Checking In

Charlie slowly pulled herself away, her eyes unable to turn away from Connor. He sat there, confused; moments ago, this woman had been giddy to meet him, and now she seemed absolutely mortified. What had caused this sudden change in her demeanor? Had he done something wrong? He had originally thought that he was the anxious one of the two, but seeing her this way was now filling him with a sense of remorse. Even if he was guilty of something he wasn't presently aware of.

The limo had slowed to a crawl.

Was she about to just kick him out?

"Uh…Charlie?" Connor asked, growing slightly concerned.

Charlie's eyes, now looking away, kept shifting back and forth. Clearly troubled by her inner thoughts. The air was growing as still as the limo remained parked in place. Tentatively, Connor managed a small poke to her shoulder, if only to get her out of this trance.

"You…okay?" He asked nervously.

At this, she whipped her head back around, the life coming back to her.

"Oh, sorry! Sorry, I just uh…lost my train of thought…"

The limo started moving again; a bit faster this time.

"Did…I do something wrong?"

"Nope! Nothing's wrong, not a thing!"

Saying that through anxious teeth hadn't made Connor feel any more comfortable. Perhaps he shouldn't have taken this ride. Especially now that Charlie had brought her staring eyes back to Connor.

"So, Connor, um…do you remember exactly how you got here?"

Connor shook his head.

"Wish I did. All I remember is waking up in a back alley surrounded by all….well, this!"

He had pointed out the window to the scenes of devastation and mayhem about the city. They might have been out of the blast zone, but it still wasn't something he'd call an improvement.

"And like I said, I don't even know where 'here' is!"

He peered toward the window again, casting a glance upwards.

"But I do know that I've never been to a place with a sky like that."

"Oh….boy…" Connor had heard Charlie mutter under her breath.

Her eyes were back to darting left and right, as she held her hands to her temples. Connor frowned, something was obviously wrong. Very wrong.

She turned back to him, once again in a stare filled with dread.

"Do you mind if I…"

Without another word, she slowly reached a hand up and brushed her thumb against the young man's cheek. Connor, more confused than alarmed, hadn't done much to stop this. Charlie suddenly gasped, eyes shooting to her thumb, now coated in the plaster that Connor's face had been covered in. Though with her skin already white as paper, it was hard to tell.

"What is-hey!"

She had suddenly held his face in her hands, examining him thoroughly. She shifted him left, right, up and down, scanning each part of his face, his hair, and even the inside of his mouth when she made him open up. As she continued to look for whatever it was, she only grew more and more frantic.

Finally she let go of him, and immediately he began massaging his jaw.

"You're really…"

"'Really' what?! What is going on with you?!"

Charlie nervously chuckled.

"Nothing! Nothing is wrong, everything's fine!"

"Could have fooled me." Connor deadpanned.

"Would you excuse me for a second?"

Charlie scooted past Connor, before tapping on the front window separating them from the driver…wait, who was driving this thing?

As the limo came to a slow stop once again, the visor descended. And on the other side, were a pair of small bright red goats both sticking their heads in. They two both were dressed in similar suits and bow ties, but the one of the left was more pink than the other crimson one on the right.

"That can't be sanitary…" Connor muttered.

Charlie, meanwhile, seemed to be in conversation with the two. The goat on the right turned back and produced what looked to be a makeup compact. Charlie took it and examined its contents.

"This'll have to do."

She turned to the two goats again.

"Get us back home as fast as you can."

The two nodded, the visor closing behind them; the limo soon took back off again to where Connor stumbled a bit in his seat.

Charlie returned with the compact in hand, before turning to Connor, now slightly more confused than nervous.

"Okay, this is gonna sound a little weird, but…I need you to hold still."

Connor shifted apprehensively.

"Uh…why-?"

She then proceeded to throw his hood off, and repeatedly padded his face.

"Hey!" Connor coughed as he pushed back.

Charlie stopped for a moment to look him dead in the eye.

"Connor, please just trust me on this. I promise I'll explain when we get there, but for right now, you can't let anyone see you like this."

He would have continued to protest, but the compounded feeling in his gut along with the terrified look in her eye, was telling him to let her continue. Besides, it was just makeup, right? He could always wash that off later. So he relaxed, and let the woman continue her work until his face was covered in more powder than it already had been.

