Reaching the front door, he noticed that it was slightly ajar, spilling a wedge of jaundiced glow onto the porch.
'It's time to party I suppose,' Mr. Valen thought as he stepped inside, his eyes narrowed, expecting harsh flashing lights.
But that was not the case; the first thing that assaulted him, even before he fully stepped inside, was the smell.
The air was thick with perfume and cigarette smoke, undercut by the sour tang of spilled liquor.
Inside, bodies pressed together as youths danced, their faces flushed from drinks, their eyes too bright, too wide.
Tables laden with food and drink were everywhere, provisions enough to sustain the revelry as the students gulped down one drink after another.
In the corner, a man slumped against the wall, his smile slack, his pupils blown.
This sight slightly repulsed Mr. Valen as a stray memory slipped into his mind, causing him a faint ache.
He was in the woods walking behind a blurry woman, and though he could not even properly behold her form, he knew who she was.
She was the woman who had abducted him. His other mother.
Walking amid the trees, he fought to keep up with her, his little legs proving inadequate for the task, and then he remembered that he had procured a candy bar from before, so he moved to get it.
"How weak," the woman suddenly spoke, evidently sensing his movements. "I say child and do listen, you eat for enjoyment rather than sustenance, rest for pleasure rather than to preserve energy, such is inexcusable, do not indulge yourself in the behaviors of prey."
At those words, Mr. Valen shook his head slightly, bringing himself back to reality, his eyes scanning the room, though these people radiated a dark aura, it was little to the point of irrelevance, they were still too young to harbour such profound predatory intent.
At that moment, he noticed two men walking towards him.
One was a dark-skinned man wearing a large, high-fashion t-shirt and jeans, his sneakers edged with a faint neon glow.
His hair was done in thick dreadlocks, his eyes sharp as he approached. "What the fuck are you doing here?" He addressed Mr. Valen.
By his side, was another man, with dark brown hair, his sleeves folded as he operated his phone.
As these two moved, the rest of the party people gave way while cheering, prompting the dark-haired man to raise his whisky glass.
"Hope you're enjoying the party people!" He spoke, his voice bold.
"Haha hell yeah!"
"You rock Derald!"
The crowd exploded with murmurs of compliments and validation.
Meanwhile, the dark skinned youth, who was almost two heads taller than him, approached, his hostility palpable.
And yet, from Mr. Valen's point of view, he appeared to be the one with the least dark mist radiating from him. The winner of the competition would be Derald, but even then, it was far from enough to develop an avatar.
As the dark skinned youth approached, the look on Mr. Valen's face changed from blankness to fear.
"Mike, I-I don't want any trouble man," he stuttered, swallowing slightly as he stepped back, but Mike was already upon him, grabbing him by the shirt and hauling him up.
'Wow he's getting better at this,' Mr. Valen thought while saying. "Please, stop, don't do this-"
"Bam!"
A heavy thud could be heard as Mike threw him to the ground, his form drawing closer as he hauled him up.
"Move," he commanded, pushing him forward, causing Mr. Valen to grunt in pain.
He was then led upstairs with Derald trailing behind them seemingly occupied by something on his phone.
They stopped at another room with fewer people, no more than twenty, the food in here seemed more exotic, and the drinks were whisky and expensive wine, different from the beer he saw downstairs.
"Frog jump," Mike said as he pushed Mr. Valen to the ground, eliciting another pained grunt from him.
But just as Mr. Valen was about to move to comply, he heard a familiar voice call out. "The fuck you doing Mike!!"
Turning to the source of this voice he saw Vincent, the youth with brown hair and dark eyes. He wore a loose Hawaiian shirt and shorts, a deep frown on his face.
Beside him were two women, one of whom was, of course, Sophie, the dark-haired woman with hazel eyes.
And another girl who looked almost identical to Sophie, save for her eyes, which were light blue, this lady was Alice, Sophie's twin sister.
Both ladies wore a matching black dress that really brought out their unreasonably curvaceous forms, catching attention even amid the women in the room.
"This ain't your problem, bro, get lost," Mike growled as he drew closer, but Vincent did not back off. Both men stood at about the same height, and their confrontation brought attention.
