Chapter 122: Redemption Part I
The following morning, Alex received a call from Diana. She had a bit of an upset tone in her voice as she asked Alex the question he had been expecting since the moment he left Vegas.
“Alex, won’t you and Madison please come home? I’m sorry for over-reacting! Kristina and Shannon will also apologize.”
Alex simply looked at his watch, as if he were trying to figure out just how many hours it had taken the woman to apologize and beg him to come home. And with a sadistic smirk on his face, he spoke his thoughts on the matter to her.
“Wow… It hasn’t even been a week, and yet you have already come crawling back, begging me to return home. Alright… Fine, since you have asked so politely, Maddie and I will head out within the hour. I look forward to seeing you and the others give us a proper apology…”
After saying this, Alex hung up, where the women in his bed looked up at him with almost pitiful expressions on their pretty faces before asking the question they did not want to hear an answer to.
“Are you really leaving so soon?”
Alex did not bother lying to the women and nodded his head while crawling out of their arms and getting dressed. While he did this, he explained the situation to them as honestly as he could.
“Like I said when I first came back, I was only ever going to be here for a few days. I can’t just put everything on hold to spend the month with you all, even though I’d really like to… Oh don’t look at me like that, I’ll be back sometime next month. You can all wait that long, can’t you?”
And Alex enjoyed every single moment of it. After filling himself to the point where he felt bloated. Alex kissed all sixteen of his women goodbye before grabbing Madison’s hand and dragging her out of the penthouse. Once they were on the plane, the young blonde bombshell voiced her thoughts in an almost sorrowful tone.
“I’m not going to lie… I’m going to miss those girls… I genuinely felt like we were one big happy family, which is something I haven’t felt since you and John moved away…”
Alex smirked when he heard this, before grabbing hold of his older sister’s hand, and confirmed that they would be back before she knew it.
“Don’t worry, a month will go by before you know it, and then I’ll be headed back to Korea to visit them all. If you want to come with, you are more than welcome to do so.”
Madison responded to this by taking Alex’s hand and placing it against her heart before confirming to her little brother that she would very much enjoy that.
“Wherever you go, I will follow…”
In response to this, Alex chuckled and petted the girl’s hair. Though he knew she was being sincere with him, he also knew she certainly couldn’t follow him around the globe wherever his travels might take him in the future. But he let her believe she could for the time being. And within fourteen hours after that, the plane had arrived in the Vegas strip, where Alex and Maddie rejoined their family in their luxurious penthouse.
—
The moment Alex and Madison entered through the doorway of their mother’s penthouse, they were greeted by the woman in question, as well as their aunt and sister. The three women looked at Alex and Madison with a stern gaze before noting the ring on the young woman’s finger.
They all appeared is if they wanted to say something, and just when Madison was about to break the awkward silence. Alex prevented her from doing so. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Diana finally spoke up and apologized.
“I’m sorry, I over-reacted, and I should not have attempted to interfere with your relationship… I don’t want either of you to move away until you have finished college, so please forgive me….”
After saying this, Diana bowed her head, not willing to look either her son or daughter in their eyes. Meanwhile, it was Shannon who spoke up next.
“I would also like to apologize. Like your mother, I overreacted. Considering the past between the two of you, and the truth about your relationship as siblings. I should not have scolded either of you. Though I am deeply uncomfortable with the two of you seeing each other, it is not my place to interfere!”
Both Alex and Madison nodded their heads in response to the two women’s apologies, and just when they thought Kristina was going to do the same, the older of the twin sisters walked forward, and ignored Madison entirely, instead she grabbed hold of Alex’s hand and begged him to explain to her why he had chosen her little sister instead of her.
“Just answer me this? Why? Why did you choose Maddie over me?”
Alex was dumbfounded by this question, as was Madison, who both looked at Kristina as if she had gone mad. Ultimately, Alex wore an awkward smile and scratched the back of his head, as he explained to the girl that it was pure chance.
“Who said I chose Maddie over you? I was hammered and stumbled into the wrong room. I thought I was headed towards my room, but I accidentally ended up in Maddie’s bed by mistake. The odds are that it could have just as easily been your room, or even Diana’s, that I entered. So… If you want me to, I can join you in bed tonight?”
Diana’s mouth absolutely dropped when she heard this. She could not believe her son had just admitted that he might have accidentally stumbled into her room on that fateful night. And if he had done so, would he have actually tried to sleep with her as well? The idea was simply prosposterous, yet she kept her mouth entirely shut, not wanting to jump to conclusions, and in doing so make a fool of herself.
Meanwhile, Madison immediately facepalmed when she heard this shameless remark come out of her brother’s remark. And Shannon sort of just stood there in disbelief at the man’s shamelessness while giving her younger sister the side eye. All the while wondering whether Alex would only be satisfied after he had fucked all of his relatives, and if she would be next?
