Tw: Language, sexual references, violence, blood.

This story is not my usual 'green flag' relationship showcase. This will get dark and is not for the faint of heart. This is your warning.

Alastor tilted his head at the banner hung above the entrance to the hotel. It was a good idea, he supposed, but the banner was ugly. Charlie had Husk make it when she assigned everyone tasks, and Husk was clearly no artist.

He was clearly not a writer either, based on the messy handwriting sprawled across the banner.

"What do you think?" Charlie asked as she stood by his side.

Alastor beamed down at her. "It's marvellous! You were right; this will attract so many more guests!"

Come here.

That was what the banner said.

It was frightening with red ink, but perhaps Alastor was the only one who saw it as horrifying. Maybe guests actually would want to visit the hotel after seeing the welcome sign.

"I'm not the only one who thinks that banner looks like someone was fuckin' murdered on it, right?" Angel cocked a hip out. "I mean, why'd we choose the colour red?"

Husk huffed and swigged from a bottle. "I'm not a fucking artist!"

"I'm sure there's some blind sinner out there who will stumble into the hotel!" Alastor confidently said. "Or we could go around blinding people?"

"We're not doing that," Vaggie firmly said.

Alastor shrugged. "We'll see."

"No one is blinding anyone!" Vaggie shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Got that?"

"But what if they ask very nicely and say please?" Alastor sassily asked. "I would hate to say no to someone with such manners."

"What if their eyesight is horrible and I just finish the job?" Angel questioned.

"I don't know why I'm still here," Nyla muttered next to Vaggie. "You're all insane."

"And you aren't?" Alastor raised an eyebrow. "You sleep hanging from the ceiling."

"Because it's fun!" Nyla argued. 

Alastor gave her a patronizing smile and leaned forward on his cane. "And killing isn't? Why, my dear, you've yet to learn the greatest joys!"

Nyla squinted at him. "I don't want to sleep across the hall from you anymore."

"Nonsense!" Alastor grinned. "How else am I supposed to wake you in the middle of the night to go and hunt down the Soul Reaper? 

"You could knock on my door like a normal person instead of just barging in?" Nyla suggested. "Have you thought of that yet?"

"Where's Nifty?" Charlie suddenly asked.

"I haven't seen her," Nyla said, looking around.

Alastor's smile faded slightly. "We'll find her."

"What if she's dead?" Nyla whispered to Alastor. His eye twitched, and she smiled victoriously. "What if someone killed her? Imagine her little head out in an alleyway..."

"I'll find her," Alastor announced, walking away at a fast pace away from her.

"Did I hear you say something about him barging into your room in the middle of the night?" Angel asked, watching Alastor storm away. "That's fuckin' creepy."

"He's weird," Nyla agreed. 

"I found Nifty!" Alastor declared. Nifty was at his heels, sprinting to keep up with him. "She was stuck in the toilet!"

"I was!" Nifty lunged at him and attached herself to his leg. "I was stuck! Thank you, sir!"

Alastor smiled smugly at Nyla as he told Nifty, "You're welcome, dear. You weren't dead, after all."

"Why was she in the toilet in the first place?" Vaggie wondered.

"I was cleaning!" Nifty hugged Alastor's leg tighter. 

Alastor patted her head. "Run along now."

Nifty nodded and bounced away.

"I'm going out today. I have some errands I need to run," Nyla said, slinging a bag over her shoulder.

"What kind of errands?" Angel asked with a sly smirk.

Nyla rolled her eyes. "Personal ones."

"My dear, how do we know you're not going to kill someone? We can't have your rehabilitation destroyed by your bloodlust." Alastor shook his head. "Someone needs to watch you."

"Good point," Charlie said. "We can't have our image destroyed right now. We're in a tight spot with the public right now."

"I'll go." Alastor heavily sighed, as if it pained him to do so. "I know you're all so busy trying to get new guests, so I'll do my part to help anyway I can."

"I don't need a babysitter," Nyla protested. 

"On the contrary." Alastor leaned forwards and slipped one of her knives from its sheath. "Why do you carry these around if you're not going to kill someone?"

"Self-defence. We're in Hell. I need to be able to keep myself safe." Nyla grabbed it back.

"But if I was there, you'd have no need of those tiny knives. I am very proficient in battle." Alastor looked to Charlie. "My dear, I want to see this hotel succeed. What will I entertain myself with if it goes under?"

"I'd like to go under you," Angel said with a simper, running a hand along Alastor's shoulder.

"Absolutely not. It will never happen!" Alastor brushed Angel's hand away and stepped away. He held out an arm for Nyla. "Shall we?"

Nyla gritted her jaw. "Please," she desperately said to Charlie. "I won't kill anyone!"

Alastor plucked her knives away and tossed them to the side. "Of course you won't! Now, where are we going?"

Nyla sighed in defeat. "I'll tell you on the way."

And that's how Alastor ended up in a strip club.

"What are we doing here?" Alastor asked in disgust as a patron shouted something vulgar at a worker.

"I'm running errands. Stay here while I take care of something." Nyla pointed at where he was. "Don't move, got it?"

Alastor coughed as someone blew a puff of smoke into his face. "I cannot think of anything more unpleasant than having to stay here longer than necessary. Please hurry."

So Nyla slipped into the crowd, gripping her bag tightly. Alastor tried yo wait patiently, but people kept bumping into him and there was a man almost completely naked on stage.

Alastor dusted off his suit and exited the club, deciding to wait outside. The club's pounding music still met his ears, but it no longer made his ribs rattle.

