Chapter 38: Hellraiser

A young girl was sitting in a small sitting room, looking at pictures on her phone. She was scrolling through photos of her and another girl with the two of them smiling at the camera and in a lot of selfies acting crazy. Her face was quite solemn as she scrolled through them. She kept doing that until a woman came in through the opposite door.

"Debbie?" The girl looked up at her. "She'll see you now."

Debbie put her phone away and followed the woman through the door and entered a room that was a little over the top. There were old world looking dolls and idols all around. Beads hanging by the door swung slightly from the draft of the opening door. Incense burned on a distant small cabinet and was filling the room with its smell. The center of the room had a round table covered in a silk cloth and had a crystal ball in its center. Two chairs were pushed to it and one of them had a woman dressed in a light cream dress.

"Welcome Debbie," she said sweetly. "Leave us please," she said to the woman that brought her in and she nodded before closing the door behind her. She looked back to Debbie. "I'm Miss Rita."

"Hello," Debbie said tensely before sitting down.

"There is no need to be scared child. You've come to reach out to someone, right?"

Debbie nodded. "My roommate Talia. She died last month and…I have something that I need to tell her but I never had the chance to."

The psychic nodded her head. "I understand child. I'll be happy to help you." She reached forward and took her hand and gave it a soft rub. "First I'll be needing a personal item."

Debbie reached into her purse. "I brought Talia's hair brush."

"That'll do," she said taking it and resting it on the table in front of her. She then closed her eyes and turned towards the ceiling. "I invoke thee, keeper of the souls and judger of deliverance and damnation. Pierce the veil and permit this chosen soul through the barrier and allow her essence to wrap around this room. Conjure her and project her forth."

Debbie sat there for a few seconds with nothing happening. She just stared at the brush that still had Talia's hair strands fluttering in the light breeze of the room. "Well? Is she here?"

Miss Rita smiled at her. "These things can take a moment," she said with a smile.

"But…she is coming, right?"

"Have some faith child."

There was then some buzzing from the lights overhead and there was some shaking going on around them. Debbie was soon able to see her breath as the air chilled.

"Is this normal?"

Miss Rita also seemed to be nervous. "I think your friend's spirit is feeling…spirited," she said tensely.

Rita then looked down at the crystal ball that had turned to solid ice and in the next moment, it shattered. Blood spattered as the pieces jammed themselves into her neck. Debbie let out a cry as the woman in front of her fell in shock from the exploding glass piercing her. There was a flicker of air to the side and Debbie looked upon the ghastly face of the girl with her on the pictures that were on her phone. She was completely unrecognizable as she flickered before Debbie like a faded picture.

"Talia?" she asked tearfully.

The girl stared at her with a hard look before her head turned to the window as a dark cloud came through and broke in through the glass. Debbie's scream pierced the air.

Supernatural

Sam and Dean, dressed in their fed suits, stepped through the door of the police precinct and went for the front desk.

"Can I help you?" the clerk asked.

Sam and Dean flashed their badges, and also took a quick look down at the man's wrists as a new habit but saw that he was clean.

"Agents Murdock and Stiles. We're here to speak with Debra Goldwin," Dean said before they pocketed their ids.

"Oh yes," the man nodded before pointing down a hallway. "Miss Goldwin is currently making a personal call but she'll be sent to conference room 2 shortly."

"Where's the coroner's office?" asked Sam.

The clerk pointed down a corridor. "Through that hall and take the second right. Straight on through the double doors."

"Thank you," Sam said before the two of them went off for the room.

"I still think this is a bad idea," Dean mumbled.

"Really Dean? Never would thought that considering you kept saying that every hour since we left," Sam mumbled back as they continued walking.

It had been over a month since Sam, Dean and Castiel had their run-in with Joseph and the Leonards. In that time, the three of them had been hard at work trying to find some way of reversing what Metatron did. They hoped that if they did and had Heaven re-opened like before than both Daniel Leonard and Death wouldn't have to go through all of this. It might make Daniel's drive to lessen if there wasn't such a strong reason for him to break Michael free if he felt that the archangel was the only solution. Sadly all of their efforts brought them no closer to a solution than the day of the Fall.

Currently, the three of them were in the Bunker's library going through another day of research to try to find a way to return the souls. Sam was scrolling down a page on his computer when he heard a soft snoring sound. He turned his head to see that Castiel had nodded off with the book still opened in his hand but slipping loose.

"Cas?" Sam called out to him but the angel kept sleeping. "Cas," he said a little louder. Sam then got up and gave him a shake. "Cas."

