Cool crisp autumn air blew through the trees swirling the red and burnt orange leaves around the dark figure on the side-walk. She had walked for what seemed like an hour now. Her joints began to ache and her stomach rumbled with the ferocious roar of a creature from the darkest depths of the abyss. With every step she took leaves crunched beneath her army issued combat boots and her legs felt like lead with each step. Crossing her arms she huddled against herself trying to keep what warmth she had left. She had been jonsing all morning and finally got the call she had been waiting for. Pulling out her phone she checked what time it was. The green glow from the cell phone illuminated her soft features. It was 10:27 her friend Silas told her to meet him at his house at exactly 10:30 no later he said which was a weird request.
Finally she was at her destination. His house was dark except for a small light attached to the side of the house which had moths idly dancing around the light as if it were a flame. She smoothed her inky black tresses with her cold hands preparing to make herself more presentable. Quickly she pulled out her little pink compact and adjusted herself in the mirror. Her warm honey brown eyes peered back at her as if from another dimension. Slipping her hand into her purse she pulled out a little tube of lip gloss and applied it to her soft full lips. Her skin was as pale as fresh cream and had the faint aroma of lavender and lilies from the bath gel she had used earlier that morning. Her nose was round and upturned and she ran her fingers through her hair making sure the streak of violet was visibly peeking through.
Again she checked her phone. It was time. Slowly she raised her hand to the door bell and pushed the button. Abruptly the door swung open. Smoke wafted out of the doorway permeating the crisp air outside. The scent of incense, marijuana and the musky smell of something she could not place burned her nose as she eyed her friend.
" Hey Silas I got here right when you told me to. What's the deal with the odd request?" Silas's eyes peered out the door to her left and then to the right glazed over and bloodshot his once clear blue eyes almost looked as if there was a storm coming. " Not out here I'll explain come in". He is acting very strange she thought, but if this shit was as good as he said it was she would not complain and do what he said in order to score.
The warm air felt good against her cold skin. Slowly she began to peel off her coat and laid it next to her on the dusty old green sofa. Silas took a seat across from her pressing a small joint to his lips. Taking a big hit smoke escaping from his lips he handed the joint to her " Here want a hit" her cold fingers clasped the joint bringing it to her full blood red lips. Deeply she inhaled the harsh smoke causing her to choke almost immediately. Violently she began to cough her lungs burning with fire. "Damn October take it easy" He said laughing. "Thanks" she barely was able to muster through her coughing fit. "No worries" He said in a low voice that was barely audible. "So, what's with the secrecy?" She really was curious and now that she was a bit relaxed and her head was swimming from the mellow high she wanted to know. " Well my cousin just got back from a trip not too far from here. He always brings me something back and this time he brought me a great gift. It's totally new I haven't even heard of it before, but it's definitely potent. Apparently it only grows in this small ass town and the locals sell it to tourists and passerby so my cousin loaded up with what he could for now and plans to go back on Sunday." This definitely piqued her curiosity. Thumbing her wallet she counted what cash she had left. Eighty dollars not too bad. "So what does it do? What's it called?". Silas's blue grey eyes brightened up this was the part he was getting at. " Well it's a powerful hallucinogen totally takes you to another place. Completely like dreaming but being awake the whole time. Total euphoria too, but try not to freak out on it because a bad trip on this would totally scare the shit out of you." He began to laugh " Oh I'm fucking with you I'm sure you'll be fine, anyways on the street they call is PTV, but apparently it's made from some plant seeds or something...White Claudia I think is what my cousin said the plant was called."
To October this sounded like just what she needed. Lately she felt stuck and wanted something exciting. Ever since her boyfriend died last year in a car accident she had terrible nightmares and could barely sleep at night due to the anxiety and stress. She loved him more than anything and his loss felt like a part of her had died with him. However, she would still go through the motions of life and eventually she had a nervous breakdown landing her in the psych ward for a week although it seemed like a century. Life became so grueling that she needed an escape and taking up a hobby or reading no longer did the trick. Enter Silas he had been the only one who seemed to be able to help her. Not only did she enjoy his company, but he had access to the best drugs and knew exactly what she needed. He wasn't all about the money either, many times he had just given it to her, but she never wanted to seem like "that" kind of friend so she always made sure she had money before she went to see him.
This sounded like the ticket. " Well I usually would say maybe next time, but since you won't have any more of the other shit until next week I'll try it out. Maybe if I like it and you keep it on deck I will be a regular customer." Silas smiled at this, even though she already pretty much was a regular customer the idea of her coming over more often excited him he always had a crush on her, but was too high or afraid to say anything about it. Her warm brown eyes began to glaze over from the smoke and her cheeks began to flush a pretty shade of pink. The warm air felt so good she didn't want to eventually go back into the cold. Her eyes met his again "So why the secrecy? You've never told me to be at your house at a specific time" All color began to drain from his face and he sobered up a bit. " You have to promise not to tell anyone or share it until I say so. My cousin seemed pretty strict about this and he never is wrong something about that town or...I dunno he won't tell me, but he told me to be careful and not let it get out that he had it." She could feel the acid began to boil in her stomach, this sounded heavy. Nonetheless October was a homebody her circle of friends were very small and she wasn't one to go around announcing to the world she was on drugs. So this cryptic advice only slightly fazed her.
