We are back with Chapter 2, it's time for our troop to meet Hell's latest arrival;)
Chapter 2: Checking In
The lobby of the Happy Hotel was quiet, besides the sound of the clock which had just struck midnight. Charlie, Vaggie, and Nifty were sitting in front of the fireplace while Angel Dust and Husk were playing poker at the bar.
"That was some day, huh?" Charlie sighed, and Vaggie smiled.
"It was…exciting, that's for sure…Listen, Charlie, are you absolutely sure you wanna trust Al?" Vaggie was having a hard time letting go of this new partnership, but Charlie had assured her time and time again that it would be fine.
"Vags, I really think he wants to help, and we could use it, I mean look at this place?" She gestured her hand to their surroundings. The hotel was clean, the rooms were made, and the fridge was full. It actually looked livable now, and it only took Alastor a snap of his fingers to do it. At the end of the day, they needed the investment, whether Vaggie liked it or not.
"Well, I'm just saying that-knock, knock, knock." It came from the main entrance door and the girls looked anxiously at each other "Who could that be?"
"Angel, could you grab that?" Charlie asked, and he sighed as he hopped off the bar stool.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, but if it's a hooker soliciting I'm taking it, no questions asked." Vaggie rolled her eyes.
As he opened the door, he realized it was not a hooker, but in fact a female sea siren (a type of demon race that inhabited one of the seven rings of hell). Her skin was dark teal, and she had icy neon-colored specks that spread around the exposed parts of her body. Her eyes were a glowing yellow, and her hair flowed down her back in loose waves. It matched the color that was embedded into her skin. She was short, slim, and had an hourglass build. Angel would have described her as striking and out of place, but also, not, at the same time. She wore a long, black skirt that slit at her thigh, with a black bell-sleeve shirt that slightly exposed her chest and accentuated her waist. She was adjusting the suitcase in her hand when she looked up at him and smiled.
"Hello, is this the Happy Hotel? I'm sorry it's late, but I'm looking for Charlie Morningstar?" he gave a flirtatious smile.
"Why would you want to waste your time looking for Charlie, when I'm much easier to find?" He was suddenly struck in the back of the head with a book. "Knock it off!" Vaggie shouted. "Sorry tootze."
"Hi, I'm Charlie! Are you here to be redeemed!?" She sprinted to the young demon at the door, grabbed her hands, and squealed with excitement.
"Er-no, not exactly, may I come in?" She nodded and invited her to take a seat on the sofa.
"Can we offer you something to drink?" The strange girl simply smiled but declined.
Now, everyone was in the lobby, and even Husk, who normally wouldn't give a fuck, was just as curious to know who the woman was sitting in front of them. "How can we help you?"
"I've actually been sent here to help you." Now everyone was confused.
"You see, I'm not actually a demon, I'm-" Suddenly from out of nowhere, Angel popped up from behind the sofa and sniffed the young woman's hair. "Well you sure as shit ain't human, but she don't smell fully demon either?" Vaggie grabbed him by one of his legs and threw his ass on the couch "Could you not be yourself right now?" he unapologetically shrugged.
"Uh- no, I'm not human…I'm an angel…from heaven?" Their eyes widened.
"What in Lucifer's name are you doing here?" Vaggie was the first to react.
"Well, I actually saw Charlie's interview on the news, and, I wasn't the only one, he saw it too." Everyone knew who she was referring to, but at the same time, couldn't fathom the thought.
"So, God, wants to help with the hotel?" Charlie was surprised, the interview was a disaster, she couldn't have imagined making that big of an impression on someone so important.
"Potentially…it's complicated. Just like with redemption, it isn't black and white, and Heaven won't be announcing its support publicly or anything like that either, at least, not right away. The higher-ups want to see if this hotel can reach its potential and isn't just a passing fancy. They need to see some sort of progress before they even consider moving forward."
"What kind of progress?" Vaggie asked.
"God is giving you one month to redeem a soul from this hotel. If you can do that, then they will consider amending the circumstances needed to get into Heaven, and will publicly give you their investment and support." At face value, it seemed a simple enough task, but everyone who knew what Charlie was trying to do, knew it was no easy conquest. Now they only had a month to do it?
"So, what? Are you just here to tell us all this AMAZING news?" Angel seemed pissier than before. It seemed the high he had that afternoon was wearing off, and leading to some withdrawal.
"No, I'm here to make sure this plan is successful. I'm your liaison, your temporary assistant, and I will help contribute towards your efforts. I possess the unique ability of "sight" which is what the angels who used to help with rehabilitation would harness in order to redeem demons.
"Sight?" Nifty asked.
