He watched them with caution in his mind, his gaze narrowed as his hands gripped the cold bottle of beer. A few beads of condensation rolled into his skin. Sizzling softly as it dropped onto his pale knuckles. Facial hair rolled over his lips to form a thick mustache and dotting the sides of his cheeks, pale grey blue eyes following the two as they moved swiftly through the bar.
The music blasted in all directions, people filled the room, shouting, laughing. It was a typical October night in the bustling city of New York with sky scrapers painting the darkness, flashing in the night like stars. He watched two darkly dressed demons weaving among the crowd. Their excitement was obvious, they had found something. Something that Baal wasn't going to let them keep.
The demon picked up his beer, fiddling with the bright red straw that stuck out of the top of the bottle which gave the drink a comical look. He took a large sip before standing to his feet, he towered over the innocent around him. His large frame wasn't something to scoff - knuckles bruised from fighting as he brushed back his shaggy black hair, he slipped brass cuffs over his knuckles that glittered like gold in the harsh orange lights of the bar before following close behind the pair. They slipped from the building without a sound filing into the sea of innocent people.
Baal already had their scent. Their stink filled the area around them, the sickening stench of sulfur fell off the two in waves. Though the humans didn't seem to notice it, the large demon sure could! He moved his way through the innocent around him, attempting to hold down the anger that rose in his throat. His skin burned lightly under his clothes as the rage bore down on him. If they had found what he was looking for it could already spell the end for the human race.
He paused, taking a slow breath in and letting it out. Willing the anger down the demon shook his head as if to scatter the anger like water droplets before continuing onward. The innocent around him parted as he walked by due to the heat radiating off his flesh. The two demons were none the wiser as they raced past a few more buildings. Baal continued to make towards them, hands in his jacket pockets as he attempted to stay hidden with the rest of the humans around him. If they saw him they'd run and he didn't want that.
Turning the corner he caught the tail end of the other demon's pants rushing into a small alleyway towards the end of the building. Cracking his knuckles he made for the opening, crouching down against the wall to remain in the shadows - away from the ever bright city. The demons stopped, chatting to themselves, he couldn't make out what they were saying. He leaned more into the wall, making sure not to crush the bugs that danced around his feet. Their long feelers touched his army boots, he hated cockroaches but their existence didn't deserve to be stepped out due to his own discomfort.
"Yeah, we got it. Where are you?"
The girl asked, Her red hair flowed down her shoulders, eyes like chips of ice holding the phone to her ear, leaning against the wall. The other demon was smaller, in fact Baal couldn't recall ever seeing such a tiny demon before. His shaggy hair covered by a beanie, a look of anxiety clear in his features as he looked around them. His fingers dotted with tattoo ink. He seemed nervous Adjusting his beanie every few seconds in an attempt to bring comfort to the edging fear.
"He says he's meeting us here in thirty,"
"So we just wait in this alley?" the smaller demon asked, his voice hardly a whisper.
"I hate it too, but what else are we gonna do? Nathan Lancaster isn't going to just roll over like a dog,"
This caught Baal's interest, this was far more interesting than the amulet the two had. Though he silently wondered if it was the Diadem he had sought over or just junk yet again. Without a second thought he launched himself at the woman, she screamed in shock as he knocked her down. The male's eyes turned black as he leapt towards Baal who turned on him quickly, landing a strong punch to the monster's jaw. The knuckle plate that covered his fist connected hard. The demon let out a loud screech as he collided with the wall, the woman leapt up. Holding out the golden amulet, the crown with five points with an open eye in the center.
"You want it, Baal? Come get it!" She screeched at him, her nails jetting out of her fingers into sharp points that turned to a dark black near the tips.
"Oh hey, Obizuth!" He scoffed, pain splashed over the back of his head but he didn't go down as the male demon clawed at him. Turning on the male, he grabbed the demon and tossed him towards the woman roughly, he let out a grunt of pain as he collided with a dirty trash can.
"Low level demon kiss your ass?" He asked her, his skin burning from the hot rage that pumped in his veins, smoke billowing from his body.
"Oh Baal, you're just mad I dumped you, and this amulet isn't going to change anything between us," Her tone mocking as she dangled it out in front of her.
"I don't want that fake thing," Baal growled,
"Fake? It is not "fake" okay? Do you know what I did to get this?"
"The eyeball is going the wrong way, come on Obizuth,"
"Oh God Dammit!" She tossed the trinket down to the ground, startling her comrade who looked at Baal with fear burning into his features. Tears stained his cheeks as he attempted to shakily get to his feet. The demon king started to slowly calm down, the skin returning to normal though he would have to repair it.
"Who the hell told me this was a good idea, Ancitif!" She roared, Ancitif shrank from her powerful voice.
"Nathan Lancaster," Baal growled,
Both demons turned to him, "Where is he?"
She flipped her hair, pointing her nose to the sky.
"Why the fuck would I tell you that?" She hissed out, arms crossing over her chest, eyebrow raising.
"How about we make a deal?"
She tilted her head, there was slight hesitation before she spoke "Alright I'm listening,"
"You tell me where Nathan Lancaster is, and you tell those idiots that I stole your necklace. It'll give you more time to find the real one,"
"Couldn't I just blame you anyways?"
"You can, but I won't lie for you if Lucifer decides to ask me any questions."
She knew he was right, the man had been one of the kings of hell, even though he no longer lived in hell he didn't have any bad blood with her boss, she knew he'd take his side over hers. Unless she could find a reason for them to not trust him.
