Chapter I: Party Animals

Juliana and Robert Jaque were having a good time at the party they had been invited to, the thirtieth anniversary of Howard and Helen Brahm, two of their wealthiest business partners. The drinks were good and the entertainment was even better, Champagne and a live performance by the band "Restless Youth". Juliana and Robert walked around the extravagant ballroom where the main party was taking place. Robert talked with his friends and associated, as did Juliana, but she was really thinking about Xero and Joanna, their children. Xero , who was only fourteen, had been left to watch the house, and Joanna, who, to Juliana's dismay, was now seventeen, was now at her friend Roma's house, spending the night.

Juliana and Robert were five feet from the bar when Jackson Malloy had stopped them. He did the usual hi's and cheap flattery on Juliana. Despite Jackson's charm, Juliana thought he was an asshole. He smelled of cheap perfume and always had a skanky looking woman on his side.

"So, Rob. How are things going for you and Jules? Good? This is Ariana. Ariana, this is Robert and Juliana, you remember, the ones I told you about." Jackson said first to Robert then to Ariana, the woman at his side.

"Of course, how could I have forgotten. Pleased to meet you Robert. Juliana." Ariana said as she shook each Robert and Juliana's hand.

From across the room a woman screamed a shrill scream, a machine gun was fired, and the woman was silent. Dead. The guest screamed and began crowding the exits, panic was rising. Robert and Juliana didn't panic, instead they walked up elegant-looking stairs to the floor above the stage. The area was deserted. Everyone, including the band, had rushed to the exits, only to find them chained shut.

A man in the middle of the room pulled off his overcoat to reveal a chest of grenades. "Freedom from the oppression of business corporations!" he shouted, and pulled the pin in the middle, releasing the pins from all of the other grenades. There was a flash, and a bang, and then the whole mansion erupted with flames. The party was over.

Preview of Chapter Two: Two Down, Two To Go.

Joanna and Xero are told their parents have been killed in a terrorist attack. Xero takes a walk, and Joanna goes over to a friend's house to stay the night. Joanna and her friend go to a bar and get drunk, each using a fake ID, when Joanna meets a mysterious man.