It was more of the champagne.
The contents spewed as I spit into the toilet. “I need water.”
“You have to drink this. You can’t ruin all my plans.” Grasping my hair, she pulled, tugging back my head. I cried out at the pain in my scalp as she tipped my face up and again brought the rim of the cup to my mouth.
Fighting, I sealed my lips together.
“Stop being difficult.” She held my nose between her fingers. It was as I gasped for air that she poured more liquid between my lips and held my chin high. Despite my efforts, to move, she held her hand over my mouth. Falling to my bottom on the tile floor, I swallowed as some of the contents dribbled down my chin and onto my dress.
Once she removed her hand, I pleaded, “Stop.”
The fair-haired woman looked down at me with a new expression. No longer the helpful woman from the store, her green gaze now showed disdain. And then she was gone.
I peered around the room.
My phone.
Faintly, I recalled my friends…Margaret and Vicki.
Where are they?
If I could just get up…
I put my hands on the rim of the toilet and moved to my knees. My hands and legs trembled. The room tilted and swayed. The new contents of my stomach lurched upward. Again, my head was over the toilet as I gagged and spit.
As colorful polka dots danced behind my eyelids, I recalled the new alarm system.
Van had told me how to call for help. There was a number on the keypad. No, it was a sequence of numbers. My phone. Albert. Van.
I laid my head on my arm.
My disjointed thoughts came too slowly to act on.
The bathroom door opened, banging against the wall. I squinted as the woman came my way. She was wearing my cape with the hood. Before I could speak, she stabbed something sharp into my arm.
“Ow,” I cried out.
The needle didn’t hurt as much as when she pushed the contents under my skin.
Fire.
Heat.
Pain.
I tried to scream.
Nothing came out.
“You really should learn to cooperate, Julia.”
The excruciating liquid circulated through my bloodstream. I wanted to claw at my skin, but I couldn’t move. Blinking, I lay on the bathroom floor watching the colors from the lights. The woman’s face was close as she knelt beside me.
As if I weren’t present, I watched as she lifted my hand and pulled my engagement ring from my finger.
I was here but not.
My eyelids blinked.