The Double-Blind Effect
Chapter 7: It's a Date?!
(Day 3 morning: before grand opening)
Sprinting into Vaggie's room, Charlie leaped into her girlfriend's turquoise bed and laid flat on her stomach. She smushed her face into the decorative pillows, inhaling the scent of her moth, the fresh smell of clean linen, and with a hint of a watermelon fragrance shampoo. Rolling over on her back, she looked up to the white ceiling and propped herself up.
The room was a floor below the princess's, and she scanned the surroundings of Vag's room. It screamed the 1980s. Posters of various bands filled the dark grey walls and an oversize black bean bag chair laid in front of a wall mount TV. A white dresser held numerous selfies of Charlie and Vaggie smiling, laughing, and kissing. Along the same dresser were countless rock CDs inside a storage media shelf. Twinkling clear lights wrapped around the metal frame of the bed's headboard, and a white desk rested next to it along with a black desktop computer. The screensaver was on, and it flashed images of activities that the couple did, which brought a nostalgic smile to the princess's face. A very cool-looking red and blue lava lamp rested on the desk, and weapons were on display all along the left wall.
"Your room is so cool, Vags!" The Hell Princess gave her a saccharine smile.
"Haha—I'm glad you like my room." The Hispanic demon returned the smile, taking a seat on the beanbag chair.
"So, I was discussing some hotel business with Al, and he said that he got us our very patron!" She gleefully examined.
"Uh-huh." Vaggie mildly frowned at the mention of his name.
"Yeah, he said that the patron wanted us to throw a party to get more patrons on board and potential patients! If this works out, we could keep the hotel in operating order. We could create more programs, and our cause would further spread!"
"That's great." The moth indifferently replied. Staring over at a dartboard, she picked up some daggers from the ground and tossed them at it, hitting the bullseye.
"Are you listening, Vags?" The heiress's head tilted to the side, trying to determine if something was wrong with her.
"Huh? Yeah, I'm listening…."
"Okay… this is a good thing, you know."
"Yeah, sure it is as long as Alastor doesn't try fucking things up." She grumbled in annoyance, tossing another dagger at the dartboard, and again the knife hit the center.
"Even for him, that would be a little counter-productive."
"I'm pretty sure that's his last name." Vaggie snorted.
She sheepishly laughed and chew the inside of her cheek; she didn't like where this conversation was heading again. For some unknown reason, the dream from last night popped into her mind about what Dream Alastor told her. The moth would constantly question Charlie's judgment and berate her, but she mentally shook the feeling off. "Ha—ha, but seriously, things are finally moving forward for us."
"It sure is." A hint of displeasure in her tone.
"You know, I can tell if something is bugging you. Why don't you tell me?" Her sweet gaze softened; a contagious smile formed.
Turning her attention to the heiress, unable to resist, the moth returned the smile. 'Her smile is so warming; I want to keep her smiling.' She pushed back some strands of long slivery bangs from the front of her face. "I know that we discussed this yesterday, but I still can't shake this feeling that he is up to something."
'Not this again…' Her mind regretfully uttered. "We can't know for sure what Alastor is up to, and I'll keep an eye on him, hun!" Grabbing a stuff demonic teddy bear from the bed, she hugged it against her chest, anticipating it would console her. The effects were minimal, and the only thing she got out of this was a memory of her winning this stuffed animal for Vaggie on their very first date in Loo Loo Land. Well, winning might have been a far stretch. If memory severed Charlie correctly, she kept losing a rigged ball-tossing game and accidentally knocked out the worker. She ran away that day just before stealing that stuffed animal, and although she felt bad about hurting the poor imp, Vaggie pointed out the guy got what was coming.
That was a fun day…
"That's just it. What if Alastor does something that you're not prepared to handle? I... I don't want to see you hurt."
"I mean, I don't want to brag, but I like to think I am quite confident in my capabilities, and besides, I think you need to relax. Vaggie, your mind is working on overtime. You're thinking about all these crazy what-if scenarios! You need to live in the now with me." The heiress fell flat on her side, letting go of the unsupportive plushie because it didn't help her forget about the dream or the guilt she felt for betraying Vaggie.
The dream was eating her apart.
She felt crummy and a tad alone.
Why couldn't her mind cook up a fantasy where she had crazy, wild sex with Vags?! No, she had to have a glorious wet dream with Alastor of all demons.
She used her hands to massage her rosy cheeks in an infamous soothing technique. A sudden idea formulated, maybe if she jumped on the bed, she might feel better. Standing up on the mattress, she jumped up and down. 'Springy.' The princes couldn't suppress a childish giggle, and while this was fun, it didn't get rid of her guilt-ridden heart.
"Maybe your right, but you can never be too safe than sorry."
"Of course, I am right! This party will be a success, and patients will be lining up outside the hotel. Come on, babe, it's a party!"
"I believe in you. It's him I don't trust." The moth demon scoffed.
