{{ urbania's void - chapter 25
...destiny for the damned (day negative seven-hundred and twelve / -712)
A yawn was stifled as the girl spilled herself onto the sofa of the dressing room. Her bright violet eyes trailed up to the man standing in front of her, his arms crossed lazily over his chest.
"You aren't even going to stay and watch my last performance?" She asked, putting on a mock frown.
The man laughed, "No way. These people out here are disgusting." He motioned with the jab of a thumb to the door of the dressing room. "I don't want to see them objectifying you, eyeballing you and drooling over you. It would just make me angry and want to kill them all."
She knew where he was coming from. She found it all pretty vulgar herself, but it was the only way she could make a living and pay off the debt she owed to the owner of the club... until he came along.
He had been at the club for a high-stakes sabacc game, planning to win millions of credits and possibly a new ship or two. But when he saw her and when he saw how worn out and how sad she looked, that was all he asked for after sweeping the game clean. Her.
"You can't take her, Verelen. She's my top dancer." Darix Norin, the owner of the Exa Sendra stared into the green eyes of the man across the table from him. "And she still owes me part of a debt. This is how she's paying it off."
Khee Verelen tilted his chair backwards and set his heels up on the tabletop, disturbing the stacks of cards on the surface between the two men. "Well, the money you owe me for ripping you apart in this game can go towards her debt. And pay it off. Now I told you what I want. And what I want, I will get."
Darix laughed, a jovial sound that filled the dingy backroom. "You damn Hapans."
Khee returned the comment with a smile as Darix stood from his chair and walked around the table, clapping Verelen on the back. Darix nodded towards the guard at the door.
"Go get her."
And that was when Khee Verelen and Rez Nyena met for the first time.
She had no home, she lived at the club. Khee had replied to that fact, "Well then now I have a roommate!"
Rez felt bad that she wasn't helping pay any expenses for their apartment and their everyday needs - so for the month after they had met, she continued to dance at the Exa Sendra, much to Khee's protests and Darix's delight. She made more than enough to help with the apartment and food.
Now it was the final night of her years spent working at the club.
Roughly a week before this night, the one of her last dance, Khee and Rez, like most other beings, went to get the yearly census done.
"And how are you two related?" The Duro administering the census asked.
"We're roommates." Khee nodded. The Duro told him to open his eyes wide and as he did, faint beams of light shone into them.
Their information was taken.
And now it was a week later.
"I think I'm actually going to go home and go to sleep. It's getting kind of late and both of us have to get up early tomorrow if you want to make this move." Khee and Rez were planning on getting off of the Urbania and moving to Khee's home planet of Hapes.
"Oh alright. Get going. Master." Rez playfully kicked Khee's leg and chuckled.
He smiled in return, but seconds later his expression fell into one of disdain. "And you come straight home afterwards. No partying. If you really want to move to Hapes with me, you had better be back right after your dance."
Khee knew he wouldn't leave without Rez, no matter what, but he wanted to make sure she knew that he didn't want her out too late. He was worried about her, like a big brother worries about their little sister.
"Got it."
"Good." Khee's reply escaped his mouth just as the dressing room door swung open.
"Hey Darix."
"Everything's ready, sweets. Get out there and show 'em how it's done!"
Rez giggled and jumped up from the couch, nodding to Khee. He gave her a once over. She had on a pair of azure gloves that went up past her elbow, fingerless except for the ring finger and the thumb. Her outfit was the same shade, a blue sleeveless top, the neckline crawling to a halt below her collarbone, the front cut in half, leaving a slit that reached to the middle of her stomach. Khee liked the look of the top, modest, yet daring. Her skirt was pretty plain. It was the same color as her top and gloves and it almost swept the floor. It had two long slits up the sides that stopped right above her mid-thigh, letting the pale skin of her legs show through. Her boots stopped below her knee. They were made of a sturdy leather and black, unlike her outfit. The silver jewels were what stood out the most. Small dots of silver lined the top hem of her skirt and one was placed on each exposed fingernail. As she moved her hands, they glinted in the lights, catching each and every beam and ricocheting it across the room.
"Knock 'em dead, sweetheart." Khee winked.
She gave Khee a huge hug before bolting out of the room.
"I'll see you back at the apartment!" He called after her as he watched her mass of cerulean hair vanish around the corner. Crossing his arms again, he looked back to Darix. "Can you make sure she leaves after she's done...? And can you make sure she stays safe?"
Darix Norin nodded solemnly. "Of course, bro." He reached forward and squeezed Khee's forearm, "She'll be fine."
A few minutes later, Khee left out of the back entrance and made his way back to the Klecttrinn, which was the building his and Rez's apartment was in. Darix was back out in the open air of the club, scanning patrons and making sure no one got too close to the platforms and stages the dancers were on.
