Mask Of Sanity - Part Three: Bodom Beach Terror -- Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen
“We’re lost.” Leena admitted about twenty minutes after we had turned off the highway onto the street the party was supposedly at.
“I could have told you that.” I murmured. I jumped as a car blew past us and slammed on its brakes. Leena slammed on her brakes and came to a stop so close to the car’s rear bumper I couldn’t see the taillights. “Isn’t that Alexi’s car?” I asked.
“Hopefully.” Leena replied. Sure enough, the driver door opened and Alexi got out. He walked toward us, shaking his head. Leena rolled down the window.
“You took the wrong exit, retard.” He said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“How do you know?” Leena asked, getting defensive.
“I recognized the car and followed you. I’ve been following you for the past twenty minutes laughing my ass off.” He replied.
“Well do you know how to get there?” Leena snapped.
“As a matter of fact I do. I used to live down the same street. If you had no idea where you were going, why didn’t you call me? I would have let you follow me. Or drove you there myself.” He asked.
“Didn’t think about it.” Leena grumbled. Alexi shook his head.
“Try to keep up.” He said over his shoulder as he walked back to his car.
“Try to keep up. Keep up with your face, jackass.” Leena grumbled. “I could just ram into your rear-end. Oops, foot slipped off the brake.”
“It’s my car. I’ll kick your ass.” I murmured.
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” She sighed, letting off the brake as Alexi started forward. It wasn’t hard for Leena to keep up with Alexi. She’s about as crazy behind the wheel as he is, and that’s not a good thing. The armrest on my seat probably has holes in it now. But at least we made it to where we were going, wherever that was. Leena parked on the curb next to a bunch of people passed out in the grass.
“Oh that’s lovely.” I chuckled, shaking my head. I got out of the car and gingerly stepped over the scattered limbs in my way.
“Wow, what’s with the dress?” Alexi asked, smiling at me.
“Leena made me wear it. Too much?” I replied, rolling my eyes.
“No, it’s not too much.” He said, winking. I rolled my eyes again. He was dressed like he usually is, a black t-shirt and ancient-looking, torn pants. Leena was wearing black ballet flats, black skinny jeans, a black long sleeve shirt with a white shirt underneath and mardi gras beads. I felt overdressed.
“You look fine, Rylie.” Leena snorted, grabbing my arm and hauling me to the door. She opened the door and the dull throbbing I’d heard from the car swelled into a deafening roar that caused me to flinch backward, running into Alexi.
“It’s okay, it’s just music.” He laughed, pushing around me and shooting a reassuring smile over his shoulder before disappearing into the mob of people. Leena dragged me after him into the crowd, then changed direction. Finally we ended up at a table with food on it.
“You stay here. I’ll be right back.” She said, putting both hands on my shoulders like a mother would put her hands on her child’s shoulders when telling them to stay put. I snorted and shook my head, but said nothing and watched her go. I stood there, talking to the few people that spoke to me first, and plucked a few chips from a tray before I got bored, decided Leena wasn’t coming back, and found my way to the back sliding-glass door. I stepped outside and was promptly blasted by the cool, autumn air. I crossed my arms and shivered. There was a pool in the backyard and a few morons were in it, splashing each other and yelling. I found a chair and sat down.
“Hi.” A small voice said from behind me. I looked back over my shoulder.
“Hi.” I replied.
“You don’t know me. I’m Antti, Janne’s brother.” He said, kicking at the concrete shyly.
“Oh, hi! Nice to meet you.” I said, extending my hand. He shook it, then pulled his hand away quickly. “Have you seen Leena or Alexi around anywhere?” I asked. He shook his head.
“No. Sorry.” He replied. “You’re Henkka’s girlfriend, right?”
“Yeah. Rylie.” I said.
“Yeah, I knew that. Well, I just wanted to say hi.” He said, nodding. He turned on his heel and left. I sat there for a few more minutes, then I got cold and stood up. My reflection in a window caught my eye, and when I looked at it I froze. Something about the water behind me, and the white concrete tickled my memory. I narrowed my eyes and looked myself over, then I felt all the blood drain out of my body with fear. I remembered where I had seen this dress before. I knew why my reflection looked so familiar, with the water behind me.