This conversation aimlessly kept circling with no actual resolution, and it's time for a change in topic. A mischievous smile played on the princess's lips. "Say, Angel's room is next to yours, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"You wanna pretend we're having sex by jumping on and down on the bed and banging on the wall?" Charlie suggestively waggled her brows, biting the bottom of her lip, she moaned. "Ooh, Vaggie, harder." The moan was short-lived as she couldn't contain the sputters of laughter.
"Hahaha! Charlie, you're too much! I don't think Angel's in his room."
"Darn!" Charlie snapped her fingers and tried to devise a new idea. Her doe eyes narrowed to Vags, and she thought that her girlfriend looked pretty today. The moth wore an off-centered blacktop, which revealed a gray bra strap, and she wore a pure white ankle-high skirt.
As for herself, she maintained the infamous professional standard. This time, the princess wore a thin white and black striped blouse with black dress pants, and today's bowtie was pink. She had an image to preserve being the overseer of the hotel; however, she has given it some thought to wear more casual clothes. Perhaps, she could establish casual Fridays for the workers… but mainly for herself.
"You look beautiful today." She stopped bouncing.
"Awww—really?" A blush appeared on the moth's cheeks.
"Mhm, have I ever told you what I like about you?" The idea finally came to her. Charlie needed to tell Vaggie how she felt about her; this will reassure her that the dream about Alastor meant nothing and the silly sexual attraction would fade. What better way to express how she feels than through a song! Singing always took her blues away and replaced it with a smile!
"Hmm, I'm pretty sure you have, but tell me again. I'm all ears." The Hispanic sinner flirted shamelessly with her princess, enticing her to tell by fluttering her long lashes. Laying her elbow upon her lap, she rested her cheek against the palm.
"Well, now where to begin." Charlie snapped her fingers, summoning her two bodyguards that manifested through small flames in midair. She nodded a wordless hello at the small demons, and they flew across the room, discovering some free space. A sudden burst of small flames and their equipment revealed. Razzle held a guitar and generated a playful, upbeat tune, while Dazzle had a pair of drumsticks.
"Eeep! Oh no, Charlie, you're not gonna sing, are you?!"
The heiress sunnily clapped her hands to the beat, and the sound echoed within the walls of the room. "I like to think that when I sing, dance, and have fun doing it, everyone else will too!"
Dazzle produced a parallel buoyant tune with the drum set.
"Haha. You know normal people would send love notes, flowers, or in some 80s movies, they'd used a beatbox to play songs that express how they felt."
"Too late, and you know your girlfriend loves to sing, and I express how I feel through song!" The Hell Princess bounced once again on the bed, giving her moth a charming wink, and she took a breath relaxing any potential jitters within her. Her voice harmonized to the playing instruments tunes.
Hey, uh-huh-huh.
Hey, uh-huh-huh.
What I like about you, you hold me tight.
Tell me I'm the only one.
Wanna' come over tonight, yea.
Leaping off the bed, Charlie landed with grace on the floor, and her arms fully extended up to the heavens. Her dazzling eyes flashed wide open with pride, and elegantly she twirled around the room. Thankfully, the room is a decent size, almost comparable to her own, so it made dancing workable. Her footwork carried a jazzy beat, and once the princess made it to the walk-in closet, she tossed out multiple sets of clothing, for she was in search of treasure!
"I hope you know; you're gonna clean that up!" Watching her clothes fly out of the closet and land all over the floor like snow, Vags cracked a smile. 'What is she up to?'
The jaunty music continued to work and resounded with the barriers of the room.
"It's worth it!" Bingo, she found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! The princess obtained the prize, a hot pink feather boa and a ridiculously cute oversized heart sunglass. Within a few seconds, she popped on the sunglasses and lopped the feather boa behind her as she held the ends. She dramatically sidestepped out of the closet, and her moth burst out laughing.
"You're so chic, hun!"
Keep on whispering in my ear.
Tell me all the things that I wanna hear.
'Cause, it's true.
That's what I like about you.
What I like about you, you really know how to dance
When you go up, down, jump around.
Think about true romance, yea.
Whirling around, she confidently tapped and glid her feet closer in proximity range to her moth. Using her shoulders and arms, she shimmed lissome as ever; removing the feather boa off her shoulders, she whipped it towards the moth. The feather boa entwined her girlfriend.
"Charlie, what are you—eeep!" The Hispanic demon squeaked from the sudden yank of the feather boa, pulling her off the comfortable bean bag and left her spinning.
Charlie captured Vaggie's spinning body by clasping their hands. Placing the feather boa behind her moth's neck, she reeled her in closer to give her a cute Eskimo kiss.
The rambunctious music continued playing as the princess led them in a simple, four-step cheery tempo. Her moth had little experience in dancing compared to Charlie, so the Hell Princess made up for it using flair and oomph. Letting go of the Hispanic sinner's hand, she spanned her shy moth out before reeling her back in. Her mind drifted off into the unknown territories of her subconscious, where a tiny part of herself wasn't wholeheartedly devoted to singing this song, and she prayed Vags didn't notice her falter.
Could one dream have such an impact on her feelings towards her girlfriend? She needed to get her mind out of the gutter and stop questioning and doubting everything she knows to be true…
The heiress gave a wordless nod to her bodyguards for them to act as her backup singers.
