Chapter 30: Do you have a Bible?

*

"Hello everyone, sorry for the late." You said out loud to warn all the staff of your presence once you walked through the hotel door.

Charlie was the first to come to see you, she was followed by Vaggie and both looked worried.

"Hello Y/N, um... Can we talk to you? "Charlie asked nervously.

"Of course, I had to talk to you too, I have some interesting news for you." You said with a smile to try to reassure them a little bit. Unfortunately, Vaggie's serious face and Charlie's concern quickly cooled you down.

You followed them to the princess' office and once Charlie closed the door, she offered you a seat and a hot drink. You accepted it and looked at the different libraries that were inside in order to be completely relaxed and throw all your stress away. Several golden eyes were on the corners of the furniture and looked at you at times. It was quite disturbing at first, but you've gotten used to it. It wasn't the first time you've seen this kind of decoration after all.

*

"Boris and Alastor explained to us that you made a deal with Valentino and Vox. Is it true Y/N?" Charlie asked suddenly and worriedly.

"That's right, though my contract with Vox was a little hiccup in my plans."

" "Alittle hiccup" "?! "Vaggie shouted, almost tearing her hair out. "What the hell were you thinking Y/N! "

Your eyes slowly widened in the face of the white-haired girl's anger.

"You could have been killed! Even worse! Do you have any idea who Vox and Valentino are? They're manipulators, narcissistic perverts who are prepared to do anything to get what they want ! They don't want anything good for the hotel or other sinners! " she cried trembling with anger, "What would have happened if you had fallen into a trap? Have you even thought about it? They could have drugged you, tortured you, even brainwashed you or whatever to force you to turn against us and satisfy their morbid whims! You could have endangered the whole hotel! Not only you!"

Your jaw tightened in the face of a barrage of criticism. You put your cup down with a deep breath. You understood her reaction, but being so demeaned irritated you deeply. Seriously, who did she think you were? A naive novice? You've spent most of your fucking life with this kind of person! You were forced to sleep with scum like them! Of course you knew who you were dealing with, how dare she take you for a fool?

*

"Really? "you roundly asked. "And what would you have done? Would you have sat here and waited for Angel Dust to get killed one day at work? "You provoked hard. "it would have been a wonderful advertising for the hotel indeed! "

"You really think- "

"Vaggie calm down, Alastor clearly explained the rules of the contracts she made with Vox and Valentino, and look, she's doing very well."

"And how do you think Valentino's gonna react when he finds out that she duped him? "Vaggie asked. "He's going to come here and try to kill her and maybe even raze the whole hotel to the ground!"

"I thought about it. " You stepped in. "I recorded our conversation, Valentino is too proud to put his reputation on the line."

"What about Vox? "Vaggie asked.

"Vox?"

"How's he gonna react when he finds out you tricked him into playing semantics on the contract?"

«...»

"If your plan works, what's even gonna happen after the interview Y/N ? " The tone of the Vaggie had become darker, and her eye shone as a warning sign.

You pursed your lips and then placed a reassuring smile on your lips. You couldn't afford to show the slightest sign of doubt.

"Vox... won't be able to afford to attack the hotel, he'd come up against Alastor, myself, and all the demons that help me on my turf, he wouldn't risk humiliation. So you don't have to worry about that."

"What about you then Y/N? "Charlie asked trembling.

You stared calmly at Charlie even though you felt your stomach twitch with fear.

"Nothing's going to happen to me Charlie, don't worry about me. I always manage to get by. "You tried to reassure.

"That's why you ended up here. " Vaggie curtly retorted

You rolled your eyes.

"Almost always..." You've corrected yourself. "Anyway, the most important thing here is not me, but the hotel. It doesn't matter what happens to me as long as this hotel is running."

The blonde's eyes widened as if she had just heard something absurd.

"Y/N you mean a lot to us, you do a lot for us and Vaggie and me are infinitely grateful to you ." Charlie began by putting down her mug. "We're concerned about what can happen to you. You're really a good friend and we wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

Friend?

