"Why isn't there any line?" Lauren asked the bouncer--a man in his late thirties to his early fourties--having to raise her voice when the people in front of her entered the night club. From her the place looked black inside but when she looked at the windows she could clearly see strobing lights which she just didn't understand how that worked. "I figured there'd be a lot more people since there's free drinks tonight."
As she said that a girl came out from the club with a blue drink and handed it to the bouncer while he looked over Lauren's ID. He handed it back to her before taking a drink and making that told her whatever he'd just sipped must've been strong. He set it down on the small table behind him before he turned back to her and answered. "Trust me, it's packed in there." He said looking over Roy's ID as he went on. "But the owner made some adjustments to the building. The club itself is about four floors lower than we are right now and the other side of building is basically one big slanting window with ten more entrances."
The bouncer handed Roy back his ID and waved them in. "You guys got lucky and chose the right side to come in on."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lauren asked feeling alittle nervous now.
"Because," The man took another drink of his blue drink again scrunching up his face at the taste of it. "You'll have to take the elevator down stairs which is actually quite the sight especially when they start shooting at you. But nevermind and go have fun, you'll see what I mean."
Roy and Lauren exchanged glances with the other before they entered the doors that opened automatically before they stepped in to find themselves looking at easily over a dozen elevators within the building. The place was dimly lit but even in the dim lighting Lauren could see that the carpeting outside of the elevators were a dark crimson giving the place a very eerie look. The walls were a mix of tan with black and green stars running along them making it look like a cheap hotel she'd stayed in once. But from the elevators she saw what looked like a multitude of colored lights streaming in through the cracks while the floor beneath her thumped in sync with the music she was hearing.
"Sounds like a hell of a party down there." Roy said having to raise his voice a bit as he headed toward the nearest elevator. "Might as well get on down there huh?"
Nodding Lauren followed him to the elevator which had reached them almost as soon as Roy had pressed the button. When the doors opened up Lauren was amazed to see that the floor and the walls of the elevator were made entirely of glass letting them see the inner workings of the machine. They stepped in and looked straight down when they saw no visible buttons to press and before they knew it the glass elevator was slowly beginning its decent. It got no more than five inches down when Lauren saw the party that was going on below as well as the countless lights that were strobing to the beat of the song.
"Damn!" Was all Lauren or Roy could say when the elevator was low enough for them to see everything that was going on. The bouncer had it right. This was quite a sight to see. From up here it didn't look like there was going to be any room for them, the place was quite literally packed to the rafters because from here she saw that there were multiple levels of dance floors each with their own bar. But they all shared the same DJ who was positioned to the far left of the building in a booth that was probably a good ten maybe fifteen feet off the ground. They were only about five feet past the floor that covered the elevator when the music was cut and the DJ spoke into the mic. "Looks like we have some more guests people! Give em a good welcome for your friends here at Leon Pride would you?"
No sooner did the DJ finish saying that did dozens of water cannons--or at least that's what they looked like--turned toward the elevator and shut an assortment of multi-colored drinks at them. Lauren flinched but Roy just laughed when the strangely colored liquid hit the glass elevator before the water cannons started spinning and spraying the crowd with their contents. The crowd loved it and started cheering the words Leon Pride while the music picked back up. Lauren was surprised that the crowd didn't care about getting drenched, though she did when the elevator opened up and she let a droplet of the liquid fall on her tongue. She felt the familiar burning of alcohol on her tongue and realised that they probably didn't care because they were all hammered already.
"They really go all out don't they?" Lauren asked Roy who brought his hand to his ear making Lauren raise her voice. "I said they really go all out don't they?!"
"Yeah!" Was all he said as they tried making their way across the jam packed dance floor getting seperated from the other in no time.
"Roy!" She called out but saw neither hide nor hair of his blond hair anywhere. "Roy!?"
Lauren bumped into some random guy who started dancing with her but she pulled away from him to go in search of Roy. She decided to head toward the stairs to hopefully get a better vantage of the place. On the way at least ten guys tried dancing with her, four girls tried grinding on her, and she was pretty sure that someone grabbed her butt. She just kept on walking though shouldering her way past people when she had to until finally she reached the spiraling staircase and began her ascent. She leaned over the railing after climbing up about four feet over everyone else but couldn't see hide nor hair of Roy.