Castiel flinched as he woke and managed to catch the book before it fell off him. "I'm okay."

"You sure?" Sam narrowed his eyes at him. He'd never known Castiel to just sleep in the middle of doing something. As long as he'd known him, the angel was the one to shake them awake instead.

"I'm sure. This just isn't the most stimulating of projects I'd taken up."

"I'll say," Dean grunted across the room as he closed a book in frustration. "The Men of Letters brag of having everything about anything here; you'd think one of these books would have something useful."

Castiel shrugged himself to be fully awake. "Well considering that Heaven never had been sealed before it would be quite improbable that they would have anything."

"Stuff it Cas," Dean cut in, clearly annoyed. He then went off to grab another beer from the mini fridge to calm himself with. "There has to be something we can use."

Sam went and settled himself back into his chair but rubbed the bridge of his forehead. "Maybe there is or isn't Dean but aren't we cutting it close here? The feast of Saint Michael is in less than three weeks and we still don't know if it's a spell, ritual or something else that Daniel's going to do to free Michael from the Cage."

"Thanks Sam, thank you for reminding me of the date. It's not like I don't have a calendar hanging in my room counting down the days before we're screwed!"

Dean had been very quick to lash out the last few weeks. If he wasn't yelling, then he was growling, and when he wasn't growling he was glaring. Sam thought it might be a case of cabin fever since Dean hardly had left the Bunker since they arrived back from Columbus, Georgia and it was obviously starting to weigh on them. In the beginning, Dean had the work on his car to distract him. He had to completely replace the back window from when Donovan shot it to hell but that was done within four days. Now there was nothing to let the building anticipation he was feeling out on. When Sam caught wind of this freak death, Dean was reluctant to do this as he felt that it was a waste of time. Sam insisted as there were also heavy omens around Cleveland and there were other brutal deaths and disappearances going around there. It seemed that there was heavy demon activity going on there. Sam thought if demons were causing this kind of trouble in the city then it was something that they couldn't afford to ignore and that if they hadn't found anything after all that time then a few days more of being cooped up wouldn't help any. They might as well use their time to do some good and Dean finally relented, grudgingly. Castiel also decided to go along claiming that he was starting to exhaust himself keeping to one place for too long.

They drove to Cleveland and they decided to split up with the brothers going to the station to speak with girl that witnessed what happened in the latest incident. Castiel would go and scope out the crime scene but Dean asked the angel to not draw too much attention which made him raise a questionable eyebrow.

The coroner unlatched and pulled out the gurney to show the body to the both of them. The women's throat was a mess with over a half dozen deep incisions in it.

"I don't think I have to tell you the cause of death," the coroner quipped.

"Ouch," Dean said rubbing his own throat.

"And that was made from broken glass?" Sam asked.

The coroner went to a table and showed them an evidence baggie with bloodied glass shards. They imagined those pieces being in the holes in that woman's neck.

"Yeah," the coroner said as he handed it to them. "These pieces of glass went pretty deep into her throat cavity. From what I can tell it was like she was next to it as it exploded at her."

"From a window?" Dean asked.

"Oh, these didn't come from any window. They were from a crystal ball."

Sam raised his eyes on that one while Dean snorted.

"Seriously? A crystal ball blew up?"

The two of them thanked the coroner for his time and then went off to try and speak to the girl, Debra or Debbie as she liked to be called, on what happened during her reading. She looked shaken and her eyes seemed shiny and red like she had recently done quite a bit of crying.

She wiped her nose. "I don't want to talk about this again," she said with a cracking voice.

"Listen Debbie, we know this might be frustrating and hard to deal with but we're just trying to understand what happened to you at that shop." Sam was sitting across from her as Dean paced a bit behind him.

"That's what the police said to me since yesterday but they keep thinking that I'm making everything up."

"Yeah, but unlike them when we say we want you to tell us what happened we'll actually listen," Dean said as he rested his hands in his pockets. "So what happened Debbie? What did you see?"

Debbie shrunk back. "Hell. That's what I saw." she said softly. "She's going to take me away."

"She?" Dean asked pointedly.

Debbie seemed to freeze in fright like she had let something slip without meaning to. And she didn't seem to want to say more on that.

Sam noticed that. "Debbie, it's okay," he said softly. "You can tell us." Debbie seemed to not quite want to say more. "Please Debbie," he added.

Debbie looked up at Sam and then looked to Dean before taking a deep breath. "I wanted to talk to my roommate Talia. I had something important to tell her."

Dean narrowed his eyes. "Then why go to Madam Serena's?"

Debbie wiped her nose. "She died near a month ago. Car accident."

