Darrington, Washington
Present Day
It's late at night when noises wake Zoë. Still a bit drowsy she lifts her head of Dean's chest, who she fell asleep against. It's dark in the cabin, the burned up blackened lumps of wood in the fireplace still shimmer a red light through the room. Snow shoots sideways passed the windows and the wind hauls around the hunters cabin as if nature is trying to scare her. She turns her head and looks at Dean for a moment, who's still sleeping. It seems like they both finally found the rest to get some sleep. Still tired Zoë checks her watch; it's three O' clock in the morning. Carefully without waking him, she straightens her back and gets on her feet. Her leg still hurts pretty bad, but she can manage and limps to the window as she folds her arms around her body. It's cold, her breath turns to little white clouds when she breathes out. By the window she halts and stares outside. There's no moonlight, just darkness. A wall of snow is coming down and tree tops bend in the strong northern wind. For a moment she observes the powerful forces of nature as she wonders off. She hopes Sam is well on his way with a solution to this mess. They are running out of supplies and the weather is getting worse by the hour. It's not even safe to go out right now, with or without hellhounds on their tail. A shiver runs down her spine, but it's not from the low temperatures. She has the feeling like she's being watched, a feeling she had for quite a while now. Suddenly, out of nowhere, everything stops. The wind stops blowing, the snow stops falling and the entire forest goes silent. Zoë watches it happen with wide open eyes. In a split second the fierce and roaring nature drops dead. The complete silence that follows is unnatural and honestly, it scares the crap out of her. Then Zoë notices something on the window. Humid on the glass freezes up at the sills, forming little ice crystals on the inside of the window. It turns ice cold in the room, even colder than a minute before. Only pure evil can do this, she's not alone. In a rapid action she draws her gun from her belt and turns around, aiming the gun at a shadow by the backdoor. Slowly the man steps forward until the gloomy light from the fire catches his face. It's a man somewhere in his early fifties. He looks like a normal human being, short grey hair, an expressive face. But there's something about his appearance that makes him look much more powerful than a human could ever be.
"Howdy Zoë", he smiles gentle.
"I don't know how the hell you got in, but you better get your ass out again", Zoë warns, keeping the gun on him.
"Not even a nice 'hello' back?", he tusks disappointed as he steps closer.
"Stay where you are or I'll kill you, I swear", she threatens, stepping back to the window herself.
"Ooh, that would be a neat trick", he says with a false grin on his face.
Even though he's not intimidated by her he stops, leaving a few feet between the two of them. With steel nerves she remains on her place with the gun at the man. Her hands don't even shake, she seems completely calm, but inside she's restless.
"I know what you are", she claims.
"Is that so? Than why are you pointing a gun at me?", he replies.
"Who says this gun is loaded with bullets?", Zoë bounces back smartly.
"Believe me, whatever you are planning to fire at me, it won't even hurt", he grins.
Zoë's heart is pounding in her throat, but she won't show him fear. What she is up against, what she is facing right now, is a demon. One that got passed the salt, past the goofer dust and the devil's trap she spray painted on the ceiling. In other words, she's even more screwed than she was before this son of a bitch showed up. Defeated, but without looking away, she lowers her gun; it won't do her no good anyway.
"That's a good girl", he says rewarding, as if she's some kind of pet.
"Who are you?", she asks with lowered voice, but firmly.
He looks her in the eye without answering, then his irises change. Zoë has seen a demons before, their pitch black eyes which seem to have to bottom, but this one is completely different. Instead of pure darkness, the irises turn yellow. Stunned she looks him in the eye as her jaw drops. This is unlike anything she has ever seen before.
"What, black's not your color?", she huffs sharp.
"Black isn't a color actually, it's the absence of color", he acquires.
"Aren't you a smartass", Zoë comments annoyed.
The yellow eyed demon smirks and looks away; apparently he likes her attitude.
"You have quite a big mouth for a human, know that?", he notifies.
"I've heard it before", she admits.
He halts and seems to enjoy himself, for a moment he glances at Dean, who's sleeping through the entire thing. Zoë grinds, she wants to distract him, get his mind off of Dean. She doesn't really care if she herself dies or not, but Dean doesn't deserve the same destiny.
"You're gonna kill me, aren't you?", she questions out of the blue.
