Sorry for the late update. A little caught up with other things. But thank you all so much for the kind reviews and thank you to REDHOOD001 for your incredible support. I loved your idea about the nickname and I hope you like the way I incorporated it.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Katherine laid down in her bed and pressed her hands to her temples. Angels didn't sleep, but in this moment she almost wished she could. Her head was cloudy, dizzy, from the alcohol. More unsettling though, were the shadowy thoughts. Michael had warned her that the longer she spent outside of heaven, the more her memory would return, and it seemed the alcohol sped up the process.
Images fluttered through her mind's eye. Figures without faces, places without detail, sounds without context. She heard low saxophone's and laughter. And the most perviating memory...a young man in his early 20's, gold canine tooth glinting, smiling…
"C'mon Kat...I'll bring your boy back in one piece...scout's honor."
Something about that nickname had triggered her...she focused in, ending her fight.
She was shining up a rocks glass, and a short but adorable young man in a tattered suit, leaned on the bar next to her.
"C'mon Kat...you're breaking the boy's heart...I'll bring your kid back in one piece," He held up two fingers and winked. "Scout's honor."
A more worn and human Katherine scowled at the smooth talker. Unswayed. "He's not even old enough to drink when drinkin' was legal," she replied sternly, but couldn't help the small tug at the corner of her mouth. She knew her boy was growing up and she'd seen her fair share of mischief at his age herself. "I know what kind of get-to-gethers you frequent and I won't have
my baby corrupted by the likes of-"
"Kat, please," she whipped him with the wash cloth at the informality, to which he only chuckled. "Don't you trust me?"
She smirked at the young man, considering. He had been good to her boy. The closest thing to a manly figured her kid had to look up to. She couldn't hide her appreciation that she didn't have to toss a ball and teach certain lessons herself she wasn't as qualified for thanks to the young man who played at the club. And she looked at him as one of her own. With an exaggerated defeated sigh she muttered. "Alright ya' old Tom cat. But under one condition."
His eyes glinted with glee. "Anything Kat."
She dropped her smile. "You two can go out to your little speakeasy tonight 'long as you keep a close eye on him…."
He nodded vigorously.
"...if you're up tomorrow morning to help me deliver food to the shut ins."
The light in his eyes died quickly as his smirk dropped. But with a twist of a lip in consideration he brought it back and mumbled an agreement.
"So it's a deal then?" She held out her hand. "7am is gonna come mighty early if y'all fool around too much…."
The boy took a moment before rolling his eyes and shaking her hand. He kissed it quick and tipped his weathered hat before hopping off his stool to tell her son the good news.
She chuckled lightly as she went back to shining the glass. She felt her bosses eyes on her as he mixed a drink and gave him a playful wink.
"Don't worry Jimmy, a mother knows best."
The man frowned back. "I don't Katherine...I think that boy's a hell of a lot of trouble...I don't know why you let your boy spend so much time with him. People call him Husker the Hustler ya know….Bad influence if you ask me-"
"Well I didn't," she cut him off curtly. "The little Tom Cat's using up those 9 lives quick but sometimes a little love is all a man needs. I think my baby gets a safe way to sew some oats and he gets a bit of trust and responsibility."
Jimmy laughed. "We had more preachers with your optimism we'd have fewer hooligans you know?"
Katherine sat bolt up right, immediately regretting the rush to her head. She knew Kat had sounded familiar. Something felt too familiar about this hotel and it gave her a chill she wasn't used to since her ascension. She shivered and climbed out of bed. She needed some air. Rubbing her arms, she made her way out of her room and into the hallway.
Alastor was pacing his suite. The radio no longer picked up the sounds from the lobby and he assumed all had gone to bed. He never slept. And he certainly wouldn't tonight.
Assured that he could hear nothing around the hotel, he melted into the shadows and reappeared in the kitchen, setting to work on making hot cocoa. He hummed quietly to himself as he boiled milk and chocolate in a pan. Adding a dash of chile powder. It wasn't his usual static hum...but a normal...human voice.
"You're up late."
He almost knocked the pan from the stove. He wasn't used to being snuck up on. And it had been years since it had been his mother's voice to do it.
A young human Alastor, barely 17, stumbled down the street, laughing much too loud for the early morning hours. A swift punch to the arm and sharp "Shhh" did not quiet him, only making him let loose a yowl that seemed to echo down the quiet cobbled street. With a slurred "What'd ya do that for", Alastor took a sloppy swing at his companions arm and almost fell over when he missed.
Husker chuckled, grabbing the younger boys shoulders to steady him. As he steadied him, he gave him a pointed stern look, or at least the best he could muster in his own intoxicated state. "Ali you got about a block to straighten up or your mama is gonna skin me alive."
"M-more than one way to...to…*hiccup* skin a c-cat," Alastor announced, still refusing to lower his voice. He tried to touch his finger to Husker's nose and nearly poked him in the eye in the process. Alastor gave a hearty laugh at his own hilarity. Husker felt himself start to laugh as well, at the vibrato of the corny joke, and the silly way his charge's form swayed like a reed. Alastor was a good bit taller than Husker, but skinny as a rail.
