Paradise Lost
When Charlie and Vaggie had made it to the front door, Connor was already halfway towards town. Despite only having the tiniest of head starts, Connor had managed to outpace them.
"Shit, he's fast…" Vaggie commented.
"Connor, wait!" Charlie called out, but to no avail. Either it was because he chose not to listen, or was simply too far away.
She turned to her girlfriend.
"We have to go after him!"
She called upstairs.
"Razzle, Dazzle!"
The two goats fluttered down to the lobby.
"We're going to have to split up if we're going to find Connor."
Vaggie looked worried at this.
"Babe, we need to stick together. You know how bad it gets after an Extermination."
"That's why we need to find him now. Before he gets hurt."
She turned to her two goat attendants.
"Razzle, you go with Vaggie. Dazzle, you're with me."
She faced Vaggie once more with a confident smile.
"We can do this."
Once they made it to the edge of town, the two pairs split up, in an effort to widen the search for their missing guest.
Vaggie hadn't been wrong about the state in which the city was in. She knew that she could handle herself, even without the spear in her grip. And while she knew Charlie could most likely defend herself if the need arose, especially with one of her guardians there to protect her, the thought of something happening still set her mind in a state of panic.
She breathed.
No.
Charlie would be fine.
Connor, however, might not be.
Connor didn't know how long he'd been running for. He never bothered to look back. Just as long as he was gaining distance from that hotel, and in his mind, his outlook was starting to improve.
He dodged other sinners, imps, and whatever else this city of Hell was populated by. Most seemed to keep to themselves, others annoyed by this random kid brushing past them, not bothering to look where he was going.
He ducked into an alleyway, out from the crowd. His lungs had burned for air, and his legs threatened to collapse after having gone so far without taking a minute to rest. But when the Devil herself was on your tail, stopping wasn't an option.
He managed to sneak a glance back, making sure that neither Vaggie or Charlie, had been following him. As he looked, searching through the crowd to find them proved somewhat difficult. All of these demons were so outlandish and bizarre that he would get distracted. Luckily after a while, he saw no sign of them.
Despite this, his anxiety wouldn't let go of him. Turning back into the alleyway, he dropped against the wall. He noticed that his hands hadn't stopped trembling. Whenever he tried to take in a breath, it was loud, raspy, and inconsistent; invisible hands grasping at his throat. His heart was still racing; the sound beating into his ears.
*THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP*
*THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP*
*THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP*
Bringing his palms to his eyes, he let out a pained, drawn-out scream. Although he was trying desperately to keep himself hidden, he wasn't doing a very good job of it.
How could he have been this unlucky? Bad enough to be trapped in Hell, but finding himself under the same roof as the literal Devil? Despite being so cheerful and welcoming, he found the revelation about Charlie a bit ironic. If anything, he had assumed Alastor was the big guy down here. He certainly fit the role.
But Charlie?
With his heart rate slowing, and his breathing steadying, a new feeling was taking place over fear. He thought it strange that of all of the emotions that could be manifesting, betrayal was not one he was expecting. If she was as friendly as she played herself as, even suggesting the idea of helping him escape Hell, then why hadn't she disclosed this information the night he arrived? Then again, would he have reacted any differently than how he did now? He mentally slapped himself upside the head when the revelation came to him.
It had all been a ruse.
Of course it had! How else would he be convinced to allow Charlie to take him into her lair? She obviously meant to keep him there, possibly as a source of food. Or worse. He wiped his face; so much of the situation had changed. What would he do now?
"Finally hit you, huh?"
Connor opened his eyes, glancing upwards to the young woman who had been standing over him, giving him a slight jump. Not an animal, not an animate object, rather a normal-looking human woman. Well, normal by Hell's standards anyway.
She had the characteristic look of the dead; pale white skin against her long, almost unnaturally bright red hair wrapped in a tight bun, eyes like jade, and lips black as coal. Add to that a red dress that looked like something out of the late nineteenth century, which was accented by a pair of long black gloves and choker with a sizable ruby hanging from it.
Where had she come from? Had he been so wrapped up in his anxieties that this sinner had snuck up on him? And what was her angle? But what immediately struck him was her question.
"Finally…hit what?"
She continued to look down on him as her hands rested on her hips. Not in a way that spelled malevolence like most he had come across, but also not the same level of kindness he had found in Charlie. If anything, she seemed…indifferent.
"That you're down here. It always hits everyone hard at some point."
Connor whipped the sweat from his brow, silently praying that his makeup wouldn't rub off of his face.
