Hey there all, I'm sick. with the flu and a vocal exam next week i have no voice. arggggggggg. oh well. Sorry that it took so long to post this for you! but now its here i hope you like it. the next chapter will be up soonish. onto the reviewers!
DemonRogue13: wheeeee, another groovy review from you. i wish to award you three gold stars! thank you, thank you, thank you! p.s. im slowly workign through your fan fic! i will review it soon!
Shinigamiphoenix: wow anotehr excellent review from you! thanks, im awarding you five gold reviewers stars. I lvoe the way everyone reads thing in what i write. i agree with your crit as well. i should have had more in the john chal scene. hopefully you'll like what i did with this chapter. honestly the only reason im so good at inerturmoil is because its condenced. If i have to do too much prose i tend to ramble. i hope i havent done that in this chapter! enjoy anyway. i cant wait to see what happens for the roses next. oh yeah thanks for the oc. since yours is the only one i actually got i'm goign to include her in this fic! what says you?
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Lady's, Gentlemen and Undecided.
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Chal looked at herself in the floor length mirror of her bedroom. She looked fantastic, auburn hair pulled back and curled; a tiny bit left hanging over her face. Flowing deep blue ball gown circa the mid 16th century, complete with corset and sweeping layered skirts. Her make up was elegant, accenting her eyes. She didn't want to look fantastic. But the dress, the hair, everything accented that she was developing into a beautiful young lady.
The sleeves of her dress hid the long zig zagging scars that ran down both her arms and she sighed. She hated conceding to Sebastian and his club but she couldn't afford spending more time in hospital. There was a war coming and she couldn't help people if she was incapacitated. Taking one last look at her reflection she removed her contacts, placing them in their container and tucking the container into the folds of her skirt, into a small pocket designed especially for the lenses container.
The world became a dark place. She looked back into the mirror and looked at her skeleton, raising a hand and waving it about, making sure it was really her. Moving back to her bed, a four-poster made of beautifully carved wood, inlaid with metal. Cathryn felt about for her mask. Upon finding it she affixed it to her face pinning the cord that hung from it into her hair with bobby pins. As she pinned it into her hair she heard the door to her room open,
"Chal? It's quater to six. Everything done." She turned and smiled at Remy wishing she could see his reaction to what she was wearing. He whistled low, "damn Cheri, you look good enough to eat." hearing his frown in confusion she put her hands on her hip,
"What?"
"You not wearin' your contacts?" he sounded surprised by this fact, knowing that she rarely went anywhere without them.
"Nah, John wants me to stay with him all night. Ah don't wanna have to look at his face all night."
"Dats playin' dangerous petite..." his voice was full of concern. She didn't want to agree with him, but he was right. What she was doing could be considered extremely dangerous. A seven on a scale of ten.
"Ah know. Just... Trust me hey? Ah know what A'hm doing." She registered that he was nodding because his skull moved up and down.
"Well I better go and start greeting the guests. Escort me down Cajun?"
"Oui petite. Remy thought you never ask."
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Welcoming everyone to the party downstairs was easy, there was cheering, cat calling and a few suggestive whistles from the crowd. Cathryn smiled, this was what she lived for, making people happy. Allowing them to feel safe enough to be free. She looked into the sea of skeletons and tried to picture what they looked like in the flesh. The swirling costumes, the bright happy smiles and the bright happy laughter shining within their eyes. By her count she had ten minutes to get into the foyer to welcome the first of the Hellfire club members. Above the dancing skeletons, with their colorful swirls of DNA, hung small strips of metal. Cathryn assumed they were either, streamers or power cords for the thousands of fairy lights that hung around the room. Taking a risk, especially in her copious dress, Cathryn climbed onto the bar and held up her hands for the crowds attention. They became quiet and after several seconds of people 'shhing' each other, Cathryn dropped into a smooth English accent and opened her mouth to speak.
"Friends, fiends, freaks and fashion victims. Gypsies, Genies and Gentlemen. Including of course everyone else I've forgotten to mention.... Welcome to the All Hallows Eve Dance." At this point the crowd cheered, she smiled waiting for the noise to abate, when the room was hushed again she continued.
