A/N: Trigger warning for all Vaggie lovers. You're either gonna hate this, or this is gonna hurt. Either is considered an acceptable outcome of this chapter.

In fact, be prepared if you stay. Things are going to get rough for her at first.

In her personal opinion, Vaggie felt like she had to deal with enough shit as it was.

Their only actual guests were a steampunk obsessed snake and a now former porn star.

Their doorman was a drunk cat who's vocabulary didn't seem to expand past 'fuck you'.

Their housemaid was a three foot cyclops who took bug killing way too seriously.

Their facility manager was an unrepentant serial killer and cannibal.

Such a wonderful combination of people would most certainly lead to the most peaceful of days, right?

That's what Vaggie thought.

It was hard enough to keep the Hotel's occupants from killing each other without threatening to actually hurt them in some way. Alastor's constant badgering of Angel wasn't doing him any favors in that regard.

The cherry colored prick had been relentless in his passive aggressive questions. Every so often when they were in the same room, Alastor tended to randomly pop off with some kind of question to Angel about the Wraith.

They were usually structured in a way to make them seem like random questions, but the topic of discussion always remained the same.

Understandably, Angel was more than hesitant. Though, whether for his own reasons or because it was Alastor in general, Vaggie wasn't entirely sure. What she did know is that she was at least happy the spider wasn't giving in to the Overlord's demands.

Still… it didn't make it any easier.

"Oh, I bet he hides away in his factory!"

"Al, I already told you… I ain't saying shit."

By this point, any fear seemed to have evaporated, and it had only been a day. Now, Angel was just beyond annoyed, and even Husk was shooting his master an open look of frustration as he accompanied the spider currently cupping a glass at the bar.

"Oh come on, what's a few secrets between friends?"

Angel's expression went flat.

"You think I'm disgusting. Now fuck off."

Vaggie could give him this, Angel stood his ground when it came to keeping his secrets. What she and Charlie had already learned about him had been hard enough to come by, so it honestly didn't surprise her that the spider was being openly adamant in his refusal.

Not to mention that she supposed anyone guaranteed protection from him would have reason to be a little confident.

Nonetheless, Alastor's reputation wasn't unearned, and the static crackling in his voice as Angel once again promptly turned his attention away was enough for Vaggie to feel the need to step in.

"You're an Overlord, find the info yourself." Vaggie injected herself into the conversation with a raised eyebrow, stepping up and catching the eyes of all three men as she crossed her arms. "He's said no a thousand times already. Give it a rest, Alastor."

"I'm merely curious!" The demon sounded like an unruly child, stubbornly declaring entitlement to whatever info he saw fit. "Is it so wrong of me to ask questions?"

"When you've been told to stop with the questions plenty of times already, then yeah, I'd say so."

Vaggie couldn't hide the smirk when she spotted a signature eye twitch that displayed the Overlord's annoyance. For how much he got under her own skin, the angel enjoyed ever time she successfully returned the favor.

"Now come on, leave him alone." She couldn't believe she had to step in like they were children, but she supposed she couldn't expect any better.

Self-awareness was rare among demons, and Overlords were no different. Not even Alastor.

So it wasn't unexpected that she'd have to actively step in like a watch dog.

Alastor kept his wide-eyed gaze on her for a moment, silently thinking over his available options for a moment, and Vaggie unconsciously reached for her spear the longer he took to acknowledge her.

Until he abruptly stood up, seemingly back to his normal self.

"Very well, I suppose you're correct." Alastor's words were polite and succinct.

Vaggie immediately questioned them, but not openly. No, right now, she was just thankful that Alastor's unpredictable nature seemed to be working in her favor at the moment.

There was enough there for her to decipher some things about the demon, signs like that were inevitable. She knew for certain that nothing meant more to the Overlord than his ego, and on some level, that made him just as frail as his victims.

But Alastor's power was nothing to scoff at, and his true motivations were too questionable for Vaggie to take any risks. Honestly, having him in the Hotel felt too much like a wild card already.

There simply wasn't enough for Vaggie to feel completely comfortable with his presence. To be point blank, she put up with him because Charlie thought he seemed to be a genuine help, and the one-eyed girl was loath to admit that he'd at least proven it.

He'd rebuilt the Hotel after both of Pentious' prior attacks, and if it weren't for him, there would probably still be empty spaces where Husk and Niffty were.

