Brendon sat in his hotel bed, staring up at the ceiling. His hands rested on his chest and his legs were crossed at his ankles. He should have been working on the facts of the case, but something else kept filling his mind.

The whispers.

They weren't nearly as loud as at the museum, but their longing hum still bounced around Brendon's skull. It was numbing and soothing at the same time. Brendon felt his eyelids drop from full alertness to merely half.

Brendon knew he was being unprofessional by not working. He should be focusing on his break in tomorrow by examining maps of the layout and shift change times. However, instead of any of that, Brendon's eyes fully closed.

Just like that, he was falling. He cried out, but no sound left his lips. He felt air swirl around him. He felt hands graze his skin, bringing a burning pain wherever they touched.

It felt like years before he hit the ground with an echoing thud. Brendon pushed himself up on shaky arms. He couldn't process what had just happened. The silence of it all; the pain on his skin. He looked down on his arm, eyes growing wide with alarm.

Words were burned into his skin, everywhere he looked.

Sinner

Dark intentions

Let us in

Take it

Brendon's arm shook. What the fuck was going on!?

"Need some help, baby?"

Brendon looked up, catching Nicole's gaze. He felt his shaking calm as he looked at her. She extended a hand towards him, which he accepted. He was pulled to his feet and pulled close to her. One hand wrapped around his mid-frame while the other came up to rest against the size of his head.

"You need the key." She whispered to him. With her words, she traced something along his skin. Doing that made the words on Brendon's skin glow, but he was too locked in her gaze to notice. She grinned. "There are big plans for you."

Without warning, she pushed him away. He was once again sent falling through darkness. This time, cackling filled his ears as the burning hands moved to new locations of his exposed skin.

Brendon's eyes opened. His mind buzzed with the whispers and encouragement of Nicole, though he couldn't quite remember them. He pushed himself upright, feeling the growl of something within him once again. Something that didn't want to waste time with professionalism.

Brendon rose from the bed and moved in front of a mirror. In his reflection, his eyes had a slight haze to them. It was like looking at his eyes through a fogged glass. His arms, on the other hand, were clearly visible with the same burned markings from his dream. When he looked down, however, there was nothing there.

Brendon turned back to the mirror, taking in his reflection. It remained as it had been before, with only one difference.

The Devil's Key hung around Brendon's neck, resting against the middle of his chest. He could practically feel the weight of it, despite nothing being there when his hand shakily felt for it.

Take it

Brendon shut his eyes. What was going on? This wasn't professional. The key wasn't even for him. The key was for a client in exchange for cash. Why was this thing affecting him like this? It wasn't like he was new to supernatural artifacts; they were usually some of his favorite jobs. He enjoyed the superstition of his clients. It made everything a bit more fun, even if he wasn't a believer himself.

Take it

Take it

Take it!

"No!" Brendon exclaimed, balling his hands into fists at his side. The words pounded against the inside of his skull to the point he thought it might crack open.

Brendon stumbled back, hitting the bed and falling back onto it. He brought his hands up to his head, grabbing a small fistful of hair in each. His head was throbbing. The voices kept getting louder. It was unbearable.

Brendon cried out, but it did little good. He could barely hear himself over the voices in his head. They were so much louder.

Eventually, it stopped. Or, more likely, Brendon had passed out from the pain in his head. It was hard to force his eyes open once he was fully conscious. The voiced were gone, but a dull throbbing remained. It almost felt like a hangover without the fun of alcohol beforehand.

He groaned quietly. He didn't feel like moving. He felt like he had been beaten up rather than just passed out for god knows how long. He simply continued to blink up at the ceiling.

A knock sounded at his door.

"Please don't..." Brendon groaned as he turned his head to the side. Who the hell could that be?

Brendon pushed himself upright and looked toward the door. "Who is it?" His voice cracked with his words.

Nothing. No response, just another knock.

"I really don't feel up to talking." Brendon croaked again.

Just another knock.

Brendon rose from the bed. Hard to ignore whoever was there now. He shuffled across the room, ignoring his reflection as he passed the mirror. Another knock sounded as Brendon grew closer. Once at the door, he gripped the door handle, twisted, and yanked it open. "Listen, I really don't-"

There was no one there.

Brendon blinked at the empty space in front of him. Empty. Yet, someone had just been knocking! He peeked into the hallway, but neither saw nor heard anyone.

"I'm losing it..." He muttered as he stepped back into his room and shut the door. "I need to get back on the job..."

"Yea, you do." an Australian accent responded, much to Brendon's surprise.

He spun around to be greeted by woman with fiery red hair. She grinned wickedly at him.

"Tick tock says the boss." She continued to grind, tilting her head and flashing her eyes completely black.

What the-

The thought couldn't even finish before the woman grabbed his shirt and spun him. Brendon went flying back onto the bed, bouncing twice before the woman was on top of him.

"Get off!" He managed as she pinned him down.

The woman didn't respond. She instead licked her top lip and cocked her head at him again.

Brendon stared at her, unsure what to do. His hands were pinned, his knife was in his pocket, and this black eyed woman had somehow managed to silently sneak into his room. This wasn't a good situation.

"Your my redemption, pretty boy." She finally spoke, "Just a quick pep-talk to keep those pesky voices from bothering you! For the time being at least, since Nikie made them a bit louder with her encouragement." She leaned down, bringing her lips to his ear. "You're earning me my wings."

Wings? What the hell was this girl talking about, and how did she know about the voices? He struggled against her hold as she pulled her head back. He opened his mouth to question her, but she opened her mouth first.

Her voice was angelic. Brendon hardly heard the words of her song because of his immediate focus on her voice. His headache subsided. His mind cleared. It was all just her voice.

"Atta boy." She grinned after her song was done. She climbed off of Brendon, but he didn't bother trying to move. He was still lost in her song. "Don't take too long with the key." She said, jumping to her feet on the bed. She stretched her arms and threw her head back.

If Brendon had been paying attention, he wouldn't have believed it. From the woman's back, white feathers began to emerge. The woman gasped as the wings formed. The darkness in her eyes pulled back into her pupil as the process neared completion.

She laughed, reaching back to feel her new appendages. "Born again, hallelujah!" She jumped on the bed, letting her new wings rustle from the slight breeze it caused. "Goodbye hell, hello heaven." She smirked down at Brendon, "Wish I could say the same about you."

He continued to stare up at the ceiling, still lost in his head. He never even saw the woman flap her wings, rise into the air, and disappear.