Chapter 14: Cain you feel it?
The cold night air hit the man's face in such a way he couldn't stop himself from wincing, having stepped from the Uber with phone in hand. He was home, and from what he could tell nothing seemed to be amiss as the car behind him let out a roar and rolled away into the darkness. Donnie watched it go, hesitating, he knew if a demon had decided to jump him he'd be mostly powerless but there was a calming presence that settled over his aching gut.
With a throbbing head, sore legs and the intense need to sleep the dark skinned man made his way up the path towards his small home. His boots kicked at a couple scattered rocks as he attempted to fix his glasses on his nose, eyes down on the bright light of his phone. It's blue hue flashing as he scrolled through the twitter account he had been editing, the negative comments were racking up and Donnie did his best to delete the notification as they came but it was as if someone had rung a bell in the darkest parts of the internet causing the scum of the earth to rise up against the team. The genius let out a sigh, feeling dread pump into his heart, pushing into the warm home only to nearly run into a stranger who stood only a few inches from the door.
"What the--" Donnie scrambled back as he looked at the other with wide eyes.
The man stood a few inches below him, a smile clean on his face despite the startle he was given. His hair a light brunette, eyes a honey brown.
"Who are you?" Donnie growled, dropping his phone and pulled a pen from his pocket. Holding it up towards the smaller man,
"Fear not!" The man's voice angelic as he spoke, a warmth covered the slayer as he watched the angel float a few inches from the ground.
"For I am an angel of the Lord," A bright light seemed to cascade down from nowhere, casting the angels shadow against the wall. Donnie could make out three sets of wings in the other's shadow, his entire body felt flushed with a warmth he couldn't describe. He hesitated, he knew trusting right off the bat wasn't exactly in the slayers handbook but with a display like that? He could almost hear the angels sing.
The angel dropped to the ground, laughing with a touch of red to his cheeks.
"Whats up, man!" The sudden shift in the other demeanor sent shots of confusion into the genius "I'm Israfil!"
"Israfil?" Donnie gasped, "Are...you really an angel?" He glanced behind the other as if he expected to see the man's wings. "Can you fly with those?"
"Yes! But I'm not suppose to,"
"Why did you float?"
"I don't know, I thought it'd look cool, did it work?"
"Hell yeah! I'm Donnie," He breathed, the slayer had never met an angel though he recalled all the stories his father told of them.
Israfil grabbed Donnie's hand, shaking it violently with glee flooding his rosy cheeks. "I'm the angel of music-" Israfil paused as if attempting to come up with a reason for his sudden entrance "-I'm here to protect you!"
Donnie puzzled this for a few seconds, it would make sense right? Abel had an angel helping him. It's not like Abel was super special or anything, right? he'd get some crazy strong angel, like Michael if he was really special...right? Donnie wasn't incredibly sure what to make of his new friend or Chamuel. A memory sparked in Donnie's mind.
"Whoa, wait, did you say music?"
"That's right!" Israfil laughed, standing up straight, "And I was assigned to keep you safe,"
His mind rolled back to the memory, he swore his father mentioned an angel of music but this memory felt hazy. He could see the discomfort in the angel's face at Donnie's lack of response, If he is an angel, he could probably help. He got past my protection sigils.
"So you're gonna help me?" Donnie asked, a more chipper tone to his voice.
"Sure!! Think of me as your assigned friend,"
Donnie grinned at this, a flash of color flooded over Israfil's gaze which sent a confusing shiver into the genius. He shook this away, Probably weird angel stuff he mused to himself.
"Well, alright assigned friend! I could actually use some help down in my lab,"
Donnie trusted the man a bit more than he usually would, something about the other felt familiar and he couldn't place a finger on it.
"Lead the way," Israfil chuckled
Donnie nodded towards his new friend, going into detail now about the idea that had been flooding his mind the past few hours, an idea he felt would change the game for slayers forever. Israfil followed him without hesitation. He floated behind the man as if his feet refused to touch the ground. His clothes seemed a little dirty, he could hear the others stomach growling and he could definitely smell the angel. Was he an angel? Or was he something else paranormal?
"You hungry?" Donnie asked as he started searching through the apps on his phone.
"I'm starving!"
"Do you like pizza?"
"I like everything! Except mushrooms,"
"What's wrong with mushrooms?"
