Afterparty

     The street lamps made Grace wince as they whipped by. She'd trannysurprise fallen asleep with her head against the window, and the rhythmic flashing slowly roused her. The unwelcome pain in her stiff neck was cruelly amplified by trannysurprise the ecstasy lingering in her system. Her stomach growled, and her ears rang from the loud music at the party trannysurprise. She shifted gingerly in her seat and trannysurprise realized that her arms were bunched up against her under the seat belt. She trannysurprise must've trannysurprise passed out as trannysurprise soon as she sat down trannysurprise, and her friends had just belted her ass in trannysurprise for the drive home trannysurprise.
     Oh shit. Erik. She remembered the last two hours of her life trannysurprise in the trannysurprise instant she turned toward the driver's seat.
     They rolled up to a stoplight and Grace looked trannysurprise out trannysurprise the window, trying in vain to fling her thoughts outside, away from the nightmare she trannysurprise was living. She trannysurprise heard Erik fumbling around next to trannysurprise her trannysurprise, then felt trannysurprise something jab her arm. Grace closed trannysurprise her trannysurprise eyes, bit her lip. She didn trannysurprise't need trannysurprise to look; she could already trannysurprise feel trannysurprise what was happening.
     The deal was trannysurprise this trannysurprise: Grace wanted to celebrate her high school graduation in style, at this really big party downtown. Only Mom would never let her stay out all night, so Grace had lied trannysurprise and trannysurprise told her she was spending the night at Gina's (before asking her first, as usual). Big Sister had charitably agreed on the condition that she would pick trannysurprise up Grace at the end of the festivities - she didn't want someone with trannysurprise a head full of hallucinogens driving trannysurprise Grace home. They were supposed to touch base at 4:00 A.M. to coordinate trannysurprise.
     But trannysurprise Grace didn't pick up trannysurprise when Gina called, so enter she had enter crawled back in bed for a bit without really thinking trannysurprise about it. Now, feeling more awake and responsible, she trannysurprise shuffled around trannysurprise her bedroom, cursing her flaky kin. She briefly considered getting dressed, then trannysurprise decided to slip a jacket around her oversized Hello Kitty nightshirt. I enter'm getting too old for this shit, little sis. Life will be so much easier when trannysurprise you go off to trannysurprise school this fall...
     Gina trannysurprise pulled out of her driveway and headed downtown, figuring she'd cruise over to the huge club and try to catch enter Grace outside. She yawned, reaching over to turn on the stereo trannysurprise. Takako Minekawa sang about not being able to sleep.
     "We're not trannysurprise at the party," came the response. Gina could hear cars going by in the background trannysurprise.
     But Grace was just standing there looking at her. "Grace?" She looked like she might topple over in a light breeze. Something was very trannysurprise wrong here. The guy was moving toward her, reaching in the trannysurprise window. "Hey trannysurprise." she barked, but something covered her face enter before she could say anything else. It was a cloth, and it smelled really weird. He trannysurprise was pressing it over her mouth and nose and holding trannysurprise her trannysurprise against the driver's seat with his forearm. She trannysurprise clawed at enter the air in trannysurprise front of the trannysurprise steering wheel, gasping and screaming into the cloth. She couldn enter't reach anything with her hands. Couldn't wiggle out of his grasp. The sickly-sweet fumes were overpowering. The car interior spun trannysurprise lazily around her as a curious buzzing filled trannysurprise her ears. Her eyelids grew heavy as anvils. As her head trannysurprise lolled to one side, sleep rose up to meet her trannysurprise.
     "Uh-huh," Grace responded. She was still tingling with the effects of the trannysurprise latest substance Erik had trannysurprise given her. She felt lightheaded trannysurprise, dirty. She'd obviously slept trannysurprise in this chair for several hours, and a trannysurprise gamy trannysurprise tang wafted up from her trannysurprise raver regalia. They were in an empty room, and the large window in front of her was covered with a paper blind: it let sunlight enter in, but afforded no view from outside trannysurprise. The walls and floor were covered in trannysurprise plastic. She trannysurprise silently cursed the day Gina had made her watch The trannysurprise Silence of the Lambs.
     Grace started trannysurprise to cry, but she managed to tell trannysurprise Gina everything that happened to her at the rave - Erik trannysurprise, Sylvie, the truck in the parking lot trannysurprise. "...And then he made trannysurprise me call you so he could get you, too," she sobbed. "I'm so sorry I enter got you into this, Gina."
