Dante's replies

"This party seems a little dead, doesn't it?"

Those were the only words that Anastasia heard slip from Dante's lips before she completely blocked him out. The nerve of him, the audacity of him to just storm into her party uninvited to insult it. She was heated to say the least. Her cheeks flushed a blazing shade of Vermillion whilst her slender digits clutched onto the hoax blood bag that she held. The contents spilled from the packaging and rushed down her wrists like an avalanche. The slightest word from him had a way of getting underneath her skin -- sometimes it was hard for her to conceal how flustered it made her. <br><br>"The party seems very alive to me. Then again, maybe only the people that actually received an invite can see it because we actually wanted them here." Anastasia snapped. Recycled air flowed through the air vents of the chateau, wafting through the room. The atmosphere was stale like cigarette smoke but the stench reeked of cheap cologne and booze. The soft breeze caressed the strands of her hair, causing them to dance like  withered leaves in autumn. The corners of her lips curled downward into an unpleasant scowl. Ana's jaws tightened in an unsettling manner and she stared him down. Why did she always allow him to strike a nerve? His sarcasm, his taunting smirk -- no matter what it was, it always provoked her in some sense. Had it not been out of respect for Dante's brother, Lorenzo, she would have tossed tossed him out of their event the second she laid eyes upon him. However, because Lorenzo was her friend, she tried to look past it and hoped that they could all have a good night without him raising hell.<br>br>"What the hell are they doing here?" A familiar voice trailed across the gentle breeze. Anastasia turned her head to glance over her shoulder at the brunette that was striding closer and closer to them. Her skin was tawny brown, warm but rosy. Her eyes olive green as they glinted underneath the pumpkin light fixtures. It was none other than one of Ana's closest friends, Tatiana. It was no secret that the girl didn't exactly care for the Morosini brothers. From the moment their boots collided with New Orleans soil, Tati would constantly give them dirty looks and say that they were going to be trouble. A forewarning was what she called it.<br><br>It never grew old, glancing over at her best friend and knowing when a heated argument would transpire between she and Dante. Tonight was supposed to be a night of fun and letting go of all their inhibitions before resuming classes at Tulane University. She wasn't going to let it be ruined by some trivial clashes and altercations. "Ophelia wanted Lorenzo to be here. You know how much this means to her." Anastasia said. <br><br>"What about this one? None of us like this spineless prick, so why is he here?" Tatiana stated on in disgust, taking a step closer to Dante as she narrowed her eyes. Spineless prick. Those were the only terms that she could find to sum up just how much of a worthless asshole he was to her. If truth be told,  the ill will that she held in regard to both brothers was a bit extreme. She didn't just not like them, she deplored them; loathed them. Seeing them dead was at the top of her list.<br><br> The tension in the room was so thick that you could cut it with a knife and Ana wasn't standing for it. "Okay. If you're both done with your childish stare down now, let's get back to partying. Dante, you come with me. I'm going to make sure you don't ruin the night with your God complex." Anastasia placed her hand against his wrist, curling her fingers around it. Check clutched onto him tightly, tugging him to follow her towards the dance floor before Tatiana spoke softly to herself. A harsh wind blew past them as they became lost in the crowd. The light fixtures shook like quivering plumes, flickering until they went dim. Ana assumed that it was just one of the spooky effects that Ophelia's father had set up and didn't question it. Instead, her though we're solely placed on Dante and why he'd decided to disrupt the light in her eyes by showing up.<br><br>Would it kill you to not gatecrash the parties that we throw? You could just stay home and stroke your ego, you know?"