Warning: Contains heavy themes of drugs and sex. MDMA is a party drug that comes in the form of pills or powder. Most users will experience a sense of euphoria, they will become loving and talk to strangers. Lighting and music can become intense. However, they will also be susceptible to over-heating (hyperthermia), anxiety, panic, seizures and possible heart palpitations or a heart attack. Long-term users will usually develop depression and long-term damage to receptors in the brain. There will also be mentions of other drugs, but since MDMA is the main topic in the story, there will be no brief descriptions for them.

Just for ref;
Alin = Romania
Tsvetan = Bulgaria
Dejan = Serbia
Natalya = Belarus
Ethem = Albania
Aslan = Turkey
Tatjana = Macedonia
Ivan = Russia

It was chilling, really. One moment you think your life is perfect, and then the next, everything seems to fall apart, one event after another. In that split second, the euphoria that you want to hold onto slips away into darkness, and you find yourself hopeless. I really wanted to believe that the days of happiness would be eternal, but sadly, things aren't always as they seem.

My name is Alin Radacanu, I'm a nineteen year old studying at University. I study Art, because I'm a creative person, and I hope that one day I can become an artist. The course that I am on is a lot of fun. I get on with my course friends and I turn up to most sessions. Admittedly, sometimes I do my work when I'm in a state of dismay, or sometimes, when I'm experiencing the effects of hallucinogens.

Well, what can I say? I'm a student, and I'm sure that the majority of you know that we like to dabble in illegal substances every now and then.

Regardless, it's irrelevant right now… Kind of. Today is Friday 6th March, I've just finished my classes and I was planning on going home and grabbing some food. The time was currently 4:26 PM.

As I walk through the hustle and bustle of the campus, I notice that a lot of students are quite happy, many of them were chatting away, talking about their plans for the weekend. Some were talking about nightclubs, such as Wire or Electro Club. Others were taking about raves, such as Fosterworks or Mandee's. My plans for tonight were very similar, a bunch of my housemates were planning on going to Mandee's for a night out, so I told them that I would join them. Letting out a groan, I pull my art folder up slightly, the weight of it clearly putting me off balance.

Exiting the campus, I wait at the traffic lights so that I can cross the road, looking down as music blasts through my earphones. I don't like walking alone without music playing in my ears, it makes me quite anxious. I suppose you could say it was a comfort thing, but not at all uncommon, as a few of my friends have also explained that they do the same whenever they walk to and from University.

Letting out a sigh, I notice the green man in front of me, signalling me to cross. As I make my way across the street, someone bumps into my shoulder, almost pushing me to the ground. I'm a vocal person, so something like that isn't just going to pass.

"Watch where you're going, asshole." My voice comes out a lot more aggressive than I expected it to be, and it takes me by surprise, but the passer by simply ignores me. Ignorant bastard. Shaking my head, I collect my bearings and continue on my way. The journey back home was rather uneventful, after all, there isn't much to say about the city. I preferred it at night, anyway, some say that I'm rather nocturnal with a view like that.

Finally, I get to my street after about twenty minutes of walking. The feeling of getting home is always a nice feeling for me, it means that I can relax and have some time alone, without having to worry about work so much. I unlock the front door with my keys, opening it quite wide, before looking up. One of my housemates was already in the hallway, and he acknowledges me straight away.

"Yo Alin! Have you just got back from Uni?" His voice is quite hoarse and deep, he was a year above me and a lot taller than me. His name is Dejan, from what I know about him, he's of Serbian descent and studies Sports Biology. Flashing a small grin, I fumble a bit, not really expecting him to be right in the hallway as soon as I entered.

"Ah… Dejan. Yeah, I have, what about you? Did you attend today, or have you skipped classes?" My grin gets a bit wider, a small spout of laughter threatening to spill. Dejan always missed University, it was a surprise that he was still here. He's actually repeating second year, hence why I mentioned that he's a year older than me.

"… Ehhh, who needs Uni when you can have a good time? Hahaha!" His laughter is quite hearty, but it was borderline obnoxious. Dejan and I have a close friendship, despite how different we are to each other. I always try to tease him and make fun of him at times, but it goes both ways.

Rolling my eyes, my response is rather trivial, "Yeah, alright." I pause for a second, before continuing, "Are you still coming out tonight?"

