Disco Inferno

They were going for the record; largest number, longest time. The
music pounded, hammered and went ka-thump, ka-thump, ka-thump as it had
done for what seemed like eons now.

The thousands, the tens of thousands, the millions of bodies moving in
varying degrees of rhythm were lit by glows of every tint, every tone,
that strobed, flashed and swirled, catching Vogue snapshots as the
scene unfolded like a Magic Lantern.

"Here's a blast from the past," DJ Jordan on his raised platform in the
epicentre shouted as he threw on another track, his voice blatting from
the skyscraper megawatt speakers strategically positioned about the
dancefloor. "It's an oldie for all you goldies. Let's give it large
for&;#8230; The Eurhythmics !" The cheer went up like a volcanic
eruption.

"No-one on Earth could feel like this, I'm thrown and overblown with
bliss&;#8230;"

And so it went on, and on&;#8230;

Out on the periphery, the very edge, Cassiel was moving in mysterious
ways: spinning, spiralling and shimmying, waving his hands in the air,
grinding his serpentine hips.

His eyes were closed, he was lost in music. He couldn't remember how
long he had been dancing, nor did he care. He didn't feel tired, he was
just so&;#8230; so High&;#8230;

He had a look around him; the place was awash with dizzy rainbow
colour. They were going to get the record, he didn't doubt that; they
had overtaken the numbers by a few-hundred thou, had been dancing for
almost twice as long as the previous attempt. Cassiel continued to
dance, they all did. No idea of time or space or meaning.

And, for the first time, he saw her. DJ Jordan had pumped up the volume
one louder and was playing Shaggy now. Cassiel was singing along to
himself as he rotated his body slowly, sensually. "Life is one big
party when you're still young, But who's gonna have your back when it's
all done, It's all good when you're little, you have pure fun, Can't be
a fool, son, what about the long run" He hadn't seen her before, but
then again, in that crowd, she may well have been there from the very
genesis of it all.

She was a slight thing, all clad in glowing white, feather-cut hair the
colour of sun-dried straw and Gulf Stream blue eyes that reflected
spiral galaxies back at him. She saw him staring, drooling at her and
she smiled an oh-so-cute smile that almost had a Colgate ring of
brilliance surrounding it.

The music faded in his head, the dancing figures around them s l o w e
d, until it was only her and him. Nobody else mattered.

"Okay, people, let me see those lights !" The DJ's voice cut through
his mind's meanderings.

The crowds cheered and a million tiny stars swayed back and forth in
unison in the air as they sang along with Stoke-on-Trent's finest. "And
through it all, she offers me protection, a lot of love and affection,
whether I'm right or wrong&;#8230;" Voices rolled out like tidal
waves, picking up height and speed.

Cassiel took a deep breath and sidled over to her where she stood
serenely, barely moving, just the slightest rock of her hips.

He got to within a kiss's distance of her ear. "Hi&;#8230;"

"Hi, yourself." Her voice was the barest whisper, yet it hit him like
both barrels of a Purdey, point-blank. He felt his skin sizzle and
burn, felt the pale hairs at the base of his neck stand to attention.
His heart quickened, his breath caught, refused to go down.

This was what it must have been like to be in lo&;#8230;

"Right, we'll have none of that here !"

The figure was built like The Bismarck, had shoulders like continental
plates and arms that could snap a spine with a single twitch. Cassiel
had heard of him. His name was Ahadiel, an enforcer, a tough guy, a
thug. "Leave Anahita alone !"

Cassiel protested as he was hoisted into the air, legs dangling and
thrashing, by a fist the size of his head. "But I
wasn't&;#8230;"
Ahadiel was having none of it. "I've heard about you. You're always
doing this and you've been warned before." He began to swing Cassiel
towards the edge of dancefloor. "You've had your last chance,
matey."

"But I&;#8230;"

"You are the Weakest Link. Goodbye !"

Ahadiel grinned a wolfish grin as he opened his fingers and watched
Cassiel plummet.

Oblivious to the tiny commotion on the far side of the party, DJ Jordan
continued his rap as he poured another disc onto the deck. "Right, guys
an' gals, here's another one from the mirrorball era of disco. It's
Tavares and "Heaven Must Be Missin' An Angel"&;#8230;"

And so, there was one less angel dancing on the head of the
pin&;#8230;

Cassiel fell, spinning and spiralling as he dropped into the abyss,
wings useless deadweights. He could see the lights of his former home
dwindling and diminishing, becoming a dull glow, a twinkling star, the
merest pinpoint of fading light&;#8230;

Darkness&;#8230;

Everything was a thick and gloopy black. He couldn't even feel himself
falling anymore. He didn't know for sure what he would find when he
reached the bottom; he had only heard hushed tales.
What he was sure of, though, was that of all the angels who had fallen,
none had returned&;#8230;

Eventually, though, Cassiel hit rock-bottom, hit it so hard that he
smashed every bone, pulped every organ, became a chalkline around a
puddle on an obsidian surface.

Of course, being a celestial being, he didn't die, oh no. He pulled
himself together, quite literally. It just took a long time and it hurt
like&;#8230;

The girl was crouched on the semi-devoured remnants of an accountant.
Her skin was the colour of Cherry Cola tattooed with indigo swirls. Her
eyes were fiery gold like miniature supernovae and her hair was
waist-length, deep black and moved to its own tune. Pale-green spines
and barbs sprouted from her wiry, muscular body and when she smiled,
vicious venom-dripping fangs extended from a slight overbite.

"Hello&;#8230;" Her voice was studded, black leather, carrying with
it a sense, a taste, of what awaited him. "Want to dance ?"