Chapter 9: An Unruly House Party

Creeping moonlight illuminated the sky. The last vestiges of the sun’s bright rays came in the form of the tinted purple glow that danced along the edge of the horizon.

It should have been a quiet and peaceful evening, the type best enjoyed with a warm blanket and a cup of hot chocolate. Unfortunately, somewhere within the streets of Valery Hills, someone else had a different idea.

Strobe lights bright enough to pierce the clouds and the deafening rhythm of a boom box. Music, if you could call it that, filled the night air. To Theo, it sounded like a mixture between a car crash and scratching chalkboard. Just the bass alone made his skin vibrate and his hairs stand on end.

The street was littered with a wide variety of vehicles. Motorcycles and pick-up trucks, SUVs and off-brand jeeps, there was even an RV somewhere within the mix. Some looked rather expensive, like the Silver Lillum sports car parked in the driveway of the biggest house on the block, while others resembled recycled pieces of scrap, like the beat-up white mini-van that looked like it had an extensive experience with child kidnappings.

There were probably even more further down the street, but Theo’s vision could only reach so far.

He narrowed his eyes and quietly observed the surroundings.

He felt Shirley’s grip tighten around the hem of his shirt. Muffled sounds of laughter and yelling, most of it blotted out by the music. When he sniffed the air, he caught the faint scent of cigarettes and alcohol.

It did not take very long for Theo to identify the center of all this chaos. The proverbial eye of the storm, the place where all the noises, all the smells, and all the people congregated. A three-story house with a jet-black rooftop. It was the largest house on the block, the same one with the silver-colored sports car parked in its driveway.

Dancing silhouettes in the windows, and mini fireworks in the backyard… It was a house party that had outgrown the house.

Shirley creased her brow. She squirmed in place for a moment, before she tugged on Theo’s sleeve. “Maybe… maybe we should take a detour?” She timidly suggested.

She was somewhat intimidated by the atmosphere. For a person like her, just even being in the vicinity of a party gave her goosebumps. What’s more, it wasn’t only the atmosphere that she feared. Her eyes warily glanced at the people that loitered around the surrounding area. She unconsciously shivered.

Shoulders decorated in black ink. Golden chains dangling off their necks, while their bony fingers held smoking cigarettes. There were even a few with skimpily dressed women hanging off their arms.

It was laughable how cliché a few of these guys were. At least, Theo thought so. As for Shirley… well, she was scared out of her mind.

“Seriously Theo, let’s go already. I don’t want to be here any more than we have to.” She continually urged, her body slowly moving away from the crowded street.

In response, Theo shook his head and frowned. “If we go back now, then it’ll take us like twenty more minutes to get home.”

He did not like the sound of that. It should be late late afternoon right now. The sun had almost completely set, and the street lamps were already on. Night was just around the corner. No, in fact, it had already arrived.

Besides, Shirley already forced him to take one detour, he wasn’t about to do another. As Mistelhan’s hero and savior, where would his pride go if he were to run away from a couple of thugs? All the bandits that he had previously slain would have surely laughed their asses off if news of such an incident were to spread.

But still, I would have never imagined something like this happening in the neighborhood, much less this early in the evening. Is the situation really that bad?

“Theo, stop messing around, please!” Shirley’s desperate voice echoed through his ears. “Please, can we just go?”

Regardless of what she was saying, Theo did not listen. He gently pushed her forward. “Don’t be scared. Walking through all of this should take less than five minutes. Also, I’m here, aren’t I? I’ll protect you, no matter what happens.”

“But…” Her fears did not dissipate. Theo was her childhood friend, but he wasn’t exactly the strongest guy in the world. If push comes to shove, and those guys really did act against them, what could Theo do? Much less protect her, could he even protect himself?

He saw the fear in her eyes and knew that she did not really take his words all that seriously. Theo didn’t mind. He was perfectly clear on how much strength his body possessed. If it weren’t for his twenty-five years of experience, then he wouldn’t even dare to enter such a place either.

He patted her back reassuringly before he pushed her forward by another step. Shirley’s anxiety almost flared up. She grabbed onto his hands and frantically shook her head.

He felt her fingernails digging into his skin. Theo finally let go. After seeing the worry clearly scribbled on her face, he inadvertently sighed. He thought for a moment before he suddenly suggested. “If you’re really that scared, then cover your face.”

“Cover my face?” She tilted her head in confusion. “Why should I do that?”

