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16

KAT

Once the candles died out, the cheers and clapping subsided, and everyone continued to dance and party. Everyone except the three of us, standing there staring at who I could only assume were those newcomers Patty had warned us about. The group that was trying to stake claim on turf that wasn’t up for grabs.

“Well, if it isn’t the infamous Disco Devils. Finally decide to come back and grace us with your presence?” The man in front spoke up. He was gross and greasy looking. An ill-trimmed, far too large, pornstache on his face that looked like it needed a good cleaning. His grimy fingers slowly twirled the toothpick in his mouth as he eyed Dot. “We’ve got business handled here now, friends.” The man reached out, as if to touch Dot or I, but Dante quickly snatched his wrist.

“Think again… friend . You don’t have any business here. Eden’s Inferno is ours .” Dante’s voice might have been low, but it was still loud enough to be heard amongst our small group. As I surveyed the few of them, I noticed how they all gave off the same vibes as this guy. Greasy, grimy, and totally unaware of who the fuck they were actually dealing with. Dante released the man’s wrist as he dropped it in frustration. “You all keep moving. Take that girl there with you too.” Dante gestured behind the group to someone I couldn’t see.

Dot huffed in frustration, folding her arms across her ample chest. “Lana, you stupid bitch.” To Dot’s words, Lana reached over, desperately trying to land a hit on Dot. She was scratching and clawing at her, but thankfully, the guys held her back, trying to calm her down. Dot held her own, not even flinching.

“Listen, pretty boy,” another one of the men directed his insult up at Dante. It was almost humorous to watch him snarl up at Dante, seeing as Dante towered over all of us. “Unlike you two, and whoever the hell this sleazy pink one is you brought in, we don't need masks or a fancy name to do our business. We’re real men.”

At that, Dante snapped as he landed a punch right in the man’s face. “Oh, you’re real man, huh? Sorry, I couldn’t tell by your ugly ass face. Might want to rethink the whole mask thing, fucker.” Dante spat his words as he looked down at the guy. Blood poured out of the man’s nose, his entire demeanor changing into mild panic.

The crowd had begun to clear around us, everyone clearly noticing the struggle. Dot moved to stand between Dante and I, appearing stoic as ever, but I could feel her energy. She was itching to get her hands on something—well— someone . I had my money on Lana.

Pornstache man lurched forward, as if he was going to lay hands on one of us. His intimidation techniques left little to be desired, and I was growing bored of this interaction. My blood was boiling and I could see the red fading into my vision. These fuckers had not only insulted my two favorite people, but they thought they could steal our business? I don’t fucking think so.

I tilted my head over to Dante. “Baby, why don’t you take Patty and Jade, get them somewhere safe?” Dante nodded, ushering the women past me. As they walked away, Patty slipped me a small pistol she must have had hidden on her and winked before walking away.

I fucking love Patty.

“You sure you want to stay here with us?” The man laughed. “Two little lady devils against a bunch of men. What are you going to do to us?” Pornstache asked with a mocking tone. “Watch out boys, they might hit us with their powder puffs.” The men collectively laughed together, completely unaware of the danger.

I slowly walked up to him and looked him in the eye. My hand reached out, and I ran my signature claw-like nails down the front of his face. Good thing I decided to get them done for the party. “Trust me, honey, she and I can do a lot more to you than you think.” I grabbed him by his dick with my other hand and squeezed as hard as I could, purposely digging my nails into his short shaft. “More than you could ever do to us.”

The man groaned, his face turning bright red as he glared back at me. “You—bitch!”

Dottie gracefully emerged from behind me, her adorable pink knife in hand. “I think this looks good right about… HERE!” She shoved the knife deep into the man’s throat.

The sounds of his gurgles filled my ears as blood ran down his neck and stained his clothes. He clutched the knife, stupidly ripping it out as blood sprayed. “F-fuck-ing—bitch!” I released his dick, and he crumbled beneath us, his friends stepping back in shock. His blood began to pool across the dancefloor at our feet.

Dot fell to his body and straddled him, stabbing again and again. “That’s for fucking with my devils!” Her movements were on full display, thanks to her vibrant pink attire. We now had the full attention of all the patrons, dancers, and servers inside Eden’s Inferno. They all had their eyes on Dot, watching while confusion marred their faces. She slashed at his throat, blood instantly gushing in all directions. Numerous people were caught in the cast as Dot continued to scream. “That’s for calling me sleazy!” Patrons at Eden’s Inferno started screaming and panicking, pushing and shoving as they ran toward the club exits. His friends didn’t budge, still frozen in absolute shock at the bombshell murdering their boss. Dot landed one last stab, straight into the man’s right eye. “That’s for ruining my birthday party!” The sound of it squelching as her blade punctured it made me shiver.

The man was dead, there was no doubt about it, and everyone knew. People were screaming, rushing past despite the music still blaring through the speakers. Dante came running back to us, freaked and concerned. “What happened?” he asked, breathing heavy. He had one of his revolvers in his grasp.

