Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas   ::   Thompson Hunter S.

I tossed him the kit-bag. "Be careful," I mattered. "There's not 'such left."

He chuckled,. "As your attorney," he said, "I advise you not worry.” He nodded toward the bathroom. “Take a hit out of that little brown bottle in my shaving kit.”

"What is it?"

"Adrenochrome," he said. "You won't need much. Just a little tiny taste."

I got the bottle and dipped the head of a paper match intoit.

"That's about right," he said. "That stuff makes pure mescaline seem like gingerbeer. You'll go completely crazy if you take too much."

I licked the end of the match. "Where'd you get this?" I asked. "You can't buy it."

"Never mind," he said. "It's absolutely pure."

I shook my head sadly. "Jesus! What kind of monster client have you picked up this time? There's only one source for this stuff..

He nodded.

"The adrenaline glands from a living human body," I said. "It's no good if youget it out of a corpse."

"I know," he replied. "But the guy didn't have any cash. He's one of these Satanism freaks. He offered me human blood - said it would make me higher than I'd ever been in my life," he laughed. "I thought he was kidding, so I told him I'd just as soon have an ounce or so of pure adrenochrome - or maybe just a fresh adrenalin gland to chew on."

I could already feel the stuff working on me. The first wave felt like a combination of mescaline and methedrmne. Maybe I should take a swim, I thought.

"Yeah," my attorney was saying. "They nailed this guy for child molesting, but he swears he didn't do it. 'Why should I fuck with chi Wren?' he says; 'They're too small!"' He shrugged. "Christ, what could I say? Even a goddamn were wolf is entitled to legal counsel… I didn't dare turn the creep down. He might have picked up a letter opener and gone after my pineal gland."

"Why not?" I said. "He could probably get Melvin Belli for that." I nodded, barely able to talk now. My body felt like I'd just been wired into a 220 volt socket. "Shit, we should get us some of that stuff." I muttered finally. "Just eat a big handful and see what happens."

"Some of what?"

"Extract of pineal."

He stared at me. "Sure," he said. "That's a good idea. One whiff of that shit would turn you into something out of a god damn medical encyclopedia! Man, your head would swell up like a watermelon, you'd probably gain about a hundred pounds in two hours… claws, bleeding warts, then you'd notice about six huge hairy tits swefling up on your back…" He shook his head emphatically.