Each platform, all the way up to the highest one near the ceiling was occupied with a dancer or two. Twi'leks, Rodians, Humans, Selonians, Bothans, Bith, both males and females moving to the beat of the music. When Rez emerged onto the stage at the front, smiling and blowing kisses to the other dancers, everyone in the club cheered. She instantly began dancing, the lights changing shades. The dim spotlights all fell into cool shades and beams near her became a deep blue, showing off the dodgy shadows in her hair as she spun.
She moved across the stage, onto the floor, through the crowd, spinning with each person she came across, laughing and enjoying herself. She leapt up onto the bar and everyone moved their drinks, cheering and whooping as she slid by, waving her arms and shaking her hips. As she stopped in the middle of the bar, she motioned to two of the female dancers from the front stage, a twi'lek and a rodian, who jumped from the stage and joined her on the smooth surface of the bartop. The twi'lek stood about ten feet from her on the left, as the rodian stood on her right, roughly the same distance away.
Rez had known this point in the song was approaching --- the beat slowed down a bit but not so much as to disrupt the flow of the music. Nodding to her companions, they all fell into synch, their movements eerily mirroring each other, every seductive swish of the hips, every slide of their hands over their own skin, each tilt of the head...
She tossed her hair back over her shoulder as she moved to the music, her purple eyes scanning the crowd. Everyone, on the floor, on the platforms, at the bar, everyone was cheering or dancing or both.
Except for one person.
He was seated at the bar, about halfway between Rez and her twi'lek companion. His eyes were locked on Rez as his glass hovered near his lips in his hand, his tongue absently working back and forth on the clear rim. As Rez continued to dance, she let her eyes land on him every once and awhile. He never stopped staring at her. The man was fairly attractive but Rez could tell he was dangerous, she could tell by the look in his stormy gray eyes.
The next thing she knew, the song was over and she was sliding off of the bartop, into the crowd of people. She could feel herself being clapped on the back and congratulated for a stellar final performance. She could feel herself smiling and nodding her thanks to everyone. And that's when she felt the cold hand on her shoulder, sliding across the sheen of sweat that covered her body. Her head turned.
"Rez."
How does this guy know my name?!
Gray eyes locked hungrily with narrowing violets.
You idiot, Rez told herself. Everyone knows your name. You're Darix's top dancer, remember?
"That was a beautiful performance." His voice seemed to be an inviting whisper in her ears, but that was impossible, she was imagining it that way. No one could hear a whisper over the thumping bassline of the song that was currently playing. A strand of emerald hair fell into the man's pale face as he winked and vanished into the crowd.
He was a handsome man... but Rez felt repulsed by him.
She shook her head and began weaving her way through the sea of people, towards the dressing rooms.
Rez had gone to all of the dancers, her friends, and said goodbye, giving them each a hug. They had all grown together like a family over the years and now one of their best, who had worked there for three years, was leaving to start a new life. As she made her way to the front entrance, throwing her jacket over her shoulder, Darix stopped her by the door.
"Not even gonna say bye?"
Rez laughed, slapping Darix's shoulder. "I thought you were out here playing bouncer!" She pointed to the front door. "I was going to say bye to you on the way out!"
"Ha! On a night like this?! You were incredible! You got the whole club shakin'!" Darix glanced behind her to the floor and the platforms. Everyone was moving together, jolting, sliding... Rez seemed to be the one to breathe that certain life into the club. Darix knew he would miss it. Darix would miss her. And Khee, who over the month, had grown to be one of his best friends.
He gently pushed Rez out of the front door, out into the lower streets, where things were more mellow and he wrapped her up into a hug. "How's Khee been treating ya?"
"Perfectly. He's a great guy..."
"He's a good friend. He'll take care of ya..."
"I know." Rez smiled.
"And don't think that just because you're moving you guys can lose touch with us here, you got it?!"
"Of course!"
Darix grinned and quickly raked his hand over his eyes. He could feel tears forming in them, but he didn't want Rez to see him crying. She'd go back and tell Khee and their first message to him to let him know how they were doing would involve Khee poking fun at him for crying. "You need me to walk you back to the apartment?"
"I'll be fine."
"Rez..."
"I'll be fine!" She laughed.
"Alright, alright!" Darix paused and then let a snicker cross his face as he waved her away, "Get out of this kriffing sithhole already!"
Rez placed her hands on Darix's cheeks and kissed the tip of his nose. "Love you, Rix."
"Love you too, Rez." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "You stay safe, got it?"
"Mmmhmm!"
She slowly backed away from him, wiggling her slender fingers in a wave that insanely depressed Darix. He waved back, a slight smile on his face. A smile for all the memories he shared with Rez and Khee. A smile for the lives they lived...
