“I need a drink, or a few. I’m going to go get shots.”

Almost instantly Taylor burst out laughing. Just the look on Maya's face just told her that she had almost popped the biggest lady boner she had ever popped in her life. And hey, Taylor couldn't blame her, Madison was fucking hot. Second only to that (other) Asian chick that she has seen around here. Probably wasn't into women - but Madison reminded of a friend, except her ass and tits were even bigger. Taylor was tempted to tease the chick but they weren't all that close yet. The last thing Taylor wanted to do was piss off a potential friend and get her head exploded or something weird. She walked off and Taylor was certain she was going to rub one out - and, again, she couldn't blame her. While she was gone, she was approached by some chick. One from the Coven meeting that she met in the elevator.

"Hey! You're one of us right? Nice to meet you! Name's Quinn, best in the world, you'll remember my name."

"I'm Taylor, you'll be screaming my name," Taylor said, before breaking out into laughter with a wry grin on her face. The whole "best in the world" boast didn't endear her to Taylor, because actions speak louder than words. Still, better give this nut the benefit of the doubt because it wasn't like Taylor had high hopes. She pulled out a cigarette as she lit it and took a deep puff of it, but then she looked at her. "Best in the world, eh? At what if you don't mind me askin', Quinn?"

That was when Maya came back with some drinks and Taylor grinned. They all had a toast and Taylor grinned yet again as she put the glass up the rest of the girls. "To a night so fucking crazy that we won't fuckin' remember it!" She said as she threw the drink back and she started getting a little bit tipsy. Fortunately, she ate a fuckton before she came out, but she was starting to let the inner-Taylor out.

“We need to talk to her after this, she’s so good… Even if this isn’t what I expected.”

Again Taylor started laughing, this was too rich. She had a better idea for the night. They wanted this night to be good? Then they had to great a little crazy, creative. Madison, or whoever went to the edge of the stage and started shaking her ass. A grin crept up on Taylor's face as she looked at the three.

"... I dare one of you to go up and slap her ass," Taylor grinned widely.



It wasn't long before the two DENS agents met outside the club... and goodness there was a long ass line just to get in! Meifeng got out of her car wearing a red dress that looked very unflattering given her lack of curvature. Still, it showed her impressively built figure, namely her legs as she walked up to the line. And Meifeng was the one that wore sneakers with dresses. The first thing that she saw was her old friend Cindy wearing a green dress with silt that she bet looked much better on her than Meifeng's dress did her. Mainly because she had curves. She was already in the long-ass line and when she saw Meifeng she gestured for her to come. And Meifeng cut through the line while receiving all sorts of comments for cutting.

"Cindy, why are you already here?" Meifeng asked.

"Ten minutes prior," Cindy answered.

"You're not in the military right now, Cin-Cin," Meifeng sharply said.

"Why are you complaining? I'm in line!" Cindy answered. "We would have been waiting forever."

"Because..." Meifeng trailed off as she had nothing to say really. "Let's just... uh... wait in line..."

Eventually, Meifeng and Cindy made it to the front doors of the club, showed their ids and they were in. When they walked in the place reeked of fish, cigarettes, booze, and degeneracy. Just the way Meifeng likes it.

"Oh," Cindy said, "Two grown-ass women walking into a strip club...."

She looked at Meifeng as she added.

"... We stick out like a sore thumb."

Red Lobster wasn't Herik's first choice, but it was a good choice and he was volunteered to pay for everyone. Would've been nice if they asked, but that's okay. He's got the money to pay for everyone. It helps that not all the Coven members are coming. He makes enough to sustain himself, his rent, bills, food, and the gym are all he pays for. Whatever's left is saved up and sitting in his bank account. He's got plenty to spurge here and there. He can't remember the last time he paid a lot of money for something fun. Probably before his mother got sick. Spring break with his best friend, perhaps? That was over a decade ago. Before they left Fantasy Land, he pulled Vashti aside away from everyone else. He didn't want her to think treating the Coven to dinner was the same as treating her. He hadn't planned to pay for everyone and he asked Vashti before the idea of going out for the night was brought up.

"Treating you to dinner still stands, different from tonight. Think of where you want to go and let me know." He patted his pockets. He's in his work uniform. Nothing in it, but his whistle and keys. "Follow me." He made the long trek from the park to his car in the parking lot and opened it. He dug around in his fanny pack. He should've wore it today, but hadn't thought he'd need it. He pulled out a piece of paper and pen, then wrote his cell number on it and handed it to Vashti. "Here, you'll get the rest of the members' numbers eventually, but let me know where you want to go. In the meantime can I give you a ride to dinner?"



Later that evening Herik arrived with Vashti at Red Lobster and got a table for five. He sent Claudette and Madison text messages inviting them to dinner. He hadn't gotten a response from Madison. He didn't expect to, considering she's probably sleeping off her hangover. He's not sure if Claudette will join them or not. He hoped so. She deserved a break after watching Madison all day and he hoped she and Vashti could clear the air. Perhaps become friends after the moment in the elevator. Emily joined them, dressed beautifully as always. Her face said she wasn't amused. Knowing her taste Ocean Prime was her tastes, but he's be pushing it with his money if he treated four people to something that fancy. Plus, he didn't want to wear a suit. His high school graduation was the last time he wore one and the next time he did would be a sad occasion he didn't want to dwell on. He was here for team bonding, so let's focus on that.