Keep on whispering in my ear.
Tell me all the things that I wanna hear.
'Cause, it's true. (that's what I like about you)
That's what I like about you. (that's what I like about you)
That's what I like about you. (that's what I like about you)
That's what I like about you. (that's what I like)
Wow!
Charlie zoomed out of the room, holding her moth's hand. They ran down the hallway, and the princess revolved around to face Vags. Her doe eyes shimmered, and the corners of her mouth curved up into a brilliant smile.
"Haha, Charlie, what are you planning? Everyone will hear us!"
"So, what? The more, the merrier!"
Razzle floated alongside the two demons and kept playing the guitar. Dazzle abandoned the drum set for a harmonic, following after he blew into the instrument that resonance a bubbly tune throughout the hallways.
Racing down several flights of stairs, the heiress snatched the Hispanic demon's other hand, and she whirled them around and around, closer to the grand stairway. Their laughers reverberated within the hotel walls. Yet again, her mind wandered off to reminisce the time Alastor with her. He was a phenomenal, charismatic dancer who had no dilemma keeping up with her pace. She contemplated the idea if he knew more dance techniques.
They arrived at the grand stairs, and a whimsical smile played on her lips. "Ready?"
"Ermm—what? Oh no, no, no!" Vaggie apprehensively backed away, but Charlie captured her hand.
"Trust me!"
With no more interruptions, she leaped backward onto the thick wooden rail, yanking Vags up, and together they slide down the freshly polished rail.
What I like about you.
You keep me warm at night.
Never wanna let you go.
Know you make me feel all right, yeah.
Keep on whispering in my ear.
Tell me all the things that I wanna hear.
'Cause, it's true.
That's what I like about you.
That's what I like about you.
That's what I like about you.
Hey!
Uh huh huh.
Hey, hey, hey, hey!
The heiress gained more speed, sliding down the remaining portion of the handrail where she glimpsed back to leap off and landed graciously on the ground. In anticipation, she held out her arms as Vaggie jumped off the rail and landed in the princess's arms. They breathed heavily through the mouth as Charlie set her girlfriend down. Her two little demons vanished soon after the song ended. "How was that?"
"Thrilling, but terrifying. I don't know how you do that."
The princess awkwardly laughed, rubbing the nape of her neck, and she took off the sunglasses. Suddenly, their conversation was cut short as Angel Dust entered the hotel lobby with a mildly irritated look.
"Howz is anyone supposed to enjoy a drank around here with all this fuckin noise going on!?"
The Hell Princess greeted him with a big smile. "Hey there, Angel."
"I should probably get going."
"Oh, wait—before you go!" Charlie captured her moth's wrist, veering in closer as she whispered in the ear. "How about we have a little date tonight at 10 in the theater? A movie, some popcorn, and me?"
The Hispanic sinner softly giggled. "Sounds like a dream. I can't wait for tonight." After that, she departed back upstairs to her room.
From the dark, eerie corners of the lobby moved a shadow. It lurked by with a devilishly grin before departing through the cracks of the Hotel doorway to seek its master.
"You two ain't gonna fuck tonight, are ya? Cuz if ya are, I need to buy some earplugs."
"As a matter of fact, Mr. Nosy, I was just planning a date with my girlfriend."
"Uh-huh." The spider stared off into the distance, he was already bored with this conversation, but then an idea sprouted. "Say, I know a place yah can rent some DVDs, and the guy there owes me a favor."
"Really?"
"Yeah, and it's boring watchin the same old crap yah got in this joint. Come on; we're burnin daylight, princess." The spider pushed her towards the front door.
"Whoa, just let me just grab my bag!" She quickly grabbed her bag off the side table before the door slammed behind them.
Side by side, they walked down the pavement of Pentagram City. It was a primarily silent walk filled with some awkward conversations. The heiress mentioned to Angel some of the ideas in the Suggestion Box, and it only mildly pique his interest from what she could grasp.
"Well, it's better than doing fuckin nothin' around here." The idea of a talent show drew his attention.
A few horny demons made catcalling sounds over to the spider. He winked at them and gently waved his fingers at them. "Here we are!" Looking up to the DVD store, a small gold toothy grin planted on his face. Just above the retail establishment had a big, bold logo sign that read: Demons Fantasyland.
"Are you sure they are gonna have regular DVDs?" Charlie was already having second thoughts.
"Huh? Oh, pay no mind, thatz just the name of the joint, toots. It's just… ironic. Come on; we're not getting any younger. Oh wait, we can't die of old age! Haha!" The spider sinner grabbed the heiress by the wrist, reeling her into the establishment before she could run off, and he opened the door then brushed past some hanging beams. "Hey, Frankie!"
Charlie reluctantly followed behind, scanning the mysterious surroundings. Everything seemed reasonably ordinary. The walls were bland, and on the walls were sections of DVDs with genres listed at the top. The front of the store was dedicated to pure unadulterated junk food, and she licked her lips in hunger. 'Maybe Angel is right, and it's just an ironic name.'
"Frankie!" Angel shouted.