"As many of you know, the proceeds from tonight go to a very charitable cause, the X fund. For those of you who don't know the X fund has been helping mutants and their families cope with the changes in their lives since its beginning four years ago. Some of the guests here tonight have directly befitted from the fund, while others have become great contributors." Murmurs ran thought the crowd, people were confirming what she had said. Again she waited till the crowd had become quiet before continuing.
"As always every dollar that is raised tonight will be matched by yours truly. So have fun, eat well and don't spike my punch!" laughter rippled through the crowd, they realized she was winding down. "Sadly I will not be able to join you tonight, I have a prior engagement upstairs." The crowd voiced a mass awww,
"Don't worry, I found some people to take my place. Hopefully they won't convince you to destroy the club while I'm gone." Motioning to the stage, which, on cue flooded with lights, Cathryn smiled as the crowd turned, a mass of skeletons waiting for something. Five skeletons stepped onto the stage, none possessed the X gene in their DNA but Cathryn was sure the crowd wouldn't care,
"Lady's, gentlemen, and undecided, allow me to introduce your host for this evening, HIM." As the crowd surged forward, many people cheering Cathryn skipped lightly along the bar until she reached the side facing the door to the foyer. She jumped from the bar and glided swiftly to the door. Pushing through the curtains she looked around and sighed with relief, she still had four minutes until her uncle was due to arrive. Running a hand through her hair and making sure her mask was in place she glanced nervously at the door. With three minutes remaining, a group of people dressed in mid 15th century jester garb bounded out of the cloak room,
"Evening Cathryn." Turning Chal realized it was James, and his mad musicians. She grinned as the little bells sewn onto his hat bobbed around his skull.
"Your late...." Cathryn imagined James looking mock offended,
"the lady says we're late gents and gentles. Yet she called us early today and expects us to be professional. Yes?" the other skeletons nodded in agreement, the bells jingling pleasantly. Cathryn's smile grew,
"I knew I could count n you. You want me to go over the plans for tonight?" James reached under his tunic and pulled out what sounded like a piece of paper.
"The guy with the demon contacts handed me this when we got here. You want a fan fair of trumpets upon entering the room and two jesters to lead the lords and ladies upstairs?" Chal nodded, trust Remy to make sure things were taken care of. "Well its one to seven we better get upstairs and make sure everything's ready." Chal nodded as the jesters scampered through the curtains, into the club. The clock in the foyer chimed seven and the entrance doors swung open. Sending up a silent prayer Cathryn affixed a smile on her face and glided forwards to greet the first of the Hellfire club.
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It wasn't as bad as Cathryn thought it was going to be. Sebastian arrived first with Emma Frost on his arm. Dropping them both a low curtsy Cathryn looked up at her uncle and was glad she could only see his skeleton. Remembering what was required of her Cathryn straightened and intoned,
"Welcome to my realm oh King and Queen of fire. Allow me to extend the hand of hospitality and invite you within for feasting and dancing that will surely set your hearts ablaze. As always I shall be your hostess, and am happy to receive you, come inside and find what joy you can." Before they could reply Cathryn motioned for Emma and Sebastian to utilize the cloakroom. As they did this more and more members of Hellfire entered the foyer. Each skeleton walked with poise and grace, the spines straight and the head held high. Judging by the metal eyelets many of the ladies were wearing corsets, again Cathryn was glad she had not worn her contacts, she hated these people, hated watching them parade around as if they were better than the people partying in the next room. Deep inside Cathryn knew these people were the scum of the earth.
"If you would all please follow me to the upstairs ball room, there are drinks to tantalize your taste buds awaiting you there." James had spoken and he turned upside down and walked on his hands intoning, "walk this way..." many of the members laughed. James flipped back onto his feet and motioned the room to follow him through the deep red curtains.
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The evening was running smoothly, everyone was happy, even Cathryn was enjoying herself, chatting animatedly with Emma Frost about fashion. James group of musicians were playing both classical and baroque period music and Miles and his waiting staff had outdone themselves. One of the waiting staff approached Cathryn and gently tapped her shoulder,
"pray forgiveness my lady but the king of the Hellfire craves a few moments of your time." Cathryn smiled brightly at the girl and thanked her, excused herself from the table and glided over to where her uncle sat. Waiting for him to invite her to sit Cathryn felt a hand brush along the back of her neck,
"I told you to wear something skimpy." John Allerdyce sounded annoyed, luckily for Cathryn her uncle took that heartbeat to invite her to take a place at his table and she sat grateful for the rescue. Smiling over at her uncle she wondered if he was smiling back.