"Fine," She growled, "Same cell number?" She asked, pulling her phone out.
"Yeah, same number," He replied, taking his phone out of his jacket as well as a small bottle of hand sanitizer.
They stood for a few seconds as she typed into the keyboard of her phone with the address.
"Got it,"
She smirked, "This was a deal, how about we kiss on it? For old time sake?" she opened her arms towards him, Baal couldn't keep himself from rolling his eyes at this.
"Yeah," He grabbed the demon known as Ancitif, smashing the man's lips against his violently before letting him drop back to the ground. Letting out a painful grunt as his body collided with the hard concrete.
"There,"
"What the hell!" She shrieked,
"He's with you, that's how it works. Sorry sweet cheeks,"
"Oh you know damn well I'm not sweet," she snarled as he turned on his heels, leaving the two demons as he made back towards the bar, smirking down at the address on his phone. Clicking off the text screen before moving his finger over twitter, he scolded down the feed a short ways until he came to the photo of Abel and Cham. His eyes moved to the amulet that was wrapped around the Slayers neck.
"This better be the real one," he whispered.
***
Abel felt as if his throat had completely dried up as the cops sat them down to talk more. Abel now sat beside Chamuel as the two cops explained what had happened, putting a hand on his friend's leg to almost steady himself. He could feel a panic attack coming on, 'This is all my fucking fault' he kept thinking to himself. He felt Chamuel's hand over his, feeling his emotions draining slowly and being replaced with a warm calming.
"He was found hanging outside of the school, suicide,"
"His friend found him,"
Chamuel and Abel listened numbly as the two spoke, describing the events that had taken place the night before. They asked the Slayers a few additional questions before standing and leaving the motel room. Abel leaned against his friend, removing his hand from under Chamuels, they sat in silence for what felt like hours.
"We didn't know," Chamuel finally said into the empty air around them. He could feel the pain weighing heavy on Abel, even his ability seemed to only dull the anxiety the man felt temporarily.
"We got drunk, Cham. I don't even know where the damn car is or how we got home,"
Silence fell once more as Abel stared at the ground. Chamuel hesitated before placing a hand on the other's shoulder, pulling him into a side hug. Abel pushed his face into Chamuels arm, the angel could feel the man's hot tears against the fabric of his shirt. He rubbed the others shoulder as he cried, tugging him more into his chest.
"It's okay, Abel it's okay,"
"I let that kid die, I'm a fuck up," he croaked out between the tears,
Chamuel let out a shaky breath, the panic that rolled under his skin caused his chest to clench painfully.
"Abel...it's okay," he didn't know what else to say, guilt burned against his skull. A child was dead because he wasn't responsible. He understood Abel's irresponsible behavior, the man was still learning but Chamuel had been an angel for hundreds of years. He should have done something, "It's just as much my fault," He murmured, letting his head drop against Abel's. Feeling the burning tears falling into the other's hair. Abel knew at that moment, he needed to get serious. He needed to get serious quickly.
"This really isn't a game, Cham,"
"I know,"
"We need to do better Cham…"
"We will,"
"We're gonna find whatever killed him, and we're gonna kill it."
Chamuel smiled slightly, "Spoken like a Lancaster," he murmured.
***
The two Slayers collected themselves after a short time, starting to get fully dressed and ready to find out whatever information they could about the death.
"Oh hey!" Chamuel called, Abel turned towards the other. He had called a few towing garages attempting to find his corvette but couldn't seem to find a trace of her.
"Whatcha got?" He asked, making his way towards his friend.
"Someone says they've seen that picture...yaknow, the picture,"
Abel glanced at the screen, it was from a newly made Twitter account that didn't have a profile picture, header or even an interesting name.
"Baal game?" Abel grunted at the name,
"Yeah, they say it's in the museum of modern art."
"The guy just made this account, it's probably a lie to lure us into some abandoned building,"
Chamuel ignored him, scrolling through pictures of the museum on his phone before hopping over to the website. Shaking his head,
"I don't see it"
"That's cause he's lying,"
"Maybe he works there and it's in the back or something?"
Both men fell into silence as they looked through the exhibits with curiosity bubbling between them,
"A leads a lead, Maverick,"
"I don't know, Goose, it might be a trap,"
"Well, it says here it's in New York. Maybe it'll be where Mishka's uncle is? Besides, if we go to look at it during the day when it's open, how can it be a trap?"
He was right, Abel mused, racing his fingers through his hair as he thought. "I guess, we just gotta look at it anyways, right?"
Chamuel bit his lip, shrugging. Neither knew what they had to do with the painting, in fact, they weren't even sure if this painting was the real one or fake like at the party.
"We should call Marshall," Chamuel whispered, slapping lightly at Abel who had started playing with the skin around his healing tattoo before the man moved his attention to the necklace around his neck. Fiddling lightly with it,
"You move too much," Chamuel chuckles,
"Man, I'm sore as hell, what did we do last night at that party?" Abel snorted to his friend, leaning against the bed with a hand on his hips.
"I feel great! Aside from my hangover," Chamuel said, scrolling through his phone until he comes across Marshall's number.
After a few short rings the teen picked up,
"Where were you guys?" the teens voice like ice as he spoke,
"Marshall…" Abel started,
"I need to talk to you two face to face. You fucked up, you let us down! You got him killed," Abel and Chamuel both winced at the teens' words, Marshall wasn't one to beat around the bush causing Chamuel to fumble with the phone, he wasn't prepared for the venom the other threw.
