By The Light Of The Blood Moon

Unfriendly Welcome

CONTENT WARNING. EXTREME GORE. EXTREME TORTURE. VERY GRAPHIC. COULD BE TRIGGERING FOR PEOPLE WITH PTSD / CPTSD.

If you feel that this may be a trigger for you, it doesn't have to be read, you will still be able to follow the story line. This is a transcription of what I imagine one of Alastor's radio broadcasts would be like. If you are cool with that, then go right ahead and read it.

It began innocently, as such things tend to. Alastor was going to make his way over to the radio tower to set up for broadcast this morning and naturally, Angel Dust wanted to tag along. Lately it didn't matter what the Radio Demon was doing, Angel wanted to be there. They had both discovered that being apart for too long was difficult for them, so they both avoided it as much as possible. Maybe that was why Alastor had allowed Angel to accompany him, even though part of the idea rubbed him the wrong way.

It wasn't that Angel didn't know what went on during the shows, Alastor knew that he had listened in at least a few times from comments that Angel had made and questions he had asked. He also was acutely aware that certain facets of the shows would bother Angel. That wasn't a shock either, honestly, as those same facets bothered a great many demons. There weren't very many that were as immune to cries for mercy or groveling for life as Alastor was. He understood that he was different and he accepted it for what it was. In Alastor's mind, it couldn't be changed, so there was no need to waste time or energy in worrying about it.

It wasn't that Angel wasn't aware that there would be a "guest star" on this show, and that the unlucky demon involved was even now trapped in the basement of the radio tower. Alastor had a great many demons that owed him, had made deals with him, deals that almost never worked in their favor. It wasn't as if he had a shortage of bodies that could be used for his entertainment and his blood lust, which he was at least mostly certain would not ever change.

Angel knew all of this, he knew who and what Alastor was, he understood what would happen, but even with him knowing all of this, Alastor was worried, if he were honest, that actually seeing things happen in real time would change Angel's opinion of him. It wasn't that Angel had never taken a life. As even Angel would admit, he had taken many, both before and after his mortal death. It wasn't uncommon for a demon to manage to get their hands on exterminator steel. Probably a greater percentage of hell's citizenry had one than didn't. It was rare for it to be used, since it tended to draw attention to oneself and of course, that wasn't desirable.

To put it simply, Alastor had initially said, "yes" and now he was wishing that he had said "no".

Angel was struggling. He knew that he was going to see things that were gruesome, messy, and most likely downright scary as shit. He realized that before the show was over, he would be seeing Alastor transform into that most freakish demon form, other than his full demon form, which wouldn't fit easily in the basement. Angel wasn't looking forward to watching someone die, except part of him was looking forward to it and very excitedly at that. Angel couldn't explain what had brought about the change, other than it had to be yet another side effect of the soul-knitting. It must be very similar to what Alastor felt and in that case Angel was impressed that he was able to live around other demons at all without going on a mass murder spree every damn day! The need to see the torture and watch the whole thing play out was extreme. Was this what the red demon had been speaking of when he said he "craved entertainment"? Angel like entertainment as much as the next guy, but up until this started with the soulmate stuff, he would have said that everyone has limits. Instead, now he felt more understanding of Alastor's situation and he even felt a little sorry for him. Angel was afraid to tell Alastor how he felt about looking forward somewhat to this excursion, mainly because he didn't want him to think less of Angel, but he felt somehow wrong to have not said anything.