"Sorry," said Sam.

"And," Debbie continued. "When her family came to town for the funeral I…kind of hooked up with her brother."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Sam said quickly. "I'm sure that it wouldn't be that big a deal with your friend."

"He's still in high school," she then let her face fall in her palm.

Dean sucked in some air. "Oh…wow."

"He's 18," she said quickly.

Sam just raised his eyebrows.

"It's not like we planned it!" she quickly defended. "He was upset. I was upset and then we just…" Yeah, she didn't have to go on. They got it. "I've been torn up about it ever since and I wanted to just get it off my chest and tell her, so, I thought a trip to a psychic might help." She then got rigid again. "I brought Talia's hair brush and Miss Rita did her thing and suddenly the lights started blinking and everything got so cold and"

"Wait," Sam said suddenly. "The room went cold?"

The room going cold like that meant ghosts, not demons.

"So cold I could see my breath," she said onto her throat for effect. "Then the crystal ball froze and then blew up in Rita's face…the blood, it was awful. Talia was there too."

"Your roommate Talia?" Dean asked.

Debbie nodded. "Yeah, but she was different. She was pale…her eyes were dark and she was disappearing and reappearing in the same spot. Staring hard at me."

"Uh, what did she do?" Sam asked.

"Before anything else could happen, there was all this black smoke that crashed in through the window and came at me. Talia let out this loud shriek and I just got up and ran as fast as I could. Don't you see, they were after me!" she finished hysterically. "Talia's coming after me! I'm going to Hell!"

The two of them soon left the interrogation room a little stunned. They tried to calm Debbie down but she just was too shaken to really listen to them. But the real thing that was on their minds was the fact that both a ghost and a demon assaulted that girl.

"What's going on? Since when do ghosts and demons do a team up?" Dean hissed as they stomped out of the police station.

"I don't know. None of this makes sense. This sounds like a vengeful spirit but demons don't have anything to do with them. It's never both."

"Then what happened?"

"Maybe this Miss Rita was the real deal and bit off more than she could chew."

Dean doubted that. Of all the real psychics that they've met, he'd never heard of one that had their own public shop set up in the open. "So, what now then?"

Sam looked over at Dean with a small amused smile sneaking up on him. "Want to get your palm read?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "You've got to be kidding me," he huffed.

When Sam & Dean arrived at the psychic's shop they stumbled on a circus. There were many people around the place trying to get a better look but were being blocked by uniform cops. The two of them maneuvered their way through the mess and flashed their badges when they reached the police. A uniformed woman came over.

"Agents Spears and Aguilera? FBI?" she asked as she pointed at them.

"Um, yeah?" Dean asked a little blankly.

"Let them through," she ordered. "Your friend arrived earlier. Told us to expect you. He's already inside."

"Thanks," Dean said with a huff. "Crazy," he said looking back at all of the people crowding around.

The woman agreed. "Yeah. The bloody death of a palm reader in her own shop. Brought in all the yahoos from far and wide." She then went over to the other officers. "Let's see about getting some of these people out of here!" they heard her say as they went inside.

The shop had a few areas closed off with tape while some forensics were on the floor surveying the damage. They easily found Castiel off in the corner.

"You're here," he said when they got close enough.

"Agent Spears and Aguilera? Really Cas?" Dean hissed at him.

"I've noticed that your aliases are usually the names of popular musicians," he explained.

Sam caught his brother's eyes before choosing to move on. "So what do we got? The girl said that she saw both a ghost and a demon. Could you tell if it was one or the other that hit here?"

Castiel shrank back. "I'm…not sure," he said confused.

Dean's face fell. "You're not sure? How are not sure?"

Castiel put his hand to his bottom lip. "I…I just don't know. I can't explain it."

"Cas," Sam said with his face a little fallen. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," he grunted out. "I suppose I might be somewhat tired from everything that's been happening the last few weeks. It should pass soon enough."

It was a feeble explanation but Sam and Dean wouldn't press it, not here and not now. But they didn't think it would be 'passing soon enough' as their friend believed. Sam remembered how Cas had been nodding off back at the Bunker. Dean also remembered how out of it Cas had been when they were in Georgia. Something seemed to be happening to him and both of them couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with Castiel getting his grace back.

"But something did happen through that door," he pointed to a room that had been taped off.

"Cas, don't quit your day job." Dean said before he headed off for it.

He and Sam ducked under the tape and went into the back room that looked like a small bomb went off. There were things all over the floor that seemed to have shot out from the shelves and decorations broken and spread around. Most of it looked like silly novelties.

