The Edge

[Kana Lémartes]

The Edge, the newest addition to Edgehaven's nightclub scene, was a large, formidable-looking building. Four floors high with another three below the ground and taking up the space of two buildings, the labyrinth of rooms inside provided as much and as many kinds of entertainment as the citzens of Edgehaven could handle. The ground and first floors were entirely night-club and facilities, with several differently-themed rooms per floor. The second was split between a kind of gentlemen's club and a brothel. The third and final floor was entirely staff offices and completely off-limits to customers. It was here that Kana Lémartes, the only surving Lémartes male, sat, tapping his desk impatiently with one hand.

After the collapse of the Edgehaven branch of the Lémartes empire, Kana had fled to France to take hold of the majority of his brother's fortune, leaving his properties in Edgehaven to Kana's adopted niece. Upon his return, he had decided not to try and wrest control from Thorne, but to become her rival. Such was the premise behind the huge, complex club.

The tapping ceased and Kana stood up. He was dressed in a sharp black suit without a tie, his gun and Karabella hanging from his belt as they usually did. Where the hell is that bastard? He thought angrily. It wasn't like his right-hand man to be late for an appointment, mostly, he thought, because he'd seen what Kana was capable of. He had ways of keeping people alive for days in just enough pain to make them wish they were dead without actually being able to kill them. Once you'd seen that, you didn't mess him about.

The heavy, deliberate footsteps as Kana strode around his desk should have been enough to warn anybody in the corridor outside what would happen next. Unfortunatley for the barman who happened to be passing, he had no idea that the door would be swung open violently until it hit him in the face. As it swung shut again, Kana looked at him with disdain - the barman's nose had begun to bleed. "Stafford, get yourself cleaned up and get back behind that bar before I have you hauled downstairs." he snarled. The barman visibly shook with fear at the thread - everyone knew that 'downstairs' meant the lowest basement, which held Kana's personal torture room. "Yes, sir." He gulped and scurried out of sight before his employer could make good on his threat. Kana didn't bother informing his staff that he was going out - they knew what was expected of them and they, like poor Stafford, knew what would happen if those expectations weren't met.

Mercifully for the rest of the staff, Kana encountered nobody else as he made his way through the maze of a building, down the lift and into the staff carpark. He unlocked the black Lamborghini Murcielago that he still drove, got into the drivers seat and turned the key in the ignition. This was a major inconvinience for the vampyre, but he was not about to let his best hitman go wandering around when he should be working. If nothing else, it would set a bad example to the rest of the staff. And it wasn't as if he had to look far - he knew exactly where to go.

[Kana Lémartes]

((Continued from Kana's Mansion))

Kana's black Lamborghini Murcielago came to a silent, but sudden, halt outside the vampires night club. It was an impressive building, even if Kana thought so himself.

"The Edge." He said, gazing up at the building with a kind of cold pride. "My own vision, and the biggest nightclub in Edgehaven." He turned to Charity. "Aside from the occasional visit to my mansion, the majority of your work will take place here. Come."

Without further ado, he got out of the car, closing the door gently behind him, and strode towards the main entrance.

"You will not be using this entrance during your normal duties." He told Charity. "There is an entrance specifically for you and those with similar roles. I will introduce you to this soon."

[Charity Jackson]

Unbuckling, the red head followed after him only nodding in understanding as she spoke. Keen eyes studying everything around her and narrowing on the almost strictly vampiric clientèle milling around. This was unexpected if she were honest, the contract and the man's attitude and comments led her to believe she would be a kind of assassin on his payroll, the fact that were at a Nightclub, one which he seemed to hold in almost proud affection, didn't quite match the image he projected.

Was she going to be a Bouncer or something? She doubted it but the idea was proving hard to dislodge.

[Kana Lémartes]

The main door of the nightclub swung open, assisted by the doorman, and the muted sound of dance music filtered out into the street. Kana strode through and into the long corridor that led to the first of the club rooms.

"This floor and the floor above are dedicated entirely to the bar section. You will not need to enter these rooms during your duties, although you are of course free to explore them while you are off-duty." He said to Charity, striding past doors, lifts and stairs and towards a small elevator at the end of the corridor.

"The second floor is an exclusive gentlemen's club. Not only will you have no need to enter those rooms, you are forbidden to do so. The club is off-limits to all those except its patrons and staff." He keyed a number into the security pad next to the lift, and the doors slid open silently. "Offices, including mine, are on the third floor."

As he stepped in to the waiting lift, he turned to Charity. "Most of your business, however, will be conducted below ground."

[Charity Jackson]

An eyebrow shot up at this last comment before she followed after him into the lift, "Understood," she stated. Gentlemens' club she was anticipating as some fancy way of saying whorehouse, it always seemed to be the way back home. Since she wasn't going to be stationed in the Bar that meant her previous belief of Bouncer Duty was struck out, thank fuck, she'd more likely kill the punters than throw them out on their asses.

