House Always Wins

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Holly Earthwind pushed her blonde hair off her face and smiled at the front desk clerk as she stepped inside the massive Las Vegas hotel. It had been a long drive and she was tired. Not to mention there was still people to talk to. 
The young woman stopped at the opulent counter and stared at it for a moment, looking a her own reflection. She was looking older these days. Her last fight with her sister had left her with dark circles of worry under her eyes. For her that was an unusual sight indeed. 
"Is Hermes Vanderbuilt here today?" She asked, jumping slightly when the sound of a tiger roaring sounded so near to her. 
This hotel was not a place she cared to come to, even if she had a fair few friends that worked and did business there. "I was hoping to meet with him before I checked in..." She added, still not really looking at the clerk as she turned her head to see if she could see what the evening's entertainment were advertised. 
She needed something to get her mind off her sister for a little while didn't she?

By that evening Molly was standing in the lobby, her hair pulled away from her face in a relaxed style. She'd chosen the simple dress with the flowing skirt. 
In that moment she was staring at the shark tank in the middle of the room, watching the bubbles moving in the dark water. 

"Tickets to the midnight show?" The mirror beside her asked. It shimmered as the blue eyed man moved. It was supposed to look like nothing more than a poster. "Another chance to feel alive? To save something?"

Deep blue eyes watched Molly from the other side of the tank, their owner moving slowly around the great body of water. “Perfect, aren’t they?” Neptune breathed once he was beside Molly. “Unchanged for millennia, nature got it right first time.”

Isolde blinked and glanced around to see if anyone else had just witnessed what she had. Nothing. It the sound of slots rolling and people gambling. For another moment she simply stared back, though did reach out to touch the mirror.

"The seaweed?" Molly asked, knowing perfectly well what he meant. "Its a lovely plant. Sustaining life to the lowest level of the ocean. Even in death it gives life." She turned her head to look at Neptune, giving him a playful grin. "Not many of us can say we can sustain an ecosphere that way. Not even sharks."

The man returned the gesture, his fingers almost warm. "Hades can help you in return." He breathed. "Take away the whispers..."

“All that work... to end up on someone’s sushi roll.” Neptune mused, winking playfully at Molly.

Hades... Isolde knew that name. It was a hazy memory, something she had once told her mother as a child. The young woman was frowning, though didn’t pull her fingers back. Her mother had gotten so angry, but Isolde couldn’t remember what she had told her, only that it had been about a boy named Hades. “Nothing is free...” She finally murmured.

Molly laughed at his joke. Her warm laughter filled the room like sunshine, drawing the attention of several men nearby. She didn't seem to notice as she slipped her arm through his. "That might explain why I'd much rather have a lobster." She teased. "Alright, the night is yours Mr. Hotel owner."

Hades closed his eyes and sighed. "Not usually. But seeing as you would be the one to free me..." He chuckled softly. "It would fall on me to agree on a fair trade."

“Ah, the lobster. Immortal king of the sea.” Neptune agreed, patting Molly’s fingers as they walked. “I would think a sweet little thing such as yourself wouldn’t take so easily to eating a creature that was boiled alive.”

“And what does one consider fair for the price of a life?” Isolde challenged softly. “What if I freed you from one prison, to confine you in one of my own? Can you really trust a woman you don’t even know?” She asked, those strange amethyst eyes watching him curiously.

Molly visibly cringed. "Did you have to remind me?" She moaned. "I was thinking of the butter and lemon juice. Oh for heaven's sake! Now I can't eat anything. I'll wonder if a piece of lettuce was screaming while they pulled it away from the garden." She bumped him with her hip. "You're a real party pooper aren't you?" She added with a laugh. 

"I can handle myself." Hades said simply. His fingers glowed green as he moved them down the mirror. He was tracing her outline as he continued, "All I need is an out. I have a feeling you are the same."

“Depends on what kind of party I’m at.” Neptune replied with a warm grin that made his deep blue eyes seem to sparkle. “But good to know you enjoy smearing things in butter.” He purred, taking her hand where it was linked through his arm and brushing his lips lightly to the back of it. “I hope that not the limit of your pleasures, though.”

Isolde was still just watching. This was what she did; watched, and listened. No one ever got close enough for more than that. Any closer, and the whispers would leave her begging for the release of oblivion. Despite them being separated by the mirror, Isolde could feel the power radiating from this man. “What if I told you I wanted a hero, how would that make someone like you feel?” It was an odd question, given how self sufficient Isolde always insisted upon being. She had inches a little closer now, close enough her steady breathing would fog up the glass every few seconds.

