She woke to the taste of it on her tongue.

A bitter taste, of pennies in mud, with a hint of old coffee against the back of her throat. Her first instinct was to swallow, to push the taste down her throat and swish her tongue over her teeth, but her tongue felt coated, thick and gummy, a contrast to the grainy texture on her teeth.

That was the detail that sent her spiraling over the edge, rolling to her knees, half awake, retching at the grit and tang inside her mouth.

Something solid rose up her throat, clipping her teeth as if fell from her lips. The ground was cold and sticky beneath her palms, soaking through her jeans. She opened her eyes, the world a blur of rusted patches, her focus shifting and pock marked like an old timey film strip. When it finally settled she wished it hadn't. Her breath was a long thin inhale as she took in the pool of congealed blood beneath her, the dark stain seeping into her jeans. A few inches from her hand was a disembodied arm, the socket glistening in the bright sunlight, pouring through the windows. Her vision fuzzed and glitched at the edges, adding to the surreal scene.

She woke up next to an arm.

A human arm.

Her eyes lingered on it, more details penetrating the fog in her brain. The scalloped indents at the edge of each torn wound. Teeth marks. Parts of the arm were missing flesh to the red stained bones beneath, the individual fingers chewed on. The tip of the index finger was missing. After a long uncomprehending stare her eyes rolled to the pool of congealed blood beneath her, pausing at the chunk that flew from her throat. She reached for it, her arms painted red to the elbows, but not so much as a tremor. She held it up to the sunlight, a misshapen cube of rusted white, coming to a point. She'd coughed up a finger bone.

The bone slipped from her fingers, the panic starting to set in as her eyes widened, trying to take in more of the room, the blood everything, painting the eggshell walls in brilliant red splattered strips. Eventually she found the other parts, the legs behind the recliner, equally gnawed on as the hand, the other arm on the couch, blood seeping into the paisley print. The torso was in front of the television, on and muted for the morning news. The local weatherman was visible through a curtain of blood dripping down the screen.

The torso was ripped open, the stench of it hitting her nose as she became aware of it, all glistening pieces on grisly display. Her fingers kept the sticky carpet beneath her, as her breath came in short sharp pants. She should be screaming. Why wasn't she screaming? She shuffled, turning on her hands and knees.

The head was on the coffee table, expression caught in a final terrified grimace. A tremor went up her arms then.

"Brad?"

His sightless blue eyes brought the memory rushing back.

**

They wanted to get high.

"Come on Maddy, your parents are outta town all weekend," said Brad, nudging her with his shoulder, grinning. She'd do anything for that grin.

"I can get some pot from Nicky," she said, "She said she has some laced lollipops that send you off like a rocket."

Brad made a face. "Yeah, but that's boring. Let's see if we can score something that'll really fuck us up."

"Like what, shrooms?" Maddy let him spin her around, like a music box ballerina, her hair swishing behind her. He always made her feel graceful, half dancing with her down the hall. Her parents thought he was such a prince, blissfully unaware of their little adventures with various substances. Why not have fun while she could? After all, these were the best years of her life.

"I was thinking something a little more chemical," he said, winking at her.

She frowned. "I might be able to score some E but this town is a little small for the real hardcore stuff."

"Oh, I know where we can get the good stuff," he said, lacing their fingers together as they exited the school building. It was still the middle of the day, Friday lunch time. Cliques clustered in various claimed territories of the courtyard and grounds, jocks, and cheerleaders, and nerds, and drama club all staking a spot in the sunshine. Brad led her past all of them to a lone girl in long skirts eating a sandwich in the shade of a gnarled tree. Brad released her hand to sit beside her, plucking the sandwich from the girl's hands to take a bite.

"Bologna? Don't they feed you gypsy kids anything better," he said.

"Give it back jackass." The girl scowled at him, reaching for her sandwich which Brad held aloft.

"Maybe, if you give me what I want," he smirked.

"Please, that's all I have for lunch," the girl said softly.

"Then we can do business," said Brad.

Maddy stood awkwardly to the side, watching the exchange. Brad teased her in good fun all the time but something about this was...mean spirited. The girl was waif thin, and not in a pleasant way. Maddy could see the threadbare patches in her skirts, the frayed edges of her plain faded shirt, and the hollows of her cheeks. Why would Brad tease her for something they wanted? Why not just ask? This was something she hadn't seen from him before. Something she didn't like.

"Brad, just give her back–"

"Shut it, Maddy," said Brad, the warning clear in his voice.

She blinked at him in surprise.

The girl on the other hand turned sullen. "What do you want, Brad?"

"I want you to hook myself and Miss Maddy up with the good stuff for the weekend," said Brad, casually dissecting her plain sandwich.

The girl's eyes darted back and forth between them. "What are you talking about?"

A piece of bologna fell to the ground, landing in the grass.

"Don't play dumb," said Brad, "We've spent a lot of time together. You might not have much but you got the good shit."

The suggestion in his words made Maddy's eyes go wide. The girl looked away, visibly swallowing. "What can I give you to make you go away?"

Another piece of her sandwich hit the ground. Ants were already appearing on the fallen meat, creeping through the grass, claiming it for nature.

"Pcp, bath salts, whatever you call it," said Brad, "I want the stuff that will make us see into different dimensions. I want to see time warp, and I know you have the magical tabs to make it happen." The last of her sandwich hit the ground. Maddy thought it was a loss of leverage but the gypsy girl was crouched away from him, carefully not letting him touch her. Still she snorted at Brad's words.

"Bath salts? You're kidding right?"

