One Month Later
"You feeling any better today?" Sam yells to Lizzy in the living room.
"Not really," she admits. "Still fucking sick. Threw up first thing this morning… again. And I'm sure I'll throw up a few more times today… again."
"One more day of this and you should really go see someone," Sam tells her, backpack stuffed and over his shoulder. "It's been, what? Three days?"
"It'll go away. It's just a bug," she brushes off and watches him run around grabbing his stuff. "I made coffee." She holds out the already prepared travel mug for him as he walks by the couch where she's sitting. She's taken that duty over from Dean once she moved in with Sam for the time being, planning to get on her own feet at some point.
"Thanks," Sam smiles at her, the month living with her culminating into a quite comfortable situation. They've gotten into a routine by now. Sam gets ready for his early classes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday while Lizzy stays home and researches his destiny, the living room turned into a study of sorts with several copies of ancient books Bobby sent her scattered about in stacks. In the afternoon Sam comes home, they eat an early dinner while she tells him what she's found if anything, and she heads out to the bar if she has a shift that night. On every Saturday night she works and most of the time Sam will show up, sip slowly on a few beers throughout the long and busy night, and make sure she's alright. He's only had to talk her out of a fit of sudden sorrow once while working. Not too bad.
And this Wednesday is no different. Sam has his classes and Lizzy has a shift later.
"I'll make something for dinner before I leave," Lizzy tells him as he gathers his keys and wallet. "You gonna be around?"
"Uh," he thinks for a second, turning to look at her while flipping his hair out of his eyes.
"You need a fucking haircut," Lizzy tells him, pulling a stack of bound papers into her lap, a copy of the infamous 'demon dictionary' of sorts that she and Bobby turn to quite often.
"Bite me," Sam returns quickly. "Yeah, I don't think I'm heading to the library today. I'll be back by three."
"I'll see you then," she tells him, head in the books already as he leaves, knowing she's invested and done talking anyways. She promised Dean to keep Sam safe. Damn it all, that's exactly what she's going to do.
Checking the clock again, Lizzy's stomach drops. It's a quarter until four. Sam's never this late… if late at all.
She sends out yet another text to him.
Text me, Sam. You're never this late. Are you alright?
Something in her tells her he's not. She can just feel it. Everything is… off. It's a dumb thought. Sam's a capable young man that brings holy water and salt with him everywhere. She's even minimally trained him on defensive moves if he's ever caught off guard. He should be fine, especially in the light of day… but where is he?
Her phone buzzes in her hand as she sits at the tiny table by the kitchenette, turkey burgers now cold set in front of her, and she whips the phone up.
Sam Winchester Calling.
"Where the hell are you?" she fires out immediately once she answers it.
"I… n't know…."
It's his voice for certain but it's buried in crackling and fuzz as he's cutting out.
"Sam!? Shit, are you ok!?" she asks with fear, already on her feet and grabbing her pre-packed emergency bag he knows nothing about in the hallway closet. Clothing, toiletries, and a boat-load of weapons, all prepared for whatever might come. She's been waiting for just about anything to happen with Sam's destiny being what it is.
"Kinda…. I'm not… alone."
"Who's with you?" she asks quickly, feeling like this call his coming through quite unexpectedly.
"Jake Tal… Ava Wilson… dy Gallagher…."
"Andy!?" Lizzy's voice panics as much as her whole body does, reaching for the keys to the Impala. She never unpacked the trunk. "You mean all the kids from our research? The ones we thought had demon blood in them?"
"All of us… alive still," Sam says it matter of fact. "Think… will cut out soon."
"Shit, what's around you?"
"Ghost town… old. Aband…."
"I need more," Lizzy tries to piece together, pausing at the doorway of Sam's apartment with closed eyes, thinking hard. "What's weird or unique around you?"
"What?" Sam's distant and static-coated voice asks. "Cutting… out…."
"Damn it!" Lizzy complains. "What stands out about the place!?"
"Windmill… old store fr…. Big bell… tree on it. An old tree, no leaves…."
And the line goes silent. Lizzy holds her breath, just hoping the line cut out for a second. "Sam!?" Nothing. "Come on… Sam!? Are you there!?" Still nothing.
She pulls the phone away from her ear and sees the call was ended. He must have lost the signal. She dials his number again but it doesn't even ring.
The number you are trying to reach is out of service….
"Oh, fuck me," Lizzy fears out and rushes out of the apartment. She jogs down the two flights and out to the parking lot while calling Bobby.
His phone rings twice.
"Fucking answer!"
"Liz?" she hears the calm and gruff voice she knows and loves, the sound a beacon of hope that she can find the help she needs to get Sam back.
