The music is deafening, and flashing lights nearly blind me. As we approach the gaudy mansion, Eva slaps her hands over her ears and halts in her tracks. Too pumped on adrenaline to stop, I grab her arm and drag her behind me. Jared mutters something along the lines of 'what a baby'. Glad Eva didn't hear that and begin bickering with him, I sling open the door to the party.

Adults are modestly drinking and lavishly dressed. Multiple pets ranging from fish to cats inhabit the house, proving these people are indeed loaded. Fancy snacks like sushi cause my mouth to water, but I restrain myself.

A burly guard jogs up to us, seeming to have forgotten he was on door duty. "Whoever was invited, hold out your wrist."

Jared holds out his wrist for the man to scan his Chip. Again, it signals green and the man points to a door labeled 'Teen Room'.

"She's my guest," Jared states before marching through the crowd.

Surprisingly, Cody also holds out his wrist. He claims Eva is his guest and walks off as well. How on Earth did he get an invitation? Was it because of Jared being his cousin?

Snapping out of my thoughts, I move to enter the party, as does Eva. However, the guard holds up a bulky hand and stops us in our tracks. Confused, Eva and I glance at each other. We're guests. Doesn't that give us permission to enter?

The guard rolls his eyes, seeming to judge us since we're obviously not used to these kinds of parties. "Hold out your wrists, please."

I'm not sure why, but I begin to panic. It's not like he can see that my Chip's misplaced due to the faux skin. Still, I feel as though there's a way to determine Chip malfunction.

"We have to make sure you're clean, as in no crime records. The party thrower demanded everyone is to be scanned," the guard elaborates.

After emitting a sigh that blows a stand of hair away from her face, Eva holds out her wrist. The guard seems bored as he scans her Chip with his watch. Immediately, the screen turns green and a list of text information pops up.

"You're good," he nods to Eva.

She shoots me a slightly worried glance as she merges with the crowd, proving I'm not the only one who's nervous.

"Your wrist, please!"

After taking a deep breath, I stick it out. He scans my wrist with his watch. My breath catches in my throat as the screen glows red. Bold black letters proclaim 'Error'. Terror rises within my and my heart hammers in my chest.

Luckily, he rescans it and the screen turns green. I let out a breath of relief.

The guard shoots me a questioning look. "You should probably have your Chip examined."

I rapidly nod, eager to find my friends. Quickly, I merge with the crowd, the stench of alcohol and the sound of loud chatter replacing my thoughts of terror. Trying to calm my frantic heart, I take deep breaths as I push through the crowd of rich adults. Finally, I reach the Teen Room and yank open the wooden door. The room's basically just a large den holding various teenagers, a holographic television, and a black cat. The cat lazily peers at me through one olive eye.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Eva questions, sipping on a pink drink in a clear plastic cup.

The music is slightly lowered and I sigh in relief. Surveying the room, I lean against the light blue wall. Cody leans to my left and Jared is next to him.

"So, how are we going to hear their supposed plans, Autumn?" Cody queries, and I hear the smugness in his voice.

"How did you get invited to this party, Cody?" I rebuttal, mimicking his tone of voice.

He goes silent, eyes widening as he notices Eva chugging down her weird juice. Actually, all of the teenagers in the room, save Cody, Jared and I, are drinking the substance. It must be good, whatever it is; probably some rich person concoction.

"Autumn," Cody whispers, eyeing the teenagers surrounding us. "I think there's something in that juice."

"Psh," I scoff, "If you mean flavor-"

"No!" Jared whispers. "I think he's right. I've had that drink before. I don't think the teens realize what they're consuming!"

Glancing around, I shake my head. Teens poshly dressed attempt to elegantly sip the light pink liquid. A girl with dark hair curtaining her face drops the sophisticated act and begins to chug the substance. Her red haired friend follows her lead, the two laughing and amiably chatting. Furrowing my eyebrows, I slap Eva's cup out of her hand, the liquid staining the purple carpet.

"Hey!" She exclaims, reaching for the cup.

I shake my head, grabbing her arm and pulling her next to me against the wall. "You'll thank me later."

"But-"

"Just observe."

After a while, all of the teens seem distracted. The music is turned off as a voice booms through the house. Strangely, the teens in the room cease to notice.

Slowly, I inch towards the door. I motion with my hand for the others to follow my lead and they do.

"You all know why we're here," a feminine voice proclaims, just the sound sending shivers down my spine.

A murmur of agreements sweeps through the crowd.

Cody goes rigid beside me, his breath ragged as he bits down on his lower lip.

"What's wrong?" I whisper as the woman begins to speak again.

Jared is stiff beside him, his eyes the size of saucers.

"Whaaaat?" Eva slurs, a little loopy from the pink juice she consumed.

"Yeah, what?" I reiterate, clapping my hands in front of each of their faces.

"We need to leave," Cody hisses, roughly grabbing my arm. "Now."

I push him away from me. "No! If you're gonna be like, that just be quiet and let me listen. You can leave if you want."

"No, Autumn! You're not listening," Jared tries, his voice wobbling.

"We're here to discuss the information we've gathered about the civilians. Who wants to present first?" The woman booms, her voice exuding power. I urge to crack open the door and put a face to the voice.

"Woooow, they be spying? Not coool," Eva childishly whines, stomping her foot. The sound is muffled by the carpet underneath our feet.

"Yeah, it isn't," I mutter. "They're having a whole meeting on the subject. Why?"

I hear heels clacking against the hardwood floor of the next room. Swiftly, we all back away from the door. Eva trips but I catch her before she hits the ground. The footsteps grow closer and I feel panic bubbling inside of me.

"Quick!" Cody urgently whispers. "Pretend to be high on juice!"

I can't help but let out a small chuckle at his choice of words. Another slips out as I watch Eva stumble backwards and fall into a chair. Of course she doesn't need to act.

Suddenly, Jared grabs my arm and shoves me onto the arm of the chair Eva's sitting in. He reluctantly sits in the other as Cody leans against the back. We begin talking about harmless subjects as obnoxiously as we can, Jared scooping up someone's discarded cup and sloshing around the remaining liquid.

The door is yanked open by a young woman. Wavy blonde hair falls to her chest in light waves. Deep blue eyes scan the room and no one else seems to pay her any mind. I pretend to chat with my friends, dramatically flipping my hair behind my shoulder. Another chill runs down my spine but I attempt to disguise it as a sneeze.

Out of the comer of my eye, I watch as the woman approaches us. My heart feels like it's about to burst out of my ribcage and my fingers begin to tap against my legs. Cody and Jared slightly tense while Eva laughs like a drunk. I'd honestly believe she was drunk if it didn't seem like the liquid did more than impair your thinking skills. It's like everyone is programmed to be unaware of their surroundings, to believe this is just an ordinary party for the wealthy.

The lady stops directly in front of Cody and smirks. "Look who decided to show up to one of my lovely 'parties'."

I have to force myself to breathe, to allow air into my lungs. Cody still keeps up his act, Jared gladly conversing with him about some new nail polish line.

The woman walks away, pride in her step and evil in her eyes.