The basement though, that seemed to be where she was going to be stationed. How.... macabre.

She was almost certain that her new line of work was going to be something rather bloody and exceptionally shady. Still. She would withhold comment or contemplation until she had a fuller picture of the whole sordid matter.

[Kana Lémartes]

As the doors slid closed behind them, Kana nodded curtly. "Good." A few moments later, they opened again. Once more, a corridor stretched out before them. This one, however, was much shorter and hardly decorated - the walls and floor bare stone that allowed even the smallest footstep to echo.

"This," said Kana, leading the way out of the lift, "is where the majority of your... indoor work will be conducted. Naturally, any assassinations you are required to perform will take place away from these premesis." He gestuered to the ceiling. "Above us is the first basement - you will not need to enter there, it is used only for bar supplies. Aside from myself, Zackary, and now you, this floor is visited very rarely."

He stopped in front of a solid metal door, about halfway up the corridor. "This is where you will be when you are working with Zackary. You will not reveal its contents to anyone. Understood?" He turned to face her, giving her a cold, piercing stare.

[Charity Jackson]

She nodded curtly, "Yes, sir," she agreed flatly. It was probably a damn good thing she was the furthest from squeamish that a person could get, if not more than a little sadistic.

Idly she wondered when she would be meeting this Mysterious Zackary she would be working with in future, given how it seemed as though the two of them were working closely with Lemartes she figured it would be soon.

[Kana Lémartes]

"I expect you're wondering why I haven't introduced you to Zackary yet. He is... occupied today. You will meet him in due course."

Turning his back on Charity, Kana inserted a small key into the doors lock and turned it. The door swung open. Inside, the room was pristine white, brightly lit and almost as bare as the corridor. The exceptions were three metal chairs and the white-washed metal lockers that lined two walls.

"The interrogation room," he said. "One of several, although it is rare that the rest are used. These lockers," he gestured, stepping into the room, "are where your tools are kept. They will be cleaned and returned to their proper place when you have finished."

He strode towards the nearest locker and opened it with another key. He stepped back to reveal its contents. The locker was packed with all manner of torture devices - from the traditional, like thumbscrews, to some of Kana's own design.

"You may not be familiar with some of the equiptment, in which case you will be given training."

He kept his eyes on Charity, judging her reaction.

[Charity Jackson]

Blue eyes observed the room carefully.

Clean white, tiled, bright lit with flourescents, metal chairs and large lockers against the wall. She looked down taking in how the floor sloped a little, much like an operating theatre or a butcher's slaughter house, with shallow grooves acting as gutters leading to a central grated drain, too small for someone, no matter their age, to get down. The air vents were likewise too small for anything to get through and sealed tightly shut, no screws that could be removed and most certainly too thick for a solid kicking or punching in.

Then the locker was opened.

Everything from the ancient to the shiny new, blue eyes studied all of it and a frown flickered over her face slightly as she approached, the smell of cleaning agents and such stinging her nose.

Quite honestly, she didn't know what he was expecting, "I can beat information out of someone but torture wasn't something I ever picked up in my line of work," she admitted calmly. "Will my partner be more experienced in the matter, or will this be something I'll have to have time set aside for training in?" she asked as she studied one of the more unfamiliar contraptions.

Idly, she wondered how much it would hurt if she crammed it up someone's ass and then opened it. It would probably hurt a lot more when she proceeded to twist it but she was still curious.

[Kana Lémartes]

Kana nodded ever so slightly to himself. Charity's calm, inquisitive reaction confirmed in his mind that she could be trusted to work for him without needless emotional displays.

He considered her question. "Your partner has some experience and will be able to train you with most of the equipment. However, should you wish to set aside time to further acquaint yourself with it, you may. If it is convenient for me, I may instruct you personally." This was certainly not kindness on Kana's part. Since taking over the Lémartes family empire and having his own business built, he had little time outside of the office, aside from the rare interrogation that he conducted personally.

He allowed Charity to examine some of the instruments for a few moments before he spoke again.

"There is one more subterranean level, which you will not be required to enter. Aside from the private entrance, you have seen all the areas relevent to your role. Do you have any questions?"

He had no intention of telling Charity exactly what the two lowest levels housed, but he thought it necessary to acknowledge their existence to prevent questions in the future. If he had judged her right, she may well have noticed the button in his personal elevator marked "B3" anyway.

[Charity Jackson]

Running a finger down the very sharp edge of one instrument she proceeded to stick her finger now bleeding finger in her mouth before nodding at his offer. At least she now knew that he kept said equipment almost surgically sharp, which was good, a Hunter she once knew was quite skilled in interrogation, he used to regale her with a few tales when they met at the local watering holes. Sharp instruments were often more useful than blunt ones. Just like minds. A sharp one was infinitely more dangerous than a dull one - which made dealing with Kana Lemartes all the more dangerous. Her former employer had been dull and stupid and that in turn ruined the job, this one was smart and had turned his would be assassin into one of his employees. Luck of the devil, or just that good, Charity had yet to decide.

