we are each our own DEVIL,, and we make this world our HELL [open]

[Ace Turner]

Ace, and those he was closest to, were the sort of people that didn’t need an excuse for a party. The simple fact that no one was doing anything else could result in a gathering at the beach, or at Ry and D’s, or anywhere else a large number of people could congregate, and good food, good music, good alcohol and usually a good amount of illegal substances were soon to follow. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the beginnings of a very good party. So when there was a bona fide Reason to have a party, every attempt was made to ensure it was as spectacular as possible. The acquisition of a new house between two friends is definitely A Reason, and as such Ace and Red had been planning the housewarming almost before they’d found a house to warm. Friends, food, drink and drugs simply weren’t going to cut the mustard. A Reason demanded a Theme, and that was where the genius that is Rylie Taylor had come into the equation. The Seven Deadly Sins – each room a different sin, and each person to come dressed as their favourite.

Now Ace had always had a sense of the theatrical. Brought up in the environment he had been, it probably wasn’t to be surprising. It was why nothing was going to be done by halves. No simple gesture as to what each area is to represent – no hand drawn signs above the door pointing people in the right direction. No, this was his and Red’s party, and they were going to be throwing open the doors of Hell for the evening.

Certain sins had been far easier to represent than others. Gluttony, for example, was the first to be checked off the list for it’s sheer simplicity; The kitchen/dining area, filled with foods of every nature. From pizza and fries to caviar and strawberries in champagne, there wasn’t a surface that wasn’t bearing a tray of some edible goods, all prepared and set up by the company Red had found and hired. It wasn’t just an excess of food they were to be having, however, the bars were also stocked with a surfeit of beverages. No-one was going thirsty tonight. Provided they could cope with serving themselves, of course. Next came Sloth, set up beneath the trees close to the path leading down to the beach. Hammocks and oversized cushions provided the seating, Tiki torches provided the light. Four hookah pipes and enough joints to render an entire army stoned were the entertainment. Lust was equally self explanatory, though the bedrooms he and Red occupied were going to remain locked until the last guest was out of the door. The pool house then, bedecked in sumptuous fabrics of ruby and scarlet and crimson - again organised beautifully by Red. By extension, the Jacuzzi would also find itself in with Lust. Everything else would be left up to those attending. Greed was Ace’s speciality, and he could think of no better way to represent it than with a casino of sorts – card tables, dice tables, roulette wheels, all admirably run by a few people he’d ‘borrowed’ for the night. They’d be on the first plane back to Vegas come daybreak.

Those had been the simple things. The remaining three sins were going to take a little more thinking about. Think for long enough about Pride, and you may well reach the same conclusion Ace and Red had had. Mirrors. A lot of mirrors, in fact. And then Red had had the genius idea of using funhouse mirrors – everyone’s image of themselves distorted. Or perhaps just showing the real truth? Question was, where to get hold of a number of large fun house mirrors. Most people probably wouldn’t know where to start. Ace did. The Conservatory of the Bellagio has ever-changing scenes and displays set up within it. There was one person in charge of bringing the visions to life – and if he could acquire a full sized Ferris wheel and ten foot tall glass and metal poppies, he’d be able to source a few mirrors. Which he’d done admirably well, and thus the walls of the living area were adorned with eight full length mirrors, making you look tall, short, fat, thin, or just downright deformed. Wrath had been Red’s idea. A dungeon, of sorts, complete with whips and chains and handcuffs. Quite where everything had come from, he wasn’t sure. Only that he’d come back from a very brief trip home to retrieve Keyser and a few things he needed for his costume, and the spare room looked like a medieval castle.

Which just left Envy – perhaps the most difficult of all. There had been a great deal of deliberation about how to give it the representation it deserved, until eventually they’d hit upon something Ace felt was most appropriate. The whole party would have undertones of the green-eyed monster. There would be something about every single person there that someone else would be jealous of. It was human nature. And so it was just simple things – green glasses, green plates the occasional swathe of green fabric here and there, to set people’s mind to thinking. Most probably wouldn’t pick up on it at all, consciously anyway. But there’s a lot to be said about the subconscious mind…

Sorting out what the decorations and adornments for the house were going to be had taken some considerable time. Sorting out what his costume was going to be had taken even longer. He was so fond of so many of the Sins. Greed was his family business. Sloth, Gluttony and Lust things he frequently partook in. Even Pride, Envy and Wrath couldn’t be completely discounted, though he wouldn’t rank them among his favourites. It was midnight inspiration that gave Ace the theme he would choose for his costume. If the house was going to be a Circus of Hell, then he would be the Master of Ceremonies himself – Lucifer. And thus the costume.

