Hades and Persephone

[FizzGig]

“Good night, my princess.”

Those words were spoken to her every night before she went to sleep. And every night, roughly a half hour after those parting words, Danielle’s mother would return to double-check that she was asleep, still tucked away safely in her bed. Not that Sarah Alland had any reason to worry that her daughter would suddenly disappear, she was just that sort of woman who could never care too much about the safety and well-being of her only daughter.

So, as Danielle waited beneath the comforter, her vision shrouded in stuffy darkness, she reflected on what had happened during practice earlier that day. Her friend Rei had stepped up to her during one of their routine exercises and whispered in passing that the pair of them were going to go out that evening. It had sent a thrill of excitement through Danielle, nearly upsetting her next round of exercises as she thought and thought of all the things the pair of them could do together. From that moment until now, a smile had never left her face.

”It’ll be at the Czar,” Rei told her as they stretched out on the ballet bar. “A few friends of mine will be meeting us there. Do you have anything you might be able to wear?”

“Probably not,” Danielle replied. “If I’m not in tights, its jeans and polos. Mom won’t let me buy anything else. “

Rei made a face, then waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t you worry. I have plenty of stuff at my place. Tonight we’ll sneak you out and get ready together at my apartment. You’ll be back in your room before your mom will ever know you’re gone. I promise.”

Danielle believed it.

Slowing her breathing, she closed her eyes, clutching her cell phone tightly to her chest as Sarah poked her head inside the door for one last check. There were a few heartbeats of silence, and then a contented sigh, and the door slid shut with a soft click. Immediately after, Danielle threw the covers off, still fully clothed, and made her way to the window.

It didn’t surprise her that Rei was waiting with her hands on her hips, standing across the street and obscured somewhat in shadow. Danielle took a deep breath, gripping the sill with both hands and dragging it up in the slot before slipping out into the cool night air. Her flats clung to the roof tiles, making it easy for her to slip over to the terrace that climbed the side of the house.

A breeze tossed her hair around her face, obscuring her vision for a moment, but masking her steps as she climbed onto the terrace and quickly made her way down to the ground. The light was off, and the curtain drawn in her living room window, so she felt relatively safe as she made her way to the sidewalk, and then continuing on across the street, where she met Rei on the opposite side.

Her friend lifted a brow when she saw what Danielle was wearing. Jeans, a sweater, and flats. The brunette shook her head, clucking under her tongue as she took Danielle by the elbow and proceeded to drag her along.

“We have some work to do, Missy.”
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At the apartment, the girls stood in front of Rei’s bed, and Danielle was allowed to choose from the other girl’s vast selection of clothing. Short, tight, and flashy was more than enough to describe the kind of clothing Rei deemed as appropriate ‘club gear’. Danielle, who had never gone before tonight, wouldn’t have known otherwise.

“You want something that’ll show off your body.” Rei explained. “But, not so much that people will think you’re a skank.” She gave the other girl a once-over, feeling the smallest twinge of jealousy for the way Danielle’s face always looked flawless even without makeup, and her hair, as curly as it was, could be arranged in countless ways and always look absolutely stunning.

Danielle, in short, was just a stunning young woman.

“Are you sure these things weren’t made for dolls?” Danielle asked, picking up what looked like a tube top and holding it between her thumb and forefinger. “Will I be able to breathe in any of this?”

“Only one way to find out.” Rei replied cheekily.

Eventually, Danielle settled on a blush pink halter-top, a jean miniskirt, and wedges that gave her a four inch boost in height. Rei gave her gold bangles to wear, and loosely pinned her hair back with a white Hibiscus clip. As Rei got ready, choosing a small black dress for herself, Danielle was allowed to have a look at herself in the mirror.

She turned to the side, smiling the whole time, and finally had to laugh. “Mom would kill me if she saw this.”

“But you look fabulous.” Rei replied pointedly, wiggling from side to side to adjust the tight form of the dress. Danielle nodded, lifting her chin and pushing her hair back behind her shoulders.

“Yeah.” She said with an affirming nod. “I do.”
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I can’t believe we’re actually doing this.Danielle thought to herself as she walked with Rei, arm in arm, up to the entrance of the Czar. Since both of the girls were over 21, the line for them was much shorter, though as they made their approach, they drew a lot of stares. Rei looked from the men in line to Danielle and back again, sighing a little before smiling.

“You’re attracting quite a bit of attention, Missy.”

“That’s the point, isn’t it?” Danielle replied, looking almost confused. Rei stopped, then laughed.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

The women made it into the club without too much fanfare, and the first thing Danielle noticed about the place was how loud it was. Music she didn’t recognize pounded over countless numbers of speakers, and dim lighting combined with kerosene fog had given the place a smoky haze. All around were women and men, couples of all sorts mingling together, drinking, laughing, and smoking. She took it all in with wide eyes, her lips parted in wonder at the atmosphere. A thrill of excitement moved through her when she started to pick up the tempo of the music, her heart beating faster at the prospect of getting to dance. Truly dance, not dance in the way her mother had always appreciated.

