Chapter 10: It'll Don on you
As the sun died into the ever growing night, a man stood in front of the world, his eyes narrowed to brown slits as he watched through the large glass window of his apartment. Sitting on one of the tallest buildings in the bustling city below, the New York skyline dotted with stars as the sun vanished behind the buildings below. A glass of wine in one hand, his heeled shoes clicked lightly on the perfectly clean floors below. They shone against the bright lights above him, the apartment was huge with one entire wall being made of glass so the emperor could look out among the peasants.
Taking a few sips of his red wine the man turned away from the window now. Strolling towards the few demons that stood in his doorway, two of them clustered together in light fear as the dark haired man looked them over. His smile thin, he moved almost snake like as he spoke,
"So you're telling me that we found it?" His voice could make any of his fellow demons turn to ice, it held a sharpness to it that could turn the water to a frigid mass.
One of the demons nodded, fishing into his pocket and shakily opening his phone. The emperor eyed the demon's hand tattoos, studying the arrows as he awaited for the small man to show him what he needed to see.
"Y-Yes sir," He flipped it open, holding up the video on the screen for the other.
"Volume,"
"W-What?"
"Volume! Do you expect me to read their lips?" The man spat, taking another swig of wine as he watched the video with narrowed eyes. The demon nodded at this, pressing the side of the phone rapidly, the sound of the guitar being played hummed through the speakers of the small phone.
The snake-like man's anger diminished, dropping his half full wine glass without a thought, the glass shattered upon impact as he snatched the phone violently from the demon.
"Lucifer," The demon whispered, pointing to the red that stained the white floor. It latched onto the white pants that Lucifer wore, turning them to crimson.
"This...Oh this," He laughed, ignoring the man's words as he replayed the video a few times with greedy eyes staring at the golden trinket that glowed on the screen. The demons shuffled uncomfortably as they watched the man rewind, and replay the video a few times.
"Beautiful!" The man frowned now as he noticed the stain on his clean floor and rugs, turning his attention to Ancitif.
"Why did you drop my drink?"
Ancitif looked at him with a confused glance, turning to the woman on his right. Her red hair covered half of her face; before they offered Lucifer the video she had been chewed out for losing, what they assumed, had been the Diadem.
"I...erm, you dropped it...sir," the demon whispered, uncertain.
Lucifer tilted his head to the side until a sickening crack broke the air around them, "Are you...calling me a liar, Ancitif?" he hissed. Ancitif coward away from the others gaze, as if he would implode from the look alone.
"Well you are the king of hell," A voice piped out, the other demon stood with a grin on his face. His voice was a little goofy as if he were from an old cartoon, with blond curly hair, messy facial hair and brilliant blue eyes, he stood without fear. His hands behind his back as he spoke.
Silence fell between them but the blonde didn't seem phased by the darkness that swirled around the room like a winter storm.
"And who are you? I don't think I recall asking to see you?" Lucifer swung his head towards the blonde, who, in turn, tilted his head in a comical expression.
"Arphaxad, and no you didn't,"
"Oh Arphaxad," Lucifer scoffed, "Your human form is…" He looked the man up and down, waving a hand in the air as if he were attempting to find the words "cute,"
"Thank you, sir, but I'm here with important news," He said this with a smile, bouncing on his toes as if this entire conversation was a game.
"News?"
Arphaxad nodded, "Nathan Lancaster is missing,"
Obizuth shuffled uncomfortably, glaring at Arphaxad as he spoke but the demon didn't seem to notice the others' look of hatred. Lucifer's skin turned a soft shade of blue as his smile grew over his face. Ice cobalt gaze flared to red as he bore down on Arphaxad.
"He's what?" Spitting the words out like venom.
"But that's okay," Arphaxad retorted with a broad grin, not flinching at the rage, "Because he wasn't the king anyways,"
Lucifer's anger seemed to cool as the man spoke with the confidence of a knight ready to ride into battle.
"What do you mean?" the devil asked, running his hand against the sharp prickly hair that covered his cheeks.
Arphaxad chuckled, striding up to the devil with a grin on his lips and a song in his step. He pointed to the screen on the phone, flipping past the video and up to a picture of Abel and Chamuel, Zooming in with two fingers and pointing to Abel with a grin so wide it took up the whole of his face.
"We were after the wrong Lancaster," He spoke through his teeth, giving an extra kick of poison as he spoke the holy name.
