Chapter Text
When Elyza awoke, her entire body seemed to revolt. She had not opened her eyes, but she knew when she did the skull and crossbones flag above her bed would be spinning. At least, she hoped she was in her bed. It would not be the first time she had woken up in a strange girl's house, and had to stealthily escape her clutches.
With a sigh, she cracked open one eye, then the other. A slight sense of relief washed over her when she saw the familiar alcove of her room. That relief was quickly overtaken by the pounding in her head and the slightly uncomfortable nausea that had crept in. The summer was slinking its way into fall, and Elyza had spent the last few days before class on one hell of a bender. Today though, she had to clean up, sober up and brace herself for the whirlwind of college.
She begrudgingly dragged herself out of bed, into her bathroom and in one motion, turned on the tub and lay in it. There were hangovers that required showers, and then there were hangovers that required a 30 minute detox in the bath. Elyza was currently experiencing the latter. So she plugged the drain, turned the faucet to scalding hot, and fought to stay awake in the tub.
Tomorrow she would start her first year of college. Her first year of American school at that. She had been accepted in both the arts and pre-med, so she packed everything she had in Australia and flew out to LA. She had spent the summer getting to know her new turf, scoping out haunts and discovering street artists. She had made a few friends, some still in high school, some in their mid-twenties. 19 was a strange age, stuck between teen and adulthood, with friends on both sides.
She rubbed her eyes and groaned as she recalled the promise of accompanying her friend Matt to the LA river (like you could call it a river) to help him tag something for his new girlfriend later that day. As if on cue, her phone began to vibrate, then sing her arctic monkeys ringtone. Still in the bath, Elyza side eyed the phone, considering letting it go to voicemail and calling Matt back when she didn’t feel like a zombie. She thought better of it though, and picked up the phone, sliding further into the tub.
"Matt. It's 8 in the morning, I'm right dusty and I'm positive I told you we could go tonight." Her raspy Australian accent was stronger than usual, due to this being the first time she had spoken since last night.
A deep rumble of laughter came from the other end of the line, "Okay Elyza, one, what the hell is dusty? And two, we're going at 10. I'm walking to your house now."
Elyza groaned and slid her blonde head underwater, covering all the way up to her nose. When she resurfaced Matt was talking again, excitedly going on and on about a new spray paint he'd found, that "just sticks and doesn't fade ever!"
"Dusty means hungover Matt. I'm hungover. Dead walking. I'm knackered, mate. Make sense?"
Matt just laughed again and said, "Well I'll be there in 5, so get your ass up and get dressed because I need this tag to be amazing. I'm trying to get this girl to fall in love with me, and you're going to help me do it!"
"She's already dating you Matt, what more do you need?! Ugh, just know you're buying me brekky, or I will sleep with your girlfriend, instead of helping you into her pants."
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The August sun was just beginning to heat up the asphalt as Elyza and Matt reached the concrete river Los Angeles. The blonde girl was in tight black jeans with large rips down the front of them. Her white v neck was under a worn black leather moto jacket she insisted on wearing even in the 98 degree weather. Matt, on the other hand was dressed in a blue tank top and black shorts, letting his dark skin grow darker in the sun.
"I still don't see why we had to walk Matt, you'd fit fine on my bitch seat" Elyza smirked, taking a long drag of her cigarette.
"For the last time Elyza, I am NOT riding bitch on your motorcycle! It's so degrading to my man pain okay?"
Elyza laughed at Matt's sarcastic remark, knowing full well he was just scared of the bike.
They walked a few more minutes, Matt humming to the music on his phone, Elyza just bearing through his terrible song collection. When they came along an overpass facing the I5 near Burbank (where Matt’s girlfriend lived) they set out looking for the perfect spot for their tag.
"This is it!" Matt called out excitedly, "Alicia is sure to see it here on her way to school!"
Elyza finally relented and removed her leather jacket, letting her pale skin show, and praying she wouldn't get burned. The two scaled the overpass, settling with their chalk and spray paint on a ledge connected to the wall they were going to paint. They had already discussed the design they would be doing, so they immediately set to work on the task.
The sun was high in the sky when they finished, and Matt dropped back to the ground from the overpass. The once empty wall was now graced with a rather large green squid, which according to Matt, was Alicia's favorite animal. Matt stood back to admire their work while Elyza was finishing her last details, both past the point of uncomfortably hot and covered in paint and sweat.