"But I need to see you both. Meet me at the library in two hours,"
He hung up, Abel shook his head as guilt burned deep into his core.
"We gotta find my car," he groaned, flopping down onto the bed with a loud overdramatic groan causing Chamuel to shake his head,
"Didn't...the principal Mr…"
"Vess"
"Yeah, Vess, say that all the people who died saw demons?"
Abel shot up, turning his head to Chamuel, "how are we so stupid?"
"What?"
Abel scrambled to his feet, grabbing Chamuel's phone from his hand and he went to Google. The angel glared but leaned towards him from the chair he sat in to see what the man was typing, he pulled up a few news articles about the recent deaths. Even the deaths from before, clicking on a video a woman with a pretty face, bouncing blonde hair and a tight smile spoke directly to the camera,
"Miss. Omisha was only thirty two when she committed suicide," the woman said, the camera cut to a picture of a teacher who had recently passed away.
"She was convinced a demon had been following her," the news anchor continued, causing Chamuel and Abel to shoot each other with a look of horror.
Abel clicked off the video, going to another one, a different news anchor now showing pictures of a man with a broad smile, "Edwin Ajal was found dead this morning, the man had locked himself in his home before using a gun on himself. Convinced that he was being stalked by a demonic force,"
Abel clicked out of that video and to another, going through a handful from different websites.
"Mr. Ernesh--" Chamuel reached over and paused it, glancing at the date of the video.
"What?" Abel asked, confusion flashing in his face as Chamuel got up and made for his bag. He dug through it for a few rapid heart beats before pulling out the student roster from the night before. Silently thankful that the school didn't use technology as often as most,
"Raul Ernesh," He whispered, holding up the paper and pointing to Iggy's name. Abel's jaw nearly dropped, "Wait…" he murmured, turning attention back to the news article. It was from a few years back,
"It says...he's the first suicide…in this town,"
Clicking the video back on he felt the wind being knocked out of his sails, "Mr. Ernesh was a father, a husband, a lover of music." The woman said, the camera clicking over to a picture of the funeral. Abel spotted Iggy almost immediately among the crowd,
"Though the man's stories of demon hunting and monster killing entertained us all, near the end, his fear of being stalked by the very monsters he claimed to fight is what did him in."
"He was a Slayer," Chamuel murmured, going back to Abel to watch the video.
"He was going to run this town!" A man said, who stood outside of the funeral home with tearful eyes. "He kept us all safe,"
"Do you think he'd have been mayor?" The woman behind the camera asked, her voice filled with sorrow.
"I believe it, yes," the man said with a shake of his head.
"Mr. Raul Ernesh has left behind a husband, a son and a town of mourning friends and family," The reporter continued,
Abel's heart stopped when he saw Mr. Vess and the janitor appear on the screen. Now that they stood beside each other it dawned on him how much the two looked like, if it wasn't for the facial hair on the janitor's face they'd be twins.
"Oh a real tragedy!" Vess said, shaking his head.
"He would have been a wonderful mayor,"
"Well, you always seemed to get into fights with the man" The woman said, turning Abel's blood to ice as Vess sighed, it was there he saw it in the janitor's hands. A snow globe, inside sat a darkness with no shape.
"Jesus fucking Christ," Abel murmured, pausing the video.
"Do you think…the rumors are true?"
"Something isn't right here," Abel shook his head as he spoke, racing his fingers through his hair as he attempted to piece together what they had just seen.
"I think we need to talk to Marshall,"
"Why Marshall? Ain't he a bit mad at us?"
"He's the only one who knew Ignacio in that school, maybe he'll have more information on everything,"
Abel scrolled through the news articles, "They're missing a bunch," he whispered,
"We need to get to that library," Cham whispered as the two shared a glance,
"You can't use those wings of yours to fly us?" Abel asked with a grin splitting his lips,
"Your ego weighs you down too much, we'd crash,"
Abel punched his friend's arm lightly, handing him back his phone with a sigh.
"Uber?" Chamuel asked,
Abel nodded, "We'll find the car later,"
***
The library stood like a church, with high brick walls and a cross that smiled down on the two Slayers as they made for the front door. Abel nodded to the cross, shooting Chamuel a lopsided grin, the angel was ready to roll his eyes before the other even began to speak,
"What does the T on the building mean?"
"You've made that joke at least five times since we met,"
Chamuel knocked into him softly as they pushed into the building, walls of books stood on all sides of them, a rainbow of colors flooded among the spines giving the dusty old building a warm, happy feeling. The smell of old paper rolled from the open doors of the large public library.
"Welcome!" A woman whispered as the two stepped inside, having to make a library card to get in, the pair went straight to the back.
"We have an hour before Marshall gets here, let's see if we can find anything else about these deaths that google tried to cover," Abel was determined, it shone in his features like a cold fire. They passed rows and rows of books, none of which was helpful until they came to a small section with the words town history plastered at the top of the book shelves. Both men nodded to each other before splitting up, Abel made for a computer that was seated in the corner by a small wooden table and chairs. Chamuel raced his fingers against the spines of the old dusty books, none of which seemed to have been touched for years. He pulled one out, flipping through it before tossing it on the table.
What felt like hours went by as Abel scoured the electronic newspapers on the computer, Chamuel glossing over the town history and events in the handful of books on the table. Both silent as they attempted to understand what was happening in the city, Abel was able to track the strange suicides past the point google gave them.
