Room with a Hellview [Devil's Lair | Vega Estate]

[Esper]

[[Continues Cruz's story from The Depths of Hell]]

The thump of the music was faint in the tunnel; it sounded quiet as a drifting pulse. Esper enjoyed the sensations of the Devil’s Lair, for the overwhelming emotion usually magnified into one great sea of feeling, and it felt glorious. People generally came here for the same reason after all. So the dancing between keeping an eye on the mark had been euphoric and senseless. Sweat sheened her skin still, and dampened the hair against her temple. A little push kept others from bothering her and Roza too much. A little fun was fun. But not hands where she didn’t want them, when she didn’t want them.

It was a tight ship where Ekeziel was concerned, which usually meant an easy night. They only had to nudge the right direction. Except the job had gone sideways when the mark had been led like a lamb down into one of the deeper tunnels. Not a problem until it was a problem, and Esper had grabbed Roza’s hand and pulled them in the same direction.

They’d seen it all.

Now he was where the woman had unceremoniously dumped him, twitching and moaning a little as the drug worked its way through his system. Esper sat close by, legs crossed, chin rested in her hands. She lulled in the strength of his fear, half-glazed with it, reading the same bit of graffiti on the wall over his head a dozen times over. All ye who sin.

Tactile buckles and leather made up most of her outfit. Heavy boots and fishnets. A sequined jacket hung loose from her shoulders. She glanced at Roza. "How long will it take?"

[Roza Vas]

The music was thumping and methodic, Roza's homemade dress bounced with every beat and twist and turn of her body.  The dark flaps of rusts and crimsons with a smattering of shimmering emerald green fabric bounced over the mesh underlay.  The bells at her waist jingled with each twist of her hips.  Esper wasn't far away and she never lost sight of the young man they were here to watch.  He was cute but she didn't understand Ezekiel's desire for him.  He wasn't like the others they'd been sent to watch.

They followed him down the halls and the music faded and made Roza a bit sad.  But she hummed her own little tune as they followed to the grisly scene.  It was amazing.  And scary and Roza was transfixed up until the point of death of the beastie that tried to eat their mark.  It was unfair.  But he was lying now, mumbling and grumbling and transfixed in the dredges of P. 

"I don't know."

Roza stood up from her comfortable position next to Esper and started dancing and playing a fake violin.  The world grew bright and shiny and the stank of the tunnels grew stronger and she giggled softly.  She spun in a circle and danced to her own music letting the flaps on her dress spin and bounce with her.

But even that didn't last long she laid down next to the boy engulfed in the power inside and sent a tendril at him as she fished out his wallet from his pocket.  "Maybe we should take him home."  She whispered in his ear. "The darkness is going to get you."  She taunted.  She knew that Zeke could manipulate their dreams on P.  Maybe she could without the headset too.

With a heavy sigh she sat on his chest.  She was a small thing in comparison he'd hardly notice and she flipped through his wallet. "I'm bored."

[Esper]

Esper’s gaze trailed Roza as she entertained herself in the shadows, a faint smile pulling at her otherwise morose expression, though she didn’t move from her own bored position. Her breathing deepened when the other girl did the extra thing. Roza was all fickle mischief, and it was as heady as candy. The effervescent, popping kind.

When Roza plonked herself on the boy’s chest, Esper shifted behind her to tickle her ribs, intending to make her jump and giggle, just to revel in the surprise. “Maybe the darkness is going to get you too,” she teased in a whisper. Low laughter followed. She rested her chin on Roza’s shoulder to peer at the wallet in her hands.

“Who is he?” she asked. Then, a little sly. “And what game shall we play with him when he wakes up?”

[Cruz]

Fangs. Blood.  Dark.

Ouch.

Expectations were always high.  But the dream had started out with clouds and angels.  She took him down the lights.  They flickered.  The darkness entered.  The shadows slunk in corners.  

He kissed her.  Her lips were red but they tasted like death.  

Black images.  Bright lights.  Flickering.  Screaming.  

His head screamed in agony.  Was he screaming?  His throat hurt.

Blinding red lights.  Shadows.

Images of his grandfather mingled with fangs and blood.  Horrors and things he never wished to see.  He couldn't unsee. Fading into darkness...

[Roza Vas]

Roza giggled when Esper's fingers tickled her sides. She grabbed her hands and held one close to her belly as she flipped open is wallet and smiled. "Cruz Vega." She giggled at the address. "He lives in one of those fancy estate places with the locked gates and stuff. Can we take him home?"

She got up from his chest and stepped over him. She took Esper's hands in here and bounced. "Please? We can pretend we had sex with him and maybe his bedroom has some good things we can nick before we leave."

[Esper]

The faint glow of the screen lit her face as she peered down at the wallet over Roza’s shoulder. What was a rich boy like that doing in a place like this? Then Roza was on the move again, streaking across the sky like a shooting star.

Mischief lit the caverns of Esper’s eyes in response.

