Saturday
In Imp City there is a cafe, it is a small cafe, but the coffee was of much better quality than most of the chain coffee shops, and the prices were lower too. It was for these reasons that four individuals were at this cafe today. One of them was a tall white and gray Hellhound dressed in a black crop-top and shorts, next to her was an Imp with long black hair and a black and red jacket. Across the table from them were two Succubi, one had blonde hair which she kept up in a ponytail, and the other had thick curly hair. The four sat around a table on the outside of the cafe each with a coffee in hand, the blonde Succubi turned away from her girlfriend to face the couple sitting across from her.
"So, Loona Dante how have things been with you two?" she asked in a cheerful tone.
"Fine, nothing interesting has happened lately, just the same old same old," Loona said, taking a sip from her coffee.
"Really nothing interesting? You mean you two haven't done anything fun lately, haven't fucked anywhere interesting?" Coco asked, raising an eyebrow, unwilling to believe that neither of them had done anything fun lately.
"Well, we did fuck in the woods on earth last week so that's something," Loona replied after thinking it over for a minute.
"Woah really? Details please," Coco asked, leaning forward so she could hear it better.
"Yeah, what positions did you do, how many rounds, how long did he last, who came first, did he finish inside?!" Apple asked excitedly, bouncing in her seat, but before Loona could answer Dante slammed his hand down on the table.
"God fucking dammit! Do all you two ever talk about is sex, I mean I know your succubi but come on can't we go five god damn minutes without you asking about my sex life!?" Dante yelled, tightening his hand into a fist his talons leaving deep grooves into the metal of the table.
The three ladies at the table were taken aback by this sudden outburst from Dante, each looking somewhat scared.
"S-sorry," Apple said, sounding both regretful and nervous, visibly deflating, Dante sighed and began rubbing his temples with his left hand.
"Look I'm sorry, it's just I've just had a rough week, and it's left me somewhat irritable," he explained, sounding remorseful. Dante picked up his frappuccino and took a sip. Loona noticed that his hand was shaking as he did.
"No, no it's cool it's just that Verosika still goes on and on about the night she had with you two and I guess we're just a little curious that's all," Apple explained, Dante and Loona shuddered at the mention of the night they both had sex with Verosika.
"Yeah and Apple tends to get a little overzealous at times," Coco explained, patting Apple on the top of her head. Apple just crossed her arms and pouted.
"But hey that's why I love her," Coco stated, Apple smiled and pulled her girlfriend in for a kiss.
"That's sweet and all but if you'll excuse me I have to take a piss," Dante said getting up and hurrying into the Cafe, Loona watched him apprehensively.
"Uh is he ok?" Coco asked upon noticing Loona's worried expression.
"I don't think so," Loona said, turning back to face the two succubi, with a very concerned expression. Loona then began explaining to the two all the strange behaviors Dante had been exhibiting lately.
"He's been moody lately, going from happy, to angry, to sad, then back to happy. He's been getting sick a lot, always holding his gut in pain or puking in the bathroom, he's also really drowsy lately, just randomly falling asleep, like seriously half the time where at work he's passed out on the waiting room couch or sleeping in the breakroom,"
"Shit," Coco said, appalled.
"How has this affected your sex life?" Apple asked, sounding very concerned, Loona looked at her with a look that said "seriously" but then Loona considered it and sighed.
"Honestly yeah, he hasn't really been in the mood much lately, and half the time he falls asleep before we can even start," Loona hung her head down sad, Apple and Coco both reached out and put their hands on Loona's. Normally Loona hated being touched but this time she didn't mind the physical contact.
A couple of minutes had passed and Dante had finally come back and sat down, his mood being noticeably more upbeat.
"Sorry about that ladies, so Coco, Apple what have you two been up to?" he asked sounding more cheerful. Coco and Apple were both taken aback by this sudden change in attitude.
"Uhh we're doing ok," Coco said, taken aback by this sudden change.
"Do anything cool?" Dante asked, taking another sip from his frappuccino.
"Verosika had another concert on Earth this time at a big music festival," Apple stated excitedly, she went on to explain how much fun it was and how she and Coco were able to seduce like 20 people.
"Really? Well, I'm not surprised, you two are so hot you probably took all the attention away from Verosika," Dante stated, Coco smiled smugly at the comment while Apple turned away giggling and blushing. Loona on the other hand glared at Dante but Dante rubbed her thigh and said in a tone barely above a whisper.
"But you Loona, put both of them to shame," Loona smiled at the comment and kissed Dante on the cheek.
"You are such a charmer, Dante. No wonder Verosika is so hung up on you," Apple said, still blushing from the compliment.
They continued to talk for another 20 minutes or so, by that time Dante had finished his frap and had removed the lid of the cup. All Imps have long prehensile tongues and Dante was no exception, pulling out his tongue he proceeded to stick it into the cup and began licking it clean of coffee, chocolate, and whipped cream that was smeared on the inside.
After a minute Dante retracted his tongue and set the empty cup down, the cup did not have a single speck of anything left in it it looked like it had never been used. Dante licked his lips in satisfaction then noticed the girls at the table all looking at him with wide eyes and bright red faces.
"Uh, what?" Dante asked not sure what was going on.
"Holy shit you are so lucky," Coco said to Loona who nodded her head in agreement.
