Chapter 36:

Night terrors

As Lute would enter the Lobby, she would run into her adopted brother, Angel Dust and the former Vee, Velvette, who were currently seated at the bar, both bend over one of the short fashionista's sketchbooks as she heard Angel pipe up "No No! make it shorter!" to which the doll demoness answered "Ya kidding me? If I make it any shorter, ya might as well not even bother with the skirt at all" with a teasing chuckle.

Ever since leaving the Vee's and finding love with the new overlord on the block, Ashley, Velvette and Angel Dust had become fast friends and on many a occasion, the fashionista came to the tall spider demon to brainstorm about possible new clothing designs.

Looking at her with a fond smile, not far away, stood Ashley "The overlord of chaos" and "The Queen of anarchy" and the social media queen's partner, leaning against a pillar with her arms crossed who, as Lute approached her, piped up "Isn't she amazing?" as she gestured to her girlfriend "I swear, she just pulls the most insane designs out of her ass….i'm in awe sometimes of how she does it" as Lute would join her against the pillar "Yea….her talent was wasted with the Vee's"

"Speaking of the Vee's" Ashley spoke up as she gave the fallen angel a concerned look "How're you holding up since….you know…Val?"

At the mention of the pimp demon's name, Lute flinch before she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths "It's….getting better….tho I'm not sure if I'll ever fully get over all the things he….made me do…..what he did to me…." As she stared off into nothing.

The anarchy overlord would gain a concerned expression at this as she spoke "Well….you might not like hearing this….but ever since you regained your freedom, Val has been on a warpath….Especially since losing you earned him an ass whoopin from Vox"

Her breath catching in her throat, Lute was able to feel her heart rate increase as her adrenaline began pumping "Y-you don't think he'll…."

"Come knocking at the hotel's door?" Ashley finished Lute's sentence "First of all, Alastor's here, he'd be mad to even consider it. Second, he no longer owns your soul, there's nothing stopping you from kicking his ass if he tried" She would smirk.

Feeling her heart race, Lute's eyes darted across the room, trying to keep her nerves under control, but it was no use, she could feel the early onset of a panic attack start as the edges of her vision began to blur and her ears began to ring as she thought to herself "no no NO NO, NOT HERE, NOT NOW!"

Suddenly, in a flash, Emily's therapy sessions, Charlie's kind words and Angel's breathing exercise flashed to her head…

Lute steadied herself, closed her eyes and began to take deep breaths…in through the nose…..hold….out through the mouth….

Slowing her breathing, she felt her fingers….her hooves….tip of her tail…..and as she had hoped….slowly…..she managed to ground herself…..

"You are safe….you are with friends….you are at the hotel….he can't hurt you anymore….he has no power over you anymore….."

These words began to replace the tidal wave of anxious, intrusive thoughts that wrecked her mind as eventually, the pounding in her chest stopped and she once again regained control over her own mind.

It was only when she opened her eyes again that she realized that Charlie, Vaggie, Angel Dust, Ashley and Emily were standing around her, Emily practically inches away from her face, all their expressions plastered with worry as the young seraphim spoke "LUTE ARE YOU OK?! DO YOU NEED SOME WATER?!"

Ashley, having a expression of guilt on her face, spoke "I'm so sorry, I'd never have mentioned him if I knew it was such a trigger for you"

Getting slightly startled from the surprise, Lute softened as she gave the 6 winged woman a hug "I….i'll be ok…" as she turned to the rest of the group "Thanks….for your concern, guys"

This didn't sit well with Emily tho, as she spoke up "Are you sure? I could stay with you tonight if it makes you feel better" which caught the others by surprise as Angel spoke up "So….you and Lute…."

At which Vaggie smirked "So….finally made it official hu?"

The young seraphim turned around with a smile "What? Can't I want to take care of my girlfriend?"

..

..

What had supposed to be a cozy night cuddling up to her girlfriend had turned into something different….

While Emily was fast asleep, the mentioning of the pimp overlord had brought up some long buried, painful memories as Lute was tossing and turning in her bed, beads of sweat running over her forehead as her face scrunched up.

"No…..please…..not there…..i'll do whatever you say…..just please….stop….."

