On a nod, he took my elbow and helped me over the crime scene tape again.
The dirt shifted under my shoes.A clump rolled into the side of Eli’s skull.All I wanted to do was snatch it back and tell him how sorry I was.What I did instead was crouch beside the bag, take off my glove, and poke my finger into a tear in the plastic.
“Here.Have another drink.”
I look blurrily down at the hand he’s trying to push a bottle into.I ignore it and stare out the dark windows at what looks like nothing but trees.“Where are we?You said we were going to the party at Lisa’s.I’ve been to her place before.It’s not in the woods.”Why did my voice sound so weird?
He shoved the bottle at me again.“Go on.Take another swig.We’re going to have a little fun before the party.I know a good place.It’s private.”
Alarm bells are going off in my head, but I can’t put it all together.Lisa and I have been working at the movie theater together for the last two summers.Mike only started a few weeks ago and he’s been creeping me out, always staring at me with those weird eyes, trying to work concession with me even though he was put on the ticket booth.
“We can go for a swim in the pond.”
He shoves the bottle at me again and this time I take a sip, grimacing at the fiery cough syrup taste.“Lisa doesn’t have a pond,” I slurred.Why am I slurring?And I’m not going swimming.I fixed my hair in the bathroom before we left work.Joshua said he was going to the party and he’s so cute.“I don’t want to get wet.”
My eyes close and the bottle tips before Mike rips in out of my hands.
“Careful!”
My stomach hurts.I don’t want to hurl in front of Joshua.“Just take me home, please.”
“Later.We’re almost there.”
My head is resting against the cool of the window.He drives over something and I bash my head.Rubbing it, I look around.“Are those…cabins?”
He laughs.“It’s an abandoned summer camp.”
I rear back.“No.I hate horror movies.I don’t want to be here.”
He shoves the bottle at me again.“Relax.It’ll be great.”
My stomach rolls as he parks.I try to open the door, but I keep missing the handle.I finally grab it and get the door open before I throw up.I think he’s saying something, but I can’t hear over the roaring in my head.
“Gross!You’re ruining everything,” he shouts.
My head is spinning so fast, I have to brace myself against the side of the car to keep from tipping over.“Sorry, sorry,” I mumble.
“You’re covered in puke,” he says, his voice ugly.
“I want to go home,” I whisper, my head against the cold metal of his car.
He tugs at my shirt.I try to smack his hands away, but I have to hold onto the car.When he yanks me away from it, I go down to my knees.He drags me, then stands me up.He’s stronger than he looks.
“Go home,” I choke out and get smacked across the face.Pain explodes in my cheek and eye.
He throws me to the ground, and my hair is wet.What?Why?My shoulders are lower than my feet.Blood rushes to my spinning head and the world narrows.It’s like when I look in the wrong end of a pair of binoculars.Mike’s snarling face is far away and surrounded by black.
When he starts yanking on my jeans, I scream and kick.I think I punch his face because I feel his teeth hit the back of my hand.
With a shout, he shoves me farther into the water and flips me over.My face sinks into the muddy floor of the pond.I try to lift my head, but nothing’s working.My pants are off but I’m not even embarrassed.I can’t breathe.That body isn’t me anymore.What he’s doing isn’t me.Lights explode in my head.I can’t hold my breath.It hurts so much.My lips open on a final scream as I inhale muddy water.
My eyes flew open on a gasp.Osso was holding me.When I fought to get away from him, he released me immediately.Leaping to the far side of the taped-off area, I threw up at least a gallon of pond water.
Osso moved toward me, but I held up a hand, telling him to keep his distance as more pond water came up.
“What’s the matter with her?”the captain asked.
Osso mumbled he didn’t know and then I heard Rosen telling Osso to give me my octopus bottle.
