Untitled Chapter one

     “Jesse McIntosh is that really you?” she asked.  I looked up at the woman approaching me; she was in her late forties at best though she attempted to dress like a twenty year old. Her eyes held that familiar blank look of sincerity as she reached out to me.  I pulled back not caring if it seemed rude or not.

    “Why yes, Mrs. Johansen it really is me,” I answered back.  Unfortunately my sarcasm was somewhat lost on the woman.

     “You haven’t been attending any of the parties lately.  I was sure that you would at least attend Martha’s coming out.  After all she has idolized you since she was ten.”

     “Well I don’t necessarily believe it was her choice to idolize me.  But I have gratefully not been forced to attend many parties of such as of late.  I think it has to do with being caught making out in the bedroom of the hosts.”

     “Jesse that is a horrible thing to say,” she said acting shocked and mortified.  She was the biggest gossip on the circuit, she knew it was true.  Hell she probably was the one that  helped make sure that word got out.

     “Ah, but since it is the truth, much like the joke of an outfit you are wearing, why not admit to it. Well it’s been a real pleasure, we really must do this again some time,” I said as I turned and walked away.  I couldn’t help the smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.

     I had to laugh, this would most likely hit my mother by dinner time tonight if not sooner.  It had become a great joy in my life to upset my parents; the ultimate goal was for them to send me to spend a year with my aunt in England.  They were getting close; I was sure that they would crack soon.  I knew that over the past several months I had turned into a real spoiled b***h.  But if it gets the job done then it will all be worth it; and it has become quite easy to do now.

     “What did old heifer want?” Charlie asked as he put his arm around my waist.

     “Looking for a good story to tell, would be my guess,” I said as I dug out my lip gloss and applied it using the reflection in the store window.  I looked at my reflection when I was done; I was conceited enough to admit to myself that I was above decent looking.  I had blonde hair that I kept styled at a length just past my shoulders, and blue eyes that seemed to lighten and darken with my mood.  I had the type of body that made guys look a lot.

     “I take it that you satisfied her need?” he asked.

     “Of course I did, what kind of vicious teen would I be if I didn’t?”

     “We need to be heading to the party soon.”

     “I know, just one more store.  I was hoping to find just the right shirt for tonight.  I am in the mood to be festive all of a sudden.”

     “You are impossible.  Ok, which store will it be?”

     “How about that one?” I said pointing to the trendy and expensive store.

     “Hey it’s your parents’ money.”

     “Not for long,” I said as I pulled out the credit card my parents had given me.  Once they got the bill they would be seriously regretting it. Until that time I intended to take full advantage of it.  I found just the right blouse for the party and paid for it.  When I was done I walked up to Charlie and put my arm around him.

     “Well any money left on the card?” he asked as he put his arm around me and we headed towards the exit.

     “Maybe a little,” I said laughing.

      I changed into my new blouse as Charlie drove towards the beach.  I have been friends with Charlie for so many years it was almost impossible to remember a time we hadn’t known each other.  Over the past three years he had become my best friend, my big brother, and on two occasions my lover.  Charlie had problems of his own at his house; not that he really cared but his family fell into the category that was nicknamed the poverty rich.  Meaning although they made enough money to reach the criteria for rich they had to continue to work to stay there.

     Charlie has spent his life up to date trying to stay out of his dad’s continuous fight to move up the ladder another notch.  The biggest thing that Charlie and I had in common was our serious disinterest in our families’ pursuit of wealth and fame.  The similarities in our life styles was mainly our families and the differences we had with them.  In fact there were times that I wasn’t sure how we managed to get along.  But we were the best of friends and I would never want to change a thing.

     As I settled back down in my seat and put on the seatbelt I looked over at Charlie who glanced back at me and smiled.  He had been looking, not that there was anything he hadn’t already seen before.  I just smiled at him.  Charlie was a very decent looking guy, he was tall, skinny but he worked out and you could tell it was doing his body good.  He had dark brown hair and he kept it shaggy just to annoy his family and the world around him.  But I personally liked the way it looked on him; he had such deep brown eyes that just made you melt when he smiled at you.

     Charlie was too sincere to use his looks to manipulate anyone or anything; me however I was the exact opposite.  I took advantage of my looks to destroy my parents’ image of me.  I used my looks to attract all sorts of dates to bring home to meet them; usually the type that they would prefer to call the cops on than invite to dinner.  And of course it came in handy getting the sons of other wealthy families to make out with me in the bedroom of their parents’ house.  I was the type of girl most mothers warn their sons about.

