After a long day of making dull preparations, the night of the auction finally came.
Alastor and Vaggie stood at the bottom of the stone staircase that led to his front door to greet the guests, the overlords and kingpins and important people of Hell that he invited to his auction, while Rosie was inside tending to Angel's last minute needs and welcoming the incoming guests.
Vaggie stood there against her will, arm-in-arm with Alastor.
Cars and vehicles from every era stopped at Alastor's front porch. The variety was impressive as were the guests inside. Over 100 kingpins and a small number of Ovelords from throughout history began arriving, demons of every size and every nationality.
Meanwhile, the deer familiars and shadow creatures attended the guests and kept watch for anyone who was unwelcome.
None of that impressed Vaggie. She stared through the kingpins and overlords as they walked by, wondering how she could help Angel.
Alastor did most of the greeting while Vaggie stood in silence. He was too occupied with his guests to notice.
Vaggie didn't begin paying attention until a flash of light struck her eyes. And then another.
"Oh, my God! It's Alastor's bride! I would have never believed it if I didn't see it myself. Come on, pretty darlin'! Give us a pose!" said a hyper and cheerful voice.
Vaggie blocked her eyesight from the flashes, and as her vision adjusted, she saw a slim female demon with grey-brown skin in pigtails and an old-fashioned dress that made her look like a giant doll. After another moment, Vaggie recognized this demoness as the overlord Velvet with the TV-headed Vox standing right beside her.
Despite knowing their reputations, Vaggie simply glared at them both.
Velvet ignored the glare and snapped another photo.
"Oh, I love that angry expression on your face," Velvet cheered as she snapped more photos. "Come on. Give me that glare! Show me all your hatred now! Now, let's have a selfie!"
Velvet put her arm around Vaggie and held up her phone to take a selfie, but before she could snap the photo, Vaggie slapped the phone out of her hands causing it to fall towards the stone steps. A large hand caught the phone and handed it back to Velvet.
Vaggie looked up to see Vox, the television demon. Alastor looked upon the scene and let go of Vaggie.
"To her, Vaggie," Alastor said.
"Hey!" Velvet protested. "What was that for?!"
Vaggie shot Velvet a nasty glare and snarled, "I don't want to be photographed anymore. Leave me alone!"
"Excuse me!" Velvet replied with an arrogant and bemused smile as she approached the angry moth demon. "Honey, just who do you think you are? Just because you're attached to an overlord doesn't mean you don't owe us any respect. So, I suggest you drop the attitude before…"
"Velvet," Alastor interrupted calmly as he took Vaggie's arm in his. "If my future wife doesn't want to be photographed, my future wife will not be photographed. You will not disrespect her, or I will be asking you to leave the auction."
Velvet relented and turned away to pout next to Vox.
"Alastor," Vox said.
"Vox," Alastor replied. "How nice to see you."
Vox scoffed and retorted, "Now, that's a first."
"You should know how love changes a man, Vox," Alastor replied hugging Vaggie closer while she growled unnoticed.
"I never thought I'd see the day when you'd decide to marry, especially not to this pretty little doll. She's far too pretty and spirited for you," Vox said, reaching his hand out to Vaggie. "Come on, sweetheart. Take my hand."
Vaggie looked at his hand, looked at his face, and said, "Fuck off."
Alastor burst out in laughter and held Vaggie tighter, "Oh, Vaggie! That's why I love you."
Even Velvet chuckled in the background. Vox simply stood up straight and stewed with his wounded pride.
"You two are perfect for each other," Vox replied passive aggressively.
"Speaking of which, where is Valentino this evening?" Alastor said, letting Vaggie go to wipe tears from his eyes. "I take it that he did not ride here with you."
"If you must know, he had some business to take care of, so we rode in separate limos," Vox said, before a sadistic smirk appeared across his face. "But I should warn you. Valentino ain't happy. Infringing on an overlord's contract and stealing the soul of a contractee are ballsy moves even for you, especially considering that contractee was Valentino's number one moneymaker."
"You say that like I should be concerned," Alastor replied with a chuckle.
