Hey y'all, just a FYI. The only reason I missed updating yesterday was because I unexpectedly wasn't able to go back to my apartment and I didn't have my laptop charger. So, no laptop=no update. But, I was able to get my charger today! So, without further ado, here's your chapter.
CHAPTER FOUR
"Well, shit, Crowley! You ever think of updating your security?!" Dean accused, fuming. One demon they could've handled, but five?
"Who, Crowley? Who all got out?" Sam asked, stepping forward into the room with the rest of the group following him to form a loose half circle around the King.
Crowley sighed, setting down his scotch glass on a nearby table. "Well you all already know Paimon. And the other four aren't much better…"
"Come on, Crowley. Enough with the theatrics." John scolded, losing patience.
"Have any of you heard of Aka Manah? Also known as the demon of 'evil thinking'?" He paused, receiving head shakes in response. "His job is to prevent people from fulfilling their moral duties. You know, being a good parent, saving a life, staying faithful to your husband, that sort of thing."
Tom St. Clair was running into a burning building.
He never got tired of it. The weight of his firefighter uniform, the suffocating heat, and saving people.
At least, that had been his plan; to save people. He's not sure when it had changed.
He had done this thousands of times. This time he was in a three-story office building that had engulfed in flames in less than ten minutes.
He had made it up to the third floor when he heard screaming.
He made his way as quickly and carefully as he could to the source of the screaming to find a woman, trapped under a desk, her arm extended towards him, begging for his help as flames started to envelop the room.
Tom stepped forward with every intention of helping this poor woman.
And then he stopped.
He looked at the crying, screaming woman, right in the eyes and turned around. He walked out of the building, back out to the firetruck, and told his fellow firefighters that there was no one left in the building.
All the while Tom was updating his friends, a man stood by, watching with a devilish grin.
"Real piece of work that one, I'm sure we'll be hearing about negligent parents very soon." Crowley added before continuing. "Then we have Lady Midday. She spends her days hanging about in fields, asking workers difficult questions or striking up conversations and when they answer incorrectly or try to change the subject," Crowley took his finger and ran it left to right along his throat. "She beheads them with her scythe."
"What kind of questions?" Jo asked, crossing her arms.
It was hot for mid-April. Usually, it only got up into the upper 60's, maybe even the 70's if mother nature was in the mood. But today, as Roger Hartford wiped at his brow, it had gotten up to 84 degrees.
You would think on a day like today, Roger would complain about being out here, in the middle of the field, picking radishes. But, it was his family's tradition to continue doing it all by hand and it had to be done. So, there he was, working his ass off, when he looked to his left to see a cloud of dust coming towards him, the wind picking up.
Roger turned his head, coughing and covering his mouth. When the wind had died down and he turned to look at what might've caused the mini dust bowl, he instead saw a beautiful woman.
She wore white dress pants that tightened around her ankles, a white blouse, and white high heels. Her long blonde hair fell in loose curls around her face and down to her mid-torso. Just as Roger was just thinking how incredibly inappropriate attire that was for a field, she began to speak.
"Mr. Hartford, I presume?"
He nodded stupidly, still holding a radish in his hand.
"Do you live around here?" She asked, smiling warmly at him.
"Uh- yeah, I do. Just on the other side of this field." He answered. A woman had never smiled like that at him before. A woman! Smiling at him!
"How much is your farm worth?" She persisted, stepping closer to him.
"I uh- listen, I'm just going to finish picking this row. If you want, you could come inside for a glass of lemonade." He offered, not missing the way her smile widened before she took one last step towards him.
Roger just then noticed she was carrying a scythe in her hand.
"She'll probably be the least of our worries." Crowley admitted, shrugging. "Now this next one might be a bit more troublesome. His name's Belphegor and he's one of the Princes of Hell. He specializes in orgies and just your general debauchery."
Scarlet Jamieson had the same routine every night. She'd pick her lowest cut shirt, her shortest skirt, and her knee-high boots, and go out to a bar to try to make some extra cash.
If someone had walked up to her two years ago and told her she would be using sex as a source of income to get herself through college, she would've laughed in their face. But, when her parents cut her off, let's just say desperate times called for desperate measures.
She used to mind it. Her first job she was a nervous wreck and ended up crying right after the first kiss. Now, she was able to separate her business from her emotions.
She had just gone into the bar she had hit up the past three nights in a row when she spotted about half a dozen women huddled in a corner, all scantily clad just like her.
And then, the women parted, making a gap, to reveal a bearded man sitting in the corner booth, waving at her to come over, with a wolfish grin.
Dean's eyebrows shot up, slightly amused. "Where are the other Princes?" John asked, not really wanting to add Princes of Hell to their To Do list.
