The Double-Blind Effect
Chapter 3: Lunchtime/ It's a lovely day in the neighborhood/ A friendly chat
(Day 1 continued: Before grand opening)
A few moments later...
With lunch prepared and silverware set on an obscenely long rectangular table -the table probably used for large get-togethers. Niffty bounced with excitement on her seat when the Radio Demon rolled out the cart to present his finest dish. "Ooh—it looks so good!"
"Ho, ho, I hope you find it tastes better than it looks, little belle," Alastor responded with mirth as he distributed the food. He didn't seek to communicate too much with others, only when it served his purposes. Other than that, it wasn't necessary. He would have eaten in his office instead, but Charlie insisted on having a group discussion about the hotel.
'For a powerful Shitlord, he looks like an underpaid servant with that apron on.' Vaggie thought before looking down at her bowl of food, hesitant to eat it. Could anyone blame her? She wondered if he poisoned the food, although it seemed irrational since she already tried his cooking. This guy was an incomprehensible trickster, so she couldn't help to wonder. 'It smells good, though.'
"Soo yummy!" Niffty said in-between bites of food.
Angel took a bite of the shrimp etouffee, and after that, he couldn't stop stuffing his face. This was the best food he ever had and free! He didn't have to suck a dirty cock to land a meal. "Ooh, this shit is good, my compliments to the chef, but unfortunately, I don't have the money to give you a tip, sweetheart. Tell yah what, how about you and I find someplace more comfortable to go, and we can work out a payment option?"
Husk also ate, and unlike the others, he said nothing more than murmuring indecipherable words. He came back a short time ago after he bought some cheap liquor.
"Ha—ha! Well, my effeminate fellow, that won't be necessary. You live here for free in the hopes that you'd better yourself, and meals are included." Alastor brushed off Angel's pass like it was nothing. Yes, what's wrong with providing a few meals only to watch patients fail at their attempt for redemption? What injudicious fools, oh the nonexistent humanity. He was looking forward to seeing it, and suddenly he became parched.
Angel shrugged and rolled his eyes before he returned to his meal. "What about you, big-boy? Do you want to have some fun?" His heterochromatic eyes lingered over to Husk.
The feline shot a dirty look at the spider. "Fuck no."
The moth demon watched the others eat and interact. She waited to see if anything happened.
The overlord noticed Vaggie's hesitation. Removing the apron, he placed it elsewhere, then he sat with the others and directly in front of her. "What's the matter, you're afraid I poisoned it? I wouldn't do something so repugnant." He derided and took a sip of whiskey before he continued to speak. "Mother, bless her soul, always said: Nothing brings people together like good food." The audience in the radio back of his voice went 'aww.'
If he wanted to kill someone, he would do it with his hands.
The Hispanic moth scowled at the overlord, unamused. She scooped a spoonful of sustenance and ate. For a fraction of a second, her body froze up, and she couldn't hide a euphoric expression. 'It's the best damn thing I've ever eaten, and this comes from a well-known cannibal?!'
The Radio Demon mockingly batted his eyes, and the corners of his mouth formed a closed grin. He waited in anticipation to hear the sounds of approval. "Does it warm your soul and make you want to s̸̤̬̭̐m̸̡̦͈͎̀i̷̥͍͙͛̓̉͘l̶͎̹̲͉̓̋͝ë̷̞́?" He condemningly inquired.
"It's… okay." She refused to look at him or to give him a gratified answer, continuing to scarf down the food.
He flashed the frowning dame a devilish smile and sniggered. As a chef, it was only proper to let everyone at the table eat first before himself. Come to think about it, what was his doll up to?
Charlie scuttled downstairs towards the dining room while carrying a mysterious, medium-sized box. She's been working on this artisanal project for a couple of days now. The idea came to her in a dream, and she worked really, really hard on it! Arriving at the dining table, she laid down her precious secret box. "Da-dada-daaa! Without further ado, I present to you… a suggestion box!" The princess removed the lid to reveal an overly colorful box that had a small letter slot. On the sides of the box had an illustration of happy demons under a rainbow. The box's front had cursive characters that read: Suggestion Box.