     I can’t exactly say that I was proud of who and what I had become but you are who you are.  When we arrived at the beach house of Thomas’s family the party was already in full force.  Charlie and I separated at the door; he went in search of the newest potential girlfriend of the week.  I made my rounds talking to the other guests there; sadly to say that 75% of them were the same drinking and drug using group of delinquents that were always here.  Of course I was one of them.

     I didn’t go in for any of the drugs, but I had become a serious consumer of alcohol.  Just because I want to upset my parents doesn’t mean I want to risk my health to do it. Ok maybe that theory fell short; but I still couldn’t go so far as to use any drugs, especially the hard stuff that most of them here used.  I grabbed a cup of the punch which was always spiked quite well, before I walked out to the deck and looked across the beach to the ocean.  The scene here was always so perfect; the waves crashing against the sand and the rocks.  I took a swig of the punch and it hit my stomach hard; reminding me that I had not eaten anything since breakfast.

     “Hey Jesse, how ya doing?”

     I turn to be hit by another mistake, approaching me.  Mike Barlow; I mean he is cute and a really good kisser, but a very shallow person.  Even more so than me, which at times is hard to believe.  However my shallowness is more created and his just seems to come naturally.

     “Oh, hi Mike.”

    “Great party isn’t it?”

     “As always.”

     “So when are you going to let me take you on a real date?”

     “Oh Mike, you know how it is. I’d hate to destroy what we have already had together.”

     “Mike, oh, Mike,” we both turned to look at Kelly and Tammy waving from the French doors.  I smiled at how perfectly posed they were as they stood in the doorway.  It was a pity that they didn’t realize that it didn’t take that much effort to distract him.  After all I knew how shallow he could be.

     “Looks like you have enough to keep you occupied tonight,” I say as I turned back to looking at the beach.

     “You have my number if you change your mind about that date.”

      Thankfully there was no need to reply, he was already on his way to join the girls at the doorway. I guzzled more of the tainted punch as I listened to the music.  It seemed to mix perfectly with the waves as they hit the sand. I stood there finishing off the cup of punch avoiding conversation as much as possible when people came out onto the deck. 

     Before long I was feeling the effects of the punch; deciding that the best thing for me would be to try and find something to eat.  I turned and took a couple of steps but from that point it was a tie as to which was twisting or turning more, my stomach or my head.  The need of food was a dire necessity; I could feel that empty stomach souring feeling start to overcome me.  I stumbled forward and grabbed a hold of the door frame as things around me began to dip and spin.

     “Hey Jesse,” Terry said as he saw me.

     “Hallooo,” I say realizing that my words are not sounding as well out of my mouth as they are in my head. I think.

     “You don’t look so well. Are you alright?”

     “Fline, neeb foog.”

      He gave me a funny look, or it could just be that everything around me was twisting in odd shapes.  He looped his arm around my waist and started to guide me towards what I hoped was the kitchen.  Sitting at the counter I laid my head down on the cool tile of the counter as the noises around me seemed to close in on me. Getting louder and closer.   I saw some crackers set down in front of me but as I tried to move to get them I wasn’t able to move.

     “Boy you are bad off.”

     I believe that was the last thing that I remember aside from blobs and swirling bouts of color.  I woke up to the ringing of my cell phone and the pounding of my head.  I scrambled for my purse trying to figure out where it was, hell I wish I knew where I was.  When I finally found the phone it was of course not ringing anymore.  There were six missed calls, four from my mother and two from my father.  The phone beeped telling me that I have yet another voicemail.

     I dialed the number and punched in my code; only to be barraged by my parents telling me that I was expected to attend the dinner party that evening.  Each message gave a bit more information in regards to the party and what was expected of me.  I hung up the phone and realized I was in a t-shirt and my underwear; I used the light from my cell phone to look around.  I lean over and try to see the face of the person in bed next to me.

    “What the hell Jesse,” Charlie grumbled as he rolled over rubbing his eyes.  I slowly release my breath and flip my phone closed.  The attempt on my part to sit up was met with severe throbbing so I dropped back down.

     “What happened yesterday?” I asked, even though I wasn’t really sure that I wanted to find out.

     “Before or after you did a strip tease act for the gang?” he asked as he flipped open his phone to look at the time.

     “S**t.”

     “Just kidding, what kind of friend would I be if I let that happen? Apparently several different people spiked the punch with both alcohol and drugs.  You passed out cold before we could even get you to the car. So instead of trying to sneak you into your house I just brought you here instead.”

     “If I passed out cold how did you get me up here and how did I get out of my clothes and into the t-shirt?”

     “I carried you up the stairs and per your instructions I undressed you and put you in one of my t-shirts.”

     “My instructions,” I asked still fighting with the fuzzy details in my mind that were swimming in this new thought.