"Well, I think we have some things we need to discuss... is everyone here?"
- Emily

"I believe so. I invited Claudette and Madison. I'm not sure if either will join us. What did you want to discuss?" He hoped it wasn't anything related to the deal today. He was hoping for a laid back, getting to know everyone experience.

Izzy could barely pay attention to the rest of the coven’s meeting with Antheia chewing her ass out off to the side. And unfortunately not in the literal way. Antheia furiously ranted to Izzy with things like:

”You ruined a perfectly good marriage is what you did,”

“Can you keep it in your pants for more than TWO MINUTES?”

And Izzy’s personal favorite:

“SERIOUSLY?!?! IN FRONT OF HIS WIFE?!?!”

What really ended the lecture was when things took a too real turn. “Izzy you can’t just keep having sex with people and toying with people’s feelings and expect to feel love.”

”Really Antheia? You think I tried to fuck Blake to try and feel love? I tried to fuck him for the money,” Izzy snapped at the pink cloud of smoke. Then she lowered her voice to a mumble so that Antheia could only hear through their shared mental link. ”You know I neck deep in debt.

Antheia sighed and got closer to the red head’s face. “Listen hon, I know what you were trying to do with Blake was for the money, but I also know that your other trysts have just been a coping mechanism. At least try a serious relationship at some point.” Izzy rolled her eyes and refused to speak, instead opting to listen to the tail-end of the meeting. Antheia once again sighed and poofed out of existence to do whatever the spirit of love did in her free time.

”I’m down for the strip club. I really need to blow off some steam.” Izzy piped up. After Antheia’s lecture, Izzy was ready to get fucking smashed tonight and maybe find a cute girl to take home. She was getting kinda tired of sleeping with small dicked, no-talent, one-pump wonders.

---

Ah, the eternal question of what to wear. While pickings were slim, luckily a new package came in today. It was some new clothes from her mom’s fashion company. In return for being a walking, talking advertisement, Izzy’s mom always sent her the new clothing line for her brand for free. In a way her mom was basically her first sponsor. Choosing a plaid crop top and black skirt with chain details, Izzy changed out her makeup to something darker to match the outfit. With all that sorted out, she began the process of taking a few pictures to post on her instagram. This all ended up taking way longer than expected, so by the time she was out the door, she knew everyone was already at the club. Oh well, better to be fashionably late than early.

Upon arriving at the strip club, Izzy seamlessly made her way around the crowd. Unfortunately, this wasn’t her usual place. For one, Madison worked here and Izzy didn’t want to accidentally get in her pants while intoxicated. Also Izzy was usually the one dancing and grinding on others, not the other way around. Speaking of Madison, it seems like Izzy was right on time to see Madison taking the stage and shaking her ass. She was pretty good at it too, but that was kinda to be expected since it’s her job. First thing’s first though, Izzy slid over to the bar to get a drink. The cute bartender quickly came over to take her order. After a bit of flirting, Izzy ordered 6 shots of Jäger to get things rolling.

As soon as she was served the shots, Izzy downed them in record time. The guy next to her with his friend watched in amazement as she pounded them back. “You gonna be alright there babe?” He asked, his eyes still wide open. Izzy simply grinned and winked at them. ”Oh I’ll be fine, I’m just getting started.”

With that she melded back into the crowd to spot her fellow coven members. ”Hey girls, how we feelin’ tonight?” Izzy slid into the group, resting her arm on the new girl’s shoulder. Izzy didn’t catch her name, but did see her amongst the coven members while Antheia was chewing her out. ”Damn, you look good Lyss. You should wear that lipstick more often, it suits you.”

---

Vashti never imagined in her life that she’d ever go to a Red Lobster, let alone be excited to go to one. She also never imagined someone that looked like Herik would give her his number, but the slip of paper that was carefully tucked into her pocket was proof of the impossible. The mild awkwardness and tension of riding in a car with an almost stranger was released as she asked, “So does the Coven tend to get trapped in elevators a lot?” Their car banter was playful and light, and she was so juiced by the entire surrealness of it all that she could easily ignore the voice in the back of her head. It was telling her that now was the time to tell him about the Leviathan, but she wasn’t going to kill the good mood.

She hummed along with the dumb, sacchrine pop song that was playing on the radio as they pulled into the parking lot half-full of minivans with out of state license plates. She had to restrain herself from skipping as she followed alongside Herik into the Red Lobster. Surely the duo stuck out as they were led to their table past the sea of Midwestern families, some of their faces so sunburnt that it matched the crustaceans they were ferociously cracking open and devouring. Vashti didn’t mind. In fact, she found it hard not to smile as a tanned teenage girl drooled over Herik only to then gawk at her. She winked, stuck out her tongue, and jumped as she nearly walked into Herik as the host stopped them at their table.

“Honestly, this place doesn’t look that bad,” said Vashti as she settled into a chair. The decor, while cheap, didn’t have the tacky abrasiveness of what she imagined the inside of something absolutely awful like an Applebee’s would have, and it was hard to resist the smell of fried food. Her stomach growled as she grabbed a menu and thumbed through it. Family meal deals for just $8 a person? Endless shrimp for twice that price? She didn’t realize that her internal monologue shifted to external as she gasped, “Wow! This place is amazing! How could any other seafood place manage to stay in business?”

