💎𝟥𝒱𝓈 𝓍 𝑅𝑒𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓇💎

Part 4

My eyes fluttered open to the sound of shouting in the hall. I groaned, flopping out of bed. I staggered to the door and swung it open. In the hall were Vox, Val, and the four-armed dancer from yesterday. They all stopped yelling to stare at me. 

"Aw shit, we woke you didn't we? Sorry y/n," Vox said with a wince. The dancer put his hands on his hips and said with a thick accent, "Ah, so that's what Val's newest recruit is called. I'm Angel. Pleasure." He stuck out a hand and I gingerly shook it.

"Hey," hissed Val. "Let's get back to the matter at hand Angel cakes. Care to explain what you were doing getting involved in a turf war with your girl? When I specifically told you that there were BUYERS- MY buyers- at work that required your services?"

"Wait... turf wars?" I asked. This world just gets crazier every minute.

"Yeah, after every cleanse demons fight over certain areas. And Angel went and got his fat ass broadcasted all over the news," Vox grumbled. He put a hand on his hip and shook his head.

"Listen Val, your buyers are still here, are they not? Ya know I can't resist a good fight, and Cherri needed me. Besides, I already got a scolding from Princess Goody-Two-Shoes. Stupid bitch," Angel said, exasperated.

"Well, you're gonna make up for it, aren't you Angel baby?" Val hissed, narrowing his eyes. Angel blinked, something like fear glistening in his eyes. 

"You're gonna take a double shift today," Val snapped. Angel shrieked, "What?! Val, I can't do that!"

"And NO PAY."

"Val! C'mon! Was it really that bad?" Angel begged. I felt for him. From what I had seen of Val, he was a no mercy kinda guy. Val glared at Angel, who let his head drop. He let out a mumbled, "Yes mister Valentino." Val let out a laugh that sent a shiver down my spine. "Alright, now off you go. Any complaints and it'll be the same routine tomorrow." 

Angel crossed his arms and walked off, hiding his face.

Val sighed and rubbed his temples. 

"Sorry you have to see me be the bad guy y/n," Val said. "Well, I mean, we are in Hell, so naturally I am the bad guy. But I didn't mean to show that side in front of you." Vox gave Val a curious look.

What did he mean by 'in front of you'?

"Anyways, sorry I woke you too," Val finished. I shook my head with a smile and said, "Don't be sorry, it's okay. Do what you have to do." He looked at me strangely and said, "You really are adorable, just like Velvet said." Vox looked between us with an expression of even more confusion.

"Ah, uh, thanks," I said, laughing nervously. It was one thing to be called adorable by Velvet. She probably called everyone adorable. But Val? That seemed out of his range.

Val opened his mouth as if he was gonna say something but Vox cut him off, "Alright, now I'm going to finish that tour with y/n like I promised yesterday. And this time WITHOUT Velvet." He linked arms with me and my face flushed.

Valentino crossed his arms and let out an annoyed breath. "Fine, just be fast."

He turned and walked back to the main stage room, leaving just Vox and I. 

"Well, you've already seen your room I see, and you've already walked past the dancer's rooms, so, let's head back to the main stage room," Vox said, rocking back and forth on his feet. 

We walked arm in arm silently down the hallway, the only sound being our footsteps and the electronic music coming from the speakers in the main stage room. Once we entered the main room we could see Val and the same two girls on the couch smoking and watching Angel Dust on the stage. From what I could see, he was a very good dancer. 

Vox gestured around the room and said leisurely, "This is obviously the main stage room, where only the most prestigious of dancers get to work. Then usually work and perform for the big man himself." He pointed at Val.

"So I assume Valentino runs everything around here," I said. Vox nodded. "And does that mean you and Velvet work here too?"

Vox's face flushed, "Uh, yeah. We both do. Vel usually wanders around and waits to get approached by a client. I usually have appointments every so often." I nodded, looking around for Vel. And finally, I saw her leaning against the railing with a lollipop in her mouth, her hair pulled back into an enormous ponytail. Her cutesy dress was replaced with a tight jumpsuit with a skirt in the back. 

Once we made eye contact, she waved like her life depended on it, a wide smile on her face. She looked like a whole other person when she was working. Even if the work was a little... strange... I guess it could be worse.

"Alright, let's move on before she comes over to harass me," Vox muttered. He led me to the elevator and we both slowly descended to the first floor. While we rode down, Vox explained that the different floors were for different purposes like pole dancing, VIP rooms, aerial silks, hoops, cages, and there was even a floor for gambling and drinking. He said the first floor was where you checked in with your appointment or to see where to go to see what.

"How did Valentino even get all of this?" I asked once we reached the bottom.

As we stepped out he simply answered, "Well, he's obviously an overlord. And a pretty damn powerful one at that, if you haven't noticed." I nodded yet again, remembering what he did to Vox the night before and Angel this morning. 

"I'm sorry about what he did to you yesterday. I really don't think you deserved that," I finally said. He looked at me strangely. "What he did wasn't your doing, I'm not sure why you're apologizing."

"I don't know. I guess I feel like I'm apologizing on Val's behalf since I know he probably won't do it on his own. I don't know why, but I don't want any of you to be unhappy," I said. Why was I even telling him this? He probably doesn't even care.

"Well, that means a lot, so thanks, I guess," Vox said, looking away. I smiled to myself as he cleared his throat and said, "We should probably get back to Valentino or he'll have our heads."

I smiled at him and held out my arm. "Then shall we?"