[IC] Ooky Spooky

[Beetlejuice96]

Evie couldn't stop the scream from escaping as she saw what Lucas had done to stop the cult. She trembled in shock as tears fell. They were too late. If he had only waited a few more minutes he'd still be...Her hand shook as she carefully closed his eyes, once dark and full of life now just dark with death. "I'm so sorry, Lucas...we were too late." She whispered.

Her head whipped around upon hearing voices and footsteps thundering towards them. "I don't want to know what happens if they find us." She said, standing back up.

[Metronome]

Lars snapped out of his shock when he heard the sound of people coming. He looked around for a way out, but found none. There wasn't even a decent place to hide. He pulled Evie away from the door and stood in front of her as it flew open, several people in dark cloaks filing in. One man pushed his way to the front. He looked at the body on the floor, his jaw set.

"Motherfucker," He growled, then his eyes went to the two intruders. "You two have made the biggest mistake of your lives coming here. Take them!"

"Wait!" Lars stepped towards them. "If you let her go, I'll come willingly."

The man scoffed. "And why the hell do we care if you are willing or not?"

Lars paused. He took a deep breath, then began to unbutton his long sleeved shirt. "Because then you can finished what you started." He tossed the shirt to the floor. His torso, and presumably the rest of him, was covered in the same, satanic symbols that had marred Damien. These, however, were healed and faded from decades of living in the sanctity of holy ground.

[Beetlejuice96]

"Lars, no!" Evie exclaimed, grabbing his arm as she looked at him. "I'm not letting you become a demon, we can still stop them!" She exclaimed, practically begging him. She didn't want to lose another acquaintance. "Don't do this."

[Metronome]

"I can't live my whole life inside that church," Lars said to her. "This was going to happen sooner or later. I've accepted that." He looked back at the cultists. The man in front was gleaming.

"Well, well. Someone's already done the work for us, I see," He seemed very pleased. "Very well. We let that girl go, and you come quietly. Wherever we tell you to."

"Deal," Lars said, his hesitation gone. "But I want to make sure you fulfill your part. I want to see her let go safely."

"Very well. Someone take these two up top."

The cultists came for them, grabbing their arms and leading them out of the room. Lars didn't struggle as they were taken back out into the station, and up several flights of stairs until the harsh light of day hit them. They were both shoved into the back of a van.

"When you get out, run. Call Isaac. Don't go back home, and don't go to his house. You two need to wait until Lucas comes back," He spoke in a quiet tone, so the driver couldn't hear him.

[Beetlejuice96]

Evie winced as the thugs grabbed her injured arm but didn't complain as they were lead back to the surface and into a van. Upon hearing Lars, she gave him a baffled expression. Wait until Lucas comes back? She thought almost wanting to mouth it to him but decided on a curt nod in reply. Once the van had stopped and she was shoved out she ran off, stumbling a little before gaining her footing.

Tears stung her vision as she ran, the harsh reality crushing down on her like a skyscraper. It wasn't until her lungs screamed in agony that she stopped, sliding down against an alleyway wall and sobbing. Remembering Lars' words, she called Isaac still crying. "Don't go home." She said when he answered, voice cracking.

[Metronome]

"Yeah, I figured that when I saw the blood covered car in my driveway!" Isaac said over the phone, "Evie, what the hell is going on?!"

[Beetlejuice96]

Evie took a shuddering breath before telling him everything; visiting Lucas, finding the car, what happened with Damien and the police, finding the location of the cult. "Isaac...we were too late. Lucas...Lucas is..." She couldn't bring herself to say it as more tears poured out.

She cried for a few minutes before telling Lars sacrificed himself in exchange for her safety. "He told me to call you and wait until Lucas comes back. What does he mean?"

[Metronome]

Isaac was silent for a long time. His breather shuddered quietly on the other side of the phone. Then, finally, "Where are you?" He asked. "I'll come get you."

[Beetlejuice96]

Evie glanced around before seeing a store not too far away from where she was. She gave him the name of the place before waiting outside it, trembling from everything that happened. Once Isaac arrived, she got into the car. It was in the sideview mirror she caught how horrible she looked, bloodshot, puffy eyes, dirt and a little bit of cobwebs on her outfit as well as in her hair.

"I didn't mean for this to happen. I had no idea Damien would come to my apartment. Lucas is dead because of me." She croaked as a dry sob racked her body, all the tears she had now gone.

[Metronome]

Isaac winced when he saw how bad she looked. He, too, appeared to have been crying. But he kept a stony face as he drove. "It's not your fault, and Lucas isn't dead." He said. "He can't die; he's immortal. His body can die, sure, but...he'll be back. The problem is we don't know how long it'll take. This hasn't happened while I've been his keeper."

[Beetlejuice96]

"Immortal? What do you mean, he's like an angel or something?" Evie asked him. At this point she wouldn't be surprised if he was considering demons were real. "Keeper? You mean he's had others who protected him in the past?"