They ordered drinks. Vashti had a brief dilemma where she had to fight with herself over trying to get one over the eagle-eyed server by having Herik order her one of those shrimp cocktail sauce cocktails just to see how they managed to incorporate seafood with booze. Obviously, Herik was old enough to buy a drink—what, he had to be like twenty four? Twenty five?—but she decided against it. It would be a major bummer if she ended up getting him in trouble. She’d be fine with a Coke.

"Oh why hellooooo there, friends?" Vashti turned and gave Emily a confused look. Why had she said friends like it was a question, and why’d she get so dressed up to eat at a Red Lobster? Plus, it was a white dress. The girl was basically painting herself as a target for rogue splatters of cocktail sauce. Vashti softened her look into a welcoming smile. In the car, Herik had talked to her about the other members, Emily included. She felt like he’d kept saying they aren’t as bad as they seem, and so Vashti believed it. "So this is your idea of fine dining?” Hey, she’d been the one to suggest seafood! “Interesting."

"Well, I think we have some things we need to discuss…”

“Yeah the apps. Should we be bad and get the mozzarella sticks or do the artichoke dip?” interjected Vashti quietly, her nose buried in the menu yet again as the other two discussed who else was coming. She barely heard it. “Wait! She flipped the menu around, her eyes shining bright with wonder, and pointed at a picture. “They have a lobster pizza!? We have to try that.”

Vashti was met with blank stares. “Sorry, what were you two talking about?”

---

When Maya had returned with shots, Sin was there, and she smiled at her - already tipsy enough to not stick with her normal distaste for the girl. Today was about having a good time and being a bit less of a bitch! Probably. Drinking mellowed her out, that was for sure.

"Hey lovergirl! This one's on me."

Rolling her eyes at the nickname, Maya took the shot and knocked it back. “Thanks, more drinks always welcome.”

She grinned as that shot hit her nicely, pleasant buzz in her body and brain shutting off everything that was concentrated on enjoying herself. She was glad she wasn’t as much of a lightweight as she looked - but she’d had enough that it had hit her now. It was nice.

"... I dare one of you to go up and slap her ass."

“Hell no!” Maya shook her head at the dare. There was a shit load she’d do personally, but risking her life to slap Madison’s life wasn’t that. Especially considering she’d activated the Jaws when someone had touched her ass in the elevator. “I don’t want to risk getting beaten by her if she finds out who did it. I’m not drunk enough for that, yet. You saw how angry she was earlier!”

Somehow, she had a bit more self preservation than normal at this stage of drunkenness. That, and a dare was basically like being told what to do - and fuck that.

She was glad when Izzy appeared and gave her a reason to completely ignore the dare. “Hey Izzy, surprised you’re late to this kind of event,” she said teasingly, for once with a lot less bite than her words would normally have. She forced her gaze off of Madison, which was hard, to glance around the four around her. A pretty good group… meaning that Emily wasn’t there, so Maya could enjoy herself without worrying about that bitch.

Still leaning on Lyss, Maya turned around to look around the other people in the club… totally not to distract herself from how uncomfortable hot Madison was on stage. Definitely time to look for someone else to focus on. After all, what was the fun in going to a club and not hitting on strangers while drunk? She tilted her head as she spotted two much older women - distant enough that she couldn’t entirely make them out, but they sure did stick out… And she half recognised them. From where, she wasn’t sure since it wasn’t exactly easy to tell through all the bodies.

So she nudged Lyss and pointed towards them, asking, “don't those two look familiar?”

---

"Coming up on the stage is Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiberty!"

Lyss turned her head away from Taylor and felt her jaw drop in shock. She knew that Madison stripped to make ends meet, but she never expected to see her in action. Any words Maya spoke to her were lost in the chaos as Madison began to dance. If Lyss were sober, she would have merely supported Madison in silent, but she wasn't.

Instead, she moved her glass to one hand and began to cheer on her Coven sister. "Yeah, Liberty, we see you!" She said, grinning wide. She'd brought enough ones to hand out to a few of the strippers, but to Lyss it was more important to support a friend than some strangers. She turned to the other girls just in time to see Maya return with shots. "Now you're really trying to get me drunk." She teased before throwing it back. She felt Maya's weight against her, and instead of feeling awkward at the touch, Lyss just let Maya use her for support.

“We totally need to talk to her after this."

"Hell yeah we do! I have so many questions." She sipped her whiskey before throwing some cash onto the stage. Sin arrived, but introduced herself as Quinn this time. Lyss couldn't help but laugh. "She has a name!" She accepted Quinn's shot without a second thought, but held out her glass of whiskey to her. "Quinn, you want this? You need it more than I do right now."

"I dare one of you to go up and slap her ass."

"Hell no, girl! You aren't supposed to touch a stripper unless you're putting cash into their thongs."

She tossed a few more ones onto the stage before she heard Izzy's voice as she arrived.

"Damn, you look good Lyss. You should wear that lipstick more often, it suits you."

Lyss beamed at Izzy. "Thanks, it's my favorite shade. I'll keep that in mind." She was just about to cheer on Madison again when she felt Maya nudge her. Her head turned to look down on her smaller friend, before her gaze followed Maya's finger to where she was pointing.

Lyss squinted, At first it was difficult to see the woman, but once she spotted them, her jaw dropped for the second time today. "You've got to be fucking kidding me." She said, her tone suddenly bitter. "That's General Meifeng and one of the other agents." She pressed her lips together, but had to laugh a little about the situation. "Why on satan's earth would two DENs agents go to a strip club? They're dressed for a cocktail party."

