(Victoria) when I woke up the next morning, I was still in the bar. I tried to get up to leave and immediately felt the hangover hit me in full force. Well, I thought, getting home is going to be hell. Good thing I don't have work today.
I covered my eyes with the hood of my jacket and walked out onto the street. I started walking toward home, every blink sending shooting pains through my skull. Eventually I made it home where I turned off all the lights and decided to sleep off this stupid hangover. Maybe tomorrow I'll go back to the bar and ask about what happened but for now, the darkness is calling my name.

(Victoria) when I woke up the next morning, I was still in the bar. I tried to get up to leave and immediately felt the hangover hit me in full force. Well, I thought, getting home is going to be hell. Good thing I don't have work today.
I covered my eyes with the hood of my jacket and walked out onto the street. I started walking toward home, every blink sending shooting pains through my skull. Eventually I made it home where I turned off all the lights and decided to sleep off this stupid hangover. Maybe tomorrow I'll go back to the bar and ask about what happened but for now, the darkness is calling my name.

Now.... @CloseEnough

Mallory walked from her Ancient Civilizations class, nervously tapping her right hand against her thigh. The rhythm served to calm her down, but constantly, flickers of the previous day flashed through her mind. Shuddering a bit, she checked the street signs, though she didn't have to. It was merely her pretending that she didn't know exactly where she was going. Her confidence and strength had been sapped from her.

Arriving at what felt like the six hundred sixtieth street in New York, Mallory paused, looking at the ebony door. Already, the slight twitch in her fingers had begun. The resident was doomed to death, sentenced by the mob. She was merely the messenger, here to strike fear and panic- to let them spread the horrors and cause others to think twice about betraying the mob.

Climbing up the steps to the door, Mallory hesitated, just as she was about to rap on the door with her knuckles. Thinking better of it, she rang the door bell incessantly, feeling the urge to knock grow. Holding her hands tightly, she waited with a cool expression for the door to open.

---

---

Then...

The price of college wasn't cheap - and as a student of NYU, Mallory knew this lesson well enough. Her father didn't give her much in the way of money, causing her to work two jobs. One as a mortal, another as a door knocker. Given her little need of sleep, she met up with the mob at night, in order to receive her compensation and assignment for the week.

Walking into the abandoned warehouse, Mallory glanced around, looking for her contact. Instead of the usual sphinx who came to do the exchange, a jester stepped out from behind a corner, smiling malevolently at her.

"Mister J needs you to knock on some doors!" the jester grinned, practically doing a sweeping bow. Her two toned hair had slipped out of the costume, shaking around as she practically danced her way over to Mallory.

"Is Mister J the new leader?" Mallory asked simply. She didn't get herself involved in mob politics. All she wanted was payment--nothing more.

The jester grinned, revealing her pearl like teeth. "Why so serious, puddin?" she cackled with glee, delicately stroking Mallory's jaw. Mallory grimaced, shifting her attention and gaze away from her. The jester seemed to pout, before handing Mallory a bag.

Inside, there was more money she'd ever seen before. The reason, however, became evident when she looked at the names on the list.

Damien James. Succubus.
Thalia Maheras. Dragon.
Victoria Dayed. Vampire.

Its been a rather boring time. The rain pattering harmlessly on the windows, looking down at the streets below as humans shuffled through, shoulder to shoulder amongst strangers, head down, gaze glued to their screens, hopelessly oblivious to the fully shifted Succubus, tail holding a cup of over priced Starbucks.

Hair tied back in neat little braids. A episode of the walking dead played behind her. Finger tapping at the warm cup, she gave a sigh. "Should go to work tonight, ladies must be missing me by now"

"It takes a week to get the ladies to miss you?"

brow raised, Damion looked over to see a handsome fellow sitting casually on her couch. Ebony hair slicked back, eyes of coal burning with boundless intelligence, a hint of secrets behind the lens that would pull the soul to dive into their desires. He was dressed in a neat pair of slacks, and comfortable shirt. A small stubble ebbing at his jaw that set as he watched the show before him.
"Come on Damion really? Whats the point of the dead that can walk? I know its fun for a time but 4 seasons?"

