𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨

Act 23

The trumpet started to play above all the other instruments. The curtain completely pulled back to reveal the huge audience. Our boss, the Devil, had a seat on a balcony near the ceiling. I could see him laughing at us. I kept my smile on my face and didn't lose it for anything. 

"We meet again my lovely audience! Welcome back to another wonderful night here at the Devil's casino. And if you're new, welcome to what's going to be your favorite place to sin. Tonight's line-up consists of a debut, featuring the Casino's very own, Century Bettigan. She's going to be my little partner tonight, aren't you baby?" he announces. 

I nod my head. The audience's attention really settled on me then. Gasps rang through the room. I heard a couple of people yelling "Wooo!" as if to encourage me that I could do it. 

"That's not how we treat our new people, ya'll know better. Give her a hand!" Dice remarks. 

Applause filled the room immediately. Dice twirled me around and dipped me back. He held me there while he finished his thought. 

"Let's get this started. How about your favorite?" he asked the people. 

They screamed and cheered him on. He pulled be back up and let go of me. He wasn't looking at the vast world beyond the stage anymore. He was looking straight at me. 

"This magic moment, so different and so new," Dice sung.

He twirled me around and kept catching me in his arms. It was hard to keep up with these heels. 

"Was like any other, till I kissed you," he serenaded

The spectators clapped. Holding me tight in front of him, he softly kissed my cheek that was still there. 

"And then it happened, It took me by surprise, I knew that you felt it too, By the look in your eyes,"

I wondered how many other times he had sung this song. Whatever it was, it was enchanting. Every little twirl or spin made my heart skip a beat. I was so nervous just being up there, but what he was doing was making me feel a whole lot better. The music behind him didn't overpower him either, they balanced each other out to make one beautiful sound. We sort of stayed in a confined space though because he didn't want the microphone cord to make us trip. 

"Sweeter than wine, Softer than the summer night, Everything I want I have whenever I hold you tight,"

He held me close to him for a bit because he could tell I was getting tired. Finishing the song, he picked me up and brought me over to the piano. I sat on the top while he sat on the bench below. The audience was still cheering and clapping even after the set change. I knew my song was next. Quietly clearing my throat, I prepared myself. 

"When I give you the mic, introduce yourself. Do the best you can. You got this, darling," Dice whispered while there was still an uproar in the crowd. 

They finally fell silent, and he handed it over to me. My hands started to get clammy, and I got this weird feeling in my stomach, but I still kept it together. "For him", I kept telling myself. 

"Hi ya'll, I'm Century. I'm new to this whole show business thing, and honestly this whole casino thing in general. Dice makes it all worthwhile. Anyways, here's a song I wrote about my childhood and what it was like being one of the poorest families on the first isle. Gives ya'll a little insight into my previous life before here. This is my song, 'Coal Miner's Daughter' dedicated to my favorite brother out of all five of them, Chip. My song goes a little something like this," I say.

Dice hits the piano riff with great confidence. I light up with excitement start swaying my body a bit. We had practiced this song so many times in his room that it was almost implanted into my brain now. I was finally getting to show off my talents. 

"Well I was born a coal miner's daughter, in a cabin on a hill in Inkwell Holler. We were poor, but we had hope. That was what we had the most. Daddy shoveled coal to make a poor man's dollar," I sung.

Men were whistling at me from the front row. It made me super uncomfortable, but I shrugged it off. I was really enjoying this.

"My Daddy worked all night in the Chamber's coal mines, and all day long in the field hoeing corn. Momma rocked the babies at night, and told us stories by the coal-oil light. And everything would start right over at the break of morn. Daddy fed and raised ten kids on a miner's pay. Me and Mama scrubbed the clothes on a washboard everyday. Well I've seen my fingers bleed, to complain, there was no need. I tried to smile in Mama's understanding way."

Dice really got into the song and started playing it louder. I could feel the groove of the song intertwining our souls. The people below and above us really felt it too. I jumped down from the piano and went to center stage. Claps sounded off as I sang.

"Well I'm proud to be a coal miners daughter! I remember well the hell and the horror. The work we'd done was more than hard. It always kept us super tired. At night I'd dream about leaving Inkwell Holler."

Dice calmed down a bit. I faded my voice.

"I've changed a lot since way back when. I'm glad I'll never go back home again. Got so much more endure. I'm glad I'm up off that dirty old floor. But I'll always keep the memories of being a coal miner's daughter,"

The piano stopped.  The crowd went wild. Small tears flew out of my eyes. That couldn't have possibly went any better. 

"Thank you! Thank you all so much!" I exclaimed, waving out to them. 

Dice came up and took the microphone. 

"Ya'll want some more of her?" 

Screaming and conformation bellowed in the audience. I was in for a long night. 

-10 songs and 10 glasses of whiskey with Dice later-

"You *hic* guys are great! I'll see you later! Byeeee!" I drunkenly swing off the stage. 

The crowd loved me. I will definitely be coming back. Or maybe that was just the booze talking. I could only really remember the parts when Dice slid his hands across my body. But that's just what alcohol does to me. I get very flirtatious and frisky after like two glasses. I had ten. I feel bad for Chip and Wheezy tonight. Dice and I were racing back to our room, stopping every few minutes or so for him to pin me up against a wall and passionately kiss me. We didn't even say anything to each other. We already knew what was about to go down.

 As soon as we hit the doorway, my heels were off and his jacket was on the floor. He slammed the door shut and double locked it. I rushed up to him and kissed him. Nothing was held back between us. He unbuttoned his shirt while I grabbed his face. Once his shirt was off and on the floor, he picked me up by my legs and took me to the bed.

Our next two hours consisted of:

"Gentle sweetheart, please"

"I know, is this better?"

"Ah~ muchhh better"

"Fuck, your voice is making this so much better"

"Dice p-ple-ase d-do-nt sto-op" 

"Are you comfortable? Because I'm about to get really rough" 

"Oh please, just a little bit more, this isn't enough"

"You can be louder than that. I want this whole casino to know that you belong to me when they hear you scream my name"

"Fuck, that was amazing"

"Want to do it again?"

"Of course"