The older boy shook his head and grabbed him by the front of the shirt, pulling him down to eye level. "I'm serious kid. Shut your yap for once. We gotta sneak in quiet."
The two boys dramatically snuck up to the door with over exaggerated drunken tiptoeing and shushing to each other. They slowly creaked the front door open and crept into the dark room. Alastor felt an overwhelming triumph at their exploits...when the light came on, filling the room.
"Morning boys," his mother's voice said sharply. The two nearly jumped out of their skins before turning to her, defeated. She smirked and pointed to the clock. "Three hours of sleep before we gotta leave. Use it wisely." The two boys groaned and started to protest but she silenced them with a wink and a wave. "Deal's a deal," she sang as she moved herself back to bed.
He gathered himself into a luminate smile before turning to see her sitting at the table.
"As are you," he replied evenly. It was so strange to feel so comforted yet ill-at-ease in her presence. The sting of her words still filled him with shame, and he was admittedly, at a loss for words.
"I wanted to apologize." She gave him a smile large enough to match his own. Something in the cat demon's words had touched her. Felt familiar. "Your feline friend made me realize that I shouldn't judge a book by it's cover….or rather a demon by his file." Her smile grew larger at the attempted joke and Alastor gave a bark of a laugh. "I'm curious…" she continued, "why?"
"W-w-why what?" he stuttered back, knowing the answer.
"You were responsible for the death of your own mother and that of another man's." Alastor visibly winced at the statement and turned back to the stove...hiding the dropping of his grin. "You damned the souls of two that were close to you." She felt herself losing her own smile as well. She knew from her file that the cat demon, someone she had treasured in her own life, was here because of the man before her. "And there were six others dead in your wake of much more...purposeful means. Your friend Husker took up for you, despite the ruin you caused him. I wonder why?"
Alastor's heart seemed to speed up, regardless of it's lack of practical need. He had heard Husker defending him over the radio and had been shocked himself. Servitude didn't mean he had to be so kind. And he had given the man a bad run, to be sure. He wasn't sure how to answer that part himself. And it had been a long while since he had thought of the rest. He sighed.
"Do you want some coco if you're going to be here a moment?"
The angel looked at him curiously, cocking her head to the side. "What did you put in it?"
"Chili powder...it's...how my mother used to make it."
The angel held out a hand and was suddenly holding a steaming mug. The level in the pan had grown lower. With a small chuckle he ladled the remaining into his own cup and sat across from her.
"I loved my mother, more than anything." He started slowly, staring into his cup, unable to meet her gaze. "But I made mistakes. I thought cutting a small corner here and there was ok, if it meant providing for...or rather...repaying her for all she had given me. I just wanted her to be proud. Happy. My crimes unintentionally cost another man his mother...and he...well...returned the favor to me."
He glanced up and saw her gaze locked on to him. He could only hold it for a moment before his eyes were down cast again. He felt small. Like a child. "I wanted to make it right. I really did. So I delved into some...darker means. I talked Husker into being an accomplice, taking advantage of him while he was down. And...well...it didn't work. So I kept trying. And I was consumed by it. The trying. So when I failed, all I had left was revenge. The six women...didn't deserve it. But I was blinded at the time. I had tried God. I had tried magic. All that was left to curse the men I hated was earthly carnage…."
"I think I knew him…" she muttered softly, finally breaking her interrogating gaze enough for Alastor to raise his. "...it's fuzzy. But that cat demon was family to me...I think. I had a flash of a memory...he was good to my son."
"Do you remember...anything else?"
The angel looked at the ceiling. Alastor watched in anticipation. But she only shook her head. "I suppose I should remember you though shouldn't I? If you're the one who damned someone close to me we must have known each other as well. I know what you've done but I have no names to attach. I suppose I must have been a victim-"
"No!" He barked. He felt as though the floor would swallow him. She remembered Husker. But….she didn't remember him, her own son. In fact, she only saw him as the monster who damned him.
"I think this situation is more complicated than we had expected," she continued, holding his gaze. "But I also think...that you're the cause of some being here that could have done better." She saw the deer demon resemble...well...a deer in the headlights. She continued. "I think that Husker was misguided, but was trying to do the right thing. And according to your file…..you played into despair and vulnerability...and ultimately led to his devilish deal making that brought him to this place. I think that some people deserve a second chance, because if it hadn't been for you they might have turned out differently." He winced. "I think we need to reconsider the Princess's ideas. And I think that we should discuss ending your patronage. You're a murderer and a scoundrel and I won't let you ruin the good being done here if Michael will agree to it."
Alastor felt his own jaw drop under her steely gaze. His dead heart broke with a pain worse than anything Hell could surmise.
"You have the rest fooled perhaps," she continued. "The others seem to accommodate to you. But you won't trick me."
