BrOke THE *wIngs* of A [sonGbird]

This had to be the place, it was just what she expected. Dark and deserted road, leading to a rowdy club full of women in skimpy clothing and way to much drugs and alcohol in their systems. Chase had come dressed the part however, She wore a long black dress, that had a slit in it up to her hip. She wore black stockings that went up to her thigh, and black high heels. She blew a kiss at the guard and paid the entrance fee to get in. There was no reason for them not to let her in, they didn't know who she was, just another partier.

Once inside she was taken away by what she saw. Huge dance floor full of drunken guests, a bar and loud music pounding so hard that the floor seemed to vibrate with it. She could see stairs leading upstairs and she bit her lip glancing around until she realized some guys were staring. She quickly made her way across the dance floor, half cutting her way across, her fiery red hair standing out vividly against the black she wore. "Strongest you have.." She muttered throwing some cash down on the counter and leaning against it, examining the room.

Chase was here for one purpose and one only. The man who had killed her family, and had almost killed her, owned the bar, and she was here to talk it out. The clothes and her attitude was only a part of the plan to get in, and to get him to talk to her at least. She wasn't there to even glance at the guys. She had her own amazing guy, she just needed some answers from one in particular, and in a crowded place like this, there was less of a chance of getting beat up in the process. Once she got her drink, she took a small sip of it, feeling it burning it's way down her throat, she let out a soft gasp and glanced into the glass before sighing and making her way across the room to an empty booth, sitting and crossing her legs in front of her, waiting for her first visual of Vito Dee Symons.

“Damn that hurts…” Vito grumbled as he stared at the reflective glass in front of him, holding another, smaller mirror behind his head so that he could see the injury there. He wished he could have finished her off for injuring him like that, but no, instead Jack the almighty had to jump in and act like a superhero. Vito scoffed and rolled his eyes- only to inhale sharply as he slid the small needle in his hand through his skin once more and pulled it slowly out the other end. Why didn’t he just go to the hospital?

Yeah right. That didn’t even qualify as a question.

He tightened the thread in-between the two pieces of flesh and started again, running the needle through one side and pulling it painfully out the other. The wound was deep and the blood was getting all over his hands and was staining his white shirt, but he didn’t give anything much thought at that very moment, because thoughts lead to memories and emotions he really didn’t want to deal with. She hadn’t died. That fact really meant nothing to Vito at all- all that really sunk in was that he had tried to kill her, and that look in her eyes…

Vito growled when his fingers slipped and he pulled the thread too hard, causing a large droplet of crimson liquid to roll down his finger and continue on down his arm. He flinched and tried to steady his breathing; it really did hurt like no other pain he had ever felt before- but not the wound.

He tied a small not in the thin black piece of string that was holding his skin together and snipped the end so that the needle was no longer connected to it. Vito set the bloodied needle down on the table in front of him and rubbed his face. He had to get cleaned up and change his clothes- but those things seemed pointless to him at the moment, hell…

…everything did.

The poltergeist slowly stood from the chair he was sitting in, in front of the mirror in his bedroom and made his way over to his bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

- -

Smoothing out the front of his suit and running a hand through his hair- cautiously in order not to accidentally brush his hand against his injury- Vito made his way down the spiral staircase to step onto the first floor of Satin’s. He closed his eyes for a moment and inhaled the sweet smell of cigarette smoke and alcohol- true painkillers- but when his eyelids snapped open once more to reveal his dark colored eyes, there was no more confusion and suffering in them, instead, there was a distant, numbed look to them. “DJ, Turn that up as loud as it goes. I don’t care if I have to deal with the police because of it, if you don’t I’ll fire you without thinking twice,” he told the man standing behind the large stereo setup, who nodded quickly and flicked a few switches- in a heartbeat the music was at a volume that could impair your hearing if you stood too close to the stage.

That was just what Vito needed; loud music to fill his ears and rattle his brain so that his thoughts weren’t as deafeningly loud. Vito’s lips curled upwards slowly into a smirk, it was time to see just how much entertainment he could get out of his club.

-two days later-

“You don’t pay me to go without sleep, Mr. Symons, I’m going home,” a man with scruffy brown hair atop his head and shades over his eyes told Vito, the man’s irritation clear on his face. Vito laughed- but it was an icy and threatening laugh, “You go home when I tell you to. Get back up on that stage and continue doing your job until you’ve satisfied me,” he ordered him, his voice eerily calm compared to how angry he usually would have been in such a situation.

The DJ scowled at Vito, but turned around and walked back up to his post, dragging his feet as he went; he really wanted to get some sleep, but he really didn’t want to die.

