The Double-Blind Effect
Chapter Two
Unwelcoming showers/ Pre-lunch time
Previously….
She got a whiff of the foul odor in the air and ever-so-slightly she lifted her arm to inhale her pit. "Phew, I reek! I need a shower, proto!"
(Day 1 continued: Before Grand opening)
Charlie went back to her quarters. The room was one of the hotel's sweets. It was an open room; the carpet was pink that corresponded to the curtains, along with a pink and red color-coordinating oversized bed. A chandelier also hung in the center of the room. She stripped down naked and tossed her dirty clothes into the laundry chute.
There was no need to be precautious about her nakedness when she was the only person in the room.
She motioned towards the bathroom and opened the door. The bathroom was enormous and all white, with marble tiles and a large mirror that reflected a long walk-in shower. She approached the shower to slide the glass door open and turn the handle of the facet to the H symbol.
Her hand moved to touch the cool, flowing water until it warmed, and then she got in, letting the warm water rain over her hair and body. The Hell Princess reached to grab a shampoo bottle off the windowsill, the one with a flowery picture on it. The bottle felt lighter since her last shower, though. "Angel." She murmured in a slightly irate tone.
The heiress didn't care if he used her products, but at least he should have the courtesy to let her know if she had to go out and buy more. She used what she could press out of the bottle and lathered it through her long pale blonde hair before she rinsed it through and repeated with conditioner. She gently scrubbed her body with a lathered-up luffa and hummed a cheerful melody.
Steam filled the entire bathroom and fogged up the mirror when the shower finished. The princess squeezed the excess water out of her hair before exiting the shower. She approached the misty mirror and wiped away the fog with a stroke to see her naked reflection.
Charlie touched her cheek that Alastor pinched earlier. Why did he seem to have an influence on her that caused her to blush so frequently? In all her previous and current relationships, she never blushed so much or act like as much of a goofball as she did around him. Could it be his eyes? Did they have some sort of hypnotic charm? No, she never heard of any stories about it, nor had Vaggie ever talked about it.
'So why did my heart beat so fast before?' The heiress thought while staring at her naked reflection with confliction. 'There is no way in the nine rings of Hell he is flirting with me.'
A blush spread wildly across her face, and her voice hitched momentarily. 'No—no—no! Do not go there, girl! I gotta stop thinking!' She slapped her rosy cheeks then made many funny faces in the mirror before she smiled at her reflection.
The Hell Princess brushed her hair while drying herself off simultaneously before leaving the bathroom. She tossed the towel over the curved sleigh of her bed and she reached over to grab the remote control off the dresser to click a button that turned on the TV. Channel 666 News appeared on screen, much to her dissatisfaction.
She secretly wished the lighting equipment would fall on Kate Killjoy.
Too bad it didn't.
The princess tossed the remote control onto the bed, and she looked at the screen momentarily. There was a cannibal cooking segment on, she sighed and rolled her eyes in exasperation. The A.C. clicked and blew cold air into the room, which immediately made her uncontrollably shiver. "I should get dressed before I freeze!" She rubbed her hands up and down her forearms to generate warmth.
Suddenly, her ears twitched to the sounds of footsteps from the hallway coming to her room. Normally, Vaggie announced her presence before entering Charlie's room. That person didn't care. Hell, Angel would make his presence loudly known.
She froze with terror.
Did she remember to lock the door?
There was a thin knock at the door followed by the moving of the door handle. No time to take a towel, unless she wanted to risk the intruder seeing her bare ass!
Too late, the door was slowly opening!
With an explosion of demonic energy, she skedaddled to the door to prepare for the impact as the door crept opened. Using her hands Charlie desperately tried to push against the door.
Whoever they were, they were strong.
The princess had to concentrate all her power so that the door wouldn't open wider.
She wanted to slam the door on their face!
"Darling, I require your services once again," Alastor announced his presence in a cheerful tone. The first time they met, the princess slammed the door right in his face before he could complete the second syllabub to his greeting. Frankly, he thought it was rude. Most of the demons who knew him avoided him like the plague, and rightfully so. However in his day, when a person opens the door, it was an invitation to begin a conversation.
This time, he held the door in place. It was easy matching her strength with his far greater one.
"Uhh— like now?" Charlie squeaked.
"Righty so!"