"Look," He finally said, Chamuel glanced up from his book. Setting it down and going to his friend, Abel pointed to an old black and white picture of Mr. Vess who looked exactly the same as he did now.
Above the picture the words, "Georg Scherer, and his brother, Matthew opening Urbana high school,"
"They opened the high school? I thought his name was Georg Vess?"
"Cham, this picture was taken in 1872.,"
Chamuel felt a chill skyrocket through his veins as he looked at Abel in horror, "How...would he look the same?" He murmured,
"I...don't know, Chammy." rubbing his head lightly as he tried to put the puzzle together only for his thoughts to be dashed.
"What are you guys doing?"
Both men turned to look at Marshall, the teen looked tired. His eyes red from crying, large bags settled on his cheeks and his hair was a mess. Sharp claws raced down Abel's heart as he saw the state the teen boy was in,
"Aw hell, Marshall you look like shit,"
"Well hi to you too," Marshall grunted, though a small smile came to his features. Iggy's acoustic guitar hung around his body as he made towards the two. Taking a seat at the messy table he plucked a book up, flipping through it confused.
"What are you guys doing?" He asked again,
"We…" Chamuel started, unsure if he should include the kid in their issues.
"We're trying to figure out why Mr. Vess is a billion years old," Abel said, pointing to the picture on the screen. Marshall blinked a few times as he glanced over it,
"You know, Iggy's dad said the same thing,"
"What?" Both Slayers said at once,
"Yeah, he...well before he died, he thought Mr. Vess was a…" waving his hand in the air as he attempted to find the words, "Neko...no...Necromancer? That guy had balls, he'd say that to Mr. Vess' face. But what cool wizard uses a snow globe to control his magic? It just sounded dumb, the rumors all sound dumb"
"Marshall you're a genius!" Abel shouted, grabbing Chamuel's backpack off and throwing it down. He yanked out an old journal, the words 'Peter Lancaster and Buck Cambell's guide to monster slaying' was scrawled across the front in old marker. flipping through the pages until he came to a stop past a few notes on Black eyed children.
"Wow, you actually read that? Whenever you open a book I swear I can see your brain shut itself off,"
Abel ignored the angel, reading through the pages with eyebrows furled.
"They can bring back the dead, summon demons and reanimate corpses," Abel read, "It says here Peter was attacked by one but couldn't seem to kill it with anything he had. No guns, no crosses, it was like the sucker was invincible. He fed off the death of pure humans as well, killing them with a demon that was being kept in a jar. Any human with a pure heart was often kept in close range of the necromancer and killed whenever he needed to feed." Abel paused, giving Marshall a glance, but the teen didn't seem phased by what the Slayer was saying.
"Would explain why most of the deaths are teachers," Chamuel said, "All the teachers there are some of the nicest people I've talked too,"
"Yeah, it says they feed once a year. And there was a suicide at least twice a year in this town going all the way back to when the Vess twins moved here,"
Silence fell between them as the three stared at the journal that was laid out on the table.
"How did Pete kill them?" Marshall asked, curiosity brimming his tired voice.
Abel flipped to the next page, green gaze moving over the words swiftly.
"Poison," he finally said, "Peter apparently drove a stake through the guys heart that was rubbed in venom, saying here he only needed a drop and he stashed the rest of it in..." Abel paused, "In a different world,"
"Poison? Sounds a little lame," Marshall huffed,
"A different world?" Chamuel murmured, shaking his head at this.
"I agree, but it says that the necromancer was immune to magic, didn't bat an eye at bullets and was so cocky that Peter tricked him into taking the stake in the heart. Saying that Peter's vampire tricks wouldn't work on him,"
"Peter sounds badass," Marshall said, tilting his head.
"But how can we do that to Mr. Vess?" Chamuel asked,
"I don't know but I'm going to beat that son of a bitch if it's the last thing I do,"
"Oh! That reminds me," Marshall stood up now, pulling the guitar away from him and placing it down on the table. Both Slayers looked at it in confusion, Chamuel raced his fingers over the wood of the guitar. The white wood seemed to almost glow in angelic light.
"I wanted to give this to you both,"
"What? Why?" Abel asked, only for his eyes to fall on the body of the guitar. Carved into the wood was the symbol similar to his own.
"Is that…like my necklace?" Abel moved his fingers over the wood, it was a professionally done carving.
"When Iggy first got this guitar his dad carved that into it, said it was important or something,"
"I have a hunch," Chamuel whispered, "Give me the necklace,"
Abel blinked at his friend, pulling it off and hanging it to Chamuel, "Have you been chewing on this?"
Abel shrugged, "Your breath is going to break the gold down," Chamuel teased,
"Hey! I only chewed on it a little!"
Chamuel raced the charm against the wood, placing it against the carving with wide eyes. The crown rolled over the second one, causing the Chamulet to glow a vibrant gold in the harsh lights of the library. The carving shimmered, the inside of the guitar hummed lightly in the air as if it were alive.
"Cham, where did you say you got this necklace again?"
The guitar's light got brighter, Abel moved a hand over the strings that turned into a brilliant gold from his touch.
"What the fuck," He breathed,
Marshall's jaw fell to the floor as he watched, pulling out his phone and starting to record the odd magic of the instrument. Abel raced his fingers from the top of the strings to the necklace. Chamuel lifted a hand on instinct, letting his fingers dance against the strings causing a soft melody to sing out into the once quiet air.