"I may take you up on that one in future," she muttered before turning away from the instruments to hear the rest of his explanations.

"A few," she admitted. "One: I'm here on a short term working VISA. Will you sign for a further long-term one or am I going to have to stay in the country illegally?

"Two: Accommodation. I've got my belongings in a shitty little motel just out of town for now so the question now is, are there facilities for your employees to stay or am I going to have to threaten someone into letting me have somewhere to live?

"Three: What kind of security do you have? I've yet to come across anyone aside from yourself in here, and I haven't seen anything beyond lift access. I sincerely doubt this is the kind of place where anyone can just walk around as they please so what kind of procedures will I have to go through to get access to this level?

"And finally... When do I start?" she finished, a small smirk flitting across her lips.

Thus far, she'd seen nothing she wasn't willing to do - or indeed had already done or at least heard of being done by friends. Her father may have stuck to that patriotic bullshit of helping his fellow man and the word of god and all that crap, but she wasn't nearly so idealistic. He took the highroad and it got him shot. She took the low one and earned more than he ever dreamed of and helped people in the process - even if those people could be termed as scum of the earth by any respectable American Hypocrite.

[Leo Silvêr]

((Continued from The Road thread))

Several hours after he had first begun his search Leo came to a stop outside of a large night club named 'The Edge'. Bemused by its name as it didn't appear to be on the edge of anything when indeed it was actually located near the towns center. Leo shrugged off any thoughts he had about the place, he wasn't really a one for names anyway.

Striding purposefully up to the open doors Leo was about to enter when he found several vampires dressed the same as the ones he had dispatched earlier blocking his path. Each had the Lémartes family crest tattooed upon them though Leo now assumed that that meant that these men now served Kana and not Vincent's heir Belle.

"Mr Silvêr, if you'd like to come with us, Mr Lémartes is expecting you." Said one of the older looking vampires seemingly more professional with what appeared to be a more relaxed attitude. From his tone and manner it was clear that this man recognized Leo meaning that he had probably served under Vincent too.

With a nod of his head Leo followed the group of vampires into the night club and to his meeting with Kana.

((OOC: I didn't want to write too much here encase you wanted to set the scene a bit. And if you had read it I've just done what looks like an essay in the previous thread ))

[Kana Lémartes]

Kana listened to Charity's questions. He knew there would have been things he'd not bothered to think of; having to deal with people's basic needs was one of the areas of the job he hated. Fortunately most of the people in his employment had worked for the Lémartes family previous and already had things like accomodation arranged for them. He'd caught the muttered remark but decided not to respond for now - it was filed away under 'information that might be useful'.

"In answer to your questions : naturally a long-term VISA will be arranged. It would not do to have accusations of illegal immigrants attached to me. There are some facilities available to my employees, but I do not imagine they would be to your taste. It would perhaps be beneficial to you to see about aquiring private lodgings. However, in the meantime you may of course move your belongings into the facilities mentioned."

He considered his answer to the next question carefully. "The security in this building is as tight as it needs to be. You will be issued with a security pass and the code for the elevator to this level. That code will also allow you access to the level containing my offices. As long as you keep your pass with you at all times, you should encounter no trouble from the security staff. As I mentioned, there is also another entrance directly to this corridor. We will exit that way so that you know where it is. The code to the lift is changed weekly, you will be notified of the new code before it comes in to effect."

He allowed himself to match her smirk. "And you start... tomorrow. You will meet with my personal assisstant in a few minutes, during which time you will aquire your pass and any necessary extras, and the rest of the day is yours to do with as you wish."

He glanced at his watch. "And now, unless there is anything else, I believe I have an appointment to keep. This way, Miss Jackson."

He strode off in the opposite direction to the lift, turned a corner that was barely perceptible until you were almost in front of it, and indicated another metal door with a keypad next to it. He entered a code into the pad and pushed the door. There was a long, thin corridor, wide enough for one person with there elbows sticking out, with a gradual incline leading upwards. At the end of the corridor was a second door.

This one had a small lock. He drew out a small silver key and insterted it into the lock. It turned with a small click and the door swung open to reveal an alley. From the outside, the door looked like any other back door.

"This alley lies two streets away from the club. The code for the first door is the same as the one you will be given for the lift, and will be changed at the same time. You will be required to use this entrance when bringing any... guests with you. Do you have any further questions?"

((Long post is long!))

[Charity Jackson]

The red head followed him out at a sedate pace, eyes keeping track of her surroundings, memorising the route as he undoubtedly led her out. Fingers memorised the way his fingers moved across the keypad, memorising the code.

When asked if she had questions she looked at him briefly, "What time do I show up?" she asked flatly. She would go back in and find his personal assistant to get her equipment when he left for his meeting. After that, she'd go and find the first semi-nice apartment, threaten whomever lived there to get the fuck out before she put a bullet in their skull and move in.