•••Cora•••
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"Be careful Ashton. This feels like the beginning of something bad."
Ashton pushed through the door back into the neon hallway, and Luke followed silently behind him. I turned to leave, glancing at the man in the blood red suit one last time. His words haunted me in a manner I couldn't quite describe.
I walked through the door stopped still in the hallway. I closed my eyes to bathe in the neon lights. I just needed a moment to process, to understand, what was really happening. Jimmy was right; if this was a game, I really did need to know the players, and it seemed that I really knew nothing about Ashton or Luke. I guess the only question I'm asking myself now is do I want to?
"It takes a truly sinful one to walk into hell at her own will."
I jerked around, almost tripping over my own pajama bottoms as I did so.
A laugh. A woman's laugh. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." The voice flowed beautifully in a seductive, yet dark tone. The speaker was just as beautiful. She had deep, fire red hair that was pinned up lavishly with a diamond headband. Even in the neon light I could detect her ice blue eyes. She was dressed in a floor length gown as red as her hair, a split up the side revealing three fourths of her perfectly posed leg.
Islamist didn't know what to say at first. I didn't know this woman, and her first sentence was quite ... odd. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"
She walked over closer to me until we were an arms length apart. Leaning against the wall, she looked me up and down, devouring my presence with her icy glare. Now that we were closer though, I detected one flaw in her perfectly symmetrical face. Dark circles curled under her eyes as grey as storm clouds. It was an odd feature on such a beautiful woman; it was something that didn't belong.
"My you're quite something, aren't you?" She reaches out one of her hands, her fingertips barely grazing the side of my cheek. I was too stunned by the strange confrontation to jerk backwards.
"I'm sorry, I really think you've got the wrong per-" I began to object again, but she cut me off.
"Cora. It's a beautiful name. As my husband said, lovely name for a lovely girl."
Husband. Jimmy. I thought back to the conversations I'd witnessed in the red and blue room. I tilted my head. "Demetria?"
She smiled a genuine, warm smile. In was almost unfamiliar to me as I don't believe I'd seen a genuine smile in a while, atleast not one with good intentions. "Come, sit with me Cora. I'd love to speak with you for a moment." She reached out her hand in a gesture of goodwill. And while I was still skeptical, the kindness in her voice won me over. I took her hand in mine and together we walked farther down the hallway. Eventually we reached a set of glass double doors in which pink neon light radiated from the inside. We walked in and sat one of the many black leather booths lined across the room. She sat across from me and folded her hands carefully on the table.
Pink light danced in the gloss on her lips and the diamonds in her hair. And again for a moment she just looked over me in a manner I could not read.
I stung my hands together, trying to think of what to say seeing as I didn't necessarily understand what was happening.
"So, do you know Ashton?" I thought back to Jimmys blunt statement.
"We fucked once, it's true." It was like she had read my mind. She tilted her head as I felt my cheeks burn and immediately avoided eye contact. I couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit of jealously growing within me. She was just so beautiful, I felt like a rough piece of granite trying to compare itself to a perfectly cut ruby. "But we all make mistakes, now don't we Cora dear? Why do you ask?"
"No reason, I just - Well Jimmy mentioned it and I - I don't know. I just met Ashton - I'm just-" It was a pathetic attempt at explaining myself, only inducing further embarrassment. "I'm just trying to fit puzzle pieces together here."
"You're intrigued, I know it." She reached across the table and placed one of her hands on top of mine. I met her eyes. "You crave the unknown Cora, I can sense that in you. That's why you're here, isn't it?"
I nodded, no use in lying. Was I that predictable? That obvious?
"If anyone can gift you the unknown, it's Ashton. He's a powerful man, Cora. And I know you're a woman of your own choices, but I warn you - please be careful. Falling victim to this city's influences is one thing, but actively playing a part in its underground turmoil is another. As Jimmy mentioned, it's all a game. A sick game. It's dangerous. Some of these people Cora, they don't feel like you and I do." Demetria's eerie warning confused me.
"I don't understand..." I started. "Why're you telling me this?" I hadn't noticed but Demetria's grip on my hand had tightened, her fingernails digging slighting into my skin. And she looked at me with gaze I tried to decipher. There was something there, something in her eyes, I just couldn't place it.
But before she could anything else, Ashton came through the glass doors. "Cora-" he started to say something but stopped when he say Demetria. "Cora, I see you've met Demetria...Jimmy's wife." He said cooly.
"Yes, it's been a pleasure." Demetria stood up, and I followed suite. "Such a beautiful girl." And with that she pulled me into a tight hug, placing one hand on my head, and I felt her lips press against my neck and her hot breathe in my ear.
"Beware those closest to you, Cora dear. Don't fall for pretty men with sinful stares."
The words were faint, barely a whisper, but as soon as she finished, she released me. With one hand on my shoulder, she returned her gaze to Ashton. "I hope you find who you're looking for, I truly do. Loss is such a painful situation."
And with that she gave me one final glance before walking to the other end of the room, disappearing behind the glowing pink light.
Ashton turned to me as we stood in the quiet room, facing music being heard from behind the hallway. "I'm sorry that you have had to learn more about me from Belanova than you've had a chance to hear from me."
"You don't owe me an explanation." I avoided eye contact. "I'm here because I'm 'lost', remember? I'm here to help." I recalled the words he had spoken to me in the small bar.
I felt him take a step closer to me. His frame really was large. I noticed he had removed the coat, probably due to the crowded and warm atmosphere of the club. Now he simply wore a black T-shirt, and I could see his muscles rippling from beneath it. He emitted raw power. This was the body of a dangerous man.
I'll admit that only drew me in. What a man like Ashton could do with power like that, I could only imagine.
"What're you thinking, Cora?" He whispered.
Now there were a multitude of responses that I could have gone with. There were many things to be said and there were many things that could've been said. But I didn't. Not now, not quite just yet. As soon as Demetria had walked away, I had felt exhaustion hit me like a wave. Suddenly I could barely keep my eyes open, and it wasn't helping that I was already in silk pajamas. "I'm exhausted." I whispered in return. "It's been a long night."
"Don't you have anything to say? Don't you have any questions?" I could feel him looking at me, but I kept my tired gaze on the floor.
I let out a sigh, the pink neon burned at the corners of my eyes. My vision fell blurry the more I tried to blink the sleep away. Soon Ashton became a shadow, a sole figure of a man surrounded by the pink aura. "Maybe in the morning."
And as I closed my eyes for a moment amidst our silence, it was then, in my slightly confused state, I realized what I hadn't been able to decipher before in Demetria's eyes.
They were
filled with
fear.
Now this simply begged the question:
what was she scared of?
Or maybe -
Who
was she
scared of?
Why?
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Okay okay I know that this was a really short chapter, but that was done on purpose. There's important characterization here, and I wanted that to be the focus of a chapter. Demetria is an important character, so I wouldn't dismiss her. I hope the chapter was worth it though, and I really hope y'all are enjoying the story! Lemme know what you think in the comments! Thank you to everyone who has continued to read!