"Hello niece, excellent job you have done tonight. I had hoped a week would be long enough for you to organize everything. John assured me you said it would all be done." Cathryn frowned,
"why niece what is it?"
"Dearest Uncle, I was only informed this morning by John Allerdyce that you wished to sup here this evening. Had I known earlier mayhap the banquet would have been more exuberant and fitting of your status?" She felt her uncle's confusion,
"I told him over a week ago to allow you plenty of time to organize. However if this was all done in the space of a day then I am more than impressed I am overwhelmed with the excellence of the evening. Especially as it is being run in conjunction with the ruckus downstairs." Cathryn smiled politely at her uncle.
"Of course, downstairs is a charity event, mayhap you would like to make a contribution?" his skull bobbed up and down.
"I'll match what ever is raised tonight. Including what you match it with." Cathryn smiled, that was a staggering amount of money. She had been getting updates throughout the evening and knew that the funds totaled near $79,000. Better still it wasn't even midnight which was when the auction started.
"I am glad that you are happy to help those less fortunate than yourself Sebastian, 'tis most kind of you." She smiled again and knew her uncle was smiling back.
"Now niece, I believe young Mr. Allerdyce has been seeking you all night, so far you've done a good job avoiding him, but now I think you need to submit and allow him to crow." Cathryn nodded understanding what her uncle meant. She stood and turned from the table,
"oh niece, you may want to put your contacts in, it's not wise to dance half blind is it?" Cursing her uncle, Cathryn exited the ballroom and crossed the second floor foyer, wandered through her office into her bedroom and stood before the mirror. She pushed her mask up from her eyes and rested it on her head like a pair of sun glasses, pulled her contacts from their hiding place and carefully placed them in her eyes, blinking as her sight aligned itself with the contacts. She blinked again and brought her reflection back into focus, checking that her hair was still okay she decided to leave the mask where it was. Retracing her steps back to the doors of the ballroom Cathryn wondered what was going on downstairs.
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Remy Grinned at Rogue and they swayed to the music being played. She was allowing him to rest his hand on her hips, which was more that he could have hoped for. The power-absorbing mutant looked into his eyes and smiled back at him, his heart melted. She owned him and she knew it. The song came to an end and Remy let go reluctantly as Burton, the keyboard player, borrowed the mike from the singer, Valo? Ville? Remy couldn't remember, and announced that the big auction would begin in half an hour. The band joked around on stage as the lead singer began to recite "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe. He got part way through the second stanza before he intoned,
"Aww fuck it" and they launched into the live version of their song "Buried Alive By Love." Rogue wrapped her arms around his neck and they started dancing again. Happy to get lost in Rogues eyes for the rest of the night Remy took no notice of the person tapping him on the shoulder until Rogue poke him in the ribs and pointed over his shoulder. Remy turned and his face lit up.
"Pierre? What you doing here?" the handsome young man standing before him smiled and Remy heard Rogue sigh.
"Hey Remy, I'm looking for Cathryn, haven't seen her in a bit. You know where she is?" Remy nodded his head
"yeah Remy knows where she is, she upstairs in da pit of hell." Pierre notably paled,
"The Hellfire club is here?" Remy and Rogue both nodded, "Merde," Remy nodded again,
"Remy knows Mon ami, an' we can' do nothing. Under orders from Da Petite herself." Pierre shook his head,
"Remy, John Allerdyce is trying to kill her."
"What?" Remy knew Allerdyce was still in love with Chal but didn't think he had the balls to do anything to her. especially as he knew that Logan and many others were keeping an eye on her.
"He's hell bent on her getting over him, he want to kill her."
"Why would you care about Cathryn?" at this remark Pierre smiled,
"I'm kinda infatuated with da petite, but don' tell her Remy." Remy nodded, although he wasn't in the thieves guild, he wouldn't break a promise to Pierre. Remy sighed,
"so how are you planning to rescue her?" As Pierre, Remy and Rogue discussed their plan the clock ticked closer to midnight and the band played on.......
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mwhaahahahahahaha whats goign to happen next? I don't know. really I dont..... :(( oh well, i'm sure it will be interesting! now you've read, leave me a review!