     "But where are we?" Grace whined. She sounded like such trannysurprise a baby , compared to Gina. She had to trannysurprise admire trannysurprise her big sister, but trannysurprise she couldn't summon much courage herself trannysurprise.
     Gina trannysurprise laughed, like she knew something Grace trannysurprise didn trannysurprise't. "You don't know anything about trannysurprise me, asshole."
     Erik moved into view and knelt trannysurprise down in front of trannysurprise Grace . Eyeing her dispassionately, he stuck yet another syringe in her thigh. Emboldened by her trannysurprise sister's presence, she trannysurprise stared back at him. "How much shit are you trannysurprise going to pump into me?"
     "Doesn't trannysurprise that feel nice?" Grace shuddered and trannysurprise Gina could tell that Erik's hands were trannysurprise getting trannysurprise braver. She cursed herself for losing concentration. Opened her eyes. Brilliant points of light swirled trannysurprise by from left to right. They melted into trannysurprise familiar shapes and faces on their way by, making Gina realize how strong trannysurprise that Haitian stuff must trannysurprise be trannysurprise. As Grace shifted behind her, Gina began to trannysurprise feel as if he were touching her body trannysurprise as trannysurprise well. Then she had another uncomfortable realization trannysurprise - her sister's aroused scent hung pronounced in the air. Or was it hers?
     She trannysurprise took a determined, measured breath. Found enter herself back inside Gina, where she belonged. And lowered her head under the torrent of light that sucked at her, through her eyes. Her sister was unable to help herself. She had to make it through this for both of them.
     Something was happening with the ropes. One at trannysurprise a time, they trannysurprise were slackening. She didn't dare open her eyes again, but her curiosity burned. What the hell's he doing now? Gina heard the ropes trannysurprise fall to the floor, one by one. Felt Grace leave the chair behind her, then trannysurprise felt the chair move trannysurprise away as well enter. Erik stood behind her and drew her head back trannysurprise against trannysurprise his trannysurprise stomach. Her eyes opened instinctively as trannysurprise his hands gripped her head and his fingers trannysurprise tugged at her eyebrows. His roughness made her struggle enter, but the drug made her clumsy. She almost trannysurprise spilled out enter of trannysurprise her chair trannysurprise as Grace moved in enter and straddled her, taking the place of the ropes. Her little sister pinned her pelvis into the trannysurprise cheap trannysurprise folding trannysurprise chair, causing Gina to frown against the weight. She struggled meekly against Erik's hands, while Grace began to touch her in ways she felt were wholly inappropriate.
     There trannysurprise has to be a way to trannysurprise fight this trannysurprise...
     Then trannysurprise Erik's hands dropped away from her sister's trannysurprise face. He stepped trannysurprise around to Grace and lifted her off of Gina's lap. Moved her to trannysurprise one side. She was so out of it that trannysurprise he didn't even have to tell her to stay where she was enter - there wasn't a motivation left in her pretty trannysurprise head.
     "Grace." She hurled her younger trannysurprise sister toward the opening trannysurprise. Pushed her trannysurprise through roughly without considering how far trannysurprise it was to the ground, stepped through the jagged egress, and fell onto a trannysurprise hedge.
     They were probably both over trannysurprise reacting, but trannysurprise they were also uncommonly intuitive people trannysurprise. That's why Gina trannysurprise's mom liked him, Seth figured trannysurprise.
     "Hello?" Seth enter called trannysurprise. A greeting and a threat.
     The breathing continued in trannysurprise the living room. Cautiously, he trannysurprise peeped around the trannysurprise corner from the kitchen. The cigarette dropped out of his hand.
     The police were surprisingly fast. Mom showed up soon trannysurprise after, predictably hysterical. After awhile, Gina sent trannysurprise Grace home with Mom, then talked to the cops a bit longer. Before long everyone was gone, and she took a shower and changed into some things she kept in Seth's closet. Seth had pulled her into his lap trannysurprise and trannysurprise pressed a bourbon into her shaking fingers. He held her silently for awhile, and she didn trannysurprise't cry. Just clung to enter him and sipped slowly. Then she asked him trannysurprise to take her to Sullivan trannysurprise's trannysurprise to get trannysurprise her car. He'd protested, saying he could take trannysurprise a friend trannysurprise and do trannysurprise it for her later, but trannysurprise she had insisted on it. The quicker she got trannysurprise her life as close as possible to the way trannysurprise it trannysurprise was before last night, the better.
     The paper on the windshield was plain and enter white . Folded. She slipped it out from under the wiper trannysurprise.