He coughed. "Angel, where the fuck have you been?!" A grey owl demon emerged through some dark beads from the employees-only area. His eyes were bloodshot clearly; he's stoned. "Shit, I thought you died."
"Ha, yeah, right." Angel sarcastically rebuttal. Strolling over to the cashier's counter, he leaned against it. "So, about that favor yah owe me… me and my friend want to obtain some DVDs… at no charge."
Frankie scuffed for a moment, peering his gaze over to the princess; he watched her deliberate over unpopular DVDs.
Charlie got a waft of something foul-smelling in the air that made her gently sneeze. "Excuse me." Sighing because she recognized that smell, but she wasn't here to start preaching to the employee about the effects of drugs. Naturally, the heiress bee-lined it to the 80s movie section, which she grew fond of watching with Vaggie, but something extraordinary caught the corner of her doe eyes. It was a black and white film and ancient from the looks of it. She might have the necessary equipment to get it running in the theater, and she picked it up to examine the contents. This film was from Earth, and it only had one written word on it: Prom. 'Huh, how bad could it be?'
"Yeah, she can have whatever she wants." The owl took another hit from his joint, glancing over to the spider. "Yah, want a hit too?" He passed the joint over to Angel as he exhaled the poison.
A bead of sweat dripped down the side of Angel's temple from the temptation of the drug. He hesitantly reached over for it, but halfway through, he stopped, glimpsing back to an unsuspecting princess, and withdrew his hand, shoving it into his pocket instead. "Nah, I'm good."
"Suit yourself."
Angel figured now would be a good time to check in on the princess. Strolling over behind her, he gazed down at the film she held. "Whoa, that thing is a fuckin dinosaur! Does it even work?"
The Hell Princess turned around and brightly beamed at the spider. "Haha—yeah, it's pretty old, but maybe it's a good film. You know, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, and just in case, I picked up some backup!" She revealed to Angel within her small handbasket some comedy-romance and a fantasy DVD.
"Yeah, yeah." The spider indifferently replied and was still convinced that the film wouldn't play.
"Are you gonna pick out anything?"
"Huh? Sure, sure I am, but first, there is another room I want to take you to. I think you'll enjoy it!" A mischievous crooked grin played on Angel's mouth as he placed his hands upon Charlie's shoulders, leading her over to the dark backroom covered by a thick row of beads.
"Really?!" The princess naively responded.
"Mhmm." Pushing past the beads that led them into the adult section of the store, this part of the store was twice as large compared to the front. There were rows and rows of porn from all types of genres and addictions. On the other end of the wall were the adult toys that range from vibrators, enormous dildos, edible sex toys, strap-ons, and lots of lube.
"Eeep!" Charlie's cheeks profusely burned up apprehensively as tiny beads of sweat poured down her temples. It's not that she was unfamiliar with porn or sex toys; she didn't… anticipate this. Of course, she wasn't a virgin and had a couple of sex toys, but she didn't go around proclaiming it to everyone within a five-mile radius!
"Haha—hahaa! Oh, shit yur face, Charlie! It's pure gold. It's too fuckin much!" The spider held his stomach in pain from his burst of laughter as Charlie puffed out her rosy cheeks in exasperation. Some tears formed around the corners of his eyes, and he wiped them away.
"Very funny, come on, let's go." The heiress deviated around, walking to the beaded door; however, Angel blocked her path.
"Hold on, hold on. I meant what I said, and I think yah might find something good in here to watch." Angel Dust quelled his chortles and cleared his throat. Grabbing the princess by the wrist, he hauled her further into the section.
"What?!" She squeaked.
He ventured towards the lesbian section in the backroom and cringed in revulsion a little at the images of female demons in sexualizing positions and with poor titles. He grabbed a DVD and showed it to the heiress. "How about this one?"
"My Lesbian Boss?" Charlie deridingly read the title; her unamused doe eyes lingered up to Angel.
"What not yur thing? Uhh—howz about this one." Tossing carelessly that DVD across the room, he picked up another random one to read it. "Intimate jailbirds."
"You know, I'm not really comfortable—" She tried to disguise her high-pitched voice, but the sinner interrupted her.
"Yeah, these titles are fuckin lame. Let's go over to the 'P' section!"
Charlie uncomfortably smiled. She thought it was sweet that the spider wanted to help her with something, even though he may be doing this to prank her. She willed herself to believe he was doing this from the goodness of his heart. Fun fact, Angel is a known porn star, so the chances of her accidentally seeing him on a DVD cover was very high, and she really didn't want to look at that!
"Erm—Angel, this is really kind of you to do, but this stuff for isn't me, so I'm just gonna take what I got and head back to the hotel. You wanna come with?" Behind the sinner, a DVD caught the princess's attention: it was the imagery of a demon biting the other's neck. Her cheeks burned hot, averting quickly from his gaze and that DVD. Why did the image make her ruminate on the wet dream from last night?!
It wasn't fun teasing her if she kept avoiding this section, so he tiresomely shrugged. "Nah, I'll catch up later. Oh, right, these DVDs are free to rent today." Angel watched the princess wordlessly nod and departed the store.