Vito tilted his head to one side and cracked it; sleeping in a booth could really do damaged to someone’s neck. He lifted his arm in the air and snapped his fingers, his arm and the top of his head the only thing to be seen while he was slumped against the back of the booth. He wasn’t drunk surprisingly, but he hadn’t gone up to his room since he had come down two days before. He needed every distraction he could get in order to avoid his own thoughts- which consisted of going through several packs of cigarettes and listening to so much music that Vito was sure he had more at least twenty different songs stuck in his head at once.

But it was the only way Vito knew how to deal with his darker emotions, such as that terrible pain that he was experiencing in that pulsing life source beneath his ribcage, and a strange combination of regret and rage that just wouldn’t. go. away.

One of the women that worked as a dancer in the club walked over to Vito and sat down beside him, “What do you need?” she asked him in the politest voice she could manage towards the cruel man. “Upstairs,” he told her, looking at her deviously out of the corner of his eyes, his lips curled upward into his usual smirk. The female returned his smirk and pulled his tie off of his neck, wrapping it around her own neck as she stood up and walked up the stairs. Vito blew out another gray puff of smoke before climbing to his feet and running a hand through his hair.

“I can hear the music upstairs,” Vito told the DJ, as if daring him to leave while he was upstairs. Vito Dee Symons got what he wanted because of the way he went about getting what he wanted. It was as simple as that, and yet it wasn’t simple enough for anyone else to pull off with as much style and class as Vito felt that he had.

Chase was surveying the party around her, hoping beyond hope that he wasn't a no show that night, it was her only night to get out like this, having snuck out of the house anyway. It wasn't really sneaking, but Andrew got so paranoid when she left the house the way she did. And he hadn't even seen her get dressed up, what would he say if he saw her like this? He probably wouldn't say anything, just stare. Just like the men not far from her. She crossed her legs and took another drink of the strong alcohol that she didn't even know the name of.

Then she spotted him, being tugged away by a woman who appeared to work there. She wasn't sure though, and she suddenly rose to her feet. Tipping slightly she steadied herself and stared after him. Was he heading upstairs? This was her only chance to catch him, seeing as she really didn't want to be taken upstairs where there were no people, she needed people around her so that she wouldn't come home with blood on her face. Striding towards him, she had a sudden plan and grinned. If she could just pretend not to be Chase....

Chase walked up Vito, and took the tie away from the woman. "Mmm, I think he deserves something a bit better tonight." She said to the woman, with an evil grin. Chase wasn't sure what her plan was really, but she was winging it. She spun and looked straight up at Vito. "Hello Vito." She said smiling up at him. "Nice place you go here.. do you always have fun with the dancers? Is that part of their job? Maybe I should get a job here... seems like fun." She said and grinned at him.

She reached up and took his cigarette taking a long drag out of it and placed it back in his hands. "I've seen you around, but I don't think you know who I am." She said with a large grin, a devilish look in them. Chase had moments to think of a name, and she settled for the first one that came to mind. "Clara, Clara Bow." She said grinning up at him and dipping her head.

"So... Vito.." She said grinning at him and taking a few steps back, looking him up and down for a long moment before her eyes found his cold ones. "You own the place right? I've come from a long ways away just to see this place... it's alright I guess.. not as high as people were telling me it was like... is it a slow night?" She asked tilting her head to the side and grinning innocently up at him. She ran her hand through her red hair and knew that he would be suspicious. Specially because she had only done one thing to change her real appearance. She had green eyes, when usually she had brown. Not that it was a big change, but her eyes stood out largely against her red hair, and she grinned at him, hoping she was doing a good enough job to get to talk to him better, maybe in private.

The first thing Vito noticed about the girl who had approached him was that red hair; it really was a feature that he had always been attracted to, a feature that he couldn’t ignore, and so he paid the female the attention she requested. He examined her face, her hair, and then her body and was slightly suspicious; she looked quite a lot like the girl, Chase, who he had attempted to murder only two days before- but the way she acted convinced Vito that it was merely a coincidence.

When she spoke highly of him and his establishment, Vito grinned, a devilish glint in his eyes, “Vito Dee Symons,” he greeted even though she had already made it clear that she already knew his name.

The female took Vito by surprise when she snatched his cigarette from him and took a drag from it, and at first it irritated Vito; he didn’t want someone thinking they could get away with anything they wanted when around Vito- but as he watched a puff of smoke gently float from her lips and dance about her face, those thoughts didn’t really matter much anymore. “I don’t have a single drop of alcohol in me so yes, it has been a rather slow night, but that female you just dismissed was about to make my evening so much more entertaining,” he replied, his tone rather accusing, though his expression expressed his amusement with the redhead before him.

