She took a step towards them, Abel pulled the bat out from behind himself. He stepped back, the other two followed,
"Cham we gotta save this lady before that thing gets too big for it's pants if you know what I mean,"
"What does that even mean," Mishka whispered, holding the camera up.
Her mom looked up towards the ceiling and screamed, black liquid exploded from her throat. It burst against the top of the home, spraying the sticky substance all over the floor. Abel covered his face, Chamuel grabbed Mishka, covering her so she wouldn't get any of the black liquid in her.
The house seemed to shake, the lightning outside screamed into the storm. Abel glanced up, watching the woman float into the air before dropping heavily to the floor with a loud thud!
"Mom!" Mishka scrambled away from Chamuel, carefully stepping over the muck that slid over the ground, rippling against the wooden floors.
"No wait!" Chamuel called to her, before he could do anything the black sludge on the floor shivered, lifting from the ground and into the air in one smooth, slick movement. Abel watched with horror etched into his features as the black sludge started to form a large snake-like shape.
"Holy fucking hell," Abel whispered to himself as the snake rose to stare at the two, it had no eyes yet Abel could tell it was looking directly at him before swinging its head in the direction of Mishka and her mother,
"Mish! Look out!" Abel shouted,
He darted from his spot without a second thought, diving past the snake just as it struck. Using his bat to block the creature only a few inches from the woman's face, clamping it's opened jaw around the head of the bat causing it to rear back, screeching in agony
"You good?" Abel asked her,
Mishka looked towards him, giving him a sharp nod, "Hardly," She whispered. Abel turned attention to the snake. It hissed at him, angry,
"Lancaster!" It screeched into the air, its booming voice almost deafening the Slayer as he stared up at it.
"Fuck you," He shouted back, leaping towards the snake.
It melted into the floor before the bat made contact, the weapon coming down hard on the wood. Abel stared at the spot the snake disappeared into with a look of confusion flashing over his features.
Chamuel scooted past Abel, making for the women on the ground.
"Is there a reason that thing would want your mom?" Chamuel asked,
Mishka glanced to the floor as if thinking before giving him a nod of her head
"Not that I know of, but I can help,"
"Help?"
Before chamuel could clarify the snake exploded from under him, sending the angel into the air. He smacked against the top of the ceiling with a grunt of pain before falling onto the hardwood floor.
Abel raced towards the snake, his bat made contact with its dark body shattering the creature in half. Black muck splashed into the Slayers face and mouth causing him to gag lightly.
The snake seemed to fall then rise again each half gaining its own shape, almost seeming to grin at Abel both snakes took towards him at once.
"Two snakes now? Great!" Abel leapt out of the way just in time to miss being swallowed whole.
The snakes screeched in pain as salt showered over them, Mishka stood above her mom. Holding a box of salt in her hand. She had surrounded her mother with it before deciding to jump into a fight. The snakes glared at her,
"You fucks think you can just come in here and hurt my mom?" She snarled, Throwing more salt at the creatures. Chamuel scrambled to his feet, glaring at the snake. Abel bore down on the creatures now too, both the snakes looked around looking horrified before Chamuel's light plucked them off the ground. He breathed in and out slowly, attempting to keep himself from going into his full power mode before closing his fists. The snakes screamed in horror before exploding, Chamuel's light died down. He groaned, Abel dove over to his friend, catching him before he fell.
"You're good dude, you got 'em," he said to the man,
Relief washed over the group, silence followed between them for a few more seconds.
"So...How's about them Royals?" Abel said to break the silence.
***
"Is that the only snake you saw?" Abel asked, sitting in their kitchen. An ice pack sat on his hand, it was sore from swinging and despite his protests she insisted upon it.
"We didn't really stick around after to look out," Mishka pointed out,
She sat on the couch, holding a bag of ice to Chamuel's head as he typed away on his phone, his face deep with concentration.
"Nathan still not pickin' up?"
"No, nothing." Wincing as Mishka removed the ice pack, returning it a few seconds later.
"Hasn't even seen my texts," Abel groaned, jumping to his feet. He felt hot anger flashing through his veins, his adrenaline still kicking as he glanced over the string of messages he sent to Nathan. Why wasn't he picking up?
The group had called an ambulance after they discovered the woman was still alive and kicking, Abel and Chamuel offered to stick around while they waited,
"What're we gonna tell em?" Abel asked no one in particular as he settled on the couch next to Chamuel.
