Welcome to Gaia! ::

Renci smiled as the two emerged from the bathroom and took their seat at the kitchen island. “It’s no worry at all. I’m used to hosting events. I just kind of fall into the role. If anything, I should apologize for going through your kitchen uninvited,” she said with her head in the fridge as she moved some stuff around. When she saw the Dr. Pappa she mentally cheered. She loved that stuff. She became somewhat addicted to it not that long ago and had to wean herself off as she had started to gain weight. Her rule now was no Dr. Pappa in the house. She only got it when she would go out to eat. Eating over Liam’s counted as going out to eat, right? It wasn’t at her place so she considered fair play. After filling up three glasses, she placed a glass in front of each of them before taking her place by Liam. It took her a bit longer to finish her meal than the two men. The ramen had been very hot so it took a few quiet blows between bites to cool it down. She wasn’t one who could just dig into hot food like it didn’t burn the s**t out of her mouth. She was very formal in her eating, making sure to not make a mess around her space and outwardly making slurping noises was an absolute not. As she ate with one hand, the wrist of the other was gently placed on the edge of the island. Her back was straight and not hunched over the food. She didn’t get herself a spoon so she would drink the broth from the bowl but she only used three fingers from each hand to pick it up, and as cliché as it sounds, yes her ring finger and pinky were extended. She had eaten like she was used to being in a place of fine dining.

Normally she would clean up right after finishing a meal, but they did have a movie to watch and it would be awkward to delay it as she washed dishes. If it were her place then she would absolutely wash dishes while she told the men to go ahead and she would catch up, but she had to remind herself that she was a guest. She was ready to get up their eating spot but then Viktor got a text and announced he would have to leave to help out with band equipment. That’s unfortunate, she thought as she was really looking forward to their thoughts on the movie. But some other time. She wove goodbye at Viktor as he left with a ‘it was nice to meet you’. She then heard the lock turn on the other side; he had his own key. That made her kind of jealous but she had just started to hang out with Liam so it would take time. That was fine. She would give him all the time he needed. He would end up with her anyway so what was the rush. She stood up, ready to take her leave as well, feeling like she had encroached on his space enough for one night, not wanting to over stay her welcome. “Well, I guess—” is as far as she made it as she stood when she felt Liam grab her by the wrist. She looked back at him, listening as he pleaded with her to stay and giving puppy dog eyes. She couldn’t help but to smile and give a nod of her head. His puppy dog eyes were very compelling. Who was she kidding. She was happy that he had asked her stay. It seemed like her plan to take care of Donald though kept getting delayed. Did he know what she was planning and was trying to distract her so that she didn’t carry it out? Highly and very unlikely. Even Kelsey didn’t know what she had planned. All the same, Liam was way more important than the asshat. “Of course. We can finish the movie. I’m glad you like it so far. But at the end you’re going to have to give me a full report on your thoughts. Complete with referencing specific scenes” Of course she was just kidding, giving a light giggle as she took his other hand with her free hand and led him back over to the couch. She wasn’t shy about body parts touching this time around. In fact, she had gone back to sitting the way she was before with her body slightly twisted so her arm could rest on the back of the couch but instead of crossing her legs, she had scooted close to him and draped one leg across his; doing so in a casual way as she reached for the remote to start the movie up again. A gutsy move but she believed in high risk and high reward. Especially now that Viktor wasn’t there to supervise, she could be a little naughty.

She had only seen the movie once herself and had forgotten about key details. There was an ‘oh s**t’ from her every once in a while at pivotal graphic scenes, but she tried to keep in mind to keep quiet. It was difficult. She was used to yelling at the screen with Kelsey as if the people in the movie could actually hear them. It was their way of having fun. She didn’t want to ruin the experience for Liam though so she kept as quiet as she could. Besides, she had been somewhat focused on his mannerisms all night. He was such a cool customer. Not freaking out about anything. If the blood from his leg didn’t freak him out then she wondered what would. She would need to know this is she were to protect him the best she could. She needed to know what to save him from. But again, this was just one night and one experience. She would learn more the more time she spent around him. She was looking forward to that.