Rez turned and began stalking away from the Exa Sendra, her shoulders hunched forward a bit. She could feel tears in her own eyes. She was one of the most popular dancers at one of the sleaziest clubs on the lower levels of the Urbania --- she knew she should've been happy she was leaving. But she would miss everyone.
She dodged people as she walked towards the turbolift building. Spice dealers, drunks, people passed out in the street. The lower levels didn't frighten her as much as they used to. But she still tried, as always, to not draw too much attention to herself. Slipping into one of the hundreds of alleyways in that plaza alone, she planned to take a shortcut to the turbolift building, hoping to shorten her trip back to the Klecttrinn.
This shortcut only made her trip longer.
Practically jogging down the alley, she froze in her tracks when she heard a smooth voice float out of the shadows to her left.
"Rez, fancy meeting you here."
Her violet eyes trailed over in the direction the sound came from and finally she turned her head to follow. It was the man from the club. His gray eyes seemed to shine in the darkness of the alley; they seemed to drill holes into her face and then her body as they worked their way down.
"Yes..." Rez looked back ahead of her and began walking again. She could sense him following her. "I'm very glad you enjoyed the dance. It's late. I should be getting back home now. "
As she sped up slightly, her back tensed up. She knew what he wanted. She could smell the glitterstim he had on him, that he had taken. She could smell the alcohol. It's like she sensed his hands lash out for her. Spinning around she smacked his hands away with a move Khee had taught her. It was a defensive move in the Hapan sport of kickboxing. The man hissed and grabbed his blaster from its holster, flipping it to stun and setting off a round into Rez's chest.
She collapsed to the ground, but she was still alert and aware. He had the blaster on the lowest stun setting, so her muscles seemed to numb themselves and become quite useless. But she was still responsive and awake.
And as tears welled up in her eyes, Kaidin Serasai had his way with her.
Physically. Mentally. And sexually.
"Nnnnhuh?" Stumbling blindly towards the front door of the apartment, Khee Verelen wondered who could be knocking at this insane hour. He aimlessly passed Rez's bedroom door, telling himself she was safely snuggled in her own bed.
His thoughts were shattered when he pulled open the door to reveal a mangled Rez, breathing heavily, leaning against the doorframe, her arms crossed over her chest. Her jacket was gone, her bag was gone. Her clothes, torn. Her face, bloody. Her legs, shaking.
"Rez..." Khee whispered.
Automatically opening his arms, she fell into them and buried her head in his chest, her hands clutching at his wrinkled shirt. He reached up and slapped the button for the door to shut with one of his hands, before wrapping her up in his arms. Khee could feel her shuddering; he could smell glitterstim and alcohol. "What happened?" His voice almost silent.
Rez could only sob.
"I knew I shouldn't have left you there. I should've waited. And Darix, he said he would take---"
"No. No... it's my--- my fault." She cried. "I was the one who... who said I--- I could take care of myself."
Khee could feel the tears soaking through his shirt. He let one hand rest on her back as the other stroked her tangled hair.
"I--- I couldn't stop him. He just... he..."
"Who is he?"
"I don't know his name. He was at the club--- I saw him--- I saw him again in an alley on the way to the--- the turbolift. And he just---- he... he..."
"He...?"
She coughed as the sobs racked her body.
"What did he do to you?"
"What do you think?" She hissed into his chest. After a few moments of silence she spoke quietly, her sobs slowing down. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't be angry with--- with you. I shouldn't be angry..."
Pulling himself away from her, Khee looked into her bloodshot eyes. "You have every right to be angry. You were basically violated. Don't you pass this off like you pass everything else off. We're going back to that kriffing club tomorrow and we're going to find out who this son of a sith is! And we'll get back at him..."
"I don't want--- I don't want to go back there. I just want to leave this place... forever."
"I'll be with you. We're going back. I'm not going to let this rest. No one hurts you and gets away with it." Khee could still feel her shivering. "We should get to bed." He began walking her towards her room and when they got to the door they both peered inside.
It was dark, empty and cold.
"Can I sleep with you tonight?" She murmured.
Khee could feel tears welling in his own eyes, at the desperation and sorrow in her voice. "Of course you can." He understood completely why she didn't want to be alone and he would do anything to try to make her feel better after tonight.
Holding out his right hand, Rez grabbed it with both of hers. Her hands were cold and shaky. Khee led her into his quarters and shut the door behind them, motioning to the bed. Rez stumbled out of her boots and fell into the comforting linen sheets. Khee crawled in bed beside her and slightly held his arms out, inviting her over. She scooted under the covers and into his arms, tucking her head under his chin. Her shuddering now came in intervals, which kept Khee awake for awhile.
He didn't mind. He was busy thinking of ways to take revenge on the man who had done this to her. And as his eyes narrowed and finally shut, Khee Verelen faintly realized Rez's shuddering had stopped. She had finally fallen asleep also.
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