Chapter 3: The Morning Frenzy

There wasn't much of a distinction between day and night in Hell. The sky was always one shade of red or another, never bright enough to be considered day, but never getting dark enough to call it night. The best we sinners could do was watch Pentagram City's clock tower as it counted down days until the next cleanse. Call it torture, but it was the best we could do aside from keeping track of how many times we fell asleep.

After finishing dinner, I stripped myself of my vintage attire, and spent the rest of my time before bed watching TV. I never knew how interesting the news reports in Hell could be until I found myself watching 666 News. Katie Killjoy and Tom Trench were more entertaining to watch than any news channel I remembered watching in the past, though I felt pretty sorry for Tom as he was forced to deal with the abuse he took between segments.

I watched long enough to catch a cooking segment with Jeffery Dahmer, an exclusive interview with Lizzy Borden, and a breaking news report about an on-going turf war happening on the east side of the city before I finally decided to call it a night. Tomorrow marked my first day of rehabilitation, and Vaggie had promised that it wasn't going to be easy. On top of that, I'd officially be meeting the princess of Hell to discuss which course of action I'd be taking to work towards redemption.

Truth be told, I was thinking up a plan of my own. Not a plan on what I'd try to do to better myself, but on how to better Charlie. The one thing that had always remained consistent was how stubborn I could be. That stubbornness had only gotten worse over time. Sure, Charlie was Lucifer's daughter, but I wasn't the type to take orders from someone who wasn't sure of themselves. Taking the role of the south side's unofficial leader had taught me a lot, namely how to assert myself in an authoritative and diplomatic way, and worrying less about whether or not people liked me because of it.

If Charlie really was going to start rehabilitating sinners, she was going to have to accept that not everybody was going to like what she had to say, and reinforce consequences if rules were broken. That was something I could help her with, that is, if she was willing to accept it. I wanted to see her become a princess Hell would be proud to have, not a target that would immediately be overthrown when she did eventually take Lucifer's place as the realm's ruler.

When the clock tower struck midnight, I decided it was finally time for bed. I turned off the lights and adjusted the radio dial to Alastor's dead air station before crawling under the covers.

"I figured you were the one that was tuning in, Miss Charms..."

I practically leapt out of my skin, shooting straight up in my bed at the sudden voice that droned over my shoulder. It took me a second to grasp what had just happened. It was definitely Alastor's voice that I had heard come through the radio. The question was how the fuck did he know that I was the one tuning in?

"No need to be alarmed, my dear," he continued, "I'll be signing off for the night here shortly, but let's get one thing straight between us..."

Alastor's voice lowered into a malicious growl. The static that could normally be heard when it was silent was now replaced with a mix of electric humming and interference; sounds that were signature of the radio demon's presence. Sounds that demons around Hell had learned to run away from if they ever heard it.

"What do you want?" I asked shakily.

"Ha... To see you fail, of course. To see you all fail. After all, you're in Hell for a reason, aren't you? A very good reason."

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end as my feathers ruffled to the point of looking like a pair of blue, feathery pompoms. My tail lashed across the bed nervously. He wasn't wrong. Far from it. I wasn't in Hell just because I was a pagan, or a witch, or because I had visions. My actions on Earth had been cruel and selfish, though I didn't exactly realize it until it was too late.

But there was something about my being at the hotel that Alastor didn't know, that nobody here knew. I wasn't here to redeem myself. I had come here to find out if the Happy Hotel existed, and promptly return to the south side with word as to whether or not the rumors were true. I had just gotten caught up in the hotel's cause along the way. From the looks of things, so was everybody else that I had met today, and Alastor was no different.

"That's perfectly fine by me."

A high-pitched screech from a microphone blaring from the radio told me that the Radio Demon wasn't expecting that to be my response.

"Failing comes with trying," I continued, "It doesn't mean you've lost. I'm bound to fail at least a few times, but I'm not going to get anywhere if I don't try. So feel free to sit back and enjoy the show."

"Ha! Ha! I hope your optimism won't be your undoing, darlin'. That's all the time I have for today, folks! Tune in next time to see-"

"Good night, Al..." I grumbled, switching the radio off.

I flopped back down onto my bed. As exhausted as I was, that momentary broadcast was bound to keep me up for the rest of the night. Alastor wasn't here to try to better himself. He was just here for his own amusement. No wonder it felt so out of place to find him here when I had first walked into the hotel. But I knew. I had already seen firsthand. Alastor had a few good qualities in him that could be built upon if he gave it a chance; we all did.

