"Three of a kind is not a good enough hand."
"Well you keep dealing me crap cards."
"I do not. It's all in the way you play the game..."
"Yeah, whatever."
"Don't be a sour loser," I scolded lightly. Rambo, stretched out on his nominated doggy pillow in the corner of the room, lifted his tail in a lazy attempt to wag it at my playful tone. I gave Dante a little slap on the shoulder. He cringed away from me and I withdrew my hand, sending a quick awkward glance in Vergil's direction.
"I'm sure you're cheating somehow," Dante sulked, pushing the stack of poker chips between us closer to me. The little towers toppled over and the chips bulldozed my own neatly stacked ones over. I bit the inside of my cheek to restrain the words 'that was unnecessary' and timidly tidied them up again while Dante shuffled the cards.
We were seated in our swimwear on the lush carpet in the family den, the bay windows thrown wide open to let fresh air into the heated house. It had been one of the hottest days in ages and we'd gone in to the city's local swimming pool for most of the day. We would have been there until sunset if it hadn't been for the girls flaunting their goodies at Dante like it was some whore convention.
The only downfall about coming home was that the family den was the coolest room in the house - and Vergil had been there first. I didn't have the guts to properly look at him, even less to tell him to piss off. Dante was no help either, since he's resigned himself to pretending Vergil didn't exist. After Eva and I had come back from the Temen-ni-gru, the brothers had a colossal fallout of some sort. I only caught the tail end of it, which was Dante storming out of Sparda's study and Vergil shouting after him 'you can't always have your way, you impudent prick!', which in turn had Eva climbing down Vergil's throat.
And when I say Eva climbed into him, it's putting it nicely, because she tore him apart. Some of what she said went right over my head, other things made more sense to me; supposed to set an example, be the mature one and walk away from a fight instead of instigating it, be more understanding toward Dante because he's had it really tough since Sparda and Vergil both walked out on him, blah blah blah. My own mom used to throw the same garb in my face when I was a kid; not exactly the same, but the principle remained – the one had to suffer to compensate for the other sibling's 'inexperience'. It felt good knowing that not even I'm-better-than-you-scum-Vergil was above that type of ridicule.
I'll admit it, it was a malicious gleeful moment for me. Eva's words had been hard and cut straight to the truth. Vergil had stood tall under Eva's scorn, his face a rock hard mask of sheer indifference, taking the verbal blows like a warrior too proud to flinch; but even I could sense that the words were piercing through his blasé facade.
The brothers hadn't spoken to each other since. It was the quietest week we've ever had; no arguments, no raised voices debating strategic fight moves, no clash of swords. Though at the same time, there hadn't been much laughter either. I hadn't seen Dante smile once, and even if he'd rather be dragged back to hell than confess it, I knew it hurt him and bugged him to no end that Vergil didn't seem to mind the silent treatment. It was usually Vergil who was the more 'adult' twin, who would cave in eventually to satisfy his brother, to keep the peace and make amends.
Glancing at Vergil now, spread out on his stomach on the window bunk with nothing but surfer's baggies on and engrossed in another book as thick as my arm, it was obvious he was relishing in Dante's silent suffering. The tension from a week ago had become nothing but an awkward silence; one that Dante didn't know how to break, so he'd rather carry on ignoring Vergil.
"I don't cheat," I mumbled to Dante. "You just have really bad luck."
"No way. Logically, the odds have to fall in my favour sooner or later."
He dealt the cards, and I picked mine up to view a full house. I snorted at it. "Have the odds ever been in your favour?"
"I don't know. What were the odds of you and me ever hooking up, right?"
He had that endearing look on his face as he said it – the one that I knew meant he was doubting himself and waiting to get an earful from me. Dante had never been too good at sweet-talking. I put my cards down with a sigh. He was never going to beat me at poker, I might as well save him the shameful truth. "I'm bored with this game."
"Should we play Bullshit?"
"Nah," I said, climbing to my feet. "Let's go catch a movie or something."
"I'm strapped for cash, babe," Dante said, not moving from his spot.
"What do you mean?" I asked. "We'll get some change from the biscuit jar."
"There's no money for me in the jar."