Molly decided not to talk about the show as the two of them were seated at yet another restaurant inside the multistory casino. This one was like being inside an aquarium. There were fish swimming all around them, even inside the tables. "Way to kill my seafood craving." She sighed as a manatee swam by the wall behind Neptune and waved at her. She couldn't help but wave back. The creatures and the golden man in front of her were blessedly enough to keep her mind off her fear of the depths of water.

"I'm no hero, darling. I once stole a young woman from her mother for purely selfish reasons." Hades purred. "What could a brave little thing like you need a worthless thing like a hero for anyway?" He asked, narrowing his now dull blue eyes as he looked at her.

Neptune grinned, not distracted in the least by the creatures around them; his attention was on nothing but Molly. “Really? My craving is doing just fine.” He remarked, picking up the wine bottle on their table and refilling her glass.

Most would have been intimidated by the way those eyes watched them, but Isolde merely stared right back. “Distractions are an easy way to escape any situation.” She commented softly. “A hero makes for a wonderful sacrifice...”

Molly trusted her friend, Hermes. So much so that she didn't notice he'd failed to keep his promise about sitting nearby. She was secure in her second glass of wine. Hermes wouldn't let her go too far.

"Excuse me, Miss." A twisted looking short man stepped between Isolde and Hades. "Just switching out the posters here." He snorted. He ripped down the strange paper in a quick flourishing movement. It disappeared in his hands. "You have a good day now." He purred, waddling away.

Neptune was no fool, an ‘emergency’ had arisen shortly after his date with Molly began, pulling the young man away. “You know, I’m usually very good at reading people.” Neptune commented after a moment of listening intently to Molly speak. “But you... you I can’t place. You don’t belong here, in a place like this, which makes me wonder... who are you chasing, or running from?”

Isolde looked genuinely crestfallen, even reaching out to touch the now inanimate poster. She felt foolish; had she imagined the whole thing? Was she really that desperate for companionship?

"Oh I'm not running. I'm just visiting friends." Molly said simply. "Why? Is it so far fetched to believe someone. Like me could be seen here?" She asked, glancing at a scantily clad woman who passed by their table to try and get Neptune's attention. She was failing miserably. But how Molly had it, she had no clue.

The lights over the gambling floor flashed several times. The gnarled looking man gave a horrified look and grabbed Isolde by the hand. "Did I tell you that you won a free dinner? Come with me. I'll pay up. You'll love it."

Neptune didn’t even glance in the other woman’s direction. He was leaning back in his plush velvet seat, like a reigning king on a throne. “You belong some where much less...” He paused as though trying to chose the right word. “Artificial.”

“Huh? W-what a minute...” Isoldebhasoed as she was dragged along. “I’m not hungry!” She insisted, despite having told the other man minutes earlier that she wanted to go back and eat her eggs.”

Molly nodded, a wide smile spreading over her face. "It's been two days and I already miss my home." She scooted her chair closer to him, pulling out her purse to show him pictures of her farm. "I grow practically everything." She breathed. "And my animals are so sweet...it's so quiet there..."

"We have eggs." The gnarled man cackled, as if he was reading her mind. "Breakfast. All for you. The winner." He kept dragging her, his grip all but bruising her wrist now. "Youll see. You'll love what you win."

Neptune reached an arm across the back of Molly’s own seat as he leaned closer to inspect her photos. “The quiet doesn’t bother you?” He asked gently.

Isolde was staring at the old man as he dragged her along, shaken that once again she got no emotion from this being, yet somehow he had known what’s he was thinking. “I can’t have won anything, I never played any games!”

"It's not quiet like..." Molly turned her eyes toward the dark water of the shark tank. The deeper the water, the more it reminded her of that day. For a moment she forgot to breathe. "I..." Her fingers curled tightly around the picture she was holding until it crumpled and tore. "Izzy...I have to go..."

"You crossed the bridge. You paid the toll." The little twisted man was practically dancing now. He yanked harder at her arm as he pulled her into the elevator. "You are the goat. I am troll. We both win." As soon as the doors closed the man began to grow, his bones popping and snapping with a sickening sound. "You are going to taste lovely, little goat."

Neptune frowned, his body language instantly tensing up when he saw something was wrong. “Who is Izzy? Molly, what’s wrong?” He breathed, laying a gentle hand over her own. “I can help, you know that.”

Isolde’s amethyst eyes free wide as she watched the strange little man transform into something much more monstrous. “No! Stay away from me!” She howled, backing up against the mirrors that lined the inside of the elevator. It was hard enough being in this confined space, given she took the stairs when possible. But this was too much to grasp. She screwed her eyes shut, trying to will her breathing to calm. Remember the day at the beach. You couldn’t breathe then either, but it all turned out fine.