The table in the center had an evidence marker where there was a shattered bottom of a crystal ball that must've been the one that exploded the shards into the psychic's neck. There were spots of blood on the carpet close by too. Dean pulled out his EMF and it started beeping straight away.

"Guess its official. This is a ghost hunt." He said before putting it away. "No demons after all."

Sam stood still by the shattered window and noticed something at the side of the sill. A familiar yellow substance. "Dean," he said as he picked some of it up with his fingers. "Sulfur."

Dean went over and saw that it was sulfur. "What the hell?"

"That means it was both," Sam said as he wiped his fingers clean.

"A spirit and a demon attacking a fake psychic? How? Why?"

Castiel knocked on the door to get their attention. "I think there is something you should see," he said before he lead them out of the shop and back to the street. He then pointed. "If my memory serves you two know them, right?"

Sam and Dean focused on where he was pointing to see two annoyingly familiar geeks with cameras held up.

"Oh, this is all we need," Sam mumbled.

Harry Spengler and Ed Zeddmore, those two amateur filmmakers that called themselves the Ghostfacers were there trying to move in past the barricade. They soon made eye contact with them.

"Well," Harry smirked. "Look who it is. Hey agents!"

Sam and Dean quickly went off and pulled the two of them away and off to a secluded section of the street. They dragged off until they came upon

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Ed said with a small smile.

"Not long enough. What are you two doing here?" Dean grunted out at them.

"The case, what else?" said Harry as he fixed the goggles strapped to the side of his head.

"With all the spiritual fluctuations happening here, do you really think we wouldn't be here working it?" Ed said as he tweaked the camera he

Dean didn't try to hide the rolling of his eyes. "Working? You two call rolling around that Mystery Machine with those cameras working?" He asked skeptically.

"Whoa," Ed said holding up his forefinger. "There's more to the Ghostfacers than that. We're professionals."

"Really? Do tell," he said with a mocking snort.

"Sorry but our techniques are a trade secret. Completely confidential," Ed answered back a bit smugly.

This only made Sam and Dean share a look.

"Right," Sam said. "Look guys, it might be best if you two just go and let us handle this."

"Yeah, just leave it to the real professionals," Dean glared at them.

The two of them were moving off to head back to the psychic's shop but Harry and Ed weren't done.

"If you were as good as you seem to think you are then you wouldn't be wasting your time heading back to that shop," Ed called out. "You'd be moving for the epicenter."

That made the brothers turn around to look back at the two of them.

"Epicenter?" Dean repeated.

"Where the ghosts seem to be spewing out from," Ed said.

"What are you talking about?" Sam said.

"We're talking about a tear in the veil separating the living and the dead," Harry said smugly. "Here in Cleveland, which makes sense if you think about it. Looks like we beat you to the punch this time."

Dean was at his wits end with these two. "This isn't some game. You two are only to get yourselves killed. You're just two guys armed with nothing but those cheap cameras looking for a thrill against things that are more dangerous and stronger than you can imagine. "

"Whoa," Ed said holding up his hand. "I don't think a guy with a ten dollar haircut has any right to call anything cheap, especially on a piece of digital hardware pushing $400."

"Besides," Harry cut in. "We're definitely armed." He lifted his shirt so they could see the handle of a handgun. "Say hola to my little pistola."

"That won't matter," Sam said as he glared at them. "Having a gun won't help you, not on this. What's going on here is more serious than you would think."

"I'm sure we can handle a few ghosts," Harry said confidently.

"Ghosts are the least of your worries in this town. If you two are as good as you seem to think you are then you would be telling us what you think you know and then driving as far away as you can. Keep going and you're only going get ripped to pieces. And that's if they feel generous with you."

Harry was a bit thrown by the ferocity Dean threw at them but Ed just rolled his eyes.

"We can take care of ourselves. Stay out of our way, okay agents" Ed said before he went for the driver's seat. "Harry," he called from inside.

"Right," Harry said before joining his buddy inside. "Fifty shades of way too much protein."

They then drove off leaving Sam and Dean looking off after them.

In a penthouse suite in a first class hotel Crowley was at the head of a long table overlooking over a half dozen demons.

"So here's the thing boys and girls, we have a crisis. Admittedly a crisis of my own making. In my unfortunate absence Abaddon made in-roads into my following, creating chaos. So I look to you, my trusted advisors to restore confidence. To soothe those jangled nerves. Spread the word. The King is back! And the kingdom is once again on sound footing." He finished with a cheery tone.

The demons were all silently looking at each other or down at their hands when Crowley finished his little speech. The room was dead silent which amplified the effect of the sound of wings flapping and the hard clapping that followed it. Crowley and all the other demons looked to see that it was coming from someone leaning on the far wall.