"Okay, now when we get out, just stay close to me, and don't say anything."

Connor was wide-eyed.

"…See I'm getting the feeling I should be worried…"

Charlie immediately took his hands again.

"Oh no-no-no-no, please! You'll be fine! This is just, uh…a precaution!"

"Of what?"

Connor peered back out the window again.

"Where are you taking me?"

The limo soon pulled up onto a narrow drive. At the end stood yet another dilapidated building. Though much taller than ones he had come across, this one still showed signs of impending collapse simply from its shoddy design. It had been strung together with a mess of lights, and then other random parts had been attached to it as if they were glued on; why, and or how, was that cruise ship sticking out of it like that?

"Oh good, we're here! Good-good-good-good-good…" Charlie said in a nervous laugh as the limo came to a stop. Connor was really starting to panic now, growing more aware of the newfound urgency in her voice.

She then refitted his hood, and placed a pair of sunglasses over his eyes, concealing most of his head.

"Alright, let's get inside." She said as she opened the door.

"In-inside?" Connor asked as he followed her out of the car. He stumbled a bit on the way out, but managed to catch himself. It was only now, once he was standing on his own two feet, that he noticed just how tall Charlie was. She practically had half a head on him!

"Yep!" She proclaimed, gesturing to the mis-matched structure. "Connor, I'd like to personally welcome you to the Hap-no wait-the Hazbin Hotel!"

There was another bit of dead air as Charlie remained frozen in place, eyes darting between Connor and the hotel while her arms were still outstretched, waiting for some kind of reaction.

"…Hazbin?" Connor asked with a raised eyebrow.

Charlie laughed timidly. "Yeah, we're not exactly married to the name yet…"

"Uh huh…" He responded as Charlie returned to his side.

"Now remember what I said, just keep calm, and stick with me."

She took his hand, once again tensing up, as she led him to the door, revealing the hotel to him.

The lobby was rather expansive. Most everything was covered in red and lined with gold. Despite what the exterior might have said, the interior hadn't looked TOO shabby. Connor could imagine that in its prime, this building was rather extravagant.

But time hadn't been kind to the place. The wallpaper was peeling quite a bit in some areas, there was a slightly musty smell in the air, and the floors were covered with matted carpeting with the exception of a few holes here and there.

To the left stood what looked to be a small bar area that clashed heavily with the color scheme, the space taking on a shock of an otherworldly green. Behind the counter cleaning a bottle was yet another odd figure, this one taking the form of a tall humanoid cat with disheveled black and white fur, red patterned wings, and a top hat. They either hadn't noticed Charlie and Connor slowly enter the building, or simply didn't care.

To the right, in the lounge area, was another person who had been laying on the sofa. This one was tall and lanky, covered in white fur, and dressed in a white-and-pink-striped dress shirt adorned with a bowtie. They glanced up from their phone upon hearing the door open. As soon as their mismatched, cream and black-colored eyes met Connor, they grew a devilish grin; a gold fang glinting at him. They got up from the couch and made their way to the door. Connor was aghast at the sight that they had not one, but two sets of arms each wrapped in long pink and white gloves.

"Oh boy…" Charlie said anxiously. So much for not wanting any attention.

"Why Charlie, you didn't mention we were havin'…" He remarked, a finger slowly tracing along Connors chin tilting it upwards "…company…".

If the extra arms didn't unnerve Connor before, the extra few eyes on this guys face, what he originally thought were freckles, did the job.

"Uh Angel, now's really not a good time." Charlie stated, trying to intervene.

"Yeah no thanks…" Connor said slightly flustered as he tried going around. He winced; so much for staying quiet.

"Aw, come on baby, I don't bite…unless 'ya want me to…" Angel winked as he followed Connor further into the lobby.

"No, I really don't swing that way-ah!" Connor started before he tripped to the floor with a yelp. "Ow…".

As Connor sat up, he looked to see that he had tripped over an odd looking doll. One clothed in a maid outfit, with a single, round eye staring up at the ceiling. Connor had at first believed, or rather hoped, that a doll was all it was, until she got to her feet. She looked at the now dusty floor, slowly reaching Connor. Holding her gaze for what felt like hours until she spoke.

