Adrian had to be on his fifth drink when the bartender started looking at him funny. Scowling, he pushed himself away from the bar and sought for another distraction. Shaking his black hair out of his eyes, he found himself being pulled as if by a magnet through the dance floor, moving mechanically. He cast his eyes upward, noting something odd that he hadnâ€™t quite noticed when heâ€™d initially walked in. It shocked him to the point that he almost believed people were hovering in the air. There were platforms suspended from cables connected by small staircases, and all of it was made of thick, clear plastic. As he slid through the mass of bodies, he wondered if the platforms had a weight limit. He paused when he felt a hand on his chest.<br/><br/>â€œHey, sexy. Whatâ€™s your name?â€ purred a voice in his ear.<br/><br/>Mildly annoyed, he glanced down at a sultry girl with blond hair and a very short skirt. He suppressed an eye roll. â€œSome other time gorgeous.â€ He said, dropping her a flirtatious wink before peeling her off him and moving through the crowd again.<br/><br/>After finally clearing the mob, he noticed something was in his hand, and he glanced at his palm. There was a slip of paper, with ten digits written on it. A phone number. He scoffed and let the slip of paper fall between his fingers as he moved toward the first set of stairs. He picked his way along quickly, headed for the next bar in sight.<br/><br/>Suddenly the music resonating through the building changed and caught Adrianâ€™s attention almost violently. â€œ...Looking for angels...People passing by, looking for angels.â€ He shot a questioning look around, then glanced at the DJ. Was it just a coincidence? Or was there an angel here?<br/><br/>Frowning, he took a deep breath, for once not choking on the stench of human. There was a different smell about the building; not a scent of body odor, alcohol, or even perfume or cologne. It was like the scent of pure water and water lilies. Nothing like the smell of any human.<br/><br/>Quickly he cast his senses out, feeling for something with his mind and aura. Surely enough, he found it.<br/><br/>There was an angel inside.<br/><br/>But this was different. Adrian did not feel the normal tingle of angelic aura. Rather, it was different somehow. Tinged with something, almost. Not exactly impure, but...strange.<span style="font-style: italic">A fallen angel, perhaps...?</span>He wondered idly while he searched for the place where the angelic aura was originating from. No, not fallen exactly. It was altered, not tainted. It was so confusing, he couldnâ€™t seem to puzzle it out.<br/><br/>There.<br/><br/>He whirled around and scanned the crowd on the dance floor. It was there, the angel. Blending among the humans. Adrianâ€™s mismatched eyes narrowed, trying to pinpoint the strange angelâ€™s aura. Curiosity urged him to investigate, and his demon blood stirred with instinctive hatred. He had already extinguished one angelic being that day, why not another? Or at the very least confront them, maybe make them piss their pants.<br/><br/>That would be entertaining.<br/><br/>With this thought in mind Adrian plowed through the crowd, ducking and weaving through bodies. His gaze swept over faces, and now he openly allowed himself to breathe the putrid air, trying to pick out the scent of pure water and lilies. For a while all he could smell was sweat and the musk of perfume and sex, but finally he picked it up again. This all would be so much easier if he could just send Pravus out to find it.<br/><br/>Then the sense grew, and he was stumbling through the crowd as if in a daze. It felt like an eternity had passed when finally his eyes fell on the sole angelic figure in the crowd. He was mildly taken aback that it was a girl, a young one at that. Her long black hair twirled around her lithe frame as she spun on the dance floor. Her skin was moonlight pale, and shockingly contrasting with the rest of her darker coloring.<br/><br/>He was stumped. Every angel he had ever encountered in his 80 (plus some change) years had been shining white or golden. Never black. His curiosity rose as he carefully approached her. Adrian noticed offhandedly that he towered over her; she came up to maybe his collar bone.<br/><br/>Either way, she was an angel, who was alone, hanging out at a demon club.<br/><br/>With a grin that bordered on malicious, he swept over to the girl while her back was turned. He did not conceal his aura purposefully, and even dropped the glamour from his eyes, allowing their luminous colors to show as she turned around. Before she could even formulate a thought, he grasped her arm and the two of them went up in smoke.<br/><br/>People continued about their business, the spectacle went unnoticed.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Adrian teleported them into the alley around the back and pinned the girl against the wall. He had replaced his glamour, leaving his eye brown again out of habit. At least then if someone happened by they wouldnâ€™t try to throw holy water on him.<br/><br/>He had scars from encounters like that.<br/><br/>Adrian glared down at the angel, demon blood boiling with hatred and disgust. â€œYou donâ€™t belong in there,<span style="font-style: italic">angel.</span>â€ What should have been an endearment he snarled into a dirty word. â€œIn fact, why donâ€™t you just go back to where you came from?â€ His voice was low, but echoed with demonic undertones of loathing. Shadows surrounded him again, rippling with demonic energy.<br/><br/>With slow purposefulness, he summoned his blade again, and it illuminated the area in its bright blue cast. Its threatening sharpness was amplified by the sickle-like shape, designed for eviscerating and decapitating.<br/><br/>Adrian raised his arm and let the wicked tip of the blade prick the angelâ€™s throat. â€œWhy donâ€™t I help you rejoin them in Heaven?â€<br/><br/>More like Hell.