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I go to the opposite side of Neil, lifting his arm around my shoulder and pulling him to stand.
Glancing over at Willie, I whisper, “Willie." He doesn't move, not doing anything besides lying in the grass, his mouth hanging open as he dreams his dreamless sleep. "Willie." I kick him, and this gets him moving. He snorts, wiping his mouth as he blinks away his sleep.
"What? What's going on?"
I nod my head toward the way we came, and he must notice the tension in the air, because he stumbles to his feet, looking disoriented as we walk away from Crow and Danae. People are starting to wake up, sitting up in the grass and staring at us in shock as we walk by.
We make it to the cars, walking down the gravel road and toward civilization.
I watch as a man lights up a cigarette near his car, staring at us as we walk past.
"What's wrong with him?" Willie asks, finally getting his bearings.
Tears form in my eyes. Whatever happened to him, was meant to happen to me.
"I don't know, but we need to get him to the hospital." My voice shakes with my words.
"Hospital ain't going to help him." Comes the voice from behind me.
We all pause, Neil stumbling but following our lead. He stands there, staring straight ahead. Like he's tripping hardcore.
He must have overdosed.
"What do you mean? Do you know what happened to him?" Trish asks.
The man nods, taking a large drag from his cigarette. The smoke trails through his nostrils as he walks around us and stares at Neil. He shakes his head, pity and regret in his gaze. "He ain't coming back."
"What do you mean?" Willie frowns. "He's just tripping, right? It might just take longer for him to come down?"
The man shakes his head. "He was puddled."
We all frown simultaneously.
"What's puddled?" I ask, looking over at Neil. He stands there, his head tilted to the sky as he watches the trees.
"Someone blew acid in his face, right?" The man asks.
Trish nods.
He shakes his head, taking another drag of his cigarette. "How much?"
Trish shrugs, panic in her eyes. "Like, the whole dropper."
The man winces. "Puddling is what happened to your guy here. Most likely, he'll be in his trip forever. If he comes down, and they rarely do, he'll never be the same. This guy is gone." He shrugs. “Sorry. These people aren’t bad people at all. We just live life a little differently.”
Tears fall down my cheeks, shock and terror that this could've been me.
I could've been gone, in just the blink of an eye.
Would anyone have ever known? How would anyone even find me? My parents don't even know where I am.
Would Roman ever know?
I swallow down a panic attack and look at Trish. "We need to take him to the hospital. Maybe they can do something."
The man shakes his head. "You're wasting your time."
Willie looks at the man, urgency in his gaze. "Can you take us to the closest hospital?"