"Fuck me," Apple stated bluntly causing Dante to do a double-take.
"Uh, what?" Dante asked, confused.
"Fuck me, fuck me now!" Apple replied climbing on the table to get closer to Dante, her face now inches from his.
"Uhh, Coco a little help here?" Dante asked, trying to push Apple away.
"I'm in there's a motel across the street we can fuck there," Coco explained pointing to the building across the street.
"What!" That was all Dante able to say as he continued to try and pry Apple off who had now placed herself on his lap.
Loona suddenly got up from her seat and Dante was afraid that things would get ugly, but instead, she grabbed Dante and began dragging him towards the motel with the other following.
Not even bothering to go to the front desk and get a room Loona just dragged Dante to the nearest room and kicked the door in. Marching in she tossed the current residents of that room out, Coco and Apple followed suit.
"I call first dibs," Apple said excitedly as she began stripping off her clothes before she even crossed the threshold into the room.
"I wanna give that tongue a whirl," Coco stated excitedly, already taking off her shirt as she entered.
Closing and locking the door, Loona proceeded to close the blinds, albeit their silhouettes could still be seen.
"Ok ladies let's just calm-" Dante couldn't finish that statement as Apple tackled him to the bed with a kiss.
Several hours later
Dante sat up, and surveyed the sight around him, to his left lay Loona who was fast asleep snoring loudly, and to his right slept Apple and Coco. Both girls were cuddling and had warm smiles on their faces. Dante's attention soon fell on Apple who during sex at Dante's request undid her ponytail and let her hair down. Dante looked at the blonde locks that framed her sleeping face, lightly brushing a lockout of the way Dante caressed her cheek gently, Apple purred at the act causing Dante to smile.
She looks so much like her, Dante thought to himself as he continued to caress the sleeping succubus, the smile on his face slowly began to shift into a frown.
"I'm so sorry Amelia," he said to himself quietly, suddenly Dante made a pained noise and clutched his head. The memories were coming back, gritting his teeth Dante carefully got out of bed and headed for the bathroom not before picking up his jacket and pulling a few objects from the inside pocket.
Apple stirred, awakened by the fact that the gentle brushing on her cheek had stopped, sitting up she wiped the sleep from her eyes and noticed that Dante wasn't in bed.
"Dante? Where'd you go bro?" she asked herself quietly, before noticing the bathroom door was closed and the light was on.
Dante sat atop the toilet spoon in one hand and a lighter in the other, he held the flame under the spoon waiting for the mixture of powdered heroin and water to boil.
The memories of Amelia came flooding into his mind, when he first met her crying in an alleyway, all those times he found her covered in bruises, the hours she spent crying on his shoulder, the promise he made to keep her safe, and the morning he had learned she had taken her own life.
It was his fault and he knows it, no matter what any of them said, no matter how many times Rose, Francesco, or Giovanni tried to tell him it wasn't his fault, no matter how many times his friends like Claudio, Emilio, and Maria told him it wasn't his fault he knew that wasn't true. It was his fault, he failed to keep her safe, he failed to keep her father from hurting her, and he failed to be a good friend.
"Come on you piece of shit come on," Dante muttered to himself frustrated, but then the concoction started to boil.
Once the heroin was done, he placed the spoon down on the counter and picked up a needle, sticking the point in the concoction he pulled up on the plunger causing the heroin in the spoon to fill up the needle. Smiling, Dante tied a tourniquet around his arm and was ready to stick the needle in when suddenly the door swung open.
"Yo Dante, you done yet, cause I'm still in the mood if you want to go another…" Apple stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Dante with a needle full of a dark brown liquid.
"Dante what the fuck are you doing!" Apple yelled, Dante looked out into the room and saw Loona and Coco beginning to stir, panicking, he got up and closed the door.
"Listen Apple, it's not what it looks like," Dante said nervously, holding up his hands.
"Oh, so I didn't just walk in on you about to shoot up a needle full of smack?" Apple asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.
"Uhh noooo," Dante said, not making eye contact and not so discreetly untying the tourniquet.
"Oh, my Satan Dante how can you use this shit?" she asked, picking up the needle.
"Hey it's nothing, seriously, it's just a pick-me-up for when I'm having a tough time alright I'm not addicted or anything like that I can stop whenever I want," Dante said with certainty.
"Ok then flush this shit down the toilet!" she said sternly, handing Dante the syringe.
"Fuck no!" he yelled snatching the needle out of her hand.
"I thought you said you could quit anytime you want?" she asked, annoyed.
"Yes, but I don't want to quit right now," he said angrily, clutching the needle protectively as if it was his child.
"Unbelievable," Apple said, throwing her hand up in frustration before turning toward the door.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Dante asked, grabbing her arm before she could open the door.
"I'm going to go tell Coco and Loona what the fuck you've been doing, maybe they can talk some sense into you," she said sternly trying to free her arm from Dante's grip.
"Like hell you are!" Dante shouted, gritting his teeth.
"Oh, really well what are you gonna do about-" Apple was suddenly interrupted when Dante placed his index and middle fingers on her forehead.
Apple went quite a glazed look coming over her face before Dante removed his fingers and she snapped back into reality.
"Huh wait what was I doing again?" she asked, sounding groggy and confused.
"You were asking me if I wanted to go another round," Dante said, hiding the needle behind his back.
