Couples were swirling all around the floor, including Amos and Elvira, while god knows what happened to Juliette and her infamous blood doll; Edward. Bartholomew had been waiting for Levi to allow him to cut in, and after a few silent seconds, Bartholomew decided that he….was taking his woman back. Slowly tearing off his jacket, he threw it to the side, where it landed on some old spinster, who started to sniff it. Dirty old demoness…Anyways. Now in his vest and pants, with the ruffles of his shirt sticking out of the top of his waistcoat, he started to raise both arms, and with fingers pointed, he mimicked a bull, but in effect what he was doing was the very new Pasadoble. He lowered his arms, and then crossed his left hand down to the right side of his waist, as though he was drawing out his sword, then spun on the heels, and started to make a clapping motion, to whip up some of the demon socialites to follow with the clapping. Bart brought both arms over his head and growled through the rose, as Fanny blinked, then shoved Levi aside, snatching up to clam shells off a table that had a seafood platter, and started to clack them together, much like a Spanish dancer. The band lead marked for the guitarist to play, and it was a Spanish song, with the strumming matching the fancy footwork of our favorite fiend.
He madly started to tap hard with his heels, and Fanny swanned around him, her skirt raising as she twirled, much like a matador’s cape. She tossed away the clam shells, as he took her hand, and then drew her into a hold, where he dipped her and started to kiss her to exchange the rose over to her mouth. Eyes wide behind her kitten mask, her heart was set to racing, as he brought her up, and then started to kiss up and down her arm, before spinning her out again, her skirts swirling, her head becoming light. She took out the rose and then ran it down the cheek of the closest Guard, which only caused Bartholomew to snort like a bull, and he pawed at the ground with his shoes, before gliding across the floor, and snatching her hand, spinning her round and round, till she was on the floor. As the song came to its dramatic climax, he pulled her back up again, chest out like a male peacock, proud that he danced with his woman. He tore off his mask, and kissed her hungrily, while the table of aging demons cheered loudly. It was then, he did what he had been waiting to do for so long. Bart got down on bended knee and pulled out a small black ring box. He opened it and then said before all at the ball:
“Kitten…will you do me the honor, of becoming my wife?”
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As Edward carried her away from the ballroom, she barely had time to blink as Edward’s hand was around her throat as she was pinned to the wall. Gasping for air, she struggled beneath him and clawed at his hand. Juliette gasped and choked, but she stilled beneath him instantly when he spoke. Staring at him, her tears began to fall again as she could feel the pain she caused him oozing from each word he spoke. Closing her eyes, she couldn’t look at him as he promised only to hurt her more. It was when he released her and began to walk away that she finally spoke. Her words were barely above a whisper as she fought back more tears. “Don’t play the fool, Edward…it hardly suits you…” Not caring if he turned around her not, she continued to speak. “My parents have taken every ounce of love and happiness in my life since I was put on this earth…anything, ANYTHING I love is tortured for the sake of ‘making me a true demon’. You really think that if my parents learned of my love for you, that if I acted as though you meant the world to me, they wouldn’t take YOU away? I am cruel to you to SAVE YOUR LIFE. Don’t you understand? I can’t lose you!” The last sentence was uttered over a sob as she turned around and left the shelter over the balcony. Standing near the edge, rain poured down on her as she whispered “Hate me, torture me, make me pay. Just know that I love you, and it is the only reason I can stand to keep you safe from my parents…”
Lightening flashed and she turned around to look at him walk away. Shaking her head, she then ran towards him and threw her arms around him. With her arms around his neck, she jumped into his arms and looked down at him “Edward…forget me from this moment on.” Before he could answer, she plunged her fangs into his neck and forced their minds to link. Instantly, memories and dark images flooded their minds. Juliette screaming at Edward, throwing things at him only to collapse behind the door in sobs as he left. Juliette and Edward embracing in secret in the garden maze outside her room. And then, she revealed the horrors that she had done in London: women being gutted, angels brutally and slowly being murdered, the angel hung on the cross. Bodies after bodies piled up as she stood before her throne of carnage. She then saw Lillian and Agares come up to her, both of them laying a hand on her shoulders as they looked at her greedily “You belong to me….” Lillian hissed.
Juliette pulled herself from Edward’s neck and struggled out of his arms. Turning around slowly, she wrapped her arms around herself. Without looking at him, she cried softly “I’m so sorry, Edward…I love you.” Drenched from the rain, she rushed past him to try and escape back into the ballroom.
