Pushing through the dancing crowd, what shocked her the most was that she felt nothing but surprise and amusement from the faces she passed. Though she screamed for her very life, it was lost amongst the high, electric tweets that carved a melody from the raw bass line which mirrored the looming, inexorable footsteps of her pursuer.

He had seemed so nice, back in some bright time that seemed so distant that she could not believe that it was just hours ago. She had it on good authority that he was the guy to go to for the supplies necessary to transform the night of dancing and music from memorable to mind-altering. And his product performed exactly as advertised, which was rare as these things went. So much so that she made a point to accompany a friend she referred to him just to compliment him to his face.

Therein lay the mistake, she decided, because after that, she began seeing him everywhere, at first just out of the corner of her blurred, neon-filled vision, then ever closer. He finally took her hand as she waited in line for the portable toilets, and when she tried to escape his grasp, he tried to drag her into a stall.

Somehow, despite her limbs moving more slowly and in strange waves she had difficulty predicting, she got out of his hands and barreled through the crowd. Her cries for help were lost in the alternating tides of music and screamed approval. Movement became disjointed, like she was operating a marionette for the first time, and every face she saw reflected back to her the ridiculous lack of control her own must have been expressing.

And all the while, he was growing ever closer. Finally she could go no further, and she collapsed amongst the pounding, bare feet. What a strange sight to be her last, she thought as his hands enclosed her head.

Authorities searched for the man who heroically carried an overdosing girl from the crowd to the medical tent, but he disappeared as soon as she received attention from the staff. Despite their best efforts, the young woman died at the music festival.