"Huh? Of course I am, dummy! I wouldn't miss it for the world. A chance to get wired off my face is the opportunity of a life time!" Dejan really liked to over exaggerate his words, if I'm honest. He's acting like we've never taken a pill before.

"Oh, please. You won't be saying that when you're chundering in the toilet like on Tuesday." Ah, yes, Tuesday. Basically, Dejan and I had a couple of friends over for a gathering, and we'd all bought a gram of MDMA each. Dejan, however, made the mistake of getting wasted on beer before we'd started sniffing lines and he ended up puking in the toilet for about half an hour. Poor guy had to go to bed, but then he woke up after twenty minutes and came back in because he couldn't sleep. No surprises, of course, he'd done a lot of MDMA that night. The drug doesn't allow you to sleep until the effects wear off.

The Serbian exhales loudly through his nose, and crosses his arms, "Shut up! It wasn't my fault. I didn't know we had that much alcohol in the fridge."

What a typical student. Blaming his mistakes on other things or people. Ah well, it was a good night and I knew that tonight was going to be wild. We had invited quite a lot of our friends out with us. Our third housemate, Tsvetan was going to be coming out, which was a huge surprise for me, because he's always busy with work. He's Bulgarian, too, so he's quite dedicated to success. He studies Mathematics and I don't see him a whole lot nowadays, mostly because his course requires a lot of dedication. I'm happy that he's coming with us tonight, because I usually have a good time when he does come and party with us.

"Do you know where Tsve is?" I ask the Serbian, my tone of voice coming off as rather nonchalant. The Serb scratches his head and shrugs his shoulders dismissively.

"I think he's in his room, but I don't know. Go check, I have to go to the ATM anyway, that's why I bumped into you, I was on my way out." His tone of voice changes at the mention of the Bulgarian. It's probably because the two hadn't really gotten along that well this year. They were always fighting over one thing or another, and at times, they'd even fought over me. I found it pretty strange, if I'm honest, but whatever.

I wave the Serb off as he leaves the house, before making my way up the stairs. The Bulgarian lived in the room next to mine, while Dejan lived downstairs. If I didn't mention it before, the house is quite small, after all, there's only three of us living here. I remember when my little brother came to visit earlier in the year, he was completely gob smacked by how small and crappy the place is. Bless his little heart, the angsty fourteen year old still has another few years before he can face the real world.

With a sigh, I drop my folder into my room, along with my backpack, before moving towards Tsvetan's door. I knock my knuckles on the door lightly, not wanting to disturb him if he was napping or something like that. After a few moments of silence, there's movement, and as soon as I know it, the dark haired loner opens the door and is face to face with me.

"Huh? Oh, Alin. What do you want?" He doesn't sound too friendly, so I assume he's been working on an extended project today. With a small grin, I tilt my head innocently.

"What do you mean? I don't want anything! I just want to see my favourite house mate, that's all." The other furrows his brows, and he can sense the playfulness in my voice. At this point, I wasn't sure if he was in the mood to be teased, since he was quite hard to read at times. It says a lot about him, since I'm usually an expert at reading atmospheres.

"Hm, whatever, I can tell you have an ulterior motive. Is it about tonight? Because I am definitely coming, I just have a bit of work to finish off…" He sounds somewhat fed up, which concerns me slightly. I know that his course has had a toll on him recently, and I have been a tiny bit worried about him. For example, if he doesn't leave his room at all during the day, I usually go out of my way to make food for him so that he stays healthy. After all, we've been best friends since first year, so I usually feel like it's my duty to look after him, and vice versa.

"Maaaaybe… Well, actually, I just came to ask you if you're getting on it tonight. I need numbers, you know?" The main reason I needed numbers is because I'm usually the one that provides the pills for everyone. I have this Russian friend, Ivan, and he supplies drugs and sells them on, but since we're close, he usually gives me a huge batch of pills for half price. He's a good guy, a bit scary at times, but I guess it's because he's a coke addict and can get scary when he doesn't get the stuff in for a while.

"… I guess. I haven't touched anything in quite a few weeks, but this stuff is stressing me out, so a night to forget about my class would be nice." His eyes light up a bit at the mention of forgetting his issues, and I can't help but grimace internally. You know, sometimes I wish we didn't need drugs to forget our problems, but then again, we're students, so it's inevitable. Not saying that all students do drugs, I'm not generalizing here, but when you're living in a place like this, it's hard not to experiment at least once or twice. Hell, the last time me and Tsve got messy together, we ended up in bed together. However, I'm not going to get into that… We were pretty much alone since Dejan was visiting his family down south for the weekend. It's kind of inevitable when you're feeling really horny and the only person with you is your kind-of-hot best friend. Besides, he made the first move.

