"Well, at least there's no new shit cropping up." Azazel sighed. "Things aren't getting better, but at least they're not getting worse." he reasoned, looking absently into the building.

"But... means I can spend a day or two trying to come up with answers." he reasoned.

"I'll check up on you and touch base in a couple of days." he then told Erica.

"I just hope these incidents don't continue." he said further.

"Anyway... try and stay safe, okay?" he asked her. "Just... yeah, just try and make sure you don't get hurt in any of these incidents that may break out close to you." he finished.

"Excellent idea." Azazel said to Erica. "The archangels may very well know if something weird is happening in the world." he reasoned, before looking over towards Izzy.

"And good idea as well. Having more people out finding info is always a good idea." he reasoned.

He then just sighed, and looked towards Erica again.

"Anything else we can do for you right now?" he asked her.

"Or you gonna be okay for now?"

"Understandable." Azazel responded.

"Yeah, the fact that we don't know what this is... is concerning, to understate it." he commented. "So we need to find some sort of inkling as to what the hell is happening." he reasoned.

"Anyway, I'm going to start digging into my contacts and info-networks." he then said.

"Izzy, I'll keep in touch with you periodically as I find things out." he told the security guard.

"And Erica, I'll come see you in a 2 days, at the latest." he then informed Erica.

"All righty then." Az responded, sighing lightly.

"I'm going to make one more sweep of inside the building, report back to you, Izea, and then start collecting information." he said further, before bidding farewell to the two and heading further inside.

He was the only one allowed to go in and out of the building, as he seemed to be immune to what had happened, and what could happen... with the exception of Roxie, but nobody had seen her lately. Odds were good she was off on her own once more.

Erica could see that Azazel was worried, too. Already, Aedan was still not faring the best, and now this was happening. He and her were really good friends, and he was quite worried about her.

Normally he wasn't so keen and gung-ho to check his demonic contacts, as he always tried to distance himself from that world as much as he possibly could, but this time he was more than willing to throw himself back into that world, if it meant he could help her.

She was alone at the bus stop, and was waiting for close to 10 minutes, before one of the ones she was looking for pulled up. The doors opened, she got on, paid her fare, made her way through the decently packed bus, and found a seat to sit in, which she did. Given stops and schedules and routes, she estimated that this would be about a 15-20 minute ride, and she hoped nothing would happen.

However, this was not the case. It seemed like it would be, as when she heard a stop called out, she knew the next one would be hers. She was practically home... and then she saw it happen.

A fight had broken out elsewhere on the bus... and she witnessed one of the participants stab the other in the gut with a concealed knife that they had.

This caused panic to ensue throughout the vehicle, with people either trying to get away, or subdue the one with the weapon, and the bus had come to a screeching halt, causing the passengers that weren't seated to fall forward and land in small heaps.

Though tempers were starting to flare more than ever now... except for the one that was sitting directly across from her, as the male seemed to be... oddly and alarmingly zen about this, to the point where they looked ready to just adopt some sort of meditation position.

By the time she got back to her home, she was practically trudging. She felt like she was slogging through waist-deep sludge when she unlocked the door and stepped inside. She closed the door behind her, and started to walk forward, before she caught her reflection in the full-length mirror she had in the entryway, so people could check themselves over before they left, and when they came home.

And something stood out immediately.

She was wondering why she hurt so much in that one spot, and now she knew. The point where she had been 'shoved' was wet. And red. And it was spreading out alarmingly quickly.

She had been stabbed. And she'd walked home while bleeding out. From the looks of it, it hadn't been dripping, so she hadn't left a blood trail... but it looked like she was mere minutes away from just dripping blood onto the floor there.

She received silence for a few seconds, making her fear the worst, when she suddenly heard him call back.

"Comin'!" the man exclaimed, as she heard slightly hurried footsteps.

She looked to the left, and saw him approach... but stop in place for a fraction of a second.

"Oh my God!" he exclaimed, seeing her bleeding, and then racing towards her.

"Erica!? What happened!?" he asked her when he was close enough, and saw just how bad the wound was. He immediately put his hand over it, and started to pulse his mana into her.

If nothing else, he needed to close that wound. Fast.

Gabe was silent for a moment, before carrying her to the bathroom that was by her bedroom. Normally he would take her to the couch or bed, but he knew that she wouldn't want any blood staining her couch, bed, or carpeting for that matter. So he was being careful to make sure it didn't drop.

He then sighed, and shook his head.

"Firstly, I got back about a half-hour ago." he told her.

"I was thinking about a way to surprise you with something, but it seems you surprised ME first." he lamented.

"Also, part of the reason you were looking for me?" he asked. "Is there more to it than you bleeding badly from a grievous wound?"

Gabriel paused when she asked her question... and seriously thought about it for a moment.

"I... hm." he mumbled.

"A similar effect? Like making emotions run high, and out of control?" he asked her.

"Yeah." Erica responded with a small nod.

"I... not offhand, no." he admitted. "Some of my siblings might, but I don't offhand." he told her.

"A special kind of empath can project their feelings onto another person, but that's... limited." he then said. "It's usually just directed at ONE person, and it's arguably a weak effect." he continued.

"So nowhere near the level of your curse."

Gabe checked her arm, and concentrated for a moment.

"...I don't sense anything different, either." he told her, which pretty solidly confirmed that SHE was not the problem. Izzy didn't hear anything, Azazel didn't feel anything, and Gabriel... the archangel with the most experience with people that had the curse... wasn't finding anything different or off.

"And getting out of hand?" he asked her.

"...did a fight or riot or something break out around you, and you ended up with the wound?" he asked her further.

Then, before she really could respond, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her.

"I'm so sorry you got hurt." he said quietly.