The heiress delicately bit her lower lip; she couldn't hold back how overzealous she became. She practically bounced and clapped her hands in enthusiasm.
The room was terribly quiet.
"Uhh—haha, guys, this is the part where you're supposed to clap."
Niffty was the first and only one who applauded strongly. "What are we clapping for?" Her one eye scanned the room to find an answer.
The princess puffed out her rosy cheeks looking sheepishly across the room. 'This went way better in my dream.'
Vaggie cleared her throat, looking at her girlfriend with mild concern; however, she attempted to give her a small, supportive smile. "Why don't you tell us your idea, Charlie?"
Alastor took another swig of whiskey, earnestly listening to her. After all, he said he would.
The other two male demons perplexedly gawked at the Hell Princess.
Charlie lovingly smiled back at her moth just before bringing her attention to the group. "Okay, so hear me out. This hotel rehabilitates demons so that they can ascend to Heaven. Hotels provide hospitality. We show our patients that we support them on their journey. That's why I came up with the idea that, while they are in the process of rehabilitation, we should throw in some wholesome fun activities! Most hotels here don't provide that sort of luxury."
"Wholesome—" Husk raised a brow in disbelief.
"—fun?" Angel interjected the feline demon's sentence equally flabbergasted.
"Okay, let me get this straight, you want patients to take courses on what their specific needs are, and then you want to reward them with… wholesome fun activities? I don't know if that is such a good idea, Charlie. What if they try to skip the rehabilitation part?" The moth demon skeptically said.
The heiress's heart sank, and she wondered when Vags had begun to shut down her ideas. "… Well, we would create a scheduled system and mandatory attendances before the fun stuff." Her voice grew quieter.
"Golly, I think it's an ab-so-lute-ly spiffy idea!" Alastor intervened as the audience in the radio's background cheered through the static. "Oh, please eat while the food is still warm, doll."
The Hell Princess's heart skipped a beat. His words of praise warmed her already rosy cheeks, convincing herself she only blushed because she forgot to eat. "Ha-ha! Oh right, I almost forgot!" She sat at the table, laughing fretfully, and she kept her head down to eat, praying Vaggie didn't see her blush like a fool. Not that there was anything to fear. She was in a happy, committed relationship, and her recent interactions with Alastor were inconsequential. 'Wow, Alastor's cooking is incredible.'
'Púchica!' The Hispanic demon's inner voice shouted, glaring at Alastor. She crossed her arms under her breasts. She had the sneaky suspicion he was already plotting something nefarious. "Come again?"
The Radio Demon lowly chuckled. Adjusting his monocle, he manifested his long red microphone staff. "Ah, I thought I had this thing checked—hello—hello, is this thing working?" His deadly claw tapped the microphone. Suddenly, the inanimate object blinked its eye open. "Yes, sirree! I'm in tip-top shape here!" It answered high-spirited.
"Well, that solves that, and once again, I think it's a brilliant idea, my demon belle! You have to spice things up at this hotel. Doing the same thing over and over can become tedious and mundane. It may even discourage the continuation of the program." He flashed the princess an infamous, yellow-fanged smile.
Charlie sunnily smiled back.
"Okay, so what da fuck is that supposed to be?" The spider demon pointed at the elephant in the room, the suggestion box.
"Well, it's a suggestion box. I thought instead of me or Vaggie coming up with ideas, I'd give everyone a chance to write their suggestions, and I'll decide if it's a good fit. We should partake in some of these activities as a group or pairs before the grand opening. If this works out for us, it'll certainly be a success with the patients. They will feel emotionally better about themselves, and then they can have some fun!"
"One word. Run." The feline gave his only suggestion.
The two older females shot him a dirty look.
"Shit—I wish this hotel had a pool at least, and maybe then this place wouldn't be a complete snooze fest." Angel scoffed. If there was a pool, he could take selfies for his fans and charge them to download the images. It was a quick cash scheme.
"We have a pool, Angel." The princess pointed out.