He grabbed her then, his fingers clamped on her thin arm so tight her tan skin paled between his fingers. "You know what I'm talking about," he hissed. "Cough it up."

The girl stared at him through watering eyes, wincing when his fingers tightened. Maddy was caught in a moment of inaction. This was Brad, her boyfriend, her fellow adventurer. His hands were always so sweet and light when they touched her. The sight of him twisting and squeezing the gypsy girl's arm made her feel sick to her stomach. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, to stop it, but nothing came out. As if the words were lodged in her throat. Part of her, a small secret part that made her ashamed of herself was happy Brad hadn't touched her like this, but she wondered if he would. He'd never snapped at her like that before.

The gypsy girl sneered at him. "What are you going to do if I don't slick? Blackmail me?"

There was nothing nice about the smile he gave her. "No sweetheart, no, I wouldn't blackmail you. I wouldn't have to. A few words in the right ears and you'll find yourself in plenty of awkward positions. On your back. On your knees." He pushed her long black hair behind her ear with his free hand, making her flinch.

What was he talking about? It almost sounded like he threatened to have someone...someone...to rape her.

Maddy couldn't bring herself to think it, desperately trying to rationalize it away. This wasn't Brad, he didn't do stuff like this. But how well could she really know him after a couple months of sleeping together and getting high?

"Brad, if you don't let me go right now, I swear I will make you pay," said the gypsy girl through gritted teeth.

"Oh, eat me," said Brad. "Now give." He held up his hand, as if anything about that exchange would get him what he wanted.

To Maddy's shock, the gypsy girl fished a small bag of pills from her skirts, slapping them in his hand with a mutinous expression.

"That wasn't so hard was it?" Brad released her and rolled to his feet. Maddy could already see the bruising on the girl's arm. Brad gave her a mock salute. "Enjoy your lunch. Coming Maddy?"

"I–I'll be right there," she said.

Brad rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He sauntered off, leaving the two of them alone. Maddy twisted her hands together.

"I'm sorry," she said.

The gypsy girl snorted, her eyes on her fallen sandwich, as if she were hungry enough to dust off the ants and debris and eat it anyway. "For what, you didn't do anything. Literally, anything."

Maddy winced at the jab. She had done nothing. Watched as Brad bullied the girl into giving him what he wanted. "Why did you give it to him?"

The girl raised an eyebrow. "You mean that bag of aspirin? I had to make him go away somehow."

Maddy's first reaction was shock, then fear. "He'll be angry when he finds out."

The gypsy girl rolled her eyes. "Duh. That asshole ruins women," she said, with the resolute air of personal experience. "Why are you even with him?"

Maddy swallowed, rubbing her arm in the same place Brad grabbed the gypsy girl. "I've never seen him do something like that before," she whispered. She looked at the girl, studying her. "You didn't have any drugs, did you?"

The gypsy girl studied her back, licking her lips. "Not the sort he was talking about. So," she said, crossing her arms, "you going to go follow him, like the good little girlfriend you are?"

Maddy didn't have to say anything for the gypsy girl to read the answer in her eyes. The girl shook her dark head, sighing through her nose.

"It's only a matter of time, you know, before he shows you that face," she said.

Maddy nodded, turning to go when the girl's hand landed on her shoulder.

"Remember Maddy," said the gypsy girl. Her shoulder tingled beneath the touch. "The eyes are the best part."

Maddy glanced back at her, frowning and bewildered but the gypsy girl only gave her a secretive smile. She left, unable to shake the tingle as it spread, trickling between her shoulder blades, sinking into her spine. Brad was waiting for her at the school doors, tapping an impatient foot.

"What took you so long?" His eyes narrowed at her. "That bitch say anything about me?'

Maddy thought about telling him, but the memory of the bruise on the gypsy girl's arm had her shaking her head. "Nothing, just wanted to ask her what to expect when we take this stuff."

He grinned at her, that bone melting grin she thought she loved so well.

"Next dimension baby, we are going to be sizzling through time and space."

His blue eyes were full of excitement as he laced their fingers together again. The gesture didn't fill her with the same fizz as before.

**

Maddy knelt in the bloody living room, her blood caked hands clapped over her mouth as she stared into Brad's blue eyes.

It was aspirin, just aspirin. He'd followed her home. She played along, giggling next to him as she took a couple plain white pills with him. Just aspirin.

They'd sat on the couch, waiting for the buzz that would never come. It took an hour of watching the television before Brad swore, lifting up the bag of remaining pills.

"That bitch," he muttered.

She must have been tired. Too relaxed to watch her words. It slipped out before she thought better of it. "Well, yeah, it was just aspirin," she giggled.

He rounded on her, the rage in his eyes causing her to flinch away from him. "What?" His hand shot out, grabbing her arm, in the same place as the gypsy girl. "You knew?"

He squeezed, his blue eyes full of cold determined anger.

The tingle in her shoulder grew to an unbearable itch. Her mind swirled in a fog as her head shot forward. She didn't realize what was happening, only that warmth filled her mouth and Brad's screams echoed in her ears. She didn't remember much at all after that, blissfully unaware as her mind sank into another dimension altogether.

It was just aspirin.

Her eyes darted around the room to the pieces of Brad. The room painted in blood. She could feel it dried and pulling tight on her skin. She could feel the coppery taste on her tongue and the horribly full feeling in her stomach when the last time she ate was yesterday's breakfast. Maddy swallowed, staring at Brad's head on her coffee table. Carefully placed, like an offering. She stared and stared until the tingle started on her shoulder again.

Remember Maddy, the eyes are the best part.

She reached for the head.