“You’ll walk him and love him and feed him every day?” She said it perfectly seriously but for the faint twitch of a smirk. If he was that wealthy, it was better to shoot for a long con. Then a tug pulled the bouncing girl into the steps of an old dance routine, sending the bells at her hip to chiming. She twirled her until Roza’s dress was a maelstrom of colour around her, and they were both breathless. Esper’s deadpan expression finally spilled into laughter of her own. Her arms ended around Roza’s neck, and she looked down at the twitching boy.

“He can treat us to the ride to his place. But how do we get him out of here?”

[Roza Vas]

Roza giggled at the seriousness in Esper's voice. "I'll love him and squeeze him and call him George."

They twirled and danced and Esper's arms were around her neck. She leaned in close and pressed a soft kiss to her cheeks. "Oh. Thank you." A gleam in her eye sparkled with mischief. And her hands waved like she was making magic. Dominick was found of misdirection. My hands are here, but the light was there doing wonderful hypnotic things. She loved watching her brother work. He was an entertainer like their father. "I'll just dance him there."

She wove strings of air around his wrists and his torso and lifted him with ease. She took his fingers and twirled him around on strings of air with a giggle. But she knew that wouldn't really work well once they got to the crowds. They'd have to pretend to carry him out like a common drunk. "He'll be very cooperative and light. And if anyone asks we can just kiss him." She twirled around again with the boy. He was cute. But Roza looked at Esper with a smile. Mama wouldn't like her thoughts, Papa neither. Their fingers would shake and they'd say that's no way to make a family. But Esper was all Roza needed. All she wanted.

[Esper]

The affection in the kiss warmed her through like caramel. When Roza’s hands began to wiggle Esper laughed and swept back to give an audience, though she could not see all the webs of light she’d heard described. To her it really was magic. The boy rose like someone yanked him up on puppet strings, and Esper canted her head in curiosity. After all the weirdness they witnessed tonight it shouldn’t surprise her, and in a way she supposed it didn’t. But it was mesmerising. Roza always was.

No one in the club would care even if they noticed he was completely out of it. Though Roza’s suggestion prompted a sly smirk. She caught the other girl’s eye and held it a moment before she bent to retrieve the wallet and navigated her way through it to summon a ride for when they exited the club’s subway entrance. A press of the boy’s fingerprint authorised the transaction. She slipped the device back into his pocket, and they were ready to go.

[Roza Vas]

The boy was hardly dead weight. He wasn't coherent but he moved and walked with them. A little push of his legs when he stalled in his dream like state. Roza wondered what it was like on P. What was this rich boy dreaming about? His screaming and twitching still caused cause for concern but here in the din of the Devil's Lair it didn't really matter. No one asked. And they were in the cab quickly with little issue from anyone including the driver.

The back alleys gave way to fancier neighborhoods and finally into the gated estates that made you feel small in comparison. It was awe-inspiring to see them up close and personal. It was late, the lights were mostly out in the house when they pulled up. The boy still dozed in his slumber like state, though he was rousing. Roza whispered in his ear "Sleep my darling." It was a trick she used on Nusa when she was so tired she did nothing but scream.

"Should we knock or search for his keys?" Searching for his keys could be fun. They might find other things to nick or play with. Though Roza didn't want to take advantage of the boy. That might get her in trouble with Ezekiel and she didn't want that. She liked working for him. It was much more fun than the carnival all the time. All the gawkers and handsy men.

The walls surrounding the estate were ten feet high and jagged all around. they looked like they jutted from the earth fully formed. But it was elegant in it's own way. There were many keep off the grass signs. Roza rolled her eyes and couldn't help herself when she stepped into the lush green grass while she carried the boy into the house with the light.

A bright light and loud bang sounded when her foot touched the soft green grass. The door to the house shot open. "Who's out there!" a man shouted.

Roza's eyes hurt, her ears rang, she barely heard the voice of the man. The boy blinked his eyes open and crumpled to the ground when the power winked out around him. "We were just bringing him home." She cried. It was a little faked, but there was part of it that was real. Her head hurt in a way it should never have hurt. What the hell just happened.

[[occ: Cruz's address is still the Vega estate -- makes for more fun lol ]]

[Cruz]

Darkness to Joy, and back into the depths of slumber. Nightmares gave way to dark images. Death and destruction, but nothing so brutal as the first moments. Cruz was flying and soaring until a loud bang and bright light seared through his eye lids. He knew that sound and his eyes blinked open. He was home... home... why was he here.

He dropped to the ground in a heap, whatever cords had held him evaporated and there was a crying girl next to him.

Christian stood in the door a gun pointed at them the flood lights pooled around them with intense light. "It's just me, Christian." He didn't mention the girls. He didn't know the girls though he was certain they looked familiar. School perhaps, maybe the club? Why was he here?

Cruz managed to sit up and rub at his head. His body was sluggish but he felt good despite the fear he'd endured. He didn't move from his spot. His mother would know he'd done something stuipd. Best not to move. He didn't want to be here. "I should go to my apartment. I'm sorry to wake you."