The first room the girls entered had an elegant bar counter, with a display of liquors backlit with multi-colored lighting. Three bar tenders were working, shaking drinks, smooth talking the customers, and smoking as well. Rei lead them over to the smooth surface, and they were at once approached by a taller man with more ink than skin.

Danielle loved it.

“Sex on the Beach. Two!” Rei shouted over the noise of the music. Danielle shot her a look.

“Just a mixed drink!” Rei explained. Danielle stared for a moment longer, then nodded her understanding. They were given the citrusy drink, which Rei put on her personal tab, and Danielle found herself whisked away to the next room.

Here, there were more places to mingle, with couches and pool tables and another set of bars. Poles had been set up all around the room, with a few of them occupied by scantily-clad dancers. They wore heels that put Danielle’s to shame, fishnet stockings and lingerie, but Danielle had to admire the grace with which they moved, and wondered idly what people would do if she decided to hop up on one of the poles. She wanted to linger a bit, but Rei was insistent, pulling her along to the third and final room, the one that housed the main dance floor.

Danielle sipped her drink, hanging onto it with one hand, and Rei the other. The pair walked up to the edge of the dance floor, the music sending vibrations through Danielle’s chest as she watched a few couples bump and grind on one another in a most…sensual fashion. Her brow furrowed as she studied the ways the pairs moved with one another, almost as if they were one person rather than two.

She wanted to try it. Badly. But there wasn’t another man around to dance with.

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, there was a hand at her elbow, causing her to turn and look into the bright blue eyes of a taller young man, with a tousled crown of blonde hair and a winning smile. He was broad in the shoulders, with a narrow waist, a casual tilt to his posture that suggested he was all confidence.

“Wanna dance?” he asked her, reaching to brush a red curl back away from her cheek. Almost uncertainly, she looked to Rei, who took her drink from her hand and waved her on.

“Have fun!” Rei shouted.

Danielle let the young man lead her out to the dance floor, finally coming to stand in front of her before he gently took her wrists and put them around his neck. Then, with large hands, he grasped her waist and pulled her in closer, one knee slipping in between hers as he began to rock and sway in time with the music, his hips moving against hers. It made her feel warm, almost self-conscious, but when she started to match his movements, thinking less about what she was doing and more about what she was feeling then she really started to enjoy herself.

And nearly every male eye wished it could have been them.

[Sonata]

The Czar was a dark and surprisingly cool club despite all the bodies being clustered within it. The dance floor glowed with red lamp light hanging over the mortal men and women that moved like an ocean to the pulse and beat of remixed songs. The bar on the second floor was lit with white light, glowing like a beacon for thirsty visitors to congregate to in order to find replenishment. Fans kept heat scattered and circulated throughout the room—one in particular hanging over the heads of five men seated within one of the lounge areas on the second floor.

There were two couches and a chair surrounding an oval table littered with empty tumblers and ash trays. A dancer was swaying before one of the men, twisting her hips and raising her arms in the air to show off her quivering bosom snuggled tightly together within a corseted, green top. Four of the men were watching with long smirks tugging on their lips. The woman, as she was to mortal eyes, was far from human. The men on the couch were demons, grinning and flicking their forked tongues at the succubus that danced her fiery dance. Her spaded tail whipped about as she danced on the balls of her feet, her body so light she could levitate.

Fire ran up and down her black skin and her red hair swished about ivory horns. Her yellow eyes fell on the man she was trying to tease, her jagged teeth clinched into a pleasant grin until she noticed his eyes were not on her. Slowly, her grin collapsed into a frown of anger. Who and what was more interesting than her?

The succubus turned and spread her legs over the man’s lap. She dipped low until her crotch hovered just above his own, and she took his hands in her hands, resting them on her hot hips and sliding them back across her buttocks as her tail snaked its way beneath his burgundy dress shirt, brushing across his firm abdomen. Peeking over her shoulder, she smiled when she saw that she had his attention. Beneath his dark brows, his eyes were on her bottom, but just as quickly, they traveled elsewhere once again.

The succubus straightened and hissed angrily before she stormed away from the lounge. The four men stared wide-eyed at their boss, wondering if he had gone down the crooked path and hadn’t told them.

“Boss?” one of the men called. No response. “Mr. Ruslan?” Still no response. “Sir?”

Dmitri blinked as though waking from a trance and cast his honey eyes to the man addressing him. “Yes?” he questioned.

“What has caught your eye, my lord that is more interesting than the dance of a succubus?”

The mafia boss smirked before raising his hand and directing their eyes with a pointed finger to the mob below. The four demons didn’t have to search too hard to spot the voluptuous, young lady dancing with a mortal. Her divine brilliance was difficult to miss as she shined like a star against the dimmed atmosphere.

“How the fuck did I miss that?” one of the henchmen spoke.

“What is a goddess doing here?” another questioned.

“Who is she? I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before,” said another.

Dmitri rose from his seat and replied, “I’ll go find out."