The music almost seemed to glow in the darkness of the library, dancing, twirling like a fairy living among the stars. The glowing light fluttered for a few more heart beats before its light died. The necklace was pushed off the guitar, falling to the table with no noise.
Chamuel picked the guitar up by the neck, only to hear something rattle inside the hollow body of the instrument.
"There wasn't anything in there when I brought that here," Marshall said as the angel looked at him with a puzzled expression before holding the guitar sideways and shaking it. A small bottle fell from the side, Abel snagged it mid air before it could fall to the ground. On the front was a large skull and crossbones with the words "Positively do not drink," written in old ink.
"Chamuel, I think we found the venom we were looking for,"
"But...how did it…is the guitar…?"
"I'm not going to question it," Abel replied "We can figure out this other world crap later,"
"When Iggy saw you two he told me he was going to give this to you," Marshall said, putting a hand on the guitar. "It was Iggy's favorite thing in the world so I wasn't sure why but...now I think I understand,"
A sad silence fell between them, Chamuel sat down in the chair beside Marshall and placed a hand on the teens shoulder. A look of shock flashed over his face before leaning into the angels hand,
"We're sorry Marshall," Chamuel whispered,
"Yeah man, I...we didn't think…"
"I know," Marshall breathed, "I shouldn't have yelled at you, it wasn't your fault,"
"But it is someone's fault," Abel growled, "And he's going to pay for it,"
Marshall shot the man a smile, nodding to him. Chamuel pulled the guitar around his body, running his fingers against the strings. Playing a soft tune as he did so,
"I didn't know you played," Abel said, smiling at the other.
"Oh yeah, when I first came to Earth it was the first thing I did. Israfil always talked it up so I figured I'd learn, lots of years under my belt now,"
Abel nodded, not wanting to interrupt the other as he played the tune. It was warm, Abel could feel the music in his blood as it pumped to the sound of the guitar, something about the angel knowing how to make music brought a strange comfort to the Slayer he couldn't put his finger on as he slipped his necklace back around his neck. He swore, the gold felt warm against the skin of his chest. The soft playing of the guitar caught the attention of a man stacking books not far from them.
His dark skin, salt and pepper hair and warm gaze watched the group for a few heartbeats.
"This is a library," He called to them with a smile on his lips, Chamuel gasped and let his hand fall from the strings.
"Sorry--"
"Fran! My names Fran," He said with a nod before going back to putting the books up.
"So," Abel murmured, "Anyone got any ideas?"
***
Saturday came and went as they continued their studying. The night settled in, Halloween was Monday, the two knew that the necromancers powers would be their highest on a full moon.
"And it's a full moon on Halloween!" Abel said, "That dude couldn't have asked for a better Halloween."
The men pushed into the hotel room, Chamuel dropped the backpack to the floor watching as Abel collapsed onto the bed closest to them in a dramatic fashion. His face planted into the pillow.
"So we gotta do this tomorrow,"
"We have to find your car first," Chamuel pointed out, sitting beside the other.
"Oh my beautiful car, I can't believe she's lost!" The Slayer wailed into the fabric.
"It's a car,"
"She's probably terrified,"
"It's made of metal"
"She's cold and alone,"
"It's probably with at least a handful of other cars, maybe even a truck"
Abel groaned as he sat up to face the angel, who fiddled with tuning Iggy's guitar. The teens name had been written sloppily on the side in marker.
"So this is it, Chammy, we're just going to kill a principle and his janitor brother,"
"I don't see us doing anything else, I...don't really like the idea of having to kill them, but how else do we stop them?"
Silence, Abel didn't know how to answer the other. After all, he didn't want to kill Vess either. Though he didn't exactly like the man or his brother he didn't want to see them dead, but the thought of the two tormenting and murdering innocent people filled him with rage.
"He made a demon follow and torment the people whose souls he wanted to eat, I don't think we're in the market of feeling bad for the guy," He finally said,
Chamuel raced his fingers over the strings a few times, laying back against the headboard he started to play a tune. Abel laid his head back on the pillow, closing his eyes and letting the music wash over him. The feeling of his phone vibrating caused him to jump nearly half a foot, pulling it out.
"Hello?"
"Hello? I'm looking for...Mr. Lancaster?"
"You're talkin' to em."
"Hi Mr. Lancaster, it seems we have your car,"
Abel blinked in surprise, the car wasn't under his name it was under Nathans. So why was he being called about it?
"My Corvette?"
"Yes, a cherry red, older model with adjustments, the deed says it belonged to a Nathan Lancaster but was recently signed over to an Abel Lancaster?"
Abel felt a warmth spread through him, had Nathan planned on giving him the car? He didn't recall signing anything,
"Erm, yeah Nathan's my uncle, you have it? Where is it?"
"Well it was towed here an hour ago, it's in perfect health we did a quick look through!"
"Where are you?"
Abel held his hand out to Chamuel who fumbled a bit, pulling his cell phone out and handing it to the Slayer. Abel pulled up the navigation app, typing in the address the man gave him before hanging up. Grinning at Chamuel,
"They found my girl,"
"It's a car"
The two found their way to the mechanics who didn't give them much fuss as they picked up the car, making back to the motel for a short nap. The anxiety from the day caused Abel to toss and turn on the bed till Chamuel decided to come over and lay beside the man, sharing his warmth with the other on the cold night. Allowing them both to sleep for a few hours despite the ominous air that hung over the pair like a dark cloud ready to strike them down with its lightning. Abel's dreams were once more filled with the hole in the trees. The voice called to him, beckoning. He was afraid but curious as the white rabbit vanished into the yawning mouth of the hole, yet when he went to look inside the cool sunlight of October bathed over his face causing him to stir and wake into the living world.