"Listen mate, your girlfriend better notice this masterpiece." She said as she began to climb down, "You owe me a drink tonight, I'm not out here sweating my perfect ass off for no reason." She slipped her leather jacket back on, despite her complaints about the heat.
When she got no response, she looked back and saw Matt with his brows furrowed, looking under the overpass. He began to slowly walk forward, his face still scrunched up in what seemed to be a mixture of confusion and disgust. When Elyza dropped to the ground, she finally saw what he was staring at. There was a person in the shadow of the highway, hunched over something dark, moving in an unnatural way.
"Hey!" Matt yelled, "Hey are you okay?"
The person jerked their head up towards his voice, and began to stand. That was when they saw what the stranger was crouched over. It was a dog, a very dead, very ripped open dog.
"Uuuhm Matt, maybe we should go, yeah?" Elyza felt uneasy, between the gutted animal and the way this stranger moved, she knew something was off.
Matt shook his head, and continued to walk towards the person. When the stranger came out of the shadow, closer to Matt, Elyza could see the blood on his face and hands. Matt froze in his tracks when the person let out a guttural groan and reached out for him.
"Hey man, are you oka..ah what the fuck!" The stranger sunk his teeth into Matt's chest and gripped at his shirt. Elyza jumped forward at Matt's cry, as he desperately tried to pry the man’s teeth from his skin. She planted a kick square in the man’s chest with her heavy black Dr Martens, and his grip finally released.
"Run Matt! Fucking run!"
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They were just around the block from Matt's house when he collapsed.
"Fuck, fuck, what the bloody fuck!" Elyza dropped down on her knees next to him, "we're almost to your house man, you have to get up. You have to get up and I'll get you patched up mate. Come on big guy," she pulled Matt to his feet, and slung his arm over her shoulder. He may have been 100 pounds heavier than her, but she was strong for her size. Elyza practically dragged him the remaining few feet, over the threshold of his front door and into his bedroom. She settled him on his bed, and headed toward the bathroom to find peroxide and hopefully something to give him stitches. When she returned to his room, a cup of water and a bottle of peroxide in tow, Matt was sitting up with his shirt off.
"That guy bit a chunk out of me! What the hell?!" He looked at her with a bewildered expression, then back down to the bite on his chest. "I was supposed to meet Alicia at the beach right now! She's gonna kill me." He groaned as he tried and failed to stand, collapsing back into the mattress.
Elyza handed over the glass of water, "Drink this, you're looking feverish. Lay back, I couldn't find a needle and thread to stitch you up, so I'm just going to try to clean it out okay?"
Matt nodded and leaned back into his pillows, gulping down the water like he'd never have any again. Elyza poured the peroxide over his chest and he gripped the sheets and gritted his teeth. When she tried to use a rag to wipe it, he grabbed her hand.
"I've got it, go to the beach for me. Tell Alicia to come here."
"I don't even know what she looks like Matt! And I can't leave you alone like this."
Matt grabbed his phone, and flipped to a picture of his girlfriend. He turned it to Elyza, “Look, this is her. Go get her for me. Please. She's at the boardwalk in Venice."
Elyza stopped and took in the picture. This girl was beautiful, beyond beautiful. Her green eyes shone through the sarcastic look on her face, her long auburn hair tucked behind her ears, headphones sticking out of them. "Woah Matty, how'd you manage that?"
"Keep it in your pants Lex, I'm sitting right here" Matt jokingly shot her a dirty look and turned the phone back to himself.
Elyza smiled, happy that Matt was able to maintain his sense of humor after the trauma of the day. She shook her head, still smiling and stood from the bed.
"I'll go find her. It's gonna take me a bit to get to Venice you know. I'll have to walk to my bike since SOMEONE is too afraid to let me ride it."
Matt just waved his hand dismissively at her snarky comment, "Don't get too cozy with her on that bike Elyza. We just started dating, my security is fragile!"
"Hah! With all this," Elyza gestured to her own body, jutting her hip out, "you should be more worried about her getting cozy with me buddy." She gave him one last smirk, and left his room trying not to laugh at the shocked expression on his face.
"Just bring her back in one piece woman!"