'But for corruption thou hast made Belial, an angel of hostility. All his dominions are in darkness, and his purpose is to bring about wickedness and guilt.'- The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness, one of the Dead Sea scrolls.
'He will tarry not one hour in ye truth unless he be constrained by devine power.' - The Lesser Key of Solomon.
'I'm not writing that you should try to find him, though. Ellen and I both saw him, and there was something – off. Something wrong. John, if you and the boys see him, run like hell.' – WA Harvelle.
It seemed to be a failing with her. Every time. Every damn time.
"Deal." She said, reaching across to shake his hand.
A hand that was suddenly no longer human.
"Deal." The demon said, his mouth stretched into a wide mockery of a grin.
And then everything was blackness once more.
His face was so familiar, though Bela couldn't figure out why. He stood directly across from her leaning against her counter, sipping coffee from a mug that read Every Day of My Life, I am Forced to Add More Names to the List of People that Piss Me Off. The humour was eclipsed by the fact that in this case, the snappy slogan was deadly serious. He was deceptively calm, as he asked his question. "Have you done it yet?"
"I need more time." Bela said, a little too quickly.
"You've had time." It was more of a growl as it came out. "Need I remind you who bought your contract? I thought you might be an asset to me, but all I have seen this far is one useless, utter failure."
Bela bowed her head. My father said I was a failure. Not good for anything, stupid whore…"No." She said. "But the clients aren't coming in as much as they used to, since…"
"You died? Oh, the bigoted idiots." Her houseguest said cheerfully. She could tell by his tone of voice that he was quiet blatantly taunting her. He was smiling, smug, and all Bela could think was I could kill you. I could turn around and put this breadknife right through your head and smash your skull.
Startled by the sudden wellspring of maniacal loathing that had welled up inside her, instead of the drastic measures she had just been contemplating, she just sliced off some bread and smothered it with strawberry jam, licking the runoff from her fingers.
"Your time is running out." He said severely. "I must have it. It's mine and I want it back." He sounded so much like a human child then that Bela almost smiked.
"Well, that's just tough." She said irritably, an edge of her old persona creeping into her voice. "I need time."
"The curse of time is that we never seem to have enough of it." He said philosophically. "Perhaps you need an incentive."
Bela's eyes narrowed and her hearing sharpened immediately. He had said the magic word. Incentive. And then the bubble of excitement that had formed inside her chest burst as she took in the nasty expression on the man's face. "What have you done?"
"What have I done? What haven't you done?" He asked crisply. "Come here." He said, and the words weren't directed at Bela, but as some point behind her. She looked up over her shoulder, trying not to think of what evil little surprise he might have fixed up for her.
It was a woman. She was dressed in leather and denim, and her smirk was particularly smug.
She put a hand on her hip, one eyebrow raised disdainfully as she looked down at Bela.
"Honey, I'm home."
"Who is she supposed to be?" Bela snarled.
"Now, now. Don't get territorial." The other woman chided.
"Bloody hell, you got me a babysitter?" Bela exploded. "I can do just fine without one of your lackeys dangling over my shoulder!"
"Don't forget to who you speak, bitch." The man snapped. She stepped back, aware of his fury, but as quickly as it arrived, his anger subsided. "Bela, Ruby. Ruby, Bela. I'm sure you'll have a very fulfilling life together."
Ruby just folded her arms, looking for all the world like she was having the time of her life. "Oh, yeah. I'm going to have some fun with this one," She said, and her tone made Bela bristle and bear her teeth in a snarl.
"Now, ladies. Chores first and playtime later." The man said. He took Ruby to the side. "Watch her. She may try to warn them. She's not to be trusted."
Ruby lightly punched him in the shoulder. "And you're so sure I am?" She said teasingly, aware that she was pushing against the boundaries by daring to use such familiarity when this demon had innumerable legions under his command.
But the demon lord Belial smiled. "I'm sure you'll do just what I expect you to do." He said, causing Ruby to begin to question just exactly what his role in the game was and how much he had told her was in fact the truth.