He looked over at Chamuel who hardly fit on the bed beside him, he twitched uncomfortably in his sleep with a deep look of pain on his face. Abel nudged the angel a few times,
"Wake up, dude, it's Sunday. We gotta job to do,"
Chamuel blinked awake, his eyes screwing closed as the light hit him. Usually the angel was a morning person, able to wake up without much worry but today the weight of it all seemed to be holding him down into the warm sheets beside his friend. Silently wishing he could go back to sleep, back in the nightmares that plagued his every dream.
"Yeah, I'm awake," He whispered, rolling out of the bed with a light grunt as his feet hit the cold shag rug underfoot.
"Hey, that Baal game guy messaged us again," Abel said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he scrolled through their twitter feed. Holding up the phone to show the picture, it was a quick picture of what seemed to be the painting they had been hunting for. Another picture of a security guard, she held a flashlight in one of her hands, her long dark hair falling around her shoulders in a messy manner as if she had been running, she looked tired and out of breath, her tan skin glittered with sweat. Another picture of the painting on the floor, and another of the security guard running towards the camera in a blur.
"The guys got guts," Abel said,
"Least we know it's really there. That security guard looked pretty real,"
Abel nodded as he got to his feet and stretched, "Did you upload that video that Marshall took yesterday? Maybe say it's some crazy...puzzle piece or something,"
"Is that a good idea? What if demons or something are watching our twitter?"
"Demons live in the dark ages," Abel scoffed, "I don't think they'd have social media! Ever heard of a vampire with twitter? Or a werewolf with a facebook?"
Chamuel shrugged, he hadn't, though angels often took to social media he didn't recall ever seeing demons doing so. The angel uploaded the video to twitter, making up a silly sounding caption to negate the importance of what had happened as the two men stepped into the parking lot making for their noble steed.
"We gotta grab some supplies, tonight's going to be a long night," Abel said, sliding into the car with a grin.
"I missed ya, Baby!"
"It's a car,"
***
Twilight painted the skies in purples, blues and blacks as the nighttime air flooded the Impala. 'Appointment with Vess in ten minutes' popped up on the screen of Abels phone as they zoomed down the highway, street lamps clicked on, stars dotted the ever growing blackness of the sky. The moon shone above them, it was almost completely full and turned the world to silver under it's beautiful light.
"Let's go over the plan again," Chamuel said, holding the small vial of poison in his palm, anxiety clear in his voice.
"I got it, Cham," Abel whispered.
"Come on Abel, just, one more time. For my own sanity,"
"Or what's left of it," Abel pointed out, "Alright alright, he thinks we're talking to him about our paychecks, we offer him some of this tea you made yourself, he drinks it, croaks and dies, then we get the hell outta dodge,"
"I don't know, Abe, what do we do if he won't drink it,"
"He has to drink it...he has too,"
Chamuel swallowed the lump in his throat. They had asked the man to meet them in the classroom Chamuel worked at a few days ago. Having stashed the baseball bat under the desk in case they needed it earlier in the day,
"What if he's suspicious we wanna meet at school and not at his house, or at the hotel room?"
"Dammit Cham, I don't know," Abel growled, he wasn't confident in the plan either Chamuel could clearly see that in his features.
"Sorry," He said almost immediately, noticing his anger, "I'm not angry at'cha, I'm just…"
"I know Abel,"
"This plan has gotta work,"
"It will,"
The two continued to drive in silence, Abel didn't attempt to put on any music as he let his mind go deep in thought. Only a few days ago he'd have Highway to Hell blasting on their way to fighting anyone or anything, but this wasn't a movie. He knew that now. It was up to him to protect Marshall, the teachers, the people in this town! If he didn't he feared that the necromancer's powers might be too much on Halloween. The killings had been so frequent, they didn't know what it meant but Abel had a bad feeling that Vess was waiting for the right moment to strike at his town and now? It seemed to be the right time. But why now? What changed?
Abel pulled up to the school, it stood out against the darkness in an ominous manner. The moon painting light onto the back of the school coloring the front in shadows, the once warm looking flowers laid dead from the cold wind that had kicked up the past few days. Abel felt the blood roar in his ear. The pair came to the large double doors, the Slayer went to push on the long metal door handle only for the doors to pull open in front of them.
Vess' brother stood in the doorway, his large body turning to darkness under the light of the nearly full moon.
"Erm...hey man, we're here to see Vess?"
"Yeah, I know,"
The janitor turned away from them, walking into the lightly lit hallways. Abel felt a sharp jab of anxiety, he had forgotten about the brother. The lights had been dimmed almost completely giving the halls a darkness that reminded Abel of an old horror flick. Shuddering as a cold chill raced down his spine the men stepped into the hallways. Their shoes clicking lightly as they walked over the floors below, the shadows around them moved in the empty air; not a sound could be heard aside from the soft click of footfall.