But if Vaggie had it her way, she'd have skewered him that night he decided to get cute over the commercial. Despite what he thought, it's not like there's anything the Overlord would've been capable of doing.

The only reason he was still alive was because Charlie seemed to think so highly of him.

Alastor turned and began making his way out of the lobby, disappearing down the hall and to whatever corner of Hell he occupied his time with as Vaggie turned back to the remaining men with a sigh.

"You know I can't stop him from badgering you."

"Hey, I'm just waiting for an excuse to watch him get his ass kicked." Angel admitted with a small grin as he took a swig of his drink, earning a surprisingly amused chuckle from Husk compared to what she expected.

Then again, anything to do with violence against Alastor was bound to amuse the cat.

Nonetheless, a small chuckle escaped the former Exorcist as she hopped up onto the stool next to Angel. With Pentious holed up in his room, Charlie occupied with the paperwork, and Niffty off doing her version of housekeeping, the woman really had nothing better to do but sit and talk.

"On that front, maybe I'll make an exception." She figured a quick joke about what they'd discussed yesterday wasn't anything too bad.

She still wasn't keen on Angel's newfound friendship with the fucking Wraith, but the fact was that she couldn't actually stop him without impeding his progress at the Hotel.

The chances were too high of him reacting violently. Patience and understanding, all that hubbub.

Vaggie understood why it was so important… but that didn't mean she was as well versed in it as Charlie seemed to be. Angel or no.

A laugh escaped the spider at her joke as Husk returned his attention to… another. Clean. Glass.

She didn't understand that. She knew Husk was a heavy drinker, but it wasn't like he was cleaning a leftover glass. Vaggie had watched him pull clean glasses out and go about wiping away at them as if they were covered in muck.

It honestly just seemed like something completely pointless.

Still, she didn't question it, and she hadn't seen anyone else either as she decided to simply focus on Angel.

The spider could drive her up the wall, and she was getting real sick of hunting his hidden drug stashes around the Hotel, but when push came to shove Angel stayed at the Hotel even when it put his life in danger.

She'd learned as much from Charlie, since she'd obviously calmed down and opened back up to people once the former porn star had returned.

And… well, Vaggie could admit that the spider made decent casual company. When you were bored, there was no one better to pass the time with, she could admit.

Unfortunately… Angel's smile faded rather quickly, and a thoughtful frown took over his face as he began to cup his drink closer to his chest.

"Uh… hey, Vags?" Angel jerked his face towards her, but his eyes remained down as he spoke. "You uh… you'd tell us… if you were hiding something, right?"

…

…

"Well, that was way too direct to be a coincidence."

Angel was many things.

Subtle wasn't one of them.

Even Husk had paused mid wipe, glancing at the spider with a raised eyebrow as he too silently questioned where that query had come from.

The former porn star let a sigh escape him as his gaze drifted back towards his glass, and Vaggie didn't miss the way his shoulders began to bunch up in a reclusive manner.

"I just… man, I never was good at the whole subtle thing." Angel admitted outright, before taking a sigh to settle nerves that shouldn't be all that frazzled.

The fact that he was doing that made the bow-haired sinner more nervous herself.

Angel turned his firm eyes to the woman, opened his mouth, and spoke.

"John called this morning. Says you're an Exorcist."

You could hear a pin drop. The tension grew so thick it could be cut with a knife the moment he uttered the words.

Outside, Vaggie remained blank, offering no visible reaction other than a raised eyebrow.

On the inside, she was panicking at the fact that John was the Wraith, and he fucking knew.

"And you believe him?" She tried to play it off. The guy was a psychopath, she had to have some leeway here if no other demons had noticed.

Angel's sigh of annoyance didn't help her confidence.

"You got a fucking X on your eye and use one of their spears." Having it pointed out so bluntly caused Husk to jerk his gaze to the woman now, a wide-eyed look of betrayal on his face.

"So?"

"You're not a very good liar, Vags."

Damn.

He wasn't wrong.

The facade cracked, and a bead do sweat ran down her face.

"Don't tell Charlie."

"Sounds to me like she should know." Husk's words sent an unwanted jolt of dread through the former Exorcist, and her mind didn't even process the fact that he didn't even budge from his spot behind the bar.

Vaggie looked at him and quickly shook her head, adamant in that decision.

"She'll hate me." It wasn't an exaggeration to say that anything and everything she had left was tied to the Princess in some way.

