1. TWO MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT

Xipe Totec observed the weak creature at his feet and then lowered his rugged knife, wiping the blood from its blade into the front of his leathery dress. He realized to his disappointment that the whimpering creature cried for mercy much easier these days. She held no promise of fulfilling her potential by overcoming the pain and pleasure and learning their ways in order to become one of them one day.

No, instead she held onto her humanity at the cost of her future, trying her best to lock herself inside happier memories. It was sad that he could see so clearly how she didn't not possess too many of those. In the beginning he had enjoyed breaking her spirit by revisiting the darker corners of her mind, invading this fertile Promised Land in hopes of being of the catalyst that would bring about her change. All those times her father would lock the door and press against her, knowing how ripe she was for his incestuous touch; they still haunted her.

But using her past trauma against her had quickly lost its charm, when it became obvious that she had escaped this hell on earth at the young age of 14 and never looked back since. No shadow of her father could tease her in this Hell after she had learned to harden herself against his attacks, which is why the demon had sought out new ways to know her flesh. After overwhelming pain he had introduced her to otherworldly pleasures in familiar shapes, and ah, how she had enjoyed the forbidden fruit, eating it ever so greedily.

The Labyrinth was no place for a creature like her. She had responded to their siren's call, not out of curiosity, but out of pressing need. She had stolen the box after it had become an obsession. A survivor willing to do anything to avoid paying her dues – usually this type was perfect for their intentions, but this one was all about suppressed emotions. Oh, how she longed to be trustworthy and calm, when her pain called her to act out like a wild animal, crying out for help and harming others, who came across her path.

He had come to know her intimately through these long years. At first he had been bitter and petty towards her, for inserting herself in the middle of his well-calculated plans. He had chased a far more alluring prey with his Leviathan Configuration, but this mortal had intervened at a critical time, thus helping his prey to escape his grasp. The cenobytes were powerful within the Labyrinth, inside Leviathan's sacred flesh, yet when they entered the mortal realm, they needed to be called and could only stay as long as their invitation was valid. The configurations that were guarded by demonic beasts travelled amid the humans, singing their song and luring in potentials and they were the only doorway between the Labyrinth and the mortal world, which is why it had taken Xipe Totec many precious years to influence the mortal world according to his will and bring his special configuration to the right pair of willing hands. And then this pathetic soul had interfered at the moment of victory and taken the box.

And she had come to them, scared for her life and the mundane horrors of Satan's hell. She had made a deal with a demon and after her time was up, she had opened the box with the attempt to fool destiny. Instead of demons, she had met the cenobytes, the chosen immortals of Leviathan, the guardians of hidden pleasures and pain. Some might say she would've been better off embracing the consequences of her own actions, for the Labyrinth in all its glory was everything Satan had ever wanted from Hell. But Leviathan was older than the angels and torn from Purgatory by God, banished alone into the Labyrinth, until it had found a way to bend the rules. The cenobytes had become Leviathan's angels and demons, and it had given them free hands to realize its vision. The Labyrinth existed outside the tired charade between good and evil to serve the needs of the flesh for new experiences and sensations.

This is also why the end of days for the mortal world had barely even been recognized; Leviathan had stirred and gazed upon its younger sibling, Satan, and found him to be an inferior being unworthy of the attention of the Labyrinth. This had all happened with little exposure, so only the highest ranking cenobytes even knew about it: perhaps only the members of the Vasa Iniquitatis. Xipe Totec, as the favourite son and lover of Leviathan, had obviously sensed the disarray Satan's return had caused and wondered whether it was too late for him to find his prey now.

Anger had followed, an emotion he had not recognized in centuries, and he had unleashed on this poor soul, who had robbed him of his victory. He had flayed her skin and displayed her in front of his congregation like work of art, her mouth sowed shut and her body pierced by metal chains. He had carved Leviathan's name onto her skull and spoken to her about the end of her world, and the intense anger and hatred this knowledge had stirred in him. She had listened in silence, her broken figure up for display and her shame burning brighter than ever. At this time she had not had a name for two years.

But the end of days had been averted. Satan had been defeated and thrown back inside his cage. And the chaos that the Vasa Iniquitatis fought with their last breath had turned into predictable and lovable order again. Xipe Totec had lost his interest in punishing her and she had received pleasure again. The emotions that had risen inside the cenobyte had calmed down like they had never existed in the first place. The pinheaded hedonist, who had taken her beyond this world, had reverted back into the shadowy figure that barely paid any attention to her.

Until today.

Bela was weary, suffering from withdrawal that came after intense sensations of either pain or pleasure. She had made love to a ghost born from her own unfulfilled desires, until the pleasant daydream had become a nightmare of torture. Now Xipe Totec, Leviathan's favourite son, stood before her and observed with iron calm. Blood was dripping down her naked body as she hung from the hooks, barely registering what went on around her. She knew him though: she could feel him under her skin, like an itch she wanted to scratch until it bled. She wanted to push every pin on his head right through his skull and watch as he cried for mercy.

