Beautiful, Deadly. - 3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Alex felt fine. He had slept long and deep. No nightmares, no headaches. He felt one hundred times better.

Casey was a different story, though.

He looked restless and a little pale. He said he was fine, and he didn’t have a fever… but he was starting to sweat some again.

“Let’s get some food in you, okay?” Alex said. He left Casey wrapped up in bed sheets and went off campus.

Alex drove around, finally tracking down a rare health food store. Now was not the time to be putting any kind of crappy food into Casey’s stomach. There, Alex bought an assortment of power bars and dried fruit. He grabbed some cold waters out of a cooler and headed back to school as fast as he could.

He got the water into Casey and then offered some dried apricots. Casey put one in his mouth and cringed. “It tastes disgusting,” he complained.

“That’s just because you’re sick. Eat it anyways,” Alex insisted.

“I have class in an hour…” Casey pointed out.

“Eat some, and then I’ll walk you to your class okay? Some food is better than none.” Alex forced a few more dried fruits into Casey’s mouth. Casey wasn’t happy about it but he took them anyways. He ate one of the power bars Alex had brought too, and finished off a water.

Alex felt hopeful with that. It may not have been a full meal, but he wasn’t going to let Casey not eat. Casey got dressed and headed for his class. Alex walked with him and mingled outside the lecture hall even after Casey had gone inside.

Alex was worried.

Maybe this was some sort of bug Casey had picked up at the party. He wanted it to be. He wanted it to be something curable, that would go away after a couple of days of good eating and some rest.

Somehow he knew it wasn’t any of that.

Alex went back to their dorm room and sat on his bed, trying to think. Even though that headache came back, he tried to remember.

He had been warned not to accept food or drink, but from who? The word stranger would fit in there so easily, but he knew that wasn’t right. Maybe it would come if he thought about something else. He tried to recall that voice he had heard the day before—a woman’s voice, talking to him.

He had a partial image of her, just snippets of her face. Nothing he could put together to remember entirely who she was.

The headache was getting severe again, so Alex had to stop. He swallowed two painkillers and curled up in bed, thinking of trees. He used to like trees. He didn’t mind living in the middle of nowhere, really.

As his headache subsided, he started to doze. At some point, two hours passed and Casey returned from his class.

“Any better?” Alex asked instantly. He wouldn’t tell Casey about that headache again. That wasn’t important right now.

“No,” Casey murmured, found a trashcan, and promptly threw up everything Alex had made him eat.

Alex rushed over and wrapped an arm around Casey’s shoulder. He kept spitting up and gagging into the bucket, crying as he did so. Finally he managed to stop, and Alex wiped his roommates face with a towel. He gave some water to rinse with, and took the trash out. He cleaned the bin out and sprayed it with some lemon-scented disinfectant.

Back in the dorm room, Casey was curled up in bed, holding his stomach.

“Does it hurt?” Alex asked carefully, setting the trash bin by Casey’s bed.

“No, I don’t know…” Casey whimpered, eyes tearing up. “I’m hungry. I want to eat, but… nothing tastes good, and I can’t keep any of it down.”

Alex sat on the floor and placed a hand on Casey’s arm. Something was wrong. Izzy was wrong. This had to do something with Izzy, something with that drink he had given to Casey.

“Listen, I have to go to class. Stay in bed. When I come back, we’ll go somewhere, okay?” Alex spoke softly. Casey nodded and didn’t answer.

Alex left for his class, and willed it to be over faster. As soon as it ended he rushed back to his room, where Casey hadn’t moved. Luckily he hadn’t vomited anymore, either.

Alex hauled him out to the student lot and into his car. He buckled Casey in and tried to remember where Izzy lived. Finally he found the familiar loft building. Since it was the middle of the week, there was no booming party going on.

He helped Casey out of the car and into the elevator, to the top floor. Alex knocked furiously on the door until it opened, revealing Izzy.

Izzy took in the sight of Casey leaning on Alex and smirked. “That took longer than I thought,” he said playfully and let the two boys in.

“What the f*ck did you give him?” Alex demanded, staying in the doorway.

“Just some alcohol,” Izzy sang over his shoulder. “A special kind. That’s what he wants.”

“He’s not drinking anymore of that,” Alex snapped.

“If he doesn't, he’ll just get worse,” Izzy stuck his bottom lip out in a pout. “His body is craving it. It won’t accept anything else. He won’t eat anything, am I right?”

Alex didn’t answer. “Did you put drugs in it or something?”

“No,” Izzy laughed, the tone high and strange. Musical. “It’s just that good.”

“Stop f*cking around!” Alex snarled, feeling Casey sag against him. “I don’t know what the f*ck you are or what that drink is. I’ll call the cops, and get you arrested for all that weird stuff you have back there. Narcotics.”

Izzy only laughed again. “Oh, sweetie. Best not to mention anything in front of your friend here.” Izzy stepped closer, locking eyes with Casey. “Do you want some more? I have more.”

Casey’s eyes got wide and hopeful. “Can I?”

“No,” Alex said and jerked Casey slightly. “That's what messed you up in the first place. Why would you want more?” He glared at Izzy. “Is there something to make him better?”

