CHAPTER ONE

"What's such a preppy boy doing here at this time of night?" A voice from behind him spoke softly, yet with a sharp undertone. 

Kevin jumped, setting a hand on his racing heart as he slowly turned around. He put his arms behind his back innocently, hiding the key. 

"For o ne, I'm a man, not a boy. And for two, it's none of your business," he snarled in return, scoffing. "I could ask you the same exact thing." 

Kevin squinted to see who was standing before him, but the darkness enveloped the person. The outline of the figure was all to be seen, and even that was faint. Though, from the little he could see, the person appeared to be male.

The person dropped the cigarette he had lit onto the ground, stomping the flame away with the bottom of his boot. He stepped out of the shadows and into the light illuminating from the street lights above, a smirk present across his thin lips. 

"You could, and I'd answer," he said smugly. His shoulder-length black hair shimmered, his blue eyes and leather jacket pulling everything together. "I'm waiting for somebody." 

"Good for you?" Kevin said, puzzled. "Look, I have things to do." 

"Does that involve trying to hide that body?" 

Kevin's eyes widened slowly. "B-Body?" 

The man chuckled and took a few steps forward. "I can tell by the shape of the bag and how much you were struggling with it. Who is it, boy?" 

"I'm not a boy, douchebag, and it's not a body," Kevin spat, cheeks heating up with embarrassment. Apparently this guy had previous experience with dumping bodies; how else would he have known? "I don't know who the fuck you are, and quite frankly, I don't care. But keep your nose in your business, buddy." 

Kevin turned away, unlocking the dumpster to put the bag in. The man behind him growled lowly before spinning the weaker boy around and shoving him against the metal dumpster. He earned a groan from Kevin, whose head was spinning from the impact. 

"Who the fuck is it, Preppy?" the man huffed, grabbing him by the shirt collar. "I know what I'm talking about and you know it. What, is it your first time on the job?" 

Kevin spit blood into the man's face. His crooked smile had the crimson colored liquid stained across his teeth. "Preppy? Well, that's a new one. What's your name, then, cutie pie?" 

The man let go of Kevin, throwing him against the dumpster one last time. Kevin hit hard and fell to the ground, wiping the blood  dripping from his nose. He rubbed the back of his sore head as he looked up at the attractive man before him. 

"The name is Joaquin," he answered. "Joaquin DeSantos." 

Kevin tipped his head slightly, furrowing his brows. "That name sounds familiar."

"I'm the Serpent King," Joaquin responded. "You know, Southside Serpents?" 

Kevin nodded, slowly getting to his feet. "Yeah, I've heard of those dirty bastards." 

"Excuse me, Preppy?" 

"You heard me. You people are nothing but trouble." 

"Oh, are we now? Last time I knew, we helped people. You know, saved them?" 

"What, are you fucking superheros now? 'Cause you look like morons in those jackets," Kevin insulted. "You weren't any kind of hero when my father died. You people were the reasons he died! He's dead because of you fuckers!" 

Joaquin put his hands up defensively. "We didn't do anything! I don't even know who the fuck your father was!" 

"Sheriff Keller. He was trying to save some sorry excuse of a Serpent named Fangs. And you all fucking shot the living hell out of him," Kevin spat, getting in Joaquin's face. "Fangs was shot by someone, and my father was trying to slow the bleeding and get him some help. So what do you fuckers do? You all gang up on him and shoot him until there's so many bullet holes in him that you couldn't tell it was a person." 

Joaquin shoved Kevin away. "That wasn't me! And as far as I know of, none of my serpents did that." 

"They damn well did and I know that for a fact," Kevin huffed. "I saw the jackets. They had the same logo on the back that yours does." 

"Wait...so you must be Kevin Keller, right?" Joaquin awed. "You're the guy I've been hearing about." 

"What are you talking about?" 

"You've been undercover, right?" 

"Who the fuck told you that?" 

"It's spreading around like wildfire. You're doing some of the dirty work for FP to gain some Intel about the Serpents so you can target the ones who shot your father," Joaquin replied. "Wow, that's insane." 

"How do you know FP?" 

"He used to be Serpent King. Until his ultimate downfall; he got too big for his britches. Thought he could whip the world. He found out wrong when he was overthrown. Son of a bitch had it coming, too," Joaquin rambled, shaking his head. "FP used to rule over us Serpents. Used to act like a literal king. But when he tried to put us in harms way with no intent of helping us, we kicked him out. One of the serpent rules states that no Serpent stands or fights alone. And he left us to stand and fight alone. I'd be careful with him, if I were you. One wrong move and he'll pin every murder he's committed on you." 

"He can't do that." 

"Yes, he can. And there'd be evidence. You're taking care of the bodies and you aren't wearing gloves. Your fingerprints are all over the bodies, Kevin." 

"The name is Preppy to you," Kevin said with a sly smile. "Thanks for the heads up, Joaquin. I'll keep an eye on him. But, for now, he's all I've got for resources, so I have no choice." 

"You always have one other choice, Preppy." 

"Yeah, and what's that?" 

"Join the Serpents. I'll help you get the information you need. My Serpents know better than to harm an innocent man - especially one trying to save one of our own."

Kevin looked him up and down. "I'll think about it. See you around?" 

Joaquin smirked. "See you at school, Preppy." 

NOTE: This was previously titled 'KILLER' but I switched some things up, oops.