• She smiled and pulled away from the door to let me in. As I stepped into the foyer, the heavy beat of the trancendental techno music assaulted my ears. I peeked into the main room. Three young men in colors that would be offensive to a blind man were sitting around a glass coffee table with two more young women in tight ripped spandex. Naturally, the table was littered with various paraphenalia: some straws, an aquarium bubbler, lighters. The guests were cutting their lines right there on the table.

    One of the cokeheads looked at me. "Oh... hi... Tom is it?"

    My hostess tittered, "Tim, this is Aaron, Darren, Misha, Korrine, and Bobby. Go ahead and get started. Can I get you a drink?"

    "No, sweetheart, thank you anyhow... but if you have a few moments, I'd like to talk to you about something before we get started."

    "Oh... okay... what's up?" she tilted her head.

    "It's just that... well... perhaps we can discuss this somewhere a bit more private?" I raised an eyebrow.

    "Oh... sure... umm.... right this way."

    My hostess led me through the main room and past a small, dingy, kitchenette filled with a few more guests. As we approached what I assumed to be a bedroom, another little cokehead popped out of the bathroom. Something about this kid didn't smell right. I suspected he was on something besides the cocaine and pot floating all over the house. I turned and watched him as he slid into the main room.

    "Who might that be?" I asked my hostess.

    She turned to me and raised her eyebrow. "Umm... that's Joey... Tim, that's been one of your friends for like... what?... three years?"

    s**t...

    "Oh... yeah... Joey... that's right... " I stammered. I looked at my feet and grinned, trying to affect intoxication. "Damn... that stuff I did before I left must be hitting me hard..."

    My hostess grinned. "Yeah... sure..."

    She opened the bedroom door, (and at a glance, one could barely tell it was a bedroom, what with all the dirty clothing and empty food containers laying around) and motioned for me to follow her inside.

    As I slid the door closed behind me, she propped herself stiffly at the foot of what I hoped was a bed... either that or it was the biggest pile of dirty laundry I have ever seen. Thank Cain I no longer have to breathe...

    She smiled coyly up at me. "So... you wanted to discuss some..." She trailed off as my gaze caught her. Too late, she realized that I was not Tim. Nor was I anyone else she figured I might be. I already had her... her mind was mine to command as long as I kept it simple. And she would remember nothing that I didn't tell her to remember. I whispered one word to her waiting mind, "Still."

    As I slid over to the "bed" and maneuvered around her immobile form, I could hear her little heart hammering in her chest... partially from an odd mix of excitement and apprehension, but mostly from the cocaine in her blood. I touched my lips to her throat, baring my teeth...

    And then the screams started.