"Ohh yeah right so you want to go again?" she asked, giving him a sultry look.
"Sorry Apple but I'm not really in the mood right now besides I have other stuff I need to do today," he said with an apologetic expression. Suddenly Apple looked as if she suddenly remembered something.
"Wait, what time is it?" she asked frantically leaving the bathroom and pulling out her phone. She saw the time and her eyes went wide.
"Oh, shit we're late!' she shouted rushing over to Coco, Apple shook her girlfriend awake.
"Babe wakes up, we're late!" Apple yelled, Coco, bolted up and jumped out of bed.
"Shit Verosika is gonna kill us!" Coco yelled as she and Apple quickly got dressed.
"Thanks for the fun time, Dante but we have got to go, big autograph signing in Pentagram and if we're not there we're fucked," Coco explained.
"And not in a good way," Apple added. Once the two succubi were dressed, they quickly headed for the door.
"Thanks again Dante," Coco said as she left.
"We should do this again soon," Apple said following her girlfriend out.
"By Coco, Bye Amelia... I mean Apple," once he was certain they were gone he let out a sigh and noticed that Loona was still asleep, which didn't surprise Dante in the slightest.
Dio Grazie she's a heavy sleeper, Dante thought to himself, as he took the needle and injected the heroin into his system.
Feeling the drug already starting to take effect Dante stumbled over to the bed and plopped down, snuggling close to Loona.
Sunday
The Imp City mall was busy today with many demons out shopping and looking at the many different items available in all the different shops and stores, two such demons were a tall owl girl in a pink dress and black beanie, and an Imp with black hair and red eyes, whose arm the owl demon was hanging on.
It's so great you could hang out with me today Sugarpie," Octavia said happily, squeezing Dante's arm.
"Yeah great," Dante said, sounding annoyed rolling his eyes.
It's been so long since we spent any time together. I mean whenever I've called you've always said you were busy with work," Octavia said, her tone slightly accusatory, Dante took notice.
"I'm sorry but unlike you, some of us have to fucking work for a living!" he yelled, yanking his arm away from Octavia's grip, sending her a glare.
Octavia was taken back by his reaction, but she realized he had a point. His job doesn't pay much so it makes sense he would work a lot, looking back Octavia realized that what she said was probably offensive.
"Look I'm sorry I didn't mean to rub in how rich I am," she said rubbing her arm.
"It's fine Via I'm sorry as well," Dante said, still sounding stressed.
"Hey how about I make it up to you and get you something nice?" she asked with a smile on her face.
"Uh sure whatever you want," Dante said, Via smiled and grabbed his arm dragging him into a nearby store.
Dante and Octavia headed to the change rooms Dante carried an assortment of clothes for Dante to try on. As they entered the back area with the rooms Octavia set down the pile of clothes and pulled out a maroon sweater and handed it to Dante.
"Here try this one on first," she said with a smile, Dante rolled his eyes and took the sweater, and entered one of the change rooms, Octavia tried to follow but Dante pushed her out.
"Wait out here," he said sternly, Octavia pouted.
"Fine but at least let me hold your jacket," she said, reaching for his jacket Dante backed away and clutched the coat.
"What why?!" He asked.
"Because you're gonna be trying stuff on and I don't want it to get in the way," Octavia explained, confused at why Dante was acting so protective of his jacket.
"Err fine! Just be careful I have a lot of important stuff in there," he said, handing her his jacket and closing the door.
Octavia sat down on a bench and waited for Dante to finish trying on the sweater, looking around and seeing no one was around Via lifted the jacket and inhaled taking in Dante's scent. Sighing Octavia put the jacket down, as she did, she heard a crinkling sound coming from one of the pockets. Curious Octavia reached inside and pulled out a small plastic baggie filled with a dark brown powder.
"The fuck is this?" She asked herself examining the bag. Suddenly the change room door swung open and out stepped Dante.
"So, Via how does this look- "he stopped dead in his tracks, eyes going wide as he saw what was in Octavia's hand.
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" he shouted, reaching forward and violently snatching the bag out of Octavia's hand. Octavia was stunned by this sudden outburst.
"Whoa hey what's-," Octavia was interrupted when Dante began yelling again.
"How dare you, how fucking dare you go through my stuff, who the hell do you think you are!?" he screamed getting in close scowling, Octavia shrunk back in fear.
"I'm sorry I was just curious," she stated. Yeah, she had crossed a line by going through his pockets but Dante was seriously overreacting here.
"Just who the fuck do you think you are to go through my stuff, I mean I know you're a clingy bitch but seriously that gives you no right to touch my things!" he screamed now people were showing up to see what was going on.
"Clingy!?" Octavia said, standing up and scowling she took offense to that comment.
"Yes, you are fucking clingy! All you ever do is cling to me, you never give me any space, you constantly call me and come over uninvited, and you are always showing up and trying to insert yourself in my life! That's why I always avoid spending time with you, your no different than that perverted freak of a father of yours, and I've fucking HAD IT!" Dante finished his tirade stopping to catch his breath.
Octavia just stood there sniffling, tears beginning to well up in the corners of her eyes Dante's outburst had hurt. Dante saw this, his expression softening for a moment. He reached out trying to touch Octavia but she just backed away, Dante suddenly took on a pained expression and grabbed his head with his left hand.