The two rounded a few corners, highly aware of the janitor who followed behind them. The soft squealing of broken wheels against the floor as the man pushed a mop bucket with him. Abel silently mapped out their exits as he walked past them, making sure to remember the direction they came. Chamuel watched the corners and walls, keeping his mind open for any sort of demonic force that could jump out at any second to devour them. Finally the men came to the door of the teachers classroom, pushing inside there sat Vess.
"Mr. Vess, good to see you!" Abel said, attempting to sound cheerful as if this entire thing wasn't one giant red flag.
"Abel. Chamuel."
Both men froze, the chubby man was seated at the teachers desk with a bottle of wine and a glass in his hand. Taking a soft sip of the wine before placing his phone down on the table, on the phone was their twitter. Abel felt a sudden cold race through his bones, freezing his blood.
"I knew the entire time," The man continued, placing the wineglass down.
"Now, that's out of the way," The necromancer stood, dusting off the suit he was wearing as though he planned on heading to a party after all was said and done.
"Give me the amulet,"
They stared at him in shock, he wanted the necklace?
"You can't have my Chamulet," Abel barked, causing the man to shrug and shake his head. Pulling the snow globe out from behind the desk the principal placed it down on the wood, stroking it lightly. Inside was a dark mass with large, angry red eyes. It bore a wide smile over it's features as the two stared at it in horror.
"We'll do this the hard way,"
Just as he spoke, the floor under them shook lightly. Large, dark, ghost-like shapes flew from under the school before throwing themselves at the two. Without a thought Abel ducked down, Chamuel's eyes glowed and with a sweep of his arm the ghosts vanished against his light.
"You think that stops them? What do you take me for?" The man laughed, Abel rolled under Chamuel's legs and stood. Grabbing the door and throwing it opened,
"Cham!"
Chamuel's eyes glowed bright against the dark as he grabbed the desks surrounding them with his light, throwing them at the necromancer who didn't budge as the snow globe opened. The demonic creature wrapped itself around the man, bleeding into the skin.
"Cham, distract him," Abel whispered as he backed out of the room, Chamuel twitched his head lightly to show he'd heard Abel as he watched the work tables smashed into Vess. The demon roared, throwing the desks back causing the angel to be knocked into the white board with a painful grunt.
"I saw that bat!" The man roared, his body slowly starting to grow with the demonic creature inside him. One of his eyes turned black as his body turned to pure muscle, his head smashing into the ceiling about him, showing the floor in bits of broken ceiling. Chamuel scrambled to his feet, feeling his body tingle with energy and power as the light in his hands grew in brightness. Chasing shadows away from him as he stood tall against the demonic creature. Abel yowled in pain as someone grabbed him from behind and threw him against the lockers, looking in shock at the janitor who's body also seemed distorted. He loomed skinny, lanky and tall above Abel, holding the mop as if it were a bat.
His long, knife-like fingers extended over the Slayer who stared with disbelief written on his face. The monster went to crush him but Abel bolted at the creature, causing it to nearly fall back in surprise as its victims often froze in fear. Abel got into a slide, going under the creature's legs he scrambled back into the teachers classroom. The monster swung the mop, smashing the head only a few inches from Abel's feet, breaking the wood of the mop in half.
Chamuel was shoved against the wall by Vess who didn't seem to be phased by the angel's light, even with his wings out Chamuel struggled against the power that the other had. Abel turned his attention to the desk, narrowing his eyes as he took towards it. Ready to do another slide as the two talked.
"It's almost Halloween, do you really think you stand a chance? And the second it hits midnight, this entire town will be swallowed whole! Not only that, but I'll have the Diadem!" His voice sounded as if it belonged to multiple people at once of all genders, it spoke with a slight wheeze.
"Think again, ugly!" Abel shouted, jumping on a desk before catapulting himself towards the man. Causing the monster to turn its head to the Slayer, Chamuel thought quickly, his light surrounding Abel who used it to thrust himself up faster. The creature had no time to react as the baseball bat landed hard against its skull. Blood splattered all around them as the monster roared in pain as it was being thrown into the wall, breaking it under his weight. Chamuel held one hand out, keeping Abel in the air as he floated beside him. Abel's eyes glowing as the angels grace pumped through his veins,
"How is that possible!" The monster roared, laying halfway out of the classroom. "An angel can't share it's grace. Unless--"
His brother watched with fear beside him, holding the sharp end of the wooden stick in his hands up towards them.
"Oh, don't you know? I'm a Lancaster, weird shit like this always seems to happen,"
"Lancaster," Vess gasped before the two creatures turned and raced down opposite hallways. Abel was set to the ground, the second his foot came in contact with the floor he took off after the janitor. Snagging the thermos that laid on the ground just outside of the classroom, shoving it into his pocket as he went.
The angel's grace had faded but he felt as though he could run a hundred miles as he pelted himself towards the janitor. The necklace around his neck glowing a soft shade of gold as he held his arms back, with all his might he swung the bat smashing the janitor against the side of the wall. The monster squealed in agony as the sharp silver wiring ripped its skin apart, blood fell to the floor, covering Abel as he stood his ground.
"You gotta get a better janitor, you weren't exactly great at your job," Abel smirked, bringing the bat down on the monster again.
***
Chamuel felt rage burning in his gut, churning in his blood as he tore after the principle. His entire arms glowing with his light, he flew through the air on his bright, glowing wings. The monster screeched as Chamuel came down on him, using his light to explode the area around them like a bomb. Creating a large crater in the floor, lockers and ceiling. The man laid in the middle with tears in his eyes, the demon seeping from him as Chamuel floated a few wings lengths away. The demonic creature vanished into the snow globe, leaving the man defenseless.
