Part 29

He was led through the manor, down corridors, and closer to the back of the structure to a large set of double doors. As they were opened, he was greeted with a room as opulent as the rest of the manor, a room almost as large as Valentino's office. The wall on the far side was lined with floor-to-ceiling windows, letting the dark of the void and city in, the night lights of hell painting the carpet a dozen shades of purple, the bed black and dark, surrounded by soft hues and gentle candles burning the dark away. There was a large chest at the foot of the large bed and clean sheets on it. A large and pristine bathroom with a massive shower, glass and marble. It was better than anything he had seen in years, and he didn't have to subject himself to anything for it. Still, he was a prisoner. Sort of.

"Dinner is being served in half an hour," the demon told him. Room service can attend if you wish not to go. Use any of the furniture, and do not remove anything you did not bring here with you." The demon leaned closer to Angel. "Keep it clean." The man left, closing the door, locking it from the outside, and stepping away.

Alone with his thoughts, the gravity of everything started to crash over the boy, and he put a hand over his chest, sinking on the bed. Angel bit his lip and pushed back, wiping his eyes with the backs of his wrists. There wasn't much to think about, but when the moment slowed down to him alone in the quiet, he realized. He didn't know where Alex was. And now, he had the entirety of an overlord's forces looking for him.

The sheets were comfortable and he fell back onto the bed, splaying out. His eyes were closed tightly, and he bit his lower lip to stop it from trembling before finally opening his eyes.

And someone was looking back at him, hovering just above his bed, just above him.

A pair of bright, shining, blue eyes looked down on him from above. The girl hovering above him was smiling, her white hair flowing gently in a breeze that did not exist, with long white wings on her back. Her hands were cupped under her chin as she smiled brightly down at him. "Hi!"

"Ah!" He pushed up from the bed, a scream causing the demon to recoil back and land hard on the floor with a loud grunt. "W-who the fuck are you?" The room was spinning from the sudden change in position. He picked up a pillow and threw it at her, "who the fuck are you?"

The girl easily dodged the pillow, "please stop screaming!"

"Get away from me!"

"Please stop screaming!" Her wings fluttered, and she was on top of Angel, her hands to his mouth. "Stop! Please!"

Angel shook his head free, grabbing her hands and holding her back. He struggled in her grip. "Get the fuck off of me!"

The girl stopped, setting her hands on his wrist. "Angel! Stop! Please! I can't let them know I'm here!" She watched him look over her. She released his grip as a look of realization washed over the spider. "I'm an angel!"

He lowered his arms, releasing her completely, and she fell silent and still. "No...fucking...way," he backed up from her, "ain't no fucking way you're here."

"Angel! Shhh!" she pleaded as she tried to get the boy to settle.

"Why are you even here?! Don't you know where you are?"

"Stop yelling! You're going to get us both in trouble!"

He wanted to pick her up and shove her through the glass, sending her outside the barrier. "How the hell did you get into a place like this?!"

"Angel, please!" She put a hand over his mouth, looked up at him, and saw his eyes fixated, locked on hers. "I'm trying to help you, and you're making it difficult."

He wanted to fight, but something washed over him when she touched him, making him calm, relaxed, and safe. The way she said his name...his heart thumped, and a dryness clung in his mouth. He swallowed. The fight vanished. Her soft white feathers floated down around him like soft snow, and his body shivered. "I'm here to help... please relax." The hand cupping his face made a small shift, "there..."

Slowly, the boy nodded, a weight released from his body, leaning forward. His hands were shaking and weak. He pushed back against her, feeling a weakness in his knees as she gently reached for him, helping him towards the bed so he could sit down. "I'm going to remove my hands now. Promise not to scream?" Her tone was warm, and with every word, a small, tight, but soft grip came against his jaw, comforting and warm and soft and relaxing and- "Are you okay, Angel?" Her brow crinkled a second, and she gently ran her hands through the tuft of white hair on his head. She cupped his cheeks and turned his head up to look at her with a gentle smile. "You're even more handsome in person, Angel Dust."

"Your wings..." he muttered, a sigh to his words, and felt her hand on his cheek.

"Don't worry about that." She lowered her hand to his lap and set it against his wrist, massaging it as she leaned in. "Does that feel better?"

