Chapter Two: A New Guest, A New Friend

Charlie heard the doorbell of the hotel ring. Charlie hurried to the door, smiling as she greeted a new potential guest.
"Please, come in. Let's get you something to drink." Charlie said, bringing a Demoness with purple skin, glasses and horns inside.

"My name is Tina Mayberry. I… I lived a good life. I was a 1st Grade teacher as a human and I loved my kids. But my husband cheated on me with some slut and… Well, I guess the details aren't important. I killed my husband and I tried to kill Martha, the woman with whom he was cheating on me. But I realized that the webcam was still on and my students had seen the whole thing. I committed suicide and ended up here. I had the IMP people finish the job on Martha. She had somehow survived being shot by me. Go figure, right? Anyway, she's down here now. Thank God. I regret that my kids had to see what I'd done.

"And I even… Sort of regret killing my husband. Apparently Martha was a monster anyway, even before she ended up in Hell… No offense." Tina said, waving her hands.
"Oh, none taken, please. We can talk about all this later in therapy. For now, just relax, have some tea and meet some of the other guests at the Hotel." Charlie smiled, bringing Angel Dust, Vaggie, Husk, Alastor and Niffty. Angel Dust was still a bit surly. He was happy that his former boss was no longer his owner.
"Hey there, Shugah Tits. What brings you to Hell?" Angel Dust asked.

"I would prefer to be called Tina, not Sugar Tits, thank you." Tina said stiffly, slightly irritated by his rather impolite greeting. She took the tea offered to her and sipped it.

"This is really good. Who makes the tea here?" Tina asked. Charlie smiled cheerfully.
"I do! My father always says that the best way to greet someone is with a good cup of tea." Charlie said.

"Well, thank you Princess. I… Must admit I was nervous about meeting you. I thought that the princess of Hell would be… Forgive me, slightly more intimidating." She said.

Charlie's tuxedo and bowtie and bright grin didn't really seem to fit the entire tenor of Hell. Charlie chuckled.

"Oh, don't worry. I hear that all the time. You'd be amazed. But please, call me Charlie. I'm… A bit estranged from my family. They're not exactly sure that what I'm doing will work." Charlie said.
"Are you sure that Demons can be redeemed?" Tina asked curiously, Charlie sighed. She sometimes doubted her own goals. But if she could prove even with one Demon that it worked.

Even just one, that would validate her whole project and she could prove that it would work.
"I'm not." She said. Tina sighed. She should have known that this seemed too good to be true.

"But everything that I'm doing, everything that I want to do. Whether I succeed in redeeming Demons or not, I'm doing all that I can to help them. I offer them a safe place to live. I offer them food to eat. My family… Becomes their family too. Everyone needs a place to call home.

"Everyone needs people that they can feel safe talking to and being honest with. I offer therapy to those who want it. We have game nights and movie nights. This isn't some cult. We're a family. And whether the redemption aspect ever actually works, I… I want to believe that their lives… And my life… Is better for having them." Charlie said. She sighed wistfully. This wasn't the first time she'd been questioned about the validity of her goals. And it surely wouldn't be the last.

"Tina, you're welcome here as long as you want to stay. And we're so happy to have you."

The princess smiled. Tina was surprised. Nobody in Hell had been nearly this welcoming. Up to now, she'd heard herself called a bitch, a whore and a freak. Other Demons who had heard how she ended up here had a few reactions 'stay away from her. She's cute, but she'll bite your dick off if you piss her off.' And 'I'd love to tame that bitch.' Either way, she didn't get too close to them.

"So, am I going to hear you guys' names?" Tina asked curiously, looking at the rest of the guests.

"Oh! Of course! So sorry…" Charlie chuckled.
"This is Vaggie, my girlfriend." Charlie said.

"And this is Angel Dust, our first guest. This is Alastor. He represents us and has aided us in developing our family. He is also an amazing cook. He just says not to ask what's in the Jambalaya. By now, I'm almost a little scared to ask." Charlie chuckled. Alastor laughed as well, waving it off playfully.

"This is Niffty. She's a guest as well. This is Husker. He's also a guest. They were initially brought in as hotel staff, but they've grown to be part of the family." Charlie said. Tina couldn't help but smile. This really was exactly where she belonged.
"So… What are the rules here?" Tina asked, assuming there would be religious or at least semi-religious rules involved. No sex outside marriage, no alcohol, no drugs. Things like that.

That was why she was surprised when Charlie introduced Vaggie as her girlfriend. Tina had never been particularly religious. So it didn't matter to her. She was just interested to know more.

"So… Forgive me… But is your sexuality not an exacerbating factor in damnation?" Tina asked, worried that at least one of the other guests would be offended by that question. Charlie shrugged.

"I don't really know. But from what I've seen, the LGBT Demons in Hell have all done much worse things in life than just being with members of the same gender.

"So whether God intended for homosexuality to be a thing or not, I can't really say. But I don't really think that it's the actual reason that the person went to Hell in the first place.

