Rated T for language and violence
Sunken eyes. Hollow cheeks. One word on her bloody lips- Sophie. Sophie Emily Rickman is going insane, and it seems like everyone wants a piece of that insanity. The departed plague her vision, teasing her, demanding justice. They've taken her future, leaving her with nothing but the will to survive. But even that's dwindling. What's a girl to do? The only thing she can. Run.
Time to give some credit where it's due. This story, was not done on my lonesome. DarylDixon'sLover is the second writer of this tale, and you can check out their other stuff at u/4689973/. So do that. Yeah. ENJOY!
Sophie Emily Rickman was partying at her friend's, Lisa Smith's house. They were celebrating the end of their senior year. In the fall, they would all be going to college, and the excited buzz hung in the air like fog.
She was thrilled, seeing that she wouldn't have to deal with her bitter mother anymore. Ever since her brother disappeared, she seemed to blame her for it. As if shealone had driven Quinn off, or worse.
"Sophie," A voice laughed.
She turned around to see the smiling face of her best friend Natalie, she and Natalie had been close since kindergarten. They were like sisters.
Sophie would miss Natalie; she was going to Yale to study medicine while Sophie was going to study Childcare at Southern University at New Orleans.
"Hey Nat," She said smiling.
"Hey girl," Natalie lazily flipped a curl over her shoulder, already intoxicated by the party's atmosphere.
"Natalie, have you been drinking?" Sophie accused.
"Chill, I'm eighteen," Natalie rolled her eyes.
"Natalie," Sophie explained slowly, "You know the drinking age is twenty one. Right?"
"Psh, whatever," Nat waved her arm, "It's not like anything's happening."
Sophie glanced around, noticing that admittedly, nothing was happening. Lisa Smith's poor attempt to decorate her parent's basement resulted in a total lack of the usual buzz that followed a successful party. In one corner a pile of faded futons resided, the only other point of interest being the makeshift bar Nat had been frequenting, "True…" Sophie sighed.
"Don't worry though," a lazy smile fell on Natalie's lips, "I fixed it."
"What do you mean you fixed it?" she threw her friend a pointed look, "What did you do?"
"Oh, I just invited a few friends," she teased, "Like Jason."
Jason, the starting quarterback on the North View Lions, was a sore subject for Sophie. She couldn't even hear his name without embarrassing fantasies coloring her cheeks. She could already image that shaggy brunette hair falling into his eyes, as he intertwined his fingers into her dirty blonde…
Sophie shook her head, "Natalie, you can't just- who else do you invite?"
"Chill out," she shook her auburn curls, "Just the football team."
Dating the team's MVP gave Natalie a unique control over North View's social flow.
"You can't do that!" Sophie threw her hands in the air, "Call Trevor and tell him to-"
Before she could finish, a two hundred and fifty mass of muscle pushed in between the two, immediately entangling himself with her best friend. She sighed in disgust, "Trevor!" she snapped, "I was talking to-" her attention was immediately jerked away as a gorgeous brunette trailed inside, following the general stream of jocks.
"YO!" a guy in a bandana, the wide receiver she thought, called, "LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!
"Oh boy, this is not gonna end well," Sophie grimaced as she helped herself to another glass of cherry coke and watched as everyone began to mingle.
Sophie was not exactly what you'd consider a 'party girl'.
"Hey Sophie," A familiar voice called. She turned around, nearly colliding with a wall of perfectly sculpted chest. Jason smiled down at her, hair falling into his eyes just the way she liked it. His grey t-shirt and black jeans clung to his body, defining every muscle.
She bit the inside of her cheek, feeling a hot blush already spreading over her face.
"Hey Jason, how's it going?" She tried to keep calm and not make a fool of herself. Again.
Jason smirked, taking in her scarlet cheeks and flustered look. He was completely used to having that effect on girls. She was sort of cute, he thought, in a girl next door sort of way.
"I hear you're going to New Orleans?" she tried again, determined to have an intelligent conversation with him, "So am I."
He nodded, a worded response apparently beneath him. God, why was he so perfect?
"What are you doing in-"
"You wanna get a drink?" he suddenly interrupted, glancing lazily towards the bar. Sophie's opened her mouth, but then closed it. While she didn't want to drink under age, or look like a drunken idiot, she most definitely didn't want to look too straight-edge in front of Jason.
"Sure," she smiled confidently.
He looked down at her, almost impressed. It was as if she had passed some sort of test, "Allow me," he swept in front of her, grabbing two plastic cups.
Her parents had always warned her not to accept drinks from strangers, in case they put a roofie in or something. But Jason wasn't as stranger, and he was too gorgeous to be evil.
She accepted it, taking a deep swig. She immediately choked, holding her mouth as to not spew alcohol everywhere. The bitter drink burned at her throat as she reluctantly swallowed.
"Slow down there tiger," Jason chuckled, steadying her with an arm.
He touched me, she thought, he called me a pet name. Holy crap this stuff is magic.
She slowly straightened, pushing stray hairs into place. As soon as she was back on eye level, someone caught her eye over his shoulder. She'd never seen the girl before, so she moved to wave, before stopping abruptly.
The girl looked pretty messed up, like she had been in a fight. Her skin was sickly pale, and her cheeks were hollow. Dark circles smudged under her eyes. Mousy brown hair hung matted far below her shoulders. Sophie's eyes traveled down and she gasped.
A scream beat against her throat, carrying over all the drunken conversations and pop music. The girl's chest hung completely open, dripping… liquid… all over the floor. Her hands were cupped over the gash, as if trying to keep her organs from falling out. Something that looked suspiciously like a stomach sat against her bony fingers.
Sophie covered her mouth, afraid she'd throw up if she didn't, "Jason," she whispered, "What the hell did you put in my drink?" she spoke through gritted teeth. She couldn't take her eyes off of the girl, no matter how much she wanted to.
Dozens of accusing eyes fell on Justin. While he wasn't exactly a bad boy, they wouldn't put it past him to do something like that.
"Bitch is crazy!" his eyes darted through the crowd, "Just because she can't handle her booze, she thinks I slipped her a roofie or something!" he tried to defend himself.
Sophie felt dizzy, her heart was hammering inside her chest and then she heard it...Oh god, she heard that girl in her head.
"Sophie," The girl whispered on bloodied lips.
Sophie felt another wave of nausea consume her, wracking her body with pain.
She shakily grabbed her bag and hurried out of the basement and upstairs. Natalie followed close behind, eyes full of concern for her friend.
"Soph, are you alright?" She asked worriedly, trying to keep up as they rushed up the staircase.
Sophie still saw the mutilated girl behind her. Watching her.
"I'm gonna go home, Nat, I don't feel great," She choked weakly, wincing at the pain of just speaking,
Natalie looked worried but nodded.
"Alright, but call me."
Sophie hastily nodded in compliance, and wrapping her coat tighter around her, she pushed into the night.