cupid clearly hates me.

[ 3 ]

More and more demons were coming out of their apartment complexes, some walking and others driving to one of the multiple nightclubs, trap houses, bars, or strip clubs that lined the streets.

Most buildings were bustling with people, and they were loud. As you and Vaggie were passing one bar, you heard a loud crash that sounded like glass shattering come from inside. You turned and saw, from behind the non-existent safety of the window, a big man with metal gloves beating a scrawnier man to a pulp on the ground. A drunken crowd had surrounded them in a tight circle, cheering. The crashing sound was coming from a separate group of demons in the same building that were recklessly throwing empty bottles across the room. You took a long breath and suddenly the air around you felt too hot.

Vaggie hadn't said a single word to you yet. The silence was making the extrovert inside of you wild. You wanted to say something, anything to make conversation, but you had to idea what to say to her. She was still like a stranger to you.

Eventually, Vaggie stopped as you came across an old abandoned convenience store. The windows had been bashed in and the sills were left with nothing but small, jagged remains of glass. Someone had placed a metal bench in front of the store, and based on the rustic, beat-up look of it, it had been sitting outside for quite some time.

"Let's stop here," Vaggie said, sitting down on the bench. Her fingers clenched around the edge of the seat, as if she had to be ready to get up and run at any second. Her posture made you nervous, but you sat beside her nonetheless.

"So. Alastor," you began after a minute, looking at your thumbs as you twirled them around each other in circles.

Vaggie cut right to the point. "He's known as the Radio Demon. He died as a radio show host and infamous serial killer back in 1933, and ever since then his gigantic ego has made him dysfunctional. He has great power, power so great that it can topple overlords. He uses his power and manipulation skills to get revenge on anyone he seeks out, killing anyone and anything in his path," she says, her voice low and sharp. "He thinks that he can take advantage of Charlie... ese maldito pinchazo... but I know! I know about his past and if he thinks for one second that I'm going to let him keep up with his shit, I'll rip his pencil head clean off his body." Vaggie was frowning, a look of passionate hatred covering her face. The anger was so strong it practically radiated from her body.

You thought you heard her say something in Spanish, but you ignored it. The fact that Alastor was some crazy super-powered killer was a little more pressing than the language she spoke in. "Then why did Charlie say he was helping you guys?"

"Because she doesn't understand. She's actually friends with the guy, because she believes that, no matter what happened in his past, he's different now. She thinks everyone can become a better person if they really want to. That's what the hotel is all about," Vaggie explained, her words heavy. "But he hasn't changed, at least not much, and I'm know he's planning something against us. I can feel it. He's a piece of chewed up rat shit."

You thought about what she had said about the 'Radio Demon'. About his past and how he used to be a serial killer and all that. Vaggie had a strong voice; when she was talking, her self-assured confidence was persuasive enough to convince a crowd of happy mothers to kill their children. A gruesome, yet true statement.

So you believed her when she said he was horrible. You knew something was off about him from the moment you locked eyes with him and noticed that the smile on his face never completely left, but, then again, everything was somehow off down here.

"Then... why is he helping you—er—saying that he is?" You brushed a lock of hair behind your ear and looked at Vaggie.

She blinked, her long eyelashes batting like feathers. "Pfft, I don't know. Some malicious reason. He never tells anyone about his little schemes. If he told anyone, he would just be revealing his secrets and ruining everything for himself."