As for Kristina, she immediately flushed red in embarrassment and fled from the scene, not able to look at any of her family in the eye after hearing her little brother’s shameless remark. Because of this, Alex wore a smug grin as he spoke his thoughts aloud.
“So I take it that’s a yes?”
Both Diana and Shannon scoffed in disgust before walking away, not able to deal with their errant relative any longer. Meanwhile, Madison blushed in embarrassment before speaking her thoughts to her little brother.
“If that’s what you want… Then I think I might be able to help convince Kristie…”
Alex was certain that he did not need to convince his older sister of anything. She was already ready to go. But since Madison had offered to help, he simply nodded his head and spoke in a monotone voice.
“You do that…”
—
It had been a few days since Chad and Emily had their big fight. And no matter how much he tried to contact the girl, she would not respond. Thus, he could only sigh and admit to himself that the relationship was lost. With this in mind, his friends tried to cheer him up while they were eating lunch at UNLV.
Shaun was in a particularly good mood, as he had scored tickets to a metal concert that was putting on a show later that night. He had enough for his group of friends and was quick to announce the idea of them all going together with a particularly excited tone in his voice.
“I’ve been keeping this a secret until now, and had planned to tell you guys after practice was over later today… But fuck, it now is as good as a time as ever. Ephemeral Nightmare is in town, and I’ve got enough tickets for all of us.
My dealer also hooked me up with some pure Columbian nose powder. So I was thinking, since Chad is down in the dumps, how about we all go to the concert tonight?”
The four other guys looked at Shaun with a bit of confusion on their faces before asking the man if he was absolutely mental.
“Bruh… Ephemeral Nightmare? Isn’t that one of those Screamo bands?”
Shaun quickly scoffed and shook his head before insulting his bros for being a bunch of uncultured swine.
“For the last fucking time! Just because there are harsh vocals in the song that does not make it screamo! I swear to God, you assholes need to stop listening to that pussy shit and embrace some proper metal culture!
I’ll have you know that Ephemeral Nightmare is an up-and-coming metalcore band, and they have gained a huge audience, especially in the alternative crowd. Who knows, we might find a few hot emo chicks to hook up with! Or some big-tiddy goth girls, if that is your thing… Besides, all their songs are fucking bangers, bro! Especially when you’re high as balls!”
Chad was not even in the mood to give a shit anymore, and thus he spoke up before his other friends could decline.
“Fuck it! Sounds fun. Let’s get shitfaced and listen to some fucking screamo!”
Shaun looked like he was about to tear Chad’s eyes out after calling metalcore screamo, especially after he had just explained that they’re not the same thing. But he forced himself to remain calm, as he bit the bullet, and took solace in the fact that his friends were going to join him for the concert.
—
Later that night, Chad and his friends were at the concert. They were all wired to the fucking gills, and going crazy to the music. Despite not knowing the lyrics to the songs, they made up their own as they banged their heads in the crowd as if they were metal gods.
Despite the fact that the emo subculture died out in popularity towards the end of the 2000s, with only a few stragglers keeping it alive since then. There were quite a few young men and women who still embraced the colorful or outright black fringes, the excessive piercings, and the wicked tattoos. Though how many of these people were actually faking it with wigs and fake tattoo sleeves? Nobody really knew.
And among the crowd, Chad spotted a particularly attractive young woman who was rocking out to the song, whose lyrics, or at least those that Chad could actually understand, were quite depressing. The woman looked like she was barely an adult and had the stereotypical emo fringe. But it was multicolored, with primarily a shade of pastel pink, but with neon purple highlights mixed in. Her eyes were a similar fusion of colors, and she had quite a few piercings.
From the stereotypical snake bites to the bridge piercing, or even the eyebrow piercing. She surprisingly pulled off the look quite well. Though Chad didn’t know it, there were still quite a few piercings concealed beneath her hair and clothes. Including ear piercings on her lobes, and what was referred to as an ear mohawk. As well as a navel piercing, which took the shape of a skull and crossbones.
The girl was dressed in a black t-shirt which displayed the name of the band currently playing with aggressive neon pink lettering. She had a studded collar, and matching bangles, as well as a studded belt, which wrapped around her checkered pink and black skirt quite nicely.
She also wore fishnet stockings, fingerless gloves, and a pair of knee-high boots that had straps on them whose belt buckles were in the shape of skulls. As a matter of fact, all the other chains and jewelry she wore were in the shapes of skulls. Giving off an almost goth like appearance.
Throughout the concert, this girl kept shooting Chad a smile while she danced to the heavy metal music, so much so that the man pointed her out to his friends while looking for their opinion.
“Dude… That pink haired Emo hottie is checking me out at three o’clock. What do you think?”
