Part 28
The road to the Carmine manor was long and arduous, and once the Spider and his friend approached it, the weight of the place crashed down on them, and it felt almost hard to breathe. "You can wait outside the gates," his voice was weak. Nerves betrayed him as his heart beat quickly. He stepped to the edge of the property before crossing the gate.
Cherri put her hands on her hips, a smug and flippant look across her face. "I'm coming, babe." Her eye closed with an equal amount of confidence and bravado, her single red pupil looking up at the massive home and steeling her spine. She followed as Angel took point as he made his way up the long road towards the manor, security stepping in front of the door to block their path.
For a moment, Angel forgot this was the home of an overlord of hell, an angel killer, an assassin for Lucifer. He only wanted to ensure his boyfriend was OK and to find him.
Angel didn't care at the moment. His blood boiled. And though there was fear, he was a force not to be fucked with. "Get the fuck out of the way!" He barked at the guards, not slowing his approach. He had scrapped with demons before, been beaten and abused by those larger than the creatures at the door. He wasn't about to stop.
"Easy tiger," Cherri moved beside him, setting her hands on his shoulders, pulling him back a little "these guys ain't fucking around. Are you gonna make this more difficult for Alex and ourselves? That ain't smart."
One of the guards reached for a weapon in his jacket but stopped, pressing a hand to his earpiece and looking the two over, his eyes flashing momentarily before stepping aside. He pointed to Angel. "You can go inside and see Miss Carmine," he pointed to Cherri, "You can stay in the lobby. We will be keeping an eye on you."
Was that a pun?
Cherri blinked and shrugged. "Fine, whatever." She flipped her hair over her shoulder, moving towards the stairs but stopping beside Angel. "You cool, babe?"
A bead of sweat rolled down Angel's forehead, and the fur bristled along his arms. His entire body was tight, his muscles locked, and he did not want to go forward, suddenly feeling a little foolish being there. "Yeah..." was a weak answer.
The man stepped aside for Angel, holding open the door and gesturing for him to follow one of the guards. "Follow me, and do not touch anything."
Cherri slipped her fingers up between Angels. "I'll see you inside."
The sensation caused him to inhale and exhale slowly and calmed him. He looked at Cherri, followed her lead, and entered, but immediately after parting, a guard led him into the great hall that Alastor had been in not an hour earlier. Angel was guided towards a double door to a large conference room with two chairs facing the TV opposite from where the guard stood. The guard invited the spider inside, shutting the doors.
Sitting, glaring on the other side of the table, Carmilla Carmine sat with her hands folded on the wood. "Sit. Now."
His arms became limp, and his eyes were wide. His hands started to shake a little, moving down to his knees, and he found himself stepping away, each step back heavier. A wild panic swept into his body.
Angel could be scared of Valentino but knew that Valentino wouldn't kill him when push came to shove. Valentino was powerful; like Carmilla, he was an overlord of hell, but Angel meant nothing to her. He also knew from Charlie and Vaggie that she was equipped with angelic weaponry, and he would have stood no chance against her if they came to blows. Other than an extermination, this was probably as close to death as he had been.
So with the greatest of effort, he shoved the panic to the ground and let a single spark of his old cocky nature rear its head, and he grinned.
"Please. You'll have to get me in bed first," He forced the smirk wider, leaning towards her, arms dangling as he swayed a step, trying not to appear shaken or intimidated as much as he was. His mouth was dry.
She sat with her finger tented and elbows on the armrests. "Sit, or I'll break your heart on purpose."
He chuckled in a humorless tone, and his voice cracked. He bit his tongue, and the feeling seemed to help momentarily, but his voice came out in an annoyed drawl. "When it's broken like this, baby, ain't much you can do. You want me in your lap or on the table?"
Carmilla nodded a few times and took the remote on the table, pointed it to the TV to her side, and pressed play. Angel came face to face with the scene of Valentino entering Alex as the video started.
Angel's gaze went to the screen, his eyebrows dropping and jaw looming. The tension released in his body was quickly replaced with numbness that wrapped him around like a blanket, sitting down and falling further into the cushion of his chair. His fear had come to pass. He had known, deep down, but he hadn't wanted to admit it to himself.
He watched as blood ran from Alex's nose, a tooth missing from his cute smile, his face distorted in pleasure and pain as Angel could tell Valentino had drugged him. "Mom...d-dad!" Valentino cupped the boy's neck, "Keep calling out for them, baby. It will look great on film."
Angel didn't feel anything as he watched. He knew what Alex was going through. Angel had been manipulated, forced, raped, and had many nights like this over the years, and now, Valentino was doing it again to the sweet little lizard that made him... feel…something. Something deeper. And now it was being stomped on and broken in front of him and whoever else bought the DVD.
His hand touched his chest, feeling the beat of his heart and letting his fingers sink into his fur, imagining reaching his claws inside to crush his heart in his hands.
Right when Valentino came, Carmilla paused the video and set the remote down on the table, waiting for Angel to be done.
He didn't show weakness easily or often; it was a mask of which he was proud, but after seeing Alex abused, used, violated, and hurt, he realized that this is how he always treated him, using his body to manipulate him, but it was to the point that it made him think that was all Alex would see and think of when he saw him, regardless.
"I don't know what to do." Angel didn't realize what he said. He continued to stare at the image of his lover being hurt and suffering.
"This friend of yours, the lizard, has been equipped with some hazardous pieces of equipment, Angel Dust. Have you experienced them at all?"
His mouth was slack, and his head slowly nodded, feeling his chest tighten, a pressure against his head and a heat creeping across him, closing his throat so no words would come out.