Renci was aware that Liam kept putting his eyes on her but she wouldn’t acknowledge it and kept paying attention to the movie.  She had learned, eventually…maybe, to not point out or react to every single thing.  That some things were okay to be left alone as they were. If he wanted to explore her features with his eyes then so be it.  She would just continue to be herself.  But then, she felt his hand on her thigh. This warranted a reaction and she felt her face getting hot.  She didn’t know why, this is the reaction she wanted but actually getting it was a different story.  She smiled as she turned to face him, but then got a bit concerned.  “Liam? Are you okay?” she asked, looking into his half lidded, glazed over eyes. Her breath caught as he tightened his grip on her thigh, him looking over her body. She was following his eyes and before she knew it, his lips were upon hers.  He kissed her aggressively, holding her head in place as he pulled her to him and she would match his energy; wrapping her arms around his neck so as to keep him locked in.  He would feel the same spark in their kiss, the thing that he had craved more of and tried to get in the car with Viktor. The thing that was all so pleasant yet had a little sting to it as if to spice up the moment. She could add so much more to the moment, much more pleasurable sensations with the use of her magic but she didn’t.  She wanted him to know that this is what it organically felt like to be with her in this way.  As he moved her down onto the couch, she didn’t resist at all.  She looked back into his eyes as he loomed over her.  At first there was nothing but lust in her eyes, but then she smiled having the clarity that it was Liam above her and she wouldn’t want it any other way.  Her left hand had found it's way up his shirt, touching the bare skin of his back. She used her nails to scratch down his back. Nothing too gentle or too hard. Just enough to leave some red lines down his back. When she heard a moan come from him, she gently bit his lip, minus the fangs, before going back into the kiss.  She didn’t know what he liked or how he liked it but she was more than willing to learn. Her body would be his playground and she was a very exciting playground.  She had been forced into intercourse when she was 16, somewhere back in the 1800’s.  She had pleased many men and women of different races and those who didn’t identify as either. Want to know how to please a blob where you couldn’t tell which end was up? She could tell you. She had become excellent at it as the more she pleased the more favor she found and finding favor was a necessity to her survival. Nothing was off limits with her.
 
She didn’t hear the first ring, but the second got through to her.  She eco'ed his groan as she pulled away from him to fetch her phone from her back pocket. She already knew who it was from the ringtone. Anyone she would have ignored but she had to take this one.

“Hey,” she said into the phone as her finger traced over Liam's lips

“Hey, what are you doing?”

She sensually slid her finger into his mouth as she continue to talk, “Nothing. Just hanging out”

There was a brief moment of silence from the other end as if Renci’s life decisions were being evaluated. “Jon has an assignment for you”

“I just did something for him like what…last month?” She pulled her finger out of his mouth and placed it into her own

“Yea, but he has another one"

She removed the finger from her mouth and gave a sigh, “Why is he being needy. It's not like I don't have other stuff to do.”

"Apparently an inspection of another important business.  He wants it done within the next two weeks"

This caused her eyebrows to raise in surprise as she became more invested in the conversation, “First, absolutely not. For the time it takes to prepare, I’m not going to put myself in a situation where I’m rushing like a mad woman.  I won’t even have the letter written up to send to the site.  Second, why didn’t he come to me himself”. There was authority in her voice as she spoke. There was one thing that could be said about her, she refused to let anyone push her around.

“First, He’s insistent. Second, the hell if I know”

“He can insist my a**” she said as she went back to half listening, moving some of Liam's hair from out of his face

“…Nice comeback. Anyway, he wanted to throw in that he has your managers number”

This caused Renci to pause in what she was doing and go still. “Is he in town”

“Yea, for the next two days then he’s leaving"

"Okay, I’ll meet up with him to get this sorted. Don't worry about it."