She suddenly yearned for her whiskey back, but she knew better than to drink more in case Meifeng had come on official DENs business. "If she's here to fuck with our night, I might return the bruise." Without another glance in their direction, Lyss tossed the rest of her ones Madison's way before looking at Maya. "Let's just go backstage and wait for Madison there."

She didn't want to know why Meifeng was there. She didn't care, and if it was anything to do with DENs, she didn't want it to be Meifeng that showed. She wanted it to be the only agent she respected. Maximillian, the one who'd ever grabbed her arm and left the situation without a bruise on his body. She suddenly remembered something she'd wanted to tell him. Should she call him after they leave the strip club? Should she meet him in person or just do it over the phone? She brought her hand to her head. "Ugh, why did I have to be reminded of the DENs right now?"

---

---

Interactions:

"Let's see... Best summoner, best mechanic and of course... Best in bed."

Taylor grinned as she bit her lip... Taylor liked where this was going. "Now, now now, sugar, you can say you're the best at that other shit but..." Taylor started. "... the last thing you're gonna have to prove to me yourself." She started chuckling...

"Whoa whoa, how do you know my name?"

Then she rolled her eyes before laughing. The girl was fucking wasted. Not as bad as that Madison chick, but still wasted. Probably wasn't in control of her actions... and that made the thought of hooking up with her a lot less appealing. Unless Taylor herself got drunk as fuck... but the conversation changed. They started talking about DENS this, Meifeng-that, and Taylor was honestly a little confused.

"Let me just say I'm a little lost here, sugar!"

Taylor was not there for the previous events so when they started talking about it a little question mark went off in Taylor's head. She wanted to ask for context but from what she could gather: these two were trouble. How so? They look old as dirt, though the Asian one in the red was kinda swole and the other one had a nice ass.... for old ladies. Taylor grinned.

"Either way, are we afraid of a buncha old ladies?" Taylor chuckled. "They look like leather rags!"

Quinn damn near fell on Lyss and Taylor wanted to get as drunk as her. Perhaps even drunker. So drunk that she would do some crazy shit. The two girls seemed to be inclined to go backstage, for some reason. Taylor shrugged. If they wanted to meet Madison then they should probably wait out here instead of sneaking outback but hey, she was going with the flow. She didn't want to split off from her drinking buddies!

"We're slapping asses right!?" She asked, "I'd slap more than an ass if that's alright with you guys."

"You're such a hoe," Taylor muttered. "I love it, sugar."

Though, the last thing that Taylor wanted was to piss off these two nice ladies and start a fight. "Wouldn't slap one of them, though." She grabbed onto Quinn's wrist and made sure that her hands were staying to herself - or Taylor. She sneered as she said, "Lead the way, sugar."

---

"Don't they look familiar?" Cindy asked.

"... Yup." Meifeng answered.

They kept walking as if they didn't see anything in the first place.



Sweat glistened off Madison's body as all of her outfits were off. Men and women alike were throwing money her and she barely noticed. They lusted after she and Madison could barely care enough to remember their faces, the same as every other night. She would go find the biggest pervert with the biggest wallet, do a dance or two for him and then move on with her night. Madison figured that she got more than enough money on the weekends to account for her bills.

The song changed and the DJ was quick to more or less shoo her off the stage.

"Alrrrrrrright! Liberty is getting off the stage, Cinder is up next!"

Madison stopped as she grabbed all of her clothes then grabbed all the money that she saw and went outback. There were probably a hundred dollars in tips here, just from one dance! The perfect way to start the night, maybe she'll get lucky and have someone with the big bucks come by and get a private dance. For now, Madison went backstage, and... it was oddly empty back here. Like the fuck? There was always a handful of girls back here now it's almost empty. Madison just shrugged she was about to throw up after that dance and wanted to balance herself.

Madison started putting her clothes back on when she heard someone coming in...

"What did you want to discuss?"

Pretty much everything that was said by Herik went in one ear and out the other in Emily's eyes. Mostly because she was more disappointed that nobody important was here... no offense to Herik. Or... Emily turned her eyes towards the chick in the hijab. She had no clue who she was, just that she's in the Coven now. Joy. What didn't help was that she seemed oblivious and not worth paying attention to. Still, that exact line of thinking was the problem that Emily was having in the first place. She shook her head as she wanted to try a different approach for once. While she didn't know the other girl, at all, she knew that if anyone was going to hear her out, it'd be Herik.

"Well... the whole deal gone wrong has me thinking," Emily shook her head as she subconsciously found herself just fucking desperate to avoid that eye contact. Looking to the left, right, and even above Herik's head as she spoke. "The reason why I wanted it to go through was that I need money to help my sister..."

She ended up biting her fingertips.

"... Let me just cut to the chase and say I'm sorry. For what it's worth."

---

"You already knew my name but you guys just love me that much."

Lyss furrowed her brows, her eyes glancing back towards the DENs agents. Thankfully they hadn't noticed them yet. She turned to Quinn and honest to satan really hadn't known her by any name but Sin until now. At least she wouldn't have to call her that anymore. "You mean the ones that had me tazed?" Lyss nodded. She could still remember the threats Meifeng had made to the Coven. The feeling of their esteemed leader's hand whipping her across the cheek. As much as Max liked to say Meifeng wasn't as cruel as her actions that day, Lyss still wasn't comfortable around her.

