Hazbin Hotel: Sins and Second Chances

Chapter 2

Zack sat frozen on the velvet couch. His heart still pounded in his chest as the initial adrenaline of his sudden descent lingered in his body. Across from him, Charlie Morningstar's red eyes sparkled with excitement as she spoke.

"I've been so excited to finally meet you, Zachary," Charlie said, her smile widened and disarming. She stood from her desk with a graceful sweep, moving to a nearby bookshelf that seemed tower over her. "You've had quite the journey, haven't you?"

Zack swallowed, his throat dry, as he watched her pull down an enormous leather-bound book. The cover was marked with strange symbols he couldn't decipher, but it looked ancient, like something from another world. It thudded heavily as she laid it on the desk. She opened it up and began to flip through the pages with practiced ease.

"Let's see here..." She murmured, her eyes scanning the book as she turned page after page. The atmosphere thickened for Zack with every second another page was turned, a sense of impending doom pressing down on him. His hands gripped the edges of the couch, his knuckles white from how hard he was gripping.

"Aha! There you are, Zachary Barnes! 39 years old. Boulder, Colorado." Charlie beamed, tapping a page with her finger. "Let's take a look, shall we?"

Zack tensed as Charlie's eyes darted back and forth, reading over his life. "Teenage rebellion," She began, her tone light. "-a few broken promises here and there, dabbling in things you shouldn't have. Incognito doesn't hide everything unfortunately."

Zack's eyes widened, looking away in shame as he is read his entire life.

"Oh! Then there's your early 20's. Quite the party animal, huh? Drinking, reckless behavior, some shady decisions and dishonest choices..." She continued to read. "Oh, and then..." She paused, her smile fading slightly as she glanced up at him. "-your marriage." He felt his stomach drop at the mentioning of his marriage. A part of him wanted her to stop, but he couldn't open his mouth. Charlie kept on reading.

"All the fights, the lies, the broken trust... and of course, your drinking. It drove away the one who loved you dearly."

Each word his Zack like a hammer, each one a deeper stab to his already aching heart. His mouth went dry as he looked down at the floor, his hands still gripping the couch as if he would plummet if he let go. He had spent years trying to outrun his past. To fix and forget. Yet, here it was, every single detail of his life laid bare before him.

Charlie kept on going, listing off every sinful deed, every mistake, every time he had slipped up, hurting himself and hurting his loved ones in the process. The guilt was overwhelming, like a tidal wave washing over him and dragging him down to drown. His breathing grew shallow, panic clawing at his chest.

Is this it? Is this the final judgement? Am I really getting thrown into hell? Did everything I try to do to fix everything been for nothing? Did it really ever matter in the end?

Finally, as she finished recounting his darkest moments, Zack opened his mouth, ready to plead, to beg for mercy, for anything but eternal damnation. But before he could speak, Charlie's expression softened as her eyes trailed back to him.

"And yet.." Charlie's tone shifted suddenly, catching Zack off guard. She smiled again, a warm, genuine smile. "Let's not forget the good you've done."

Zack blink, his mind reeling. "What?"

Charlie continued, flipping the book to a different section. "You may have fallen, but you got back up, didn't you?" She would say, smiling to herself as her eyes scanned the new page. "You've had a shaky, but stable few years of sobriety, 4 of them you been steady. Not a single sip of alcohol. Good for you."

Charlie look up at him with a seemingly proud look on her face before looking back down at the page.

"You volunteered at AA meetings, helped people at the rehabilitation center, got your life back on track. You fought your demons, Zack. You didn't let them win."

Zack's initial dread turned into confusion. He opened his mouth, then closed it, unsure of what to say. This wasn't going the way he had expected. "I-I don't understand," he muttered, shaking his head as his grip on the couch loosened. "What's going on?"

Charlie grinned, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she closed the book and sat herself back down on her chair, leaning forward slightly. "I'm sure you've got a lot of questions. I'll try to explain."

Zack took a breath, trying to steady himself. "I'm sorry, uh, Miss Morningsta—"

"Please, call me Charlie." She interrupted, waving her hand dismissively.

"Right... Charlie." Zack ran a hand through his hair, still feeling the remnants of the jitters from the hellish descent and hearing his whole life being read back to him. "Can I just... Can you tell me what's going on? Am I...." He paused as he dreaded the word he was going to say. "Dead?"

Charlie chuckled, shaking her head. "No... well, kinda."

"Kinda?"

"Kinda." She repeated, leaning forward with a visible smirk. "Your body is alive, lying on your bed right now like nothing ever happened."

That made his head spin. He blinked, trying to process what was being said to him. "So...I'm not dead. But I'm here? In Hell?"

"Exactly," Charlie said brightly, as if it was the most simplest thing in the world. "Your body is still alive. Its still Zachary Barnes. It can think, talk and do everything Zachary Barnes does. But you. Your soul. Your essence. That's here. I just... borrowed you for a bit."

"Borrowed?" Zack rubbed his temples. "Why? What's happening?"

Charlie leaned back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other as she gave him a thoughtful look.

"Let's just say I have a special interest in people like you, Zachary." People who've been to the edge and pulled themselves back. You've got a lot of potential, you know."

"Potential for what?" Zack asked, his voice shaky. "I'm....I'm just a guy trying to get by. I made mistakes, I'm trying to fix them. I'm not... anything special."

Charlie's smile softened, her hellish eyes glinting with a strange kindness. "That's exactly why you're special."