Trauma that is unbonded

Anthony, AKA Angel, was a sex worker bound by a demon contract in hell. Abused, mistreated and beaten, he was forced to take up most of his afterlife’s time with strangers performing in the most brutally lurid sexual acts one can imagine.

His brain skipped like a stone in the pond, his body dissociated from his own mind.

Going back to the hotel that was intended to redeem sinners into heaven, he was on his last legs. Though, you certainly wouldn’t know from how he enters a room.

“Hey bitches!” Came the excited shriek as he slammed open the front entrance. He scowls slightly underneath his snarky expression. Husk, however, could see right through it. “I need a fucking drink!” Anthony’s heavy eyes narrow in on Husk, the hotel bartender.

“You’re not even gonna change it up and wait till it’s dark to get fucked up, huh?” Husk growled, making the other roll his eyes and wink salaciously.

“Dark… light, it’s hell. Who cares? I don’t need a speech from the drunken bartender, especially since you look like you had one too many this mornin’…” Anthony sneered.

“If ya know I’m drunk as shit why’re you so damn loud?” Husk retorted sarcastically, wiping a glass lazily.

“You like when I’m loud, kitty cat..” he flirted as he sauntered up to the bar as Husk eyed him more carefully and saw how disheveled he really looked. His hair looked greasy and unkempt. His eyes had bags under bags, redness pervading his whites like a Blood Mary shot was infused in his blood permanently. His clothes were slightly unbuttoned and not tucked in. Val must have really worked him raw, Husk thought sadly. Especially to be gone all night until mid-morning.

Husk made a disappointed click of his tongue against his teeth. “Remember I told ya about not pulling that bullshit act in front of me, didn’t I, Angel cakes?” They finally eyed each other properly and Angel sighed, letting his shoulders drop shakily.

Husk frowned, placing a hand on Anthony’s shoulder.

“Look, I know it’s not an act. But? Come on, in front of me…you don’t have to pretend,” Husk said softly. They kept their intense eye contact going and though Anthony wanted to break it, he could not help but feel safe in this moment. A steady safety that warmed his heart.

“Just… get me a drink, would ya?” Anthony said after some uncomfortable silence. “Strong.”

Husk growled but nodded, pouring him a clear drink in a Martini glass.

He handed it over gently and as Anthony grabbed it, their hands touched.

Husk blushed at the contact, his neck hot.

Anthony felt a small smile curl on his mouth and he scooted his chair closer to the bartender.

There was a long silence that followed as he stared into those deeply smoky eyes, chugging his drink with gusto as Husk stared at him right back.

The silence they shared felt so much yet so little, a variety of different emotions that surfaced between them.

Pain. Husk could see such a deep pain in Angel. It felt like something that could never be fully understood or talked about, a dark trauma that was once rooted in pleasure. Sex.

Sex was something Angel wanted to experience with freedom, love and sensuality.

But, it did not even resemble sex anymore. It's assault. It's terror. It's death that forces you to pretend you're still alive.

Husk was also tied to a demon overlord due to his poor choices and once selfish and tyrannical actions.

“I wish you could just stay here at the hotel and never go back to that horrible monster again, to be honest,” Husk said softly. It made Angel create this bubble in his throat, and it gurgled upward in his throat as a strangled squeak.

“I can't. I'm tied to that fucking joke of a maniac until I am double-dead…”

Husk sighed. The once obnoxious tone of Angel’s pompous over-confident display became as modest and dulcet as a baby mouse.

“I'm a loser, baby, remember? Both of us together…” Angel almost hummed out in a strangely affectionate way, making Husk jump in surprise at the change in tone.

They both cracked a small grin as Husk almost knocked over a bottle, making Angel extend an arm to catch it.

Husk leaned over the table and took the others hand. Angel’s eyes widened.

“Losers don't admit they need to change. You got the un-loser look and feel, just gotta keep trying, Angel…” Husk said with passion.

“It's Anthony...” He said with a look of trust to Husk.

“I like this Anthony,” Husk said with a wink. “Tell me more about him.”

Anthony blinked in surprise and blushed deeply, his face warm.

The silence in between their truth became a tapestry of musical softness, and they were frozen in a cocoon of warmth as they continued throughout the day.

Day or darkness, hell couldn't stave off their bright, bright light together.