She fought against him to keep the door closed or at least a minimum open, which meant he would not be peering his head in. What the hell is wrong with him?! Couldn't he tell she didn't want to be disturbed? The princess knew he was holding back, and that pissed her off because she was giving it her everything! "N-now isn't the gre-greatest—" She couldn't stop stuttering as she got cut off by him.
"What's eating you, my dear? Do you need my services instead?" Alastor asked her in a suggestive and subtle way as the static left his voice. Oh, how amusing it was to play with her, however that alone wasn't enough to keep his insatiableappetitefor entertainment going. He pondered why she wouldn't let him in this time.
"No, thank you! That won't be necessary." The heiress's voice became high pitched that she thought she sounded like a mouse. She could feel the warmth of a blush crawl up her neck and the butterflies in her stomach doing things she didn't comprehend. Her emotions erupted and triggered her form to alter. Horns sprouted from the princess's forehead and her teeth became sharper. When she blinked, her eyes transformed, the sclera turned crimson and the iris gold. Her strength momentarily increased, but undoubtedly matched.
It was too much.
She felt vulnerable.
Self-conscious.
And very naked.
"What's eating you? You don't sound well." Not that he cared. He grew increasingly intrigued by her odd behavior. The Radio Demon could very well use his shadows to peek in or he could just manifest himself inside, but he felt that was an invasion of privacy and that wasn't very gentlemanlike.
'Ahh, now, how did that old phrase go? Curiosity killed the cat?' Alastor snickered in the back of his mind. Ever-so-slightly, he peered to the open slit of the doorway to stare into her room. Nothing stood particularly out of the norm and at that angle he couldn't see her.
He tried to formulate a conclusion to her erratic behavior. Suddenly he felt a spike of demonic energy swirling within the princess. As strange as it is, he never sensed this power in her before. It felt like raw and untapped malice, and his fingers twitched in anticipation. Could he use this to his advantage in the near future? His vicious smile widened, and the pupils in his eyes turned into small radio dials. Demonic symbols appear around him as his eerie eyes glowed red. The static in his voice amplified.
"Nope—I'm real peachy!" Charlie replied quickly. She couldn't tell him why she couldn't open the door. What would she say? 'Hey Al, I'm naked can you come back another time?' It sure sounded simple, but her mind was racing at all possibilities of his response.
What would he say or worse, what would he do?
Suddenly, her knees buckled, and her strength slithered away. She was losing a battle. The mind versus the body.
Why?
She didn't want him to see her naked.
Did she?
'Noo!' Her mind bellowed.
The overlord escaped out of his own scheming fantasies and he reverted to a less dark demeanor. He didn't catch what she said. "Could you repeat that?"
'Fucking prick!' Her mind screamed. "I said, I'm real peachy. Umm—could you come back another time?" She questioned.
"Ma chérie, all I wanted to ask is what do you want for lunch?" Alastor answered.
'That's what he wanted to talk about?! Why didn't he ask that in the first place, instead of aimlessly beating around the bush?' God, he was driving her into madness! If the pressure from running the hotel wasn't enough, it would be Alastor that would make her want to hurl herself off the building. "I'll tell you what, how about the chef's special?" She replied while she tried to quell her high-pitched voice.
"Ho, ho, alright—one chef's special coming right up!" He said lively and from the corner of her room, he saw a towel draped over her bed frame.
Fascinating.
The Radio Demon would have to ponder about this later. As for now, lunch awaited. But just before he left her to reminisce in peace, something unexpected happened to slip off his tongue. "Take heed, my demon belle, and make sure that you lock your door. There are nasty predators out there, and t̶̟̬͌͜h̵̥̎͜é̸͚̮͖͑̀y̴̭͑̒ ̷̰̼͈̋̄͝w̵̧̨̛̫̉ô̶̘̋̾u̷̯̇͛̃l̶̦͖̊d̴̖̦̓̄̑ ̴̦͂̋l̸̰͚͉͆ö̶̤͌v̶̨̯͗ë̶̢̠͖́ ̸̢̙͈̇͘͘ṱ̴͕̮̐͗͂o̴̥͆͠ ̵̺͛ẗ̸̬ǎ̶̦͉̦̋́k̸̜̃̽̓è̶͖͚ ̶̨̯̽̿a̵̲̜̳͆ ̷̺̝͕͊͝b̵͓͌̏͝î̷̖̪̜̓t̴̺̰̻̀̂è̵̡̖̞͗͝ ̵̟̜͉̋͆͝o̸͍̬̊͊͜u̵̻̺̙̔t̴̠͒͋ ̸̱̰͗ͅo̷̼̓f̶̱̦̠͠ ̴̺̮͉͛̄͝ỳ̸̟̝̞ȍ̴͙̉u̵̯̮͍̚." Alastor's cheerful voice evaporated and grew sinister. The radio amplified in his voice creating more static and distorted sounds. His dark laughter reverberated the halls as he left.
