Marilyn
Chapter Three
Friday nights at the Vampire Room never changed, ever. The same people ever week, wearing the same outfits and requesting the same tired over-played clichéd songs. Onyx had decided to make a big sign to hang on the front over the DJ box when ever he DJed in the future. In big blood red letters, it would read, “Any person requesting the following songs will be skinned alive and the staff will use the skins to make themselves new trench coats.” The list was already a long one and no doubt tonight would add to it. So far the list of banned songs read-
This Corrosion- Sisters of Mercy
Eloise- The Damned
Bela Lugosi’s Dead- Bauhaus
Du Hast- Rammstien
Barbie Girl- all versions
All songs from Marilyn Manson’s “Holywood”
Paint it Black- Inkubus Sukkubus
Love Will Tear Us Apart- Joy Division
Red Right Hand- Nick Cave
Tainted Love- all versions (especially the Coil version)
Tribute- Tenacious D
Ninjagrrl- Goteki
Closer- Nine Inch Nails
You Spin Me Round- Dead or Alive- special tortures have been reserved for anyone requesting this song!
Onyx wondered, briefly, where he’d get a piece of card big enough for the whole list. Ten minutes later Onyx added “Sweet Child o’Mine” to the list. It was 11pm already and no one had requested anything vaguely original, he was thinking how strange it was for such a big and diverse scene to be so stuck in its ways when a familiar head peeked over the edge of the DJ box.
“Hi Déesse, what obscure unobtainable track are you going to request tonight?” Onyx liked Déesse. Her habit of asking for extremely obscure bands had, on rare occasions, introduced him to some good artists, though more often than not the bands she requested were impossible to locate. She was very shy and painfully thin under the many layers of ‘graveyard goth’ rags she habitually wore. Many people accused her of being anorexic just to gain attention but Onyx had heard that she suffered from a wasting disease.
She grinned up at him for remembering her name. “Well its good news this week, no request- just a gift, Grey finally got around to sending me the Reflexive Cruelty demo.” She passed him the CD in its paper envelope. “Enjoy!” she turned to jump back down to the dance floor but Onyx grabbed her hand.
“Listen I’m taking a few friends back to mine tonight after the club closes to play computer games and watch TV, I was wondering if you and your girl would like to come?”
She blinked looking confused, “Seriously?”
“Yeah! Tell you what- if you wanna come, hang around near the doors at the end.” He smiled in what he thought would be a reassuring manner.
“I’ll have to check with Rose, but thanks.” She fled back to the dance floor her face red from the effort of such a long conversation. Onyx decided to make it his mission to get her socialising with other people.
It was Midnight before She arrived. Onyx had been beginning to think She wouldn’t turn up at all. Her appearance certainly caused a stir amongst the very tradition Friday night patrons who all wore at least 70% black clothing- any colours they mixed with them were always muted or faded- so as not to shock their light-starved eyes Onyx always suspected. She wore white. She had changed Her dreadlocks to white, blonde and black and they were coiled up into intricate coronet on top of Her head. A floor length tattered satin gown clung to Her curves. Shoulder length white velvet gloves teamed with smoky eyes and bright red lips made Her look like a strange and beautiful amalgam of Marilyn Monroe, Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard and Miss Haversham. She smiled as the whole room turned to stare at Her before winking up at him.
He realised he was grinning like a fool and tried to return his mind to the task of selecting the next track. He glanced back down at Her and grinned again as he was struck by an inspired idea. A few minutes of searching found him the CD he was looking for and he seamlessly mixed the end of “Transylvanian Concubine” in to “Living Dead Girl” by Rob Zombie. He watched as She hurried out on to the dance floor. She danced so well, She must have trained somewhere; he thought to himself as he stared at Her, people just aren’t that flexible. He carefully selected sexy slowish tracks and kept Her on the dance floor for half an hour before She joined Xristofer and his minions in their usual corner.
He was leant on the edge of the DJ box his head on his hands watching Her talk when Kitty suddenly rose up in front of him. He jumped back, “will you stop doing that!?!”
Kitty giggled and stuck his tongue out at him, “look at yourself, I can almost see the cartoon love hearts floating above your head. Have you even spoken to her yet?”
“Yes! And She’s a nice girl. I take it you’ve turned on Her because She’s attractive?” He could hear himself adding to the capital letters, which worried him slightly.
Kitty shrugged. “I’m reserving judgement, although I’ve been your friend for 3 years and you never put MY name on the guest list.” She pouted at him. “Anyway, the Scooby Gang asked me to relay a request to you…”
The Scooby Gang was their nickname for their crowd of friends. “Hope its something original this time. Oh, could you invite everyone back to mine again? I’ve asked Déesse and Rose to come too.” Kitty sighed at the mention of Déesse but nodded anyway.
“You can look after her then- I’m not babysitting her. Are you going to invite little-miss-drool-worthy?”
“If I get the chance, yes. So what was this request?”