“They started it,” Dot said nonchalantly with a shrug, brushing her hair from her face. “We just gotta end it.” Dot lowered her mask, assuming her new role as a devil. I felt so proud and partially turned on.

I looked up at Dante. “That’s what happened. This fucker got what he deserved.” I pointed down at the dead man, ignoring the frantic club around us. Everyone was screaming and running, trying to get out. I looked back at the other men, noticing they had scattered about. One had Lana in his arms while the other ran towards the back of the club. “There! You go get that prick going out back. Dot and I will handle Lana and the other one.”

“Be careful, both of you!” Dante shouted, kissing our heads before running in the opposite direction.

Dot and I followed the man carrying Lana to the other side of the club by the bar. He was desperately searching for a clear path out as Lana kicked her legs, struggling. Once he hit the wall, he turned, dropping her. Lana fell against his chest as he spotted us, pointing a gun to her head. “Come any closer and I’ll shoot her.” Her eyes were bloodshot as she cried and sobbed, begging for him to let her go. “Shut up!” He pistol whipped her face, then pointed the barrel to her temple, pulling the hammer back. “I mean it!”

“Fine!” Dot started giggling manically. “But the only reason I don’t want you to shoot her, is because I want to kill her myself!” Lana slumped in the man's arms, her cheek swelling and red from his abuse. I almost felt sad for the red haired woman. I guess she thought after everything, we may actually save her. But she was no Dot, and that would be a wild assumption.

The man began to sweat, eyeing each of us. “Y-you don’t care if I shoot her?”

“Nope.” Dot twirled her hair. “Though it would make me a little sad. But, you could just let her go? I mean, it is my birthday, after all.”

Lana stirred as he contemplated what to do. “Fine!” He pushed Lana down onto the floor. She sobbed, crawling away from us and behind the bar.

“You’re up, angel.” I turned to Dot, who squealed and started skipping to get over to where Lana was crawling, following her loud cries.

My head returned to the man as I slowly walked up to him, revealing the gun Patty had slipped me. He was frozen solid, staring at me, realizing he had idiotically put himself in a corner. “Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Such a naughty boy,” I purred.

“P-p-please,” he begged while raising his gun. His arm trembled, telling me how scared he was. I laughed at his weakness. “I–I’ll shoot you!”

“I dare you to try!” The man shot his gun as I easily dodged his shitty aim. My leg kicked his arm and knocked the gun out of his hand. He grabbed his hand, clutching it to his chest as his back hit the wall. Eden’s Inferno had mostly cleared out, but music was still playing loudly through the speakers. “You ruined my angel’s birthday.”

“P-lease. It wasn’t my idea!”

“Ugh, shut up! I’m so sick of everyone trying to move in on our shit. It’s exhausting, and honestly, I don’t want to drag this out anymore. I want to go home. I want to be with my devils and enjoy the rest of the night the best I can. You think I enjoy this?” I pointed from myself to him. He shook his head as if I cared for him to answer. “Maybe any other day, but this isn’t the fun night I had planned for my girl’s birthday.” My hand raised the pistol Patty had slipped me. I stepped close and carefully slipped it into his mouth. “I don’t want to hear another word from you. I just want you to taste this, and I want you to hear my words. Eden’s Inferno is ours .” The man trembled. “And I want you to die knowing that the Disco Devils showed you that you fucked up. I want you to die knowing that a woman in chaps and a fucking purple, bedazzled devil mask shot you in the face for being such a fucking idiot!” Before the words fully left my lips, I pulled the trigger. Blood and brain matter splattered across the wall behind him. The man’s nearly headless body slumped down and fell at my feet. “Who’s the bitch now?”

I carefully stepped over the man’s bloodied body and turned the corner, stepping behind the bar. My feet stopped as I saw Dot’s back. She was standing over Lana. “Dot?” Before she had a chance to respond, two loud gunshots pierced my ears, followed by an instant ringing.

Fuck! Please tell me that was Dante’s gun!

My eyes remained on Dot as she stumbled back a little. “Angel?” I rushed to her, gently placed my hand on her lower back to stabilize her. “Angel, baby, you okay?” I frantically scanned her body, searching for gunshot wounds. Thankfully, there were none.

“Yeah,” she breathed. “I’m good.” When Dot turned around, I could see the rage draining from her eyes behind her pink mask. She held an Eden’s Inferno roller skate in her right hand, both it and the skate covered in chunks of blood and flesh. My eyes followed the blood trail up Dot’s arm, noticing it splattered across her chest and along her new mask. Her gorgeous golden hair was even stained. Something about the way she stood there, perfectly poised, drenched in blood. It was both terrifying and incredibly erotic. “I’m perf.”

She is fucking insatiable.

My eyes glanced down at Lana, laying on the floor. Her clothing was drenched and soaked in blood. I could see various fluids pouring from the large gaping wound. The back of her skull was completely bashed in and her face was unrecognizable, the only tell of who she once was left by the bloodied name tag lying next to her body.

I carefully pried the bloodied skate out of Dot’s hand, setting it on the floor, and gently grabbed her by the side of the neck, pulling her away. “Dot, let’s leave Lana, okay? We need to go check on Dante.” She just quietly nodded in response.

