Twenty Eight

"Oh Rayne, why must we play this little game? You know what I want." Zachariah smirked at me.

"You want access to my blood and then you want me dead." I answered flatly.

"Exactly my dear, I mean, wouldn't I be doing you a favour, giving you some purpose in what has been a mostly miserable, insignificant life?" he looked me dead in the eyes.

"Zachariah, what exactly do you think is going to happen when you get my blood?" I asked meeting his gaze defiantly.

"Well I don't exactly know, you have only just come on our radar, all I really know is that the demons want you, bad. Plus it will be interesting to experiment on something that is both pure and completely and utterly corrupted." he sneered.

"Bit like yourself then Zachariah?" I shot back and he inhaled through his teeth sharply, "yeah that's right I see those red spots in your wings, the corruption I am guessing."

"Look here you filthy abomination, I could rip your spine out through your throat and no one would say a word, all we would have to do is wipe the memories of the people in this diner and you would be wiped from the face of this mud ball you call home, so watch your tone!" he thundered.

"But you won't Zachariah, we both know that, you need me alive, at least for a little while. I will fight you tooth and nail until I am dead because right now I don't have much to lose. So take your best shot you pompous winged douchebag!" I said in a low voice, all the while staring straight at the angel. I could see his rage boil over and he raised his hand to strike me when the glass behind me shattered and something grabbed me around the waist and pulled me backwards. I heard Zachariah exclaim loudly as I was shoved into the back seat of a car. I tried to open the door but it was locked, so I kicked it until a voice from the front seat yelled back at me.

"I am trying to save your ass, stop fighting!" a male voice said gruffly. I looked ahead and tried to make out who was in the front but all I could see was shaggy blonde hair and a brown jacket.

"Who are you?" I yelled but got no answer. 'Great,' I thought, 'out of the frying pan and into the fire, I really can't catch a break today'. We drove for around half an hour, well above the speed limit, which was kind of amusing seeing as it didn't really matter how fast you went when there were angels after you. I looked around the car for any kind of clue as to who I was with, on the roof I could see enochian, it looked like angel warding.

"Are you planning on telling me who you are or what is going on?" I asked the driver. I heard him sigh but still no answer. I groaned in frustration, unfortunately there wasn't much I could do, I had my butterfly knife but my shotgun was gone, it must have slipped out of my jacket when he had grabbed me, all my other weapons were back in the mustang. Plus threatening the driver of a car I was in going at speed wasn't exactly conducive to my continued survival. I settled back into the seat, it was time to play the waiting game.

When the car finally slowed, I could see we were in the middle of nowhere, the car pulled down a dirt road and my stomach dropped, another man taking me to an isolated spot, this wasn't going to end well. After a few minutes we pulled up to an old house that looked out of place here in the middle of a pine forest. It was beginning to get dark so it was hard to see very far but as far as I could see there weren't any other people around. The man got out and came and opened my door, he gripped me around the wrist and yanked me out of the car. He then pushed me face first up against the car and frisked me, when he found my knife he pocketed it before whirling me around and leading me to the house. We got to the first step and I thought about kicking his legs from under him and making a run for it when I heard laughter on the porch. I looked up and standing at the top of the steps was Thomas.

"Rayne even if you managed to take this poor guy out, where you gonna go darlin'?" he chuckled.

"Fuck you!" I spat but I knew he was right, he laughed again.

"Oh Rayne I missed you, you are such a saucy lil minx." he smirked and I glared at him.

"What do you want Thomas?"

"Well there''s quite a few things I want outta you Rayne, namely to finish what I started, but that will have to wait," he said as I reached the top step, "you can go now Harry, I'll take it from here." he said to my kidnapper slash rescuer.

"Yes Master Klepoth." the young man said with a bow before heading back to the car.

"Klepoth?" I asked as Thomas took my arm.

"It's my official demon name," he replied, " I am Klepoth, deputy to Syrach duke of hell, but hopefully after bringing you here I will get a promotion." his eyes flashed to black and he grinned at me. He lead me through the house, which was immaculately furnished, to a large study. The room was full of expensive looking furniture, all the same deep shade of brown red. I couldn't help but stare in amazement.