"Aye aye captain"

"Thanks Kelsey"

“Ugh, ********> she said as she hung up the phone and pinched the bridge of her nose. After a second, she moved her hand and looked into Liams dark ash brown eyes, apology written all over her face.  “I’m sorry. I’m going to have to go. Something important just landed in my lap and I need to get ahead of it.” She and Kelsey had learned to speak in code when around others. What the call really meant was Jon Van Dunn, a powerful vampire, had a kill list for her. He paid well but he wasn’t that important to her.  Whatever he wanted could wait.  Until Kelsey mentioned the manager part. That meant he had someone watching her. He dare threaten her and those important to her?  She would absolutely destroy whoever he had on her in the worst way. But as for him, well he had officially ******** around and now he was about to find out.  He would learn tonight that she was not one to be threatened. She knew where he stayed when he was in town. Surely he would appreciate a surprise visit from her. After all, he wanted her attention so bad.
 
As for Liam, she sat up on the couch, gently pushing him off of her as she stood up.  She hated to leave him like this.  How far would the night have taken them? She didn’t know and now she wouldn’t get the chance to find out.  She was enjoying where it was headed but maybe the universe was telling her something.  She did believe that everything happened for a reason. Maybe she was being too forward with him after what Donald did. She wanted him in that way but apparently now was not the time. Seemed like now was not the time for a lot of things she wanted. As for her temperament, she kept her cool as if everything was okay. “Maybe we can hang out some other time,” she said as she started to walk toward the door. She then realized how it sounded and didn't want 'hang out' to mean always being down each other's throat. “I mean like, play some video games or something.” Wait, did that sound like she wasn't enjoying herself? She had a hard time managing her anger and other emotions...which turned her into the blathering fool. “I mean...we can just do whatever.” Ugh, give up while you're ahead. “I'm just going to stop talking now,” she said, with a small chuckle at how awkward she was being. “See you later,” was honesty the last thing she said as she gave him a wave before exiting his apartment.

She jogged down the stairs and sped walked to her car, which was parked over by the club; about a ten minute walk. She couldn't wait to get inside of it and start driving. She was absolutely livid with Jon. “******** b*****d,” she said to no one as she started to speed once out of the city limits. He liked to house up in an old mansion on the outskirts of town. No doubt he would have his goons all over the place to handle anything or anyone who was unwelcome because heaven forbid he gets off his a** and does it himself. That was fine, she more than ready to take out his entire compound. Their deaths would be quick, but his...oh no. She had something special planned for him.

She immediately put her car in park and killed the engine once she made to the large iron gate protecting the property. No doubt he knew she was on her way thanks to the one he had follow her. Speaking of which, she tucked her car keys in her pant pocket as she walked toward a car that was pulling up behind her. She didn't stop walking as the car started to slow down. Before it come to a complete stop, she jumped on top of it and punched in a downward motion, putting a hole through the hood of the car. She had gone right through the engine as she pulled her arm out. The sudden force had jostled the driver but before he could get a handle on what was happening, Renci had pulled the door off the car and dragged him out, throwing him onto the ground. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was just doing what I was told!” Renci looked down at him with no emotion on her face. “Do you even know who I am?” she asked. It wasn't a face she was familiar with. She knew the primary players of the game and those who closely rubbed shoulders with them and those who followed them like a loyal dog. It was her business to keep tabs on as many as she could. She wondered if he had just recently decided to dip his toe into the game “No, I don't,” the man said in fear, searching her eyes thinking maybe he would get spared. “I see. Unfortunately, that's not an excuse,” she said plainly as she swiftly brought her foot down, squishing his head like a grape as blood and brain poured out, decorating the gravel.

She gave a twist of her foot in the mess of the henchman before heading over to the iron gate. She looked it up and down before kicking it in at the lock, the gate swinging open as if someone had pushed it too hard. Her feet left the ground as she flew toward the mansion. However, before she could get to the door there were a number of beings coming in her direction. Not wanting to deprive anyone of their punishment, she lowered herself to the ground and just stood there, letting them come to her. There were vampires, werewolves, wereleapards, some fae from the Unseelie court...there was probably more but she stopped paying attention as she took them all on at once. There were only about twelve of them, not even a workout for her as she politely removed heads from bodies, tore bodies in half, tore heads in half, twisted heads all the way around to break the neck before punching through their torso to rip out their heart; all while avoiding punches, kicks, magic, whatever they threw at her. By the end, she barely had a hair out of place though she was thoroughly pissed off; her eyes glowing a bright white. Jon thought he could win with quantity, which normally may have been the situation but in this case, her quality out did his quantity.

