Part 27
The Carmine manner was a vast and sprawling luxury building, even if, for the most part, empty. Being such a deadly force in hell, there was little need for security, and guards were mostly kept around for show. After all, who would be foolish enough to attack an overlord on their doorstep?
With the ability to gaze through the eyes of all other demons in the Pride ring, it was no surprise to Alastor that when he approached the large door of the manner that security stepped aside and allowed him entry without so much as a word as the Radio Demon made his entrance into the grand hall.
While some parts of hell were twisted and gory and no worse for wear than Earth's criminal underworld, the rest seemed like a place torn from old stories and myths. Many believed that hell would be more fire, brimstone, and death. Which it was. But there was so much more to how hell had evolved with the eons.
"Alastor..."
The demon, smiling, stopped in the grand hall, glancing around the room as the voice seemed to come from all directions. "Carmilla, my dear."
The clink of metal gave him an indication of where she was as she descended the steps at the other end of the room; her sharp heels, silver and shiny, stabbed into and through her lush carpet before the tile at the bottom of the stairs. "I was not expecting you."
His laughter rang out and vibrated the halls. "Ah, well, I had hoped to make a surprise visit! How are things fairing? I trust it has been eventful here?"
Carmilla strode towards him, each step seeming significant for her short steps. "I would deem it unacceptable and even rude to come without an appointment or notice, but you don't have a phone and rarely leave the Hotel for too long these days. So I can only assume this visit isn't for pleasure. What happened?" Her arms swung behind her back, standing tall, towering above the demon, angelic in her beauty and deadly nature, her eyes a dark crimson red, matching his suit as they sparkled in the low lights that radiated around the manor.
Alastor, always the gentleman, bowed to her and took her hand, kissing the back of it. " It's always a pleasure to see you as well, dear lady."
She gazed down at him and tugged her arm from him. "Enough with your nonsense, and tell me what's wrong. You rarely come out to visit." She strode down the hall, her movements crisp and sharp while she took in the air, the demon following shortly behind her.
"Straight to business, Carmilla? No friendly banter? Perhaps we could speak of the winter season. Perhaps you could tell me how your family is doing." He chuckled, "Even business need not be so serious." He smiled up at her and ran a finger across his teeth. "After all, one could have a wonderful night tonight and discuss such matters over a bite to eat or a drink."
She pressed her lips together, stopping just before opening her door. "Alastor, I'm sure you know about my tastes; however, since your concern seems pressing enough to show up, and I have an organization to run, get to the point."
She strode into the conference room, where the large oak table was surrounded by several chairs next to each other and several on the opposite side with a light fixture in the middle. She crossed to the one at the head of the table, facing the door. "Tell me why you are here. And please don't tell me it has to do with angels or that silly hotel. I've done my part."
His red claws curled around the top of the chair at the far end of the table and pulled it from its spot, walking with it down the length of the table to the head where she sat and slid into the place just beside her. He sat and crossed his legs, "No, no, my dear, nothing that pressing or dire. My reasons are far more fun that takes pressure off my chest and, hopefully, a smile to that pretty face."
She drummed her fingers on the table, listening.
"A little Lizard Demon has come into town recently and will become rather...infamous very shortly." The redness in his eye began to brighten a little as he thought back, "You wouldn't have happened to have heard of him, would you? One or two little bugs of yours whispering sweet honey into your ear, hmm?"
The overlord drummed her fingers, ignoring his comment about her ear. Her face was straight. She didn't look directly into his eyes and remained cool to his remarks.
"Perhaps. What does the little Lizard Demon have to do with your little visit, Alastor?"
He smiled a little wider and reached into his breast pocket, withdrawing a DVD and setting it on the table, sliding it to her. She reached for it, but he did not let it go. "If you watch this, you must hear me out in full. Ten minutes. Scouts honor!" He crossed his other hand across his chest.
She looked at the TV in the corner of the room and then down to the cover, ignoring the title on the box, 'A little time, a little tail.' "I swear, Alastor, if this is pornography, you're wasting your time."
His eyes began to glow a little as he replied, "I have never said this to another person, so this moment is a little relishing, but this is porn you will wish to see." His eyes beamed brightly, "I guarantee it."
"Fine. Turn on the TV, play the DVD, and you have ten minutes to present me with all the information."
