Valentino growled low in his breath as he looked at his phone messages. Angel Dust hadn't arrived at the studio as scheduled. There was a shoot in less than an hour, it would be a waste of time and money if he had to cancel everything. The moth was becoming more irate by the moment, which made him contemplate what sort of punishments he was going to give the Spider when he saw him. Angel Dust had always been rather resistant, and he had grown more resistant over the years.
Choosing to participate in this Hotel that Lucifer's bimbo of a daughter was running should have been the last straw. The only choices Angel should have been making were ones based on Val's approval. He had chosen to look the other way about the Hotel, because it was not likely to succeed. While Angel had been good about showing up and doing his jobs. Val also knew it was a matter of time before his wayward employee did confide in his new companions about the control he was under. This happened much sooner than expected as a spy patch Vox had installed in a Voxphone update was able to pick up a conversation Angel had on a phone that he didn't want Valentino to know about. A conversation Angel had with his bomber-girl friend. Val had smirked at the cleverness of it, of getting a separate phone that was just for his companions to prevent his owner from tracking his conversations. Though unfortunately...not clever enough considering what sort of people Valentino was friends with.
"Yeah, it'd be just like that shit-bag to try and take this away from me, simply because he can. " Angel had said. That statement alone would have been proof that Angel deserved punishment. But the conversation that was able to be picked up on the Princesses phone had Valentino seething. The way Angel had told the blond-haired girl about how he had even become employed by the moth, and what tasks he had to do. The way he complained about the earnings that he was so generously being given. What made Valentino nearly blind with rage was how the conversation had started to end.
If I did anything that was honest since meeting you Charlie...it was that, because that was a choice I made on my own. I mean the whole pitch about demon redemption and all that...it was...not great...and a bit crazy. Still after I got out of the car following our talk, I actually had this feeling I haven't had in ages...a feeling of hope. A belief that I'd finally be free from Val and everything associated with him.
That was practically a confession that he was intentionally trying to escape his employers control. And from the conversation Angel was having with his companions it was clear that the girl...Cherri Bomb was trying to help him escape. Angel Dust had wisely been preventing her from actively attacking any of Valentino's businesses. But he had neglected to mention that he was her motivation for destroying billboards with Valentino's face or logos.
The discussion the next morning about how to break Angel free of his employer's clutches also made the moth grit his teeth. Angel also had wisely shot down any attempts or suggestions at keeping him sequestered at the Hotel. And chosen to continue on at the studio even if it was to keep up pretenses.
Val hadn't punished Angel Dust for any of this, because he had wanted to see where Angel would make his move to escape. But thinking on it now, Valentino realized he should have tossed Angel in the special room the moment that he had approached him days ago.
"Angie baby," Valentino typed in. "You are late...Your Daddy is very displeased with you…" There was a prompt that indicated the text was being read, but instead of Angel responding with a submissive string of apologies and pleads for mercy, the message was ignored.
"ANGEL DUST!" Valentino angrily snarled over his text message. "YOU WILL COME DOWN TO THE STUDIO THIS INSTANT! YOU AND I NEED TO HAVE A SERIOUS DISCUSSION ABOUT YOUR RECENT BEHAVIOR!
"IF YOU IGNORE THIS MESSAGE I SWEAR TO LUCIFER THAT I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND MAKE YOU SUFFER FOR ALL OF THE MONEY YOU'VE MADE ME WASTE TODAY!"
The message that Angel gave in response followed by the report of 'This device is no longer active' Caused Valentino to crush his phone in rage. The boy had decided to show his hand and by Satan, he would make sure Angel Dust was locked in that "special room" until he was broken for good...even if it took until the end of existence itself.
"I knew I'd find you here," Cherri said as she came across Angel standing at the bridge that crossed the Asphodel river that cuts through the cities' Northern and Southern sides. "Needed some time to yourself after what Charlie told you this morning?"
"Yeah," Angel sighed. "Here I was thinking I was still under Val's control, and it just turns out for at least the last month that I wasn't. Seems so ironic it's...it's sad,eh?"
"Maybe," Cherri said. "But it's not like Charlie and her friend accounted for Valentino when they asked you to participate.."
Angel pulled out his Hellphone and looked at the message that had popped up on the screen ' Angie baby, you are late...Your Daddy is very displeased with you…'
"That fucker can think what he likes," Cherri said as she also eyed the text. "You're not his property anymore."