"Ro-roger." The princess breathlessly said, and she listened to the sound of his laughter departing the halls. Finally, she closed the door and locked it. Charlie pressed her back against the door, sliding down until she sat on the floor with her knees curled up as she hugged them. His words made her heartbeat elevate.
Why did his words sound so dirty, instead of threatening?
"I really need to get my mind out of the gutter." She whispered in a chocked voice.
From that day on, she would double check her locks.
Welcome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
Elsewhere…
"Look, alls I'm sayin' is if yah would have let me suck the manager's dick, we could have gotten twenty percent off our entire order." Angel sighed and shook his head as he attempted to reason with the moth demon.
"And I said no. The point of rehabilitation is to break from old habits, not create new ones!" Vaggie declared.
The two sinners returned to the hotel, both loaded with several bags of groceries.
"Tch—alls I'm tryin' to do is make sure we gots some food here… yah know for the other… patients. Yeah, that's it!" The spider snapped his fingers, and he went over to the kitchen to place down his bags.
"While I appreciate the sentiment, how you're trying to justify your actions isn't helping you or our cause." The moth took several breaths to calm down. She unpacked the groceries, and she stored them away in cabinets and the refrigerator.
"Hey, I'm more than willin' to take one for the team." Two of Angel's hands slide up his waist to grab a handful of his overly voluminous fluff.
Thoroughly pissed off, Vaggie whispered (rather loudly) a few curse words in Spanish, and she slammed the fridge's door then whirled around to face him. "No. Fucking. Way, pinche puto."
Angel scoffed at her and placed one of his hands on his lovely hip while two other hands went around his back to flip her off. If it wasn't for the free food and room, he would be so out of here! Instead, he pretended to play nice or as close to it as demonically possible. "What's got yur granny panties in a bunch?"
"My what?!"
"Yah hear me—oh nows, I get it." The spider sinner crossed all four of his arms. He gave a toothy smirk that exposed his golden fang.
"And what could that possibly be?" God, he irritated the shit out of her.
"Yah really need to a good old finger blast! That's why yur actin like such bitch, yur way too tense, toots."
Vaggie stood there, dumbstruck.
"What do yah like, scissorin instead? Do yah or Charlie wear a strap-on dildo? I don't know what da fuck lesbians do." Several of his hands created provocative gestures of scissoring and fingering a hole.
She tried to compose herself and not think of impaling the spider through his chest with her harpoon, however tempting it might be. "You know all relationships aren't just based on sex." She calmly said.
"Ha—ha—ha, yah all da boring ones up in heaven." Angel laughed humorlessly, and something about this conversation made him really interested. "Soo, do Charlie and yah… ever fuck?"
The Hispanic demon's cheeks flared up in mortification, but above all rage. He really knew how to antagonize her. "Again, there is more to a relationship than primal urges—like getting to connect with someone on a deeper level of understanding. It's about love."
"Yaaa—yah two never did it. Boring." The spider confirmed it, and he would wager all the money in his pockets to prove it.
"That isn't your business! All I'm trying to say is that the best type of intimacy is where you just lay back, laugh together at stupid things, hold each other, and enjoy each other's company. Can you honestly ask yourself if there is anyone like that in your life and say yes?"
Angel recoiled, and he looked away for a moment as the tingling feeling of doubt and hopelessness surfaced, but he recuperated quickly. Sure, there was one person he might consider a friend, Cherri Bomb. "Alright, toots, I read yah load and clear." He saluted her.
The sound of radio static entered the room.
"Well—well—well! Look who has returned, and just in good time!" Alastor strolled into the kitchen to see Angel and Vaggie. "Was the trip a success?" He inquired.