"Goddammit,' he muttered to himself as he grabbed his jacket and turned to leave, heading out of the store knocking over a clothes rack, and pushing past an employee who told him he had to pay for the sweater he was still wearing.
Monday
The crew of IMP were inside a warehouse in Prague; they were on one of the upper catwalks looking down at a group of people standing over a crate of guns. The target was a European arms dealer who double-crossed a client and left him holding the bag which got him killed and damned to hell. The target's current clients were leaning over a crate of AK-47s inspecting them, this gave Dante armed with a sniper rifle a clear view of the target.
"Alright this should be easy just kill this jizz stain then we can get the fuck out of here, eh Dante… Dante?" Blitzo turned to look at Dante and noticed that he had fallen asleep.
Scowling Blitzo slapped Dante on the back of the head which caused a startled Dante to pull the trigger. The bullet flew through the air and ricocheted off the crate holding the AK-47s to the surprise of the target and his customers.
"Co to k certu!" (What the hell!) the target shouted as the bullet zipped right by him, looking up he saw four figures on the catwalk.
"Zabij Je!" (Kill them!), he shouted pointing up towards the catwalk, his men and the clients all grabbed an AK, loaded them, and began shooting at the catwalk. IMP quickly took cover, lucky for them the catwalk had metal plating attached to the railing so that helped to provide some cover but it wouldn't last.
"Goddammit, thanks a lot, Dante!" Blitzo shouted as he pulled out his pistol and fired it, hitting one of the client's goons.
"How is this my fault!?" Dante asked as he attempted to shoot the target but unfortunately, he had hidden behind a stack of crates labeled grenades. Blitzo, Millie, and Moxxie all gave him looks.
"You're the one who startled the target sweetheart!" Millie yelled, sounding like an angry mother who just caught her child digging through her purse.
"Normally I wouldn't agree with Blitz but he's got a point you're the one who fell asleep on the job!" Moxxie yelled as he stood up and opened fire with his machine gun only to catch a bullet to the shoulder.
"Moxxie!" Millie yelled, worried rushing over to her husband's side. Dante sighed but then suddenly had a great idea, reaching into his jacket Dante pulled out a grenade.
"Vezmi si to ty zkurvysynu!" (Take this you son of a bitch!) Dante shouted pulling the pin out of the grenade and preparing to toss it, Moxxie realized what Dante was planning, his eyes going wide.
"Wait, Dante don't!" but it was too late Dante had thrown the grenade towards the target where it landed right next to him.
"Aw crumbs," was all Moxxie could mutter before the whole warehouse exploded.
Several hours later
Loona sat at her desk flipping through a magazine when suddenly she got a text from Blitzo telling her to open a portal. Sighing Loona put the magazine down and grabbed the Grimoire, opening the book Loona opened a portal through it stepped the boys and Millie all of them bruised, battered, and burned.
"Shit what happened did Moxxie fuck things up again?" Loona asked upon seeing how beat up they were.
"Hey!" Moxxie shouted indignantly, glaring at Loona.
"No, this time it was Dante's fault," Blitzo explained pointing to Dante, Loona turned to look at him and upon seeing him she bolted out of her seat.
"Holy shit Dante are you alright?!" She shouted upon noticing he had a long deep gash on his forehead, blood was pouring down his face, yet he did not seem to notice.
"Yeah, why do you ask?" Dante asked not sure why Loona was so concerned.
"I'm fine too Loony thanks for asking," Blitzo said in a huff crossing his arms, Loona just ignored him.
"Uhh because you have a cut on your head," Loona stated pointing towards Dante's forehead. Reaching up Dante touched the spot and when he pulled his hand away, he saw his fingers were stained with blood.
"Oh neat," was all Dante said as he wiped his hand on his jacket, not seeming to care that he was bleeding.
Loona looked at him with utter disbelief at his callousness to his injury, heading back to her desk she reached into a drawer and pulled out a first aid kit.
"Here let me look at it," Loona said as she marched over to Dante and attempted to inspect the wound but Dante just pushed her away.
"I'm fine Loona it's no big deal," Dante said nonchalantly but Loona didn't believe him and kept trying to get a closer look.
"It's not fine here, just let me," she said as she attempted to dab at the wound with some disinfectant, but Dante just pushed her hand away.
"Loona seriously, knock it off, I'm fine," Dante said, starting to sound annoyed at her pestering.
"For fuck sakes Dante would you stop being so stubborn and let me- "
"I said STOP!" Dante shouted slamming his hand into her chest, the force of which knocked her to the ground with a loud thud. Loona looked up at Dante with an expression of shock and betrayal, Dante looked at what he had done in horror.
"Oh fuck… Loona, look I'm sorry I didn't mean to" before he could finish that sentence, Blitzo ran up and punched him in the face.
"HOW FUCKING DARE, YOU!" Blitzo yelled, staring down at Dante who was rubbing his bruised cheek.
"How dare you treat my precious Loony like that you piece of dog shit, what the fuck has gotten into you!?" Blitzo yelled as Dante got up a look of murder on his face.
"Yeah, what's gotten into you lately you've been acting like a total a-hole these past few months?" Millie asked, sounding angry hands on her hips.
"Nothing guys, I'm just a little on edge," Dante said defensively.
