It took Sean until the next stopping point - a dirt-cheap youth hostel - to finally realise that something was wrong, as  he rooted through the car boot in the hopes of a reunion with his vice. The others were all inside, lounging in the communal area, but after enduring an hour of colourless, stale reality, he'd promised himself another dose of shrooms. So where the fuck were they? 

"Hey Aika!" he called, pushing Calum's bag aside to run his hands over the base of the trunk - empty, aside from the discarded belongings of his companions. He slammed the boot shut in frustration, before circling round and opening the back door sharply. Although nearly as hungry as he for a trip, Aika had grown tired of the rummaging and retired to the backseat where she lay tiredly, sighing. A murmur escaped her lips as Sean stared down at her, his eyes wide.

"I might sleep here a moment. You should ask Roy - he'll know."

Agitated, Sean just shut the door on the half-sleeping girl, before stepping back and running a hand through his hair - his mind racing. A hissed string of curse words came tumbling out of his mouth as he rested his hands on the car-roof, worn from the unnecessary stress.

"Come on," he muttered, squeezing his eyes shut - then opened them again. "Come on." 

-

A dark cloud followed the boy as he stalked through the communal area, the amiable buzz of travellers chatter simply a wave that brushed through his mind like a hum of electricity. As the set of familiar faces came into view he neglected to slow down until he reached them, at which point they were surveying him with confused concern. 

"Where are they?" Sean demanded, his eyes sparked. Roy's first mistake was failing to innocently question what Sean was talking about, instead jumping to a defensive suggestion.

"I think we finished them all. We were getting pretty low."

"Bullshit! You fucking chucked them!"

His tone was starting to attract some attention from people nearby, despite Roy's attempt to speak in a calming, hushed voice.

"There might have been some left when I did - but not many. Don't worry about it, we have some vodka and mixers left, enough to last us plenty. I have weed too."

"The 7/11 right? The midnight cafe? You chucked them there."

"Sean, please," Cindy beseeched, her voice laden with anxiety, out of fear of some rash, self-destructive reaction from him. "Come sit here, we're playing truth."

Calum hadn't spoken yet, he was simply watching his friend, with expectation or unease it was difficult to tell. 

"I will when I'm back, promise," Sean said reassuringly, pulling up the collar of his brown jacket as if to leave, but Cindy's quick retaliation stopped him in his movement.

"Don't go back! It's at least forty minutes away. Honest, Sean, they were nearly all gone. Please don't drive back."

Unable to deny the honey-voiced girl with her round eyes, and the deep angst that rested on Roy's face, Sean stayed paused, before dropping his head to the side. 

"Fine," he muttered, and a smile of relief spread across Cindy's face; Calum, however, remained in suspicious apprehension at the easy surrender. Roy was already shuffling up to make room, but Sean shook his head, nodding towards a green door a couple of metres away. 

"I'm gonna piss - then I might look around for Aika. Be back in a sec."

Cindy nodded as Sean walked towards the lime 'MANNEN' door; it swung open with a squeak and then closed on him. Roy pulled another card from the pile, and threw it on top but Calum's eyes were on the green door.

"I might go too - don't wait for me," he finally said, and the other two watched as he stood up. 

"Aight," Roy shrugged, as Cindy watched Calum, her eyes hollow with amusement.

"You're supposed to leave it longer, so it's not so suspicious," she called after him sarcastically, and he grinned, holding out his hands in sardonic response. 

"What can I say, he's just irresistible."

He waited a couple seconds until they'd turned back to their game, before shifting his direction from the bathroom towards the exit. 

-

It had been a cheap shot making an exit to the bathroom, but Sean couldn't think of another solution. Luckily he didn't have to squeeze through some tiny, ant-sized window for a bizarrely placed fire-door was situated beside the purple sinks. He just had to drive fast - the road was long and stretching, a nice sweeping route to the 7/11 and so he could afford a bit of acceleration. Opening the fire-door, he tried to push Cindy's concern to the back of his mind, instead focusing on the logistics of his journey, and where he'd start looking for the shrooms once he made it there. They'd understand. 