Ever-so-slightly, the moth demon's right eye twitched in annoyance and her scowl deepened as soon as Alastor made his presence known. She couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that he was going to help them run this hotel, and not only that, he was going to be living under the same roof! Vaggie had tried to implore Charlie to heed her concerns, but her girlfriend dismissed it, much to her dismay. She saw through his façade. 'This guy is a cannibal for all we know; he could just be using this place to sate his endless appetite! I'm gonna try again and get Charlie to see him for what he really is.'
"Ooh—yah, I gots allz da goods here, Smiles." Angel hugged his voluminous fluff while two of his other arms were on his hips.
"He means the trip to the grocery store." Vags corrected the spider. "And yes, it was a success. Why do you want to know?"
Alastor ignored the spider's endless attempt at flirting. He couldn't fathom the notion that anyone would desire him in that matter. Only an imbecile who knew nothing would. In fact, when he first arrived in Hell many, many years ago, before he established his known reputation, there were a few encounters… but it didn't end well for them. Even he had very limited carnal desires. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was I who cooked the jambalaya meal last time. I'm here to make lunch." He illustrated and turned his attention to the moth. He flashed her a yellow-fanged ominous smile, and his crimson eyes were half-lidded.
He didn't like her.
"… Knock yourself out." Vaggie replied drily and left.
"Well, I'm here for yah, Smiles, to give yah a helping hand or two." The spider demon didn't deter from his relentless flirting.
"Ha, no." The Radio Demon said with a hint of exasperation as the sound of the radio in the back of his voice abruptly screeched.
Angel eyed the overlord up and down for a moment and he shrugged. "Yur loss." He departed the kitchen.
"Hm, now what to cook?"
A few hours later…
Alastor created a dish that brought all the hallmarks of New Orleans in one meal, shrimp etouffee. It was flavorful, with a spicy sauce cooked with shrimp and lobster along with mixed vegetables and white rice. It's not venison meat, which he preferred overall, but it'll do. While he could eat cooked meat, he favored it raw.
Charlie followed the heavenly aroma that permeated the hotel halls. Her stomach growled from hunger after inhaling that wondrous smell. She reached the kitchen to watch Alastor cook and saw that he was wearing a black apron, which had a logo saying, 'Best chef in Hell'. She knew she had to control herself around him and stop thinking too much about his teasing. The princess had to be professional, even if he wasn't.
"I'm afraid the meal isn't quite—" The Radio Demon paused and sensed the heiress's presence. He glanced back over his shoulder and grinned at her. "Well, if it isn't my favorite demon belle. What can I do for you?"
Charlie rubbed her forearm sheepishly. "Oh—well, it smells fantastic, and I wanted to know if you would like some help." She said honestly and continued. "I know it doesn't look like it, but I'm not too terrible at cooking, I know how to make some things and I do like baking." The Hell Princess gave a small smile.
He chuckled lowly. "Hmm, alright, I accept your offer. Thank you, my darling. I never fancied sweets but as my mother, bless her heart, always said, 'desserts are the fairy tales of the kitchen—a happy ever-after to supper.' So, I'll let you choose."
"Alright, how about an apple pie?" Strange, any time he brought up his mother, he seemed truly genuine and there was a certain gleam in his eyes she'd never seen. She walked into the kitchen to grab an apron that was hooked on the wall, and tied it around her waist.
"That sounds ritzy, doll!"
Charlie went straight to work by grabbing some apples from a basket to wash them. She used a fruit peeler to peel away the skin of the apples, and tossed the skin into the garbage.
The Radio Demon reached for a fruit knife. "Allow me, to help cut the—" He stopped midway in sentence when her hand landed on his.
Unwanted touch.
Alastor didn't like anyone that touch him without him initiating it. He almost retracted his hand and nearly hissed at her for touching him, but he refrained. He again felt a dormant of energy coursing through her veins. The raw and untapped potential that flows in her blood. After all, she was Lucifer's daughter. Lucifer was the King of Hell and a fallen angel. What type of demonic and angelic powers could be within her?
Oh, the infinite possibilities. What could he do with her? He needed time to calculate a new course of action.
"Oh—s-sorry." She withdrew her hand and smiled nervously. A faint blush formed around her rosy cheeks. His hand felt warm, but tense. 'Why did it feel like he didn't like that? Maybe I'm overthinking again.'