With every leisure step he took, he crossed meters and yards. The club blurred around him, mortals smeared in a black and orange splotch that briefly became defined when his foot swung out to take another step. Dmitri reached out with his hand to firmly grasp the shoulder of the blond that had been grinding against the apple of his eye. The blond man’s blue eyes glanced down to the fingers on his shoulder before he was then effortlessly pulled from Danielle’s grasp and deposited out of the darker gentlemen’s way.

“Hey buddy, can’t you wait your turn?” the blond angrily protested.

Dmitri stood before the red-head, his golden hues inspecting her face beneath dark, framing brows. His hair was combed back, the oil that gave it a gentle sheen glinting in the club light. His strong jaw was closely shaven and the length of his tanned neck and the muscles that composed it were presented visibly down to his collar by the open, first button of his black shirt. The cologne that emanated delicately from his person was a light, pungent spice, citrus, musk, and smoked hickory that teased like a silk ribbon against her nose.

The blond that had been with her was ignored—the male turning to find another girl with an irritable huff. Dmitri drank in the lush-green of her eyes; yes, an apple, she was like a ripe apple ready for the picking and his large, rough hands took hold of her smooth ones. He raised her right arm to slowly guide her into a twirl that had her back face him, and the mafia boss stepped up behind her until her back was against his chest and her bottom against his front. He guided her right hand to the back of his neck, leaving her fingers to grope at the prickly, blades at his nape as his hand slid down her right side, tracing her curves to her denim-clad hip before sliding to her front to rest against her flat-tummy. He closed his eyes as he eased his nose closer to the waves of her fiery hair, quietly inhaling her scent that was sweeter than any mortal perfume. His left hand remained interlocked her in left, fingers curled and thumb inspecting their softness.

“You’re quite beautiful. I couldn’t help noticing you from afar,” Dmitri informed, his voice a smooth, rumble against her ear.

Raising her left hand, he twirled her back around to face him, his hands catching her hips.

“I hope you’re not upset that I had stolen you away. I assure you, I’m a much better dancer.”

A witty smirk tugged at the corner of Dmitri’s mouth.

[FizzGig]

As the music pulsed all around them, Danielle kept one hand at the back of the young man’s neck, the other traveling to his shoulder, down the smooth expanse of muscled chest. He was warm and damp with sweat, giving off a slight odor that she found both strange and alluring. It reminded her of dancing with one of her contemporary partners. The movements were sensual, yes, but it was just dancing. Not much more than that.

One hand was at her hip, helping her move, and his face came ever closer as he reached his free hand to brush her hair back away from her face. She smiled up at him, all but glowing with pleasure as he put his lips to her ear and asked her name.

“Danielle,” she replied, her lips close to his cheek. “Yours?”

“Aaron.” Came his breathy response.

The floor filled up quickly, so that it wasn’t just a few scatterings of couples, but an entire mass of people moving as one. Even though Danielle was dancing specifically with the young man, she could feel others shifting behind her, constantly moving. At one point, she thought she could see Rei dancing with another young man. She looked to be as happy as Danielle felt. Really? What on earth could be so bad about doing this every once in a while?

She was about to pose a question to Aaron, but a hand on his shoulder brought her up short, and the pair of them froze, broken away from the magical daze as Aaron’s eyes slid sideways to the fingers that clasped him. Then, just like that, Aaron was pulled away, and there was another man replacing him. Danielle’s brow puckered, a protest rising on her lips before she met the other man’s golden eyes.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Aaron’s protests fell on deaf ears as the pair gazed at one another, the air between them electrified by something Danielle couldn’t quite explain. Suddenly in the presence of this man, she realized how incredibly … flat … and open Aaron had been, as though he were made of paper, and just as thin and readable. She didn’t think she’d ever met a man like him in her entire life.

Knowing that her eyes were wide, lips slightly parted with her surprise, she tried to close her mouth, to swallow past the dry lump in her throat. She blinked slowly, taking a deep breath of the heady smell of his cologne, and tried for a small smile, her eyes flashing with the pulsing lights.

When his hands took hers, she lightly wrapped her fingers around his, stepping easily into the twirl he guided her into, and nestled against his chest, a shudder running down her spine as his hand traced the curve of her side. Her fingertips played with his thick, dark hair, her hand slipping closer to cup his jaw as she turned her face closer to his. That scent, like being in the thick of a dark wood, swallowed her up, relaxing her, stirring that electrifying sensation that seemed to pulse with the music.

She bit her lip as he spoke, complimenting her beauty, her eyes slowly lifting to glance at the side of his face.

He twirled her to face him, the movement fluid and easy to accommodate. When his hands caught her hips, she smiled, looking up at him through her lashes as she reached to play with the ‘v’ of his collar, tilting her head to one side contemplatively. She’d seen Rei do that once or twice, and it usually got a good response out of the men.

“I don’t mind,” she told him, stepping closer and pressing her chest to his, her chin lifted slightly as she inspected his face, finally staring into his eyes as though she was attempting to see right through them.

“I know I won’t be disappointed.”

Her right arm fell to her side, left hand curled to cup the back of his neck. “I’m Danielle, by the way. What’s your name?”