"…dirty." She grinned. Did everyone here have razors for teeth?! She then charged at Connor, a needle raised in her hand and a mad look in her eye.

This time, someone other than Charlie had come to the rescue, picking up the little gremlin before she reached Connor.

Next to Charlie, she was probably the most ordinary; soft gray skin, and flowing white hair that reached past her red blouse and black skirt, all the way down to her knees topped with a bright red bow. The only thing that caught his attention was the slate gray eyepatch that held a large red 'X' over her left eye.

"Niffty, what did I say about stabbing?" She berated.

"…keep going until they stop moving?" The gremlin doll guessed.

Connor scrambled to his feet to get away until he backed into the bar, covering it in a large puddle after having spilled a series of bottles.

The cat growled at him. "For fucks sake, kid!"

"I'm sorry I just-!"

Angel came back, now much closer than Connor was comfortable with. "Back off, Fur Ball. I saw 'im first."

With what little energy he had left, Connor shoved Angel away as he back tracked to the grand stairway.

"WILL SOMEONE PLEASE JUST EXPLAIN TO ME, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"

With that, the hotel was eerily silent. The five all looking at him with odd faces.

Charlie stepped forward. "Connor, please, I know you're scared but-"

"Scared?!" Connor laughed, walking away backwards. "Honey, I've shot WELL past scared! Now I don't know where I am, I don't know how I got here, and I don't know who or even WHAT any of you people are! All I want right now, is to get out of-!"

"My, my, what's with all of these raised voices I hear?"

Connor's heart nearly stopped.

He turned to face the man in red once again, this time standing inches in front of him. Getting a more detailed look at the man, Connor saw that he stood clothed in red and black, with eerie red eyes accented by a matching monocle. He had a sickening smile of large, yellow fangs that his face could barely contain. And he seemed to have this bizarre quirk where his voice had a filter of static over it, like something from an old-timey radio. Connor could believe if someone told him that this man was something out of a slasher film, as he loomed over Connor like a spider preparing to feast upon a helpless fly.

"Well now…who is this…?"

Connor was petrified. Unable to even breath; all he could manage was a gulp. Meanwhile, the man remained still as a statue, but his eyes were getting impatient as they narrowed.

"You know, I've never really trusted anyone who wears sunglasses indoors."

He leaned in closer, with Connor still too scared to move away.

"They make you seem rather untrustworthy, young man."

To his relief, however, Charlie had taken him by the arm again. "Alastor, this is Connor, our newest guest. I was just about to show him to his room…" She said nervously.

Alastor remained there, fixed in his place. One could think that he had fallen asleep with his creepy eyes open. Suddenly, his head snapped to the right. How he didn't break his neck, Connor didn't want to know.

"Wonderful! I'm always eager to meet our new tenants." He stepped aside, bowing slightly as he pointed a cane, one that appeared to resemble a long microphone, up the stairway. "Allow me."

The microphone had carried an eye on it, as Connor noticed it wink. He shuddered at this.

"Thank you." Charlie replied. She turned back to the lobby. "Um, Vaggie, could you give me a hand?"

Alastor raised an eyebrow at this.

"If there's anything you need my dear, I'd be glad to offer my assistance." Alastor chimed in.

"No, no, I just REALLY need to talk to Vaggie about something. Like reeeeeally need to talk to her about it. Specifically. Right now. Please hurry." Charlie 'subtly' pleaded.

Alastor's eyes meanwhile had narrowed at this rejection of his services.

"Y…yeah, I'm right behind you." The long-haired woman, Vaggie, said. She seemed a bit confused at Charlie's anxious tone, but made her way up the stairs nonetheless.

"Are you sure you won't be needing anything?" Alastor inquired. His head tilted further, eyes brightening as the static in his voice grew slightly higher.

"No, really, we're fine! Everything's fine. Nothing to worry about. We are good-to-go!" Charlie laughed nervously as Vaggie joined her and Connor.

Connor shifted slightly, not knowing what this other woman would do. Vaggie raised an eyebrow; this one was a bit more neurotic than she was used to seeing in others around here. Alastor, meanwhile, continued to stare at this new guest of theirs. To Connor's horror, the small horns on Alastor's head that had gone unnoticed before now seemed to have grown.