“Because you’re cute. You know what the bad guys do to cute girls like you, right?”

“C-cute…” Hearing his casual compliment, Shirley's eyes widened. She quickly turned her head away from him, but not before Theo caught a glimpse of the bright red that colored her ears. She absentmindedly shuffled in place for a few seconds, still reeling from his words, before she suddenly recalled what they were arguing about in the first place.

She angrily glared at Theo. “No, that won’t help, we’re not going through this street! Stop trying to confuse me!”

“Alright, alright, I get it…” Theo responded rather agreeably, but contrary to his words, he was actually pushing Shirley forward. Although she resisted, Theo was stronger than her. Inch by inch, they slowly approached the chaotic street.

“Theo? Theo! Theo, stop! Seriously, Theo, please…” Her words were eventually blotted out by the loud music. Seeing as she could not resist, nor escape from his hold, Shirley held back bitter tears and begrudgingly walked forward.

This hateful guy, he’s basically throwing me to the wolves!

To Theo’s surprise, Shirley really did take his advice from earlier. Both of her hands were pressed against her face. Like this, she could not really see, but others couldn’t see her face either. Theo did not know whether to laugh or to cry.

“It’s still not too late to go back.” Her muffled words spoke beside him.

He shook his head and softly chuckled. He firmly grabbed onto her shoulders and walked forward. Theo pushed Shirley in front of him, gently guiding her along through every step of the way, making extra sure that she didn’t accidentally crash into anything.

Three minutes passed and so far, their journey was uneventful. Unfortunately, by the time they reached the area directly in front of the three-story house, they were immediately interrupted.

“Hey, who the hell are you?” Someone suddenly called out.

Turning his head, Theo saw a skinny man with a dirty blonde mohawk. One of his arms was wrapped around some girl in a leather dress, while the other held a cheap looking bottle of beer. He sat on the hood of an orange convertible.

“What’s with the girl?” He squinted his eyes and stared at Shirley’s odd appearance. She was still covering her face with both hands, but at the same time, her entire body was shaking, almost as if she had just spent the entire night locked away in a walk-in freezer.

Theo felt Shirley’s nervousness. Without pause, he lazily glanced around the surroundings, before he turned back towards the skinny man and lightly responded, “She’s ugly and a bit insecure about her face. Don’t mind her.”

“What ar—” Shirley almost protested out of instinct, but Theo hurriedly poked her in the back with a finger, immediately silencing her.

“Ugly?” The guy tilted her head. Contrary to Theo’s expectations, the skinny man’s interest actually grew. For a moment, he was shocked, but then he glanced at the lady sitting next to the man. He hadn’t noticed it before, but she was actually ugly!

Could it be that he has some sort of weird inclination? Theo felt a headache forming.

“Hey girl, lower your hands for a second.” The man commanded. “I’ve seen a few ugly girls before, what’s one more.” He tried to speak casually, but Theo clearly heard the excitement in his voice.

Shirley squirmed within Theo’s grip. She did not know what to do. Her hands trembled. Should she listen and reveal her face? Keep her hands up? Run away? What will he do if she doesn’t listen? Will he hurt her? Will he hurt Theo?

She truly did not know what to do.

Just as her hovering fingers started to slip, Theo suddenly placed patted the crown of her head. “Don’t.” He leaned forward and calmly whispered in her ear. “It’s fine. You don’t have to listen to him. Just trust me.”

For a moment, Shirley stopped trembling. She still couldn’t see, but she felt his warmth. She blanked out for a few seconds before she eventually nodded her head. Although she was still nervous, although she was scared, right now, none of that mattered. She placed her full trust in Theo.

Seeing such a scene, the skinny man frowned. His left eye twitched. A feeling of dissatisfaction bubbled up within his heart.

Originally, it should have been a minor thing. He really did just want to see the girl’s face. He liked to appreciate the beauty of females. He was particularly fond of… girls with atypical looks. It was supposed to be minor, a small issue in the grand scheme of things, so why? The girl did not listen and the youth in front of him challenged his authority. Not only that, there was also something in the youth’s eyes that irritated him.

“On a day like today, something like this had to happen…” An ugly scowl contorted his face.

The man was a member of the notorious Pit Cobras gang. Not only that, but he was also someone who had been recently promoted to deputy captain. The party tonight, while it wasn’t necessarily held for him, he still treated it as his own. On a night like this, their blatant disregard really pissed him off.