"The texture! Really bad texture,"
"That's...strangely true,"
Donnie's feet hit the bottom floor of his small one story home, cement covered the walls with pipping rolling from the bottom to the top. Christmas light strung all over the walls, color coded to match specific machine, tools or chemicals.
"Red lights, don't touch," Donnie said as he started typing into the phone, taking a seat on a rolling chair and kicking off from the ground. The chair launched towards a large table pushed against the wall. Donnie knocked into the metal table, turning towards the laptop screens that were stacked against each other. The screen saver the family crest that bonced lazily from one end of the screen to the other.
"Green lights, you can do whatever with!" He motioned to the pile of mostly parts, old wiring and paperwork. The man nodded to the blue lights,
"Blue lights, computer stuff. Anything and everything I need for the brain's of my machines,"
He watched Israfil float curiously around the room. The angel let his fingers dance on the green parts before reading over the sheets handing on a cork board that covered the wall. Books for research stacked in piles under the board, another metal table over them keeping the books from spilling to the floor below.
"That's all my research, I had to do a lot to get into college when I was ten," Donnie said with a snort, crossing his arms over his chest. The silence was starting to make his leg bounce, he turned in his chair and flipped on the monitor. The keyboard in front of his fingertips flooded in color. What kind of music does an angel like?
Donnie wondered as he scrolled through the playlist on the screen, Israfil came up behind him. The sudden rush of air made Donnie jump, he glanced up at the other who grinned and reached forward. Pressing a finger on the play button that was illuminated in a blue light on the keyboard. Donnie blinked in surprise as the blue light turned to yellow from the touch, he'd never seen that before. Was it broken?
A hard roar of a guitar shook the small room, Donnie froze. He didn't care what music played but most people he knew, Abel included, often shamed him for the hard metal that trashed into his system and made his blood pump with adrenaline.
"Do you-- like this?" Donnie asked as Israfil floated backwards and landed back by the green lights. He picked up what seemed to be a tiny robot arm and started to fiddle with it.
"I like all music! I am the angel of music,"
"Can you play anything? Or just listen?"
As if a switch was flipped the angel's face shone like sunshine, "I can play anything!"
***
The hospital abuzz with chaos, nurses throwing themselves from one station to the next. Eyes wide with panic as another stretcher came rushing in, a man with large pupils and black sweat dripping from his skin. It pooled like sticky blood around his head like a halo.
"What's happening to me!" He yowled into the sanitized air of the hospital. Scattering flecks of blood into the dead wind.
The large building had been covered with people who have contracted an unknown 'virus', with a blackness so deep it was like the darkest parts of the ocean. From room to room the nurses scattered, nearly knocking into one another as they went about their business. With white floors, walls and ceiling the darkness stood out bright in the blaring LED lights above.
"Doctor, what do we do?"
The doctor stared down at his patient, rolling a pen between his fingers anxiously as his mind raced. With dark hair pushed nearly to the side, that is, aside from a small bit that stuck out in the front no matter what he did to it. His hazel eyes moved from the patient to the person beside him. He felt a spark of discomfort at her gaze, he hated being stared at.
"I'm not sure." He finally said.
this wasn't something new. He was aware of the ever growing darkness, though it was a slow growth his own personal destiny all laid within it and he was keeping close tabs.
His eyes dancing from the woman back to the nurse who stood beside him, her features heavy with exhaustion. He wondered if they were still experimenting with the darkness, it was quick at learning but from what Cain could see, it wasn't going fast enough for the beasts of the underworld.
I really should help her, he thought to himself, a soft buzz in the back of his skull was almost painful.
"She's going to be okay," he replied in a soft voice, attempting to keep his voice from wavering. He could feel the buzzing getting louder, as if a bee was trapped inside his skull.
He had grown up in a family that slayed creatures of all kinds, his father teaching him everything he knew while his mother watched from the sidelines, that is, until his father passed away mysteriously. The nurse beside him shuffled uncomfortably, nodding as she did so,
"Are you sure?" She murmured,
"Go find doctor Mason," the brunette said, not replying to the woman. She nodded at him, her blonde curls bouncing as she turned and left the room.
Cain took a seat on the chair beside his patient,
"Does she deserve it?" A voice murmured into his ear, causing the doctor to scoff lightly.
"Does anyone?"
Her breath coming out raspy, chest falling up and down in a slow motion. The doctor eyed her for a few extra seconds as the gears in his head turned before placing a hand on her forehead.
