Black Lace Chapter One(extended edition)

PROLOGUE

“But what about—” Her sister argued persistently, attempted to talk what she considered sense into the girl.

Reivyn simply laughed before slamming the bedroom door in her sibling’s face. Zimmer never knew when to give up, and unfortunately for her, Rei was just as stubborn. She was going out whether Zimmer agreed or not.

Grabbing a towel, she locked herself in her bathroom and proceeded to turn the shower on. As she waited for the water to heat, she tossed the towel on the rack and stripped. She paused for a moment to graze the tips of her fingers along the angry red scars that ran the length of her left arm.

“Pretty,” she thought to herself with a strange little smile.

Testing the water before stepping into the shower, she murmured softly as the soft hot spray kissed her skin and massaged her scalp. She enjoyed the feel of the water long enough to be sufficiently clean, and then twisted the knobs to turn off the shower. She grabbed her towel from the rack—her favorite red and black one with the high thread count—and pressed it to her face a few times to get the remaining droplets of water out of her eyes. Ignoring the shriek of the shower door as she nearly fell out of the tub, she quickly dried off, dressed, and squeezed most of the water out of her hair before she began applying make-up.

Starting with her eyes, she deftly gave them a sultry, smoky look which made the emerald orbs dance with mystery. She applied just enough blush to make her look alive, then kissed the mirror with her full, painted Marilyn Monroe-red lips. As a final touch she sprinkled a little glitter in her hair.

Shaking her head, the raven-haired nineteen-year-old stared at her reflection, making faces at herself. Though she was mostly happy with her appearance now—a far cry from her days as Zimmer version one point oh—she still never felt quite comfortable with the way she looked.

Cocking an eyebrow suggestively, Rei trailed her fingers down her slender body, resting briefly between her breasts, before continuing down to stop at the frayed edges of her silky black corset. It was a long-sleeved set that coupled with a pleated mini skirt.
“Hot,” she murmured with light approval.

Finally satisfied, she quickly reapplied mascara to her thick black lashes before grabbing her purse off the bureau. She accidentally knocked off a bottle of vanilla-scented perfume in the process. Rolling her eyes, Rei kneeled down in her navy-blue skirt and black ballet flats to pick up the shattered glass.

Shattered glass… Broken window…Juvie hall…Razorblades. Memories flooded her so fast and hard she cried out loud before shaking them off.

“FUCK!” She cursed passionately after stabbing her finger with a shard of the broken bottle. Irritated, she went to rinse her cut in the sink. Drying her hands, she threw the damp towel on the counter after noticing the time. “Damn it!” Sucking her wound, she grimaced and abandoned the perfume, leaving it to seep into the wood flooring as she rushed out the door.


CHAPTER ONE


Mumbling as her still-damp hair whipped her face in the warmth of the May air, Rei stomped onward until she neared the entrance of a once-abandoned warehouse—Club Eriu. Ten steps up and the music—gothic techno—would slap her in the face.

Bowing her head, she paused under the green neon sign to stamp out her barely-used joint before beginning the traipse upward, bypassing the short line that waited to get in.

Normally there were far more people milling by the entrance, but being late had its advantages…and its disadvantages. Cringing, she slipped inside barely unnoticed, relieved that the bouncer was already halfway wasted. Grimacing at the thought of her brother in a drunken mood she went further inside.

Making her way over to the bar, she slapped a palm on the counter and ordered the bartender, “Give me a vodka, straight-up, and put it on Bran’s tab, Sidhe.” As the young man winked and turned to fill her order, she impatiently tapped her shimmering blue nails on the bar. She smirked at him as he slid the drink her way, downing the glass in a couple of swallows. “Keep ‘em comin, boy, and you may just get lucky tonight.” She slid her lips across the rim of the drink suggestively, giving him a coy look.

This time it was Sidhe’s turn to smirk as he sent another one her way. Flipping her hair, she quickly emptied the refill in her mouth and leaned over the bar, pressing her breasts against the tiled bar for optimal cleavage. Dipping her chin down, she looked up, giving him a come-hither look before slipping off the stool and making her way down to the dance floor. It was a blood-red mass of grinding sado-masochists—and she loved it.

