Chapter 2

Charlie and Vaggie arrived at an old, abandoned, run down building at the edge of town. Charlie pulled out a key and unlocked the door. As the entered, Charlie told Vaggie, "Welcome to the Happy Hotel! It's…what I'm calling this place right now…work in progress. It's not much, but…I did manage to get the power and water up and running the other day, so…there's that."

Vaggie looked around and took it all in. The whole place was a bit of a mess. There were some loose floorboards, the carpet had clearly seen better days, and there was a bit of a musty smell to the whole place. It was…very different from what she was used to up in Heaven. All the same, it had a nice, welcoming presence and it felt…safe. Plus, the lights were on, and there was some nice furniture in the lobby. She turned to Charlie and said, "It's amazing."

Charlie blushed a little and said, "Thanks…dinner should be ready in about an hour. Would you like some tea while we wait."

"Tea sounds great."

Charlie led Vaggie to the kitchen, where there were two little dragon-goat hybrids making some soup. She smiled at them and said, "Razzle, Dazzle, meet Vaggie. She's gonna be joining us tonight."

Vaggie smiled and said, "Wow…they're adorable. They help out around here or something?"

"Yeah…they were a birthday gift from my dad a while back. Being Princess of Hell has its benefits, I guess."

She took two mugs out of a cabinet and started making some tea. One of the goats started leading Vaggie into another room.

"Um, where is he taking me?"

"Oh, don't worry, Dazzle's just gonna treat your wound."

Vaggie hesitated. "I…I think I'm good, Charlie."

"Well…I would at least let him check you out. I was really only able to give you some first aid back there. That eye socket could get infected or something."

And so, Vaggie reluctantly followed the goat into the next room. He removed her bandage and treated her eye with an ointment of some kind. It wouldn't grow back, but she felt better almost immediately. She then asked the goat, "Hey, so…is patient confidentiality a thing here?"

He nodded, then she said, "Good…'cause…that's not my only wound." She then showed him the brutal scars on her back where her wings used to be. He examined them for a bit, then returned with a grim look on his face.

"That bad, huh?"

Dazzle nodded his head. She sighed and said, "I was afraid of that. I guess those'll take a while. Can you at least…keep them from being infected in the meantime?"

He nodded his head and rubbed some stuff on them.

She told him, "Thanks."

She returned to the kitchen, where Charlie gave her a mug of tea and asked, "How you feeling?"

"Better. Dazzle's a good healer."

"I know. Let's wait out in the lobby until dinner's ready."

Charlie led her out into the lobby, where she lit a fire in the hearth and drank tea with her. Vaggie sat in a particularly comfy chair and almost fell asleep. Charlie noticed this, and asked, "Hey, uh, you okay there?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, just…tired, I guess. Rough day, y'know?"

"I bet. Good thing I found you."

"Yeah. I'm…probably just gonna go to bed after dinner."

Just then, Charlie remembered, "Oh! I completely forgot! Um…so this is awkward…but…this place still needs a TON of renovations, and I haven't really been able to set up any other rooms yet."

"Oh…"

"Um…well…okay…how about I just let you use my bed, okay? Just for tonight, at least…anyway. You've had a tough day, so…I can manage."

Vaggie blushed and said, "Oh…thanks but…I don't wanna put you out…"

"Nope.", Charlie replied, blushing a little herself. "You are the guest, so I insist. I can take the couch tonight."

Vaggie realized there was no negotiation on this issue. "Okay."

A moment later, a cat with one eye leaped into Vaggie's lap and sat down there. Charlie smiled and said, "Aww, looks like Kiki likes you."

Vaggie said, "Oh. Nice to meet you, Kiki." She started petting her, and smiled as she started purring.

A few minutes later, dinner was ready. The two of them sat down as Razzle and Dazzle brought out bowls of soup and some fresh bread. As they started eating, Vaggie looked at Charlie and asked, "So…why a hotel?"

Charlie became a little flustered and blushed a little as she said, "Oh…uh, just…an idea I have. It's…dumb, really…you don't wanna hear it."

With sincere interest, Vaggie said, "Try me."

Charlie took a deep breath and said, "Well…as Princess of Hell…I can't just stand by and watch thousands of souls get slaughtered every year."

Vaggie looked down in discomfort. "…yeah…"

"And…I want to do something about it. So…I've been thinking. The whole reason the angels come down here is because Hell is overpopulated, right? So…I figure if I give sinners a shot at redemption, maybe they can get into Heaven. And…I could use this hotel as a place to rehabilitate sinners."

Vaggie considered this for a moment. Something like this had never even occurred to her. All she could say was, "…huh."

Charlie started to deflate as she said, "Yeah, I know…dumb idea, right?"

"I didn't mean it like that.", she quickly replied. "Although…truth be told, Charlie…I really don't know. I've always believed your one shot at Heaven was through what you did in life; once you die…that's it. I've just…never considered the possibility of what you do in the afterlife." She paused a moment and said, "It's a very nice idea, though. Who knows…maybe it COULD work. Worth a shot at any rate, right?"

Charlie smiled a little. "So…does this mean you believe in my cause?"

Vaggie replied, "I don't know yet. But…this is YOUR idea, so my opinion shouldn't matter as much as your own. So…do you truly believe in this cause?"

Charlie paused a moment, and stated, "Yes."

"Then you have my support."

Charlie was touched to hear this. "Thanks, Vaggie. That means a lot."

"Of course. It looks like you could use all the help you can get.", she replied. A moment later, she said, "This soup is amazing, by the way."

She smiled and said, "Thanks…it's my mother's recipe."

"Well, give her my compliments."

"I can try.", she replied. "I…haven't heard from her since she left."

Vaggie sensed this was a touchy subject. "Oh…sorry."

"It's fine.", she replied. Wishing to change the subject she gestured toward her spear and asked, "So…how'd you get that? That's gotta be a cool story, right?"

Vaggie was caught off guard. Would she accept her if she knew she was an exorcist? She seemed kind enough, but…it had only been a few hours, tops. This wasn't the time. But she didn't want to lie. So, she said, "Yeah, I…uh…there was an exorcist trying to kill a kid. I don't know what came over me…I didn't know this kid…but for some reason, I just…couldn't let it stand. So…I intervened. The kid escaped, but…". She gestured toward her missing eye. "Anyway, I guess the angel dropped it or something."

Charlie was enamored. "And you only escaped with a missing eye?!"

"Uh…yeah…" She wasn't sure what to say to that so after a moment, she stated, "Well, I guess I've always been told I'm 'one tough bitch', so…y'know, there's that."

Charlie stated, "Still, against an exorcist…that's impressive. You must've been quite the fighter in life."

Vaggie wasn't sure what to say. Avoiding eye contact, she shamefully stated, "I…don't really wanna talk about it right now."

Charlie looked at her without judgement and said, "Oh…well, that's okay."

Vaggie smiled at her, and the two of them resumed eating.