Alastor and Vaggie reappeared outside a brightly lit room.
Assuming the worst, Vaggie's eyes flashed in panic, and she muttered, "Please. I don't want anything from you. Just let me…"
Alastor opened the door to reveal the dining room with a large table full of El Salvadoran food.
"…Go?" Vaggie finished as Alastor placed her on her feet.
"Surprise," Alastor said. "All your favorite foods are here, my love. All you have to do is dig in."
Vaggie approached the table and saw fish, rice, bread, fruits, and other El Salvadoran specialties waiting there just for her. Her mouth fell open and she felt herself shed a tear.
Alastor teleported next to her side, placed a hand on her back, ushered her to her chair, and said, "Come, come, my dear. You've been sleeping all week without eating and now you're getting the chance to renew your strength. Please, do sit down and eat."
In an instant, shadow familiars filled Vaggie's plate high with food.
Vaggie wanted to resist, but she knew she needed her strength. So, she sat down and began to eat.
Vaggie ate slowly at first and then more ravenously as her appetite overcame her.
Alastor gazed at Vaggie in love as he took his spot on the opposite end of the table.
"Enjoy, dear," Alastor said, preparing a plate of his own. "And please, don't hurt yourself from overexertion."
After about an hour of silence had passed between them, Alastor was leaning on one arm and watching Vaggie finish her meal with a glass of water. Even when eating and drinking, she was beautiful and couldn't help but lust for her.
Knowing she was being watched, Vaggie looked up and gave Alastor a nasty glare.
Vaggie then stood up and said, "Well, this has been the worst experience of my entire afterlife. I am completely sick of you and your bullshit, so I'm going home!"
Alastor stood up from his chair and protested, "But, my dear, you are home!"
"Like hell I am!" Vaggie snarled back. "Listen to me! Angel is not here anymore, and he is not in any danger from you! So, you can go fuck yourself for all I care because you have nothing on me!"
Vaggie started to walk away from her chair and back to the door.
CLANK!
Vaggie looked down to see her right foot was chained to the table.
"You gotta be kidding me," Vaggie said, sighing at the callback to the first day of her kidnapping.
Noticing Vaggie's sadness, Alastor teleported next to Vaggie, held her close, and said sympathetically, "I get it, darling. It's been hard for me, too."
"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Vaggie yelled, shoving Alastor off her. "You're the one who's been torturing me and Angel for the past week! Then when we looked like we had a chance to get away from you, you dragged me back and hurt everyone who tried to help me! And for what?! Just so you can make me your unwilling arm candy for all eternity?! When are you going to understand that I'm never ever going to love you?!"
"I tried to tame you," Alastor replied. "They just stood in my way. Oh, Vaggie, don't you see? We are perfect for each other. You are just like me!"
Vaggie shook her head in disbelief and replied, "I doubt it! I don't love you. I have never loved you. I love Charlie. I'm never ever going to be yours!"
Without missing a beat, Alastor continued in a voice that was human and completely devoid of any radio static, "My dear, I've been thinking for the past year about why I love you, about these feelings I've had since I first met you. You were so beautiful when you stood up against me. It's hard to put it in words what it made me feel. For the first time in decades, I'm not sure what to say. It made me feel alive. And well…"
Alastor swiftly grabbed Vaggie's hand and placed it on his chest.
Completely surprised by the sudden movement, Vaggie tried to pull her hand away and asked, "What are you…?"
Vaggie stopped talking as soon as she felt Alastor's heart beating. It was beating quickly and rhythmically in a way that she never knew was possible, especially not for creatures of Hell.
Alastor then smiled widely and said, "This is what I have been feeling every time I've seen you in the hotel these past few months. I didn't know why, and it took me weeks to figure out why. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't even eat. I started spying on you so you wouldn't notice me while I watched you go on about your day since you were always on your guard every time you saw me. I took pictures of you in your natural state to understand what I was feeling. It is only within the past month that I have understood why, and I fully could comprehend that I was in love."
Vaggie stared at Alastor, completely taken aback by his statement while he dissolved the chain on her foot.
"Why?" Vaggie asked. "I just don't understand. Why me? Are you really this attracted to me just because I shoved a spear in your face?"
Alastor took Vaggie's hand and said, "Because, my dear, you're different. Normally, I see other sinners as being below me, but I just had to look into your life. I scoured hell, finding anyone who possibly rubbed shoulders with you when you were alive and even asking Lucifer to fill in the gaps. Your struggles were absolutely appalling. The fact that you had to turn to prostitution and everything you did afterwards was even more so. It surprised me that, after all of it, you were a survivor. Just like me."
With the last sentence, Vaggie pulled her hand away angrily and tried to walk away.