Your body tensed at the sound of that word, your eyebrows frowned as you raised your chin. You were touched, but deep down you knew you didn't deserve it, you deserved even less the friendship of Boris or Nikolai. You bit your tongue and answered.

"Thank you." Was all you could say. "I'm sorry I acted alone without warning you, it won't happen again in the future."

Charlie gave you a sweet smile and nodded.

"Don't worry, it's forgotten, the most important thing is that you're OK, and Angel will certainly be more peaceful because of you."

You preferred only to smile back, which allowed Vaggie to ask you a few questions.

"How are you going to make this interview then, I know you've already told us what you plan to do, but can you be a bit more precise?"

"Well, I'm already going to find out about Katie Killjoy and Vox, so I'll be able to get a handle on them. Boris must have warned you that some demons are coming to the hotel today, I'll put them in charge of gathering as much information as possible, even if it means invading their privacy."

"Aren't you afraid that they won't use it against the hotel?"

"I'll make it clear that I'm not looking for redemption, and we have to defend the hotel, why shouldn't we have the right to defend it in the event of an attack after all? Moreover, we're in Hell, they'll also try to make me feel uncomfortable by confronting me with my private life as well, I have no illusions about that. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

Vaggie nodded and turned to Charlie to ask her what she thought of it, the princess nodded in turn and motioned for you to continue.

"When the interview is over, Fos, the demon who runs the newspaper I told you about, will publish an article and Alastor will be able to react on it, which will protect me from Vox."

"And you trust Alastor? " Vaggie asked suspiciously.

"I have no choice, Vaggie. He's far too proud to let his rival hurt me...so... I hope he won't stab me in the back"

Vaggie silently whispered "It's so squalid" in response.

Seriously, the more she looked around you, the more she felt you could be killed at any moment. Alastor was just waiting for a small opportunity to destroy you, Vox and Valentino would try to erase you as soon as they realized that you had fooled them. Velvet, for her part, would join Vox and Valentino without hesitation, and even if she was one of the "minors" Overlords, she wasn't any less dangerous at all!

In all, that was four fucking Overlords against you, not to mention their potential sidekicks. It was too much for you, even with your allies.

Suddenly, Vaggie jumped when she realized something important. "But if the interview doesn't go in his favor, Vox can cut off the power to the city and stop the viewers from watching the show, how are you going to do that?"

Your eyes widened. It's true that that squarehead could cut off the power to the city, he told you himself. Without realizing it, you looked down as a small shiver snaked down your spine.

You forgot that little "unforeseen event".

The only advantage you had was Mirar. If he managed to be taken as a cameraman by Vox for this interview you could use Boris and Nikolai's computer skills to massively broadcast the video on the internet. However, will it really be enough? Will it really be possible? We were talking about the TV Demon... not some classic demon.

*

"It's the weakest link in my plan, I admit. A demon who works for me is an employee at the Vox studio, he can play the cameraman during this interview and keep the video for us. We can then try to disseminate it massively on the Internet. I admit I don't think it's that easy, nevertheless, on the bright side, I don't think the audience will appreciate Vox cutting the broadcast, plus, the hotel's reputation won't really be affected by this."

"We'd have to come up with a backup plan. "said Vaggie, placing her index finger on her chin.

"We'll find one! " Charlie said cheerfully, "We'll start thinking of a plan of action to counteract this, don't worry Y/N."

Vaggie looked at Charlie with a faint smile but still seemed worried.

"OH, I KNOW!" Charlie suddenly screamed. "We could throw a party!"

You blinked.

"A party?"

"Yes, after the interview, we could propose to the demons to visit the hotel for an evening so they could get an opinion on the subject, it would be a good method to talk to them about rehabilitation without forcing them to go to the hotel, don't you think? "she asked enthusiastically.

You twisted your mouth to the right and joined your hands in a more reflective posture.

"It's an idea. But if I say there's an opening night at the hotel during the interview, or even if we put up posters in case Vox cuts me off, we'll have to watch out for any demons that come in. A battle within the hotel is the last thing we need. What do you think, Vaggie?"