"Yeah. You could say that…"
Why was he being so passive with this woman? She was clearly a resident of Hell, and yet here they were making idle conversation?
Her brow furrowed, seeing Connor still looking up at her with those cowering eyes.
"I'm not here to eat you, boy." She sighed, rolling her eyes.
Connor blinked. She said it so casually to indicate that this had been brought up before, but could he trust that?
"Well…I don't have any money on me so-"
She threw her hands up.
"I'm only trying to make conversation! Not everyone here's after you!"
"Well I'm sorry, but as far as I've seen, that's a little hard to believe!"
The woman began to pace around as Connor kept his eyes trained on her, ensuring that she wasn't going to get the drop on him. After a minute or two of this, she seemed to have reached some sort of conclusion, as she turned back to him.
"Alright, get up." She ordered.
Connor looked around.
"Why?"
She knelt down, their faces not far from each others.
"Because no one solved anything lying down. Now get up."
Connor's expression remained untrusting, but he still found himself rising to his feet.
"Good." She said before turning back to the street. "Follow me."
"…no?" Connor deadpanned, not moving an inch.
The sinner, having gotten a few feet away before she heard this, spun back around and marched back to him.
"I already said I wasn't going to kill you. If I did, I would have done it by now."
"Well maybe that's how it works down here? You lead some unsuspecting victim into a false sense of security, and then once they let their guard down, BAM!"
Her brow crumpled slightly at this.
"What's…'bam'?"
Connor shifted a bit at this. Was…was she for real?
"Uh…never mind."
She rolled her eyes.
"Look you can either stay here and wallow in shit, or you come with me and do something with yourself. I won't ask again."
She turned her back to him and began walking away. Connor watched as she kept on, until she slipped out of the alleyway.
Did he really want to risk this again? Follow some unknown demon to who knows where? That hadn't done well for him the last time. Who knows what this one would lead him to? Was she one of Charlie's servants? Made to lead him back to the hotel and into Charlie's clutches?
Or…
Or perhaps she was being honest with him? Her voice and body language gave no indication of any malicious behavior. And she had picked him out of all demons she could have ran into. Him, who minutes ago was screaming his head off in a fit of panic. Whether she saw him as an easy target, or perhaps she indeed wanted to help him, she wasn't wrong in what she said.
Staying here doing nothing wouldn't fix anything.
And with that, he slowly peeked out of the alley, glancing in either direction before making his way back onto the street. He found the sinner woman again, now standing on the corner, eyes trained back on him. Once she had seen him crawl out of his hiding place, she went back to walking down the street. Connor's brow furrowed, as he slowly followed, trying to keep pace with her. She never looked back, but was still somehow aware that he was still behind her.
As he kept on her trail, Connor took notice of how the 'people' were more out and about than they had been the day before. For better or worse that was. A few would glance his way, but no one really paid him in particular any mind. Connor however would occasionally look back at a few of them; how exactly did these things even work anatomically? But what he found most surprising was that no one seemed to have seen past his disguise. It would seem that it was made a bit too well. It almost made him thank the two. Almost. But then again…why would they give him a disguise if Charlie had other plans for him-?
Connor nearly toppled over himself after almost running into the woman's back. She had turned to see him; still looking a bit disheveled, but present nonetheless.
"Oh good, you're still here." She noted.
Connor nodded.
"Yeah, you did tell me to follow you to…"
His voice trailed off as his eyes grew wide. The sign in his sights advertised that they were on the border to a town populated by a certain type of demon he had a rather unpleasant history with.
"CANNIBAL TOWN"
Connor took a huge step back.
"I knew it, I'm your lunch!"
The woman groaned, bringing a hand over her forehead.
"Just because my place borders Cannibal Town, doesn't mean I'm one of them."
She turned.
"This is where I work."
Connor likewise turned to face a two story building made of wood that had been charred black as if someone had set fire to the place. How it hadn't even collapsed under itself when it looked so weakly structured was a mystery. Between the first and second floor advertised a sign naming the establishment, "The Nightingale".
Connor raised an eyebrow at this as he turned back to her.
"Okay, but is there a reason you had to build this place next to those freaks?"
The sinner breathed through her nose, turning to him with a slightly more agitated expression.
"Please do me a favor and shut up for a moment."
Connor suddenly found it hard for him to move; his breath was feeling a bit tight as she continued.
"They may have a diet that doesn't sit well with you or I, but they've always helped me whenever I needed it. And I will not take any disrespect towards them. Is that clear?"
"Crystal." Connor squeaked.