Well shit, she thought sweeping the crowd again and again before she finally decided to check the higher floors. Getting to the second floor she soon realized that she'd have just about as much luck finding him up here as she did on the ground floor. With a sigh she started heading toward the stairs again and figured she'd just go and wait by the bar, maybe he'd come looking for her there since they'd talked about having a few together. It was better than just wondering aimlessly and getting humped by both boys and girls on the dance floor she told herself as she made her way to the bar.
She made much better time getting to her destination this time because she didn't try cutting across the dance floor again but stayed on the outskirts of the mob of drunk dancers. She found an empty seat and claimed it before anyone else beat her to it and turned to the bartender, a pretty girl with bright blue hair and neon colored clothes. She asked what Lauren wanted and she told her what she wanted, a simply rum and coke, she didn't want to get too drunk in case Roy did make his way over here in search of her. Lauren turned around in her stool and looked up to see what looked like a whole other level at the very top of the club, but she didn't see any way to get up there so she decided to ask about it.
"Oh that? That's where the boss man lives." The pretty bartender said handing a tray full of the same blue drink that she saw a lot of people walking around with. "I'm just glad that I'm friends with him because the bartender's checks are insane! Makes me sick that I actually didn't want to work for him at first."
"How old is he?" Lauren asked and couldn't help but be shocked by the answer she got.
"He's only 22," She said pouring herself a glass of the strange blue drink. "Dunno how he got his money but hey I'm not complaining."
"He a human or a demon?"
"Unless he wears contacts all the time, I'd say its safe to assume he's a demon." She took a drink of the blue liquid and shuddered as she swallowed and set it down. "You going to the after party?"
"Afterparty?"
"Yeah he's supposed to be walking around with VIP passes. Says he's going to be fair and hand them out to random people but knowing him as long as I have, he's going to be handing them out to all the pretty faces out there." Shaking her glass at Lauren she added. "Go out there and shake your butt a little and I garuntee that you'll be getting a pass."
Sighing Lauren decided to wait for a little while for Roy to show up before asking about the blue drink that everyone seemed to be drinking. "It's called Blueberry Jax, the owner's own recipe. It's strong as all hell and tastes amazing but he's pricing it pretty low, his way of saving money instead of ordering all those 'fancy drinks.'"
"Isn't that illegal?"
"Not if he has an official alcohol production and distribution license which he does." The bartender took one more big drink before she produced a second cup and slid it over to Lauren before filling them both. "Try one out and relax. You got all night to find whoever it is that you're looking for."
Lauren looked at the blue drink before her contemplating wheter or not she should drink it or not. Part of her was telling her that she shouldn't before Roy showed up, plus she wasn't sure she trusted this recipe of the owner's for all she knew it was laced with something. But another even larger part of her was telling her to drink it and cut loose, Roy was bound to find her eventually as long as she stayed around here. She let out a sigh and took the cup in her hands before clanking it with the bartender's and took a sip. She was right it did taste really good, and you could barely even taste whatever amount of alcohol was in it. It was sour though which made her face scrunch up and now she realized why everyone who drank it was making those faces. Shrugging she threw her head back and began to drink.
Lauren didn't know how much of that stuff she'd drank, but then again she stopped counting after the first two glasses and started drinking them like they were water until she found herself out on the dance floor with someone she didn't even know. He looked around her age and was wearing a plain white t-shirt with "Party Time!" written across the front in big black lettering. He had dark spikey hair and a smile that probably wasn't used to hearing no. He was cute but Lauren was still half trying to find Roy, but there wasn't any harm to come out of dancing with someone. The music switched to a popular song and before she knew it Lauren along with everyone else in the club was jumping up and down pumping their fist in sync with the beat of the song. When it came time for the big climax of the song all the water cannons started spinning and spraying more of what she knew to me more of that Jax drink that they served here. Everyone loved that and even Lauren found herself holding her mouth open to catch a few more drops of the drink.
It was then that she felt something getting pressed into her hand and she turned to see another rather hot guy standing beside her. She looked down into her hand to see a card that read After Party Pass, she looked back up at the guy but he was already disappearing back into the crowd. Throwing her arms up in the air Lauren let out a whoop and soon enough everyone around her was whooping along with her until eventually the whole club was doing it. Lauren brought her pass back down and made sure that she put it in her front pocket before she started to make her way back toward the bar where she found the blue haired bartender playing a drinking game with one of the customers. She practically skipped over to the bar and slapped her pass on the counter top in front of the girl while wearing an ear-to-ear grin.
