Club Hell 666—Valentino's most popular club. A massive, sprawling sky scraper that towers above Pentagram city like a beacon of neon lights. Our story begins here, but who's to say it won't end here as well? There are some things not even the angels know.
Chapter 1: "No Other Choice"
Characters:
Kyrii, Shybal, Jewelle, Valentino, Vox, Kazimir, Vox, Furfur
The soft click of heals would have been heard as Kyrii entered had it not been for the pulsing music in the club that evening. After the last purge Kyrii's former employer had met his end, and with all her saved up cash dwindling down to a shameful pocketful of emergency funds, she had no choice but to seek employment elsewhere. She wasn't a nobody, even as hard on cash as she was. For those that knew where to look there were whispers among the underground and the black markets about a beautiful fox that sold and traded information for a living. It was also known that she was discreet and valued clients confidentiality. Her little black book was etched with the names of movers and shakers all over hell, and those connections were wide. With such a skill set at her disposal, why was the purple furred beauty here, rubbing shoulders with hookers and whores?
Kyrii's violet eyes caught sight of one of the servers and slipped her a folded 100 dollar bill, whispering into her ear. Money talked in places like this. If she wanted to pleas her case to the boss it would have to be spent. She took a seat on one of the plush couches in the bar's lounge and made a mental note that she was now down one hundred dollars. That meant she had about eight hundred and thirty two left before…well. She didn't want to think about what would come after that.
She was a high class girl, and refined enough to wine and dine with hells elite, and had the manners and discretion to keep their secrets. She was no common porn star or whore. Hopefully /he/ would see it that way as well. There was use for a vixen like her.
The server looked wide eyed at the bill before tucking it between the mounds of her large breasts. The bill disappeared behind the mesh netting that held them strapped down, and she cocked her hip to the side as she looked at Kyrii, "I think I can figure something out for you." Flicking her long whip like tail her eyes scanned the fox. She gave an unreserved sneer. The waitress as a bit squat, and looked at the beautiful vixen demon with a flare of envy in her green eyes. Had it not been for the money she had just been slipped she might have been tempted further to thro a drink in the fox's face—if only to make her less attractive. "You see, I'm not *allowed* to talk to Val. I don't make enough money," there was a clear bitterness in her voice, "but I do know someone who could get ya in to see him. Don't be upset if it's a lengthy process…she rambles. Oh yeah, and he only likes the best." With her tone it was obvious that her insinuation was that Kyrii wouldn't make the cut.
Kyrii simply smiled at her, nodding in thanks. Looking a little disappointed at not getting a fiery response the waitress turned, and hurried away with her tray of empty glasses balanced precariously on her gangly arm. It was clear why she had been given such a lowly position. While she was buxom, and her face wasn't bad to look at, she had a bit of an awkward gate, and her eyes were much too far apart to be a real A-lister at a club this prestigious.
Kyrii let out a long sigh, and glanced around the bar. It was elegant…in a gaudy, over done sort of way. There was no mistaking the sort of place it was. There were masked dancers in large metal cages, and drunken patrons falling over themselves to throw wads of money at the feet of monstrous beauties.
She had been waiting for around ten minutes before noticing someone new enter. It was another demon. This one stood at about five foot nothing, and by the looks of her she couldn't have reached the top of a refrigerator without a boost. She had a pretty face, round with naturally full pursed lips. On the left side of her head she had two eyes directly above one another, and on the right side a single eye in matching icy blue.
You could hear her approaching, even over the sound of the music. Not because of her heels—as this demon did not wear any but instead pranced forward on a set of short cloven hooves. Around her neck dangled a ring of heavy looking keys of all different shapes and sizes.
Kyrii scanned this new woman up and down. She had been patient, but did not squirm in her seat. She waited for this other demon to approach her before giving her brightest smile.
"I heard there was a fox demon lookin' for Mistah Valentino," this new voice was a bit shrill, and the Brooklyn style accent was much too heavy to be attractive, it grated on Kyrii's sensitive ears, causing them to twitch slightly, "That wouldn't happen to be you now would it?" the demoness leaned over the back of one of the chairs across from Kyrii "Ain't you a pretty lil thing too! My name's Shybal, but if you gunna be workin here ya can call me Shy." A large oversized hand extended towards Kyrii.
"Mmmhmm. That would be me. It's a pleasure to meet you, Shy. It's my hope that will be somewhat the case." She didn't want to say something that might potentially offend this girl. If she was a dancer she didn't want to shirk the job in front of her. She accepted the large clawed hand in greeting with a confident smirk, "and I could say the same for you darling….you're quite beautiful."
Flattery seemed to be the ticket. Shybal grinned back at her, "Oh stop it, you!" she giggled, waving her other hand dismissively at the compliment, "I knew right away I'd like ya when I saw ya. We don' get no high class girls like you in here just ta watch the show. I said to myself THAT broad got class, and here ya are lookin like a pictcha—I just knew you wanted a job." Shy had nearly pushed the chair she was leaning against all the way over to get a closer look at the voluptuous fur that puffed out around Kyrii's neck. In fact, the chair was barely still staying balanced on its hind legs. "I can getcha in to see Big V but he been kinda in a mood lately." She tapped her meaty fingers against her own chin thoughtfully, "Heeeeey I know. How about ta stay will close if ya got nothin else ta do?" Kyrii perched up instantly at this curious proposal. Shybal went on to explain that the club closed down for six hours tonight due to a private party in the pent house, "Yeeeeah it's a real big deal. I can getcha in if yaw anna meet the boss, ya get more attention when ya get a chance ta talk instead of jus shakin ya ass. I bet girls like you got pretty words to say." Shybal flung herself quickly around the chair and sat in it, scooting even closer to Kyrii. She didn't seem to know when it would have been more appropriate to stop talking, or when to stop invading the person space of others. "What's it like havin fur? I ask all demon's like you that. I got hooves ya know, not all demon got hooves but I don' think I'd like havin feet—Ohhhh do ya got paws or feet? Must got paws I guess." She continued babbling. The waitress had been right…she really could ramble. Kyrii could hardly keep up and it was even harder to get a word in edgewise. She waited for Shybal to catch her breath and then answered all her questions in turn.
"Well..it's true I'm in need of a job, and with luck I will be able to be of much use to Valentino, so I can stay until close. I have paws down at the ends of my legs, but my hands are far more general. I do enjoy having fur though taking care of it takes a lot of time." The two of them were quite physically close to one another now, "You mentioned that Valentino has been in a mood? What sort of mood-and can you tell me about this party?" She reached out a clawed hand and in a moment of bravery began to stroke the demon's hair. She seemed so….approachable somehow. "I've been told I'm an excellent conversationalist so It sounds like something I should be able to navigate well."
Shybal's tail curled into a spiral in appreciate of the physical touch. She resterd her elbows on Kyrii's thight and looked up at her with stars in all three of her eyes. She stared at her lie this, mouth slightly agape in awe for a long moment before finally speaking. "Geeeez, I don' know half them words but ya sound like a real lady-" she pulled herself all the way back ip, unable to sit still for very long, "Ya know, a bad moon-Val's been real touchy bout stuff lately, if ya really wanna know. See, I know all kindsa stuff that goes on round here. I'm here all the time." Shy lowered her voice and shot a glance around while shielding her mouth from the view of passing waitresses, "I was talkin to Bethezba and SHE said she overheard Valentino on the phone wit' some sorta guy, and he sounded real mad—so I hadta know more! How'm I supposed to just not know?! So I was bringin Val his drink lata that night, right—" her hands were very expressive, even for how large they were, "an I see e text'n Vox-which is normal for em, but then I see this otha text come through an he stood up all mad and knock'd me CLEAN ova the balcony!" She flourished this with her arms stretched out wide, punctuated by a strangely amicable giggle "—I got those catty reflexes tho so I landed on my hooves." It was amazing how she could say so many words and yet to Kyrii she seemed to say almost nothing at all. It was all that rambling she did. It was a blessing that Kyrii could excavate certain gems of information from the rest of the rubble.
"—and…about the party?" She prompted, in case Shybal had forgotten her train of though.
"Oh yeah, tha' party! Parties here are something reeeeal special. I can get into all'a them no problem. The fooood" she was almost salivating already, "I can shove fifteen dumplins in my mouth before anybody even wanna say something. Sometimes I get-ta talk to Vox but he don't like me so much. I seen all kinda upper crusts but neva at the same time really. Tonight might be different. Big clients, they love they'a hookas they really do."
Kyrii listened intently, learning more than perhaps even she really understood yet. Every now and then something this demoness said really made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. This girl…knew a lot. She could get into any party? Surely that wasn't something every one of these performers could claim. It was hard to imagine that this little flighty thing may be her best chance at getting a face to face with Valentino, but the eight-hundred dollars in her pocket told her that she really didn't have the luxury of not taking a chance on her. For someone who made their living off gathering information, Shybal seemed like more like an angel sent to her than another demon. An angel that blabbed. There were details in the tone and inflection of Shy's voice that she could pick apart. It was a well practiced skill, and it was one that kept her lavished and comfortable with all the nice things she could ever want or need—at least it had up to this point at least.
She continued to stroke the girl's hair, giving Shy all the attention she could ever desire. Of course she was aware of her surroundings as well, she wasn't an idiot and this was not her home turf. She considered this a part of the process "He tossed you over the balcony Well, I suppose it's definitely a good thing that you land on your feet! So, how exactly do you think I need to go about interacting at this party" She felt that she had a good idea, but this was hell, and Valentino's club was a strange world within another strange world. She was dressed finely enough. He dress was elegant and it had been expensive. She was sure she looked eye catching rather than downright whorish.
"I wouldn't know how a lady suppose to act but ya could always do what I do-ya let them grab ya ass and ya neva eva take the last of nothin off the buffet." She gave a steady no as though she had possibly learned this particular lesson first hand.
A waitress paused at their table, looking furious, "Shy-Shybal, you stupid bitch! Get back to work!" One of her hands was holding up a tray full of martini glasses while her other was placed indignantly on her hip. She, unlike the last one, was ravishingly pretty. She had long tight legs, ad sharp angular features that looked beautiful even when wrenched into the disapproving expression they were held in now.
Shy jerked her head around and bared her rows of sharklike teeth. It was impressive how quickly she went from 0-100. Her whole face flushing with a sudden burst of anger. It seemed out of place with how calm she had just been, "I AM FUCK'N WORK'N! MID YA OWN BUSINESS, BITCH!" her long elfish ears flattened back against her skull as she hissed at her co-worker who hissed back in return,
"OH. OH! You're one to talk Shy! YOU can't keep your nose out of anybody's business." The girl huffed and out two martini glasses down on the table in front of them, "You're such a shut head, Shy. One of these days you're gonna get a lot worse than last time you know. Just ask Angel what happens when you're caught slacking off."
That name. Kyrii recognized that name, but then again what sort of sleuth would she be if she didn't. The waitress exchanged glances between the two of them, and Kyrii chimed in. "Yes, excuse me but she *is* working. So." She kept her retort brief. Not brave enough to confront a customer the waitress spun herself around on her pointed heels and strutted off back into the crowd. Almost immediately after she left Shybal grabbed her own drink and handed the other one over to Kyrii, who set it back down on the glass table. She didn't want to refuse the gesture, but she knew she was sharper when she wasn't drinking.
"That was Jewelle, she started working at the bar 'bout 8 months ago. Before that she was a danca' for Val, real good but that didn' keep Angel Dust from swoop'n in to take 'er job. She jus' neva made the big money afta dat."
Shybal noticed that Kyrii had set her drink back down on the table and pursed her lips into a frown, "Ya don' like pomegranate?" She asked, "I could getcha what'eva ya want."
Kyrii waved her clawed hand dismissively, "no no, I'm sure there is nothing wrong with the drink, but since I plan on talking to Mr. Valentino I think it may be best if I'm not intoxicated."
Shy shook her head slowly, nursing her own drink, and taking Kyrii's up in her other hand to sip on it as well with a shrug, "I gotta say, we got some damn good drinks here in this joint." Kyrii couldn't help but notice that a strange auratic light that seemed to be coming from the key's around Shybal's neck made the pink liquid inside the glasses glow brightly. Whatever those keys were they looked magical. It wasn't every day that a demon had a magical item, but Shy didn't seem concerned about wearing hers proudly.
Shy seemed as though she were about to say something, when there was some sort of commotion across the room from them. There was a loud barking laughter, and the double doors at one end of the room burst open.
"Oh yeah?! Try finding another broad to suck that fat fuckin' chode of yours without barfing! See how far ya' get!" The thickly accented voice lashed out, cutting through the music of the club. Many demons looked up from their drinks to see what all the fuss was about, some even turning away from dancers they had previously seemed very invested with.
In strolled a particularly effeminate male, his heels clacking against the floor with a sort of self-importance that could only be held by Hell's most sought after porn star and one night stand, Angel Dust. His dual-toned eyes scanned the surroundings, a vapid grin tugging on his lips as he took in the ambiance of the dusky nightclub. Several patrons instantly rose from their seats to greet the individual with less-than savory commentary, to which he unloaded equally objectionable responses. "Hate to tell ya' buddy, but your wife's gape is fatter than mine! I should know; fucked her for a' twenty last week." He replied to a particularly intoxicated Lupine demon that had already begun to feel up Angel's ass upon walking by his table. The demon scoffed and readied a hand to strike Angel, but did not have the opportunity to follow through, as Angel had already caught his wrist within his palm. He leaned in close to the patron, cheeky grin never fading, as he sneered. "Go on, big guy. Slap me hard. Do it if ya' fuckin' can." The man angrily tore his wrist from Angel's grasp and murmured something along the lines of "Stinking trash whore," but Angel had already begun to walk away. "Oh by the way, bar's closed. Get the fuck out." Angel called out to the wolfish fellow as he made his way to the bar.
A switch on the wall across from the bar was pulled, and the yellowish back-lighting of the club illuminated the commonly dark and musty room. Patrons shielded their eyes while some groaned and swore at the sudden mood change. "Ya' heard me! Get the fuck out, or Big V will have to tell ya' himself." He called out to the stragglers, who began to shift and eventually file out of the club begrudgingly.
Angel Dust.. Hell's hottest porn star and the one everyone wanted to fuck. Kyrii knew who he was immediately. He walked with an air of confidence that showed he knew who he was and what he had. She could admire and respect that. A whore though he was, he was very good at it and made a shit ton of money for his pimp. Being in that position had it's perks, including Angel's ability to talk back to customers and still get the adoration he deserved.
As Angel shewed out the customers he looked around to see if he had managed to get rid of them all when his gaze found Shybal, who he seemed to know. He strode on up to her, and fell into the stool next to her's, letting out an exhausted sigh as he settled. "Hey there, stranger. You on the menu tonight?" He quipped with a wink. He noticed the new face sitting on the left of Shy, and scanned her over, scrutinizing every aspect of this fresh face. "Who's the broad with the fur?" He asked callously, his grin dimming into an uneasy grimace. "V's gonna be throwin' a party tonight. Didn't know the furries were attending. Thought they all went ta' Heaven for some bullshit reason. Don't all dogs go to Heaven? You musta' done some fucked up shit to land here." He tapped the table with a slender finger, beckoning for the bartender in the most obnoxious way possible. Shy seemed beside herself to see Angel again. They must have been fairly close.
Angel seemed to really have this place at his beck and call. Kyrii could respect that. She and shy had been talking for so long that she hadn't even realized that the club had been winding down. At least that meant her time to meet Valentino would be arriving sooner rather than later.
In order to not be rude, despite the brashness of Angel Dust himself, Kyrii pushed her long silvery locks off her shoulder and gave him a gentle smile, "Well…all dogs might have gone to heaven, but there is no such caveat for foxes I'm afraid. I have business with the boss I hope to take care of tonight. Shy is assisting me with that." She explained.
"Angie this is Kyrii, ain't she jus the preddyest thing you seen in a looong time?" She looked back and Kyrii with those stars in her eyes again. "Since she a lady n' all I figur'd she'd fit in swell." A devious giggle followed and she leaned towards Angel a bit, "Wanna help me nick sum'of tha snacks again? I heard they gunna have so much food." She seemed about to continue talking all of their ears off when the waitress Angel had summoned over approached them. It was the same sharp faced demoness that Shy had squabbled with earlier, Jewelle, and she seemed even less pleased than she had before. She scowled at Angel and shoved a martini glass at his chest, her tone cold, "Your fucking drink." "Heeeey, Jewelle, you invited to tha party?" Shy asked, her tail flicking in the same way a cat's does when they are stalking their prey, "Oh, no- I guess they would only invite the girls Val still fucks with." she locked eyes with Jewelle and there might as well have been visible sparks flying between them. "Technically, Shyt Head, you're not invited either. Just because you have those fucking keys you think you're hot shit, but from what I've heard Val thinks you're an annoying little bitch like the rest of us do." The demon flipped he sheet of long blue hair over the shoulder and gave Shybal a superior expression.
"HEY!" she shorter succubus leapt out of her seat defensively, that hot temper returning in a flash, "PEOPLE Fuckin' LOVE me!" there was still a charming playfulness in Shy's voice, even when she was angry. It was unclear whether she was aware of that personal quirk of hers or not.
Angel kept one eye on the fox at all times as she replied, judging on whether or not she meant harm. Hell was bad enough on it's own, but to be a sex worker in Hell? The obvious use of caution and the ability to have quick judgement was necessary in this profession. She was here on his turf, and she certainly was not unnattractive, so would she be competition? Angel perked at the thought. Opportunity for some Cherri Bombin' fun again? Turf did need to be protected in Hell, and albeit the shitty Valentino card he had been dealt, at least he could make money and achieve stardom, unlike most of the sorry sods of the Underworld. Or perhaps he would think of it as saving her from the same fate he encountered with Valentino? HAH. That was a crock to think about. He pondered over this, almost missing his friend's near-ear-shattering tone, if it had not been so, well... ear-shattering. Angel whipped his gaze back to Shy, pulling himself back to the conversation with a chortle at the comment she had made regarding "fitting in". "Yeah, she's a pretty floozy, but pretty don't cut it when you're showin' V for V." He shifted on the stool, leaning against the backboard as he kicked one foot on top of the bar to rest it lazilly. He seemingly had given up on the caution, and gave less of a shit about losing any precious 'turf'. His mind always did change easily.
"A word of advice, tits. Spend time alone with Valentino? Any business ya' got, keep it out of his office. Unsollicited advice? No shit. But take it from his number one sloppy second." He said this with the same gold-toothed grin as before, although seemed genuine enough as the infamous troublemaker could be. At that time, a drink was slammed next to where his foot had rested a moment before. His grin became mocking as he fished it from the bar. "Oh Jewelle, get me one a' those fancy, tiny umbrellas and a straw. You know I can't swallow without something to suck on." Shy's retort only sought to grow his ego, and his look turned innocent as he blinked several times in mock virtue. "Last I checked, if a guy keeps fuckin' you, you must be doing somethin' right. Sounds like your pathetic ass didn't have enough cushion for the push-in, and all you can do is mope behind tha' bar. It's pathetic!" He burst into laughter at the words, nearly spilling the martini that had just been handed to him.
When he finally calmed down, through some short gasps, he pulled himself together. "Oh man, what a lunatic! She thinks, she thinks-" Once his tirade was over, he gulped down the martini, followed by a rather loud belch. "Ahh, anyways, the party. Yeah. We gots ta' get moving if we wanna prepare. Val's got me flaunting tonight for some stinkin' Overlords, and I gotta be there for first call. Wanna take the new gal up ta' the place?" He didn't wait for a response, in true A.D. fashion, and rocked out of his seat to a stop behind Kyrii. "Look, I dunno if you're suh'post to be up there in the first place, so keep your lips shut, and I'll treat ya' real good around here. Follow us, and maybe the lion's den won't eat ya' alive."
Kyrii listened, and gave a bit of a nod to Angel. She didn't want to seem rude, and he was clearly speaking from experience, but this wasn't Kyrii's 'first rodeo' as some say, "If all I was—was a pretty face, I'd have gone to the hiring desk at the studios instead." Show was better than tell, and she intended to show off tonight. Of course sticking by these two to get her bearings would be an excellent idea, she would be foolish not to take advantage of it. Once she knew who was who and the movers and shakers of the porn industry empire, then she knew she'd have the overlords' playground at her fingertips. The thought made her fur fluff a little in anticipation. "oh I can't wait Angel. I think tonight's going to be a wonderful party." She never did lack confidence in herself.
Shy was still laughing a high pitched cackle, watching a drink flip into one of the patrons lap. Jewelle should be kept busy by that for awhile. She watched the waitress as she coddled the disrupted patron and then promptly spun herself around to wrap her large, hammer like arms around Angel and Kyrii.
She looked up at Angel, her good mood fully restoring as quickly as it had disappeared, "Ya know, I heard from one'a tha girls that Jewelle be doin karaoke in her room an she sounds like a dyin cat!" she lept in front of the other two demons, taking the lead in navigating them through the maze of tables. "I also was talkin to Maggsy and she said Mistah Kazimir even gunna be here at this party!" As they made it to the end of a long hallway lined on both sides by pink sconces she began to fumble with the ring of keys around her neck. There really were quite a lot of them, and the one she settled on holding was silver and the bow was shaped as a large flat disc engraved with the word [hellevator]. She stuffed the bit of the key into the door in front of them and it parted open in the middle with a mechanical squeal. The inside of the elevator was spacious, and almost every inch of it was mirrored, including the floor, and lined with neon strips of pink light. As Shybal continued to talk she punched in the button for the pent house floor. The elevator gave a shutter before beginning to lift. Shy took this moment to pause her incessant yammering to finger through the keys once more and select the one she'd need next. This key was a solid cobalt black, and all sides of it were bejeweled in cyan gems. By the time she located it amongst the array of others the elevator dinged to signal that they had reached the top floor. It was miraculous she had been able to find a specific key in that intimidating mass of metal at all.
When the doors finally opened for them they entered into supremely decorated foyer, with its only furniture being an elegant table in the center of a pentagram adorned floor, and the massive arrangement of fanged flowers that sat atop it. "Well look'it thaaaat! That gotta be Kazimir's handy work right they'a" Shy dropped the key back alongside the others in her excitement, darting over to the flowers to get a better look, "Sometime's I be in my cot dreamin real big that some knight bring me flowa's this nice." Sure enough there was a tag hanging around the lip of the black vase that held them that read [ Thanks for the drugs~ from: Kazimir] in an elegant scrawl. "Ah shit I dropped the damn key." Shy grumbled as she once again went through the long and arduous process of locating the key she needed to open the door at the other end of the room.
Angel paused for a brief moment in place upon hearing a specific name. His eyes seemed to glaze over for an instant, before he composed himself once again. Kazimir. "Ahah, oh, oh yeah? Didn't think he'd show his face after trashing tha' place last time. V is uh.. still doing business with him?" He asked slowly, gritting his sharpened teeth. They continued on as Shy fiddled with keys while they walked, to which Angel kept a sharp eye on each. Shy had not always been the most discrete in manner, and Angel had kept note of many of the uses of each key over the time they had worked together, just in case.
Kyrii examined the flowers, they really were lovely, very elegantly arranged. She had leaned in to sniff them when Angel tapped Kyrii's mid-back with a pointed finger, "Hey. One more thing. Stay away from that fucker." He commented cryptically, even more so than the Valentino warning. "Val is a piece a' work, but even he got self control sometimes. When him and Kazimir are together? Not tha' case."
this Kazimir individual, thinking that name was familliar. She'd heard of him, but had no connections to him right away. From the sound of it though he wasn't someone she probably WANTED to have any with at all.
"Shy, why are ya' so excited about some sadistic werewolf freak joining us? You two..talkin' or somethin'?" He pried, glancing over the arrangement as though it were a pile of steaming shit on the table. "I, for one, ain't cleanin' up the mess he makes. If he's so damn powerful, maybe he should snap his claws and clean it up his damn self this time."
Shybal's whip like tail curled into the shape of a heart as she considered Angel's question about Kazimir, her face flushing slightly pink under her three eyes. She didn't seem to notice the discomfort the mere mention of the Canid Overlord seemed to have on her spider friend, being much too wrapped up in what seemed like a fantastic whirlwind of thoughts, "We might'a had a little somethin'" she giggled, grinning from ear to ear in that spunky way she did, "I ain't nevea had bigga hands pettin me." She went on dreamily, "I think he kinda' sexy when he gets coked out."
"That's fuck'n weird, Shy. Really weird." Angel rolled his eyes. Kyrii did everything she could not to break into a chuckle herself. Somehow she managed to clear her throat elegantly and avoid the outburst. She didn't want to make a scene, she was so close to her goal.
Shy finally managed to find the key she had been searching for and held it aloft, "FlNALLY!" she said with a long sigh of exacerbation. She shoved it into the lock and let the three of them into the pent house suit.