disagreed, pushing my bottle of Jack into his hand so that I could take the shirt off. “You just made sure every bitch at this party is going to be panting over me all night.”
I shrugged out of my leather jacket and dropped it onto the nearest chair. Someone would find it later and make sure I got it back.
“I’m not after pussy tonight anyway,” Saint replied with a shrug. “I wanna make sure no one got any ideas about challenging us over the summer.”
I snorted dismissively. The douchebags in this school wouldn’t dare stand up to us, but King Saint liked to lord it over everyone at least five times a term just to make sure.
I balled up the ruined shirt and tossed it over the balcony before reclaiming my drink from him and taking a swig.
“How long before I can bail?” I asked. Some nights I was the life and soul of the party, other nights, the party seemed to be sucking the life and soul out of me. Tonight felt like the latter and I was done.
Saint sighed. “What’s the point in the Night Keepers throwing a party if one of them doesn’t even stick around? Besides, if you think this thing is shit then what hope do we have for making sure the rest of them think it was epic?”
“It’s not the party, I’m just not feeling it tonight. If I gotta stay, can I at least beat the shit out of a few people?” I grinned at the idea of that, but there was a refusal brimming in Saint’s eyes.
“Remind me of the rules we set,” he demanded in a tone that didn’t broker any arguments.
“I can’t beat the shit out of someone unless they start it and there are witnesses,” I sighed.
“Good. So feel free to taunt someone into attacking you if you must, but just stick to the fucking rule. You don’t need some asshole pressing charges because their precious little bottom dweller has a broken face. Again.” Saint stood blocking my way back into the party and I reluctantly agreed with him. He did have a point. I’d had a few too many of those complaints against me now and there was a fair chance that the next one wouldn’t be solved by me paying some bullshit fine. Not to mention the fact that paying the damn fine would be an issue for me now, too.
“I swear it,” I said, placing a hand over my heart where a tattoo of the devil himself sat on a throne in all his demon horned, cloven hoofed glory.
Saint didn’t look convinced, but he turned and headed back into the party anyway. I followed him inside but as he headed off to find a drink, I turned into a side room.
The fifty inch TV was on in the corner and I moved to stand before it as a news report caught my attention. The music was too loud for me to hear what was being said, but some helpful little sausage noticed I was trying to watch it and flicked the subtitles on for me.
I tossed her a wink in thanks and she gave me a wide smile as her gaze trailed down my bare skin and she studied the tattoos on my flesh.
I left her to it and gave my focus back to the TV as I took another swig of my whiskey, reading the words a second after they spilled from the reporter’s mouth.
Emergency measures are being discussed in detail incase the Hades Virus becomes a pandemic but in the meantime, people at home are being reminded to watch out for the signs of infection and self isolate if you think you are exhibiting any of them.
The first thing that you will notice is a sudden spike in temperature with hot and cold flushes. Following that, the next stage involves a severe cough which will feel uncontrollable at times. In the final stage, patients experience a rash which appears in a swirling pattern of rose shaped red marks all over the body. If you experience any of these symptoms DO NOT GO TO HOSPITAL. You must call the helpline and isolate yourself. If the phone assessment concludes that you are likely to be infected, you will be given instructions on the closest Hades Virus treatment centre where you can go to retrieve help.
In the meantime, to protect yourself and others you must keep up good hand washing practices, use hand sanitisers and wear masks