Loved by Demons

Realized Morality Renewal

~~Three Days Later...~~

Charlie's P.O.V

I quietly groan and turn on my side to look at my clock, it reading 2:05 AM. Sighing in frustration, I lie on my back and stare up at my room's ceiling. Vaggie is sleeping soundly next to me, her face against her pillow as her hair flutters with her breath, one of her legs hanging out of the blanket too. I envy her ability to sleep so soundly, but maybe it's because she isn't as anxious as I am. With all these changes happening around us and the sizable group of patrons we already have, it's left me feeling frequently nervous and on edge about making sure it all turns out ok. Things can quickly go south and trying to protect everyone seems more and more impossible with every new patron that arrives. I hadn't fully realized that it would get this way with the limited help we have, but there were a number of things I didn't expect that still happened anyway. Things are too unpredictable sometimes and I wish they'd be a bit more predictable. That or I wish I could've thought far enough ahead and tried to get more help to manage the patrons coming in instead of ending up understaffed like we are now. But that's a problem I'll just need to solve in time.

Anthony's siblings have fit in quite well over the past few days since their arrival. Molly is very kind and sporadically energetic, but can also be tough when she needs to be according to Anthony. Her and I have had some lovely conversations so far, Vaggie also getting the chance to speak with her and liking her just as much as I do, and from those conversations, I was able to get more inside information on what her, Anthony, and their brother's lives were growing up. It hurt me even more knowing how much they suffered, but they were strong enough to persevere and grow up to be strong, independent individuals. Arackniss was a bit harder to talk to, since he seemed more serious and not as willing to be open when talking with us. But the one thing I was able to get from our brief talks was that he really does care for his siblings, a lot more than most would realize given his outwardly distant and, at times, fierce nature. Anthony also told what their real names are, since the ones they've used are just like his own and aren't the ones they were given at birth, but also mentioned that I probably should ease into using them since they're still a bit sensitive about it. I fear that it probably is abuse-related and that by saying their real names, it resurfaces memories they'd not revisit.

Not wanting to disturb Vaggie by tossing and turning a lot, I lift the covers up and get out of bed, heading straight to my door and out into the hallway. Sitting there stirring about it won't help, so at least walking around a bit might help get rid of these strong negative feelings clouding my brain. As I pad along the carpeted hallways on my floor, I can't shake these thoughts out of my head, attempting to do so only causing them to fill my head even more. Biting my lip, I try my absolute best to think positively, but the fact of nobody being redeemed yet still lingers around even though I don't want it to. But I'm understanding God's book plenty well and the methods we're trying are certainly helpful, so things should turn around soon, right?

Coincidentally, my thoughts are answered by sounds of a fight down the hall. This is definitely worrying, so I pick up my pace and run to the end of the hallway and around the corner. Two of our patrons are grappling with each other, other patrons on this same floor having come out of their rooms to watch. I can't simply let this continue, though, since they'll be creating more wrath for them to eventually get rid of or have wrath become another sin that they'll have to worry about anyway. Luckily, the audience of this fight isn't egging them on, so when I step forward to confront the two aggressors, I'm met with no resistance. Yet a loud voice gets everyone's attention and makes the fighting stop, all heads turning towards the opposite side of the hallway to see Anthony walking this direction in his pajamas. I pause and take a few steps back, wondering how this will turn out now.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" He asks, stopping in front of the two aggressive patrons, "It's early in the morning, people are trying to sleep, and you two are out here causing a ruckus. Have either of you even considered the fact that you're being a bother to others."