Her skin against his fingers felt odd, as if he wasn't in his own body. The buzzing fell silent, the crown necklace around his neck shuttered with soft light. A deep crimson red sparked under the doctors fingers.
"Kill the camera," he whispered,
The shadow under him shuttered, moving lightly under the other's feet before it flew at the ceiling. The black mass covered over the large circular camera, cutting the view of the doctor. He sucked in a few breaths, closing his eyes his hand glowed brighter against her skin. Gulping in air as the blackness slowly seeped from her flesh and ran into the palm of his open hand racing up his arm vanishing in his caramel tinted skin. his shadow returned to him only a heartbeat later. The darkness rolled into his veins and sent a shot of pain into his bones but it vanished only seconds later.
The woman's breathing shuttered before returning to a normal whistle, the sound of the heart monitor beeping softly made the man give a small smile.
"You've been..."
"Blessed," Cherm snarled
"...blessed," he whispered, attempting to keep the uncertainty out of his voice. Glancing down at his hand, it hurt. Every time he used the Diadem's energy, it made him feel weaker.
His thoughts went fuzzy as he looked down at the necklace, hazel gaze moving over the cross on the top and the heart in the center. Yet, he was looking past it. Lost in his memories, he could almost see his father standing in front of him. A hammer in his hand, blood covering the floor before his feet. A man handing the small Cain the necklace, it was covered in the mans deep blood.
"Give it to him!" He father shouted, "Cain, take it, now!"
The sound of the door being shoved open pulled the doctor from his thoughts. He suddenly felt more real again as he stared up towards the head of the hospital. Cain got to his feet, brushing his his hands a few times on his jacket to get the small droplets of black sludge off his palm.
"Sir,"
The doctor nodded at the other before glancing over the woman.
"The nurse said...she was close to death but.." the man narrowed his dark eyes, looking towards Cain who shrugged.
I gave her a dose of angel's heavenly power.
"I gave her some trimethoprim," Cain replies smoothly, it wasn't a complete lie. He had given her a dose, it wouldn't do any harm to her in the long run.
"Well...I suppose that's one down," the doctor turned to the nurse now, chatting with her for a few minutes and nodding to Cain once more.
"We'll have to talk more about that later, start giving the others trimethoprim as well," with that the dark skinned man turned on his heels, leaving the room with the nurse at his heels.
"They'll find out" Cherm whispered, laughter danced in the shadows voice.
"No, they'll give it to the others, they won't respond to it, they'll think she never had it," he knew the way the hospital worked, the way the head doctors worked, silently wondering how he would ruin the samples of the darkness that had been collected.
"Lunch"
"Yes, it's lunch time," he said to the shadow with a sigh, who shuttered with Glee. The floor underfoot felt almost alien to him as he left the room behind. Nearly running into a nurse, causing him to snap out, "Watch it,"
"Sorry," She murmured,
Cain snorted and continued walking, Cherm cackled into his ear.
"Woman, whores. Don't let her tears stop you,"
Cain almost stopped, he hadn't meant to make anyone cry. But she had been in his way, his response was appropriate. Right? A soft whistle made the man glance up, a man with ebony kissed skin was walking past. A lab coat covered his thin frame, a touch of grew in his tight curls. He whistled to himself as he walked past the doctor, Cain didn't recognize him and he knew every doctor in the hospital! All their names and even their birthdays.
His eyes danced over the man's name, "Fran"
***
"Mom, I'm home," Cain announced as he stepped into the small, cozy apartment. The door swinging inward to the darkness of the room, it smelled of dust and mold that Cain couldn't seem to find. The apartment held two bedrooms, a small living room and a kitchen not far from that. A woman with long gray hair looked up at him from her spot on the bright red couch, it was ripped and torn apart in multiple places from a cat that seemed to have been lost long ago.
"Hello my king of kings!" She cooed, getting to her feet with a smile. Her once bright green eyes were dulled from years of unknown abuse and manipulation. Cain wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tight to his frame. She rubbed his back with a small laugh, resting her head on his chest.
"Hey Cain," A voice popped up from the kitchen, their tight curls sat in an Afro on their head that laid against their dark brown skin, their lips a bright red from the lipstick of the day. They always made the doctor nervous but he refused to show it.
"Amaryllis," Cain acknowledged, looking down at his mother who refused to let her son go. Humming softly to herself,
"Has Amaryllis been good today, mom?" He whispered into her hair, his mother nodded softly.
