Chapter 16 – Something Stronger
519 Words
The quiet didn’t come back.
No matter how many times she tried.
No matter how much she used.
It was gone.
And the noise?
Worse.
Nia sat on the edge of her bed, her hands gripping her phone tightly.
Her jaw clenched.
Her breathing uneven.
“It’s useless…” she muttered.
Then she dialed.
The line rang once.
Twice.
Then—
“Yeah?”
Delgado.
Nia didn’t waste time.
“What you gave me—it’s not working.”
A pause on the other end.
“It was never meant to fix anything,” he replied calmly.
“I don’t care,” she snapped. “It’s useless now.”
Silence.
Then—
“So what do you want?” he asked.
Her grip tightened around the phone.
“Something stronger.”
The words came out sharp.
Certain.
Another pause.
Longer this time.
Delgado didn’t answer immediately.
When he did—
His voice had changed.
Just slightly.
“…You sure about that?”
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
No second thought.
“Alright,” he said. “I’ll come by.”
The line went dead.
An hour later—
He was there.
Standing in her living room
Like this was normal.
Marcus and Ryan weren’t around.
That mattered.
Delgado didn’t say much.
Didn’t need to.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small container.
Different from before.
Cleaner.
More precise.
“This isn’t the same,” he said.
Nia’s eyes stayed on it.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Something people use when they want things to stop fast,” he replied.
"it's called MDMA, Ecstasy or Molly"
Not an answer.
But enough.
“You won’t find it in a hospital, this stuff is illegal in America” he added.
That should’ve been a warning.
But it wasn’t.
Nia reached for it.
Delgado didn’t stop her.
Just watched.
“Careful with it,” he said. “It’s not like the other stuff.”
Nia gave a faint, tired scoff.
“Nothing else worked.”
Delgado didn’t respond.
Because to him—
That was the point.
That night—
The house was silent again.
Nia sat alone, the pill resting in her hand.
It looked simple.
Harmless.
Like everything else had.
She stared at it for a moment.
Then—
Without overthinking—
She took it.
At first—
Nothing.
Then—
Everything shifted.
Fast.
Too fast.
Her body relaxed almost instantly.
The tension dropped.
The noise—
Gone.
Not quieter.
Not distant.
Gone.
Her eyes widened slightly.
“…Oh.”
Her shoulders sank back against the bed.
Her breathing slowed.
For the first time in what felt like forever—
There was nothing.
No voices.
No memories.
No pressure.
Just silence.
Complete silence.
A small, almost disbelieving laugh escaped her.
“That’s… better…”
Her eyes drifted shut.
Because it worked.
Or at least—
It felt like it did.
Downstairs, the house remained still.
But somewhere in that silence—
Something had shifted again.
Because this wasn’t relief.
It was something deeper.
Stronger.
And far more dangerous.
And Nia?
She didn’t see that part yet.
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