cont

do read the preceding parts of the novel in my profile!

this is a novel that touches on the fragility of humanity and the bonds that we supposedly die by. it's not too heavy a novel but definitely an impactful one so i sincerely hope everyone could give it a shot!
i'll be uploading snippets of it every day or so, so please pick up your reader's glasses, put on some atmospheric music and get reading. i hope you enjoyed as much as i did.

cheers.

                                  World War America 

CHAPTER 3

The Tipsy Orb
Los Angeles, California

After several downed lagers and a whiskey chaser, Kaden’s mood had risen acouple of notches— from rock bottom to hovering somewhere below a snake’s belly.

The mood around him was both exhilarating and contagious.

The Tipsy Orb was full of LA’s latest generation of sun-bronzed college students and young professionals.

When the band started singing the classic tune “Party in the USA,” everyone sang and clapped along.

“Time for shots!” Zac hooted as a ‘nurse’ appeared beside the boys.

She tookout a large, glowing plastic syringe and pointed it at Kaden, smiling.

“Ready for your prescription?” she asked chirpily.

Kaden leaned back in his seat, tipped his head, and closed his eyes.
“Doctor’s orders?”

A moment later he felt a cool, sweet alcoholic syrup travel down his throat, reminding him of the Jell-O his mother had used to make, minus the ethanol.

Her favorite flavor had been raspberry, but that was before—

“Awesome!” Zac cried out, banging the table with his fist. “Dose me up,
sistah!”

Kaden watched as the nurse poised the shot over his lips, the barrel lighting up as it emptied out.

Halfway through, Zac began to cough, sitting up and spluttering the bright liquid all over the nurse’s pristine ensemble.

“Gaargh...” he spluttered, grasping at his beer.

“I thought you didn’t need your bib anymore,” Kaden chuckled as the nurse walked off in a huff.

“Next time, I’ll hold her hand and guide her,” Zac said, hacking up a final time.

“I’ll betcha a girl like that would love...”

Kaden patted his friend on the back, but was no longer listening.

On the stage sat a lone girl with a guitar, the name ‘Katy Collins’ flashing up on the screen behind her.

In the distance, he detected Zac complaining and pushed his voice away to concentrate fully on the song floating over him.

There was something about her, sad and yet eternally hopeful.

“Seriously, dude?” Kaden felt a sharp tug at his elbow. “What is it with you
and girls today?”

“She’s not a girl, she’s a goddess,” Kaden whispered, swaying to the song.

“I’ve heard that before,” Zac said, wiping the remaining Jell-O from his mouth.

“This is...different,” Kaden said, eyes flicking over to a guy near the stage who had called out for a more upbeat tune.

Somehow, he hated the unknown drunkard even more than the umpire who had just destroyed his perfect season.

“Oh yes, this is different.”

When the song ended Katy took her bow and a moment later some pumping electro came on instead.

Apparently, the club agreed it was not the time for ballads.

Zac waved his hands in exasperation.

“Make it happen, man. I hate to see inaction here.”

“I can’t,” Kaden said, turning back to his beer and finishing it in a single gulp.

“What do you mean you can’t?”

He paused for a moment to burp, then shook his head in resignation.

“I can’t.”

“Did that umpire steal your manhood, as well as your pride?”

Kaden slumped onto his barstool, refusing to take the bait.

“I don’t know what it is, but I’ll have a complete meltdown if I try to speak to her.”

“Kaden Sun, choking up in front of a girl? Now that’s a new one.”

He thumped his hand on the table, silencing his friend.

“It’s not the first time I’ve seen her, Zac. She’s been here before and for some reason she scrambles my
brain. I feel like I’m having a heart attack.”

Zac shook his head.

“Wow, maybe you got it bad, after all.”

Suddenly, there was a break in the atmosphere and tension rippled through the crowd.

The music continued to play, but talk descended into whispers as Kaden and Zac scanned the floor in search of the disturbance.

“Where are the beautiful girls in this joint?” shouted a heavily accented voice.

“Free drinks if you bring them to our boss here!”

Kaden watched as a group of Chinese thugs pushed their way toward the private booths.

Behind them, three men dressed in suits were accompanied by an escort of girls in sequined miniskirts.

“Looks like they’re all dogs here, boss,” said the loud, wiry thug, before nodding at one of the bouncers.

To Kaden’s surprise, the bouncer nodded back.

“Suck yourself dry and go home!” a young guy hollered from a group at the bar.

The club rippled in laughter.

“Funny guy, huh?” the man responded. “We like that. Come on over, let’s make some new friends.”

The gangsters barged their way to the bar, the crowd parting nervously to reveal a group of barely legal jocks, cheeks flushed with drink.

Without warning, one of the thugs put his hand at the back of the guy’s head and smashed it into the bar.

“Jesus,” Kaden said, watching the violence erupt.

“No one’s doing a damn thing to stop them.”

“Money talks,” Zac said, screwing his face in displeasure.

“The Chinese are buying up the railways, mines, hotels. Now it looks like they’ve got their eye on the Orb, too.”

The businessmen had avoided the kerfuffle, arranging themselves in a lounge
located behind a red velvet rope.

They were young, probably in their early twenties, and surrounded by armed bodyguards.

The cockiest-looking one sported a deep blond hairstyle, with a sparkling two-carat diamond earring to match. They nursed their cigars and drank from brandy balloons, laughing as the girls did their best to entertain them.

Beyond the dance floor, bouncers were busy accompanying the defiant locals out of the nightclub, one dragged by his two friends. Some of the patrons booed and others left the bar in disgust. A moment later the music started up again, but the atmosphere remained subdued.

“Let’s go. We’ve got class in the morning,” Zac said.

Kaden nodded, but his heart felt unsettled.

He looked earnestly around the stage, but Katy Collins was gone.