It was surprising that he was still attracted to redheads after all the trouble the redheads he knew had caused him, really, but then again, the past two days had been dedicated to forgetting about the pair of them- or, Jack, because to be honest he really didn’t give a damn about what had happened to the other after everything had been said and done.

Vito took his cigarette back from her and held it in-between his lips loosely, “Join me upstairs?” he asked her, though it really was a question of whether or not she wished to stay in his club, or be thrown out.

Chase could feel her heart fluttering in her chest. She knew she couldn't deny this man now. There was absolutely no way her new character persona could anyway. She grinned at him and ran her finger along his chest. "I'd love to." She said smiling and as she passed the counter she threw a few coins to the bartender and he gave her some of the same stuff she had ordered before. She was seriously hoping she could get Vito nice and drunk. But she was afraid that plan wouldn't be good enough, so she knew she'd have to play it up, and good, good thing she was an actress.

She put the tie back around Vito's neck and tugged on it, leading him upstairs with an air of knowing where she was going. Only once her back was turned to him did she let a flicker of fear cross her face. She was going away from the party, farther away from the safety of people, and up into the darkness and privacy. Well... at least she wasn't Chase Moor to him. Oh no, she was Clara Bow now, and that was a completely different person. Once at the top of the stairs her mask was back on and she grinned slyly at him, looking rather like a fox with her hair frizzy from all the smoke in the air.

"Which way Vito Dee Symons?" She asked batting her long eyelashes at him and using his tie to pull him closer to her. She smiled up at him and realized he didn't know who she was. Had he noticed the color of her eyes? Or was he just convinced by her attitude. Obviously CHASE wouldn't be doing this to him, she'd be cowering in a corner away from him, she wouldn't have tracked him down, learned the name of his bar and his favorite type of drink, learned what people thought of him, and how he acted, learned what he liked in women. She was the pathetic child that wasn't here anymore.. no, this was Clara, and tonight, she was getting answers. She would learn as much as she could about this.. Vito, and she would learn WHY he had killed her parents.

Using her emotions to guide her she let a small scowl cross her face, and then let him lead the way. Her hand wrapping around his tie so that she was always in front, always in control, and she felt like it to. He had let her take a puff on his cigarette, which at the moment was making it hard for her to breath, but she had practiced and learned how to not cough every time she had taken a drag on it. As long as she only took a few tonight, she'd be okay, not that the air was any better then the actual thing, but at least she wasn't filling her lungs with smoke. She grinned at him slyly, and tugged again, pulling him closer to her.

Vito allowed the female to pull him closer, a grasp on the tie around his neck; she was just the distraction he had been hoping for, if not a bit more entertaining. “Mmmm, this way doll,” he instructed, turning around so that his back was towards the way they were walking, but his eyes were still focused on the women. He saw the walls of the hallway disappear and open up to another room and knew that he had stepped inside of his bedroom, “Hand it over,” Vito ordered her, wrapping his fingers around the neck of the bottle of alcohol she had brought with her up the stairs. He uncorked it and brought the rim to his lips, closing the door behind him with the palm of his hand slowly.

The poltergeist had been trying his very best to stay away from the alcohol for the time being; he didn’t enjoy looking a fool, and felt that if he could get past the next few evenings without a drop of it, that he could keep his reputation and go back to his normal ways of drinking casually- but it was his favorite drink, and he just couldn’t resist. Vito tilted his head backwards, along with the bottle and swallowed a fair amount of the drink. His eyes rolled up into the back of his skull as the liquid burned his throat and his chest soothingly...

... and he stood there like that for a moment before finally dropping his arm at his side, the bottle still held loosely in his hand.

“Now darling, where did you get that hair of yours; your mother, father, or perhaps a bottle of die from the corner store?” he asked her with a smirk, nearing her until he was close enough to hold a strand of the fiery red hair in-between his fingers, snaking his other arm around her waist, “I can usually tell if its real or not,” he added, his warm breath to be felt on her skin with him so close to her.

Chase let him lead the way, and watched as he closed the door with a snap. Her heart fluttered in her chest when she realized she was completely alone with this man now. And she had a very strong doubt that if she were to scream in any way, the people downstairs wouldn't give a damn. She watched him drink from the bottle and had to hold back a look of disgust. Sure it sometimes felt nice.. even though she detested drinking.. she had started just to get into character. And it almost burned back feeling into you after a while.