The two of us walked through the club together, holding hands, noticing the disheveled and empty club. Numerous patrons were sprawled out around the dancefloor, injured or dead, thanks to this new group’s aggressive retaliation. It pissed me off, seeing the effect of their stupid actions. Despite the loud music, I heard what sounded like sirens growing in the distance.

Cops... fuck!

Dot and I stepped over bodies and searched for Dante. We eventually found him back by Patty’s office, unharmed. We both exhaled in relief. “I had to check to make sure they were safe. I put Patty and Jade back here when shit first started, but they must have left when everyone started running.” He brushed his hair back. “I’m just glad they’re not here.”

“I think I heard sirens, Dante. We can’t stay here any longer. It’s time to go. We need to go!” I tugged his arm, pulling them both towards the back door so we could escape and get to our car. “Let’s go!” I held Dot’s hand tight. I couldn’t lose her, and now that I had him, I wouldn’t lose him either.

Dante started looking around, searching like he lost something. “Wait. Where is my jacket?”

“Oh, fuck your jacket, Dante! I’ll buy you another one.” I tried to yank him toward the back door.

“I can’t just leave Dot’s present! Let me just go check on the floor really quick.”

“You got me another present?” Dot asked.

“Yeah.” Dante smiled. “Something special we picked out just for you, angel.”

When the three of us walked out to the main floor of the club, I noticed someone quickly move from the office to behind the bar with the phone. The long white cord bounced as they maneuvered around, giving them away. “Who was that?” I looked at Dot. She knew all the girls' names better than we did.

“It kind of looked like Mindy? But she was fired months ago, not sure why she would be here. She was good friends with Lana, though. Oh, Lana! She’s about to find her!” Dot started laughing and jumping up and down, obviously thinking about what this Mindy was about to see behind the bar.

Just a few moments later, the girl screamed, presumably finding what was left of Lana. “She’s fucking dead. There’s so much blood. Fuck. No…” She was frantically sobbing on the phone.

Dot and I approached from one side of the bar, while Dante went to the other.

The girl kept sobbing, speaking into the phone. “The Devils… ” Her eyes widened, tears falling from them as they soaked her reddened face.

Dot raised her hand and waved her dainty little fingers. “Hi, Mindy. It’s been a while.” Dante came up behind Mindy. She screamed as he snagged the phone cord and tightly wrapped it around her neck, pulling it from the wall as the line disconnected. He didn’t hesitate or budge as he strangled the life out of her.

Sirens wailed louder as cop cars began to whip into the parking lot. It was too late. There was no way we could all escape. “Dot. Dot, you need to go. You need to go right now!” I pulled the keys from Dante’s pocket and tossed them at her. “Take our car and get home!”

“What?! Fuck that! I’m staying right here or you two are coming with me!” She stomped her feet.

Dante dropped Mindy’s lifeless body and looked directly at Dot. “Angel, she’s right. They’ve been after us for too long. Even if we leave, they’ll follow. Trust us. We have a plan. It will be okay. But they don’t know about you. You have to keep yourself safe. Please, for us.”

Dot raised her mask, tears swelling in her eyes as she stared at us. “I can’t just leave you.”

Dante walked up to her and pulled something from his pocket, placing it around her neck. “Turns out it was never in my jacket.” He stepped away as Dot stared down at the necklace, her fingers tracing the cursive word.

“Angel,” she breathed. “Dante.” she sniffled. “Kat.”

“We’ll be okay. Find Patty as soon as you leave here. She’ll know what to do. Eddie’s got it under control, Angel.” She looked so confused and I kicked myself for not explaining the failsafe to her. We should have clued her in when she started going with us when we were making deals, but it’s too late now. Now, she just needed to trust us.

I pulled my mask off and slammed my mouth into hers, kissing her hard. Harder than ever before. I could taste her tears, forcing myself to release her. “Please, Dot.” My words stung. “We will see you soon. I promise.”

Dante followed suit, kissing Dot passionately. “Take care of these for us, will you?” He placed our masks into her hands. “I love you,” she whispered, hugging us one last time before turning towards the back door.

“And we love you,” Dante and I said together.

We watched Dot walk to the back reluctantly, stealing glances over her shoulder at us until she disappeared out the back door.

“Well, I guess this is it, Kitty Kat.” Dante brushed his hair back as I lit a cigarette.

“Let’s just hope Eddie pulls through, baby.” I offered him a small hit as we stood there, waiting. The cops kicked the front doors of the club open and instantly filed in, guns drawn. We turned, smiling as we dropped all of our weapons and went with them without hesitation or issue. That was part of the plan as well. We had to comply.

Dante and I were shoved into the back of a cop car, our hands cuffed behind our backs. As I sat in the backseat, looking out at Eden’s Inferno, I couldn’t help but reminisce about everything we had gone through there. All the shit we faced, the violence—so much. But most importantly, how we found our angel.

When I turned my head a little further to glance down the back alley, I saw Dot standing at our car, blowing us kisses and waving sweetly.

Our perfect little angel.