“She's mad” Lucius hissed, a sneer in his voice that even through the phone sounded serpentine and bowel crushing.
Copia gripped the receiver tighter, gloves straining like a leathery squeaking rat, fingers tangling in the loops of cording as if unable to escape the words that had been chasing his thoughts for too long.
“Wh-what are you saying?” He said, hushed voice in panick as the pupils in his eyes shrank in cold fear.
“I mean, your little lady has contracted a affliction of the mind and soul- and it isn't of some chemical malfunction in the blood and bone. It's not a curse of this world, Cardinal.” Lucius growled, “This is beyond my medicine.” his throat constricted as he spoke, feeling like the freedoms of his human like form had become a new prison of his own salvations's making. A demon oracle, redeemed from darkness and cursed to live in the Grey matter of humanity, while gifted beyond most measures, could not cast out the thing of likeness of his previous recognition- no, demonic curses are one to the other as a poison to a poison. But unlike some polar relations of anecdotes and cocktails in the alchemic, these do not cancel out. Only heap exponentially upon one another. There was nothing Lucius could do. And it felt like it was killing him.
Perhaps it finally would…
“Surely you must know something!” Copia ushered, voice cracking through the phone as though he were already beginning to weep.
“All I know is I must withdraw my services from this venture. My presence would only, egg on, whatever darkness is plaguing the girl-”
“Be reasonable Lucius, your telling me there's *nothing you can do?”
“Not I!” Lucius barked, fist slamming at the desk in his office where he was calling from, green hellfire crackling along his veins in rage.
“Too many people, myself included have had contact with that fucking Blood Stone! All of you have handled it, all of us are infected! I just happen to be a catalyst, and besides you, Milagro happens to be the weakest amongst us all-”
“She's not weak!” Jim said, clutching Lucius’ desk corners in white knuckled rage-
*Jim and Teddy were in the dungeons of Lucius’ offices, confronting him about his machinations and obsessions, having found that he, and they, we're all being affected by the same malady that was making Milagro go insane- Copia was being phoned into the loop, and Emmanuel and Johan were upstairs in the abbey, frantically trying to make arrangements for Milagro's safe passage to somewhere she might be hidden from even them... Meanwhile Milagro was forced to seek sanctuary at the ministry, while the bloodstone was with Copia,kn the other side of the earth*
Teddy held Jim back at the chest, “Let him talk Jim, Copia needs to hear this-”
“Copia needed to be HERE, this whole time!”
Jim whirled, teeth on edge as a violent rage danced behind his dark eyes like wild fire.
The Preacher Man was on a knifes edge, and he felt like at any moment, either he would slide right through the blade and loose everything, or topple from the brink and loose himself...
“You need to calm yourself!” Teddy snapped, canines bared as his own temper, known to be long fused and short trimmed, flared dangerously, “Copia has been where he's supposed to be, away from here, where he can protect us and get help-”
“Liar, I smell you like wallow-water on a hog, you don't even believe what you're sayin', ya think you're better than everyone, like your high horse shit don't stink!” Jim glowered, sweeping papers off of Lucius’ desk as he went, knocking Teddy's hold on him away, balling fists shoved into his pockets as the Preacher Man sought the dark comfort of the corner of the room, snatching the brandy bottle and swinging it straight muttering, “Go fuck yourself”.
Teddy glared, feeling the red in his face grow livid, and his beast tearing at the bars of it’s cage within.
But Jim was right. Teddy felt like Copia had been far too absent from Milagro's life and care during her time with child, and so soon after their birth as well...
*The twins knew their own father as the red flash in the door to coo and dote on their cherubic faces, and to quickly leave them, fussing and crying at the sudden loss and absence that their own blood knew to be kin. And watching their distressed wailing and constant upset, felt like torture! No, Teddy didnt want Copia here, or just away... he wanted him gone...
