In no time at all, Vaggie was in the dressing room and getting changed into her wedding dress. Nifty and Rosie helped Vaggie with getting the dress on as she stood on that pedestal surrounded by mirrors. Once they were done, Nifty and Rosie stood there in awe.
The gown fit Vaggie like a glove and flattered every part of her. The only alterations that needed to be made were to the long skirt that reached far past her feet. Otherwise, she looked absolutely stunning and hated every second of it.
"Oh, Vaggie, you're so pretty!" Nifty cooed. "Do ya like it?"
"It looks good," Vaggie said hating how beautiful the gown made her look.
"It looks splendid," Rosie said cheerfully. "I think you look absolutely regal. The long skirt is the only flaw I see. What do you think, Nifty?"
"I agree with you," Nifty said heading towards the door. "I could fix it up in a jiffy if I had my sewing kit on me, but silly me, I left it at the hotel. To do the repairs, I'll have to go back…"
"There's no need for that, Nifty," Rosie said summoning her own basket of sewing supplies. "I have my own supplies here."
"Oh," Nifty replied with a convincing smile. "That's perfect."
"Alright, merry maiden," Rosie said placing a stool in front of Vaggie and gesturing for her to step on top. "You know what to do."
Vaggie took a deep breath, held up her skirt, and gingerly stepped on top of the stool while Rosie held her hand to help support her.
Once Vaggie was on top of the stool, Rosie adjusted the stool so that the skirt of the dress was hanging down straight.
"There, we go, merry maiden," Rosie said cheerfully. "Now, Nifty, you know what to do?"
"Yes, ma'am," Nifty replied as she began pinning up the dress to the appropriate length.
"Good," Rosie replied before remembering something important. "Oh, Vaggie, you need a veil and some shoes to match the dress."
"Oh, yes," Vaggie said embracing the opportunity for Rosie to leave the room. "I certainly do. Would you mind taking care of that for me please?"
"I most certainly will," Rosie said with a sweet smile. "Thank you for asking so politely. I'm so glad that my lessons have sunk in."
Vaggie could feel the bile rise in her throat, but she held it back, forced a smile, and said, "You are most welcome, Rosie."
"Do you know what you want, dear?" Rosie asked.
"Yes…well…" Vaggie said searching for ideas. "Uh, how about a tiara with a veil that matches the dress? Like, something white with flowers on it?"
"And the shoes?" Rosie asked.
"How about the same thing?" Vaggie replied.
"Hmmmm…" Rosie said pondering while holding her chin. "That doesn't sound like too tall of an order. Let me see what I can find. Nifty, dear, you stay here and look after Vaggie."
"Yes, ma'am," Nifty said cheerfully as she began making her alterations.
Then without another word, Rosie exited the dressing room.
As soon as she was gone, Vaggie looked around the room, noticed the video camera in the corner of the room, turned to Nifty and whispered, "Nifty, why didn't you get out of here when you had the chance?"
"I tried, Vaggie," Nifty replied quietly as she continued her stitching without looking up. "But Alastor's got good eyesight. Yes, sir-ee! Once he saw me, I couldn't take another step."
"You could have made a better excuse to leave," Vaggie quietly complained.
"I couldn't do that," Nifty replied. "No, ma'am. I couldn't. Alastor wouldn't have let me. I have to do what he says when I'm summoned. That's part of our deal."
Vaggie paused for a moment and gave Nifty a good look. After a few seconds of Nifty silently bouncing around and diligently altering the dress, Vaggie saw what she was looking for and her suspicions were confirmed.
On Nifty's forehead, just under her hair, there was a red X that looked exactly like the X Vaggie glimpsed on Alastor's forehead on the day he destroyed Sir Pentious' blimp.
"Alastor holds your soul," Vaggie said in realization. "I'm sorry. I should have known that. Why didn't occur to me? There was nothing you could…"
"Oh, don't worry, Vaggie," Nifty quickly interrupted as she continued her alterations. "You didn't know. I normally don't tell people unless they ask, when I get to talk to people. You don't need to worry about me. Alastor's not a bad master. He let me live in his house as his maid who cleans up all his messes without asking questions. He paid me well and had me working fair hours with days off. Alastor was never mean to me either. Well, he wouldn't let me go out if he wasn't there to accompany me unless I was sent out in his limo to run errands for him or myself and he required me to stay home when he went away, but he said that was for my own safety and he did take me out to buy fabric when he had time."
