The Angel Demon

Part I

Charlie POV

I stood at Alastor's doorway, annoyed and confused. He was never late getting up, even when we had partied most of the night. We hadn't stayed up late at all the night before. He wasn't one to be lazy, either. He was fully under the covers, laying face down from what I could make out. The only things that were exposed were his feet, yet still in his shoes. I was scared to wake him up, but I knew he would be mad if I started the day without him. So I mustered up all of my courage and slowly moved to his bed. I gently poked him, pulling my hand back immediately. Nothing. Not even the slightest stir. I poked harder, still with no response. I had no idea how much of a heavy sleeper he must have been. I went for poke three, when a muffled voice calmly asked, "And how many times do you plan on poking me, my dear?" I jumped up and ran to the doorway, afraid he was about to tear me limb from limb. "I-I just wanted to let you know  that guests have arrived. If you're not feeling well, I can just..." He slipped out from underneath, bedecked in his entire suit. He then sat, cross-legged, in the middle of the bed. We locked eyes for a fraction of a second, and he quickly looked away. His face was flushed, dark circles prominent under his eyes. His suit was crumpled and not as vibrant as before. Whatever happened the night before had completely drained him. I started to worry before realising he was a powerful entity. Al was capable of many things, I was sure curing himself would be an easy thing to do. Yet here he was, looking weak and fragile. "A-are you okay? You don't look too hot." He chuckled quietly. "I assure you I am as fine as ever." He looked at me again, this time the blush and dark rings had vanished. He slid off the bed and walked over to the doorway, passing me. He then disappeared around a corner. I sighed in relief, glad he decided to spare me.

As we chatted with guests and passersby, Vaggie and I gave information about the hotel's main accommodations and VIP features. Many of the demons who came by were surprisingly optimistic, especially a certain demon named Rosella. She would ask questions about everything and was polite and sweet. It made me wonder how she got here in the first place. When the tour of the building was completed Rosella was first in line to hold a room. She bought every VIP feature we had, and made a generous donation to the cause. I asked out of small talk that evening if she was a fallen angel or something. "Ha ha, no. But I'll take that as a complement." was all she replied with. I then noticed that I hadn't seen any of the other staff except for Nifty since this morning. I figured they were probably doing guy things, and I thought of it no further.

Later that evening, I went to prepare the room for Rosella. Her room was on the fifth floor, right by the stairwell. I couldn't find an abandoned place big enough with an elevator. As I hauled pillows and blankets up each flight, I again began to think of Alastor. Seeing him in such a state never happened, as far as I had known him. He never showed any sign of weakness before then, and I doubted I would see him like that again. Realising I had gone up one too many flights, I groaned and turned to go back down. I was startled to see Rosella standing there, a white dress and cream high heels. She even dressed like an angel. "Oh, uh, hi Rosella! You startled me there. Hehe." She smiled sweetly. "I'm sorry, I tend to do that. I'm not the best when it comes to making friends." She laughed nervously. "I wanted to know if you would...um...like to..." She began to twiddle her fingers. "...like to go and...um...get a drink or something." She looked down at her feet, fingers twiddling more aggressively. She was so nervous to do this. I was touched. "Yeah, I'd love to! When and where did you have in mind?" She smiled from ear to ear, and did a tiny hop of excitement. "How about tomorrow at six? It's after service hours, so..." I pretended to mentally check my agenda. "I think I can make that work." She beamed up at me. She was only a tiny bit taller than Nifty, which added to her cute and bubbly personality. Even her voice was high pitched. It reminded me of a marshmallow. I had only ever eaten one in my life, but it was one of the most delicious things I had ever tasted. At least, a close second to Alastor's cooking.