Devil's Dance
Angel woke groggily, but alert and in a panic. He rose up to sit where he was, his eyes darting around the space that he was trapped in. Bars caged him in, separating him from where other demons were sitting around. There was another demon in the cell with him, one that he did not recognize. He had never run into this particular breed demon before. He looked down when he felt a weight on his wrist, noticing immediately the silver band that was placed there. It held roman numbers on it, etched into the surface on the top of his wrist. He fiddled with the device for but a moment, trying to find a way that he could pry it off. It seemed that it was a device that was made through magic.
Someone had taken his coat and shirt from him while he was unconscious, leaving him in his white wife beater. The chill in the room didn't bother his skin, he was colder than the air was. The groaning from the demon trapped in the cell with him drew his attention eventually, making him look to them.
"I asked for a room with a view," he said first, trying to break the tension in the cell. It wouldn't do to have a pissed off demon locked in a small space with him. The other male looked over to him, but didn't say anything toward Angel's efforts. "I'm guessing English is not your native tongue?" he asked, not expecting an answer. Nor were Spanish, Belarusian, or Italian. Eventually, the other demon just looked away and ignored him. "We'll have so much to talk about during the long winter nights," he mumbled to himself as he pulled his still sore body up from the ground, using the bars for support.
"Listen up, slaves!" Jack yelled as he walked into the room, decked out in a leather jacket with his long hair pulled back. The demons around the room all turned their attention to him obediently. He stopped a few feet before Angel's cell, looking in on the vampire. "There's only one rule here and it's real simple so you demons can remember," he said as he motioned to another man in the room and the door to Angel cell opened at the demand.
Angel stepped out, approaching Jack with quick strides, but he held up a hand to stop him before pointing down at the ground. There was a thick red line painted on the ground, separating the two.
"Stay inside the red. That wristband'll make sure you do." He grinned at Angel from over the red line, under the belief that he was invincible. "I know you want to rip my throat out, but you won't; because there's only one way out of here. When that band comes off, and the only way that band comes off is after your twenty first kill." Silence fell over the room as all of the other demons watched the exchange, their eyes on the newcomer. No one paid any attention to the one person stowed away in the corner of the room, ignoring it all.
"I'm not killing anyone," Angel said evenly, challengingly.
"Then you'll be killed. Either way, fans'll get their money's worth," Jack said with one last grin before he turned around to leave through the way that he'd come. "Prepare yourself, Siren. Show's about to start." The comment was directed to the figure in the corner, Angel's eyes finally moving over to where he was.
Bright blue eyes shone through the shadows like illuminated spheres, watching as the man in the leather jacket stepped out of the room smugly, acting as though he owned the word. He would get what was coming to him, he would learn that very soon.
Once he had left the demons in the room seemed to relax, moving back to their own places and acting as though it were routine for him to show up as he had. The figure in the corner never moved from his place, hidden away in the shadows as glowing eyes watched the door across the way. It almost looked like they were a caged animal, ready to pounce. Angel couldn't see anything about him, what kind of demon he was, how tall he was or if he was a fighter or not.
Angel didn't try to converse with the other demons in the space, only leaned up against the cold metal bars of the cell he had woken up in and watched the other demons carefully. There were always men that worked for Jack and his brother hanging around, holding the electric shock weapons that they had used to subdue him in the first place.
"Come on, Siren, come hang with the big boys," one of the demons drawled out after a while, sitting at a bench and leaning his elbows on his knees. He sneered at the shadowed figure, who glanced his way before returning all attention to the doorway again. "Suppers almost here, how about I give ya some a' my cut?" The lizard demon asked, cocking his head to the side.
"You're wasting your time," one of the other men grumbled out, his voice gruff from lack of speaking. Angel watched the interaction, looking over to the man in the corner. "Never moved for you before."
The lizard demon growled in irritation and rose to his feet, marching over to where the figure crouched. Bright blue eyes snapped in his direction, watching as he approached. Angel pushed away from the bars but one of the demons near him held out a hand to stop him, leaving him to watch as the lizard stopped before the other figure, looking down at the man.
"You ignorin' me?" He asked venomously, looking down at them. When they continued to remain silent, he reached down to grab at them harshly, barely making contact before a hand shot out and connected with his chest, palm flat, and pushed him away with unbelievable strength. The silver band was on their wrist, too. The lizard demon skidding back several yards until he was at Angel's feet, looking angered beyond belief.
Demons around the room stepped back when the figure rose to their feet, threatening blue eyes glaring down at the man on the ground. The guards around the room didn't make a move to stop the oncoming fight, just watching from their places with amused stares. Angel understood why when the figure finally stepped out of the darkness.
It was not a he.
Full black attire of a tank top and pants contrasted sharply against already pale skin, the fiery red blond hair of a woman pulled away from a defined, thin face. He was struck. There was a woman here as well? Clearly she was a demon, with the strength that she was able to possess in one push of her hand against the man's chest. Her eyes lost the glow when she stepped into the light, but they were still unearthly, inhuman.
"Shut up."
All noise ceased inside the room, Angel's hearing straining for sound. It was as though the command had made even the particles in the air freeze in place. His eyes fell on the thick silver band that clasped around her throat, the same roman numerals there as well. Was she so powerful? She needed two bands to keep her detained?
"You insufferable brat, do you ever cease that irritating sound that comes from your mouth? I am tired of listening to you. Do not speak to me again!" She yelled out, her eye flashing bright one more time. Angel heard an undignified squeak come from the male at his feet before the room fell silent once more. No one had to wait long before the silence was broken as some men came into the room with the meal of the night.