In the darkness outside, parts of the pavement shimmered against the streetlights, though Sean remembered the car was parked in the pool of darkness just left of the dull, yellow illumination. One hand in his jacket pocket, he made his way over, pulling open the door and sliding into the drivers seat - totally unaware of his company until a cynical voice spoke up from next to him. 

"Hi."

"AH!"

Jerking back in alarm, Sean stared at Calum, still recovering from the momentary fright. 

"Who's that?" came Aika's sleepy voice from the back, and this time both boys jolted in surprise at her forgotten presence. 

"AH!"

"Jesus," Sean breathed, his hand to his chest, closing his eyes to recuperate. Calum leant back into his seat once he'd established Aika was the voice in the back, turning his head to look at Sean. 

"What are you doing?"

Sean looked at him, dropping his hand and then staring at Aika - she was in a strange sleeping state caught between confusion and intoxication - then back at Calum.

"I'm getting my shrooms, man. You can't throw my shit."

"You need to get a grip! Jesus - you have to untangle yourself, this isn't good."

"Look Calum, I just need them okay? I'll be back in like forty minutes." 

Calum shook his head, looking out of the window into the darkness. 

"Get out the car, man."

At the sound of the engine whirring into life, his head snapped back to Sean and he sat up in indignation. 

"The fuck are you doing? Turn it off."

Sean was holding his gaze, a helpless look of determination in his eyes. 

"Sean, turn off the car. We're not going."

Undeterred, Sean touched his tongue to his teeth, now looking at the stretching road ahead that lay just beyond the exit of the carpark. 

"Don't drive man. Do not drive the car, got that? Do not drive the fucking c-"

The rest of Calum's warning words were cut off as the Lancia suddenly set off with a screech of tires, so loud that you could just smell the burning of the tarmac, and the radio clicked on with a vibrant, ear-splitting track; 'You Can't Hurry Love' blared like a dance-inducing siren. All of this clamour meant that Calum's shouting was barely audible, and Sean kept his eyes trained on the road in front of him, using The Supremes to block out his friend's voice as they sped along. 

"SEAN STOP THE FUCKING CAR!"

"What's happening? Calum, what's happening?" Aika was asking from the back, inebriated panic in her voice as she leaned forwards in concern. She was too high to even have caught up on the conversation, or realise the situation at hand. 

"Sean, stop! Now! Jesus, I can't believe you're making me be the fucking sensible one here!" 

"I need them, man!" 

"You are fucking with your head, Sean, you're fucking with it so bad!"

The car swung around a corner, knocking Aika sideways in the back, as The Supremes continued to blast, drowning out the argument. 

"You think it wasn't already fucked?!" 

At this, Calum lunged across and grabbed hold of the steering wheel, yanking it around so that the car lurched around, and span into a 360, disorientating frenzy before drifting sharply along the concrete and stopping motionless on the side of the road. The three inhabitants' heavy breathing became audible once Sean had reached forwards and switched off the radio so they could sit in silence for a moment. Aika's eyes were wide, and Calum was staring at Sean as he closed his eyes - not even the sound of another car passing in the distance broke the harsh quiet that had settled upon them. Finally Sean broke it, his voice hoarse.

"I'm sorry, man."

There was a brief pause. 

"It's okay. It's calm." 

"I'm sorry I threw the money."

This prompted confusion from Calum, as he caught onto why Sean was apologising. 

"That was years ago, man, why are you talking about the money?"

"What money?" Aika asked in the back, surprisingly unaffected at the lack of answers she'd been able to attain. 

"I shouldn't have thrown it," Sean continued, shaking his head. Calum looked at him, a rare poignancy in his eyes. 

"It's okay. It's fine, that's done," he answered, his eyes still round with concern - then he raised his eyebrows. "But you have got to sort yourself the fuck out man, and same goes for Aika, whatever the hell she's on right now. I'm not having you fuck yourself up even more cause of some shitty spores."

Sean breathed, his hands together against his nose as his conscious tried to reason with his rash actions. 

"Yeah," he replied, croaky traces still in his voice. Calum nodded, and then turned round in his seat to the girl in the back - Sean glanced too. She was smiling giddily, her eyes squinted slightly. 

"Wild!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Sean's head fell against the seat in exhaustion.