After being groped repeatedly, she sashayed back up to Sidhe’s bar to get another shot. Shoving three leering Doms out of the way, she purred at the bartender, reaching up to his face when he poured her a third shot. Wielding a lock of her shimmering black hair, she compared it to his own raven strands.

“Look, we match,” Rei flirted heavily. Running her fingers over his full lips, she let out a sensual murmur as he lightly began to suckle one. Shaking his head, he roughly tossed her hand away and growled his first words to her all evening, “3rd booth on the left in five.”

She gave him a strong look of insistence before departing into the throng of dancers. Making her way to the shielded lair, she pulled back the thick velvet curtain, making certain that no one saw her slip through. The booths were strictly VIP, and Sidhe, though valued, was merely an employee. If they got caught again, his job—and her ass—would be on the line.

Shrugging, Rei smirked as she waited for him, knowing she would love the pain and pleasure however it came. As she waited, her mind drifted to the last time she saw Sidhe at his sensual best—naked. While her mind wandered, her hand, too, began to trace the outline of her corset and on down, dipping below the waistband of her skirt before running back up to the black lace that held the corset closed. Chuckling, she undid the ribbon quickly, knowing well that Sidhe would not hesitate to rip it open in his haste to claim his most prized possession.

Not bothering to halt when the curtain was jerked aside, she looked up into the intense gray eyes of her lover. Before she could take much more in, the curtain flew shut and she could no longer see his face. She could only feel his skin against hers and her mouth on his lips. Moaning loudly as she felt his hand rip off her cheap fishnets and black lace thong, she arched her back into his chest.

Shushing her with a bite to her lip, Sidhe fumbled in the dark to strip himself of his black leather pants, finally succeeding in getting them off with Rei’s aide. Then his skin was with hers again, and it was not only their hair that matched, but their bodies.

When it was over, they lay gasping. Her body was bruised and red from his administrations, and he was wholly satisfied. Both knew that they should leave lest they were discovered, but those mutters of thought faded quickly as they collapsed together in sleep.
--


“WHAT THE FUCK?”
The raven-haired girl squinted into the light through her thoroughly smudged makeup. She managed to blink away most of the blurred fuzz at the edge of her vision to make out the massive form of a certain bouncer she’d last seen at the front entrance. Sitting up and covering herself belatedly with her tossed-aside corset, she barely had time to brace herself through her drunken haze before the brute of a man slapped her hard upside the face.

“You stupid cunt! Get the fuck outta here! You don’t belong—” He growled, cutting himself off when he caught sight of Sidhe’s sleeping form. He delivered a swift kick in the bartender’s assets, glaring as he yelled, “Wake the fuck up, you sunovabitch!” He turned his attention back to Rei after no response from Sidhe.

Grinning cheekily, she unabashedly tapped the furious man’s chest with her perfectly pedicured toes. “Back off, Bran. I don’t need a big brother to tell me what to do. If you recall correctly, I’ve never listened to you, not even when we were children. So grow up and find one of those little pets you like to order around, as they’re the only thing that’ll ever obey you,” she sneered condescendingly.

Gritting his teeth in barely concealed rage, Bran yanked her foot towards him and locked it between his legs. He shoved her back down with a smooth punch as she struggled against him.

Her eyes widened and she began to shriek insistently above the music when she saw Bran begin to undo his belt, “WHAT THE HELL? Get the fuck off of me, Bran, now! Goddammit, lemme go!! SIDHE!!” The young man was out cold.

Her world went black for some time after that.  She drifted in and out of consciousness, waking intermittently to the feel of her stepbrother’s handy work on her back. She was awake only long enough to realize she was bleeding, the trickle of blood snaked down her side to drip onto the floor. His beating had bitten deeply into her skin.

Sidhe  awoke not long after and cursed vehemently at the sight of Rei’s backside. Shifting quietly, he raised up and slipped out of the semi-hidden lair after redressing. Ordering a waiter to deliver Bran to him immediately, he took his place behind the bar, calmly polishing a gun loaded with a single bullet.

***

Sunlight pierced her firmly clamped closed eyes as Rei greeted herself with a hangover she thoroughly deserved. She stiffly began to awake, lazily yawning and stretching until she felt prepared to face the onslaught that awaited her the moment she walked out her bedroom door.