"Are yah fuckin serious? I've been here for weeks; how did I not know about this shit till now?!" The spider sinner crossed all four of his arms in exasperation.
"You never asked, and it's a cover pool, so that's why you never saw it." Vaggie drily retorted at Angel.
"Well, fuck—I know what my suggestion's gonna be!"
Charlie beamed brightly at Angel for his willingness to take part as he uncertainly looked elsewhere.
"And what about you, Husker? Surely, you want to put a little effort into this grand idea!" Alastor vibrantly questioned, but there was something in his eyes that seemed daunting.
The feline grumbled some incomprehensible words but complied.
"Ooh, I have so many ideas! I have to write them all down tonight and then pick my favorite one or three!" Niffty ardently said.
"Alright, if this is something that you really want, Charlie, I'll support your decision." Vaggie finally spoke up, offering her princess a gentle smile.
The Hell Princess scooted her chair closer to her moth, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. The Hispanic moth's cheeks burned bright, clearly flustered.
(Day 2: Before grand opening)
The next morning...
At the crack of dawn, Alastor awakened since he never slept long, to begin with. He rose from the bed and walked straight to the bathroom to shower. His mother always said that personal hygiene and grooming are as important as grammar. 'You can ignore it if you want, but don't be surprised when people draw their conclusions about you.' He quoted his mother. After finishing his shower, he dried off using a towel.
There was already a prepared outfit on the chair when he strolled back into the room. In a few minutes, he dressed up for the day in a vintage style typical of a gentleman. A crimson striped coat that slightly draped along the sides, a similar color dress shirt, and burgundy trousers.
There were still a few boxes he had yet to unpack, and he still had to redecorate the room to fit his needs, but for now, that would have to wait. The Radio Demon used his shadow manipulation and spatially warped himself through the hotel's hallways until he appeared right outside. He adjusted his burgundy bow tie, then proceeded down the sidewalk while humming a cheerful 1920s tune.
'Hm, what a lovely day in the neighborhood.' He blissfully sighed as he casually sauntered through the Pentagram City. A city entirely comprised of demons coexisting together under a large red pentagram in the sky. Similar to the modern human world. He twirled his staff with one hand and turned the corner, heading to Cannibal Colony.
'Ah, this part of town has always been a simpler way of life.' He thought, spotting a local Coffee Shop. The sign on the door blinked open in neon lights. He approached the shop, opening the door to see there was a long line.
A green serpent demon turned his head over the shoulder, hearing the distinct sounds of radio static. Sweat beads trickled down the side of his temple in terror at the sight of the overlord just behind him. He shook his buddy's shoulder to warn him. In a millisecond, the demons fearfully scattered out of line, and some left the store.
"Well, it must be my lucky day today, no lines." The Radio Demon chirpily announced, approaching the front counter where he eyed the menu. He tapped his gloved claw against his chin. "Hm, are there any house specials for today?" He asked the barista.
"W-well to-today, we ha-have a nice brew ca-cappuccino with fresh steam m-milk. I'm es-epically good at latte designs." A light brown female rabbit stuttered in distress as she stared at the overlord, and her adorably long ears drooped down behind her. 'I knew I should have called out today!'
"Hmm, as tempting as it sounds, I'm partially inclined to a dark roasted coffee. I prefer the rich, bitter taste over-sweetened products that mask the coffee." Alastor replied.
"Of course, sir. Is there anything else I-I can get for you today? Perhaps something to e-eat?"
"No, that will be all. I don't want to ruin my appetite with a pastry." Alastor paid the barista, and glancing over to the tip jar he flicked a gold coin into it. "You know, you would get more tips if you smiled more. You're never properly dressed without one!" He flashed her a yellow fanged grin then he turned around and sat at a round table where a local newspaper was conveniently left. He opened the paper to read.
"Y-yes sir, thank you v-very much, sir!" The girl breathlessly replied as she bowed her head mainly through fear.
Within a minute, one of the trembling employees brought him his coffee. He picked up the mug and took a sip. It had a delightfully bitter taste. 'Hmm, maybe I can ask dear Rosie for a favor. In order see the hotel flourish, and give out the good word about the holy gospel, we will need patrons to give regular donations.'
