to hell and back.

I told Angel everything that Alastor had put me through, starting all the way from the beginning.

I told him about when I woke up and Charlie - one of the first demons I saw - explained that Alastor was the one to carry me into the hotel from the forest when I first appeared. I talked about the old Mimzy bitch and about her being there when Alastor kidnapped me, down to every last detail. I got so caught up in my story telling that I told him other details that I didn't really mean to tell him. I might have let slip that I have feelings for Vaggie, but I don't think he read into it too much. He only poked my arm teasingly and chuckled. When I got to the part about Alastor and I meeting in the woods to make our deal, he got this really weird expression on his face.

After reliving every bit of trauma, anger and emotion that had sat in my heart for the spider demon to hear, he only shrugged and said, in a serious manner, "Damn. You really went through it, didn't you?"

I just turned on his TV to see if anything interesting was on. I was disappointed and quickly turned the TV back off.

Now, I'm sitting on one of his white hotel beds, my head resting against the back headboard, staring up at the rough tan ceiling with nothing to listen to but the rhythm of my breathing.

"So... what do you think smiles is gunna do?" Angel asks from his seat on the window sill. I look over at him so I can hear him better. He has his legs crossed over one another, the booted leg that's on top idly swinging in the air. "Kidnap you again? Kill you? Torture you? I mean, he was really choking you out there. Looked pre-tty pissed to me. I thought you were going to pass out or somethin'."

I shake my head a little bit. "Not sure. One thing I do know is that he won't hurt Vaggie. He promised me that."

Angel's face suddenly turns dubious. "Does he seem like the kind of guy to keep promises to you?"

I look at my feet (which are now bare; Angel made me take my socks off before putting my feet on the bed because they 'looked like they had been shoved up someone's shitty asshole') and pressed mu lips together in thought. No, he definitely does not seem like the kind of guy to keep promises. If anything, he intended to break that part of the deal from the beginning, just to spite me. I haven't been all that compliant with him, so why should he be compliant with me?

After a moment, Angel stands, brushes the front of his white and pink striped tuxedo top down, combs a hand over his puff of hair, cups his breasts with both hands, then finally sighs. "Well, I'm getting pretty goddamn bored in this dull ass room. Is it chill if I go back to the Christmas party?"

I stand, feeling the blood-red carpet squish underneath my toes. I remember thinking that its color could hide a murder the first time I saw it. "That's fine. Should I come with you?"

"If you feel comfy enough," he says with a one-shouldered shrug.

Looking down at my feet again, I think about weather it's a good idea for me to go back, but after only a second of thinking, I decide that it's probably fine if I do. I can't hide in Angel's hotel room forever. Plus, being away from Vaggie and even Charlie at a time like this makes me feel queasy with nervousness. Angel must see me staring at my bare feet, because he then adds, "Wanna borrow some sexy boots? I have a gorgeous black pair of knee-highs that would go great with that sleeveless dress... Oh! And the heels aren't too tall, so if you need to run away from any murderous pimp demons, you can!"

I look up at him and see his grin, his one gold tooth flashing in the light. I match it with a true smile of my own.

"Hell yes. If I die... again... I want to look sexy doing it."