The Moon in Hell

Chapter 8: The Back-and-forth

"One of the hardest things was learning that I was worth recovery."

- Demi Lovato

My ears hurt.

I find that exposure to too much Vagginess has an actual tangible physical impact.

During her relentless scolding, I couldn't resist tuning out, letting her high-pitched words fade into background noise. Naturally, this only fueled her anger, but I had a more immediate concern:

We were on TV. I was on TV.

Admittedly, the blurring obscured my features, making recognition unlikely for anyone unfamiliar with my presence. At least there's that.

However, the girls' deduction that it was Angel overshadows this small advantage. If Angel is such a celebrity, how could no one else have figured the thieves out?

Days crawled by, and I couldn't tear my eyes from the door, perpetually expecting it to burst open.

☽

"Diana!"

I tear my gaze from the door and meet Vaggie's annoyed face.

"Were you even listening??"

"We're supposed to draw the person to our right and write something nice about them," I answer instead, smirking as Vaggie's eyes narrowed further.

"Good!" Charlie applauds as if I've answered a school question. "Right, so Vaggie's drawing Cherri, Cherri's drawing Angel, Angel Diana and so on!"

With a snap of her fingers, colourful pencils and sheets of paper materialize in front of us.

"This is so boring," Cherri mutters, rolling her eye at Angel.

But Angel nudges me. "Girl, switch places with me!"

Cherri's jaw drops for a moment before she breaks into a wide grin. I look to my right, where Husk sits frowning at the drawing materials.

"I don't know, Angel," I whisper. "You might be harder to draw than Husk is." I gesture towards his eye-catching outfit.

"Come on, sista!" He stares at me annoyed. "Do me a solid! 'Sides, are wings really easier to sketch than a pair of arms?"

Truthfully, I can't be bothered to argue. With a shrug, I stand up.

"No changing places!" Vaggie warns me.

"I'm not." The lie slips out like oil. "I'm just getting myself a cup of water."

I hear Husk cough. I can't help myself but twitch my lips in amusement.

As the bartender, I think he doesn't hear the word water often enough.

Suddenly, a glass of water materialises in the air beside my hand. Startled, I grab it before it hits the floor and soaks me and Angel.

Glancing around to find the one who delivered it to me, I find that they all think I did it. Then, I look up to see the Radio Demon watching from above with a delighted grin.

Instead of lashing out my irritation, I raise the glass in a silent, mocking gesture of thanks. The gesture draws everyone's attention towards him, allowing me to slip into the seat on Angel's left.

"Al!" Charlie salutes. "Come here and join us! We're drawing each other!"

He looks down at the Princess with almost a fatherly expression: "As tempting as that sounds, my dear, I have pestering duties to attend to! Perhaps another time!"