"Well Azazel was one of them who Dean took care of. The others dropped off the map decades ago. No one knows where they are. Last I heard, they wanted nothing to do with the Prince lifestyle. I'd say we're safe to count them out of this battle." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Last but certainly not least, we have Rangda with a very… refined palette."
It was the sound of her baby crying that caused Taylor Morrison to groggily get out of bed at three-o-clock in the morning. She made her way out into the hall, wiping sleepily at her heavy eyelids before stopping outside her baby's nursery that had suddenly grown quiet.
And then she heard a sickening crack.
She opened the door and found a woman with red eyes holding her now silent baby boy, her mouth covered in blood.
"So, let me get this straight. We've got one of Lucifer's groupies, a puppet master, a scythe happy lady, a sex addict, and a friggin' baby eater?!" Dean recounted.
"If it makes you feel any better, Lady Midday and the sex addict are probably the weakest links." Crowley stated. "But none the less, we should be keeping an eye out for all of them."
"Do we have any idea how to kill any of them besides the colt? Will a simple angel blade or the demon killing knife work?" Jo asked, feeling doubtful that it'd be that easy.
"Weapons like that will only slow them down. Worse comes to worst we can just hack them in pieces and bury them in cement around the country." Blake explained, earning a few dubious looks.
"So, it's decided then? We all put aside our differences just until we've got this mess squared away?" Crowley asked. When he received only regretful nods, he clasped his hands together. "Perfect. Now, get the hell out of Hell."
…
"It's pretty suspicious."
Crowley turned to Blake who had been uncharacteristically quiet since the Winchester's and friends had left. "What's suspicious?"
Blake shrugged, his lips pursing as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "Just that all of sudden we have not one, but five breakouts from section 235 D. Just seems a little unlikely to me, that's all." He stated, an accusation in his tone.
"Oh, what? You think I had something to do with this?" Crowley asked, seeming offended.
Blake held up his hands in a placating gesture. "All I'm saying, is it's a little fishy, that's all." He soothed. "I don't necessarily think it was you, just that maybe Paimon had some help and then he let the rest of them loose. It just doesn't make sense why he would pick the one's he did."
"What bloody reason would I have for letting loose five extremely powerful demons that might just want to take my throne away from me?" He pointed out, earning yet another shrug from Blake.
"I don't know. I was just thinking out loud."
"Well don't."
The pair stood in silence, each with different things weighing on their minds.
…..
"So, where do we go from here?"
The group sat around the table in the bunker's library. After Castiel had zapped them all back home, they figured it was a good idea to get a game plan.
"I don't trust Crowley." John stated, malice in his tone. Ever since the slimy bastard had pulled that shit with dragging Dean to Hell and forcing him to take the Mark of Cain, nothing that demon did sat well with him. Sure, he had teamed up with Castiel to rescue the boys from the cage, but John wasn't yet convinced there weren't strings attached to that.
"Well no, none of us do but, I believe him. We've got five powerful demons on our hands. It's only a matter of time before we run into one. And Paimon isn't going to be very happy with Sam and me." Dean pointed out, anxiety written all over his face.
"Why you boys specifically?" Bobby asked, standing up and looking at the bookshelves to see if he can find anything on Paimon.
"Because we screwed Satan over. Us slamming Lucifer back in the cage, probably wasn't his favorite thing." Dean specified, taking a swig from his beer.
"Well, it doesn't matter. Either way we gotta take em' out." Bobby reminded, pulling a book out, leafing through it and replacing it.
"We don't even know how to kill them aside from the colt, but we only have three bullets left." Sam added.
"That's why, I'm gonna stay here, see what I can dig up while you all go out and do whatever the hell it is you all do." Bobby stated, leaving no room to argue.
Jo shook her head. "Bobby, that's a lot of research for one person."
"Jo, I'll be fine-"
"No, you won't. I'll stay here and help. My mom usually would've been the one to help you, so, I'll fill in."
Although she tried not to show it, Jo was having a hard time keeping her voice steady. For the past two months, she had been trying to accommodate to a life without her mom. When she went out on hunts with Bobby, she constantly caught herself turning to say something to her mom. Now, they were involved in something major, and her mom wasn't here. Jo knew she had to take a knee, at least for now.
"And Mom and Dad will head back to Lawrence." Dean said, turning to his parents.
"Like hell we will." John argued. "There's no way we're letting you boys go out hunting on your own. In case you don't remember, you two are lacking in the experience department."
"They won't be alone all the time. I'll assist when I can." Castiel piped in, but Dean plowed forward.