After finishing his coffee, he left the establishment and ambled to the butcher shop in hopes of having the first fresh cuts of the day. Suddenly, his long dear ears twitched to some unsettling sounds, just outside the boundaries of the Cannibal Colony.
"Please, I just need more time, and by then I'll have the money to pay you." A pure white female goat demon pleaded in the back alley.
"That's what yah said last week. The rent is due every month on the 1st," A large male wolf replied drily, a sigh followed after.
Two similar wolf demons were close to him.
"Yes, I know, but since my husband died a week ago on Execution Day things have been more difficult for me. I hardly have enough money to put food on the table. Please, I just need some more time."
"Ha—haha! Oh, that shit's too funny, she tryin to create a normal life in Hell!" The second wolf sinner hysterically laughed.
"Yeah lady, I'm cryin a river over here." The first wolf demon sarcastically retorted. "Looks, da boss hired us to make sure people ain't skippin out on rent. He told us, if we gotta shake'em up, we could. And we really don't wanna have to hurt yah."
"N-no, I don't want that!" Tears were in her eyes, but she tried to look brave.
"Well, how about we make a deal." He grinned at her mischievously.
"A deal?"
"Yeah, a deal. We'll talk to the owner to give yah two more weeks to get the money, but yah gotta do something for us." He answered too casually, approaching her, and in retaliation, she backstepped until her back pressed against the cold brick wall.
She didn't like where this was going, tears burned her eyes and her lower lip trembled. 'Please someone, anyone help me!'
Alastor prowled to the shadowy corner of the building and stopped for the time being. He licked his lips in hunger, an unholy smile curved up the ends of his mouth. His shadow doubled in size, looking just as malicious, it flew into the eerie alley to pick off the weakest link. It grabbed the third quiet demon by covering his mouth and soundlessly dragging him into the dark to be disemboweled by a growing number of shadows.
"That's a nice dress yah got on."
"Tch—haha! I don't think my dick's gonna fit into that tiny mouth of hers." The second wolf cackled. "What says you, Vinny?" He turned to a missing friend only to witness a trail of trickling crimson blood on the ground. "Vi—murgh!" His sentence cut off by several shadows capturing him, and hauling him to his dead friend, where he too would share a similarly grotesque fate.
The lack of sound made the wolf sinner's ear twitch, he looked to see his friends vanished, and he stepped away from the lady. "Vinny, Marco, where the hell did you..." He stopped midway through the sentence to see something looming in the shadows.
"Well, it looks like I'm going to be s̴̯͕̞̦̊̊͘p̶̧̯̞̳̂̓ỏ̸̧̩̓͒i̸̦̖̟͂͛̔̚l̴̬͊̂̚i̶̭͆̾n̵̡̰͑̕ͅg̴̛͖̜̪̀ my appetite after all." In the background of his voice played distorted static and the overlord revealed himself outside the rim of the shadowy alley. His pupils morphed into small radio dials and he cocked his head to the right, smiling cruelly to his prey.
"Oh—fuck!" The wolf demon didn't waste a second trying to hightail it out of there.
Without any effort, Alastor spatial-warped over the brick walls; passing the running male he manifested in front of his target. "I really hate b̸̫͓͓͗͒̈́̆ȧ̸̙͕̜̅͂̚ḑ̶̲͚͜͝ ̴̘̍m̶̙̲̉ȩ̴̖͉̳͌ă̷̗̼͆̈́ṱ̴̓̾̏͜͝."
"Ahhh—ughh!"
Crunch.
Snap.
Crack.
Trembling and frozen in fear the goat fell to her knees.
'Disgusting canine meat... It's far too chewy.' The Radio Demon reemerged from the shadowy alley, using a handkerchief to clean the blood off his monocle. He licked any remnants of blood from his lips, passing the woman while he adjusted his coat. "If I, were you, I would leave."
Plagued by fear, the trembling female could hardly look at him; however, she obeyed. "Th-thank you…" She softly whispered without looking back as she ran away from the crime scene.