"So we'll go by the charity house and ask Eva if she's got anything for us," I said in confusion. Money had never been an issue before. It took me a minute to get my head around what he said, and I dropped my arms to my sides helplessly to stare back at him. "Don't be uptight."
"I'm not. It's not my money. I didn't do fuck knows what to earn it."
"It's our money. That's why it's put in the biscuit jar, so we can grab whenever we need for whatever we need. Right, Vergil?" I said, forcing myself to look at him. When there was no wink of response from him, I lost my rag with them both. "Oh, grow up! You're both above and beyond pathetic, you know that?" I snapped, snatching a pillow off the couch and hurling it at Vergil angrily.
It bounced off Vergil's back, and he lifted his head slowly. "What do you want? Can you not see that I'm busy, or are you going blind?"
I paused for a second when I realized he'd been zoned out and probably hadn't heard a word Dante and I have exchanged. "The money in the biscuit jar, it's for all of us, right?"
"Not that either of you are deserving of it," Vergil said, turning back to his book.
"See? And then you call me uptight," Dante said pointedly.
"Dante just... just shut up and go get ready," I said, scratching my forehead in irritation.
"Yes ma'am," Dante teased and marched from the room.
I waited until he was out of the room before facing Vergil. "You could at least...Vergil. Vergil, I'm talking to you."
"Oh for... Cora, can you just leave me be?" Vergil growled dangerously. He lifted his head from the book with what looked like great effort, and gave me a deadly glare.
"Can you just get over it? Seriously, you're acting way more immature than Dante ever has," I snapped and braced myself when Vergil slowly sat up between the bunk pillows.
"Get over it? You're as wretched and dense as they are if you believe this is a matter I can just simply 'get over'."
"So your mom deflated your bubble a bit because why? You thought you were perfect? The untouchable, invincible, all-powerful son of Sparda," I said mockingly, and lowered my voice when his lips quirked into a small, disbelieving grin. "Dante is forever trying to impress you and get your approval, the least you can do is show some empathy toward him."
"If you think this is a simple matter of my self-worth and pride," Vergil said, getting to his feet. "Then you need to get your damn head out of the clouds."
"You're jealous, that's your problem," I bit back.
"Jealous?" Vergil repeated the word as if he'd never heard of it. "Of Dante?"
"Just own it up, Vergil. You're jealous of him because he... he goes to school and you don't, and he has more weapons than you do, and he's got a life apart from everything demonic," I stammered out the words, grabbing for any ammo at my disposal.
Vergil cast a glance at the floor, his lips moving but I couldn't make out what he was hissing under his breath. Then he looked up at me with a disconcerting smile. "There is only so much a person can take."
"You chose to walk the walk. You can't blame any of us for your mistake," I said, shaking my finger at him angrily.
He was suddenly in front of me, moving so fast that my eyes couldn't follow, and his fingers firmly wrapped around my wrist. "I don't regret the path I have resigned myself to follow. What drives me up the walls is that there is no grain of empathy shown toward me. I have received no measure of appreciation for my efforts," his grip tightened bruising hard, and his eyes were as sharp and luminous as the core of a flame. "Everything I have done has been taken for granted."
"We don't need you to provide for us. We coped while you were gone, we can take care of ourselves..." I started, wondering whether I should try yank my wrist free or just slap him. He was standing too close to me again, his face inches from mine, but his grave expression held me still.
It wasn't like the fights Dante and I would get into, where we'd be right up in each other's faces and Dante would be provoking me with his cocky, devil-may-care attitude and I'd shriek profanities at him and claw at him until Eva came to play referee. This was nothing like that.
Vergil wasn't out to get me, or make my blood boil over and send me into blank-out-demon-mode. There was anger in his voice and an urgent plea underlying his words. He wasn't hurting me, or trying to scare me either, because there was something earnest in the hellish blue flames burning into my soul.
"Cora, I'm not talking about money. What do you think I was doing while I was gone?" Vergil snapped sarcastically. "Taking a stroll through paradise?"
"What exactly are you getting at?"
"Never mind," Vergil dropped my hand and stepped away from me, pushing his hand through his hair. He stared at the carpet for a moment, and sent another look at me before shaking his head and resuming his seat in the bay window.
