Aria sighed at Alastor's words, making her wonder if she would have nightmares as she felt the elevator descend quickly as it made its way to the ground floor. The ride was deathly quiet as Aria fought back the rush of emotion that threatened to overwhelm her, now that she was alone, as she rubbed at her eyes, and pocketed Alastor's handkerchief as she prayed silently to God for help and comfort. She didn't want to think about all that she'd faced that day as she tried to resist the urge to look at her shadow that rested on the elevator's maroon-colored carpeting, but she'd find her eyes wandering back down at it, making her try and focus on the gold elevator panel, instead. Aria felt like a nervous wreck as she struggled to not think about her abysmal failure, her breath catching in her throat as she heard the elevator bell ding once more.
That elevator doors opened, revealing a familiar hallway as Aria suddenly remembered that she still didn't know where Husker was staying. Groaning to herself in frustration, Aria tiredly chose to just make the closest room near the elevator her temporary sleeping quarters as she went and opened the closest wine-colored door. If it ended up being Husker's room, she was sure she'd be able to tell right away as the door opened with a creak.
The room was pitch black, the curtains drawn over the large window at the end of the room as Aria switched on the light, hoping the electrics weren't damaged, like they had been for the service elevator. To her relief, the lights came on, but she really wished they hadn't as Aria screamed at the sight, tried to stifle her scream for fear of waking some demon up, quickly closed the door, and resisted the urge to curse the devil who designed rooms in this accursed hotel! Who would want to sleep in a room that made you think you were constantly swimming in a pool of blood, Aria asked herself in horror!?
Shuddering, she skipped several doors before she tried a door on her left, but it proved a mistake as she quickly shut the door, wishing she could burn the inside of that room and erase her memory as she dry heaved, her stomach still rather empty from her last bout with nausea. She skipped a few doors, again, praying earnestly that the next room she chose wasn't nightmare inducing! Hesitantly, she tried opening a door on her right, again, but found it oddly locked. Perhaps it was for the best, after what she'd seen in other rooms, but she started to feel like a coward as she tried the room right next to it. Her entire body went through a slew of mixed feelings as the door opened easily, leaving her incredibly anxious for what may lurk behind it.
Aria could feel herself visibly relax as she turned on the light. She found herself in a much more normal hotel room with a small closet on her left, a desk of drawers further past the closet, a small, private bathroom on her right and as she walked further in, she found a queen-sized bed that took up most of the room. The large window at the end of the room had its red curtains drawn back, revealing the sight of Pentagram City at ground level as she took in the view for a moment. The overall design of the room was still, in theory, creepy with vampire bats being the central theme of the room, but Aria had always found bats more cute than scary as she looked at the number on her door, memorized it, and shut the door behind her.
"Okay, Alastor's shadow, it's time we set up some ground rules," Aria announced, the tremor of fear in her voice betraying her as she watched the shadow emerge from her own, his wicked smile so wide and menacing that Aria had to force herself not to panic. "First off, you aren't allowed further entry beyond this point near the door. Unless I call for you specifically, I call Alastor's name, or I'm screaming at the top of my lungs, you aren't to set a shadowy foot anywhere near me!"
The shadow laughed silently at her, like he could sense her fear, his movements too fast as he pretended to eat her shadow, his smile mischievous!
"I mean it!" Aria cried out in nervous exasperation, indignant that she couldn't even summon a ball of holy light just to keep him at bay as her skin broke out in goosebumps at the shadow's teasing antics! "Alastor insisted you'd be a gentleman and I won't stand having anything, shadow or otherwise, interrupt my prayers, my studies, or my personal bathroom time! You want to preserve Alastor's integrity, you're going to keep the ground rules!"
The shadow mimicked Alastor's thinking pose, his smile curling and distorting his face as he changed shape against the wall to the right of her as a shadow image suddenly formed and created shadowy silhouettes of her and Alastor. She recognized the scene immediately as she broke down in tears, let Alastor lead her along and how she agreed to let Alastor have a chance to prove himself. The moment the shadow puppetry ended, Alastor shadow reformed to his normal shape as a very wide and very scary, smug-looking grin formed on shadow Alastor's face as he leaned against the wall and looked at her expectantly.
"You want me to give you a chance just like I'm doing for Alastor," Aria groaned to herself in helpless frustration, putting her hands to her face and rubbing furiously with nervous tension as she let out a heavy sigh, while the shadow nodded confidently, the distortion of its wicked smile giving her the heebie-jeebies. "Ugh...I don't want to do this! If I don't, though, I'll never hear the end of it from Alastor! Plus, what if some creepy demon busts in here while I'm powerless? Ugh! Alright, fine! I don't want you telling him I wasn't being fair, and Heaven knows I need to be fair because I'm an angel! Sigh...I'm really starting to wonder if I really knew what I was getting myself into. Okay, Alastor's shadow! I'll let you protect me your way, but if you so much as step a shadowy toe out of line, I'm going to tell Alastor first thing in the morning and I'll gladly see you shadow walk right out that door! Got it?"
