A familiar voice called out to them and Damien lifted his head, nodding up to his old friend in response. He was always a bit jumpy; one of those conspiracy theorists that felt the government had ulterior motives and what not. I’m most cases, he was wrong, but he didn’t have a good grasp on the likes of demons and other supernatural beings. The sounds of at least two or three deadbolts turning out of place sounded off and the door swung in, Roland standing just inside the pain with his slender fingers gripping the hard wood. Damien smiled and sighed, turning his head to look at the girl before shrugging. “Come on, let’s just get inside. It’s not safe out here.” Roland stepped to the side and waited for them both to walk in before running the locks back home.<br/><br/>The door from the alley led into the back of the comic shop. There were boxes upon boxes of floppies that were bagged and boarded, waiting for the next sale that this particular store would put on. Roland led them through the maze of comics and into the front of the store, taking up position behind the counter as if he were about to make a big sale. He sat on a stool and leaned against the counter, sniffing up some mucous that was running out of his nose. Must of had a cold. “Trouble you say?” Roland inquired, a smug grin playing on his thin lips. “How’d I know you’d come to me first. Wait, you<i>did</i>come to me first, right?” Damien’s brow narrowed and he opened his mouth to rebuke the man but was cut short. “Alright, alright. Spill it. What’s going on?”<br/><br/>Damien laid it all out on the table. He told Roland everything, starting from when he saved Tess from the alley. Roland sat in awe, something like fear glimmering in his eyes as he listened to the the tale.<br/><br/>When Damien finished, there was a erie calm in the room while Roland processed it all. “Let me get this straight. You just happened to stumble across Red here when she was getting attacked by a demon. Then the brought her back to your place and had your fucking apartment blown up? Then a hell hound tried to kill you? Christ!” He scoffed in disbelief, eyes focusing on something non existent as he tried to make sense of it all. “Sounds to me like you need to ditch the girl and all your problems will go away.” Roland shifted his eyes to Tess. “No offense, red.”<br/><br/>“Stop, fucking around Roland.” Damien said sternly. “Something is happening and I know that if anyone knows something about it, it’d be you.”<br/><br/>“Right! Don’t have a fucking cow.” He cleared his throat and slide off of the stool, one hand coming up to smooth down his greasy hair before pulling a small lockbox out from under the register. Inside of this lockbox was a notebook; it was an old wife ruled book that was black with a cover that looked like the side of a cow - much like the notebook ‘Harriet the Spy’ carried around in her little adventures. Roland flipped the book open and inside of it were walls of text. He flipped through it slowly, newspaper clippings and other pictures catching Damien’s eye breifly. Damien looked to Tess, attempting to give a reassuring smile, but it just came off wrong, it was more of a grimace than anything, which was probably more appropriate for the situation.<br/><br/>“Here we go,” Roland began. “Sorry Red, but you’re not the first dame to be targeted recently. See, I keep my ear to the streets and look for this kind of stuff. It looks like there was a young lady named Abigail Frank that went missing a few weeks ago, he body was discovered in a storm drain all mangled and halfway eaten. The initial thought is murder, but there are no leads. Shannon Butte is another one, she was found the same way, only, her body was found at the edge of town. I would consider yourself lucky.” Damien shot him another look and Roland continued on. “I don’t know why you’re being targeted but I do know that there is some sort of...Demon assembling going on. For what purpose? I have no idea. All I know is that I have been told to stay out of downtown. There are more things like this happening, to more than just prettt girls. Some think the demons are making some sort of push, like they are going to attempt a takeover or something.”<br/><br/>“A takeover?” Damien questioned, leaning over the counter. “For what purpose? They could never actually make that happen.” Roland lifted his shoulder into a shrug and shut the book. “Maybe not separately, but rumor has it, there is an alpha demon now that’s calling the shots. All the lessers are joining rank. I was actually thinking about getting out of town myself. You’d be smart to do the same thing.”<br/><br/>There was a loud crashing sound at the back door that made both Roland and Damien jump. “What the fuck was that?” Damien questioned.<br/><br/>“Please tell me that you masked your scent before coming here.” Roland asked, sternly. Damien shook his head, suddenly feeling like an idea. “Fuck! We gotta get the hell out of here!” Roland said right before the door burst open and the hound howled, making its way into the shop.