Charlie sighed as she relaxed on the couch. She had just bid goodbye to her friends in heaven and returned to the hotel. She was certain she'd see them again, but she didn't want to stray from the hotel too long.
It wasn't that big of a deal, she'd just fly her way to heaven to visit them once she was certain things were going swell. Razzle and Dazzle could defend the place while she was away.
And now that she and Vox-I mean Vincent were a thing, she'd be waiting for the week to pass so they could visit each other. Sooner or later she'd probably request her uncle to make some type of wifi system where she could communicate with him and the others while she was away.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door.
"Hm? A new patron already? That was quicker than I expected. Better go see who it could be."
When she opened the door, she nearly fell over. Velvet, Helsa and Vark were standing there. The people she least expected had showed up at her hotel.
'Fuck!' She was so tempted to shut the door in their faces, the only reason she didn't was because she had the feeling they'd bust it open, leaving another expense to fix. She nervously looked around, hoping there was nobody else that could cause trouble for her.
"Charlie, we're not going to wreck your stupid hotel," Helsa said,"Look this place may look like garbage, but it'd be a waste of time to tear it down. I'm not breaking a nail over this stupid shack of yours."
"Besides, we still need this place."
"For what?"
"Are you serious?" Velvet asked,"You just got your entire team up in heaven and you're asking why we're here? We're going to heaven too, and you're gonna let us into this stupid hotel."
"One, my hotel isn't stupid, second of all, why do you guys want to go to heaven in the first place?" She was wary of letting Velvet in mainly, she knew how much the doll demon hated her for 'tearing their family apart' so to speak.
"What do you think? Sevi got into heaven and I'm following after him. And the circus freak says that since Vox is up there she wants to go as well."
Charlie narrowed her eyes,"I thought you and Seviathan weren't close…" They weren't exactly the closest pair of siblings out there, usually doing their own things.
"We aren't. But Sevi just ascended into another plan of existence and that doesn't sit right with me...No offense, but I refuse to stay in this god awful pit while Seviathan gets to dance in the clouds with rainbows and unicorns. If he thinks he can enjoy paradise without me he's got another thing coming."
Yeah, Charlie could buy that. They weren't close, but the idea of your brother literally going to another realm and goofing off with others while you got stuck in Hell didn't sound all too nice.
"I see...So did Bethesda and Frederick take this well."
"Obviously not. They think I'm 'weak' and 'sentimental' for wanting to go along with this damn program and they pretty much disowned me. This place seems cheap and I plan on ascending asp, so I wont be here long."
Charlie nodded."And you, Velvet?"
"Varky wants to join Vox in the big leagues and I gotta put myself up so I can take him with me." Velvet said flatly,"Not like I wanna, but hell has gotten stale over the years. This place took everything I cared for away, cause now I ain't got no friends and everyone thinks I'm nuts."
"More nuts," Helsa corrected,"Everyone knew you had a few screw loose, don't lie."
"Whatever, that ain't the point. Don't get things mixed up blondie, I ain't doing this cause I wanna 'change' or anything. I'm just tired of being stuck in this nowhere hellhole where there ain't nothing fun to do anymore! Posting shit on social media doesn't even do anything anymore. It's just boring and stale."
The social media overlord said that posting things was boring...the world may as well be ending. The impossible had happened.
"Velvet I-"
"I ain't done yet!" She hissed,"I don't know why I fucking feel this way, but ever since this hotel of yours came up, my life changed for the worse. Everyone else's lives changed for the better except mine! Even ALASTOR got his happy ending! The fucking serial killer cannibal got a happy ending! How fucked up is that? Everyone gets to live happily ever after except ME! It ain't fucking fair how I got thrown into the dust while everyone else moves on and rises to new heights! But I know this, I ain't getting left behind again! I'm going to heaven whether you want me to or not. Got that?"
Charlie backed up before nervously smiling. Not exactly how she imagined this going down, but at least they were volunteering, albeit for their own selfish reasons.
"Hey-hey, no ed to get upset Velvet. I get you didn't like how things turned out, but it spiraled out of everyone's hands,nobody could've seen what happened coming."
"Sounds like a bunch of excuses to me."
"Velvet, there was no way anyone could have predicted things would go like this. What happened years ago is behind us. We can't travel back and change things. And I get you're angry, but being mad isn't going to get you to heaven, Velvet. I don't know what you saw in Valentino that mad you mourn his death so badly, but I think it's time you let him go. Your unhealthy obsession with preserving his memory has only driven everyone away from you. It was only you and Vark back at the studio, but it doesn't have to be that way. If you let things go, you'll be able to see Vincent in heaven, make new friends, have fun and live your afterlife in a peaceful manner."
Velvet scowled but didn't say anything.
Charlie wanted to try comforting her again, but Velvet immediately moved away and gave her a look.
Helsa frowned,"Charlie, I think you should let her think about this for a while. In the meantime, mind letting us inside?"
Charlie nodded before letting the three inside, showing them where their rooms were. Helsa took the left hall and Velvet took the right with Vark behind her.
When she opened the door, she noticed the room had a techno flair to it."This must've been Vox's room. He sure did decorate the place before he left…"
Vark was looking around the room, trying to find anything of his owner, like a scent. He found a drawer with Vox's old suits and began tossing them out. By the time Velvet noticed, he had some of Vox's coats hanging off his head.
She snickered,"Aw...nice look, Varky. Ya look sharp! Hold still, I'm gonna take a photo with you so we can show my followers!' Velvet snapped a photo and shared it all over social media. Unlike the other times she sent photos back at the Studio, it felt somewhat wholesome and genuine.
RadVelvetCakes: Hey guys, me and Varky found Vox's old room! I'm gonna be staying at the blondie's hotel! Don't really believe in it, but if Alastor got into heaven, maybe I can too! I'm starting a new countdown for heaven, I'll be posting photos daily till I get in!
#Varkyisadorz #CutestPhotoEver #AintIRad? #AlastorcangetinsocanI #CountdownForHeavenDay1
After submitting the photo, she noticed some of her followers were giving her messages. One of the accounts was from Stolas.
DaddyHootHoot: Guess you're not a lost cause after all, your content was lacking and awful up until now. Perhaps now you'll post things not centered around that moth for once.
She was aware Stolas wasn't a fan of her, but that wasn't a message she expected to see. Other commenters had similar responses.
She knew Val wasn't liked, but it appeared even after his death that others still held their vendettas against him. Granted, Val was a pretty awful person even by Hell's standards, so obviously he would still be looked at with scorn.
Velvet sighed.
It was fairly late and things still weren't the greatest. Varky had gone to bed on the floor and she was still scrolling on her phone. She exited her gram account, now looking at her home screen.
It was a picture of all three of the V's. It was before everything fell apart. They were all smiling, laughing, having fun. One of the better days when Val wasn't in a sour mood, one of the few times Vox was genuinely smiling and where Velvet felt happy…
The doll demon closed her eyes. She remembered what Charlie said. And while she hated saying this, she was right.
Preserving Val's memory and their old happiness was going to keep her down in hell. And if she wanted to live up in the clouds, she was going to have to do something about it…
Velvet then looked at the screen before going through her recent photos, hitting the one she just took and replacing it as her home screen.
'Sorry Val...but I gotta move on…' She used to keep updates centered around Val, but it became obvious that trying to maintain that while 'redeeming' herself was counterproductive. This obsession would get her nowhere and would just leave her behind again. It did it once, she couldn't let it happen again. She already lost everything special, this was her one chance to regain it.
She then went to bed shortly afterwards, charging her phone on the counter.