     “Don’t you remember it was after Aaron’s birthday party? You woke up sore and whining about how your bra had cut into your side and you made me promise that if you passed out before me I was to make sure that you weren’t still wearing your bra.”

     “Oh yeah, I’d forgotten about that.  And I wasn’t whining, I complained; a little.”

     “Please, you whined like a five year old.  I don’t know what you are worried about it’s not as if you have anything that I haven’t seen, touched or experienced before,” he said with a laugh.

     “I know. I just don’t like not knowing what is going on.”

      Before he could respond, my phone rang. S**t it was my mother again.

     “Hello.”

     “Jesse Marie where are you at? We have been calling for the past three hours.  Of all the days that you could do this to us; you know that we were expecting you home.”

     “I’m at Charlie’s, we were out late and instead of disturbing you I just crashed here.”

     “That boy is a bad influence on you,” she said.

     “Actually if you want to be honest here, it’s the other way around. I corrupted him first,” I said.  Of course Charlie took this as the perfect time to reach over and grab my b**b.  I slapped his hand away.

     “Jesse that isn’t funny at all.”
     “It wasn’t meant to be.”

     “When are you coming home? We have that party at your father’s partner’s home tonight.”

      “I don’t remember hearing about this.” Except of course the bazillion messages left on my phone today, I said to myself.

      “We have told you three times this week.”

     “Ok fine, whatever. If you really want me to go,” I say in my usual mocking tone.

     “Jesse you had better not do anything to try and embarrass us, your dad has a huge business deal riding on this party.”

      “Whatever, I’ll be home in a few hours.”

     I hung up the phone and then scooted closer to Charlie resting my head on his chest.  I could feel that choked up emotion trying to force its way out, I grabbed a chunk of the sheets and focused on squeezing it tightly.  I held tight until the emotional threat of tears went away.  I have not cried in years and was not about to start now.  Charlie held me tight and gently kissed my forehead.

     It was times like this that I knew why he was my best friend.  There was nothing that I could say or do that would shock him or make him stop being my friend.  As the moment of emotional weakness passed I finally relaxed and let go of the sheet.  I laid there perfectly still making a mental note to never trust the punch bowl again as my phone began to ring again.  I moaned and rolled over to grab it; it was my friend Kim but I chose to ignore it letting it go to voice mail.  I sat up and then put my pounding head in my hands.

     “Head hurt?”

     “Gee how did you guess that one?”

     “I’ll go get you something.
      “Thanks.”

     He returned a few minutes later with a tray of pastries, a couple bottles of water and the blessed aspirin.  It was an hour later that I finally found myself walking up the steps of my parents’ house.  As soon as I turned the knob my mother rushed upon me; going on and on about the importance of the party tonight.  I kept on moving towards the main stairway as my mom continued to rattle on as she followed me up the stairs.  Once I shut the door to my room I flopped on my bed and covered my head with the pillows.

     Four hours later I woke up again, feeling a little better than before.  Hating my life I fall into a familiar pattern as I dig out clothes that fall into that category of just barely acceptable.  I choose a pair of black jeans and a red frilly button up blouse; add a pair of red heeled pumps and the outfit is complete.  I applied some basic makeup and then curled my hair; voila instant debutant.  I made a face at my image in the mirror before grabbing my purse and joining my impatient parents in the drawing room.

     On the drive to the party I get the usual ritual instructions of all the do’s and don’ts for behavior at the party.  A list of previous behaviors that I had demonstrated that would be an embarrassment and detrimental to the business deal my father was working on.  I just had to smile; I really was surprised that she had kept that good of a mental record. I was sure that several incidents she had pushed under the carpet or into the back of a closet to forget about.  But she apparently had been saving it up for just an occasion as this one.  And then magically as if a switch had been flipped the minute we pull into the drive, silence reigns.

     As we were greeted at the door I made all the appropriate greetings and niceties before going in search of something to drink.  It wasn’t long before the other kids that I recognize started to arrive; as with any good society we had our perfect chaste system in place.   There were three distinct groups in our system.  The first group I lovingly refer to as the parent pods, this consists of the kids like Patricia Crawford and her little groupies.  They dressed up and mingled with the adults as if they really belonged.

     The second group, well they were commonly referred to as the perfect kids.  They sat in an appropriate area, talking quietly amongst themselves, ready to respond correctly and appropriately when an adult should choose to talk to them or ask them questions. Such as how they are doing on the scholarship they are bound to get for being so perfect. And then there were the rest of us, the rejects or degenerates.  It was pretty much a large portion of the same kids from the party at Thomas’s beach house last night.  If I had to place a wager I would bet that I was not the only one suffering from the effects of the tainted punch.