*Then again, Teddy Wolfe felt only he was good enough to have earned the right to be by Milagro and her children's side, for to his eyes, everyone but him, had taken his family for granted. He had bonded to them so fiercely, a possessive snarl to any percieved slight was never far, as was the feral roaring in his ears, and he could not close himself from it. As if he were fighting the beast within, which, for the damage he could cause, very well could spell out a fate, dark and terrible, and full of blood and carnage to rival a lycan berserker. Teddy, was also, dangerous... and he knew it... and he hated himself for it. And that hate, made him lash out at everyone like a baited fighting animal, so for now he had to admit, even he couldn't be counted on to keep 'his woman' and 'his cubs' safe. The man' mind was also going, like a mad dog...*
*And now when the woman they all loved needed their strengths the most, it seemed, one by one, every man for himself was dropping out of the race like flies- no one was themselves. No one was all there, everyone was broken in ways darkened unto themselves, and it felt like Milagro was the one most affected- too crazy to be left with her own children, possessed by something abysmal, demented, and possessive beyond any one's ability to pull her back from…*
Lucius continued his phone call with Cardinal Copia, but had seemed to be doing more than that at once, feeling the auras of those around him constant and acrid. Though Grey walking, he was still a deamon. There was an energy feeding him from the combined strife and aggression of these men, and Lucius was tasting every one of them- like swallowing a meal of sustenance that was as disgusting as it was poisoned. And it too was forming changes in him that he could barely control, so subtle was it, that he knew like a frog in a pot, would eventually doom him to a fate in the abyss…
*The road to hell is gentle on the slope, without milestones or signposts*
Glancing at Jim in the corner, stewing hotly half finished down the bottle, Lucius saw the Preacher Man's eyes and hands blackened like a blix from hell. Then his gaze flit over to Teddy who was half seated on the desk, arms crossed and rubbing a hand at his temple, hackles raised and constantly, painfully, shifting between human and wolf's forms...
the subtleties of their maladies were becoming more and more apparent, and the corruption was spreading...
*Like a cancer, crawling amongst them, infecting, corrupting, cell by cell, like a slow dismemberment of self into something…. Monsterous… like a vision of grotesque malformation, wailing and gnashing it's teeth…*
it was clear to the Oracle Deamon how deeply the whole matter was affecting them all, and Lucius knew, that indeed, all of it, was a bad sign…
*
Copia hung up the receiver and buried his hands in his face. The dismal room held coldness and stale air, and the smell of rotted books and bone dust followed wherever he went- settling here on his shoulders, where he stooped over a makeshift table, while tears seeped through his gloves.
The night beyond the window held no hope of dreams and wonder, no music or stars. It was simply dark. And only the flicker of thin pale lamplight from the street beyond, veiled through the forgotten crypt, one place of the few sanctuaries afforded to The Clergy and their Vampiric members. The safe house was old and delayed, like everything inside it, and The Cardinal could feel the emptiness that seemed to fill the air, heavy and malcontent...
“I should never have left…” he whispered. Deep down, what Copia meant was *I should never have gone back*.
A pale hand, shapely and full of youth, slid over Copias left shoulder, a voice smooth and quiet spoke, “We all agreed, it would be safer for you to be here, than there-”
“I know, that's what I said!” Copia gasped, “but I can't protect them from across the world, hiding in some mausoleum like a plague rat in the sewer-”
“This is no sewer, and you are no rat,” The voice continued, a tinge of earnestness behind it, “Believe me. I have seen the world of rats and ‘less-than’ creatures,” the hand was joined by the other, both giving a squeeze at each of Copia's shoulders, “and while you may at times be a rat bastard-”
Copia winced.
“- you are not, a monster, not like what Ive seen.”
“But this, this sickness, it grips me like some clawed thing in the dark, and I can't escape it, no matter where I run.”
“Running in retreat is better than standing by and becoming something you are not-”
Copia closed his sore eyes, watching himself in his mind...
