Shelly Part 2 Halloween

He handed me the new drink. “Here you go. So where are you from?” he asked, continuing the battery of pointless questions.

I looked at my watch every now and then as I carried on the one-sided conversation. Rachel, Megan and Araceli were nearly an hour late. The noise and the heat were starting to make me feel sick. I wondered whether I could find someone who lived in the house to ask them if I could use the phone. I didn’t see one in evidence, and looking around at all the people, it seemed hopeless to try to guess whose house it was. I certainly didn’t think it was a good idea to try to walk home alone. Maybe Laura had a phone on her. “Excuse me for a minute,” I said to Shawn. I took three steps toward the door and a wave of dizziness assaulted me. I had to prop myself against the wall for support.

“You okay?” Shawn asked for the second time that night.

“I’ll be alright,” I said, hearing my words come out slurred. My mouth felt like mush. Strange, I had always heard that beer was supposed to be a weak drink.

“Maybe you’d better lie down,” he suggested.

“Yeah,” I said. God, it’s too hot in here, I thought, but then why was I shivering?

Shawn walked me toward the back of the house.

“Is she okay?” someone from the crowd asked, sounding more concerned than I would have expected.

“She’s feeling sick,” Shawn answered for me.

I was stumbling along, my legs getting weaker by the moment. I noticed a sudden transition from light to dark, and then I was lying down on my back on something large and soft. I moved my hand and could feel the puffy texture of a comforter.

“How are you feeling?” Shawn asked me from somewhere nearby. It was difficult to tell the direction.

“Terd. Hmm. Tired. Cold,” I said. After a moment, the door closed, cutting off the light from outside. The music became a dull roar. My mind was grinding to a slow halt. I could hear shallow, nervous breathing. It took me a few moments to realize it wasn’t my own. “You shtill ‘ere?” I mumbled.

“Shh,” Shawn said.

Something tugged at my waist. I could hear a tinkling of metal. Another tug, and the sound of a zipper pulling.

I’m in trouble, I thought. My heart began to race with fear, and I forced my torpid mind to work. He was taking my clothes off. He was going to rape me. “Shtah. Shtop.” My voice sounded weak and distant. I could barely move my arms.

“Don’t worry. You won’t remember a thing in the morning,” Shawn said soothingly. I could feel his hands shaking as he pulled down the waistline of my pants.

I heard a sound that made Shawn jump. Someone had rattled the door handle. He stood there, gasping for air for several seconds. I nurtured the faint hope that he had gotten scared and given up, but then I felt his clammy fingers on my skin as he hooked them under the elastic of my panties. “Please don’t,” I tried to say, but the words wouldn’t form in my mouth.

The door rattled again. This time, he ignored it. There was a tremendous bang, and light poured in as the door crashed open. “Shit. Shit,” Shawn hissed, scrambling up off the bed.

“You got that right, fucker,” a deep voice said. The light flicked on, blinding me for a moment. “You’re deep in it.”

“Goddamn it, it is her.” Megan’s voice. I blinked until I could see her face hovering over me. Shelly? Shelly, are you alright? What did he do?” She looked over her shoulder. “Come on, help me get her dressed.”

Hands took hold of my clothes and pulled them back on me, redoing the fastenings. Megan and Rachel together pulled me to the foot of the bed and held onto me to keep me from slumping over. I saw Shawn, holding his hands out in front of himself defensively. “You don’t want to do this,” he said.

Facing him was a huge black man, easily six and a half feet. “You shouldn’t presume to know what other people want,” he said advancing slowly. He enunciated his words in a way that seemed at odds with his menacing appearance.

Megan spoke to him. “Give us a sec’ to get out of here, will you, Jason?”

“Go ahead. This pile of shit isn’t going anywhere until he’s lost some blood and a few teeth.”

“Come on,” Megan said, grunting as she lifted me up to my feet. She and Rachel supported most of my weight. “He must have drugged you, baby. Try to walk. It will help you stay awake.”

My legs felt like two floppy lengths of rubber, but I tried to put one foot in front of the other. As we returned to the living room, people moved out of our way to let us through.

Rachel sighed. “Looks like he gave her Rohypnol, roofies. If she’s had alcohol, she’ll probably black out soon. I think I know where that guy lives. God, what a worthless prick.”

“He’s a fucking predator. We’ll make sure he gets put away for a few years, anyway.”

The air outside felt freezing cold on my skin. Laura appeared, wide-eyed with concern. “Christ, what happened?”

Megan’s tone was acid. “She almost got raped while you were out here getting high. No, just stay the fuck away from us. I’m pissed at you right now. You know she’s new to this shit. You should have stayed with her.”

“Fuck, I’m sorry,” Laura said, sounding sincere.

“It’ll be alright,” Rachel assured her. “Just leave her alone for a few days.”

I was beginning to lose touch with my surroundings, voices losing clarity, colors fading and running together. “What should we do with her?” was the last thing I heard.

My head hurt. I opened my eyes and suffered a moment’s disorientation when what I saw did not correspond to the familiar features of my dorm room. Sunlight fell on my arm from the window, and it was this that had woken me. I heard the quiet inhale and exhale of breath nearby. I turned my head and twisted my body around to see a cascade of blond hair on the pillow next to me. I followed it on up to see that it was actually Megan’s hair, and that she had fallen asleep in a chair with her arms and head propped up on the bed. A curtain ran the length of the bed, and there was a metal railing along the side opposite from Megan. I was in a hospital.

Megan groaned and stirred. She smiled as soon as she saw me. “Hey, you’re awake. You gave us a few good scares there.”

I put the flat of my palm to my head to try to stop the pounding. “What happened last night?”

Megan took hold of my hand. “I’m so sorry, Shelly. I should have been there. Araceli and I had a fight, a bad one. I drove over with Rachel afterwards. When we showed up, I started asking about you, and someone said they saw that guy carrying a black-haired girl toward the bedroom. The door was locked, but I went and got Jason. He works part-time as a bouncer at the club we went to. He’s going for his Masters degree right now.”

The events began to come back to me as she described them to me and I experienced anew the horror of what had happened, and what had almost happened to me. I started to cry, and Megan lay her head down on my chest and stroked my hair until it was over. 

She gave me a cup of water to sip and I asked, “What happened to you and Araceli?”

She shook her head. “It was stupid. You don’t want to hear about that.”

I knew here well enough to guess that she was trying to keep her true feelings buried, but I didn’t press. “I’m glad you’re with me,” I said, pressing her hand against my cheek. “You and Rachel are the best friends I’ve ever had.”

“Well, Rachel wanted to stay here with you, but she had a paper due today. I made her go home.”

“I love you.” I said the words on impulse, driven by a sense of gratitude for what Megan had done for me. I didn’t mean for it to sound the way it did. The emotion just poured out of me before I could stop it.

“I know,” Megan said. She looked down at my hand, still clutched in hers. “But I’m trying to change what I am. I can’t go on being like this. It hurts too much.” She took an unsteady breath and looked up at me. “Why don’t you sit tight while I tell them you’re awake?”

I swallowed against the painful constriction in my throat. There was an empty place inside of me and I didn’t know how I could ever fill it.