Sophie, who seemed dissatisfied with the situation, intervened, her voice drowned by the bass. "Are you both twelve, back off."
"Tell that to your boy here," Mike spoke but Vincent just scoffed.
"What you're doing ain't fair, man. I understand you lost someone, but this ain't the way. Valen's a victim too," Sophie spoke.
Alice, on the other hand, just watched, seemingly bored with the situation.
Mr. Valen, still on the ground, sat up while maintaining his expression of worry, but his mind was calm as he observed the two men, 'Ohh, is this the legendary battle of two alpha males?' he thought quizzically.
He had found the term in his research on how the normal teen should behave, and it intrigued him greatly for it mirrored a dynamic he was familiar with.
Suddenly, Derald looked up from his phone with a breath, his eyes locking on Alice who stood beside him, 'Whoa,' he thought in faint surprise.
"Hey Alice, what's up," Derald asked, a hint of nervousness in his tone.
As though she had not heard him, Alice looked to the scuffle between Vincent and Mike, her expression unknown.
Turning to this scene, Derald narrowed his eyes and said. "Ohh, sorry Alice, my boy Mike can be a bit impulsive at times."
"Meh. It's all so tedious. Is he a child?" Alice asked, her tone languid as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Yeah, don't worry, I'll stop him," he spoke eagerly, walking to the scene. Upon reaching he pushed the two men apart while speaking. "Calm down you two, this is a party, we don't want this."
At those words, Vincent scoffed, backing off as he moved towards Mr. Valen, Mike on the other hand seemed unwilling, but Derald just whispered in his ear, "Calm down man, Alice is watching, you know I got a thing for her, besides haven't you bullied the guy enough already-"
"It's never enough, his psycho mom killed my brother," Mike grunted, his tone heavy.
It was common knowledge that Mr. Valen had partly been raised by a serial killer, one so notorious that four out of every ten families in the city had been touched by her.
Of course, many of those victims attended Mr. Valen's school, making him a prime target for bullying.
The man in question, Mr. Valen, still sat on the ground, his legs folded as he watched the situation unfold. 'Hmm, it would seem that Derald is the alpha.'
"You ok, man?" Vincent's voice suddenly sounded out. He stood over Mr. Valen, giving him a hand, which he took with a warm nod.
"Thanks man," Mr. Valen spoke gratefully.
Meanwhile, a crowd had formed at another spot in the party, drawing attention. Sophie, Alice, and Derald also seemed to be part of it.
Noticing this, Vincent laughed, "C'mon man, forget about Mike, let's play truth or dare."
Without even an opportunity to protest, Mr. Valen was dragged to the circle, his eyes narrowed, taking in the surroundings.
He was one among eleven people, standing around a large table seemingly custom-made for the game.
In the middle of the table was a digital bottle, and the table itself was filled with potent drinks.
He stood between Vincent and another youth who seemed not to like him all that much, moving slightly upon his arrival.
Opposite him were Alice, Sophie, and Derald, watching as one of the contestants drank a bottle.
Soon, it was Derald's turn to spin, which he did by pressing a remote. The digital bottle began to spin and certain sections of the table lit up, ultimately falling on Alice.
"Ohhh," the crowd chuckled, but Derald just shook his head with a drink in hand. "Truth or Dare, Alice?"
Alice was quiet; by her expression, one could tell that she did not care for the game, most likely dragged to the table by Sophie, her sister.
Taking a breath Alice responded, her eyes calm. "Dare!"
"Go out with me this coming Sunday," Derald responded immediately, his voice calm. "It's nothing special, just dinner, movies, shopping, anything you want, my treat."
There was a brief silence after Derald's words, but after a moment, Alice shrugged. "Alright.'
"Whoaaaa!" The crowd exploded into an exaggerated cheer, which quieted down as the game went on.
"Truth!"
"Dare!"
"Dare!"
Soon, it was Mike's turn to spin, his bottle falling on Mr. Valen, and as it did a faint smile graced his lips.
"Truth or Dare, freak?" he asked, his voice grim.
In response to, Mr. Valen gulped, his voice faint as he responded. "Truth."