Chapter 19: And so it Begins...

The day had finally arrived and Charlie was over the moon as she got ready, having finished putting on a pair of black suit pants with a white dress shirt and red bow tie. She combed her hair in front of the vanity where she sat and giggled gleefully, unable to contain her excitement that for once in her life, things were falling into place for her and the hotel as today had started without any cancellations, major set backs, or worse... blowing up in her face before the ship could set sail.

Move in day.

This was it, the day she had been waiting for; the start of her passion project that would pave the road for her people to better their chances of survival and find everlasting happiness so many were denied. It was still a little over two hours before the residents would come for their official orientation and brunch, prepared by none other than Alastor himself as his contribution to the welcome wagon since Vaggie had insisted- and won the argument- that he would not be involved with the last bit of paperwork and room assignments. Only orientation. He hadn't mind, not with another potential sponsor on the line. He had shown her the letter from the demoness inquiring about the hotel and her interest to help support the cause. Charlie couldn't help but notice Alastor sure did have a lady friends even though he was feared more than anything.

Charlie gulped, nervousness starting to set in. Although she was allowing a few more days to pass before starting the rehabilitation process, the heiress of Hell couldn't shake off the jitters as she suddenly became wide eyed, her breath caught in her throat. Was she dreaming? Ever since Charlie woke up, it felt like she was on a emotional roller coaster. Mostly positive feelings, but with so many failures under her belt, she couldn't let herself get too carried away.

Vaggie came up behind her and slid her arms around her shoulders, resting her head on top of Charlie's. The moth grinned at her girlfriend through the mirror and Charlie looked up, a small thankful smile gracing her blacken lips. A sense of calmness washed over her, thanks to Vaggie's warm, comforting embrace. The princess's heart fluttered for a moment in her chest as she wondered what it would be like to have a certain red deer demon hold her instead with his powerful arms. She reached up and held onto Vaggie's, wishing away the thoughts of her business partner gone secret lover.

His words the day before had resonated within her and she felt she could make a difference with his help. Even if Alastor didn't truly believed her people could ascend, the red clad demon believed in her, in her influence over the denizens of Hell, if she could just blossom into the ruler her father had long forsaken. For some reason Alastor's support meant more to her than anyone else ever had... which had only been Vaggie and partially her mother up until then.

It was rather strange, really. It had been just over two months since Alastor had enter her life with Husk and Niffty, and in that short time he had gone above and beyond all expectations to help her and the hotel. Who knew the Radio Demon could be so generous? She wondered when would be the next time she could "thank" him for his support.

However, Charlie was hesitant to completely trust him as he had wished. He was the deadly Radio Demon after all, one of Hell's most lethal overlords and a confirmed cannibal who had massacred a legion or two worth of her people when he first descended to the fiery pits of his new home, and countless more before arriving at her doorstep. Charlie should have been more cautious, maybe even cave to Vaggie's wishes and boot him from the hotel, but since his tenure there, her people were safer with one less bored overlord who needed to pass the time somehow.

She didn't fear the thought of him consuming her residents as she did of him tormenting them for sheer unadulterated amusement, possibly breaking them before progress could be made. Charlie admittedly was naive at times, but not stupid. The princess saw it in his eyes, the undertones of sick twisted joy every time their arrival had been brought up in conversation. Charlie was aware of the kind of person he really was. She dreaded what could be. There was a side of him he had yet to show, and Vaggie had made sure to never let her forget to be wary of him with their patients. Heaven forbid she kept a closer eye on him... meaning more one-on-one quality time to keep him out of trouble. Yes, heaven forbid.

In addition to assisting her with the hotel, in some sick twist of fate, they became lovers. Charlie supposed it was another thing to distract him from harming her people. Was it not her royal duty to protect them at any cost? As guilty as she felt for cheating on Vaggie, it was a small sacrifice Charlie was willing to make, or so she kept telling herself rather than the mind numbingly euphoria the powerful male demon had so far given her and guilty pleasure of it all. Just the thought of him now caused a jolt of excitement to tingle her nether region.

"You ready?" Vaggie asked, kissing the top of her love's head. She stepped back, showing off her outfit for the day. Charlie mentally scolded herself as she whistled approvingly at Vaggie's outfit. She wore a white camisole with a sheer yellow long sleeved shirt on top, tucked into high waisted black shorts with thigh high black socks and heeled booties.

Charlie shrugged and set the brush down, a small smile on her lips, "Ready as I'll ever be. I never thought this day would really come, Vaggie. I'm not dreaming, am I?" She turned to face her girlfriend directly, "If it is, I don't think I want to wake up."

