Can Anybody Find Me?

Gavin hid his snarl with a charming smile, looking down at the besotted human who flirted with him in shameless abandon. Belle was a good girl, even though she was an escort. And given any other situation and he would have gladly spent the day in her company, relaxing and pretending to be as mortal as these innocent fools. The thing was that the Angel was very much wishing he was back with Lone, staking his claim on her soul so that damn Demon Rimmon would leave her alone.

To make matters even worse, the Guardian Angel couldn't feel any hint of that thing that had attacked him. Whatever it was, the creature was not hunting his trail. Gavin fretted, hand thumbing the phoen in his pocket for the umpteenth time. He wanted nothing more than to call and warn Lone that he believed the thing was coming after her. But his promise this morning held him in place, he had told Lone he wouldn't pressure her. That included hounding her via text. The sick feeling in his gut was probably nothing more than nerves, the Angel assured himself, unaware that at the very same time Rimmon was doing his best to seduce the woman bound to them both.

When his phone vibrated in his palm, Gavin nearly cursed and threw it from his grip, for a moment believing it to be a threat. But he pulled the phone out, checking to see that he had a message from Gabriel.

On your level. Saw your monster. We need to confer NOW. Blue Moon Cafe in twenty minutes.

Gavin stared at the phone in shock, not sure whether he was relieved or terrified that the Arc Angel had broken his own rule and come to the physical plane. Gavin knew that the Arc would only come here if the situation was seriously f***ing dire.

"What's wrong?" Belle asked Gavin, seeing some of the consternation in her 'boyfriend's' eyes.

Gavin blinked and looked down at her, smiling to cover his earlier reaction. "Ah.....an old friend is in town and wants to meet up with me. I kind of owe him a favour so I have to go. I'm really sorry Belle..." he trailed off as she looked hurt, thinknig he was blowing her off. "If you don't mind meeting a potentially unsavory sort, you could come with me." he heard himself suggesting and nearly kicked himself.

Belle smiled a beautiful, happy smile and Gavin felt guilty at bringing her farther into this world of his. Lone would be furious at him for it if nothing else, but the Guardian Angel had few options that didn't leave him in a worse position than he already had. He smiled at Belle and started to guide their meandering steps to the Blue Moon Cafe. It was one of the biggest coffee shops this city housed, and everyone knew it because the massive cafe acted as the point of reference for almost all directions.

Have a mortal with me. Still in the dark, thinks I'm a con. Can't shake, part of cover. Told her you were a con too.

Gavin gave the Arc Angel a heads up, knowing that the lies would irritate the Arc but knowing that to surprise him with the news would be even worse. The Guardian Angel was steeling himself mentally for the no doubt gruelling task of trying to talk to Gabriel, all the while making it so that the human-in-the-dark stays in the dark.

As the duo walked into Blue Moon Cafe, Gavin felt his otherworldly nature settle away. That human neutral was around. Sure enough, Coyote was sitting next to the scowling Gabriel and Gavin hid a smirk. The Arc Angel was definitely regretting coming to the mortal plane, especially with the Neutral around. Though as he was a stronger Angel, Gabriel actually managed to retain some of his otherliness, yet Gavin was relieved to see that he looked like an ordinary mortal. Gabriel hadn't been Earthbound in a long time, but rumours still lingered over the last time he'd come down. Subtle wasn't a word ever used to describe the event.

"Belle, I would like to introduce you to Gabriel, and I think you already know Coyote." Gavin said politely, frowning softly at the other Angel.

Gabriel was staring at Belle as if he'd been whacked up the back of the head with a cement truck. The words Gavin said, Coyote standing from his seat to hug Belle, none of it registered. Gabriel just sat there, staring at the mortal woman like she was about to burst into song. Then the Arc Angel blinked and swallowed, face suddenly looking like he was bored and couldn't care less about anything. Gavin was more than a little confused and terribly frustrated by it all.

"You needed to see me?" Gavin finally asked, prompting the Arc to get to the point of this rendez-vous.

Gabriel looked at him, eyes guarded and a little hostile. "Sit down, we're gonig to be here for a while." he instructed.

Belle frowned at Gavin but sat down next to him, her beautiful face looking confused and a little dazed. She kept shooting furtive glances at Gabriel and Gavin nearly choked on laughter as he realized the Arc Angel was doing the exact same thing to the human. It had been quite some time for the Arc, since his last corporeal manifestation, and if Gavin remembered correctly, after a while away from the body, coming back into it is hard. It's filled with all these needs and instincts that the mind has to struggle to overcome. One of the hardest ones to beat is the distraction of the flesh. And Belle was definitely not hard on the eyes.

Gabriel broke his eyes from Belle and looked at Gavin. "It knew me." he stated plainly. He didn't have to say what it was, the Guardian Angel already knew. His aura bore the scars of the encounter, though neither Angel could see that.

"How could it know you?" Gavin asked, oblivious to the confused look Belle was giving them both. The presence of Coyote was finally explained as the old man distracted Belle away from the conferring Angels.

Gabriel leant forward. "I have some.... theories as to why, but I need more information. After I encountered the creature, it said my name, snarled and vanished out of this plane of existance. It did not return to the Descended Realm though. I could not follow it, and I could not sense where it had gone." the Arc Angel informed  grimly. This was not good news. The Ascended and Descended were sister nations, the same populace, different politics, as it were. It meant that the manifestation of their gifts were similar in nature, different in application, and that any inhabitant of one could get the 'flavour' of the other. Stronger ones like Gabriel could follow that trail back, but not this time it seemed. The Arc Angel seemed to take in the weaker Guardian Angel for the first time, a frown on his face. "You seem different than I last remember." the Arc stated.

