❝i want you to touch me there make me feel like i am breathing, feel like i am human ❞
𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇...
on the alter of the devil, up
is down, pleasure is pain,
darkness is light, slavery
is freedom, and madness
is sanity
𝐎𝐑...
𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧�...
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VERENA HAD LEARNED FROM A young age that you are either a crow or a pigeon. She could be the hunter or the prey, the puppet or the puppeteer. However, through the early years of her childhood, Verena had been the latter. She had been sold and bought, bloodied and bruised, but as she escaped the shackles that the streets of Ketterdam had on her, she became more. She became powerful and feared, just like the men she had nightmares about as a child. Verena Argyris had become more.
Standing behind the crowded bar, Verena couldn't help but let her eyes wander across the sea of people that had gathered in the club. People huddled around the bar, drowning in alcohol and people gathered around tables to gamble their daily wages away. Although Verena shouldn't feel it, pride had raced through her veins every time she watched what she and Kaz created.
Pouring herself another shot, Verena felt the crack of her knuckles strain against the pressure as she held the overflowing shot glass to her lips causing the broken skin of her lip to sting. In the corner of her eye, the quick movement of two drunken men caught her attention. The shorter man stood up abruptly, making the taller one do the same. Their chests rose up and down with huffs of anger passing through their noses.
"Hey," Verena called out, startling the two men. "Don't make me come over there," she threatened. Her eyes were cold and in slits, her voice low and raspy.
"Sorry, ma'am," the two stuttered out, giving one another a short glare before they scurried away to find another corner to sulk in. A smirk overcame her painted lips at the fear-stricken faces the men held.
Leaving her perch from behind the bar, Verena set the bartender a nod before she slithered her way toward Jesper. He sat at one of the gambling tables with people surrounding him, cards and coins scattered across the dark oak wood that was covered in a thick layer of olive green.
"Aren't you supposed to be at the door?" Verena spoke slowly as she leaned down toward Jesper's ear.
"Saints," he cursed under his breath, moving to the side with his hand over his heart. "You nearly gave me a heart attack, V."
Containing her stoic expression, her lip cracked into a teasing smirk. "I'm just fucking with you, calm down, love," in response, Jesper rolled his eyes. He always said that Verena's constant teasing had always somehow annoyed him, but secretly he loved it. It made it seem like he had the sister he had always wanted and Jesper was like the brother Verena missed. Verena did truly love Jesper with all her heart, just as she loved Inej and Kaz. One thing Jesper truly adored about Verena, is that she'd sacrifice anything to keep her family safe.
"Hey, you take Zemeni coin, yes?" A man pondered as he sat across the long gambling table. His hair was long and curly with streaks of grey running through it while his beard was scraggly and short. He tossed a pouch filled with coins into the dealer's hands.