The moth smiled adoringly at her and bent down to kiss her, cupping her rosy cheeks tenderly, "It's happening babe, it really is. Shall we head down?" Charlie nodded and stood up to follow Vaggie out of their suite, putting on a black blazer and buttoning it shut. As they walked down the hallway, Charlie glanced at her neighbor's door. She knew it was going to be difficult to continue their secret rendezvous for a while and it saddened her a little. She grabbed Vaggie's hand, settling with what was available to her.

'It doesn't matter... we have Vaggie. Vaggie understands better than he ever would and right now she'll give me the support I need. A lot of pent up sexual frustration was released so things should be better.'

'Not all of it. You know you want more, you insatiable whore. Vaggie doesn't know how to give you the release you crave. You want him buried deep within, painting you with his color. You want to do so many wicked things you never dreamed of with her.'

'No. I really mean Vaggie is all I need right now. Al needs to take a seat on the back burner. He'll... he'll understand. It's going to be busy. I don't have time for sex.'

'It's not only just sex, and you know it.'

"You ok?" Vaggie's voice cut through her inner monologue. She gave her princess's hand a gentle squeeze, "I'm nervous too."

Charlie let her hand go to rub her own face, "Yeah, I'm just going through a lot of emotions right now. I'll be fine once they get here. Even if only one shows up, I'll be ok, I promise."

Down in the first floor, Angel was sweeping and dusting at the same time, per Niffty's orders. The house keeping demoness zipped by, dashing toward the dining room with a wagon full of fresh linen. Angel stopped as soon as the princess and the moth walked down the stairs. He rolled his shoulders and snapped his head to one side to pop his neck.

"Yeesh, thought you bitches would never come down to help. I don't see why we gotta clean every damn day. I'm dustin' thin air over here." The third set of arms appeared to rest the hands on his hips, his hips cocking to the side as he held out his cleaning items toward them and his left upmost arm shaking a fist in annoyance. "Save the morning nookie for another time, we got shit to do and I wanna wrap this up so I can hit the bar tonight with Cherri to, ya know... celebrate." He lost eye contact with them as he frowned a little , 'I've been slacking on making the funds for Val. His goons are coming soon, I just know it.'

"Either you clean or you be bell hop with Husk and help with tonight's chores." Niffty bit out as she rushed back into the room, "This place has to look spic and span for the patients coming in! Alastor's just about done making breakfast for us so we'll break then. Plus you're almost done! I finished getting the tables set up for brunch. The earlier the better!" She was gone again in a flash.

Alastor walked into the lobby while drying his hands with a rag, "My apologies, I may have made her too much espresso this morning." He whipped the towel over his left shoulder and rolled down the sleeves of his red and black crossed dress shirt then patted the front of his vermillion colored vest. He pulled out the beat up pocket watch from the left pocket, "Well, everything is set for us to dine, my dear. We have enough time to enjoy ourselves before setting up the trays for the buffet line. Husk is making mimosas, I believe."

Charlie's stomach rumbled embarrassingly loud, causing her to flush from head to toe in a lovely shade of scarlet. Everyone in the room laughed, except the heiress who hid her face behind her hair as she groaned.

—

The hotel staff sat in the dining room at their usual table, chattering away and laughing, wondering what things would be like moving forward with the new addition to the hotel. The sound of plates being passed around or that of cutlery against ceramic echoed between the voices. Alastor had prepared quite the feast for them, making grillades and grits, pain perdue with fresh berries, powdered sugar, homemade whipped cream, with a side of sourdough toast, butter, scrambled eggs, sausage, a batch of Creole coffee punch made with chicory, and a pitcher of Husk's mimosa.

"You spoil us, Smiles." Angel said as he moaned, having taken another mouth full of meat and grits, licking the savory sauce off his lips, "Fuck, this is probably the best you've done by far. Fucking wife material!"

"Yea, this is amazing! Thank you." Vaggie said, somewhat shyly, "I kind of wish we had something like this more often."

Alastor chuckled, "It's a very special occasion my dear, not just for the hotel itself, but for all of us as we finally stop lollygagging and get to work in helping our dear Charlie here attempt to reach success! I look forward to these poor little bunnies stumbling about." He adjusted his monocle, "I can arrange for these type of meals on other special days, if you'd like. I hadn't realized simple pancakes or frittatas weren't a show stopper in the morning."

Charlie loaded another two slices of the New Orlean style French toast and a generous serving of berries onto her plate, "Everything you make is delicious. And just you wait, Al. You and everyone else are going to eat your words! I'll show you we can convert sinners into cinnamon rolls that Heaven will have to accept them. These people want to change, and I'm going to help them be the best version of themselves." Alastor locked eyes with her, a pleased smile on his lips as she grinned confidently at him.

"Well, I suppose we'll see soon enough if there is rainbow or a lost cause in every demon, won't we?"

"Wanna bet?" Charlie looked at him, egging him on.

"Naturally."

