Chapter Six: The Christmas Arc: Christmas Day: Bonding over the Past
Vaggie was nervous. She wanted to have her first time with Charlie that night. Not her first time having sex period. Her first time having sex with Charlie. Normally, couples would have done this much sooner. But Charlie got so busy preparing her Hotel and advertising and announcing and setting up the building itself. Time got away from them. They had moments together where they just sat and cuddled and kissed in their free time. But Vaggie understood that for Charlie, the Hotel was important. In one way, she really did just want to help Demons escape Hell and escape the extermination each year.
But in another way, she wanted to prove her father wrong. She wanted to prove that just because he had been there the longest didn't mean he knew everything. She wanted to prove that whether he believed in her or not, she could handle herself and she was talented and skilled enough to actually succeed at her endeavor. Her father knew that she was intelligent and skilled and talented. But he'd made it quite clear that he didn't believe that Demons could be redeemed. Alastor's point of view when he first got there was surprisingly similar to her father's.
The chance they had was the life they lived before. Hell was just where they ended up and they weren't going anywhere. That was basically what Alastor had said to her. He'd echoed her father's words, not in exactly the same words. But similar. So Vaggie understood that Charlie felt like she had a lot to prove not just to the denizens of Hell, but to her mother and father. So she understood why they hadn't been intimate up to now. But she hoped that they could change that tonight. That would be her Christmas gift to Charlie.
Alastor sighed. He always hated this time of year. Regardless of what it represented to Charlie and it seemed Vaggie as well, to Alastor, it only represented death. In life, he'd been a number of things. But clearly the most alarming had been a serial killer and a cannibal. And although Alastor had been quite good at hiding his crimes behind a jovial façade, around 25 years after he'd committed his first murder, he finally got his comeuppance and was killed by someone. He didn't know who killed him. If it had been the family member of a past victim or if it had just been a rival in Voodoo who wanted him gone.
Alastor didn't know if the person saw justice for their crime or if the person was now in Hell. He assumed the person was in Hell. They had committed a murder, and regardless of who they had killed, posthumous justice seemed much more black and white than nuanced. That could be seen by Tina's death and punishment. By the standards of sinners, Tina Mayberry hadn't been that bad. She'd had one moment where she lost it because of what her husband was doing behind her back. But Alastor wasn't sure that really merited going to Hell. But regardless, it wasn't his business to tell God who to punish.
Alastor always had nightmares this time of year, remembering the walk in the woods he'd been taking, carrying a body out to the deer hunting grounds to dispose of it. In deer hunting grounds, there were also a lot of scavengers. So they were really a perfect place to leave a body, even in a shallow grave, because the body would be picked clean before the end of winter by coyotes and other scavengers. Of course, he hadn't been counting on his hunter to be going by the same logic.
He felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and was dead before he hit the ground. Alastor tossed and turned, growling angrily in pain as he relived that day again.
"No! Don't go into the woods!" Alastor snarled at himself in the dream, stuck watching the scene on repeat in his mind.
He felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Aagh!" Alastor roared, shooting up and grabbing his staff, pointing it at the offender.
"Hey, Alastor. Are you okay?" Came a kind, gentle voice. Alastor was stunned for a moment, forgetting to smile. Slowly, he caught his breath and a strained grin crossed his face.
"Yes, my dear! I'm fine! Merry Christmas!" He said cheerfully. Charlie could tell that he was still in shock though from his dream.
"Alastor… What happened?" The blonde princess asked. Alastor swatted her hand away, keeping his smile so that he could maintain control over the situation. In the last few weeks of Alastor's life, he knew that the law was closing in on him. He'd been seen committing a murder and the police were just closing some loose ends. Alastor had killed an officer who'd been trying to arrest him and was dragging him out to the woods before he left town when he was killed. He'd lost control. He could never let that happen again. He could never let himself lose control.
"I'm fine, my dear, sweet princess." Alastor smiled. The look in his eyes, the way his face was twitching with his over wide grin though told Charlie that he wasn't. It told Vaggie though that they shouldn't try him.
"Charlie… Let it go." Vaggie whispered urgently, not wanting Charlie to be in danger. Although Alastor's behavior had seemingly improved, Vaggie still didn't fully trust him and wasn't going to let Charlie test his patience when he was clearly agitated already.
"I wanted to give you some eggnog. It's my father's special recipe." Charlie said, offering the liquor to Alastor. Alastor seemed to calm down slightly, his body still tense though.
"Thank you, my dear. And Merry Christmas to you as well." He took a sip of the eggnog.
"Wow! Strong!" Alastor said cheerfully, his smile straining his face today. Charlie poured some eggnog for herself, sitting with Alastor. She wanted to help everyone feel welcome and comfortable.
Christmas was supposed to be a time for family. And ironically, Charlie felt like the people here were more family than her own parents were. She loved her parents and she wanted their approval. But her father had never supported her desire to help redeem Demons. She didn't know exactly what she was doing. She had theories. She felt that sin was like a tally count. To sin, you had to do something bad. To counteract a sin, you had to do something good from the bottom of your heart. And to truly want to do something good, you had to understand why you did bad things to begin with.