"What about Husk?" Vaggie whispered. "He's made a deal, too. Hasn't he?"
"Yep," Nifty replied without looking up.
"Nifty, tell me the truth," Vaggie said quietly yet sternly. "Is Alastor planning to hurt Charlie? Or, has he ever planned to hurt Charlie?"
"I don't know," Nifty said finishing her last stitch. "Voila! You look beautiful!"
Vaggie looked down anxiously to see that her dress was now at the level of her feet while she planned what she should do next.
Nifty stepped back and looked at her finished work in pride as she snapped a few pictures on her phone.
That was when Vaggie got an idea.
Nifty continued prattling, "Oh, Alastor is going to absolutely love…" CRASH!
Nifty looked up to see Vaggie standing on the ground next to the video camera and the stool she had thrown at it to break it.
"Vaggie, what are you…?" Nifty asked nervously.
"Unzip this wedding dress, now," Vaggie said quickly sitting the stool back up.
"But…"
"Just do it, Nifty."
Nifty hopped onto the stool and did what Vaggie asked.
Once Vaggie was out of that dress, she pulled her other dress on and said, "Listen very carefully, Nifty. I'm going to try to escape. As soon as you can get away, you take those maps to Charlie and tell her where Alastor lives. Do you understand me?"
"But Vaggie, I can't…" Nifty stammered out before Vaggie swiftly grabbed her arm, opened the dressing room door, and tossed her out. "Vaggie!"
"Tell them I locked you out," Vaggie said looking directly into Nifty's confused eyes. "That way, you don't have to lie."
Vaggie shut the door, turned the lock, and quickly looked around the room to find a way out. Just above her, she saw a vent and knew just what to do.
Vaggie picked up the stool, slammed it against the glass, and carefully picked up the glass shards that fell onto the floor. She then aimed the glass shards at the bolts of the vent grating and fired. As expected, the glass hit its target and the grating fell open.
Vaggie smiled as she dragged the stool under the vent. That smile stayed until she heard talking outside the door.
"Oh, Alastor," Rosie gushed. "Those touches to the gown and the whole ensemble sound simply divine. My ladies will be glad to help."
"Excellent. My Vaggie will look just like a queen on our wedding day…Nifty?" Alastor's voice asked causing Vaggie to immediately stop breathing. "What are you doing out here?"
"Vaggie locked me out," Nifty replied.
"Now, why would she do something like that?" Rosie asked.
"I guess we should find out," Alastor thankfully replied before Nifty could be grilled any further.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Vaggie shook out of her stupor and jumped into the vent. Once she had a grip on the edge of the shaft, Vaggie used all her strength to pull herself completely inside.
Knock. Knock. BAM!
Vaggie looked down the vent to see that Alastor had blasted the door across the room.
The Radio Demon then walked into the room with Rosie and Nifty following behind him.
Remembering how Alastor tracked his victims, Vaggie slowed down her breathing and prayed as she watched the scene below her through the open shaft.
Through the grating on the side of her vent, Vaggie could see the two lady demons on the other side of the room.
Rosie's face twisted with shock and worry as she picked up the dress while Nifty hung back in the doorway.
The little cyclops's face twisted into an expression of fear of her own that Vaggie had never seen before. From Nifty's expression, Vaggie knew she could expect the worst and looked to Alastor expecting to see a display of power like the one he had shown when Sir Pentious tried to destroy the hotel.
But instead of the wrathful outburst that Vaggie was expecting, the Radio Demon was calm, unnaturally calm, as he glanced around the room for any sign of his bride.
In fact, Alastor began humming as he examined the broken vent, the broken glass, and the broken camera as nonchalantly as if he were looking around a museum.
"I apologize, Alastor," Rosie said as she summoned her familiar and handed her the wedding dress. "I should have known that leaving Nifty to deal with Vaggie alone was a bad idea."