Husk's ears perked up as he watched the exchanges. He felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. 'Don't do it Charlie. You're a good kid, don't fall for his tricks and charms.' The bartender snuck a glance at Alastor and felt the hair on the back of his neck rise, 'Oh no... I know that predatory look from anywhere. Don't fucking eat her. Don't make her into another meal. She's a good kid.'

Husk wanted to tell her in private to be careful, but due to the magic of their deal from long ago, he knew he couldn't utter a peep of his handler's plan. Not without dire consequences and unimaginable pain and suffering.

"Charlie..." Vaggie said with a warning tone, "I wouldn't recommend that."

Alastor's smile grew, his eyes narrowing, "We can agree on a wager later, my dear. I usually don't turn one down if the odds are in my favor." He drummed his fingers together as he tilted his head to the right, red eyes glowing with mischief.

Niffty clapped her hands enthusiastically, "I'm just so excited to see the new faces! I hope we have some lookers." She squealed as she bounced in her seat, "You have no idea how happy I am to have new faces here!"

Husk rolled his eyes, squashing the terrible feeling down as best he could, "I just hope they don't give me lip about your booze policy. You said some were soldiers, huh? Shit... I'll let you guys handle that."

"No need to worry Huskers, my friend. Send the unruly ones my direction, I'll see to it they pipe down and obey our simple rules." Alastor sipped at his coffee, leaning back in his chair as he finished eating.

Vaggie sighed, "Run it by me first. I rather handle stuff like that than you launching them through a wall or something. It's a miracle you've let Angel live this long."

The white and pink spider to her left whined, "Hey, I might be a dumbass half the time but I learned better than to fuck with him after watching him move all the new furniture around like he was clippin' nails."

"Well... he was filing them down while doing it." Husk scratched the underside of his chin.

Before anyone could speak, a clock located in the lobby began to chime at the top of the hour. Charlie's breath caught in her throat as she shot up from her seat, wide eyed as if a deer caught in headlights, "It's already 10? They'll be here soon... oh no! We're already behind."

Vaggie stood and grabbed her hand, "Hey, hey... it's fine. Go to the lobby with Angel, the rest of us will clean up and get the trays out and set the tables, ok? It's fine."

Alastor was next to stand, snapping his fingers as shadowy minions emerged from under the table, "Yes, we'll handle it from here, sweetheart. Go greet the newcomers." His puppets began to clear the table, some scurrying toward the kitchen while others floated about, grabbing fresh clothed napkins from a stack on the buffet table and clean cutlery.

Charlie smiled in relief, thanking everyone as she and Angel exited the room to stand at the entrance to greet their guests. Once Angel was sure they were out of ear shots from the others, he snickered, "So... anything up with Daddy Deerest yet?" He wiggled his eyebrow suggestively before taking his post at the check-in counter.

"Angel..." she groaned, blushing from embarrassment and causing the spider to laugh.

"I ain't asking ya to spill the beans yet, toots, not with Vags walkin' around, but tell me this. Regular dick or deer?"

"R-regular..." she fixed her hair as she fought to contain her blush, "And he's... um... pretty uh..." she grabbed the basket Angel held out for her, containing small welcome packages for their arrivals. "You know..."

"Mmm, daddy thick huh? God damn... super fuckin jelly here! We gotta have like... a girls night or somethin' because I seriously gotta know." He giggled as he rested his head on two of his hands, the other set grabbing a clip board with the tenant roster and a pencil. "Been a while since I had a spa night. It's gonna be one hell of a week so maybe we should."

Charlie bit the tip of her right index finger, "That sounds nice. I kinda also need to vent a bit and you're the only one I can talk to. Thank you Angel."

"Eh, whatever. I just wanna know what's up with Al and what gets him up. He's probably some kinky bastard. Does he have you callin' him daddy or somethin'? Master?" He tsked as Charlie shook her head, "Damn. What a let down."

Charlie giggled a little, leaning on the counter, "I'm glad he doesn't. I know it looks like he'd be into that but..." her mind drifted to their conversation the evening before, "He's actually a very sweet guy. Look how much he's helped me."

Angel cackled, "Sounds like you got yourself a fuckin sugar daddy then. How many times you two do the horizontal tango?" He leaned in closer, his eyes lidded as a coy smile spread across his thin lips.

Charlie cocked a brow, "I thought you weren't gonna ask a lot of questions." She looked around the area before closing the distance between them to whisper in his ear, "At least five. I don't even remember how many times I got off, but Angel... oh my lord... I feel a lot better than I have in a while."

The spider leaned backed and whistled, "It's been like two days. Damn, poor Smiles must have one hell of a stamina." He frowned, "I just realized something... what did I tell you to wear?"

"Huh?"

Angel stood to his full height and peered over the counter, his frown deepening, "Ya come ta me for advice and ya don't even take it? What gives?"

The princess shrugged, "I don't have a skirted suit?"