*Remebering the way he pretended to have been fine, indifferent even, all while those at home had suffered from his absence. Hiding in In the limelight, he had found his darkest shame...*
*He had made a mess of things, mistreating Jim as his companion, taking for granted his love and abilities with the dead. The Cardinal had even gone so far as to kill a waitress by blood draining, his appetite known to be voracious, was now unquenchable, and he reacted to it like a fiend, with no regard or remorse in the moment, and expected Jim to quite literally, clean up the mess. Jim had managed to bring the woman back, but he had his own blood hunger to satisfy, and The Cardinal had greedily taken the food from Jim's mouth, having stolen the intended shared feeder from him. And Copia kept on denying Jim the sustenance of fresh flow. And in keeping his familiar, like a bonded prisoner, to drink only from his veins, The Cardinal was mirroring the injustices done to him, reanacting his own traumas when he himself had been a blood slave, once upon a lifetime ago. It was not like him, but his sickly natures were spilling out, for while the Grucifix he had been wearing had housed the cursed stone, the stone's curse was rather simple... it brought out and fed, the worst in those it affected.*
* It summons evils from within... going unoticed until the damage was too great to ignore, and the demonic feeding that posessed it, while granting power, granted also madness *
*The power had gone to the Cardinal's head, the tour had been wildly successful. The erruption of fame and fortune, the masses throwing themselves at his feet, compelled by his silver toungued voice, the grandeur of his presence, and controlled by his will, the warbling of The Cardinal's song had enchanted millions... But behind the scenes and round the trailers, Copia had behaved like a dirty scavenger, latching on to anything that had a bloody pulse, and draining it to death without mercy. He had preyed on the weak and vulnerable, the ones like the network of blood donors, who would let him drain them far beyond what they should, even to an inch of death out of desperation for the euphoria of his venomous bite... even taking them on like disposable lovers, all while *his Jim* suffered in silence...*
*To the public, a charming man of wealth and taste... but two faced was his visage. And in the dark he had been something terrible, something else entirely...*
One of the pale hands left the Cardinal's shoulder, and was brought to the shadows where the younger man stood. The red glow of his eyes, soft, and yet so piercing. He bit into his wrist and stiffened, feeling the way the Cardinal instantly whipped back to latch onto the wound, like a desperate leech, gripping hands wrapped around the presented arm as if it might be taken away. Feral, hating, gluttony at it's core...
Copia couldn't care at the moment, how his companion in the dark looked on with disdain and pity. He was groveling for the blood flowing warm over his mouth, and the soft whimpers and groans leaving him were battering his own ears. The word he embodied, was one he had tried to run from for years- from Nihil, from His Mother, from the responsibility of his calling, and cowering in this place, because Daryn, the man before him, was the only one who could satisfy the blood lust from the sickness crawling in his own veins, the word the Great Cardinal Copia embodied, debased, and internally alone, was
*pathetic*.
"There has to be a way," Copia thought, his dualed mind reaching far and out for answers to the impossible, "there has to be-"
*
"There is" Lucius replied, the forces of his darkness brewing behind the shudder of his barely moving lips.
"But by all the unholy, is such a journey long..."
The Grey deamon smiled softly, an eerie shaddow in his countenance that glowed green, the intensity of which mirrored that of the hellfire that both threatened to consume everyone, and refine them like the crucible of fate, "a plague..." hissed the Oracle deamon, his vision hazed and far, of rats and snakes and spiders and blood, "a plague on all your houses...."
Copia smiled into the glass in his hand. Rolling the ice with a satisfyingly soft clink. The condensation sliding down the glass pebbled around his gloved fingertips and the younger man across the bar slid a napkin towards him, the number on it written in a script that seemed a little more sophisticated than one would expect.
*A triple 6 calling card*
*That's a Bingo*
Copia thought, a giddy knott tightening below his stomach.
The Cardinal let his other hand hover a moment before his gloved fingers gently walked the napkin paper under his palm.
“You know, you can just ask for my autograph right here, right now?” Copia smiled. A sultry silk ribbon tied alluringly around his words, invitingly gripping, and impossible to ignore. This was his gift, this charm. It didn't take much to tempt an admirer to his bed, or his fangs, and the bartender in the hotel and he, had been sending glances, measuring, behind knowing smirks to confirm they were indeed ‘in the know’, or rather ‘in the club’.
The man smiled, his piercing blue eyes like sapphires, bleach blonde hair almost glowing in the electric blue bar lights, he was so beautiful and radiant, Copia’s eyes almost hurt.
“So, when are you off,” said Copia, knocking back the glass, flicking out the Ministry Black Card from his fingers, both impatient and eager, “the night is young, many places to see before the sun comes up…”
The man behind the counter smiled, biting his lip before glancing up at the clock. “Depends I guess- my room is a nice perk from the hotel as long as I work here on shoet notice. Time, unfortunately, is money, missing the next shift costs me a shiny penny every time I do it-”
*Ah. He's expensive* Copia thought. He wondered, despite the obvious beauty of the selection in front of him, what made this man think himself so satisfying to take from?…this *bleeder…*
“I may have some room in my schedule-”
“Oh because you're so busy, tending all your clients at the bar?” Copia teased, motioning to the nearly empty room, pocketing the numbered napkin, mentally filing away the visual image of this contact in this city. Hotels made good meetup places for those in The Donor Network. But for the sake of anonymity, donors rarely if ever, gave out any personal information… except the crazy ones...