A few hours later…
In the mid-morning, Charlie rose from her bed yawning and extending her arms high over her head. She got out of bed to stroll over to the walk-in closet and prepare for the day. Changing out of her pajamas, which was a matching pink and white set with a goofy rainbow logo on the t-shirt, the princess dressed in her typical professional fashion: a long-sleeved white dress shirt, black pants, and matching black suspenders.
She went to the bathroom to freshen up for the day before leaving her room. 'Since Alastor cooked yesterday, it's only fair that I make breakfast today. I wonder what I should make… French toast sounds good.' The Hell Princess moseyed through the hotel corridors, then down to the kitchen, and she opened the refrigerator to take all the ingredients needed.
Cracking some eggs into a bowl, she threw the shells in the trash. She whisked the eggs in the bowl and added a hint of allspice for zing, dipping a few slices of bread into the batter before pan-frying them. They quickly got a nice shade of golden, and she stacked several cooked ones on a serving plate.
"What'cha cooking there, toots? Smells good." Angel questioned, walking into the kitchen and sitting at the kitchen table.
"Oh, good morning, Angel. And it's French toast." Charlie smiled brilliantly, serving him a dish of her homemade French toast, and joined him at the table. She didn't think that Vaggie or Husk would join them, since those two worked long nights and slept most of the day. "I guess I can leave some food out for Alastor and Niffty."
"Smiles, isn't here." The spider said in-between bites.
"Huh, how do you know that?" The princess stared, perplexed.
"Well, I- okay I might have tried to sneak into his room earlier this morning, but there wasn't anyone in the room."
Immediately, the Hell Princess dropped her fork on the plate when she tried to eat, scowling at him. 'I don't even want to know.'
"Okay, enough about that. What I wanna know is, what's going on between yah and Strawberry Pimp?"
"Huh?" Her voice squeaked; a small blush crept over her cheeks. "I'm afraid, I don't understand what you're saying." Using her fork, she took a large bite of food.
"Yeah, yah can cut the bullshit with me. Yur blushin, and I saw the way yah looked at him yesterday. Yur girlfriend and Smiles might have not noticed, but I did. I aints jugdin, and who can blame yah, he's handsome… for a psycho."
"It's not what you think, it's just a misunderstanding." The heiress answered him, lowering her gaze to her food, and she downheartedly frowned. 'He's just been teasing me.'
'He is handsome.' An unconscious thought breezed through her mind.
There was no way she could be sexually attracted to him! She was in a loving relationship, and she didn't want to ruin it.
"Are yah really trying to convince me, or yourself?" Angel inquired, placing an elbow on the counter he rested his face against the palm of his hand. He curiously quirked a brow, a smug look grew on his face, waiting for her response.
"…When you're finished with breakfast, we have some work that can be done around the hotel before the grand opening. Painting needs to be done and changing some lightbulbs as well. We can't have Niffty do everything!" Charlie refused to answer Angel, standing up she took her plate to the sink to clean and placed the rest of the food in the fridge. Spinning around, she enthusiastically smiled at the spider.
'So, she's chosen denial then. Good luck… not that I really care…. Wait, did she just say 'we'?' He thought.
"Oh well would yah look at the time—ahhh!" Angel yelped, struggling to get away from doing any chores, but the princess practically dragged him out of the chair.
"Ha—haha! Come on, it'll be fuuunnn!" She added a little singing emphasis on the word "fun" while pulling him out of the kitchen.
"I'm your patient, not your worker!"
"Don't you want to go swimming? You still need to do your therapy session, and I'm great at multitasking. Please?" Charlie gave her best puppy-dog expression by batting her long lashes and stuck out her bottom lip, pretending to be on the edge of tears. All dogs would forever be ashamed of her for resorting to such methods.
"Fuck! Me and my big mouth. The pool better be worth it, toots!"
After a successful meeting, Alastor left Rosie's dwelling after she agreed to become their first patron. Not that he had any doubts; however, they would need to host a party to obtain more patrons. 'So, they want a big jamboree, hm? This will be most entertaining.' It would take some time to get the necessary things in order to throw such a shindig.