The shadow of Alastor nodded with a very satisfied and creepy grin as it waved to her in a rather eerie way before it disappeared back into her shadow. Aria couldn't shake the feeling that it was still a bad idea for letting Alastor talk her into having his shadow around, but given she had no powers for the moment, she prayed that shadow Alastor would at least leave her be for tonight. She felt like she could sleep for a week as she made her way to the open bathroom and shut the black, bathroom door, her shadow following her as usual, making her suddenly wish it didn't exist.
Aria looked at herself in the mirror, its frame a cauldron of bats flying around the looking glass. She looked awful as her creepy eyes looked more red and puffy than usual, her auburn hair looking a little frazzled in some places, and her face looked pasty pale from lack of sleep, which meant she basically looked dead on her feet. Aria wanted a shower so badly, but then she thought of horror movies where blood came out of the shower, making her hesitate. She'd been told she shouldn't take off her clothes, so did she really, truly need one?
She thought about the disguise aspect of her choker and wondered if just phasing all her clothing off would allow her to shower, while technically, her clothing would still be on her, but be momentarily unseen. She figured it was worth a shot, but she hesitated as she looked at the shower with some trepidation, not to mention her shadow, as she sighed to herself. Why couldn't things just be simpler here in Hell, Aria wondered?
"Okay, Alastor's shadow, you better keep your eyes closed and no funny business!" Aria demanded, her voice on edge as she tried turning on the shower, first.
As she heard the piping groan for a second, she thought she'd been right as a red sludge came out of the shower head, freaking her out! As she let it run, however, she realized it was a buildup of rust and grime from lack of use as the water eventually ran clean. After adjusting the temperature and realizing it was only going to be uncomfortably warm or hot, Aria gave her shadow a pointed look before she sent a thought to her choker to see if she could phase out her clothing completely.
It worked as she felt her clothing disappear, her body bare as she quickly grabbed the bottles of soap, shampoo, and conditioner from the sink and quickly got into the shower. She rushed to get her shower done to minimize any trouble from Alastor's shadow, but for all her fears, he never manifested as she finished her shower without incident. In less than ten minutes, she was out of the shower as she moved quickly to dry herself off with a towel that she'd found folded on a small shelf over the toilet.
Wrapping her auburn hair in the red towel when she was done, she sent a thought to her invisible choker and mercifully, the blessed garments manifested without any sign of dampness. They quickly changed into a long, dark purple, short-sleeved t-shirt with the sleeves and bottom of the shirt looked ragged, while the collar formed a familiar star shape, while long, black pajama pants with the ends looking a little ragged like they'd been roughly used appeared on her legs. Her feet were bare as her choker and hair clip with the yellow roses reappeared, completing the outfit as she looked in the mirror to see if everything was in place.
She could never get over how creepy her disguise made her look, but she knew it kept her safe as she dragged a finger over the black lines from the corner of her eyes down to the outer edge of her lips. Trying not to stare at her demonic face in the mirror too long, she went to summon her guardian angel supplies to find her reserve toothbrush and toothpaste, but then remembered her powers were drained dry. Aria huffed as she rinsed out her mouth, realizing she might need to ask for a toothbrush in the morning. Maybe they have cute, demonic cartoon character designs I can choose from, Aria thought sarcastically.
"Ok, we really need to talk to God about what happened, today," Aria said out loud to herself, her body feeling very heavy as she opened the black, bathroom door and noticed it had intricately carved bats on it before she closed it behind her.
Heading to the edge of the queen-sized bed, Aria noticed the blood red covers had a large bat design on it in a celtic weave pattern, the beauty of it surprising her, even though it bore red eyes and long fangs. There was an intricately carved headboard of bats flying over a forest, the detail so fine, it was almost like watching it in real life as Aria marveled at the craftsmanship. There was even a painting of a dark forest over her bed with bats flying through it under a black moon in a dark, blood red sky, making Aria wonder if vampire bats existed in reality in Hell. As Aria looked a little closer at the desk of drawers, she noticed that it, too, bore carvings of bats all over its black surface, making Aria wonder who had created such wonderful carvings as she tried to refocus on what she needed to do next.
Aria took a breath, knelt down at the edge of the bed, folded her arms, and started to pray silently in her heart. Her prayer was long and emotionally draining as she poured out her soul to God. She expressed her fears, her doubts, her struggles with trusting Alastor, and what happened after she'd let herself become overwhelmed with despair.
It took her almost a half-an-hour to get it all out as she wiped away new tears of frustration, shame, and regret off of her face as she prayed. A shuddering breath escaped her as she silently begged God to help her forgive herself for her weakness. It should never have happened, but it had, and she was having a hard time dealing with that serious mistake! It was still eating her alive, giving the despair a great deal of strength as she begged Jesus Christ to help take away her sorrow and pain!
She eventually grew emotionally still as she waited for His answer, the loving warmth of the Holy Ghost finally touched her soul, again. She felt God's love flow over her as she physically could feel His arms wrap around her, the gentleness of it bringing her tears of relief. She could hear a whisper inside her heart that she was forgiven of her weakness and that God would use it to bring her more opportunities to do good.