"Not sure, I was thinking maybe telling them we got robbed? It won't make...insane sense," the dark haired woman said, leaning against the couch cushions.
"Just say she's sick, they're not exactly trained to question us," Chamuel retorted,
"Yeah, she's sick, she's the reason we're all covered in blood. Crazy thing what the flu is doing nowadays," Abel retorted, "Might as well just tell them we're Slayers while you're at it" Abel said with a shrug.
Chamuel rolled his eyes, "does everything have to be sarcasm with you? You can't just say something?"
"Something"
"Listen here," Chamuel's face turned red as anger sparked under his skin,
"Shut up, what are you two? Five?" Mishka snapped into the air, gripping Chamuel's shirt to keep him from getting up and in the other man's face. The tension sparked in the air like electricity.
"You two just need to stop for a minute and breath, you're probably still pumped with adrenaline,"
Abel stood back up, "whatever man," he snorted, "don't be a jerk, Abel," Chamuel groaned, rubbing his temples on one side of his head. Trying to calm himself, he knew Abel was anxious. He could feel it rolling off the man in waves but he couldn't stop himself from snapping at his friend.
"I'm gonna try to call Nathan," Abel snorted, turning and making his way back into the living room. Chamuel shook his head lightly under the ice pack,
"Sorry, he uh, I'm just…"
"Oh shush! He's being a bit of a jerk," she soothed, rubbing his head with the ice. Chamuel felt a jolt of discomfort at the touch but didn't want to be rude so he allowed it.
Abel stared down at the ground in the room where it all took place. The black sludge that the woman coughed up everywhere was gone, it was as if the entire place had been wiped clean. Shaking his head he noticed the video camera, snapping his fingers as he made for the device.
Snatching it up with a frown, no cracks, dents, it looked fine at least. He hit the power button, the camera flickered on to the last video that had been saved.
"Awesome, it saved it," he clicked the play button on.
The video shuttered, the sound of them talking popped up and he could see the woman standing in the front of the stairs. A tingle raced down his spine as he watched her clamber down the steps, then he saw it. Something he didn't see before, behind her, a flash of something. Blinking a few times he rewinded the tape, it was so quick. But he could almost see it, a figure, it raced past the stairs behind the mother. Just a quick dark flash.
He stood in place, playing and replying it. Wishing silently that this was a movie that could just scroll in and enhance the image. Finally after what felt like hours he paused it directly on the blur in the back, it was only for a few short frames but he got it! His face turned white as he slowly came to realize what it was. Turning in his heels he scrambled back to the other two,
"Hey! Love birds!" He barked,
"What the heck is wrong with you?!" Chamuel leapt up now, anger burned into his face.
"Look!" He shoved the camera in the angel's face who looked at it with confusion.
"...what? It's her mother," Abel let the camera go, Chamuel held onto it and continued to look at the still image with a puzzled expression.
"Behind her!" He turned towards Mishka, "we need to move, come on," he grabbed his bag from the floor and his bat.
"Abel I don't--"
He put his finger to his lips causing Chamuel to fall silent, pointing upwards to the ceiling, he moved towards the Angel.
"There's someone, something, up those stairs," he hissed out, his voice a whisper.
"What? But we live alone," Mish whispered back, a look of confusion and shock danced over her features.
"What about her mom?" Chamuel asked, Abel shook his head "the ambulance can find her,"
Chamuel glared at him, putting a hand on Mishka's shoulder.
"No way, Abel! That could be anything, even just a glitch on the camera" he said, raising his voice to it's normal level.
Abel started visibly grinding his teeth, "can I talk to you, alone?"
The two stepped out into the backyard, a light rain was falling but neither man seemed to give it much thought.
"Look man, I don't know what's going on with you and her but stop taking her emotions!"
He looked at Abel in shock, "I'm not doing that," he retorted, though he felt his face flush.
"A-and what's with this love birds, crap?"
"She's all over you, man! She's got the hots for you! And if this was any other situation I'd praise you, but right now ain't the time."
Chamuel felt the heat return to his face, a switch flipped in his mind,
"You don't know anything," he growled, "you hardly know me! You act like we've been friends for years but I bet you don't even know how to spell my name!"
Abel opened his jaw to speak only to shut it again, grinding his teeth once more.
"I don't know why I'm putting up with you, cause God told me? God doesn't even talk to me!"
