Chapter 35：Consternation

Loud music blasted inside the club and everybody was having fun. One could smell a mixture of cigarettes, booze, and the thick fog from the smoke machine—all lingering in the air. It was intoxicating and people didn't care as they drank bottle after bottle, glass after glass, or shots after shots.

At one corner of the club, one man with flushed skin glared at Angela's direction. He clenched and unclenched his hand as if he was ready to fight. There was a pounding in his ears that's making him tick and he grew uncomfortable by the second.

"Look at that dude. Isn't that your girl, Evan? What's he doing with her?" his friend asked.

Hearing these comments only made Evan feel even edgier. His eyes darkened and his vision clouded, but his focus remained at Angela and the man she was flirting with. Grabbing the bottle of jack from the table, he took a long swig of the liquor and then slammed the almost empty bottle back onto the table. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and got up from his seat.

"Uh-oh, looks like our man's going to do something!" His friends howled and laughed—the noise only aggravated Evan more.

He sniffed and rubbed a finger under his nose, feeling tiny bits of remnants of the Snow that he took just minutes ago out in the back alley.

"What's that fûcker's name again?" he asked, limbering his shoulders and neck.

"Paul somethin'."

"Yo, get yo' phone. Shît's about to go down," one man from their table said, nudging their friends as they watched Evan took long strides towards the other side of the room where Angela was sitting.

…

Angela got excited, thinking that she was going to meet a classmate from middle school soon. She wondered if Evan would have time to have that lunch with her old friends before he leaves. Tapping the screen on his phone a few times, Paul opened the camera app and extended his hand away so that the two of them could fit in the frame.

The two posed for the camera and took the picture very quickly. Just as they peered on the screen to check the photo, a hand reached to grab Angela's elbow. She was yanked off the sofa and then shoved to the side in a second. She didn't know what happened until she stumbled to the other end of the sofa and she yelped in shock. "Wha—"

A sudden coldness hit her at the core when she saw Evan throwing punch after punch at Paul without mercy. He was yelling something she couldn't hear clearly, what with the loud music in the club. She couldn't understand what was going on, seeing as Paul tried to fight back but the other was so enraged that he could barely throw back a punch. "S-Stop!" she yelled.

"Stop! Evan!" she screamed and lunged herself to try and break the fight. "What are you doing?! Stop hitting him!" Angela clung to Evan's arm to stop him from striking another punch.

She gasped when Evan snapped his head in her direction—his eyes were bloodshot and his nose flared as he glared down at her. She shook in fear, seeing how frightening he looked just now that she let go of him in an instant. It was dark in the club but she could clearly see that he wasn't himself. And she was sure as hell that he was high.

What she saw earlier made sense to her now. The man in a hoodie from the second floor, he and his friends disappearing and coming back looking like they were having the time of their lives. They were on the other side of the room so she couldn't really see them very well, but now that Evan was in front of her, she couldn't be mistaken that he was high on drugs.

"How could you… You're stoned..." she muttered under her breath. Subconsciously, she stepped away, not wanting to do anything with him. She had known people who had been ruined by drugs and she didn't want to be part of it.

Evan didn't say anything and just continued to stare down at her. Angela took the chance to help her friend, Paul, who was still on the floor. She pulled him up and he tried to steady himself. "Are you okay?" she asked. Obviously, Paul wasn't okay, and she felt terrible.

A laugh reverberated behind her and then she was grabbed by the elbow again. Evan spun her around so harshly that she twisted her ankle and she whimpered, "Let go of me!"

"You're fûcking helping this prick in front of me?!" Evan spat, every fiber of his being was inflamed. "Are you screwing him behind me? Huh? Is that it?!"

Angela couldn't believe what was coming out of Evan's mouth. He was uncontrollable. He was completely different that night. "You're hurting me! Get off me!" She tried to retract her arm from him but his grip was too strong.

"Let go of her…" Paul groaned behind Angela. He was still struggling to get up and no one seemed to care that he was hurt badly.

Evan kicked Paul in the stomach, sending the latter back to the ground, coughing and spitting out blood.

Angela slapped Evan. She wasn't going to take any of this anymore. This needed to stop. "I said, let me go!" She managed to break away from his hold, her chest heaved up and down as she breathed heavily. "You and I—we're over, Evan! I don't want to see you anymore! We're done!"

She bent down and attempted to help her friend up again. "Come on, Paul, let's get you to a hospital."

However, Evan pulled her back and his grip was stronger this time. She squirmed and tried to get away from him, but she was pushed back until she landed on the sofa. Her hands flew to his arm when he wrapped his fingers around her neck and he squeezed.

"You're breaking up with me?!" he bit out under gritted teeth, his red eyes glowering down at her. "You don't get to break up with me! You're mine, Angela! I OWN YOU! I can make you just as I can destroy you!"