Lucifer looked down at the picture in shock, but after a few short heartbeats he could easily see the resemblance. In fact, seeing the man's face filled him with such rage he nearly cracked the phone in his hands.
"Should we...find Nathan Lancaster?" Obizuth asked, looking between the two men, her voice small and uncertain.
"We don't need him." Lucifer chuckled, making his way to the desk that was seated only a few steps away. Sitting down in a large, red chair with gold studded around the arms. The devil leaned into the comfortable cushions, kicking his heels up onto the wooden desk. Folding his hands devilishly in front of him. Arphaxad followed the taller man, leaning on the desk as he grinned over towards the other two demons.
"Send out a mass message to the demons," Lucifer said, turning in his chair, still holding the phone. Having scrolled back down to the video, playing it a few more times.
"Tell them we found our first king, and this time, it's an entirely new Lancaster,"
***
The two Slayers had raced back to the hotel room, collected everything quickly and booked it from the town. Neither feeling satisfied that they had done anything to help, an empty hollow feeling filled Chamuel as he found himself falling asleep against the cold window of the Corvette. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so drained, panicked, he glanced at Abel who's eyes remained on the road. He could tell the man was grinding his teeth, the stress of it all fell in waves over the angel who found the darkness too hard to fight back. Within a few short heartbeats the blonde had fallen into an uncomfortable, nightmare induced sleep.
"Cham," Abel's voice broke over the weeping, screaming dreams that had ripped him apart on the inside. His concerned voice sent a small wave of warmth that chased away the daunting nightmares.
"W-What?" Chamuel asked, blinking awake now, the sun was high in the sky. It cast bright lights onto the red car, bouncing it back into the angel's face causing him to groan unhappily.
"Sorry, man, you were yelling, I thought it'd be better awake than in a nightmare,"
"Being awake is my nightmare right now,"
A silence fell between the pair, Chamuel noticed the look of concern growing over Abel's features as he seemed to be trying to find the proper words.
"Aw come on, waking up to my voice isn't that bad," he finally said, giving the other a crooked smile.
Chamuel brushed his hand through his hair as he attempted to figure out where they were before it dawned on him that he couldn't hear any music.
"Where's...the music?"
Abel blinked a few times before pulling an earbud from his ear, "I put my earphones in, I didn't wanna wake ya,"
Chamuel looked a little shocked at the kind gesture, "Well...thank you,"
"I can be a dick but I still got some manners,"
"Some? Have you seen yourself eat?"
Abel punched the other lightly, "Now That's my lucky Chams!" He laughed
"You're just going to keep coming up with the worst nicknames you can for me aren't you?"
He shrugged, his smile bright as the sun which sent another warm wave through the blonde.
"How long have we been driving?" The angel asked, pulling his phone from his pocket and gasping before Abel could answer.
"Abel, you've been driving for ten hours!"
"Well, I took a three hour nap at some point," He laughed, "We missed Halloween by the way,"
Chamuel groaned, he thought the sun was looking really orange as it dripped down the sky above them. He couldn't believe he had slept for so long, or that Abel hadn't thought to wake him until now.
"Where are we?"
Abel pointed to the phone that had been hooked into the grate of the old corvette.
"Ohio," Chamuel glanced around them, turning his attention back to Abel. He suddenly felt as if something was wrong, the man's features went from warm and friendly to stony.
"Abel...are you okay?"
"Where did you get this necklace?" he asked, gesturing to the Chamuelt that hung around his neck. Chamuel winced at the other's tone, something about it made him feel as if he were keeping a secret from the other. But he was, wasn't he? After all, Israfil had asked him not to tell so in a sense he was keeping a secret. Lying by omission was still lying though, the angel mused to himself.
"Abel…"
"Cham if this shits gonna work…" He started, shaking his head, "Look man, I know you didn't just find this. I know I act dumb but I was an honors student. I'm not an idiot."
Chamuel felt his face burn, rolling his hands against one another in an attempt to sooth the anxiety that bit into his system. He knew Abel was right, he often forgot the man wasn't all drinking beer and beating demons, though he often hid his emotions well today he could see that Abel felt betrayed.
"You're right," He whispered, "I'm sorry Abel, I'm…" letting out a sigh he covered his mouth with his hand as he attempted to find the right words.
"I just...I feel like I was made some kinda guinea pig with this necklace. Like, is it a weapon? Am I the one testing it? What even is it?" Abel continued, he could tell that the Slayer wasn't mad which eased his anxiety some.
