Radio Killed the Video Star - Alastor

Prologue

          "Dude, I cannot believe you dropped out of high school!" Maeve sat in the back seat of a car with her friend Audrey, who was teasing the front passenger. The passenger, Marcus, had a tray on his lap, cutting a piece of cocaine large enough for all of them to share. He split it up into risky sized lines and passed the tray to Elijah, who sat in the passenger seat. Elijah did his share and passed it back to Audrey. "Yeah, well, I got bored. It's not like I quit because my grades were failing- I also didn't feel like getting up at 5am for another 6 months." Audrey scoffed, "You know, I think that makes it worse. I mean, you only had 6 months left." Audrey was almost disgusted, but the amusement was clear in her voice. Maeve giggled at her friends' bantering and waited patiently until her turn. When she had the tray, she leaned over and did her line. She didn't finish it, since what she'd done was already more than she usually did. As she sat up cleaning her nose, she rubbed the excess onto her gums. The taste was a little off, but she just assumed it was because of the higher amount. She looked out of the window and noticed a river about 100 feet away, through some trees. 

      "I don't plan on being much in life, so it really doesn't matter." Marcus rolled his shoulders and looked out at the scenery. He grabbed a cigarette and put it in his mouth then opened his car door, got out, and lit the cigarette. He walked to the back of the car and came back a few moments later with a can of gasoline. Maeve's breath caught in her throat and she got out of the car, following him to the tree line. "Marcus, what are you doing?" She asked her friend. Suddenly, her vision became warped and she felt as if she could explode. "Wha-what was in that coke?" Maeve pressed a palm against her forehead. "Oh, shoot. Did I forget to mention that I switched it out with fent? My bad, for real.." His voice drifted off carelessly. Maeve's blood ran cold and she look back at the car. Elijah and Audrey were out of the car, beginning to panic. 

      "Anywayys, I thought I'd take this opportunity to let you know that I know you guys killed that fucker that went missing." He chuckled darkly. Maeve looked at him, bewildered. "What the fuck are you talking about, Marcus?" Maeve seethed at him, balling her fists. "Oh, please. Surely you don't take me for an idiot. You think I haven't noticed how much closer you assholes have been lately? I'm not fucking stupid." His expression flattened. "You know, it's really unfortunate        you three did it without me. I'm the one who held this whole shit show together." Elijah dropped  to his knees, beginning to seize. Audrey scrambled over to him, calling his name repeatedly.      "So-" Maeve grunted and put a hand over her heart as an intense pain shot through her chest.      "You're just going to kil-kill all of us?" Her legs began to falter, and she hit the ground. "Well, yes. I figure, if my best friends are going to go behind my back like that, I might as well make my first time triple the fun." Marcus shrugged and turned to the trees.

       Maeve reached down into her boot, pulling out a switchblade. She flicked the blade out and lunged, driving the knife into Marcus's shoulder blade. The motion felt as though she was falling from a 12 story building. Marcus let out a jagged scream, dropping the gas can. He tried to reach around and grab Maeve, but she held onto the knife and pulled down as hard as she could, slicing down to his waist. Maeve's arms were immediately coated in thick blood and Marcus choked on his scream. As he dropped to the ground, he kicked Maeve off of him. She was losing the ability to see, and breathing was becoming quite a chore. She was drawing slow, shallow breaths until she felt something against her throat. Her vision was blurry and she couldn't hear, but she felt a sharp, stinging pain and found that it was suddenly impossible to breathe. Her hand weakly traveled to her throat, which was met with slick, soft flesh. Her neck was split an  inch wide from ear to ear under her chin. There was nothing she could do; her body was already in overdrive and failing, rapidly. She lay there thinking of her dying- possibly already dead, she wasn't sure- friends as her vision faded from a blurry, empty white to a dark, never-ending void. 

        ...

    Maeve's blurry eyes snapped open and she blinked a few times, trying to clear them. The first thing she saw was the sky. It was dark, but red and so infinitely empty. She looked at the buildings, all of them seemed to be from a different era. As a group of people walked around a corner into view, her eyes went wide and she was immediately filled with horror and curiosity. The people weren't human; they had horns and unnaturally colored skin, and their height was impressive. One of them were talking and using their hands to enunciate their words, and Maeve was able to see clawed fingers. She felt a finger twitch and looked down, a slightly morbid smile crawling onto her face. 

      Her skin was an ivory gray color, her arms and hands were slimmer, and her nails had grown into razor-sharp points. She moved her hands and looked down at her legs. They were abnormally thin and long, although she could tell she was under 6 feet tall. Her feet came to points, and she noticed that it was easiest and most comfortable to stand on the tips of her toes. She saw a blur of movement and looked behind her. There was a long, thin tail extending from her lower back. Now she really wanted to find a mirror, but froze at the thought. Okay, I'm  dead and in Hell. Where the fuck do I go now?  She began walking in no particular direction. As she walked, she observed her surroundings. Demons everywhere, lots of buildings, lots of sex shops. Not that surprising. As she walked in front of a bright sign, her shadow was cast on the ground behind her. She looked over at it and her hands flew to her head. Her fingers were met with hard, smooth, twisting bone. Holy shit. The sound of a blood-curdling scream tore her away from her thoughts and she looked down an alley that was adjacent to her. 

       There was a large male demon pinning another smaller male to a wall, stabbing him repeatedly. Maeve watched quietly as the small demon took well over 20 stabs, yet still blubbered apologies to the attacker. It was morbid, but she couldn't look away. At that point, the mans intestines were starting to spill out of him. After a few moments, the large demon released the smaller one and kicked him into the wall as he hit the ground. The smaller demon muttered something about being sorry and paying him back as he gathered his entrails and ran down the alley, away from the other. The large demon snapped his head towards Maeve, making eye contact. "Got a problem, bitch?" He threatened. Maeve looked away and took off away from the alley. 

      She'd been walking for about an hour when she came across a large building with a neon sign that read, 'Hazbin Hotel.' She didn't have any money, but she decided to give it a shot anyways. She walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. She waited a few moments before turning around and leaving. She was half-way down the steps when she heard the door click and open. "Hii, can I help you?" Maeve spun around, her tail smacking into the guard rail. She hissed and pulled her bruising tail into her hands, holding it gently. Standing in the door way was a female demon, smiling warmly. She was a few inches taller than Maeve and wore a red suit. "Uhm, I hope so? I, uh, just got here," She gestured to the city behind her. "and I have no idea what to do." Maeve said, smiling nervously. The demon's smile turned into a grin, and she clasped her hands together. "Please, come on in!"