Alastor didn't realize she had already removed her hand, so he passed her the knife. "Why, whatever do you mean?" He didn't want anyone to think of him as weak and forced a tense smile.
"Uhh—it's just sorta what a person says, for example, if two people bump accidentally into each other. Common curtesy!" Charlie innocently grinned.
Silent.
The Hell Princess began to slowly dice the apples and he noticed this. "Your knife skills could use some improvement, my dear."
"Huh?" Charlie stared at him with wide virtuous doe eyes.
The overlord took it upon himself to move behind her and close the gap between them while his chest pressed against her back. His gloved claws glided slowly over her arms till they reached her petite hands and grasped them. He towered over her and leaned down close to her ear. "This is how it's done." He said in a husky tone as the static left his voice. While he held her hands, he proceeded to slice the apples quickly. Alastor inhaled the air and the scent of flowers perforated into his mind again, flooding him with unwanted memories of the past.
'So close.' The princess heart pounded harder and harder when Alastor pressed his chest against her back. He wasn't overly muscular like some male demons in hell, but his torso was bigger than hers and she could feel his lean muscles. The hair on her neck rose as she felt his hot breath against her ear, and her whole-body froze. "You make this look effortless." Her throat felt suddenly dry as her lips parted, and her face flushed hot with blood. In a short time, they had cut more than half of the apples.
Alastor felt her tense up, but when he glimpsed down at her, he couldn't read her expression. The light from the window grills casted a shadow that obscured her face. "Hm, are you s̵͉͒̈c̵̞͈̱̾̍a̷̳̔͂̓r̷̰̭̈͒e̴̞̝̽̍͝d̷̛̼̤͕ of me?" His voice turned darker, followed by the sound a of distorted radio channel. He removed his deadly claws from her hands and placed them on her shoulders. His claws began rubbing in a tantalizing circular motion.
'Yes. No. Yes!' Her mind swirled in an endless paradox. "While I am aware of your reputation, you have not provoked anyone yet." Her body responded to his touch, it felt good and that it scared her.
"Ahh, but you are aware of it, my dear. I could just s̸̡̺̜̏l̵͖͙̼̉́̀ä̷̭u̶͙͋g̴̪͓̾̚h̶̹̦̎͆t̷̤̗̟͐̌e̵͕͋͝r̵͇̈́̀̈ ̴̲̰̈́͜y̸͚̹͒o̸͔͔̳͐ǘ̸̱̚ ̸̬̣̆a̶̼̽͛̕ͅl̴̻̊l̵̬̮̏ ̵͓͖̐̀ņ̶̩̏ǫ̴̬͖̎̃̒ẉ̶̦͊͝, without a second thought." The Radio Demon voice oozed out wickedly as one of his gloved claws slowly moved up the side of her neck to lightly apply pressure, but not enough to puncture through her skin.
"I'm sure you could, but there would be two things you would be forgetting about." The princess spoke without thinking.
"And what would that be?" Alastor questioned as the radio static in the back of his voice went silent again.
"One, you would lose your source of entertainment, and…" She grabbed his wrist to push it off her shoulder. Simultaneously, she turned her head over her shoulder and flashed him a wide, sharp fanged grin. "Two, I'll have you know, I'm one tough cookie to break!" The whites of her eyes turned scarlet and iris gold.
Alastor stared at her with half-lidded eyes while grinning back. He studied her unfamiliar look, her sudden flare-up of strength, and her eyes almost threatening. 'So, she has some vigor in her, especially since she's trying to stand up against me. Indeed, it would be a challenge to break her.' He chuckled as the radio audience in the background of his voice laughed along and clapped. "Ha—ha—ha! My dear Charlie, you slay me! I don't think I have laughed so hard in years! Well then, I'll leave you to it." He moved aside.
The heiress innocently giggled back. Her full demon features diminished and were replaced with the angelic ones. She finished preparing the apple pie in a casserole dish and placed it inside the preheated oven. "Is there anything else I can help you with, Al?" She brightly beamed at him.
"No, that will be all. Lunch will be ready faster than you can say 'check please!'"
"Ha—ha! Great! Oh, and one more thing. I'd like to have a group discussion about the hotel over lunch, if that's okay with you."
"Doll, if you're okay with it, so am I." Alastor rose to her challenge as he watched her slowly depart from of the kitchen. 'What is she up to?'