"Its cause of machone, okay? She's a lovely lady."

Nodding his head in agreement. Not even speaking why he shown, the man leaned back. "Lovely lady indeed, I might have to stop by and see her face for myself." Tail flicking in rage, the succubus growled, flaring her wings before marching over to the male who shown no fear. "What do you want?"

"I simply wanted to congratulate you on finally making some friends that you didn't sleep with. Good show Damion good show. Oh, and here she is now." Cool voice running over the words like a stream over smoothed stones, Lucifer began to stand. His gate that of a predator, elegant and lethal while he practically floated over the flat to the front door. The sound only then echoing through the rooms as if he called the visitor with a whispered word.

Without hesitation he opened the door slightly. Staring down at a young woman while offering a gentlemanly smile. "Well hello there miss, are you one of Damion's friends?"

(Victoria) Vampires don't actually need to sleep, but I still do it sometimes out of habit. Falling asleep is usually difficult without the use of drugs but waking up is so weird. Like, your body won't wake itself up. However, it's nearly impossible to sleep through a proper alarm unless some medication is keeping you under. Basically, if you forget to set an alarm, you'll never wake up. Luckily, I have an alarm that always goes off an hour before my classes start.
I can't describe what it's like to wake up with a hangover and not be tired. I'm perfectly alert but my head hurts so bad I can't stand up. It's an odd feeling.
How does a vampire go about curing a hangover? Blood. It's really a cure-all. It cures all basic human illness, including stomach flu, sinus infections, and headaches. Blood also speeds the healing process for most injuries. Unfortunately, it doesn't cure cancer (or any long term illness that comes from having a human body). Most vampires have a built up store of blood in their body, but I haven't had real blood in months. But this is why I volunteer in a blood bank. I have a couple bags stored in my fridge in case I ever got injured or sick.
One sip of cold blood and I can feel the headache disappearing. I forgot how good blood is, I thought as I sucked down every drop.

~hours later~

I forgot how hard it is not drain humans when they're working side by side with you. But I didn't. So that's good.
I put my books on my bed and turn on my computer and start checking on all my various websites. "Lucigoosi6" sent me a message? And followed me back?! Nice! I've been watching their blog forever! I clicked open the message and read "so I see you live in nyc. have you ever been to see the statue of liberty?" I reply with "actually, I haven't. surprising, I know." We kept chatting for a while until they had to go. That's when I finally pulled my homework out and got to work on my paper about how to tell if a patient has faked their drug tests. Absolutely riviting, I know.

There were very few moments where Mallory's breath was taken away. Though, she was relatively certain that breathing was an entirely superfluous action for her. Her mouth dropped a bit, her eyes widening to the size of saucers, as she stared at the Prince of Darkness. Evil Incarnate. Lucifer. Satan. The Light Bringer. It didn't matter what he was called -- Mallory knew him.

"Uh...Er....No, not really," Mallory stuttered, blinking rapidly. "I'm here to...Well...."

She mimed knocking in the air, careful to only do so twice. She didn't want to jinx things. Despite knowing perfectly well she had no ability to choose when death would come for someone, the superstition that ensnared most of the monsters in New York continued to dominate her mind. She chuckled nervously, a perfect drop of sweat rolling down her face.

It was Lucifer, of all people! The one who was able to... to rebel! Mallory was helpless, unable to resist the divine dictation that she knock on the door of those fated to die in whatever city she resided in. She couldn't stop it. She couldn't rebel.

But he could.

"The, erm.... The.... The mob is after Damien," Mallory whispered, her eyes still wide. "And erm...and... Victoria...Thalia...They....yeah...."

---

---

Harley brushed herself off, a few pieces of trash landing on the ground. Her head filled with fantasies and delusions, she grabbed the letters that Mister J had instructed her to deliver. She giggled a bit, a stray tear falling from her eye.