Kitty scowled slightly at him, “Black No. 1 by Type O Negative.” Onyx decided to play it anyway, even if it was intended to be a dig at Marilyn. He almost laughed when She hurried back on to the dance floor as soon as Pete Steele’s voice filled the smoky room.
#she’s in love with herself… she likes the dark… and on her milk white neck…. the devils mark... now it’s All Hallows Eve… but will she trick or treat… I bet she will…. #
She danced gracefully, able to easily cope with the slow rhythm of the song. She spun around, Her dress fluttering after her, stopping so that She faced the DJ box and blew him a kiss, before mouthing the lyrics “…loving you is like loving the dead…” and then returning to Her dance.
Later, whilst he was arguing with Xristofer about his unwillingness to play “Detonation Boulevard”, a pint of snakebite and black appeared in the DJ booth- the edge of the glass bore a bright red lipstick kiss. He stared at it for a moment before turning back towards the dance floor trying to locate Her. He spotted Her by the door talking to Akasha. When She looked his way, he placed a hand on his chest and bowed towards Her, raising the glass in a salute. She grinned at him and saying a hasty goodbye to Her friend, She made Her way through the crowd towards the DJ booth.
She climbed up onto the ledge of the DJ booth- no doubt a difficult task in Her heels. Onyx held Her forearm to steady Her, realising it was the first time he’d touched Her. She placed Her hand over his, smiling. “So how did you know it was from me?”
“You autographed it!” He turned to glass towards her, “and no one else here would wear bright red lipstick ‘its sooo 1980’s Robert Smith, don’t you know’,” impersonating Xristofer’s nasal whine.
She laughed, “I wasn’t sure what you were drinking, so I asked the barman. I thought I’d best taste it to make sure they hadn’t mixed up something disgusting.”
“It’s nice to know you have my best interests at heart.” He smiled down at her. “You dance like an angel…” he blushed.
“Thank you! I’ve had lessons, but you picked the perfect songs, did you know I like Rob Zombie?”
“It just seemed to be a fitting song for you; Kitty has a Living Dead Doll in a similar outfit to yours. Kitty’s just a friend…” he hurried on when Marilyn frowned at the name. “…she’s over there with the rest of our friends, the one in the cat ears, sat on the knee of the Gary Oldman look-a-like.”
She smiled again, “don’t worry you don’t have to explain things to me. I know your single.” She bit Her lip.
“Listen a group of my friends are coming back to my house when the club closes- would you… do me the honour of attending, my lady?” he grinned hopefully.
“I’d love to!”
“Ok, if you meet us by the main doors about 10 minutes after the club closes.” Suddenly she lent forward and kissed his cheek, instinctively he kissed her check in return. She smelled of Impulse ‘Siren’ and a faint hint of Dior’s ‘Hypnotic Poison’. Her skin was soft and warm. He blushed.
“I’ll see you in twenty then,” she winked at him and then dropped down to the dance floor. Onyx glanced at his watch, he hadn’t realised it was so late. He returned his CDs to his flight case, deciding to end the night with “Touch” by the Cruxshadows for Marilyn and “The Vampire Club” by Voltaire because everyone liked a funny ending to a good night.
He gathered his belongings together as Rogue’s rather youthful voice rang out. #...Oh master makes the velvet touch so smooth… Her skin makes my company flutter and move… I want her… I want her so much… Oh master, master give me the touch…# he looked down to see Marilyn on the dance floor once more. She grinned and mouthed “covers band” before sticking her tongue out at him.
fifteen people came back to the house in the end- Marilyn, Déesse and Rose, Dagon (the Gary Oldman look-a-like), Poppy, Cyber and his wife Toni, Ed, Matt, Synthetic, Annabel, Akasha, Kitty, Gian and Hunter. Large quantities of alcohol appeared as if from nowhere, along with enough fruit juice to keep the straight-edgers happy. Cyber, Ed, Matt and Synthetic took over the Playstation, whilst everyone else squabbled over the choice of what DVD to watch first. Once everyone agreed to watch “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back”, everyone settled down in to the chairs and beanbags scattered around the room, Onyx claiming he couch for himself and Marilyn. She snuggled up to him and pulled his arm around Her. He looked down at Her, surprised, then saw Kitty watching them and pulled Her closer.
Jokes were told, pizza and Chinese was ordered and eagerly consumed and even Déesse seemed to be having fun. ”The Matrix” followed “Jay and Silent Bob” after which people began to leave, it was 8am and they need to sleep through the day to be ready for Saturday night at the club. Shouting the usual joke about vampires getting home by sunrise Onyx closed the door on the last of his guests.
Marilyn was watching him over the back of the couch. “I think I’m sober enough to drive you back to campus if you like? It’s probably not safe for you to walk home alone.” He sat on the edge of the couch beside Her. “Or you could always… stay here?”
Marilyn sat up and stretched before draping her arms about his neck. “mmmmmm now that sounds like a good idea.” She murmured before kissing him. Onyx panicked briefly before sinking into the embrace.
“This way, my lady.” And he led her up the stairs towards the bedroom.
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