"Take me for instance, Babe. I was a drug addict in life. And I don't exactly remember everything that happened in my life. I died in the late 1940s. But I'm pretty sure I was a drug dealer in life as well. So being gay aside, I probably went to Hell for drug dealin' and doin' drugs… And probably the fact that I murdered some asshole who decided to get up in my face bout me bein' gay."

"I murdered my husband. I can sort of relate to you." Niffty said.
"I don't exactly remember what happened. But there was a lot of blood." Niffty said. She was an excitable little thing.

"Why did you kill your husband?" Tina asked.

"He came home and walked around in his dirty, filthy, mud covered boots again! Every damn time!" Niffty shouted, her fists clenching.

Tina's face went slack, shocked at the vitriol that had suddenly filled Niffty's voice.

"And… Um… H-how… How did you die?"

"I was executed by the great state of Indiana." Niffty said. This was a surprisingly friendly place, considering how horrible these people's lives had been.

"And ummm… What-what about you? Husker?"
"Go fuck yerself." Husker growled. Charlie chuckled.
"Come on, Husk… Won't you at least tell her a little bit about yourself?" Charlie asked. He sighed.

"I was a con artist in life. Bilked thousands a' people outta their life savins. Unfortunately, I was addicted to gamblin', so I lost most of the money I made as quickly as I made it.

"Ended up committin' suicide. It was better than the alternative. Getting' caught by the gangsters I owed money to." Husk growled. Tina nodded.

"And what about you… Alastor, right?"

"That's right, Milady! My name is Alastor! I died in 1933 in New Orleans! Oh, the utter lack of humanity! I was a radio host in the 30s! I was a cannibal and buried the remains of my victims in deer hunting grounds! Some of my... Darker Voodoo rituals required that I consume human flesh! Ahhh… Good times! Good times!"

Alastor chuckled. She shivered slightly. Even amongst Demons, she had never encountered one as strangely unsettling as Alastor. She didn't know how Charlie could think that he wanted to be redeemed or even be part of her 'family'. But Tina was sure that Charlie had her reasons for what she did. How cold Tina, who had only just come to Hell recently, understand the minds of those who had been here no doubt for hundreds of years.

"And you, Vaggie?" Tina asked.

"I was a lesbian in El Salvador. I was a guerilla in my home country. I truly believed in the cause that I was fighting for. They needed me, and I was promised that my family would be supported if I did this for my nation. I had eight siblings. Six brothers and two sisters. I didn't want that life for any of them. I knew that I was sacrificing my soul for the sake of others. My brothers did what they could. Mostly physical labor on farms and things like that. My father… Well, he wasn't exactly the kindest man.

"It was hard to be in our situation. But he was a hard worker. And he took care of his family as best he could. I made sure that I sent money back to my family. It was grim work that I did, but I pushed my heart down. I killed the ones that they told me to… Until I found out that the people I worked for were really for the drug cartels. I was so angry. I was so hurt. I had killed. I had sacrificed myself for what I thought was the soul of our nation. I wasn't happy that I wasn't allowed to be open about my sexuality, but I fought for my country. But I found out that I was only protecting profits." Vaggie said angrily.

Charlie put a hand on her shoulder as she saw tears flowing down Vaggie's cheeks.

"It's okay, hon. I'm-I'm okay." Vaggie said.
"I tracked down the kingpin of the cartel. I burned his drug fields, I destroyed his mansion and I fully planned to kill him. I was so enraged that I was going to make him suffer for the way he had made me suffer. I had a husband and children at home. But all I could see was red." Vaggie said.

"I stabbed him in the chest. But he shot me through the eye. We both bled to death. I'm not sure where my family is now. Maybe they're doing okay. I may not have loved my husband, but I cared about him and I care about my children. I just hope that my babies can forgive me if and when I ever make it to Heaven." Vaggie said. Charlie hugged Vaggie, kissing her gently to reassure her.

"I'm sure that when you get up to Heaven, they will be delighted to see you and they'll welcome you with open arms." Charlie said gently.

"So, Tina… How did you end up in Hell?" Angel Dust asked. He hadn't heard her initial story. Tina sighed. It was a disturbing story to be sure.

"I was a preschool teacher. I taught kindergarteners. The kids loved me and I loved them. I really wanted my own children with my husband. But we hadn't had much luck so far. But that was okay. Things don't always happen right away. Anyway, it was my husband's birthday and I had forgotten to get him a gift. So my students suggested that I video call him with the class as a birthday surprise.

"I was the one who got the surprise when I found out he was fucking some big titted bimbo. I murdered my husband and I tried to murder Martha. Then when I realized the video chat was still on and my kids had seen me commit murder, I committed suicide. Martha didn't die though. She and her Satanist family were hailed as heroes. Does your father do that kind of thing?" Tina asked. Charlie chuckled.

"No. My father is Lucifer. Satan is… Well, Satan. It's hard to imagine my father, who likes dancing to Michael Jackson and polka music as being the Lucifer that humans think of when they hear his name." Charlie said. Tina sighed. This seemed like a good place for her to be. She was finally among people who would take her in without any expectations other than that she be on her best behavior.

They started to settle in for the evening and made some popcorn and other snacks and sat down on the couch for a movie.