"Then why the hell are you here?" Abel snarled,
"Because this girl needs our help!"
"She's not a helpless flower, she salted the bitch! She recorded it! She's brave," he prodded Chamuel with a finger, his hair seemed to almost stand on end with anger.
"Yeah she's strong but she doesn't have anyway to fight any of these things,"
"You just wanna get your dick wet," Abel spat,
Chamuel felt a hot rage building but it vanished when he heard the scream, without a word both men shot each other a look of horror and bound into the home.
She stood over her mother, anger flared like a flame under her skin as she shakenly held a fireplace poker in her hands. Standing in front of her was a man, he stood tall, angry. His bald head shone in the light, his pale skin seemed to almost be sweating the black liquid out of his pours giving him a frightening appearance.
Abel leapt towards the assailant, his bat landed on the man's shoulder causing him to collide with the wall beside him. The man's large body left a dent in the wood, he turned to Abel. Black sludge was dripping from his angry, red gaze. Abel felt shocked with how easy it had been to knock the man around as though he were made of nothing.
"Cham!" Abel shouted,
"Oh it!" Chamuel was already powered up, using his light to rip the blackness from the others skin yet it didn't seem to budge, only bulging out with a sickening sucking noise.
"Abel we might have a problem," Chamuel whispered, the man smacked Abel out of the way causing the Slayer to crash into a small table with a lamp. Glass shattered against the floor. The taste of iron filled the Slayers mouth as he scrambled to his feet, holding the bat out.
Chamuel tried harder, attempting to force his power forward. His stomach roared in hunger, his body brimmed with exhaustion yet he continued to dig for the energy he needed. Holding out his hand, eyes glowing bright.
The large man continued to stomp towards Chamuel, his teeth rotting and falling to the floor with each step. The man let loose an inhuman scream as his feet drumed against the floors.
Chamuel felt trapped, his light surrounded the man but it was as if the man's energy was too strong.
"I-i might be too tired--" he started to say, the man screamed in surprise as his legs were kicked out from under him. Shock flashed over Chams face, glancing up at Abel who leapt to the others side,
"I got your back," he said, shooting a smile at the man.
"And I've got yours!" Mishka shouted, racing back into the room with a large pale of water. The water fell over the man causing him to scream in agony,
"Cham try now, he's weak" she shouted, Chamuel blinked in surprise before using his light once more.
The man struggled against the floor as the light ripped and tore the black sludge out, the liquid was large. It's body was so black it seemed to suck the color in around it. The muck seemed to be fighting against the light but it did no good, Chamuel sucked in air and closed his fist. It exploded, covering the floor in its muck, popping like a water balloon. The large man laid on the floor, blood oozed from his swollen body. Staining the white clean rug the group had been fighting on,
"Is he…" Mishka whispered, dropping the pale and moving towards the man.
"Don't, if he's not dead..," Chamuel said shakenly, Abel moved towards his friend letting the man lean on him, "If he's not dead he could still be dangerous," the angel finished.
Silence followed, the group stared at the man as if they expected him to move but he didn't. His corpse seemed to deflate as more of his blood lapped at the floor below. Speaking far as if it were a sea. The sound of sirens filled the air, causing the Slayers to jump in surprise.
"Look, I don't think we should stay here with a dead guy," Abel said to Chamuel quietly.
"You might be right," he whispered back,
"I'll think of something," Mishka said to them, "I'll text you if I need you."
"We'll come back," Chamuel said, the two men slowly made for the door. Chamuel went much slower than normal but kept up the best he could. Both men bolted from the home and to their truck, Chamuel hardly made it into his seat before Abel tore out of the driveway and down the street.
The men knew an alive woman wouldn't cause as much suspicion, but a dead man? With a baseball bat sized hole in his shoulder? They'd be tossed in jail without a second thought. Abel pulled up to a gas station, he was shaking, he could feel the adrenalin falling off him and now he felt almost sick from all the gore he had witnessed the past few days.
"I'll be back," Abel said, not looking at his friend or waiting for a response. He leapt out, making for the small store. Chamuel sat back against the seat, exhaustion settled over his body, head throbbing from the beating he had taken. His mind spun with thoughts as he tried to piece together what happened the last hour. How did Mishka know to douse the guy in, what he assumed, was holy water? Did she know anything about his abilities? And why was he so mad at Abel? Sure the man was sarcastic and not exactly the nicest person he's met but something about the way he had insisted that he liked this girl almost made him feel sick.