"I don't know," Chamuel finally said, not looking at the man as he spoke. Feeling hot shame burning through his face,
"Cham…"
"No I really don't know," Turning to look at Abel now, his blue eyes dulled with exhaustion, "Israfil...he came to me,"
"Who?"
"He's the angel of music, he's not well known--"
"They gotta angel for everything, don't they?" Abel whispered, interrupting the other.
"--But he told me to give it to you. I...assumed it was some sort of protection. I've never actually seen that symbol before,"
Abel shook his head, rubbing his eyes with a hand, large rings had started to settle under the man's eyes. Chamuel could see he was having problems keeping awake now,
"So it's just more shit we gotta figure out,"
"I'm sorry, I wish...I knew more...I wouldn't have given it to you if I knew that it was...whatever it is," he sputtered out
"I know, man...I trust ya, I shouldn't, but I do," Abel sighed, they had been driving past buildings, streets, and people. It all moved by so quickly it made Chamuel almost feel dizzy.
"Abel, how about I drive for awhile,"
He could see Abel hesitate, the angel felt a thorn in his heart as he realized what lying to Abel had meant. He didn't want to put a wedge between them, silently, promising the man he'd stop attempting to hide things.
"Let's just pull over, I think you could use some sleep on an actual bed," Abel looked at Chamuel as if he were about to argue but seemed to think better of it. He nodded slightly,
"KITT," Abel said to his phone, it pinged lightly,
"Yes Mr. Knight?"
"Redirect us to a motel," he said with a smirk towards the angel, who rolled his eyes and pulled out his cell phone.
"What's the movie, Abe?" He breathed,
"Aw come on Cham!!" Abel laughed out, flipping the music on as they took to a different freeway.
***
The motel didn't give Chamuel much comfort, the pair swung into the closest cheapest one they could find. A motel six with only a few rooms left due to the uptick in families getting ready to enjoy their upcoming holiday season.
Abel had walked right into the room and collapsed on one of the beds. He was snoring within a few heartbeats leaving the angel by himself. Not that he minded but a feeling of uneasy had settled among his mind as he sat on his bed.
Typing away into his phone as he attempted to find any sort of comfort in his personal social media accounts. A few friends he had made along the way seemed shocked by the amount of selfies the angel had taken with the Slayer causing him to feel slightly embarrassed, a few people even referring to Abel as his boyfriend once or twice in a teasing manner, causing the blonde to shift uncomfortably on the blankets.
An angel of love with a boyfriend? It wasn't a possibility, right? The ting of a message caught the man's attention. Jophiel's messenger icon popped up on his screen causing the anxiety to worsen.
"Stop playing house, you and Abel have a job to do," He could almost hear the angel in his head, silently thankful that he sent the message through the internet this time opposed to sending him one telepathically.
Chamuel clicked off his Facebook, leaning into the headboard of the bed. The silence surrounding him was unnerving, the sound of the Slayer groaning and fidgeting in his sleep being the only noise in the small room. Chamuel got off the bed, checking on Abel he raced his fingers through the man's hair. Inspecting a large bump that had settled on his forehead, Cham fingers tracing it causing the bump to slowly fade away. As an angel he could heal, but it was starting to get harder to do. He couldn't understand why he felt so weak.
though he could feel the need to heal himself he decided against it. Wanting to save what energy he had, sitting beside his friend and laying down. He shut his eyes against the darkness of the room, feeling comfortable beside the other. Something about sharing a bed with someone you trusted brought him a great deal of comfort as sleep hammered over his skull.
***
"Abel,"
The voice called to him, the Slayer was back in the clearing. His eyes opened to the starless skies above, the dark forest looked ominously over him like a monster poised and ready to strike. The woman's voice tapered out as he got to his feet, holding his bat in one hand as he did so.
"Hello!" He called into the darkness, the rustle of brush caught his eye. The white hare leapt from her hiding spot in the bramble, nose twitching as it stood before him.
"Hey, little ugly, are you the one talking?" Abel asked, taking a step towards the rabbit. The hare darted away from him as his foot landed on a small pile of dead leaves.
"Dammit," he growled, following behind the rabbit as it raced through the undergrowth.
The sound of his feet falling against the cobblestone road echoed around him as he moved, the trees seemed to sway and bend the farther he found himself going. Stopping now, out of breath, as he stared at the ever deepening hole in the trees. Swallowing the fear in his throat he made his way through the crunch of leaves, placing a hand on the trunk of the tree. His hand moving over the bramble bushes, careful not to get pricked by the thorns; squinting against the darkness below.
