Take Me Home

A combination of pounding music and the roar from the screaming fans forced seventeen year old Lauren West to flee the concert with her hands clamped over her ringing ears. She pushed her way through the crowd of teenage girls and into the stadium corridor. She took a few deep breaths as the door into the dreary, humid hallway closed behind and massaged her pounding head with her forefingers.

She made her way over to a drink machine in the far corner of the corridor. She found some loose change in her pockets and punched in the code for a coke. She retrieved her drink from the machine and slumped down on a plush red chair. She fumbled around in her brown leather hand bag for some painkillers and popped them in her mouth. She swallowed them both with the aid of her fizzing, icy beverage. "Ugh," she groaned. She felt like crap, her hands were shaking, her head was pounding, her ears were ringing and she was sweating like a pig.

Lauren stood up from the chair and made her way over to the bathroom down the hall. She pushed through the door and walked over to the grubby sink. The floors were stained and filthy as were the toilets and walls. She turned on the cold tap and ran her wrists underneath. The humidity, the noise and the claustrophobic aura of the concert had triggered something that pushed her to breaking point. As she stood leaning on the sink her legs and arms trembling, she glanced up at the mirror in front of her.

She saw three girls who looked somewhat familiar. Before her mind could register who they were, Lauren had been dragged down onto the filthy bathroom floor. She felt a sharp pain in her left side, she saw a booted foot repeatedly smash into her ribs. Her hair was grabbed and yanked upwards, forcing her to face the tallest of the three girls. Her name was Helena, she and the other two girls, Nettie and Vicky, had mercilessly bullied her throughout her school life.

"Hey Lauren, long time no see," Helena spat with a sickening smile on her makeup-plastered face. Lauren's response was a low whimper followed by an ear piercing scream. Vicky and Nettie began slapping, hitting, scratching and punching Lauren as she rolled in agony on the floor. "Stop! STOP!" Lauren screamed. Helena pulled her by the hair over to the cubicle door. "Thought you could just run away from us, didn't you?!" Helena growled. Lauren shook her head.
"How did you know I was here?" she whimpered.
"Your Facebook status from last week, it told us what time and where you would be today," she said. "So we've just been waiting and watching you for the past two hours. God I've missed this."

She slapped Lauren across the face and mentioned for Vicky and Nettie to come over. All three of them towered over Lauren. "I think we need to make up for all those lost months of payback," Nettie smirked and punched Lauren in the nose. She felt a crack and blood began flowing from both nostrils. For about a minute and a half Lauren endured endless beatings from all three girls.

She summoned her last ounce of strength and dashed for the bathroom door. She ran down the corridor and turned endless corners and went down endless hallways. The girls were on hot pursuit behind her. They were jeering and yelling as they slowly caught up with her. Lauren saw an open cupboard and seized her chance to hide. She closed the door behind her and sat in darkness....waiting.

She heard their footsteps stop and another two sets appear.

Notes