{Victoria}

It's been strange lately because whatever ghost activity that's been going on in the house has stopped. I've been able to get some sleep which is fine by me because whenever my little buddies decide to start talking is when they won't shut up.

My little buddies had been really talkative, up until now.

I sat at the kitchen table and it was right after I had gotten up for the day.

"You know what's weird?" I said.

Walter looked up from the book he was reading. "What?"

"I haven't been hearing or seeing anything lately," I said. "It just feels weird to not have chaos for once."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? Why?"

I rubbed the back of my neck trying to figure out a way to explain things to him. Then I thought of something. "Well when I escaped from Wyatt, it took a while to get used to not being treated the way I was being treated before."

"I see, that makes sense because once you get used to something it's hard to get used to not having it," Walter said. "But I do kind of agree with Jenny, I think you should work on getting past what Wyatt did to you. Not all rich men are abusive assholes. I think Frank is a good example of that."

I hesitated. "I don't know about that. If anything Wyatt gave me a good reason to be wary of rich men."

"Okay then, I'm not going to push you to do something you're not comfortable with doing," Walter said.

I nodded. "Yeah because you know I'm going to dig in my heels anyway."

He laughed, "Of course you are and I wouldn't expect anything less."

We sat there in an awkward silence when we heard a door upstairs opening. Cody perked up from where he was lying, signaling that something was happening.

I chuckled. "I just had to jinx it, didn't I?"

Then my little buddies decided to start talking amongst themselves.

"I can't believe our Master decided to visit him over a week ago!" Little Buddy One said.

I looked at Walter. "Can you hear them?"

He nodded. "Yeah I can. And it's even more pronounced than it was the last time I heard them."

"So you believe me about someone being in the house besides us?" I asked.

"Yeah, ever since Jaxon and Jenny found that secret passageway in the basement, I believe that's these people are getting in," Walter said.

"I don't think they're people," I said.

Walter rolled his eyes. "You seriously believe that the people in this house are some sort of ghosts or demons for that matter?"

I nodded. "Yes, wait until-"

I didn't get a chance to finish my sentence when I heard a door open and slam shut. I clicked my tongue in annoyance. "Okay then, fine I'll prove it to you!"

Walter shrugged. "Alright then."

I went upstairs and I was going to grab that I normally use when I face my Little Buddies but I decided against it this time. Cody and Walter followed me and I paused when I got to the closet that had the door to the attic in it. The door to the closet was wide open and the door that led to the attic was open. The board that I used to nail the attic door shut was lying on the floor.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" I growled.

I continued watching until I saw a hand slowly reach down from the attic. The hand looked like a mummified hand that you would see in a zombie movie of the walking dead. Only this time it wasn't the walking dead, it was the hand of a demon.

No sooner had the hand reached down, it stopped halfway and the board that I used to nail the attic up flew towards the hand. There was a loud bang and a gust of wind that had Walter and I flying backwards. When I looked up again the closet door was shut.

I stood up and dusted myself off. "So do you believe me now about my little buddies?"

Walter stood up and after he dusted himself off he said, "Alastor."

I paused. "Who's Alastor?"

He sighed and shook his head. "It can't be him, it was only a dream anyway. I had this weird dream that some crazy old man broke into my room and told me he was my father. I know who my father is and it sure as hell isn't him."

"Yeah that does sound like a rather weird dream," I said.

I was getting to say something else when I heard my phone ringing downstairs.

"Fuck!" I cursed. I went back downstairs and grabbed my phone. "Hello?"

"Oh hello, I need to speak to Victoria Lee?" The voice on the other line said.

"This is Victoria speaking," I said.

"Oh good, I'm Mr. Marker's assistant, my name is Mia," the voice said. "Mr. Marker wants to meet with you again to go over making another deal for a couple of paintings. What time would be good for you to come in for an appointment?"

Wow, he must really like my paintings if he's contacting me again so soon after I finished the last job for him. I thought.

"Well if you can make an appointment at least after 2pm that would be great. I should be able to come in tomorrow," I said.

"Oh good, so I'll put you down for tomorrow at 2pm?" Mia said.

I nodded. "Yeah, that'll be great."