"On edge, Dante you've been way more than on edge I mean half the time you've been acting like a total nutcase," Moxxie stated.
"No, I haven't!" Dante yelled indignantly.
"Uh yeah you have, I mean remember last week when you killed that couple despite them not being on the list," Moxxie explained, Dante just rolled his eyes.
"I was just making sure they couldn't get in the way," Dante explained.
"What about last Friday, when that succubus dude cut in front of you and you slit his throat?" This came from Loona who was rubbing her chest where Dante had shoved her and glaring daggers.
"Oh, come on the guy had a Valentino shirt on he was probably a rapist," Dante said trying to justify his actions but the others didn't buy it.
"Ok, then how do you explain the fact that the other day I had gotten a two-hour-long phone call from Stolas," Blitzo said waving his phone around.
"So, what Stolas calls you all the time, what are you gonna blame me for his thirsty ass?" Dante asked sarcastically, crossing his arms.
"Oh, I wish this was another one of his thirsty calls, no, no, no this one was about you yelling at Stolas' kid and making her cry," Blitzo explained Millie and Moxxie gasped in shock and looked at Dante as if they had never seen him before, Loona, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow.
Shit, did he finally do it? She thought to herself but then noticed Dante had a guilty expression on his face.
"Look we went to the mall; I went to try on a sweater and she started going through my pockets. I might have overreached but hey what would you have done in my shoes?" Dante asked.
"I wouldn't have, according to Stolas "screamed in her face and embarrassed her in front of the whole store and made her cry for 2 hours straight" end quote," Blitzo finished everyone was glaring at Dante his recent behavior had gotten on everyone's nerves and they were tired of it.
You were always good at driving people away, a voice in the back of his mind said. Dante groaned and grabbed his head with his hand, before rushing off to the bathroom.
"There he goes again, seriously what the fuck is wrong with him?" Blitzo asked as Loona, Millie, and Moxxie looked at the bathroom door worried.
In the bathroom
After closing and locking the door Dante pulled out a large baggie filled with powdered heroin, a spoon, and a syringe, filling the spoon with water Dante then mixed in some Heroin powder. Pulling out his lighter and putting it under the spoon Dante hit the flint but it didn't light. Dante hit the flint again but still no light, he did it again, and again, and again but still nothing.
"Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" Dante yelled, tossing the spoon and the lighter to the floor, splattering dark brown sludge all over the floor.
"Yo Dante, what the fuck are you doing in there?" Moxxie asked through the door upon hearing Dante shout.
"STAY OUT OF THIS!" Dante shouted back, pacing back and forth Dante panicked he needed a fix he needed one bad but his lighter was dead and he couldn't shoot up without cooking the stuff first.
God fucking dammit if only there was another way too, he stopped when his eyes fell upon the bag full of powdered Heroin sitting on the sink.
Rushing to the sink and grabbing the bag, reaching inside he pulled out a big handful of powder. Bringing the handful to his face Dante snorted in as much as he could before he pulled his hand away and started coughing. Once his coughing fit had passed, he took another handful and snorted it, he did this again and again until the bag was empty. After he was done, he licked the remnant of the powder off his hand and then washed off what was left on his face. Once he was finished he looked at his reflection in the mirror and noticed the cut on his forehead had healed.
"Shit,' he muttered to himself, as he reached up and made a new cut with one of his talons.
Can't have them getting suspicious, Dante thought to himself as the blood ran down his face. Licking some of the blood off his lips his eyes widened in surprise.
Santa merda! I can taste the heroin in my blood! Dante thought to himself laughing before suddenly he started feeling dizzy.
"Merda, Merda, not now, not now, please," Dante said as he put a shaky hand to his chest, his breathing turning shallow.
Stumbling out of the bathroom, Dante made his way across the office to the front door, barely staying upright. He had finally made it to the door and tried to work the knob but his shaky hands kept slipping.
"Where do you think you're going?" turning around Dante saw Blitzo staring at him with his arms crossed.
"I-I'm not feeling good-" Dante was interrupted when Blitzo raised his hand.
"Oh no I'm not falling for that shit, you're not getting out of this, you have been a total piece of shit for weeks and we are going to talk about your behavior in my office," Blitzo said pointing towards his office.
Loona looked up from her phone and noticed that Dante looked pale and was swaying back and forth. Getting up and heading over to him she noticed that his nose was starting to bleed.
"Hey Dante are you ok?" she asked, reaching towards him, when he suddenly vomited, his puke being filled with jet black blood.
Everyone in the office looked at Dante in utter shock, Dante swayed back and forth before falling to the ground unconscious.
Imp City Hospital
In a filthy room, Dante lay on a bed, a bandage wrapped around his forehead, a breathing mask strapped to his face, an IV in his arm, and a heart monitor beeping away albeit at a slower pace than normal. The staff of IMP all stood around Dante's bed each with a worried look on their faces, none more so than Loona whose eyes were watery with mascara running down her face, one hand held Dante's while the other stroked his cheek.
Oh, Satan he feels so cold, she thought to herself, noticing how clammy he felt and how pale his skin was. Loona was barely holding back her tears when she felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up she saw Blitzo giving her a look of sympathy, normally Loona would have thrown his hand off but this time she let it stay.
"Hey don't worry Loony I'm sure Dante's gonna be fine, it's probably nothing serious," Blitzo said trying to make Loona feel better, sadly it didn't work.