"Hello?" He called down, he swore he saw a flash of white fur in the blackness but his thoughts were cut short as weight fell against his back. He scrambled to find a grip only to lose all footing, he fell into the darkness with a yowl of surprise.
Pain dashed over him as he hit the ground below, this was a dream right? Why did he feel that pain? Rolling into a sitting position he looked to and fro, he was sitting in a clearing once more. Dark ominous trees standing around him, they were tall, angry,
"Hello,"
A voice said, catching the Slayer off guard, Abel leapt to his feet with bat in hand, brown leaves falling from his hair and shoulders.
The blonde man before him stood with hands up as if he were surrendering. A smile on his lips, curly hair pushed out of his face and falling in front of a pair of round, red rimmed glasses.
"Whoa killer, calm down!" He said, a laugh in his voice.
"Who are you? What is this place?" Abel felt himself relax slightly at the view of another human being. Or at least, what looked to be human.
"I'm Arphaxad," he said with a smoothness to his voice that reminded Abel of a long drink of beer. "This?" He lifted his arms as if to gesture to the forest around him,
"Is my forest! You see, good demons can't just go anywhere they want"
"Good demons?" Abel arched an eyebrow at the man, lowering his weapon.
"Oh yeah, you think all demons are evil? Things aren't so black and white, I like to hang out here when things get too much, yaknow what I mean?" He put his hands in his pockets as he spoke, smiling at Abel.
Abel hesitated, "why am I here?"
"Well, I want to help you. I saw your Twitter, you seem a little...how do I say this without sounding mean? You don't seem like you know a lot about these things," Arphaxad said, rocking on his heels as he spoke.
"I...guess I don't," Abel mused, standing up straight he held the bat to his side, feeling an odd comfort from the other.
"Ya'know, Abel, you can come here whenever you want as well," he made towards the other, placing a hand on Abel's shoulder as he moved.
"And I'll teach you everything you need to know about demons, the sludge, whatever else you need! Think of me as a guide,"
"Why should I trust you?"
"Would a demon just lay it all out in front of you if you couldn't trust him?"
Abel hesitated, scratching his cheek in frustration as he tried to think of what to say. The cold forest around them made the brunette shiver,
"I...guess not. Maybe I should talk to Cham about this,"
"Why?"
Abel blinked at the man in confusion, "he's my best friend, why wouldn't I tell him?"
"I don't know, from what I saw he kept something pretty big from you,"
"He apologized, I don't hold grudges,"
"How do you know you can trust him? If he hides something like that from you, who's to say he's not hiding more?"
Abel paused, feeling a prickle of anxiety at the other's words. That was true, Chamuel had lied about the necklace, was he lying about other things? He did hardly know the angel after all, silently wondering if his desire to have a friend had clouded his judgement. It couldn't, could it?
"He's an angel, he has to be a good guy," Abel finally said,
"The world isn't so black and white" the demon repeated, "Abe, just trust me! I'm here to help! But I can't help you if everyone knows about it, they wouldn't understand,"
He sighed, his shoulders sinking. "I tried to help your father too,"
This caught Abel's full attention, looking into the other's crisp blue gaze. As if sizing the demon up, debating on trusting him.
"You...helped my dad?"
"I tried, but Abel, he believed that demons and angels were all good and bad! He even tried to hunt me down, him and his angel buddy" shaking his head, "but you know how it feels to be discriminated against, don't you?" The man's voice grew soft now as he spoke, hurt flooded the demon's voice.
Something about the other's words caused the Slayer to shiver, the man was walking a circle around him like a shark surrounding its prey.
"Abel, or should I say, Alice."
"Don't call me that," Abel felt a shot of anger at the name. Clenching his bat until his knuckles turned white. The call of a crow echoed around them.
"Oh trust me, Abe," the demon stood beside him now, placing a hand on his arm, "I know you're a man! But you see," Abel's skin turned warm under the man's touch, "the other demons, they're just, not as nice as me. I'm your friend, Abel, I don't see you as anything but a man! I've even helped you along the way,"
"What? How?"
"Take this, Abel," he pushed something into the Slayer's hand, Abel looked down at the small package. It was a fabric pouch, tied on the top with a pretty ribbon that formed a bow.