"Say, Angel, word on the street is that Valentino been lookin for you…."
"Yah? Well, I ain't planning on being found… got it?"
Elsewhere…
"Well, isn't this the swankiest cuts of venison I've seen in a while! My good sir, I think you have got yourself a regular old customer!" Alastor marveled at the rich, raw cuts of meat on display through the glass.
"Yah, don't say…." A bear demon indifferently grumbled. Picking up the requested venison meat, he began thinly slicing it at the meat station.
His illuminating gaze peered over at the unpleasant worker. "Oh, make for sure you trim off all the fat. Ihate chewie gum." The sounds of a distorted radio wave played in the background of his voice as he viciously grinned at the butcher.
"Y-yes s-sir, ri-right away!" He hastily picked up the pace with trembling hands by trimming off the fat, packaging it up within brown paper and in a white to-go plastic bag that he passed to the overlord. "M-my apologizes… for th-the wait."
"Nifty, I'll be taking my leave then, my good-chum. Oh, but before I go. Next time I swing by, do try not to be such a killjoy because I really don't want to go spoiling my a̵̱̮̾p̸͉̪̾̚͝p̵̬̹̌e̶̦͖̐̚t̴̘̀̍i̴̙̇t̸̼̦̽̆͝e̶̻͌."
The butcher trembled silently as the Radio Demon left the establishment.
Alastor took the quickest route back to the Hazbin Hotel, which cut through a local park. He whistled a chipper tune, strolling down the park when his deer ear twitched to a mumbling group of demons up ahead in the shadowy corners of the park.
"Man, I told you, Lucas, I can't. I gotta lie low." A snake irately murmured.
"What's the problem, so you stole some cocaine, big fuckin whoop." A specter sinner countered.
"It's just that. It's who I stole the cocaine from, dickweed!"
Darting towards the two fellas, the Radio Demon placed his deadly claws upon the two sinners in front of him. "Well, well, well, gentleman, it seems you require some protection. Now, I'm sure we can work out a deal—" His sentence cut short as the two demons high-tailed it out of the park, leaving him with a small, strained smile. 'What wet blankets we have here in hell.'
No sooner, Alastor's shadow returned to him, and it placed its dark claws onto his shoulder, whispering to him in an inaudible sound. "Is that so? Well, I simply cannot allow that. I'll just have to intervene, won't I?" A wide venomous smile crept up his mouth, continuing his casually stroll through the park, and within a matter of minutes, he returned to the hotel and not a soul in sight upon his revisit.
'So, my doll isn't home yet. Lady Luck truly is smiling upon me.' Sauntering up some flights of stairs, he took a minor detour to the frowning belle's room, and he beckoned one of his many shadows to glimpse within the room. The shadow slithered into the cracks of the door, and in mere seconds, it returned to shake its head.
With the snapped of his claws, a small vortex of green mist swirled within his palm, expelling it out into the cracks of the doorway, and slithered inside her computer. Error messages flashed all over the screen. 'This will keep her away.' Tampering with electronics was mere child's play for someone of his caliber. The overlord had a hunch that the two would communicate with each other and cancel their plans. After all, that frowning belle oversaw some managing and accounting for the hotel. On the other hand, Charlie seemed more than eager to watch a picture-show.
Once more, the Radio Demon moseyed up the stairs and ventured inside his room. 'I should get ready. I don't want to disappoint, my innocent plaything, on our date.'
That evening later…
Stepping out of the piping hot shower, Charlie stretched her arm over to capture a towel off the wall hanger. She hastily dried off; wrapping the towel around her body, she ambled over to the foggy mirror, and in one stroke, she cleared most of the mist off. Taking a hair drier from the bathroom's cabinet, the heiress plugged it into the wall. Warm air blew into her damp hair. She used her other hand to brush through her long, light hair.
In no time, her hair dried nicely, and she squeezed just a hint of hair crème product within her hands to run it through her hair. It smelled heavenly and made her hair shine! She styled her hair into a high thick ponytail before departing the bathroom. Strolling over to the obnoxiously sizeable walk-in closet, she bypassed the collects of suits and braved through the unknown sectored that laid just beyond the ballgowns.
Upon reaching her destination, the princess shuffled through some clothes hanging on a rack before selecting a candidate, and she took the clothes off the shelf and exited the closet. She disrobed, letting the towel fall to the floor, and pulled out a pair of undergarments from the dresser to put on. She dressed in a black strawberry pattern crop top with hot red capris pants that stopped above her knees. The closet contained many over-the-top ballgowns and whatnots, and while she enjoyed wearing it, there was a larger significant part of her that craved normality and pants! She was going on a date and not to another extravagant social event.
One final look at look to the bedroom mirror, she smoothed out any wrinkles from the capris. 'If this doesn't scream hot date, I don't know what will!' The heiress smiled warmly at her reflection. Rubbing her rosy cheeks for an extra boost of confidence, she advanced out of the room.