So she set up her program to help redeem Demons by helping them understand themselves better first and the reasons that they sinned in life and in death. And one step at a time, they could work towards bringing their Sin Tally as it were back to 0. And today, she could tell that Alastor needed someone to be a support to him. She put a hand on his shoulder.
"Alastor. Please, talk to me. What's wrong?"
"Christmastime reminds me of New Orleans. I was a Voodoo practitioner in life as well, as you know. And amongst Voodoo practitioners, I was… Have you seen Princess and the Frog? I hate to compare myself to Disney characters… Eheheh…" Alastor chuckled, seeming more genuine than he usually did.
"But I compare myself to Doctor Facilier. I was rotten right down to the bone. Cannibalism, human sacrifice, blood rituals. Anything to make myself more powerful. And to me, information was power.
"So beyond just being a practitioner, I was an information broker. I was like a spider and New Orleans was my web." Alastor said, his smile fading slightly. He was still grinning, but it seemed like he wasn't feeling it today. Charlie nodded, sitting there, listening intently.
"Needless to say, to perform human sacrifices, I had to be a murderer. But more than that, I was a serial killer. People… At first homeless people and those nobody would miss… Would disappear and as I expected, nobody would notice. But then, higher profile people began to disappear.
"I dragged their bodies to the deer hunting grounds, where there were coyotes and other scavengers who would devour the bodies after I was done with them and… Well… One night… Why don't I show you? I still to this day don't know who my killer was, but I don't doubt that it was the family member of one of my past victims or someone who mattered to them. Come, take my hand and I'll show you my final hours on earth." Alastor said. Charlie winced slightly at the thought of watching someone, especially someone she considered a friend being murdered. But Alastor needed her. So her feelings weren't relevant.
She took his hand, resting her forehead against his as he used his powers to bring them back to the night of December 22nd, 1933. She heard his voice in her mind.
"This was the night of the Winter Solstice. The shortest day of the year and I had just completed a human sacrifice in a secure room in home in New Orleans." Alastor said.
"Naturally, I had to dispose of the body. This person was… Shall we say very important. He was a corrupt politician, people would later find out. I'm sure he's in Hell somewhere now." Alastor said.
"But I had sacrificed him and spilled his blood in my magic circle, calling to my dark patrons for continued favor. Now, I was disposing of the politician's body. I knew that I had to leave town that night. I knew the law in general was closing in on me. What I didn't know, despite my vast web of informants was that someone must have followed me as I left my home and stalked me out to the woods. You can see their shadow behind me. You see the human me in the woods, carrying the body in a bag." Alastor said, having them follow along behind. Charlie was seeing through Alastor's eyes. Alastor had strong night vision.
But she could tell that as a human, he was red-green colorblind. He was huffing as he trudged through the light snow, leaving footprints behind him. Charlie could see the shadow going along behind them. As Alastor got to the dump spot for this body, he dropped the body, resting for a moment and caught his breath. Charlie felt like she herself was out of breath as he breathed deeply, holding his hand to his heart, feeling it racing. It was always such a rush to sacrifice a meat sack and then dispose of the body. The thrill that he had outsmarted the police for almost eight years now. She could feel her excitement.
He knew though that the cops were closing in. He'd become arrogant and had started killing higher profile people. He was almost free though. He was going to leave town and be free from the law of New Orleans. Then she heard a click. She gasped as there was a thrill of pain in her back as the bullet hit her. She heard the crunching of snow as a person approached her. The feeling of a boot as it turned her… No, him over. Charlie felt tears filling her eyes, fear in his heart. She saw the face of the man who had killed him. Her mind was truly merged with his.
"Alastor Roth." The voice said. A police officer.
"We've been tracking you a long time. Unfortunately, I don't think that the law could ever catch up with you… Not legally anyway. Do you know why it came to this? Don't worry about answering. You probably can't speak. I hit you in your lung." The man said.
"Do you remember a few years ago? A young woman disappeared. Green eyes, brown hair, freckles. That was my sister. You murdered my sister. And unfortunately, I know that you would never see justice. At least never the justice you deserve, since we could never find the bodies.
"But now, the lives you've taken will be vindicated with our deaths." The man said, taking out a pistol and shooting himself in the head. He was a police officer who betrayed the very values that he'd sworn to uphold. He deserved to die. But he wanted to make sure that Alastor died first.
Charlie gasped as she sat with Alastor. It wasn't cold and dark anymore. She was back in the Hotel with Alastor. She felt her heart racing. She still was gasping for breath as if she was still suffocating from being shot through the lung. She was okay. She hadn't been shot. She was okay.
"My dear. You're okay. That's always a very intense sensation to experience, regardless of whether you're prepared for it or not. But now you see why I may be feeling slightly under the weather." Alastor said. Charlie nodded, feeling bad for Alastor that he had to experience this kind of pain on Christmas.