"ALASTOR!" a loud voice echoed across the courtyard.
Everyone at the top of the stairs looked over to see Valentino storming out of his limo. Every fist was clenched, his teeth were grating, and his eyes were settled into a fiery glare.
Alastor pushed Vaggie behind him just before Valentino grabbed the collar of Alastor's coat and screamed, "I WOKE UP THIS MORNING TO FIND ANGEL'S SOUL MISSING! I KNOW IT WAS YOU WHO STOLE IT, YOU DEER-FACED MOTHERFUCKER!"
Alastor smirked, tilted his head to the side, and said, "Now, Valentino, you're the one who lost the auction. Being a sore loser is not going to help anything."
A laugh track played around them as Valentino dropped Alastor to the ground in front of him.
"You underhanded son-of-a-bitch!" Valentino retorted. "First, you kidnap Angel and break almost all his bones! Then, you refuse to hand him over to me or even let me buy him back because 'I wouldn't make him miserable enough' whatever the fuck that means!' Then, just to add insult to injury, you steal his soul and nullify our contract?! You're fucking stupid if you think I'm gonna let you get away with this!"
Without batting an eye, Alastor chuckled maliciously and said, "You don't have a choice, my good man. You neither have anything I want or anything with which you can threaten me into changing my mind…"
"But that's where you're wrong," Valentino interrupted. "I know about the deal you have made with the princess regarding her precious hotel. It would be all to easy to destroy. Believe you me. So, either you give Angel back or me and my boys will be forced to destroy the Happy Hotel…"
"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE!" Vaggie cried angrily. "If you even look at Charlie, I'll tear you to fucking shreds!"
"What she said," Alastor added.
Valentino looked over at Vaggie in surprise at first and then with an amused smile on his face.
"So, you're Alastor's new squeeze?" Valentino replied, allowing his angry demeanor to relax. "Congratulations."
"Go fuck yourself," Vaggie replied, narrowing her eyes and balling her fists, causing Alastor to cackle out loud.
"Charming," Valentino replied sarcastically before turning back to Alastor who had regained his composure. "This is no laughing matter, Alastor. Angel is my number one star!"
"You mean number one sex slave?" Vaggie retorted angrily.
Valentino scoffed, leaned down to Vaggie's eye level, and said, "What you call a slave, I call a star. I don't know what you've heard about me at your hotel…"
"I heard enough," Vaggie interrupted. "Angel told me everything about you and what you did to him."
Valentino scoffed again and replied, "Oh, really? What did he tell you about me?"
SLAP!
Vaggie slapped Valentino across his face, knocking off his glasses and causing Vox and Velvet to gasp in shock.
"That you groomed him, abused him, and turned him into your own personal boy toy!" Vaggie snarled. "You're a monster!"
Instead of lashing back, Valentino picked up his glasses, put them back on, stood up straight, stared down at Vaggie with a condescending smile on his face, and replied, "That's what Angel is. Isn't he? He made the contract with me. If he isn't happy, Angel has no one to blame but himself."
"YOU MOTHERFUCKING…Hey!" Vaggie screeched as she attempted to strike Valentino again only for Alastor to pull her back next to his side.
"Now, now, Vaggie, that's enough," Alastor said holding his bride against his chest. "You need to watch your temper."
Vaggie squirmed out of his grip and retorted, "You can fuck right off!"
Valentino snickered at the scene and flashed another condescending smirk as he playfully twiddled his fingers in front of Vaggie's face and said, "Ooh, you've got yourself a fiery little lady there, Alastor."
Vaggie attempted to bite down on Valentino's fingers, but Alastor held his hand over her mouth and pulled her back again.
"Vaggie, dear, I must ask you to calm yourself," Alastor said, using both arms to hold back his angry and snarling bride.
"Or what?!" Vaggie snarled.
"Well…" said Alastor as he turned Vaggie around, held his hands on top of Vaggie's bare shoulders, and flashed a devilish smile. "I will order Angel's family to give him extra therapy."