Thinking back all she could remember about opening Pandora's box was the clock ticking to midnight, the pressure, the humiliation and regret. She remembered glancing at the phone, hearing the echo of Dean Winchester's mocking voice tear her apart. There'd been no joy or curiosity, just plain terror. Well now that terror seemed miniscule compared to the two years she had spent in the Labyrinth. The creature before her was more horrifying than any demon. This fate was surely worse than Hell.

The room felt warm and the lit candles created a circle of light that embraced Bela Talbot's naked body. The light excluded Xipe Totec from its circle though: the lead cenobite kept to the dark. Then he made a small movement with his leather-clad finger and the chains began descending from the ceiling slowly. Bela's feet touched the ground, but knowing her chance when she saw it, she feigned weakness and fell to the ground. The hooks tore through her skin, making groan in agony, but it helped sell the act.

He didn't make a move to help her, merely twisted the Leviathan Configurement in his hands like it was a harmless plaything. He watched as Bela tore the hooks from her flesh mutely, even though her face betrayed her suffering. "Do you still desperately cling onto salvation?" the demon asked softly, its voice carrying a hint of curiosity.

"Is there an edge to hell I can jump off?" she responded, sounding out of breath. The defiance in her voice was sharp though and it would've struck a human like a blade, but one needed harsher truths to cut Xipe Totec.

"Surely you know by now that there is no escape?" the flayed god spoke to her softly. They shared a long gaze before he put the Leviathan configuration on the floor and simply walked away.

Bela stared at the sharp diamond-shaped puzzle in front of her with desperation and then glanced at the demon, only to find that he was gone. This was the cruellest torture yet, but she took the box anyway and began fidgeting it in her hands with desperate rage. The world around her began to shake and as one part of the diamond unlocked, hooks started to fly at her again. They tore at her skin, but couldn't pry her hands from the box. She screamed until her voice was hoarse and her fingers bled onto the configuration in her hands. The hooks shot up from the ground, the walls, the roof… They flayed her, tearing her skin off, leaving nothing but bloody muscles and bones behind. She nearly closed her eyes and let go of the box when her scalp fell to the floor along with her hair, but through some miracle she managed to stay focused. Her pain threshold simply was beyond mortal comprehension now.

When the box finally opened, it covered her pathetic form in light that even the hooks couldn't kill. The chains that had cut into her flesh tried to hold her still, but they couldn't stop the light from invading her cells. And then she was no more. The cut chains fell to the floor where she'd once sat and the flayed god laughed in the distance.

He was driving too fast on these narrow country roads – especially since it'd been raining all night – but he didn't care as long as he got to where he was going. Every minute seemed to stretch into infinity while the tape player played his Journey cassette, trying its best to erase any room for thought in the car. It didn't help, for he'd already failed at his attempt to close everything inside. He'd done it for years, so when the call came in the black of night while he was embracing Lisa in her sleep, the walls he'd carefully built around her came crashing down.

Her heaving woke him and the sound of her agonized voice begging for help made him jump out of bed. Why had his instincts driven him to chase her when all she'd ever given him was a knife to the back? He'd wanted to trust her, but his hopes had gotten shot down again and again. So when he'd hung up on her plight, saying, I'll see you in hell, he'd fully meant it. Sam was the one, who'd been more lenient with her, but Sam wasn't here now was he?

He'd told her they would've helped her had she simply asked for it instead of screwing them over, but hearing her actually speak the words after two years had frozen him still. For a moment Dean had forgotten all about their sordid history and thought about his own experiences in Hell. She'd sounded broken, so defeated and humble in her request – like she knew she had no right to ask him, and yet had called anyway.

He gripped the steering wheel in his anger. Lisa had woken up as well, asking why he was packing, and Dean hadn't had an answer for her. When he'd gotten downstairs and started looking for his gun and car keys, she'd demanded his attention by standing in his way, forcing him to deal with her. He'd promised her that the hunting was over, so why?

To help a friend, he'd said, feeling how wrong those words felt on his lips.

She has no one else, he'd continued, the pain searing through his pores like poison he'd ingested. She wasn't a friend, or family or even a lover, but for a short time she'd been a fate companion to him. And Dean knew what hell did to you; how it changed everything, draining the joy and every other emotion from you, until there was but a shell left.

If Bela had succumbed, if she was a demon now, there was nothing left for Dean to do, but be merciful. He would have to kill her.

She's someone special, isn't she? Lisa had asked with a quivering voice, arms folded across her chest. She'd looked so vulnerable; she'd been willing to love him despite his flaws. She was a good woman that didn't deserve his shit.

Dean had walked up to her, trying to be the man he longed to be, and taken her by the nape of her neck, pulling her close to kiss her doubts away. He'd wanted to prove to her that he had no feelings for anyone but her, yet strangely the kiss had felt more like goodbye.

When he'd walked out the door, he'd simply said, in all likelihood, I'll have to kill her.

He had a bayonet resting on the passenger seat even now. If this was a trick, he'd know. No one escaped Hell without repercussions, so it was more likely that Dean was being baited. He was surprised himself that Bela was working so well as a bait for him. Yet there wasn't a doubt in his mind: He needed to see through this, one way or another.

TBC