Not to mention Charlie was her entire world.

If she found out that the one she loved was one of the many senseless killers she had been trying to stop… Vaggie didn't see a happy ending.

The cat raised a questioning brow, but inevitably let a shrug of disinterest escape him.

"You know what, don't care. You hate yourself enough as it is."

Normally, that would earn an annoyed growl and a fierce glare, but Vaggie was simply thankful at this point that Husk was willing to let the situation go.

"Well I can't say that." Angel didn't look happy, if anything he looked apprehensive as he turned his head towards the sinner. "I don't have any trouble coming, but he said he'll be here to tell Charlie himself if I don't send you his way."

His expression was much softer, far more sympathetic than it usually was, but it didn't take away from the sense of dread looming over Vaggie's shoulders.

She'd effectively been backed into a corner, and she hadn't even known it until it was too late. Either she went to see the Wraith personally, or her secret was exposed.

They say the past always catches up with you. Vaggie never would've imagined it would catch up so soon.

Despite all the rough bumps in the road, she wouldn't give her time with Charlie up for anything, and it actually hurt, facing that possibility with no way to prepare.

There was no winnable scenario.

Either she confronted the biggest monster in Hell, or Charlie found out about her old hobby of Extermination.

She supposed that was Hell. Something always came up to ruin the happiness.

Always.

But as she sat there, weighing her options, she struggled to decide what the best course of action would be.

On the one hand, it may be best to tell Charlie sooner. She knew what her reaction would be if she went that route, and it was far more preferable to the meeting.

Or, it would be, if it weren't for the former Exorcist's fear of rejection.

Because like it or not, she'd still kept a very important fact about herself secret, and this wasn't the usual kind of secrets that relationships could just brush off.

The more she mulled it over… the more that she came to the most unexpected conclusion she'd have expected.

Angel and Husk both perked up, sharing a confused glance when the purple demon stood to her feet abruptly, before she silently turned and began making her way towards the door.

Neither of them were aware of the whirlwind of thoughts.

The Wraith wanted to speak to her, huh?

She wondered if he'd recognize her among so many screaming faces he'd seen that day.

Traversing Hell was about as easy as one expected. It wasn't enough to just ooze confidence, you had to back it up too.

One quick slash of her spear and its subsequent removal of a sinner's head was usually enough for people to get the hint.

Not many are eager to face a genuine end.

Vaggie would feel better about that if she wasn't going to meet the one guy in Hell who seemed to have some kind of immunity to holy weaponry.

Still, she kept her head held high, and she'd made it to the notorious slaughter factory in no time at all.

She'd admit that Community City was far more acceptable than she gave it credit for, and the angel had been genuinely surprised by how nice the city looked.

Clean buildings tended to do that, she supposed.

The population entirely ignored her, not even throwing her so much as a glance as her guide, a little three foot frog, led her through the massive superplex.

The site alone of the structure was enough to give anyone pause.

For the last four years, half of the entire city had been covered by the veil, hidden behind massive black walls of metal since his rise to power.

One glance, and every demon knew who owned the Pentagram.

The Slaughter Factory towered over any other structure in the city, and there was a reason everybody tended to refer to the entire complex that way.

Of the massive spanning structure, only a meager thirty percent of it was actually the factory itself. The rest of it was the city, locked behind a single fifty foot gate and an expanse of black steel to protect it.

And Vaggie had already navigated through it.

She sat in a surprisingly well maintained office. It was rather plain, blank gray walls staring back at her from every corner, and the color seemed to carry over onto everything.

The desk, the chairs, even the small computer screen… the former Exorcist was fairly certain she was the only thing that broke the room's color repetition.

Her lips were pulled tight together, her finger tapping against her bicep impatiently from where they were crossed.

She sat with one leg over the other, expertly concealing anything the opening in her skirt might expose to her expected guest.

Not that she could stop him if he wanted to do anything, admittedly.

That was the biggest downside to this whole idea in the first place. Vaggie had effectively entered the cage with a feral beast, and she had no clue how it would end.

Though she hid it well, the idea of facing him again…

It was pure terror, in its most primal form.

She tried not to let her fright show when the door suddenly swung open, a pair of heavy footsteps thumping into the room and vibrating the angel's ears as she heard a rumbling voice behind her.

"Sorry about the wait. Had a few snacks left over."