He was coming back to himself, nodding at her. The panic he had seemed distant as if something had taken it away. His eyes fell from her to her body to the thin layer of silk across her form. She smiled at him, and he couldn't help but smile back, "Who are you?"

The girl smiled, "My name is Emily. You and I have a mutual acquaintance: Charlie Morningstar?"

He was immediately hit with a realization. His eyes snapped to her, and he felt the weight lifting; the air seemed colder.

Emily smiled. "Please don't scream...!"

Angel tensed his body and exhaled slowly. "It's ok...it's ok. You're safe. I'm not here to harm you or anyone else. I'm here to help." Her hands gently let go of his wrists, and she touched the side of his face.

She was just sitting on the edge of his bed, smiling. A thought appeared in Angel's mind. "What's your relation to Charlie?"

Emily began to pet his hand as she held it. She was warm and gentle with him. "About a year ago, Charlie came to heaven to plead her case about the hotel. Do you remember that?"

The boy was enraptured by her and couldn't say a single word, but his silence encouraged her to continue.

"When she was arguing for her hotel and the souls she was trying to save, she showed us you as an example of how a soul could improve. We watched you while you were at a bar with your friends. You showed concern for your friend at that bar and ensured they were safe. You even stood up to Valentino to protect them. You..." she cupped his cheeks, "were a shining example that rehabilitation was possible and that hell didn't have to be forever."

"If all that shit's true," a pit formed in his belly, and his stomach tightened, a heat growing across his body, his arms growing tighter. "What the hell are you doing here?"

She giggled a little. "Well, since then, I kept my eye on you." She sighed, and there was a sudden shift in her demeanor, her teeth clenching. "Not everyone agreed, and there was a division with the rest of the seraphim, Adam, and the exorcists if a soul could improve; but you looked so upset and angry all the time, so I..." She got nervous and brought her hands together, embarrassed and shy, "got involved..."

A realization crashed down, and he shuddered and trembled, his entire body filled with terror, "Wait! Are you saying I was...because you-"

She smiled nervously, "Hehe...I uh...I'm...the one who...gave you the cell phone..."

Suddenly she could feel the tension on the bed, "shit...fuck!" He backed off her, looking away. "You gotta be kidding..." he gripped his scalp, and his stomach tightened, and it caused his heart to beat faster. "You're the reason this all happened?!"

She waved her arms, "No, no! I only gave you the cell phone. You just looked so angry and scared and sad, and I...wanted you to have someone to talk to so...I found Alex on earth and...he seemed nice enough, and then you two hit it off-" She started speaking faster, rambling, "and then you two got close, and I thought "Hey he's happy, yay I did good. This will help with rehabilitation." But then Alex killed himself and ended up in hell, and I was like, "Oh my god, what have I done?" And then I gave him the sutures-"

"Hold the fuck on! They came from you?!" He was facing her, the words slurring fast, too much information, "I thought it was from Lucifer or some other asshole!"

She leaned back from him and let him have his outburst.

"-He went missing! This has fucked everything up! We have a target on our backs, and everything has gone to shit!"

Emily floated there, nodded her head, wringing her hands tightly as she bit her lip.

"Why did you think putting this on us was a good idea?!"

She didn't argue. Instead, she sat silently and let him vilify.

Angel didn't have time to calm down or prepare. He was still furious about Alex, but he also found warmth inside him at the sight of her. And that frustrated him more, "I-I...don't-"

"Alex killed himself. That land's him in hell. But...he didn't kill himself for personal reasons. He killed himself for selfless reasons. I didn't mean for him to do that. I only wanted you to have someone to talk to who made you happy so you could continue with your rehabilitation and get out of hell. I...didn't expect Alex to do...those things. So...when he was sent to hell, I knew he would try and help you, so I...put the Sutures on him. To protect you like he wanted."

She fidgeted, "You felt warm and safe and loved the other day because that was the emotional connection between the sutures and Alex. Those weapons are specifically made to be attached to people to protect those they are meant to keep safe. That's all. They are there to protect. Alex came to protect you. I wanted him to be able to do that." She looked down. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

Angel looked at her, "he's missing, and I...I just want him back. I want to know he's OK after what Valentino did to him."

Emily avoided his gaze, biting her lip as she played with her fingers. "So, um...I kinda...found him earlier...yesterday." Her body tensed, and she gave the demon a shaky smile. "Alex is a little messed up, though..."