"Yes, always good," The woman chuckled, finally letting go of her son and sitting down in front of the TV. Cain looked at the small, old tv set with a shake of his head. The screen was static, letting out a soft whine.
"Mom, you're not watching anything again," Cain murmured, his shadows shuttered and moved out from under him. Making for the tv and turning the old knob on the black and white set, the picture hissed and switched to a game show. The sound of the audience clapping filled the room,
"Oh," His mother laughed, "Thank you Cherm," she said towards the shadow as she settled down in the old couch cushions.
Cain stepped into the kitchen, before he was able to go to the fridge for a bottled water Amaryllis shoved a mug into his hands. He groaned down at the liquid that rolled lazily in the middle of his cartoon mug.
"I don't really--"
"You drink it! Helps with digestion!" they snorted, putting a few tiny vials of herbs into the top of the cupboard. He hesitated,
"It always makes me feel bad," He snorted, "If I'm a king do I have too?"
"Yes, it's getting all the toxin's out," They replied smoothly, shutting the wooden cupboard. Cain rolled his eyes, sipping down the strange smelling warm liquid. It was always a touch bitter, than sweet. As if someone only added a touch of sugar to the very bottom. The doctor placed the cup down, making his way towards the bedroom. Attempting to comb down the hair on the front of his head that continued to annoyingly flip into his face.
He pushed into the gray, dull room with a sigh. The only shot of color was a picture beside his bed, a drawing a child had done for him a few months back. It was one of the few things in the room that he loved. The only other color being a small, white cartoon mouth plushie settled beside the small picture. He fell into the pillow of his bed before pulling out his phone with a frown on his lips, opening up twitter he felt a rush of anger as he scrolled onto LancasterDisaster's twitter page, their new hashtag was starting to gain some traction and that turned the doctors blood to fire.
"So, the king of kings is stupid enough to tell the world who he is," Cain murmured, Cherm settled beside the man taking the shape of a human now but with his entire being completely black aside from the white eyes that bore down on the phone.
"You are the true King," The shadow hissed, "The angels do not decide who the king is,"
Cain scoffed, glaring at the Chamulet around Abel's neck before pulling his own necklace out. The crown was the same as the kings aside from a few details.
"The true king," Cherm murmured, bowing his head at the other. Cain nodded towards the creature nervously, "They will understand soon," Cain whispered, "I can feel myself getting stronger with every day,"
A knock at the door caused him to glance over towards the intruder. Obizuth stood in the doorway with her hands up dramatically. Cain rolled his eyes, she pulled a small flask out and took a quick swig.
"Obizuth, what do I owe this....well I'm not going to say pleasure,"
"What the hell, why does everyone say things like that about me," She groaned, waving a hand at him as she replaced her flask into the inside of her Letterman jacket.
"Never mind," She groaned "I have news."
He tilted his head at the other, Cherm seemed to vibrate with excitement beside him.
"Chamuel toasted Onoskelis,"
"I saw that video,"
Obizuth let her hands drop to the side, letting out a loud slap as she did so. "What the hell? Who was taking a fucking video?"
"Everyone has a phone now," He shrugged at her, holding up his phone, she rolled her eyes and cleared her throat.
"Okay, whatever," She snarled,
"I saw you get your ass beat," Cherm laughed out, his voice gargled as he spoke. His white eyes bright against the darkness of his body.
"Shut up," she groaned, "I have news, do you want it or not?"
"Is the news that you got your ass kicked?" Cain replied, arching an eyebrow at the other with a small grin flooding his features.
"Oh, fuck you,"
"Alright, if you want," Cain shot her an evil grin, causing her to return it,
"I think I have a few minutes, think you can last that long?" She asked, making towards the other and collapsing on the bed beside him.
"Whats the news? Did you really want to have sex again?" He arched an eyebrow at her causing her blue eyes to roll.
"Nathan Lancaster," She said, ignoring his comment and sitting upright.
"I got a location, if you can get in good with him, you can get in good with Abel,"
"What do I tell him? 'Hi I'm working with the demons. They told me Abel's my brother,"
Obizuth shrugged, "You're smart, you'll think of something,"
***
"Why are we here?" Nathan asked Baal as they sat in front of the large building, a pair of crooked glasses on his nose. They didn't work great but he could semi see without getting much of a headache. His doctor was sending him an emergency pair but they needed a few days. Holding a drink in one hand, eyebrows narrowed Nathan glanced from the building to his friend. The structure was large with glass windows surrounding every corner in the front and two large windows on the side, with a modern looking set of doors at the front where people swarmed in and out. 'Museum of modern art' tacked onto the front in bold, black lettering. It sat in a forest of steel buildings, scattered shops, restaurants and a few apartment complexes.
