Prologue
The music was loud and echoed in the small contained club of the Terra hotel, hidden from the ears of the neighbouring luxury apartments. When Penelope passed by the huge speakers, her heart shuddered in her chest; it vibrated in rhythm with the melodies oozing out of the speakers.
The world was a blur with smoke, and the flickering lights from the ceiling, rays of blue, red, and green illuminated the club in distorted forms of light. It was impossible to find Casey in this crowd, she thought. The smell of expensive perfumes and alcohol was intoxicating and left her lightheaded. She only let go of her friend to grab them something to drink, and now she regretted it.
Penelope Sterling hated nightclubs.
Why was she there then?
Well, it’s all thanks to Casey Morgen. Her best friend – her only friend, to be exact.
She grabbed her right after they were done with college and dragged her here after changing in the college’s restroom. Penelope felt insecure walking down the campus in skinny jeans and a black tank top. But Casey’s insistence was stronger than her insecurity.
“Hey! Ben!” someone called through the crowd, the sound muffled against the crowd's noise.
Penelope turned around at the sound of her nickname, which only a few people know. She saw Casey waving at her cheerfully, completely unaware of her friend’s struggles for the past ten minutes. Casey skipped the distance between them. She wore a peach-colored off-shouldered blouse that revealed a bit of her stomach, and a white mini skirt that Penelope felt uncomfortable just by looking at it.
“Where were you?” said Penelope, handing over the plastic cup filled with liquor. “I told you to wait here!”
“You were taking too long,” started Casey, gulping down half the alcohol. “There was this hot guy over there, so we kinda hit it off.”
Penelope scoffed a laugh. “Why am I not surprised?”
“Cheers!”
They clicked their glasses, the sound of the clattering inaudible against the music. After gulping down their glasses and hitting the dance floor for over an hour. Penelope started feeling the alcohol getting to her, but her body kept swaying with the deafening music, her feet meeting every beat with a move until she felt them giving in under her weight.
“Hey, Casey,” Penelope said, running a hand through her sweat-damp hair, revealing her frickled pale face. “I’ll go sit by the bar.”
“Wait,” said Casey. “I’ll come with you. I need a glass of water.”
Penelope held Casey’s hand as they fought their way through, her shoulder bumping onto every person she encountered, until they finally stepped off the dance floor. The area was more calm – still loud, but calmer as friends circled tables, clicking their glasses and chattering. A couple was making out on one of the sofas against the wall, and Penelope avoided looking their way again.
The drinks were making her body react in indecent ways.
“Here I found us a seat,” said Casey, tapping the empty high chair next to her. Penelope took it gladly, and she sat with a loud thud as Casey asked the asian waiter for two glasses of water.
“That was epic,” said Casey, shugging down the whole glass in one sip.
“We could’ve come during the weekend,” Penelope said, sipping her water more slowly, its chill hit her throat just the way she liked. “We still have class tomorrow.”
“It’s impossible to get here during the weekends,” Casey said, leaning over the counter, eyeing something–or someone over Penelope’s shoulders. “Besides, you aced the Planetary Geology midterm, which calls for a celebration.”
“You only lost two marks, you did great too,” Penelope said, holding up her half-empty glass, and Casey copied as she stared at something behind Ben.
“And what are you looking at?” said Penelope, feeling her friend’s gaze.
She stole a glance over her shoulder and caught a glimpse of a man. He seemed tall, hunched over the bar, his hair the same color as the midnight sky. Penelope smirked before she turned around.
“He is right behind you!” Casey exclaimed. “Don’t look. It’s a shame you can’t look though–this man…sheesh.”
Penelope laughed. “I should’ve guessed.”
Casey giggled along before getting off her chair. “I’ll go to the bathroom real quick.”
Penelope nodded, but Casey had already disappeared in the crowd. She turned herself to face the bar as she took the last sip of her water. She was more sober now, thanks to the ice. In the corner of her ocean-green eyes, she saw a man dressed all in black.
Batman, Penelope decided to call him. He was over a foot taller than her as he sat a couple of chairs away from her. The blonde man sitting next to her finally got up, giving her a full view of Batman.
He was beautiful, she thought.
Like how a statue is beautiful. He was sipping his neat whiskey in total silence; he was alone. His hair was raven-black; it was hard to see its outline in the dimly lit space, it was that dark. However, his skin was pale against all this black, and his eyes were turquoise with charming depth to them. When he gulped, Penelope saw the way his sharp jaw moved against his collar.
The man stared back.
She cursed under her breath and turned to her glass, only to find out that it was empty. She swore she heard the Batman laugh; she blushed.
“Hey,” said a voice.
Penelope snapped out of her embarrassment to see the blond man from earlier hovering over her.
“Can I help you?” she said.
“I saw you were done with your drink,” the blondie said, pointing to her glass. “Mind if I get you another one?”
Penelope didn’t bother to correct him that it was just water and bluntly said, “No, thank you. I’m here with a friend.”
“I don’t see any friend here,” he smirked. Penelope frowned. “And she is welcome to join us.”
“Thanks, but no thanks,” she answered, turning her attention away, hoping that that was enough to make him leave.
He didn’t.
“Come on,” the blond man said, and yanked her arm towards him. “It’s only one drink.”
“Let go of me!” Penelope yelled, but it sounded like nothing more than a protest against the music. She felt his fingers digging into her flesh.
“You are so cute when you are in distress,” he muttered, a disgusting look of lust loomed over his drunken eyes.
“I said let g–”
A large pale hand yanked her arm free from the grasp of the harasser. She lifted her head to see a man hovering over her.
“Batman…” she whispered, recognizing the tall, dark figure.
She didn’t realize he was this…big