The fabric was red with the words "Eat me" written on a small piece of paper that stuck out of the gift.
"What is this?"
"If you ever need to get away, just eat it,"
"Why should I trust you?" Abel asked again, watching as Arphaxad continued his circling.
"Who else are you going to trust? Chamuel?"
He felt his heart sink, he trusted the angel with his life, yet, what could the man really be hiding? He watched the angel crush a person's head between his hands. What if he was on the wrong side of his war?
"Abel"
Abel glanced up at the man,
"Wake up"
Abel's eyes flew open to the warm sunlight of the early morning, he felt disoriented as he attempted to blink the sleep from his gaze. Sitting up with a grunt he realized something was in his hand, holding up the small package his heart raced. It wasn't just a dream.
He looked down at Chamuel who had, at some point, fell asleep beside him. He felt a prickle of anxiety at what the demon said in his dreams but pushed that to the back of his mind. Opening his phone to check their twitter he was met with swarms of people messaging them.
He opened a message to find a video, it was of a news anchor who stood in front of the high school,
"A deadly scene, what happened here? On the night before Halloween there seemed to be a double murder," her thin lips pushed into a deep frown as she spoke.
Abel clicked through the video, though it didn't show the bodies it showed the torn apart classroom. The large crater in the floor, the lockers with their doors torn off, even showing the large collection of blood. Abel ran his fingers through his hair before getting to his feet as he watched the video. Shoving the small fabric package into the pocket of his jeans he had fallen asleep in.
"Cham, wake up!" Abel said, clicking off the video, letting his eyes dance over the news articles highlighting the story.
Chamuel groaned inwardly, shuffling a few times in the warmth of the bed. Abel watched the other seem to inwardly debate on waking up.
"I'm up," he grumbled, sitting up with a soft yawn. Running fingers through his hair before letting them fall to the back of his neck,
"What is it?" Cham asked, watching the look on the other's face. The Chamulet knocked lightly against the skin of his chest.
"We're about to be hunted down for murder is what it is,"
"What?" Chamuel stood up now, shaking his head, "are you being dramatic?"
Abel held out his phone, rubbing his eye as he attempted to wake himself up. The angel snatched it from him, silently watching the video. His face turned from a neutral expression to horror.
"What did you expect?" Arphaxad's voice stirred in Abel's ear as if the demon whispered it from behind him.
"I mean, what did we expect," he parroted, "we did leave a few dead bodies,"
"I wasn't even considering it honestly," Chamuel admitted, feeling stupid now that they hadn't tried to clean up their tracks better.
"I mean, they aren't saying it's us." The brunette pointed out,
"And we can deny it on Twitter,"
"I guess that's all we can do, yaknow, until they find our DNA,"
Abel sucked in a breath, an angry hiss escaped between his teeth. Another thing he hadn't considered, he felt as if he were drowning now as it occurred to him how much they didn't know.
Maybe they did need more help than he realized. Pushing his hand into his pocket, letting his fingers dance over the fabric.
A knock on the door to their motel room caused both of them to freeze. Did the police already find them? Was it too late?
"Make a tweet, say it has nothing to do with us, I'll take care of whoever is at the door," Abel whispered as if the mystery person could somehow hear what he had to say. Abel slowly walked to the door, hoping it was housekeeping.
Attempting to peak out of the hole in the door but falling an inch too short to see. Debating on checking the window but not wanting to move the blinds he grabbed the door handle and opened it slowly, his breath trapped in his throat as a man stood in front of him now. His face friendly, with a smile on his chapped lips. Dark skin matched the darkness of his tight, curly locks that fell into his face. A pair of glasses sit crooked on his nose.
"Are you Abel?" He asked, his voice warm and sweet.
"What's it to ya?"
The man laughed, pulling out his phone and holding it up, "of Lancaster disaster, right?"
Abel blinked at the phone before eyes danced to the other's face, giving him a smile as relief flooded his bones.
"Yep! That'd be me!" He laughed, the man's excitement flashed into his brown gaze as he practically burst into the room.
"And you're Chamuel! How cool! I don't think I've ever met an angel, my brothers have but not me!"
"Erm, who...are you?" Chamuel asked, confusion on his features.
"Oh! Right! My name's Donovan!" He laughed, "but everyone calls me Donnie!"
Abel and Chamuel exchanged a glance before Donnie added "You can call me Don too!"