Lyss began to shrink away as Quinn moved towards her, but the liquor made her slow. She stood still, uncomfortably looking down at Quinn as she was engulfed in her arms. Why did I give her the fucking whiskey? She raised her hands up a little as Quinn made her comments about slapping ass. While she was sure that Quinn wouldn't touch her any further without permission, Lyss didn't want anyone touching her. Or... did she? Certainly not by any of the Coven members, but the smell of sweat and her thirst...

Quinn was suddenly pulled away from her, and Lyss felt like she had room to breathe again. She took a deep breath, smoothed out her top, and nodded to Taylor. Madison had finished her dance, collected her clothes and money, and was headed backstage. Now was the time to get back there. She nudged Maya and began to make her way towards the entrance to the back. As she passed Taylor, she murmured a "Thanks,"before continuing on.

The door, whom Lyss assumed was normally guarded, surprisingly had no bouncer in sight. Lyss normally would have been concerned by this, but at the time it was a blessing. Anything to get away from the smell. Away from the DENs. If they wanted to keep drinking, and Lyss desperately wanted to, she wanted to go somewhere else. "I miss Miami bars," she muttered to no one in particular.

She lead the group down a short hall until she came to the official backstage lounge for the girls. Assuming Madison was still getting dressed, Lyss knocked on the frame of the empty doorway before stepping inside. "Madison? Are you up for some visitors?" She said with a sheepish smile and her eyes averted in case Madison was still naked. It was definitely awkward to have just seen a Coven member shake her ass on stage, but she still wanted to support Madison. "The girls and I came out for drinks, but I didn't expect to see you onstage. Does the crowd usually go that wild?"

Am I too drunk for this, or not drunk enough? She thought, her mind going back to the whiskey she'd handed over to Quinn. Either way, Lyss was drunk enough to forget how she'd usually approach this kind of situation.

---

"That's General Meifeng and one of the other agents."

“It’s that bitch?” Maya gaped, eyes narrowing at the two agents in the distance. Her hand automatically went to her cheek where she’d been slapped and she forced back a shudder. Exactly not what she wanted to think about on a night out. Her hand moved from her cheek to tug through her hair, slight amount of pain from it bringing her back to reality. “You’re right… we should get back stage, I don’t want to deal with them.”

Maya also pulled out all the ones she’d gotten upon arriving and tossed them at the stage - best to give them all to Madison, who must need it. She stopped leaning on Lyss to head towards the backstage area… only for Quinn to start absolutely babbling and basically hug Lyss. Maya’s eyes widened - she was huggy when drunk but Quinn was a whole other level. She was definitely wasted.

"Either way, are we afraid of a buncha old ladies? They look like leather rags!"

“Those old ladies pack a punch,” Maya muttered, shaking her head. “Don’t want to get on the wrong side of them… Also they pretty much threatened to kill us, soooo.”

She just left that statement standing in the air as she rubbed her head. She really wanted another drink cause the sight of them was a little bit sobering and she was nowhere near as drunk as Quinn, and that looked fucking fun. Dammit why did she share the shots… She’d definitely be thinking a lot less about it if she was more drunk.

Lyss’ nudge tore her out of her thoughts, and she realised she’d just been standing there scowling. She quickly changed back to a smile and followed her towards the back of the stage. It was surprisingly quiet… no one seemed to be wandering around and she was kind of disappointed in that.

“Hey Madison!” Maya followed right behind Lyss into the backstage lounge even as her eyes were very much fixed on the wall rather than the girl herself. She had no idea if Madison was still changing… and there was no way she wanted to risk that. Also it just wasn’t respectful. “You were really good out there, y’know?”

That totally didn’t sound awkward at all. She tried to not blush as she remembered just how good it had been. She was in that weird in between right now, where the alcohol had mellowed her out but she hadn’t had enough to be drunkenly confident. It made for a weird, less brash than normal Maya.

“Want to join us for drinks if you’re done working? They’re on me.”

Herik startled and looked at Vashti thinking there was something wrong only for her to be excited about pizza. That's good. He thought something was wrong. With all the Coven business lately he's happy to see someone happy about food. Not a lot of happiness going around with the members lately.

“Sorry, what were you two talking about?”
- Vashti

"Emily has something important to say. We can order the pizza if that's what you want when she's finished." He looked at her, giving his undivided attention. "Continue." It was odd to see Emily nervous and avoiding eye contact when she's one of the most confident members. It's nice to see her honest with how she's truly feeling for once, instead of being antagonistic.

"The reason why I wanted it to go through was that I need money to help my sister...Let me just cut to the chase and say I'm sorry. For what it's worth."
- Emily

Herik smiled and patted her hand. "You're forgiven. I understand wanting to help family." He didn't know the situation, but if she needs the money he gets it. Whatever's going on must be difficult. "The reason I joined the Coven is to help my mother. She's in a coma and the doctor's can't explain why. I did a lot of research and found out about magic. I figure she's under for magical reasons and I want to help her get out of it. If you don't mind sharing, what does your sister need the money for? Maybe we can help you." The waitress came back for their food order. Herik ordered the mozzarella sticks, artichoke dip, and lobster pizza for Vashti and himself. He didn't know want Emily wanted, but there's plenty to share.

"... The fuck?" Madison loudly said.

No, no, no, no, no... No.

No.

