Skins & Needles (COMPLETE)

A Change of Scenery Part 3

Charlotte

I sighed heavily, throwing back my drink, and headed back in the direction of Ryanne. I was still going to try and enjoy this party, with or without an attractive man at my side. When I got to where I'd last seen her and Tora, they were gone, replaced by some members of a local gang that Jeremy had warned me to watch out for when they came into the shop. It seemed every lawless organization in the city was on the guest list.

I meandered from floor to floor, admiring the artwork throughout the casino, and ended up wandering down the fancy-looking corridors of the connecting hotel. When I returned to the party, I found another drink— wine this time— and searched until I finally found Jeremy.

"There you are!" he exclaimed upon seeing me. "I thought I'd never find you."

"I was just talking to some, uh, friends I guess," I told him. "How're you?"

"Oh, excellent!" he told me, carefully balancing four different cocktail plates with various appetizers across his arm. "The food here never fails. Never."

"I've only had the lamb kabobs. Lots of good drinks though!" I glanced around then, feeling a little too closed in by all the people, and a little too hot from the alcohol.

"Looking for someone?" Jeremy asked. I shook my head.

"No, just trying to find a door outside," I replied. "I'm feeling a bit light-headed. I could use some cooling off."

"Right that way is the door leading to the outdoor pool," the man Jeremy had been talking to suggested. "It shouldn't be as busy, and it's a pretty cool night."

"Thank you," I told him earnestly. "I'll be back soon, Jer."

"Be safe, kiddo."

I made a beeline for the exit, bursting out into the night air and taking a deep breath. The party was incredible, but I only knew a handful of people there, and even fewer that I was willing to approach on my own. Hell, I couldn't even find the people who invited me. Adrian, Nathan, and the rest of the Volkovs were oddly missing from the scene, and Ryanne had vanished too.

Sometimes, being alone in a crowd was more lonely than actually being alone.

My feet were beginning to feel the effects of my high heels, and after finding no one around to catch me doing anything particularly weird, I decided I would dip them in the pool. I kicked off my heels and set them beside me, and hiked my dress up to my knees before sitting at the edge of the water and dropping my feet in.

I moaned a little as the cool water surrounded my sore ankles, and let my eyes droop shut. It was fairly chilly out for Phoenix, somewhere in the low sixties, and I relished the change of temperature from the hot casino interior. I listened to the sounds of the city at night, mixed in with the distant, muffled conversation from inside. I wanted so badly to have my own group, to fit in, to have friends, family, anyone to belong with, but I couldn't deny how peaceful it was out there all by myself.

That was until a door slammed open behind me, and voices cut through the empty courtyard.

"I don't want you sniffing around us," someone said, and I turned to see Thane from earlier emerging. He was followed out by a man named Kase, who I'd met in the shop a few times before, Adrian, Arsen, and some guy I didn't recognize. Thane was the one speaking.

"It's our property, and we can keep watch on our own."

"I don't care about you fucking snakes and your supposed property," Kase growled. "It's not like you use it for anything we would affect."

"The matter is, it's ours," the man I didn't recognize said, and I guessed he must have been allied with Thane.

"Even the Llywelyns have agreed to—" Arsen began.

"We are not them," Thane spat.

"This matter is greater than all of us," Kase insisted. "If we don't at least make a temporary agreement, then the—"

He cut off abruptly as one of my high heels fell into the water with a distinct plop.

And everyone turned to face me.

"I didn't— I wasn't—" I stuttered, but Thane was already drawing a gun. Arsen and Adrian tried to reach for him, but they were a half-second too late.

Thane's gun flashed, and I was falling.

---

Charlotte, queen of not staying out of trouble.

See y'all in a couple of days!

-Haybails