[Metronome]

"It's...complicated. And don't ask him about it, either. He's really touchy about it." Isaac took a deep breath before explaining to the best of his abilities. "From what I've gathered, he was an angel at one point. He was an angel of song, or something to that effect. Then, when Lucifer did the whole 'creating hell' thing, he made the mistake of leaving heaven. He became, well, a demon. And not one of these little guys that these cultists are calling up, he was an archdemon.

But, he realized his mistake and tried to go back. It took hundreds of years of convincing the Big Guy to forgive his treason, and of course he was never fully re-instated. So that's why he's here: not an angel, not a demon, just something in between. His voice, his weapon, was taken from him. His sole purpose is to hunt other demons now with what powers he has left. So, yeah, he's been around a while. But he doesn't stay if he isn't needed, and he has a knack for getting himself killed. That's why he's assigned to a keeper each time he comes back. I imagine coming back every few hundred years and seeing how much the world has changed is a little jarring, you know? I was the lucky bastard picked this time."

Isaac sighed. "He'll be back. He's still very much needed. But I don't know how long it takes. Like I said, it's kind of a touchy subject with him. It's taken me years to pry this much information out of him."

He pulled up to a motel and stepped out of the car. "Well...this'll do for now, I guess."

[Beetlejuice96]

So that's why he's deformed. Evie thought as she listened to the story. She felt sorry for the former angel and his choice which lead him to being on Earth, trapped forever so he was unable to enter heaven or hell. "I won't talk about it." She promised.

She stepped out of the car with him, giving him a slight nod. "Lucas will know we're here, right?" She asked hopefully.

[Metronome]

Isaac shrugged. "I sure hope so. He can sense demons, so I just kinda' assume he can sense where I'm at, too." He went into the office and paid for a room for the both of them. It wasn't a super fancy place to stay, but it was two beds, a bathroom, and fairly clean.

Isaac tossed his suitcase on one of the beds and sat down, running a hand down his face. The stress was getting to him. He could only assume that his best friend was dead by now, and his other friend was somewhere in limbo. He was exhausted, but he certainly wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight without some heavy sleeping meds.

"I've got a clean t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts if you want to clean up and change," He offered. "I expected to be in Florida for a while, so I packed a lot of extras."

[Beetlejuice96]

"Thank you." Evie replied with a weak smile as she took the clothes he offered her before heading into the bathroom to clean up and change. She did wince as the water hit her scar, making a mental note to ask him about it later. After a while she appeared, a little refreshed but exhausted.

"Isaac? Have you ever seen anything like this before? The demon that possessed Damien ended up giving this to me." She inquired, showing the scar to him.

[Metronome]

Isaac looked at the scar, his head tilted. "Yeah. Lars has...had, one just like it. He got it when one of the demons he and Lucas were destroying touched him. That, combined with being marked up with all those sigils, is what kept him inside the church. He couldn't leave holy ground at night, and only for a limited amount of time during the day. It's like a beacon to demons saying 'hey, come possess me'."

He paused. "But, there's ways to prevent that. Wearing holy water jewelry for one. Wouldn't have helped Lars with all the," He made a general motion to entire body. "But as long as you don't get carved up, a nice holy trinket should do."

[Beetlejuice96]

"You...wouldn't happen to have any on you currently, would you?" She asked a little nervously, not wanting to be a beacon for any demons that would undoubtedly be looking for them.

[Metronome]

"I do, actually. I never leave home without it." Isaac dug into his suitcase and eventually pulled out a small vial. "It's not exactly the most fashionable thing, but you can just keep it in your pocket for now." He handed it to her. "Well, my turn to clean up. I'm covered in airport gunk." He was at least trying to make light of the horrible situation at hand.

Isaac took out a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt and went into the bathroom to wash up. When he came back, he dug in his bag until he found his Unisom.

"Want some?" He offered, "This stuff does wonders."

Making a career out of hunting demons certainly wrecked one's sleep habits. He'd had to resort to medication to sleep well on multiple occasions.

[Beetlejuice96]

"Thank you." Evie said as she took the vial from him, placing it in her pocket. She chuckled a little as he made a joke before heading off to get cleaned up as well. She was fast asleep when he came out, whimpering softly as memories of what happened plagued her mind, specifically Lucas' death.

[Metronome]

Isaac looked over to see her already asleep, and restless. He pondered over whether he should wake her up, but decided against it in hopes that she would settle herself. He took his sleeping pill and tucked in to his own bed.

It was early morning; still dark outside. A bright flash lit up the room before it quickly died. Lucas glanced around at where he was, then went to try and shake Isaac awake. The man wasn't having any of it, still slumbering heavily from the medication. Lucas gave up and turned to Evie. He approached her quietly and bent down to look her in the face before poking her shoulder.