(Copyright Piper Hannah and subject to edits.)
The living room was turned into a dance floor. I pulled Sam into the living room, and we started dancing. We were dancing a little bit too closely, but it didn't matter. It was really packed. People kept bumping into us, pushing us together. It wasn't like Sam was doing it on purpose. Sam grabbed my hips, pulling us closer. Okay. Now he was doing it on purpose, and I let him. What the heck? I was young, and I happen to like Sam. I looked at Sam. I inched closer to him until our bodies were pressed together as we both danced to the beat of the music.
Sam ducked his head and whispered in my ear, “You look really cute tonight, Emma.” He slurred a bit. That’s because Sam already had three cups of beer. I was counting, and there was no way he was driving me home after the party.
“I know,” I replied. “I’m cute every night.” Sam kissed my cheek, and I could feel his smile when he kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his neck.
“Hell no.” I heard a male voice grumble from behind me. The voice was deep and scratchy. Grainy. Sexy. It was a voice that made a girl wonder who it belonged to. I turned around quickly, but there were only teenagers surrounding me, dancing. I shrugged and turned towards Sam, facing him again. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and Sam placed his hands on my waist.
“I said, HELL NO,” the voice said again. I actually felt his breath on my ear. That was when I felt two hands clamp around my hips from behind. Then, I was literally pulled away from Sam. My arms were yanked away from his neck. I bumped against several bodies as I was pulled away backwards. Then, I felt an arm wrap around my waist. I looked down, but I didn’t see an arm, which was really weird because I totally felt him.
I was pulled backwards. I clawed at the air in front of me. I would dig in my heels on the carpet, but my feet weren’t even touching the ground. I was floating, sort of, bent at the waist slightly, while an invisible arm dragged me backwards.
My heart was beating very fast, and I felt my heartbeat with one hand. I was having a panic attack, a heart attack, an asthma attack. All of the above. Oh, my God. I can’t breathe. I took several deep breaths. Breathe, Emma. You know how to breathe. I tried scratching the invisible arm that was wrapped around my waist, but the arm wouldn’t budge.
I looked around, my eyes wide and desperate, and my eyes locked with Sam’s. I saw his stunned face as he watched me being dragged away from the dance floor… and floating. Let’s not forget that I was floating. That’s the scary part. He looked down at my feet, and I saw the horror in his eyes. I could tell that Sam can’t keep it together much longer. He is about to lose it in about three seconds. Some screaming may be involved.
“You’re drunk,” I yelled at him. “This is not really happening.”
Sam looked into my eyes. I gave him two thumbs up. “I’m good. No worries, and you are so drunk right now,” I said very loudly. I don’t even know why I’m covering for the arm that was pulling me away. I should be screaming my head off and asking for help. Should. Would. Could… but I didn’t. Something really weird was happening, and when it comes to weird, I knew exactly who to call. My sister. She was the expert on everything weird. Somehow, I already knew that this was related to her, and she will get me out of it. She better.