Bess let go of Amos but not before giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek. She smiled at Elvira before taking Ezekiels hand “it would be a pleasure” she drawled in that ecoticly accented voice. Bess allowed herself to be lead away by Ezekiel into a corner of the floor. Laughing softly she shrugged her shoulders. “We tried our best and yet-” Bess glanced over her dance partners shoulder to the thick mop of dark curls she could see bobbing about. It reminded her of Juliette “-Some don’t turn out as well as others”. Bess smirked slightly, sliding her hand up and onto his shoulder as they began to dance. He was graceful, just as she had suspected. “I never knew you danced Ezekiel…i must admit you’re very good” she laughed softly as he twirled her about.
However despite the playful air that surrounded Bess and Ezekiel…she couldn’t help but be distracted by the foreboding that seemed to surround the hall…something was of and she was sure that the axe would drop…she just didn’t know how. Glancing to Amos and then back to Ezekiel she smiled gently, trying not to seem as scared as she was. “So…what lucky women did you decide to bring with you this evening?” Bess asked, smirking.
Just as he was about to speak, turning around to face her, she ran into him, wrapping her arms around his neck and jumping up, wrapping her legs around his waist(I’m guessing). Instinctively he caught her, his hands gripping tightly onto her thighs for support. Her words, he could not bare. To forget her would be, impossible. He may despise her at the moment, but even in his rage, she was constantly on his mind. constantly on his heart. His eyes held onto the pendant around her neck, vice gripping it as it burned a bright color. He didn’t understand why, until her teeth sunk into his neck, and their minds became one yet again.
At first, he wanted to risk his own mind and thrust her from him. To cast her to the floor and leave her there. Though what he saw stopped him, it froze him in place as he stumbled around from the pure enjoyment of her teeth in his neck.
He stood yet again in a dark place, an all too familiar scene. The Darkness was first pierced with sound, that of glass shattering as Juliette screamed at the top of her lungs. “Get out Slave! I have fed and I am now done with your insolence and pathetic stench! Be from my sight!” No image came yet, though Edward remembered the day from his side quite well. she had just finished feeding from him, and the image she saw from his memory was what stuck her actions. She had seen him and Latecia stricken in a passionate embrace in her beddings. She spoke of her love for him, as they finished. though Edward did not reply, he embraced the remark all the same. Edward was staring at his feet as he remembered his side of the memory, and the slamming of a door awoke him from his thoughts. The darkness spread apart, and Juliette was seen on the ground, in deep, uncontrolable sobs on her knees. This was not a scene Edward had viewed often. Juliette crying around him was about as rare as a real diamond in the Slums. It brought sorrow unto his heart as he approached her form, and reached out to touch her.
The image faded instantly to black just as he was to reach her, and Edward was left staring at the place which held his beloved only a few moments before. This time, smell was the first sense to act. Roses, Dandilions, Tulips. The distinctive smell of the Roxburg Garden, located just outside Juliette’s room came to mind first. That’s when the scene took place, the bright light of the moon and stars covering the area. Edward found himself suddenly at peace. A light moan sounded from behind him, and he instantly turned, to find himself within the Maze that the Roxburgs had their rose bushes installed in. Not many had found the middle, and thus, when Edward had, he took Juliette. the scene was one of impeccable beauty, especially at night. The middle of the maze was a small circle surrounded by an enclosed dome of rose bush, which had a single opening in the middle of it. Within the dome, a Gazebo painted white and dressed in Rose spotted vines stood in the middle of a moat covered with lilly pads. the place was set up so that the light of the moon would shine directly through the opening in the roof of the bush dome, and reflect to shine around the place. Right now, he and Juliette were embraced in a passionate love, much like they were about a week ago.It brought a smile to his face, and the scene went dark yet again as he heard her whisper the words “I love you…” within the memory through a soft moan.
The next scene was not one that Edward remembered, but one that Juliette either meant, or didn’t mean to show him. Either way he saw it, and despite his experiences with Massacres, almost made him sick. His eyes held before him a body, torn to shreds in. Just as quickly, Edward’s mind was grassped with a slideshow of images from each of the murders. All ending with the Angel hung upon the cross. It was something out of a horror story. Hearing a soft breath, he turned to his right, and saw her…covered in blood…shaping words yet he could not understand or hear them. She was the one who was comitting the murders that were speaken of so popularly among the Roxburg household. Then came the image of a woman he didn’t recognize, then the man she had been dancing with as both embraced a shoulder of hers. “You belong to me….” hissed the woman, and with that, she left his arms.