Angel rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly, "Toots, yer gonna be busy for a while and I don't know what you and Strawberry Pimp have arranged for play time, but if I think I know ya well enough, you're gonna want to be in skirts for easy access. Especially with this Dom/Sub pet shit going on between you two, Al's gonna appreciate it, and you're gonna thank me."

Charlie rubbed the back of her neck, "Yea... I know I'm not going to have much time for a while, b-but Vaggie's still good in bed so I'll be fine without him. I'm just using him for sex is all. Vaggie is my world and I care more about that, so maybe this will be good for me. Ween off him already before I get addicted."

"That good?"

"The best." Her hands flew up to her mouth as Angel sat down and let out a loud, boisterous laugh that echoed, his arms wrapped around his torso as tears pricked his eyes at Charlie's quick answer and instant embarrassment as the words left her mouth.

"Fuck, babe. I can't wait until you give me the details." He wiped his eyes, "That was great." He settled down and coughed a little, booting up the computer that was there to officially christen their first day as a rehabilitation hotel. 'I'll tell her about Vaggie later.' He thought as he typed away on the keyboard.

Charlie took a deep breath and stepped outside to wait by one of the pillars to greet her soon-to-be arriving guests. She frowned as she noticed a small crowd of news reports begin to swarm around the area. She knew she should have expected it but she was still surprised to see at least six camera crews and a handful of bystanders form to see what the commotion was about. She gulped, not sure how she felt about the identities of her patrons being unmasked so soon. A hand on her shoulder caused her to jump.

"Ah, I see the roaches have come." Alastor's smooth voice mused between the radio frequencies, his invisible audience booing in the background. She placed her hand on his, fingers interlocking as he gave her a comforting squeeze before letting ago and summoning his staff, "No worries, sweetheart, they cannot cross a certain threshold."

The blonde demoness looked up at him curiously, "What do you mean?"

The Radio Demon chuckled, "I may or may not have installed a protective barrier around the area that will be good for at least today." He raised his free hand and clenched his gloved fist, causing the air to crackle with static as a soft red glow appeared between them and the news reporters. The news teams and pedestrians yelped in surprise, a camera too close to the static going on the fritz as it sparked and smoked. Alastor chuckled as he patted her head like he would a puppy, "I knew you'd be worried about the guests. Your lady friend will see to it that they come in safely should the vermin slip pass the seal, though I suppose I should take my post on the third or fourth floor for a better vantage to conceal our guests identities."

Charlie wanted to hug him but knew better than to publicly display any type of affection, especially toward her business partner. After the interview, it was best to, at least from prying eyes that didn't belong to the hotel, she should keep some distance from him. She turned to face him to take a good at him dressed in his trademark pinned striped suit. He looked at her with half lidded eyes and grinned, his sharp teeth looking menacingly.

"I do look forward to seeing your performance, my dear. I have the utmost confidence that this will be the most entertaining adventure I've been apart of."

Charlie felt her eyes water as she smiled up at him, "Thanks, Al."

He arched a well groomed brow, his eyes glowing faintly, "Whatever for, my dear?"

She shrugged, "Not being an asshole like everyone says you are. Deep down I think you do care."

Alastor let out a jovial laugh, a hand on his chest as he threw his head back, "Haha, oh my darling demon belle, I'm merely protecting my investments." He sighed, leaning on his staff, "I can't have them running away from the jitters and I surely don't think it would be appropriated if the trash scared them off with their cameras in their faces. Ha, no. It's not so much for you as it is for me." He stood straight and kicked his cane up, causing it twirl over his palm as he caught it with his other hand, "I take my leave for now. Once they arrive I'll be back down."

Charlie shook her head as she gave him a small grin, "You say that now, but I honestly think you'll actually enjoy working here."

He began to walk back inside. Alastor looked over his shoulder and returned a grin of his own, "Of course I do, especially now, my pet. I've never had to work closely with someone I'm intimate with, but there's a first for everything." He turned back around with a wave, leaving a flustered Charlie to rocked on the balls of her heels.

Just as she calmed down, the sound of a car engine roaring in the distance caught her attention, making her heart leap into her throat. She looked to the west and saw her limo round the corner. The new reporters began to shoot in its direction, but suddenly a curtain of eldritch tentacles surfaced from the asphalt, blocking their view, muffling their cries of protests as an otherworldly growl filled the air. Charlie smiled as Vaggie joined her side, happy that they weren't attacking rather than flailing and shoving the reports to prevent them from getting any footage.

"It's show time." The moth sighed, holding Charlie's hand.

"Yea... it's finally happening."

Alright, so we finally caught up to AO3. I currently have Ch20 in the works and maybe within the next two weeks I'll be done.

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Thank you so much for the support guys! I'm so happy to finally be getting back into DLP and hopefully this is the end of my hiatus. Until next time!