Strolling back to Pentagram City, he came across a 24-hour bar and the faintest commotion reverberated through its walls, but he paid it no mind.
"If you don't have any money then get the fuck out!" A male voice shouted inside the establishment, and the sounds of stomping footsteps approach the entry. A bodyguard wrenched open the door, throwing out a penniless demon flat on his ass. "And stay out!" He slammed the door hard behind the drunkard.
"Ahh, who needz yah!" A small pig slurred out, struggling to turn onto his stomach. Instantly, he noticed the overlord passing by and the sinner grabbed his ankle to stop him. "Heeyz there buddy, yah wouldn't happen to havz some spare coin on yah? Can yah help a poor, fellow demon out thatz down on his luck?" He hiccupped several times through the sentence.
The Radio Demon's crimson eyes lit up from something grabbing him.
Wrenching his leg free from the sinner's weak grasp and turning around he glared down at the pig demon. The Radio Demon studied the man's features. He was fat, slightly balding around the dome of his head, and poorly dressed. 'What have you done on Earth that brought you here to Hell?' He seemed far too weak to be a serial killer. Perhaps, the fool was a gambling drunk, or was that too obvious? Maybe underneath that façade, he was really a cold-hearted, manipulative wife-beater, and one day he got too carried away.
Whatever the case was, one thing was certain, this imbecile didn't know what fate had in-store for him. New demons were always the weakest and most credulous prey, for they have yet grasp the hierarchy system of hell.
"I beg your pardon, good chum? Did you just ask me for some coin?" He politely spoke, camouflaging all malice in his voice.
"Yeahz, some coin for little old me?" Finally, he rose from the ground rubbing his pounding head, and with an impaired vision, he stared at the smiling demon.
"Well, I might have something on me, but I hate doing favors without getting anything in return." The overlord lifted his leg to dust off any scum from where the sinner touched him earlier.
"I aintz suckin no dick, pal. Unless yah buy me the whole fuckin bar… then maybe we'll talk."
"Heavens, no! I want nothing of the sort!" He rejected the offer.
"Huh. Wellz, if I don't have to suck yur dick then I don't care what ya want, so long as it getz me some coin." The pig said sounding pretty relieved.
"You're a good man who drives a hard bargain! So, it's a deal then?" Alastor extended out his dealer's claw, a faint glow of green mist swirl around his hand.
Without a second thought, the man shook Alastor's hand. "Fuck yeah! If it'll bring me some free money!"
When the contract was sealed, the Radio Demon sinister smile widened, tossing out a few gold coins from his pocket to the sinner. The ignorant pig demon shrank and grew darker until he was a pitch-black sphere.
With his small misty-black hands he caught the coins. The coin appeared bigger than usual. "Fuckin sweet, I can get my drink on… wait. What's wrong with my body?" A cold sweat ran down his temple as he finally looked at his hands, trembling in dismay. Where was the rest of his body?! "What the fuck yah do to me?!"
"Ha—haha! You're such a s̸̲̙̦͕͓͗̉̈́̐i̷̼̘͘m̵̭̗͙̓̒̄̊p̷̳̺̲̞͜͝͝l̶̘̱̓̅̚e̸͕̽͑̐̀ͅt̶̼̫̀̈́o̸̫͖͐̉͘n̷̛͎͗̈͛͗!" The sounds of distorted, eerie laughter reverberated through the quiet street. He threw his head slightly back and looked up to the crimson sky. 'So, the metaphor is true, 'it's like shooting a fish in a barrel.'" For a moment, he covered his mouth with his claw to quell down his laughter, finally composing himself. Illuminated red eyes flickered over to his prize, reaching over to take hold of the man's new body.
Eldritch demonic symbols appeared all around him. "Instead of worrying about the silly pleasures of the flesh, you should have asked me what I want. And that, my good sir, is your soul. I'm sure, I can make some sort of use out of you." Using his shadow manipulation, he teleported the sinner into a pocket dimension where he kept a vast collection of all his treasures.