Contracts That Bind Us

Echoes of Reality

It was the crackle of electricity that surged around him, before fading away. A mechanical tentacle reached from the darkness around him as Vox's red eyes glowed in the shadows. The rattle of gun fire sounded, pain erupting from his right leg as the bullets dug deep. Electricity stung his skin, and the scent of burning flesh filled the air. Valentino's laugh sounded through the chaos.

"Don't worry, that slut will pay for this."

Alastor shot up in the bed, his side screaming from the pain and he tried to get his panicked breath under control. His head pulsed as he took a shaky breath, god that hurt. The room was still dark as Alastor scrubbed at his face trying to wipe the exhaustion away. Flexing his hands, there was a small pull from the burns. God, that could have gone wrong so fast.

It was a faint creaking that caught his attention from the hallway, but it seemed to pass relatively quickly. Groaning, he lowered his ears as he looked around the dark room, it looked pretty much the exact same as he remembered. Well... except for the small pile of clothes that sat on his desk, the bright colors heavily contracting with the red and black room.

He wanted to get up and do something, he wanted to move around on his own. His leg quickly reminded him that it wasn't a good idea. Alastor pushed himself up so he was against the headboard, before taking another breath. By Satan this sucked, he was bored out of his mind. He didn't like boredom. Leaning forward he grabbed the glass of water off the side table, he wished he actually had a clock in this room. It would give him an idea of when Angel would be back. He actually missed the other's presence. Probably because the sex worker was actually quite entertaining to talk to, not the fact that he actually liked being around the other.

Alastor's right ear twitched as a chill rushed down his spine, he glanced over the edge of the bed seeing the end of the sweater he had tossed off haphazardly. He shifted, before realizing he actually couldn't reach the article of clothing without putting strain on his injuries. Just his luck.

He flexed his hand calling out to his shadows hoping someone would answer. Silence filled the room still, as he waited for the faint chatter of the shadows that used to decorate his walls. His anger flared as he growled, his hands digging into his hair. Why was he so weak! He was Alastor, the radio demon. He wasn't weak! He took a shaky breath as he tried to regain his composure, what was happening.

"Hey, Al?" A soft voice called from beyond the door. Alastor grumbled under his breath, he wasn't really in the mood to answer the princess of hell but not like he had much of a choice in the matter.

"You can come in, Charlie." The door gave a faint click as Charlie peaked her head in.

"Oh... I was hoping that Angel was here." Alastor's ears flew up at the statement.

"What? He went shopping, didn't he tell you?"

"Al, that was nearly three hours ago." Alastor stared at the blonde for a few moments, his body going rigid. Slowly, he started shifting himself so his legs were over the edge of the bed. Charlie was in the room in moments, she hesitated not wanting to touch him.

"Alastor, you need to rest."

"Rest... I've rested for the past few days. Right now I need to help you find Angel."

"I'm certain, Angel is fine. Probably just got carried away with shopping." Charlie grinned but it did little to relax the deer demon. "We'll find him, please just... I'll have Niffty come and be with you. Vaggie and I are going to go out and look for him, just to be on the safe side." Charlie informed Alastor grumbled.

"I can-"

"No, you've already done a lot. We will deal with it, please Al. You really need to rest and get your strength back." Charlie whispered as Alastor huffed a breath and shifted back to where his back was pressed against the headboard. The princess sent him a small look before she stepped out of the door and stopped her eyes locked on the ground. Was Niffty there? Charlie moved aside allowing the soft click of something coming down the hall.

"You have a visitor." Charlie smiled, pushing the door a bit more open. The small pink pig peaked into the room before trotting inside, Alastor gave the demon pig a curious look. Why was it here? Charlie gave a small giggle before shutting the door locking Alastor in the room with Angels... pet? The pig made a small noise before jumping up on the leather chair, and bounding to the bed. Alastor froze, staring at the little pink creature looking up at him, its curly tail wagging a bit.

He was never one for pets, his father would never allow him to have anything. Probably because the drunk would kill it... He didn't want to think about that man right now. He focused his thoughts on his mother, she was more tolerant of animals. Mainly because he would bring them home to show her and she would tell him it could live in the garden. He always wanted a dog or cat, but he knew better.

He would often see Angel carrying the little pig around, decorating it in little scarfs and sweaters. He loved this little pig so much, often cooing over the animal and saying that it was his best friend. The pig stepped closer to him, digging its head under some of the blankets before pushing them to Alastor's leg before trying to cover it. Alastor watched the pig for a few moments before the pig seemed satisfied with him being covered and settled beside his leg.

Alastor wasn't entirely certain what to do in this situation as he tentatively reached out and touched the side of the pig. It stared up at him, before giving a soft oink and moving closer to his hand. Rubbing its head against his hand, Alastor slowly slid down so the pig was against his side. The animal gave a small yawn before settling against him and curling up to sleep. Alastor watched it for a few moments before glancing back at the door. Even with Angel's pet being here, he still missed the white spider's presence. He should be out there helping to find Angel, and here he was stuck in his room. He tried to force his magic forward again, feeling his anger boil over as nothing came from his hands. Static filled the room as the pig perked up trying to comfort the other demon. Outside of the room, the lights crackled and popped sending glass raining down to the floor below.

~~~

Here is the next part everyone!