It works, the demon turns around to face her. His yellow eyes shimmer in the dim light of the fire. It scares her, but she doesn't show it.
"Me? Why would I do such a thing?", he strolls to the other side of the room, keeping the same distance between them.
"What do you think?", she bounces back cynical.
"You mean what you did to my employee in the back? That was quite entertaining actually. Especially when you poured holy water all over him", he grins satisfied. "Yes, Zoë. You are capable of great things".
"What the hell are you talking about?",she questions arrogant, as she start to step sideways.
The both of them circle around each other like predators, waiting for the other to make the first move. Zoë is alert and tensed while the yellow eyed demon casually carries his hands on his back.
"I know what you can do, Zoë. First the flashbacks, then the ability to break objects and now you can make them do whatever you want", he says.
Zo's eyes widen, how does he know all this? Has he been following her? Was he there all along?
"I have to admit, what you did with that rubber ball, that takes skill. You're good", he claps his hands twice as a sign of appreciation.
For a moment it seems like Zoë is struck by lightning, but she recovers so fast that the demon opposite of her doesn't even notice that he caught her off guard.
"Thanks, you can get your autograph after the show", she says with a tone.
The demon laughs out loud as he looks up, amused by her rapid answers.
"That's what I like about you, know that. The smart talk, the arrogance. You're careless, you don't give a damn if you live or die. But hell, that's a whole other story", he comments as he reads her.
"You know about hell?", Zoë asks alert, but curious.
"Where do you think I came from, sweety", he grins. "But I can tell you; it's not a nice place for girls like you".
"It can't be much worse than up here", Zo comments as she halts by the door.
"Compared to hell, this is living the dream", the demon states.
He keeps walking until he ends up next to her, but Zoë doesn't flinch and follows him with her eyes.
"You think you deserve this, don't ya? This painful ending, the start of your very own true horror story", he questions.
"Maybe", Zo answers vague.
"I tell you what, you don't deserve it. You deserve much better than what's waiting down there. You deserve fame, power, leadership", he continues.
The demon halts in front of her and has to look slightly down to seek what's in her eyes. Arrogant she looks back and anyone can see from her face that she's not buying his crap.
"Not interested", she lets him know.
"It's such a shame, Zoë. You can achieve so much. You're not ready to go down the pit", he sighs, seeming to be disappointed as he walks away. "With you in for it, we could have so much fun".
"In for what?", she asks firmly.
"The big show, Zoë. You and all the other children like you", he turns back at her and looks deep into her eyes.
Zoë swallows almost unnoticeable as the information she's receiving here start to evolve an image in her head. She has been wondering about this for some time now, now she has her answer. She and Sam are not the only one.
"I'm not the only one who can do this things?", she keeps dumb.
"Don't play games with me, Sullivan", his facial expression suddenly changes. "I know that you and Sammy boy have worked together".
Zoë keeps her mouth shut, but her insolent glare still stares straight into his eyes. So he knows about her powers, he knows about Sam's. What else does he know?
"I'm glad to see the two of you, it's good that you get along. You and him are the perfect team, you two are my favorites", he lets her know with a mean grin.
Zo doesn't respond to that, she feels like she's short in words. It's not often that she doesn't know how to react, but this is one of those rare moment. One thing is certain; she doesn't like the sound of this for one bit. The demon looks outside, where the weather conditions are still exceptionally quiet. Zoë glares over his shoulder as shivers run down her spine. Then she hears it, the haul of the hellhound.
"Looks like your friends are gathering, Zoë", the yellow eyed demon notices.
He heart starts pounding faster as the hauling echoes through the silence. The dogs scare her more than the demon does, and this time she can't keep it inside. Nervous she glances from one window to the other as the yellow eyed demon observes her. Then Zoë gasps for air; outside, several pair of red eyes glare at her from the dark forest. They growl low as they slowly approach.
"You did your research well", the demon starts to talk as Zoë backs out from the sight of the hellhounds until she's against the wall. "There is no way to kill an unleashed hellhound, you can't make them leave. The moment you see them, you will go down. You can't run forever".
"Tell me something I don't know", she shudders while staring at the creatures outside.
They come loose from the shadow of the mountain and sneak up on the wooden cabin as a lion does just before it jumps its pray.
"I can call them back".
Zoë's gaze shifts from the hellhounds to the demon, what did he just say? Did he just tell her that there's a way out.