If nothing else, there was still a small, innocent child sleeping deep within us all.

Morning came with very little sleep, as I expected. While I had managed to get at least a few hours of rest, I mostly spent my night either watching television, organizing my things, or looking out my window at the city as I smoked a few cigarettes. It was the first time I had bothered to stay up and watch the sun "rise" in Hell; meaning, I just watched the hands on the clock tower move bit by bit until it was seven o'clock.

Breakfast wasn't until nine, but the hotel was wide awake and bustling long before that. As I was roomed a few doors down from the dining room, the first sign of life I heard was a set of footsteps passing my door and entering said dining room. I could only assume it was Alastor, as several minutes later I caught a whiff of something sweet in the air, and the welcoming smell of a pot of coffee brewing. At about 7:15, the floor under my feet started vibrating to the rhythm of an upbeat tune, which was followed shortly by enraged shouts coming from Vaggie and Husk. During that commotion, Niffty sped into my room without so much as a knock, performing the duties of an average housekeeper in the blink of an eye.

Thoroughly awake by this point, I snatched the little cyclopean girl by the back of her dress and hoisted her up.

"Put me down!" she screeched, "I gotta get everything clean before breakfast!"

I bared my teeth and locked eyes with her, "You'll do just fine as my morning meal."

Niffty giggled, clearly unperturbed by my threat, "You don't scare me, silly. I know all the cannibals in the city, and you sure aren't one of them!"

"I was hoping this would teach you some kind of lesson..."

Niffty's eye looked me over, and I shivered. I was in nothing but my bra and underwear.

"Don't be naked, then, next time," she sassed.

Damn, for a girl that looked like she was only a child, she sure did have an attitude!

Begrudgingly, I put her down and let her continue her work.

"So you and Alastor are friends?" I piped up.

"Oh, friends is such a loose word," Niffty replied, "More like eye candy that I can't have, than anything. Oh, my gosh! Your bathroom is a mess! Are you always this untidy?"

"Eye candy? You mean you like him, but he doesn't like you?"

"No, no, silly! He's very handsome, and I'd be all over that shit! But Alastor doesn't want to be with anybody."

My brow furrowed, "You mean Al's asexual?"

Niffty let out a sigh, "You ask too many questions. Look, I don't know much about the fella. Nobody does. That's just the way he likes it."

So the Radio Demon was a closed book after all. Just a charming spectacle with a terrifying reputation. It wasn't like me to want to pick people apart until I knew everything there was to know about them, but almost all of my abilities seemed to be seeking him out. My dreams had shown me this hotel, the same hotel he happened to be at. The sprite I had followed had taken on the form of a red deer. Alastor was a red deer. His gumbo had given me a glimpse into his past. Something about him made my essence seek him out. It couldn't just be that I was a demon living in his territory, so what was it?

Niffty was about to zip out of the room, but she skidded to a halt and paused for a moment before turning to look at me.

"You know, if you want to get to know him so badly, I'm sure all you'd have to do is ask him what you wanna know. I wouldn't hold your breath, though. He's more likely to give you a sarcastic remark than useful information."

With that, Niffty took off and zipped into the next room, leaving me with just my ever increasing number of ponderings to keep me company. With how much energy he had, I couldn't imagine Alastor having much of a filter. The way he spoke to me through the radio proved that much. Could the reason why the Radio Demon was shrouded in such mystery be because nobody had bothered to ask him questions about himself? There weren't all that many people who wanted to see him, let alone talk to him. Was it that easy to get him to open up to others?

My mind swam with confusion as I tried to take in the scene that was going on in the dining room. The commotion had started shortly before I finished getting dressed, now looking more like a fifty year old business woman in my dated shin-length, floral-patterned skirt and white blouse. It had started quietly with some light conversations happening between the others. Charlie must have shown up at some point, because I kept hearing another female voice that I wasn't familiar with yet chat excitedly with Vaggie.

Within the span of a couple of minutes, however, the quiet chatter turned into shouting, mainly from Vaggie, Husk, and Angel Dust. Vaggie and Angel seemed to be at each other's throats again, while Husk seemed to be directing his temper towards someone or something else entirely. I joined the party just as tableware and sharp objects were being thrown.

Vaggie was armed with a spear as she steadily marched up to Angel, who had a table tipped over and was using it as a shield. What I could make of their nearly unintelligible screaming, Vaggie was pissed off about being woken up by his music this morning, and had already gotten her day off to a bad start with a few too many selfish remarks and sexist comments. Angel was armed with a few forks and a couple of butter knives as he cowered behind the only thing separating him from the raging moth demon's weapon.

