Chapter 11
While the men in the hotel room stared at the marks appearing and disappearing on Derek's skin, at a loss for what to do next, the Angel Castiel spoke.
"Dean, I recognize those symbols. They're Enochian."
Scott turned to the man. "What's Enochian?"
"It's the language of the Angels, all but forgotten about on Earth," Cas said, piecing together the symbols before they slowly fade away. "Someone is trying to do some very powerful, very old, magic."
"Why isn't that one healing?" Scott asked, pointing to one mark that was slowly oozing blood. The other cuts around it had disappeared, leaving behind only clear unmarked skin, but this one remained, barely clotted over.
"That one means literally the opposite of healing," Cas said solemnly. "I believe the demon is using it to inflict the most amount of pain possible. Although, why the runes are showing up on Derek is a mystery to me. Nothing that the demon has carved into Stiles was meant as a bonding spell."
Jonathan and Scott went several shades paler as Castiel mentioned Stiles' torture. Derek hissed in pain.
"Well what do the rest of them say Cas?" Dean turned to face him.
"I believe the majority of them are meant to gather and channel a great deal of energy. The demon may be planning on using Stiles as a means to open the portal to Purgatory," Castiel said. "But Dean, there is a very powerful warding and trap spell woven into these runes. I won't be able to get very close to the demon, that I know for sure. But I believe that she means to trap the loup garous and render them harmless."
"How is she going to be able to do that?" the Sheriff asked, looking back and forth between the Angel and the Hunters.
But it was Peter who spoke first.
"She won't have to do much," he said, pulling back the curtain on the motel window. The only light that shone in came from the streetlight illuminating the parking lot.
"It's a lunar eclipse."
/
Stiles' eyes rolled back in his head as the blade cut into his skin again, blood that had started off as a trickle down his side now bleeding freely and pooling on the floor. The teen's pale side was completely covered in runes, some of them glowing faintly in the darkness of the dungeon he was being held captive in.
The demon wearing Kate put the finishing touches to the latest rune and cocked her head to the side as if listening for some unheard cue. Her eyes flashed back to black and she grinned ferally.
"It's almost showtime, Red," she said, licking her lips and eyeing him up and down. "What I wouldn't give to have just a little more time with you, just one on one."
Stiles shuddered at the predatory look in her eyes.
"Maybe later, if you survive, we can have play time again," she purred into his ear. "But now, it's time for revenge."
Stiles lifted up his head weakly, and resolutely stared her in the eyes. "Your plan isn't going to work, you know. Sam and Dean are going to find you and kill you. You won't be able to trick Derek into giving up his powers or his life so that you can open the portal."
The demon threw back her head and laughed.
"Oh I won't be the one convincing him to give up his life," she said, stepping back and waving her hand so that Stiles was no longer held against the wall by an invisible force.
"You will."
And with that, she threw back her head again but instead of laughter, a thick oily black smoke erupted from her mouth and began swirling viciously around the ceiling. Kate's body slumped against the floor but Stiles could see it moving weakly out of the corner of his eye, so she wasn't dead.
Stiles refused to take his eyes off the billowing cloud of smoke, despite the smell of sulphur burning his lungs and bringing tears to his stinging eyes. The demon circled above him slowly, before diving towards him with an unholy shriek.
Everything went black.
/
Stiles came to slowly, sights and sounds filtering in through the distortion created by his hammering heart. His eyes were already open, focused on something in front of him but he couldn't remember what he was doing.
His hands flexed against the worn leather of his steering wheel and a shock ran through his body as he realized he was driving. Panic overtook him as he tried to slam on the breaks or jerk the wheel but his body wouldn't cooperate.
He heard himself laugh, and his head lifted to peer into the rear-view mirror. "Well hello there," he heard himself say. "Nice of you to join me."
The amber coloured eyes he was so familiar with clouded black and Stiles realized that the demon wasn't possessing Kate Argent anymore. It was possessing him.
He screamed and willed his body to listen but it was no use. The demon was totally in control. This must have been part of its plan the whole time, he thought to himself.