Until he snapped back to 'normal'. "Well then, I'll leave you girls to it!"

He walked back into the hall below the stairway.

Connor let out a massive sigh of relief.

"Wherever it is we're going…" Connor whispered as the three journeyed up the stairs. "…please let it be as far from him as possible."

Everyone else in the lobby still had their eyes trained upwards even after the trio had disappeared.

"The fuck was that?" Angel asked.

"He's got issues…" Niffty stated flatly, before a bug had caught her attention.

There was a brief period of silence before Angel turned back to the bartender. "Calling it right now: he's a little spoon."

"This one should do." Charlie said, unlocking the door to a room on the fourth floor.

The other side revealed a rather plain space. The walls were painted red, much like the rest of the hotel. The bed sat facing the door with a thick maroon sheet over it. Another door that had been left open led to the adjoining bathroom. All there was left was a bed, and a freshly dusted wood dresser. The lone curtain window gave Connor a decent enough view of the city from afar.

"Okay, what's going on…?" Vaggie asked as Connor entered the room. She had thought Charlie would be ecstatic to bring a new guest to the hotel. But her worried expression told otherwise.

"Hey," Connor asked, turning back to the pair, sunglasses in hand. "does this mean I can wash this stuff off? It's starting to make my face itch."

Vaggie raised an eyebrow at this.

Charlie anxiously whispered something in Vaggie's ear, hoping to not get any unwanted attention. At this, Vaggie's jaw went slack as her eye grew large.

She grabbed Charlie's arms. "Charlie, are you absolutely sure?"

Charlie looked at her with worry, before facing Connor, giving him a small nod. At this, he slowly meandered to the bathroom; a stranger staring back at him in the mirror. He turned on the bath faucet and ran his hands through his hair and face.

Even with a towel covering his head, he could still hear the door close. Then a click had made him go wide-eyed. He whipped back out of the bathroom, dropping the towel to the floor, to see Charlie and Vaggie standing against the door, eyes just as big once he had revealed his face.

Both stood there stunned; Charlie let out a sharp gasp as her hands went to her mouth. When they first met Connor, they had initially believed him to be a recently deceased sinner that Charlie had brought in off the streets. One covered in pasty white skin, ashen grey hair and irritated red eyes.

Who they now saw staring back at them was someone with a fair-skinned face that was nearly pink by contrast, ruffled black hair, and two bright, blue eyes. The sound of Connor's beating heart had raised some suspicion, but this solidified it.

Charlie was the first to say anything, her hands falling away from her mouth. "You're…a human…"

Connor looked at the two, puzzled.

"Are you…not? You both look human…"

The two glanced at each other.

He shook his head.

"Whatever, look, can I just get a few answers please?"

He turned back to the window looking out towards the city.

"I mean what is this place? Almost everything's on fire, there's monsters getting butchered in the streets, and that's not even when they're EATING each other!"

He lowered his head, at a loss for ideas.

"It's like I'm in Hell or something."

The two had been silent up until this point.

"Uh yeah…funny you should mention that…" Charlie muttered, sheepishly.

Connor slowly turned back to the pair, eyes now filled with terror.

"You're…kidding right?"

Charlie's look of concern took over again as Vaggie sighed.

"Unfortunately, no."

Connor stared at them for almost thirty seconds, blinked, and then released his breath.

"Like…the hell?"

Vaggie rolled her eye.

"Yep."

"…HELL?"

She narrowed her eye, looking from left to right.

"Yeah, I just said-"

"Sorry, but again," Connor said as he came up before her and cleared his throat. "…HELL?!"

In a flash Vaggie held a hand over his mouth. "Will you shut up, someone'll hear you!"

Connor immediately pulled himself back to the wall, trying to create as much space as he could. Well this day just went from zero to screwed real quick.

"Uh, no, no I'm not. I am not in Hell, I am not in Hell!"

He tried telling himself that as if it would wake him from this nightmare, but there he remained.

"But there's got to be some mistake!" Conner argued as he walked back to them. "I mean I don't know if I was the nicest person in the world, but even if I wasn't," He said as he put a hand to his chest. "this clock is still ticking!"

"That's what we want to find out too." Charlie agreed.

