"Yeah, I'll tell her. Ok."
Mary had been gone for less than 10 minutes when she walked in on James talking on the phone. A few weeks ago she wouldn't have had any interest in knowing what he was saying, but she had started to be more suspicious of James ever since the encounter with Missouri.
"What's your name again? Lily? That's a lovely name…"
She closed the door pretty heavily when she heard the mention of a woman's name. She wasn't interested in being a witness to some poor girl's foolishness. James turned around to face Mary. For a moment she could swear he was holding her phone.
"Hi, Mary!" – he got back to whoever he was speaking to – "Yes, she's here. Well, it was nice to hear your voice. See you."
James handed Mary the phone and, to her horror, it really was hers. She had to stop leaving her things alone in the same space as James. He, however, didn't seem to see anything wrong in answering private phone calls.
"Do I want to know why you're using my phone?"
"I didn't answer it the first 3 times it rang. It could be something serious."
"I think we need to start talking about borders."
"Yeah, maybe. Are you available for a Lily?"
"God, no."
No, she was probably going to give away all she had. Lily had been calling since the day before and Mary had good reasons not to pick up. As much as they could try, there was no way the two of them were ever going to get along. The last time they spent some time together was during the attack on their school and, even though Mary was trying her best to save everybody, Lily managed to convince half the group she was insane. But, if something bad was happening to her, there was really no way to ignore it. She took a deep breath before starting talking to her.
"Hi, Lily."
"Mary, it's so good to hear from you. Nobody has heard from you in weeks in Wilson in a while, we have no idea what happened to you. Are you ok?"
"Peachy. Why are you calling me?"
"I think I saw a demon."
"Ok, and what makes you think that?"
"A woman didn't take her eyes of me. At first I thought she knew me or something, but I've never seen her before and I could swear she had black eyes. I heard you saying that was one way to spot them."
"Look, if I'm going to travel all the way to Wilson, I'm going to need a lot more than that."
"Well, there is something…"
There was some hesitation. For the first time in the unfortunate time they had spent together, it seemed Lily was afraid to talk.
"What happened?"
" Rita is dead, so is Michael and Mark and that weird girl…"
"Jane?"
"Yeah. 12 people from our year have died."
Now it was Mary the speechless one. She didn't understand what the end game was. If demons wanted her so badly, why didn't they just come out and get her. Why did they have to get to everyone she knew?
"Mary, I don't want to be a drag, but I'm scared. I'm afraid they'll come for me next. So if you could just come here, or send someone…"
Part of her knew she was going to regret agreeing to something Lily was proposing, but she seemed to be speaking the truth.
"No, we're going there, don't worry."
"Thank you."
Lily couldn't wait to get Mary off the phone. She was really proud of what had just happened. She wished she had found out about demons sooner. If all it took to make all her dreams come true was to hand Mary to some creatures, she would have embraced the whole Satanist thing sooner. Now all she had to do was to wait.
----------
Bobby couldn't say waking up to see Mary wasn't in her room was the biggest shock of his life. He had to admit that bringing a teenager who had just found out she was the center of the most screwed up adoption in History to a stranger's house ,who claimed to be her real father's friend and expect her to accept it with a smile on her face was just wishful thinking. She had every right to be upset and most people in her position would have probably done the same. The thing was Mary wasn't most people. Ever since she had been born that she had both demons and angels competing to see who would be the first to get her and being alone in the world would only contribute to make her an easy target. In the 3 days that followed her disappearance, he had done nothing but to call people. He had already talked to pretty much everyone he had ever met and nobody seemed to know anything about her, which wasn't bad in itself. It meant she wasn't getting into trouble and none had found her neither. The calls, however, had to be as discrete as possible. Hunters weren't the kind of people that would settle with half answers and he couldn't let them get any suspicion out of the reason why he was so interested in knowing where Ronald's daughter was. As far as they knew, there were no Winchesters left after the Apocalypse and it was better to keep it that way.
He had just hung up on another of his fellow hunters who had asked too many questions when somebody knocked on his door. He had to be cautious about the people he allowed in. Ever since demons had returned one could never be too safe. Outside there was Bobby's biggest surprise in years. Not only had Dean received his message, he had actually decided to show up. The two hadn't seen each other in years. Ever since Dean had decided to strike another deal, this time with angels. 10 years ago if it hadn't been for them, demons would have most certainly captured him and Mary. He had promised them he would do whatever they wanted as long as Mary was safe.