Aria didn't understand and told the Lord so in her heart as the Holy Ghost gave her the impression that her powers wouldn't be fixed immediately. Aria felt a wave of panic as she told Him that she needed her powers back, but the Lord told her gently to not be afraid, but to trust in His judgement while she grew into the faith she needed to regain her abilities. She felt Him smile over her as He told her that, though her progress would be slow as she regained her abilities, God was with her and with God, nothing was impossible.
The Lord told her He was very pleased with her conduct with Alastor. The Lord encouraged her to carefully listen and to learn from The Radio Demon, but that the whispers of the Holy Ghost still needed to be carefully looked for and diligently obeyed while doing so. God encouraged her to continue making allies in Hell and that it was okay to ask them for help, but that she needed to be prayerful about it as she was reminded that all had limitations to their wisdom, including herself.
God warned her it would be best to not trust in the powers of Hell or her own strength alone, but to trust in the power of God by being prayerful in all she did, thought, or said. By doing so, it would prevent her from being led astray into paths that would bring her great pain, sorrow, or even death. God warned her not to go to extremes, but just to exercise caution and, when in doubt, He encouraged her to talk to Him.
The Lord then encouraged her to be kind and to learn to love His children here in Hell. If she could learn to do this, God said, then she would find a powerful source of protection and help from unlikely places. God insisted that everyone had good inside them here in Hell, no matter how deep down it was buried, and that her kindness would be the catalyst for change in many souls, no matter how small or insignificant that kindness may be.
The last thing that God counseled her to do was to learn how to be happy and enjoy her time the best she could here in Hell. He gave her this counsel because of her problems with her fears that evening. The Lord had known there was a possibility for it and encouraged Aria to not forget that she wasn't alone, despite that the name of Jesus Christ had been temporarily hampered by the deterioration of the eternal laws in Hell. He was still with her and He would not abandon her. He would find a way for her as He had promised and that all she needed to do was to enjoy her time here as much as she could and show that righteousness was not a burden, but a blessing and the mark of true freedom. In order to do that, she needed to trust in herself just as He trusted her as Aria felt a warm smile of confidence and love wash over her from the Lord.
The Lord told her He loved her, that he was pleased with her conduct thus far, and encouraged her to go forward with faith and to despair no more, but find joy in her journey. The way for her to move forward was already set in motion by her actions and that as long as she continued to trust in His counsel, God would show her even greater things as long as she believed in Him. He reminded her that she had the faith, hope, love, and courage to complete her mission, and He looked forward to seeing her again as he left her a blessing of comfort and peace.
As Aria ended her prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, that feeling of comfort and peace still rested over her, its gentleness enfolding her in a sense of safety and rest. As she opened her eyes, looked around the room, and took in her surroundings, again, she was relieved that the feeling of fear was gone from her. Even though nothing had really changed about her circumstances, she was no longer debilitated by despair as she brought her clawed, blackened hand in front of her and successfully formed a small sphere of light in her hand before dismissing it.
Aria tried to set up a safe zone per guardian angel protocols, but she found she couldn't manage the complicated layers of protection needed to root it in place. Sighing, she accepted that God may want her to give Alastor's shadow a chance like she promised she would, making her sigh as she tried to accept that reality as she opened up her bed. As she moved the cover sheet, Alastor's shadow suddenly burst out in front of her, startling her, but oddly not frightening her as she watched him smile wickedly at her with creepy eagerness.
"Nice try, but nothing can take away how peaceful I feel right now," Aria said with a smile of her own, making Alastor's shadow look at her with twisted curiosity, but she just hummed a hymn to herself as she snuggled into bed. "Good night, Alastor's shadow! Thank you for watching over me."
The demonic shadow looked pleasantly confused, its smile a little less crooked as it stared at her thoughtfully for a moment. Then, as it still watched her as Aria brought up her K.J.V of the Bible with her choker and studied up on the beatitudes in chapter 5 in the book of Matthew, Alastor's shadow shrugged and waved a clawed hand, his smile larger and more substantial before he slowly disappeared into the shadows. Aria waved back in farewell as she studied the chapter for about a half an hour before she felt she was ready for tomorrow as she set an alarm for six-thirty A.M. on her choker.
As Aria turned out the lights with her angelic powers, and snuggled deeper into her bed sheets, she felt she might even be spared nightmares as she quickly and peacefully fell asleep. Aria missed the red glow that appeared from the countless images and carvings of the vampire bats that surrounded her, their red eyes glowing creepily, but harmlessly as they watched her sleep. Alastor's shadow watched her, his twisted smile bright in the darkness as he kept his vigilant watch, while three hours passed peacefully.
Then, around four in the morning, Alastor's shadow heard something in the hallway. Rushing through the darkness like liquid night, the shadow of The Radio Demon peeked under the door of Aria's room into the hall. He watched as Husker walked past her door, a bottle of booze in one hand, while a bucket of scraps and leftovers was held in the other. He stopped at the door right next to hers, the sound of keys jingling before he successfully opened the door and walked in as he called for a pig rather grumpily. While Alastor's shadow watched Husker with interest, following him a little as its shadowy body stretched from under her door to peek inside the room next door, he missed the sound of Aria's window opening as a long, thin leg stepped through it silently.