The Sacrificial Lamb Looks Tasty (Alastor x Reader)

Chapter 3: Do you ever stop smiling?

I saw her eye roll, whether she wanted me to see it or not. "Yeah, a lot of people say that." She mutters, loud enough for me to hear.

"No! You don't understand!" I argue. Which, I'm sure she also gets a lot of. "I'm not dead! Do I look dead to you?!" I ask, somewhat chaotically as I hold my arms out.

She looks at me up and down. "Actually... no." She walks closer to me and touches my arm. "You're extremely warm. Like, more than normal." She says aloud.

I roll my eyes, somewhat jokingly. "Yeah, I've gotten that already today." I look at the girl again. She seems nice enough, hopefully she will help me. "So, you see, I ACTUALLY don't belong here! I need to get back home and check on my dad. He's not doing well." I mention to her, getting a bit worried about him.

"Let's get you inside and bring you to Charlie. Maybe she has an idea." The girl says as she starts leading me into the building. "By the way, I'm Vaggie." She says with a small smile.

"(y/n). Nice to meet you. ...At least so far. I thought the same thing with flatscreen and that didn't seem like it was going to end well for me. So, you'll forgive me if I'm having trust issues right now." I did follow her regardless; this seems like the best option.

Vaggie gives a small laugh. "Flatscreen." She mutters. "That's understandable. But I can tell you that we're not in the same circles as Vox or the other V's. This hotel is trying to help sinners get redeemed so that they can go to Heaven." She motions to the giant hotel we are heading into.

"Ah, interesting. Does it work?" I ask Vaggie as I look at the giant building.

"We... don't... right now no. Long story for another time maybe." Vaggie seems a little defeated.

The doors open into the hotel. It is huge! It seems that red is the theme for Hell, but somehow this feels a little homier. The main lobby area has plenty of seating and a bar, thank God! Thank... would it be Lucifer here? Hopefully I won't be here long enough to have to know.

There are others around as well, and it's a similar theme of humanistic personalities inside animalistic forms. The bar is being attended by some sort of cat owl hybrid, currently serving my living nightmare of an eight- or ten-foot spider person. If I look fast enough there is a small red blur running around chasing what I can only assume is a bug. An interesting bunch for sure.

"Angel, have you seen Charlie?" Vaggie asks the monstrosity spider. Out of all the people she could've asked, she goes straight for my arachnophobia!

His head turns, drink still at hand. "I think she's upstairs in her room, trying to think of more hotel activities." He has a small smile as he thinks of this Charlie girl. Finally, Angel's eyes land on me. "Oh. A new guest?" He stands up and starts walking towards me. He is so tall! "Name's Angel, sweet thing." He bends over and puts one of his hands out for me to shake.

"You're so fucking huge!" I blurted out. I know it's rude, I'm scared! "Holy shit! Why?!"

He stands straight again, a hand on his chest, obviously offended. "Huge?! Honey, I watch my figure! Can't let myself go!" He argues.

"Angel, give her a break. She's... alive." Vaggie mentions.

"Whoa!"

"What?!"

"Like... warmly and fleshy?"

So many people ask questions at the same time. Also, did the small one-eyed thing in the dress call me warmly and fleshy?!

"I know, that's why I'm looking for Charlie." Vaggie reiterated.

"Charlie is upstairs, in her room." A new voice states confidently. If I didn't see him, I would've thought it was an announcement that came from an old intercom. Does he always sound like an old radio?

Hands behind his back, a confident stride, and a smile on his face, he comes walking into the lobby. His eyes seem fixated on me, but he hasn't yet said a word to me directly. He doesn't say anything until he's standing right in front of me.

"Alastor. Pleasure to meet you. Quite a pleasure." His hand extends and smile still on his face.

I don't know what to feel in his presence. Safe? Confident? Unsafe? Also, is he a deer? I shake his hand, which he firmly grasps.

"Oh yeah, she'll shake hands with Mr. creepy talk radio voice, but I'M the problem." I can hear Angel mumble from my side.

I expect him to let go, but he doesn't. Instead, he pulls on my hand, forcing me to stand closer than I want. With my hand still stuck in his, he uses his other hand and slides it underneath my sleeve, touching my arm directly.

"Hm. It's true then. You are alive." Alastor seems intrigued. He tilts his head, his eyes narrowing in on me. "So, how did you end up here?" He asks.

"I... I don't know." I respond, trying to focus on Alastor's question and not the weird skin contact everyone seems obsessed with. I initiate the break with Alastor, pulling my arm and hand out of his reach. At first it feels like he is going to tighten his grip, but he decides against it, kind of weird.

"Well, what do you last remember before coming here?" Alastor asks, arms again behind his back.

"Um..." I think about it for a little bit. I started here in an alley, but what about before that? "I made it to my dad's house. The only light was a strange red glow in the upstairs office. None of the other lights worked. When I went into the room my dad was in, the red smoky room, there was some other entity in the room with him. I couldn't make it out."

"Mm hm. What was in the room?" Alastor prods.

"Some burnt out candles, some paint on the floor I couldn't make out, but other than that everything looked normal. Just dark. But the other thing my dad was talking to, had these piercing red eyes." I can recall them staring at me. "My dad was making some sort of deal with it. He said he'd give me up... to the thing." My eyes dart back and forth as I start putting everything together.

Alastor starts laughing, making me focus back on him. "Oh dear. You've been sacrificed by your father." He laughs again.

I narrow my eyes at Alastor, I don't find it nearly as funny as he does. "Do you ever stop smiling?" I ask him.

He doesn't stop smiling, but he stops laughing. "Afraid not." He responds, using his hand to pull my chin up to look directly at him. "A smile is a powerful tool, my dear."

What is that supposed to mean?!

"Weeeeeell." Vaggie interrupts. "I'm going to bring (y/n) to Charlie now, Alastor. Thank you for clarifying what happened. We're going to see if there's anything that can be done about it. This just seems... strange." Vaggie grabs my arm and starts pulling me away.

I keep eye contact with Alastor for a little bit, noticing that he watches me the entire time we are walking away. He seems fixated on me. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Once we turn the corner and he's out of sight I finally start to focus on where we are going.

***

His POV

I watch her until I can't see her anymore, when she turns the corner with Vaggie. There's something different about her. Something... powerful. With her power, I think I've found the backdoor to get out of my deal. I've never felt like I've needed something so badly. I want her power, but I want more. I want... everything.

I place my hand on my chest. This isn't a pain, but it's not something I've felt before. Maybe being too close to death has truly done a toll. What is this feeling?