A Particular Needle

We left the beach around five because of Clarity's plan to go to Coco Bongo. I'm still not sure about this place.

The only clothes we brought were tons of swimsuits, tons of short dresses, a pair of jean shorts, and a few shirts. Not to mention we all shared a luggage full of shoes. Jenna, Taylor and I all picked a dress easily, but Clarity tried on four dresses before she decided on which one. It was dark purple and had layers of frills and a black bow on a lace coming across the waist. The straps tied behind her neck. She looked really good in it.

"I want to wear this one," she announced. "Venus, can you pass me the purple eyeshadow? I'm gonna need the liner too."

I went into the bathroom where Jenna and Taylor were finishing their makeup. I grabbed what Clarity asked for and handed it to her. She decided to do her makeup in the mirror in the front entrance, which meant I had to hold all her makeup for her since there was no counter. While she took forever with the eyeshadow, I put some liner on and then added lip gloss. I was good to go.

"Clare, can you please hurry up?" Taylor begged.

Clarity added one last rhinestone to her eye makeup design and smiled at her reflection in the mirror. She definitely looked good, but man did she ever over do it.

"I'm ready now," she declared.

We all headed out and took a taxi to Coco Bongo.

*****

We've been in Coco Bongo for a little less than an hour. I've mentally determined our stats:

Me
Drinks: Two
Times hit on: Eight
Guys numbers accepted: None
Status: Having Fun

Jenna
Drinks: Three
Times hit on: Five
Guys numbers accepted: Five
Status: Having A LOT of Fun

Taylor
Drinks: Six
Times hit on: Eleven
Guys numbers accepted: Two
Status: A Little Crazy

Clarity
Drinks: Lost count
Times hit on: Lost count
Guys numbers: Lost count
Status: Complete Mess

Clarity was stumbling on the dance floor. Jenna, Taylor and I watched from the bar.

"We need to get her out of here," I told them.

I looked over to notice Taylor talking to another guy and Jenna being the only one listening.

"Taylor, we're leaving," Jenna tried to tell her, but she was too busy making out with the guy she just met. Jenna looked back at me. "Someone has to stay here with her."

I nodded. "Yeah, you're right. You stay here with Taylor and I'll take Clarity back to the hotel."

It was pathetic how the night was still young and Clarity had already vomited twice. She just kept going, the little party girl she is. I knew some guy would try to take advantage of her if we stayed here, so I got her out. She put her arm around my neck and I held her up from the back. I tried to keep her steady as we walked down the street. The only reason I'm glad she's this drunk is because any less and she wouldn't have left with me.

"I'm going to be sick," Clarity cried.

She lost all the fun out of being drunk and was now just upset. I took her into a crowded bar, not the best idea I'll admit, but it was the closest place that would have a bathroom. We went to the girls room and I showed her the direction of a stall.

"There you go," I sighed.

She immediately started vomiting. I hated being the one who had to look after Clarity.

My phone started vibrating and I pulled it out of my bra, because that's where we all store our phones. It was Jenna.

"Hey Jen, have you left yet?"

All I could hear was crackling and static on the other end. I was guessing it was because I was inside. I knocked on the stall door Clarity was in.

"Yeah?" Clarity groaned.

"Clare, listen to me. I'm going outside to talk to Jenna. Don't you DARE leave this stall, okay?"

"Okay," she mumbled.

I left the bar and stood on the street. It started raining so I tried to shield myself under the awning they had, but it didn't do too much when the wind came. I called Jenna back.

"Venus?"

"Jen, hey, where are you?"

"We've finally left. We couldn't track down a taxi, so we're on the bus back to our hotel. Where are you?"

"Some bar. We were walking down the street and Clarity said she was gonna be sick."

"How are you getting back?"

"I guess we're going to have to get on a bus."

"Ha-ha alright. I gotta go, my battery is gonna die."

"Okay, see you soon."

