Tags/Warnings: ValentinoxOC, Sad Valentino backstory, attempted murder, suicide.
Previous Chapter: https://www.tumblr.com/naomistarla/814840898500329472/chapter-11-hospital
“Angel! No!” I shout as I grab the spear and try to wrestle it out of his hand.
“Let go, Kylie! I have to do this! It’s the only way I can be free! Why other people can be free of him! I won’t have to lose any more friends because of him!”
“Remember what Charlie said? Only God should choose when life ends! I mean, Val’s life did end, but I guess God meant this life too!
Angel growls and fails to yank the spear from me.
“Killing was what got you here in the first place!”
Angel’s face drops. Then he frowns.
Oh no. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.
“No! Our dad hit us! He…Val…” Angel shakes so hard that the spear trembles even while I’m also holding it. Angel lets out an exhausted cry as he drops to the floor with the spear.
“I…I can’t. You’re right.” His face falls into his hands. “He can’t even do anything to me right now. Seriously, what’s going on with him?” He peeks over at Val.
“Uh…he’s on some doctor sedative thing.” I sit in front of Angel.
Angel sighs. “Val and I are a lot alike.”
As much as I love Val, this actually breaks my heart. “N-No.”
“Kylie, when I first came to the hotel, I was hitting on anyone I could. Even when they wanted to be left alone, it would take me forever, or a push to the floor to stop. Val and I are both very sexual and confident and, well, pretty hot. But the more I tried to save my soul and share my feelings, I was becoming less like Val. I cared about people more. I cared if I made them uncomfortable or scared. Sometimes I wonder what I could have done someday if I never had a friend like Charlie who encouraged me so much. A friend like Husk to bother to tell me I was self-destructing and that I wasn’t alone.” Angel looks into my eyes. “If I killed Val, I’d feel closer to being like him than ever. I mean, if I have to defend myself someday, I can’t make any promises, but…I can’t murder him.”
I don’t know what to say. I agree with everything he says, but…wow. Just wow. I almost tell him I’m sorry, but I still want to be with Val. Also, I doubt it would mean much to Angel at this point.
White lights sparkle and dance around Angel. We both gasp and stand up.
“I think I’m…I think I’m being redeemed!” Angel looks all around as the lights begin to lift him up.
Charlie bursts through the door, Vaggi and Husk behind her.
“Angel?” Husk says gently, a hint of sadness in his face as he reaches up.
I look at Val, who’s awake, yet half-lidded. He weakly reaches an arm out.
Angel gives Charlie a warm smile. “Thank you for everything. Keep at it, Princess.”
Angel and the lights vanish.
Vaggi glances down at her spear, at Val, then looks back up at the spot where Angel was. “He…didn’t do it.”
“He acted against his sin!” Charlie walked over to the empty area as droplets appeared in her eyes.
“I’m…sorry Husk.” Vaggi puts a hand on the winged cat’s shoulder.
Husk smiles a small, bittersweet smile. “Don’t be. He made it. Besides, I’ll see him again.” He looks at Charlie. “Do you have a spot open in your counseling sessions?”
“I always do.” Charlie runs back to the group and flings her arm around Husk.
Vaggi picks up her spear. “Say, Kylie. I know you screwed up, big time, and I can’t stop you from dating Valentino.” She rolls her eyes, his name clearly like poison to her. I see he fell back asleep. “But you’re welcome to come back if you want to.”
Charlie walks up to me. “Kylie, I want you to know that redemption is for anyone who wants it and tries their best. Just don’t invite Valentino back unless we can be sure he’s interested in redemption.” She smiles and walks away with Vaggi and Husk.
Anyone can be redeemed. And I’m welcome to stay.
Hours later, I approach Val’s bedside. Hopefully he can stay awake by now.
“Val?” I gently shake him.
“H-Huh?” He wakes up, then he frowns. “Angel. He’s…gone.” Val sighs. “Well, I was getting tired of his disloyalty, but I didn’t want to be rid of him. Don’t worry, amorcita. I love only you.” He squeezes my hand.
“Val…” I tear up. “I love you too, but I want to keep trying to get redeemed.”
“You-you do?” Val’s grip on my hand loosens. “But…what about us?”
“You could come with me.” I grab one of his other hands. “Vaggi said it would be okay if you were interested in redemption. If I’m gonna be honest, I think Angel was right about you having not truly changed, but I believe you can. I see how you are with me; how much you care for Velvette. I know you still care for Vox, deep down, even after all you did and even after your ‘thing’ with him not working out. There’s good in you.”