Angel was surprised, to put it lightly, so see a woman there. Although, with the way that she had taken care of the lizard demon he was certain that she could hold her weight against the other demons when in the ring. Killing one, however, he wasn't so sure. He had been acutely aware that she had directed him away from her so that he didn't move over the red line.
A bowl of food was pushed over the line for her to take, but she simply walked back over to her corner and sat down, a curl of red hair falling before her eyes as she glared over at the men in extreme hate. Was she a Siren? He couldn't help but wonder. He had seen Siren's in books before, but none of them looked the way that she did. She was beautiful and had a human appearance, while the Siren's that he had seen were sharp toothed, black eyed, flesh eating demons that felt nothing but the lust for blood and flesh of a male. Was it only a nickname given to her, Siren?
She was not a Siren, not one that he had ever heard about. He could see the pain in her eyes, her posture, as she slipped down to sit on the floor again, leaning back against the cold walls.
"Siren!" Jack yelled suddenly as he stepped out, "Time to warm up the fans, baby doll."
The woman rose to her feet obediently, glaring at Jack with death in her eyes. He just smirked back at her lecherously, his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he watched her walk.
One of the guards made the poor judgement to reach over the red line, wishing to be discrete, and make a grab at her ass. She spun around faster than anyone could see, her hand gripping his wrist and pulling him over the line. Her other hand rose up to his face, her palm covering his mouth.
Before the other guards could subdue her, her eyes lightened into an entirely different blue shade. The man gasped against her palm but wasn't able to pull away, looking into the hypnotic eyes of the demon draining his energy from him. His body started to convulse before one of the other guards jabbed Siren in the back of the neck with their electric rod, sending her to her knees with a hiss of pain. The guard was released, falling back over the line. He moved no more. Neither did she.
"How many fucking times do I have to warn you idiots?" Jack demanded as he threw his arms up in aggravation. "Someone get rid of him, before he starts stinkin' up the place." He turned to leave, looking pissed beyond all get out. "And lock her ass in a cell!"
Siren awoke to pain, lying on her back on the floor of the cell that had been deemed as her own. She looked over to where there were other demons, all sitting about. The newest one wasn't there, nor was the kid. They must have lost their fights that night. She groaned silently in pain when she moved to rise up from the ground, her abused body protesting the movement. It was clear that they had punished her when she was placed inside her cell.
"Sleeping beauty's finally awake."
"I thought I told you to shut up," she growled out, pulling herself up with the bars and onto the bench in the cell.
"Hm, always were cranky when you didn't get your beauty sleep. Pity."
"Fuck you."
The loud sounds of the doors opening down the hall caused eyes to direct that way instead, Siren rising to her feet. Had they caught someone new? She stepped up to the bars of her cell, looking out and ignoring the pain that ebbed through her body. It was so hard to heal when there was no energy within her to enable her body to do so.
Imagine the surprise she felt when the vampire, Angel was his name, moved through the large entrance way and over across the line of red that held them all in place. She crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head to the side curiously, wondering. What sort of man was he? Had he been free somehow? Why would he have come back? For the others? No, that could not be it.
The wristband snapped back into place, sealing the vampire's fate along with it.
She looked up only when her cell door opened, leaving her curious. What was going to happen tonight? The stirrings of energy and power sparked in the air, teasing her skin with the feel of it but leaving her desperate for the actual thing. That taste of strength she had received from the human male was hardly enough to give her the energy to stand. She needed demon power.
Angel looked back at her once the others were gone, catching a light in her eye that had nothing to do with the reason for the previous times. She nodded her head at him, a silent agreement to what she knew that he was going to try. She would help him in whatever way she could to free them all. He inclined his head in a type of bow in thanks.
"Let's try this again, Siren," one of the men said as they moved along the red line, directing her over to the door and away from her cell. She looked back at Angel one last time before she moved over to the doors that led out to the Ring. This was her job.
The crowd around the ring cheered out loudly as the announcer took the mic in his hands, looking around at all the different faces.
"I present to you, Ladies and Gentlemen, the ever alluring, lustrous Siren!" The sound picked up in the room as the female walked out through the doors, her eyes glowing as she concentrated on the energies of the humans in the room. "And her partner for this evening," The announcer continued, watching Siren as she walked around him slowly, the deliberate sway of her hips drawing his gaze against his will. "Crib!"
The green skinned lizard demon stepped out through the doors next, a scowl set in place as he looked around at the spectators. The announcer made himself scarce from the ring, leaving Siren and Crib in the circular arena together. She watched him carefully as she moved to lean against the wall opposite the doors. He always made the first more.
Crib darted forward as expected, charging at her with speed that could be considered impressive to humans, but it was nothing to her. She pushing away from the wall, pressing a boot against his chest, pushed off of him before using the wall to jump over him as he fell to the ground. The movements were nearly too quick for the spectators to follow. They cheered anyway.
Crib was quick to his feet again, glaring at her with death in his eyes. She grinned in a sultry way, swaying her body from side to side as she locked her gaze with his. She knew the immediate second that she had his attention and quickly spun on one foot, the other rising over her head and down to take him across the face, throwing him into the ground. She spun back to face him once she was up again, noticing that she had knocked him out.
As always.
She smiled cruelly up at the crowd, knowing exactly what was expected of her. She swayed her hips in a silent dance, no music to go by, and swung her head to throw her long red hair around herself. The curls bounced and wound around themselves, falling over her face when she looked up to where the suits were watching. She grinned like a masochist, her eyes lightening before she turned toward the doors to head back inside. Once she was shadowed again, someone moving out to get Crib and dump him inside, she let herself fall neutral again.
To them, she was simply a show dog.
Chapter two is finally up! And Angel meet's the mystery woman, too! I'll have the next one out soon; I just need to edit it. Please review! I love feedback, it gives me motivation to keep writing! :)
