Demon's Theme
Cas was tired. It had been another long day of writing music that resulted in nothing but a few crumpled papers and a missing lunch. He looked out the window, the suns light was already fading, another day wasted. There wasn't a whole lot for him to be doing, that was for sure, but for not doing much other than sitting at the piano staring into space, he was damn tired. After all the hard work he'd put into his last piece, a sad, lonely, forlorn thing, he'd been rejected brutally and told to come back when he'd written "something that people will listen to".
He sighed and stood from his place on the stool, throwing down his music staff paper and pen and walked the bedroom of the apartment. Just as he was laying down, he heard a bang, like a gunshot, from the alley outside his window. He rushed out to the fire escape and looked down. At first all he could see was a dark shape in the quickly fading light of day, but then the shape took the form of a man partially sprawled on the pavement. Cas climbed down to the lower portion of the escape and pushed down the ladder that was fixed there. As soon as his feet his the ground he was moving toward the figure.
"Are you alright?" He called out cautiously. The figure didn't respond. Cas moved closer and felt something thick and wet under his foot. He stepped back and looked down to find his foot covered in a dark, thick, warm, fluid. Blood. Startled, Cas reached out to the person huddled close to the ground. "Are yo-" He was cut off by a hand grabbing his wrist and shoving him roughly away to land painfully on the ground.
"Hey!" He shouted and tried to stand. He moaned and dropped back down to the ground. A soft shuffle echoed off the enclosing walls of the alley and he looked up, the figure had vanished and Cas looked around for him to no avail. He pushed himself up off the pavement and staggered to the fire escape. The man had been strong and Cas had landed with his ankle twisted at a bad angle. He pulled himself up the stairs, wincing and dropped onto his bed, thinking about the strange figure. After a minute or so of pondering the encounter, Cas flipped on the tv and switched it to the news.
"And just this evening, another store appears to have been broken into by the cities new criminal that police have been referring to as the Demon." Stated a reporter on the nightly news. Cas sat up and listened closer, "After breaking into a jewelry store without taking anything, the Demon was chased by the authorities until he disappeared without a trace. However, one police woman, Jo Harvelle, managed to shoot him in the side. If you have any information about this criminal, please contact the authorities." Cas stopped listening and remembered the way the figure in the alley had been bleeding and realized that he had come face to face with none other than the Demon.
A few minutes after his realization, Cas limped over to the piano to compose another song. This time it came easily, a slower, darker piece that changed from minor to major and suddenly fell back minor. He jotted the last few notes and rests down onto his paper and finally looked up from his work. The clock said midnight, he'd been working for hours on end, but this piece was worth it. He played through the entire thing, adding dynamics and feeling. He took his pen and labeled the piece, 'Demon's Theme'.
He crawled into bed and fell asleep thinking of a mysterious stranger cover in blood and completely unaware of the bright green eyes watching him through the window.
~
In the morning, Cas awoke with a start, the events of the previous day returning to his mind with a jolt. He rubbed his face and inched out of bed. He found his ankle to still be painful to walk on, but he ate and got ready paying no mind to it. After his normal morning routine was finished, Cas grabbed his trench coat and keys and left his apartment to limp his way down to a few of the recording studios.
He started with Balthazar, who, when he arrived, raised his eyebrows and gestured to the piano. Cas nodded and took a seat, placing his music on the piano and his hands on the keys. Taking a deep breath he began to play, losing himself to his music and his mind straying to thoughts of the Demon. He struck the last, low chord and let it ring out and Balthazar clapped behind him.
"That was not what I was expecting it to be." He stated.
"Is that good or bad."
"Good, for you." He paused, "What was your inspiration for this piece, Castiel?"
Cas hesitated a moment, he could admit to encountering the Demon. "I was watching a crime movie and it just came to me." He lied.
"Well that's lucky for you. You have a recording session, tomorrow at 2 PM sharp, don't be late." And with that Balthazar turned to leave, "Oh and Castiel? What shall we call this piece?"
"De-" Cas stopped himself before he finished the name, "Uh, D-Dean's Theme."
~
Cas smiled to himself, he had actually had a successful piece something different than all the plain melodies he played, something with more feeling than that. He hummed happily as he walked down the street, going nowhere in particular. Suddenly, he found himself being tugged into a dim alleyway and shoved against the wall.
"Did you tell anyone about what you saw?" A low voice demanded.
Cas pressed into the wall, away from the shadowed figure, The Demon. "What? No! Why? Who are you?" Cas stumbled over his words.
"Good." The Demon let go of Cas and reached down to grab the sheet music Cas had dropped. When he saw the title of the song he froze. "Demon's Theme. Is that what they call me now?"
"I-uh- yes. I actually changed the name. It's Dean's theme now, no one knows its about you." Cas said hurriedly.
"Dean? Why Dean?" The Demon asked, a slight tone of fear along the edge of his voice.
"I don't know... It just happened... Why does it matter, as long as its not Demons theme no one will know I met you."
"It's nothing, it's just Dean... That's my..." He trailed off, shoving the paper back at Cas and moving to leave.
Cas caught his wrist, "Who are you?"
The Demon tore away. "No one bad." He replied before disappearing into the dark.
Cas stood for a moment, shocked, and then hurried out into the street, heading toward the park to take a walk. While he was walking he was lost in thought and he didn't notice that he was going the wrong way or that the streets were empty save for one person.
The man behind him tackled Cas into a side street and he felt a knife pressed to his throat. "What do you know about the Demon?!" The man demanded.
Cas tried to move away from the knife blade and wriggled under the man's tight grip. "What? I don't even know him! He keeps running into me! I don't know anything!"
The man pressed on the knife harder and growled, "I know you're lying to me. You know his name, I'm sure of it, you're working with the son of a bitch."
"What? No! He's a criminal! He should be arrested for all those robberies."
"You're a good actor, but I know you're his bitch, he's been following you everywhere like bugs follow light." The man chuckled and pulled out another knife, making a long slow gash in Cas' arm, "Heard you even wrote him a love song. Do you lo-" He was cut off by a violent blow and rolled off of Cas.
"You should be more careful, you could've been killed." Came the Demon's voice.
"That is unbelievably cliche." Cas stands, hand over the injury and backing away from the unconscious man and the Demon, "I bet you say that to all the people you rescue, oh wait, you don't rescue, you rob."
"I don't rob, I can explain."
"Oh don't even start. I've seen the news, you're a criminal, no better than him." Cas nodded to the man with the knives. He instantly regretted the action, as it made him dizzy and he swayed where he stood.
"That's not true." The Demon protested, catching sight of the cut, "Let me help you, you might die from blood loss with a cut like that."
"I don't need your help. I can handle this by myself."
"I bet you say that to all the handsome men who rescue you." The Demon replied, "I'm serious, let me help you. At least let me keep you from passing out in a dark alley."
"Handsome men?" Cas scoffed, "I'm serious, too, I can handle this." He turned and began to quickly walk away, ignoring the dizziness to the point where he barely noticed as he collapsed on the pavement out cold.
"'I can handle it', he said." The Demon snapped and hoisted Cas up on his back and scaled the wall, heading toward Cas' apartment.