“Hey Lydia!” I call out to the party’s hostess as I stroll into the penthouse, grabbing a beer from some guy’s hand as I move past him.

“Hey Estrella, glad you could make it.” The redheaded hostess hugs me as I approach her.

“Any plans for the party aside from enjoying ourselves?” I ask as we pull away from one another.

"Nope, just have fun, kiss some hotties, and maybe more." She giggles as she steals my stolen beer and takes a swig of it before walking away.

“Bitch!” I call out after her as she walks off, flipping me the bird as she takes another swig.

🜂🜂🜂

The next hour or so pass relatively quickly. I get a beer or two in me while lounging around the living room before seeing a familiar face enter the party.

"Hey, Thea!" I call out, the brunette girl turning to face me, clearly startled by my loud, echoing voice.

Beside her is a tall ginger dude who notices me and gives a wave before practically dragging Thea over.

"Heya, who’s the lug, your boyfriend or something?" I inquire of the sweet, shy girl.

"W-what! N-no, I met him like yesterday!" Thea gives a stuttered and panicked response, a deep blush spreading across her face.

"It was like four days ago, but close enough." The guy responds with a chuckle, patting Thea’s shoulder.

"Anyway, it’s surprising to see you here, Thea; you did not seem like the party type at all."

"Well, you can thank me for that; it did take a bit of convincing, but she caved."

"So long as he stays within reach, or you too, I guess, Estrella."

🜂🜂🜂

The next couple hours go by nicely, at least for me. I take time to try and introduce Thea to some of my friends, but she hides behind the lug, who I manage to learn is named Janus. Now the three of us sit on the couch, relaxing as Thea sits in the middle, blushing once again as I sip on a beer.

As I open my mouth to say something to Thea, Lydia suddenly runs into the living room. "Oh man, you guys have to see this!" She uses an app to make the TV mirror her phone screen while starting a video.

The TV shows what is clearly a video some random guy filmed on his phone, approaching something in an alleyway. It’s hard to tell what it is due to the shakiness of the video until he gets close, and it’s clearly a dead body with a bloody, mangled hole in the woman’s forehead.

The video elicits gasps from the partygoers, though Thea is silent, which is surprising as I thought she’d puke or something at the sight of something like this. The video continues, moving down the corpse to below it, revealing a message burned into the concrete at the body’s feet. “She looked too close; hopefully no one else will be that stupid.”

The video ends as I hear a gag sound to my right, and there it is. Thea vomits onto the glass table in the middle of the living room, gasping for air afterwards. I help her to her feet and bring her to the nearest bathroom to clean up; Janus trying to follow, but I motion for him not to.

Once inside, I grab a towel to start wiping the ick off of her as she starts to cry, clearly more upset than just seeing some random corpse.

"Hey, you alright? What’s wrong?" I ask while still cleaning her up, speaking in a soft tone.

"T-that w-was, Ch-Charlotte Miller." She manages to get a response out through her sobs.

"That podcaster you listen to?" I ask to confirm, which she nods to for an answer. "Well, who would want her dead?"

"M-maybe the Scarlet Dragon... Aside from the new Vigilante, they are the only known Pyrokinetic in the city."

"Why do they need to have fire powers or whatever?"

"The scorch marks were too clean, something that would be difficult for most normal equipment and very easy for someone who can shoot fire out of their hands, or however they do it."

"Okay, do you feel better now, got your brain moving or whatever to take your mind off it?"

Thea gives a slight nod before wrapping me in a brief hug and making her way out of the bathroom, grabbing Janus on her way out and dragging him towards the exit, likely wanting to go home after all that. And I need another beer, as I think she puked a little in my last one.