"Hi, Bobby."
He took a good look at Dean for a while. The years seemed to be finally taking an effect on him. He looked tired and defeated.
"You're late."
Dean couldn't say he was surprised with the first thing Bobby told him in years. He wasn't exactly expecting a warm reception, but as he came in he couldn't help but wonder what he meant by that.
"Why am I late?"
"Mary's not here."
That he wasn't expecting. The casual way in which Bobby said that made him suspect she wasn't there with his authorization or he just wasn't aware of what had cost him to be able to come to his house.
"You're joking, right?"
"Do I look like I'm joking?"
"How did that happen?"
"She reacted the way a lot of people would if they found out their lives were based on lies. She ran away."
"How can you be so sure?"
"For starters, she's got your temper and I've been calling everyone I know. Nobody seems to have heard anything from her so that's the best we can hope for. Last time they went after you two and I'm guessing they didn't give you any trouble to get here."
"That doesn't mean they won't do it soon. I have to call Cas, tell him to keep an eye out."
Bobby let Dean finish his call to confront him.
"How did you manage to get out of that deal of yours?"
"I didn't."
"So you ran."
"Basically."
"And you're not scared angels will come after you and Mary."
"I wouldn't say I'm scared, but I'm pretty sure they're coming."
"And that doesn't scare you?"
"Not really. It's not so much the angels I'm worried about. They have orders concerning Mary. Demons are more of a lose bunch."
"What orders?"
"They can't touch her. They came directly from the Boss, so I doubt a lot of them will try to defy them."
"And what about you?"
"I think I can handle them."
"Ok. So how can your angel friend help us with this?"
"Angels can track other angels."
"But she's not…"
"I know, but part of her is. Relax, he has done this before. It's the whole reason why I worked for his kind all these years. How I found her 10 years ago."
On that moment, Dean's cell rang. He couldn't fight the angelic efficiency.
"Hey, Cas, that was fast. What do you have?"
"I can't track her."
"What?"
"I've tried everything I know. Wherever she is, I can't see her."
-------------------
Going back to Wilson wasn't in Mary's immediate plans. Knowing her town's people as well as she did, she knew they were probably still talking about what happened to her father and the best suspect would have to be the person who had to face an attack and a murdered family member in the same day and had disappeared and didn't given any signs of life in weeks. Whatever was happening there she had to resolve it fast and do it without being seen by humans or demons, because that was the first place they would be looking. During all the trip she hadn't answered any of James's questions. She was focus on trying to come up with a plan. All things considered, she had come up with a great one and James couldn't know anything about it or he would ruin the whole thing.
"So this is where you live, huh?"
"What's wrong with it?"
"Nothing, I was just wondering what you people do for entertainment."
"Don't ask me, I had plenty of freaks to worry about. Shit."
Mary lowered her head as soon as she saw her school's principal. That was the last person that could lay eyes on her.
"I never thought you would be afraid of middle aged bolding men."
"Right, I don't think they have the best impression of me. Can you see a house that has too much pink in it?"
"Yes."
"Stop there."
James obeyed, he had to admit that house could easily be one of the creepiest things he had ever seen.
"What is this place?"
"Lily's mother is… special. I hope she's not here."
The two went to the entrance. Mary was looking in every direction and praying nobody would spot her. It didn't take long for Lily to go to the door.
"Oh my God, Mary!"
She gave Mary the biggest hug anyone had ever given her, which only contributed to the weirdness of the whole thing. For the first time since they had met, James actually did something right when he separated them and introduced himself.
"Hi, I'm James. We talked on the phone."
"Right. Hi."
"I have to say you have a lovely voice, but the whole package is even better."
"Can we just get inside, please?"
Mary just wanted to get that over with and the last thing she wanted to see was a James and Lily romance.
"Lily, can you tell us about this demon you saw?"
"Yeah, it was like the scariest thing I've ever seen. One minute you think she's just an ordinary person and the next she's almost threatening you."
"Right, and how did you find out about the murders?"
"Well, you know Wilson. It's a small town, people talk."