"Brilliant," he was still clapping. "A true inspiration for us all I say," he said with a laugh.

Two of the demons leapt out of their chairs and went for the intruder. One of them was immediately gored through the gut by a long black sword. The second demon was lifted up from his neck and slammed on the floor back first. The blade was then brought out of the 1st demon's corpse and thrust down in the second. The angel let out an exasperated gasp as he leaned on the top of the blade and looked back at all the shocked faces.

"What a warm welcome."

Crowley got his bearings back fast. "Samael…you certainly know how to announce yourself."

"What can I say," Samael said as he pulled his blade free of the dead demon's chest. "It's a talent." He then started to clean the blood from his black blade with a handkerchief he pulled out. "I know that you must be quite busy but I hope I can have a moment of your time."

Crowley looked to his demons. "Leave us, and try to do something productive," he added in an annoyed tone. "Oh," he said before they got to the door. "Take that mess with you," he said flicking his fingers at the corpses Samael had left on the floor.

"Nice digs Crowley," Samael said as he put his sword away and took in the lavish surroundings.

"Thank you." Crowley went over to a table where some scotch bottles lay with a few glasses. "Fancy a drink?"

"Oh, I'd love one." He took a seat on a cushy armchair and let himself lean back into slightly.

Crowley poured himself a glass of his favorite scotch and handed Samael one of his own. He then went to sit across from him. "How did you get in here anyway? This place is warded against angels."

"Archangel," Samael said before taking a sip of his scotch. "Scratches won't stop me."

"Noted," Crowley said before taking a sip himself. "Does that stop at scratches on the walls or include the more physical kind?"

Samael chuckled. "Sorry Crowley but you're not my type. I might be loose but not desperate."

"So, what brings you around here?" Crowley said getting down to business.

"It's Abaddon," he said simply before taking another drink.

"What about the skanger?" Crowley asked angrily.

"Careful," Samael said pointing at him. "That's my daughter you're speaking about."

"Didn't know that the tempter and seducer of angels, demons and man had a paternal side," he said with a small smirk fighting its way through.

"There's a lot about me people don't know. But I will say that her mother was a bit of a 'skanger' herself, before the Powers destroyed her."

"Tragic," Crowley said dully. "So, what about Abaddon then?"

"She needs to die," Samael said unflinchingly.

That threw Crowley off and he nearly dropped his glass. "Die? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for ganking the," Crowley stopped when Samael glared icily at him. "spirited minx," he edited. "But why would you want your daughter dead. Who you won't let me insult by the way."

"Call it tough love. Abaddon has too great a sweet tooth for chaos and, normally, I would abide by that. But now isn't the time for it."

"Ah yes," Crowley said leaning back in his chair. "These are interesting times, aren't they? You and your fellow jailbirds flew the coop when the Scribe clipped everyone's wings. Well, almost everyone's. Yours seemed to have grown back."

Samael nodded. "Finally at full strength. However, even my power won't be enough."

"Enough? For what? Dealing with the Powers or those holy brigands they enlisted? I'm sure you could handle them well enough."

"Joseph and his men and the humans aren't the biggest concern. It's who they're working for."

"You mean that Saint? I've heard of this Daniel Leonard and I have to say that from what I've picked up he's nowhere near the amount of trouble a certain moose and squirrel are cruising around that glorified clunker of theirs."

"And you would be wrong Crowley. Daniel Leonard is more of a threat then you perceive him to be. Unlike the Winchesters, he has a definite plan in the works and many angels and humans supporting him. Besides, I wasn't even speaking of him anyway."

Crowley paused in raising his current glass to his lips. "You weren't? Then who?"

"The one whom is forcing me to see to Abaddon being destroyed. If Daniel Leonard is allowed to go through with his mission then I'm going to need a stable Hell backing me to deal with him if my plan to get rid of the Saint doesn't succeed. And the demons will be more stable more quickly if Hell is back under your full control over Abaddon."

"I'm flattered," Crowley droned. "But what do you expect me to do about it that I'm not already trying to do?"

"Nothing, but what I tell you. And here's what you and your cohorts are going to do."

A slightly run down condominium had a good many of its windows boarded shut or the windows blacked out but an attentive passerby below saw dim flickering light behind them, It mirrored a streetlamp nearby which was flickering slightly along with them. It flickered harder and the glass shattered which had him run off to distance themselves from it. On the top floor of the building there was a thin layer of mist as well as a coating of ice on the windows as some light screaming echoed all around. In what looked like an operating room, there was a young man bound on an iron table by shackles on his arms and legs. He was pale, his face swollen and was breathing hard. A woman in a smock was standing just above him as she had a small stone tablet in one hand and a poker in another. She pointed at a demon that was standing off to the side.