He came back to reality to find himself in the rain with her, just in time to hear her words. “I’m so sorry, Edward…I love you.” As she turned to quickly move away from him, he stood insilence, hastily lifting his arm ever so slightly to take hold of her hand. when she looked to him, she’d find his eyes heavy at his feet, and full of shame and regret. He spoke no word, though simply held her hand for a few moments of silence, as they stood in the rain. Then, in a hushed tone, he spoke. “No….” He yanked her as suddenly as he had previously placed his hand around her throat, pulling her up and into his arms in the same position as before. His lips found hers, and embraced them in a passionate kiss full of longing, love, and lust. It had been long since due that he embraced her, and he’d not pass up this chance. He held her for more than a minute at least, not wanting his lips to ever leave hers, but as tears ran down his face, covered by the rain that hit him as well, he pulled away and allowed her to her feet, wrapping his arms tightly around her. “I am so….irrefutable….sorry my Love.”
Edward then pulled a whimper from her lips as he set her petite form on the ground again. Looking up at her blood doll, she gripped his coat with fear that he was now going to leave her. As her eyes met his desperately, she saw that his own were shedding tears as well. Reaching up, she gently brushed away the rain and tears mixed together on his cheeks and smiled sadly “You have every right to despise me…I am a monster, Edward. A complete monster my family wants me to be…” Shaking her head, she buried her face into his chest as her body was wracked with a new onslaught of sobs “I don’t want this…I don’t want this…so much pain and devastation is left in my wake! Please….please stop me. I deserve to die!” Juliette was unable to speak anymore as she began to sob uncontrollably. All the guilt and pain she had stored up and set aside from her murders and hurtful actions to Edward came flowing out of her as her demon was pushed down. Edward’s embrace and love only seemed to make her more aware of what she had become, and it was someone she didn’t want to be. Standing in the rain, she continued to cling to him as she was unable to speak through her tears.
Ezekiel grinned at Bess, taking her hand gently in his. “Ah, well the least anyone can do is try. You must at least know that your children are, for the most part, wonderful.” Ezekiel glanced towards where Bess, looked only briefly before he understood what she meant. Placing his hand on her hip lightly, he began to move gracefully on the floor with her. Laughing, the demon shrugged, twirling her. “There are many things you don’t know about me, Milady.”
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that something was bothering Bess – Ezekiel had known she and Amos for long enough to realize when something wasn’t right. The wrath demon knew better than to pry, though. Because of this, he merely continued to smile, answering her with a laugh. “Ah, I’ve come alone tonight, actually. Perhaps I’ll meet some lucky woman tonight, though.” He winked at her, before bursting into laughter again. He clearly didn’t mean her – Ezekiel knew his boundaries well. Not to mention the fact that he only viewed Bess as a friend. Her family had become almost like a family to him as well. He would do anything for them, and both Bess and Amos knew that.
Leaning against the pillar, Isabella watched everyone dance, grinning lightly. Many men ventured over and asked her to dance, though she politely declined. Each time, she smiled and winked at them, saying that she was waiting on someone, but perhaps next time.
He watched the others with little interest, and very little actual conentration as to who he was looking at. He had hoped his nieces and/or nephew might at least greet him, but the only two he could see were otherwise engaged. He smiled slightly when he noticed what Bartholomew was engaged in, but it was a very small, almost unnoticable smile.
And it disappeared when he made unintentional eye contact with his mother. His breath caught in his throat and quickened when he recovered it, and his eyes snapped away from hers after a couple seconds. He remained where he was, but he was now very tense and stiff. Avoiding her might anger her, but he prayed to anyone that would listen that she chose not to come over a speak to him.
Levi enjoyed his dance with Fanny well enough, but he was not surprised when Bart came up to claim her. Immediately recognizing the Roxburg son, he forced a smile and stepped back, allowing him to cut him. He winked at Fanny before pulling away from the couple. As they danced, he searched the crowd to find his charge. Seeing Phoebe standing in the corner with a hand to her face, he realized with a horrible feeling that she had been crying. Striding over to her, he pulled her shoulder so she turned around and looked at him. Tears indeed were on her cheeks and he reached down to wipe them off. Frowning, he leaned close and murmured “What is wrong, dearest Phoebe?”
Phoebe looked up, tears streaming down her face as she then buried her face in Levi’s chest. He frowned more and wrapped his arms around her, feeling like a protective older brother as she sat crying in his arms. “Shh…shh…what is it?”
Phoebe turned her face away from the crowd, her cheek resting against his chest as she spoke weakly “I saw…I saw a dead woman in one of the hallways. She…she had blood all over her and she looked so pale.”
