“St. Vitus Dance”

The lights in the club pulsed to the bass beat that was amplified all around the crowded dancehall.  Maribel wiped the sweat from her brow as she made her way to the bar to chug some water before ordering another shot of tequila. She furiously scratched at her elbow while she waited on her drink—annoyed that mosquitos attacked even in the cooler nights in October.

“Hey, I saw you dancing back there, you looked amazing,” a voice whispered in her ear as she bit into a slice of lime. Instinctively, she rolled her eyes at the tired come on, but found herself pleasantly surprised when she turned around to face a man more attractive than any other she’d ever met in a nightclub before. In fact, he might have been the most attractive person she had ever laid eyes on, period. A smile crept across her face and she figured there wasn’t any harm in a little innocent flirtation.

“So do you just stand in the corner and lurk, or do you dance too?” Maribel stood on her tiptoes to reach his ear.

“I’m afraid my moves might get me thrown out,” he responded with a coy laugh.

Maribel was entranced by his smile and, in a move bold even for her, she grabbed his hand and led him back to the dancefloor. The night went on in a blur of strobe lights, heavy bass beats, and what felt like endless shots of tequila, of which Maribel had only vague recollections of paying for one or two. Finally at 4:00 AM the lights were raised, and all of the club rats shielded their eyes from the bright burning light like vampires experiencing daylight for the very first time. The crowd was ushered out onto the city streets with only a faint sound of music—some generic ‘80s playlist—to make their transition to the outside world slightly easier.

The city was still dark, that limbo where you start to regret all of your indulgences but you’re not yet punished by the harsh morning sun. In the dim glow of the streetlights Ted, the man who Maribel spent the last few hours of her night with, still looked as attractive as he did in the dark lighting of the bar.

“I guess this is where we part ways?” Ted bent down and said in a soft-yet-sullen voice.

Maribel wasn’t sure if it was just the afterglow of hours spent dancing to her favorite music that was still playing in her head, the ego boost that comes from an attractive person showing interest in you, or the booze, but she couldn’t stop herself from dancing. Ted laughed at her silly state.

“It doesn’t have to be,” Maribel slurred. In that moment, she wasn’t thinking about how she last left things with her fiancé just a few days ago. She wasn’t thinking about how her shift at the hospital started in only two hours. She wasn’t thinking about how she was getting home. She wasn’t thinking much of anything at all, really, just following the vibes and dancing along to the music in her head.

“I like the sound of tha—”

“No! Don’t go with him!!” A woman yelled as she scratched at her arm and ran towards them. Maribel and Ted were startled by her wild appearance, barreling towards them while viciously scratching at her arm. Instinctively, the two ran until they were able to lose her down a side street.

“What the hell was that?” Maribel asked as she scratched at her elbow.

“Probably just some homeless nutjob,” Ted replied.

But she didn’t look homeless, she looked well-dressed… fashionable. In fact, Maribel was fairly certain she had seen her in the club earlier that night. Not wanting to dampen her night, Maribel shrugged off the strange encounter. And then she shrugged again. And kept shrugging.

“Everything ok?” Ted asked.

“I, uh, yeah…” Maribel replied, shrugging her shoulders and scratching both elbows. “Let’s go back to my place…”

Maribel started to lead the way though, admittedly, she had no clue if she was going in the right direction. But she hoped she’d figured it out.

“Are you positive you’re ok?” Ted inquired again. But it wasn’t about her inebriated state. Nor was it about the bug bite on her arm she scratched at so hard it started bleeding.

It was because she was still dancing.

“That’s kind of getting annoying,” Ted said stone-faced.

Maribel felt sweat forming at her brow. She tried to block out the music in her head but it just wouldn’t turn off—it only grew louder. She could tell Ted was irritated by the change in his facial expressions but she couldn’t hear a word he was saying.

And she just couldn’t stop dancing.

Ted’s demeanor grew from mildly annoyed to rage. It was clear this night was not ending how he planned, and he felt like he was duped into thinking Maribel might be fun, not whatever psychopathy he was now encountering. Maribel started to cry as the music became deafening, her elbow burned from prolonged pain of an itch that just wouldn’t go away, and her limbs jerking in directions she couldn’t control.

Finally, fed up with her behavior, Ted had enough. Wanting the night to end and the madness to stop, with a great heave he pushed her into the middle of the street. Maribel hit the concrete with a thud, but her arms and legs kept jerking, propelling her upwards. She turned hear head just in time to see a taxi coming in her direction at top speed. As she tried to gain enough control over her legs to get out of the street to safety, Ted’s body came flying at her at full force, knocking her onto the sidewalk as the cab hit his body, the impact sending it hurdling down the street.

Maribel sat up on the sidewalk. Across the street she made eye contact with whoever it was that pushed Ted. Whoever it was that saved her life.

It was the woman who yelled at her before. She nodded her head and walked away, rubbing her forearm as she disappeared into the night.

Maribel scrambled to get herself together and get back on her feet. She didn’t want to see the wreckage of Ted’s body in the middle of the street. She didn’t want to process everything that had just occurred, she just wanted to get the Hell out of there and get home. She smoothed her skirt as she rose to her feet and grabbed her purse, walking quickly away from the scene of the crime.

Finally, she had stopped dancing. She could feel the blood drying on her elbow but instead of a painful itch, it felt like it was healing. She examined it to see how bad it looked, but there was no bug bite to be found.

Just a tattoo, one she had no recollection of getting. A small tattoo of a crescent moon.