I took an Uber to the address Axel had sent me. I couldn't see the house numbers, but I didn't need to. The music and people could be heard from a whole block away. It was already 11 when I made my way through the little green gate and went up to the front door of the house, which was slightly ajar. I walked in to see a massive party. There had to be at least 150 people here, and it had only started an hour ago. Everyone hadn't been kidding about these things begin insane. The house was pretty big, too. Big enough for at least seven people. But that's not why I was here. That wasn't any of my business. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and took a few more steps inside before cracking the door again.
"You're new," a guy said, walking up to me. He was clearly drunk, a red solo cup in his hand. He had dyed hair, purple and pink and blue in different places. It was a shit job, but he somehow pulled it off.
"I am," I replied over the loud sound of music and people's voices.
"My name is Jake," he said.
"Jupiter," I replied.
"What, like the planet?" he asked. Obviously, like the planet.
"Yes, Jake. Like the planet," I said. I wondered if he was this stupid when sober. Woah. Chill out. Don't need to be a dick. This isn't work, you don't need to protect yourself and assert your dominance here. "Sorry, that sounded mean," I followed up.
"How about you do me a favor to make up for it?" he asked. I raised my eyebrows.
"Like what?" I asked.
"Hm... you see that girl over there?" he asked, pointing to a random girl with green hair.
"Yeah," I replied.
"Go kiss her."
"Excuse me?" I asked.
"Go kiss her," he said. And then I noticed that his eyes glinted red when he said that. Just like Colby's did blue.
"Do you live here?" I asked.
"Yes. Now go kiss her. I promise she'll kiss you back. She kisses everyone back," Jake said. I thought for a second. That glint in their eyes. It was totally a control thing. I needed to figure out how this worked, and I didn't want to expose myself before I even started to investigate.
"Fine," I said. I walked over to the girl, tapped her on the shoulder, and kissed her when she turned around. Jake was right, she kissed me back. I didn't particularly enjoy kissing strange girls though, so I quickly pulled back and went back over to Jake. "Alright, now we're even."
"Who invited you?" Jake asked. He wasn't being rude, just curious.
"Colby did," I said. "Do you seriously recognize everyone here enough to tell who's new and who's not?"
"I'm usually the one who invites people. Let's just say it's in my nature," he said with a wink. In his nature? What, like lust? "Colby's in the kitchen," said Jake, pointing over to an opening in the wall.
"Thanks, Jake," I said, walking toward where he'd pointed. I peered into the opening to see a long island in the kitchen with red solo cups set up in formation. It was a giant game of beer pong, the kitchen packed with people watching and taking videos on their phones. I looked at the players to see a blonde guy playing on one side and none other than Colby playing against him.
Everyone watching would scream and react way too over the top after each shot, clearly overinvolved with the game. I wasn't a fan of standing shoulder to shoulder with yelling people, so I moved away from the kitchen.
I walked through to the room opposite the kitchen, a living room with a bar in the corner. This room was less crowded and the music wasn't as loud. I decided to go get a drink. I walked to the little counter area and found myself standing next to two guys arguing.
"You trying to rip each other's heads off or party?" I interjected. They both turned and looked at me.
"It's none of your concern," one of them said. He was pretty badass looking, two tattoo sleeves and dark eyes. When he said that, his eyes glinted. Except his glinted black.
"Hold on, hold on, maybe it could be," the other guy said, turning all the way around to face me. This guy had caramel skin and a really positive vibe about him. "I'm Brennen. This guy is Mike. Don't let him scare you. He's not as tough as he looks."
I realized that most people who looked like me would find Mike extremely intimidating. I didn't.
"He doesn't scare me," I replied.
"Woah, hear that, big guy? There's a cute one who isn't running away in fear," Brennen said to Mike, who just rolled his eyes.
"Who are you? What's your name?" Mike asked.
"I'm Jupiter," I said. Mike squinted at me, like he was trying to look into my mind.
"Ooh, spunky. I like it," Brennen said. Brennen was one of those guys with an infectious bubbly attitude. I was surprised Mike didn't seem more upbeat talking to him.
"So, what were you arguing about?" I asked.
"How familiar are you with evil mythology?" Brennen asked.
"Evil things? Very. Mythology, not so much," I said.
"I know you," Mike interjected.
"You what?" I asked.
"Your name isn't Jupiter, is it?" he asked. Ah. From work.
"I might go by a few different names," I said.
"Saturn. You're Saturn," he said. I smirked at him.
"And might I ask how you know that?" I asked.
"A buddy and I were leaving that nice little salon of yours. Saw you screaming at some hookers. Asked one of them about you and they said you run the place," Mike said.
"I run more than just the place," I replied.
"Oh yeah, princess? What exactly do you run, then?" he asked. I smiled.
"I run it all, big guy. You name it, I'm in charge. Whole county. My turf," I said.
"No you don't. You're not that Saturn," Mike said. Again, underestimation.
"Try me," I said. He stared at me for another second.
"Last Thursday. Shooting behind that Starbucks. Why and who?"
"Meth laced THC carts. Rodriguez and Boyd," I said. I'd sent Axel out to deal with that. Shootings were his thing, being an arms dealer and all. Mike clenched his jaw.
"What, was she right?" Brennen asked, looking surprised.
"Yes. Yes, I was," I said.
"Well I'll be damned. Who knew the big scary Saturn was just some cute little princess?" Mike said. Asshole.
"Hey, buddy. My appearance doesn't change anything. You seem to know who I am and what I'm capable of already. I don't need to look like a boss to be one. I built and now maintain my own power," I said. He swallowed, taken aback by a girl like me nipping at him like this.
"You're something else, you know that, Saturn?" he asked.
"Don't call me that here. I don't like mixing things up. Clearly people get the wrong idea about who I am when they see what I look like as you just so wonderfully demonstrated. My actual name is Jupiter, and that's what you're going to call me," I said.
"Don't give me attitude," he snapped back, eyes glinting back. What a jerk. Screw not blowing my cover with this guy.
"Don't tell me what to do," I retorted. Brennen dropped the cup he was holding.
"Did she justâ," Brennen stuttered, looking at Mike. Mike's eyes were wide and his breathing picked up.
"It was good to meet you. See you later," Mike said, grabbing Brennen's arm and dragging him out of the room and up the stairs. Yikes, these guys were way too used to getting their way. I wondered what percentage of people their weird stare didn't work on. Clearly not very many, but I obviously couldn't be the only one. But Mike and Brennen didn't seem like any of the sins.
A/N: Vote it up, y'all! Also, The Asylum hit 10k today!! Literally crying atm. I love you all sm((: