It was an early morning in Imp City, the sun hadn't even began to rise, and the sky still was dark and had still clearly visible stars.
Yet despite the very early hour, Imp City was still as stirring with activity as much it was in the day, with demons and ex-humans were already up an about.
And in a in a dark luxury bedroom, Emma Zelramorta began to stir awake in her bed, and slowly opened her sleepy eyes as she laid in her bed.
" Hmm. " Emma groaned as she yawned softly, as she sat up in the bed and screeched her neck.
She was not in her bed in the Ebony Peaks hotel master bedroom, this bedroom was only slightly bigger than an average bedroom.
The bed she laid in was a queen size bed, and had pale blue white comforter, with cream white bed sheets and pillows.
The bed frame was simple in design, and made of dark smoothly polished dark brown wood, and sat on a black rug slightly wider than the bed.
Beside the bed on the right side, was a simply but elegantly carved nightstand made of dark brown wood, and had good ornate drawer handles.
On the nightstand sat a white ceramic vase lamps, with a rose floral pattern on the lamp shade, and a digital alarm clock.
The bedroom Emma was in, had a cream white hair high ceiling, with a dark wood ceiling fan, and walls that were a soft medium teal blue.
The room had a few dresser's of simple but elegant design, and made of dark brown wood, with gold ornate handles.
The bedroom had a window on the wall on the left of the bed, with a white wood sliding door, and on the right wall was a normal white wooden door with ornate gold doorknob.
" Hmm, looks like I woke up early again." Emma said as she looked at the digital alarm clock on the bedside nightstand, seeing it said it was 5: 25 am.
She then sleepily reached over to the clock, turning off it's set alarm, she then picked up her non work iPhone laying nearby on the nightstand.
" Hm, today's the last day of Verosika's spring break gig, huh, that means after today we'll be moving out of this penthouse. " Emma thought after she checked the date on her IPhone.
" Huha, frequent traveling is just part of being a bodyguard of a celebrity like Verosika who travels a lot, good thing I pack light. " Emma thought with a sigh, as she tucked her IPhone in her fur.
Since becoming Verosika's bodyguard, Emma had been staying in the penthouse of a luxury five-star spa hotel, called the Amethyst Rose.
It was the same hotel and penthouse that Verosika was staying at, while she did the remainder of her spring break week gig.
Both her and Vortex were staying with the popstar in the penthouse, the reason being that Verosika wanted her bodyguards close by at all times.
Both Emma and Vortex stayed in one of the penthouse's three bedrooms on the second floor, while Verosika stayed in the master bedroom.
After lazily sliding out of the bed, Emma stretched her back, arms, as did her usual daily morning full body stretching routine.
She hen headed to the wooden door on the right of the bedroom, upon opening it reveled a luxurious bathroom inside.
The bathroom was spacious, and had a white tile flooring, a soft blue ceiling, light beige walls, and it had a walk-in shower.
The walk-in shower was on the left side wall, the bathtub on the front wall, the bathroom's sink was on the right wall.
The walk-in shower had glass had a glass walls and a siding door, with a dark red shower curtain for privacy, and had a dark tan brown tile flooring.
The bathtub was very big, wide, oval shaped, and had a dark tab brown tile wall on the right, had had a dark red shower curtain.
Both the walk-in shower and the bathtub had a small black rug in from of them, placed there for anyone to dry their feet.
" Huha. Emma signed in relaxation, as she walked out of the walk-in shower after she was done and dried off with a fluffy white towel.
Once done, Emma walked out of the bathroom, and made her way to one of the bedroom's dresser's, getting a pair of simple pale ash grey panties and bra.
As Emma stood in front of a full body mirror in the small walk-in closest, looking over her current attire, and making sure it was on properly.
" Hmm, alright time to face the day Emma. " Emma thought, satisfied with her current attire in a full body mirror in the closet.
Today Emma wore a light charcoal grey leather choker with oval amber jewel, a deep crimson tank top, and dark charcoal grey jean shorts.
She then made grabbed a black leather hooded designer waist jacket, carrying it under her left arm as she left the closet, and left the bedroom.
As Emma stepped out into a hallway with cream white walls, a high arched dark purple ceiling, and deep dark wood flooring.
The hallway was fairly long, and had two round ornate gold rimmed ceiling lights, with one on both ends of the long hallway, the the lights turned off.
Even with a light switch near the door she stepped out of, Emma didn't turn the lights on, having naturally keen night vision.
Emma then walked down one end of the hallway, walked down a flight of stairs, and walked down another hallway, and into a living room.
The living room was large and spacious living room, designed with an open concept, and filled luxury furniture.
The living room had a circular shape to it, and had light lavender walls, deep dark brown flooring, and a cream white ceiling, with a large ornate round ceiling light.
The living room had a black leather half circle shaped lazy boy sofa, a large deep purple rug under it, with a oval shaped white wood coffee table in front of it.
On both side of sides of the sofa, where small elegantly carved chestnut brown wood coffee tables, with a white ceramic vase lamp on them.
The coffee table on the left had a white house phone on a white phone ringer, and the coffee table on the right had a digital clock.
Placed across from the sofa in front of it , was a 80 inch flat screen TV, sitting on a wide smoothly polished white TV stand.
To the back of the living room, was a large wide arched doorway, that lead into a large luxury modern day chef's kitchen.
The kitchen had a white tile floor, a dark lavender high ceiling, and a large deluxe stainless steel two door fridge, a wide stainless steel deluxe chef stove.
There were black wood kitchen cabinets with ornate gold handles, a steel grey dishwasher, a motion activated kitchen sink.
The kitchen also had black wood floor cabinets with white granite countertops, and a large square white granite center top island in the middle of the kitchen.
The left of the kitchen was a dinning area, where elegantly carved dining kitchen table with cushioned dining chairs were.
The dining table and chairs were made of black on wood, with elegantly carved chairs with cream white floral cushioned seats and backrests.
The kitchen and living room also had windows with light lavender curtains with gold edges, with given the time, were all closed.
Once Emma entered entered the kitchen, she flipped on the kitchen's lights, wincing slightly as her eyes took a moment to adjust to the brightness.
" Hmm, wonder what I should fix for breakfast? " Emma thought as she went over to the fridge, and looked through it's contents.
" Hmm, hmm, hmmm. " Emma happily hummed musically, as she sat down at the kitchen's dinning table and ate her breakfast.
Her breakfast consisted of one banana and blueberry pancakes, three strips of bacon, two scotch eggs, and a strawberry chocolate croissant.
" Hm? " Emma said as she paused her humming, as ears perked at the sounds of distant door being opened and closed from the second floor.
" Sounds like Vortex is up, it's about time when he does. " Emma thought, as she checked her IPhone and saw it was 7:15 am.
Emma heard footsteps coming down to the first floor a few minutes later, and moments later, the large tall male hellhound nonchalantly walked into the kitchen.
Vortex was wearing his usual red spiked ripped leather jacket, a ripped pale ash grey t-shirt, and a pair of ripped black jeans with a black leather belt.
" Morning Tex. " Emma said nonchalantly as she greeted the hellhound with a smile.
" Morning Emiliana, hm that smells good, what you cooked today? " Vortex asked after he greeted Emma, smelling the scent of food in the air.
" French toast, bacon, scotch eggs, banana and blueberry pancakes, Eggs Benedict, and a few strawberry chocolate croissants. "
" Also made a fresh pot of coffee if you want any. " Emma said, as she listed off what she had fixed, before taking a sip from a white mug of coffee.
" Hm sounds good, thanks for going through the trouble of making breakfast. " Vortex said gratefully, as he went and mug and a plate from a kitchen cabinet.
" It's no problem, I figure if I'm up before anyone else is, I might as well fix enough for everyone else when I'm make myself breakfast. " Emma said as she took a bite of a scotch egg.
Suddenly both Emma's and Vortex's ears perked up, hearing the sound of a distant door being opened and closed up on the second floor.
" Huh, looks like Verosika is up. " Emma thought, as she looked at the time on her IPhone and saw it was 7:35 am.
The sound of sluggish footsteps were heard coming towards the kitchen from one of the hallways, as the succubus popstar slowly entered the kitchen.
Verosika wore a luxurious bright hot pink satin pajama robe, with long sleeves and pants, and had on white fluffy house slippers.
Her pajama robe were teasingly revealing, showing every curve of her body, and she wore it were it exposed a lot of her cleavage.
The popstar's hair was in a wild and disheveled state of bed head, and she moved with sluggish and sleepy moments as she walked into a the kitchen.
" Morning boss. " Vortex said as he greeted Verosika with a cheerful tone.
" Hmm, morning Tex. " Verosika said sleepy in a soft tone, before covering her mouth as she let out a soft yawn.
" Morning Emiliana ~" Verosika said sweetly as she looked at Emma with a smile.
" Morning Verosika, there's fresh coffee if you want any. " Emma said casually as she gestured to the coffee pot on the counter as she greeted the popstar.
" Thanks, so what's on the menus for this morning Emiliana? " Verosika asked curiously, as she prepared herself a mug of coffee.
" French toast, bacon, scotch eggs, banana and blueberry pancakes, Eggs Benedict, and a few strawberry chocolate croissants. " Emma said before taking a sip of her coffee.
" Oh, you remembered strawberry chocolate croissants are one of my favorites, thanks Emiliana. " Verosika said happily with a delighted smile.
" Hm. " Emma nonchalantly replied, as she took a sip of her coffee, as Vortex and Verosika joined her at the kitchen dinning table with a plate of food to have breakfast.
" Huha. " Emma sighed softly, as she waited outside Verosika's walk-in closet in the penthouse's bedroom.
She was leaning against the wall near the bedroom's door, while looking at the news on her IPhone, while Verosika got dressed.
The Amethyst Rose penthouse master bedroom was large and spacious, and had luxuries decor and furnitur throughout it.
The bedroom had a dome shaped pale light lavender high ceiling, medium dark candy purple walls, and pale lavender carpet flooring.
The ceiling had the outline of amethyst purple rose the diameter of the ceiling, with a ceiling fan in the middle of the ceiling.
The room's master bed was a round shaped bed, with a half circle headrest made of polish black wood, with rose floral carvings on it.
On both sides of the bed was a elegant night stand made of white wood, with a flower vase lamp with a light purple nightshade on each one.
Then room also had two windows on the right side with black curtains on the right side of the room, and on the left was a set of white wood sliding balcony doors.
" Hm, what do you think about this outfit Emiliana? " Verosika asked curiously, as she strode out of her walk-in closet.
" Hm? " Emma said as she looked up as Verosika stepped out for Emma to see her.
Verosika was wearing a sleek, tightly fitted shoulderless dark candy twilight purple mini dress, with a thigh high skirt, leggings, and black high heels.
Her mini dress showed of the top of her cleaved, and had a multi layered bright neon pink heart outline on her chest and torso.
On her skirt were bright neon pink hearts, with each heart having a black X or O in each heart, and her leggings were a pale pink white
Emma eyes trailed over Verosika, as she took in the sight of the tall succubus's attire and figure, her eyes transfixed on the popstar.
" She does look very pretty. " Emma thought, as she took in the beauty of Verosika with a stoic expression.
" So, does it look good on me Emiliana, huh? "Verosika asked with a flirty tone, as she struck a seductive pose for Emma.
" $#%&, I'm staring, get a hold of yourself Emma, she's only toying with you. " Emma thought, as she scolded herself for being mesmerized by the popstar's looks.
" Hm, yeah I think it looks nice. " Emma said nonchalantly, as she quickly averted her eyes and turned back to her phone.
" Hmph. "Verosika huffed softly as she pouted, annoyed and disappointed Emma wasn't showing her much interest.
" Hey, if your done with getting dressed, we should get going, it's 7:48 right now. " Emma said casually as she checked the current time on her phone.
" Huha, yeah let me get my fur coat and we can go. " Verosika said softly as she headed back into her closest.
" I wish she would stop teasing and play flirting with me, she's been doing it to me all this week . " Emma thought, as she stuffed her phone in front shorts pocket.
" But why does she keep doing it to me, even when I clearly don't show any interest, whatever its just meaningless teasing and flirting. "
" Though if it isn't, then why is she is she acting this way towards me, what could her reason for doing so be? " Emma thought curiously, as she pondered the reason for Verosika's insistent flirting towards her.
" Is she trying to use me for my connections with the Zelramorta family, wouldn't be the first time someone's tried that. " Emma thought she leaned against the wall behind her as she waited for Verosika.
" Or is she to seduce me because I'm a hellcat, and she wants to see what it's like to sleep with one, is that it? " Emma wondered, though she was brought out of her thoughts at hearing Verosika's approaching footsteps.
" Alright I'm all set, let's going then. " Verosika said as she walked out of the closet with her round pink glass shades with heart shapes on the lenses, and her pink fur coat.
" Kay. " Emma simply said, as she followed behind Verosika as they headed out of the penthouse's master bedroom
" Well regardless, I'm not going to let myself be taken advantage of, or fall for her succubus charms and be just another conquest for her. " Emma thought, as she silently followed close behind Verosika.
The sun hung high in the sky in the early morning, as Emma got in the passenger seat, while Verosika got in the back seat of her car.
As Vortex drove down the streets, Verosika was leaning back in her seat, and had pink and white wireless headphones in her ears as she listened to music.
While Emma watched the sides, back, and front and above the car, as she surveyed for any danger as they drove down the streets.
" You know Emiliana, you could stand to relax a little, it can't be good for your health to be so on edge all the time. " Vortex said as he glanced over at the tabby hellcat as he drove.
" I'm fine, this is just how I am when I'm working, so don't worry about me. " Emma said nonchalantly as she continued to survey their surroundings.
" Alrighty. " Vortex said nonchalantly as he made to turn down a street corner.
" She says she like this when she's working, but from what I've seen, she's pretty much always got her guard up and is on edge to me. " Vortex thought as he thought back on how Emma acted.
From over the few days he'd worked with Emma, if Vortex had one word to describe his impression of the her so far, it would be intense.
He found Emma was a stone cold serious person on the job at all times, and who took her job very seriously, always on guard and on high alert.
He could respect that, and her skills and expertise were top notch, she even helped teach him some martial arts, and how to use a gun.
But he got the impression she was like a wound up spring of tension, never seeming to really fully let herself relax for a moment.
" Now that I think about it, I got the same impression from Lily, though she's more laidback then Emiliana is on and off work. "
" But its no surprise their both like they are, given what Lily and her have told me so far about their childhoods were like.. "Vortex thought as she recalled n the hellcat two sisters personalities.
" They, and all members of Zelramorta family, go through brutal and intense training, and start their training to be assassins and bodyguards at ten years old.
" I mean sheesh, that's #$%&ing harsh, it's no wonder Lily and Emiliana are so high strung and paranoid all the time. " Vortex thought, feeling bad that Lily and her family members had such hard upbringings.
" But she maybe Emiliana will hopefully eventually lighten up with time, after all Lily do so. " Vortex thought optimistically, as he focused on the road as he drove down the busy streets.
As Vortex drove into the parking lot of the monotone colored horned office building, he drove slowly down past several filled parking spaces.
Until he eventually came across a empty parking space, with the words, " Temporarily reserved for Verosika Mayday. " on the payment in bold pink cursive writing.
Thanks to Verosika talking to the company that hired her for their spring break event, she was able to get a reserved parking spot for herself, and all her employees.
* Bing! *
As the elevator's door's opened, Emma stepped out first, as Verosika, Vortex and her headed down the hallway to the studio.
" Huha, the one good thing about all this, is that Blitz isn't here, it's been nice not having to deal with
since him and his team took the rest of the spring break week and weekend off, its was a relief to hear that Lily call about them taking the rest of the week off. "
" Thanks to that, didn't have to deal with Blitz, and whatever the deal with him and Verosika is. " Emma thought as she glanced at the office of I.M.P. office.
" Alrighty, here's the studio key Emiliana. " Verosika said as she pulled out a stainless steel key from a small black leather designer purse under her left arm.
" Alright, you two stand back a few feet form the door while I do my security sweep. " Emma said after Verosika handed her the key to the studio.
" Got it. " Vortex said with a nod, as he and Verosika walked a few feet down the hallway away from the studio door.
Emma carefully checked the door's handle to see of it was locked, upon finding it was, she used the office she was given and slowly unlocked the door
Once Emma opened the studio's front door, she pulled out a black 45cal Beretta pistol with a compact silencer from the fur of her left arm.
As she opened the door, she did so slowly and carefully, as she checked the door to see if it was rigged with any traps.
Once she found the door clear, she stepped into the studio, entering as silent as a shadow, with her gun held close to her chest as she took aim with it.
As she silently and carefully walked past the studio's door's, she softly sniffed the air, while her ears stood up high and alert.
Smelling no new scents, or hearing any sounds from within, Emma continued her sweep of the studio, finding no one, then went to check the studio for traps and anything else.
" Huha, looks like everything's all clear. " Emma said a she finished looking over the whole studio, finding nothing out of the ordinary during her security sweep.
" Alrighty Verosika, I've already finished checking the studio, nothing out of the ordinary. " Emma reported to the popstar as she walked back into the hallway.
" Wonderful to hear dear . " Verosika said sweetly as she smiled at Emma.
* Bing! *
Suddenly the elevator opened, out stepped Vortex's whole posse of friends and employees exited and walked up to them.
" Oh hey, good morning Emiliana. " Apple, the blonde haired succubus of the group asked cheerfully, as she greeted the Zelramorta hellcat with a happy smile.
" Morning Apple, morning everyone. " Emma said nonchalantly as she greeted the blonde succubus and the rest of Verosika's posse.
" Alright everyone, follow me to the lounge room, we've got work to do. " Verosika said as she looked back to her posse, before she headed inside the studio.
Once everyone had entered the studio, Emma, Vortex, and Verosika and her posse sat down in the studio's lounging area.
The lounging area was quit spacious, with a modern design, and had the same color scheme as the rest of the studio.
It had a black tile floor, four dark blue lazy boy leather sofa, as well as few black leather lounge chairs around the room.
The sofas and lounge chairs were placed in a octagon shape, with a dark brown long rectangle wooden coffee table in the center.
The lounge room was like rest of the studio, been completely refurbished and furnished the day after the day Verosika had lost to Blitz at the beach.
The lounge room not only served as a place for Verosika and her crew to relax when not working, but also served as a meeting room for them.
As everyone took a seat, Josh and Ace sat down on one of the east side sofa together, while Coco and Apple sat on the west side sofa together.
Kiki, Milky, and Kat each sat on a lounge chair, and Vortex sat on the south side sofa, while Emma sat on the north side sofa.
Verosika joined Emma on the same sofa, sitting very closely on the right side of the hellcat, and crossed her legs as she got comfortable.
" Why's she sitting so close next to me, this is a three seat sofa, there's plenty of room on it. " Emma thought as she glanced at the popstar sitting right beside her.
Catching the hellcat's eyes on her, Verosika turned and smiled flirtatiously at Emma, and winked seductively at her with her left eye.
Emma simply looked away from the popstar, and lazily leaned against her side's armrest, and propped her head up with her left hand.
This made Verosika frown a bit in sadness, seeing Emma react in such a uninterested way, though only for a brief moment.
" Alright sluts, let's get down to business. " Verosika said as she turned and addressed the members of her posse.
" Now listen up, as you all know tomorrow's the last day of spring break." Verosika said as she looked a her crew, making sure she had their attention.
" So we've got to do our show spectacularly like we've been doing, so we're going to go practice over everyone's roles, positions, songs, dance routines, everything one last time. "
" We need to make sure everything runs smoothly, so no #$%& ups happen, like our first show at start of the week. " Verosika said angrily, as she recalled losing to Blitz at the dart of the week.
" That means no wandering off, no going off to #$%&, and no fraternizing with the locals, got it? " Verosika said sternly, as she looked at the members of her posse.
" Got it. " The popstar's crew said as a whole with a soft annoyed groan, annoyed they wouldn't get to have any fun with any humans.
" Alright, let's start practicing then. " Verosika said, as she and everyone else got up and headed off to practice their performance.
" Alrighty, we're finished setting up in here, you ready Kat? " Verosika asked as she stood in front of a microphone stand in the recording booth.
" Almost." Kat said as he sat in a chair at the recording room, setting up the playlist of songs for the concert on the desk computer.
The recording room and booth were spacious, with similar color scheme like the rest of the recording studio, and had top of the line music and recording equipment.
The recording room had four three seat dark purple leather lazy boy sofas, and a glass top black wooden coffee table in front of each one.
Along with Verosika, were Apple, Coco, Kiwi, and Milky were in the recording room, there to be backup singers and dancers during the the concert.
In the recording booth with Kat, was Emma, Vortex, Josh, and Ace, who were sitting on some of the sofas, waiting for the practice session to be over.
Josh and Ace sat together on a dark purple leather sofa on the far right corner, looking at stuff on their phones
While Emma and Vortex sat on the a three seat dark purple leather sofa left of the recording room's door, with Vortex sat on a left side, and Emma sat on the right side of the sofa.
" All done, I'm all set, ready when you girls are. " Kat said as he finished setting up the soundtracks.
" Ready girls? " Verosika asked as she turned into the four succubui of her posse, who nodded to signal they were ready to begin.
" Alrighty, hit the music Kat. " Verosika said excitedly with a smile, as she stood in front of a microphone stand.
With that, Kat pressed a button on the keyboard before him, and music began to play from the rooms surround sound speakers.
Tim flew by, as Verosika, Apple, Apple, Coco, Kiwi, and Milk practiced, till finally reaching the end of their performance after a full hour and a half.
" Alrighty everyone, that's a warp. " Verosika said after the music of the last song finished playing, concluding the end of their long practice session.
" Hm, their finally done. " Emma thought, as she looked up from her phone as she sat on the sofa upon noticing the last song had finished playing.
" That was #$%&ing great girls, great job. " Verosika said happily, as she she walked into the recording room with the four succubui following in two behind her.
" Now remember everyone, the concert starts tomorrow at 8pm, so make sure to get there an hour early in case of traffic, and don't be late, got it? " Verosika asked as she looked at her crew.
" We got it Verosika. " Ace said nonchalantly replied to the popstar, as the rest of her posse nodded in confirmation.
" Good, come on Tex, Emiliana, we need to head back to the hotel and pack for tomorrow. " Verosika said as she picked up her fur coat and purse laying on a nearby sofa.
" Alrighty boss. " Vortex said, as Emma and him got up and followed behind Verosika out of the studio and headed to the elevator.
It was a warm early afternoon, as Vortex drove down a busy street, with Emma in the passenger seat, while Verosika sat in the back.
The three of them were in their human disguise, and were heading to a hotel in the city where their last concert was to be held in the world of the living.
" I can smell the sea. " Emma thought, as she smelled the unmistakable salty scent of the ocean blowing in the wind.
As she looked out to eastern horizon, she lifted a pair of black sunglasses she was wearing, and saw a beach and the ocean beyond it off in the distance.
" A ocean of blue water, what a pretty sight, no wonder Lily finds the human world so fascinating. " Emma thought, as she watched the passing scenery.
" You have arrived at your destination. " The flat digital voice of Verosika's GPS system announced, as Vortex drove Verosika's Porsche into the parking lot of a hotel.
The hotel was a beachfront five star luxury hotel and Spa on the Delray Beach, called the Blue Bay Delray Beach hotel and Spa resort.
The hotels exterior had dark ocean blue as the main color, soft sky blue as the secondary, and cream white accents as well.
After Vortex pulled into a empty parking lot, Vortex and Emma got out of the car, and Emma quickly went and opened the right side door for Verosika.
" Thank you dear. " Verosika said sweetly as she got out the car and took of her pink shades, smiling happily as she thanked Emma.
" Hm. " Emma replied nonchalantly as she shut the car door, before Vortex and her headed to the trunk of the Porsche.
With a press of a car key button, Vortex popped opened the pink Porsche's trunk, and Emma and Vortex retrieved some suitcases from inside it.
Vortex got out one large dark pink trolley travel suitcase, next a one large light charcoal grey travel suitcase, and lastly a large jet black trolley travel suitcase.
He handed Emma the jet black trolley travel suitcase, and effortlessly pulled the two other large suitcases behind him with one hand.
" Well, here we are, hopefully things will go smoothly " Emma thought optimistically, as she headed to the hotel's front doors with Vortex and Verosika.