This was not happening. One of the last things that Madison wanted was for the Coven to find out her secret. She was frozen in abstract shock. She honestly didn't know how to even fucking respond to this. She stopped clothing herself after hearing them talk about her all hunky-dory. No, this was not cool and Madison was trying her best to contain her temper. Honestly, the fact that she was nude didn't bother her that much as she made her way over to the girls as she questioned them:

"Why the fuck are ya'll here?" Madison asked, barely containing her temper as she walked up to the girls.

"Back here, sugar?" Taylor flatly said, "I knew it was a bad idea... "

"No, in the club?" Madison said as she shook her head. "Oh my God, please, please, please don't tell anyone about this. Please."

"My lips are sealed, sugar." Taylor did the motion to zip her lips.

However, a scream came from down the hallways that caught their attention.



Emily sighed as she listened to Herik explained his situation, which wasn't that different. Emily took a seat as she pulled the chair back and was tempted to kick her feet on the table. The last thing she wanted to do was give a wage slave a heart attack. Emily bit her nails a little bit more as she said.

"What happened to your mother is... tragic," Emily said, trying her best to sound like she cared. Which she did a bad job at. She's already sucking at this "trying to do the right thing" kind of thing. "Well... my sister's in a similar position to your mother. She got attacked by an apparition and currently... she's dying of some kind of curse. The hospital bills are piling up..."

Emily shrugged.

"It's why I joined the Coven. But, I doubt anyone here can help." She rolled her eyes.

---

---

Interactions:

---

"... The fuck?"

Oh no. Madison definitely wasn't happy to see them. Lyss glanced up at her, but as she realized that Madison still wasn't completely covered she kept her eyes locked on Madison's. She found herself flushing with slight embarrassment as Madison questioned them. Then she wondered why she was flushing in the first place. It's embarrassing that we saw Madison dance, even if I was cheering her on, but why am I blushing? Was it because Madison was mad? Or was it because she was pleading with them not to tell the others? Lyss definitely wasn't going to say a word about this after tonight.

"I don't snitch unless really really necessary like someone-just-got-murdered necessary."

Lyss nodded, her hand raising to point at Quinn because she made a good point. Did I just agree with Quinn??

And then she heard a scream.

Lyss flinched, her head whipping to face in the direction of the sound. "Someone-just-got-murdered necessary." She could already feel her heart beating faster. That wasn't just an ordinary "grabby man grabbed me at a strip club" scream. That was... on a whole different level of fear. "You do have bouncers that protect the backstage, right?" She asked, slowly looking back at Madison. "I didn't happen to see any when we came back."

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Am I fit to fight right now? Lyss's head was a blur of strategies and fear. Why didn't I at least bring some mace with me? She moved her sluggish head around the room and spotted the various props that the strippers used. Without hesitation, and a little bit of a rush to her step that she usually didn't have, Lyss grabbed a pair of fake handcuffs and the police baton prop. Except, the prop was completely plastic and wouldn't hurt a fly. Lyss frowned and dropped the baton, and in her fear she grabbed the closest actually painful item to her. A riding crop.

"Come on, girls. We gotta go help her, no matter how drunk," or scared, why am I scared?? "we are."

Despite the extra tight and nervous grip she had on the crop, she made her way towards the backroom with a determination in her step. She'd been scared before. Just as helpless as the scream had sounded. She could overcome it. She stopped at the doorway and took a deep breath before peeking around it to see a set of stairs descending into a dimly lit room. Oh, fuck, a basement. Why is it always a basement? She swallowed. Okay, Lyss. You've got this. It's probably just some drunk that wandered back here before Madison came back. Piece of cake, right? She released her breath slowly through her mouth and began to descend the stairs.

---

"Oh my God, please, please, please don't tell anyone about this. Please."

Maya had automatically taken a step back as Madison walked up to them, clearly very angry. That was not the reaction she’d expected but… she hadn’t known what to expect anyway. But it wasn’t like they’d known she would be here! Normally she’d argue with Madison in this, get all in her face about it, but thankfully for all the alcohol dampened her temper. She just nodded in agreement with what Quinn said (something new happened every day). “I won’t tell.”

Then there was a scream.

Maya spun around, immediately on alert. She shook her head at Quinn. “That isn’t the kind of scream you’d hear from sex.”

That was definitely the kind from being attacked… and whatever it was, she wasn’t just going to stand there and do nothing. As much as she wanted to just rush towards the screams she held back and turned her head to Lyss, waiting for her to say what to do. It was a step towards teamwork for her (and likely to not happen when she was sober).

"Come on, girls. We gotta go help her, no matter how drunk we are."

“I’m right behind you, got your back,” Maya nodded, not bothering to pick something up like Lyss had - she knew she’d be much more effective just using her abstraction. So she stuck right behind Lyss and followed the other girl in the direction of the scream. She kept herself entirely read to blast everything to shit… even though she wasn’t quite as alert as she could be, what with the alcohol.

They came to stairs leading down to the basement. Of course it was a dimly lit basement. Maya peered around Lyss to look down it with narrowed, slightly blurred, eyes. Maybe it was just a sex dungeon… no, she knew what those screams would sound like! It definitely wasn’t that. Why did this place even have a basement? She clenched a fist and pushed away her stupid thoughts cause they weren’t important anyway.

As Lyss began to descend the stairs so did Maya, right behind her and constantly peering around the taller girl to try and see anything that came at them.