"Good boy." She finished, her expression softening before turning back and entering the place. Connor gasped, able to breathe once more.
He followed her into the establishment, and upon entering he saw full well what type of place this was. The interior revealed to him a space that hadn't looked much better than the exterior. The walls were dingy and black, the only light offered was through the dirty glass pane windows, and it felt oddly cold. There were a few tables, all of which were empty with several chairs missing, an old style nickelodeon, a pool table that was standing on uneven legs, a long since dead fireplace, and a piano forgotten to time. Connor thought 'The Buzzard' would have been a more fitting name.
The only other occupants he could see hadn't paid him or the woman any mind. The two at the bar were a bit of an odd sight; an orange cat sinner with a peculiar mask over his face conversing with a short imp with a crazed look in his eyes.
"Abigail!" The woman called out as she walked in further.
Connor followed shortly behind.
Another demon, this one a rather innocent-looking sheep, came up to the pair. Connor found it funny, this one was almost cute in spite of where they were.
"Ilene, you're back!" The sheep smiled, carrying with her a slight French accent.
She peered over at Connor.
"And with a guest! C'est super!"
The woman, Ilene, glanced back at Connor as if to make sure he hadn't run out on them.
"Yes, this one seemed like he needed something to do with himself."
Connor looked confused at this.
Ilene turned fully to Connor, staring him down with those unfeeling eyes. Studying every inch of him. Connor could almost feel the weight of her gaze. Was he certain she wasn't eyeing her next course?
But in the next moment, she readjusted herself.
"Yes, I think you'll do nicely enough."
She turned again, walking to the back room, leaving Connor alone with Abigail as the two customers walked out the door. What had she meant by that? Abigail, the whole time, had been watching Connor. Once he had turned to her, her smile came back in full, trying as hard as possible to appear the most welcoming.
"Sorry, I'm…really confused."
Ilene then reentered the room, carrying a basket of table cloths, none of which were the same color, size or even material.
"It's simple, dear; you were in an alley screaming, and I decided to help you out."
She faced Abigail again.
"Abigail, start folding some of these up best you can."
"Oui, madam."
Abigail took the armful of fabric to another table, as Ilene turned back to Connor, her face growing more serious.
"Now, as for you."
Meanwhile in the air, Dazzle had been scouring the streets for Charlie's human friend. Despite the constant warfare happening throughout the city, he and his brother were able to stay inconspicuous throughout their search.
He knew he had to help them find Connor, but in this large of a city, along with the disguise they had provided him, locating the young man would be harder than finding a piece of hay in a needlestack!
Mmmm…hay…
Now he was hungry.
It took a moment for him to shake himself out of his daze when he spotted a white figure on the streets below. Descending down to get a better look, he could spot Connor's reflection in a car window! He had found him! He could fly back just as quickly in Charlie; she would be so happy!
But…who was that other woman he was walking with…?
Curious, he kept his distance, staying low enough to the ground to keep a close enough eye on the pair as they entered a building that looked as though it had been made well-done.
It was when he peered through the window and spotted the two again that his jaw dropped in horror.
From the ether the woman revealed a single piece of paper that came with a slight red glow, handing it to Connor along with a pen, its black ink slowly dripping to the ground.
Knowing what was about to happen, Dazzle didn't waste anytime and shot back to Charlie as fast as his wings could carry him.
Connor studied the page intently. It was outlined with a few curt statements, with a large signature line at the bottom. The wording was somewhat vague, and it hadn't helped that the writing was so faded that it would be impossible to make out in a few years time. How long had she been holding on to this?
"What is this?" He looked to Ilene.
"It's your contract!" Abigail said from the sidelines, her excitement nearly getting the better of her.
Ilene rolled her eyes at her partners antics, but a smile did climb slightly. But when she looked back to Connor, her face softened, while her eyes remained just as adamant and sincere. Whatever was about to happen clearly was something not meant to be taken lightly.
"You seem like you're needing help. Frankly, I don't know if you'll make it out there on your own. Where you were when I found you, the state you were in…I want to help you."
Connor's brow raised at this. What was she getting at?
"So, with that, I'm offering you my protection. And in exchange, you'll work for me."
You could hear a pin drop the instant Ilene had uttered that last word. Connor's eyes widened in horror, realizing what was happening. Shock began to take him in its thralls again.
He slammed the paper on the bar.
"I know what you're doing." He pointed accusingly, backing away to the wall. "You're one of them aren't you. You're an Overlord."