"Alright! I'll let Mother Russia know then. Hahaha." I let out a chuckle, referring to Ivan. We always call him that behind his back, mostly for shits and giggles.

"Okay… Um. Well, I need to get back to this work. I'll see you at about nine, I'll probably be ready by then." Talking about the time, I decide to check my phone. It's just gone 5:30 PM, so I guess that should be my cue to take a short nap before I get ready for the night. The Bulgarian starts to shut the door, and I bid him a small goodbye, before shuffling back to my room.

The state of my room was in slight dismay, but it didn't bother me too much. Emptying my pockets, I throw my cigarettes onto the end table and take my scarf off. I slip my shoes off, and grab my phone, setting an alarm for 7:30PM, before face planting onto the soft den that is my bed. As I drift off, I can't help but think about Tsvetan. Do you think he'll wanna sleep with me again tonight? Hm…

Bzzzz… Bzzzz... Bzzzzzzzzzzzz…

I let out a groan.

Bzzzzzzzzzzz… Bzzzzzzzzzzz!

Oh, fuck. My alarm. Opening my eyes, I reach over to my phone and slide it, to make the alarm stop, before lifting myself up quickly. My eyes feel heavy, but I know that I need to get up, because I need to get ready for tonight. I swing my feet off the edge of the bed, touching the floor, before stretching. My phone reads 7:30PM. Alright, I did set my alarm correctly, and now I can shower and prepare myself.

Before doing anything, however, I decide to give Ivan a call and let him know when I want the pills and how many I want. He gives me a heads up, and tells me he'll be 'round for about 10PM. It seems like a reasonable time for me, after all, the last thing I'd want is for everyone to get here, grab the pills and get wired before even leaving the house.

After about an hour of showering, sorting my hair out and putting decent clothes on, I'm finally ready. It's almost 9PM, so I make my way down to the kitchen, finding Dejan sitting down at the table with a can in his hand. I let onto him and smile brightly.

"You ready for tonight, big boy?" I call him big boy because he's significantly taller than me. Besides, he calls me short all the time, so I have to find a way to get back at him for that. It's not nice to be called short all the time, you know?

"Hell yeah I'm ready! Tatjana just texted me and told me that she'll be round with Ethem and Natalya soon." Tatjana, Ethem and Natalya are our female friends, as such. They all live together and usually come out with us. Dejan, the hopeless romantic that he is, always tries to flirt with them, but usually gets nowhere. It usually ends with Ethem hitting him over the head with something.

"Ah, great! I can't wait to see Ethem, she's usually fun on a night out. I'm a bit surprised that Natalya is coming out with us, though. Doesn't she usually keep away from drugs?" Usually when Natalya comes out, she just sticks to the drink. I feel bad for her sometimes, I mean, it must suck going to a rave while you're just drinking. I don't know, though… I've never been to a rave while on just alcohol.

"Well, apparently last weekend she bought a gram of coke and had the time of her life, so she said she's gonna try MDMA. Good for her, really, she's got experts such as us to guide us." The way Dejan said that makes my skin crawl a bit. Experts? Well, I mean, we've all had bad experiences before and know what to do if someone is having a shitty time, but it's not like we're out there producing the stuff. Like shit, is Dejan okay? I roll my eyes.

"Hardly experts, Dejan. Remember, we're just students having irresponsible fun. I don't know about you, but I won't be doing this shit once I've graduated." Well… that was questionable. Maybe every now and then, but surely I won't be as indulged in the culture as I am now.

"Irresponsible fun is correct, but what else are we living for?" A new voice comes from the doorway, and I look over, noticing Tsvetan. He's early, and it seems he has a friend with him.

"Shit, Tsve. You never told us you were inviting Aslan out tonight." Dejan is the first to speak, taking the words right out of my mouth. Aslan is our friend from the year above. He's of Turkish descent, and we don't see much of him, usually. I'm just as surprised as the Serb, to be honest.

"Hahaha! What, is an old man not allowed to have fun?" Aslan's voice is relatively deeper than most of ours, he's actually in his mid-twenties and he's built like a brick house. Rumours are going around that he's dating our other friend, Ethem, and they have been hanging around each other a lot recently. Either way, it's none of my business.