"Izzy is my sister." Molly gasped out. She turned her head toward Neptune, her soft green eyes searching his face. "She's here to get a job. She's the reason I came to you yelling about the show. Someone there tried to..." She stopped herself, well aware of how her explaination would sound. "I need to go check on her. I'm sorry..."

"My toll..." The creature was snarling. "I paid for her..." 
"Hardly, Grim. I should think you know how payment works in this place." A dark voice said. The mirror behind Isolde shimmered and the elevator groaned and swayed as a massive jolt of power went through it. "You've overstepped things."

“Hurt her?” Neptune finished, thinking he understood. “If that’s true, I can’t very well let you go running after her alone. I’m coming with you.” The giant of a man was soon in his feet and extending a hand out to Molly. “You’re worried are my worries, so long as you are my guest.”

The elevator lurched south several feet, finally causing Isolde to scream. The young woman was now crouched in the corner of the elevator, her hands over her ears as she whispered to herself that it wasn’t real. It was the voices toying with her. Again.

Molly glanced at the large man's hand reaching out for hers. Why would he offer her anything? What did he really any from her? She couldn't afford to trust him. It couldn't be that simple. 
"We have an agreement. Nothing more." She told him, grabbing her purse and heading for the elevator. "I owe you another date...I'm sorry..." She shouted, her long blonde hair tumbling out of the tie she'd had it in as she ran.

"Izzy..." It was several floors down when she found her sister. She knelt on the floor of the brightly lit elevator and put her arms around the dark haired woman. "Come on... let's go home..." I should never have brought you here..."

Hades collapsed onto the floor of his cell. He'd used all of his remaining power to get rid of the troll. He had nothing left but the dark eyed girl was safe. For now.

Isolde slid her arms slowly around her sister before she dared open her eyes again. When she did, she didn’t see her own reflection in the mirror right away. For only a brief moment she saw the worn out gaze of the young man from the poster looking back at her. The moment she blinked her own reflection replaced him and she assumed she had had another ‘episode’. “So loud... I thought it would drown them out...” She sobbed.

Molly hugged her sister tightly. The episodes her sister was talking about were coming more frequently. "We're going to the farm. Away from all this noise. You shouldn't have come here...why were you here? This place is so close to the center...so close to her..." 

"I'm not sure why the elevator is stopped, sir." The secretary said to Neptune. He gave a strange look to the other workers. "It's not even online..."

Isolde tensed slightly, not needing to ask who Molly meant. “I didn’t mean to, but... I felt your dream one night. You want love, a family... a future. You can’t have that with me holding you back.”

“How can it not be online?!” Neptune demanded ferociously. “We have fifteen elevators in this building, and you’re telling me one is offline and you don’t know why?!”

"I have a family. Love is overrated." Molly whispered into her sister's hair. "Mother would crush anything we tried to have. We need to stay off the grid." She traced her free hand along the floor, keeping the wiring in the dark. "Come on. We have to leave now. I don't want us to be seen."

"It's not broken, sir. It's moving toward the parking garages like normal." The secretary said, almost too softly. He didn't want to be fired. "I saw a woman get on at the aquarium restaurant but that was it..."

Isolde finally released her grip on her sister and wiped at her running mascara. “You were with someone.” She breathed, again she hadn’t meant to pry, but sometimes people’s feelings just screamed at her, refusing to be ignored.

Neptune nodded, almost seeming sad about this. “I don’t want any of this reporting in the maintenance logs.” He warned. “I’m sure she has a good reason...” He added quietly, though was watching the screen that showed the underground garage for signs of movement.

"It's okay. I'm not his type." Molly sighed, trying to hide a dreamy smile. "Izzy...he was lovely and so warm. Like the..." Beach. She'd almost said beach. What was she thinking? 
As the elevator doors opened she pulled out her umbrella and held it high over their heads. Those watching would see an empty elevator opening and closing again.

“If you weren’t his type, why did he beg with you?” Isolde asked, her own arms hugged around her slender frame. She didn’t dare tell Molly anything she had experienced that morning, it would only worry her twin to know that Isolde was in contact with someone through a mirror; it was a craft their mother had often favoured.

"He didn't beg." Molly snorted, dropping the umbrella for a short second. It gave the camera a view of a blond haired woman laughing at nothing then disappearing again.
"He bargained. I was being a bully. He was being kind actually. I'm lucky he didn't have me arrested!" She laughed.

Isolde didn’t question this; she knew how pushy her twin could be. “And let me guess, he wanted you even more?” Isolde asked, barely stifling a yawn as they moved through the garage unseen. She didn’t even know what time of day it was anymore, it was hard to tell in a place with so many bright lights and loud sounds.