Gavin shifted in his seat uncomfortably, all too aware of the many things that could change how he looked, all of which would get him into no small spot of trouble. He looked the Arc Angel squarely in the eye, and because Coyote was here, managed to lie straight to Gabriel's face. "It's a side effect of this place. Been here so long I think I'm actually starting to age."

The Arc Angel looked thoughtful, but nodded as if he believed the excuse. Gavin let out a mental sigh of relief. If Gabriel learned that not only had Gavin marked Lone, but Rimmon had as well, things would have been bad. If Gabriel had learned that Gavin was actually working WITH the Demon Rimmon, things would have been worse. But if Gabriel had learned that Gavin was in love with Lone, things would have become apocalyptic.

####

Lone was hiding under a bush, a long scratch on her face and a wild look in her eyes. Twenty feet away Rimmon was laying on his back, slowly bleeding onto the cement. She could feel the thing that had chased her down and invaded her nightmares creeping closer. Like before she could feel and 'see' it's tentacle like aura reaching out. The impossible strands of corruption tasted the edges of Rimmon's aura and latched on, locking around him.

The Demon groaned as he felt the sensation of all his strength being drained away. And yet still the creature wasn't within sight. It was too weak to properly drain him yet, and Lone stayed still, knowing it would have to come closer to finish the job. The trap they'd set was pitiful and ovbious and she could not believe it was working. Rimmon was far from injured to the point of groaning unconsciousness, though a vicious little part of Lone had enjoyed the opportunity to box his ears in. When her personal Demon had turned to her and told her to deck him, she hadn't hesitated for even a second. Lone had simply connected her fist to his face and gravity did the rest. Oh, and Rimmon was hamming it up of course.

Slowly something terrible edged into her line of sight. Lone wanted to run from it, screaming, but she stayed quiet and still, holding herself hidden like she had before. The tentacles of the creature's aura reached out, touched her hidden aura....and slid passed as if she weren't even there. THe hulking brute of a gray man shuffled over to Rimmon's still body and Lone only just realized that the Demon wasn't jumping to his feet to attack the creature like they had planned.

She could see where his eyes were rolled into the back of his head, body twitching a little. Something was going terribly wrong and she had no clue why. Lone hurtled out of her cover, not understanding hte dread  building in her gut as she threw herself at the gray creature. She was muscular and strong, far heavier than most people assumed and yet her full weight slamming into the Twisted didn't even make the creature stagger. The last time she had encountered the beast, it had been scaly and solid, horrid but still believable. Now it was almost like the creature was mid metamorphosis. It's skin was malleable and sticky, like it was coated in an invisible layer of ectoplasm. Lone's hands scrabbled for purchase, sinking under the top layer of green scales as if the creature was trying to absorb her into itself.

Lone was making disgusted noises as she was trying to pull away. Put of the corner of her eye she spotted a mutilated corpse of a woman walking around. Vibrant purple eyes watched as Lone tried to force back the clay like substance crawling over her skin. When the goop started to wiggle under her clothes and melt against her skin, Lone started to scream, feeling the tentacle snaking their way into her aura at the same time. Something brushed the mark on her chest and Lone felt like she'd been set on fire.

Her skin felt so hot it should bubble and ash off, incinerated. Her blood was no longer a fluid but isntead jet fuel, adding to the conflagration that was her soul . There was something making a high pitched screaming sound and Lone was astonished that it wasn't her own voice screaming. The clay like substance that had been consuming her was dripping away, repelled by this soulfire of hers. The Twisted was making a keening sound, pulling back on itself and fleeing away, leaving Lone kneeling on the cement next to Rimmon, his hand still resting against her chest, hand not a perfect match to the mark there. His hand fell away, blistered and red and he was panting on his back.

Lone slumped over top him, exhausted and in a mind numbing amount of pain. Her skin felt like it had been sanded away and then she was coated in salt. Her muscles twitched and writhed, still trying to adjust back to normal blood and air. As she huffed and tried to recover enough to speak, Lone realized she could smell brimestone and cinnamon in the air.

"What..........." huff, pant, gasp "was........" huff, cough, huff "THAT?" Lone demanded of the equally exhausted looking Rimmon.

He took a few more minutes to reply, sucking in air as if he were grateful to be alive, though why he would be acting that way was beyond Lone's capacity to care right now. Her head was resting on his diaphragm, feeling the powerful throb of his abdominal aorta. "That was.....the entire reason Angels and Demons are never supposed to hunt the same soul." he confessed. "That was soul fire. And by all rights and purposes that really wasn't supposed to happen." He sat up carefully, cradling Lone's head in his lap as if he were aware how fragile her skull currently felt. His bright eyes were dimmer than usual, looking murky and lost as he stared into hers. "Something very very wrong is walking the earth." he stated, staring after the dripping trail the Twisted left. "And it has a keeper from the Descended." he looked back down at Lone. "I may just have to take you home to meet the family." he stated, a demented smile lighting his face.

"Oh hell no." Lone groaned.

"Oh hell yes." Rimmon replied, laughing at the unintentional pun.