Angel didn't feel his feet touch the floor as he leaped up off the bed; he didn't care what state she found him in as long as he was alive. "Where the hell is he? Tell me, damn it! Is he safe? Is he OK?" He couldn't even register his desperation. All he cared about was his lizard being safe. And right now, he wanted, no, needed him.

She could feel the tension and desperation coming from him. "He's safe, but he's...not OK. Valentino really...messed with his head. He's...really upset right now. So I thought I could come and...take you to him?"

Angel felt his shoulders and hands drop at the words. "Can you take me? Please..." He pulled his shoulders into her, giving her puppy eyes, his expression open and earnest.

It was clear how he felt to the Angel, who responded without even thinking. She smiled a little at him, nodding. "You need to be gentle with him." She explained as she motioned to the open space in the middle of the room, and a spark of yellow left her fingertips. The spark, like a little yellow diamond, like the center of a sparkler, hovered in the air briefly and then dropped to the ground. A strong wind blew in; the void beyond the glass pulled through the house and surrounded them in seconds, the magic tearing open a hole in the floor, the rippling surface a mirror-like shine. Angel stood up from the bed, looking down into it. "Man, ain't that convenient." Her eyes closed, "Be very gentle with him."

Angel backed up. "Is it going to hurt?"

"No...but it may give you an upset tummy." She chuckled a little, and Angel hesitated momentarily before turning to her. "How...do I look?"

The girl approached the portal, a gentle, soft chuckle falling past her lips. She smiled warmly at him. "Like you have to worry about how you look."

The spider took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in his throat. He looked down into the portal and slowly edged up to it, unsure how to approach it. "I don't do portals. How do I...!-" She gave him a push, and Angel yelled as he fell forward into it, falling through the floor. He couldn't believe she had done that.

The gravity suddenly shifted, and he went from falling down to falling forward. He was barely able to get his hand out in front of him before he hit the ground, landing on his hands and knees. He felt like he could puke. "That was awesome...ugh." He felt dizzy, the world swirling around him, and his head was pounding. His chest hurt like it was being constricted by someone, and he put a hand to it, rubbing, groaning.

Emily followed quickly behind and scrambled to help him to his feet. "Sorry, sorry. Maybe it would have been easier to put it on a wall." Her gentle and soft hands took his, helping him to his feet.

His mouth felt like sand, and he could feel his pulse pounding against his neck and under his jaw as he glanced around. They were downtown, he could tell that, but not much else. They were in what resembled a warehouse, boxes stacked high with no real order to how they were placed, towers of cardboard and wood reaching almost all the way to the ceiling and leaving little room to move along the makeshift paths between them. He feared a tower would fall over if he touched one of them.

The spider turned towards her, "Where are we?" His legs gave out on him, and he would have fallen hard if not for her quick movements, and she supported him. "Whoooa-We're still downtown. This is a storage facility. I think. No one has been here for some time, and all this has been wasted. It's a shame. This stuff could have done some good. Food, clothing, there are a few boxes of books. Just sitting here discarded. Perfect place for someone to hide, wouldn't you think?"

The girl gave Angel's hand a little tug and helped the spider limp after her along the winding trail. They moved between the towers until they got to the very center of the building. Angel saw an office in the middle, with a slightly open door, but she turned him to look at her before he could ask. "Gentle..."

The spider inhaled deeply, and his hand rested on his chest. There was an ache, a stinging he was not used to. Emily turned in the direction of the office. "Alex, it's me. You don't need to come out, but I'm sending someone in. Don't be scared." She gave Angel a little push.

The spider approached the door and gave the wood a light tap.

There was no answer from the office, and Angel peered into the dark and pushed the door open with a creek, looking around.

The floor was littered with a large blanket and some old clothes that looked like a makeshift nest. It was dusty inside and smelled of mildew. At least there was some kind of power, and a small lamp shone against the wall. "Alex...?"

The first thing that struck Angel was the silence, the quiet air, the muffled darkness, a feeling he hadn't ever had when with his lover, a soft ringing that could be the water in the walls or the lack of anything to hear. Then there came a slight shift, and a hooded head peaked over the desk, and Alex's blue eyes peered over the edge at him. They looked tired. "...Angie?"