"How did you find us…?" Abel asked, his face puzzled. Donnie set the laptop that he had been carrying under his arm on the bed before awkwardly spluttering through his words, "well you're uh...not uhm," he waved a hand in the air, moving it with his words in an animated fashion.
"You're not exactly online protected,"
"What?" Chamuel tilted his head in confusion, glancing to Abel and back to Donnie.
"Yeah I can track you guys all over the place." Donnie laughed, Abel felt the blood drain from his face, another thing he hadn't thought of.
"Wait, you've been tracking us?"
"Yep!! All over the place! It's so easy I can show you how!" His eyes bright with excitement as if Abel had asked him about his favorite movie.
"How do we fix that? And why are you here?" He could tell Chamuel was attempting to keep his voice cool but the lack of pigment in the angel's face told Abel all he needed to know. Fiddling with the Chamulet around his neck nervously.
"Well that's why I'm here!"
"So outta the goodness of your heart...you followed us...to this motel to fix our problem?" Abel stared at the man with his eyebrows pressed together scrunching up his face.
"Yep! Well, sort of. See," Donnie opened the laptop, on the screen was their Twitter with a handful of tabs opened and covering the internet browser. He clicked to a tab, both Abel and Chamuel's jaws dropped as it showed how many people had, at one point, looked up their location.
"The green is recent,"
"I've never seen this website…" Abel whispered,
"You guys said it was an ARG, so people are going to be looking for you! You know...your twitter page is super boring too," Donnie chuckled, looking at them with a tilt of his head.
"Oh sorry, we were too busy saving people." Abel huffed, scratching his arm lightly causing Chamuel to push his hand down. "Stop scratching your arm,"
"It's so itchy "
"I can help you! Bump up your twitter, get you more followers, ya'know?"
"Why...are you helping us?" Chamuel asked, a puzzled expression burned into the angels features. This random person just showing up? Wanting to help?
"Oh, I come from a family of Slayers," He said, typing into the keyboard and bringing up the login page for the website, "All my brothers and one sister, all Slayers! Me? Naw, I'm all computers! But I've been able to help them, and well, my brother Max pointed you out to me at the last family meeting. Said he thought it was real and you were some kind of secret Slayers, is that true?" Donnie spoke as if he'd been rehearing what to say, Abel eyed the screen the other pulled up for a few seconds.
"Well--" He started
"Email and password!" Donnie said, grinning up at the pair, Abel couldn't describe it but something about Donnie he trusted. It was like the universe whispered into his ear, telling him this was important. That Donnie was important. Chamuel opened his jaw to speak but Abel made a split second decision.
"Emails Lancasterdisaster at gmail," Abel said, leaning against the bed, "Passwords NATESUCKS69, all capital letters,"
Chamuel shot Abel a glare, "Abel!"
"What? We suck at this, if this guys gonna give us free help I'll take it,"
"You can't just trust anyone on the street," Chamuel growled, watching as Donnie clicked into their account. Seeming to not care about what the other two were talking about.
"He's not in the street, he's in the motel room,"
"Abel," Chamuel groaned, rubbing his head, "You're making me lose my hair,"
"You've been losing it long before you met me," Abel retorted, feeling frustration burn into his words.
Chamuels face turned a light shade of red at this, "Why do you have to be such a brat sometimes,"
"I'm not being a brat, the guys helping us,"
"You can't just blindly trust people, someday that's gonna get you killed"
"I blindly trusted you," Abel growled out, feeling an odd spike of anger roll into his body. Why was he suddenly so angry at the other?
"Trust your instinct, don't listen to him," Arphaxad whispered against Abel's ear, causing the Slayer to jump in surprise. He shot around, looking for the demon but saw nothing there.
"Abel?"
He turned back to the Angel whose anger had vanished, a look of concern flashed over his features.
"I uh-- thought I heard something, that's all,"
"Alright! How's this look?" Donnie broke the tense air, grinning as he finished his typing into the keyboard. Abel and Chamuel both leaned into the screen. Their cheeks nearly touched as they did so. The twitter's entire layout was changed, with a few new tweets, they also noticed their picture on the side.
"You're also completely protected from people finding you now, at least, in theory!" He laughed, "Well, sorta! I need to do the same with your phones. If you come back to my place I can do that," His voice sounded nervous as if he expected the pair to refuse.
"Can...I talk to Abel alone?"
Abel felt his stomach churn at the angel's tone, grinding his teeth as he watched Donnie shrug and take his laptop. Still typing as he left the hotel room, sitting on the floor just outside it.