Levi’s mouth tightened as he recalled Juliette prowling around in high spirits tonight. So she had fed in public in the face of angels. It took all his strength not to abandon Phoebe to go strangle the demon. Looking down at Phoebe, concern darkened his face as his eyes met hers. “Did someone see you? Was it a woman? Did she say anything?”
The human woman’s face paled as her fingers clenched into Levi’s shirt. Nodding slowly, she whispered “She said she would be seeing me soon…”
Horror and fear mixed in Levi’s eyes as he drew her closer in his arms, not caring how it looked. Phoebe could very well be the reincarnation of a saint, and she was precious to his race. Though he had joked and poked fun at her often, she was as sacred to him as the Virgin Mary. Closing his eyes, he whispered softly into her hair “I’m here, Phoebe. I’m here.”
Phoebe began to cry into his chest, silent but sadly as Levi stood there comforting her in the sea of dancers.
Without a second thought, Agares himself made his way to Amos, slowly pushing through the crowd of people, his eyes set on the man as the sound surrounding him faded from his ears. His vision seemed to tunnel on the man’s back the closer he got, his heart pounding dully in his mind. Upon reaching him, Agares brought the dagger up and into Amos’ back, at the same time opening the earth beneath him and falling into it, closing the hole and reappearing beside his mistress, Lillian. that’s when he called for them, and all hell broke loose. “come forth my dogs of hell. Come as you master calls, and destroy his enemies. come and cover these floors and walls with blood of those who would deny us our right.”
With that his legions of demons slowly began to appear in waves of 30 in full armor and weapons, roaring with gleeful delight in pillars of flame. They then immediately set to destroying all in their path as they made their way to their ultimate target: Amos Roxburg.
Looking down to her, he saw the look in her eyes as she focused on something, or someone behind him. raising a brow, he was about to ask her what the trouble was when he felt the dagger pierce his skin. His chin lifted to the sky and he loosed a demonic roar from his throat in pain and agony. He felt odd as the steel pierced his flesh and seeped into his back. His body tingled as he watched the demons pour in in the thousands. He knew what this was, and he knew who it was that had attacked him. “AGARES!” the words came as another roar. Letting go of his daughter as demons began to rush them, he willed his true form to come forth, yet it wouldn’t. Cursing to himself, he threw his fist into the gut of a demon that had reached him, and it flew through it’s armor and flesh. The Demon dropped it’s sward and fell to the ground as Amos quickly grabbed hold of the blade and readied for another attack. At least his physical attributes stayed at their demonic level. He heard a roar to his right as a demon rushed his daughter, it’s blade held high above it’s head. Amos spun around his daughter, swinging his own sword into the other’s as it came down, slamming it away. Amos then drove the blade into the demon’s gut, and kicked it away. He dropped the sword and turned to his daughter, grabbing her by the shoulders. “Brace yourself my Devil.” with that, he lifted her into the air and threw her to the stage where the band had been playing. The demons surrounding him used this as an opportunity, however.
Amos felt a powerful kick fall into his back and he launched forward to the ground. One by one, demons rushed toward him and began hammering him with feet and fists while laughing. “Not so tough now you holy FUCK!” one of them uttered. That’s when the blade was knocked from Amos’ body and kicked across the floor near the stage. Within a second after wards, Amos erupted into flame as he took his demonic form and the sheer force of it knocked the demons attacking him away about three feet. Amos used this moment to summon his dual blades into his hands, and roar as loud as he could. the demons advanced, but they were no match for Amos’ speed or power as one by one they were cut down.
By this point, the place was cleared of many of the ball’s attenders, and the majority of the demons were rushing Amos in waves. Despite this, he was surviving, and successfully making his way to Agares. Demons came, and demons fell from the fluid strikes of Amos’ blades. All the while, his roars shook the ground and his body gave off a fear full aura that even sent many of the demons attacking to flee. “Elizabeth! Bartholomew! Elvira! To me!”
The two females had transformed into full on werewolves and with their beautiful ballgowns shredded and scattered at their feet, they ripped into the remaining crowd, slashing and taking bites out of the fleeing guests. Up above the wolves that had been guarding the ball, all leapt down from their high places, landing on some of the lower level demons, and the fight was intensifying. In the madness of this moment, the Count himself finally started to change, his skin tearing from his body, to reveal a fully formed wolf beneath. Standing over eight feet on his hind legs, he bayed at the moon on high. Blood and limbs were scattered across the dance floor, where only an hour earlier there had been dancing and frivolity. The Count as the werewolf seemed to have chosen his target…..Lillian. Menacingly, he started to cut his way through the crowd, as Amos was fighting for his life, and calling for his children to flee to safety.
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