"I think we'll need demons to watch out for any slip-ups. Y/N, don't you know any demons that could help us?"

"Yes, I know some, I'll talk to them about that idea."

"All right, then! Oh I'm so excited! " twittered the princess as she danced in her seat. " It's going to be wonderful, it's going to need good music, stunning decorations and- "

"We'll see all that a little later, already I have to take care of this interview" you cut her off.

Charlie's smile fell slightly but her joy was still there.

"By the way, I'd like to know, Charlie, you get a chance to talk to Katie Killjoy, can you tell me a little bit more about her? What's she like in general?"

The Princess's overwhelming enthusiasm seemed to fade away, her smile fell away and her eyes looked down in shame. Vaggie quickly noticed it and wrapped her arms around her to comfort her.

"She-... She's obnoxious, she belittled me just before my interview by telling me that she wasn't happy to meet me and that she didn't want to shake my hand because I was in a relationship with a girl," she explained as she snuggled up to Vaggie. "She also told me that if there hadn't been a problem with another show, I would never have been allowed to express myself on my project."

You got your lips wet listening to Charlie's description of this famous reporter.

Overconfident, homophobic, obnoxious, surly. In short, just as you imagined.

"Okay, I pictured her something like this. Thank you, Charlie, and do you have any information I could get on Vox?"

"I don't really know much, but he's a powerful overlord with considerable influence. "

"I wouldn't be surprised if he had a broad reach more powerful than the radio demon," Vaggie added. "It is said that Vox, Valentino, and Velvet, or the 'Triple V's' are often in shady business, they have a stash of sacred weapons, no one dares to stand up to them or even get too close to them. As far as their business is concerned, well, it's often trafficking of drugs, weapons, prostitution and other things I don't dare to imagine, in short it's a kind of morbid mafia with modern means of communication and loyal employees," she explained shivering with disgust.

You nodded your head and laughed humorlessly.

"It brings back memories." Your face suddenly became serious "Alright, I'll see what I can do, thanks for warning me about this."

"You're welcome. Y/N"

"Um, one more thing, Charlie."

"Yes?"

You paused because you anticipated the reaction of the young princess and Vaggie.

"Um, I know this must be weird for you, but... Do you have a Bible? »

. . .

"Excuse me?" Charlie asked in surprise.

Vaggie was too stunned to answer you, she was completely petrified in shock.

"Do you have a Bible? I'm going to need it if I'm going to defend myself against Katie Killjoy and Vox, they will certainly try to prove to me that a demon cannot redeem itself or that various people will never be able to access Heaven. I'll need the Bible and study it in detail so I can find arguments to counter them."

"Y/N many demons here don't give a damn about what the Bible says" protested Vaggie.

"I know, I myself am not really interested in it because for me it can be interpreted in many different ways, but that won't stop the journalists from attacking me on it, besides, perhaps, some demons will have a different point of view on redemption after that."

"... You're not wrong... "

Charlie stood up silently and rummaged through one of her bookcases and pulled out a small, dusty, black book that was a bit damaged. She opened it and looked carefully at each word to make sure it wasn't in a language you didn't know, and then she walked over to you and handed it to you.

"Is that what you want ? " She asked.

You took the bible and read a few sentences quickly.

"it's perfect, Charlie. Thank you."

"You're welcome. "She replied.

You sighed contentedly and then stood up.

"Well, I'll leave you now, I have to talk to Alastor for a few minutes, I think he could tell me a little more about Vox. " It was half a lie, but you didn't want to tell the two girls what happened between the two of you.

"There's no worries Y/N, thanks for telling us about your plan, we'll do our best to help you."

"Thank you, I'm sorry again for acting in the shadows and worrying you... oh by the way Charlie, I wanted to ask you something private that's been bothering me a little."

"Yes, of course, do you mind Vaggie?" you asked.

"No, don't worry, honey."

"Thank you Vaggie" you thanked him before you backed away to a secluded room with the princess.

*

You took a minute to think about your word and then asked in a slightly shaky voice.