"He's gone, Bobby," Lizzy says, fumbling with the keys and dropping them on the pavement. "Shit!"
"Who's gone?"
"Sam!" Lizzy explains, picking up the keys and unlocking the driver's side door. "He was late to get back from classes. He just called but I could barely hear him. Yellow Eyes took him."
"How do you know?"
"He's with Andy and Ava. And Jake I think, all the kids Yellow Eyes fucked with," Lizzy says with total alarm. "I have to get him back!"
"Ok, hold on a tick," Bobby says evenly. "You calm down and let's focus the right way. Losing your head ain't gonna do anybody any good, especially Sam."
He's right. Liz nods to herself and takes a very deep breath. Then another. And one more for good measure.
"You good?"
"Yeah, Bobby. I'm better. What do we do?" Lizzy sits behind the wheel and tries to keep her fears down enough to think straight. She's in Dean's car and Dean's brother is in trouble. She's can't let him down. She promised Dean she would look after Sam.
"Did he say where he is?"
"He doesn't know exactly. What I could get out of him is there's a windmill and abandoned store front. He mentioned a ghost town and there's a big bell with a tree on it. No leaves, just a tree…."
"A bell," Bobby repeats and she can hear him rifling through pages.
"You know the place!?" Lizzy asks very hopefully.
"Might," Bobby tells her. "There's a town called Cold Oak in my state. Supposed to be all kinds of haunted. Been there once outta curiosity… took pictures." He pauses. "I'm willing to bet that's the place."
"Ok, good start," she says, turning the key in the ignition and starting the engine.
"Get here as soon as you can and I'll come with you," Bobby says to her. "I'm not too far outta the way and I think backup would be smart."
"Thank you, Bobby," she says to him, relaxing just a touch as she pulls out of the lot and gets moving, hoping not to get pulled over on her way.
Sam's exhausted. He's been running from Jake for over an hour after getting his ass nearly beat to death by him. Physic powers suck compared to intense hulk strength. Sam lost that lottery.
After the dream in which Azazel let him in on why he's been creating a generation of powerful kids, he's filled with dread. And he's not willing to kill anyone in this sick game show the demon created so he's stuck here. Too bad Jake doesn't feel the same way.
And now, the one knife he's managed to find gone and his body too tired to put up much more of a fight, he's slinking in the shadows, listening for any sounds or people coming near him. He's horrified, not a trained hunter in the least, and he's thinking this is the end. He doesn't stand a chance against Jake.
"Sam!"
He knows for sure he heard that. The voice in the distance calling his name. It's Lizzy.
"Sam!"
"Sam! You here!?"
And Bobby. They came for him! Holy shit, they came for him!
"Lizzy!" Sam calls out in his spent voice, it barely loud enough to get their attention.
"Sam!? Where are you!?" Lizzy yells back to him, just making out his voice. She hefts her shotgun a little higher, ready to shoot anything that could come their way in such a creepy, dangerous place.
"Here," Sam says with a thankful smile, holding his side and limping towards her slowly. He waves once he's out of the shadows and he watches her face relax into a small smile.
"Thank fucking God," Lizzy says to him as she picks up her pace a little, marching for the clearly hurt man. It's then that she sees someone come out the shadows of the building behind Sam, old rusted knife in hand. "Shit. Sam! Watch out!"
What looks like Jake Talley from her research comes up behind Sam before he can turn around and stabs him in the back without ceremony or remorse.
"No!" Lizzy screams out, horrified as she watches the attack without being able to stop it. She sprints to him. "Sam! No!"
Bobby runs after Jake but the military man is too fast, dropping his weapon and speeding away before he can be caught.
Sam's knees buckle and Lizzy tries to catch him. His frame is too large and heavy for her and they drop to the ground, Sam falling forward onto her and Lizzy bringing her arms around him.
"Sam, hey. Say something, ok?" she asks of him, shaking his body a little to rouse him. He doesn't move, just leans limply against her. "Sam, come on. Look at me, huh? Can you look at me?"
He doesn't even lift his head from her shorter shoulder. When she brings her hands to his face and lifts it for him so she can look at him she smears his cheeks with red. So much blood on her hands from his back. This is really not good.
Sam's eyes roll as his head lolls to the side and she has to readjust him to keep him upright.
"No, no, no," she cries a little, already aware of what's happening. "I was supposed to keep you safe. You can't die, Sam. You can't… you're making me a liar."
When his eyes close and every ounce of his weight is on her she has to let him down onto the muddy ground gently, unable to handle him anymore. She kneels next to him and presses her hands into his chest, it no longer rising and falling as he's not breathing.