"Nothing serious? Blitz Dante puked up blood! How the fuck is that nothing serious!?" Loona growled, and Blitzo took a step back nervously.
"Ok yeah that's a little serious but I'm sure he'll make a full-" Suddenly the door to the room flew open slamming into the wall startling everyone in the room causing Moxxie to jump into Millie's arms.
Standing in the doorway was a panicked and frazzled Octavia, and behind her was her father who was crouching down to avoid bumping his head on the low ceilings.
"Oh, Satan Dante!" Octavia screamed as she quickly rushed over to the bed. Leaning over she inspected Dante and saw how sickly and pale he looked, putting a hand over her mouth tears began streaming down her face. Stolas reached out and put a hand on his daughter's shoulder.
"It'll be ok my little owlet," Stolas said pulling his daughter into a hug, it was at that moment Blitzo walked up to the two owl demons.
"Yeah, don't worry kid Dante's tough I'm sure he'll pull-" in a flash, Octavia broke from her father's embrace, grabbed Blitzo by his neck, and slammed him against the wall with enough force to shake the room. Blitzo looked up at Octavia and saw her pink eyes burning with intense anger and rage.
"This is all your fault isn't it, you fucking dick head, Dante's probably got hurt because of your stupidity I swear to Satan if he doesn't pull through, I will fucking kill you," Octavia said in a deep terrifying voice as she began to shapeshift into her full demon form.
"OCTAVIA AURORA GOETIA PUT HIM DOWN THIS INSTANT!" Stolas shouted, instantly Octavia reverted to her regular form and dropped Blitzo who sat on the ground trembling. Octavia turned to face her father giving him an annoyed look, but Stolas wasn't fazed and just glared back.
"Dad this son of a bitch is responsible for my boyfriend being in the fucking hospital and you just fucking expect me to just ignore that!?" Octavia asked furiously, Loona got up from her seat, pissed at that last comment.
"He's not your boyfriend bitch, he's mine!" Loona yelled marching up to Octavia, growling, and Octavia returned the growl and the glare.
"Oh, you want to start something bitch!" Octavia asked inching closer to Loona, Blitzo and Stolas attempted to get between them when suddenly they heard someone clear their throat.
Everyone turned to look at a middle-aged tired looking male Imp wearing a lab coat and smoking a cigarette, standing in the doorway of the room.
"Sorry to interrupt the catfight, but if you're all wondering I have the diagnosis right here," the doctor said waving a clipboard around.
"So, doc, what happened to Dante? Was it organ damage?" Moxxie asked, approaching the doctor with a concerned look.
The doctor shook his head as he flipped through the papers on his clipboard.
No his organs are fine, well except for his liver, that thing is shot to hell, I mean seriously is this guy on booze only diet or something?" The doctor explained, pointing to an X-ray of Dante's liver which did not look good.
"Ohh shit so his drinking is what did this to him? I mean I knew he drank a lot but Goddammit I didn't think he drank that much," Loona said in shock not realizing how bad Dante's drinking problem was.
"Well, that's part of it but no, what did this to him, was Heroin," the doctor said gesturing to the unconscious Dante.
Several gasps rang through the room as everyone stood in utter shock at the doctor's words.
"Wait, wait, wait, heroin, Dante is on heroin?" Millie asked, seemingly unable to accept the idea.
"Yep, the signs of heroin overdose are all there, dizziness, shortness of breath, pale skin, and we took a blood sample it was about 15% heroin! Fucking crazy," the doctor explained callously seemingly ignoring the fact that his comments were causing the two young girls in the office to start crying again.
"W-will Dante be, ok?" Octavia asked, fighting back tears.
"I'm not sure maybe I mean the amount of heroin in his system is enough to kill a demon six times his size, it's a curse that he's even still alive, I mean the only people I've seen survive an overdose of this magnitude are sinners," the doctor said in bewilderment before turning to leave the room. Octavia started crying and buried her face in her father's chest.
Several hours later
Octavia and Loona sat in Dante's hospital room, everyone else had left, M&M had gone home while Blitzo and Stolas had gone to get some food, leaving the two ladies alone with Dante. Loona slept in a chair next to Dante's bed resting her head against the wall while one hand rested on his shoulder. Octavia was asleep as well although she had curled up on his bed and was resting her head on Dante's shoulder lightly nuzzling him. The quiet snores and the soft beeps of Dante's heart monitor, but suddenly the monitor began to quicken its pace as Dante began to squirm in his bed.
Dante's dream
The graveyard was dark, the light from the few torches scattered about barely cut through the dense fog that fell over the graves. Dante carefully navigated through the graves to avoid tripping; his feet barely made any noise as they touched the soft muddy ground. Dante looked around and noticed the graves were all grumbling and covered in moss; the names on the front were barely legible. Kneeling to inspect one of the graves, Dante wiped away the moss and grime to check the name and recoiled in horror upon reading the name. Suddenly a hand burst from the ground and grabbed his ankle, the hand was cold and slimy with much of its flesh rotting off. Dante struggled to break free from the hand's grasp but it would not budge, suddenly another hand popped up from the ground and grabbed him than another, and then another, the hands began dragging him underground and no matter how much Dante struggled or fought their grips would not loosen. Soon Dante was dragged under completely with the mud closing around his face; he watched in horror as the last rays of light vanished and he was enveloped in darkness.
