(Hazbin Hotel) The Radio Demon and The Doe-Eyed Killer

Chapter 54: "War is Hell..."

To all you War Vets out there...I reallyyyyyy hope I don't trigger any PTSD episodes for you guys with this chapter!!!
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Husk rolled his shoulders and drank from his bottle of booze. "Alright listen up because I'm only telling this story once..."

He sighed heavily and spoke. "I spent my whole life in a casino. My Pops raised me right, he was a strict man, spanked my butt only three times before I realized that lying ain't worth a sore rear end."

His favorite saying: "How do you want this to end?"
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(Author's note: That's my dad's saying, and my younger brother and I learned quickly!)

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"That man drove the fear of God in me whenever he said though words."

He shuddered over the three times his father was pissed off enough to spank his butt red as a child and sipped at his beer before he chuckled.

"He didn't curse like a 🤬 sailor, but he had his moments. He was a good man."

Amos smiled. "He certainly was Husker."

Husk never acknowledged him. "I never knew my mother. She died of Yellow Fever in 1905. My Pops wasn't one to believe in Voodoo, but he told me that Amaryllis Grace had walked right up to their opened bedroom window one night when my Ma was really—really sick—and before my Pa could grab his gun and chase her off our property...my Ma asked her to do her Voodoo magic to spare my Pa and me from that sickness. She begged and said that she'll do anything to spare her husband and infant son from dying. It drove Amaryllis to tears and she smiled softly and whispered."

"I promise you Miranda...your pleas will be heard both by God and by my friends from the beyond. I work with the magic of Queen Lilith to save lives—not end them. My magic is used to protect the people of this city, but I'm not a healer Miranda. You know that, or else you would've asked to be healed..."

"I—I know I'm going to die, but I don't want my husband and son joining me! It's—It's not their time yet. My baby boy has to grow up and be a wrinkled old man with grey hairs before he kicks the bucket. Same goes for you to Maurice. Old, wrinkled, and with grey hairs you hear me!!!"

"My father was in tears over my mother's loving words. Amaryllis smiled and nodded."

"I agree with you Miranda, it's not their time...not yet. I admire your love for your family. One should never doubt a mother's love for her child. It is unconditional and a father's love provides their child the strength they need to live and to grow up big and strong. Rest easily Miranda, your family will be fine."

"My father was so stunned by the soft spoken words of this Voodoo Woman that after my Ma passed he would seek out Amaryllis Grace whenever I was sick. I just saw Voodoo as a scare tactic for anyone who had ill intentions. As a child I just saw Amaryllis as the strange Medicine Lady of the Bayou...boy was I wrong...Voodoo is no 🤬 joke!"

Josephine laughed. "You can say that again Husker! Hahahaha!"

Alastor noticed how unresponsive Husk was to that, he wasn't acknowledging anyone or anything. "I would visit her grave after Church with my Pa and place flowers on her grave. Pa said she always loved daisies. When I met Abigail after helping her lanky twig of a son get himself out of a fight when we were five. I immediately smiled over the gentle warmth that filled my heart and soul when she hugged us—despite not even knowing who I was? I saw Abigail as a mother figure and when she passed before the Great Flood of 1927 I placed sunflowers beside her gravestone every Sunday...despite her body being in an urn jar within the ground."