"This is so cool!" Aradia shouted.
"What?" Saul asked.
Aradia just laughed and shook her head. The music and fireworks were so loud that it amazed her why she hadn't gone deaf yet. It's worth it though, Aradia thought as she glance towards the stage.
The band Vampires are Everywhere which consisted of a lead singer, drummer, electronic keyboard, bass player, and lead guitarist performed their first single Immortal Love. The song that had made Aradia fallen in love with them in the first place. They all wore their signature black clothes and hairstyle and Saul and Aradia stood in the fourth row watching the band perform in total rapture. The lead singer screamed into the microphone while the guitarist screeched heavily onto the guitar. The others payed equal attention to their instruments making Aradia feel as if she were in a dream.
They, Aradia and Saul, had driven all the way to New York and checked into a glamourous hotel. After meeting up with Shayde and the others, they had made their way to the concert and had spent the following glorious hours listening to the band perform.
Aradia had been surprised to see Rage being passed around. I didn't know it was such a popular drug. The fact that had been introduced just a year ago made Aradia extremely surprised at it's success of becoming a party drug. I doubt LSD had this much success. Hell even cocaine took years to become a full mainstream drug so the fact that Rage is becoming extremely successful is awfully suspicious.
This brought her back to wanting to confront Saul about Roy's alpha being poisoned by Rage. She had meant to confront him but after all the partying they had done it kept slipping her mind. The drugs, the booze, and what not was starting to make Aradia feel weary. So weary that Aradia was discovering some rather unsavory things about her powers. Such as the fact that unless her energy was at one hundred percent she couldn't use them at all. Unless she was well-rested and fed she was completely helpless! This she had found at the hotel room right after Saul and her had checked in.
Aradia had been stepping out from the shower and Saul had showed up. He had stood in front of her with a hungry expression. Aradia had laughed and wrapped the towel around her tighter. She had tried to move past him but Saul had pinned her to the wall. Without so much as word, he pressed his mouth down on to hers. Aradia had tried to fend him off. Although she was enjoying her new sex life, she still wanted to maintain a level of control in it. She had tried protesting or at least asking for a condom. Saul hadn't listened, he had just kept kissing her. Aradia had had enough and tried to push Saul away only to discover she couldn't! On any regular day, she could easily break Saul over her knee but for some reason she wasn't able to stop Saul. Only Shayde's opportune knock on the door had stopped him from dragging Aradia to the bed. Apparently, Saul had a visitor waiting for him in the lobby. Aradia had asked, extremely curiously, why didn't his friend just call him. Saul had then fastened Aradia with a cold steel stare. In a split second, Saul had seized Aradia by the throat and pinned her against the wall. He had snarled into Aradia's shocked and gasping face that under no circumstances was she allowed to question him. Furthermore, she was not to leave this room until he came back. He then left without so much as a backwards glance. Not even when Aradia slid to the floor, massaging her throat and trying to feebly to ask Saul why he was acting like this.
Come to think of it, Aradia thought, that wasn't the first time he's been rough with me.
For the past month, ever since the theft at the store, Saul had been treating her very differently. When they had first met Saul had only been a bit forceful on her but now he was practically ordering her around. Whenever he wanted to do something they did it with no arguments and whenever Aradia tried to argue with him Saul would slap or yell at her.
"What?" Saul's voice brought Aradia's attention back to the loud blaring concert. The music was so loud that it was hard for her to believe that she zoned out in the first place. However, the way she had been surrounded by the Rage drugs made it somewhat believable. The drugs reacted to her very differently from the others. Sometimes she would lapse into a coma, and other times she wold just black out into a state of meditative euphoria. Aradia knew the drug was dangerous especially after what had happened to Adrian. However, she had been hitting the drugs so hard before that finding out the truth didn't seem to be enough to get her off of it. She had tried limiting her intake of Rage but it had been hard. Saul had so much of it on him that it was like trying to go on a diet while you were locked in a Fudge Shop. However, during the times Saul had been asleep Aradia had searched the loft from top to bottom and found no trace of drug making equipment so whatever Saul was doing with Rage he definitely wasn't supplying it.
But if he isn't the supplier then who is?
There had been another reason for why Aradia had wanted to come to New York. She had hoped to find Kaiser and talk to him. It had been hard giving Saul the slip but eventually she was able to do it. The moment she did she found the nearest Yellow Pages book and looked up Kaiser's name. The following days consisted of narrowing the search and eliminating results until finally she came to a run down looking apartment building.
Kaiser's mom lives in this dump? Aradia thought as she knocked on the door.
She knocked twice before sighing deeply. Maybe nobody's home.
She was about to leave before she heard someone from behind the door. "Whose there?"
"Kaiser?"