The voice sounded genuinely apologetic, and somewhat amused.

Vaggie remained silent.

"Want a drink?"

"No."

When the behemoth walked into view, a barely audible gasp escaped the woman.

He was every bit as imposing as she remembered, and his weight carried with even the slightest of movements.

Even the way he rested a spiky hand atop his own chair gave the distinct impression that he was about to destroy it completely.

The massive demon, John as Angel called him, took his seat with a sigh of relief on his face, and an eager grin on his face.

"I'll be honest." He spoke as he rested a hand across the desk, a small chuckle escaping past his lips as he leveled a stare at the angel. "I didn't actually expect you to show. You exorcists are usually so damn proud…"

"Says the one living on top of a three hundred foot feeding factory." She wouldn't show an ounce of fear, the behemoth didn't deserve the privilege, and her eyes narrowed dangerously to halt her fear. "You have three seconds to get to the fucking point."

"Straight to it? Alright." He actually had the audacity to give an appreciated nod, before his face fell as he leaned forward and cupped his hands together atop her desk. "I want your soul."

Well, at least he was direct. Considering how Overlords tended to get their souls…

Still, she wasn't leaving without her soul.

"Not a chance." Vaggie refused almost immediately. "I know better than to sell my soul."

"But not enough to tell the truth." His frown was just as fierce as her own, and he even had the room to offer a confident grin. "Or you wouldn't be here."

Vaggie scowled, even though he was absolutely correct.

She wouldn't give him the satisfaction. The bastard didn't deserve it.

"That can still change."

"Sure." He spoke with a casual nonchalance, and he allowed himself to slump in his seat as he offered a grin.

His entire form oozed confidence, and it only served to unsettle Vaggie further.

He knew he was the one with the power.

Vaggie tensed up, sucking in an apprehensive breath, before exhaling as she leveled her eye with his blue hues.

"I don't want anything to do with you." She told him point blank. "I haven't hurt anyone anymore than I've needed to, and I've done nothing to you."

"Except try to kill me." The Wraith retorted with a small grin, his sharp teeth on full display as he began unconsciously rubbing his finger along the metal of the desk.

Vaggie remained quiet.

He wasn't wrong…

"You're a psychopath bent on murder and chaos."

"You sound pretty damn sure of that considering this is the first time I've ever been near one of you without you trying to kill me."

"The first time I saw you, you had a friend of mine hanging from your hand." Vaggie could recall the memory with picture perfect accuracy.

The first time she laid eyes on the Wraith for herself, it was with the unforgettable image of Serena hanging from his hand, as a number of her sisters swarmed him in an effort to bring him down.

It didn't work.

And she watched a good friend fight for her life until he gave an accidental squeeze.

An accidental one.

That's it.

His hand had engulfed the entirety of the poor angel's head, and her suffering ended with little more than an actual 'Oops' and a casual toss.

"And the first time I saw any of you, I watched one of your sisters kill a good friend of mine." His smile faded for a frown as his head tilted in curiosity. "But I suppose since I'm a demon, it don't matter."

"I didn't say that."

"You don't have too."

Three years. That's how long she'd spent with Charlie, and just as much of it was spent helping her set up the Hotel.

Helping her feel like she was actually changing. Doing better.

In Hell.

And one man thought he was about to ruin that?

"I've proven I'm past my demons."

"Sure you have. That's why Charlie doesn't know."

It took everything the angel had not to grit her teeth.

She wasn't used to being the lesser power in a conversation. That usually only happened with Charlie, and even then, the Princess usually let her lead the conversation.

But not only did the Wraith hold all of the cards, he was in control of every single aspect of the conversation.

Vaggie had no leverage. As she'd thought, she'd been backed into a corner.

And in her anger, she lashed out.

"Do you even remember their names?"

"Nope."

His casual answer didn't soothe her in the slightest.

"And you judge me for mass murder?"

"It's Hell." The behemoth answered with nothing more than a shrug, a small grunt slipping past his lips as he pulled himself back to his feet.

Vaggie never broke eye contact as he began to circle the desk.

"You see, Hell is a place of punishment." He spoke as if it were the beginning of a grand speech, and his eyes held her stare as he came to a stop in front of the desk.

Vaggie tensed up at the sudden proximity.

He only had to reach out.

"When we die, we're sent here because of the fucked up shit we did up top."