Charlie promenaded downstairs to the ground level and went into the kitchen, locating the pantry for junk food! Lobbing a bag of popcorn into the microwave, she prepared a small serving cart for the treats and drinks. The microwave chimed, and the princess took out the bag, opening it up to dump the heavenly-smelling contents into a bowl. She discarded the bag into the trash.
She hauled the cart out of the kitchen and into the theater. The room was about half the size of a traditional cinema, but instead of small, cramped seating, it had comfortable black leather lounge chairs with a limited number of seats. She dimmed the lightning within the room, leaving the cart nearby an armchair.
Strolling towards the tiny back room of the theater, she took out the rather large film and placed it into the old film protector. After tinkering with it for a few moments, she finally got it to play. "Victory, thy name is Charlie!" With a triumphant grin, she departed the back room and took a seat in the lounge chair. The black and white film began to play from the projector screen and counted down from 3 to 1.
'I wonder if Vaggie is running late, I'm pretty sure I told her what time.' The second the thought came into mind, her smartphone chimed. Charlie picked up the phone and touched the screen. It was a message from Vaggie. 'I'm sorry, I can't make it. There are accounting errors all over the computer. I'm gonna be crunching numbers all night. Can we reschedule, babe? I love you.' She read the message, letting out a long, disheartening sighed and texted her moth back. 'It's okay, I understand. I love you too.' Purposely she left out the part that she was already watching the movie.
After about thirty minutes of view time and shoveling an obscene amount of popcorn into her mouth, she hadn't the slightest idea of what was going on. It was a scene of a room filled with girls gushing over their overly sized prom dresses, which in her opinion, looked more like wedding dresses. She had yet to see any evidence if these girls had dates….
'Maybe they are imaginary….' Her mind temporarily drifted off to think of Angel, he would say something along those lines, and a soft giggle escaped her lips. As much as the heiress wanted to switch over from this terrible, hard-to-follow-along movie to another, she didn't. When she started with a project or anything, she wanted to see it through, and perhaps the plotline will improve.
The sounds of static peered inside.
Alastor moseyed into the dimly illuminating little cinema. He adjusted a crimson bowtie and smoothed out any wrinkles from his clothing. He wore a burgundy dress shirt with thin vertical white lines, and for his slacks, it was color inverted. Plopping a seat next to an unsuspecting princess, he stretched out an arm to rest it on her shoulder. "Charlie…" He lowly purred.
'Vaggie, I knew you'd pull through!' Impetuously, she turned her attention to the mystery voice. "A-Al-Alastor?!" A discomfited blush ran up her neck and splashed her face in multiple arrays of red; even her rosy cheeks brighten. Charlie's body tensed up to the point of snapping as she nearly fell out of the seat from the sheer astonishment; if it weren't for his claw glued to her shoulder, she would have fallen but didn't. And she saved the popcorn.
"He-hey there, Al. Wo-would you care for some po-popcorn?" Her throat felt suddenly dehydrated, and the room experienced a temperature change. It felt ten degrees warmer. With jittery hands, she moved the popcorn bowl in his direction.
He had to suppress laughing too hard, so he settled on a low chuckle. Watching Charlie fretfully stammer with words, and particularly the way those cute rosy cheeks sporadically alter multiple shades of pinks and reds, was too comical. He speculated the probability of the princess inventing a whole new color was high. 'Cute? That's an odd phrase.' He mentally shook off the anomalous notion. "That's quite a generous offer, but I'll have to decline. I've already eaten."
Retracting the bowl of popcorn, she settled it into her lap and reached over to grab her can of strawberry-lemonade, drinking a little more than necessary. Instantaneously, the realization struck her, Alastor claw was resting comfortably on her shoulder, and his thumb began a hypnotic, soothing, circular massage. 'Wh-what is going?!' Her mind bellowed.
Her doe eyes tentatively lingered to Alastor; his memorizing crimson eyes caught hers. Attempting to read Alastor was like trying to solve a cunning and cheating Rubik's Cube. No one can win. Her mind wanted to wrench away and sprint to the far side of the theater, but her body remained stupefied. "So, what brings you by?"
The overlord leaned into the comfortable seat, placing a free arm upon the armrest opposite side of her; he rested his cheek against the palm. He stared at her with half-lidded eyes and amusingly grins. "Ahh, well, my dear, I heard some commotion and thought I'd investigate. Level with me, why are you watching a movie by yourself, pray tell?" He asked a question that he knew the answer to and the radio static played in the back of his voice.
"Oh well, unfortunately, Vaggie had some last-minute accounting matters to attend to, so she had to canceled, and I was already here… so yeah." She ineptly answered.
"My word, your date canceled on you?" He removed his arm from the armrest and tapped on his chin, contemplating. "Well, that simply won't do. I'll accompany you with the remaining portion of this picture-show."
"Ooh n-no, you don't ha-have to do that." Charlie's heart was beating a mile a minute.
"Ahh, but I ab-so-lute-ly want to!"
"Erm—but I thought, you didn't care for motion pictures?" Her brows furrowed in perplexity.
"Sweetheart, you want me to leave?" The Radio Demon cocked his head to the side curiously.