She crossed her legs and propped her chin up, her mouth closed, with only her red eyes looking away from his bright smile as she prepared herself mentally for...whatever this was.
Alastor approached the display and turned it on, "fucking box. These will rot your brain, you know. And if you sit too close, you can feel your eyes blurring." He slipped the DVD into the player and grabbed the remote, standing beside her and handing it to her. "Let's go on this journey together, shall we?"
As the player read the disk and prepared, Alastor stood straight as a rod, his body as still as can be, even when the television finally hummed to life and started the movie, a wave of heat coming over him of anger and disappointment.
There on the screen, the moment the video started, it showed Alex on his belly on the bed in Valentino's studio, letting out a great moan as Valentino entered him, blood running down his nose, a tooth missing, clearly intoxicated. His fingers clawed and ripped and tore at the fabric, pulling pillows and covers near, tears rolling down his face as Valentino mocked him.
"AH! AH! OHH, FUCK!"
Valentino slipped his claw into the lizard's mouth. " You want him to be happy, don't you?" He drew his hands up his sides, sliding to his head and pulling him back by the hair so the lizard's face looked at the camera.
Carmilla lifted her eyebrows as she continued watching. Alex cried out as Valentino ravaged the lizard demon. Alastor's grip on his staff was audible, and his smile twisted to a less pleasant thing. "What do you think?"
She only looked at him. "Get to your point, Alastor."
His pupils were not showing, making him seem maniacal. "Of course!" The radio demon took the remote from Carmilla and hit pause. "What do you see?"
The silence continued. "A man fucking his partner while recording it. What else is there to see?"
"Indeed," he pointed at Alex. "But, let us look closely." His voice echoed around the room, and he approached the screen, tapping his staff against the wrappings on Alex's arms. "Can you guess what those are?"
A few moments passed, and the realization seemed to have struck her as her body leaned forward, hands gripping the armrests as she inspected them. The angle was slightly off as if the camera focused on someone in a bed rather than being correctly centered for the entire scene. "Impossible..."
She snatched the remote from Alastor and hit play.
Valentino sneered, slamming into the Lizard as he began to enjoy Alex's fight against him. When the lizard became more animated and his moans became pained, Valentino moved him roughly on the bed, slipping from his mouth, pushing his face into the mattress to take him harder. "Mom...d-dad!"
"It can't be..." she stood up from her seat when the wrappings glowed a little, "Les points de Colère. That's...not possible."
The glow captured his attention, her reaction sufficient to confirm, and a hum escaped him.
She wasn't taking her eyes off the screen and stared, watching Valentino beat him, then beat him again, watching him heal and bleed, hearing his cries. "Who are you going to believe, Carmilla? Your beliefs or your lying eyes?" The voice coming from his throat had an airiness, a heightened tone that seemed out of place in the standard character of the radio demon. "You helped forge those, didn't you? Long...long...long ago? You don't recognize your work?" His smile grew wider.
"HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!" She slammed a fist down on the table, her voice not typically carrying a yell to it. A great deal of anger, shock, and excitement was on her face, almost frightening, as her skin shifted, her hair standing.
"Now, now, my dear, no need to get excited." He turned off the screen. I'm here to help—or at least direct." He tossed the remote onto the table and returned to his seat. "I'll have tea, please."
With an angry exhale, she released tension from her shoulders. Her muscles tightened as she sat back in the chair and waited for a servant to bring in a cup for Alastor and herself and leave.
Taking a sip, Alastor stared down into his cup. " With this level of bitterness, it's no wonder you don't smile more. The tea matches the house, as I always say." He had never said that before. He had never drunk from her teapot.
"He shouldn't be alive!" her voice was stern, trying to figure it out.
Alastor cocked an eye at her, "Oh, that he shouldn't..." he took a sip, sneering even with his smile, "If I were Valentino, I would have killed the boy when I was done with him, but you know Val's ego gets the better of him sometimes."
"Have you ever seen a demon using a Heaven Weapon? Are there records? What are the chances one fell into hell? How did you find out? Is he alright? Why is he so young?"
Alastor wagged his finger, "Tutt tutt, my dear, not the reason I'm here and not what now I wish to discuss." He took another sip. "Hypothetically, if someone had the chance, would you want them to take a bite out of the Vees?" He flashed his teeth, "quite literally a bite."