"Oh god," she sobs, pressing two fingers to the pulse point in his neck. Nothing. "Oh fuck. No." She lets go as Bobby walks back towards her, finding her crying over Sam's lifeless body. "I promised him. Damn it, I promised I'd keep Sam safe."
"You couldn't stop this, Lizzy," Bobby assures, crouching down next to her. "Not even Dean would have expected you to handle this one."
"But I promised," she sobs, Bobby pulling her in tight. "I lost them both. I fucking lost them…."
"I'm not hungry," Lizzy says seriously, still lost in her failure and her sorrow as she sits with Sam's dead body for the second day.
"I need you to eat, young lady," Karen says to her, dropping the sandwich she made her on the table next to where Lizzy's sat in an old wooden chair. She's been sitting vigil since they arrived with Sam's body in tow, not ready to deal with it all. She's been internally battling with something for days and can't bring herself to have Sam's hunter's funeral. Not yet.
"No," Lizzy answers, hollow eyes never leaving Sam's face.
"You get one more day," Karen warns, her hand on Lizzy shoulder lightly. "Then we need to give Sam a proper burial."
"Leave," Lizzy says sharply, pushing Karen's hand away.
Karen sighs. "I'm starting to think leaving you alone out here isn't all that good for you."
Clenching her jaw, Lizzy just hangs her head and closes her eyes. She can't handle this overbearing shit right now.
"Why don't you come inside…?"
"No."
"Just for a little bit, get a good night's sleep…."
"I don't need sleep!" Lizzy shouts and whips her head around to her. "I need Sam alive!"
Her face softens as Karen looks at her girl. "He's gone."
"And I fucked up!"
"You didn't do anything wrong, honey."
"Didn't I ask you to leave!?" Lizzy fires out, sick of hearing everyone try to logic Sam's death out for her.
Karen sighs, knowing there's nothing she can do for the young woman at this point, not with how devastated she is, and quietly leaves the warehouse behind her property.
Once she's gone, Lizzy closes her eyes and they spill over for the millionth time. "What the hell do I do here? I mean, seriously, what the hell do I do?"
She then looks at Sam, the man she failed so miserably, and she can't seem to except his death at all.
"I was supposed to look after you. I was supposed to make sure you were ok and safe. I promised Dean… I can't believe how badly I failed."
She sniffles.
"Your brother would kill me," she shakes her head. "God, he would be so disappointed in me. All he ever wanted was for you to be alive and happy and all I had to do was watch your ass and make sure this didn't happen. That's it, simple as that. And now… I can't live with this mistake. I can't live with this, Sam. I let you down… I let Dean down."
The pain of it all pushes her off the edge. She's going to do it. Fuck this. She's going to make it right and do what she has to in order to honor Dean's wishes. She loves him too much still to let him down like this.
"You'll be fine, Sam," she tells him, getting up from her chair and snatching her keys from a tool bench by the door of the warehouse. "I'm sorry this had to happen. I'll make it right. I promise. Whatever it takes."
She leaves.
Box set with everything needed for the summoning spell, Lizzy walks out into the middle of the crossroads. She bends down with a small garden shovel and starts to dig, suddenly feeling sick. This was a bad idea, she knows that, but she's not about to stop now. She's made her decision. She's doing the right thing.
And the right thing is terrifying her.
Running to the side of the road when she can feel the nausea hit, she throws up into the overgrown weeds in the rural dirt road. What she's throwing up she doesn't know. She hasn't eaten in two days and has thrown up three times in that span. She's still sick, the bug Sam wanted her to check out obviously still running its course… or maybe she's just a nervous wreck.
Doesn't matter at this point anyways. Nothing really matters. Only Sam.
When done retching, she wipes her mouth with her sleeve and walks back to the middle of the crossroads. She finishes digging the hole and buries the box into it. She then stands up and waits.
It's quiet. She can hear crickets chirping and wind rustling leaves and she closes her eyes. The moment is so serene and calm. She absorbs it into her bones, hoping she can remember things like this in her doomed future.
"Never in a million years did I ever think I'd see you here," a male voice says slickly and when Lizzy turns around a very handsome man in a tailored, dark gray suit stands there, his eyes burning red to let her know exactly what he is.
"Never thought in a million years I'd have to be here… but life's just fucking hilarious like that, isn't it?" she says, hands out to her sides hopelessly before dropping back down heavily with depression.
"So, what do I owe the pleasure?" the crossroads demon asks. "Why are you here, Elizabeth?"
She makes a face at the way he uses her full first name but lets it go. "I need you to bring Sam Winchester back to life."