"At least until this fails." Angel sighed leaning his back against the railing of the bridge walkway and lighting a cigarette.
"You still don't believe in Charlie's view that demons can be redeemed?" Cherri asked as she leaned back with him. "Or you don't believe that you'll be redeemed?"
"I don't know what to believe anymore." Angel sighed. "I still...I mean...you know I'm not able to turn to drugs all that much as a means of dealing with things anymore. So it's just going to be a whole lot to really deal with before I can even dream of considering the possibility or if I can achieve redemption. I mean folks didn't really talk about, you know...mental problems and shit like that before I died...I don't really know if I can honestly deal with 'em. I just might turn out to be a basket case before all is said and done.
"Come on," Cherri said, taking hold of his arm. "Charlie and the others are going to meet up with us soon. Taking a break from everything is going to do us all a lot of good."
Angel started to follow her when the buzz of his phone caused him to pause and pull it out. The words on the screen made him freeze in fear. He had seen Valentino mad with him before, but this was extremely mad.
"ANGEL DUST! YOU WILL COME DOWN TO THE STUDIO THIS INSTANT! YOU AND I NEED TO HAVE A SERIOUS DISCUSSION ABOUT YOUR RECENT BEHAVIOR! IF YOU IGNORE THIS MESSAGE I SWEAR TO LUCIFER THAT I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND MAKE YOU SUFFER FOR ALL OF THE MONEY YOU'VE MADE ME WASTE TODAY!"
Cherri turned back taking note of how Angel was standing frozen in place. This was the worst she had ever seen him in that state. Pulling the phone from his hands she read over the message herself, her single eye narrowed at the angry, narcissistic, evil, manipulative tone in that text.
"He doesn't have any hold over you Angie," Cherri said as she gently ran a hand down Angel Dust's cheek. "Not anymore." Angel closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again there was a look of fierce determination in his dark pink eyes.
"Go fuck yourself, Val!" Angel responded via text. Walking to the railing he lobbed his Hellphone so it flew out several yards over the river before it fell into the brackish water of the river below.
"Arrivederci, figlio di puttana." (Goodbye, motherfucker) Angel said with a satisfied smile the two of them watched the phone disappear into the murky depths. The honk of a dark purplish town car caught their attention. Cherri waved eagerly as it pulled up and the door opened.
"There you are," Charlie said with relief. "You just went off so suddenly Angel, I was wondering if I said something wrong."
"No," Angel said as he climbed into the car with Cherri close behind. Fat Nuggets squealed in delight at the sight of him from a small carrier further in the car. "I just needed some time alone to think, and really process the news."
"Let's get going," Cherri said, eager for the trip to start. The car started to journey its way towards the city edges and out of the city itself. Despite the tinted windows, Charlie noticed that Angel was glancing anxiously out of them as though on the alert for something.
"Did something happen?" Charlie asked in concern.
"I uh," Angel said nervously. "I broke ties with Val,"
"Really," Charlie said happily.
"Still he doesn't…" Angel started to say, but then he paused a moment as if wondering something.
"He doesn't, what?" Vaggie asked not particularly in the mood to play mind games with the spider. Angel immediately hissed at her making a shushing motion. Grabbing a nearby pen and notepad from the car's bar area, he immediately scribbled down.
'Phones...bugged'. Cherri immediately turned her phone off, Charlie and Vaggie also did the same.
"How can you be…" Vaggie started to ask only to get Angel making the hissing noise again.
"Don't talk," He said hurriedly "Not until we are out of range." Vaggie and Charlie looked at each other and nodded. Cherri risked turning her phone on, but only so she could plug in a set of earphones and listen to music on 'Pandora's Vox' to monitor when they would be out of range of any radio signals. Charlie made a motion to Angel to toss her and Vaggie a couple of the note pads so they could communicate through notes until they were free to talk.
"I can blow our phones when we make a stop." Cherri wrote on her notepad.
"Good," Angel wrote on his pad. "I tossed my phone in the river 'for we left. We can't be sure they ain't listening in on any of yours."
"We should stop soon." Charlie wrote. "There is a small eatery in the area so we can grab some breakfast."
There was a sense of relief amongst the group of demons once Cherri detonated the VoxPhones. Razzle and Dazzle had been sent into the eatery to grab some pastries for the small group of companions.