She had spent the night before hanging out at Theo’s; it had been a pretty while since her last trip to Eriu, and she wasn’t brave enough to go back just yet. So it was that she’d stumbled in at two in the morning from her second favorite place to get plastered.
Zimmer was probably furious with her. Shrugging, Rei opened her eyes. She was used to her sister’s holier-than-thou attitude. And then she looked at her clock.

“SHIT!” Her feet were on the floor yanking on her flats within the second. “Kylie! Why the hell didn’t you wake me up?!” Rei howled, hurriedly throwing on the closest clothing to her—incidentally an outfit that had been lying on the floor for a good year, and for a reason. She just couldn’t quite recall what it was. Rei didn’t chance a glance at the mirror as she grabbed a ponytail off of her nightstand.

“Kylie!” She yelped again with increasing alarm, shuffling through the mess on her wooden black desk next. “Where the hell is my cell, dammit?” She bent down to search behind it. What she found was several pencils, an eraser, and her long lost beloved mix tape of Buckcherry songs, amongst other unmentionable things. Cursing, she stood up, stubbing her big toe in the process. Rei barely felt it. She was going to be late for her meeting with the probation officer. Again.

She grabbed her messenger bag off the fake brass doorknob and jerked her door open, nearly colliding with Kylie in the hallway.

“Watch it!” Her sister hissed, shoving past her and knocking Rei into the wall.

“Fuck you, Zimmer—Zimmer no! Hurry up, I need to piss, for god’s sake!” Rei objected as Zimmer waltzed into the bathroom ahead of her and locked the door. Amid a myriad of curses, she slammed her already aching shoulders against the door.

Fifteen minutes later, she was flip-flopping her feet down the sidewalk, angry and urgently needing to pee. With her head bent and hands furiously clutching at her bag, Rei glared at the ground before nearly running into a telephone pole. She glanced up just in time.
Less than an itch away from her face, several ads screamed their need to be read. One in particular was in the ideal position, resting just at eyelevel. Rei tore it down, her interest piqued.

“NEED A FLAT? CRABTREE, INC. HAS SEVERAL—BRAND NEW AND AVAILABLE NOW! CALL 555-007-9653 TO SPEAK TO A LEASING AGENT!” She read the words aloud as she continued to hurry to her parole officer. She carefully folded the beige paper and jammed it into a pocket in her satchel. After a few minutes of concentrated plotting and walking, she arrived at her destination—thirty-five minutes later than she was supposed to.

Sighing, she pushed the glass entrance to go inside. And that was when she caught a glimpse of her reflection for the first time all morning. It was almost enough to make her turn around and go home, breach of probation or not.

Her long, lustrous black hair hung limply down her back, gnarled with knots and held loosely back with a shredding ponytail. Her eyes, brooding and bloodshot, were sunken and underlined with bags the size of Utah. The clothes she’d snatched off the floor smelled strongly of beer and sex, something she’d hadn’t noticed in her earlier frenzy. And her flip-flops failed to match. Shuddering, she turned to leave, but a hand snaked out and grabbed her elbow.

Whipping around to face her aggressor, she looked right into the eyes of her probation officer, Samson Lades. “Going somewhere so soon, Miss Rachel?” He smirked snidely and released her arm.

“Rei,” she snapped, shooting him a scowl.
Samson chuckled sarcastically and waved a finger at her, replying smugly, “Aha! So you admit it; you were going to skip out on our little rendezvous. May I remind you, niña, that would be a breach of probation.” His faint Spanish accent rang quietly in his voice, making Rei soften despite the Cheshire cat grin on his face.

“You’re an ass,” she stated matter-of-factly, gazing up into his big brown eyes.

Samson frowned and ushered her passed the secretary, who called out her hello as they passed by the check-in window. The moment they were in his private office with the door shut, Rei plopped down in his oversized computer chair an propped her feet up on his 1980’s style desk.

He rolled his eyes at his long-term friend and “parolee”, but commented in a concerned tone, “You look like hell.”

“Gee, thanks!” She answered snottily, adding, “I just overslept is all.”