"A favor like that'll cost you," he tells her, casually walking closer with his hands in his slacks pockets. "A lot."
"I'm aware," Lizzy nods. "Hunter rumors say that it'll cost me my soul in ten years. I'm willing to make that trade."
He laughs at her right away, the sound more light and airy than disturbing. It's genuine.
"What?" she wonders, not getting the joke.
"You're not getting ten years out of a deal," he denies her right away.
"Why not?"
"Because you're the great Elizabeth," he says to her patronizingly, using air quotes around her name. "No way do you get the usual treatment."
"Great Elizabeth?" she questions right away with that comment. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Huh…" the demons huffs with obvious bafflement.
"I don't get it," she says, fully confused. "What does that mean?"
The demon looks at her funny, trying to figure out why she's acting so out of the loop. When it hits him, that lightbulb finally sparking, he laughs even harder than before. "Oh wow!" he huffs while bent in half, hands on his knees, just a couple feet in front of her now. "Talk about my lucky day!"
"What the fuck are you talking about!?" she panics with his display.
"Nothing, lovely," the demon tells her, straightening out and fixing his tie as he clearly avoids the information he almost spilled. "Don't you worry about a thing. Everything's coming to a close for you with this deal anyways, am I right?"
"Depends," Lizzy eyes him narrowly, now skeptical of everything.
"What I'm saying is, we all know who you are. You've killed enough of our kind to warrant a lovely spot in Hell for you… today."
"Today!?" Her eyes widen with utter fear.
"Yes ma'am," the demon tells her. "You want Sam alive then I need an even trade. You go right now and he's wakes up the second you're gone."
"That's not…."
"Fair?" the demon asks, finishing for her. "Neither was torturing all those demons you've run into. And exorcizing them. And using that knife we know you have to kill some of us while you were at it. But deals with devils aren't about fair. They're about investment."
"Investment in what?" Lizzy couldn't be more confused by this conversation.
"Our future," he just smiles. "So? Even trade?"
She starts to shake with fear. What the hell? She's not ready. "I…. um…."
"You what? Can't do it?" he asks her with fake surprise. "Fine, then no deal." He starts to walk away.
"Wait!" she yells to him.
"You won't make this deal, it's obvious." He waves a hand overhead at her and keeps walking, his back to her.
"Give me a year," she demands loudly, desperate for this to happen. "Just one year."
He pauses. When he turns around he walks right back to her quite quickly. She flinches when he reaches out to her, his hands on her hips. He slides them towards her middle and smiles slickly. "No year, darling. It's gonna have to be now or never." He takes one step back and keeps grinning.
"Why!?"
"I don't think you'll be wanting to give in so easily in a year," he explains cryptically. "Your life will be too different. I need a decision now."
Again unsure of his meaning, Lizzy can't answer. She's been too confused by nearly everything he's said to her. And she's too paralyzed by fear to formulate the answer she needs to give.
"Need an answer, girl. Or I'm leaving." He taps on his expensive watch. "Tick, tock, tick, tock…."
"Fine!" she says quickly, eyes closed. "I'll do it. It's a deal."
The evil grin on his triumphant face scares her to the core. He steps forward, grabs her face, and kisses her hard before she could change her mind. Deal sealed.
When the demon ends the kiss he opens his eyes and pauses for a moment, taking his hands off her jaw.
"Nice doing business with you, oh great Elizabeth," he giddily tells her while just an inch away from her, a hand pressed to her stomach once more. "And to think, all you had to do was call on that angel of yours. All you had to do was ask Castiel for help."
"Wait, what!?" Lizzy blurts out, eyes wide with sudden regret and total confusion.
He disappears without another word.
She looks around at the empty space, confused. Angel? Her angel? Castiel is real?
"Shit, that wasn't a dream," she starts to realize all at once. "Oh my God… that was real. He's real…."
The howling of something big sounds out into the night air, cutting through her thoughts and ending her rambling. Eyes scanning around, she sees nothing.
"Castiel!?" she calls out, hoping he can somehow hear her. Wait, he told her to pray to him. Maybe she just has to pray. Clasping her hands together, Lizzy plans to do just that…
And then she hears the growling right behind her, the vicious rumble of something big and very close… too close to get away from….
Still groggy and horribly confused, Sam walks right up to the side door of Bobby's house. He's foggy and a little lost as to how he got there, but he knew the place right away when he opened his eyes in that warehouse. He watched Lizzy and Dean train, or beat the shit out of each other as he saw it, in there during his first visit. Why he was passed out on a table in there he has no clue but at least he knew he was on friendly territory.
Trying to sort it out in his head, Sam doesn't bother knocking. He just walks right into the Singer household.
