Adeliza had been to hell many times throughout the centuries, and had been tortured about as many times as a dog barked, but not one time had the pain faded any less than the day before. In fact, she'd say that it only increased. After giving Dean Winchester too good of a deal, she had Lilith to face, which ended up with a personal trip to her and Alistair's "Toy Box" as they called it, which sums up to the highest form of torture that only so many souls had been sent to endure.
Even Dean Winchester was brought in to torture her once, and he had been the one to set her free. But, she wouldn't forget the last words she heard before he was dragged off back into his own personal torture chamber to be punished.
"You owe me five!" He had screamed.
Did she want to? Hell no. She didn't ask him to free her, but he did, and now she owed him back.
How stupid am I? She asked herself, scoffing slightly. This crossroads gig had really brainwashed her. Hell, being Lilith's bitch brainwashed her. This 'I gotta stand by all deals' message had been scorched into her little corrupted soul. It was like telling a person with epilepsy not to have a seizure at this point.
The torture lasted for fifteen months - or, one hundred and fifty hell years - until she was finally released back to the overworld, where Adeliza was essentially banned from ever returning to Hell, or making a soul deal ever again. A few demons had sent her a message; to make a long story short, it resulted in Adeliza having some more blood on her hands.
"Banished," Adeliza snorted, looking in the smudged and stained mirror as she applied her favorite shade of lipstick. The modern world was fascinating, even more so than her Victorian days growing up in Britain, before she had adopted the American accent much later down the line. Well, she did have a hint of a Spanish accent, but that came from often speaking fluently in her second language.
Then, a familiar yet unpleasant feeling in the pit of her stomach started up again. Adeliza closed her eyes and exhaled, recapping her lipstick and putting it back into her purse. She strapped the purse around her leather-clad shoulder before disappearing on the spot, and reappearing in front of Sam Winchester, the younger brother who Dean had sold his soul to bring back to life.
Sam, his eyes haunted and exhaustion coming off him in waves, shakily held up a knife to her, a tremor in his voice as he spoke. "Y-You bring Dean back, and you can have my soul right now." He looked utterly pathetic, really. But, as Sam had trapped her in a Devil's Trap, she had no choice but to remain in the same spot.
"I can't do that." Adeliza said, her eyes flashing black in a way to get that damn Winchester on his guard again. What a pathetic wimp. If it had been any other demon showing up on this idiot's command, he'd be a laughing stock for the rest of his life. It seemed to work, as Sam straightened up and his hunting instincts kicked in.
Sam nearly snarled at her as he walked forwards, gripping Adeliza by her neck and holding the knife up to her throat. "Take my soul!" He shouted, a desperate undertone in his voice. His breath reeked of alcohol, and if Adeliza knew one thing, it was never to take a soul deal from a drunken wreck - not that she could even give him a soul deal.
"I. Can't." Adeliza repeated calmly. "Once I gave your brother a year," Sam flinched, the grip on her neck tightening instinctively. Lucifer, this guy was touchy. "My crossroads right was shattered. I can't take a soul deal. But, if you want to give me a useless kiss, go right ahead." she added, resisting the urge to smirk in front of the unstable hunter. "Or, if you want to call another demon, please do. I doubt they'd take the deal."
If it were up to her, she'd have skinned this drunken mess with a snap of her fingers. But she owed Dean Winchester.
Maybe, she thought, that if she helped Sam Winchester, it'd knock one of the favors off of her bucket list. She'd rather have four than five. And, when she was done, Adeliza would be off to do whatever freelance demons do.
"I-I tried," Sam slurred slightly, and she realized that if he wasn't drunk, he would've killed her on the spot. He dropped the knife to the floor and accidentally wrecked the Devil's Trap on the way to the motel couch. He slouched down in his seat, putting his face in his hands. "I tried fucking everything! I even tried to get a witch to clone him, damn it!" he shouted. "WHY'D YOU DO IT?!" he stopped, lowering his volume to barely a whisper as he looked back up at Adeliza. "Why'd you do it?" Sam repeated miserably.
Adeliza was a demon - she couldn't baby a hunter. Even if she wanted to, (which she didn't. She really, really didn't.) it wouldn't work, and she would end up dead. Instead, she tried treating him like a man and tried to make him act like one. She walked up and snatched the beer out of his hand, setting it to the side. Then, she yanked him up by his collar, slapping him across the face once.
"Good Lucifer, Winchester, you're a hunter, not a prissy teenage girl! Take a shower, get sober, and maybe I can find a way to help you out."Adeliza ordered.
"Why?" Sam muttered suspiciously. Even in his drunken haze these hunters were such stubborn pains in her ass.
"Consider it a way to repent my sins." She responded. Sam gave her a flat look. In a way, she agreed. Adeliza was a walking sin. "Look. I'll even get back in the damn Devil's Trap." she added, fixing it up and stepping it inside, either sealing her death or gaining a sliver of his trust. Either way, she didn't care about the outcome.