Dante jolted up screaming in terror, his screams awakening the two girls who were sleeping in his hospital room.
"Ah what the fuck!?" Octavia cried as she was knocked to the floor.
Dante sat there gasping for air when he noticed how stale the air tasted. Reaching up he ripped the mask off his face, looked around the room, and saw it was a basic room with cabinets and medical equipment everywhere. Looking down at himself he saw he was wearing medical scrubs.
Shit, I'm in a hospital, dammit, Dante thought to himself annoyed, though he didn't have time to dwell as he was suddenly dog piled by two ladies.
"Dante thank fuck you're ok!" Loona said happily through tears as she pulled him into a tight embrace.
"I was so worried!" Octavia shouted as she got up and joined in the hug burying her head in Dante's chest and staining his gown with tears and makeup.
"Guys I'm fine can you please let go," Dante said as he squirmed out of their embrace. Sitting up Dante ripped the IV out of his arm and climbed out of bed.
Stretching Dante's back and joints cracked from being in bed for so long, once he was done he began going through the cabinets in the room, Loona and Octavia watched on in confusion.
"What the fuck are you doing?" They both asked in unison.
"I'm trying to find my clothes so I can get out of here," Dante explained, not bothering to look at them as he continued to dig through the drawers and cabinets. Finally, he opened the door and found a plastic bag holding his stuff.
"Jackpot!" Dante shouted as he pulled out his clothes. Taking off his gown Dante began putting his clothes on. Octavia stared wide-eyed at the sight in front of her, Loona just rolled her eyes.
"Dante, you can't just leave you fucking overdosed, you need to stay in case you still have issues!" Loona yelled, grabbing Dante's arm as he was about to put on his coat.
"Wait I OD'd?" Dante asked, looking at the two with a surprised look. The two girls nodded, Dante noticed their tear-stained cheeks and their running makeup.
"The doctor said you could've died, thank Satan you survived," Octavia said, sounding like she would burst into tears but whether of sadness or joy he couldn't tell.
"Yeah great," Dante said, to Loona, he almost sounded like he was disappointed that he had survived.
Putting on his jacket Dante checked to make sure everything was still there when he noticed something very important was missing.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Those bastards took my heroin!" She shouted angrily checking each and every pocket and finding nothing, Loona and Octavia looked at him stunned.
"Are you fucking serious! You still want to use that shut after it nearly fucking killed you!?" Loona shouted angrily at Dante.
"What oh the overdose, don't worry about that this is like the third time this has happened so it's no big deal," Dante stated casually much to their horror.
"Third time! You've OD'd three times and you still want to use that crap!?" Octavia asked completely horrified at the fact that this is a regular occurrence for Dante.
"Yeah, well look it's no big deal alright I'm perfectly fine," Dante explained trying to calm Loona down.
"Fine, FINE, Dante your anything but fine! You've been acting like a nutcase for a month because of this shit, do you think this stuff is good for you?" Octavia asked him, marching up so she could look him eye to eye.
Her eyes were filled with sadness he could tell this was hurting her, looking over to Loona, she had her arms crossed her eyes were filled with disappointment and anger. All these looks were filling Dante with guilt for what he was putting them through, unable to take it anymore Dante rushed out of the room and left the hospital the girls gave chase but they couldn't catch up. Standing outside the main entrance they watched in dismay as Dante stole a car and drove off.
"Shit, what are we gonna do now?" Octavia asked Loona who turned around and gave her a confused look.
"We? What we?" she asked glaring at Octavia, who sighed.
"Look Loona I know we don't like each other but we can both agree that we care about Dante, and right now Dante needs us to help him get off Heroin, so what do you say truce?" Octavia reached out her hand to Loona.
Loona stared at the hand for a minute and weighed her options before growling and taking the hand begrudgingly.
"Deal," she said through clenched teeth.
Dante's apartment
Dante sat on his couch his Jacket lying atop one of the armrests, Dante finished tying the tourniquet around his right arm, and upon finding a good vein, he grabbed the needle and was about to stick it in when suddenly his front door flew open. Started Dante lowered the needle and saw both Loona and Octavia standing in the doorway both looking at him and then at the needle, Loona scowled while Octavia looked disappointed.
"Oh, Dio what do you want?" Dante asked although he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.
"We want you to quit that stupid drug," Loona said as she marched over to Dante and tried to snatch the needle from his hand.
Dante swiftly moved out the way vaulting over the couch to get farther from her reach.
"Dammit you two didn't you hear me before I'm fine I got this well under control," Dante said annoyed that these two can't just leave him alone.
They don't bitch about my drinking so why do they care so much about this? He thought to himself annoyed.
"Under control, Dante your anything in control," Loona barked putting her hands on her hips.
"Loona's right, you've been acting like a fucking psycho, remember what happened at the mall?" Octavia asked.
"Ohh that, I was just having a bad day that's all," Dante said trying to talk down the event but by the tone of his voice, even he knew that wasn't true.
"Seriously you were just having a bad day, you freaked out when I found your drugs and you screamed your head off at me as if I had just killed someone," she said a hurt expression on her face remembering that incident.
Dante tried to say something to counter her statement but he couldn't so he just stood there stuttering. Loona stepped forward hand outstretched.