"Hello?" he calls out into the space and shuts the door behind him. It's silent, no one seemingly around. Cautiously, getting a strange vibe in the house, he walks into the kitchen and can see Bobby standing behind his desk in the study. "Hey, Bobby," Sam casually greets.
"Sam?" Bobby very slowly asks, heart pumping a mile a minute when he sees the young man, the dead young man, standing in his kitchen.
"Yeah," Sam answers without thinking, rubbing his back as he walks towards the older hunter. "Man, what the hell happened? Last thing I remember I was hiding from Jake at that abandoned town… and then I just woke up in the warehouse."
"That's… strange," Bobby responds, side stepping his desk and keeping his right hand out of view, his entire being on high alert.
"I know," Sam nods. "God… my back hurts… whoa!"
Sam's hands go up when Bobby pulls a silver knife from his desk drawer. He marches for Sam, arm raised in threat.
"Bobby! Stop!"
Instead, Bobby takes a swing with his weapon, barely missing Sam when the taller man jumps backwards.
"Bobby! Damn it!"
"What are you!?" Bobby growls, still advancing on Sam until they're in the kitchen, Sam against the counters with nowhere to go.
He keeps his hands out in surrender. "I'm… I'm Sam! What the hell are you doing!?"
"Sam's dead!" Bobby shouts, lunging and swinging again, Sam not as lucky this time.
"Fuck!" Sam shouts when the blade slices his arm. He pulls his forearm in and presses his hand to it. "Stop! What is happening here!?"
Bobby pauses his attack when he sees red blood on Sam's arm before he covers it. "Lemme see that."
"No!" Sam denies, turning away from Bobby while insanely confused by the attack on him.
"Now, Sam! Let me see it!" Bobby threatens, holding the knife at the ready once more.
"Fine, as long as you don't stab me!" Sam wheels and deals. Bobby nods in agreement and Sam shows him the slice, the red blood oozing from it. No sizzling skin, no burning flesh. Just a clean cut.
Bobby's face drops. He then looks at Sam in the eye. "You're not a zombie."
"Ah… no," Sam answers, wrinkled forehead.
"And you're not a revenant or a shifter," Bobby says when he knows it's true.
"Last I checked…" Sam huffs out.
"You're… what? You're just alive?" Bobby disbelieves.
Sam just stares with wide, horribly lost eyes.
"Christo." Bobby watches closely. Not a hint of black in his eyes.
"What?" Sam asks, not sure what Bobby just said.
But Bobby's suddenly nothing but thankful. Sure that he's human and no threat now, he pulls the boy in tightly, hugging him in with thankfulness.
"Ow," Sam complains when his back flares up.
Bobby pushes him away and turns the kid around, pulling up his shirt to see his wound.
"Buy me a drink first next time," Sam jests lightly, not understanding the gravity of the situation at all.
"I don't believe it," Bobby awes, Sam's wound a memory with just some darkened, bruised skin left behind. "I don't… how in the hell?"
"You gonna tell me what's happening here?" Sam asks of him as he turns back around and readjusts his shirt. When he sees Bobby's pale face he's even more confused. "Bobby, what…?"
The phone ringing interrupts them. As much as Bobby would love to ignore it for now he's aware that duty calls and someone could need him. Abandoning the conversation for a minute, which is fine because he's as confused as Sam is and needs a moment to sort it out, he picks up the phone. "Hello? Ah, Sheriff Mills…. What!?"
Sam's face drops. Clearly something bad is going on here.
"That… what the hell are you talking about?" Bobby questions, voice showing his shock and fear. "Are you sure…? You have to be absolutely sure…."
Helplessly watching as Bobby's face turns a shade of white he's never seen, Sam can tell this is bad.
"Karen! Karen get down here!" Bobby suddenly bellows before returning to the phone call. "Yeah, we'll come down. Jody, are you sure it's her because you have to be…? But she was just here…. I, I don't understand…."
"Bobby… Ah!" Karen enters the room, immediately screaming when she sees Sam up on two legs. Karen reaches for the holy water flask on an old table in the kitchen and opens it quickly.
"Oh, no I'm not…" Sam tries to get out but he's splashed in the face with holy water before he can. "Not a demon."
"What are you!?" she shouts, ignoring Bobby's phone call conversation.
"Why do you guys keep asking that!?" Sam yells back.
"Everyone shut up!" Bobby shouts out to them, his eyes hollow and devastated. When Karen and Sam look at him he's looking absolutely crushed, phone hung up. "Sam's Sam. I checked." Bobby steps forward and shows the cut on Sam's arm to Karen.
"How in the world…?" Karen starts to question.
