Free Awakening by Catrina Burgess

landscape slowly began
to change. Large brick buildings and warehouses gave way to rows of
small white houses. I had finally stumbled into a neighborhood. Now
I just needed to find someone to help me.
    The sound of music filled the air. I
changed direction and followed the loud thumping bass booms echoing
on the wind. A few blocks up I came upon a house in the midst of a
party. Bodies crowded the front yard, and even more were trying to
cram their way into the front door. Partygoers had parked, and
double parked, a couple of dozen cars sat along the street and a
few had pulled up onto the sidewalk. As I got closer, the music
became so loud I could feel the vibration of it against my
skin.
    A blue mustang roared up the street
and came to a sudden halt in front of the house. A group of girls
about my age piled out of the car. I quickened my steps and headed
in their direction.
    “ Can you help me?” I yelled
over the music.
    One of the girls stopped and stared.
“What happened?”
    I realized I must look a sight in my
torn top and jeans--my clothes and arms splashed with
dirt.
    “ I was attacked. I need
help getting home.”
    The girl called to her friends, who
were heading toward the house, “Hey, Amy, do you have my phone?
We’ve gotta call the police. Somebody mugged this girl.”
    I moved quickly to her side and
gestured with my hands. “No police. I don’t think I could deal with
all their questions right now. I just need…I need to get home. Can
you help me?”
    “ You sure you don’t want
the cops?” She was standing next to me now. Her expression was one
of sympathy.
    “ I can pay you once I get
back. I don’t have money on me now.” Any money I had was in my
jacket pocket back at Luke’s place. “But if you can get me home I
can get you some cash.”
    She shouted to her friends, “Hey, Amy
you wanted to get some food, right? Let’s go get some before we
head back into the party.” She turned back toward me. “Sure, we can
give a lift.”
    She motioned for me to follow her. She
opened the car door, and I got in. Soon four girls piled in after
me, squeezing me tightly between bodies in the back
seat.
    One of the girls asked, “Carla who’s
your new friend?” Then she asked me directly, “What happened to
you? Did you roll in the mud?”
    Before I could answer Carla shouted
from the front seat, “She needs a ride. She was mugged. What do you
think? We can give her a ride and then go get something to
eat?”
    A choir of voices shouted out in
unison “Yeah” and “Sounds good.”
    Carla turned and looked back at me
from the front seat. “Where do you want to go?”
    I gave her directions and laid my head
against the backseat.
    Carla turned up the radio and music
blaring the car roared down the street.
    * * * *
    I’m not sure how far we traveled. I’d
closed my eyes and only opened them when I heard a chorus of voices
singing, “We’re here!”
    We were in front of the magic shop. I
made a not-so-gracious exit, stepping on a few feet and hitting one
girl in the shoulder with my elbow on my way out.
    “ Sorry. Excuse me. Oops,” I
said finally pulling myself out of the car.
    I walked around the driver’s window,
and motioned for Carla to lower it. “I’ve some money upstairs. If
you wait, I can run up and get it.”
    She shook her head. “Don’t worry about
it.”
    I gave her a wide smile. “Thanks for
the ride.” Without her help, I could have been wandering the
streets all night.
    Carla smiled back, and the car took
off.
    The door to the magic shop had been
smashed in. I made my way cautiously into the shop. The place was a
mess. Someone had broken every piece of glass in the room. Items
once neatly stacked on shelves were now covering the floor. Ripped
books lay piled around.
    It had taken a brutal streak of
violence to tear the place up like that. As I stood in the middle
of the wreckage a chill ran down my spine, and my thoughts turned
to Luke. The last time I had seen him,