Chapter 4
TAB“Honey, be careful tonight! It’s all over the news, someone escaped jail. He’s a murdering rapist, and apparently killed three women. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather just go over to Tori’s? No, don’t bother answering that. I know you’d just go to the club even if I told you not to. Just be careful and don’t do anything stupid,” Laine told her daughter, watching Sara fix her make-up.
TAB“Mom, I’ll be fine. I’ll be with Tori the whole night. Nothing will happen. The club’s just a couple blocks away; close enough to walk to,” Sara said reassuringly, getting up from the chair and grabbing her purse. “I’ll have my phone with me, if you need me just call. I’ll be home by midnight; please don’t stay up all night waiting for me. Bye Mom, I’ll see you in the morning.” With that, Sara headed for the door, giving her a quick hug.
TAB“Bye honey…” Laine murmured, watching her child leave and vanish out of sight.
TABSara reached the club, waiting outside for Tori. Not surprisingly, Tori was late. She leaned against the wall of the club, swooning and blacking out.
TABSaro caught herself before she fell, sighing. Well, at least she was against the wall and Tori hadn’t seen it. Otherwise her friend would worry all night and neither of them would have any fun.
TAB“Hey, sorry I’m late. My mom wouldn’t let me leave until she had given me the “no sex, no drinking” lecture she always does.”
TAB“It’s fine, let’s go,” Saro said, grinning before flashing an ID at the man at the door. He let both she and Tori inside, only glancing at the picture and date of birth.
TABPainfully loud music greeted them, as did the faint haze of cigarette smoke. The room was filled with people dancing, drinking, or trying to do both at the same time. She and Tori merged with the crowd, weaving through to the middle of the dancers.
TAB“You know what; I think I need a drink. Come on!” Saro said suddenly, pulling her friend to the bar.
The barkeep never asked her age when she asked for a drink, only pushing a glass in front of her. “Anything for you?” he asked Tori.
TAB“Umm, whatever you have to eat,” Tori replied, figuring Saro would need it more. Hopefully she wouldn’t drink too much. As long as it wasn’t as bad as the last time they’d been here…
TABSara came to, seeing Tori’s face looming over her through the throb of the music. She didn’t remember even coming into the club; she’d blacked out before Tori got there. “Sara, you are so wasted,” she heard her friend say. Sara opened her mouth to speak, to deny it. But instead of words, everything she’d eaten in the last week came up.
TAB“How much did I drink?” she asked weakly.
TAB“A lot of the hardest stuff here,” Tori replied with a small grin.
TAB“Like what?” Sara asked through the tears and giggles.
TAB“You don’t even want to know,” Tori laughed, helping the drunken Sara up off the bathroom floor.
TAB“How much did you drink?”
TAB“A glass. Compared to your bucket,” Tori replied with a grin, drawing a similar one from Sara, before her thoughts began to start again.
TAB“My mom’s gonna freak…” Sara moaned, slumping against the wall.
TAB“She probably won’t care, as long as Caroline doesn’t find out. And I wouldn’t lean there if I were you,” Tori warned.
TAB“Heh?”
TAB“Never mind… Come on, let’s get you home,” Tori sighed, putting an arm around Sara’s shoulders and leading her outside.
TAB“Tori, you go on home. There’s no point in you coming home with me only to have to go back twice as far,” Sara said once they were outside. The cold air had helped sober her a bit, or at least make her thoughts a little clearer.
TAB“Are you sure? I don’t mind,” Tori started to object, before sighing. “Call me when you get home,” she told Sara. She started walking down the street, heading home.
TABSara sighed softly before wearily starting home. She turned down an alley, a shortcut that would save her close to twenty minutes of walking. The alcohol kept her from realizing what she was doing. Normally, she’d never walk down a dark alley in the middle of the night by herself.
TABSara slowly walked between the two walls, oblivious to everything happening around her. She finally heard footsteps behind her when she was close to halfway through the long alley, and they were close behind her. She quickened her steps, and those behind her did as well. She started to run, but a moment later rough hands grabbed her wrist, jerking her back before shoving her against the wall.
TAB“Don’t worry, it will only hurt a little. Inorzo didn’t say you had to be in the same condition as when I found you,” the man murmured, looking her up and down as he pinned her to the wall.
TABSara drew in her breath to scream, recognizing the man before her. He was the man from the news, the rapist her mother had said escaped. One hand clamped against her mouth, and another started to work it’s way under her clothes.
TAB“Never again…” the voice growled in Sara’s mind, before she gasped as she felt as though she were pushed out of her body. She saw her necklace seem to glow, before she blacked out.