"No idea. He just is." Bobby walks to his wife and holds onto her shoulders, squaring off with her. His eyes lower as his chin quivers a little with what he has to tell her. He barely understands himself.
"What is it?" Karen asks him, knowing it's bad.
"She's gone," Bobby cuts her off, his voice limp and lifeless.
"Who's gone, honey?"
"Jody called." His eyes fill up when it starts to register. "They found her… she's dead."
Karen knows right away but can't accept it. "Who's dead?"
Bobby hangs his head, unable to even speak her name. He presses a hand over his mouth for a second as he tries to understand what he's about to say. "They found her on Creek Road, middle of an intersection."
"What!?" Sam asks, everything collapsing around him. "Lizzy!?"
Bobby nods. "They need me to go identify her."
"Bobby, no," Karen starts to cry, in shock. "No. She can't be gone. It can't be her."
"Well, she ain't here," Bobby points out, letting her shoulders go to grab his keys on the kitchen counter.
"But… I don't…."
"I'll let you know when I get back," Bobby tells her. "I won't believe this until I see it."
"I'm coming with you," Karen tells him, walking with him.
"You don't wanna see this, Kare…."
"I refuse to believe it unless I see her myself. She wouldn't go get herself killed. She wouldn't do that to us," Karen determines and walks right through the door to the car.
Bobby knows he can't stop her. Instead he goes with it. He looks to Sam. "You sit tight. I'll, uh… we'll talk it all through once I figure out what's going on here."
"Bobby… she's not really dead, is she?" Sam asks, unable to accept this. First Dean, now Lizzy?
He can't answer. Instead, Bobby glances at Sam once more and leaves the house.
"Karen, you really shouldn't go in there with us," Jody says kindly, warning her far in advance. "It's… it's very hard to see."
"I need to see her," Karen says with stubbornness, walking to the morgue door with the sheriff and Bobby.
"I'm just trying to warn you…."
"I appreciate that."
Together the three people walk in. They surround the table with a human form on it, a sheet stained red through the middle over it. Jody waits a moment, giving the Singers a quick second to mentally prepare. When Bobby nods to Jody she pulls the sheet back just enough to reveal the body's face.
"No," Karen starts right away, sobbing when she see the face of the girl she's cared for and loved for years. That's her Lizzy right there, pale as a ghost and lifeless. "Oh God, Bobby. It's her."
Karen hides her face in Bobby's chest, having seen enough and not wanting that to be the lasting image of the bigger than life girl that brought so much frustration and total joy into her little world. Bobby pulls her tight and closes his eyes, not able to look as he lets the reality sink in. His girl is gone.
"I'm so sorry," Jody apologizes as she brings the sheet back up over the body.
Bobby's got some work to do now, knowing how weird and off this whole situation is. He wipes his eyes roughly with the sleeve of his flannel shirt and before looking down at Karen. "Honey, can you wait for me outside? I gotta talk to Jody for a minute."
"Bobby, our girl," Karen says to him, looking up with the saddest of eyes.
"I know, Kare. I know," he says, kissing her forehead. "But you don't wanna hear this. Go out there, take a breather. I'll be there in a couple minutes, I promise."
Karen hugs him hard one more time, head angled away from the table, before she walks for the door, crying the entire way.
Bobby turns to Jody once the door shuts and they're alone.
"Anything you need you know you have it," Jody reminds him. "I know you're into some… heavy stuff. So was Lizzy. Whatever I can do to help…."
"How'd she die?" Bobby questions, cutting her off and sniffling once.
"From the looks of it? Animal attack. Something big, too."
"Animal?" Bobby asks, surprised.
"We've had some coyotes going after small dogs lately… and Mrs. Harris on Jefferson Street mentioned seeing a bobcat in her back yard last week, but other than that… nothing. And we don't have anything around here that can do what this animal did to Lizzy, at least not that I'm aware of."
Curious and needing to figure this all out, Bobby lifts the sheet all the way.
"No, Bobby don't…" Jody tries to stop him but can't. "Do that. Damn."
Bobby inhales hard and it gets caught in his chest. She's a mess. Her chest is shredded by long, deep claw marks. Her neck down to mid stomach is absolutely destroyed, her insides no longer inside.
"You don't need to look at that," Jody tell him and pulls the sheet out of his hands and back over Lizzy's form.
Bobby stands there and thinks for a second. There's only a couple of things that would do such damage. And it isn't an animal. "Was her heart missing?"
Jody's face drops. "Why do you ask that?"
"Just tell me!" Bobby asks, desperate for answers.
"Don't think so. We won't know for sure until the official autopsy is done but Graham said he thought everything is there… somewhere," Jody assures. "Which makes no sense if it's an animal attack…."
