By The Light Of The Blood Moon

Unfinished Business

Angel Dust decided that this was a good time to go to his room and try to process the events of the night, besides, he was still in this beautiful formal gown and he needed to change his clothes and take care of Nuggets, who was likely ready for a walk to do his piggy business. Once he had arrived in his room, he took a long last look at himself in the mirror, wanting to remember everything about how he looked tonight, then he sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing Nuggets' head between the ears absentmindedly. All Angel Dust could think about was the dance he'd shared with Alastor and how it seemed as if the rest of the night was a blur and that one moment was all that had mattered.

He sighed, feeling his heart break a little that the night was over and now things had to go back to how they had always been between him and Alastor. Angel knew that this was the trade off he was making when he had asked for the radio demon to accompany him tonight, he knew that he was already infatuated with this dear deer demon and that going on a dance date, even if just for appearance's sake, was going to leave him with a new crack in his already damaged heart. He hadn't noticed the tear rolling slowly down his cheek until it dropped to his hand. Angel sighed. No use mourning something that couldn't be...Angel smiled ruefully, catching a last glimpse of himself before he pulled the long, beautiful dress over his head. He wasn't just mourning something that couldn't be, he was mourning something that never was, and that was far more pathetic. If he ever managed to write the story of his afterlife, that would be the title "pathetic". He couldn't think of a word that better summed up how he felt right now.

He grabbed the first thing he found in his drawers, now all tidy with folded clothes since Alastor had folded them all up the other day, well, his shadows had, but really, it was kinda the same thing, wasn't it?

He gathered up the leash and attached it to the harness on his little piggy and called it to him before sighing and leading the way into the hall to take a little walk around the garden and get some air while Nuggets could get some exercise and do his thing before bed. Angel was truthfully a little let down that everyone was probably already turned in for the night and he would be stuck outside waiting alone with his thoughts, the last thing he wanted to keep him company. He felt a gnawing void inside his chest, and if he wasn't mistaken, it would be a long and sleepless night alone.

**********

Alastor stood up as he saw Angel and Nuggets enter the back garden. He leaned against the biggest chimney, where he knew the shadows would hide him from sight. He didn't want to seem like a stalking creeper, after all. He just knew that he missed Angel already, although he couldn't figure out for the life of him why he missed him so much already. They had only been back from the dance for a few hours at best, but as soon as they were parted, he began to feel a strange emptiness, as if the air had been pulled from the room.

He hadn't realized that he had become so fond of the banter and the company. What was happening to him? He had always been alone and quite content to be so, other than, of course, the times that he sought out the company of another misfortunate soul that he could eradicate, but that was a completely different type of company. He turned the thoughts over and over in his head, trying to make sense of it all. Why was he so taken with this particular demon?

He watched as Angel unhooked the leash and allowed the piggy to run freely in the back garden, and how he would kick around the old basketball lying on the ground for the pig to run after and root it back to Angel to only repeat the process again. Alastor longed to leave his perch on the roof to seek out Angel's companionship, but he couldn't do so without revealing that he had been spying from above, and he was certain that no one likes to be under surveillance.

Angel had sat down at the patio table. It looked like he was wiping his eye, was he crying? Alastor felt his heart sinking. He could feel the hurt in his own heart for Angel, it had been a very emotionally trying night for the poor spider. He'd had to put up with that lowlife Valentino pawing over him like a piece of meat, then there was the explosive confrontation on the dance floor. What had that all been about, anyway? Certainly, Valentino couldn't have expected Angel Dust to want to dance with him after what had happened earlier?

Thinking back on the situation he'd found them in made Alastor's blood boil, almost literally. He hadn't become aware of his mood shifting until he could feel the static becoming thick in the air and he caught a flash of a sigil, which thankfully alerted him of the shift as his antlers had begun to lengthen. With a snap, Alastor caught that frustration and pushed it back inside, tamping it down until he could find a victim later and deal with it properly. Angel must have felt the change too, as he had suddenly looked up and around himself, checking on Nuggets. That was too close for Alastor's taste. Had Angel noticed a few seconds earlier and looked up he would have certainly seen Alastor's glowing eyes and given himself away.

Alastor noticed with disappointment that Angel was gathering Nuggets and reattaching the leash to leave and return inside, no doubt because he felt the presence of the predator above him, although he had nothing to fear. Alastor knew that there was no way he would ever harm Angel Dust. He realized with a startle that he loved the spider demon. Where in hell had that come from? Even as he questioned it, he knew it was true.

Alastor knew in his black soul that even if it came down to his life for Angel's, he would gladly give his own existence to ensure the safety of his friend. Funny, Alastor thought as he assumed his shadow form and slid down the side of the hotel and into the alley next door to seek his victim, he never thought he would be able to call anyone, let alone an ex-porn star, his friend. What was happening to him?

It didn't take long for Alastor to find his prey. He took his time toying with them, but as much as he tortured and brutalized them, their screams did nothing to alleviate the pain in his soul. Even as he tired of the game and ended their suffering, he felt regret. Not the usual regret of ending his games, but the regret that he would have to return alone, to be alone, to not have a good excuse to seek out Angel's opinion on something. How long had he felt this way? He knew that since Angel had asked him to accompany him to this ball he had been somehow lighter, somehow happier, he hadn't even hunted much. He had been too busy being occupied with preparations for this ball and making certain everything had been perfect.

He smiled to himself remembering the dress-shopping expedition. He felt that same joy bubble up inside as he remembered the look on Angel's face as he had taken that first long look around the boutique. Alastor had guessed that he had never worn a designer label dress, but he hadn't counted on how stunning Angel would look in one.

That day, at the boutique, Alastor decided, that had been the beginning, hadn't it? But no, if he really thought about it, it had been before that, when he was in Angel's room, watching him destroy that closet looking for the perfect dress. He hadn't shown it then, well, he'd been a bit out of his element with Angel half nude and all, but he had been so bemused. It reminded him of when he was alive, and his mother would be trying to dress for a rare night out with his father. Those nights had been less and less frequent as he'd grown older, but when he was younger, he remembered how his mother and father would take a night to dress up and go dancing while Alastor stayed with the nice lady next door. He had loved watching his mother transform from the mother he saw daily to a vision of elegance and perfection when she dressed up. She had been so beautiful and when she dressed up, she brought out the beauty that was normally hidden. Yes, that had been the time when he began to fall, he decided.

Alastor decided that it was time to go home, alone or not, he needed to go home. He needed to clean the blood from himself, which he'd spattered everywhere, no less. Then he needed to see Angel Dust, even if only while concealing himself in the shadows, he just wouldn't survive until morning otherwise. This simply could not wait. There was unfinished business to attend to.