Medo

11:00pm

The ride to the late night restaurant had been the best thing so far in Samantha’s day. She while pretty wasn’t the most popular, while smart wasn’t the most nerdy, while athletic wasn’t active enough to be label a jock and while a movie goer by nature wasn’t a drama tic enough for ‘theatre freak’, in fact theatre kind of annoyed her, so if labeled anything Samantha was a loner as she just wasn’t able to hit the mark to be labeled anything else. It made life at school hell and with a stress eating family like hers, home was just as bad. But Rain always seemed to know how to make people feel special and how to make them smile even when there doesn’t seem to be anything to smile about, it was why she was more then a cousin to her, she was her best friend. Samantha laughed unrestricted as Rain sang the words to Ultimate Showdown and did all the right emotions and reactions to go with the amusing song.

Rain finally paused to laugh at herself when they pulled into the local Denny’s parking lot and a group of elementary kids turned to stare laughing when they saw what was going on. Parking the car and laughing when Samantha had sudden trouble with the seat beat which somehow ended the struggle with the younger girl on the pavement and the possessed belt mocking her by righting itself gracefully.

“Are you alright?” Rain turned her head awkwardly as someone beat her to the question she had just been about to ask and smiled when she saw the petite figure of Amber.

“Yeah, I got in a fight with the seatbelt…..” Samantha explained as she righted herself and closed the car door with a pause letting Rain finish the sentence. “And the seatbelt won.”

The comment earned her a tongue sticking out reaction from Samantha and an amused glance from Amber. Locking the doors before catching up with the other two who had chosen to go ahead and get a table Rain sat in the chair they always left her, the middle one. After about an hour they had ordered, received, eaten and been cleared leaving them to sit comfortably talking as if no time had passed between the three of them. Amber had been the first to suggest a sleepover regardless to the fact that they were getting far too old for sleeping bags and all nighters doing makeovers and boy ratings but after much teasing on everyone’s part they had agreed on it. Rain had worked earlier in the day and had gained more then what she had lost the night before so was free from tonight, Amber had some rare free time and secretly hoped for a bible discussion with Rain and Samantha just wanted to be anywhere but home.

It took them an hour to get to Rain’s run down studio in her even more run down car and piled necessities, food and themselves into the drafty room before turning on the radio for something to ease the quiet. Amber settled herself on the couch dancing animatedly to a random techno mix Samantha was currently making fun of and Rain busied herself in the little box kitchen sneaking alcohol into Amber’s cup, like any good friend would, before mixing shots for Jessica and her.

“Are those Washington Apples?” Samantha shot up asking when Rain came out with three drinks juggled in her hands and laughed when Rain answered her with a devious wink. “Sweet.”

“You didn’t put anything in mine did you?” Amber worried and checked her glass half heartedly.

“No ma’am, just coke.” Rain lied and smirked at Amber’s suspicious glance. “I promise.”

“Thank you.” Amber drank it slowly at first then satisfied that she didn’t taste anything strange she drank it normally. It would take quite a few glasses to get Amber tipsy Rain knew but tipsy wasn’t where she wanted her, just relaxed. Settling herself on the floor between them Rain downed her shot and made a face at the whisky.


3:00am

“I think if I were to fall in love it would be with Larry the cucumber.”

“You can’t fall in love with a Larry, He’s green! Your kids will be all…like…geenish..grnish…grrrreee…grindy.”

“Yeah but ew never have ta worry about gettin him hard…gettin him to vibrate however…”

“Love isn about brations…It’s….Oh fur fuck sake’s it’s GRIN Sam!”

At Amber’s sudden yell Sam whipped her head in the older girl’s direction to quickly and landed herself on something solid that she thought was the floor until she felt a clumsy slap on her leg and realized it was Rain who broke her fall.

“Shorry” She attempted to apologize and rolled off her cousin settling on the floor beside her with her head rested on the other girls back.

“S’ok, your feet only landed on my head.” She teased and rubbed her face against the back of her hand testing the numbness. It was how she could tell her limits, if she couldn’t feel her face she had drunk too much and right now there was still a little feeling left that she wouldn’t mind removing.

“Let’s play a game.” Amber suggested as she attempted to raise herself in excitement only to be knocked back onto the couch by gravity and booze. She had decided to drink more coke then Rain had thought she would and by the end of it all she has been to drunk to realize that Rain was putting more and more whisky in each glass as she was too gone herself to measure any of it.
“I don’t have any games”

“mmhmm”

“No I don’t Sammy”

“Yup”

“Nope”

“Mmmmhmmmmm”

“Where?” Rain asked curiously wondering through her fogged mind if she had forgotten something Samantha hadn’t. Watching as the brown haired girl raised herself rather then answer Rain pulled herself up as well and followed the other girl to her bag as she pulled out what looked to be a spelling game of some kind.

“Found it in the attic when Grammy and Granpy paid me last summer to clean it. It’s a spirit board, let’s freak Amber out.” Samantha laughed as she walked back to the center of the room and placed the board on the floor.

“I can’t play with hat.”

“We don’t have a hat Amber” Rain said gently before shaking her head at her cousin’s devious behavior. “You don’t have to Amber, you can just watch ey?”

Settling herself across from Samantha Rain stuck her tongue out at her cousin before placing her hands on hers. At first they fooled with one another asking questions then drunkenly acting surprised when they both said they weren’t moving it when they both knew one or the other was. Amber watched un-amused but in her state couldn’t find anything better to entertain herself with so stayed where she was sprawled out on the couch, reaching for her half filled coke glass and rolling her eyes at the two cousins.


3:33am

“For he last time I’m not movin it, Is wear!” Amber said with a tinge of panic in her voice as the three kept laced fingers and felt the brush of the pointer guiding their hands. It was stupid to think that a piece of wood disguised as a game set could come alive but that’s how it seemed to them as they threw questioning glances at each another before the Rain glanced down reading what it ‘spoke’.

“Medo?” She muttered and for a moment she felt perfect clarity, a familiar peace, like the mention of a childhood friend and then she looked up. Samantha and Amber were gone, she could feel their hands but she couldn’t see them and then she felt a burning in her chest causing her to cry out and lose touch with the other two. Her skin burned, she couldn’t think of anything else but the searing pain ripping through her porcelain skin, not of her cousin, not of her best friend, not even of what was happening. There was just this burning.....