"You."

"Yes Ulphir?" he asked.

She looked to a table close to him that had an assortment of tools and torture instruments displayed. "Take one of those pokers there and jam it into this one's left knee. I need to take a reading."

"My pleasure." The demon went to pick up the poker but burned his hand.

"Fool," she screeched. "Those are made of iron. Use the gloves."

The demon snarled at her before it went to put on the nearby gloves and then picked up the iron poker and jammed it into the man on the table's left knee. As soon as it made contact the man screamed and he flickered in place. Vanishing and appearing for a few milliseconds before staying visible. The letters in the tablet the woman was holding glowed as he came back into focus. At the sight, the people behind the glass tubes started flickering on and off themselves as they clawed and hit against the glass.

The woman didn't even react to them but kept her gaze on the tablet which still had its letters glowing. "Hmm…this one shows promise. He'll make a fine demon soldier."

Just then, a puff of black smoke came into the lab and went over to a tube that was empty. It passed through it and then the sight of the ghost from the psychic's shop was there screaming and clawing at the glass herself to try and escape.

The smoke dissipated to reveal a possessed man. "Ulphir," he said as he straightened the sleeves on his jacket.

She glared at him and pointed one of the pokers at the ghost he just dropped. "Why did you bother bringing this one back?" she spat at the demon. "It's useless. I have no further need for this one. Or the other ones that you keep tugging back to me."

"Abaddon ordered me to retrieve it. She doesn't want any one of these souls to be left to escape. You have to take better care. They are starting to draw attention to us."

"What's the harm? If it means easy access to potential vessels for the new demons as soon as they're done then I see bring the snoopers."

Ulphir sucked on her teeth. Why was Abaddon being so sentimental? If the souls couldn't handle the process than they had no further use for them."

"Ulphir!"

The occupants looked up to see Abaddon strolling inside with a less than happy look on her face.

"Abaddon," Ulphir said with a smile. "How good to see you."

"Come here please," she said not batting an eye.

The demon put down the instruments in her hand and removed her smock before moving for the Knight of Hell.

"Yes my queen."

"Progress Report," she screeched out.

"Oh, well, it seems I was able to successfully convert six souls to the new specifications you gave me. These demons are more sensible and intelligent than the earlier models."

"Six? A good start. I need these demons to be better thinkers. Ever since the embarrassment they handed me to my father against those humans I've been less willing to put my faith in them. If common grade humans could out think them then so could Crowley and the Winchesters. I need elite soldiers for my army, not brainless drones."

"Of course Abaddon and that's why I'm working hard to perfect the transitions. I'm confident that I can manufacture you a good size force of better demons for you soon."

Abaddon gave Ulphir a sweet smile. "Well, your confidence gives me cause to look forward to your future progress." Then her smile started to fall. "But you know what doesn't?"

Ulphir's face fell to a frown. "Mam?"

"Your lack of care when it comes to keeping those souls locked up. From what some of your assistants tell me, you've already allowed six souls to be set loose. A seventh one just last night. Are you running a lab or a ghost pound? I've had to send men out to chase and retrieve them like they were dog catchers."

It was clear that Abaddon was not amused by any of this and Ulphir tried not to let her nervousness show in front of the new Queen of Hell.

"It's not a problem my queen. Those souls were insignificant to our plans."

"My plans," she immediately corrected. "With all the work I've put in to giving you this lab space, I am not happy to see you being so careless with the valuable test subjects I give you. I don't want souls that were not so easy to catch to just be let loose like fish you feel that you could just throw back."

"Abaddon, as I've told you, these procedures might not work for too many souls. They have to have a specific frequency and dexterity to adapt to the changes we're making to the transitions. If they don't then they're useless and it would be a waste of time to continue on with them, or even keep them. Those souls were useless to use in turning them into the soldiers that you wanted."

Abaddon went to grab Ulphir by the cheeks and squeezed at them hard as she pulled her close. "Listen Ulphir, I don't care for excuses. I care for results. Now, if you can't work out the kinks to building my soldiers to be both stronger and smarter than others are going to be finding out about a vacancy here in your lab. Got it?"

Ulphir nodded furiously as her eyes stared back at Abaddon with utter terror. She then let go of her.

