Snow Angel (Alastor x OC)

•{Chapter 20}•

Angel on Air and Ice

"And now, the Princess of Hell, who's here to discuss the ongoing progress of her latest passion project."

Presently, it was the night before the opening dance and Harlene was about to join Charlie on the set of 666 News in one last attempt to advertise it. She'd been asked by Vaggie to help Charlie onstage in case Katie Killjoy and Tom Trench tried to butcher her girlfriend's dreams again, since Vaggie had stayed behind at the hotel to sort out the last of the decorations with the others. When Charlie and Harlene had left to climb into the limo that Razzle and Dazzle had driven to the news station, Vaggie had been putting up a banner whilst standing on a ladder kept stable by Angel Dust. Husk had been unpacking some new crates of liquor while Niffty had been running around like a maniac in order to remove every last speck of dust. Alastor had been nowhere in sight.

A week and a few days had passed since Harlene had last spoken to Alastor, even though she'd seen him. However, he was avoiding her. He was barely around at the hotel anymore as a result, but when he was, Alastor would eventually vacate whichever room he and Harlene found themselves both in. By reading his gaze, Harlene knew that Alastor was itching to initiate a conversation with her, but he chose to continue forcing this desire away. Now it seemed like Alastor was reaching his breaking point as he hadn't shown up to the hotel that morning to face Harlene again.
In the meantime, Harlene always had to remind herself that she was doing this for Alastor's sake, since she'd noticed that his smile was getting smaller and smaller with each time they ignored one another. She had grown to dread the heartbroken look in his eyes and feared what would happen to him if his smile went away completely.

"Harley?" Charlie's voice called, yanking Harlene out of her breathing exercises as she tried to calm her nerves.

"Y-Yes?"

"We're on."

Walking alongside each other onto the set with a green screen backdrop and dark wooden flooring, Charlie and Harlene dressed themselves with friendly smiles. The counter where four red chairs had been situated, two taken by Katie Killjoy and her colleague, Tom Trench, had a glossy surface that reflected the lighting of the broadcasting room. Cameras followed their every movement as Charlie sat down beside Katie and Harlene sat on the end of the table beside her. She made sure to shift her chair closer to Charlie's, readying herself for a possible brawl where she would have to use her abilities to keep the presenters and the princess from fighting by keeping them apart with a wall of ice.

"Now, Charlotte, how many new patients have joined the hotel over the last two months?" Katie interrogated with a snarky, spiteful grin.

"It's Charlie," responded the Princess of Hell. "And, asides from Angel Dust, one. I have brought her here with me today. Her name is-"

"My God! She's the little demoness who conjured that huge ice wall downtown to trap the infamous Henroin and his gang behind in order to make her escape with his son," Tom put in, eyeing Harlene. "You've stirred up quite the gossip here in Hell with that stunt of yours, little lady. Lots of old demons have linked you to the destruction of one of the Pentagram's plazas back in 1939. No one was killed, which only raised suspicions of your true character." He leaned forwards. "Tell us. Are the rumours true? Are you the 'Snow Angel'?"

Uneasily, Harlene glanced away from the man with the gas mask for a head and stared into the lenses of the cameras, which seemed like endless abysses of torment and darkness. She had recalled how, when she'd first arrived in Hell, she'd been so distraught that her telekinesis had turned a whole square to rubble during a breakdown. She'd identified that she'd ended up in Hell as soon as she saw the other demons bustling around her and was overwhelmed with the guilt of realising she must've killed her newborn son.
With a heavy heart, Harlene realised that the 'Snow Angel' rumours had returned to torment her of the past once more. She had figured it would happen sooner or later once she'd joined the Happy Hotel as a patient and made her presence known, but she'd hoped it wouldn't happen in the matter of less than two months.