"So, RD?" Vincent asked while he sipped whiskey from a glass. "Didn't know your family was loaded like that."
"I vould not know a-anything about our f...inancial situation," Mr. Valen spoke, his speech slightly slurred. "My dad just got me in, says my good grades played a big part."
"RD isn't just a place you get into with money and good grades," Vincent chimed. "I'm going there as well, so are Alice and Sophie."
"That's awesome," Mr. Valen spoke, his eyes lighting up slightly.
"Yeah," Vincent chuckled, but then caught something from the corner of his eyes, Alice, and an enchanting woman who was approaching them.
At that moment, his eyes gleamed mischievously as he spoke loudly, his tone exaggerated. "Ohh man I still can't thank you enough for the ten thousand you sent me, really helped me pay for my sister's medical bills."
"The fuck?" Mr. Valen muttered to himself, but before he could say anything more, he heard an unfamiliar voice.
"How generous," the voice giggled, its tone prompting Mr. Valen to look in its direction.
It came from a woman with glowing red eyes, one who smiled at him, her red lips curling. "Hey, I saw you from over there," she said.
"Hey," Mr. Valen responded softly, 'This woman... I took note of everyone in the room upon entry. She wasn't part of that list.'
Meanwhile, as Mr. Valen and Amethyst spoke, both Vincent and Alice excused them, taking a hint from Amethyst, of course.
Her sudden decision to engage with Mr. Valen also seemed to confuse the rest of the crowd. Mike seemed especially dissatisfied, but there was nothing to be done about it.
Now that Vincent and Alice were gone, the red-eyed woman took her seat close to him and spoke. "I'm Amethyst, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Valen."
'This woman...' Mr. Valen narrowed his shaky eyes, his voice grim. "Em. Do I know you?"
"No, you don't know me," Amethyst responded before saying. "I'm a reporter for Weird News Daily, and I saw your episode at the crime scene earlier today."
"Ohh," Mr. Valen hummed, his form calming slightly. "I'm not telling you anything though, I've had enough of speaking to reporters as is-"
"Ohh, no, you don't have to speak," Amethyst shook her head, taking a sip from her glass as she chimed. "I've looked into you, information about your past is painfully easy to find."
Fighting the urge to doze off, Mr. Valen simply responded. "I have nothing to hide-"
"How ironic," Amethyst giggled. "Do you know the meaning of the word hide? I believe that everything, the juicy secrets, are hidden in the recesses of your mind."
"Hmm," Mr. Valen hummed. "Meaning is ultimately a quality we impose. What, then, is your meaning, Miss Amethyst?"
"Careful now Valen, you're starting to sound less and less like a teenage boy; your person suit is beginning to slip," Amethyst mused.
Her words seemed to surprise Mr. Valen, prompting him to raise a brow. "You spoke to Miss Carla?"
"We are... Aquaintances," Amethyst nodded and picked up Mr. Valen's glass. "Finish your drink, there is something you must see."
Before Mr. Valen could even speak, the woman moved and fed him the drink, his head swarming as the hot liquid burned his throat, but amid that, he felt something solid, something that carried the faint tang of medicine.
'A PILL?' he thought in shock, but his mind was already too hazy to resist. "Agh, you d-drugged me?"
"Drugged is such a strong word; it's more like I gave you a pill to help you relax," Amethyst shrugged as she rose.
"Come on, let's take this party elsewhere," Amethyst chuckled, assisting Mr. Valen to get up, their forms tangled as she led the staggering man out of the party.
Simultaneously, Vincent who had been watching from a distance smiled slightly, leaning against his seat as he thought, 'I'm the ultimate wingman, he who makes the unfuckable, fuckable-"
"What's with that expression?" Sophie's voice called out from the side, shocking him slightly.
"What?" Vincent asked, his eyes widening slightly.
Shaking her head, Sophie simply quipped, "You have that look that tells me you're thinking about something dirty."