He raised a loose finger skyward, raising an eyebrow.

"We suffer for eternity, and that is our punishment. Damnation."

His expression hardened, and Vaggie tried to suppress the urge to gulp as he lowered himself to a crouch, his butt to his calves.

Vaggie still had to look up at him.

"So yeah, I take issue when a bunch of self-righteous cunts seem to think it's their job to punish us."

His lips flicked up into a snarl.

A massive gray hand lunged forward, thick finger's curling around the woman's own gray throat, and Vaggie's eyes went wide as a strangled gasp escaped her.

He lifted her from her seat and into the air as if she truly weighed nothing, and the form Exorcist brought her hands up to claw at the hand, even trying to tug on the spikes of his knuckles.

Rumor had it that they were surprisingly sensitive.

Right now, they were as hard as stone, and all Vaggie managed to do was slice her fingers in a panic.

Blue eyes hollowed out into a pair of empty sockets, and a pair of small pinprick pupils blazed into existence with a crimson glow as the beast's very breath began to warm up.

"So… tell me, why the hell should I let you walk out of here?"

"F-Fuck-HRK!" The admittedly stupid insult was cut off rather abruptly and quite harshly as his large fingers closed for a moment.

She assumed it was his way of being gentle, however, considering she'd seen the same grip end many of her sisters in arms on that day.

"You got balls, I'll give you that." The words were just as horrifying as his visage, as his tone dropped to its true demonic pitch.

She swore those dots in his skull actually narrowed.

The bow clad demon's hand lashed out for her spear, trying to jerk it towards him in an act of desperation.

If she didn't get him to at least loosen his grip, Vaggie wasn't going to be breathing for much longer.

Knowing that at his hands, her last breath could be her last, admittedly made the former Exorcist lose her composure fare quicker than usual.

In fact, her composure was entirely out the window by the point, especially when his free hand casually pulled her spear from her grip after another jab towards his chest.

Robbed of her weapon and facing a monster she couldn't even hurt… Vaggie's only hope was to quite literally panic.

The skin around his eyes was gone as well, falling apart as if it were rotted.

Despite that, his mouth was still twisted into a vicious snarl, and he held her gaze as she looked at him with desperate, terrified eyes.

"Kill an Exorcist, own an Exorcist…" His voice traveled humorously, though his gaze was that of a predator eyeing its prey.

By this point, the one-eyed woman had smeared the blood of her shredded fingers across his hand, trying uselessly to pry his grip just a smidgen looser.

And then… a miracle.

With a heavy sigh of irritation, his grip finally loosened, and the angel plummeted to ground.

Her feet failed to catch her, as did anything else, really, as she collapsed entirely to the ground upon landing.

Vaggie was far too busy trying to recover her stolen oxygen on the ground to even think of getting into a more dignified position.

"Ahh…" The sound of his voice caused Vaggie to crane her neck, trying to catch a glimpse of his disgusting face.

His eyes fell… and Vaggie admittedly felt a small bit of relief when she found his hard blues had returned once again.

"Wha…" Admittedly, the former Exorcist struggled to get the words out, her injured throat fighting just to work. "What have I done to you?" Her voice was hoarse, but she still carried just a lot of venom in her words.

Admittedly, it was only to disguise the anguish she felt at her rotten luck.

Her fall started from the moment she first saw him… and she supposed it was fitting in a way, that he would be the end of everything she managed to gain.

And it sucked, being personally targeted for something she left behind. Especially by someone she couldn't stop.

"I ain't one to fuck around." Her question went entirely ignored as he spoke, and she could both feel and hear his footsteps as he circled her like the shark inside him. "So, let me break it down for you."

Once again, she was manhandled as if she were a toy, his hand wrapping around the back of her head and ripping up her up off the floor hard enough to earn a pained scream as she instinctively began to struggle once more.

Only for all the wind to be knocked out of her sails.

He followed up the action by promptly forcing her over the desk, and she could feel his breath on her ear as her fingers dug into the metal.

"You are not a demon."

Vaggie remained quiet, favoring the silver desk in her vision over his face. Not that she could look anyway.

"You hold no power here."

She felt a razor sharp claw begin poking the center of her back.

"And make no mistake, I am in a position where I can do whatever… I… want…" To emphasize his point, Vaggie felt his claw break through her shirt.

And right when he was about to break skin… he let off.

