SF Ep8 Story Part I - Blood

by ~desdemonhu

Ephraim set the book down, pushed himself off the couch and wandered towards the bedroom, but drifted off into the kitchen, then the bathroom, peeked out the peephole in the door, then went back to the couch. This was ridiculous; he needed something to do and the book Augy had loaned him was not distracting enough. He called his twin.
Augy answered his cell, startled by the name on the caller ID. "Ephy?"
"Hey." His brother said, sounding awkward.
Augy slipped the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he pulled the door to the classroom open, trying to keep his book bag on his shoulder with his other hand. "Hey. What's up?"
"…nothing." His brother responded slowly, and Augy knew with certainty that Ephraim, on the other end of the line, was picking at his couch cushion. "What are you doing?"
"I forgot to pick up one of my books after class, so I'm just grabbing it." Augy's return to school after a few days off he felt he deserved, hadn't gone so well. He kept leaving things and his thoughts drifted away in class, Kat looking at him with concern, but not asking because she knew he didn't want to answer yet. That entire night had been a disaster, and now he was alone. Well, not really, but… "Ephy, what's wrong?"
The hesitation on the other end of the line stretched into a long pause. "I don't know what to do, she won't eat or sleep. She just sits in my room in the dark, refusing to move, just staring at the wall with this blank expression."
She? Oh! 'You mean Azriel?" Augy asked after a slight pause.
Ephriam flounced onto the couch, lowering his voice. "Yeah. She went to go see another angel…I don't know! Something's going on. She was out for a couple of days and now she says she's changing and then she went to see another angel and I found her on the roof of my building like this. What the hell am I supposed to do?!"
Changing? A chill ran up Augy's spine as he was reminded of the darkness he'd seen when he looked at the fallen angel. It was almost as if he could suddenly feel it at his back, a palatable, oily dampness. "Have you asked her-"
"She won't say anything!"
A shadow crossed the lines in the linoleum floor out of the corner of Augustine's vision and he suddenly realized that dark feeling was not imagined. At the same time Ephraim's eyes widened and his grip on the phone tightened to the point of cracking the plastic frame.
"Leave now!" Ephraim screamed into the phone.
"Ephy?" His brother, too far away, seemed both frightened and confused.
"Run!" Ephraim tried again.
A husky, almost pleasant voice said, "Too late." And then there was a crunching noise and the line went dead.
Ephraim couldn't hold back the urge to call for his brother even though he knew it was futile. And then a soft, sleepy voice wiped away everything. "Ephraim, what's wrong?" Azriel was at the bedroom door, eyes dark.
"Augy's in trouble! I need to get to the school now!"
Azriel was to him in a few quick steps. He took Ephraim's hand and the human instantly calmed down, soothed by the miracle. Azriel accepted a lungful of air and then pushed it out with the seeking ritual. Nothing came back.
"I…can't find him…" Azriel said, puzzled.
"He's at the university in one of the classrooms. There's something…" Ephraim floundered, searching for words he didn't know, "dark there." He frowned, unhappy with his choice, but Azriel understood. His grip tightened on Ephraim's hand.
"A demon. I need some Earth."
Ephraim didn't understand what that meant until Azriel had led him to the strip of grass outside of his apartment. The angel took handfuls of dirt and pushed them past his lips. Ephraim wanted to say he didn't have time to watch Azriel eat dirt, but the panic was somewhere far away, leaving room for the understanding that this, ultimately, would get them there a lot faster than running or taking the bus, even if he didn't know how.
Azriel wiped off his small hands and then took Ephraim's hand again. He listened to the air, became aware of the school and the demonic shield that locked out angelic interference and slid aside the attention of humans. Luckily Azriel was no longer an angel. However, the teleporting spell was a miracle, so the best he could do was get close.
Ready for the reaction, Azriel caught Ephraim when he stumbled at the sudden change in environment; the grass they were standing on now the concrete of the parking lot of Starfield College.
Ephraim righted himself the moment he understood where they were, and if it weren't for the holy calm that cradled him, it would have taken much longer before he ran towards the school. There were several buildings on the campus, but Ephraim immediately headed for one of them.
Azriel hung back for a moment, awed by the power of Sak'roa, the Sacred Fire and Shield; a normal human wouldn't have been able to notice the shielded building, thanks to the demon's influence, but Ephraim didn't even seem to acknowledge that the shield existed as he pushed through it, burning away the darkness.
The demonic shield consumed, Azriel followed Ephraim inside.  They ran down several hallways, passing a few people who looked dazed and lost, and a redhead with green eyes that had been tainted by a demon. Azriel almost stopped to examine him, but he was quickly losing Ephraim, so he ran after. He caught up to him just as he was flinging a door open, yelling for his brother. He was there, but did not respond, his sobs saturating the room.
Several of the small chair and desk combos had broken formation; a bag, its guts spilled out on the floor among the delinquent furniture. Soon both brothers were on the floor by the fold-up table at the front of the room, Augustine huddled over like his back was the turtle shell that would protect him from the world, and Ephraim gently, carefully, trying to get him to sit up.
"Augy, Augy, look at me, here, here, look at me please, come on, come on,"
The pleas were met with resistance, but eventually Augy unfolded, releasing the full force of the cries he'd been giving to the floor. His eyes were red, face blotchy, and there was a small amount of blood staining the corner of his mouth.
"Who did this to you?" Ephraim asked. Augy responded by curling against him, sobbing harder. Ephraim folded him in a hug, staring up at Azriel, bewildered.
"I'll take you both to your place," Azriel explained softly, "You're going to let him sleep, and then we will worry about that."
"But-"
"Shhhhh."
Azriel was not worried, he had calculated for taking three people back, but when he touched Augy he drew his hand away quickly. Augy was tainted. That shouldn't be, it was strong, and that was impossible in so short a time.
Ephraim looked up at his reaction, alarmed. "What-"
Azriel shook his head, cutting off the question. He drew in a deep breath, trying to steel himself against the nauseating feel of the taint, then when he felt he was ready, touched Augy again to perform the miracle that would take them to Ephraim's bedroom.
Even with Ephraim's unconscious permission, teleporting past the shield he'd accidentally placed on his apartment building took more energy than Azriel thought it would have. He sat down immediately, but waved off Ephraim's panic. "I'll be fine, just tired. Look after your brother."
After the sobs subsided, there were no words, Ephraim put his brother to bed.