Read Online Beneath the Tor by Nina Milton - Free Book Online

balling them into pairs.
    â€œNorthville. Me and a mate.”
    â€œI’m impressed. Does this mean you’re sticking to the promotion you got?”
    â€œThey’ve made it permanent. Not bad, eh?”
    â€œShocking.” I continued to ball the socks. “Den, do you remember those so-called legal highs you had once?”
    â€œEr …” Dennon looked me over, trying to spot the trick in my question. “Sort of.”
    â€œHow much do you know about that drug?”
    â€œCome on, Sabbie, you were the one that was all over the Internet about it. You’re the one with the facts.”
    â€œI’m trying to remember. Para-meth -something? PMA, and lots of pretty names for it too. Pink Lady?”
    â€œDr. Death, we called it. Some guy round my mate’s place, he had some. We bought half a doz each. Thought they’d be the same as E.”
    â€œWeren’t they the same?”
    â€œYeah and no. They were bloody amazing, but mad. One minute there’s nothing there at all, and the next, you’re trippin’ balls.”
    â€œSo you did take it?”
    â€œWe all popped one and sat round, waiting. Waiting and waiting. Bark, he couldn’t wait no longer, took another … two, maybe. I didn’t bother, I was on the beer. Then I started feeling really horny.”
    â€œEugh,” I said. “Too much information.”
    â€œBut not high, is my point. Not for a bit. We stuck the music up on max and suddenly I was smashed, right along with all the others. We was flyin’ round Kyle’s house to the sounds. Then Bark went onto his knees. He was sort of retching, y’know? I took his pulse.”
    â€œ You ? How did you know where to find it?”
    â€œI watch Casualty , don’t I? Anyway, it was fast, man, racing like a pro.”
    â€œWas he hot?”
    â€œYeah, and he knew it. S’if he had rabies or something, he was scrabbling at his clothes, stripping them off, panting. We got him under the armpits and he sort of squealed, like a pig, but we dragged him into the garden.”
    â€œCool air. Good thinking.”
    â€œYeah, ’cept my heart was doing about a million to a minute by then. It made me panicky. I could see why Bark was squealing all the time, just layin’ there on the patio, making these piggy noises.”
    â€œAnd you didn’t think to call an ambulance?”
    â€œAre you kiddin’, man? This was Kyle’s house, his mum would’ve killed him!”
    I shook my head. I’d forgotten about balling socks; they lay limp in my hands. “What happened in the end?”
    â€œHe was okay. We all came out kicking. It was the scariest experience of my life.”
    â€œAnd that’s saying something.”
    â€œIt was the panic. You go totally down the rat hole. I’m not ’xactly a panicky person, would you say?”
    â€œNo, Den, I’d say you were generally mellow.”
    â€œFor ages after that, slightest thing would set me off. Sweatin’ and dizzy and not seeing proper, like club lighting strobing into my brain.”
    I remembered Stefan, his eyes red hot. Had Wolfs been right about spiking the flying tea?
    â€œIt kinda did make me think some,” Den was saying. “After, I mean. Like, what is a high, really?”
    â€œD’you mean, what is real ecstasy? For me, it’s the joy of being a shaman. That’s as close to the divine as I reckon I’ll ever be getting.”
    â€œYeah, sort of that. And you—God, Sabbie—you’re such a good role model for me.”
    â€œI am ?”
    â€œYeah, like, you got your head sorted, and you went and did your degree, and like … you’re happy .”
    I paused. Happy? Not this day. “I’ve just watched someone die.”
    â€œShit, no!” Dennon rocked back. “Did they take something?”
    â€œI’m sure we’ll find out. They’ll be doing the