Word had reached that all his perimeter guards had been put out of commission. This caused him to panic. “Stop her,” he said to the guards at the front door as he made his way down to the security of the basement, bringing his top two guards with him.

She continued to fly across the compound until she landed at the front door. Just like the gate, she kicked it in though this time it went flying off its hinges. She was met with a barrage of gun fire as she entered the estate. She put up a shield around herself as she made her way through the room of guards, treating them as she treated the others. She didn't hold back as she annihilated their numbers; they kept coming in waves from throughout the building but they weren't enough to take her down. In the after math, she did keep one alive as she held him off the ground with her hand around his throat. “Where is he,” she simply asked. The man had a hard time speaking but he managed to say the word basement. Renci then crushed his throat and slammed his head into the ground with enough force to break his skull. She levitated, making her way to the basement. She passed up some humans, scared for their life as she floated past them. Men, women, children, no doubt being kept for feeding and entertainment. When she came to a winding case of steps, she floated down them, landing herself at the base of the stairs. There was a reinforced metal door between her and him. It was a strong door as this is where the coward would hold up when someone tested his army. One kick, two kicks, and three was the lucky number as it opened. As she thought, there he was with two of his best guards. The ones who had been the last defense for a reason. No one got past them. But when you take on small time opponents, it wasn't hard to say you were the baddest of the bad. They both rushed her at the same time. She dodged their blows for a minute before going on the attack. One of them had managed to block her...good for him. This only caused her to get even more angry as she dodged an attack from both of them. They attacked at the same time and she dodged it, taking hold of both of their heads and slamming them together. Needless to say, they wouldn't be getting back up. Having defeated all of his guards, Renci put her eyes on Jon.

“So you move up a couple of ranks and think you're a bad b***h, huh?” her voice reverberating as she spoke

“That's not what I meant-”

“Shhh, shhh, shh.” She held up a hand as if to tell him to stop talking, “I don't give a ******** what you meant. You had someone following me? Following ME!? You know what happened to that person? His head is mush that I still have stuck to my shoe. You know what happened to ALL of your goons? They're dead. So if I did that to them, what do you think I'm about to do to you”

“No! I didn't mean any disrespect!”

“But didn't you? You went through Kelsey? What play was that? Trying to find further leverage?”

“No!- Renci”

She closed her eyes and shook her head before looking at him again. “Don't say my name. You don't get to say my name.” He was one of the few who knew her actual name. 99.5% of the rest of the world only knew her as Lady Death. He, on the other hand, had overheard a conversation that wasn't meant for his ears. She should have killed him then and there but she didn't when he offered to practically double the fee she charged for her services and keep his mouth shut.

“Death, I--” is all he got out before she rushed him, punching him hard enough that she knocked him out but didn't kill him. He had 'toys' in his basement as this is where he would torture beings. Shackle to them to the wall, chain them down to the stainless steal table with groves for draining the blood from the table. An iron maiden, a brazen bull. He had a flare for the medieval. She looked around at her options before settling on the table. She threw him on top of it and locked him in using the built in cuffs at each wrist and the ankles. She then slapped him a bit to get him to wake up. “Wha-” he said as he looked around confused. That confused turned into fear as he realized his situation. He struggled against the restraints, unable to get out as he had them built to hold down the strongest of beings. “You've done so much to other people. Maybe it's about time you paid your debt in flesh.” She picked up a sharp knife and walked over to him. She ripped his shirt and pants off then started to slowly remove skin from his chest before moving down to his legs. “How fast do you heal?” she asked as she looked at him. “Don't tell me. I'll find out myself.” The next hour was spent flaying him alive, his screams echoing off the walls of the basement. When his screams stopped being sufficient for her, she bit him. Her dainty fangs made it hurt because they weren't ideal for piercing so it felt more like someone just out right biting into his neck, but in addition to that her saliva caused much pain. However, she didn't just bite him, she ripped the skin from his neck, spitting it out on the ground before drinking up his blood. This new pain brought him all the way back to the living world. She stopped drinking as his screams went back to pleasing her. “That's a good boy,” she said as she got back to work on him. She would stick thin needles under his nails before removing his nails all together. She did this on both hands. Looking back at the tools at her disposal, she saw a drill. This made her smile. She picked it up, pressing the button to see if it still worked. It did. “Now what do you think we could with this?” she asked, smiling down at him before using the drill on his eyes, his scrotum, and other sensitive parts of his body.

