Running Wild in the Night

Brian's POV

"Nikki never came home."

We all stared at Jimmy as he walked into homeroom. Apparently when she ran off last night, she didn't go straight home. In fact, Nikki disappeared all together. The last anyone's seen of her was her running down the street.

That worried me. The fact that she's in a place that she has no clue where anything is. Nikki's lived her whole life in Colorado and now is in California. She's only been here for a couple of months but the most she's seen is her house, my house, Zacky's house, the park, and her psychiatrist’s office. That's not a lot and I know that’s not enough for her to know where to go and how to get around.

"How about after school, we go look for her," Val suggested.

"Yeah, that's a good idea."

"But where do we start."

Everyone stared at me, Jimmy actually glared at me. It was might fault she ran off. "Jimmy, I'm sorry. I didn't know!"

"I know but I'm worried about her," he said, running a hand through his hair, "I'm scared of where she is and what she's doing."

"Do you think she's back to chasing dragons," Matt asked.

"I hope not. But you never know. Nikki's always been really good at hiding things."

I stared out the window, not really paying attention to the rest of the conversation. I knew that it was my fault that she ran off. I just didn't know that she liked me. Jimmy was right: Nikki was good at hiding things. If I knew that she liked me then I would have broken up with Janene earlier. I did last night after Nikki ran off. But still. I wouldn't have even brought Janene. I would have ended it.

But no, I was stupid and didn't see it.

"Where could she be," I whispered to myself.

Nikki's POV

"Nikki?"

I woke up from my drinking spree last night. I didn't start with the heroin yet, I just needed a drink. I looked around to see that I was in some apartment that I didn't recognize. It wasn't like any of the shitty crack houses one typically thinks of. Its like some average apartment. No one could tell that this was a crack house.....good thing I chose to call Danni first.

"You awake?"

I turned my head to see Danni standing there. She was in her early twenties, red hair, brown eyes, freckles......she'd make a good model aside from the fact that she was a drug dealer.

"Yeah, I'm awake," I said, rubbing my eyes.

I got up to realize that I was laying on the couch. Danni handed me a glass of water and some Advil, knowing that I probably gave myself a hangover from last night's drinking spree. "I just got some smack this morning," she whispered as she sat down next to me.

My eyes shifted towards her as I drank the water. "Bring it."

A smile crept onto her lips as she went to get some.

Did it matter to me that here I am, in Los Angeles, staying at a dealer's place, about to take my first shot of heroin in a long time?

Did it bother me that there possibly where people worried about me?

Sadly, no. None of that mattered to me. All I wanted was my fucking drugs. It had been so long and heroin was my love. I had a love affair with a drug. Liquor was nothing compared to the rush I felt when I had heroin. It was fucking amazing. Knowing that I was getting what I wanted made me feel good.

Brian's POV

We all went to Jimmy's house to search Nikki's room for any clues as to where she had gone. Val was going through her dresser, Jimmy was going through the desk, Matt was looking through her books, Johnny was checking under the bed, and Zacky was checking her art supplies. I looked in her closet and saw her dirty clothes lying there. That wouldn't have bothered me until I saw a piece of paper sticking out of one of the pockets of her jeans. I pulled it out and looked at it. "Danni Morrison. 323-415-5415.......isn't LA's area code 323?"

"Yeah, why," asked Jimmy as he continued going through her papers.

"Because I found a name and a number and the area code is 323."

"323," Val asked.

I nodded and she pulled out a piece of paper with a list of numbers and names. All of which were all numbers whose area code was 323. "I think she's in Los Angeles," Val said as she read the names.

"Numbers from Morgan? Who's Morgan," Johnny asked as he looked at the top of the sheet.

That's name caused Jimmy to drop a book. He stared at the wall and said, "Morgan was her drug dealer........."

It then clicked. We realized why she had all these numbers. "She found a dealer in Los Angeles and that's where she is!"

"My first bet is with Danni Morrison," Zacky said, taking the number from my hand, "There has to be a reason why her number was in Nikki's pocket."

Nikki's POV

I watched as the needle take all the heroin in, my tongue licking my lips as I waited. I needed this so badly.

What about Brian?

I blinked as the thought came. What about Brian? He doesn't care about me, he has his girlfriend or slut or whatever she is. I'm better off with this love affair. At least with this one, I won’t get heartbroken.

Are you sure?

Why am I mentally battling myself over this? I don't need him.

"Nikki, do you want to do this or shall I?"

I looked at Danni and said, "You can do this."

She nodded and injected the needle into my arm. That's when all hell broke loose and everything went black.

Brian's POV

We got to Los Angeles and sat in a fast food joint. Matt was going through a phone book, looking for Danni Morrison's address. Suddenly the door opened and a woman walked in. She had red hair and an amazing body. "Oh hey, Danni, do you need your coffee today?"

When we heard what her name was, we all got up. Jimmy beat us to her and asked, "Would your last name be Morrison?"

She looked at him and nodded slowly. "Yeah........why?"

"Do you know a Nicole, prefers to be called Nikki, McCade?"

Her face turned pale as she began walking out. "No, never heard of her."

We followed her and as soon as we got to the nearest alley, I grabbed her and pushed her against the wall. "You're lying. We know Nikki went to you so why don't you make life easier and tell us where she is," I growled.

"I can't," Danni whispered.

"Why the hell not?!?!"

"Brian, don't kill her," Matt said, trying to calm me don.

How could I calm down when a girl that I did care about was missing and this piece of shit was my only clue?

"Tell me where the hell Nikki is!"

"Her body's in the dumpster," Danni said, sobbing.

"Why the fuck is she there?"

"She overdosed."

I let go and stared at her, walking backwards. Nikki......overdosed?