"Told you." Was all she said before she tossed a quarter and making it land in the class between her and the guy she was playing with. Lauren didn't even know anyone there but when she made the quarter toss and the whole bar shouted she was shouting right with them while the guy took a shot.
"Let me give it a try." Lauren said taking a quarter from the counter and lining it up. The tender told her that she had to hit the really hard stuff if she missed but when Lauren tossed to quarter she made it. "Drink up!"
The blue haired bartender took two shots of 'the hard stuff' before one of her partners came over and replaced her while she started talking to Lauren again. "So who gave it to you?" She asked sliding the pass back to Lauren. "Was it Nick or Leon?"
"Um he was tall and he had dark hair-"
"Leon," Said the bartender nodding her head. "Told you he'll give you a pass if you go out there and shake your butt a little. He say anything to you?"
"No just gave it to me and then he was gone." Lauren said before asking for another cup of Jax. "When's the after party supposed to start exactly?"
"Oh they'll make an announcement." Said the blue haired girl as she slide a full glass across the counter. "But you better hold onto that or else you can't get in. What's your name by the way you look familiar."
"Lauren Miller," Lauren said with a hiccup that made her blush before she went on. "I go to Collab University."
"Oh, you're in Trek's class!" The girl said pointing at her making Lauren suddenly feel very selfconscious. "I'm Crystal Lawrence I sit up at the top row. You know Leon--the owner of this place--goes to school there too same class too. He's that spikey haired guy that sits next to me."
"The club owner goes to school with us!?" Lauren exclaimed trying to hide the fact that she had absolutely no idea that she and this girl went to the same school. She was about to ask something else but forgot what it was when she remembered that the Saunder's guy in her class was also named Leon. "Hey is the owner's last name Saunders?"
"Yup you know him?"
"No I never talked to him, but he's the only one doing better than me in Trek's class." Lauren said which just made Crystal laugh. "What's so funny?"
"Hold on." Crystal said before turning around and telling her partner that she was going to take off for a bit, before turning back to Lauren and hopping over the bar counter. "Come on I'll show you why Leon does so well in that class."
Crystal led Lauren through the dance floor and admittedly they got lost in the crowd before they decided to dance for a while. Crystal did a good job of keeping close to Lauren--unlike Roy whom she still hadn't seen since they got here--she even went so far as to dance with her getting a little to close for Lauren's liking but the alcohol in her system made it so she hardly even noticed. In fact she didn't even notice that the two of them had already made their way through the dance mob and were heading toward an elevator with a card scanner next to it. Crystal slid her hand into Lauren's and was half dragging her along toward the elevator before she swiped a card key through the scanner opening the doors up to them.
Crystal pushed Lauren in to the elevator and pressed the only button that was on the pad, it had a big 'L' on it and the doors closed right after. The silence that followed was shocking as Lauren realized that the elevator was sound proof. But there was another song playing in the elevator as they went up, Crystal had her arms up and shaking her hips along with the song making Lauren feel slightly uncomfortable. The door couldn't have opened up any slower as far as she was concerned, but when it did Lauren was astonished by the loft that opened up to them. To either side of her the walls were mad entirely of windows, to her left the windows were looking over the party going on outside while the right gave her a nice view of the world outside.
On the far side of the loft she saw a bed that was probably big enough for six people. Bringing her gaze closer to them Lauren saw that there was a hot tub right near the window looking outside along with another bar though this one looked like it was stocked with different drinks other than that Jax stuff. Coming even closer Lauren saw an absolutely enormous television that was probably wider then three people lying on the ground with a small den in front of it with a rounded leather couch. Going further still she saw a pool table and a kitchen area, but more importantly was the same guy that'd given her the pass for the after party standing behind an island eating ice cream.
Looking at him now Lauren did recognize him, she had three classes with him actually but she'd never talked to him. He was wearing a long sleeve white shirt that buttoned at the collar, though he wore it loose. His black hair was wet and combed backward with a single strand hanging in his face, but it was his eyes that stuck out to her the most. Downstairs she hadn't seen what color they were because of all the lights, but up here she could clearly see that they were bright red just like the demon that had saved her life earlier on today. Her stomach tightened into a knot at the thought of it, she hoped he didn't recognize her, not when she was drunk because she wouldn't be able to argue nearly as well as she could when she was sober.
