Perfect Drug
by Agent_Mulder
(New Chapter to be released with each issue)

Prologue

It was about a quarter past eleven in San Francisco. The sky was finally clear that night after a week of seemingly nonstop rain. A young man dressed all in black walked slowly down the deserted street and turned into a small alley. He was met by a man in a black trench coat and mirror shades. The man looked as if he had been expecting the arrival of this visitor. He motioned the young man over to a door on the far end of the alley. They walked inside the building and closed the door behind them.

They were in what looked like an old warehouse. It looked like it had been abandoned for years, and yet there apparently was still electricity in the place, because the lights were still on. The man in the trench coat led the young man in black up the stairs to the old warehouse office. They went inside the office. "You can put your coat over there, Joey", said the older man, as he put his coat on a chair. "My name is Nightshade", hissed the young man in black, not pleased with being referred to by his real name. "Yeah, right, whatever. Well, you can call me Frank.." Joey started to get irritable. He started to shake visibly. "Have you got the stuff or what?" he said, almost yelling. "Lighten up", said Frank, "You'll have it in just a minute. First, let me see the money." Joey reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an envelope. He took out a stack of small bills and handed it to Frank. Frank always insisted on his transactions being done in small denomination bills. Easier to spend, he would always say. Frank opened a desk drawer and grabbed a small vial of a strange blue colored liquid. He handed it to Joey, who held it almost with a death grip. Frank said "Another happy customer. I hope you enjoy your product. Please come see me again some time soon." Joey ignored Frank's lame attempt at humor and made his way out of the building.

Joey started to make his way back to the apartment building which has been his home for the last year. It has been almost been a year since he ran away from his home. He had finally gotten tired of the abuse he was receiving from his mother and his stepfather. He was forced to get a job working at a record store. The one consolation of the job was that he had access to lots of his favorite music, since the store seemed to specialize in goth music, especially goth metal, which was his absolute favorite. He got to his apartment and opened the door with his key. The door creaked when it opened. It desperately needed to be fixed, but Joey let it go, because it just seemed so appropriate somehow.

He sat down at his couch. On the coffee table was a half of a bottle of vodka. He poured himself a shot of the vodka. Then, he pulled the little vial out of his coat pocket. He poured the blue liquid into the shot glass. The vodka took on a slight bluish tint. He grabbed the shot glass and downed the drink. He then sat there waiting for it to take effect. He sat back and looked at the posters on the wall. Had a poster from just about every goth band he could manage to acquire in a year's time. His favorite was his Siouxie and the Banshees poster from years ago.

Suddenly, he didn't feel right. He wasn't getting the buzzy feeling he was expecting. First, he started to
itch all over. Then, it felt like all the nerves in his body were on fire. He tried to yell for help, but no sound
seemed to want to come out of his mouth. He tried to get up, but he was being barraged with wave after wave of vertigo. His head felt like it was spinning at the speed of sound, and he had a pounding headache. He thought, this drug sucks. At least with booze, you get the high first, and then the hangover. This stuff does it all at once. Suddenly, he felt himself starting to pass out. He tried to get to the phone, but before he could reach it, he collapsed to the floor.