“There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you! Why did you--Rylie, are you okay?” Leena said, grabbing my arm and trying to pull me toward the house. But I was rooted in place and wouldn’t budge. The people on the other side of the window were starting to notice my staring, and were shifting uncomfortably and leaning over to whisper in their friend’s ears, but I didn’t care. “Rylie?” Leena repeated, shaking my arm. “Rylie, say something, you’re scaring me!”
“I need you to take me home.” I whispered. “I need you to take me home right now.”
“Why? We’ve only been here for like thirty minutes.” She asked sharply.
“Just. Do. It.” I said through my teeth.
“Fine.” She growled, releasing my arm and walking toward the door leading into the house. I followed her, weaving through the people, making sure I didn’t come into any contact with them. Alexi stopped Leena halfway to the front door.
“What’s up?” He asked, glancing at me with a worried look on his face.
“I don’t know ask her.” Leena replied, shaking her head. Alexi pushed her out of the way and stepped up in front of me.
“You okay? Do I need to call Henkka?” He asked in a low voice. I barely heard him through the music and the roar of the blood in my ears. I shook my head, trying to swallow though my throat was dry.
“No. I just need to go home. Right now.” I replied.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, sounding alarmed. I shook my head and tried to swallow again, hearing the dry click in my throat. I could feel the dull panic rising up my spine, waiting just below the surface, waiting to overtake me and make me spin out of control. The voices, which had been relatively silent up until now, started their low murmuring. I couldn’t understand them, but I didn’t want to either.
“I just need to go home. I can’t stay here. I can’t.” I replied, probably sounding on the verge of hysterics.
“Okay. Come on.” He said, putting an arm across my shoulders and guiding me toward the door.
“Can I stay here then, and you can take her home?” Leena asked. Alexi whirled around.
“Fuck no. You are taking her home. I’ll be following you. If she needs to go home, then we’re all going.” He snarled in a protective, big brother voice. Leena instantly bowed up.
“Fine. You don’t have to yell, asshole.” She snapped. Alexi looked like he was about to say something, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the door. Leena groaned, but fell into step behind us. Once outside, I released Alexi’s arm and half ran to the car. I climbed in the passenger seat and locked the door behind me. Leena got in and started the car. She stepped on the gas and the car lunged forward. It was silent in the car for several minutes before she sighed and looked at me. “What’s wrong? Why did we have to leave?” She asked in a kind, but annoyed voice. I looked at her, causing her to flinch back and return her gaze to the road.
“When I put on this dress earlier, I thought it looked familiar. It felt familiar. But I couldn’t remember where I had seen it, or even worn it before. In fact, I knew I hadn’t worn it before. The tag was still on it. Then I saw my reflection in that window. The pool was behind me, the concrete, it looked so familiar that I had to stop. Then I realized where I had seen it before.” I said in a breathless, terrified voice. I paused, then asked, “You remember me telling you about how I occasionally have nightmares with that voice in them?” She nodded. “Do you remember when I fell asleep on your shoulder?”
“And nearly ripped all my hair out?” She asked. I nodded. “Yeah I remember.”
“I had a dream, and I was wearing this in it.” I said, picking up the hem of the dress with something not unlike disgust. “I won’t tell you the rest, because it scares me to even think about it. But it was bad. It was awful.” My vision dimmed a little and I closed my eyes, trying to fight off what I knew was coming. I hadn’t had an episode in a long time, and I didn’t plan on having one now. There was silence again, until we pulled into the apartment complex’s parking lot.
“What are you going to tell Henkka?” Leena asked. I sniffed and pushed my hair back over my shoulder. That was a good question.
“I’ll have to tell him the truth.” I said resolutely.
“It’ll freak him out.” She replied.
“No worse than it freaks me out.” I sighed.