"So what made so sure our phones were bugged anyway?" Vaggie demanded now that she felt she was free to talk.
"Duh, doesn't the words 'VoxPhone' ring any bells," Cherri stated "He runs more than just the TV station, and he's also buddy-buddy with Valentino. I wouldn't call that too much of a stretch he could listen in to our conversations. Even if our phones were off they still could have been able to pick up something we were talking about."
"Some days ago a couple of girls I work with at the studio were saying there was a rumor that I was leaving the studio," Angel stated. "It was when they said they heard Valentino say something I told you, girls. When I was spilling to you about everything that was happening. That's how I knew Vox and Val must have been listening in, I had thought it was my phone only. But when we were in the car it occurred to me they might have you, girls, on tap as well."
"Since I haven't told Valentino that the contract puts you legally in my custody," Charlie stated. "If they overheard any of it. They would have the time and the means to twist or contest the contract such as how it can't apply because we didn't know about what Valentino was doing to you at the time you signed it."
"Also Val didn't take the fact I didn't show at the studio very well." Angel stated. "I was scheduled to do a film shoot, but given the news that I'm not his prisoner any longer, I just decided not to show. Unfortunately, that means he'd be out lookin' for me. That's why I couldn't risk him overhearin' anything 'bout where we was going."
"Is the Hotel at risk?" Vaggie demanded.
"Vaggie!" Charlie protested.
"Valentino knows Angel is a resident of the Hotel," Vaggie stated. "That would be one of the places he would look, how do we know he won't destroy it and ruin everything you and I are trying to do, Charlie?"
"I don't think he will," Charlie stated. "He might show up looking for Angel, but I don't think he'd destroy the hotel. Not without any of us being there. The hotel is also a building my family-owned. While I have repurposed it for our cause, that doesn't mean my dad wouldn't be angry that someone has destroyed it. He'd be mad at me for allowing it, but he wouldn't let anyone just get away with destroying something under our family control. Besides." Charlie paused and looked up at Angel with a tender smile.
"Besides, even if he did destroy the Hotel," Charlie continued with conviction. "The Hotel is just a building, not our cause. Our cause is to protect demon souls like Angel's and Cherri's and whoever else lives in fear and suffering in this world and offer them at least a hope that they can become something better. While redemption is our ultimate goal, just bringing a positive change in any demon soul no matter who they are is a success. Perhaps then, Hell won't be a world where demons live in pain and suffering for the choices they made in life. It could be a place where some suffer for crimes they had committed. But other souls could come to terms with the mistakes and forces that brought them here and learn to elevate themselves beyond what they think they are."
Cherri and Angel glanced at one another as a single thought was shared between them, a feeling of possibility. The four companions headed for the car once more enjoying their simple breakfast before returning to the car.
There was little to say as the travel continued down the road, Vaggie and Cherri gradually fell into a state of slumbering repose during the long trip ahead. Charlie was calmly enjoying the sight of the trees and all of Hell's countryside laid out around her, all of it had a sense of peaceful familiarity to her. The fond memories of traveling to their mountain estate with her father and mother when she had been centuries younger.
Glancing around at her companions she tenderly smiled over where Vaggie had curled herself against the seat. Her long white hair blanketing over her. On one of the side bench seats in the town car, Cherri was gracelessly sprawled a-long it. one arm was thrown over her single eye, her mouth open.
Charlie's eyes softened in concern as they fell on Angel. He was sitting with one leg propped up on the bench seat, and both sets of arms folded around his body like he was trying to keep warm. His focus was on the window, but she could tell he wasn't really interested or able to appreciate the sight of Hell's landscape. Both of his eyes looked distant and troubled as his mind was focused on his thoughts.
The blond girl could sense the pain he felt. Years...decades worth of it. Pain and suffering his companions couldn't even begin to fathom or begin to understand. They knew what was being done to him...what had been done to him. But simply knowing what was done through words alone could not bring the full scope of what he had endured alone for so long.
Angel only told them because he felt he was in a position where he felt he couldn't keep his silence about everything that was taking place. Even then he didn't have to tell them what was going on. Still, Charlie had to wonder how long it would have taken to get Angel to open up the way he did. She could imagine probably asking him about Vox why the TV Demon frightened him only for Angel to retreat behind the mask and wave away her concerns. Only for her to notice more and more signs that things were not as they appeared. Though if that was the case he would have only revealed the truth under duress, not when he wanted to say anything. And even if he learned to trust her enough to express these problems to her, she knew it would be a long time before he could feel he can openly trust her with this.