I hung up and rushed back inside to get Clarity. I went into the bathroom, calling her name, but no answer. 'She probably passed out,' was my first thought. Then I checked her stall, but she wasn't there. Now I'm freaking out and I started checking every stall and screaming her name. I run out of the bathroom and through the crowds of people while yelling for her.

I see her. She's near the exit. A man all in black is escorting her out. All I can see is the back of him.

"Clarity!" I scream until my throat burns.

It looks as if he's dragging her along, which means she must not be conscious. There's so many people here, if she was awake, they would have easily stopped him. No one knew who Clarity was and all I was getting were strange looks. I screamed and begged people to help me as I ran along, but no one did. I fought my way through the heavy, gross men using my elbows and nails. I could feel myself digging my nails into people's shoulders as I battled my way through to the front. Clarity wasn't here.

I ran out on the street still calling for her. I frantically looked up and down the street, asking people if they'd seen her. I was in hysterics and out of breath, but I kept running and searching. I took the entire block in my stilettos, but she was nowhere. All I could think about was the killer.

I stopped running and took a second to breathe. I've never been so tired in my life, not to mention my ankles were killing me from my shoes. I couldn't stop, though. Clarity couldn't be far and I needed to find her. My makeup was smudged all over my face since I was crying and had been wiping my tears.

"This isn't happening," I bawled. "Please, no!"

I was tired and began to fall to the ground when a pair of lanky arms caught me. They pulled me up straight and turned me to face their owner.

"What are you doing? Are you alright?" he asked. We looked at each other for a second. He squinted. "Venus? What happened?"

"She's missing! I lost her, okay?! I lost Clarity, Spence!" I cried.

"Whoa, whoa, okay, calm down," he whispered. "Come back to the hotel with Morgan and me and we'll figure this all out."

I got in the back of their FBI rental car. Spencer sat in the back with me while Morgan drove. I spent the whole drive crying my eyes out with Spencer attempting to comfort me.

*****

I was sitting on one of their hotel beds, staring at the wall. Morgan had told Jenna and Taylor what happened, he was over there right now. Spencer finally sat down beside me.

"We've been sitting here for almost three hours," he pointed out, "And you haven't told us a single thing."

"Can you find her?" I asked him. "Don't lie to me. If you can't, then tell me now."

"Your hands are covered in blood."

"It's not mine," I told him.

He got up and grabbed me a wet cloth. Since I wasn't moving, he wiped my hands for me. "Whose is it?"

"I don't know. I was clawing people at the bar. They wouldn't get the hell out of my way."

"Sounds like you had a rough night."

"What have I done?"

Spencer tilted my head so we were looking at each other. "It's not your fault at all."

"Right and how many other people do you say that to?" I asked as I got up from the bed. "Do you say that to women who snap and kill their husband? Do you say it to mentally insane people who go on killing sprees? When you find this serial killer, is that what you're going to tell him, too?!"

"Venus, how could you have prevented this from happening?" He was standing now too and we were in each others face.

"I shouldn't have left her! Why did I leave her? I didn't think she'd pass out or leave the stall! I don't even know what happen, Spence!"

I kept calling him Spence. I'm not sure why I did it, but it just came out so naturally.

"If you want to help us find her, we're going to have to ask you a few questions. Can you be ready by nine o'clock tomorrow morning?"

"Yeah," I sighed. Nine o'clock tomorrow morning wasn't soon enough.

"Great," he said. "Right now, you should probably get some sleep."

"No, I can't go back to my room. I can't face Jenna and Taylor, I won't do it."

"Well you could always crash here," he offered.

"Are you sure that's permitted, Agent Reid?" I smirked. It wasn't playfully, either.

"You know, you never waited for my answer."

"Oh really? Well what would your answer have been?"

"My answer would have been that I'd..." His eyes met mine and he paused for a second. "Um...I'd love to hang out, sometime...with you." He nodded awkwardly as he spoke.

I smiled faintly. "So who am I sharing a bed with?"