The group of guys not so obviously looked in the girl’s direction and immediately could tell who Chad was talking about. Though the majority of them gave Chad their blessing, Shaun was far more cautious.
He may have been coked out of his mind, which was counteracted by enough beer to drown a horse, but he still had his wits about himself. And because of this, he was quick to caution his friend about the potential legal trouble that came with a girl so young.
“I don’t know dude… She might not even be eighteen. You’ve got to be careful with a girl as young as her…. If you do try picking her up, make sure you get her age, but be subtle about it….”
Chad didn’t hear a word that Shaun had said, and instantly made his way through the crowd to speak with the girl. Who was almost a little nervous when the jock approached her.
“Hey… What’s your name?”
This was not exactly the smoothest pickup line in the world. But then again, it had been years since Chad had actually properly flirted with a girl, considering he had been dating Emily for close to four years now. And though Chad suspected that Emily would take him back, after seeing Alex’s harem, he wanted one of his own, and was trying to work towards that end, starting with this emo chick.
When the girl spoke, she revealed that she also had a tongue piercing, as she admitted her name to the guy who looked like he wouldn’t normally be spotted as such a concert.
“Jade…”
Chad smirked when he heard this before introducing himself.
“Well, I’m Chad… Listen, can I buy you a drink when this is over?”
Jade immediately smiled when she heard this and nodded her head. She knew from experience that the concert would be over after this song was finished and, despite the fact that Chad and his friends seemed totally out of place; she didn’t mind interacting with these jocks. Thus, she agreed on the spot to hang out with Chad and his friends, especially since she had come alone.
“Sure, why the hell not?”
And soon enough, the song was over. Where Chad and his friends ordered a round of drinks for themselves, and this young woman after taking her to a nearby bar. Chad was doing his best to charm Jade, and it seemed to be working.
After all, she kept reciprocating his attempts at flirting, all the while drinking more and more beer and, in the process, getting increasingly intoxicated as she did so. So much so that Jade ended up having to go to the bathroom. Which after she got up and left, Shaun approached Chad, and warned him not to get involved with such a girl in any serious manner.
After all, Jade had given off some serious red flags while talking about some of her hobbies. Which included things like listening to violent music, whose lyrics often talked about harming others or oneself. Cutting herself, creating a literal hit list of the people she hated, which included the extremely specific and brutal ways that she planned to kill them with. Or just outright stalking the boys that she was interested in.
And though Jade spoke about these disturbing hobbies as if they were normal. To the point where Chad and his other friends amused her antics, Shaun had gotten some seriously bad vibes from the girl, and was quick to speak her thoughts about her.
“Listen dude, I know things are bad between you and Emily right now. But do not get involved with this girl beyond a one-night stand… She’s fucking mental bro, and she’s liable to harm you, or even herself, if something goes wrong between the two of you! And trust me, you do not want to be responsible for that kind of shit! You know the old saying, bro, don’t stick your dick in crazy! But if you really are down that bad, do it once, and then ghost this crazy bitch!”
Chad smirked when he heard this, before shaking his head and commenting on his plans.
“Don’t worry dude, I’m not an idiot. At first I planned to keep her around for a while, cuz you know she’s hot as fuck. But a chick like that, Jesus fucking Christ, she’s barely worth a pump and dump!”
The group of guys broke into laughter as they raised their beers in cheers, but this lasted for all of two seconds before one of the guys nudged Shaun’s shoulder and pointed in front of him, in the direction immediately behind Chad.
Standing there in tears was Jade, who had heard everything these guys had said. Evidently she had come back for her bag, which she left behind by accident. Only to hear what these guys genuinely thought of her. She immediately snatched her bag and ran off from the bar and into the streets of Las Vegas, where she eventually found herself crying alone in a dark alleyway.
It’s not like she hadn’t thought about suicide before… In fact, these days, she thought about it quite often. Hell, she had even prepared for such a thing. But until now, she kept going, thinking that one day things would get better. But if what Chad and his friends had said about her was what people really thought about her, then what was the point of living? Thus, the girl reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle full of opioids.
Her hands were shaking due to the anxiety she felt over the thought of taking her own life. So much so that she could barely get the lid off, but eventually, after much effort, she managed to pop off the lid, and get enough pills in her hands to overdose on.
After all, it did not require many opioids to send one to the afterlife. And just when she was about to put her hand to her lips and swallow the pills, she was surprised by a sudden slap to the face, which caused her to spill the pills and the pill bottle all over the floor.
When Jade looked up to see what or who had so suddenly struck her, she was surprised to see a handsome young blonde man, dressed in what was obviously gym attire, with a seriously concerned expression on his face. She had never met this man before, nor did she know why he had stopped her from ending it all. But before she could ask, he instantly berated her in a way that woke her up from her up from her depression.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, girl!?!”