"Yeah, but apparently you knew about these things before anybody else did. That's pretty impressive, even for you."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"No? How come you already knew about Jane's death? Nobody else does."
"How do you know? Did you ask them?"
"No, but I did my homework. They found her body 2 hours ago and you've been calling me since yesterday."
"That doesn't mean anything."
"You're right. Which is why I kept looking and you managed to call every newspaper about this."
Lily got up and tried to run, but Mary caught her and punched her to the ground. James just watched the whole thing.
"I need a little help with this."
James held Lily while Mary tied her.
"So, Lily, are you going to start talking or do I have to force you?"
"What do you want?"
"You're too stupid to do something like this. You can't even plan your own birthday."
"You don't know anything about me."
"No, that's where you're wrong. People like you are just too easy to read, too predictable. Who told you to do this?"
"Nobody."
"Nobody? Lily, you don't even know the concept of a trap. I don't know what have you done, but whatever it is, it can't be good."
"I can't tell you."
"What?"
"She's going to kill me if I tell you."
"Who?"
"The demon."
"Please tell me you didn't make a deal with a demon."
"What was I supposed to do? She came to me and she told me that I could have anything I wanted, all I had to do was to tell her where you were. You can't tell me you wouldn't have done the same."
"Lily, were you the first one she went to?"
Lily was in tears, she didn't want to tell her what happened."
"No. She tried to convince other people. People from our year and most of them said no, others just couldn't find you."
Mary couldn't disguise her anger. Lily had done some pretty shady things in her past, but that was beyond everything.
"Do you have any idea who you're messing with?"
"I'm sorry."
"No, you're not. The only thing you're sorry about is that you won't get whatever it is that bitch promise would give you. Did you tell her we were coming?"
"Yes."
"Great."
"Do you think she's gonna kill me?"
"Yes, Lily, she probably will. And you know what? You probably deserve it, but I'll do my best to help you because it's not my fault. James."
James followed Mary to the other room.
"What do we do now?"
"We need ammo and devil's traps."
"Are you ok?"
"What do you think?"
Half an hour past and nothing happened. Mary and James were preparing for the worst. After she made sure everything was in its place, she walked towards Lily.
"What are you doing?"
"It's called a devil's trap."
"What? You think I'm a demon?"
"Nothing surprises me anymore."
"Stop it."
"Why would I?"
Lily didn't answer. Instead she lowered her eyes and starting muting in Latin. Mary and James exchanged looks. She was conjuring the demon.
"Lily, stop, you're going to get us all killed."
But she didn't. It wasn't her anymore. When she looked at Mary again, her eyes were black, the demon had found them. It got lose too easily from the tight ropes and knocked James out when he tried to use the holy water. Mary pulled out her knife, but she lost it and was lying on the floor before she could use it.
"Mary Winchester, I've got to tell you, you're a pain in my ass."
"Thanks."
"I think it's starting to get easier to meet the Pope."
"You know, eternity has got to be boring for you people. Can't you just get a hobbie in hell and leave us alone?"
"Nothing is more fun than hunting you."
"Well, then you should start getting some good plans, because if the best you can get is Lily, you've got to be pretty sucky at your job."
"Maybe…" - The demon picked up the knife. – "You even brought me a gift. You didn't have to, thanks. I've been looking for this too."
"I'm glad I could help."
"So, have you been thinking about my proposal?"
"You still want me in your team?"
"You would be a valuable member, yes."
"Like I said, you were going to have to kill me first."
"Now, what good would that make me? I can't just destroy good merchandising, it would be a crime. No, I'll just keep killing everyone you've ever met. When you find yourself alone and feeling guilty for all the people who died because of you, I think you'll reconsider."
"Why won't you kill me?"
"You're the kind of gift that only comes every couple of millenniums. How could I waste that?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'll let you find that out on your own. Well, I'm going to give you some more time to think, let's say a week, and if by then you're still undecided, I'll use some more persuasive techniques."
The demon picked up a gun James had dropped.
"What are you doing?"
"You were right, this was a terrible idea."
It pointed the gun to Lily's head and pulled the trigger. Seconds after black smoke escaped the now dead body. When James woke up, Mary yelled told him to get up. She had now very little time to decide on something she was sure she would never do.
It's been a long time since I post here, so this was a bigger chapter. Tell me what you think :D