"Sight, it's the ability to see into the past lives of souls and create a personalized plan for redemption and entrance into heaven." The girl was trying hard not to sound like a robot, but she wanted to be as transparent as possible. "So you can look at any one of us and know how we died?" Angel asked.
"Yes, would you like me to show yo-"
"NO, THANKS." he cut her off, almost desperately. She could understand why, a person's human life & death were just that, personal. She'd never dreamt of extorting anyone with this power, but no one needed to know that, yet.
"Look, we all know the odds are against you, every one of you. Whenever a soul appears in Hell it's essentially a permanent sentence, never, to be changed. It isn't fair, and that's why I'm here, to try and restore this uneven balance. There's no underlying motive because whether you succeed or not, Heaven and Hell will still move forward, but how they move forward, well that's entirely up to you." The girl finally met Charlie's gaze, and urged her to take this chance.
"...Alright! You want to help, you got it!" She got up and shook the young angel's hand. This deal was dealt for her, and she knew she needed to take it. The girl returned the gesture. "Wonderful, we start tomorrow!" Everyone else didn't seem as optimistic, but they were there, and that's all Charlie cared about. "Let's get you checked in." She walked the girl over to the front desk when a thought suddenly occurred to her. "I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name."
"Not a problem it's-*whoosh*" A powerful gust of wind suddenly blew open the hotel doors. The room quickly grew dark, and a loud static sound filled the young women's ears. She had to place her hands over them to drown out the awful noise. "AL DON'T BE RUDE!" Charlie shouted and with a sudden rush everything went back to normal, except that now a tall slender man was standing right in front of her. "Sorry my dear, but you know how I love theatrics!" The deer demon's sharp, fang-like teeth bared into a smile, and his voice sounded like a 1925 radio ad. He looked dapper and was dressed in different hues of red and black. He wore a singular monocle and held a microphone staff in his hand. The young siren looked up at the being before her, not with terror, but with morbid uncertainty.
"I sensed a new figure in the hotel and had to come down and introduce myself! My name is Alastor, and it's a pleasure to meet you, sweetheart. Quite a pleasure!" He took her hand and shook it vigorously.
"C-Charmed, I-m s-ure." The girl's body was moving with the motions of the handshake, but she tried her best to respond. "Alastor here is one of the hotel's investors and is also known in Hell as the Radio Demon. Alastor this is our new friend…uh?" The girl spoke up "Lena." Charlie gave her a warm nod.
"This is our new friend, Lena, I can fill you in on the details later, but she was just about to check in." Al kept smiling, and the woman tried her best to act complicit. "Allow me to escort you to your room, I'll grab those bags!" Lena halted in handing them over "It's quite alright you don't have to-"
"Now what kind of a gentleman would I be if I let you lift those heavy things all the way up the stairs by yourself?!" She mentally rolled her eyes "A gentleman huh? Is that what he calls himself nowadays?" However, she decided not to push the issue any further, she didn't want him becoming skeptical of her. So, she nodded and returned to the sign-in book. There were only six names listed so far, and it was everyone she already met, but as she filled out her information Alastor gave instructions to Nifty;
"Nifty dear, please put our guest in room 668, I believe she will be the most comfortable there!"
She seemed confused "Sir, are you sure about that? You gave Charlie and me specific instructions not to"
"Nonsense! It's perfectly alright, just give the young belle her key!" Charlie also had a look of confusion on her face, but let it quickly dissipate. "Well. I guess I'll let Al here escort you, and we can-uh, start tomorrow! Thank you, Lena…for giving us a chance." She seemed sincere, and Lena felt her heart sympathize with the princess. She really meant every word she spoke, and Lena felt that was a rarity here. She gave a confident nod and glanced over to Alastor. "Lead the way." He smiled, his fangs beaming again as he extended his free arm for her to take. She hesitated and very unwillingly took it.
She noticed the faces of the other guests as they made their way up the stairs, some had looks of concern, others curiosity. She needed them to trust her, but that might prove more difficult than she originally thought. They trekked up the stairway, and at first, there was total silence between them. However, it wasn't long before Alastor started to hum, and it was a tune that Lena was all to familiar with.
Puttin' on the Ritz, a popular song that came out in 1929. She felt herself unknowingly smile, and this caught his attention right away. "Ah, so you do smile?! She went back to a blank stare, "I never said I didn't." and continued walking.
"Well, you should do it more often! It's lovely!" Her cheeks flushed. She needed to change the subject. "So why room 668?" He laughed. "I didn't think putting a supposed heavenly being in room 666 would be appropriate. This part of the hotel is private, and if you intend to help fill this place up, then this is the best choice." She shot him a look, "So you didn't just feel my presence earlier? You were listening?" He nodded.