Chase resisted the impulse to back away from this man. This man who had hurt her so badly, so badly for no other reason but to have a little fun, and apparently that was exactly what he wanted tonight too, except he didn't recognize her. Didn't even suspect that she could possibly be Chase. She could feel his hand around her waist, and the smell of the alcohol on his breath as he played with her hair.

"Actually, it's from my father.." She said looking up at him through her eyelashes. "But I'm surprised you don't recognize it.. you did kill him after all." She said without moving an inch. Half waiting for him to realize what she had said, half wanting to run. "Or does the alcohol make you forget? What you did to the poor woman down the alleyway?" She reached up and took his cigarette again, and moved away from him. Inhaling deeply she went to the window and leaned on the sill. "I mean, Chase Moor is a hard name to forget isn't it? I would hope that kick in the side would have reminded you at least enough to remember me." She said turning to face him, the cigarette between her fingers in a perfect imitation of how he held it.

She took another drag on it and leaned back against the window sill. "So what does a guy like you, need with a girl like me? Why would you need to kill my family and almost murder me at the same time? Is it because I'm friends with Jack? No.. it can't be, I wasn't that good of friends with her back then." She took another puff on the cigarette, the smoke drifting up around her head, giving her an almost mysterious appearance with her entire body on display for him, her thigh peeking out from the dress as she stood with one foot flat against the wall. "Vito Dee Symons.. I'm surprised I even fooled you.. Not that Chase is capable of that.." She said with a large grin.

Chase knew that even though her true identity was out, Chase was gone. Chase wasn't needed here, her body knew there was danger in front of her, knew there was a strong possibility she wouldn't walk out of this room again, well at least alive. But she had to know, she had to know what made this man tick, what was going through his head when he had killed her family, what had driven him to want to hurt her too. She took another puff and let her hand fall to her side before she pushed off from the window sill and moved as close as she dared to him. "How about it V toe?" She asked over pronouncing his name and blowing a puff of smoke into his face. "Wanna answer my questions?"

“You b!tch…” Vito breathed- those were words he always found himself calling the girl whenever she scored against him, but that time around his voice was full of a strange mixture of amusement and shock; almost as he were amazed with her work. She had managed to fool him after all- or, at least, make sure he was blinded by lust so that he could not see for himself. He had been somewhat suspicious of the female at first, but her attitude and her appearance had been so drastically changed that he had dismissed it.

He was angered when she stole his cigarette from him once more and made herself comfortable resting against his window, but he stood where he was, listening to the words that fell from her lips as she continued to seduce him. What was the point in keeping up the act if she had already reveled herself? Ah, she was cleverer than Vito could have ever guessed, that much was becoming clear as she hid her face in yet another cloud of cigarette smoke.

Vito smirked; she wanted answers. So she had dressed up, switched her eye color, learned how to both drink and smoke and appear as if she had been doing it for years, and trapped herself alone with Vito in his bedroom all to figure out why he had torn her life apart. Well, she had made one mistake, and that had been to believe that she could get Vito alone in a room and get away unscathed after revealing herself as someone he had already attempted to murder once.

The poltergeist’s skin and clothing flickered like a dying lightbulb for a moment as his attention shifted away from keeping his human appearance, to the flirtatious female on the other side of the room. He set the bottle of alcohol he had been holding down on his bedside table and leaned against the frame of his bed, his dark eyes never leaving Chase’s. “Poor redhead thinks that there was more to it than it seems,” Vito mocked her, faking an expression of pity- though anyone who had ever met Vito knew that he felt sympathy for no one. Especially not Chase Moor.

“You know, I wont flood my own club, but I do believe there was more too your mother’s death than drowning,” Vito spoke in a dark, threatening voice, taking a few steps towards the female before him, only stopping a few feet in front of her. “Good job pretending to be a slut for a few minutes though, I’ll give you props for that; I couldn’t tell the difference…”

Chase felt her whole body tense up. If he was threatening what she THOUGHT he was threatening.. well, she felt herself back up as far as she could go, a moment of fear crossing her features before she went head first back into her character persona, Chase had no right to be here, and she needed her instincts to get her out. She stared up at him her back as straight as a rail, the cigarette still held loosely in her grasp, but her fingernails were digging into her palm.

"I know what you did to my mum.." She growled, her eyes blazing with anger. "I won't let you get away with that.." She growled and her hand went behind her, to find the window sill, she slowly sat down on the edge of it, and glared up at him, her leg crossing her other leg. Her mind was racing, but all she did was puff out another cloud of smoke from between her lips. She felt almost a calming effect from it and she found herself taking another drag from it, her mind calming in an instant.