"Please, my Dear. I'll be okay. Don't feel obligated to stay here and allow your own mood to be dragged down by me." Alastor said. Charlie nodded, hurrying over to get a box for Alastor.
"Merry Christmas, Alastor." Charlie said, watching eagerly as he opened his gift, finding extremely rare and expensive coffee grounds. He smiled, actually seeming to be genuinely happy.
"Thank you, Princess." Alastor said, actually hugging Charlie. He didn't normally like to be touched. But he was incredibly touched that she'd gone out of her way like this for him.
He knew that this coffee wasn't easy to find and was expensive once you did find it.
"Round up, everyone! It's time to exchange Secret Santa gifts. I assume that everyone has bought a gift for their person?" Charlie asked. Everyone nodded. Angel Dust sighed. This was the moment of truth. Would she like his gift? Would it have been too cheap? He'd gone back to Valentino. But he'd set very strict rules for what he would allow Valentino to use him for. He still felt his fur crawling when Valentino looked at him or spoke to him. But it was worth it for these tickets.
"Merry Christmas, Toots." Angel Dust said to Charlie, giving her an envelope. She excitedly opened the envelope, gasping when she saw the two tickets to Il Cappio D'oro. She'd been dying to take Vaggie to see this opera, but even she hadn't been able to get tickets. Charlie squealed happily, hugging Angel Dust tightly, kissing him on the cheek.
"Thank you! This was exactly what I wanted!" She said excitedly. Angel chuckled.
"C'mon, Babe… They ain't that great… Are they?" He asked, a little embarrassed by how happy she was.
"They're perfect! I've been meaning to get tickets to this opera for years to take Vaggie, but they're always sold out! How did you get these?" Charlie asked.
"Ah ah… I can't reveal my secrets." Angel Dust smirked. Charlie nodded. Vaggie handed Angel Dust an envelope as well. She still didn't always agree with Angel Dust's behavior. But she was happy that Charlie was so happy with his Christmas gift for her. And he had changed a lot over his time at the Hotel. Angel Dust opened the envelope, smiling.
"How did you know? This is my favorite restaurant. When I can afford to go there, I love their food." Angel Dust said, seeing a gift card to Amici's Bistro. Vaggie shrugged. She just knew that he liked Italian food and Amici's was a higher end Italian restaurant in Hell. So she got him a gift card there.
"Well thanks. Maybe you ain't such a bitch aftah all." Angel Dust teased. Vaggie chuckled. Over time, though they still fought, their fighting became less angry and more friendly. Alastor went next and handed Husk a large box. Husk gasped. He didn't know what was in it. But whatever it was must have been big.
He opened it and saw old and rare Beanie Babies. He gasped even more intensely.
"How did you get these? These things're almost impossible to find!" Husk snapped, almost angry at how much Alastor must have spent on Big Wallace and his Gang. Alastor chuckled.
"I have connections and people who owe me favors." Alastor chuckled. Charlie smiled. That was an interesting use of a favor, to get a Christmas gift for a friend. She admired how far Alastor must have come to be willing to use a favor owed to him for such a purpose.
Niffty handed Tina a heavy package, which Tina opened and saw volumes 1-10 of books that taught the Abyssal Language. The former teacher smiled.
"Thank you, Niffty. You didn't have to do so much for me." Tina said. Niffty shrugged. She had just done what she loved. She cleaned a bookstore rather than cleaning the hotel. How different were they really? Husk went next. The Walkman that he'd won in a Poker match. He handed it to her. He'd never been good at wrapping things, so he just handed her the Walkman and the headphones.
"Here. Enjoy." He said in his usual gruff tone.
"Wow… Thank you." Vaggie said. She had some tapes upstairs that might fit in the Walkman. Tina went next and gave her gift to Cherri Bomb. Cherri opened it, grinning at the make your own fireworks kit.
"Groovy." Cherri smirked. "We'll light this place up on New Year's." She said. Though her tone was cool as always, Angel Dust could tell that Cherri was excited. Cherri went next, giving her gift to Niffty, who tore the package open at a mile a minute. Alastor chuckled. Niffty never changed.
It was a handwritten box of recipes on index cards.
"All the recipes that I had growing up. I wrote them down for you." Cherri said. Niffty seemed elated to have more recipes.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" Niffty said. Penelope sighed. She didn't expect to get any gift, since she'd been here for such a short time. But Charlie handed her a small box. She opened it and saw a really nice camera inside.
"What's this for?" Penelope asked, confused.
"Well, I want you to be able to take a great picture with your father this Christmas to celebrate you two being reunited." Charlie said. Penelope felt tears filling her eyes. She nodded and handed Charlie the camera, who lined up the two of them in front of the tree. Not only was this the perfect gift for Penelope, it was the perfect gift for her father as well. He sat with her in his lap and Charlie snapped a few shots.
This had been a great Christmas. But Vaggie still had one more gift for Charlie that she would give her once they all went to bed for the night.