"I'm not always listening, but when it's necessary, then yes. I'm an investor, my dear, it's what I do…protect my investments that is." She decided to ask another question.
"Why?" he continued walking "Why?! Well because financially it's the correct way to go about-"
"No- not why are you protecting your investment, why are you investing at all? I know it's not because you believe in the mission, so, why is the Radio Demon so interested?" She wasn't sure where this surge of authority came from, but she didn't care, she wanted to know.
"So you do know who I am huh?! I wasn't sure if you lot even had access to the picture shows!" He dodged her question, but that wasn't surprising.
"It's my job to know. So, how about enlightening me with an answer to my question." His demeanor changed, less overjoyed, more suave, and sneaky.
"I have a couple of questions of my own sweetheart! So how about this, a question, for a question. We're about halfway up, that should at least get us through our most burning ones!" Lena thought it over and decided to indulge him. "Fine, I'll go first, after all, you say you're a gentleman, so you know how the saying goes; Ladies first." He thought the angel's wit and swiftness were commendable, and not at all what he expected. "Of course!"
"Why is one of Hell's major overlords interested in funding a redemption project?"
"Charlie has created a large amount of chaos over this charming place, and I LIVE for chaos. You're right young lady, I don't believe in redemption, but stirring up the lives of the other comfortable slumlords that reside in this world of brimstone? Why, that's the most entertaining thing to happen here in decades! So if I can assist in furthering that along, well it's worth every penny." Lena didn't believe that was the whole story, but she was confident that some parts of it were true. "Alright, your turn." They had two floors to go.
"Why, out of all God's beings, did he decide to send you? You have no significance in the heavenly hierarchy that I'm aware of, and any dealings in Hell, if any, are usually handled by that little fellow on the wooden stick." She tried not to laugh.
"Cross, and yes, but this is a different matter. It was my suggestion in the first place, so God is allowing me the chance to prove there is some merit to all of this." Her turn.
"What if Charlie does redeem a soul? What will you do then?" He smiled deviously.
"Oh, on the contrary, I'm counting on it. You see dear, I said I didn't believe in redemption, as in myself wanting to be redeemed. However, I'm planning on Charlie trying her absolute best to find a way, and the closer she gets, the more the other overlords start to sweat. But, even if it doesn't happen, I lose nothing either way!" The demon's beliefs were diabolical to the very core, but why should she have expected anything different?
"Now, tell me, when exactly did you die?" Lena froze. She had never mentioned anything about being human-born. He continued "You knew that little tune I was humming earlier. I wasn't aware that Heavenly beings listened to mortal music." It wouldn't change anything, she was an angel now, that's all the merit she needed. "Technically any angel can listen to mortal entertainment if they wanted to, but yes, I was human, a long time ago." They reached her door. "Well, thank you for the escort Alastor, and I hope you have a nice eveni-" A clawed hand came rapidly towards the side of her face and into the door as she turned around. She let out a small impulsive shriek of surprise, Alastor's smile looked a little more forced this time. "You didn't answer my question, my dear." She wasn't scared (despite her shriek), in fact, she grabbed his clawed hand and pulled it out from the wood, allowing it to fall back to his side. "October 1930." He quickly changed right back to his overzealous self "What a fine time that was! You certainly missed some entertaining years, but I'll bet you're all caught up! Now get a good night's rest, and perhaps think about smiling more! I always say-"
"You're never fully dressed without one." she tried to stop herself, but it was too late. She couldn't believe what she just came out of her mouth. Al was still smiling, but his face was suddenly blank, almost like a real radio, and he just kind of stood there. He quickly shook himself out of it "Yes, exactly!" She didn't wait a second longer "Well-uh, goodnight!" She swiftly opened and slammed the door shut behind her, locking it instantly.
She held her breath and waited for his footsteps to move away from the door. After a minute or so she heard another door open and close. So, his room was on this floor, and across from hers, of course it was. She felt herself sigh and slump against the door, her body sliding slowly onto the carpet. This was unexpected. She knew he was here, but it had been almost fifteen years since she even glanced in his direction. She never would have thought he would be HERE, and to make matters worse she almost outed herself. If he knew, well who knows what he would do…well, she guessed, perhaps nothing. A familiar pain in her chest surfaced, and she felt tears threatening to fall. Why would he do anything? It wouldn't matter, because she didn't matter. He made that quite clear all those years ago, nothing had changed.
She pushed herself up and slipped into her silk nightgown. As she crawled under the covers of her big soft bed, she tried to forget about what happened. She had a mission to focus on, and that deer demon that broke her heart wasn't going to get in her way. She hoped.