He glared hatefully at the black-haired youth. He tried to get a proper look at the kid that dared challenge him on his own turf, but unfortunately, hair covered the kid’s upper face.

Everything about him pissed the man off. Luckily, the man knew how to best break these sorts of reckless idiots. His gaze suddenly fell on the girl beside the youth.

A sneering smile floated to his face.

“Hey, didn’t you hear me?” He aggressively called out. “I told you to lower your arms, so fucking lower them!”

Shirley trembled. She subconsciously took a step back, but bumped into Theo. Her body was as stiff as a board, while her skin appeared pale and sickly. Still, no matter how frightened she got, she did not run away. The warmth prevented her from doing so. No, it was more than that. The warmth of his hand, the warmth of his presence… she refused to run away.

The thug’s eyes narrowed. “This, dumb bi—”

“Alright, that’s enough.” Theo immediately interrupted. He clapped his hands before he grabbed Shirley’s shoulders and pushed her forward. “We’ll be going now. It was nice talking to you.” With one last parting glance, he turned away from the skinny thug and continued walking.

“What?” The man was caught off guard by the youth’s carefree attitude. He sat there in a daze for a few seconds, before a vicious light glinted in his eyes. His shock rapidly morphed into a burning rage. He shook off the girl in his arms and jumped off the car.

He swaggered towards Theo, all the while shouting, “Who the fuck told you that you could go!?”

Theo slightly turned his head and glanced at the approaching man through the corner of his eye. He noticed a few things, like how the guy was shirtless but his upper body was covered in so many tattoos, that he looked no different from someone fully clothed, especially in the dead of the night.

In actuality, the skinny man only wore a pair of running pants and dark brown loafers. It was definitely an odd combination.

He clearly saw the ugly scowl on the man’s face. Theo felt the urge to shake his head.

Likewise, the thug observed Theo. Judging by his youthful appearance, and the fact that the girl next to him was wearing a school uniform, the kid was probably a student. He had dealt with plenty of students before. He knew that the best way to deal with unruly teenagers wasn’t through direct violence, but rather intimidation.

After this stinky brat starts groveling on the ground, I’ll kick him a few times. If he shows a bit of generosity, then I might just let him go with only one or two bruises…

The thug inwardly laughed to himself as he looked at Theo with a gaze full of unbridled contempt.

Thinking for a moment, he suddenly pulled something out from his pants pocket. Thin and silvery, it was a butterfly knife. After he unfolded the blade, he swung the knife around for a few seconds. To the trained eye, his swings were ugly and poorly executed, but to someone like the stupid kid in front of him, it probably looked kickass and intimidating.

Seeing the kid lower his head, the thug smugly laughed to himself.

“What are you doing?” Theo narrowed his eyes and warily asked. He subconsciously moved in front of Shirley, shielding her with his body.

Honestly, Theo did not really care for any of the so-called gangsters that loitered around the neighborhood. After all, how dangerous could they really be? To someone whose burned down bandit strongholds and destroyed entire underworld syndicates, these kids playing criminal really weren’t all that much.

What he worried for was Shirley’s safety.

“I don’t like your attitude.” The thug gave Theo a contemptuous look before he shifted his gaze over towards the girl. Looking closely at her, his interest was once again piqued. “You trying to hide something? Why’s your face all hidden like that?”

“I told you she’s just shy,” Theo answered for her.

“Shut the fuck up. I wasn’t talking to you.” The man angrily barked, before he continued to leisurely stare at Shirley.

Theo’s expression chilled, but the thug had not noticed. If he had, then he would have surely seen the dangerous light that flashed through Theo’s eyes. Unfortunately, he was too busy ogling at the girl.

The longer he looked, the more and more pleased he became. He ran his gaze up and down her body, before they eventually rested on her exposed thighs.

The man subconsciously licked his lips.

Underneath her sweater, Shirley wore the school’s mandatory uniform, which consisted of a white button-up shirt and a matching red skirt. The skirt was originally designed to drop down below a girl’s kneecaps, which was rather conservative, especially for the modern era.

Shirley’s skirt was still the same skirt that the school originally issued out, but there was one key problem; hers was a few sizes too small.

She owned only one size skirt. They were the skirts that she first bought during her first year of high-school. For the most part, that sort of arrangement worked. In the four years since, she didn’t really grow all that much. In fact, for a time, Shirley almost believed that she was destined to grow up to be someone like her mother; a petite lady that people often confused for a middle schooler.