      When Daniel arrived I was the first to hold out my glass of soda to have him splash a little whiskey into it from his beloved flask.  An hour later we were looking for the hidden bar to refill; which we of course found in the home office.  It was very ironic how it was always the same at every house, the décor may be a bit different but the concept was always the same.  We chose to lounge around there until the door flew open and my father’s partner entered.  We all suddenly sat up straight, trying to imply we were all saints.  It was a laughable thought. 

     “Is Timmy in here?” he asked his voice somewhat stressed.

     “Not that we’ve seen. Is he missing?” Kim asked as I shook my head at the stupidity of that question.

     “Yes, he unfortunately is prone to hiding.  Can you all help us find him? If half of you would take the outside area, especially around the bushes.  If the rest of you could then take the upstairs?”

     “Sure no problem sir,” Daniel offered.

 

     The rest of us mumbled ok in suit and stood up to head out.  I volunteer for the group that would search upstairs, since I had no intention of stumbling in the yard in heels.  Plus the cardinal rule is to never miss out on an invitation to snoop through someone’s house. I always liked to see how the other half lived.  My father’s partner had a lot of very old looking furniture in the spare rooms.

     We had only made it through two rooms when someone called from downstairs saying that he had been found.  We slipped into the next room pretending that we hadn’t heard, these last few bedrooms seemed simple and unused.  The others gave up and headed back downstairs.  I went to the final door only to find that it was a closet; I could feel a breeze coming through the cracks somewhere.  I looked around and then went back into the last bedroom.

     There was a hidden doorway in the closet of the room that was closest to me.  I slipped inside the closet and went up the stairs; it was an attic storage space.  There were lots of boxes and furniture covered with sheets.  I peeked around through the open boxes and at some of the furniture.  I sat down on one of the chairs and finished the drink I had with me.  I looked around the room and noticed a tall item covered with a sheet; if I was correct it was a mirror.

     I went over to it and pulled off the sheet; the mirror was one of those very old fashioned ones.  It was almost as tall as me and about three feet wide in the center, oval with an intricately designed frame.  I ran my fingers over the design wondering if it was hand carved or not; if it was really old then it would have to be hand carved.  I looked at my image in the mirror and noticed a black spot on my cheek.  I attempted to wipe it off but it didn’t go away.  I licked my finger and attempted to wash off the spot but it seemed to get worse.

     I wiped the dust off the mirror but it didn’t help. When I heard footsteps in the stairway; quickly I reached down to retrieve the sheet I had removed.  I was untangling myself from the sheet as the door opened and hit me in the a*s.  I flew forward and my hands made contact with glass as we both fell forward.  I closed my eyes bracing for the fall and the inevitable shattering of glass.  I hit down hard on my knees.

    There had been no crash, no shattering of glass; slowly I opened my eyes.  Gasped at the sight before me, I blinked several times trying to focus on what I was seeing. I was in a grassy clearing surrounded by woods; the clearing was about the size of a football field.  I tried to remember what exactly had happened.  I remembered falling, my hands made contact with the glass and then went right through it.  I quickly looked at my hands; there were no cuts or scratches, just a bit of dirt and grass. 

     I wiped my hands off on my pants and then felt for any bumps or cuts on my head; still nothing.  I stood up holding my hands out as it took me a minute to regain my balance.  I looked around me again still hoping for some sort of explanation.  I started to walk forward, knowing I had to be dreaming; even if I didn’t have a bump on my head in my dream, I had to be unconscious in the attic.  Or maybe enough time had passed that I was already in a hospital and this was all the result of the drugs they were giving me.

      I decided that I might as well enjoy it until I woke up; then I could yell at them about the drugs they used on me.  It was very lush and green with a scent that I couldn’t quite place.  Then I saw a group of white rabbits and had to laugh since it made me think of Alice in Wonderland.  As I got closer they stopped, they didn’t run away as I feared they might; instead they turned to look up at me.

     They hopped a bit closer; the lead rabbit turned to the others as if they were communicating which seemed very odd.  I started to reach forward to pet them when suddenly they growled and showed their teeth.  I quickly stood up and turned to run; one of them lunged at me and sunk its teeth into my leg.  I screamed as I hit it off; I continued to run for the woods nearby.  Once I was into the woods a little ways I tripped over a root and fell forward; quickly rolling onto my back prepared to fend off the attack.

