Adrenaline

⌊Chapter 27⌉

For that night, Adelmir was lit up in a colourful muse, making the rainy city feel alive like they did annually. For that night, things just felt right. For that night, anything was possible. People flooded into Black Tower like a mob, filling the open spaces to the brim. There was dancing, drinking, karaoke, and an all-you-can-eat buffet by the front door. Music thumped as people sang off-tune renditions of classic rock or pop music. Entering the venue unnoticed was an easy task for Rich, Atlantis, and Jayla. The girls made an effort to put makeup on Rich to make him look different than the man on the wanted posters. For tonight, his name was Jackson Davis - a put together man with a serious expression but a charismatic smile. He was from elsewhere, but was visiting friends in Adelmir - Atlantis and Jayla.

Natasha was elsewhere at the venue, keeping watch from higher up places. The group set up to meet backstage for karaoke where an exit door was at about 9:30 PM. They had 30 minutes to get situated and actually try to have some fun. Jayla spent the time dancing and singing with her girlfriend, Madeline. Atlantis and Rich stayed with each other, which piqued the interest of some of Atlantis's work friends.

"Oh my god, Lantiiiii!" a brown-haired girl squealed seeing Jayla. She was followed by two other girls, hugging Atlantis since they hadn't seen each other in a long time. "I hate that our shifts got all messed up. I haven't seen you in forever! Who's this stud, your secret boyfriend? Can't say I blame you."

"Ah, well-"

"Oh, is it complicated?"

"No, no, not at all. I just... haven't really told people about him yet."

Rich's eyes went wide, but he quickly calmed down when her friends looked in his direction. He knew exactly what Atlantis was doing - acting as if they were dating to make it less obvious that Atlantis was helping a said criminal of the city. Instead, he smiled towards the girls, but wandered off as the four girls were talking. He looked up about three stories before they went full again, and the railing was of shimmering blue glass that added some more colour to the tower. He searched for Natasha's red dress before catching sight of her on the second floor talking to someone he didn't know.

Eventually, Rich's eyes found Jayla, but he couldn't catch any sight of Anthony. Atlantis had expressed to Rich her concerns about Anthony, so he was on board and searching for the man in the crowds of people, hoping that he would have a good excuse to ditch them all. Unfortunately, Rich had hardly seen Anthony out of uniform, and he certainly wasn't the only blonde man there. He watched the three stories, stepping backward a bit until he ran into a wall. He caught himself and looked to his left to see a familiar pair of eyes watching him.

"Oh, Matt-" he stumbled over his words, forgetting he wasn't supposed to know Matt. "I, uhm, I've heard a lot about you."

Matt just smiled with pearly white teeth, and the look on his face was enough to make Rich quickly leave the area, feeling the man's gaze following him until he couldn't see him anymore. He eventually found himself in the vicinity of Jayla and Madeline, and Jayla looked at him with a smile, grabbing Madeline's hand. Madeline was absolutely gorgeous with honey skin and natural black hair fading into purple at the tips. Her hair was about shoulder length and she stood at about Jayla's same height, but a little shorter.

"Maddy, this is my friend Jack. Jack, this is my girlfriend Madeline," Jayla happily introduced them. Madeline grinned and dipped her head to the side as the two shook hands.

"But you can call me Maddy," she said. "Do I know you? I feel like I recognise you from somewhere? Maybe it's the lighting, hm," she looked up at the dim and coloured lights before shrugging. "Sorry, that was a little weird wasn't it. Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you, Jack."