For You, My Dear, Anything (Radiodust)

Freedom

Am I dead?

Angel lifted his head just enough to see a holy bullet embedded in the ground just in front of him. Confused, he craned his neck to see but was suddenly pulled into the arms of another demon and gawked at the view in front of him. Husk and Nifty were bolting off the door to the room while Charlie helped some scared servants who were locked in with them and Vaggie followed her brandishing a holy spear. Valentino kneeled in front of him, his eyes glowing red hot with fury, and clutched half an arm soaked in his own black blood.

"Nice to see you again, old chap." Angel whirled. Alastor stood calmly behind him, propping the spider against himself. "So sorry to barge in unannounced. I came to ask for my friend's contract, and we'll leave you to the rest of your day."

Valentino growled but dared not to speak, knowing very well that one wrong move would end with him dead. Alastor, however, was not patient. Pulling his own gun from Valention's severed hand, he pointed the pistol at the moth. His body fuzzed like an old TV screen and lights flickered as shadow figures morphed through the white tile floor.

"I'll ask one more time," Alastor hissed, his static voice cracking and layering with the voices of thousands of demons who died by his hand, "Release Angel from his contract. Now."

Valentino waved his hand, a golden paper appearing in front of him. With the flick of his wrist, the paper shattered into millions of pieces, hitting the ground like tiny shards of glass only to crumble further into black dust. Angel shivered and bright pink smoke fell from his fur like dirt and drifted back to Valentino, dissipating as it reached him. Suddenly, the lights flicked back to normal and the shadow figures vanished into thin air. Silence fell over the building like a blanket and the others in the room glanced at each other.

"Thank you for your cooperation, good sir," Alastor chirped, abruptly shattering the stillness, "We'll be on our way then."

Without putting Angel down, he strutted to the bolted door, Charlie and the others following behind. As he neared the door, the wood keeping it shut started to splinter and fall away, allowing the guards on the other side to break through. They rushed towards Alastor but were thrown back by an invisible force with the flick of his ears and left sprawled on the floor, out cold.
Angel was too stunned to speak the entire way home and no one else did either, not wanting to test the obviously still very pissed-off Radio Demon. Only when they returned to the hotel safely did Alastor finally place the spider on his feet and retreat just enough for the others to talk to him.

"Are you alright, Angel?" Charlie questioned, circling him to check for wounds.

"Yeah, I'm al'ight. Just a little shaken."

"That moth's lucky he got to keep any of his arms," Husk chuckled, mosying back to the bar with Nifty, "I've seen Alastor torture demons for days for less than what he did."

"As much as I hate to say it," Vaggie chimed in, gently pulling Angel down to check the bruise on his face, "That madre hijo de puta would've deserved it."

"Come now, my friends," Alstor interjected, "My only goal was to release our dear Angel from his contract. Nothing more." Vaggie backed away as the demon approached. He gently placed a glowing hand on Angel's bruised cheek, instantly healing his darkened skin and black eye. Angel rubbed his skin where the wound had been, his brain finally comprehending what had just happened.

"I'm free," he whispered.

All of the others stopped to look at him. Angel grabbed Alastor's sleeve, his eyes swimming with a silent plea for confirmation, and when the deer nodded in response, he fell to his knees. Tears poured from his eyes and Charlie rushed to his side, startled.

"I'm free," he repeated, gripping Alastor's wrist in his hand, "I'm finally free."

Choked sobs began filling the room as Angel cried. Charlie and Vaggie held him while he screamed out his years of abuse. Nifty circled him with a box of tissues, Husk poured him a victory cocktail at the bar, and Alastor sat back, watching with a rare, genuine grin. After he'd lost his voice and toasted with the others, Angel tottered over to Alastor and wrapped all four arms around him.

"I love ya," he whispered. Alastor hugged him back, ignoring the dropped jaws of the others, picked up his spider, and walked towards the stairs.

"Goodnight, my friends," Alastor said without pausing to look back, "Thank you all for your help today."