Husk was hunched over a table in a corner, nursing a hangover... with another bottle of cheap booze. He looked rough, with his fur tossed in a mess and bags under his eyes. He glared irritably at everyone in the room, likely regretting getting out of bed, and wishing everyone else would take the ruckus somewhere else. I couldn't help but notice he was mostly directing his annoyance towards Alastor, though.

And Alastor, with a pot of coffee in one hand and a mug filled to the brim with the piping-hot blackish brown liquid in the other, seemed to be enjoying one hell of a caffeine buzz. I honestly never thought I'd see someone so full of energy that they moved by sheer vibration alone, but here we were as I watched the Radio Demon seemingly skid about on his heels and toes. He barely managed to keep the coffee he held in their respective containers as he moved. His eyes had turned into radio dials, which would have been terrifying to look had it not been for the needles, which were moving back and forth in the same way windshield wipers did during a downpour; just as frantic with each eye moving differently from the other. Alastor's grin was wider than I'd ever seen it, exposing the inky black gums that were typically hidden behind his lips.

There were only two people in the room who seemed to keep their heads on straight as they watched the chaos unfold around them. Niffty was sat at Husk's table, eating a fluffy powdered pastry, and a girl with blonde hair had stopped short of the door, looking pretty overwhelmed as she watched the others in the room.

I strode up beside her and crossed my arms, "Is this a regular thing?"

The girl let out a sigh, "Yeah, they're not usually this bad though."

It was then that she bothered to look up at me. It took me all of a second to see how much of a pure, innocent little bean this demon princess was. With her bright eyes and rosy cheeks, she looked like childhood innocence incarnated.

Her face lit up as her eyes met mine, "Are you the new guest Vaggie told me about?"

I stuck out my hand, "Juniper Charms."

Rather than a handshake, I was crushed in an enthusiastic hug as she let out a delighted squeal. Her strength was nothing to sneeze at, as I felt my ribs creak, and the air was knocked straight out of my lungs.

"Ch-Charlotte!" I coughed out, "Suffocating... not breathing!"

"Oops!" Charlie quickly released her arms from around my waist, allowing me to take a breath, "Sorry. I just get so excited when we get a new guest."

I brushed myself off and shot her a smile, "You're fine. Everybody's been pretty hospitable in your stead so far."

It wasn't a total lie. Alastor had been the one to give me a warm welcome, offer clothes, and cook the meals. Angel and I had a moment when Fat Nuggets walked past my door. Vaggie had been the one to explain things and show me where everything was in the hotel. Husk had offered me a drink when he suspected the gumbo would be too much for me. Niffty had cleaned off my boots the moment I walked in. Now, if the fights between Vaggie, Angel, and Alastor could be tamed, Husk slowed down with his drinking problem, and Niffty calmed down with her neat-freakishness and semi sexist remarks, rehabilitation would be underway.

Before Charlie could go on, Alastor juddered up to us, coffee pot and mug still grasped tightly in his claws.

"Good mornin', ladies!" he said excitedly, the quality of his audio diminishing due to his highly caffeinated state, "How are you two doing on this fine, fine day? Care for cup o' joe? It's piping hot, freshly made!"

I was getting a caffeine high just looking at him, "How much of that stuff have you had today?"

"Oh, just one pot, five pots, 'round about twenty pots of coffee within this past hour!"

Alastor already talked a hundred miles a minute when he wasn't caffeinated up. Now he was on the brink of talking like a full-blown auctioneer! I hooked him by the collar of his red pinstriped coat, and managed to get a feel of his heart rate over his shirt.

"His heart is vibrating! For fuck's sake!"

Charlie carefully took the coffee mug and pot out of his hands and led him to a nearby table, "Maybe you should sit down for a moment to get yourself calmed down a bit."

Yeah, that only worked for, like, half a second before Mister Overly Caffeinated Radio Demon was shaking in his chair and immediately got back up to burn off some of the excess energy. He wound up getting a little too close to Vaggie, who hit him over the head with a platter of beignets so hard that the antlers on Alastor's head left two impressions in the metal, but not even that seemed to faze him.

I took the liberty of taking the mug that Alastor had already poured, but only managed to take one sip before being punched in the mouth by the coffee's bitterness.

"I don't wanna know how many scoops of coffee grounds he put into the filter before he brewed this," I commented, "This is straight up swill!"