"You found me sexy didn't you?" She asked pushing off the window sill again and closing the distance between them. "I'm not a slut, but I have to admit, you do have a certain appeal for me." She said and moved around him, as though examining his body. Andrew would kill her if he found out what she was doing, but she had to pretend that Andrew didn't exist right now, it was either this, or die, and she'd much rather not die. She smiled at him and her hand shot out to touch his shoulder lightly, as she finished her circle and was back in front of him. "You know.. I've always had a thing for bad boys.." She whispered her eyes sparkling. "But of course, you wouldn't know that, you only saw pathetic little me, the one who couldn't hurt a fly.."

Chase felt a laugh escape her lips and she turned away from him, shuddering slightly. Who was this B**** and where did Chase go?! She kept her back to him, knowing it was a bad idea, but she had to appear a lot more confident then she was. She inhaled the smoke again, and breathed it out against the glass, the reflection fogging and the smoke curling around her ears. If she wasn't careful she'd end up addicted to this stuff, and she didn't want that to happen. She couldn't let Andrew know.. she turned around and found an ashtray, digging the cigarette out in it before turning back to him and falling back onto the bed.

Crossing her legs she looked up at him. Her mind was spinning, if he did try anything.. she knew his weak spot. She had kicked him there once and she wasn't afraid to do it again. She suddenly had an idea and pushed herself off the bed. If she couldn't charm her way out of this, seeing as she had no option but to go down into a bar full of drunks, who at one word from him would probably detain her, she would just have to shock him enough to let her out. Moving up to him she grabbed his tie and pulled on it. "Listen, I know guys like you like women like me, and of course I have red hair, which helps I'm sure." She said keeping her seductive tone in place. "But I know something about you, that you don't realize I know.. lets just say... another redhead told me." She said knowing any mention of Jack might freak him out, and he seemed the guy who would have a scary secret he didn't want anyone to know.

"You let me talk a bit, and answer my questions, and I won't let my mouth slip alright?" She asked letting go of his tie again and crossing the room to grab the alcohol. Boy did she need some, her hands were shaking like a leaf, and she needed something to steady her now that the cigarette was gone. Taking a rather large gulp of the burning substance she put it down and gasped slightly, showing that she wasn't used to it at last. "Dammit." She growled and put her hand on her throat, starting to cough. "Stronger.. then I thought.." She muttered and glanced up at him, her cheeks going pink. Why was it now that she had to see that he did have a really nice body?

Chase had to admit, she was scared for her life, but this alcohol.. boy was it strong, and she was sure it was making her see things. Like how beautifully handsome he was, and how much she wanted to see his hair ruffled up a bit, and out of the straightness he seemed to keep it in. She shook her head and tried to turn her thoughts to Andrew, but the alcohol was taking over. She had never had a drink in her life, and she had no idea of her limits, which didn't seem to be very far. She was already heavily tipsy from a few drinks, and she had to lean against a wall to keep from swaying. "Dammit..." She growled again her hand going over her eyes. Possibly the worst thing she could do at that point in time, but she didn't care, the room was spinning and she wasn't sure if she liked it.

“Hmmm, what about the bad boys who would snap your neck in a heartbeat?’ Vito purred with the same seductive look in his eyes that she had shown him when she had looked his way. She had circled him, and had given him that attention and admiration that he so very much craved, which had left him standing there for a moment, feeling rather high even though he hadn’t had any drug to make him feel that way. His eyes rolled backwards for the second time that evening, and he tilted his head backwards slightly, smirking.

But then she had mentioned ‘another redhead’, and his blood had run cold. She knew something? She knew something. Jack had told her something- she had promised not to! Vito bit down on the sides of his cheeks until he peeled a thin layer of skin off and tasted the metallic flavor of blood in his mouth. He knew he could kill her with just about anything in the room, the bottle of wine, the furniture, anything- but he had to keep calm for the moment; he wasn’t sure if she was only bluffing, or if she had actually obtained information about him. “Lying blackens the soul, darling,” he replied, bluffing himself to see where it would get him; he had never given poker a try, but he was sure he would have a fair chance at winning if he ever decided to.

Vito turned slowly to meet the female’s eyes once more- only to find that she had covered her eyes with the palm of her hand. Vito grinned maliciously; he had seen that look so many times in his life, and instantly saw the effect the alcohol Chase had swallowed as an opportunity to take back control of the situation.

The poltergeist walked forward, one foot in front of the other in his usual catwalk strut, and only stopped when he was an inch or less apart from Chase. He took the bottle out of her hand and brought it to his own lips, taking a swig, “If you fight it, the hangover will be that much worse in the morning,” Vito warned her falsely, chuckling icily, his lips hovering near one of her ears.