Ilene pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Okay, I know what it looks like-"
"Oh don't give me that crap! You're just offering your 'help' so you can get my…my…"
Why was he having such a hard time vocalizing it?
"It's really not as bad as you might think!" Abigail chimed in. "I've worked for Ilene for three years and she's never treated me badly!"
Ilene smiled at this before turning back to Connor.
"Look the fact is that your soul will only end up getting claimed by someone far worse than myself. I am an Overlord, yes, but I assure I'm not like the others. They seek power in order to further their own station. I, however, only ask for favors. And once you're able to get back on your feet, I'll release you no questions asked. Because you won't survive Hell just screaming at it."
Connor continued to stare. He glanced back down at the contract, re-reading its contents over and over in his mind. When he looked back up and was about to respond, Ilene once again had beaten him to it.
"But I can see you're not interested. Alright then!"
With that, the contract burned away from the table, not even leaving ashes behind.
"Th-that's it?" Connor stammered.
"That's it. You don't want to work for me? Fine."
She turned back to her stack of tablecloths, beginning to fold as neatly as she could get them.
Connor stood there, still aghast.
"You're not going to rip my throat out and eat it because I wouldn't sign?"
"No."
Connor blinked.
"Huh."
He sat at one of the many empty tables as Abigail joined Ilene in the folding.
"And here I thought your type was as bad as that Alastor guy."
Abigail suddenly dropped the sheet she had been folding, hands rushing to her mouth; looking at him with terror in her eyes.
Ilene on the other hand, had heard Alastor's name and raised an eyebrow at Connor's statement.
"D-did you say-?" Abigail stammered.
"Alastor?" Ilene asked, her expression now one of mild intrigue. "He came back?"
Connor shuddered.
"Yeah, that creep is hanging around the hotel I just got out of."
Abigail turned to Ilene.
"Hotel? Like that one the Princess talked about on the news last week? Didn't she say that it was for…?"
While trying to listen, Connor's ears began picking up a low ringing. Like a church bell. Connor found this odd; what sort of church could be down here? Unless it was one specifically for worshiping Lucifer, that much seemed likely.
"What is that?"
"The Embassy for Heaven." Ilene scoffed.
Connor turned to her wide-eyed.
"The what?"
She sighed, dropping an unfolded rag to the table and leading Connor to the doorway.
"That!" She pointed.
It didn't take him long before his eyes met a structure that he wasn't sure how he had missed the day before. But lo and behold, there was indeed a large, imposing white chapel. Decorated with gold, and attached to a grand clock tower which came complete with a glowing halo floating above it. A pentagram had been embossed on the clock face and just below was what Connor guessed was some sort of countdown timer. But a countdown to what? To Lucifer's birthday? Maybe they had a yearly celebration of Hell's creation? Though given its appearance, this was clearly meant for something on the holier side. So was it for God's birthday? Either way, he knew that if this had some ties to Heaven, then that's where he could be going!
"What is it for?"
"Who knows? It's just so those fuckers up there can lord it over us."
Ilene had drawn Connor's attention to the 'moon' he had noticed the day before; the big white ball of feathers.
"So then…that's-?"
"Heaven, yes. My, you are-"
She turned and saw that Connor had gone into a full sprint toward the chapel.
"New."
Meanwhile, the hotel's two co-owners had regrouped in the town square after having searched the streets for any sign of their human guest. And unfortunately they hadn't had any luck in finding him.
"What are we going to do?!" Charlie said fretfully, leaving against the wall of a skyscraper as she brought her hands to her face before sliding to the ground.
Vaggie sat next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"We'll find him. He couldn't have gone that far."
Charlie turned to her with worry in her eyes.
"But what if something happens to him? He doesn't know how things work here! We don't know what kind of trouble he could be in! What if he's hurt? Someone might find out he's a human! He might-"
"Charlie!" Vaggie shouted, holding a hand over her girlfriends mouth to avoid spilling the beans to any passersby. She let go once she knew no one else was around. "Breathe."
Charlie took in a deep breath, Vaggie doing so as well. This seemed to have alleviated her stress, at least a little.
"No, we don't know if anything's happened to him since then. But we are going to figure this out." Vaggie said, trying best to soothe her girlfriend.
Charlie took out her phone and examined the text she had sent Angel, hoping he would help locate Connor. While he may have been at work, she had hoped that he could look in his spare time. Unfortunately, as with his character, he had turned out to be just as flippant as ever given his response.
Srsly? I figrd hed be laughin on his way out!
