Burn it Down

~Luke's POV~

When I finally pulled up to the house after what felt like an eternity, I hung up the phone and turned the car off. I popped Megan's trunk and closed the car door, wandering over to the now open trunk, where I did my best to feel for the metal baseball bat Megan kept back here. I didn't know how many people were here and what they were here for. My guess would be to get stoned or something, but I took zero chances.

The garage hid the car from the side street, and was caddy cornered from the house, and they were separated by overgrown grass. You always had to run through it, or ticks would find you and latch on. I nearly hovered over that grass with how fast I was running, the bat in both of my hands and ready to crash down on somebody's head.

There was only one street light keeping this place lit up at all, so by the time I placed my foot lightly on the first step and put my head to the door to listen, it was pitch black. I couldn't hear anything inside but low whimpering so I immediately opened that door and flew in.

"Megan?!" I asked, looking around. I couldn't see her, but I could hear her whimpers and laughs. She was so close. I walked around the couch and saw her. "Holy shit!" I threw the bat down onto the couch and scooped Megan up, who was crying weakly, in the corner between the back of the couch and the wall. She was naked and dirty and frozen.

"Don't touch me, don't touch me!" She howled, her body crunched into a ball. I let off and leaned back a little, much to the ignorance of my own instinct.

"Sweetheart, it's okay. It's just me. Will you look up at me?" I asked quietly, sitting down on the ground with her.

She peeked through her fingers at me then lunged herself into my arms. "Luke!"

I wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly. "It's me. You're safe. What happened to all of your clothes, why are you naked?"

She looked around, confused and unsure for a second. "Tyler...he asked Tiffany to take them off...but I don't know where they are now."

"Okay." I told her. I tried not to sound pissed off to make her even more afraid than she already was. "Where did the man go?"

"There was a man?" She asked me quietly.

"Yeah, he was talking to you. You said he had fire for hands." As I said that, I could see the fear in her eyes.

"I don't know, Luke. I don't remember. I'm scared. The walls are breathing and I'm hearing them whisper red, mean things to me. I want to go home. Will you take me home now?"

"Yeah, I'll take you home. Let's get everything we can find and we'll get out of here."

I searched the couch and found only her panties and cellphone, buried in between the cushion. I helped her into her panties, and took off my hoodie to put over her.

"Do you know where your shoes are?" I asked as I helped her put her arms into the hoodie.

"I took them off when I came in, because the grass was wet. I..." She looked around again. "By the couch?"

I lifted one arm of the car and found a pair of flats and used my own foot to scoot them out from under the bottom of the couch. Megan stepped her feet into them and shivered.

"Luke," She said, her voice shivering. "I'm sorry."

"I am too." I told her, sighing sadly. "Come on before you freeze to death."

She tried walking over to me, but she could barely do it. I knew she'd not be able to run across that patch of grass, and walking would only get us covered in ticks, so I grabbed the bat and told her to wait at the door.

Jogging across the grass, I threw the bat into the back seat, and backed the car off the small cement space and rolled it across the grass and pulled up the door as close as I could. I was practically on the step. I got back out of the car and picked Megan up and put her in the car before turning back to close the door of the house and jogging back to the side of the car. I got in and closed the door and eased the car off the grass and back onto the street.

"Why'd you bring Tyler and Tiffany here, why didn't you go to one of their houses?" I asked after I had got onto the freeway.

Megan didn't respond but I knew she heard me. While she was sitting there shivering, I grew even more mad that Tyler would have just ditched her after he couldn't get into her pants. He'd always given me shit about her not being his type. My fucking ass. It was probably more Tiffany's idea since she was bisexual, but I didn't think Tyler wouldn't have taken advantage of it.

"That was our spot and I wanted to be close to you again. But I didn't want to go by myself since I was scared, so I asked them if they'd come and we could hang out there."

And they'd left her. Jesus Christ I intended on shoving my left foot up Tyler's ass.

"Did they give you drugs, or were they yours?" I treaded lightly. I knew better than to ask questions I didn't want to know the answers to.

The street lights were probably like strobes to her and that didn't help her at all so she was covering her eyes, but she still whimpered. I didn't know what she was seeing.

"They were Tiffany's. She got them off of Danny Heckler."

"What did she give you?" I was back in Denver, although still about 10 minutes away from my exit.

"Some mushrooms and acid."

"Did you take both?"

"Yes. I was stupid and took everything she gave me. Too much, Luke it's too much. It feels like I'm flying like a bird. I'm so high up and if I open my eyes now I'm gonna fall and die."

"I promise you, you're on the ground. You won't fall. Or die."

After a few moments, she opened her eyes but I could tell shit still looked a lot different for her.

As I came on an exit, I pulled onto it. It wasn't the one I had originally intended, but I decided I might as well go for it. I turned down a few streets off the exits and rolled up to Tiffany's house, and sure enough, her and Tyler's cars were both there.

"Where are we?" Megan asked.

"I'm just giving Tyler his phone back. It'll be okay."

I got out of the car after I parked it on the street. I walked up the driveway to the small house and banged on the door twice.

It took about 3 minutes but finally Tyler answered the door, groggy as shit.

"Hey how's it going?" I asked, with mock pleasantness.

"Do you know what time it is?" Tyler asked, like he was offended.

"Oh yeah, I do. I know very well what time it is."

"Well what do you want?" He rubbed his eyes.

"You left Megan alone in Littleton tripping balls by herself?!" I said, shoving his cell phone at him.

"FUCK!" Tyler's eyes shot open. "I forgot about her. I'm sorry man. We meant to come back and I guess we just passed out. I swear it was an accident!"

"Yeah, I'm sure. But she wasn't the only one there, you know."

"I thought you just said..."

"No, she was alone, but not the only one in the house. I don't know who it was, because by the time I got there, he was fucking gone."

"Man, I'm sorry...I didn't me--"

"Shut the fuck up. You're so fucking lucky you left your cellphone. She couldn't find hers and if she hadn't had yours, she would have stayed there alone for who the fuck knows how long."

"I said I'm sorry."

"Sorry won't cut it. Why the fuck did you ask Tiffany to strip her down? Hm? Why the fuck was she butt ass naked when I got there? I don't know how long she was there alone, but it's fucking November now. Fucking cold, if you hadn't noticed. Even in that house it's too fucking cold."

I saw his face grow vacant. That was his response to shame and being backed into a corner.

"Whoever was in the house thought it'd be funny to steal all of her clothes. The only thing she has left is her shoes and panties because you couldn't control your dick. Good going."

"Luke, man come on."

"Nah, I thought you'd want your cellphone back. I've got to clean Megan up. She's filthy and frozen." I turned and left, ignoring everything Tyler said as I got back into Megan's car and took the long way back home.

Megan was silent and I didn't know why, but I let her be quiet if she wanted. When I pulled up into her driveway she finally piped up.

"No, take me home, Luke. I want to go home."

"This is your home, Megan. This is your house." I told her quietly.

"I didn't mean my house. I meant home. I want to go home with you. Can I go home with you?"

I looked at her and finally understood what she meant. Her home with me in it, not just her house. That was what she had wanted. I cracked half a smile. "Yeah. You can come home with me."

We got out and I replaced the key in the rock that wasn't a rock and took Megan's arm so she wouldn't fall. I tried to walk us quickly so she wouldn't get too cold, but she was already shivering. But for as cold as I knew she was, she didn't complain. She never complained.