He was leaning on the island top with his elbow and a spoonful of ice cream right in front of his mouth when he noticed them and he straightened up to look at them. Lauren felt herself begin to sweat in anticipation for him recognizing her as the girl he kicked his car not once but twice, but he never did, instead he just asked Crystal something. "How is it you get nicer looking girls than I do?"
"Well I'm hotter than you are for one." Crystal said with a smirk as she stepped into the loft with a timid Lauren following after her. "And let's face it, sex with a human is just better than it is with a demon."
Lauren felt all the blood rushing up to her face when she realized that they were talking as if she and Crystal were together! She nearly said something when Leon spoke up. "I couldn't say I never had a human in my bed, and never will. You're all too fragile."
"You only say that because you haven't had me." Crystal said with a wink that made them both laugh but Lauren was still feeling nearvous about being recognized. She followed Crystal nonetheless as they sat down around the island across from Leon who continued enjoying his ice cream while Crystal did all the talking. "So this is my new friend Lauren, and no she's not my new girlfriend. She is however one of our classmates in Trek's class, and she was wondering how you're doing so well in there."
"Oh yeah, hey you're that human chick who's always right below me on our test scores." Leon said with a smile that said he didn't recognize her beyond the classroom as he pointed his spoon at her. "Yeah I know you know. As for how I'm doing so well in that class well- let's just say I have a very unique perspective on the subject of that class. It's my job to know how demons think, I hunt them you know? I'm no Lawkeeper but I'll help them out if they need it like today there was a pack of dog demons that got in the city. Nasty little basties if you ask me but nothing I can't handle."
"Really, well what is it exactly that you do?" Lauren asked putting her hand on her stomach when it felt like it was starting to bubble. "I mean I thought the Lawkeepers were supposed to be the stronger demons so why would they need help."
Crystal giggled and Leon rolled his eyes before taking another bite of ice cream. "If you think the Lawkeepers are the strongest demons you're dreaming. They wouldn't last a day out in the Badlands, now that's where the real nasty puppies are." He waved his spoon around while he ate another bite before going on. "As for me. Well I'm a mercenary really, plain and simple, I'll do any job you need done as long as I get paid. Like today with them dogs I made $3,000 to help clear them out. I charge based on the job, so say you needed me to take care of a giant demon, I'd probably ask for a quart of a million."
"Now everyone knows that, generally speaking, the bigger the demon the stronger they are." Leon said waving around his spoon only to have Crystal take it and dig into his bowl. "And you know that the demon's are ranked by letter when they register, E class which is what those dogs were, through A class which is what the demon council on the Chain are ranked as."
"And what are you?" Lauren asked tilting her head and trying her best to keep herself from blowing up as her stomach continued to groan. "If you say you're stronger than the Lawkeepers who are supposed to be B class demons what are you?"
"Well actually I'm ranked in the upper C to the lower B classes." Leon took his bowel of ice cream back along with his spoon and ate the last of it. "But the Lawkeepers," He said mid-bite. "They are supposed to ranked B class, but that's over on the Chain. On the mainland they're upper D class at best. C class demons and above are supposed to live on the Chain. I'm a special case because i contribute to the system."
"Okay then what is it that you-" Lauren stopped and brought her hand to her mouth gagging and she knew right away that all that alcohol was coming back up. "Oh god- Bathroom!?"
Leon pointed with his spoon toward the far wall and Lauren got up and ran for it, knocking her stool over in the process. She ran around the pool table completely aware of Leon and Crystal watching her as she reached the area with the leather couch. She was trying so hard to hold it in but her body heaved and before she could do anything Lauren was bent over Leon's couch vomiting all the night's drinks. Her body was paralysed as she heaved again and before she knew it she was leaning over a cushion that was completely soaked in bile with Crystal standing over her, rubbing her back and keeping her hair out of the way. Lauren looked over and Leon staring over at her with a look that told her it didn't matter whether he recognized her or not because now she owed him for this couch.
