I'm loving the momentum of this fic. And I love that I've been updating it so quickly. We're getting to the story bits I've had on ice since I started this fic a month ago. I can't believe I've posted twelve of these in that amount of time, but I'm happy this one celebrates the one month milestone. Enjoy, everyone!
Melody Dear
Chapter Twelve
Hell's white sun shined through Melody's window, making the bat open her eyes. She sat up, stretched her arms over her head, then climbed out of bed. Today was her first official day as the hotel groundskeeper, and Alastor was going to spend today and the next few days training her. She wanted to be ready on time for him. After all, she got the job because he gave Charlie the go-ahead. She was grateful for that.
Melody hopped into her shower and washed herself, a smile on her face. After helping to clean the remainder of the garbage, Niffty was called out and instructed to thoroughly clean Melody's pants and shoes. Alastor left shortly after, saying he was going to get her something she could work in. The women said goodbye to him before heading back inside to Charlie and Vaggie's room. Charlie gave Melody an old knee-length, pastel pink summer skirt she used to wear, and Vaggie found a pair of black sandals that would fit her. The bat spent the rest of the day in this outfit, and put her blazer in her room shortly after.
They returned to the lobby and informed the others that Melody was now an employee. They were happy for her, if only a little concerned. "Are you okay with this-ss?" Pentious asked her. "I mean, what you said about Alastor..." He trailed off, not sure how to finish his sentence.
Melody gave him a nod. "It was my idea. And Alastor may be supervising me, but Charlie is the boss. He doesn't own me. And if I ever need advice, I know at least three guys I can count on."
They all shared a chuckle at that. Alastor returned in time to make dinner. He gave Melody four bags, instructing her to make sure they fit while he was cooking. She did, and later, was enjoying a nice fish stew together. Alastor even offered to show her how to make it sometime.
Melody felt her cheeks heat up before she turned the shower off. Of course it all fit, but Alastor didn't just buy her a work outfit. But that only took up two bags. In the other two was a new dress and a pair of high heels. With them was a note, welcoming her to the staff, apologizing for the indignity she had to endure outside, and hoping the new clothes made up for it to some extent.
She exited the bathroom wrapped in a royal purple towel, looking at the floor as she walked to her wardrobe. Damn, he was good! Melody couldn't tell what kind of game he was playing, but worse, she was enjoying it in spite of her better senses telling her she should be running. She wanted to play. To be around him. To challenge his wits with hers. Wits, she knew, were far greater than her own.
The outfit Alastor got Melody for work was cross between utilitarian and actually somewhat good looking. It was a pair of dark red, denim overalls with black stripes going up the sides, two pockets at the waist, as well as a chest pouch. On the pouch, the hotel's logo was embroidered in black and white. With it, Alastor gave her thicker, black gloves with white claws, a black t-shirt, a white bandana with holes for her upper ears to poke out of, as well as a pair of black boots that were a fusion between actual work boots and ankle boots with a wedged heel.
Melody got dressed, brushed her hair and teeth, then made her way to the elevator. When the doors opened to the lobby, she Alastor waiting, holding his cane to the floor in one hand, while looking at the claws of his other, humming a tune away. He didn't turn to look at her until she started walking towards him, but when he did, his gave her a wide, toothy smile.
"Ah, right on time! Good morning, Melody Dear!" He said, holding his cane behind his back.
"Good morning, Alastor!" She said. Melody turned her head and used her hand to stifle a yawn, then looked back at Alastor. "So, what's first on the agenda?" She asked him.
He chuckled at her. "First, I need to show you where the shed is. We'll go through the equipment, then get started cleaning up the mess from last night's turf wars," he told her.
She shuddered at the thought of the mess. "Do those ever stop?" She found herself asking aloud.
"Oh, all the time," Alastor said, fanning his face. "And for each one that stops, five more start." He laughed when Melody's ears flattened.
The pair left out the back door and began their descent down the side of the cliff. The ground was uneven, and outside of some patches of dirt, there really wasn't a path to follow. "Why isn't there a path to the shed?" Melody asked as she took her next step. The ground underneath her foot crumbled, leaving her falling forward.