The door opened, a cold can was shoved into the angel's face. He blinked in surprise at the gift, looking over to his friend who grinned at him expectedly.
"Thank you?"
"Gives you wings, huh?" He shot the man a grin, taking a sip of his own energy drink.
"...why did you give me this?" Chamuel whispered, feeling guilty for the way he had spoken to the other not too long ago.
"Cause you're tired? Have you never had a redbull before?"
Chamuel nodded, taking the cold can into his palms. Silence followed as the two sat in the parking lot of the gas station and drank their carbonated energy.
Chamuel took in a breath as he tried to gather the courage to talk to his friend, watching the rain falling lightly on the window. He could already feel the jitters from the beverage fluttering under his skin, turning towards the slayer watching the man wrestle with a package,
"What's that?" Chamuel asked, attempting to break the silence. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact Abel was acting so...Abel? He acted as if their argument never happened,
"Baseball bat glove," He grunted out, pulling the black padded glove from its small box. He pulled it over his hand with a smile, "It'll help with the kick back from that damn bat. Least for now, till I get a better one,"
"I didn't know they made gloves for that,"
"Yeah, well, they're usually nicer and...bigger...I had to get the kids size," A touch of sadness in the Slayers voice as he spoke, Chamuel could feel a wave of depression flash over him from Abel. "They make gloves for everything now a days," he laughed
"Hey uh," He cleared his throat, "You're my friend, ya'know?"
Abel glanced to the other, tilting his head, "Yeah I know," He replied,
"I mean…" shaking his head, "I uh, I didn't mean to be so snappy with you," Chamuel finally blurted out, rolling the can between his palms slowly. Not looking at the other as he spoke, "I'm sorry,"
There was quiet that felt as if it lasted forever around them, lightning stabbed the sky above and thunder roared.
"Me too, I'm sorry, man" He murmured, "It's just...I don't know, Cham" Abel raced his fingers through his long locks, attempting to flatten the hair that always stuck out on the front of his head.
"It's stress," Chamuel whispered, "It's just…" Shaking his head "this is just…"
"A lot?" Abel arched an eyebrow at the other.
"Yeah, A lot." Chamuel sighed,
They fell silent once more, listening to the rain batter against the glass.
"I like being your friend," Chamuel admitted, giving the man a small smile, "I mean-- I didn't mean what I said about how you treat me. I...like it, it feels like you're comfortable with me,"
Abel shuffled uncomfortably in his seat, turning his head to look out the window.
"And when you mentioned me and her...I guess I just got frustrated, because you were right about me taking her emotions and replacing them,"
Abel now turned his head to look at the other, "Do you think that's why she's all over you?" He asked, tilting his head.
"Probably," Chamuel admitted, rubbing the back of his head, "I'm not exactly Brad Pitt,"
"That's something that's been botherin, me."
"What? Brad Pitt?"
"No, no! You picked your guy, right?"
"My guy?"
"Yeah, like, you picked the body? You had the choice to pick any person and you picked a math teacher,"
"I'm not a math teacher, and it's not that simple,"
Chamuel groaned, rubbing his temples again. Feeling energy burning through him now as the drink worked its magic.
"The person is basically picked because of their bloodline, they have to be linked to specific people in their family tree kind of deal," He waved a hand in the air in a dramatic fashion, "I mean, it's not as simple as it sounds but basically I didn't really get to pick. But honestly? I like this body,"
"Wait, so were you a man in heaven?" Abel sat up now, leaning against the steering wheel A spark of warmth flashed through Chamuel.
"Well, I mean, yes? I guess? Gender used to not be really important to Angels until we started to get closer to humans, suddenly things slowly started to change."
"Are there homophobic angels?"
"Probably, Angel's are pretty flawed even if they say otherwise," Chamuel snorted, "but honestly, homophobia and transphobia isn't really something I thought about till I got here. Yaknow? I was shocked with how badly gay people were treated,"
"Okay," Abel turned himself towards Chamuel, "Sexuality, what is it?"
"Excuse me?" Chamuel felt his face turn red, "how did we get on this topic?"
"Come on, man!" Abel grinned, "I gotta know, I gotta know who I need to pair you up with when we go bar hopping, I'm pansexual myself," Abel puffed his chest out pridefully, nodding to himself.