Completely. Both hands left her person as she heard his heavy footsteps moving away from her.

For a moment, the guardian of the Hazbin Hotel was genuinely too afraid to rise up off the desk.

"That said," Suddenly, she was pulled back up off the desk, and it took her a moment to process that her spear was now back in her hands. "I'm not looking to hurt you or kill you."

She watched the Wraith make his way back to the other side of the desk, and Vaggie was admittedly shaky in her action of taking her own seat.

Vaggie tried to level a glare at him, but not only was it not effective in the slightest, but it only served to make him roll his eyes in annoyance.

"Look, I'll tell you point blank, you ain't walking out of this room till I got your soul among the many of mine." He said, frustration apparent as he looked at Vaggie with hard eyes.

"Charlie will come for me."

The Wraith raised a sharp eyebrow.

"You'd let her fight me?"

His voice was actually incredulous.

Vaggie had to admit that the way he asked it surprised her.

Her response didn't, though.

"Of course not."

She put her spear away, it was useless anyhow, but she found herself jumping to her feet as her fists clenched in rage.

He raised an eyebrow. And then another sigh escaped him as he smacked a hand on the table and aggressively stood back to his feet.

"I don't have much patience for Exorcists." He growled the word, disgust tripping from his voice like acid as his eyes narrowed. "I want to be civil for the Princess' sake. But this doesn't end any other way except you marching out of this office at the end of the day without your soul."

Vaggie growled, and her expression turned almost feral as she backed away.

She didn't give a damn who he was. Her soul was hers.

It didn't belong to Alastor, Angel, Lute, Adam, and certainly not this bastard. It was her soul.

Vaggie wouldn't deal it away. It would not be blackmailed out of her.

As much as she loved Charlie, not even the Princess was worth true enslavement.

"Get the FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" She genuinely wasn't sure if throwing the chair as she stumbled away was admirable defiance or angry stupidity.

The Wraith took a step back as the chair folded around his skull from the force it was thrown with. However, it did no more than halt him.

Vaggie slowly inched her way to the door, panting, ready to either bolt or make a run for it as the goliath slowly brought a hand up and quite literally squeezed the metal guest chair off of his face.

For his reputation, the angel could admit that he was surprisingly calm for having just had a chair thrown at him.

It didn't make her feel better.

It didn't calm her down.

She felt like she was in a cage.

And she wasn't sure if she had a key.

His expression remained neutral as his eyes glanced down at the chair.

They widened ever so slightly in what Vaggie couldn't distinguish between disbelief or admiration.

And then his blue hues rose up and found her gaze.

It was a slow, gradual process. And yet, it seemed to progress so quickly.

The right side of his lip twitched up in disgust.

His brow began to tightly furl.

His fingers began to shift around the chair.

His eyes began to widen.

His free hand curled into a tight, deadly fist.

And then… he growled.

"Fine…" He growled it out as a sigh of annoyance.

He hadn't bothered to filter out his utter hatred.

He tossed the chair onto the ground with a thundering bang as Vaggie found herself staring down a pair of blood red eyes sitting a comfortable thirteen feet off the ground.

Her anger faded. A familiar sense of panic took over.

The urgency remained.

She would not lose her soul.

What charged at her couldn't be called a wraith, but a demonic chimera as a horrific roar split through the air of the blank, dead office.

Instincts began to kick in, and the woman just barely managed to avoid getting snagged by a pair of massive and horrifically fast hands.

In both spots where she once was, his hands shattered the marble and vibrated the entire structure.

The fact that anything in all of existence that could be that strong was nothing short of mind-numbing.

There wasn't going to be any blocking his attacks. That much power would liquify her before she even knew what happened, and that was without taking into account the fact that angels were supposed to be invincible.

Except unless this one demon attacks.

She'd watched plenty of her sisters fall by his hand when they'd first faced him together four years ago.

She wouldn't fall here. Not when she was on the verge of doing some good-

He spun around so fast that she barely managed to duck under his arm, and she could only stumble around blindly following her instincts as she honestly struggled to keep up.

There was weight to his very being, so Vaggie genuinely struggled to grasp how a being that big and heavy could move so fucking fast!

The scary thing… was the look on his face.

Focused.

He was a predator on the hunt for his prey, and every move he made was purely calculated.

And Vaggie still couldn't get a lock on her chance to get away. She'd thought he'd been swinging blindly in rage.