Charlie clapped her hands loudly, trying to get the room's attention, "Excuse me! Could everyone just settle down for a minute?"

Her tone was cautious, as though addressing the room would warrant a chair to the face. Although, with all the negative energy rising up through the air, I was surprised a chair hadn't been tossed, yet. Charlie tried a second and third time, to no avail. Vaggie was closing in on Angel Dust, and Husk now had Alastor in a headlock in an attempt to keep him still.

"Why won't they listen to me?" Charlie asked, my heart twisting at the sadness and frustration in her voice.

"Mind if I give it a try?" I inquired.

"Go ahead."

I took a few steps into the room, focusing on the chaotic energy in the air. I felt something boil inside me, something dark that was climbing its way to the surface from deep within my core. I raised a hand, and with a snap of my fingers, the chaotic energy was shattered with an audible boom. Within seconds, the room fell silent, and all eyes were on me.

"Sit!"

The word came out of my mouth in a venomous tone that I seldom used, but it always made an impact. Within seconds, the dining room was back to its natural setup and people were sat down at a table. Even Alastor seemed to have snapped out of his buzz, and was sat with his legs elegantly crossed in a chair, though his eyes had yet to go back to their original state.

"That was so cool!" Charlie beamed, bouncing on her toes excitedly, "You've got to show me how to do that sometime!"

"I might be able to teach you a trick or two," I stated before taking my seat with the others.

Husk scooted away from me as I sat down beside him, "What the hell kind of voodoo shit was that?"

"It was a combination of me breaking apart the negative energy in the air, and being incredibly annoyed," I explained, "It's called witchcraft."

The bewildered look on Husk's face hinted towards this being his first encounter with a witch, "You won't turn me into a toad, will ya?"

I laughed, "No. Transformation isn't one of my strong suits."

With the room now brought back to a state of calm, Charlie seized the opportunity to climb up onto the stage to address the room.

"It seems you're all familiar with our new guest," she started, "Juniper, was it?

"That's me," I replied, "You guys can just call me June, if that's easier."

"It's lovely to meet you. Do you mind coming up here and introducing yourself?"

Some part of me wanted to say no, as I had already been introduced to everybody already. However, Husk's reaction to discovering that I was a witch made me realize that the others in the hotel might not know as much about me as I already knew about them. Not to mention that I had only just met Charlie, so I really only knew her through the eyes of the public; a whole lot of rumors, assumptions, and disrespect. How was that fair? It'd be like having everybody else here make assumptions about me just because I was from the south side.

I stood up from the table and climbed the small set of stairs up onto the stage. Charlie stepped aside and allowed me to take the mic.

"Hello," I started, "As you all know, I'm Juniper Charms. I come from the south side of Pentagram City, and have been a denizen of Hell for three years. I'm a solitary witch and a fortune teller."

"Do you mind telling us why you decided to come to our little hotel?" Charlie asked.

At that moment, as if it was almost convenient for him, Alastor snapped back to attention from his caffeine rush, and fixed his eyes on me. His eyes narrowed and his smile broadened. I could tell all at once what he was thinking. He hadn't forgotten about the little stunt he pulled last night, and I was sure he was eager to know why exactly I was here, possibly gauging just how serious I was about wanting to redeem myself; how easy I'd be to break.

"I'm here on behalf of the south side," I admitted, "A short time ago, I started seeing the Happy Hotel appear in my dreams. When I started hearing about it in passing, I decided to set out and discover if my dreams and these rumors were true."

"Wait, so you only came here to check us out?" Vaggie inquired, "You told us yesterday that you wanted to give this place a chance."

"I do. How can I tell the rest of the south side that they don't have to wallow in rubble and have a real chance at going to Heaven if I can't prove to them that it's possible?" I lowered my head, thinking about the pathetic state I arrived at the hotel in, and how the rest of my community was still living in that state, "Ever since I arrived in Hell, I've always tried to use my abilities to help others. This isn't any different."

Charlie approached me with a small smile, her eyes full of hope. It was like my presence was a breath of fresh air in the messy smog caused by the others to her.

"I think you're off to a good start. Wanting to help that many people however you can is a wonderfully redeeming quality."

Author's Note 12/23/19

I heard somewhere that Alastor likes black coffee. As you can see, I decided to have a little fun with that bit of information.

This is probably going to be the last chapter I'll be able to get out before Christmas, and I might be able to get out one or two more chapters and clean up the first two a bit more before the new year, depending on how work goes and how much sleep I decide to get.

-BlueRaven 666