Val sighs. “Well, it’s not like I have anything to lose. Hell’s gonna be a worse place for me than it ever was.” His eyes water. “How important is my fame anyway, my power, if there’s a chance of me being redeemed, being happier than I ever was. Having genuine love from people instead of just lust.” He curls up. “I never told you what sent me to Hell.”
“The sixties and seventies were my time to shine. A time where people preached peace and love. I was always a very…loving guy. I always dreamed of having a family of my own. And I promised myself I would keep them as close as possible, and that I wouldn’t let them be ripped away from me like mine was.”
“Well, it wasn’t just one incident. First my papa, he had…issues in the head that blew up when I was little. He tried to jump off a building with me in his arms, and after the police talked him into putting me down, he jumped.”
“Whoa. That’s heavy. Sorry.” Maybe I sound stupid, but what am I supposed to say to that?
“Then when it’s just my brother and mother, she finds out the family she was a maid for was doing some underground thing, they kill her and my brother gets caught in the crossfire. That being said, I was terrified of having more people I loved ripped away from me. Almost every breakup I had was because I was too clingy or controlling. Until my…wife.”
I gasp a little. I’m seeing more and more why he wouldn’t tell me about his life on Earth.
“We were living the hippie life. Braiding each other’s hair, trying to make a living with our art and her jewelry while we lived in a studio apartment with…our daughter.” He cracks a smile. “We had the time of our lives, but our projects didn’t sell so well. We agreed that one of us would find job, and we needed one fast. We needed a lot of money fast, too. Well, I ran into a couple I knew from years earlier. They were both down on their luck, so we came up with a crazy plan. Until I or my wife could get a normal job, I would be their pimp! I was taller and stronger than both of them—seriously, I was almost seven feet tall on Earth, so I could protect them from dangerous clients. My wife grudgingly tolerated it until something in me woke up. The power. Having more people around who enjoyed my company. I felt like it kind of compensated for everyone I lost.” Val runs a hand down his face. “My wife couldn’t take it anymore when she saw I was pimping out more people, and that I was doing more than that. She took our daughter and drove away. I flipped out, screaming at her to come back. I took my new car I bought with my pimp money, chased them down, and crashed into them. I…I don’t even know if they survived. If they didn’t they sure wouldn’t be in Hell. I can’t even bring myself to try to look them up.”
I just say what I’m thinking. I owe him that. “I don’t know what to say. Maybe…you could see them again someday. Even sooner if they’re in Heaven now. You might not be strong enough right now to try to get redeemed without help. The Hazbin Hotel was invented for a reason, Val.”
He sets his teeth. “I don’t want the hotel to see Valentino the adult film director, pimp, and dancer who was weak enough to be hospitalized and is even less perfect than he was before!” He perks up. “I can just punch anyone who laughs at me for being a failure!”
“That’s the spir—well, they probably would want you to work on that. You wanna at least give it a try?”
Val sits up. “I want to give it more than a try. I want to be truly happy for once. I want to be a good person again.”
I squeal and bounce my feet, too happy to care that I kind of ruined the moment.
Hand-in-hand with Val, we walk through the doors of the hotel as we do our best to ignore the gasps and stares. I don’t think our best is very good.
We approach the front desk, where Vaggi stares at us with a stern but not unwelcoming expression.
“Both of you are booking?” Vaggi asks.
“And both of you want to be redeemed?”
“Wha….” Charlie rushes over. “You’re both wanting to be redeemed?”
“Yes,” we both again say as we smile at each other.
Charlie and Vaggi look at each other with narrowed eyes.
“Well, I’ve got my eye on both of you, mainly you, Valentino.” Vaggi warns.
Charlie frowns and gives Val the “eyes on you” sign.
Vaggi pats the counter. “Also, I know you have weapons.”
Val groans and pulls a gun, his name bedazzled on it, from his garter. He grabs another from his other leg and puts both of them on the counter.
“Aren’t those golden things on your fingertips weapons too?” Charlie points out. She seems to actually wonder.
“Glam and weaponry all in one.” Val grins and wiggles his fingers before he pulls the sharp tips off.
Vaggi pulls out some kind of rectangular machine and flies around Val with it. Ha! Must be a metal detector! They’ve stepped up their game since I left!
“Well, no more weapons.” Vaggi flies back down.
“Okay, perfect!” Charlie looks at both of us and clasps her hands together. “Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel!”