---

A ravenous grin popped on Vashti’s face as Herik suggested that they would, in fact, get the pizza crime. A grin that was quickly smacked off of Vashti’s face as Herik reached over and patted Emily on the hand. She chastised herself for the spike of jealousy. He was only comforting the girl who was concerned for her sister. Vashti was respectful enough to sit still and shut up as the two revealed that someone in their family had been hospitalized. She picked at the table as Herik ordered the food, the initial excitement of having a smorgasbord of garbage to dive into defeated by the talk of real problems.

“I mean, surely there’s something we can do,” said Vashti, her eyes brightening. She’d joined the Coven to get help for herself. The thought that the others had joned to help her family just made her feel selfish. Would she go through the trouble to help out a family member? The fact that the answer wasn’t an instant yes made her let out a tiny, regretful sigh. “Not to sound cheesy, but isn’t that the point of the Coven? To help out one another in a time of need?”

Vashti turned to Emily and gave her a reassuring smile, “I’m sure there’s something we can do! I’m not going to pretend like I know a lot about this stuff”—she was more familiar with aliens and bigfoots than Apparitions and Extra-Normals—“but what if we tried to track down the Apparition and use it to find a way to reverse your sister’s curse. Like creating an antivenom from the snake that bit you, you know?”

However, if it was just money that Emily needed, well, Vashti had money. But, like the Leviathan, she was going to keep that to herself for the moment.

Izzy genuinely didn’t know who the hell those two older ladies were or why the group decided to hide after seeing them. Maybe Maya was into older ladies? So far, that seemed to be her taste. ”Damn, old flames? That’s rough,” Izzy patted Maya’s shoulder in comfort. ”Nothing that a little alcohol won’t solve though,”

As the group made their way to the back, Izzy noticed how most of her coven-mates were already pretty drunk. Oof, lightweights. Well, one thing was for certain, Izzy wasn’t going to be babysitting them. She had had a rough day already and definitely wasn’t in the mood to play the responsible one. They were all adults though, they can handle themselves.

The security at this club really sucked since this group of clearly drunk idiots managed to get to the backstage area. Oh well, it worked in their favor. Izzy gave Madison a big thumbs up and a wink when she finally came out. Maya was already heaping on the compliments, but Madison didn’t exactly look pleased.

“Want to join us for drinks if you’re done working? They’re on me.”

”Whoa, drinks are on you? Since when? I hope you’re ready to empty that fat wallet of yours Maya, cause I’m not holding back tonight,” Izzy giggled, placing her hands on Maya’s shoulder and leaning in for a brief moment.

"... The fuck? Why the fuck are ya'll here?"

Oops. Madison seemed pissed.

"Oh my God, please, please, please don't tell anyone about this. Please."

To be fair, Izzy kinda knew about Madison working here. She had been here once before, but had yeeted it out the door when she saw her coven-mate was nearly nude on stage. That was pretty early in the coven days though, so Izzy most definitely wasn’t ready to have that conversation. Plus Izzy really didn’t want to get sexual with the coven. She had drawn a line in the sand.

”Don’t worry about it. I already been knew.” Izzy waved a hand dismissively at Madison’s concern. ”Besides, we’re all sisters here,”

The scream seemed to pull everyone out of the conversation.

"Come on, girls. We gotta go help her, no matter how drunk we are."

”Ooo, adventure! I’m in,” Izzy bounced on the balls of her toes in excitement. Then, noticing Lyss grabbing stripper props, Izzy grabbed her small knife from her bra and kept it hidden in her palm. Security really did suck here. But that’s why she always came prepared.

As the group moved down the stairs, Izzy stuck to the back of the pack. The others actually had useful abstractions for a fight. ”Is it just me, or are there literally no security guards here? Couldn’t you have picked a safer place to shake your ass Madison?” Izzy complained, trying to keep her voice down.

Madison was relieved that they aren't going to tell the Coven - or anyone for that matter. She sighed out of relief knowing that the sisterhood would never betray her like that. Or they would tell everyone and abso-fuckin-lutely ruin her life. At this point, she couldn't feel any lower so... yeah. They can go ahead and do whatever the fuck they want. Still, she had to mutter a, "Thank you."

Still, the screaming sounded discerning... and so was the fact that she was still naked in front of them. And they didn't seem that affected by it either. Then again she was probably just shaking her ass in front of them. "Let me put some clothes on before ya'll go ghost hunting!" Madison also wanted to get to the bottom of the whole missing stripper thing. She was quick to put back on her outfit, but then she wondered... why wear anything?

"Don't these clubs have those private rooms where they can have sex in them or whatever?"

Taylor chuckled.

"... Sounds like you know this from experience, sugar." She quipped.

Madison shook her head as she said, "We don't do that here."

... We totally do that here.

"Come on, girls. We gotta go help her, no matter how drunk, we are."

"... I bet you gonna be the first one to run," Madison said with a roll of her eyes. She was used to people talking big until it all hit the fan. Still, she was probably the most powerful one here... except she was tipsy as fuck. She had to use every ounce of willpower to seem composed and not in total thot-mode (like she usually would be at this point).

"Don't worry, sugar," Taylor said with a reassuring smile... before she started laughing. Naturally, Taylor wasn't all that scared. Because she died one time (well, technically two) already and still came back. Why not add some more to it? Taylor shrugged. It was probably nothing which was why Taylor just stuck her hands in her pockets as she walked her way down the stairs. She knew that the Coven would be like the Scooby gang, so why not solve some mysteries.