To her surprise, it wasn’t that Shirley had stopped growing, but rather, she was just a late bloomer. Within the last seven months, she underwent a period of explosive growth.

She grew taller and her figure filled out. That especially showed in the clothes that she owned. Many of her old shirts were now too small for her to wear. Her skirt was no different. It danced between the fine line of completely impossible and barely acceptable.

Her current skirt was a bit tight around her waist and revealed quite a bit of her alabaster thighs. Shirley was a naturally beautiful girl. Even Theo openly admitted it. Her legs were shapely and curved in just the right kind of way. They were the legs of a beautiful woman.

The thug seemingly realized this too. He let out a lascivious chuckle. Although he was a connoisseur of ugly faces, he also knew how to appreciate a beautiful body. “Fine, you don’t have to move your hands anymore, but stay here for the night, alright? I’ll make sure to take very good care of you…”

Shirley bit her lower lip. A cold sweat ran down her back, while her entire body trembled uncontrollably. Underneath her breath, she worriedly called out Theo’s name.

The thug took a step forward. He walked around Theo and reached a hand out towards her thighs. His eyes had completely locked onto Shirley’s skirt, while his imagination ran wild with what lay underneath. Just as he was about to touch her, the man was suddenly interrupted.

A thin hand grabbed tightly onto his wrist.

The thug’s expression soured. “You?” He glanced up at Theo. “What the hell do you think you're doing? Trying to act cool? Trying to play fucking hero? You don’t believe I won’t kill you over a bitch? I’ve killed people for even less.”

The skinny thug sneered at him, but Theo did not put to mind any of his words. He simply sighed and quietly said, “I guess talking it out was a bit too much to ask, huh?”

“What the fuck did you jus—”

Before the thug could finish, Theo suddenly attacked.

His hands blurred. He struck the man’s throat with the knuckles on his fist. The thug sputtered out a strained cough. He had been caught off guard by the sudden hit, and reflexively swung his knife in retaliation. Unfortunately, Theo was already a step ahead.

Instead of blocking or avoiding the blow, he caught the thug by the elbow and forearm. Theo borrowed his momentum and guided the knife forward until it made a full arc across the air. Normally, the knife would stop just before it could cause bodily harm to its user, but Theo forced it forward. He twisted the thug’s wrist and pushed down on his elbow. The jagged blade sank into the thug’s shoulder with a blood sickening squelch!

“Aaargh!” The thug screamed out in pain.

Theo loosened his grip and took a step back. He thought for a moment, before he suddenly kicked out. His foot landed directly onto the man’s crotch. For added measure, he kicked him once more.

The thug’s voice turned high pitched, before he sank to the ground. His eyes rolled to the back of his skull, while the corners of his lips frothed with white foam.

Seeing all this, Theo sighed and shook his head. “I really didn’t want to get involved.” He spoke to the half-conscious body on the floor. “I really didn’t want to, but you forced me to, so don’t blame me, okay?”

He stared at the guy for a few seconds, before he dejectedly shook his head once more and motioned for Shirley to continue walking. He wanted to leave, but unfortunately, it wasn’t so easy to walk away after beating someone up, especially not when said someone still had friends scattered all throughout the street.

A couple of guys loitered around the front yard of the three-story house. They had all seen what had just transpired. At first, they thought nothing of the incident.

One of their own simply went to go have some fun. Picking up a chick and scaring some kid in the process, it wasn’t anything unusual. What they did not expect was for that random kid to be so vicious!

After the momentary shock faded, the scattered delinquents quickly approached.

Seeing all this, Theo let out another sigh. “Looks like we have company.” He said such a cliché line without even flinching. Only an expert like Theo, who spoke cliché line after cliché line during his time in Mistelhan, could pull off something like that with zero hesitation.

“Company? What company? Theo, what’s happening?” Shirley anxiously asked. Throughout all this time, she still kept her face covered.

Theo lightly patted her head. “Nothing, just keep doing what you’re doing, alright? Don’t peek through your fingers and try to ignore anything you might hear, got it?”

“Hear? What am I about to hear?”

“Nothing, really. It’s just, um… He thought for a moment, before he decided to borrow a line that one of his party members often used. “Skin-ship. Skin-ship between men.”

“What are you saying? That doesn’t even make sense.”

Theo ignored Shirley’s utterly confused voice, as he cracked his knuckles and quietly watched the approaching group of men.