"Oh, don't worry your pretty head about it, dear," Alastor replied. "It is not your fault. It is Vaggie's for choosing to break my heart and disobey me after all we've done for her. It is sad. I was hoping to have a lovely evening with her. But now, I have to punish her and Angel."
Vaggie inhaled sharply, but she covered her mouth before she could emit any more sounds.
In the dressing room below, Vaggie saw Alastor's ears shifting around trying to catch another sound.
Immediately understanding what Alastor was up to, Rosie smiled and said, "And if Vaggie were to return to us before we find her?"
Alastor turned around, smiled back at Rosie, and then replied, "Then, neither Vaggie nor Angel will be punished."
"Sounds like a plan," Rosie said with a wider smile than before. "Anyhow, would you like to check out before we go look for your bride?"
"That sounds wonderful," Alastor replied merrily turning on his heels and walking towards the door with Rosie walking beside him. "I'll be sure to pay you top dollar for your wonderful services…"
Alastor continued to chatter on until he passed the door's threshold.
Nifty tried to enter the room, but Alastor put his hand around her shoulder without breaking his conversation and gently pushed her out of the room with him.
Vaggie was even more scared now. Neither Alastor nor Rosie was phased by her disappearance. They were completely calm. Something wasn't right. Even Nifty was put off by it.
Vaggie shook her head and forced herself to calm down. She had to escape. She had to get back to Charlie. She got on her hands and knees and crawled through the vent.
The place was large, but the passage wasn't too difficult. Vaggie quickly found her way to the vent leading out of the building. Once she reached her destination, she kicked the grating as hard as she could. Fortunately, the grating gave way and Vaggie climbed out of the vent to find herself on the roof.
After looking around to make sure the coast was clear, Vaggie found a drain pipe and climbed it down until she reached the street. As soon as her feet hit the ground, Vaggie sprinted away as quickly as she could.
Unfortunately for her, Vaggie was not alone.
"There are you, darling!" Alastor's voice called out as Vaggie felt her entire body getting mummified with ribbons just as she had been earlier in the week from her feet to her mouth.
Vaggie struggled fruitlessly as Alastor walked over, picked her up, and looked disappointedly into her eyes.
After emitting a sad sigh, Alastor said, "Vaggie, I am so disappointed in your behavior today. I thought you had finally decided to give our love a chance. I trusted you, and you broke my heart again. What do you have to say for yourself?"
Vaggie, of course, couldn't speak, but she gave Alastor the nastiest glare she could imagine. While doing so, she noticed Nifty standing nervously behind him while Rosie stood beside the car with a wicked smile of her own.
Alastor sighed once more and said, "Oh, well. Your beautiful hair and skin are dirty from climbing around those disgusting vents. We better get you home so we can get you fed and cleaned up before it's time for bed. Rosie, dear, would you help take Vaggie to the car? I need to have a word with Nifty."
"Of course," Rosie said summoning her penguin familiars who waddled over and took Vaggie out of Alastor's arms.
As soon as his arms were free of Vaggie, Alastor knelt down to Nifty's level and placed a hand around her back. Vaggie shook in her restraints as the penguins slowly waddled their way over to the limo.
After a moment of frightened silence, Nifty opened her mouth to speak, but Alastor put a finger over her lips and said, "I don't know what Vaggie told you when I had my back turned and I don't need you to tell me. I simply request that you disregard whatever my fiancée said and don't tell Charlie a word about what just transpired here. Can you do that for me, Nifty darling?"
"Well…" Nifty muttered.
"Is that hesitation I hear?" Alastor asked with a threatening chuckle pressing his nails against Nifty's back. "Nifty, must I remind you of the terms of our deal and what should happen were you to ever betray those terms?"
Nifty gulped and chirped, "No, sir. You have nothing to worry about from me. I swear."
Vaggie felt her heart sink into her stomach as the penguins finally slid her into the car.
Alastor immediately returned to his chipper demeanor, stood back up, rubbed Nifty's hair, and said, "Good girl! You and Husker are invited to the wedding. Please be sure to attend. It'll be quite the party. Until then, I'll see you later!"
"See ya," Nifty said sadly.
Nifty stood there with a smile silently trying to conceal her tears while Alastor and Rosie climbed back into the limo and drove away leaving her alone with her thoughts.