Alastor moved towards Melody and caught her with one hand, his left arm holding her up by the waist, and lowering her so her feet could touch the ground. "Answer your question, Dear?" Melody didn't respond to him, her entire face felt like it was boiling. "Red suits you, Darling," he said, letting her go and dusting off his arm. She almost landed on her face.
They continued to walk until they made it to the edge of the bottom of the cliff, Melody following close behind Alastor. At the base of the cliff, some forty feet away from the far end of the fenced wall separating the hotel grounds from the rest of the city. It was deteriorating, same as the old hotel building, but mostly in tact. And it was certainly more functional than whatever demolished building used to be next to it. Iron, glass and stone laid in and around a shell of a building, its purpose almost completely eradicated from years of damage and neglect.
Melody winced when she noticed the older building, but when she turned her head and saw the garbage and body parts all around and on the iron spikes of the fence, a quiet screech to escaped her.
The Radio Demon turned around before following Melody's line of sight. He chuckled. "Well, looks like I know where we're starting cleanup today. Come along, now!" He said, placing his free arm over her shoulders, half dragging her to the shed.
Melody stumbled to keep pace with Alastor. She only regained her footing once the made it to the door. She looked at the demolished building out the corner of her eyes. All the while, Alastor reached into his left breast pocket, taking out a tarnished gold key ring with two identical keys. He removed one of the keys, then he turned to Melody.
"Here you are, Melody Dear!" He said, holding the key ring out to her. "This key unlocks both the shed and back door. Be sure to keep it safe at all times," he told the amnesiac. Melody took the key from him as if it could break if it were handled too rough, using her fingers to raise the key and its ring to lie on them. The sight made Alastor's eyebrow raise, but other than that, he said nothing.
Alastor unlocked the shed door with his spare key before putting it back in his breast pocket. He opened the door, gesturing with his arm to the entrance. "Ladies first, My Dear," he said.
Melody blushed again and could only nod before walking in. The shed had a smell to it, musty and metallic, and the wood that kept the building up certainly matched the smell, blue fuzz covering many parts of the structure. The tools all had some level of rust on them, but were all neatly organized along the walls and shelves, and were easy to grab. Additional materials were kept on the floor, and were arranged neatly and out of the way of the tools. Additionally, none of the tools were electric or ran on gasoline.
Alastor stepped in and took a deep breath through his nose. He let out a content sigh. "Smells just like my favorite bayou in Louisiana," he said. "Damp air and bloody waters," he added with a laugh, walking past Melody as she flinched. "Let's go through the equipment you'll need to use," he said, turning around and gesturing to one of the walls.
To his surprise, Melody could name many of the tools in the shed. In fact, with the exception of the tree pruner, a few of the saws, and the non-motorized lawnmower, she could name all of the equipment and what they were used for.
They grabbed a couple trash pokers as well as two trash collector bags with a shoulder strap. One was green, and roughly the length of Melody's torso, while the other was red, and roughly Alastor's height. "Now, first lesson," the Radio Demon said as they left the shed. He shut to door behind them before continuing. "Garbage and body parts are both disposed of differently, so you'll need to keep them separated. Green bag for garbage, red for anything that used to breathe," he said, leading her down the hill. "Trash is collected every Friday by the Dirty Gents between 6 and 7 AM, while body parts are gathered daily by Rosie's Emporium at 7 PM. Part of your job will be seeing that these two companies are the ones collecting our waste. If anyone else shows up, come get me or Vaggie immediately," he told her, his eyes narrowing and his voice getting more distorted.
The bat raised an eyebrow. "Okay, that's simple enough. But why would anyone care about our trash?" She asked, walking up beside him and turning her head towards him. "The body parts, I understand. Cannibals have to eat. Why's the garbage so important?" She said, poking some newspaper and putting it in her green bag.