    Except I was alone; there were no rabbits or anything else around me.  I slowly stood up and looked around at all the trees.  The field I had just been in was nowhere in sight.  I couldn’t blame the rabbits for not following me here; the woods were dark and gloomy.  This was the perfect setting for every horror film I had ever seen.  Which just confirmed that this is some sort of delirious dream; first the whacked out rabbits, and then the horror of the woods.  I was a bit worried about what was next I thought as I waited for a masked man to jump out from behind a tree with a chainsaw or something.

      Walking forward I finally found a small clearing where the light from the moon was filtering through.   I sat on a stump and pulled up my pants leg the best I could; the bite looked really bad.  Even though I was petrified of the rabbits I decided that it would be best to return to the field I started in.  When I stood up I started to look for my foot prints and once I found them I began to follow them.  I walked for some time and became very confused because I didn’t remember traveling that far. 

      I looked back at the direction I had just come from and realized that my footprints headed towards me.  Only towards me, there weren’t any that headed away from me.  I had just been following footprints and those should have been facing away from me now; but no, the only footprints were those that led towards me.  I looked around and started to see my footprints heading towards me from every direction; which of course was not possible on so many levels. I looked up and could not see a break in the woods in any direction.  I was completely lost; and there was no way for me to find my way out. 

      I just kept hoping that I would hurry up and wake up from this crazy dream, but it didn’t happen. Knowing that there was no way out of this dream and it would seem that there was no way out of these woods.  I sat down on a fallen log and watched as the woods seemed to get darker and darker around me; I thought of the old statement of how it was always darkest before the dawn.  Hopefully that was true; because then dawn was coming.

     I felt so alone so completely desolate, wishing for some sort of help or sign as to where I should be going.  I didn’t know if there was a purpose in this dream or a location I was suppose to head to in order to wake up.  But there didn’t seem like anyway for me to get out of these woods.  I needed some sort of guidance to get me going in the right direction.  My leg was still hurting but there was no sense in trying to look at it; I couldn’t see clearly in the dark and I couldn’t do anything about it anyway.

     I knew that I couldn’t just sit there, it was getting chilly out and at least if I was moving I wouldn’t freeze to death.  Maybe that was the secret, my body was fighting to live and as long as I could fight it in my dream then I have a chance of waking up. Tears streaked my cheeks and I cursed my luck; I could only hope that my body wasn’t crying.  I heard a noise from somewhere around me.  At first I thought it was behind me, and then it was in front of me, then to my side.  I looked around but couldn’t see anything.

     It sounded like leaves being stepped on, that sort of crunching sound.  As I was about to work myself into a real panic a beautiful unicorn stepped out into the clearing in front of me.  Slowly it walked towards me; I was too amazed to stop watching and too scared to move.  It stopped just a few feet in front of me; it lowered its head so that the horn was just inches away from me.  I closed my eyes, bracing myself in case this was the end.  Wishing to be out of these woods, to wake up and know where I was really at.  The unicorn made a grunting sound and I had to open my eyes to see what it was up to.

     The unicorn was now beside me; I looked at him and seemed to sense that he was expecting me to ride him.  I climbed up on a tree stump and then climbed aboard; after all it was a dream, might as well make the most of it.  It seemed that he knew exactly where to go and within seconds we were out of the woods.  I looked back wondering how that could have happened; I had seen no break in the trees and yet here I was.

     “What the hell are you doing on my mule?” the old man yelled waving a stick type cane in the air.

     “You’re what?” I asked confused.

     “You heard me, give me my mule back. You can’t just go around stealing peoples mules.  Bring your own with you if you want to ride. You have no right stealing mine.”

     “I didn’t steal him, he came to me and helped me out of the woods,” I said as I slid off the unicorn.

     “Come on Seymour,” the old man called and the unicorn trotted faithfully towards him.  The old man looked back up at me, “Seymour doesn’t ever voluntarily leave me, we are friends.  You had to have stolen him.”

     I was amazed and confused and didn’t know if I wanted to laugh or cry; and right now neither seemed appropriate.  It was cold and yet I seemed to be sweating; which made me worried that the bite on my leg was getting worse.  I tried to look at it from the dim light of the stars and moon; I couldn’t see clearly but one touch of the area proved that it was warm to the touch and swollen.  I left my pants leg pulled up since it relieved the pressure on my leg a bit.

     I sat up against one of the trees and tried to think of anything to keep my mind focused.  It wasn’t easy since everything around me seemed to keep moving.  I was fighting a losing battle it seemed as I kept drifting in and out of a black abyss.  I thought I saw a man standing in front of me and wondered if I was starting to wake up; seeing what my real body was seeing.  I don’t really remember what all I was seeing as I filtered in and out until suddenly there was only black.

 

 

Author's Note

I only ask that you are honest. I want it all, the good, the bad and the grammar corrections.