"Whose there?" the deep voice repeated.
"It's me Kai, it's Aradia."
"Aradia?"
She groaned. "Aradia Preston? You know the girl who helped solve your dad's murder and risked her life to help you?"
The door slowly creaked open, and Aradia smiled. Her smile vanished quickly as she saw that she was now staring down the barrel of a shotgun.
"What do you want?" He snarled.
"First of all, I would like not to have a gun pointed at me," Aradia said with her voice quaking a little. "Second, I would like to have world peace. Third, I would like to apologize my father for hitting him. Fourth, I would like to thank my mother for being such a great mother. Fifth, I would like to tell Melina I am sorry for not helping her. Sixth, I would like to tell Roy that I am also sorry for letting his Uncle/Alpha die..."
"Adrian's dead?" Kaiser said. He finally pulled the gun away from Aradia's face and stared at her.
After breathing a heavy sigh of relief, Aradia nodded.
Kaiser looked out into the hallway and quickly shifted his gaze from left to right.
"Get in!" he ordered.
He didn't even want for Aradia to respond before pushing her into his dingy apartment. He slammed the door and locked all three bolts. When he turned around, Aradia was staring at him inquisitively.
"What?" he said as he put the gun down.
"Does the term 'jumpy' mean anything to you?" Aradia couldn't help but point out much to Kaiser's chagrin.
He just growled as he went to his fridge. Aradia looked at all the filth laying around the floor.
"I guess your mom isn't that good of a housekeeper eh?" Aradia asked. She had meant it as a joke but could tell by Kaiser's face that he didn't take it as one.
"My mom's not here," he growled.
"Well obviously," Aradia began.
"No you don't understand," Kaiser snapped, "this isn't my mom's place. I live here on my own."
"Huh?" Aradia was genuinely shocked. "But the last time we saw each other..."
"Yeah well," Kaiser snarled as he reached into the fridge, "things change Rai!"
He pulled out a milk bottle and drained it dry. After belching and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand was when he looked back at her.
After staring at her for a few minutes is when he started to explain. "Things were going okay with me and my mom for a while but...For Christ's sake I never wanted an education. I never wanted to be a doctor or nothing. I never wanted to have a big shot lifestyle or some shit."
"You dropped out of school?" Aradia asked.
Kaiser snorted. "Kicked out actually."
"What happened?"
He shrugged. "Got caught dealing weed in the bathroom."
Aradia's widened again.
"What?" Kaiser asked again.
She thought about cracking a joke about his stupidity or at least the stupidity of his situation but then remembered that Kaiser had a gun.
The state I am in, Aradia realized, it be most unwise to provoke him into anger.
"Oh nothing," Aradia said, "I was just wondering what happened after that?"
Kaiser laughed a full throated sarcastic laugh. "What do you think? My mom kicked me out and I have been living here ever since."
"You have been dealing as well huh?" Aradia remarked.
"Whatever," Kaiser snapped. He then slammed the fridge door closed and stared at her. After a few tense moments, he snapped once again. "So you going to tell what you are doing here or what?"
Aradia sighed. "I was hoping we could talk..."
"About what?"
Aradia massaged her face with her hand. I might as well be honest. "I was hoping to talk to you about..." She paused to gather strength.
"About what?" Kaiser repeated.
"About drugs!" Aradia cried out. Her eyes completely clenched.
Now it was Kaiser's eyes that went wide. "What?"
Aradia sighed. "It's like this Kaiser, there is this new drug being sold in Salem. It's called Rage and I need to know more about it. Since you are the only drug dealer I know, and you owe me I thought..." She trailed off and hoped to God she hadn't given Kaiser a reason to kill her.
"Owe you?" Kaiser spat, "I don't owe you nothing!"
"Oh yes you do Kaiser!" Aradia shouted, "I helped you solve your dad's murder. If it wasn't for me you never would have found out the truth. You never would have found out that Dereck Caradoc was the one who had killed him. You never would have found out anything without me. You can't deny it. Whether you do or don't it doesn't matter because either way you owe me. And I need your help. No to be more specific I need the help of a drug dealer and unfortunately you are the only one I know!"
Kaiser didn't say anything while Aradia took deep breaths. Five seconds seemed to pass where he just stared at her. Afterwards he groaned and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Alright," he conceded, "we'll talk."
"One thing first though," said Aradia.
Kaiser raised his eyes.
Aradia gulped and said, "would you please put some clothes on?"
Kaiser looked down and that's when he realized that all he was wearing were his very transparent briefs. He laughed but still went to his room and pulled out some pants. After putting them on is when he came back and saw Aradia sitting on his couch.
Kaiser sat next to her and asked, "what do you want to know?"
"About the drug Rage?" Aradia clarified, "Every damn thing!"