"We should really see if Mishka's okay," Chamuel murmured,
"Aw come on, why are you so weird, you gotta have a preference," Abel insisted, voice glowing with warmth as he watched the man.
"It's not like I'm gonna make a big deal outta it!" he insisted,
"But you will," Chamuel pointed out, "You'll take me to the worst bars and force me to get a stripper and I'm not about that life,"
"You know me too well," Abel mused,
The pair watched as an ambulance drove past them, its lights blaring as it made in the direction of the hospital. As if on cue Chamuel felt his phone buzz, pulling it from his pocket he glanced at the message.
"Come back!" it read,
"Let's go then," Abel said with a nod, taking the last few sips of his drink as he turned the car on and pulled from the parking lot.
***
The storm raged as the men pulled up to the home, Abel stepped out holding his bat tight followed by Chamuel who's hands glowed lightly in the stormy air.
"That drink did help," Chamuel whispered,
"Gives you wings!" Abel grinned, the two trotting up to the front door. It swung opened before they could even reach the doorbell,
"Come in but quickly," she said, her voice holding an ominous note.
The two hopped into the home quickly as the rain fell down, Abel shook out his hair as they brushed past her.
"So what'd you say?" Abel asked, turning on his heels to the woman. His boots let out a soft squeak as he did so.
"I found this book," she said, ignoring Abel and grabbing Chamuel by the arm. Yanking him up the stairs, he looked back at Abel with an anxious glance. Abel frowned, did she really dislike him that much? Shaking off the thought he followed close behind.
The storm rumbled, shaking the home as they moved. The lights flickered above him as he followed up the stairs, he felt an ominous presence just as he did the other night. Glancing around himself his foot made contact with the step only for it to fall in,
Panic flared through his mind as he fell into the stairs with a Yelp. His foot seemed to sink into the wood as if it had been made of nothing but air. His body fell for a few heartbeats before hitting the ground with a soft thud. The baseball bat clattered beside him, he glanced at the ground in disbelief. Was he going crazy? The floor before him is covered in broken, red cobblestone that leads to a dark looking Forest. He got to his feet slowly, grabbing the bat as he did so.
The area was silent except for his own breathing, not a single noise could be heard from anywhere. No animals, no airplanes, nothing.
"Cham?" He called out, his voice echoed around him. He glanced to the sky in hopes of seeing stars but nothing sat in the empty blackness. Turning to look behind him didn't help either, as all he could see was shadows.
Turning back towards the forest the only light came from a broken street light that flickers every few breaths. It was seated just before the entrance of the forest, the brambles seemed to circle the entrance like an opened door beckoning him in.
He took a step forward, the ashy light of the lamp flickered as he took another step cautiously.
"Hello?" He called out,
No response came but his own voice.
Suddenly the shake of a bush caught his attention, jumping from the undergrowth a flash of white against blackness.
"Hello?" He whispered, as if to answer a large rabbit, no, a hare, jumped from it's hidden spot in the forest.
The right side of its face looked as if it had been clawed off and the blood dried awkwardly. His jaw bone could be seen from where Abel stood causing him to shutter.
"Hey, ugly little dude, you okay?" He asked, making his way to the hare. It twitched it's pink nose at the man before turning and leaping into the forest. Right through the center of the bramble and vanishing into the ever foreboding blackness.
Abel felt the urge to follow, but why?
"Abel!" Chamuel's voice broke the empty air, the Slayer looked around in terror.
"Cham!" He called, suddenly an earthquake broke the surface underfoot and he fell.
Abel's eyes flew open, he was laying on the floor of Mishka's house. He felt disoriented, his body had a floaty feeling tingling just under his skin. A hand was on his back, shaking him,
"Abel? Can you hear me?" Chamuel called to him.
"Cham?" Abel grumbled, looking at the other.
Chamuel sighed while sitting back on his heels.
"You fell down the stairs, I thought you broke your neck!" Chamuel laughed, Abel struggled to stand up, the Angel caught him by the arm and hoisted him to his feet.
"You okay?"
"I...think so," Abel ran his fingers through his hair, Mishka popped up beside the two, "what happened?" She asked. Abel blinked a few times, glancing to the stairs past her before shaking his head.