Closing his eyes, Bobby's getting a clear picture of what happened. "She was found at the intersection of Creek Road and Farmhill Way you said?"
"Yes… where are you going?" Jody asks when he abruptly turns around and leaves the morgue, looking quite driven.
Parking his car a ways back, Bobby walks towards the center of the intersection. In his heart he already knows what he's going to find. He just has to be sure. If he's wrong then the search for answers and revenge starts. If he's right… then there's not a damn thing he can do to help her now.
When he stands in the middle of the two roads doing his best to ignore the patch of red-stained dirt right next to him, he looks around. At the edge of the unpaved way he can see some yarrow growing, the flower a vibrant yellow. Another bad sign.
Taking a knee, he gets down to the ground and starts digging with his hands. Just about six inches down he hits something. He pulls it out of the ground and recognizes it right away. It's an old cigar box from his study. He used to keep pens and other knickknack in it.
Bobby plops down on his ass, the dirt under him cold and unforgiving. This is it. She summoned a fucking demon and made a deal for Sam's life. The tears spring up in his eyes as he knows where she is already.
She's in Hell. And he'll never get her out.
Bobby opens the box and looks through it. Among everything he finds yarrow flowers, he knew he'd find those.
And then he spies the fake FBI badge, Lizzy's face looking right back at him.
One look at her brown eyes and he's done.
"Why would you do that you stupid, stupid girl?" he says to the picture. "How do I tell Karen this!? How!? Do you even know what you've done…?"
"Hello, great one."
The voice chills her to the bone when she hears it. It's slimy, evil, and she already knows it belongs to something horrible beyond her nightmares.
Swallowing hard, Lizzy ventures a peek to the side, where the voice came from. There stands a tall, impressively imposing man. He's in a suit, expensive and tailored, and the grin on his lips a snarl that sends shivers down her spine despite the heat surrounding her.
He scares her to her core instantly.
Lizzy tries to move, tugging and pulling her limbs to flee as instinct tells her that's what she has to do right now, but she doesn't move an inch from her reclined place. Looking down at herself she realizes the actual trouble she's in for the first time.
When that black, hideous dog leapt out of the brush at the crossroad and lunged for her, she was scared. Horrified, really. It tore at her flesh, ripped her to shreds, and she felt every single tug and bite and claw… the pain was excruciating as the evil thing dragged her down to her promised destination.
But she wasn't as terrified as she is right now. Something about this man, his voice, his confidence while in the most deplorable, desolate, and hopeless place in existence is beyond frightening.
And Lizzy can't get away. She's strapped down, thick, wide leather straps around her naked torso, each wrist and ankle cuffed in place, another strap around her forehead and one last one over her chin, covering her mouth. She recognizes some of the symbols carved into the leather. They're part of the devil's trap sigil she knows all too well. But why would she be held down with leather straps meant to keep demons in line? She's not a demon.
"It's quite the thrill to see you here in my domain," his smarmy voice explains as he slowly paces around the rack she's on, it tilted upright somewhat so she doesn't have to lift her locked-in head to watch him closely, her eyes never leaving him.
His hands are casually in his pockets, walking as if nothing important or scary is happening right now.
"Now, I was sure it was to be Romeo that made it here," the man tells her, wagging his finger at her. "It was always supposed to be him. But you, my lovely dear, make one hell of an acceptable exception."
She tries to speak but the leather over her mouth makes her words nothing but a muffled mess.
"Don't bother," he tells her, pulling his suit jacket off slowly with no rush. "I know what you're about to ask. Who am I? Why am I here? Who's Romeo? It's all semantics, dear. You… you are here. You got yourself sent here and I hope the deal you made is worth it." He folds his jacket neatly and places it on a table Lizzy just now sees.
On it are items, many she knows and some she doesn't, that are all scaring her senseless with the look of them. She's painfully aware of what's about to happen.
"So… I have some work to do," the man tells her, his voice lowering with carnal excitement as he rolls up the sleeves of his crisp white button down shirt. "And you're not going to like it much, I promise you that."
Lizzy once more tries to speak but once more it's muffled.
"Save your breath," he tells her, pulling his tie loose and unbuttoning the top two shirt buttons. He then picks up the shining, extremely sharp looking classic razor blade one would find in an old, turn of the century barber shop. "Unless you want to say uncle right now."
The way he turns sharply to look at her, eyes alit with excitement, makes her go still and silent. She's stuck here. She can't fight. She can't get loose. This is it.
The man walks to her slowly, licking his lips once. "I just need you to say you want to get down from there and we'll be done before we even start."