"Please...you must understand," The man said with a nervous chuckle,
"You killed Iggy," Chamuel's voice dripped with rage.
"Please," The man continued, getting on his knees, "Have mercy?"
"Why should I?" Chamuel snarled, throwing a fist into the man's face causing him to flip comically in the air and collapsing onto the ground. Tears and blood smeared on his cheeks,
"You're an angel of love, have mercy,"
"No, I'm an angel of love and war,"
He grabbed the man's head, and within a single breath the principal's skull folded like paper between the angel's fingers, letting out a loud crunching noise as it did so. Blood and brain matter covered the walls around Chamuel, hitting him in the face. The head came off in Chamuel's hands as the skin around his neck seemed to disintegrate under the angel's light. The body flopped lifelessly to the ground, the demonic creature screamed in fear before Chamuel held his hand towards it. The light surrounded the creature before it seemed to blink out of existence.
"Whoa,"
Chamuel looked up, his eyes still glowing bright only to see Abel standing there. Having seen the entire thing, his face had been punched in a few times with blood rolling down his bruised nose.
"I guess you didn't need the poison,"
Chamuel blinked a few times. His wings slowly folded back into his skin, causing Abel to wince at the look of it. The angel glanced down at his bloody hands. The crushed head was still between the fingers of one hand like a bowling ball, he let it drop onto the lifeless body below. His palms shook as he inspected the blood and brain fragments before his eyes moved to the headless body of the man yet again, he suddenly felt sick. He didn't even realize what he was doing until it happened, hell, he didn't even know he had that sort of strength.
Abel placed a hand over Chams, showing the blood that was also on his hands before letting them drop back to his side. The baseball bat on the floor beside the corpse, blood covered the wood and spikes, dropping into a small pool below it.
"This ain't a pretty job, Cham," he whispered, looking down at the body.
"What happened to the janitor," Chamuel whispered, tears falling down his cheeks. Their faces and clothes covered in blood, the school around them looked torn up. Every locker Chamuel had flown past had their doors yanked off of them and lay in a scattered mess along the floor.
"I uh...beat his head in," Abel murmured, "Then dumped the tea into his body. I wasn't...sure what else to do,"
"Did….did we do good?" Chamuel asked,
Abel shrugged, dropping the vile and kicking it away from him.
"No one else is gonna die," he mused,
"Do you think it was weird they just...gave up…?"
"Well...we were flying," Abel pointed out, "We can work this out later, we need to get outta here," He picked his bat back up, shaking it out as he did so, letting the blood splatter around them. Silently knowing the police were going to have a field day attempting to understand what had happened here.
Abel glanced around them one more time, swallowing hard. He had just beaten a man in the face with a bat till he was dead, it wasn't a great feeling.
"What happened to the janitor's demon?" Chamuel asked as the two slowly started to make their way towards the exit.
Abel shrugged, his mind a hive of questions,
"Why did they want the Chamulet? And what did they call it?" Abel asked, stopping to look up at Chamuel who also shrugged. They continued onward, neither speaking as they made for the entrance. They stripped out of their clothes, knowing the police would be doing DNA tests, and scattered them among different trash cans. The two men got in the Corvette in their underwear, Abel turned the key till the car roared to life. This time, he turned the radio on to one of his fathers eighties CD's.
"Well, guess you could say he had the Halloween spirit." Abel whispered, attempting to break the awkward air around them. Chamuel had his arms wrapped around his stomach, staring into the darkness. He didn't reply, Abel hesitated before pulling out of their parking spot and making his way back to the hotel.
***
"The king and his Lionheart are starting to discover their power." The man grumbled into the phone, a bald man with a cartoon tie sat behind a desk. A large cross sat behind him as he swirled the brown colored liquid in his cup a few times, taking a sip.
"What do you mean?" The bald man asked, placing the glass down on one of the coasters beside the wooden desk. His finger traced a few carvings of Jesus in the wood that had been neatly placed by someone nearly a hundred years ago. The man had scratched a comical mustache over Jesus' face at one point.
"He shared his grace," The man couched into the phone a few times, the soft sniffling caused the bald man to roll his eyes and pick up a pen.
"So I found your Diadem, I told you I would!" The man on the other end continued, "but bad news, somehow these two kids found a way to connect on a strong enough level that the Diadem is recognizing the power earlier than Faith had said."
The man slammed a fist into the desk, glaring daggers into the wall across from him.
"Eligos you truly find everything," The bald man snorted, causing the demon on the other end to chuckle.
"Want I should steal it from em, Bernard?"
The man known as Bernard pondered this for a few rapid heartbeats, shaking his head as if he expected the demon on the other end to see him.
"No, I believe Lucifer has a plan. I'll contact him, thank you,"
With that Bernard hung up the phone, he wasn't sure how Eligos had seen all of this but he had a funny feeling it would be hitting the news soon. Vess wasn't important, but the man could have told everyone and their mother about Faith's Diadem by now.
"About time that fat bastard got his head beaten in," The man snorted as he flipped through a few names on his phone. Placing it to his ear, the line trilled a few times until he heard the click.
"This is Lucifer," the soft sound of a golf ball being knocked could be heard as he spoke.
"Good morning, Lucifer. I have some news about Nathan Lancaster,"
"Speak,"
"He's not the King of Kings, but I think I might know who is,"