She downed the liquid in a couple of gulps, the scalding liquid like water to her, "have you not seen the footage? This boy-"
"Only has eyes for Valentino." The red-clad Demon hummed. "A bad idea, but it would make for a splendid song. Mmm...would you like a refill, darling?" She nodded and pushed her cup forward, Alastor reaching over and pouring some hot liquid from the pot into his cup.
"I believe we have been given an opportunity with this boy, my dear. Do you remember..." he began to pour into her cup, "about a year ago when we had a meeting about that decapitated angel that was discovered? You said something to the room akin to 'inane and uninformed' referencing the Vees? Well..." he gave her a scoop of sugar in her tea. "I took that little nugget and put it away for a rainy day, and today is just...so...rainy! Ha-ha!" He gave himself a scoop of sugar and stirred his cup with the little teaspoon, pinky up, tapping the spoon on his glass. "How delightful is life if we don't have a little flavor to enjoy? Or perhaps, a treat once in a while?"
She watched him add another sugar and stir before setting her spoon in her saucer and cup into her claws. "So I ask again, hypothetically, if someone had the opportunity to take a bite out of the Vees, would you let them?"
He took a sip.
She lifted her chin. " Are you suggesting an insurrection against a fellow Overlord?" She looked over her cup.
"Can it not be two Overlords enjoying a meal together? Why is it always business with other overlords and not just a little fun?" Her eyes went to her cup and back, "I'm simply asking a hypothetical, my dear. Thinking out loud, as it were." He tipped his tea back and added another lump, "makes a better cup than it does; a good suggestion but would be a simple little thing. No strings."
There were several silent moments where Alastor could see the gears spinning in Carmilla's head. "The boy is dangerous."
Alastor laughed, "he is a kitten with a boo-boo. He will lash out, and once he's done, he'll forget why he was mad."
She sneered, taking in the situation. "Alright, let's entertain the idea," she leaned back in the seat, taking her tea and resting her cup in her lap. "Tell me your plan, then."
"Lemon."
"Excuse me?"
"I would like some lemon with my tea, please." He turned his nose up, his smile unfaltering. "The cup isn't right until you add the proper sweetener." A thin, bony hand waved at the air, "It needs a punch of flavor...please."
She furrowed her brow and shook her head, sighing loudly and with irritation before ringing a bell. A young man approached and bowed, "Lemon...please." She crossed her legs and looked at him. "Hypothetically..."
"Yes. Let us say we give this poor young man access to Valentino." Alastor turned in his chair, facing away from her as if speaking to no one, "I wonder if those angelic weapons could kill his immortal soul. If ONLY I knew someone who could tell me." He then turned back in his seat. "Fascinating, isn't it?" He drank some tea as the man approached with lemon and prepared the cup.
He held up the lemon and sliced quarters; Alastor held up the cup and allowed the creature to squeeze it into it with two squeezes. "My appreciation, my good lad." He took a sip. "Now that's a fucking cup of tea!" He took another sip. "My mother grew lemons in her backyard when I was a boy." His smile turned genuine, and he leaned on his hand as he looked at the cup, "Ah...mommy..."
She sneered at the Radio demon as he got to her nerves, her fingers tightly pressed into her chair. "Alastor..." she tried to remain collected, keeping her demeanor.
"Of course, my dear. Ha-ha! Where are my manners?" He took a sip. "If I were to hypothetically bring the boy to you, could you teach him how to use your little toys properly?" The tea seemed to hit the spot, and the color in his eyes began to return, and the soft tones of a record player sounded in the background. "You have firsthand knowledge." His voice returned to its usual calmness. "More than me. As long as they can do their jobs, that's all I care about."
Carmine turned the question over in her head. "You want me to teach a boy how to use weapons meant to kill immortal souls?" There was a moment when the air shifted, and a flash of silver showed across Alastor's grin. "Please, Alastor, answer me directly, or this will end with one less person in this room."
Alastor smiled a little wider and set his cup down. "Now, now, my dear, I come here in earnest and seriousness, not to fight. If he cannot use them properly, then Valentino will continue to do what he does, and an alliance between overlords only ever goes one of two ways and always ends up one way in the end, regardless. I certainly can't teach him. Do I look like the kind of person who knows how to handle angelic weapons? Ha-ha!" He turned to her, "You teach him how to kill Valentino, and I guarantee he will stop there. We shan't have a holy avenger running around hell."
