Chapter One

NEXT CLEANSE IN

002

DAYS

No matter how much Pentagram City's residents would deny it, more than a few eyes secretly flitted up to those numbers.

In fact, if anything you could call the current energy in the Pride Circle 'panicked and busy'. There was a feeling of purpose, of a goal.

And that goal was: Surviving to see another year.

Every single shop and stand in PC were holding sales: 50% off armored doors, 75% off of disposable stun batons and tazers. 90% spare ammunition. Protective window bars for half price, extra door bolts for a quarter. Warded door frames, "Guaranteed to protect or your money back!"

Of course, whether any of this stuff was effective against Exorcists wasn't in the discussion.

It was still Hell, after all…

Nothingness...just pure, gentle blackness…

In a room on the sixth floor of the Happy Hotel, Chay Ong was snoozing peacefully, a luxury she had only been able to enjoy over the last two weeks. No excess stress, no troubling dreams of days gone by, and most of all: no Hunger gnawing at her stomach. Just simple, quiet, dreamless slumber.

She really could get used to this.

"Oink?"

Her eyes slowly fluttered open to see a pink flat snout and two beady eyes staring at her.

"Mornin', bones!"

-What the fuck?

Her head darted up from the pillow, eyes wide.

"Angel...what in the actual…"

The tall Sinner irritably put one of his hands on his hips. "Hey, yer the bitch that wanted to make it a habit of getting' up before noon!"

Chay rubbed the gunk out of her eyes. "I have an alarm clock, you kno-"

BZZZT BZZZT BZZZT

As if on cue…

Chay irritably slapped her hand on the electronic clock, an old model that came with the room. The incessant buzzing died with a pitiful whimper. She shook her head as she stretched out the kinks in her muscles. The black t-shirt she slept in slid down her stomach.

"Did Fat Nuggets consent to this?"

Angel Dust looked at her incredulously. "Of course he did! Does this look like the face of a hostage?"

"Oink."

"Yeah, what he said!"

Chay opened her mouth to reply, only to be silenced by a light groaning underneath her sheets.

"What the...again?!"

She yanked the sheet off of the bed, revealing a drowsy (and very nude) Shakie sleeping next to her. The felinoid-sinner stretched out and yawned.

Her eyes fluttered open to see a clearly irritated Chay.

"….I snuck into your room again.", she replied nonplussly.

"You snuck into my room again!", Chay nearly screamed. "For fuck's sake, I lock the door every night!"

"She is quite adept at lock-picking in her sleep.", a monotone voice said from underneath the covers.

Chay picked up the covers to reveal Lester Bean, clad in his green robe, staring directly at her from the darkness.

She groaned. "And your excuse?"

"She picked me up during the night and carried me here. I think she mistook me for a stuffed animal."

"Oink!"

"Yeah, he is kinda small.", Angel (apparently) replied to his pet.

Chay could only shake her head.

-This place is a fucking circus.

"I know you've already tested it twice, but I want you to test them again!"

As Chay, now fully dressed, walked downstairs to the Hotel lobby, she could hear Lucius speaking to the Imp City branch over the phone. Viola and Fyewackett were both at a nearby couch, bent over a table with their eyes buried in notebooks. Some of the other hotel guests were already making their way down into the lobby.

"Listen, Chay payed good money for those security measures. Those warded shudders alone cost more than twice our annual budget. I am not taking any chances."

A random ILF cadre member's voice could be heard on the other line.

"Yes, I know we still have two days left. That's no excuse to play around here...which reminds me. Hold on a sec, comrade…"

The older Imp looked over at his the others. "Viola, have you spoken with comrade Sack-and-sugar this morning?"

The Imp woman irritably rubbed her eyes. "For the eighty-fifth goddamn time, Lucius: no. I haven't heard from her yet. She has her hands full prepping the neighborhood defense."

"Well fucking call her already!", he yelled back. "I know you have her number! Alright, I'm back. Now, about the shelters…"

"Don't those fuckers have a whole goddamn suite?", Angel complained as he followed Chay down the stairs.

"They're still guests, Angel", Shakie said behind him. "Charlie gave them leave for the whole building."

"I'm just sayin'", he complained. "We're all on fuckin' edge. They ain't exactly helpin' the situation."

Fyewackett looked up from the table. "We're down here because we're surveying the lobby for possible security weaknesses."

"Charlie asked Fye if he could improve the building's defenses", Viola said. "He eagerly accepted."

The younger Imp sneered at her. "Oh, like you weren't just jumping at the chance to help your new girlfriend…"

She hissed back at him. "You saw nothing...but back to the point: Her Highness isn't taking any chances this year, especially with the stuff that happened a couple of weeks ago."

The Imp was, of course, referring to the technologically resurrected members of her brethren that had terrorized PC. The thing about Sinners is that, due to the continuing and unpredictable chaos in the Pride ring, most were able to move on from even the most apocalyptic disasters surprisingly quickly.

But Imps don't forget, and apparently neither did Charlie.

"Right now, we're waiting on Nifty to get back with the building schematics. This place is loaded with little nooks and crannies that those fuckers could sneak in with."

"Tell me about it,", Angel replied. "I'm pretty sure there's several generations of spiders that have made their home in the rafters."

"Oink."

"Yeah, and cockroaches."

The Imps smirked. "That's like a family reunion for you.", Viola said cheekily.

"Hey!"

Shakie rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Let's just get some mimosas or something."