"This is the Museum," Baal said simply as if that would answer the others' question, fiddling with the straw in his drink making a soft, and annoying, noise that made Nate's teeth clench.
"I know that, Baal," Nathan groaned, rubbing his throbbing head and pulling the circular frames from his face. "I mean, what are going to do?"
He followed Baal's gaze, noticing the others' blue eyes seemed to be locked on something. He saw a security guard standing outside talking to a few men in suits, her hair bounced around her shoulders in messy waves, blonde hair framed her face and turned to a dark chestnut as it went down. Her caramel skin shone lightly in the hazy sunshine. He couldn't see her features well but when she glanced towards them he felt confusion roll over him.
"Did we come here to watch a girl?" Nathan tried to keep the shock out of his voice, looking towards the other who stopped moving his straw, seeming to freeze up.
"No, that's just the night security guard," Baal said, though the 'no' came out in such a way that made Nathan smile. Who knew demons could have a crush? From what he could see, she was beautiful.
"Oh, of course," Nathan chuckled, "My bad,"
The two sat in silence for a few more minutes, Baal sipped his drink letting out a sigh. Nathan glanced towards the other and back to the museum, his body no longer hurt and though he was skinnier than he'd ever been he was silently thankful Michael had given him a visit to update him on Gilbert, and heal what he could of Nathan's wounds. Calling the angel with his sigil had cost Nathan a lot of energy though and he felt nearly dead on his feet.
"Paintings in there," Baal said suddenly as the woman walked away from the men in suits and made her way to the parking lot. Baal now had his attention back on Nathan, sucking in the air from the empty soda container.
"The one you told me about?" Nathan asked, putting a hand on Baal's drink and slowly pushing it down so he'd stop sucking on the straw.
"Mhm," Baal nodded
"And what...do we need it for?"
"It's got the other half of the prophecy on it somewhere," He said with a grunt, getting up and dusting off his blue hoodie before taking Nathan's trash and his own, dumping it into a small trash bin. Nate watched Baal lean down and pick up a few extra scattered pieces of trash on the floor and throw it away,
"I guess, is it really important?" Nathan tilted his head towards the man,
"Not sure," Baal admitted, pulling out a small bottle of hand sanitizer. "We won't know till we get it."
"How are we going to get it?"
Baal either didn't hear him or didn't want to answer, he held out the bottle for the slayer who rolled his eyes and accepted the strong smelling liquid. Nathan still couldn't wrap his head around Baal who seemed to be the opposite of any demon he met, not only was he not a complete dick but he also seemed to hate germs, not allowing Nate to sit on his motorcycle without putting on the sanitizer.
"Why didn't we bring Butch?" Nathan asked as he rubbed his hands together, Baal seemed to dislike the other slayer, sticking close to Nathan despite Nate's annoyance with a few of Baal's quirks.
"Don't trust him," Baal replied simply.
"But you trust me?"
Baal pulled his keys out of his pocket, making his way towards the motorcycle. Nathan got to his feet, following after with a puzzled look on his features. Baal glanced back at Nate, his mustache seemed to curve up with his smile.
"Sure do," he nodded before pulling himself onto the bike, holding out a helmet for Nathan only for someone to smack it from Baal's grip causing the demon to look shocked as the helmet landed with a clank on the floor.
Standing before them was the security guard from the museum, her amber eyes like a hot fire. She stood with arms crossed, her chest puffed out as she pointed a finger at Baal.
"Are you stalking me?"
Nathan and Baal both shot each other with a look of surprise, "W-Wait," Nate started, attempting to defuse the situation. He put his hands up in a defensive manner, her fiery gaze switched towards him She held up a finger at him,
"Shut up," She snapped, turning to Baal who stood up now with his hands up, mimicking Nathan. He towered over her yet she didn't seem to care, shoving a finger into his chest as she spoke, her nose wrinkled with the anger in her features.
"Listen here, I've chased you out of that museum too many times for it to be a coincidence, so you and your--" She turned to Nathan, eyeing him for a few heartbeats he felt trapped suddenly as if he were about to be attacked by a predator, "-twink need to stop coming around here,"
Baal opened his jaw to speak but was positively frozen as the woman continued to lay into him, "And if I find you anywhere near my apartment, I'll put a bullet in your brain before you have a chance to even think of coming into my place," She race her thumb over her neck in a quick motion, lifting up her leather jacket to show the gun that had been properly placed in its holster.