Once I hung up the phone Walter said, "Who was on the phone?"

"That was Mia, Louis's assistant. Apparently he wants to talk about doing another contract for more paintings from me," I answered.

"What time does he want you to come in?" Walter asked.

"Tomorrow at 2pm," I said.

"So do you want me to come in with you for the appointment or should I wait out in the waiting room?" Walter said.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"I think waiting out in the waiting room would be fine. I don't know how long this meeting is going to take though," I said.

Walter nodded. "Alright then, in the meantime what are we going to do about your little buddies?"

I shook my head. "I have no idea."

***

{Louis}

I absolutely adore the paintings that Victoria has done for me! She has some serious talent. Even as I walk down the hallway that I had her paint a mural for me, I can't stop gushing about the art work.

Then there's Victoria herself. She is such a beauty even when she isn't wearing a dress and is in casual clothing. I wish I could be her caretaker instead of the guy who's always with her.

The thing is I'm not much of a gambler so I don't take risks that I know won't pay off in the end. So chasing after Victoria might be pointless from what I've heard Victoria is wary of getting into relationships with rich men. I have no idea what happened to her though. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that someone hurt her enough to make her wary of men with my status.

Until I can find a way to win Victoria's heart I'll just have to settle for having her paintings instead.

"So I bet you'd do anything to at least stay by her side huh?" I heard someone say.

I looked up to see a man sitting on the couch in my office as if he owned it smirking at me. The man looked like an older version of Victoria's caretaker. He had light brown hair with gray streaks in it and instead of blue eyes he had black eyes.

The outfit he was wearing looked like something a person of Royalty would wear. He had on red pants and a red suit jacket to match the pants that had a brooch that had a gold plated pentagram on it. He had a white shirt underneath his suit jacket and a black tie. He wore black dress shoes with white socks to complete the outfit.

"That's odd," I said to myself, "I don't think I have any appointments at this time."

The man shook his head. "Oh you don't have any appointments. And don't worry no one else can see me but you at the moment. I've put up a shield of silence so that we can have this conversation for however long it needs to happen. How much time do you have?"

I looked at my phone and it said it was 4pm so it was almost time for me to get off work anyway.

"Let's see, I was planning on getting off work around about 6pm. But since I'm the owner of the business I can take as long as I need to for whatever this conversation is," I said.

"Ah yes, so first off, like I said I cast a shield of silence so no one will hear us talking and at the moment only you will be able to see me," The man explained.

I nodded and he continued, "And in addition to that no one will be able to hear our conversation or be compelled to come into the office until we're finished talking. At least that way people won't think you're crazy. So without further ado let me introduce myself."

He cleared his throat dramatically. "I am one of the many Princes of Darkness and Second in Command to the King of Hell, the Uncle of the future Queen of Hell, my name is Alastor."

I paused because I couldn't believe what I just heard. "Huh?"

"I said, I'm-" Alastor started.

I cut him off, "Yeah I heard you, I just-"

"You don't believe me?" Alastor asked with a smirk on his face. "I get that every time, especially since I only appear to those that I want to appear to." He laughed, "My son didn't believe me when I appeared to him. But he will in due time."

I tilted my head. "Okay so what do you want with me? And who is the future Queen of Hell?"

Alastor smiled. "She is the very one you are longing to be with. Only problem is she doesn't know she's not human. I'm pretty sure once she finds out she'll be able to use her powers for revenge and I will be there to teach her that torture is an art!"

"So you mean to tell me that Victoria, the woman who has a dark past, the woman who is in need of a caretaker and has a service dog for her health issues is the future Queen of Hell and she doesn't know that she's not human? Did I hear that correctly?" I said while giving him a look of disbelief.

Alastor gave me a look of pride and nodded. "Yes, indeed! And I have no doubts that she will be the best Queen that Hell could ever ask for!"

"Okay then," I said, "So what do you want with me?"

"What I want from you is your loyalty and your resources," Alstor responded.

I nodded. "Why?"

"Because I know you like Victoria and I know you'd do anything to help her out. Victoria has more enemies than you think," Alastor explained. "That includes her parents. Her Dad, even though he played the part of a doting father, he's one of the ones who helped steal Victoria from her crib when she was two years old! We already caught one of the people responsible for it and it led to Victoria's father. He's dead now and we're dealing with him accordingly.

