"Come join me," Costa said, raising a glass to the trio. "I am good," Nathan said, noting that Cost was either drunk or he was trying to portray himself as drunk."Don't worry," Jackson said, one hand raised. "I am okay just sitting here and not drinking," replied Jenny."I see...well, that's no fun," Costa judged. "We did not come here for fun," Nathan retorted harshly. "We came here for information. And somehow we've not gotten anything from you. And now you want to have a drunken toast?""You came here because I threatened you there, smart ass," Costa said. Now it was most obvious he was nearly carried away by the alcohol. "Did you always know about the Lobbes neighborhood? Did you know your friend went there the same day that happened?"Nathan was quiet. Jenny was shaken quite obviously. Costa put his hand in his suit, drew out a gun, and pointed it at her. "And you, you better start talking before my finger slips and your brains become splurged right behind you. Of course you

After a brief moment of silence, Jackson finally spoke. Although he guessed it was too late by then. "Yeah..." he chuckled, one hand at the back of his head. "There's nobody else here. You know...just me and Jenny..." He laughed nervously.Nathan gave himself a facepalm. "That idiot," he muttered through gritted teeth afterwards. They waited for Isaiah to reply, each of them hoping that he had swallowed the lie hook, line, and sinker."Okay, sure..." Isaiah replied monotonously. Everybody else around the table breathed together in relief, even though the guilt still lingered in the hearts of Jenny and Jackson. "Hey Jenny!" He called out unexpectedly. Jenny froze up. She wanted to speak to him, but she was not in any state of mind to do so immediately. Her heart raced speedily. She fumbled around for what to say. "Hey, Isaiah," she said. "Where have you been?""I'm sorry for everything," Isaiah replied. "But I promise that I will make it up to you immediately, you hear? I will tell

In the kitchen, Elena scurried over plates and pans. Ingredients for food were laid on several pieces of kitchen equipment and looked more like they were laboratory apparatus rather than real kitchen equipment. The flame of the gas stove danced around like a yellow ghost as Elena held over it a pan filled with scrambled eggs. She had an odd smile on her face. One that her servant, Kate, found a little bit disturbing."My lady," she began, careful as a man moving past a field of land mines. "Yes, Kate," Elena replied, still smiling. There was a shadow over her face and eyes that betrayed some sort of worry. "Speak.""Are you okay?" Kate asked."Of course I am okay," she said. Smoke twirled into her nose, and she came away coughing and sneezing. After doing that for close to a minute, she rearranged herself, combing through her bouncy curly hair with her fingers and golden acrylic nails. "I am perfectly okay. It may be that I have become rusty from not being able to cook for quite a l

There was silence in the car. Nothing but the sound of Nathan's stereo playing old-school songs. The blond boy was still bopping his head up and down when he asked, noticing how alienated that seemed to be to the passengers he was carrying, "What? Don't you people like old-school songs? They are gold. Far better than any slop people of our generation sing these days."Jenny sighed at this. Of course it was obvious that was not the reason everyone was quiet. Nathan was just, for some odd reason, playing ignorant, and this caused her more annoyance at him. Jackson, on the other hand, wasn't speaking to her. He felt betrayed by Isaiah and, Jenny thought, even by her in a sense. Since he really did not know when the relationship between her and Isaiah began. And to add to the headache that was surging up in her head, she did not really have a house anymore that she could just go to. She did not like the girl's dorms. She had just rented a little apartment from which she would be starting

"Waiter," Nathan called out to an almost comedically dressed man with a huge bow tie knotted to his neck. He had a golden tray tucked under his arm.Jackson narrowed his eyes at the blond. "What do you want from me?" He asked. His voice rang with all the seriousness that could be mustered in a place as lively as that, enough to stab a feeling of dread in Nathan. Or so Jackson thought."Hmph," Nathan snorted as a waiter placed some drinks on the table, obscuring their views of each other. "Why do you think I would want anything from you?""What is going on?" Jackson asked. "I am serious, Nathan. I am not in the mood for any tricks and games. You and I know that we both are not friends. Why did you bring me here? Why are you doing any of this?""We both are not friends," Nathan said, pouring a drink into a glass cup. When he was done, he lifted the glass to his face and peeked through the transparent body. "But what if that is why I am doing this? Why do people want other people to be