Limbo Ch. 01

"What the hell! I'm just trying to be nice."

"I really should leave now..."

All of a sudden, two of the more sober members grabbed his arm and flattened it against the bed. Ethan tried to move, but was soon immobilised by two others. He looked at them with shock, which immediately turned to dread when he saw Linda holding a syringe with a manic smile on her face.

"Shh..." she cooed against his face. "Don't fight it. Don't fight the need. We've suffered enough. All of us. Everyone here is dying on the inside. When I heard your story earlier, I knew I had to help you too. It's all going to be okay."

Ethan's eyes went wide with fear. She raked the tip of the needle over the skin of his still forearm. The needle came to rest on top of a clearly defined vein.

"Say goodbye to your pain," she said gleefully, pushing the tip in.

* *

It was a cold winter morning. The windows were frosted and the fireplace crackled with the last few logs of the night. Daylight crept in through the skylight, the tendrils of warmth reaching out to the large four-poster bed.

Ethan lifted the thick blanket down his body. The plush mattress allowed him to literally sink into its warm embrace. He turned to his side to see Zoe's head sticking out. She smiled in her sleep, her fair skin and brown curls painted by the sunlight streaming in.

He reached over and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Zoe squirmed happily, clutching his hand. She brought it to her lips and kissed each finger individually.

"Morning, sweetheart."

"Morning," she mumbled sleepily.

"Let's go see the view."

"But I like the view right here," she whined, turning around to kiss Ethan's face and neck.

They kissed deeply and tenderly. His lips pressed onto hers. Despite her protests, he lifted her off the bed and carried in her in his arms to the wooden balcony. She got on her feet and gasped, seeing the brilliant yellow hue the snowy peaks had taken under the morning sun. The Vail air wrapped them in its clammy grasp.

"I love it," she squealed like an excited child and jumped into his arms. The impact knocked him flat on the hard wooden floor and she kissed him again.

"Happy anniversary, Zoe."

The warmth of the sun, juxtaposed against the cold air slowly lifted. The fog in Ethan's mind cleared one wisp at a time. The log cabin on a snowy mountain dissolved, leaving a dank, dilapidated warehouse. He felt his body, not finding any of his clothes.

He shook his head out of his trance. There were bodies everywhere. He felt bare skin under him. He looked down to see Linda de Fazio lying on the cold floor with her red hair fanned out. Her glassy eyes looked at the ceiling and her hand was prone on the floor. There were many needle marks, and a syringe tip was embedded in the latest one. Instinctively, Ethan felt her neck for a pulse.

There wasn't one.

Linda de Fazio was finally free from her demons. She would not have to bend to the depraved whims of any man where she was now.

Ethan felt nauseous. His stomach seemed full of lead and the room see-sawed and quaked before him. He staggered to his feet and slumped against the wall. His head throbbed like it had been struck with a framing hammer. It took him a few deep breaths to get his bearings right. He looked around.

There were other bodies nearby, some stirring, others deathly still.

Ethan felt for a pulse on a few more people, finding some. He saw a pile of discarded clothing against the wall and rummaged through it. There were serious wounds on some of the bodies, caused by needles and sharper objects tearing right through the skin, which he treated using makeshift tourniquets. At last, he found his own clothes and cell phone.

It was late in the afternoon by the time he finished giving statements to the detectives and had been cleared by the medical staff. From what he gathered, it was a new street blend of heroin that had lethal side-effects. He was lucky to have survived.

He staggered out of the building. The sun was oppressively bright this time and he shielded his eyes with his arm. He sat down on a bench by the riverfront, held his face in his hands and cried.

Nothing mattered to Ethan any more. He had hit an absolute rock bottom. Tears ran down his hands to his forearm. A few passers by stared at him, but he didn't stop crying.

They were tears that were long overdue. Tears that were poison.

Finally, he let the poison out.

He took out his phone and made a call. A few rings went by before the surprised person on the other end picked up.

"Val, you were right. It hurts."

Finally, he acknowledged the need to move on.

* *