"I'm nothing like you," Vaggie argued. "I don't kill for fun! I don't like the kind of entertainment you enjoy!"
Alastor pulled Vaggie back in close, so close that she shuddered at his touch.
"You and I have more in common than you think," Alastor said with a sad smile. "We started out our lives the same way. We wanted our lives to be better when we were starting out, but eventually, we caved to desperation and became something lowly just to survive. We became survivors. Maybe I was never a night lady, but I understand what it is to face discrimination. I was a biracial man living in New Orleans at the height of discrimination, a half-white and half-colored man who could never reveal his true heritage if he wanted to survive. I cannot tell you half of what my poor mother had to endure. In many ways, the world hasn't changed. It is enough to make a man go crazy. When you were alive, you had to endure so much hatred and so much struggle while selling your body to men who didn't love you. It is no wonder you snapped. I did, too. The segregation, the racism, and the systemic violence was ultimately too much to bear. I simply had to resort to killing! It was what I enjoyed! The one thing that kept me sane…"
"I'd beg to differ," Vaggie said, shoving Alastor off her and trying to walk away only for Alastor to appear in front of her again.
"I did what I had to so I could survive among the plebeians who crossed my path," Alastor argued. "Just like you did."
"I don't stand by everything I did, but I only did what I did to help take care of my family!" Vaggie argued back. "Maybe you did face discrimination or whatever, but you didn't have to become a monster! You made that choice yourself! You sold your soul for power! You terrorized innocent people all for your own goddamn ambitions! You don't have any excuse, especially considering you grew up under better circumstances than I did! So quit bullshitting me! We have nothing in common!"
Alastor raised an eyebrow and asked, "Ever wonder why I practice voodoo?"
"I don't know. Maybe so you can gain Lucifer's power and build your own kingdom like every other fucking demon in this hellhole?" Vaggie asked.
Alastor shook his head and said, "Vaggie, dear, you should know that I have never cared about having the most power. I just wanted to have enough power to be untouchable to anyone who would dare to get in my way, and there's no security like power. Sure, I had to sacrifice many to get to where I am, but it was more than worth it for me to be where I am now. When I was alive, I thought that my power and my devotion to the dark ones would be enough to keep my enemies away. But alas, that was not meant to be."
In the background, Alastor's shadow illustrated Alastor getting shot by a hunter.
"You were and are a fucking psychopath," Vaggie spat back angrily. "You murdered dozens of innocent people."
"I'd say it was closer to hundreds," Alastor corrected with a playful shrug. "And they weren't all innocent. Most of them couldn't carry a tune to save their lives."
Vaggie stared down Alastor in disgust and said, "Like I said, you're a goddamn monster."
"Oh, what does it matter?" Alastor asked with a shrug. "All the sinners on earth did something to deserve death, I'm sure. Just like how all the sinners here have done something to deserve to be here and will never ever leave. We're all monsters at the end of the day. We are incorrigible and irredeemable. We can't do anything to change that. No matter how badly Charlie wants us to."
Vaggie cocked an eyebrow at Alastor insulting her girlfriend and asked, "Excuse me? Why are you insulting Charlie?"
"You mean besides the fact that she's my romantic rival?" Alastor asked with a chuckle. "Don't get me wrong. I admire Charlie's talents and her smile, but you must admit she is unbearably naïve. She doesn't understand that us sinners are damned. We have been justly punished for our wrongdoing. We deserve what we've got, and we're all too hopelessly corrupt to change. The continued actions of myself and my colleagues prove that much. Charlie may have pure intentions about helping us, but she doesn't realize that we're hopeless. It's rather pathetic really."
Vaggie crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow, and replied, "Are you finished? You're wrong, Alastor. Angel has changed. I had my doubts, but he has proven himself to be a good person. He protected me from you. He treats Charlie with respect, and he has only kept improving from there. He may well be the first demon to ever redeem himself. And when that day comes, you'll know you were wrong."
"Maybe, maybe not, only time will tell," Alastor said shrugging as he wrapped an arm around Vaggie's waist and snapped his fingers, summoning his familiars to clear away the table. "Any who, dear, it's getting late. We need to bathe so we can both be fresh as daisies for our wedding day."
Vaggie's eye widened in fear as she muttered, "Bathe?! OH, HELL NO!"
Vaggie tried to run for the door, but unfortunately, Alastor telekinetically picked her up and pulled her back to his side.
"Come now, darling," Alastor pleaded gently. "It really is very late, and we need to get ready for bed. You should be excited. I have a very special surprise waiting for you once we reach the bathroom."
Vaggie's eyes grew wide and she tried to pull away, but Alastor picked her up bridal style and carried her away amid screams of protest.
