Colin's posts

Gabe let go of her hand... and the next thing she knew, he was gently massaging her shoulders. And, to hit the nail on the head... it felt heavenly.

"Because you have people that care." he told her.

"Because you CAN fight this. You're strong. And you're not alone." he said further.

"You have Ezekiel... you have Azazel... you have your boss..." he went on.

"You have ME, now." he told her.

"-I- care."

"I'll be there to grab you." Zeke replied, before they ended the conversation, and he looked at Gabriel and Erica.

He didn't say anything, before disappearing from where he was, as Gabriel held Erica's hand.

As he did so, he felt himself feeling QUITE worried about her.

Surely this wasn't the curse, was it? Had it finally gotten to her? Was she really at the point where she was starting to give up.

"I'm here." he said.

"You'll be all right." he told her.

"Don't be sorry." Gabe told her, before snapping his fingers at Zeke.

"You. Call that medic of yours and tell her to come here to help this one." he told him.

Zeke was silent, before nodding and calling Angela.

"...Angela, Erica's hurt and needs medical attention. Can you get here ASAP?" he asked her when she answered.

"I can teleport you if need be." he added, before recounting the injuries that Erica ha sustained.

"Crap!" Zeke exclaimed, holding back his emotions as best he could.

He then grabbed her and lifted her into his arms, before racing off behind the building, and then teleporting directly into her home.

'DAD! UNCLE GABRIEL! SOMEONE!' he mentally yelled through his 'celestial connection'. 'Erica's hurt! And her curse is acting up!' he said.

About 5 seconds later, there was an immense mana presence beside him, and Gabriel stood there.

"Back off." he ordered Zeke, causing the nephilim to do so immediately.

"...not as bad as it's been." Gabriel commented, noting her actual injuries, before gently putting his hand on her shoulder to quell the curse.

After the pulse, there was silence for a moment.

And then the customer at the counter started to get angry. VERY angry. And the cashier was getting irate back at them. This started a chain reaction of people getting angry at each other, uncontrollably crying in sadness, people hiding and showing sheer abject terror and cowardice...

...and then a punch was thrown. As well as a chair. And then people were starting to get into fights.

Zeke just happened to be walking across the street at the time, and saw what was happening, before rushing towards the establishment. He got to the window, and felt Erica's curse... seeing the woman sitting there among the chaos.

"Erica!" he tried to call to her over the noises.

"Erica, get out of there!"

He looked unimpressed to hear that.

"I see." he said.

"Hmph." he muttered.

'Looks like I need more time.' he thought.

"A shame." he told her.

He then got up and started to walk past her, gently patting her on her shoulder... her bad shoulder. And she could feel it starting to spike.

"Well, talk to you later." he finished, before quickly leaving... and leaving her with the desire to get out of there before things got bad.

"Good." he replied.

"And we're meeting HERE because of whatever pesky archangel is nosing about your place." he told her.

"I can't risk being caught by one of them." he growled.

"That's why in public, anyway." he commented.

"The meeting itself... is about my proposition." he said further.

"Feel like joining my little crusade?" he asked.

Azazel couldn't linger, he needed to get back to Aedan. And he kept an eye on Erica the entire time he was there. Nothing. She didn't even look over towards him. Didn't acknowledge him at all.

Which dug the metaphorical knife deeper.

So, once he got his order, he slowly left, giving her one last look before leaving the café, his previously energetic gait now sluggish and slower. He walked and walked, and only when he was out of sight, did another figure emerge from where they were hiding. They made their way to the establishment as well, locating Erica, and sitting down directly across from her.

"Did you say anything to him?" he asked her harshly.

Her words hit him, and hard. She'd never acted this way before. Not to him, not to anyone.

He wondered if he had done something wrong.

"...Erica...?" he asked quietly.

"Yes?" she asked in response, slight annoyance in her tone now.

"...never mind." Azazel said.

"Sorry... to have bothered you." he added, his tone a little on the dejected side.

Again, Azazel was confused. And a little concerned.

"Uh... hm." he mumbled.

"So... whatcha gettin'?" he asked.

"Oh, and want to meet up for coffee and some point in the future?" he asked her.

"Maybe early next week or something?"

Good luck, hope you drum up some business.

"..." Azazel was silent for a moment, a little confused and concerned by her curt response.

"Heya." he replied, smiling again.

"Nice to see you out and about." he commented.

"Fancy meeting you here, though." he then chuckled. "I was grabbin' some stuff for myself and Aedan. If I'd known you were coming here, I would have asked if you wanted to meet up." he continued.

"How ya holdin' up?" he asked her.

Virgil was silent for a moment, before nodding.

"Cool." he said.

"I have some papers to go through, but I'll stop by and check on Erica before I go." he told her.

"...man, walking in and seeing her like that was frightening." he then said further. "Possibly the most scared I've been in... a while, actually. Easily. Maybe ever." he added candidly.

About a month later, and Azazel was making his way to a café to grab something to eat, and something for Aedan.

She'd recovered from whatever it was that had downed her, and it was deemed to not be a virus, and no other presences were discovered or found on the premises. It was chalked up to her being overworked... though she DID seem to have 1 or two short blanks in her memory since then. She didn't mention them, though, as they were extremely short, and she hadn't ended up getting hurt over them.

It WAS strange and concerning for her, though. Not that HE knew about it.

He stepped through the door and saw Erica sitting at one of the booths, smiled, and made his way over.

"Hey." he greeted her.

He just sighed.

"No, not too bad this time." he said.

"And fair enough, I can understand that." he admitted.

"...certainly hope it's not a virus or something." he went on, before pausing.

"But... if it IS, at least it's an answer." he then mumbled.

"At this point, answers would be great."