After all, he was the Lord of Lies.
Almost seeming to catch her thoughts, Belial smiled. It was a slow, creeping smile that almost immediately set Ruby on edge.
"You don't have any reason to worry. What was mine will be mine again, and Lilith will finally meet the demise she has been avoiding for too long."
"D'you mind if I smoke?"
"Well, it's not our house." Dean remarked.
"That's true." Del whipped out a cigarette and a little silver lighter with the practiced ease of someone who was a long-time smoker. Out of the corner of his eye, Dean noticed Sam wrinkle his nose in disgust. Dude could cut the head off a vamp and play around in the entrails, but when it came to someone lighting up in his immediate vicinity…
"Those will give you cancer." Sam said flatly, seemingly unaware of his brother trying valiantly not to laugh aloud.
Del exhaled a lungful of smoke. "I've been smoking for longer than you've been alive, boy. When my time comes, it comes. You can't escape your fate."
"Sometimes you can." Dean countered.
"Are you sure? Are you really?" Once again Sam was hit with the uncomfortable feeling that this woman knew more about them then she should rightly have had. He was excited that he'd found someone who wasn't a fake. But it also made him uneasy. Almost nervous.
It kinda pissed Dean off too. There were always the secrets. When they were dead and done, the damn secrets would still be there.
Del poured herself some more coffee, the butt of her cigarette hanging over the rim of the cup, yet somehow none of the ashes were being shaken in. "Where to begin." She murmured.
"The beginning is usually a good spot." Dean said.
"You're a cheeky sod, you are." Del said, and Dean raised an eyebrow.
"I suppose it all started with my Ma. She was the wise woman before me. I grew up in this house, around all these people coming to her for ointments, charms," She glanced sideways at the brothers. "Love spells. No one really took her seriously, it was just another quaint country custom that the town liked to spin out for the tourists."
"What tourists?" Sam asked. Del smiled bitterly.
"This town wasn't always the butt of America." She said. "Eighty years ago we were three times this size, at least. We've been shrinking ever since. Young folk, go off to the big cities, in search of something better, more opportunities and suchlike. Older folk, they get spooked, uproot everything and off."
"Spooked by what?" Sam asked.
"My mother used to say it was by the Unseelie." Del said.
"The who?" Dean blinked.
The old woman gave a decidedly twisted smile. "The malicious faries."
"That's it, I'm so out of here," Dean muttered to Sam.
"Sit down, boy. You wanted to hear what I had to say, and now you're going to damn well hear it." Del snapped. She took another drag on her smoke. "We all used to be friends here. The Unseelie used to keep us safe, they did, and all we had to do was leave out a small offering. Some fruit, or maybe a toy, and they'd leave us alone. But all the old ways have been forgotten." She sighed.
"But not by you."
She gave a very wicked-witch-like cackle. "Great lot it's done me. Ma died and I took over, and the old ways, the ways of the earth and the spirit were lost. I kept going, 'cause it was what I was taught. Then they started getting mean. They wanted me to remind the town of what was lost, get the people to revere them once more.
"I tried, God knows I tried. And when I could do no more, they got real pissed." Her voice choked up. "And then that's when it started. The folk that came to me started dying, and I was branded a witch, a hag, and the rest of it. Those poor people…" She trailed off.
"And you believe these faries, these… Unseelies are behind it?" Sam asked.
Del spread her hands wide. "I have no magic." She said. "I go to church and believe in Him that's above it all. I'm not evil. I was brought into this world with knowledge that's been lost through the ages. I try to help, because that's what my Ma and Grandma did before me. And now, all I can do is shut myself away and hope no one comes to me, 'cause I'm afraid that they'll be next. I can't help anymore. The only thing I can do is pray that they've left me for good."
She looked old, then. Incredibly old.
"I just hope they don't go after you next." She said grimly.
"Hey, we can handle them." Dean shrugged. "They're only faries. How tough can faries be?"
He should have known by then not to tempt fate.