"Oh, hey Aslan. It's just surprising because you're usually at the gym or something. Didn't think you'd wanna associate with a night like this." Literally, I thought Aslan treated his body like a temple. I've seen him without a shirt on before, there's no way he wastes his time with raves. Though, the thought has come into my head that maybe he's taking steroids, but I try to dismiss it. I'd never ask him that in person, he'd probably beat me up.

Aslan lets out a hearty laugh, and all four of us move to the table. The next fifteen minutes go by pretty uneventful, we all drink our drinks and catch up as much as we can. Tsvetan's behaviour is relatively normal and sociable, which I'm glad about. I wouldn't want him to feel shitty, after all, he's had a pretty tough week, as I mentioned before.

Soon enough, the girls turn up, with a few more people than I expected. I didn't recognise any of them, but whatever. They'd probably introduce themselves later on, or maybe not, I wasn't really too bothered. The kitchen is now full to capacity, with ten of us all crammed around the table. Someone taps my shoulder, and I look up to meet Tatjana's gaze. Tatjana is a beautiful young girl, I know from past experience that she has history with Dejan and Tsvetan, but that hasn't really changed her views on them too much. Sometimes it can get awkward, but I usually try to lighten the atmosphere, or Ethem does something stupid on purpose to make everyone laugh.

"Hm, what is it, Tatjana?"

"… Uh, well, what time are you getting the drugs? It's almost ten. Your dealer bailed, or what?" Straight to the point, of course, why else would she want my attention? She asks me this exact question every Friday. Nevertheless, I raise a hand dismissively and answer her question.

"Nah, Ivan hasn't bailed, he's got other people to see, you know? He sent me a text a few minutes ago saying he's on his way." She looks a bit relieved at that, but she's already looking around the room, probably mentally noting that there are a lot of people, "Don't worry about it, he said he's got about twenty to thirty pills for us, so that should be more than enough for a messy night for ten people."

Her expression changes and she seems a lot more settled now. Well, that's good, at least. Looking back at the table, I notice that Dejan's got a deck of cards out. He's probably going to set up a drinking game to get us hammered, but I probably won't participate. The last thing I want to do is get absolutely smashed and ruin the effect of the pills.

Either way, it's a relatively normal Friday night for everyone, and I feel like things are going to fall into place as they usually do. However, as I look around the faces at the table, I notice a set of green eyes staring directly at me.

I blink, thinking that maybe this person was just dismissively looking my way, but I notice that their eyes are still on me. Straying away from their eyes, I notice other features about this mysterious (probably drunk) person across the table from me. For one, he had a scar on his forehead, so it kind of reminded me of Harry Potter or something. His hair is pushed up and very spikey, also blonde, and his eyebrows are sloped inwards. I wonder if he's angry at me, and maybe that's why he's looking at me, but before I can say anything, he quickly looks away.

Then, as if on cue, my phone starts vibrating. Letting out a sigh, I look down and notice Ivan's number come up. Alright, so he's probably outside now. I pick up the phone.

"Hey Ivan, you outside?"

"Da, I am, I have some goodies in store for your crew tonight!" His voice sounds very enthusiastic and I just know that he's probably got a new batch in. Regardless, I hang up the phone and go to the door, finding the taller Russian already standing there. I give a smile, and he smiles back rather eagerly. Clearly he needed this money.

Reaching into my pocket, I pull out my wallet before displaying a few notes to give to the Russian. He continues to smile and gladly takes it, before giving me a small package. I look down at it, noting about 20 – 30 round pills inside the transparent packaging. Good.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Alin. Let me know how the night pans out. This stuff is really strong, so be careful! Have fun."

And with those last words, he was gone. Well, not entirely, he'd just walked away, obviously too busy to stay for a chat. I spent about £80 on these things, so I'm hoping they're good. Regardless, I move back into the kitchen, my eyes still on the pills.

They were very colourful, to say the least.

Finally, I get to the doorway and look up, no one has really noticed me come back, except that blonde guy that was staring at me before. As we make eye contact, I notice the slight hint of a mischievous smile on his lips. Interesting. I still didn't know this guy's name, did I? I suppose I'll have to ask the others later. He seems pretty mysterious…

A/N: If you are worried about yourself or a friend because of drug use, then please get help for it. This story is not in any way supposed to highlight or promote the use of drugs. Drugs are bad, kids. Don't do them.