The song here is "Blood on My Name" by The Brothers Bright
Blood on My Name
Nikolai stood outside of the torture room, time stretching on and speeding past, if that was possible. Listening to the screams, he fought against the itch that the Mark of Cain was creating. At the same time, it seemed like Crowley would open the door as quickly as Nikolai delivered his victims. Was he blacking out or was Crowley just that good?
He couldn't stop thinking about the Mark. Why would it now start to itch? Was it because of the rebellion? Does disorder cause the Mark to demand action? If that's the case, he couldn't argue against it. He wanted to make sure that this rebellion didn't change a single thing. He could really work with this theory. If he was right, then he had nothing to worry about; turning into some monster.
But he thought about Cain and how he lived in isolation, how he wasn't exactly living the dream and enjoying it. That had to worry him a little.
Crowley opened the door and Nikolai glanced over his shoulder. Luckily, he didn't have to worry about seeing a mess that would maybe encourage the Mark of Cain because Crowley seemed to clean up after every torture and kill. It's as if Crowley knows that the Mark is affecting him. Then, he realized that he would know because Clara wouldn't hide this from him, not that he could blame her.
"Now, it's time for Stephanie." Crowley said and Nikolai quickly set off.
All the demons had refused to speak a word. The only thing they confirmed is the rebellion. It was coming and it would change everything. Crowley wouldn't see it coming. That last part sounded stupid, but Crowley wasn't. He knew that meant something. These demons were planning something big and they were certain that their King wouldn't have a clue about it.
So, Crowley had shared his theory with Nikolai. If it was something he didn't see coming, it meant that this rebellion wasn't about him like they wanted him to believe. Nikolai had to agree; that sounded smart. Crowley had said that Gavin wasn't in any harm: they wanted him to think that he was, hence the inexperience crossroad demon. One could argue that she would have convinced Gavin to make a deal, seeing an opportunity to become the next best crossroad demon. But it wasn't just to use a clueless pawn to fall for it and then to face Crowley's wrath; Kelley was just useless to them. Kelley wouldn't have harmed Gavin and then questioning her was at best a distraction, to say the least.
As Nikolai approached Stephanie's cell, he knew there was no way she was going to know that Crowley was catching on. He was going to continue with the idea that the demons were after him by going through his son.
Nikolai opened the door of her cell to see her just sitting against the wall with this deathly glare on her face like she was the threat and not him. He flashed his darkest grin and lifted his hand to his face, curling his index finger to invite her towards him.
"Do you think I'm afraid?" she asked and he placed his hands in his pockets, where the burlap sack was half tucked into one of them, as he leaned in the doorway.
"No, you look like I'm the one who should be afraid." He said and she grinned, but he didn't agree with her. "Too bad, because out of the two of us, I'm not the one who has a reason to be afraid." He concluded and her grin fell as her eyes sharpened, looking like a Hellhound about to attack.
"Like Crowley is a reason to be afraid; I'm not afraid of his torturing." Stephanie replied with conviction.
"What about me?" Nikolai asked, revealing the Mark of Cain that had a slight itch, as if begging him to stick the First Blade in her.
"Crowley's pet?" she asked with a dark grin. "I'm not afraid of either of you." She added and then smiled in a smug manner.
"Yet." Nikolai replied and pulled out the burlap sack from his pocket. She rose to her feet and simply stood still, as if to show that she wasn't afraid. He reached out and grabbed her by the throat, slamming her hard against the wall, but she didn't fight back. He wouldn't kill her with the First Blade, but nothing said he couldn't hurt her a little.
At that moment, he thought something interesting: she was going to die with all her secrets. She was going to take the torture and die like the others; but she would be silent until her very last moment of her demon life.
He raised her off her feet and grinned at her, enjoying inflicting this bit of pain on her. He quickly dropped her and before her legs could buckle and lose control, he slammed her into the wall and pulled the burlap sack over her head. He twisting her around and gripping her arms behind her back so tight that he heard a pop in one of her shoulders as well as a yelp that she was trying to hold back.
He pushed her out of her cell and she walked down the corridors out of her own free will. He whistled as he escorted her and when he forced her to a stop, that's the moment her torture began, frightened or not.
He pulled the burlap sack off her head and tossed it onto the counter and he shoved her onto the metal slab that smelled of blood.
"Nikolai, please, where are your manners?" Crowley asked and she glared up at him as she pushed herself up with her uninjured arm. Nikolai gripped her hair and yanked her towards him and then lifted her up, dropping her on the metal slab. He then tied her in manually and tightened the straps to the point that she yelped. He grinned at her and then stepped back.
"Sorry, couldn't help myself." He said and Crowley cast him a casual smirk. "I get all rough when a pretty girl plays hard to get." He added and he was about to walk out of the room, but turned on his heel and grinned at Stephanie. "By the way, she tripped and when I reached out to grab her, I accidently dislocated her shoulder." He concluded and she snarled at him as he walked out of the room.
"I do apologize for my Knight." He said and Stephanie let out a dry laugh.
"Save your bullshit, Crowley. I won't play your games and I'm not afraid." She said and he hovered over her head so she could look up directly into his dark eyes.
"Keep telling yourself that and I'm sure it'll be true." He replied and walked over to the counter, pulling out some tools he was sure would convince her of her lack of fear.
"I won't tell you anything, just to let you know." She said and he grinned as he approached with some sharp toys.
"I don't need you for information. I have all that I need. Torturing you is just for fun." He replied and she was silent, as if she wasn't certain whether to believe him or not.
"You know nothing, Crowley." she said and he let out a dark laugh as he tenderly placed a sharp scalpel on her forehead.
"Your demons say so much when they say so little." He replied and she snorted as if she didn't believe him.
At that moment, he pushed down on the scalpel and it went into her forehead, into her skull where it made a deep cracking sound, making her scream. Her eyes rolled back into her head, but it wasn't enough to go into her vessel's brain and kill it.
He pulled out the scalpel and even twisted it out, causing more pain. He walked over to the counter and grabbed the bottle of holy water as well as the box of salt to pour into her head wound. She screamed again, but this time she began cursing at him.
"Music to my ears." He said and poured some more in, grinning over the sound of her screaming.