*The “Cranks” as they were called, those fiending addicts who were available at the drop of a hat to bleed for damn near anyone. They had a look to them. Sunken, pale, slinking around, agressive... willing to do just about anything to be a feeder for a Vampire.
And if a Vampire was known to have a particularly euphoric or strong kickback in their venom, best believe the “Cranks” were throwing themselves at the blood suckers, vying for attention, begging to be drained, more than they should ever let anyone take from them. More than a respectable, clean billed, donor would, anyway...
Those ones, the clean ones, had price tags for their services, schedules to keep themselves in optimal health, routines of food and exercise to keep their bodies in model shape, some even went so far as to undergo routine dialysis to make their blood rich and soft, like purifying wine of the finest quality- the more extreme routined were often catered for more Elite affordability, often posing as escorts or night companions, even long term affairs, offering more than just their blood services, offering more than just their time; the status of being someone's beautiful personal blood purse for company, without the strings and formalities required of a master to a Familiar, came not only with the perks of the venom and the vitality granted by the Vampire that fed from them, but granted their unique effects, a powerhouse rushing through the spillways, there was notoriety involved between who had fed from who, and who was being kept on as an elite's private feeder. It takes all kinds to rule the world. And the occult was only a branch of it, traded sometimes by dollars worth the millions*
*And while Copia was a nearly insatiable man in terms of feeding, and had been, minus some rare circumstances that could be considered deathly desperate, he did have wealth, and expensive taste. Even his modest transactions were more than decent. And his venom, potent. He was more than worth the pain of the bleeding... and shopping around...*
*To be fair, the haughty nature's of the more renowned and unscrupulous donors, the one's who he did know, some personally and unfoetunately by name, did not appeal to him. Their blood parties and habitual, more despicable dining practices, were not of interest to The Cardinal from the Emeritus house... In fact, aside from big spending and some partying, Copia had never been much of a socialite anyway, the circles rarely if ever mixed...
That was more Jim's thing, though Jim was wilder than he was, mixing street drugs, pills, and spirits to enhance his feedings and encounters. Performance enhancers to intensify the feedings... well, used to, anyway, he'd been sober nearly 2 years... but the result of the reputation often attracted a heavier handed crowd, and a little too much risk for eposé. Copia preferred lower profile donors, so remained, a lower profile attitude about his feedings. It made shopping for quality a challenge, often underestimated like a Pretty Woman in a designer store. But tonight, the man across the bar looked like a wet dream, and his scent was alluring like something that might be worth, not only the money, but the risk…*
“Clear your schedule-” Copia smirked, tapping the card edge on the table. “I know a place you might enjoy the night off- and there is more than one tourist with fancies and fanciers that I think would be worth occupying your time.”
The man took the card and rang up the overpriced drinks at the register. Not even looking up, deft hands skimming gracefully over the buttons, its was such a flirt… showing off his handsome hands, roped with smooth cords of blue veins under supple skin. The kind that would be as satisfying to sink ones fangs into as sinking into the flavor of a plush, prime, rare, marbled steak.
And he knew Copia was staring.
“Mm- so you like to entertain your guests. That's generous of you- little partying on the vengabus?” the man chuckled, flashing a sly smile.
Copia smirked, “I've been told I put on a good show, who knows, I do like to throw in little passes for my fans-”
“Oh I know” the man smiled, handing the card back, almost smugly, “I heard the tour was coming through here. Why do you think I'm just a temp- not being strapped down, well, in the conventional sense-” he said, voice dripping saucily over Copia's ears in a way that made The Cardinal's pants tighten pleasantly, "makes it easier to keep up on any tag alongs thrown ny way".
“So you're a fan of mine or you're a groupie guy in general?” Copia teased, taking the card back and leaning forward over the bar, turning his wrist over in a smooth flick, a hot hundo in cash as a tip between two fingers.
*He liked this game.*
“More of, a tour guide.”