The Radio Demon chuckled. "Oh, there's a few reasons. For example," he started, pulling a strand of Melody's hair off her head. The bat screeched at him in response, giving him a pout and a glare. "I could use this one strand of hair in a snare potion, which would trap you within my vicinity for two whole days. And believe me, you wouldn't want that!" He told her, wagging his finger before lighting the strand on fire. "This is just one scenario. There are many potions and rituals that could be unsavory for us. In addition, garbage can reveal a lot about the people inside the hotel. And I know a certain picture-box host that has attempted stealing our trash many times," Alastor said, rolling his eyes, gesturing in a way that seemed dismissive.
A chirp came out of her. "Vox?" She questioned, her muscles tensing, her eyes widening, and her lips morphing into a frown.
Alastor nodded with a hum. "Yes, My Dear. But don't fret about him. It's usually obvious, and there are procedures in place to avoid it," he said, giving Melody a pat on the head. "Don't worry about it now, though. We have a fence to clean up!" He told her.
Melody's ears became parallel with the ground, but she did get started before speaking again. "Why does Vox care about what goes on at the hotel? He's an overlord, and from what Charlie and Vaggie said, he doesn't care about redemption. It's not a threat to him," she said.
"It's not, but I am," he told her. The bluntness of his statement gave her pause. "Information is power. Vox knows this, so he does anything and everything to get it. And the fact that I work with Charlie now, he has every reason to want eyes and ears here," Alastor explained, poking at a few more pieces of garbage.
Melody poked a hand and head, stewing over Alastor's words as she bagged the parts from two different corpses. She poked five different wrappers and bagged them, then began moving toward the fence alongside Alastor. "Because even though Charlie's kind, she's still the Princess of Hell. And if you and her were to strike a deal or try anything against the Vees, he'd have no way to counter you otherwise," she said as they approached the spikes of the fence.
Alastor turned back to her with a relaxed smile. "You really are something else, Melody Dear. Now, pay attention! I'm going to show you the proper way to remove a skull from an iron post."
Melody's ears perked up as she listened to Alastor talk. However, as he spoke, her lower ears twitched up and down, a light whirling sound reaching them. A sound she convinced herself was the start of the morning turf wars.
Vox watched the early morning drone footage, glaring at the screen. "This could be an issue," he said to himself, elbows on his chair arm, and flat face on top of his folded hands as he leaned forward.
He had seen this girl on screen only twice before. The night when Angel Dust carried her into the hotel, and yesterday afternoon, when she asked Little Miss Bleeding Heart for a job. She was a free soul, but she chose to work under the Radio Demon. This wasn't a concern. Who cares if Alastor was trying to get one more soul? One wasn't a big bolster in power, especially for Alastor. But, seeing him interact with and train this girl, Vox was starting to change his tone.
The girl followed through on the tasks Alastor gave her, but more urgently, she was smart. She asked the right questions, and she was taking to the facts like a horse to water. Alastor didn't have to say everything to her, she could piece things together on her own. And as their day continued, whenever she wasn't clarifying how to go about doing her job, she questioned Alastor's procedures, as well as their importance.
Vox sat back, taking a deep breath before letting it out slowly. Demons like this weren't very common. He could see why Alastor was after her. And if he succeeded, Vox got the feeling she'd be the biggest pain the Radio Demon got his hands on in a while. That. Could not. Happen.
He started a video call with the only person he could trust with what needed to be done next. "Good morning, Velvette! Listen, I need you to dig up anything you can about a demon named Melody," he told her, blitzing through the pleasantries. The less time he took away from her, the more likely she was to help him as soon as he needed it.
Velvette rolled her eyes. "Easy shit. What's so interesting about this bitch?" She asked, giving her business partner a raised eyebrow.
Vox shrugged, frowning. "Don't know. But Alastor does. She works for Lucifer's brat now, and that smiling freak has been giving her special attention. We need to know why," he told her.
She scoffed at him. "Fine. I'll get started when the shoot is done."
Finally getting some of the baddies in this. I can't tell you how long I've been itching to get to this point. Thanks for reading!