"I don't care about going back to jail,"
She let the jacket drop back over the weapon, huffed at him before turning on her heels and storming off. The pair watched after her in awe, horror trickled onto Nathans features as he gawked out,
"What the hell?"
"I uh…" Baal shuffled uneasily, "Might have been staking out this place for awhile,"
Nathan couldn't believe the courage the woman showed, but then again she couldn't have known Baal was a king from hell. Baal raced his fingers through his hair, Nathan could see his face turning red despite the blurry vision. He cleared his throat as if to break the tension in the air.
"Whats a twink?" Nathan asked his friend.
"Don't worry about it," Baal grumbled,
"I'm googling it," Nate pulled out his phone,
"Make sure your safe search is one," Baal replied, picking up his helmet and placing it on Nathan's head. His eyes scanned the flood of picture, grimacing.
"Wow, I do not look like this!" He gasped
"Oh no no, not at all!"
Nathan grinned at the other, knocking the side of the man's helmet playfully.
***
"She's always coughing," The woman said to Cain who was leaning down to look in the child's mouth with a small flashlight. His eyes narrowing as he tried not to flinch from the child's breath, the skin on the top of her throat looks raw and red.
"Did you get her the flu shot?"
The woman hesitated, "We've been over this," Cain murmured, standing now so he could look at the woman whose blonde hair had been tied back messily, a pout on her lips.
"Vaccines save lives," Cain felt a jolt of anger, he didn't care for the woman but the little girl was mostly innocent, right?
"Innocent until proven guilty" Cherm murmured into his ear.
"I just did my own reading," She insisted, Cain sighed as he wrote 'still an idiot' on his notes.
"Just pick her up some over the counter flu medicine, she'll be fine in a few days," Cain didn't wait for a response from the woman, he pushed his way out of the room and into the busy hospital. Eyes down on the charts in his hands as he attempted to look busy to prevent anyone from chatting with him.
He was nearing the end of his day now, according to Obizuth, Nathan was somewhere close by and the man could feel the itch in his skin to find and meet the other. He knew Abel was a trusting man, too trusting, considering he was being easily manipulated. It wouldn't be difficult to find his way into the others inner circle, especially considering they shared blood.
"I'm leaving early," Cain said as he walked past a man in a suit that seemed a touch too big for him, the man looked startled by the others voice but didn't say anything in return. Cain made his way down the long hallways, pulling out his cell phone to check his notifications. A message sent to him by Obizuth caught his eye, he clicked it open and read through it rapidly. A small smile came to his lips, he knew where Nate was. A message from his mom jumped to the screen, he eyed the word on the screen before putting the phone to his ear.
It buzzed against his skin for a heart beat before someone answered,
"She wants milk?" He attempted to keep the excitement out of his voice, his entire life he had been told his destiny was unfolding with the rise of the darkness and now he just wanted to get it over with so he could bring peace to the planet.
"Kind of? We have milk, but apparently the angel's said something about milk," Amaryllis sighed into the phone, Cain pulled his keys from his pocket as he left the building and entered the parking garage. The doctor opened his jaw to reply to them only for his words to be cut off,
"Doctor Granjero!" The woman shouted, her blue eyes covered by a pair of sunglasses, an angry look on her face as she dragged her daughter from behind her.
"I need to call you back," Cain said into the phone, pocketing it and looking around in an attempt to find a security guard but falling short. He felt Cherm shutter under his feet.
"Mrs. Stiller, I'm off duty," He said simply, she didn't seem to hear him and if she did she didn't care.
"I can't give her flu medicine!" She continued, pointing to the small child who refused to meet the doctor's gaze.
"Than don't," He said, a sharp touch to his words, "I don't care how she dies,"
The woman looked at him in shock as he strolled past her,
"you can't say that," She looked at him with her mouth hanging out reminding Cain of a fish. He turned back to her, smiling.
"I can say whatever I want," He said,
"No you can not," She barked, "I will have your job,"
"You think my manager cares what an idiot has to say?" He laughed, the woman's face turned a bright shade of red.
"How dare you!" She snapped, pulling out her phone. Cain frowned, he didn't have time for this. He had to go. He clicked his tongue and a rush of wind exploded past him.