“A tour guide?” Copia chuckled, the cash snatched from his hand with a little pizzaz that confirmed oh yes, this donor wasn't just a model expense wannabe. He had something to offer up his sleeve. An *experience*...
The Satanic cardinal wondered what temptations this young man had to offer him...
“I take it you enjoy your encounters with a little fine dining?” The man said, slipping the neck of his apron off, untyinging the back knot around his trim waist quickly.
It looked like the deal might go through.
“I can guarantee my bus has good catering. Privacy, and good security, party your little heart out!” Copia laughed, stepping up from the stool. This was it. Either it was on or off. He hoped it was on.
“Much as I would love to check out , your groupie van-” the man said, tossing his apron shamelessly over the register, “I prefer to take you there myself.”
“There? And where is there?” Copia said, raising an eyebrow.
“Somewhere where a man of your talents would be appreciated.”
Copia frowned slightly.
*Sometimes donors could be pushy, escorts services could land one in a situation… sometimes meaning donors were trying to get themselves and their little friends together for their own experience, it wasn't unusual, but it was often a little scammy. Sort of taking advantage of a situation where a Vampire in need is pressured to satisfy the rest- a power imbalance Copia's kind were not so fond of…*
*And while a little light blood orgy was nothing The Cardinal hadn't snubbed his nose at before, he wondered if the ridiculously beautiful specimen here, so blond and blue eyed, and yoked like a young stag, was like a catphisher for less savory, other, more desperate friends. This city wasn't really known to have Cranks in it, but, one couldn't be too careful. Picking people up in bars had its risks, afterall…*
“I keep company with my troupe- if a party is too much for you, my bus is still comfortable enough for two-” Copia snuffed, shrugging slightly.
The man looked at Copia puzzled. Then, as if putting the peices together, threw his head back and laughed.
The Cardinal was taken back by the sound. It didn't sound scornful, teasing, or even funny, per-se. No, the sound warbling from the young mans throat was, genuine! And even more surprising, it was, captivating. Enchanting almost. And he found himself beginning to laugh along.
“Im *inviting* you to come to a club with me!” the man said after a moment, a smile on his face and a slight twinkle in those sapphire blue eyes, “Im not worried about keeping you all to myself, Im not entirely selfish, but Im not going to force feed you to a bunch of freaks- well, at least not the ones you're thinking of.” he winked.
“And how do you know what I'm thinking of?” Copia said, raising a brow and letting the laughter die down.
“Call it a hunch…” the man thought a moment before shrugging it off, “I have my ways, and in any case, I think you'll find me interesting enough to *want* to follow around this town. I think you'll have a good time! And that's my thing. I like to find the thrill seekers, the adventurers, the ones who might be a bit like me-”
Something about the way the man said that phrase, "*like me*" sent a shiver up Copia's spine, but he let the moment slip away...
The man sounded, almost, happy. Carefree. A sense of some sort of innocence or purity blinked almost kindly from his expressive face… Something was unusual about this donor...
After a quiet moment, the man could feel the strange gaze, guaging his every move, his every pulse, and the confident demeanor he was exuding faltered slightly.
*like a vulnerable little white mouse, caught in the gaze of something that enjoyed eying its prey quiver under its claws*
“Ahem..uh…Care for a smoke?” The man said, nodding towards the exit behind the bar, almost dancing backwards into the pushbar through it. Trying to put a little distance from the awkward silence. Surprisingly, Copia found himself following him.
*The skittish ones always were his favorite to corrupt. Easing them into their pain and pleasure. The control was deeply satisfying, and the little spark of fear in the blood gave it a little tang that made Copia's blood run hot, and his desire throb deliciously*
In a well lit, though sort of dingy back alley, where the dumpster kept company with the spare crates of goods and supplies, the man pulled out a joint, and handed it fresh, to Copia first, the door behind them swinging shut.
Not one to turn down a free first puff and pass, Copia smiled and tweezed the rolled paper at his nose.
It smelled good, relatively fresh. Something homemade about it that felt fun to want to try.
“So, a club?” Copia asked, snapping a lighter from his own pocket and lighting the joint.
“Yeah- kind of a specialty club. Bit vampy. But has a backroom drift." the man said, pulling out a cigarette as well.
