Chapter Two

Leila's eyes shot open taking in her surroundings. She was still in the small grungy hotel room; she is still in Bangkok. She hoped that maybe it was all a dream, maybe the addiction was just a nightmare that she could wake up from. No such luck, the needle still hung in her arm from the night before, empty. With a sigh she removed the needle from her vein and put it on the side table. Slowly she let her legs pick her up off the chair and pull her to the small bathroom door. Once inside she cautiously looked in the mirror for the first time since she arrived.

Her long wavy black hair hung over her shoulders, cascading down her chest. She was wearing a forest green tank top and dark brown pants which were tucked into black combat boots. She wore no makeup as she saw no point to it; you spend so much time putting it on, all just to take it off again. She had light green eyes with a ring of hazel around the pupil. Despite the drug addiction they still had a lot of life in them. Her skin was normally a light caramel colour but today she was more pale than normal. That usually happened after she used the night before.

Slowly she turned the rusted tap and with a squeak, a weak dribble of water trickled out. Cupping her hands together she gathered a small amount of water and splashed it over her face. It was cold and sent a shiver down her spine, waking her up. With another squeak Leila twisted the tap off and turned to find a towel. There were two white(ish) towels crookedly hanging on a hook to her left. They had various stains on them and looked like they probably hadn't been washed properly in ages. Fuck that. Leila exited the puny bathroom, wiping her face on her upper arm. Better head to the water front and get this adventure started. Leila wandered over to the chair to put away her few items and get the hell out of this disgusting excuse for a hotel.

Before leaving the building Leila walked back to the front desk to drop off the room key. Instead of the grumpy woman who was there the night before, there was a friendly looking man sitting at the counter. He smiled at Leila as she approached, and thanked her profusely for actually coming to return the key in person.

"Most of the time we have to go up to the rooms and kick the guests out; they always seem to miss checkout" chuckled the man. Leila laughed and smiled, turning around and exiting the decrepit room. Once outside, the streets weren't lifeless anymore. There were many people bustling around, in cars, on bikes and just walking. Many voices could be heard but no single conversation was audible. Each voice blurred into one creating a loud hum of noise. The sun was out, shining down on the street warming the pavement. The sky was a brilliant blue; Leila couldn't help but close her eyes and lift her face up to the sky. She felt the heat of the sun rays on her face, it felt absolutely amazing. It was if she were in a dream, the only thing that brought her back from the few moments of bliss was the dull ache in her right arm, caused from the previous night.

Opening her eyes Leila looked around for a clue as to where she would go next. Directly in front of her she could see a wooden sign with very large white letters on it reading, "This way to beach." Well that's a start. She began walking down the cracked pavement in the heat of the sun. It didn't take long for her to start feeling over heated. Small beads of sweat began gliding down the side of her face. God damn it's hot. Reaching up to her fore head she brushed the small drops off of her face. The road started sloping downwards as she got closer and closer to the sea. The thought of jumping into the ocean and letting the waves cold arms wrap around her body, cooling her skin, had Leila almost running. The sound of the water crashing over the beach was in ear shot now; the smell of salt invading her nose. Leila ran until sand started filling her boots; the small grains settling between her toes.

She kicked off her boots and pulled off her trousers. It didn't really occur to her that she wasn't the only person on the beach. Fuck it I'm absolutely boiling. She stripped down to her underwear and charged into the ocean; diving face first into the salty water. Immediately she felt the cold rush of relief wash over her, decreasing her temperature. Leila allowed her body to rest on the ocean surface, letting it splash over her face. If it hadn't have been for the fact that she really needed to get on with the tasks she set for herself that day, she would have stayed in the water for hours. Grudgingly she waded back to shore, not realizing how far out she actually went. People along the beach were staring at her like she was insane, and maybe she was, but it didn't really matter now. Alright where is this damn dock. Looking around Leila saw no sign of any dock, just endless beach and sand. As soon as she was about to brush it off she saw a small wooden structure to her far right.

"You call that a dock?" Leila snorted at the pathetic structure. She almost missed it, and she would have if it weren't for the small red boat bobbing at the very end. Well here goes nothing. She began making her way towards the wooden dock. With every step her heart started beating a little bit faster. Why was she so damn excited? She was going to an island where she would more than likely live out the rest of her days; shooting up and entering her own reality. There wasn't anything left for her back home though, so the thought of the mysterious island had her full attention. Leila was close enough now to see a tanned muscular man sitting on the edge of the water craft. He had on a red tank top, green army pants tucked into black combat boots. Aw how cute, we match. Guess I was meant for this island after all. Her boots were now padding across the wooden surface, heading towards the red boat.

"Can I help you pera?" asked the man as Leila came to stand in front of him. He had thick dark hair greased back; a red bandana covered his face only allowing one to see his dark brown eyes. She smiled politely at the man, not wanting him to turn her away. She passed him the note she received the night before hoping it would count as a ticket of some sort. The bandana wearing man snatched the note from her hands and roughly unfolded it, tearing the middle of the page slightly. His dark eyes skimmed over the letters on the page. Once he finished reading he looked up at Leila and then stood up slowly. He looked her up and down once and with a low voice said, "Well...what are you waiting for?"

It took a minute for his words to sink in; she was going to the island. An island which was considered paradise for someone like her, someone whose life was dedicated to feeding the demons who refused to let go. She bounced up onto the boat after the man, excitement radiating off of her. He rolled his eyes at her as she beamed out at the ocean. With a loud noise and low rumble the boat was on and ready to go; soon she would be home. Leila watched the dock, beach, and all the people slowly fade into the distance as the boat drove further away. Silently she said goodbye to her life, to her family, and to everything she was used to. Everything had changed; she was a drug addict who never beat her addiction, she only gave in to it.

After awhile, the driver finally broke the silence, "We're almost there." he stated, pointing a large finger at something in the distance. Leila followed the direction and saw a huge island sitting on top of the crystal blue water. It was a breath taking view, the green of the island contrasting with the blue of the sky and the water. The motor boat raced towards the shore, sending Leila bouncing as the bottom of the boat bumped off the waves. She squinted her eyes and stared at the white sandy beach. There were a few other men dressed almost identical to the man driving. Closer and closer they came to the shore, sending Leila's eyes darting around, taking in the entirety of the island. Finally the underside of the boat met the sandy shore, creating a scraping noise that made Leila's hair stand on end.

Four tanned men came waltzing over to the two new comers, not taking their eyes off of Leila. She smiled and nodded her head at them, but they did not return any welcoming gestures.

"Move." One of them demanded, waving his hand in Leila's direction. Not wanting to cause trouble she obeyed and stood up.

"Hi...I'm-" Leila started but was interrupted by a hard shove in the middle of her back. "Owe! What the fuck?!" she yelled, turning around to see who did it. It was the man with the bandana, in his hand was a large gun, pointed directly at Leila.

"We said move bitch." He said pushing the gun closer to her. Eyes widening in bewilderment, Leila instinctively put her hands up in a surrendering manner.

"Look I don't want any trouble. I just want to get into town or whatever it is you call it here. I was promised a place of sanctuary for those struggling with...addiction." the reaction Leila got wasn't what she was expecting. All of the men silently stared at each other and then burst out laughing, as if something extremely funny was just said. "I'm sorry but I don't quite understand the joke here." She said again completely confused as to what was going on.

One of the men took a step towards her and grinned, rotten teeth exposing themselves, "You are." With that he pulled out a handgun from his back pocket and used the base of the gun to hit Leila across the back of her head. Surprised she stumbled backwards, her vision blurring forcing her to fall to the ground. Faintly she saw the group of men circle around her laughing, and then everything went black.