In her dreams, the cruel smile of Vallentino flashed through her mind as he ran those slick hands across her jawline "I own you….or have you forgotten that?"

It was at this point Emily was awoken by the unruly movements next to her.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes at first, she'd quickly jump into action when she saw the distress on her partner's sleeping face "Lute? LUTE?! ARE YOU OK?!"

With a scream, the former lieutenant threw the blankets off her as she stood next to the bed, having grabbed a nearby lamp from the nightstand and brandishing it like an improvised club, eyes wide with pure panic and her whole body tensed.

She would gasp in shock as she saw Emily, now sitting on the bed, a mark on her face and her head leaning back, pinching her jose to stop a nosebleed.

With terror in her eyes, Lute's gaze fell on her improvised weapon, confirmed her fears as there was a splat of golden blood on the lampshade.

"OH MY GOD, EMILY, I'M SO SORRY!" Lute dropped the lamp to the floor and jumped to her girlfriend's side "ARE YOU OK?!"

Giving a pained grimace, the young seraphim spoke "I'm ok, honey….just a nosebleed, you didn't break anything"

Shaking, Lute ran into the on suite bathroom and returned with a stack of tissues as she crawled onto the bed next to Emily and began to clean away some of the blood, all the while peppering the side of her face with kisses, profusely apologizing "I hurt you….I'm so…so sorry…"

Finally getting the bleeding to stop, Emily leaned her head onto Lute's shoulder "It's ok….not your fault….i recognize a trauma response when I see one…." As she looked at her girlfriend worried "In your sleep….you mentioned…..things" as she put a hand on Lute's "That man…..what did he do?"

This caused Lute to tense up "I…I really don't….want to think back to that…"

Both angels were startled wnen the door got kicked in and there stood a half dressed Angel Dust, holding a tommy gun "I HEARD SCREAMING, LUTE ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" tho once he saw Emily tenderly hold a tense Lute's hand, he'd soften "…..night terror?"

Lute simply nodded "….night terror….i hurt Emily in my panic…."

Emily would add "Maybe it's best if she talks about it but….she really doesn't want to…."she gave Angel a worried look.

Sighing, the tall spider demon put his weapons away as he closed the door and sat down next to his adopted sister on the bed "Lute…maybe it's time you talked about what happened….it might help you….ya know….get some closure….."

The horned exorcist would hug her own arms "But…..whenever I do….i feel so…..gross…not right….i feel used…dirty…I just want to scrub myself…..he took things from me I'll never get back and turned me into a cheap whore for other's entertainment….."

"Lute…." Emily gently cupped her cheeks "I'd never think any less of you….i just want to help you…." As she placed a gentle kiss on the fallen angel's nose….

Sighing deeply…..Lute began "…it…it started…..when he gained my soul….

..

..

"Hey Vaggie? Can you check on Lute, Emily and Angel?" Charlie would call out from the breakfast hall as she was helping the staff with cleaning up after the breakfast rush "They weren't at breakfast and after Lute's little panic attack from yesterday, I'm a bit worried"

Already heading up the stairs, Vaggie gave a thumbs up "Already on it, babe" before she disappeared into the corridors.

Arriving at angel's room, she'd find the door askew, peering inside revealed the spider demon nowhere to be found.

Only 1 place to check.

Approaching Lute's door, she'd gently knock "Lute? You in there? You, Em and Angel weren't at breakfast…."

Once she received no answer, with a sigh, the former exorcist saw no other option then to use her master key to quietly open the door and check.

Gently cracking the door open and peeking inside, she'd find Emily, her arms and legs tightly wrapped around Lute, who had dark bags under her eyes, streaks from apparent crying but a content, gentle smile on her face as she seemingly huddled into the seraphim's embrace.

A better look inside the room revealed Angel Dusk in the nearby armchair, head slumped down and fast asleep.

"They look exhausted…..must have had a rough night…." She whispered to herself as she silently closed the door and re-locked it.

Re-entering the lobby, Charlie quickly approached her partner "Well? Were you able to find them? Are they alright?"

Vaggie smiled "Yea….they're knocked the fuck out….i'd say let them sleep in for a bit….looks like they could use it…"