“The only thing that’s going to make him better is more of that drink,” Izzy answered, completely serious. “Come in and talk with me. You seem to have some better sense than the rest of them.”

“It’s common sense not to take drinks from strangers!” Alex knew that wasn’t the right word for Izzy, but it was all he could come up with.

Izzy smiled softly and turned his attention back to Casey. “Come on, I have some more for you. In fact, I have some other drinks you might like, too. All of them taste like candy. Impossibly sweet. You can’t get them anywhere else.”

“Alex, let me,” Casey pleaded.

“No.” It wasn’t right. Casey shouldn’t be needing this stuff. What ever he drank at the party… Alex should have stopped him sooner. Then they wouldn’t be here at all, and Casey would be fine. “You’ll… once it’s out of your system, you’ll get better.”

That’s how it worked with drugs, right? People could quit. Withdrawal was always bad, but they eventually pulled through. Casey was just going through withdrawal. He had only had it once, so as long as he didn’t have it again…

“It doesn’t work like that.” Izzy got closer again. “You knew better already, Alex. I don’t know why you didn’t stop your friend.”

“Alex, please. I’m hungry. I want to be able to eat!” Casey protested, starting to struggle against Alex’s protective arms. “I’ll only have one drink,” Casey promised.

“You shouldn’t,” Alex bit out angrily.

Casey wiggled his way out and stumbled over to Izzy. “I can have some more?” Casey asked, looking like a hopeful puppy.

“Just one,” Izzy smiled.

Alex bristled, ready to do something about it. Then Izzy sent a look his way. “Don’t interfere. You’re safe. Let’s keep it that way.”

Alex swallowed hard.

“Don’t feel bad about it,” Izzy added. “As long as you’re safe, you don’t really care about him, right?” Izzy tilted his head to the side. “That's how humans work, after all.”

There. He wasn’t human. He wasn’t f*cking human! Alex wanted to scream, to get Casey away. He wanted to kill Izzy. Would he die, though?

Izzy led Casey off into the loft, into that room full of drinks. Alex warily followed, his stomach feeling like stone. He should be doing something. Casey was his friend. But he had been getting sick—he was so helpless against it.

Casey drained one glass of the pink liquor. Within minutes, he seemed almost healthy again. After the third drink, he was admiring everything. He held the glass up to the light and was dumbfounded by it’s beauty. How beautiful everything looked.

“Stop it,” Alex demanded, having seen enough now.

Izzy chuckled and held up his hands in surrender. “I have some food, Casey. Do you want some food?”

“No,” Alex answered.

“I do.” Casey smiled giddily.

Izzy got up from the couch and started to leave the room. He bumped shoulders with Alex on the way out.

Alex rushed over to Casey on the couch. “Come on, you’ve had your drinks. Let’s get out of here.”

“But I want some food,” Casey protested, tears coming to his eyes. “I’ll just have one bite, okay?”

No, this wasn’t okay! Alex shouldn’t have let him drink. Not earlier, and not at that party. He knew something was wrong, but he didn’t stop Casey. He only protected himself. Alex felt dread swamp him.

Was Izzy right? Did Alex only care about himself? No. He could have abandoned Casey, but he didn’t. That had to count for something, right?

Izzy came back in with a plate of food. Casey perked up eagerly, taking in the sight of everything. Pastries covered the plate, covered in frosted decorations. They looked and smelled amazing, even to Alex.

It was the perfection of them that had Alex screaming something wasn’t right about the food either.

“Casey, come on, or I’ll leave you here,” Alex threatened.

Casey seemed un-phased.

“Go ahead,” Izzy teased. “He’ll do better without you anyways. The more you try to keep him away, the sicker he’ll get. Do you want to see him suffer like that?”

Casey picked up one of the pastries and sunk his teeth into it. He let out a moan of satisfaction. “This is amazing,” he said around the food in his mouth. “Alex, you have to try this.”

“Your friend can’t have any, I don’t like him,” Izzy said matter-of-factly.

“But Alex is my friend…” Casey went all doe-eyed on Izzy.

“He’s trying to keep you away from all of this good food. He’s going to make you sick that way. Should he really be your friend?” Izzy pointed out.

Alex had heard enough. He grabbed the plate of food and went to the door. “Come on, Casey, we’ll take these home with us.

Casey hopped off the couch and followed, ignoring the glare from Izzy. Alex left the loft with his friend, and they went down the elevator. Alex stared at the food, wondering what to do with it. He couldn’t throw it away—what if someone else found them and ate them, and then…

No. he had to get rid of them. Casey couldn’t be tempted with them again. Alex went around to the side of the building and found a dumpster. He dumped the food in, brightly colored and perfect against the rest of the dingy trash.

Casey started wailing. “Alex, why did you do that?” He screamed at the top of his lungs, running towards the dumpster.

Alex caught him around the waist and struggled to hold him back.

“You wasted them! How mean! I can still eat them, the five minute rule, Alex!”

Alex ignored the screaming and forced Casey back into the car. He sped away from the building. Casey screams turned into crying.

“That was so mean. I could have eaten them all… why do you hate me, Alex? Why are you so mean?”

Alex tried not to hear Casey’s complaints, tried to ignore the hurtful things Casey was saying. Alex didn’t hate him. Alex wasn’t trying to be mean.