Happy Birthday

I woke up, cold and alone. It was night time, I tried scanning my surroundings to see where I was. It was hard to make out anything though, as it seemed that this was the night that the stars chose to vacate the sky. I felt around me "Sand?" I thought, noting how I must be naked, as I can feel it touching every inch of my body. It was eerily quiet as I listened for any signs of life. Nothing. What was going on?

I tried thinking back to how I got here, what was the last thing I remembered? The club, I was at the club with my girlfriends, Hannah and Allie. It was my 23rd birthday party, we were having a girls night out. I didn't even feel like going out, partying really wasn't my thing. But the girls pushed me saying it would be good for me to get out and do something fun for a change. That club, Club Bend, was actually the second club we had gone to that night. The first club, Allure, was my original choice, but Hannah And Allie got us kicked out for doing coke in the bathroom with some rando. Hard drugs weren't my thing, but my friends had no hesitation with indulging. So we left the car there, and Ubered to the next club.

During the ride over, I couldn't help but notice we had a cute Uber driver. I silently gestured toward him to Allie and Hannah when all of a sudden Allie barks "Oh you think the driver is hot, Bree??"

Nice one Allie. I sunk into my seat as I caught a brief glance with the driver through the rear-view, he seemed to be holding back a grin."Yeah, right." I said as casually as possible while exiting his car, I didn't kniw what else to say, I was totally embarrassed. His car was nice, a sleek black Tesla, rented no doubt. I noted how funny it was to Hannah and Allie that on his plates were my initials BAK Bree Anna Kelly. "Must be fate." Hannah said with a quick wink.

Inside Club Bend we continued to drink and post all over our social media just how smashed we were getting. I told Hannah and Allie I had to pee and would be back in a sec. In all honesty though, I needed to barf... one too many drinks for me I guess. It took me a second to get washed up, and by the time I got back to the bar the girls were not there. I wandered around a little bit, and ended up spotting them sitting in some seats in the lounge area in front of me. I came up from behind them and saw Allie was showing Hannah a video of herself giving some guy a blow-job. Only I recognized the penis in that video because of the distinct mole on it, the same one my boyfriend had.

"That's right!" I thought "Traitorous bitch."

I remember confronting Allie and asking what the hell, then hearing the fakeness in her voice, as she spouted some bullshit about how she didn't want to hurt my feelings. Then I remember seeing the tiniest sliver of a grin of enjoyment on Hannah's face and thinking these two cunts were not really my friends. How we really had nothing in common, and how all I wanted to do was throw their drinks in their faces, and that's exactly what I did. It didn't make me feel any better, I just wanted to go home.

"But how did I get here?... Think think think."

I went home... No, I wanted to go home. I remember I walked outside for fresh air while I ordered a ride home...

Just then I heard an engine start. And in the cold darkness of the night, lights illuminated a small space right in front of me. An ice cold chill ran down my spine as I remembered.

BAK...

Those three letters, reflecting off his plates. The Uber driver, he brought me here. I remember how I was so drunk I was struggling to order a ride, and he approached me asking if I had ordered another ride. Oh my god, I was so stupid! I didn't even try to check my phone. And he gave me a ride earlier, and seemed so quiet and nice, I didn't think anything of the situation. Oh, why did I get in the car with him?

For now I remember it all. I remember the moment he helped me in the car, and I noticed he threw my purse and phone on the front passenger seat, and as I noticed we were driving further and further away from my house, and him sitting with a stoic silence as I tried to ask him politely multiple times where we were going, him not answering me, instead just catching a quick glance at my eyes in the mirror, then continuing on. Until the night got so dark I could no longer see where we were and I myself, became brilliantly silent and still, at least on the surface, for inside I was sobering quickly and becoming more frightened by the moment.

I remember the car coming to a complete stop, and him not speaking for several moments. I asked him if he could just take me home, then he looked at me in the mirror and said

"Yeah, right."

And with that he turned around and came at me. At some point while fighting to get away, my clothes were tore away. He twisted and defiled my body in any way he chose, it felt like an eternity. He smelled like burnt cigarettes and whiskey, a smell I won't soon forget. Once he was done with me, he didn't even bother to kill me, I was mangled enough I wasn't walking out of there, he knew the elements would get me, or I would finish bleeding out before anyone else found me.

So there my almost lifeless body lay, thinking "Happy Fucking Birthday To Me."

Engulfed in the desert's parched silence, I was nothing but another grain of sand in the wind.