'Yes, please!' The heiress's mind hollered. As much as she coveted the impulse idea, she shoved it aside. There's no way she could rudely ask him to leave. He did nothing wrong. 'Expect he gave me the best-wet dream I ever had.' The princess kindheartedly countered. "No, no, no, you're more than welcome to stay." She needed to act like a grownup and bear with unpleasantries from time to time, even if he continuously gave her the heebie-jeebies.
"Rizity! Oh, my dear, to answer your question about the picture-shows. While I don't care for it… in the right company, I can bear it." The static left Alastor's voice.
"Ro-roger." She wrenched her gaze away from his alluring eyes back to the movie, and the heiress blinked in confusion at the running film. Prom ended, and the main protagonists were driving. 'Is the movie already ending?'
"So, care to enlightenment about what I missed?"
Charlie leaned in unconsciously as he slightly bent the upper half of his body down and closer to her and listened. It must be a force of habit for people to lean in and quietly whisper without disturbing anyone in the theater. "Well, from what I'm getting at, it's a prom theme movie, but it looks like the prom ended." She murmured. 'The movie is really shitty.' That is what she wanted to say. Thanks to the Universe, she didn't pick a porno to watch with Vaggie, and she refused to imagine that scene with Alastor and what that scenario could have played out. Resuming to watch the film, the two protagonists finally parked their car at the top of a hill, and they were discussing if they should get out of the vehicle. 'Oh no, I take it back; the Universe is out to get me! I think I know where this crummy plot is going.' Those two leading casts were going to do the nasty!
"Ma chérie…" The Radio Demon mellifluously said. In a mere matter of moments, he could claim her, and the relationship between her and the moth would soon dissolve. She would rely only on his care. The knowledge and the unspoken power were all within his grasp.
Yet again, her doe eyes virtuously peered up to meet his alluring gaze, and the princess puffed her rosy cheeks timidly. Beads of sweat ran down the sides of her temple. 'Too close.' Out of the blue, the overlord was so close to her. She couldn't comprehend how that happened, and to make matters worse, his arm was still around her catatonic body! Were her senses becoming dull?
The sound of her heart pounding loud in her ears and the butterflies in her stomach fluttered. Her mind went numb while staring into his eyes, and warning bells were going off in her head, but she ignored it. The Hell Princess slowly leaned towards him, and ever-so-slightly tilting her head to the side…
The sound from the film abruptly ended…
Charlie's eyes fluttered in recovery at the astonishment from the absence of sound, and she withdrew from Alastor. 'What just happened?' She honestly couldn't fathom what occurred. "The sound stopped." Turning her attention to the silent film.
"… It's a rather old film, my dear. I'm astonished that it still plays." The Radio Demon closed his mouth, and a tiny smile was on display.
"This simply won't do!"
Silent.
Tapping on her chin in deliberation on this turn of events, a playful smile curved up her lips, and she turned her attention to him. "Well, there is one thing we can do. We invent the story as it goes on." Her moonbeams eyes held a certain spontaneously gleam.
"You wish to improvise?" Alastor's brow quirked up. Just a moment ago, they were about to seal the deal, and now he didn't know what to anticipate from her. He did not calculate this, and yet he's highly fascinated where she was going. Perhaps her mind is more robust than he predicted.
"At least we're guaranteed an entertaining ending." The heiress took a long deep breath, freeing any potential jitters within her. She rose from the seat to dramatically whirled around and faced him. She placed her hand on her heart. "How dare you think a woman of my caliber would ever come to a place like this with you!" She used every bit of her melodramatic showmanship for it.
The overlord chuckled at her erratic, impromptu side, and he rose from the seat to meet her challenge, glimpsing to the screenplay he got into character. "Ahh, my dear, but we are here. You've come to me out of your own free volition."
Charlie walked closer to the projection screen as Alastor shadowed behind. She brushed back several tresses of her hair behind the ear, and with a quick glimpse over to the film, the two protagonists left the car and went to the makeout point. She triumphantly met his gaze. "Don't think you can sweet talk me into doing anything. I've heard the rumors of what you do here with other women."
"Ho, ho, they mean nothing to me, my dear. You're my main squeeze!" He energetically rebuttal. In the film, the two rambunctious teenagers threw caution to the wind, laying down on a blanket they began to make out passionately. "And I think you have fallen for my charm."
'Come on, girl; you're letting me down!' The heiress puffed cheeks in dismay from the female lead; this isn't the particular scene she had in mind to play.
"You missed your line, Charlie." He gradually approached her; his malicious smile widened. 'Oh, the irony of this picture-show.' The irony of it made him chuckle because just a few minutes ago, this could have been them.
She pushed all her thoughts aside. "I think there must be some gas leak in the air that's clouding my judgment. Erm, what would my parents think?"
"That's their beef, doll."
"We live in a small town there will surely be talk come morning… and by then what am I to you?" That line felt incongruously too personal.