"Nothing," he cleared his throat, "I just tripped, fell down the stairs." He stepped away from the two, they watched him with puzzled expressions "it's not a big deal, guys, me and stairs just don't mix!" He laughed,
Chamuel studied the Slayer for a few heartbeats; he knew Cham would have called him out on his bullshit if Mishka wasn't around. The angel turned back to the stairs and shrugged at the woman beside him. They bound up the steps once more, Abel followed close behind. His mind buzzed with questions, anxiety. Was it a dream? How did he fall? He recalled falling through the floor but that seemed like nonsense. Shaking his head as if to scatter the thoughts like water droplets on his skin he followed after the two.
***
"...and the wings of war will turn the sky to blood, signaling the ending of life as we know it…"
She sighed, glancing at the two boys with eyebrows raised.
"So that's it? It sounds like the middle of a prophecy," Chamuel said, a hand scrolling his phone for any hints of what she read online.
"Yep, that's it." She glanced up at them both. Her hands danced over the pages of an old journal similar to the ones they had read through at Nathan's.
"My grandad was a mysterious man," she shook her head, playing with the page she looked down on. The paper before this had been torn out, only a few scraps remained of it; the page she read from was also torn, everything aside from the words seemed to have been ripped apart.
"My grandad found the prophecy in an old book, but I don't know what he did with the rest of it. Or why he pulled it out,"
"Would someone else have the rest of that? Or maybe the book? I'm...not even finding it on the web…" Chamuel said with a nervous glance.
"Well, maybe," she leaned back in her chair, putting the pen on the desk into her mouth to chew on while she thought. "My uncles a Slayer too, he might have it, my grandad always had a stronger relationship with him,"
Both men shared a quick glance with each other as Mishka flipped to the page before the prophecy, a printed out picture of black and white of what seemed to be an angel. With glowing hands and eyes the head of a lion sat on the angel's head, sitting in front of him a skeleton of a king. His king's crown sat on his head, a golden amulet around the neck that was hard to make out. It was grainy, an old polaroid of what seemed to be a book or maybe a picture in a museum.
"I wanted to show you this because of this picture I found." She said, "after you two left I thought I'd look through my grandad's book to see if he had an idea on what these things are, maybe something to help mom, and I found this,"
"Chamuel, war." Abel whispered, leaning forward and racing his fingers over the picture as if he could feel it.
"It's the only picture that's like this in the book, the rest are pretty high quality," she said, pulling it from the book and handing it to Abel who took it gingerly.
"What does it mean?" he asked her, tracing his eyes over the angel's figure in the old photo.
"I don't know," she admitted, "but maybe my uncle will," Shrugging at them as she closed the book, "if you want I can give you his phone number. I'll even let him know you're gonna call,"
"That'd be great," Chamuel said, nodding at her. She gave him a small smile before her gaze returned to Abel, "I don't know exactly what's happening, but I can probably dig out more of my grandad's stuff," she shook her head, "I need to go see my mom first,"
"No, yeah, go see her," Abel soothed, he could see the anxiety in her features. She hadn't even wanted to call them back but knew it was important.
"We'll go to your uncle's and see what we can find out about this picture," Abel held the picture to the light but the grainy image was impossible to fully make out. Chamuel's name circled in red.
***
"Nathan?"
Abel called as he entered Bobby's home, eyes darting to and from. Neither of the two had heard from Nathan or Butch since that morning and its well into the night now. The two men have spent the past few hours attempting to find out more about the photo and prophecy but came up with nothing aside from a few books mentioning Chamuel.
Mishka's uncle didn't answer their multiple calls, only texting an ominous "come to my place" with an address after a few hours.
"This guy's probably a murder, I've seen this horror movie," Abel insisted. Now the two were exhausted, Abel felt anxiety about the lack of response from his own uncle.
"I was hoping he was here," Abel groaned as they scoured the home but it came back empty. The two sat on the sofa, a dejected look on the Slayer's face.
"We haven't checked the car lot," Cham pointed out, running fingers through his dirty blonde hair. Abel grunted in response, pulling his phone out and attempting to call Nathan again.
"Hi this is Nathan, leave a message"
They attempted to call his ex wife earlier who was little help, she hadn't seen the Slayer and they offered to pay her to make the drive to Butch's and check to them. She argued for a few minutes before ultimately accepting.
"Sorry guys, I'll reach out to a few friends. If he's gone there's probably a reason," She mused, "Wouldn't be the first time he left his family alone without a word,"
Abel and Chamuel shared a look as he held the speaker phone out.