"How?", she asks stern and cautious.
He snaps his fingers. "Just like that. If you want me to, at least".
She looks over from him to the demonic dogs outside, as they approach the porch. They are coming awfully close. It's a tempting offer, but she's no simpleton.
"I suppose you want me to do something in return?", she guesses.
"Bright little girl", he smiles as he steps away from the window.
One part of her screams 'no' so loud that she can barely hear the other side talking. It's a demon for God's sake! She made a deal once and look how that turned out. Sure she got what she wished for, but she would be nuts to make another deal to stop a deal. It's insane! But she can't be sure. What if what he wants in return isn't that much of a effort? What if it's actually worth a shot?
"And what would that be?", she questions.
A short silence, only the growling from outside can be heard as a reminder that time is running out. The demon has a evil smirk on his face as his yellow eyes pierce her.
"I want you to kill Dean Winchester".
Zoë's jaw drops as she glances aside at Dean for a short moment. He's still against the wall passed out, as if he's in some parallel world where he can't hear them. Stunned she stares the yellow eyed demon in the eye as anger starts to take over.
"No!", she states without hesitation.
"Oh, come on", the demon laughs. "He's a jack ass anyway. He always tries to outrun you, being as childish as he is. Be honest with yourself; you barely know the guy".
"I don't care who you'd ask me to kill!", Zoë snaps.
"Is that so? What about John?", he confronts. "I'd bet you'd be able to kill him without even flinching".
Right there with that comment he shuts her up. Overruled she looks back at him, unable to respond on that. The worse part is; he's right.
"You can do this. Sam is way too close to his brother to pull the trigger, no matter what I offer him, but you… you are capable of killing under the right circumstances", the demon adds.
"I will not kill him", Zo states determined. "I don't care what you offer me, I will not kill him".
For a moment he waits for a change on her face, but Zoë isn't going to change her mind. He huffs disappointed yet amused and looks down at the floor.
"Still too good hearted, that's what I was afraid off".
The demon looks up with a weird look in his eyes. An evil smile appears on his face as his yellow eyes shimmer in the dim light.
"That's why I already did the job for you", he finishes.
Stunned Zoë's eyes widen. Afraid of what she will see, she slowly lets her gaze glide over to Dean. He's still against the wall, his eyes closed and his head slightly turned away. But it's just now that she detects the small stream of blood coming from his nose and lips.
"DEAN!", she shouts out loud as she shoot towards him.
Quickly she kneels down next to him and cups his face in her hands. His cheeks feel cold as ice and his lips have turned blue. Panicking she checks his pulse, but there's nothing.
"Don't you dare, you bastard!", she curses.
For a moment there she has a slight bit of hope and attempts to get his heart rhythm back, but when she pulls away his leather jacket, she finds a rusty old knife in his chest, right on his aorta, right on his heart. Shocked she stares at the injury.
"No no no, this isn't happening…", she stammers.
Then she looks up at his face, which gives her a confirmation. Upset she covers her mouth in disbelief. She can't believe it, but he's actually dead. Not knowing what to do or how to deal with this, she backs out. Then anger and frustration takes over.
"How could you do this", she spits and grinds her teeth, before she looks up. "You SON OF A BITCH! How could you!"
Furious she turns around to face the yellow eyed demon, but when she does, the room is empty. Heavily breathing she gets up and looks outside. But the dick is gone, he vanished into thin air. Confused and overwhelmed by what's happening, she forks her fingers through her air and stares at Dean's dead body. What the hell is she going to do? Dean's dead, DEAD! He's got killed because of HER! Another one got killed because of her! She needs to tell Sam, but there's no way she can. Poor Sam, poor John, this is all her damn fault! Desperately she tries to calm down with her hands behind her head as she paces through the room. Why the HELL is this happening? Then a strange sound from above stops her. As she keeps still, Zoë stares up at the ceiling. Scratches can be heard from the roof, the sound of nails. Just before Zoë detects the broken line of goofer dust in front of the fire place, a roar of barking hellhounds echoes through the chimney. Staggered she falls backwards on the floor and crawls away until she's up against the wall, but then three enormous black dogs appear from the flared up flames. Without hesitation they approach her so fast that escaping is impossible. Then they jump her and she lets out one last scream.