THE NEXT DAY
The younger Winchester must've passed out on the bathroom floor, because Adeliza was stuck in that Devil's Trap for an entire night. She was a demon, so she couldn't exactly get tired or sleepy, but she could get bored. Hell, she welcomed a fight with a Winchester, anything to get her out of that cage. The worst part of being alone with no distraction was her own mind, pestering at her to cause some chaos.
Alone with her thoughts, Adeliza could recall when she was just a little girl, walking around with books stacked upon her head, her posture perfect and that dreaded corset restricting her movement, but at thirteen years old she still managed to make it look like a walk in the park. Everything was so painfully simple back then, and looking back on it, she sneered at the sheer humanity.
Demons had souls. Corrupted, yes; Tainted, yes; but, souls were souls, and all souls had at least a scrap of each emotion in them.
"What the hell?!" A voice shouted, disrupting Adeliza's thoughts. Sam held a gun out in front of him, pointing it directly at Adeliza's head. "Who-" then, he seemed to remember, pausing slightly. "You said you were going to help me," he said slowly. "Why? Who are you?"
"I'm Adeliza, and I have a debt to pay."
"You're a demon." Sam repeated, his eyes darkening vengefully.
Adeliza scoffed lightly, her eyes rolling for what seemed like the hundredth time. "while I may be a piece of shit, I'm an honor-bound piece of shit." Adeliza's eyes traveled to the avalanche of beer cans littering the floor of the motel, signalling to her that he had been holed up here for quite some time. "Christ, Winchester, are you a man or a mouse?"
"You let my brother sell his soul to you," Sam snapped defensively, his grip on the gun handle visibly tightening. Emotional mess.
"I get it. You two are in a cycle of sacrificing yourselves for each other, not giving a crap about yourselves until the other's injured." Adeliza crossed her arms in annoyance. "But no amount of wagering is going to get your brother out of that place, so either you going to keep drowning yourself in beer and sorrow, and let Dean Winchester rot six feet under... or you can get off your ass and start looking!"
Sam was silent. He did need help, and he couldn't possibly force himself to set himself straight. But this chick was a demon - who knows? Maybe she could be plotting his death.
But do I really care about that anymore? A voice in the back of his mind mused.
Sam looked back up at Adeliza, a look of sheer determination visible on his face. "If you try anything, I'll kill you," He said slowly, and scraped the chalk off the devil's trap, destroying it.
Adeliza appeared behind him, eyes turning black, and Sam spun around with his gun in hand. He swung at her once, and she let out a laugh, effectively grabbing the weapon out of his hand and chucking it to the side. "Lesson number one, Winchester. Never trust a demon," she lectured, and walked over to his fridge.
She wrinkled her nose. Lucifer, did this guy have anything other than plants? "Okay, herbivore, I can smell the rust on you from a mile away. Get your hunting skills fixed up," glancing at his 'food' choices - if you could even call it edible - she added, "and go grocery shopping."
Sam stared at her warily. Seriously? Not one moment before, she'd just kicked his ass, and now Adeliza was criticizing his diet.
"Sam!" another female voice shouted, suddenly appearing in front of him. Adeliza only raised her eyebrows as Sam let out a loud shout. Ruby. She narrowed her eyes at the other demon. "You can't go a week without finding another demon?" Ruby asked irritably.
"Ruby!" Adeliza greeted with no ill intention. Aside from Meg, this was an ally of hers. So far she hadn't been double crossed, nor had she any problem with Ruby thus far. She looked Ruby's vessel up and down, and then she smirked. "You're looking good these days."
"You, on the other hand," Ruby said, visibly relaxing when she realized who Adeliza was, "look like hell." Eh, she could've gone for a worse joke. "So, what, now two demons are on the side of the Winchesters?" she added wryly, her eyebrows raising ever so slightly.
"Winchester. The emotional one's still dead," Adeliza corrected lightly. She didn't seem to be too concerned with the fact like Ruby did.
Sam look between the two. "Wait, you guys know each other?" he asked dubiously, getting more and more confused by the second. "And you're friends?" Did demons even have friends? And should he even be doing this? But... he did need the help, and two demons on his side was better than nobody on his side.
"Yeah, we're gals pals," Ruby supplied, sarcasm lacing her tone. "Friend's a... strong word. We're business partners. Allies - "
"Lovers," Adeliza purred, and - despite her own disgust - succumbed, and committed the mutiny of taking a bite out of a carrot. Plants, she grimaced to herself.
At Sam's puzzled look, she rolled her eyes. "A joke. Now, we're going to need a battle plan, fellas."
So the three sat around the table, Ruby holding the sketchpad, Adeliza and Sam discussing the plan. For a moment he'd forgotten that they were demons. But that was his first mistake, Adeliza had told him many times.
Demons, no matter how much they try, are not human.