“That so,” Copia said, holding the smoke in his lungs and passing the joint back. The man took it gracefully and inhaled. Talking through the tight chested hold he continued, “The O' is a nice place. I think you'll like it.” The man released, a dreamy sigh escaping his lips, then lighting a cigarette like a breath chaser, he continued “I could have them play a song or two from your set list, and all the boys can dance-”
Copia coughed, laughing a little, feeling the smoke waft from his breath, “Haha! What a name for a club- ‘The O’ where boys can dance, let me guess, very gay, probably have ‘pickledick’ chasers and 'cum shots' for their creatively themed drinks?”.
The man blew out his own smoke but shook his head good naturedly. “Hey, it's a neat little place,” he said in mock defensiveness, “that's just the front of the shop… the real party happens in the back.”
“The back?” Copia scoffed playfully, “You make it sound like you got a sex dungeon waiting for me there!”
“Something like that…”
The man took the joint back from Copia.
The alley air seemd to have froze with anticipation.
Trading the cigarette for the joint and back.
“I see… I've never heard of this place on The Network-” Copia said at last.
“Come see it for yourself then, leave a review.” The man said nonchalantly, those jewel blue eyes flashing something inviting, wanting…
“Then what,” Copia roused, a low sound that traveld down the man's spine and sat thick inside his stomach, “Take me to a private room for a bit of fun before the feast?”
“You'd could say that. If you want to come, that is.” The man flicked his hair, the shine flashing slightly under the lamplight.
At this, Copia was already pushing against him in the alley, a hand sliding up the hard planes of the man's torso, thumb drawing down a line where the heat of the vena cava twisted along his insides, and then higher along the arterial branches that plumed upwards toward his neck, where hot breath and the soft gliding trickle of fangs grazed the man's pale, perfect skin.
“I like the sound of that.” Copia hissed, a soft clip in his syllables that made hardened flesh dribble and the senses crawl with anticipation- he had him by the throat. Like a sweet little thing caught in a web. The Cardinal just wanted to see where it would go. How far could he push, his pretty little moth in the lamplight.
*Donors even expensive ones rarely if ever let a Vampire drain from a neck hole. The danger of a heart plug, if the Vampire doing the biting didn't seal off the wound or latch properly, could prove a deadly game… but it was *exciting*...
Copia ran his fangs and lips along the lifeline pulsing beneath that perfect pale skin,
“Think a little club like yours could handle me?”
The man licked his lips, a soft tremble running along his body.
“Oh, trust me, there's more fans in this little fan club, that pay to just watch somone do something like you can- I th-think you'll be surprised to find out who's th-there on a given Teusday.” the man panted, hip rutting gently against the Cardinal's thigh planted between them.
Satanas, Copia had him bewitched like a master, and the pretty white feeder had to stifle a noise from squeaking out of his throat, while Copia teased knowingly over his Adam's apple, flicking a toungue to the sweat dampening his skin. The cigarette between the man's lips burning down faster as his breath hitched in soft whimpered breaths. Desire pooled behind Copia's stomach and dropped lower. The man was feeling the power emanate from This Cardinal's aura. It felt risky, delicious, and so deeply consuming…
*Yes. He liked this game…*
Copia leered a smile.
*Silly rabbit...Trix are for-
*Tricks…?* the man chewed his lip, *or treats...*
Their minds were passing something back and forth in the heat of the blinking eyed moment…
(But how?)
*Oh yesss…He liked this game…*
Copia sniffed the man's neck gently and loosened his gloved grip, retreating. The intensity lulling back to a pleasant hum under the electric flicker of the streetlamps in the alley. Heartbeats, thumping in rhythmic time.
“I Do, love an audience. And I like to say, go big, or go home. ” Copia smoothly said.
The man slid a hand through his hair, blue eyes wide, pupils blown with desire. He smirked as he realized Copia had gently tongued the cigarette from his own lips to smoke it, and put it out against the wall with a smouldering hiss that sent tingles across his skin. Copias gloved fingers pinched off the blunt still between the man's fingers, signaling the end of this part of negotiation, and the beginning of the night- the what would happen.
The last question, was where...