"And don't waste any of my souls. If they can't be what I want than make the most of them that you can. Half-baked super soldiers are still better than regular ones. Besides, I don't want to draw too much unnecessary trouble until the process can be perfected, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes mam," she said as she lightly massaged her cheeks from where Abaddon's hold had bruised them.

"Good," Abaddon said smiling at the impact she made on her rather than her assurance. "Now get back to work."

Ulphir gave one last rub to her cheeks as Abaddon left the room with her heels clicking on the wood floor, echoing through the room as she headed out.

As soon as she stepped out, a demon bowed to her. "My queen, it seems there is a situation," he reported.

"Is it Crowley or the Winchesters?"

"Er, well no mam."

"Then handle it," she said impatiently. "Unless you aren't able to deal with small problems on your own in which case I need a new head of security."

"No, of course not," the demon said with a shaky voice.

"Then if you can then don't waste my time. I have real important things that actually need my personal attention."

"Yes, my queen." The demon then ran off to see to the business that he never was able to report to her.

In a slightly dinged up area of the city, the two camera wielding ghost hunters were skulking about as they carefully went and looked around. One of them was eager. The other seemed to be getting paler the closer they got.

"Hey Ed…I'm not sure about this anymore."

Ed gave Harry a side glance. "What? Are you kidding me? We find Ecto Ground Zero and you want to bail?" he asked incredulously.

"No," Harry said quickly. "It's just…what that guy said."

That only made Ed snort. "He was just trying to scare us," he waved off. "He and that buddy of his just want to have this case to themselves."

"I don't know. He sounded pretty serious to me. Those guys…they've always been a drag, but that short one…the look in his eyes when he said that we would get killed; it scared me."

Ed wouldn't admit it but that guy sent chills down his spine too. That guy was always the more intense of the two but he was He just shook himself loose. "Look Harry, forget those guys," he said trying to settle his friend. "They can't tell us what to do. We have just as much a right to be doing this as they do. And we don't have to wear cheap suits and flash fake badges around to do our thing."

Just then a buzzing was heard from Harry's belt. "Whoa," he said as he took out what was hanging from it. "My EMF…it turned on by itself."

"Really? So…got a reading?" he asked trying to get a better look.

Harry was taken aback. "Got one? This thing is going off the scale!"

"What?!" Ed rounded on him.

Harry handed the meter to him and Ed looked at it as it beeped loudly before it started beeping louder and then a small snap was heard and the machine quieted down. It started to smoke right after.

"What the hell?"

"It…it's fried," Harry gasped out. "I built that thing myself."

"The energy must've been too much for it to handle." Ed looked back up at the condemned buildings nearby. "Looks like we're on the right track this time," Ed said with a bit of a laugh. "We've hit the Afterlife Kasbah."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I guess we did." He looked at the fried remains of his EMF. He couldn't help but remember that guy's hard words again. "Maybe we should head back to the van?"

"Why?" Ed said as he was now hyped up.

"It's lined with iron," he said as if it was obvious.

"We won't find what we need staying in that thing," he immediately argued back. "We know those ghosts are around here somewhere and we have to find out exactly where they floating around. And that means searching these building and even going down a manhole or two. We can't do that in the car." Ed stepped back a bit from him. "Are you scared bud?"

"Well, yeah, okay, fine, yes, I'm scared. Aren't you? I mean…look," he said picking up his fried scanner and waving it in front of his face. "What kind of ghosts do this?"

"That's just it. We don't know which is why we have to find out. What if it's something completely new? Something unseen even by the most devout of believers; we would make paranormal history. I thought that's what you always wanted. What we always wanted?" Ed argued.

"And I do," Harry snapped back. "I just don't want to be history before we make it."

"It's those guys. They came around and they got up in your face and now you want to hightail and run? Come on, we're here, they're not. They say that this is bigger than us but who are the ones that are here? Us. Right?"

Harry nodded his head. "Yeah," he said softly. "Right."

"So, what does that tell you? We're made for this stuff. Besides, it's the middle of the day. We'll be fine out here for a while."

Harry shrugged his head. "I guess you have a point."

Ed snorted. "Have a point. I nailed it."

Ed then started to move around the nearby corner with Harry right behind him before he bumped into something. Rather someone(s). There were four rough looking guys and they were glaring a bit at them. Both Harry and Ed were a little thrown off at the way they were leering at them.

"Sorry," Ed said straightening himself before checking to see if his web cam was still okay. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

The four of them didn't answer. They just kept the gazes.

Harry swallowed nervously. "Is there a problem guys?" he asked as he tried to make it sound casually nice.

