Red

Once upon a time there was a girl who could not be arsed. She rolled over in her bed and bashed the button on her phone to silence her alarm. Five minutes later, she could not stand the noise of birds trilling outside of her window, piercing her brain like a pneumatic drill and she slowly pried her eyes open and groaned at the bright sunshine shoving itself through her window. She reached for her phone and grinned at the message about hitting Grandma’s tonight. Grandma’s the hottest new nightclub off campus, I am so there.

She stumbled to her bathroom, filled a toothbrush beaker with water, and swallowed two paracetamol. After a wipe down, armpit sniff and deodorant spray, she pulled on skinny jeans and a red hoodie, and headed out of her dorm room door, trying to feel vaguely human, images of last night’s party flashing through her brain.

On her way to her first lecture, she strayed from the path and detoured to the new coffee stand.

“Caffeine, need caffeine,” she groaned at the barista.

He grinned at her flashing teeth as white as snow.

“Flat white?”

“How did you know?” She dimpled at him.

“I have a sense for these things,” he laughed, flashing those teeth again, and passed her a coffee cup.

“Wow, impressive, the best I’ve seen before is a leaf!” She exclaimed, admiring the wolf head in her froth.

“Well, I do aim to please.”

“Great, thanks…see you around,” she said, hurrying out the door.

“Oh, you can count on it,” he replied, his grin spreading wide.

She made it to her lecture just in time, plonked herself next to her bestie Rach, and opened her Apple pad, ready for the lecture. After traversing the forest of morning classes and tutorials, they went to grab a bite in the canteen. In the lunch line, they joked around and spilled the tea about last night’s party.

“I danced so hard, I can barely feel my legs today,” she laughed.

“Yeah, but have you seen what everyone’s posting though?”

“Nah, what?”

“That Beccy’s disappeared.”

“What do you mean disappeared?”

“She never made it back to her room last night, no one’s heard from her, she’s just…gone.”

“Weird, I didn’t see her after midnight, did you?”

“Nah, I hope she’s okay.”

“Aw, she will be, I bet she’s just stayed out and overslept, I mean who would want to hurt Beccy?”

“We meet again, I see,” said a vaguely familiar voice.

Jess looked up to see a flash of white teeth, then the face of her barista from this morning, now serving steak at the lunch counter.

“You again?”

“Me again,” he grinned. “Steak?”

Jess looked down to see meat dripping with blood, red spreading out from underneath it onto the warming tray.

“A bit too rare for me.”

“Oh, I like them rare, almost raw really.”

“Errr…I’ll just have the mac and cheese, please.”

“No problem at all, Jess,” he grinned.

“Did I tell you my name?”

“You must have done, how else would I know it?”

“Wow, what white teeth you have,” interjected Rachel. “I have to check out your dentist.

“All the better to bite you with,” he replied, looking at Jess, laughing and revealing more teeth, startlingly white against the dark red of his gums.

Jess laughed, “See you around then.”

“It’s a date.”

The girls moved onto their table, plonking themselves down next to each other.

“It’s going to be lit tonight at Grandma’s.”

“I know, right? Can not wait, it’s gonna be killer.”

Grandma’s that night was hot and sweaty. It smelt of sugar and spice and all things not quite nice, underlined with a hint of something rusty and metallic and a dash of sulphur, as the girls descended into its underbelly. Bodies filled the dance floor, pulsing with the music flooding their senses, the base booming a steady rhythm through their cores, lights flashing, revealing glimpses of faces, hands, heads, torsos.

They sashayed through the forest of limbs, and a fresh flash exposing startingly white teeth appeared before them.

“You again!”

“Finally, off duty,” he grinned, “drink?”

“I’m alright, thanks.”

“Aw come on, I won’t bite, what’s your poison?” He leered.

“Oh, I suppose one drink won’t kill me…vodka and coke please.”

“Coming right up me’ lady,” he replied, placing a lingering kiss on her hand.

“You shouldn’t take drinks from strangers,” Rachel warned.

“He’s not a stranger, this is the third time I have met him today,” laughed Jess, twirling into the forest of bodies on the dancefloor.

A tap on the shoulder, a drink in her hand, she danced and drank and danced and drank and danced and drank, the world around her blurring into a kaleidoscope. Blurring, blurring, blurring, room spinning, world spinning, head spinning. Where’s the exit? I need air. Stumbling along, bumping into bodies, bumping into tables, bumping into walls. Down, down, down the corridor, through the door, cold air slamming into her face, hand heavy on her shoulder, a flash of teeth, eyes so large.

“There you are.”

Arm around her, hands so big.

“Let’s get you out of here.”

Streets blurring, cars blurring, lights blurring.

“Not far to go, just a little bit off the path.”

And then she was gone…just one more girl gobbled up by the night.