“‘The O’ has a play room in the back, discreet, private,” The man said, collecting himself and running a cool hand through the nearly perfectly coifed hair on his head, down his neck self soothingly, “We don't get as many visitors like you there. Its a bit niché, kinda the local secret… But for you, I'm sure it will be quite the treat. And no fussing for attention. Everyone plays nice, unless you want them to play dirty” he said, trying to soothe the crinkle in Copia’s brow before it hardened to a line he found appalling and appealing on such a handsomely painted face. “Like I said” the man continued, “there's no force feeding you to anyone there- I like to let people have fun- that's my thing.”
Copia tilted his head this way then that. Throwing one more bone to see if this too-good-to-be-true offer really was worth the risk. The place sounded exclusive, even if given the front of house impression as a public access thing. It made Cipia a tad uneasy- how closed off would he be, if he didn't want to stay there?
“If you know me and my band, I don't, exactly, like to party without them.” His backup. If they weren't invited, he wouldn't go. Call it a security possé but, it was the last card to play before he would decide to fold.
“What, the Ghouls? Yeah!” The man piped up, “bring them in if you like. They keep it dark, and the props and toys clean for a variety of play… they probably would like the vibe, honestly. Rowdy or relaxed, theres a space for everyone.” The man smiled and tilted his head...
*Boyish. Mischievous. Far from innocent minded. And yet so angelic in his features. A likeness of Lucifer that really, no one could pass up from wanting to drape him over and feed from him*
Copia smirked, but, was a bit surprised that this stranger in an alley here for a hitch and suck was knowledgeable enough about the underworld to know the proper name for his band mates’ kind …
"I mean is it going to matter if the hellspawn are here or there?" Copia said, taking another drag, "They're likely to eat somome alive for fun, I don't like having to clean up the mess."
The man blinked back and incredulously grinned, "Hey, I'm just offering a little something new for your palate, whatever the hellspawn favor, probably half the guests at 'The O' would dig it... Suffocating between a pair of nice thighs, a tight tail around the neck, or being driven up a St. Andrew's with a little knife play, a little fun before the meal..." Copia raised a brow, a little more than interested in the menu.
"Oh, so you think they have tails?" Copia asked, feigning a casual disinterest, as if the man before him were talking in tall tales.
"Oh please," the man remarked rolling his eyes.
*The sass was just too tastey to watch too closely*
"Anyone with an imagination would put two and two together. Ghouls have a look about them. But The Ghoule, have an, element, about their natures, and, they always come with a tail. I've had encounters with one or two in my time. Fun creatures."
The Cardinal blinked.
*Copia had introduced each of the hellspawned Ghoule as merely "Ghouls" every night, but their glamor made them look human enough that the masses sort of just thought it was all a gimmick, all while hearing the truth so plain and not looking too closely... Still.... That this mortal could pick out the difference so properly, garnered enough interest for Copia to share a pleasant grin and wrap an arm around the man's waist, a thumb in a belt loop for ownership, for show. He pulled him closer, a mischievous side hold while The Cardinal's free hand slid and fiddled with the man's clothes, leaning in, words and breaths tickling the ears and neck, tantilizingly.
"So you know the Jargon lad, you are fully aware what you're getting into if they are around."
"Of course. Why else would I have followed the tour so closely, I wanted my own VIP time, especially with you".
"Ah... So you are a groupie guy" Copia tisked, but not entirely put off.
The man shrugged, "I like having a good time. I like giving others a good time. Especially of they're so interesting," he motioned up and down to Copia, "I enjoy variety- but if I dont have to share the attention, I wouldn't mind enjoying your, essence, all for myself."
"Flattery is my favorite lie" Copia said, licking his lips, "That gets you far, Im sure you know."
"Im not just a pretty face" the man replied, looking up at Copia with a catty expression, "I know my way around, I don't aim to just, go far, I want you. All the way. Every way. It's that simple. Can you blame me?" He leaned in closer, this time, *now his* hands pulled at Copia's hips while he whispered, making the Cardinal's skin shiver, "What's a little sin between sinners, I give, you take, and I have an unusually high tolerance to be taken from..."
The man palmed down Copia's pants firmly, The Cardinal let out a satisfying grunt and groan beneath the grip. "And I happen to be good at giving..." Satanas the man was hung nicely, his hardness pressing against Copia's through the material. "If I can entertain a small coven at their penthouse, I'm sure, I can satisfy that appetite in you, wherever you want me to be. "
(But how did he know that. How could a singular person do that?)