"I'll get the joke next time, puddin'!" Harley promised to no one in particular.

The letters went into the mailboxes of the two in question: the vampire and the dragon. She giggled a bit, excited to return to Mister J, and see what he had for her to do next...

"I'm coming, puddin'! I'm coming, Mister J!" Harley shouted, before dashing off, vanishing from sight.

Assuming the letters are opened, they would read...

HELLO.

YOU ARE DUE TO DIE TONIGHT. IF YOU KILL THE PRINCE OF HELL, YOU WILL LIVE.

THE SECRET TO SUCCESS IS SMILING

X

"Oh hey. Something that isn't junk mail." I threw the random ads away and threw the bills on the counter and tore into the envolope. I stopped short when I read the letter. I'm going to die unless I can kill the prince of hell. And the key to success is smiling? Well. I can kill. Just gotta figure out where he lives.
After a couple google searches I had an address for the only person legally named Lucifer in NYC. I bundled up and slathered on sunscreen and was about to leave when I realized I should probably tell my friends I might not be back tomorrow. "Hey guys, I'm heading out to battle the devil. I might not be back. Love you!"

Thalia picked up her mail, and walked into her apartment. She sat down and started sorting them into piles.

"Junk, junk, bill, random letter from someone... Wait a minute," she said, picking up the letter a looked at it.

It was moments like this where she hated her sense of smell. It was giving off the smell of a circus, and that was strange for her. Thalia has never been to one, but she has flown over one, so the smell was pretty strong.

"What, is this a joke or something?"

She opened it up, and saw that there was only a small folded up piece of paper. Once she read it, she started talking to herself.

"This is probably some sort of joke," she said, looking at the letter.

Maybe its not? a little voice in her head said, maybe it is telling the truth. You could check and see you know. There was a way she could look, but then again, her parents would probably get mad at her. Thalia did not want a repeat of last time. There are different ways to be able to locate a person, most Google searches would probably be able to do it. She went to her computer and looked up the man.

"Ok, why would anyone want to kill the devil, there isn't any reason to, plus he can't really be killed." she said, as she found the address to Lucifer's home.

"Oh well, might as well investigate this. I'm curious as to who wants him dead. Maybe he'll have the answers."

Thalia got up and headed out the door. The apartment wasn't that far from her own, so she didn't need to hail a cab. She got outside, and started heading down the street, still wondering who sent the letter.

Lucifer leaned against the door, a brow raised and a tilt of his head, only to case a small smirk to grace his features. "What a kind little thing you are, giving the curtsey of a advanced warning, bit of a rule break from time to time I see." Looking back over his shoulder to see the succubus back in her human skin, the taller male moved to the side.

"Damion, come over here, say hello to your friend. Seems someone is after your hide again." He seemed to not have a care for his son's safety. Watching as the younger male made his way over to the door, a tilt of his head and curiosity in his gaze. "Couldn't stay away from me huh?" Back to his playful attitude, hands in his pockets and missing a shirt. One could tell the two were related, but Damion seemed to be worlds behind his father.

"So Damion, I heard you had to go to work tonight? Might be a wise idea to stay home." A scoff was given, Damion looking on in thought at the words. Should he be taking her warning seriously? Looking back to his father he seemed to find the connection, that the warning was true. so with a shrug of his shoulders he leaned back once more. "Thanks darlin for the warning. Seems you just can't resist the tail now can you?"

A roll of the eyes was give in response from Lucifer, gaze of ebony turned back to the young woman as he offered respect and apology. "So, how is it you know the drama queen?"

Mallory rolled her eyes. Temporarily forgetting that Lucifer was there, she laughed at the succubus. "Really? You don't think I've got things better to do than chasing down after some piss-tasting venom? Don't flatter yourself."

Of course, in an instant, she glanced back towards Lucifer. There was something about him that seemed to... Well, she just wanted to stare at him more. Attempting to snap herself out of it, she felt trapped and helpless--but somehow, it wasn't terrifying. It was almost...exciting.