The woman didn't see it coming as sharp claws snagged her and dragged her down onto the floor and into its shadowy body, the woman let out a wait of surprise as she scrambled to get out of the deep, dark abyss that was Cherm. The little girl screamed in terror, stumbling backwards.
"Don't touch the child," Cain said, his voice mono toned.
The woman twisted, turned, fought, but it was fruitless as she slowly vanished into the darkness. Cherm shoving his hands deep into his own mass before pulling them out and letting out a burp. Cain clicked his tongue once again, the shadow returned to its king. The scream of the little girl didn't bother Cain, if she was strong she would learn from this experience, and if not? She wasn't his patient anymore, so why should he care.
Entering his car the doctor pulled from the parking lot, silently thankful he had broke the security cameras from around his parking lot. The hospital was far too cheap to replace a few random ones so long as he was careful about where he stood. His electric car glided calmly over the opened highway, mind a buzz with thoughts and ideas. How was he going to get Nathan to trust him? It wasn't like he could just walk up and introduce himself, or could he? His mind flashed to Cherm, grinning at the shadow.
"Alfred,"
His phone beeped from where it sat on his dashboard, "Yes Mr. Wayne,"
"Text Amaryllis, tell her I'll be home late."
The phone beeped, after a few heart beats the phone dinged,
"Okay, your mom is in bed. My pronouns are they them, love," The phone read out. Cain leaned back into his chair, scoffing to himself.
***
Nathan watched the TV that was sitting above him, Baal sat beside him. Chatting with a few people that the slayer didn't know, silently wondering what crazy demon deal he was striking. They sat in a bar that reminded Nate of a pub out of a movie, with people all around drinking from large glasses, the chairs and tables rounded and settled sporadically through the room. He sat at the bar top, with his chin resting on his opened palm, elbow on the polished wood.
Baal laughed as he continued to talk, drinking his beer from a larger glass than Nathan's with a long straw sticking out of the golden liquid. His mind drifting back to Abel and Chamuel, neither had replied to him recently which always made him a tight bit anxious.
"Gil, I hope you're watching over those two," He murmured to himself, eyes moving off the sports game and down to his drink. A rush of depression flashed through his veins, the thought of his brother still choked him up. It felt as though he'd lost a half of him and couldn't seem to get it back, no matter what he did. He could feel the hazy sadness pulling his skin down, the glasses on his nose were starting to give him a headache again. Why was he here?
A sharp Suddenly a jolt of pain flew through his veins, Nathan gasped in shock as agony clocked over his leg. He wore pants a little too short, leaving a small bit of his skin showing. He looked in horror as a rat, black as the night, raced away from him having left large tooth marks in his skin.
"Was that a fucking rat?" Nate shouted in surprise, Baal watched with a tilt of his head as it raced away.
"Probably wanted a beer,"
"Thanks, I could have rabies now,"
Baal held up his beer, "Don't worry, I'll still enjoy your company when you're foaming at the mouth," turning his attention back to the others he has been speaking with.
"Oh, Come on," Nate groaned, lifting his leg up to inspect the cut. "I hate New York,"
"Excuse me," Glancing towards the voice, a man stood next to him. Picking up a drink he had just ordered, his dark hazel eyes glancing over the bite on Nathan's skin.
"I'm a doctor, would you like me to look?"
Nathan blinked in surprise, a doctor had just gone to get himself a drink at the perfect time? It sounded fishy to the slayer, looking down at the cut he reached into his pocket and pulled out a flask of holy water.
"Uh, yeah, thanks. Should I go get a tetanus shot? Or rabies?"
Nate watched as Cain looked over the small bite,
"Leg down," Cain said, going to his knees, the doctor pulled out a small box from the front pocket of his blazer. Nathan watched with narrowed eyes as he held the flask up, letting a small bit fall out and onto Cain's head who looked up at him with confusion,
"Oh!" Nate laughed nervously, feeling embarrassment roll through his veins.
"Sorry, I uh,"
"Was checking that I wasn't a demon?" Cain offered
"H-How…?"
"There...are a lot of Slayers in New York," Cain chuckled, swabbing the bite with some alcohol, patting it dry before placing a disinfectant on the bite and closing it with a roll of white bandages.
"No shot needed, rats can't carry rabies and honestly? You probably had a tetanus shot recent enough," Cain muse, getting to his feet. Nathan noted the nervous touch to the others voice.