A tuxedo – nothing overly fancy, just a simple black, though ridiculously well tailored suit, complete with a crisp white shirt and waistcoat. It was the basis to which all the little details would be added. Instead of a bowtie, he wore an emerald green silk cravat. The was no white handkerchief in his top pocket, rather it was the corner of a playing card – Ace of Hearts – that poked out. Perched on unruly dark hair was a top hat, two joints tucked into the band. His cufflinks had been a gift from one of his friends back home for his 21st – custom made and one of a kind. Muffins, with tiny sapphires set into the silver. Attached to the fob chain in his waistcoat pocket wasn’t a watch, but a mirror, set into an old watch casing. Swinging from his left hand with every step he took was an ebony cane, topped with a silver dice. Pull the dice, and from within the wood a thin blade would appear – a sword stick, sourced from the costumes from an old show at the Bellagio. Simple touches, but – he thought anyway – effective.

Thus dressed, but still with some time before the guests were due to appear, Ace settled himself against the Blackjack table, drink in hand and Keyser sat very contentedly on the stool next to him. He was playing for fun, rather than for money, something to pass the time while Red finished getting ready. He’d never understood how it took females so long to put on a few items of clothing…Eventually, she stepped from the house, Ace standing and sweeping her a low bow before placing a kiss to the back of her hand. ”Hell hath no fury…Red, you look stunning. A true Mistress of Hell.”

Let the fun begin .

[Sophia Rossetti]

It was finally here. After weeks of planning and giddy musings on what would be, the night had finally arrived. The official house warming of Casa Turner and Rossetti was going to take place, and Sophia was beyond excited. She had been like a hyper little girl, unable to sleep when she thought of what the next day would hold. So she had laid there for an hour or so, tossing and turning and urging herself to get some sleep, of course the more she tried the less sleepy she got. Finally Fia just decided to give up trying so hard, and went downstairs to double check on the decorations and the set up of the party. It was while she was busy fixing the little ends and making sure that everything was perfect, Ace happened to walk down. It was a good thing that her house mate was such an insomniac, like herself, since she never had to worry about waking him up; at least not in the middle of the night. It was morning where she wouldn’t venture to go anywhere near his room.


Anyways, after having persuaded herself that everything was where it should be, and that things were going to go perfectly, Ace and Fia just hung out in the kitchen, eating pudding and muffins, which was what their diet basically consisted of! She was sure that even if they weren’t living together, they’d still be eating those two items, respectively, whilst talking to one another online. It was one of the reasons that they got on so well, for however different they could be, they had enough similarities to keep things compatible. That’s why the redhead was glad that Ace had agreed to live with her, since she had heard horror stories about roommates who had no respect for one another, and basically made each other miserable. There was enough bad luck and misery out there, Sophia did not want to have to deal with it at home, hence she was living with the resident Joker of the school! But after hanging out for a little while, Both deemed it a good idea to actually go to sleep before the morning came, since who knows when they’d get to sleep the next night.

And morning came revealing a beautiful California day. Honestly, the weather in this state was untouchable in regards to the beauty of it. There was hardly a day that wasn’t sunny, which would really help out in preparing for the party. Like they said they would, the party planners were there at eight in the morning, sharp. Luckily Sophia had been awake for a bit before they came, so she didn’t stumble out of bed, and answer the door in her pajamas. With the help of the staff, she was able to get everything organized and start setting up the various rooms. She had an absolute ball decorating the Lust room, in the pool house, loving the rich colors, and luxurious feel of the whole place. She knew then why some women would stay in a harem, it was just so pretty! She then moved outside to help Ace set up the Sloth area, making sure the tiki torches were set firmly in place, and wouldn’t fall on anyone. She was happy to see that Ace had managed to get a few of the hookah pipes, not that she was surprised. That boy had ways of getting anything that normal people couldn’t even imagine getting their hand on. Case and point, the mirrors in the Pride room. Sophia had spent like an hour or two just standing in front of each of the play house mirrors, laughing her distorted figure. It was a great throw back to the old carnivals she used to go to!

She had let Ace handle the Greed all by himself, considering the fact that she had no idea of how to set up a casino, and Ace was a magician at it! Really, when she had seen him arranging everything, she could imagine herself in Las Vegas all over again. It was perfect. And while Ace had been away, Sophia had spent the time setting up the Wrath room, a place that had too look especially nice, since that was the sin she’d be embodying. And every time she thought of Wrath, the redhead couldn’t help thinking of Van, and what a masochist and sadist he was, or proclaimed to be. So she had worked out a Medieval theme that would make any dominatrix weak in the knees. She had researched and looked up all the things that would be needed for some painful pleasure, and decorated the room with whips and handcuffs, etc. She was quite pleased by the end results, especially when she saw Ace’s surprise when he had seen it.