The Overlord straightened out in her seat. She waited a while longer. "And when that fails?"
He tilted his head. "Fails, my dear?" He was going to offer a wager, but given the outcome of their last one...
He laughed again, "That boy is going to eat Valentino alive. He can't help it. It's in his nature now. And we can't escape our nature, my dear." He picked up his cup, finishing his tea. "But say he does. Then he dies, and that's that, and we wait for another opportunity to make a move against one another. No one is to blame, and no one finds out, and we pretend this conversation, which isn't happening, never happened. I never left the hotel today. Did you even come to your door today?"
"Is this to remain anonymous to him?" The glare the demon gave him, "Should he live, will he know who to thank?"
"If he is successful, I doubt he will want to speak with any of us. He's here for Angel. Once he has him, who is there to fight?"
Carmilla steepled her hands and closed her eyes, thinking through.
"But we will take it step by step, my dear. Don't fret."
"This is idiotic."
"But oh, so exciting. I'm surprised you aren't smiling, my dear." He leaned back in his seat. "And don't worry about the Vees. I'll be speaking with Vox shortly."
Alastor gave her a smile that caused a shudder and then looked into his tea. She gave the demon a stare of quiet loathing. "I don't like surprises, Alastor. What makes you think he will even speak with you?"
The demon's smile grew wider and unnatural, "how many of Vox's faces has Valentino broken?" He brought his cup to his mouth and tilted it, catching the last drop on his tongue before lowering it. "I wonder how he would feel about never having to deal with his temper tantrums again, never having to replace a screen, perhaps even get a bigger piece of his empire."
"You want Vox to sit idly while the boy kills his ally?"
"An alliance built on greed and a lust for power is built on a sandcastle, my dear. And my boy will be the tide." He set down his teacup and tapped his fingertips together. "Imagine his expression when Vox does nothing and a lowly lizard kills one of his fellow Overlords."
Carmella placed her fingertips against her temple, letting the idea wash over her. Alastor cheered, "Oh! OH, how I wish I could be there when it happens. I wish I could bottle that moment." The excitement was building in the Radio Demon. "Why, this could very well be a historic moment for hell." He cleared his throat, returning his attention to Carmilla, "So...is that a yes?"
She was quiet, thinking, closing her eyes as her voice vibrated a sigh. "I will... consider it." She stood and tapped a nail. "Where is the boy?"
"I don't know. But I'm sure that won't stop you from scouring every inch of hell to find him the moment I've left the room."
He set down his tea and moved closer to her, the woman towering a foot and a half above the demon. "Shall we shake on it?"
A shiver slid over Carmilla as she was disturbed by his approach. She gazed down, extending a hand, not interested in another wager. She paused before she shook his hand. " Just training?" She wanted to clarify the details. " No expectations if something goes awry?"
"Carmilla Carmine..." his hand raised from his staff and crossed his chest, "you wound me to think I would have ulterior motives." His palm crossed hers, shaking gently before retracting, "Only that you give this poor child the education he seeks." The room echoed with the faint sound of static. "IF he is alive. A weapon is only as good as its wielder, yes? Ha-ha!" He stood up from his seat, taking his staff. "I shall bring you a cake upon Valentino's demise." He walked towards the conference room door and glanced back at her, "You strike me as a strawberry kind of gal." He laughed out loud as he left the room, leaving her alone.
When the door shut and the sound of the Radio demon finally vanished, she felt the silence break when she gripped the remote and turned to the screen, pressing play on the video.
Her fingers drummed against the desk's wood, watching the brutal scene repeatedly, playing parts, letting them load to review, replaying to memorize, trying to piece the situation together. How could this nobody possibly have these weapons on him? What made him so special to have her Sutures?
The image burned into her mind of him so broken and crying and raw in his agony, a fear in his eyes, made her shudder. She couldn't tell if the desire to kill Valentino or that boy was most potent, and a fire burned in her blood.
Right when Valentino reached his orgasm, she looked into the lizard's eyes, pausing the video and getting up to look closer at the screen. Anger, despair, fire and drive. It would take time to get through those.
She took out her phone and pressed a button for her security.
"Ma'am?"
"I need someone found. Put all available people on it. Now."