There was a response in the form of all four of them having their eyes go pitch black. That made the two Ghostfacers jump back and curse out in surprise. They turned to try and run out of there but their way was blocked by a hard looking man that was staring back at them with red eyes shining through the jet black pool where the whites were supposed to be. Harry and Ed cringed their noses when the guy let out a snarl that made the thick smell of rotten eggs and sulfur flow in through their nostrils.

One of the other men pointed their black eyes on Harry who whimpered at the hungry look he was getting from him. "Should we take these two over to Abaddon then?" he asked the others.

One of them snorted. "Are you kidding me? Abaddon wants strong and tough vessels for her pet projects. These two look like one good poke will make them cry to their mommies," he said mockingly.

The others smirked savagely at them too.

The first guy nodded. "You're right. Well, my next break is in a couple of hours. I guess I can keep these two around to entertain me between shifts."

He then grabbed at Ed but Harry swung his camera for the guy's head but he grabbed at Harry's wrist before he could make contact. Harry's wrist was squeezed hard and he let out a yelp and his camera fell into the demon's grasp. It was then thrown over at the opposite wall where it shattered.

"Hey," Ed shouted before he tried to throw himself at the guy to get him off Harry.

The others went to grab at them to but Harry went and pulled out the gun he had hidden under his shirt and shot at one of them. Everyone froze as they looked at the one shot. He just looked down at the bleeding wound and up at Harry with a smirk before he started laughing. The one with the black and red eyes yanked the gun from Harry's hand and snapped it in two to both Harry and Ed's stone cold horror. They knew, then and there, they were going to die.

But then there was a scream as one of the ones that were laughing had a blade's edge stick out from his throat.

When the two Ghostfacers drove off, Sam and Dean chose to follow them and took Cas with them as they tried to tail them. If they did know where the ghosts were 'spewing' from then it might hold the answers why the demons were here too. They arrived just in time to see the two of them getting assaulted by the demons and they quickly moved in to help them even though Dean had half a mind to let the demons teach them a lesson.

Castiel killed one of them as they were distracted by laughing at the Ghostfacers. The two of them fell off and crawled to shrink down at the corner of the wall as the demons went to fight against the hunters and angel that surprised them. Sam brought out his shotgun and shot one of them full of rocksalt. Castiel struggled with the other one as it brought out an angel blade to stab him. Castiel's blade met with it and blocked the hit and they pushed at each other to try and force their blades to try and stab the other. Castiel didn't want to but he took his other hand and pressed it to the demon's forehead and pushed his grace to smite the demon. The demon inside was dead but Castiel found his legs feeling like jelly and he was now sitting on the ground. He looked up to see Sam struggling with the other demon as he slammed the butt of his shotgun at him.

"Sam," he called out to him before throwing his blade for Sam to catch.

Sam caught it and then ran the demon through with it.

Dean took out the knife and made to slash at the black and red eyed demon who jumped back to avoid the hit. It then threw a fist at Dean's head and made him step back two steps from the impact. It then went to grab at Dean's throat to try and crush it. Dean tried to stab the demon as it came close by and he did manage to stab it but the demon quickly grabbed at Dean's hand and squeezed it. Dean cringed and let go of the knife's handle before the demon pushed him away. The knife was then pulled out and kicked to the side. The demon was going to charge at Dean again when a angel blade found its way to its gut. Sam had thrown it at him to try and help his brother but the demon bared it. However, it gave Dean the chance to quickly take out his gun and let two shots loose at the demon's chest. It recoiled before it seemed to move for Dean again but it struggled like its feet were stuck to the ground. The bullets had Devil's Traps carved on them and kept it grounded. Dean ran for the knife and stabbed the demon through the chest three times before he finally stuck the knife into its throat, finally killing it.

Dean then looked at the shellshocked camera geeks crutching on the ground who looked up at his bloodstained face. "I would say that I hate to say I told you so, but that would be a lie because I so love saying it to you."

End of Chapter 38

A/N: I was a little sad to see the Ghostfacers go out the way they did in Season 9. For them to go out hating each other, it got to me. I think where I'm taking them might be a bit better. On another note, I noticed that something happened on the site and caused all the picture links I set up to malfunction and only bring everyone back to the profile page. On my profile page I put in a link address for a section on the supernatural fanon wiki site devoted to my supernatural story. I hope you enjoy the pages I created on characters and objects that have appeared so far. There are mild spoilers too so beware.

The next chapter will have Dean calling on Cain who pulls through on his end and gives him his weapon. Now armed with the First Blade he and Sam, who is slightly wary of it, go for Abaddon. The mission leads to more issues to deal with. Cas also gets his own personal confrontation. When all is said and done, there are quite a few surprise twists for them.