Since he wasn't able to partake in vices such as drugs as a means of escaping the pain. He was beginning to process the full scope of what all those years and everything that had happened to him. And still even now he couldn't escape the torment, Valentino was still a threat that refused to let him go. His freedom was in his grasp, but he wasn't free yet...not so long as his tormentor sought to control and dominate him.
One thing Charlie was sure of is that Angel would never suffer alone through this again. He would have friends to help him through every step of the way, a family that loved and cared for him as one of their own. He would be given his space if he required it, but he would always be reminded they were there for him when he needed them.
Getting up, she moved so she was sitting beside him waiting for her to acknowledge her. After a moment he let his defensive posture ease, though he didn't turn his attention to her or say anything.
"So...um" Charlie started to say invitingly. She honestly didn't really know how to approach this, when she had begun this demon rehabilitation project she had assumed it was just a matter of just stopping a demon's sinful behavior and teaching them how to be good. But Angel's situation was far more complicated than just simply telling him he didn't need to prostitute himself for money. And the blond princess didn't even know where to begin with Cherri since the punky girl also had a good spirit. But she had fully embraced violence both as personal gain and a means of protecting those who mattered to her.
"So why did you choose the name Angel Dust when you manifested in Hell?" Charlie inquired. Angel glanced at her with his darkened left eye. Charlie cringed slightly at the sight, that dark eye was always something that made her feel intimidated by him. It was the one eye that didn't really let you know what he was thinking. The one that always seemed to question and assess anything that made him suspicious and on guard.
"I'm sorry," Charlie said glumly after a second. "That was probably a personal question. If you prefer not to answer, I understand...you don't have to."
"It's not that," Angel said, turning his full gaze on her. "No one...no one's ever asked me that question before?"
"Not even, Cherri?" Charlie asked. Angel shook his head before returning back towards the window. The blond-haired girl eyed him a few moments hoping he might make some attempts at opening up to her. But she deflated again in disappointment figuring he was not going to respond any further to her inquiry. It was probably something he wasn't ready to talk about...or maybe he didn't know why he chose that name himself aside from maybe having an addiction to the drug that was his namesake.
"I guess I chose that name to remind myself of a bad memory," Angel said after a few minutes of silence went by.
"Oh," Charlie said. If his demon name was associated with a bad memory, maybe it was best she didn't ask. Let him decide if he wanted to reveal it. "Well...I know it's been a long time since you originally arrived in Hell, but do you still remember the name you had when you had been alive?"
"It was…" Angel said, his dark pink eyes turning distant and sorrowful. "It was Anthony."
"Anthony…" Charlie said, tasting the name on her tongue. Giving him a soft smile as though she had just shared a gift with her, a precious gift he would never have shared with just anyone. She felt honored he had trusted her with it. Placing her hand on his arm she drew his attention towards her. "Thank you, Angel." She softly whispered as though to tell him that his true name was safe with her. Angel eyed her a few seconds as though confused, he then closed his eyes giving her the first genuine smile she had ever seen cross his face. She was so overjoyed she threw her arms around him in delight.
"Hey, whoa…" he protested as he carefully but firmly pulled her away from him. "Sweety, I don't like being squeezed."
"Oh...sorry," Charlie responded feeling embarrassed and somewhat ashamed by the impulsive action.
"It's alright," Angel said holding his main hands up in an 'all is forgiven' manner. "You didn't know."
"I'll be sure to remember that in the future," Charlie said with conviction. "I meant what I said when I told you I consider you as a friend to me. And I want to be someone you can trust as well, I don't want to force you into doing or saying anything you aren't comfortable or ready to talk about. But I know you have been put through a whole lot of trauma and a lot of other things that I can't even begin to imagine. And I don't understand what you are going through right now as you begin to allow yourself to process everything that Valentino and others before him have done to hurt you. Because I've never been in that experience, but I am someone who is here to listen and to talk to as needed."
Angel regarded her for a few moments as though weighing the sincerity in her words before reaching out and tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear. No words needed to be exchanged, it was a simple gesture of gratitude. The Hell-Born girl and the manifested soul beside her enjoyed the rest of their trip in companionable silence that was only broken by the soft snores of their loved ones.