The road's hum was like talking to a friend and Mar couldn't deny that she loved the life even with its horrors. The late nights, the lore, the monsters, she would take it all over a desk job without a second thought but with no new cases, a silent phone, and a few extra bottles rattling in her floorboards, it began to wear on her. Mar kept one hand on the wheel as she switched the radio stationed with the other. It was no use. Whichever song played seemed to turn to the same static in her head. With a loud sigh, she turned it off and flittered her fingers on the wheel. A gas station sign came into view as she sighed again. 'Alright, gas and coffee would probably be a good idea.' Her eyelids felt a bit heavy but she simply rubbed her face and shook her head. 'No, coffee and on to the next town.' Switching lanes (a bit too late) Mar swung into the gas station and parked near the door. It was mid-day but the clouds made it seem like dusk, adding the same kind of haze mixed with the passing headlights. There was a cashier and maybe three other people but Mar honestly took very little notice, heading straight for the coffee in the back corner. Popping the lid onto the cup, Mar grabbed a bag of cookies before glancing over the aisle again.
"Everybody freeze," Mar stopped in her tracks as the yell sounded. 'Shit, I didn't even look around.' Before her thoughts continued she looked up to see a masked man with a pistol pointed directly at the cashier's head. Mar put her things on the ground and slowly walked out from behind the aisle.
"Hey," She tried to keep her tone calm but it was loud enough to get the man's attention.
"I said don't move," there was a franticness in his voice that, when mixed with the fidgeting of his unpreoccupied hand, made Mar very nervous. What was it that Dean says, "Demons I get. People are crazy." His voice echoed in her mind and She had to agree. The man made some sort of strangled noise before turning the gun on her.
"Hey," Mat began again, "It's alright," She raised one hand in a sign of surrender but the other was crooked behind her back. She kept her eyes trained on him, trying not to linger on the gun in his hand as she stretched her finger to the handle of her own.
"No! No," Before the second 'No' came out of his mouth he had squeezed the trigger, causing a loud gunshot to echo. Mar thought she heard someone scream from behind her as a pressure built in her chest. Her hand let go of the handle as she looked down at her bloodstained—or staining—shirt. Perhaps it was her own scream. The corners of her eyes clouded black as a searing pain ripped through her. The chill of the tile floor rushed to the back of her head as Mar fell, gasping. The bus quickly flashed before her eyes as she gasped again. Blood. The man may have shouted another order but the black was continuing to spread, filling up her ears and her sight, dulling every nerve but the ache in her chest. Blood, pain, nothing.
Light. That was her first thought, but it wasn't like sunlight. It was dimmer, redder, fire cutting through the dark like a haze through her eyelids. Mar's head throbbed as she groaned, opening her eyes fully. A dim ceiling. 'Fuck'. She groaned again as she sat up. 'Where am I?' It looked like some sort of hallway with arches of grimy stone every few feet. 'A subway maybe.' Her eyes trailed along the blacked concrete till they met the large pair of doors at the hallway's end. The doors stood out from the stone, made of what looked like thick wood that nearly reached the ceiling. A shrill sound echoed through the hall. "Ahh," Mar cringed at the noise, rubbing her hand down her face before attempting to stand. With one hand on the wall, she steadied herself as another scream, quieter and seemingly farther away, sounded. Mar took a step toward the doors but stopped with a glance up and down. "Probably not the best idea," She whispered, running her fingers along her waistband till they reached her gun. At least it was still there.
The hallway seemed to go on forever with a few twists and turns here and there. Mar stopped, looking around the nearly identical stone passageway, 'Maybe I should've left breadcrumbs.' She couldn't help but laugh a little, looking back the way she came before noticing the door to her left. Deciding, on what she supposed was a whim, Mar drew her gun and slowly entered the room. The architecture was that of the hallways, the same stone of layered blood and dirt washed and layered repeatedly. It was darker but nearly as narrow and the walls were lined with thick chains clanging together. 'Wait what the fuck.' The chains were jerking toward her as if being violently pulled in Mar's direction and the claiming was only but what sounded like heavy breathing. Mar quietly shut the door behind her, keeping a tight grip on her gun as the other absentmindedly ran its fingers over the ring hung around her neck. Pulling it off her neck, she slipped it off its chain and onto her finger, squeezing tightly on her gun. The chains continued to pull toward her but not by some invisible force. On each chain was a large hound, ebony with glowing blood like eyes. With every jerk and clang of the chain, a sort of hazy blue fire floated around them as if they were from a different plane entirely. They gnashed their teeth as large as daggers. Mar's eyes widened but she stayed put, looking over the hellhounds with a feeling similar to wonder. Something brushed against her leg and every hair on her body stood on end. A small hound was brushing against her torn jeans, eyes the same blood red and the blue fire dripping from its fur. It seemed to notice her gaze and looked up at her, showing the lighter fur around its left eye and letting out a tiny bark. 'It's kind of cute, given that it isn't trying to eat me.' She kept glaring at it curiously, cautiously lowing her ringed hand toward the animal. "Hello." The word was slowly drawn out as the hound rubbed itself, more cat-like than dog, against her hand. Mar laughed at its puppy-like attitude, withdrawing her hand and returning to the hallway.
"Hey!" Two black-eyed demons shouted at her from down the hall.
"Shit," Mar tuned to run but another demon had blocked her path. The lone demon ran up to her with a familiar mocking grin, striking her hard before she kneed them in the stomach and fired a salt ladened bullet into its skull. The others had caught up too quickly and added a few more, striking her again till blood leaked out her mouth when she coughed. The now five demons. Dragged her down the hallway as Mar tried to get her footing. She nearly stood a time or two but just as she got her proper footing to pull back against them she was thrown to the floor. Mar didn't look up at first, focusing on her breathing and watching as the blood from her mouth onto the concrete-floored room beyond the large doors.
"Sir, we found her in the hallway," One of the demons from behind her put on a 'professional voice' though it still shook with what Mar guessed was fear. Mar looked up to see the dark-suited man on an elevated throne who spoke in a smooth Scottish accent.
"Well boys, what do we have here."