Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Six months until the next extermination, and to say Talia was nervous wasn't even an accurate enough description for the nearly suffocating emotions swirling around throughout her brain. She sat on a couch in the parlor beside Angel, watching with stiffened muscles and a concerned expression.
Although she was most certainly hiding her anxiety better than Charlie; her friend had been restless for nearly an hour, nervously mumbling under her breath. Her cat—Keekee, if Talia recalled the name correctly—had found its way onto Talia's lap, deciding to ignore the tension in the room in favor of simply sleeping.
"Okay," Charlie began, pacing back and forth as she mumbled to herself. "So the extermination is coming in six months instead of a year. No big deal. Just a little setback. Nothing we can't handle....just angels cutting our timetable in half. But who needs a whole year to save souls? Am I right!?" She stopped almost suddenly, eyes wide in evident panic. "And next time when they cut the time in half again, and again, we'll just handle it, right!?"
It was at that moment which Vaggie chose to intervene, gripping her girlfriend's shoulders in an attempt to steady her. "Yes, we will," she promised, tone softening to levels which were never used with anyone else.
"Oh, please," Angel chimed in, stretching his limbs out on the couch as he rolled his eyes. "Ya had less then half a chance when ya started all this salvation bullshit. And now..." He paused in favor of glancing down at his phone; Talia was unable to prevent herself from eavesdropping, and recoiled imperceptibly when she saw vulgar, insulting messages appearing at a rapid pace. "Ain't no silver linin' this time, toots."
"Sure there is!" Charlie promised, turning around to face Angel with an eager smile on her face. "We just...have to look a little harder for it!"
"Well, while you're lookin', the resta' hell's goin' nuts," Angel muttered drily, flipping his phone around to face Charlie as he neatly waved it in her face. "People are already freakin' out about the news. Look at what's happenin' in the Doomsday District."
He brought a thumb to the phone screen, scrolling down to show Charlie an article with an image attached; in the photo provided, a demon stood in front of a fire whilst screaming frantically. Charlie had only examined it for a moment when his phone pinged with another message, and she leaned in closer to read it.
"Err, what is a...donkey show...?"
Angel froze, eyes widened as he yanked his phone away and quickly turned it off. "Aah, heh, nothin'," he replied, a nervous chuckle escaping past his lips. "My boss, Val, is just freaked out 'bout the news, too. Like I said, everyone's losin' their shit."
"Yeah, that's true. Sinners are desperate," Vaggie added in, gaze downcast as she stared at the floor in thought. She glanced up at Charlie but a moment later, an idea on her tongue. "Maybe desperate enough to try anything to escape the extermination?"