" So how much would I need? and the cost?" this was the part she was dreading. Although Silas was always good to her and always gave her a deal she knew these exotic drugs could sometimes cost a pretty penny. Slowly he began to move like he was stuck in quick sand his movements affected by the weight of the pot on his mind. He began to feel good and reached onto the glass table for his pack of cigarettes. He fingered the flap and pulled out two long skinny cigs. Handing her one he sparked up the other and jumped up off the couch. "I'll be right back here have a smoke". Her eyes scanning the room taking long slow drags off the cigarette she began to feel warm and fuzzy. The buzz from the pot and the smoke now were in full effect and she anticipated this new drug that only grows in that little town. Her thoughts began to muddle together creating one fluid stream of consciousness. Lost in her own world she laid back against the sofa carefully trying not to burn anymore cigarette holes in the fabric. Silas emerged from the darkness with a small ebony box with a little silver skull on top. He gently placed it on the table once again taking his seat. Gently he lifted the top of the box off and inside was a small bag filled with a white almost translucent powder. With his other hand he grabbed a spoon off the table and scooped out a little bit of the powder carefully placing it inside another tiny bag this one obviously was for her. "Here" He handed her the small bag to which she lowered her nose to it to smell its contents. To her surprise it had a very faint odor, that she could not quite place. "How much?" he still hadn't answered her question partly due to the weed and in part due to the fact that he wanted this to be a gift. "Ah the topic of coin" He joked " Oh come on here just try it, on the house as they say" He began to chuckle" You really are amusing yourself aren't you? Well anyways thanks, I appreciate it". She tucked the little bag away inside her jacket, but decided not to leave just yet. She always enjoyed Silas's company and she had nothing else to do. Perhaps they could test it together or just smoke a little more either way she was content.
"So what's the best way to do it?" Silas averted his eyes "Well, of course you can snort it probably smoke it too, but the best way is intravenously" Chills ran up October's spine. She hated needles, but as long as he did it for her she would just close her eyes and try not to think about it. " Well do you think you could do it for me?" He was not a costumed to October being so open and willing but he liked this side of her and hoped that he would see more of it. "Sure... I just need to get some things and I will be back" October began to lose her cool. This Ptv or whatever was exciting her and scaring her at the same time. She didn't want to chicken out and she knew that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. Silas had always been a good friend in that regard. Once again he emerged from the darkness. In his hands he carried a small brown paper bag. Taking a seat right next to October this time he laid it's contents out on the glass table. Once again he picked the spoon up off the table and dipped his fingers into the bag pinching out some of the powder onto it. Then he took a brand new syringe out of a little plastic packet and pulling back the plunger he sucked some water out of a glass on the table. Pushing the plunger down he squirted the water onto the powder in the spoon and sparked up the lighter which illuminated his boyish features. The mixture began to boil after placing the lighter underneath the spoon for a couple of minutes and quickly he threw a small cotton swab into the mix. The swab ballooned with the contents of the spoon as he jabbed the tip of the needle into the middle of the swab and pulled back the plunger filling the hypodermic with a clear cloudy liquid. Without saying a word October removed the black studded belt from her jeans and wrapped it around her upper bicep.
Tightly she closed her eyes, her arm going numb from the belt cutting off the blood flow. Gently he took her arm in his hand and slapped her forearm to make the veins pop out more. He slid the tip of the needle deep into her vein and pulled the plunger back registering the plume of crimson. Then he pushed it down pushing all of the PTV into her blood stream. Her eyes began to roll back and her head was swimming in a potent cocktail of drugs. Her mouth became very dry and a warm fuzzy sensation ran up and down her body. Slowly every muscle in her body relaxed and soon she fell asleep.
October quickly jerked up from her slumber. The room was filled with what seemed to be smoke or fog and she could barely see anything in front of her. Gently she got up off of the worn green couch and searched for Silas. He didn't seem to be in the house. How long had I been asleep? She thought to herself. She knew it couldn't have been that long because she could still feel the drug as strong as ever and through the false sense of security and well being that exuded from within her she knew that something was awry. Grabbing her purse from the living room she went to his front door to see if she could find him. The fog was very heavy now and she figured it must be some side effect of the drug this definitely seemed like a hallucination, but she would go along with it. Her cold trembling hand grasped the rusty door handle and slowly she pushed the door open. He probably went outside for some fresh air or to smoke. Stepping outside she noticed the whole street was filled with that fog the car in front was barely visible as was anything else but for some reason the street looked different.