"In what facet have you experienced them? You seem in relatively good form." She pressed her fingertips together and set her elbows on the desk. "How can you be certain he's who he says he is?"
Angel's eyes finally tore from the screen, an aching emptiness filling him as he struggled. "He uh...wraps me up when we...are in the shower. He holds me." She seemed intrigued. "Has it ever hurt?"
His head tipped as he tried to calm his demeanor, "No, but it feels weird. You feel tied up but don't. Kinda...warm."
"Warm?"
He nodded, a crack appearing in his voice. "It's not like my normal tie-ups." He shrugged, "happy?"
Carmine's eyebrows flattened. "A demon being wrapped in the Sutures feels happy? That's certainly different." She leaned back in her seat. "So he has used them on you, which made you feel...warm. Safe, perhaps?"
A dry lump was in the spider's throat. "I-" He had no response to that.
"And the next day, did you find yourself rather uplifted?" She leaned forward, inspecting him.
He slumped in his chair, "Look, we were showering together and started making out, and they just kinda...hugged me. I felt safe. Warm. Relaxed. Like I could fucking exhale finally." He dragged his heel onto the floor. "It was nice."
Carmilla turned towards Angel, her chair giving a little squeak, "It seems like they bonded with you and him."
She turned back to the video screen and hit play, starting the video over. "How long has he been in hell with those?" Angel couldn't look at the screen, trying to block out the sound of his teeth clenching. "Five days?" He pressed his hands to the sides of his head, pressing hard.
There was a long stretch of silence as his eyes focused on nothing but the screen as the room echoed with the sound of Valentino raping his boyfriend. "I want to make you happy, little butterfly."
"Can you turn that shit off?!" He yelled.
"Satisfied customer..."
The lights and TV were off. Angel sighed, shaking his head a few times as he settled his body; too much sound. "What are those things?"
Turning in her chair, Carmilla looked the boy over momentarily, then set the remote down. "The angry Sutures. It's a magnificent piece of weaponry, if I do say so myself. They aren't designed to attack, which makes them perfect for an angel, but defend and only be used in defense."
"Why didn't they attack Val?" He wasn't going to stand on formality or politics.
"Anger causes one to lose their better judgment. They can't be used in anger, frustration, or vengeance. It is considered against their design." She crossed her legs, "and your friend has them attached to him. That means someone gave them to him..."
"Is he a demon...or not?"
"Oh, he is very much a demon. That is why I am confused about who may have given him these weapons. Who gives a demon the power to protect themselves against demons? And why?" She looked back to the film, "This almost seems like a power play."
"And why are they so warm to him," Angel blurted out, "Is this some joke?"
She rested back, looking the situation over. "They only warm to those they intend to protect. If he had them wrapped around you, the very fact that you are here and not buried is...inconceivable. I would say..." she glanced over to Angel, "with no sense of irony, that you are, quite possibly, the safest demon in all of hell..."
He curled his lip. "Safe in my arms."
She chuckled, "Has he said that to you?"
"Kinda..." he flushed a soft pink and fanned out the collar to his chest, feeling the cool air to help the heat.
"Amazing. A demon granted angelic weaponry to protect a demon he cares about..." She stood up from her seat and walked over to one of the windows, her hands folded behind her back, her shiny silver heels clicking on the ground. "How did he end up here? What were the parameters?" She faced the spider, "why has he come to hell?"
His hand sunk into his coat, trying to find some material source of relief, but found none. His shoulder dropped. He gripped and massaged his thigh with his spare hand and found himself confessing more than intended. "He came for me..."
The puzzled look on Carmilla's face increased, and her dark eyes narrowed as she approached, sitting on the edge of the table before him. "Explain..."
"About six months ago, I found a phone in my room with his number on it. We started talking and we...kinda...hit it off. I used him as an escape, and he started to use me for company, and we sort of just...clicked. I found out he was...still alive." Carmilla felt her jaw clench. Alastor hadn't mentioned that part. "About a week ago, Val found out about it and told Alex if he didn't come down here, then he was going to...abuse me; worse than usual, anyway. Alex didn't want that, so he..." Angel sighed, "killed himself and...now he's here."
The tall woman was looking straight through Angel. "So he is meant to be here. Suicide is a guarantee..." she glanced back to the screen, "So who the hell gave him those Sutures?" She spoke to herself more than him.
After silence, Carmilla pulled down on her jacket. "Very well. For now, you are staying here."
Angel shot up in his seat and opened his mouth.
"Don't argue with me," her voice boomed. "Until I have more information about what is happening, I need you here and out of harm's way. And if that boy is wandering around with my sutures, I need you secure when he comes looking. So, if you want your happy ending—" She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close, "You will do as you're told!" She shoved him back into his chair.
A guard moved behind Angel's chair, and the demon seemed momentarily shocked. Then he looked to Carmilla, fear in his eyes, his hands rising in surrender. He hadn't done anything wrong, but it still sent a chill down his spine as she straightened herself out and brushed off his chest, fluffing his skirt. Her eyes went to the demon guard.
"Take him to one of the suites on the second floor. Ensure he has his belongings, and be mindful; he is a guest." She glared at him. " For now..." she motioned for the guard to take him to his room.
"W-wait," his voice cracked, and he tugged his shirt, pulling himself free of the grip, a pleading tone, "Wait! The hotel..."
"Will survive fine without you, Angel. This is bigger than your hotel. There is a chance an overlord will be slain. That leaves a vacuum. Behave yourself, and maybe you will come out on top." She pressed her nails into the desk, her shoulders square.
Angel didn't understand what was happening, her threat hanging over him, but there wasn't time or opportunity to care. He had to move his feet before being forced or dragged by the guard out of the door, her glare sharp.