*Like a haze, the cloud of need and desire, had put a spell between them, concocted between them as their dark thoughts mistepped into one another. Not only were they like minded, something entirely too compatable was being stitched between them- bewitching them in the lamplight, and The Cardinal knew the danger of this unusual feeling. It wasn't just compatability. It was a Match. Thoughts of a new blood purse drowned his mind. It took everything in him to peel back from the heavy petting and panting between them to take a breath, swallow, and try to out muscle his own grip, leather gloves squeaking softly. Something was too strong here. But by God, how could he help himself. So rare to find such an attraction, such a connection, in one so beautiful, in one so intriguing. He had to calm down. He had to think.*
Copia could sense the truth in the man's words. This whole time, he sensed no deceit betraying the man's thoughts. Copia had a theory. But to test it, he'd need to enjoy the spoils of this prize first. Not that after all that had transpored this night, meant it was a bad thing, he still needed to feed, and with Jim having left him, Copia desperately needed releif, and release... And he was indeed, famished, eager, and painfully aching at this point. He was getting impatient.
*He figured, what could he loose? How bad could it be. His criteria was met. There was no apparent reason to stall, he thought...*
*It was enough to know not only was the Satanic Cardinal's scene wholly invited to a pleasure space, it, or at least his companion, was educated in it. The venue just classed the experience even more highly than he thought before... and now that he was aware what “The O” really was, a buffet of vampire fans who liked to mix blood with their play, it was this esteemed Cardinal's chance to act out, get away with it, to indulge in his carnal vices by the sultry sweet invitation of, had this man not smelled so human, would have guessed was being offered by a devil itself.*
Suddenly everything rushed back, and the man's bleach blonde hair gleamed, and those eyes so strong, so blue, half lidded, blinked up in a questioning gaze. An intense feeling of possession, protection, even care, shot like an arrow through Copia's chest.
Copia ran a longing finger along The Man's face, thr black glove stark against the softly illuminated skin.
"Jawline for days" Copia muttered absentmindedly...
The man looked both strong and delicate, like bone China, and not a scratch or mark to blemish it... not yet, anyway...
*He would have to guard this beautiful creature, this lovely new pet, for however long he was being kept under wing...*
Copia looked at this stranger under his wing, up and down like a prize perched pretty on his arm, he felt like he had struck a lucky bargain with such a unique escort for the night, to a new, hole-in-the wall place, built for somone like himself. And so beautiful was this company, The Cardinal figured even Satan himself would paint this stranger like Lucifer's Statues, poised in pale marble, jeweled eyes gleaming like blue halos of hellfire… who wouldn't want to be worshipped by such a fine specimine?… Who wouldn't want to worship it, to lav luxuriously at that equine neck and watch those sapphire halos wince and widen, hear that pretty voice warble out in pleasure and a little bit of ecstasy in the pain… it would be a true sin, to not to...*
“Lead the way, Caro,” Copia husked, “I'd like to take a look at that place you so highly reccomend. In fact, im feeling a bit lucky. Let us go, just me and you, meet these friends of yours… who knows where the night takes us. Lots to see before the sun comes up. Though if your little suite at the hotel is still an open invitation, I shouldn't wonder I'de keep you in behind the dark curtains, long after sun-up, or if you're free, perhaps join me for my next show, backstage... if you're game to keep the party going after sundown, that is. Like I said, the catering is good. Private and safe, and if you have the stamina like you say you do, why, both of us, should be in for quite the feast.”
The man grinned wide, perfect teeth flat as tombstones, and licked his lips, already tasting the kickback he knew would come from such a man as this vampiric rockstar, feeling his own heat throb achingly beneath his belt line. He sidled up to Copia, an angelic shade to a demon's shaddow, running a handsome hand along the Cardinal's hip giving it a squeeze.
"I like this game."
"Im glad, you do..."
The man motioned out of the alley towards the half hustling night street, and the promises that lay beyond. The two walked off into the shadows, tripping a light fantastic, off to a neon seascape of black velvet prickled by the city lights, as if the dark deep smile of hell were personally welcoming them in, promising a handsome bastard prince such as Copia, a night to remember, and the mysterious glow of a stranger with him, an adventure of a lifetime.
**for indeed, there would be Hell to pay…**
*and little did they know, what was promised, was Exactly, what they were going to get*