"Well not exactly," the demon responded with his mouth. "You showing up at the Hale house actually threw a wrench in my initial plan. So I was just going to kill you and carry on, but then I caught the whiff of that blasted werewolf on your skin. I thought there must be more to you than meets the eye. I'm flexible when it comes to the little details. And I'm so glad I took a chance on you, Stiles. Your little noggin is just so full of interesting information."
You can hear me? Stiles thought, thinking fast. How much of what I'm thinking can he hear?
"Oh I can hear everything that goes on up there, sweetheart." he said. "And you will be able to see and hear everything I let you see and hear. I want you to see me destroy everything that you hold dear before I kill you too."
The demon grinned broadly, reaching for the iPod that Stiles kept plugged into his stereo and scrolling through the list. Stiles realized after a few minutes that he couldn't see the road, only the iPod in his hands. Hey asshole, he yelled inside his own head. How about keeping your eyes on the road so we both don't die in a fiery wreck. I wanna still be around to see the Winchesters fuck you up.
The demon glanced up into the mirror again briefly before looking back down at the iPod. "Why does it matter? You're as good as dead anyways and I can't die. If anything happens to this body, I can just find another one. I told you, I'm flexible."
Having found what he was looking for, the demon clicked the play button on the iPod and turned up the music. If you change your mind, I'm the first in line. Honey I'm still free, take a chance on me blared out of the speakers and if Stiles wasn't halfway into having a metaphysical panic attack, he would have laughed at the absurdity of the situation. Really? ABBA? he thought at the demon. No AC/DC, no Charlie Daniels?
"Yes really, it was one of the greater demon deals we made, back in the day," he said with derision. "And it worked out twofold at the end, because we got free ABBA concerts when they died AND got to torture souls in the underworld to Dancing Queen for a couple years."
Wait a minute, Stiles thought. Not one of the members of ABBA are even dead. They actually all look really good for their ages, honestly.
"Almost supernaturally good for their age, wouldn't you say?" The demon chuckled. "You only get ten years, no matter who you are. We let a few of the more business-savvy demons ride around in their meat suits. Helps with business, having someone there in the thick of things. Why do you think they made a Mamma Mia musical AND a movie?"
...I guess I hadn't really thought of it like that. I mean, to be fair, I literally only found out about demons existing two nights ago. I haven't really had the time to think about their global business model.
The demon snorted in response and pulled into a dark parking lot, cutting the engine. It was only then that Stiles realized there had been another vehicle following them the whole time. A dark SUV pulled up alongside the parking lot a few hundred meters away from them, headlights turning off but the engine stayed running as a tall brunette exited the driver's side and looked over towards Stiles. Kate Argent. The demon carefully cracked open the door of the Jeep, using Stiles' own knowledge of how the door creaks to muffle the sound.
He nodded in the direction of Kate, and then pulled the long knife laying on the passenger side of the Jeep out of the vehicle.
"Alright, it's showtime," the demon said with a grin. "Let's get this party started."
With that, he plunged the knife deep into Stiles' side and pulled it out, making sure to spread the blood all over the steering wheel and driver's seat of the Jeep. Stiles screamed in pain inside his own head, powerless to stop the demon controlling his body.
"Help me!" the demon screamed with Stiles' voice. "Somebody help me!"
He limped across the parking lot towards the single room where lights shone through the curtains covering the window. Stiles could make out the faint shapes of bodies inside the room before the door opened and he could hear his dad calling out to him.
"Stiles!" Footsteps started pounding across the pavement. No! It's a trap! Stay away! More gruff voices carried across the parking lot before he felt strong hands grab him from behind and start carrying him back to the SUV.
"Dad! Help me!" the demon pretending to be Stiles cried, as he let himself be pulled backwards.
Shots rang out across the parking lot as one of the men running towards him fired a gun towards Kate. She hauled him into the back of the running vehicle, the demon making sure to smear as much blood as he could on the outside of the SUV before pulling himself inside.
"Stiles!"
Stiles could hear Scott yelling after him, and then suddenly a wolf howled. The sound was joined by one, then another, then another; three wolves howling after them as Kate peeled out onto the road laughing.
The demon grinned maniacally and pulled himself into the space between the front seats as Kate roared back down asphalt towards the burned down skeleton of the Hale house.
"Let the games begin," he said. Stiles curled up, sobbing, in the corner of his own mind, helpless to save the people he loved from walking into the trap set for them.