||𝔸𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕤||

Chapter 2 - The Misplaced Child

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"After all, it's one thing to run away when someone's chasing you. It's entirely another to be running all alone."
~ Jennifer E. Smith
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✟⃛ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Aziraphale's mind wandered back to a time when he used his wings to travel everywhere. While it was exhausting and impractical, it was certainly less terrifying than riding in Crowley's car. Aziraphale normally would have scolded the demon for his out of control driving, but now even as he gripped onto the car door like his afterlife depended on it, he held his tongue. Crowley was not in a good mood, and Aziraphale couldn't exactly blame him for it.

They spent eleven years of their time raising the child they believed to be the Antichrist, influencing him to be as normal as possible in an attempt to prevent the apocalypse. Aziraphale was actually beginning to believe that they had pulled it off. He showed up at Warlock's birthday party this morning feeling hopeful that the boy would turn the hellhound away, but the dog never showed up. They had the wrong boy. For eleven years they thought they were warding off the end of the world, and now they were worse off than when they started. Aziraphale didn't even have a clue where the real Antichrist was.

His eyes darted towards his right to look at the reckless driver of the Bentley. Aziraphale didn't often find himself staring the demon, normally it was the other way around. Crowley's hands were gripped tightly onto the steering wheel. He was still wearing the white suit from the birthday party earlier today. Even though he was also donning his usual sunglasses, Aziraphale could tell his expression was troubled. His jaw was clenched and his posture was rigid. It was abnormal for the normally laid back man that Aziraphale had grown to enjoy the company of. Despite the fact that he had an unwavering glare on the road in front of him, Crowley seemed to be driving even more dangerously than usual, which was really saying something. Aziraphale simply miracled anyone who got too close out of Crowley's way.

Aziraphale was about to do just that to a young girl about to cross the street, when a sudden unpleasant feeling made him freeze up. Instead, Crowley slammed on the breaks to avoid hitting her as she walked out into the road. Aziraphale lurched forward in his seat at the abrupt lack of movement, just narrowly avoiding slamming his head against the dashboard. The girl stood frozen in shock, only a couple of feet from the front of the stopped car. Crowley opened his mouth to say something, likely a complaint, but stopped himself. He too, felt something was off. Both supernatural entities looked towards the girl, only to find that she was already staring back at them, her eyes widening slightly. There was no doubt about it, the sense of wickedness Aziraphale was feeling was coming from the girl herself.

"Is that-" he began.

"A demon, yes." Crowley cut him off.

That was certainly not what Aziraphale was going to imply. He didn't think it was possible for children to become demons. The three just stared at each other for a moment, before the honking of a horn behind Crowley's car broke the tension. The girl suddenly bolted off in the direction she was originally going. In an instant, Crowley was out of the car and chasing after her, leaving his vehicle abandoned in the middle of the road. Aziraphale ignored the complaints from the other drivers and stepped out of the car to follow after his companion, not wanting him to do anything brash.