Valentino's expression changed from bemusement to intrigued as he said, "Angel's family. Is that who you sold him to?"
Vaggie growled angry at both the sons-of-bitches standing in front of her.
Just then, to make matters worse, Henroin and Arackniss climbed out of their limo and walked up the stairs.
Vaggie directed her angry glare away from the two overlords and over to the two spider demons approaching them.
"Good evening, Alastor," Arackniss said, having reached the top of the stairs first.
Alastor smiled and greeted him back, "Good evening, Spider Family. Are you two ready to pick up your item?"
Henroin reached the top of the stairs and replied, "Not quite yet. We can take Anthony home after the auction. Arackniss and I wanted to stick around to enjoy food and see what other items you were bidding on. Is that alright?"
"Of course," Alastor said grandly gesturing to the door behind him. "Come on in and make yourselves at home."
"Wait," Valentino interrupted. "You're Angel's Family?"
"Yeah," Arackniss replied, looking apathetically into the eyes of the much taller overlord. "What's it to ya?"
Vaggie began trembling in anger only for her fiancé to hold her back against his waist once more.
Valentino's demeanor instantly changed as an opportunistic smile flashed across his face.
"Don Henroin…" Valentino said.
"Yes?" Henroin replied.
"You know who I am. Don't you?"
"Yeah, so?"
"So, I was wondering if there was any way you could be persuaded to give me your son. As an overlord, I am well-connected, so I promise I could make it worth your while…"
"No," Henroin interrupted.
Valentino paused, looking absolutely stunned.
Arackniss shrugged and said, "I'm going inside. Dad and I will let you know when we're ready to see my little brother."
"Wait, he's your little brother?" Valentino replied.
Arackniss rolled his eyes, tipped his hat to Alastor and Vaggie, and said, "Good evening, doll," to Vaggie as he passed by them, Vox, and Velvet and entered the manor.
Valentino immediately turned back to Henroin and said, "Sir, your son is quite the performer. He's my number one star in fact. Wouldn't it be more profitable to the both of us if you shared your son with me? I'd be willing to split half the profits I earn from his work with you. What do you say?"
Valentino reached out a hand only for Henroin to scoff and say, "We're not keeping him gay…"
"Why not?" Valentino asked in surprise. "It's so good for business."
"I don't care about your business," Valentino replied walking past Henroin and his two friends. "We're turning my son into a full-functioning member of the family. We ain't letting him stay as he is. After his doctor gives him his treatment, my son's going to be normal whether he likes it or not."
Valentino followed Henroin into the manor followed by Vox and Velvet and shouted after him, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"
Vaggie growled angrily wondering how she was going to help Angel, but her expression changed as she noticed another spider. This one was a woman, completely pink with a heart on her bosom, striped on her limbs, poofy hair, and a black dress over her body.
Alastor cocked his head in confusion and asked, "And who might you be, young lady? You look awfully familiar. Did you come here with anyone?"
"The name's Molly," the spider demoness replied. "My Dad and my brother just walked in ahead of me."
"Oh!" Alastor exclaimed. "You're part of the Spider family! That certainly explains the resemblance! I didn't realize Angel had a sister…"
"I'm his twin," Molly interrupted determinedly taking another step towards Alastor. "Where is my brother?"
Vaggie looked at her attentively without saying a word.
"Why, he's with the other items," Alastor replied. "But don't worry, my dear. You'll get to see him."
Molly blinked her large eyes, puffed out her lips, and asked sadly, "Is there any way I might see him now, Mr. Alastor, sir?"
Completely unphased, Alastor replied, "Later, my dear."
"Your brother's in trouble!" Vaggie managed to get out before Alastor pulled her more closely to his side and gave her a reprimanding glance.
"I know," Molly replied quietly. "You must be Vaggie…"
"Indeed, she is," Alastor interrupted, taking Vaggie's arm and practically dragging her to the front door. "Now, come along, my lovely ladies. All the guests have arrived and it is time to begin the dinner!"
Vaggie and Molly shared one more nervous glance before Molly nervously followed Vaggie and Alastor inside.