"You're just going to leave me hanging?" I asked after a stumped moment when he picked the book up on his lap.
"You won't understand."
"Try me!"
"No, thank you."
"Vergil, don't be an ass," I said in frustration. "How am I supposed to show appreciation if I don't even know what the hell you're getting all huffy about?"
"It doesn't matter. Any attempt you make at a display of gratitude will fall flat. It means nothing if you do it half-heartedly and let's face it," Vergil said, giving me a look. "You're the last person who will want to show me any thanks."
"That's your fault for cutting off my hand and scaring the shit out of me. Not to mention your mind-raping ability and control issues-"
"Leave me."
"No."
"This discussion is over. Get out before I remove you myself." Rambo let out a warning growl from his poof bag in the corner of the room, and Vergil threw an icy glare at the hellhound to silence it.
"This is the family den. I have as much right to be here as you do," I protested.
"Do you really?" Vergil said incredulously.
"Yeah!"
"Pfft," Vergil said and turned his attention to the book in front of him. "Delusional girl."
"I'm not any more delusional than you are," I said angrily.
"You don't belong here."
The words hurt and shocked me all at once. Shocked that he would even dare spit that in my face, and hurt that he voiced my thoughts. Those were private feelings I didn't share with anyone and liked to deny any importance to – and to have him say it out loud made them real.
"Stop reading my mind," I said, but my anger had folded up and collapsed into a pool of painful reality. My voice shook, and then the tears threatened to run. I stubbornly looked down when Vergil glanced up at me in surprise.
"It's only the truth. Whatnot with the company you tend to keep outside these walls, you're a liability to this family. You know it, I know it. Why does it bother you to hear me say it?"
I tried to swallow down the lump in my throat. "The company I keep?"
"The demons you ally yourself with at the Hot Spot."
"How'd you know I go there?"
"How I know these matters is none of your concern. You're risking your neck by surrounding yourself with demons sharp of mind."
"Am I really?" I said, and I had to purse my lips to keep them from trembling. "That's funny...because you know what? I feel a lot more at home with them than I do here."
"Do you now?" Vergil said with an indulgent sigh.
"It's hardly surprising seeing as none of them have invaded my privacy or hurt me or threatened to kill me," I said and fiercely looked at him through my blurry vision.
"And why would that drive you to tears? Come on, Cora, you hate me. Why would my opinion and actions matter to you?"
"I don't know, okay!" I sobbed, throwing my hands into the air helplessly.
"Stop crying."
"You're an asshole! I'm not the only one you're hurting, you know!"
"Cora," Vergil said nastily. "You're overreacting. Dante doesn't need me or my approval. He made that clear time and time again."
He leaned forward with his arms on his knees, and said sharply, "Perhaps it would be best for you to join those you feel you belong with."
"Are you... are you kicking me out?" I asked, blinking hard through my tears to focus on him. Yes, yes he was. That face said it all. "You can't kick me out."
"This is my home and my family. I can do whatever I please."
"You can't be serious," I sniffed, shaking my head at him.
I stumbled back when he rose to his feet suddenly and started toward me. "No... Vergil don't..." I didn't know what he was going to do, but the vibes he blasted off were enough to convince me that it was nothing good or pleasant.
I did the only thing I could. I bolted for the front door and managed to wrench a trench coat from the coat hanger before dodging Vergil's outstretched fingers. I ran until I was sure he wasn't following me.
You can't blame me for going where I did. Anyone in my situation would have done the same thing. The underground club loomed in front of me, and only once I sat down and Yt shoved my usual cocktail under my nose, did the question 'why didn't I just call for Dante?' pop into my head. The club was as shadowy and ominous as always, though my eyesight was now better attuned to the darkness. The feral snarls and ferocious screams surfacing from the underground arena was so familiar that it put me at ease, which in itself wasn't right. I had to get out of here. Not just here – I had to get the hell out of town.
"Anythin' else?" Yt asked when I polished off my third drink.
"Hmn. Do you know of a place I can go crash for a while?"
"Depends."
"On what?" I sighed.
"What I get outta the deal. My services don't come cheap."