"Do you have any idea how you got here? Can you remember anything important? Any major detail?" Vaggie implored.

Connor's head was already spinning; what good would trying to recall events prior to today be at this point?

"I don't know-I can't-I don't remember!" Connor said, his voice starting to shake as he held his head. "All I have is just waking up here in an alley, running around trying to not to get killed or…otherwise, and then I met Charlie!"

Vaggie remained conflicted; this situation was one she never could have prepared for.

"None of this makes any sense. Humans shouldn't be able to come here unless they've died."

Connor fell onto the bed. He looked back to Vaggie, eyes close to tears.

"So…so what then? I'm just stuck here?"

"No, don't think that!" Charlie pointed out, taking a seat next to him. "I'm sure there's a way we can get you back home!"

"How? The whole point of the afterlife is that it's a one-way trip."

"Not always. There are a few who know how."

Connor rose up slightly at this. Maybe he had abandoned all hope too soon?

"But for right now, we need you to stay low." Vaggie said, as she peeked out of the door to make sure no one else had been listening in. "That means don't leave this room until we tell you, and don't open this door to anyone except us. Play along, and we might make it out of this."

"Good plan and all, but how do you expect me to just sit in here for who knows how long? I'm guessing that I still have to keep myself disguised somehow." Connor said, pointing at himself.

"Vaggie and I will make sure you can blend in." Charlie said. "But for now, just try to get some rest. It's been a long day for all of us."

Connor looked to the floor.

"I don't know how I can after all this. This is all too much." He said before looking back to Charlie. "If this really is Hell, how can I trust you?"

Charlie looked sorrowfully, before she took Connor's still shaking hands.

"I promise, I'll help you get home."

He still may have been frightened, but the same look in her eye from before, as well as the soft grip of her hands holding his so gently let some of that anxiety slowly ebb away. She gave him a smile once she noticed him looking a bit more relaxed, before leaving the room, closing it behind her.

And Connor just sat there. For how long, he hadn't a clue. But with his energy gradually fading, and the bed feeling a bit softer than before, he slowly let himself fall against it. The cool pillow catching his head; wincing a bit from that bump that was getting bigger now, but offered enough security for him to rest. He didn't know what was ahead of him, but he had to keep the reminder of Charlie's promise playing on loop in his mind until he finally knocked out.

*thump-thump*

…

*thump-thump*

…

Later that night, as the two lay in bed, Charlie and Vaggie were discussing the day's events. More particularly, their newest guest. That look on Charlie's face told Vaggie all she needed to know what was running through her girlfriends head.

"You okay?"

"It's just…I've never seen a real human before." Charlie said, still in awe of the situation. Her face saddened. "He looked so scared."

"Well, most people are on the first day." Vaggie noted. She turned on her side to face Charlie. "Do you think it was really a good idea to bring him here?"

Charlie flipped over to face Vaggie.

"I didn't know what else to do! I couldn't just leave him out there to fend for himself!"

Vaggie sat up at this.

"Hon, I get that, but he isn't a stray puppy, he's a human. It's too dangerous for him to be here! If anyone else finds out about him, every Overlord in Hell is going to be drooling over his soul."

Vaggie flipped back to face the ceiling.

"We just have to keep him hidden until we can find a way to get him back to Earth."

Charlie sighed, burying her face in her pillows.

As if she didn't already have enough on her plate.

This had been quite the red-letter day.

Alastor's mind was spinning with the prospects as he kept that wicked grin. At first he thought this hotel was enough to satiate his boredom for the time being. He never expected anyone to have taken it seriously. No, he saw this hotels inevitable failure as its only possible outcome. There wasn't a sinner in Hell who could believe in Charlie's ideas. But out of nowhere, this strange, mysterious young man that his partner has brought in? This could get much more interesting now.

And not just for him, but for this entire realm that Connor had found himself in.

For this was something that had never occurred until today.

There was a heartbeat in Hell.

And thus we see young Connor has moved into the titular hotel. But it seems that despite his best efforts at keeping a low profile, he seems to have garnered the eye of not just Angel, as one would expect, but also the Radio Demon. And he seems to be eyeing him for VERY different reasons.

How will Connor adjust to this new setting? Will he even? Find out next time, when the spooky intensifies.