Blood in Wonderland

Chapter 2: Meet Sarah

As I closed the door of my university room, I felt relieved, but it only lasted a few seconds. I dropped my bag on the worktable and sighed. 

"Where were you? I texted you hundreds of times and you didn't even answer once!"

I didn't know what to say. Should I lie? Should I tell the truth? Maybe a bit of both?

"I got drunk and slept with a guy."

The words slipped out of my mouth without even thinking twice. I regretted it as they left my lips. Sarah would certainly ask me about him, and I did not want to lie more than I had to. She was my best friend... and I was a bad liar. 

"You're lying. What did you do?"

She saw right past through me. This girl knew me too well. Every secret, boy I slept with, passwords, she knew everything and, myself, knew everything about her. We met years ago and stayed at each other side since that day. 

"I told you."

"You're holding something back. What is it?"

I started biting my nails, a nervous habit I had. The nail polish was chipped off and the nails were not that short, it covered all my fingers' skin. Sarah grabbed my wrist and pulled it down. She shook her head and asked:

"What happened? Just tell me." 

I retraced my steps to the door and looked at the bag I had put on the table earlier. Even though the leather was a dark shade of blue, I could see drips of blood from when I picked it up with my hands. I could hear Daniel's voice in my head: 

"Here's your bag, I wanted to steal your money, but realized you didn't have any. Guess you really are a university's student." 

At the same moment, I saw dry spots of red under my nails and wanted to vomit. A few minutes ago, I was putting my fingers in my mouth, ingesting blood from this random guy that I surely did not kill. I did not kill someone; I was not that kind of drunk. 

"Valerie?"  

"Yeah. Sorry. I'm just looking for my phone. I want to check something." 

I opened my bag and furrowed my brows when I saw what was in it. It looked like the grey camisole that I was wearing under my blouse yesterday at the bar, after this horrendous date. I did not even realize I was not wearing it this morning because I was too panicked to think about a piece of cloth. I took it out and gulped when I saw the lace completely snatched and splatters of blood.

"What did you do last night? Don't you dare lie to me. Whose blood is it?" 

"I-I don't"

I was lost and confused. Should I go to the police?

"Last night, it didn't go well with this Charles guy. He didn't stop talking about himself, so I left the restaurant. I didn't want to come home, so I went into a bar I didn't know of, the Blood in Wonderland. It looks creepy on the outside, but kinda nice inside. I remember taking shots, a lot of them and then, blackout. The only thing I remember is this morning."

"What about this morning?"

"I woke up next to a stranger in an abandoned and creepy motel far from the main route. I had blood on me. I don't know what happened. He told me I killed the other guy, but-but I don't remember anything Sarah. You have to trust me, I don't remember." 

Tears blinded my sight. I could taste the saltiness of my tears and could feel the dryness of my cheeks. 

"OK, OK, OK."

After this, Sarah did not say another word. I looked at her, clear distress in my eyes.

"What, OK? What do I do now?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"OK. We should go to the police, they'll know what to do." 

Thoughts started rummaging through my mind. I could go to jail. Even myself did not know what I did. Every piece of evidence might point to me even if I did not do anything. Or did I? 

"No." 

"No? What do you mean no? There could be a killer on the loose! You might help them."

"I don't think it is a good idea." 

"Why?" 

"Because... Maybe I hallucinated everything."

"Val, you've got a f*cking shirt with blood on it in your bag. It is real. I'm calling them."

Sarah got out her cellphone, but without warning took it out of her hands. I shook my head multiple times, my heart beating so fast I could feel it against my temples. 

"No." 

Silence fell on both of us."

"You're scared. You're scared the guy actually told the truth and that you killed someone. Why would you believe a stranger?" 

"Listen. I don't know, OK? I just have a feeling that there's more to this story than this."

"Like what?"

"I don't know." 

"You- You don't know, wow." 

Sarah was clearly mad at me. She started to walk around the room, pressing her hands over her eyes. Then, she threw her hands in the air.

"OK. What do you want to do?" 

"Seriously?"

"Val, you're my best friend. There's nothing else to add."

"I want to go back to this bar. Maybe we'll find the guy and know more about it."

"What is the guy's name?"

"Euh, Daniel, I think. Yeah, I'm pretty sure." 

"We could go there tonight?" 

I agreed and without further thinking, decided to go take a shower. I picked new clothes and went into the girls' bathroom. I turned on the shower and jumped in. I could feel the hot water on my skin, but still, I had shivers. I tried thinking about other things and the fact that it was finally the weekend, but I could not. The images of the dead body were still flashing in my mind. Something was disturbing me. It was more than the bloody guy and then, I realized. 

I already met Daniel.