"Alright, well thank you," He whispered, clicking the end call button. The pair let out annoyed huffs at the same time. They both stared blankly at his phone as he attempted to understand how two grown men vanished, not just normal men either. One saved the world and the other could break your neck in one swift movement. Shaking his head in frustration, letting loose a loud breath.
"Hey, we'll find them," Chamuel whispered, putting a hand on the man's shoulder.
"Don't take my anxiety, you shouldn't have to hold it for me,"
Chamuel pursed his lips together but didn't say anything about it. Letting the hand fall away from Abel,
The silence was deafening as they sat beside each other. Abel's leg bouncing lightly as he read through an article on demons and angels.
"I posted that picture on Twitter," Chamuel said, breaking the silence. "And the prophecy, maybe someone online knows something, oh and the video Mishka took as well,"
"Yeah good idea, chammy, plus it'll look like an actual ARG instead of a couple of schmucks running around in a shitty car,"
"Hey, come on, let's check the car lot," Cham stood up, tugging at Abel as he went, "if we sit around feeling sorry for ourselves we won't get anything done,"
Abel bit back a sarcastic retort, allowing himself to be pulled up by the angel. The pair making their way outside with low hopes of finding their friend, Abel glared up at the sky with his hands behind his head.
"What if we find them hotboxing a car? I'll be so mad," Abel snorted
"If we could just get a clue," Chamuel murmured, ignoring what the other said as they stepped into the cold air. The seasons were getting colder, Abel's breath puffed before his eyes.
"You mean like that?" Abel asked, jaw practically dropping as he saw the Corvette. She shone in the watery light of Pete's home. Not a single drop of dirt to be seen as Abel ran his fingers over the cold hood, it felt like ice.
"What's this doing here?" Chamuel breathed, looking into the windows of the car. His eyes spotting Nathan's cell phone settled on the front seat.
"I think I figured out why he's not picking up,"
Abel moved his fingers against the bottom of the car, it chilled him to the bone but he had a hunch.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting the spare key,"
"How do you know it's under the car?"
Abels fingers grazed a small piece of plastic, a smile broke over his features.
"Because, it's what I'd do," he responded, pulling the box out and with a satisfied grunt.
"If the car's here, do you think Nathan's here?" Chamuel asked as he watched Abel shoved the key into the lock, twisting it. The car let out a small click,
"We looked this place up and down, unless Peter had a secret room I don't think he's here. Besides, why would he leave his phone?"
Abel pulled open the door, it creaked loudly into the dank night air. Plucking the phone from the seat he turned it on. The flip phone hardly had any battery left but what he did see made him shutter,
It opened to a text that hadn't been sent. A text to him.
"I'm at Pete's, something weird is happening here. Get here right away. I think we were fo"
It ended, "I think someone took them," Abel murmured, almost in disbelief. Chamuel glanced over his shoulder to read what had been said, "or something," Cham whispered, his cold breath sent a shiver down the Slayers spine.
"We gotta find them,"
"But how?"
"I don't know," Abel admitted, scratching his head "do you think we should go to Mishka's uncle's?" turning towards the other with a troubled gaze.
The silence continued, Chamuel shivered as a cold wind rushed past them. The sound of Peter's sign creaking and the wind howling was the only noise that could be heard,
"That's probably our best bet," he whispered finally, rubbing his arms, the cardigan was warm but not warm enough for the cold weather that settled over the parking lot.
"We need to get you a jacket or something," Abel suddenly didn't feel safe. Peter's had possibly been compromised. Rubbing Chamuel's arm lightly as if attempting to keep the other warm with the movement.
"We gotta get out of Dodge," Abel said into the night air. Both men glanced at the Corvette and than themselves,
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Abel asked,
"We shouldn't"
"Nathan would have wanted it! It's my dad's car!"
The two glanced at each other, to the car and back, "okay, but if Nathan asked we fought about it," Chamuel said, a smile split over Abels features that caused his eyes to glow in the harsh lights.
"The worst argument we ever had," he agreed "Just yelling and screaming,"
"'Yeah Nathan, Abel was a complete jerk!'" Chamuel laughed out as they made to the home to collect their stuff,
"Chamuel was cursing, I thought the world was gonna end!"
"Oh that's going too far!"
Both men laughed as they entered Peter's home, despite the laughter a dark cloud hung over the men.