"Dante give me the needle you days of using heroin are over," she stated sternly making it clear to Dante that there was no point arguing, but arguing he did.
"NO!" he shouted holding the needle close to his chest.
"WHY NOT!?" Loona shouted back.
"Because I need it to make the pain go away!" He replied, the two ladies in front of him looked on in stunned surprise.
"You both have no idea what it's like living with this pain, of having lost everyone and everything you've ever cared about, heroin makes the pain go away, Heroin helps me feel at peace it helps to make all the memories and bad thoughts go away," he explained his voice sounding strained as if he was fighting back tears.
Octavia walked up to Dante and place a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you talking about what happened to your parents?" she asked her voice filled with sympathy. Loona looked on confused not sure what she was talking about.
"...yes sometimes," he replied his voice quivering, Octavia put her other hand on his shoulder and brought him close.
"Look darling I know that the murder of your parents must have been hard, and I understand that the pain still eats at you but heroin is not the best way to cope with this pain," Octavia explained Loona's eyes went wide at her statement.
Wait Dante's parents were killed, how come he never told me that, and why did he tell her? Loona thought to herself as she watched Dante and Octavia's exchange, with renewed suspicion.
"I know that this stuff must dull the pain but you don't need it we're here for you Dante Loona and I both let us help you," Via finished squeezing his shoulders.
Octavia's voice was soft and filled with kindness, Dante looked into her eyes and saw they were filled with compassion, he looked towards Loona and saw a similar look on her face. It was clear that both of them cared deeply for Dante and they both genuinely want to help him. Dante looked down at the needle full of heroin in his hand.
I could wipe their memories I've done it to Loona before to make her forget the time I stole the book... wait crap! That's right it won't work on Via, maybe if I kill her-, Dante immediately stopped that train of thought.
Oh my GOD did I seriously just consider killing Octavia… Cristo sulla sua Croce1 what am I turning into? Dante thought to himself in despair looking at the heroin-filled needle. Scowling Dante tightened his grip on the needle.
This stuff is turning me into a monster I need to stop, but… without it the pain is just too much, Dante thought bitterly as his internal struggle continued.
"I know that this stuff must dull the pain but you don't need it we're here for you Dante Loona and I both let us help you," Octavia's words echoed through his head.
"Hey I'm not going anywhere," Loona's words from the day he told her about Rose.
Yelling Dante threw the syringe against the wall causing it to shatter splattering the wall with dark brown sludge. Collapsing to his knees Dante cried both from sadness and the pains of withdrawal, Octavia and Loona both knelt next to him wrapping him in a tight embrace.
Epilogue
Dante lay in bed looking up at the ceiling watching the shadows move and dance as the lights from the city showed through his window. Hearing a loud snore Dante looked to his left and saw Loona, snuggled against his arm, looking to his right he saw Octavia snuggled into his shoulder breathing softly. After agreeing to quit heroin neither Loona nor Octavia wanted to leave, neither one wanted to sleep on the couch, and neither wanted to share a bed here he was, having both his girlfriend and his admirer crammed into his cramped bed.
Sighing Dante discreetly crawled out of bed without waking either one and headed for the living room. Turning on a lamp Dante made his way towards a large painting of a small house in a large field. Dante stopped for a moment to admire the painting, it was a masterpiece, and he should know he painted it himself. Moving the painting aside to reveal a large safe putting in the combination Dante opened it and looked at the contents. A large stack of cash and jewelry, a pistol, a framed portrait of Rose which he drew himself, and a small black box. Grabbing the box Dante opened it, inside was a package of a dark brown substance, a lighter, a spoon, and a set of needles.
Dante looked at the heroin thoughtfully, he wasn't gonna use it, he promised Via and Loona that he would stop and he was going to hold that promise, but he can't forget just how good heroin made him feel and how it helped him get through some of his darker moments.
With heroin I was able to have the first good night's sleep I've had in years, he thought to himself how can he forget that. No, he was going to quit but he wasn't going to quit completely he would keep a small amount around in case he ever needed it.
Putting the box back in the safe and closing it, he put the painting back in place, turning to go back to his room he stopped when Octavia stepped out wearing one of his shirts as a nightshirt.
"Hey Via what's up?" Dante asked wondering why she was awake.
"I noticed you weren't in bed and just wanted to check up on you," she said her voice filled with worry.
"I'm fine I was just getting a drink," he explained luckily Octavia believed him, but as she turned to go back towards his room Dante grabbed her and pulled her into a hug.
Most of the time Dante just viewed Octavia as nothing more than a pest, an annoyance, a burden he only hung out with out of pity. Now though seeing how much she cared for him, how hard she worked to help him, his opinion of her was starting to change.
"Thank you for helping me, thank you for caring enough to help me through this," he said warmly tightening his grip on her. Octavia smiled and nuzzled him burying her face into his shoulder.
"Of course, sugarpie you've helped me through my problems so the least I can do is help you through yours, now come on let's get back to bed," Octavia said breaking the hug and leading Dante back towards the bedroom.
END
Alright, another chapter is finished that was a wild ride and I hope you all enjoyed it, sorry for the delay but life often gets in the way of your hobbies. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it and tell me what you think, as always thank you for reading, and stay tuned for more.
1 Christ on his cross