Snap out of it, she commanded herself, only to have Lucifer gaze at her. Her heart--if she had one--stopped beating instantly. Had she been able to faint, she certainly would have hit the floor at the moment. Her knees went weak, wobbling even, as her entire body got the consistency of jello.

"I, er...I spilled a drink on him at a pub. Started a bar fight. Left to...well, you know. Knock on doors." She chuckled nervously. "Almost sound like the Jehovah's witnesses now, don't I? Hehehe....But erm... Why aren't you in hell? Are you here about..."

She paused, a flicker of fear crossing her face. Glancing around, she seemed to lose her nerve to continue her sentence, or perhaps, the effects of Lucifer's charms were continuing to get to her.

(Victoria) "Okay... Front door... Here we go." I knocked on the door. What am I doing here? I can't kill Lucifer, what was I thinking? Slowly, the door opened.
Lucifer himself opened the door. "Well, hello. I suppose you've come to kill me too."
So I'm not the only person to get a letter. Seems legit.
"Umm... yeah... I got this letter? I hope this isn't awkward."
He smiled. "Come inside." He moved aside and ushered me in. Inside, I saw the underage girl from the bar and Damien, of all people. I gave a small wave.
"So, uh... are you guys here to kill him too?"

Thalia saw that it seemed she was late to the party. There were already several people inside the house. Their smells mixing together, her mind deciphering who was in the room.

Well, there's the kid from the bar. Is that the smell of the drunken vampire? What would she be doing here? Oh, well that's just great, I should have known that the creepy guy who hits on every girl in the club would be here. The devil being his father and all. Whats that other smell though? Its weird, well, based on the process of elimination, I'm guessing that is none other than the devil himself. Wonder why Lucifer is in New York anyway, probably some stupid reason.

She walked up to the door, looking around, maybe she was hoping to catch a glimpse of someone spying on her, or maybe smell them. Yet there was no one anywhere near her. No neighbors nearby, the only people besides her within a 200 foot radius were those who were in the room.

Might as well get this over with. Not too happy about running into that guy again. Lets see what Lucifer has to say.

With that last thought, she rang the doorbell, and waited to see who would answer the door.

---

---

Harley walked into the factory, noticing the change in decorations. Seems Mister J decided to take the entire "the floor is lava" game seriously--as the floor was, indeed, lava.

"Mister Jaaaaaaaay!" Harley announced, hopping from desk to chair to shelf to box, making her way towards what looked to be a poor attempt at a child's tree house in the center of the room. "Grimmoire went to warn them, just as you thought she would."

Harley sniffled a bit, though she understood the plan. Grimmoire would have been eliminated anyways--she didn't get the joke! Only she, Harley, could remain. Every other helper of the Joker was destined to perish, and so it would be with Grimmoire.

Still, she felt a bit of sentiment for the new toy. They hadn't even gotten to play with her properly yet!

"Want me to go and tell her a joke, Mister J?" Harley offered eagerly. "I can take a swing at the devil while I'm at it, too! Two birds, one Harley!"

(Victoria) "So... how are we going to kill him?" I tried to ask discreetly.
"Oh my dear. I can't BE killed. So you might as well take up your happy daggers now." Lucifer laughed as he settled into a big easy chair.
Well that isn't going to happen. I've spent too much money on this education to die now. I looked around at the faces of everyone else in the room; they showed a mixture of anger, resignation, and a little bit of insanity. Then, an idea popped into my head.
"What if we played a game?"
Everyone looked at me like I was mad. Lucifer cocked his head.
"What do you mean?"
"Like dodgeball. We get you out and then we say we killed you. No one actually gets hurt."
Eyes widened. Lucifer thought it over for a minute before he said "okay. We'll try it. However, I won't go easy on you."
I sighed. We can do this. Mallory can't get hit. We can't lose.
"However," Luci went on, "I get the kumokotok."
[Butchered that spelling, sorry... also hope I got the right species, my phone won't let me check.]