"Well thank you," Nathan chuckled, feeling comfortable now as the other smiled at him. He reminded Nate of someone, he couldn't place his finger on it.
"I'm Nathan," he said, "Lancaster,"
Cain looked shocked at the name reveal, blinking a few times and taking the man's hand with a broad smile, shaking it firmly.
"No shit, huh? You're Nathan Lancaster,"
Nathan felt his face burn once again, laughing as he pushed his long hair from his face.
"Yeah, that's me,"
"You're--" He pointed at Nathan, pulling out his cell phone and scrolling for a few heartbeats before showing the phone to Nate.
"Yep! That's me," Nathan chuckled as he saw the picture of himself on the boys twitter page. His eyes tracing over the semi cryptic message,
"So you...know him…?" Cain whispered, pointing to Abel, his eyes glowing as if he had just met his hero.
"Well...yeah, he's my nephew," Nate scratched the back of his head nervously, nudging Baal lightly and nodding towards the doctor.
"Well, I guess," Cain let out a sigh, keeping an excited glow in his features, "That makes you my uncle as well,"
Nathan and Baal froze, both looking at Cain with a puzzled expression.
"Well...uncle in...law?" Cain chuckled, "I'm Cain Granjero, Abel's half brother."
* * *
Mammon groaned, hands shoved into his pockets as he watched the man before him move from one spot to the other. Mammon sat on the stool in the warehouse that Baal had recently destroyed, the room large with no one else but the other man. The hollow metal of the room caused the others foot steps to echo around them, the other had short, messy graying hair. His face held so many wrinkles that Mammon couldn't even count them all. His eyes so blue they almost looked like someone grabbed the sky and placed them in his gaze.
"Dude, come on," Mammon said after a few minutes, rolling his fingers through the mullet of curls on his head, his sharp, pointed up ears twitched ever so slightly as the man in front of him stopped pacing.
"I would be putting them all in danger,"
"Look man," Mammon snorted, getting off the wooden stood so he could stand in front of the other.
"This has nothing to do with my dad, you pay me money. I don't give a damn about souls,"
The man fiddled with the scarf around his neck and the large jacket that covered his frame.
"Mammon, this is important. I'm trusting you with this because of your abilities. You're the only one who can control electricity that well and if you succeed--"
"Come on, Mothman. Danjal's bar isn't as well hidden as he thinks it is. Ancitif's always going down there anyways, I can find it. I'll do what needs to be done."
Mothman shook his head, running his fingers anxiously through the hair on his head. He blinked a few times towards Mammon, "Fine," The moth said, rubbing his hands together and holding it out towards the demon. Mammon felt excitement spark into his body, he knew his dad would be angry as all hell but he didn't care. In fact, Mammon didn't care much for any of this.
"And call me my human name, please,"
"You got it, Freddy!" Mammon laughed, he reached forward and roughly grabbed the older mans hand. The second it connected dark purple light rolled from Mammon, racing down his arm and wrapping itself over the pairs hands. Fredrick's body shuttered at the magic that flooded his being before his body morphed, large wings flicked out of the mans back. Fur raced in patches on the skin of the moth's body and his blue eyes sparked to a deep red.
A spark flashed under Mammon's palm causing the man to leap back in shock.
"Fredrick," The moth snorted,
"Whatever man," Mammon chuckled, "You're damn lucky you're making a deal with me and not any of the other jack asses,"
"Yeah, you're a real hero," Fredrick scoffed, shaking his hand a few times as his body reverted back to it's human self.
"You know, shocking away someone's magical veil should be considered sexual harassment,"
"You'd kill to have sex with me," Mammon replied smoothly, pulling his phone from the front pocket of his jean jacket. A few sigil patches had been sewn into the cloth to help keep the man protected.
"Yeah, if I was a praying mantis,"
"You're not hot enough to be a praying mantis,"
Mammon didn't wait for a reply as he turned on his heels and nodded at the bank balance that spiked up. He could almost taste the drugs in his system, he got a good amount for the task he was asked to perform but it would be worth it.
"Oh and Mammon,"
The demon paused, turning back to look at the other, "If you tell me any of your cryptic bullshit I swear!"
Fredrick snorted at this, "No, I was just going to tell you to cut your hair,"
"Why?"
"No reason," Mothman said, turning on his heels and unfolding his wings taking flight and rolling through the door opening. Vanishing into the darkness of the night.
"Freak," Mammon scoffed, going back to his phone.