"Danielle, there you are! How are you?" Charlie chirps when she sees me making my way towards her. I stop in front of her and Vaggie, forcing a small smile to my lips.

"I'm fine." It's easy to lie straight through my teeth, I've done it my whole life.

"Huh," she replies dismissively. "Oh! Introductions! This is my best friend, Vaggie. Vaggie, this is Danielle, the new demon I mentioned earlier. I'm glad you came over here, I was excited for you two to meet. I think you'll get along," she says. Vaggie blinks at me, pauses, then smiles. I mimic her.

"Hi, Vaggie."

"Hi," she says.

Charlie rolls her eyes, swirling the pinkish drink - which is probably alcoholic - in her hand around in small circles, making it form a mini hurricane. "Trust me, you'll feel better soon. It gets more welcoming once you get to know everyone and share a few drinks with them," she says. So she didn't believe me when I said I was fine. And right now, drinks sound perfect. "Oh, and have you given any thought to becoming one of the members of the hotel staff yet?" she asks, taking a sip of the drink.

"Wait a minute, what?" the bartender asks brusquely, causing Charlie to nearly spill her drink. He is behind the counter still, a safe distance away from me. "You told her she can become a member of staff and she's been here for a day?" The bartender gives me a sharp look. He looks like a wolf standing on its hind legs, or a cat with wings. I find myself staring at him, unable to look away. His eyebrows are large and red, but the fur that covers the majority of his body is white and grey. He's very tall, and when he turns around to put the bottle away, I see the two huge red wings streaked with black lines jutting out from the center of his back, spanning out on either side of him in full view. When he turns back around, I notice little black dots on the inside of his wings. No, wait, they aren't dots, they're mini spades and clubs and hearts. Pretty neat.

"Yes. Angel Dust and I have set up a meeting for tomorrow at 2:00," Charlie insists, steadying her glass and fixing her posture. "We will see if she's cut out for it. Please be nice."

"Whatever. I could care less," he mutters. Vaggie takes a quick drink of what looks like whiskey, and after finishing it off, sets the glass down hard on the bar counter. The winged cat-like wolf thing tops her off, then walks away to go wipe down a set of margarita glasses.

I clear my throat, but don't say anything. I'm only 18, so I've never ordered a drink at a bar, it's always been out of some red solo cup at a house party, or out of a large bottle of peach vodka that my friend provided. Plus, I'm not in the mood to face an awkward conversation with the angry creature. "That's Husk," Charlie says. "He can be moody, but he'll warm up to you, don't worry." I look down at the creature again. Husk. The name suits him.

A silence falls over the three of us and I start to feel really awkward. Vaggie doesn't look like she's in the mood for conversation, and Charlie looks as if she's at a loss for words. I look to my right and see a huge set of french doors, painted dark brown, nearly black. Based on the size and placement, I judge that they are the main doors.

"I'm gonna go outside for a bit and explore. I'll see you later," I say, giving Charlie another strained smile, hoping she will be satisfied with that. Before she can argue, I turn and head for the doors.

"Be careful!" Charlie calls after me, but I don't hear her. My focus is trained on someone else like a starving fox staring at a dead mouse. A tall white... thing with two legs and four arms walks by me, clearly heading toward the bar. They (I can't tell if it's a man or a woman) glance at me, grin quite maliciously and then pass me by. Just as the two of us make eye contact, the name Angel Dust pops into my mind, as if he had telepathically inserted the name into my brain. They are dressed from head to toe in a white dress suit with purple stripes and thigh-high black boots. The creature is very thin. At first, I think they are a man, but my idea sways when I see their busty chest and pink gloves. I really want to meet them.

I also find it really strange that someone would be named after a drug, but who am I to question the unusual stuff that comes my way? I'm in hell.

Placing a hand on one of the double doors, I swing it open, not really knowing what to expect. In the back of my mind, I come up with some ideas: buildings burning, the wind carrying ashes in black tornadoes around the sky. Riots of angry demons, screaming and flailing their arms, weaving their way through clusters of tall skyscrapers. Pools of lava scattered around flaming volcanoes, steaming and exploding around every corner.

What was really outside did not meet any of my expectations; a calm, pinkish red sky with a normal grey street and normal building and normal... red. Lots and lots of red. The majority of everything was red, with hints of black and brown and so on. There are demons milling around, some drinking and smoking, others fighting. A normal yet crazy city.

I vaguely remember the forest Charlie had mentioned earlier when she was telling me that Alastor brought me in. Curious, I walk briskly around to the side of the hotel. There, just beyond the hotel, I see the dark, gloomy, grey forest. It looms silently in the distance, but it feels like it's calling my name. Rather than walking around the city, I feel the instinct to explore the forest. I take a few steps closer, then a few more. I keep going until I reach the beginning of the tree line. Staring into the infinite abyss of tree trunks and leaves and plants, I bite my lip and consider running into the forest. The thought leaves me quickly, but after a moment, it comes back, like a fly to a bowl of watermelon.

Shaking my hands out like they've been doused in water, I take a deep breath, getting ready to act without thinking.

I then dash into the forest, running as fast as my skinny legs can take me. I start to feel like I'm running from something, but not from a person. From a thing, a reality. As I feel my body starting to heat up with adrenaline and my legs burning with exertion, I wonder what it is that I'm running from. It could be a number of things, it could be everything. My lungs begin to sting and my thighs ache. After nearly tripping over a tree root, I force myself to stop. I try to think about how long I've been running, but I can't. My head is pounding. I haven't run like that in a while, that's for sure.

I look around, taking in my surroundings. The trees stand tall around me, their inky bodies taking shape. Birds sing in snappy, quiet chirps from up high in the trees, too high for my plain view. The air is warm, still, quiet. It floats placidly around my head. I look down at my torn up converse, blink a few times, then look back up. Something shimmering in the distance catches my attention. Squinting at the thing, I take a few steps closer, trying to get a better look, but it's still too far away. It shimmers in the distance, a light in a dim tunnel.

I decide to walk to it. It only takes a few minutes, but as I'm walking through the forest, I begin to make peace with my situation. "I'm a demon," I whisper to myself. It sounds funny when I say it. I've never been the kind of person to believe in anything paranormal (such as demons and ghosts and whatnot), and I'm not very religious either. But now that I am where I am, I realize that all of the Ouija boards I played as a kid must have been telling the truth.

As I get closer to the shining object, I realize that the shimmering thing is a lake. The lanky trees part themselves to make room for the large body of water sitting undisturbed in the center of the vacant space. My eyes widen at the sight of the clear, secluded waters. A soothing tranquility surrounds the lake, drawing me closer. I slide one shoe off, then the other. I reach my arm down to pull my socks off, and after throwing them aside, dip one foot into the water. The small, smooth rocks beneath me hold my foot up only half a foot below the water line. I smile.

Maybe Hell won't be all that bad after all.