He wasn't screaming.

He was merely grunting.

He wasn't swinging blindly, he wasn't even losing it, he was fucking toying with her!

That realization made Vaggie's heart freeze in cold dread.

She could barely keep up.

He was merely having fun.

Genuine. Fun.

"N-No!" Vaggie couldn't help the desperate cry that escaped her lips, as she remembered exactly why she feared this beast.

That's why he was called the Wraith.

Because despite his unmatched strength… there wasn't a soul in Hell that could move faster than him.

It was getting harder and harder for her to stay just out of reach, and eventually…

Her foot caught traction when she didn't want it too.

She didn't even have time to process the fact that his hands had completely missed her, and her spear clattered to the ground.

It was only by luck that it missed her.

The angel's hands came to her chest, her fingers curling nervously as she a pair of angry red eyes grew closer…

And closer…

And closer…

Until a pair of piercing blues were inches from her eyes.

"Do we have a deal?"

Vaggie gulped.

Her head didn't nod on her own accord.

She could hear his hand shifting, feel the air change as he offered his to her without creating any distance.

Her own came to wrest atop his rough palm.

His grip was surprisingly gentle.

That was of no reassurance.

A hollow feeling was left inside of her.

And a subtle but noticeable weight on her neck.

And then, with a sigh of disappointment…

"And I wanted to do this as peacefully as possible too." He pushed himself up, and Vaggie actually screamed and curled in on herself when his heavy foot smashed down on the ground.

But to him, he was just getting up in frustration.

"You're only fucking job is to keep guarding the Hotel." His voice sounded so far away. And yet it echoed through her ears. "I see you anywhere but there, and I will show you how easy you had it."

Vaggie didn't respond.

She couldn't stop shaking.

Her eyes jerked around in fright, wondering if it was even safe with him in the same room.

"Hey, are you even… oh, good fucking lord." It was nothing more than an annoyed grumble.

She felt a pair of fingers push against her shoulder.

They were way too large.

She screamed.

As loud as her lungs could let her, Vaggie screamed for all of Hell to hear as she immediately tensed up, fearing the worst.

Only to suddenly find herself being roughly pulled to her feet.

"Get up. Good lord, you're supposed to be the Princess' big bad bodyguard?"

The moment Charlie's name left his mouth…

Something in Vaggie snapped.

"Get off." She growled, refusing to even turn to him…

Until he forced her too.

A shining crimson chain suddenly manifested out of nowhere, leading from her own neck, and they were suddenly jerked up harshly, tugging painfully on the skin of her jaw as she met those horrific eyes once more.

"I am done with the attitude." His grip on the chain tightened as his lips pulled back into a hungry snarl. "Be glad I'm giving you until Extermination Day to tell her yourself."

That was in three months.

Vaggie was trying not to cry.

How could she tell her?

…

How was she going to tell her?

They wouldn't be able to go on dates. They couldn't go see a movie. They couldn't go out to eat.

They couldn't go out together anymore.

Even with Charlie's recent focus on the Hotel… it wasn't any better.

Vaggie, an angel, a former Exorcist… had lost her soul.

And she hadn't even wanted to make a deal.

"Now, this is your last warning." He growled. His fist tugged the chain.

It became a little hard to breathe.

There was a painful tug at the back of her neck.

"When I tell you to do something, you do it. When I tell you to say something, say it. I don't give a damn if you're an angel, you are not a decent soul and I'm not fixing to treat you like one."

His hand came up to grip Vaggie's shoulder.

She could feel his fingers resting against her rear.

She honestly didn't think he even realized.

Not that it was her primary concern at the moment.

"As of today, you are not free. And as far as I'm concerned… you never will be again."

And then, the chain evaporated, and Vaggie was harshly shoved back as he turned away and made his way back to his desk.

"Now get the fuck out."

Vaggie stared at his large back as he made his way around his desk.

A part of her wanted to beg, to plead, to do anything to at least give her a choice.

It was useless.

It wasn't worth it.

The scowl on her face was bitter as she retrieved her spear and hastily made her exit.

John.

What a load of bullshit.

Angel talked about some great guy, someone who actually wanted to do some good.

But there was no John.

There was only the Wraith.

Vaggie thought she'd escaped his wrath so long ago.

She'd been sorely mistaken.

No one escaped their nightmares in Hell.

No one.