“Scorpion”

“Whatever you do, don’t swallow the scorpion,” he said as he handed Alessandra the bottle.

“Yeah, ok,” Alessandra replied sarcastically as she took the bottle from his hand. She wasn’t new to this; she had downed her fair share of tequila before, many with worms, and quite frankly she didn’t appreciate the assumption that she wouldn’t know better. She had sought this particular seller out after reading many stories online about how this particular brand of tequila was almost absinthe-like in its effect. It went down smooth, tasted great in margaritas, but after a few shots of it could produce hallucinations. Tired of the usual drunken nights and hungover mornings, Alessandra wanted something special for her birthday this year.

“No, I’m serious. Please be careful, don’t ever drink straight from the bottle, and please, do not swallow the scorpion. Don’t even remove it from the bottle,” he said the last part in a whisper.

“Fine,” Alessandra responded as she begrudgingly handed over the bills—three hundreds—and proceeded on her way. “This better have been worth it,” she mumbled under her breath as she drove home.

“Wow… looks legit,” her friend Bianca stared at the bottle she proudly placed down on the dining room table.

“It better be, after what I paid for it,” Alessandra replied. “So, shall we pregame a bit before heading out tonight?”

“Hell yeah,” Bianca replied as she scanned through her phone. “Lemme text the others to see if they want to get in on it.”

Alessandra, Bianca and three of their friends—Nora, Brandon, and Renee—danced around Alessandra and Bianca’s tiny living room to the Monster Mash and other classic Halloween hits. They were all decked out for the costume ball, a night they were guaranteed to forget, lost in a sea of alcohol and bad decisions. But, for now, it was just a group of best friends having the most pure pre-Halloween fun, dancing around like kids in their costumes.

“Ok, ghouls, whose ready to have some REAL fun?” Alessandra said, holding the bottle of tequila in her hand as she danced seductively in her vampire costume.

“Ohhh snap—you actually got it?!” Brandon cheered as he grabbed the bottle from her.

“I’ll grab some shot glasses!” Bianca exclaimed as she skipped into the kitchen.

“How much did this cost you?” Renee inquired, studying the bottle over Brandon’s shoulder.

“A witch never reveals her spells,” Alessandra replied, grabbing the bottle out of Brandon’s hands.

“But you’re a vampire,” Brandon responded as Bianca handed him a shot glass.

"To Alessandra!” Bianca cheered as she clumsily poured into each of their glasses.

“And to Halloween!” Alessandra replied.

They all raised their glasses and did a shot.

“Not bad,” Brandon said, sucking into a lime.

“Smooth,” Renee chimed in.

“Ok, so when does the good stuff happen,” Nora inquired.

“I’d say a few more shots down the line!” Alessandra laughed, as she poured a few more shots out.

After another hour of drinking and dancing, the crew was getting tired. If they didn’t leave soon, they’d certainly be too drunk and sloppy to make their way to the costume ball.

“Ok, we should get movin,” Bianca slurred.

“But wait—there’s still a little bit in the bottle left!” Alessandra held the bottle up to the light for everyone to see. There were just a few drops of tequila left, barely covering the scorpion.

“Oh wait! We didn’t do the thing!!” Brandon said, running toward the light switch on the wall.

“Oh man, I almost forgot—do you think it will work with so little left in the bottle?” Nora asked.

“Worth trying,” Brandon said as he flicked the switch.

Everyone stared in awe at the bottle, as the scorpion glowed in the darkness.

“Rad!” Renee cheered.

Brandon flicked the light back on and everyone was even more hyped—almost as if the glow of the scorpion re-energized them.

“Still no hallucinations though,” Bianca said in a somber tone.

“Ah well—cheers to 30!” Alessandra said as she downed the rest of the tequila from the bottle.

“Uh, should you be doing that?” Bianca replied.

“It’s my birthday, and I’m a Scorpio, bitch I can do whatever I want!” Alessandra replied, visibly drunk. In one swift movement she smashed the bottle off the side of the sink so the shards of glass went down the drain. She carefully picked up the scorpion with her fingers and placed it on her tongue.

“N-no, I don’t think you should do that. Remember what the guy said?” Bianca leapt forward, trying to stop her best friend.

“Screw him!” Alessandra slurred with her mouth open and her tongue still sticking out.

Everyone stared in disbelief at what happened next: as Alessandra danced with her tongue out, the scorpion rattled, coming to life. Alessandra had no time to react—everyone saw the fear in her eyes when she realized what was happening, but she was too drunk to think quickly—the scorpion’s claws clamped down on her tongue. Alessandra screamed in pain as the scorpion held onto her tongue. Then, as if she lost all control of her body, the scorpion grew stronger and began to lead her around by her tongue, smashing her body into everything in sight, leaving a trail of smashed glasses, broken cabinets, and blood in its wake. One-by-one everyone screamed and passed out from the horrific sight.

Bianca awoke the next morning on the floor of her living room, still in her fairy princess costume. She surveyed the scene around her and noticed all of her friends splayed across the floor in a similar fashion. She started to laugh, which woke up the rest of her friends. Everyone stretched and squirmed as they woke up. For all they drank last night, Bianca felt surprisingly spry.

“I guess it worked, huh?” She said, sitting up.

“That was INSANE—did you guys all see the same thing I saw?” Brandon responded with a yawn.

“Yeah, it was kind of frightening, not gonna lie,” Renee replied. “I think that’s one tequila I’m fine with NEVER having again.”

“Me too, but I actually don’t feel that terrible this morning, how about you?” Nora inquired.

Everyone concurred as they all shook themselves off and stood up.

“I wonder how the birthday girl is doing today?” Brandon asked.

“Yeah, where is she?” Renee chimed in.

“I’ll go check,” Bianca replied. “Knowing her, she’s probably out for a morning jog. She’s like, bionic.” Bianca made her way into the kitchen to see if her friend left a note.

Everyone jumped when they heard Bianca screamed. They ran to her side to survey the scene in front of them: Alessandra was splayed out on the floor, covered in blood and shards of glass, the cabinets and furniture completely destroyed. Somehow, the bottle of tequila was completely in tact, and full again, on the floor next to Alessandra’s body.

But the scorpion was gone.