~*~*~*~The Next Morning~*~*~*~
Lauren awoke to the feeling of being shaken awake by someone, but she just groaned and rolled over hiding her head beaneath the pillow. However whoever this was that was shaking her clearly wanted to die because they kept it up until finally she looked up. Her head was throbbing and her throat was sore from all the puking she'd done after she met Leon, she didn't even want to guess about how her hair looked right now. She didn't have any memory of how she got home but she did know that she wanted to sleep at least another day or two before she even contemplated getting up. She looked up to see that it was Becca that had been shaking her awake already dressed for the day, Lauren hated her for a second before she slowly sat up and asked what she wanted.
"You have a visitor." She said pointing to the door. Lauren was getting up when Becca stopped her again. "I'd brush out my hair before I went to see who it was."
Lauren slowly got to her feet and went to the mirror, she had to stifle a gasp when she saw how wild and tangled her hair was. She ran her brush through it a few times just to get it to look at least slightly reasonable before she tied it in a tail and walked over to the door. She twisted the knob and opened it up, this time she couldn't help but let out a gasp when Leon looked over his glasses at her. He was wearing a red t-shirt and a black button up with black jeans, his hair was still slicked back up as it was last night. Lauren sobbered up really quick right then looking back at Becca before she stepped out in the hallway with only her pajamas on. She closed the door as quietly as she could before turning around to look at Leon who'd lost his black sunglasses and was looking at her now with those blood red eyes of his.
"I'm sorry." Were the first words out of Lauren's mouth gesturing with her hands just to show how sorry she was. "I'm so sorry Leon, I swear to God I did not mean to do that. I swear I'm not some sloppy drunk who drinks so much that she pukes all over the place."
"Oh I believe that." Leon said with half a smile as he pulled out a PET and flipped it open. "You were a good student overall in high school but started slacking a bit in college when demon subjects became available to you. You don't have any serious priors other than a few parking tickets and, uh-oh... A few underages."
"What- Where did you get my records!?" Lauren cried out reaching for the PET only to have Leon hold it just out of her reach. "Give it here or delete it, those are supposed to be private!"
"I'm a government official Lauren-"
"You're a mercenary!"
"Okay fine, but I work with the government and you ruined my couch last night." Leon said narrowing his eyes as he flipped his PET shut and put it in his pocket. "And let's not forget the damage you did to my car."
"I didn't-"
Leon put a finger over her lips to shush her before he went on. "Now look, I believe that you're sorry and I also believe that you didn't mean to do it." He said lowering his finger and Lauren--despite the situation--had to struggle not to disappear in his eyes or fall weak at the knees about being so close to him. "So, rather than press charges I'm going to offer you a way to pay it back. You're going to be working for me as my personal assistant, all you'll have to do is keep track of what clients I'm working with and you'll accompany me on business trips."
Leon looked down at his wrist to check his watch and spoke. "Which I have in about ten minutes. You have five to get dressed."
"What, but I- I didn't even agree to it!" Lauren exclaimed which only made Leon look at her with an unimpressed look in his eyes. "What if I don't want to work for you?"
"Well then I bring you to court and sue you for $200,000 for the couch and the damage you did to the front of my car."
"200 K!?!" Lauren shouted looking at him with a look of disbelief. "But it was an accident!"
"Someone has to pay for it." Leon said with a shrug before he threw out another threat. "Either you agree to work for me or I take you to court, which I might add, will no doubt get you kicked out of school. Your choice Lauren."
A long and tense silence went on between them before Lauren growled at the boy standing before him. "What was that?"
"I said I'll be out in a minute."
A/N: Chapter 3!!!! Not much going on here but yay we got to meet Leon finally!!! Kind of a dick isn't he? But he'll get to be a lot more lovable in a few chapters. Trust me Leon is quite the badass in this story :) But what do you guys think of him turning the White House into a nightclub??? Also what's your opinion on the lettering system of demons, was it confusing or did you all understand it? And what do you think about Leon talking some smack about the Lawkeepers?
Let me know down below!!!!
PS - I'm taking suggestions for a character in this story. He or she will be a demon that will be one of Leon's "bosses" they'll be a figure head on the demon council which as you learned in this chapter are pretty much the top dogs. Leave me your character's name, a brief description of their look and personality along with a unique ability you'd like them to have. Note, they cannot be stretchy, teleport, blow things up with a touch, control water, control earth, or control lightning because those powers are already spoken for. Winner of this will appear in a future chapter so give me your suggestions!!!!!
Pic is Leon