My eyes widen as he shoves past the naked woman in the doorway and stumbles towards my car.
Hurrying after him, I unlock the car and we both dive in.
His body trembles as I pull away from the kerb and take off down the street.
“What the fuck?” I shout. “That was insane, man. Even for you.”
He rakes his fingers through his hair and rocks back and forth. Reaching into the back seat, I grab a hoodie and toss it at him. He slides it on around his seat belt, but he doesn’tsay anything. His eyes are wild, and when I wave my hand in front of his face, I get no reaction.
“Theo?” I snap, shoving his shoulder. “What the fuck did you take?”
No response.
“Theo!”
When he still says nothing, I slam my hand on the steering wheel in frustration. The nearest hospital is Beckford—almost two hours way.
“Goddamn it, Theo. I need you to answer me. What did you take?”
The car is silent, nothing but the roar of the engine as I turn onto the highway that leads us home.
I shake him again, my stomach bottoming out at his almost catatonic state. “Come on, man. What did you take?”
Slowly, he turns to face me, his expression morphing into confusion as he reaches out and runs his fingers over my cheek. “Zac?”
“Yeah, buddy. It’s me.” I glance at him before focusing back on the road. “What did you take?”
He brings his hand in front of his face, studying it like he’s never seen it before.
“Focus, Theo. What did you take?”
“Acid,” he says, his voice full of wonder. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
Shit. My hand tightens on the steering wheel. What am I supposed to do with him? I can’t take him home—his parents will flip if they see him like this—the hospital would cause too many questions, and I can’t leave him alone. Fucking conundrum.
“How do you feel?”
“The sky is melting,” he says, peering through the windscreen. “It’s whispering your name.”
I mutter a string of curses under my breath.
He laughs, soft and eerie. “Do you ever think that maybe we’re a dream someone else is having and they just haven’t woken up yet?”
My head spins, but he doesn’t need a response, lost in his own world.
“What happens to us when they wake up?” he muses. “Do we just cease to exist? Did we never exist in the first place?”
What the fuck?
“I don’t know,” I say. “How long ago did you take the acid?”
“Time runs away like the rabbit down the hole.” He makes a whirling motion with his hand. “Whooooop, down he goes.”
“Are you talking about Alice in Wonderland?”
“Have you ever noticed how time seems to slow down before racing away again? It’s a slippery little bugger. Too hard to catch.”