Samson crossed his arms, and then sighed. “Oh, is that all? That wouldn’t happen to be a new perfume you’re wearing—what’s it called, Underage Drinking?” He cocked a dark eyebrow and awaited her response.

She tried to hide her grin by reaching over and grabbing a Time magazine stacked neatly atop his file cabinet. Idly flipping through the overly glossed pages, she replied, “Nah. It’s actually called Sex on the Beach, but whatever.”

He let out a loud barking laugh, uncharacteristic of his conservative Spanish roots. She smiled genuinely and he saw it reach her eyes.  He sat down in the visitor chair and reached onto Rei’s side of the desk to grab his paperwork and clipboard. Popping the cap off a pen, he left the top clipped onto the blue-and-black striped tie. It was the one Rei had given him as a gag gift the first Christmas they were acquainted, back when she was biding time in Juvie Hall. Samson smiled fondly and fingered it, asking her the routine questions before the two moved on to social conversation.
--

“...So Daddy, will you pleeeease make a donation to Penn in my name? Please? Oh, thank you, Daddy!” Rei gushed to her father over the phone, twirling its cord between her fingers and making disgusted faces at herself in the hall mirror before hanging up.

Years of manipulating her father under her thumb had shaped her into a cunning, calculating young woman. No one could control the actions of Jacoby Zimmerman quite the way his eldest daughter could. Rei always got her way, and that never failed to please her immensely. Her siblings were the only two people totally immune to her clever charms. Kylie loathed her for better or worse—though, in her defense, it was typically worse—and made a point to exhibit this distaste for Rei at any given opportunity. Rei gleaned whatever joy could be found from that, and also tried to harass her little sister whenever possible. The only reason the two were even roommates was because Rei wasn’t attending school. Yet.

She let out a little giggle and rubbed her palms together mischievously. Provided she got in to Penn state, she could move into an apartment on her own . And Kylie…well, she was only seventeen—certainly too young to live on her own! She would have to immediately move in with their mother. Cackling. Rei nearly skipped into her bedroom to turn on some music.

Before the third song on the CD was over, though, she heard her renegade cell phone begin to ring. Rolling off her bed onto the floor, she urgently dug through a deep pile of clothing before coming up with her phone and a half empty bottle of Bacardi. Still sitting on the floor surrounded by her many mountains of clothing, Rei hit the button to answer it and lifted the phone to her ear without checking the caller ID first.

“Hello, darling!”

She cringed at the sound of her mother’s voice at the other end of the line, and immediately popped the top off of her Bacardi to take a swig before replying. “Hello, Mother,” she attempted to sound pleasant, and was surprised at how convincing she appeared.

Justina Belle was a naïvely dull personality to deal with—the kind of mind that was filled with  social status and celebrity gossip. The kind of mind that Rei despised. The only thing the two had in common was their passion for theater. Even that had one distinctive difference–Rei had talent; Justina did not.

“Darling, I’m flying in tomorrow for a quick meeting with the publicity manager—you know the one that got Paris pregnant—he thinks I have a shot at a Broadway career! Won’t that be fascinating? Think of all the fame…Why, that slut Nadia will be so jealous!”

Her socialite mother prattled on with glee, oblivious to her daughter’s lack of attention. By the time Justina lost wind, Rei had managed to apply a second coat of Midnight Poison nail polish to her toes and was moving on to add a clear coat to her manicured fingernails.

At the very moment that she began to lose patience, Justina said something that snapped her to attention, “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow at noon then, darling! Oh, we’ll have so much fun shopping. You won’t know what to do when I leave!”

Rei let out a horrified gasp. Fuck. What had she agreed to? Shopping with her mother was like spending the day with the Barbie from Hell.

She stood with the phone in her hand for several minutes, mouth gaping in pained disbelief. There had to be a way to beg out of this; she just had to think. Tapping her mobile against her lips, she formed an idea.

She punched the number one slot on her speed dial and smiled as it rang just twice before it was answered. “Hey, you! Is it possible for you to dine with your most favorite little sister tomorrow? Yeah, lunch. We can make a day of it, if you like. Awesome! See you then.” She flipped her phone closed and went to hit the play button on her CD player. Manipulation was entirely too easy these days.