”Is it just me, or are there literally no security guards here? Couldn’t you have picked a safer place to shake your ass Madison?”

A vein nearly exploded in Madison's skull as she heard the statement. She shook her head as she looked at Izzy and tried to process her airheaded ass comment. "Izzy," Madison slurred. "Shut up before I sock you." Afterward, she got another genius come back and couldn't wait to use it.

"You know you'd be shaking your ass here too. Oh, wait."

"Ouch, you got some spice mixed in with that sugar, sugar," Taylor chuckled. "I think you just got promoted to Cinnamon Sugar."

They made it to the last stairs and...

---

"Hey!" A burly bouncer shouted as he walked down the stairs to see a bunch of the girls all bound and gagged. He balled his fists as he looked at the rednecks. "The fuck is-"

That was when he was pounced from behind by James... who was also naked for some reason. He hopped up on his back and bit down on his neck. The two hit the ground as Jordan drained him of his blood and released him, wiping the blood off his lips.

"James," Frederick said, "What the fuck!?"

"What?" James said.

"I said no bodies! How are we supposed to get rida of this giant fucker?! He probably weighs four hundred fuckin' pounds."

"Well, how do we know that this sacrifice won't create a bunch of dead strippers?"

"Because who cares if it does?" Frederick hissed, "They're a bunch of sluts. Nobody's gonna miss them."

"I'd miss them." Jordan quietly added on.

"Well, you'd miss any girl that makes eye contact with you for five seconds, Jordan!" Frederick said before turning back to James. "... Wait, why are you naked?"

James shrugged.

"You'd should be the last person asking that question," Jordan said.

... And in the middle of their bickering, they didn't notice the group of like six thots walking down the stairs. They all turned towards them unceremoniously as they looked at them.

"Woulda look at that," James started, "They're bringing themselves to us!"

"Shut up, James," Frederick said.

Taylor raised an eyebrow... okay, there was some freaky deeky shit going on around here. There were several glowing orange symbols around the place and all sorts of strippers all tied up and shit. It looked like a satanic sacrifice... and they chose hoes. Taylor thought that Satan liked virgins or something - she ain't see a single virgin here!

"... Girls!" Madison shouted as she saw everything. Well, that explains where the fuck everyone went, they were attacked by these rednecks.... they looked kinda familiar, then her eyes landed on the naked one. "... And why the fuck are you naked!?"

James shrugged.

"Git 'im bitches!" Frederick shouted.

"... The Jaws," Madison muttered as the Jaws surrounded her in a barrier of glowing purple bones. It was an eldritch sight, but she pushed her way up to the front.

---

Lyss was too focused on taking each step than to worry about the girl's bickering. Her vision was off, thanks to the liquor. She almost tripped on the last step, but what the girls saw in the basement was much more important than feeling embarrassed about her balance problems. Lyss stared at the scene before her, the bright sigils standing out like neon lights at a bar. She looked at them all, and in her gut she knew that this was a ritualistic sacrifice in the making.

Her eyes moved over the bound and gagged girls, their faces begging for help but also warning the girls to run. Then her eyes moved to the dead bodyguard, his body pale and lifeless. As if all blood was drained from his body. She finally looked a the three men and felt her blood boil. She was still scared. These sigils were powerful not the average sacrificial scribblings. There was something much, much more ominous to this situation, but the vampires were behind it?

"Are you fucking kidding me?" She asked as she felt Madison's Jaws come to life. She lowered her riding crop and her eyes glared at the three bloodsuckers. "These fuckers are from the Greenwood Trash Island." She practically spit in their direction.

"Who the fuck put you up to this?"

She stepped over towards the side of the room and held the riding crop high with both hands. "Y'know what, I don't give a fuck. If you touch any of these girls, or activate one fucking sigil, you're going to regret it." In her anger, she forgot the state of her inebriation and tripped on her own foot. "Shit." She muttered before quickly moving into a stance that would improve her balance. "Maya, Madison, knock 'em out for me."

I need to ruin these sigils before they can touch them.

---

“What the fuck,” Maya muttered as they reached the basement at the bottom of the stairs… and looked like they’d walked right into some kind of knock off horror movie. Had she accidentally taken drugs? Was she more drunk than she thought? Nah, she shouldn’t be surprised - weird stuff was the new normal, really. But still it took moments to take in all the glowing symbols and the weird, pale rednecks that had captured them.

One was naked. Maya gagged at the sight as some of the alcohol threatened to come back up… thankfully she resisted the urge to vomit. Not the kind of naked guy she liked to see.

She stepped around Lyss as Madison pushed to the front and activated the jaws, own stance as solid and threatening as she could make it - which wasn’t very, considering she was a small, somewhat drunk Asian girl. She nodded her agreement to everything Lyss said even as half of it went over her head (and she really didn’t recognise them).

"Maya, Madison, knock 'em out for me."

“On it,” Maya gave a clumsy, half mock, salute to Lyss before turning to narrow her eyes at the rednecks. It took her somewhat drunk mind a moment to think out a course of action… stopping her from just straight up sound blasting the entire area. Mostly because she didn’t want to knock over the other coven members too.

Instead she turned her focus to the naked one, who in her mind was the biggest threat (to her eyes). She pushed out her hands and shot a focused, powerful blast of sound at him - knocking herself back and onto the floor as she did so.