"Actually I'm dealing with him accordingly along with Victoria's piece of shit ex-fiancé." He grinned as if he was recalling a fond memory. "Ah yes, the sounds of their screams of terror are like music to my ears!"

I blinked. This guy's nuts! I don't know if I should sit here and listen to this because of my curiosity or call the cops?

It was as if Alastor could read my mind. He chuckled. "Yeah I know what you might be thinking but I can assure you that if you call the cops, they won't believe a word you say. They'll think you're the crazy one because they won't be able to see me. Like I said, I only appear to people that I want to see me.

"And I'm appearing to you because I do believe you'll be of good use when it comes down to protecting Victoria. Now, you already have a child that can inherit the business should you pass away right?"

I nodded slowly. "Yes, why?"

"Oh good, that's perfect for what I have in mind," Alastor said. "Don't worry your pretty little head about what it is. Let's just say this will benefit the both of us."

Alastor's brooch on his suit jacket started glowing and he sighed, "Damn it! And here I thought we had all day for this conversation. Oh well, I'll contact you again when I need you. And it would be wise to keep this conversation to yourself considering if you tell anyone they won't believe you. And I bid you a good day!"

With snap on his fingers he disappeared, leaving me staring at the space he was recently sitting in disbelief.

***

{omniscient}

Alastor walked down the castle hallways down to the 13th floor where the torture area was. The torture area was made up of thirteen dungeons that could as many one hundred people at a time. This area was what Alastor considered the place that he broke new souls in to prepare them for their punishment that Satan would assign to them when they appeared before his throne.

He was happy to be back because he loved doing his job. He was also annoyed to be back because he hadn't finished saying what he wanted to say to Louis.

Alastor had been called back to Hell because one of the human souls got the bright idea to try and escape the torture area. What humans don't know is that once they're dead and they come to Hell there is no chance of escape whatsoever!

"Tsk, tsk," Alastor said to himself, "These fools don't understand that you're dead and you come to Hell there is no way out. Oh well, looks like I get to have some extra fun today!"

When he got to the torture area he stopped and grinned that person that was tied a chair in front. It was Isaac, the very man who stole Victoria from her crib! His face had bruises all over it and Alaster was certain that Isaac might have some broken bones.

It was funny to Alaster how humans could still get broken bones and feel pain even though they were already dead. From what he knew of how Hell was set up the first ruler of Hell decided to place magic on the castle so that human souls that came to be processed and assigned their punishments could feel pain. But once the souls were processed the pain ceases to exist.

"Well, well, well, look at the fool who tried to escape from Hell!" Alastor chuckled. He gave Isaac a wicked smile as he went up to him and cupped his chin in hand to make him look at him.

"I'm not a fool Alastor!" Isaac snarled. He winced in pain when he did that. "You're the fool if you think we're going to let you demons win this war!"

Alastor burst into laughter. "Oh that's a good one. Yeah I've been watching you humans and you guys really think that you can stop people from going to Hell with their bad deeds going unpunished?" He looked Isaac in the eyes and snarled. "Well, do you?"

"Oh I don't know about that, what I do know is that we're going to save innocent-" Isaac said.

Alastor laughed again. "Wow, you humans are so full of yourself! There's a reason why people go to Hell dumbass! And no one is innocent in Hell. Not even you."

Alastor let go of Isaac's chin turned towards the table that had the torture instruments on it. He shook his head. "Well I'll just have to show you that you're not innocent!"

When he turned to face Isaac again, Isaac tilted his head. "And exactly how do you plan on doing that?"

Isaac looked at what Alastor had in his hand. What Alastor was holding was a small spider. This spider would be able to crawl into Isaac's memories and that would give Alastor more means to torture him.

"I don't think those bruises and whatever broken bones you have are enough punishment for you my dear," Alastor said.

He put the spider on Isaac's forehead and said, "Search."

With this one simple command the spider knew exactly what to do. Alastor smiled a sinister smile as he found the memory he was looking for to show Isaac exactly why he was here in Hell. Alastor started to hum a happy tune as he got to work on torturing Isaac.