Though Sophie spoke to Vincent her eyes were locked at the two figures leaving the room, her lips curled in disbelief.
She wasn't the only one; people around had similar reactions. Alice looked shocked, wondering why Amethyst would take it this far.
On the other hand, the male population of the party harbored a collective feeling of jealousy, some more than others.
All spoke of the attention a woman like Amethyst commanded.
Meanwhile, from Mr. Valen's point of view, the world had become a swirling mess of colors and sounds, the edges of his vision blurring like wet paint on a canvas.
The pill (whatever the hell it was) had hit him like a quick shot, and now he was stumbling alongside Amethyst, her arm wrapped around his waist like a serpent coiling its prey.
"Relax," she purred, her voice dripping with amusement as she added. "You're thinking too hard."
"M'not-" Mr. Valen responded, or tried to respond; his tongue felt thick and clumsy. But he still tried to communicate, saying. "Not thinking at all. S'just… loud in here."
At his words, she laughed, a sound like wind chimes in a graveyard, as she guided him outside.
The cold night air slapped him awake for half a second before the drug dragged him back under, his thoughts jumbled in his mind.
The experience was maddening; he knew not which thoughts he had spoken aloud and which he had not. Streetlights stretched like taffy, their glow smearing across his vision, blinding him.
But he regained his vision just enough to see her car:
A sleek, black sports car that looked more like a predator than a machine.
She swung the door open, pushing him in, and as he collapsed into the passenger seat, he tried to move, but his limbs refused to cooperate.
"Where're we… going?" he slurred, head lolling against the headrest.
There was a brief moment of stillness as Amethyst slid into the driver's seat, the engine roaring to life beneath them.
"We're going somewhere fun," she replied.
"Fun is... subjective," he muttered, watching the city lights streak past like comet tails.
His thoughts were like molasses, slow and sticky, but one thing clawed its way to the surface: 'This woman isn't just a reporter.'
"You're not… with the news," he managed, forcing the words through his lips.
"Astute observation," she smirked, taking a sharp turn that pressed him against the door, her form swaying.
Hearing her words Mr. Valen grew curious. "What... d'you want?"
"What does anyone want, Valen?" Amethyst asked as her fingers drummed the steering wheel. "Do I want Answers? Secrets? A good story?"
"M'not a story," Mr. Valen argued, his mind slurring further.
"Oh, but you are." Amethyst countered, her red eyes flickering to him, gleaming in the dark. "And I love a good twist."
They drove for a while, with Mr. Valen slipping in and out of consciousness.
Soon, the city faded behind them, swallowed by winding roads and thickening trees.
The further they drove, the heavier the weight in his chest grew, a slow, creeping dread, like spiders under his skin.
His heartbeat then grew, pounding in his chest as though his body was trying to warn him of something his mind was not yet aware of.
Though Amethyst could not see it, Mr. Valen's pupils had begun to dilate rapidly, as though attuning itself to all sorts of impossible wavelength, spectrums, and states of light was simply unheard of.
Mr. Valen experienced colors like he had never before, colors that had no name, no form, his adjusted and he saw, he saw past the world and into the void glimpsing at the essence of seven higher demons, and then-and then his eyes settled for a moment at a wavelength it was familiar with and he saw something-
A flicker of movement in the corner of his eye, a single red and blue butterfly, its wings shimmering like fractured glass before dissolving into electric static.
Gone as quickly as it appeared, the drugs hindering his ability to see it completely, but he had seen it and he recognized it.
His breath caught, 'Shit, shit, shit, shit,' he thought critically.
He then turned to Amethyst, his pupils blown wide, his heart hammering against his chest as he spoke. "You're The Artist!"
Amethyst, hearing those words, appeared shocked, her red eyes shooting wide open as she slowly turned to Mr. Valen.
But then her mouth widened so much so that the side of her lips tore revealing thousands of needles like teeth in something that was akin to a smile.
"I knew you were different, Valen," she (or it) spoke, its tone alive with glee.