"We can't keep trusting people like this, It's going to bite us in the back," Chamuel said, trying to keep the anger out of his voice.
"Look man, we don't have much. We either trust the guy and face the music later or tell him to screw off and be trapped in the same spot we were! Or worse,"
Abel watched as Chamuel seemed to think this over, his face going from anger to annoyance before seeming to fade into normalcy.
"I guess," Chamuel finally said, though Abel could hear the hesitation in his tone.
"Sorry," Abel murmured, looking away from him, "I uh..I know I can kinda be a dick sometimes. I'm not exactly used to working and being around other people," He admitted, he felt his face heat up. Before Chamuel came around the slay was decently lonely with only a handful of people he talked with.
"I mean, I used to be, but I guess, I don't know," He grumbled, he had more to say but felt too anxious to say it. The angel smiled at him, which sent a soft warmth through his chest that he couldn't explain.
"Abel, hey, thank you for saying that," He whispered, "Besides, we might need to trust more people. I'm...not really used to trusting people I guess," Chamuel ran his fingers through his hair.
"But I trust you," Chamuel whispered the last part, the words made Abel feel a bit hazy. He couldn't put his finger on why but knowing he trusted him made the slayer feel joy pump into his system.
"I shouldn't have called you a brat, you're not, you're just stupid," his voice dotted with humor.
"Hey, it takes two to tango,"
Chamuel laughed at this, waving a hand at the other.
Abel smiled at the blonde, but the ever growing fear prickled in his mind. He trusted Cham, right? Cham was an angel, he trusted God, right? But what has Christianity done for me? He thought to himself, recalling the many times he had been screamed at in the name of the bible. Am I on the right side of this thing? Or is he just a really good liar?
***
"I hate Faith!" Obizuth roared as she paced back and forth in front of Ancitif and Mammon. Both demons settled themselves in the room of a small motel, Mammon fiddled with his button up shirt. The front open to show off the curly chest hair, Ancitif sat on the floor with his eyes down to the ground.
"Yeah, me too!" Mammon snorted, "Bitch I tell you,"
"You saw it, right? Obizuth demanded, turning to the curly haired demon who's eyes moved from the phone in his palm to the redhead.
"That Chamuel and Abel already found a way to share the power inside the Diadem? Course I saw that clip," He laughed out, "Saw Vess get his head smashed it too, annoying little shit head deserved it."
"Not the point," Obizuth said, planting her hands on her hips, "Like, what the hell! How did they do that!"
"Who recorded it?" Ancitif asked in a small voice, Mammon knocked the other on the back of the head with a laugh. The smaller demon let out a gasp of pain but said nothing, a large lizard sat in his lap but didn't budge from the sudden movement. Obizuth sat down on a chair with her legs dangling over the side, arms crossing over her chest.
"Are you really that stupid?" Mammon asked him with a laugh, "That fucker Zaqiel! My dad paid him and Eligos to find out whatever they could."
"Not important," Obizuth added, "How the hell did they share it? So quick? I get it! Faith is all about soul mates or whatever, but damn."
"They probably fucked," Mammon mused, laying back down on the bed with a sigh.
"They've known each other for five minutes," Obizuth pointed out.
"You got any other ideas?"
Obizuth frowned at this, her eyes moved from Ancitif to Mammon who both didn't seem to care about her anger which just angered her even more.
"Listen you fuck-os! Lucifer will turn us to clam chowder if we don't figure this stuff out soon,"
"Why does it matter? We just need to steal that Diadem." Mammon sat up again, looking even more irritated then he had previously, "They're two men, fucking comes naturally."
"Not to an angel," Obizuth tossed her phone in the air, catching it and doing it again as she spoke.
"He's been human for years, maybe…" Ancitif started only to let his voice be drown out by Mammon.
"He's been human, he's probably horny as hell."
"So, they fucked, what now?" Obizuth rolled to stand on her feet, Mammon followed her action. Letting his foot make contact with Ancitif's shoulder, the demon didn't say anything to this though as he continued to pet the lizard in his arms.
"We already have Arphie working on getting Abel's soul, until than, I think the darkness might need to visit a very specific place,"
Mammon held his phone out to the other, the words 'Jersey Devil spotted!' in bold letters written over the top of a news article. Obizuth grinned from ear to ear at this,
"You're a genius,"
"What can I say? When Lucifer had me with that bitch he really broke the mold!"