Charlie sighed; clearly Angel was going to be of no help. As would the rest of the hotel staff: Husk was still passed out and would have been in no right mind to go. Vaggie had pointed out that Niffty would most likely get distracted along the way. And Alastor? There was no way they could ask him to look for Connor. Not that he wouldn't be able to, more likely that Connor would be a worse spot if he did.
Charlie brought her knees to her chest.
"I shouldn't have told him so soon. He wasn't ready."
"Well, we could have eased him into it a little better, sure." Vaggie stated. "But he was going to find out eventually."
Charlie was silent as she replayed today's events in her head. She poured over every decision, any deviation, any words that could have ended the situation in a better way. But in all her reimagining the one factor that remained was the fear she saw in his eyes.
They didn't see a friend, they saw a monster.
"Did you see how he looked at me?" She uttered, burying her face in her hands. Charlie was well aware of how her father was viewed on Earth, but never once did she consider the possibility of that fear being directed at her. Even if they did find him, how could they convince him to come back after that?
"Hey." Vaggie said, pulling Charlie's face to her. "Do you see how I look at you?"
She gave Charlie a comforting smile. Charlie slowly returning it with her own.
"Maybe he's scared now, but he just needs to see who you really are."
Charlie wrapped Vaggie in a hug.
"Okay, from what we know about him, where would he go?" Vaggie asked as they stood back up.
"Well…it's kinda hard to tell if he barely knows anything about himself." Charlie said, before groaning. "There has to be some place he'd go. Somewhere he thinks he'd be safe-!"
She was cut off by a small projectile that he rammed itself into the wall of the building they had been sitting against. Thinking that another turf war had sprang up on them, Charlie had ducked while Vaggie had her spear at the ready. Though it wasn't until Dazzle had emerged from the newly formed crater, shaking the rubble from his head that they relaxed.
"Dazzle! Did you find him?" Charlie asked urgently.
Though her two goats could not speak themselves, Charlie had always been able to pull together a basic understanding from the pair. And what Dazzle had been miming to her was raising quite a number of alarm bells.
She turned to Vaggie.
"We have to find him, now!"
Not bothering to ask questions, Vaggie joined Charlie and the others as they followed Dazzle back to the Nightingale.
Connor was given a few odd looks that had gone unnoticed as he walked up the steps to the chapel doors. Just being near the entrance gave Connor an ethereal sense of calm; he could be safe here.
He looked over his shoulder, taking in the sights of Hell. Just for one last time.
Sinners, monstrous and bloodthirsty as they were, going at each other with whatever weapons one could think of.
A trio of imps could be seen raiding a vending machine that apparently sold hard drugs, something Connor turned a raised eyebrow at.
And then catching a brief look at a sinner and a hellhound that were openly going all the way; an image Connor was quickly trying to erase from his memory.
"Well, I would say it's been fun but…it really hasn't." He said, curtly as he pulled on the door handles.
And they remained firmly shut.
Connor's brow furrowed at this. A place like this couldn't possibly have a closing time could it?
He rolled his eyes; this must have been a push door.
…still nothing.
"Wh…what the hell?! Open up!"
He pushed and pulled, teeth gnashing and muscles straining all the while, but he wouldn't gain entry today.
And with that, he made his way down the steps…only to come back running with a brick.
"Sorry, guys, but I need out!"
He chucked the brick toward the glass door, but in an odd turn of events, the glass had stretched with the thrown projectile, before rebounding it toward Connor, hitting him square in the chest; knocking him over in the process.
He grumbled as he sat up.
"You idiots…" He said, raising to his feet. "Don't you get it?! You made a mistake!"
He screamed, yelled, and cursed at the door as he pounded his fist against the it. But each blow grew weaker, as the tears began to fall.
"Please…I just want out…help…"
New chapter for a new year. I had wanted to release this yesterday, but you know how the holidays are.
Anyway, I do hope you guys like the chapter, as well as two new characters to the story: Ilene, the new Overlord and her friend/lackey Abigail! I might leak more information on these two as the story goes on, but these two were actually heavily inspired by Jennifer Nightingale and Mei from animechick247's "La Vie en Rose"! I was fortunate enough to receive her help in making this story and wanted to add these two as thanks. Without her help I'm not sure how far along this story would have gotten and I owe her quite a lot.
I also added a cameo from two other characters from Moheart7's "Owlette and the Cat", and while I don't know him AS well I did want to give him and his story a shoutout as well for giving me inspiration for this story. Make sure you check out both of these authors please! Mostly because they're better at writing this stuff than me.
Be sure to leave a review!