A good three hours had passed since she started her torture. He had been flayed, drilled, burned, and a number of other punishments. Soaked in blood, she made her way back up the stairs and to the front door. Before leaving the house, she would stand in the doorway and summon a fire from the depths of her soul. It engulfed her in a blue flame that she let radiate around her before she pushed it out in a blast wave to fill everything surrounding her. The doorway exploded with the force as the rest of the house went up in flames. She didn't care who was still in it as she destroyed it.

She made her way back to her car and opened the door, about to get in before she remembered she was covered in blood. “Ah, S.O.B.” she said as she removed her shirt, pants, and shoes, putting them in her trunk. The drive home was more pleasant that the drive to the mansion. She felt better having dealt with Jon. Once she made it home she parked in the garage then removed the soiled clothes from the trunk, dropping them off in the laundry room before making her way to her bedroom. On the way to the bathroom for a shower, she passed up Liam's ring that was sitting on her night stand. It made her smile to think of him. She wondered what he was doing now. She thought about sending him a text but she wasn't in the right head space for it. Instead, she showered and went to bed.

----------------------------

It wasn't her alarm that woke her up. It was a text message. A text message from Angelica saying she had training in three hours and to not be late. Barely awake, she squinted at the screen, reading it twice before groaning. Why did she have training all of a sudden. Then she thought of Jon and sat up in fear. There's no way she knows about that already...right? A lump formed in her throat as she got out of bed and got herself ready. She would pretend to be confused as to why the sudden training session. I mean, training with Angelica was an on-going thing but usually she only did 'get here now' training when she was mad at her for something.

Having packed a gym bag, she noticed the napkin on her nightstand containing Liam's number. Oh that's right, I still haven't messaged him. She programmed his number into her phone then thought on what to say to him for a few seconds before typing out a message. Hey, good morning! It's Ceecee. Just wanted to say I hope you have an awesome day. She included a smiley face at the end of the message then hit send before running to her car.

As Renci sat waiting at a red light, she heard her phone go off. She picked it up to see that it was a message from Liam wishing her a good day as well. This made her smile. Maybe I should follow him to see what his day is like, she thought. But that would depend on how this training session was about to go. There was little that phased her but she had a bad feeling about this. No one in the world knew her like Angelica did and if she wanted to make Renci's life miserable, she had the ability and power to do so.

She pulled up at the gym, parked, and grabbed her gym bag before entering the building. It was a huge building that had a full size gym and multiple private rooms for workout classes. It also had two pools, a regular pool and a recovery pool with warm water and jets for old bones or sore muscles, and of course a hot tub. In both the men's and women's locker room was a sauna, a steam room, showers, and lockers for days. It was a pretty sweet little spot for one and done for those who like more out of their gym's and...the monthly fee wasn't bad at all. Definitely affordable for anyone who wished to call the place home. However, it did have a secret. There were a set of steps hidden away from the main population that only the supernatural knew about. They were kept hidden by magic, but if you were the lucky few, it would take you down to a sub-level. This level had a gym and room's for classes as well but the weights far exceeded what the humans would be able to lift. It was meant to cater to the lycanthropes, vampires, and anything else that needed something a bit heavier than what the average human would lift. This is the level that Renci found herself on. She walked past all of the machines toward the back of the room, coming to the last door on her left.