"Alastor!" Rosie shouted and hurried over. "Darling, it's been forever!"

Alastor's smile widened. "Rosie! It's been far too long! What are you doing out of Cannibal Town?"

Rosie waved a hand dismissively. "I took a stroll, and I'm glad I did!" She paused up looked up at the building he was standing outside of. "Darling... What are you doing here? I thought this wasn't your thing?"

"Oh." Alastor glanced behind him. He dusted his jacket off. "Well, I came here with a friend. She's inside running some errands."

Rosie grinned. "Errands? Here? I wonder what that could be."

Alastor shrugged. "I haven't the slightest idea." He brightened. "How's Susan doing?"

Rosie scowled. "She's..."

"Still a bitch?" Alastor finished.

"Yes." Rosie'a head bobbed as she nodded. "She decided the town's paths are ugly, so she's pushing to have them redone. It's going to be so expensive!"

"They were just done not even a year ago!" Alastor said in outrage. "Oh, she gets on my nerves."

"Alastor?" Nyla called out, stepping out of the club. "There you are! I told you not to move!"

"My apologies, but I couldn't handle it any longer." Alastor waved to Rosie with a florish of his hands. "Nyla, this is Rosie, one of my dearest friends."

Nyla stared at Rosie in awe. "Alastor has friends?"

Rosie laughed. "He's quite charming once you get to know him!"

"I'll take your word for it." Nyla threw her bag over her shoulder again, and Alastor noticed it was empty. "I have to go to the next errand now. Do you want to stay, and I'll go by myself?"

"Oh, I was just leaving. We're holding a vote this afternoon about some paths." Rosie said her goodbyes before walking away.

"Give my best to Susan!" Alastor yelled after her with a vicious smile.

"Who's Susan?" Nyla asked.

"Just some old bitch," Alastor said.

Nyla snorted and covered her mouth with her hand. 

"What was that?" Alastor demanded. "Are you laughing at me?"

"I've just never heard you swear before. It's funny." Nyla started walking down the sidewalk.

"I'm glad I amuse you," Alastor dryly said. His posture was stiff as if he didn't want to give her anything else to laugh at.

"It's like hearing a kid swear! It catches you off guard and makes you laugh!" Nyla groaned. "I wasn't making fun of you!"

"What were you doing in there?" Alastor asked to change the conversation.

"I moved into the hotel and I needed to give away some of my old stuff that I don't need anymore. I have a friend there that wanted some of my things," Nyla responded. 

"Where are we going now?" Alastor questioned.

Nyla glanced into a store's window before moving on. "My old apartment."

Alastor picked up a picture, wiping the dust off with his sleeve. He stared at Nyla in the photo, examining how natural her smile was, and how bright her eyes were.

Who's that next to her?

He looked closer at the man who had his arm slung around her shoulder, and the way his tussled hair partially covered his mischievous eyes.

"That's Blake." Nyla's voice startled him, and he nearly dropped the photo. "He was my boyfriend when I was alive."

Alastor gently placed the photo back where it had been before he touched it. "Ah."

Nyla got a box out and started putting some of the items on the shelf in it. "Can you just not touch anything? I don't know where your hands have been."

"I can assure you, I'm probably more hygienic than most of everything around here." Alastor wrinkled his nose in disgust at the grime covered window.

Nyla put the picture frame in her box and shuffled around him to grab a jewelry box. "Just... wait outside, okay? A lot of these things are personal and I honestly don't trust you with any of it."

Alastor's smile grew tight. "Of course, darling. I'll just be out on the sidewalk."

He left and went out into the sidewalk, looking at the dirty building with distaste. He decided that as soon as he returned to the hotel, he would change and burn the suit he was currently wearing.

Perhaps after he burnt it, he would get Husk to dispose of it so he wouldn't have to touch it. 

"Hey, you!" Someone approached Alastor, with two menacing looking friends trailing behind. "I'm gonna kill you!"

Alastor sighed. "This wasn't how I was going to spend my evening, but oh well."

A bat was swung in his direction, but he sidestepped and returned the swing by swiping one of them into the wall. He knew his eyes had turned black with the dials inside and his limbs had lengthened by now.

"It's the Radio Demon!" one of them screeched, pointing frantically. "We're gonna fucking die!" 

"Please!" Another one fell to their knees. "We didn't mean it!"

Alastor threw his head back and laughed. "You're not even going to try and hurt me? That takes the fun right out of the fight! What good is an opponent who doesn't fight back?"

"P-Please let us go! We'll do anything!" The third one sobbed and sniffled pathetically.

"You want to make a deal, then?" Alastor smiled menacingly as he turned back to normal and held out a hand. "I'll let you go, and you give me your souls?"

"I- I dunno," one of them nervously said. "You promise to let us live?"

"Of course! Why would I ever break a deal?" Alastor cocked his head. "Now, do we have a deal?"

They all shook his hand and ran away. He cackled to himself and decided to see if Rosie was still around. 

Alastor took a lap of the block, but Rosie was no where to be found. He figured she must've gone back to Cannibal Town. Just as he was returning to the apartment building, he saw a pool of blood in the alleyway next to it.

Alastor grinned and crept closer, intending to inspect whatever fool was attacked.

"Nyla?" Alastor said in surprise, standing just outside the puddle of blood. "What happened?"

"I was attacked," Nyla weakly said, "by three people with a bat. I- I didn't have my knives and couldn't defend myself. They took my things."

Alastor picked her up and took her back to the hotel. He placed her on the couch, ordered the others to take care of her, then vanished.

He was going to kill the ones that hurt her.