"Don't you have a dog to get back to?" He reminded them, a satisfied smirk pulling at his lips, thinking he'd won.
Mary smiled. "Well, Dean you don't have to worry about Poughkeepsie. A hunter friend of mine, Garth, recently got bit and turned by a werewolf. Him and his wife Bess are wanting to take a break, hold up until he gets used to it. I called him and offered our place to stay as long as he kept my dog alive."
"So, it's settled then." John put his arm around Mary's shoulders. "Mary, you boys, and I will go out, do our normal thing," Castiel looked like he was about to interject so John amended. "And sometimes Castiel, while Bobby and Jo stay here and find out a way to kill those sons of bitches."
"I'll ask around Heaven, see what I can find out." Castiel promised.
The group nodded, figuring it was as good a plan as any.
After all, they had work to do.
….
Lady Midday flicked her hair over her shoulder, internally cursing the idiot who thought it was a good idea to meet inside some smelly barn.
She had to admit, Paimon had assembled quite the group. She took her time looking over her new 'comrades'.
Her eyes drifted first to Aka Manah. The man he was possessing was very handsome, if she was being honest. He was tall with short dark hair and scruff across his face. He wasn't wearing anything too spectacular, just a black t-shirt and jeans.
Next was Belphegor and instead of just a light scruff, he had a full blond beard with shaggy hair to go with it that was pulled back into a bun. He was dressed in a navy suit with a black tie, clearly trying to impress any of the woman he planned to seduce.
Rangda, with her short, curly red hair, stood leaning against one of the barn's supports, glaring distastefully at the ground. She was wearing a red tank top and ripped skinny jeans with knee-high black boots.
All that was missing was Paimon.
He had told each of them before he let them go to meet him here as soon as they got their affairs in order. Well, here they were, affairs all in order, and no Paimon.
"I'll give him another five minutes. Then I'm leaving." Aka Manah stated, his voice deep and smooth as he crossed his arms with annoyance.
"He gave us our freedom. The least we can do is wait for him to arrive." Lady Midday chastised, although she herself was becoming a little impatient.
Rangda scowled at them. "I don't care who released us, it's not really freedom if we'll have to be kissing Paimon's ass for the rest of eternity. I say we just leave."
"Ah! The demon who dines on babies! Let's all listen to her!" Aka Manah mocked, rolling his eyes. "It's a wonder why Paimon picked you of all the demons that were down there."
Rangda's hand filled with fire, red eyes landing on Aka Manah dangerously. "I am a demon queen!" She snarled, taking a step towards him.
"Yeah, in Bali!"
"That's far more than enough."
The four all brought their attention to the newcomer in the room, Rangda's flame going out immediately.
Lady Midday had thought Aka Manah's vessel was attractive. But, looking now as Paimon demanded the room's attention just by his presence, she couldn't help as her eyes drifted up and down his body appreciatively. Paimon wore a completely black suit and a black tie, his short dark hair sleeked back to where not one hair was out of place.
"Brothers, sisters, why are we fighting amongst ourselves? Let's keep all that energy for the humans, shall we?" Paimon smiled with genuine excitement.
"You freed us. Why?" Belphegor spoke for the first time since arriving at the barn. He seemed suspicious of Paimon's intentions. Then again, they all were.
"Straight to the point, I like that." Paimon took a moment, taking in his fellow demons. "I've heard a lot of interesting rumors since I've been on Earth, and you want to know what the most troubling one was?" He paused for dramatic effect, making sure he had their attention. "Our lord, Lucifer, was present on Earth ten months ago. That is, until a group of people slammed him and even the Archangel Michael back into the cage."
"In short, I freed you all because I need your help. I have a lot of things I want to accomplish on Earth and not all I can do by myself. First and foremost, I want to make the people who banished Lucifer suffer unimaginably. I need your help finding them."
"Who are we looking for?" Lady Midday asked, her brows scrunched in thought. To be fair, she wouldn't necessarily consider herself a Lucifer loyalist but, whatever Paimon wanted, she was prepared to do.
"John and Dean Winchester, Robert Singer, Joanna Harvelle, and the angel Castiel. They all took part in taking down Lucifer." Paimon was spitting just thinking of the people who had disrespected his lord so blatantly. "Dean Winchester especially."
"And after we find them?" Aka Manah asked, boredom evident in his voice. How hard was it going to be to find these pathetic humans?
Paimon suddenly smiled, pure wickedness showing on his face. "Bring them to me. Then we capture Sam Winchester and raise Lucifer once again."
…
TBC
Well, there you have it. The powerful five. What do you think of Paimon's choices? Thoughts? Concerns? Leave a review to motivate my attention loving ass to sit down and keep writing. Lots of love.