Her eyebrows wrinkled with confusion, she just looks up at him.
"Mm, you see," he starts, leaning down with a hand on the rack next to her head. He gets inches from her face. "I can make you a deal."
Lizzy rolls her eyes.
"I can see you learn from your mistakes, young lady. You're now quite sour on deals and I can appreciate that," he snarls. "It's not a deal to leave Hell. You'll never leave here again, not under my watch, not until you're what I need you to be. You've been given to me. I own you now and, hm, I like you. Very much."
Now her eyes widen as the tears start to form, the sheer terror flooding her senses.
"I'm going to carve you up, my dear," he promises to her. "I'm going to carve and twist and mold you into a new animal… unless you want to do the carving."
Her expression shows the utter bafflement.
"You take this blade," he shines it in front of her face. "And you take my place. I give you souls of the weak, the spineless, the pathetic, and the damned… and you do the torturing."
Her entire body begins to shake with the horrific idea of it.
"You off the rack… if you put souls on," he tells her. "What do you say?"
With that he pulls the leather strap away from her mouth, allowing her to speak.
Lizzy takes one big inhale, the air sour with sulfur, heat, and hate, and she looks at the man next to her. "You're a demon?"
"Mm, well… some would say I'm the demon." The creepy smile he returns with, one of pride, churns her stomach. He leans an elbow into the wooden rack, he hand pressed to his cheek suavely as he grins.
"And I'm yours now?" she asks.
"All mine, my dear," he tells her, a hand combing through her hair as she flinches with the contact.
"Then I should know your name," she says, delaying it all and getting a lay of her new land. Hunting has made her able to focus even in the most horrifying positions, taking that energy and aiming it towards making sure she's aware of as much as she can be in order to handle the situation.
"To you? Mm, I'm thinking Master works well," he tells her, taking the razor and turning it sideways before trailing it lightly down the skin of her stomach, not cutting. He just wants the presence of the weapon known and the danger of it felt.
"What do others call you?"
"Alistair."
She's heard the name before. She knows he's high on that demon food chain and his power is nothing to balk at.
"Aw, I'm flattered," Alistair smirks as he watches her expression change. "I can tell you've heard of me. Now, answer my question. You want down?"
Lizzy looks at him while thinking. Of course she wants down. But she'd have to become the hideous, horrid thing that he is in order to do so.
One hard look into his cold, dead eyes and she has her answer. Lizzy spits right in his face.
Alistair backs up a step with shock on his face.
"Fuck you," Lizzy fires out, knowing how much worse she's already made it for herself.
"Oh, my dear Elizabeth! Oh!" Alistair cheers with surprised excitement as he pulls a handkerchief from his pants pocket and wipes his face. "You are so lively, so full of anger and piss. Mm. I love it!"
He walks back to her, ready to begin with the glee of a child opening their birthday presents. He looks at her fingers, the skin rough and worn with a hard life.
"You're going to be awfully fun to break," he gruffly whispers in her ear as he slips his impossibly sharp razor blade under her index finger nail, twisting to loosen and pull, prying it off her finger.
With gritted teeth, she keeps her lips closed when the pained scream gets caught in her throat. She doesn't want to give him the satisfaction.
"Let it out, Elizabeth," Alistair says calmly, doing the same to her middle finger and she still doesn't scream. "Keeping in that kind of pain, mm. No. It makes it harder on you and less fun for me."
Attacking her ring finger the same, pressing that razor blade into her flesh all too easily. She still won't scream for him.
"That's fine, my dear. Impressive," he tells her. "But I want this to start with a bang. Slow and steady can work later."
Alistair folds up and pockets his razor. He then takes a single fingertip and touches her bare lower abdomen. Immediately she can feel the fire start as her skin singes where it's been touched by him.
"What… what the hell?" Lizzy asks, shaking in her binds the pain strikes hot, hard, and fast. It bowls her over and she can't help but fight violently against the leather straps. Her voice bellows out as she feels it start to take over her entire stomach, her skin charring outward in a larger and larger circle from where he touched her. "Ah! No! NO!"
"Now there it is," Alistair says with relish, closing his lids and taking in the sound of her anguished voice. "The music my ears have been waiting for." He laughs a little to himself, her voice heightening as the fire spreads over her body, inch by slow inch burning it away to nothing but ash as she lives through it all. "You two are going to be quite the fun for me."
Super packed Chapter. Hope it didn't move too fast to be clear.
Question: Is Sunday my best bet for updating? I've noticed better traffic numbers on chapters published on Sundays so if that means it's convenient for everyone I'll try to stick with Sunday. Let me know if you care either way! Thank you!