"Your services?" I asked, finally looking up from my now empty glass to frown at the demon in total bewilderment. "I asked you a question, idiot. If you can't help me, I can ask someone else."
"Maybe, but no one else will be willing to help you," Yt smirked at me knowingly. "They don't take kindly to traitors."
"I'm not a traitor," I said heatedly. "I didn't do anything wrong."
"Yeh, running with the monkeys reeks of suspicion. No demon will lower themselves to the disgraceful association with those intellectually lacking vermin... not unless they are one of the betrayer's fleet." Yt spat the word out with a vile expression on his face.
"If you're any more intelligent than those monkeys then you'd know I only mingle with them because I am still part human. Suspecting somebody of being in league with Sparda when they're not will get you killed, or worse," I said threateningly, and Yt looked away. "Give me another drink."
"Well, look I'll help you out," Yt said, mixing the glowing substance for me. "But it will cost you."
"Name it," I said, reaching for my glass. I froze when his scaly hand clasped over mine, and he leaned across the counter closer to me. His breath smelled funny, like fizzy juice gone stale, and there was a steady, constant hissing noise in his throat.
"You and me..."
I was off the chair and shaking my head at him before he could get his sentence out. I was torn between laughing at him or tossing my drink in his face; I settled for the first because he still held my hand trapped around the base of my glass.
"I'm not that desperate," I said in disbelief. "Let go of my ha-"
He wrenched me closer so hard that I banged my knees into the counter. His other hand roughly grabbed hold of my chin. A thick black split tongue flicked through his lips and snaked down my cheek, and he grinned hungrily.
"I can change your mind," he hissed.
"Back off or..."
"Getting a bit wound up there aren't you, crusty?" A familiar voice spoke up beside me. I was suddenly free of Yt's grip, and then I was looking up into Dante's alarmed blue eyes.
"This has nothing to do with you, halfbreed," Yt jeered in disdain.
"She's my territory," Dante growled back dangerously.
Yt's slit eyes flashed from Dante to me and back. "She came to me."
"Yeah, exactly how the hell did you find this place anyway?" Dante asked, turning to me quizzically. He waved me silent before I could answer. "Never mind, let's blow this joint."
"She is not going anywhere..." Yt erupted. "She came to me! Me!"
"Will you shut up?" I glared at him.
"Playing hard to get are ya? I'll get you..." Yt rumbled and I stepped closer to Dante when the demon came leaping right over the counter at me.
There was a whisper of leather, the metal click of a bullet sliding into position, and the barrel of Ivory kissing Yt's forehead. "Don't make me blow your fucking head off," Dante said hastily. "Cora, get the hell out of here."
Demons rose from the tables haloed in darkness around us. I could see them moving in the shadows, hear them revving up to join in if a fight broke out. It didn't go over my head that more than half the demons here have lost many bets to Dante being too good in the fighting ring. They'd rip him apart if he caused any harm to their own.
"You do know each other?" Yt asked, his eyes narrowing in fury.
"Give me Ebony," I said suddenly, looking at Dante.
"What? No," Dante said, casting a quick glance at me before levelling his gaze with Yt once more.
"You tricked ussssss," Yt hissed, turning his full fury on me. "You were in alliance with him! You stole our money!"
"Well what the hell could a demon possibly want with human currency anyway?" I snapped, and slipped Ebony from Dante's back pocket before he could stop me. I aimed the gun at Yt too, and he blinked in outrage.
"What is this dude talking about?" Dante asked idly.
"Impostor! Tell him Ivana, tell the boy who you really are!"
"Iv- Ivana?" Dante repeated, and when he looked down at me, I felt the entire room had suddenly turned against me. Including Dante. "Ivana!" He snarled, nearly twice as furious as Yt.
Run. That's what my instincts propelled me to do, and I adhered to them. I fired a shot at Yt's head, and then all hell broke loose as demons melted from the shadows and advanced on us with teeth extended and deadly blades gleaming. I ducked and ran, avoiding several close calls before I reached the emergency exit in the back of the building. I hurled myself out into the street and ran away from the sound of fading gunshots renting the air behind me.
And I never looked back.
~...~