Walked into a large rectangular room, pausing as she just stepped over the threshold. In the middle of the room was Angelica and surrounding her on three sides were a number of men; 30 in total. They were dressed in black workout shorts, no shirt, no shoes. These weren't the average male. These were males who worked out often in some capacity as every single one of them sported a six pack and well toned muscles.

Renci slowly entered the room, placing her gym bag on the floor near the door, as she hesitantly joined Angelica in the middle of the room. The elder fae towered over her, standing at around six foot, five inches, looking down at Renci from the bridge of her nose, not a smile in sight. To say she wasn't happy may have been putting it politely. “What's umm...what's this?” she asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice and failing. “Restraint training. You will fight these men. Under no circumstance are you to maim them in any way or use magic.” she spoke as she moved away from the middle of the room to stand along a wall near the door. “Begin!”

“Wha – wait!” was all she had time to get out as the men formed a large circle around her. She gave a quick look around noticing that they would be using more than just their strength. Some had their claws out, some had close range weapons, and others were charging up to use their power. This was all she had time to perceive as five of them were suddenly upon her. This is the strategy that they held, taking her on five at a time. However, when one went down there was another to immediately take his place. She was disoriented at first as fist, feet, and weapons came flying at her. She was blocking them but out of sheer reaction instead of having a method. She eventually fell into her groove, the men going down quickly as there was now a method to her madness. She thought the exercise would be as simple as taking down the men in front of her, but then she noticed a fresh pack of men entering the room, taking the place of the ones she just defeated. She had no down time as the men who were meant to stay down as they could no longer continue due to being worn out or just from having their a** kicked were now replaced with a fresh body. No problem, she would continue her assault with the fresh meat.

It was around wave number four that she started to run out of steam. The ones before couldn't get a hit on her despite their best effort. Men from the current wave were landing punches, kicks, stabs, and whatever else was being thrown at her. Nothing that would take her down but she was starting to show fatigue from exhaustion and some blood loss. “I thought this was restraint training!” she yelled out to Angelica, wondering why there were so many she had to fight. “Now it's endurance training,” Angelica said simply as she continued to watch the battle. Renci didn't have time to make a comeback as she had to put her full attention on the men before her. She barely made it out of wave four when wave five came in. It was at this point that she started to really get her butt kicked. Without the use of her magic to aide her in some way, her fuel tank was about on empty and she had been legitimately stabbed at least ten times with either a weapon or claws. She had superficial scratches and cuts everywhere on her body. With there being no down time, her body wasn't able to heal. Wave five had her feeling like a pinball in the way she was knocked around. One would kick her into another who would punch her into another, who would use their magic to toss her into the air then send her plummeting down to the ground where she would land with a bounce. She would try to get back onto her feet but it was all in vain. She eventually fell to the floor, not able to do anything than form into a ball with her arms up protecting her head. She was in this position for a good minute before Angelica called off the assault. The men stepped back, leaving Renci beaten, battered, and bleeding on the floor. Both of her eyes were black and nearly swollen shut. Her face was painted with bruises and cuts and her cheeks were swollen. Once she realized the attacks had stopped, she uncurled herself and lay on her back on the floor in a bloody mess gasping for air.

Angelica ordered all of the men out of the room as she walked toward Renci. “You will use restraint next time. Clean up the room before you leave.” Renci couldn't give a reply as she lay on her back taking in deep breaths of air. It shouldn't have surprised her that Angelica knew about her attack on Jon. Somehow she seemed to know everything, especially when it involved her. The woman's ability to gain knowledge was impressive to say the least. Why did she care so much about what she did to Jon and his people? It wasn't what she had done, it was how she did it. Angelica had taught Renci at a young age to move in secrecy. Don't stand out, don't give a reason for people to seek you out. She had violated both of those rules.

After she had laid on the floor for about ten minutes, she managed to gain the strength to sit up. Her body had healed enough to where she could move. She went onto her knees and attempted to push herself onto her feet. The first two attempts failed but she got it on the third attempt, though she was still bent over with her hands on her knees as she continued her heavy breathing. Eventually she would be able to stand up straight and go gather some cleaning material to get started on that chore.