Before Alastor had the chance to counter her inquiry, his crimson eyes skimmed to the picture-show. To his delicious surprise, the two leading casts were stumbling around in terror as a slasher with a hockey mask over his face appeared out from the scrubs. "Well, well, well, it looks like our lovebirds are cheesing it, and it looks like it's the end of the line for them. I wonder how will he m̶̻̊͜͝u̷̯̳̣̐t̴̬̄̀í̶͚̹̪͌̆l̶͇̯̏̈̏ͅa̵̡̭̱͌̈́t̵̥͎̩͐͘ê̸̦̲͇̊͒ ̶̞͙͖̾͝t̸̥͇̒h̷͎̟̹͊̋̚e̵̦̲͆ͅm̵̧̟͓̓?" The sounds of distorted radio waves were oozing out; his pupils turned into miniature radio dials.
'What kind of crappy film is this? Now, it's a slasher movie?!' The heiress frowned, looking at the film. No way will she allow this movie to turn into a bad ending, for she favored happy endings! "Your wrong."
Alastor reverted to a less dark demeanor, and intriguingly he gazed at Charlie.
"This is going all according to my plan; I devise this whole date from the very start! I'm in love with Mr. Slasher and him I!" She returned to her theatrical poise.
He silently blinked.
"You've tortured the man I love day after day, and I could no longer stand idly by. So, we've devised this very night to kill you, and afterward… we will run off into the sunset to elope!"
The film ended with blood pouring down the title, and the screen turned white.
The Radio Demon clapped and laughed out loud in a twisted, delighted way as the audience in the back of his voice cheered and whistled. "Hahaha—oh my dear, bravo! What an exhilarating performance!"
The Hell Princess merrily laughed along, those words brought a blush to her cheeks, and she took a bow. 'Oh wow, I got him to laugh.'
"I can't say that I would have thought up a twisted ending like that!" Indeed, it was amusing to think a serial killer and a prom queen would run off together and elope. It was pure whacky!
"Improvising always guarantees a solid ending, and I think what we cooked up was better than what the producers created." She proudly declared; however, their conversation cut short as Charlie's phone chimed a few times. She removed the phone from her pocket to see that it's already past 1 a.m., and her mom left several texts messages. "Oh wow, it's already passed midnight; we should probably call it a night."
"Allow me to escort you back to your room, my demon belle." Alastor graciously offered.
"Sure." Her eyes virtuously lit up. They left the cinema after she turned off the film projector and light, and they walked up the flights of stairs. "Haha—you know, that film was awful! I think that's the last time I go to a DVD store and rent a movie without having a summary."
"Baloney, you made it thrilling!" The overlord gave her an engaging grin.
The princess blushed further shades of embarrassment as she tried to hide it by looking in the other direction.
"Speaking of adlibbing, I think if I were still alive, I would have relished the idea of creating a whacky story segment with you, my dear." He further stroked his plaything's ego.
The princess cheerfully laughed at the possible scenarios of creating such nonsense stories over the radio, which was way better than watching anything on TV! Arriving at their destination, she turned to gaze at Alastor's mysterious look. "Oh erm—this is my stop." She pointed awkwardly back at the door, and for no apparent reason, an irrational thought told her this was an end of a date. 'Date?!' Absolutely, no way in the nine realms of hell was this a date! What this was, was just two people with no chemistry sitting together and watching a crummy film. She reached behind for the door; her hand frantically tried to locate the doorknob.
"You look quite lovely tonight. I could just eat you up." Alastor's hypnotic, velvet voice froze the heiress in place. He approached her, placing his deadly claw against the doorframe; he bent in to stare at her. A wide predator smile rose from his mouth as he observed Charlie's expression with glowing ruby eyes. Those rosy cheeks intensely burned, and her doe eyes flashed specks of starlight. His free claw reached over to scoop tresses of her pale blonde hair, moving it to his mouth and kissed it. The aroma of flowers penetrated his nostrils. "Goodnight, mon amie." The static vanished from his voice, letting the hair slip from his claws.
"Go-goodnight!" The heiress breathlessly replied. Grasping the doorknob, she opened it and skedaddled into the safety of her room, and quickly closed the door. Her heart lurched and pounded unmercifully, and she did a few breathing exercises to calm her poor heart. 'Remember, he's just teasing you. That wasn't that bad. I got everything perfectly under control!' Charlie took out her phone to view the missed messages.
Mom: Is everything okay? Text me back as soon as you get this. Love Mom.
She sighed, gazing down at the phone in regret for calling her mom early this morning, and as much as she wanted to tell her mother everything, it'd only make matters worse. It's time to be a big girl and handle her problems. 'Yes, everything is peachy, and soon the hotel will be a big success! I love you, Mom.' The princess sent the text message. Putting the phone in her pocket, she strolled over to the bed to collect the book she obtained from Alastor a day ago. She wanted to read before calling it a night.
The overlord wordlessly strolled into his room, contemplating the events that played. How did he allow himself to get swept away by his plaything's spontaneous actions? He shook his head, and his claw rubbed against his chin. That was an unforeseen hiccup. If it weren't for the picture-show acting up, the events would have turned in his favor. He won't allow for any more blunders in his path; however, Charlie's unpredictable behavior exhilarated him. 'Indeed, my plaything is most entertaining….'