She walked over to the bar, with Chay following behind her. This had become a morning routine at the Hotel: waking up in the morning, dressing warmly, and then drinking some lightly alcoholic mimosas with Shakie. The last had largely been the lure (well, one of them) to get her up in the morning anyway, as the Hotel had a strict 'No mimosas after 11' policy.

...Granted, considering who the bartender was, the 'lightly alcoholic' part was an operative concept at best.

Husk was bent over the bar, his head in his arms, grunting and sweating from his rather obvious (and daily) hangover. His bloodshot eyes looked up from the bar as they approached.

"Don't you bitches ever just want plain orange juice?", he grumbled irritably.

"Look whose talking", Shakie replied. "Two mimosas, easy on the champagne."

He ducked down under the bar, rifling through the mini-fridge. "Easy on the champagne, she says. Talk about bougie…"

"We live in a luxury hotel owned by a royal, Husk. We're all bougie here."

Vaggie walked in from the front door and closed it behind her, clipboard and pen in hand. She'd been supervising the (incredibly slow moving) reparation of the damages to the street that Alastor has caused during the hotel's siege. Considering that it had happened directly in front of the Hotel, it technically counted as part of the royal family's property, meaning they had to foot the bill.

Not that Charlie couldn't afford it, but still…

Speaking of which…

"Good morning everyone!", the Princess greeted from behind Vaggie.

Mimosas weren't the only thing that got Chay out of bed in the morning. Charlie was the other one. Her very presence elevated Chay's mood. She never realized how good a simple compliment and a warm hug could feel.

Only Shakie could do anything close to that, but she wasn't Charlie.

The Princess closed the door behind her. "So, how are we all doing this morning?"

"We're good!", Shakie replied.

"Ditto.", said Chay.

"Good, good. So…" she walked over to the group of Imps and looked over their shoulders. "Anybody getting the jitters yet?"

The room suddenly went quiet.

"...I'll take that as a yes.", Charlie said, blushing with embarrassment. "Ahem, but that's what we have you two for, right?"

She placed her hand on Viola's shoulder, causing the Imp to blush furiously.

"Uh…"

Fye rolled his eyes (again). "Still waiting on those schematics, your Highness."

Viola snapped back to reality. "Y-yeah. We need to make sure any possible hidden openings or cracks in the building's facade are accounted for."

"Now that I think about it, how did things go the last time?", Fye asked. "Obviously your defense systems worked."

"That's what we're worried about.", Vaggie spoke up. "The Exorcists aren't just mindless automatons. They more than likely took notes from last year."

"Which is why we wanted you two to go over this place with a fine tooth comb.", Charlie continued. "You've both got experience with this stuff, and considering how well Fye managed to keep things together during...well…" she trailed off, looking at the door.

"And we'll pay you.", Vaggie said.

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the basement door flying open.

"I'm back!", Nifty called as she zoomed into the room, with Razzle and Dazzle flying in behind her. She carried several rolls of documents in her tiny arms.

"I got those schematics you asked for!", she chirped as she poured the contents of her arms onto the table. "I also got the blueprints from the archives."

Fye waved away the dust from the documents. "Perfect, I'd been concerned about the airducts. These have them clearly labeled."

Viola's eyes darted over the papers. "Looks like there are some old dumbwaiters as well. We'll need to account for those..."

Charlie let the two Imps make their battle plans as she walked over to Chay and co. at the bar. Lester was standing hunched underneath the stools, sipping on what appeared to be a juice box.

"Sasparilla, Husk!" she cheerily requested.

Husk grumbled as she bent down to rummage through the mini-fridge again.

The Princess gave Chay a soft hug. "So, you doing OK this morning?"

She nodded, sighing. "Yeah. Just...frustrated."

Charlie looked between her and Lester. "Still no leads?", she asked sympathetically.

"No.", Lester answered for Chay. "Wherever we go, we are stonewalled."

Chay put her mimosa down on the bar. "Danny-boy had told us to 'ask Vox'. You'd think that would make going forward so much easier, but it isn't."

"So many possible informants that disappear.", Lester said.

"Not to mention the subterfuge.", Chay continued. "His intelligence network has had weeks to cover up any possible cracks in the facade, and our opportunities dry up every day."

"My hope dims with the hours.", Lester remarked before sipping at his juice box again.

Charlie kneeled down and patted Lester on the head. "You have to keep faith, Lester.", she said. "If she's managed to last this long, she's obviously extremely resourceful."

She got back up. "And after the Exorcism is over, I'll have more time to research your case, Chay. So buck up!"

Chay could only laugh to herself. Charlie could be childishly optimistic at times.

Charlie continued. "Actually, I've been considering letting you down into the archives with me. Maybe you can find something I haven't been able to-"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

The Princess's head whipped around to look at the front door. "Oh my goodness, is that a new guest?!"

Nifty rushed over to the door. She wrapped both of her hands around the handle and slowly pulled it open.

Charlie skipped over to the opened door, her arms spread wide.

"Welcome to the Happy Hote…"

She trailed off as her eyes grew wide, her pupils nearly glowing with stars.

A soft female Scottish voice called from the stoop. "Charlie?"

Charlie grinned so wide it nearly escaped the sides of her face. She pressed both of her fists to her cheeks as she tried to supress a squee.

She failed.

"Eeeeeeeeeee!" she cried happily. "Octavia, sweety! How are you?!"

CHAPTER ONE END