After the caterers had arrived and set up the kitchen to make up Gluttony, Sophia was satisfied that everything was in order for the evening’s events. So she went upstairs to get ready for the night. Because She and Ace were going to play the hosts for the night, she had talked him into doing a dance with her, to set the night off. Of course at the time, they had both been under the influence of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, who were more addictive than any heroin out there. But luckily, Ace had shown her what a good dancer he was, and it was left up to her to keep up with him. So for the opening of the party, she had chosen a corseted dress to wear, while underneath she had her second outfit on to party in. She had Elly to be her partner in Wrath, and knew that the two of them would be quite a sight. Of course the redheads generally knew how to draw attention, tonight would definitely be a night to see.

Getting ready was always Fia’s favorite part of parties, where she got to indulge the little girl in her that loved playing dress up. It was why she loved costume parties so much, because then they really got to go the extra step. After slipping into her outfits, Sophia applied her make-up, making sure to exaggerate it, adding in some fake lashes that really threw the look together. She pinned up her hair, which she would let down later in the night. Once she was satisfied that she looked alright, the Lady Wrath walking down the stairs into the Greed room, where Ace was playing with his cards. She did a little twirl before him, asking, “How do I look?”

”Hell hath no fury…Red, you look stunning. A true Mistress of Hell.”

She couldn’t help grinning at Ace’s extravagant bow and courtly manner. That boy really was made for the theatrics, executing every gesture with perfection. “I must say, it’s no wonder the devil seduced Eve into taking a bite of the forbidden fruit. I’m sure I would have as well, if Lucifer looked half as good as you!” she said, scratching the soft spot behind Keyer’s ear. Such a cute dog. “I’m so excited! I can’t wait for people to start coming!”

[Emilia Houston]

It was the party that everyone had been waiting for. Ace Turner and Sophia Rossetti’s Seven Deadly Sins house warming party was sure to be a hit. That was a well known fact because of the simple reason, the theme. Everyone loved to sin in their life, even the damn priests who preached about them. Emilia, though, knew what she was going to be the moment she knew about the party. Lust. She had the perfect outfit in mind that she had picked out the day after getting her invite. She put on that little outfit and glanced at herself in the mirror. The black silk Tulle overlay baby doll fit her curves perfectly. The tips of her fingers grazed over the ribbon lining and trailed up to her neck, feeling the tulip necklace that Ace had given her not too long ago. Her light blonde hair bounced in loose waves, pinned by a black flower clip in the back. Her duel color eyes were finely outlined in black eye liner, the shadow over her eyes matched and all she had left were the shoes.

And oh, it was all about the shoes. She knew that she could always go with her leather, fire engine red Gucci pumps, something that she was known for. Or she could go with her little black slipper heels. Yes. She had slippers that had heels, but did it really surprise you? She picked out her slipper heels and pulled them on. She grabbed on of her favorite white jackets and pulled it on. She flipped her hair over the collar and grabbed her black Chanel clutch.

She was ready to go.

Emilia headed out of her dorm and down to her Mustang, whistling to herself, imagining all the things that could happen. Especially because of everything that happened lately. She sucked in a deep breath and knew that tonight wasn’t a night of worry. She needed to prove to Ace that things were still fine. They were fine. She knew they were. Emilia got into her car and headed over to the house, driving the familiar route that she had done so many time when she went to Ace and Fia’s new house. She checked the time and knew that she was going to be early. It was against her character to not be early and everyone knew it, especially those two.

Once she got to their driveway, she parked her car and headed towards the door. She took off her jacket and left it and her purse in the car. Sophia knew about her outfit but Ace didn’t know, and she had planned to keep it that way. She usually let her boyfriend preview anything that she bought, except for this one thing. She wanted to surprise him. She wanted to see the look on Ace’s face whenever he set eyes on her. Seeing his mouth drop was going to be priceless.

She had originally made the plan to bring him to his knees because they were having problems, and now it seemed that the plan hadn’t changed. Well, by much. She wanted to fix things. The scare…which she still hadn’t told him about…Nathan…there was no way she could tell him about that…She swallowed hard. Forget. That’s all she needed to do. That was what she was going to do. Emilia paused when she realized that she was standing in front of the door. She put on her best smile, making sure that it was a genuine one, and it really was. She had been waiting for the party and was quite excited about it. The house was probably decorated enough to fill all the guests desires when it came to what sin they wanted. She knocked on the door and moved some hair out of her face as the door swung open.

“Sophia! Darling! You look absolutely amazing!” She beamed before stepping into the house. Emilia gave her friend two kisses on each cheek. “Van is going to just die when he sees you.” She turned her head, duel colored eyes looked for her boyfriend and her smile widened. “Hey there, love,” she teased, winking at him, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, hiking the bottom part of her lingerie up slightly. She flipped her hair to the side on her right shoulder.

“I know I’m early, I hope you two don’t mind.”