Death at the Hazbin Hotel

Chapter Three

Vox exited the limousine as it came to a stop outside of VoxTek Industries Headquarters, he'd been seething for days that Alastor had escaped with his life and was still out there somewhere and could come back at any moment. He'd just barely scraped by with a victory and though he'd never admit it, he wasn't confident he'd be so lucky the next time they crossed paths.

Before he had a chance to get his face under control to face the press, something, rather someone, bumped into him. Clenching his fists he turned to see who had been brazen enough to walk into him. He was surprised to find no one.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" A soft sweet melodic voice trilled from the ground.

Vox fixed his gaze to the ground and felt some of his anger and frustration melt into confusion as he spotted a petite girl with dark as night hair, deathly pale skin with slightly sunken dark gray eyes. She was wearing what looked like a very dated flapper dress and feathered headband. There was a strange brooch that looked like a skeletal horse pinned to her front.

"Did you know buildings could get so tall?!" She asked him in awe, still lying on the sidewalk.

"That's my building, so yes." He sighed, trying to keep himself calm as there were cameras pointed at him. He forced a smile and offered the strange girl a hand up to save face.

"Really?!" She asked in awe.

"Yes." He was struggling to maintain his composure now.

"Sorry for bumping into you, I fell over trying to see the top." The girl giggled sweetly.

"Will you please take my hand and get off the ground?" He hissed trying hard to maintain a photogenic smile and play the concerned citizen role.

"Huh?" The girl looked to his extended hand, "oh. Thanks." She slipped her cold hand in his not reacting in the slightest to how hard he'd gripped her hand as he wrenched her to her feet.

Once he got her upright he realized her gaze was unfocused and she immediately began to topple. Not wanting the paparazzi to see the situation and think he was harming the girl, he swept her into his arms and feigned concern, "I got ya, miss. Let me get you a glass of water." He said loudly as he carried the unresponsive girl past the paparazzi and into the building.

"What ya got there Voxy?" A sultry voice laced with venom sounded from within the lobby.

Vox turned with a scowl to the 10ft tall slender moth demon, "a fucking nuisance." He growled and moved towards one of the plush sofas to deposit said nuisance onto.

As he was about to drop her onto the sofa, her long dark lashes fluttered and her eyes seemed to focus once more. She glanced around worriedly not recognizing her surroundings before realizing she was in his arms. Her pale face turned an alarming shade of red and she let out a panicked squeal before all hell broke loose. Her instinctive reaction was to shove away, Vox felt as if he'd been hit by a freight train and lost his grip on the girl before he was sent flying across the lobby. As he zoomed across the lobby there was an explosion of smoke followed by what sounded like a very enraged horse. Was Val doing a beastiality shoot? That didn't make sense they weren't close enough to the studio to hear that.

Everything went black for a moment as he slammed into the opposite wall. After a few moments his vision returned and his entire body was in excruciating pain. He shakily got to his feet, noticing a few pieces of his screen's glass fall away. He coughed up a few more shards of glass and glanced across the lobby to see the petite flapper girl struggling to calm a hellish skeletal horse with flaming eyes and fire flaring in its nostrils.

Val was frozen in shock and awe and glanced in his direction warily. The horse vanished, returning to its previous position as a brooch and the flapper girl spun around to face him, her red face turning pale as she let out a panicked gasp.

"AH! I'm so sorry! Oh no! You're hurt!" She panicked.

He was hurt, but he had absolutely no idea how he'd been hurt. As the panicked girl extended a hand toward him he felt his body and screen begin to mend and in seconds he and the lobby were both good as new.

"...what the fuck just happened?" He asked in a daze.

"I'm so sorry!" The girl cried as she ran to his side, "you were just really close all of a sudden and I'm not used to being that close to people and my chest felt like it was going to explode and I pan-." Vox calmly placed a finger to her lips to stop her rambling, he had a feeling she'd keep apologizing for hours if he let her go on. Her face flushed scarlet.

"Who. The. Fuck. Are. You?" He growled.

"Oh!" Her face lit up, "Dee." She grinned up at him with an angelic smile.

"What's with the getup, Dee?" Val asked, approaching slowly, eying the girl with interest. Perhaps one of the Vees could make her a star and profit off her.

"Getup?" Dee looked down at her attire before looking around at the various flashing images of other attire. "Oh...is this strange?" She snapped her fingers and was enveloped in a dark fog.

Val scowled and flapped his wings in annoyance to disperse the fog. As it vanished, it revealed the petite girl, her hair in loose waves with a cute skull and crossbone clip pinning it out of her face, a short overalls style dress over a striped top and some matching striped leggings. She had a skeletal horse plush backpack affixed to her back.

"Is this better?" She asked curiously. "After meeting Alastor I just assumed that was the normal aestheti-."

Vox twitched in annoyance and clapped a hand over her mouth. "What did you just say?"

Dee looked up at him, her gray eyes filled with curiosity, "is this better?"

"After that." He grumbled.

"I assumed that was the aestheti-."

"Before that!" Vox snapped.

"After meeting Alastor?" Dee tilted her head to the side.

"Yes!" Vox snapped and all the TV monitors reflected images of his face behind him.

"Ooh!" Dee gasped in wonder, "these are t-televisions?" She asked unsure, only hearing the word for the first time in the life memories she'd just seen.

"Where did this bitch crawl out of?" Valentino asked with a snicker.

"You know that fucking radio demon?" Vox snarled.

Dee tilted her head to the side curiously, "hm?"

"Alastor!" Vox seethed.

"Oh! Yes! He's my second friend!" Dee grinned proudly.

"I repeat...where did this bitch crawl out of?" Val asked.

"Where is he?" Vox asked trying to get the two scatterbrained ones to stay on topic.

"Who?" Dee pondered.

"ALASTOR!" Vox snarled and the power in the lobby surged.

Dee shrugged, "I'm not sure he said he had some things to tend to and I'd see him again someday." She smiled, "he told me about the city and I wanted to find my first friend, Lucifer."

Vox and Val exchanged a look. "Lucifer...King of Hell...Lucifer?" Val stared at her in awe.

"That's him!" Dee beamed. "Do you know where I can find him?" She asked hopefully.

"Not really, he's a bit absent." Vox answered, finally starting to calm down.

"Oh." Dee deflated, "he missed our tea party... I hoped I could bring one to him."

Vox looked thoughtful, someone who was a friend to Lucifer and Alastor might be worth getting close to. He took a deep breath and smoothed out his striped suit, "I could go for a tea party."

Val threw him a confused look.

"Really?!" Dee asked, excitedly. "Did I just make my third friend?!" Her eyes were practically glowing with excitement.

"Absolutely, let's be friends Dee. I'm Vox." He draped an arm around her delicate shoulders.

Her face flushed with heat at their sudden closeness, was this normal for friends? Lucifer would give her head pats on occasion, Alastor avoided physical contact. This was new and a little overwhelming, but also exciting.