"Um, you were born in hell, weren't you? So you must know how it works here for some demons."

"For the most part, yes indeed, and what's your point?"

You swallowed your saliva and then asked, blushing slightly in shame.

"Do some animal demons 'lose control' a little at certain times of the year?" "You asked subjectively.

Charlie blinked several times trying to figure out what you meant and then understood fairly quickly.

"Oh, you wonder if some demons can be in heat? Why? Have you met someone?"

You had to fight with yourself mentally to not to shout "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!" and blush instantly, instead you shook your hands trying to stay calm.

"No no no no no, none of that, it was just a question that popped into my head, that's all."

Charlie gave you a sly smile in response, letting you know she knew you were lying.

"Okay, yes, I met someone" you lied in an annoyed tone "And it happened suddenly" you snapped your fingers and said "I'm not interested in that kind of thing, I already have someone in my life, and even if we're not together I want to stay faithful to him, even if it means I have to be alone. But... just for this stupid guy I have...ugh..."

You started shaking with anger and Charlie lost her smile when she saw that it bothered you so much. She put a hand on your shoulder to try to reassure you and tried to give you a comforting face.

"Oh Y/N, don't panic, demons don't have that kind of unpleasantness, at least it's far too rare to be emphasized, moreover it focuses more on animal demons born here or sinners who have very visible animal characteristics, usually they can't even express themselves like a human would, so do not worry about that."

"So that means I made it of my own sandstone. "you grunted. "Oh Lucifer I'm such a fool..."

Charlie jumped up and grabbed your hands...

"Y/N there's nothing wrong with loving someone."

Oh, yes, It is...

"Besides, you have a right to be happy, and I'm sure your boyfriend up there thinks so, too."

He died because of me...

"And, you know, I'm sure that guy is a good person."

Oh, Charlie... if you only knew...

You nodded your head and then relaxed your body with a resigned sigh. So the problem was you, not your new body... you hated yourself so much at this moment.

"Thanks, Charlie, I feel a little better." You lied again because just wanted to disappear and be forgotten.

"There's no problem Y/N, um, just out of curiosity, what's their name?"

Why the hell didn't God in his mercy kill you with his exterminating angels the day you got here?!

You turned your head to Charlie with a panicked smile and then you answered.

"Um... I'd rather keep this to myself if you don't mind, Charlie."

"Oh sure I understand you, I hope it works out, you deserve it. " she declared with a smile.

You felt your intestines twisting violently in disgust in your stomach, and the first thing you wanted to scream was "NO NEVER!".

But alas, that would have been a bit too revealing, instead you put a tight smile on your face and said in a small embarrassed voice.

"Yes, of course, that would be really great... " You said without being able to hide the irony completely in your voice. "Well, I've got to go Charlie, thanks again for answering my questions."

"You're welcome, Y/N, see you later," she says with a smile.

*

You walked out of Charlie's office and leaned against the wall. You might as well say it right away, you really wanted to turn into a mouse and hide in a hole so you'd never get out. What an indignity...Your teeth clenched in frustration as you looked at your feet.

This couldn't be happening, their was nothing between you and that stupid deer, only a desire to tear each other apart in the most painful way thinkable, that desire to eat- ugh... that was so damn sordid. Yeah it was to sordid to be love. Love wasn't like that. Love was the desire to BE WITH a person, not to eat her or kill her. Love was that feeling that you can blindly trust your beloved. Love was... nothing that you could share with Alastor. He was already taken... by his ego

*

You took a moment to calmed down, and think about this situation in hindsight. Little by little, your breathing started to be more normal, and your posture more serene. Okay, so you kissed him, so what? It didn't mean anything, you weren't really in your normal state after being in that studio, your nerves were on edge and you had drifted off course, what could be more normal?

Yeah, technically nothing happened. It wasn't what you wanted and neither did he. The matter was settled, you didn't need to torture yourself over a trifle like that, that was more than ridiculous.

A little smile formed on your lips, and then you began to laugh quietly at your past reactions.

Yes, you were stupid to take that kiss seriously...

R i g h t ?

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