"I see you are admiring my mahogany," a deep male voice said in a very posh British accent, "it was very expensive, so admire away." I looked over to the desk to see a big black leather wing-backed chair that looked centuries old, sitting in that chair was a suave looking older man in a dark grey suit, he had chestnut brown hair and stubble. He was holding a glass of something alcoholic. He smirked at me as Thomas lead me to the chairs in front of the desk. I knew instantly he was a demon, I could see his wings, they looked like bats wings except these were a shade of the deepest darkest red imaginable, like someone had bled out every ounce of their blood and it had been left for a long time. I had once seen a gemstone like it, a garnet. I could hear a low growling sound, I looked around the room and next to the desk out shot a huge black wolf-like dog with glowing red eyes. It almost had a smoke like quality to it, with glowing red eyes and huge white fangs. The dog began to bark and growl at Thomas, he was obviously scared, he took several steps back.

"Come back here Growley!" the British man commanded and the dog retreated.

"Thank you sir." Thomas said.

"Have a seat, would you care for a glass of Craig?" he asked and I shook my head as I sat down, " you sure? It's quite amazing, aged forty years." I shook my head again and he shrugged.

"Who are you? What do you want?" I asked him.

"The name's Crowley and I want you to work for me." he said matter of factly his eyes going completely red.

"No way!" I yelled jumping up.

"Sit down," he rolled his eyes, "Rayne is it? Rayne you will work for me, so let's just negotiate our terms alright?"

"There is no way I would work for a demon, especially not some inconsequential, two-bit crossroads demon!" I spat at him. Suddenly I felt myself get lifted off the ground, I struggled but it was no use, I was flung backwards into one of the bookcases. I hit it hard and then hit the ground even harder, books falling from the shelves onto me.

"That's King of the Crossroads to you love, so watch your mouth!" he thundered. I tried to speak but the wind had been knocked out of me, I was bent over holding my chest wheezing when Thomas came over to help me up. I pushed his hands away, pulling myself up to a standing position using the shelf. Crowley gestured to my seat and I wobbled over before sinking down into it. The giant black dog came out from behind the desk again, stalked past Thomas while growling and then settled at my feet, I shifted slightly and the beast lay it's head on my lap and licked my hand. I scratched it behind the ears as I would a normal dog and the giant tail began to wag. Crowley snorted.

"Looks like my hellhound has taken a shine to you love." he laughed.

"Hellhound?" I said patting the dog.

"Yes, you are the first human to ever see old Growley here, normally he is invisible when he rips them to shreds." Crowley answered. Looking at the creature fast asleep on my lap, I thought that maybe that was kind of lonely, maybe that's why he seemed to gravitate to me, we were alike in that respect.

"Why do you want me Crowley?" I asked looking up at him.

"Well because you are unique, the first human and demon hybrid so to speak, you sparked so many new projects in hell love, you have no idea. I have a few loose ends I need to tie up and I think you would be perfect to help me."

"Why do you think I would agree to help you?" I asked, wondering what he meant by loose ends.

"Well, we have been watching you Rayne, first that surly redneck disowns you, then your little angel friend runs off, then the shorter Winchester betrays you with some harlot. You don't have anyone left, do you love? And when that balding angel was ready to eviscerate you, who came to your aid? Not any one of your so called family, it was us, because we care Rayne, because you are special to us." he said smiling at me. I considered what he had said. He was right, Bobby hated me, Sam never really liked me, Dean broke my heart and Dylan had abandoned me. I had nothing, no one, maybe if I joined them I could learn more about what happened the night I was born.

" You are right, I have nothing, they've all abandoned me, I will work for you Crowley but I have to say if any of my family so much as get a paper cut, I will burn your world to ashes and don't ever underestimate how much I love them, despite the circumstances, many demons have made that mistake and you of all of people should know what happened to them." I said hoping to work some sort of deal, he was a crossroads demon after all.

"I can agree to those terms, now do you know how we seal a deal Rayne?" he asked leering at me. I shook my head and he chuckled. I heard Thomas make a snarling noise in his throat, this cause the sleeping hellhound to open one eyes and glare.

"How?" I asked.

"With a kiss love." he smiled standing and leaning across the table. I stood up, much to Growley's annoyance, and leaned in. I felt Crowley's mouth meet mine, his rough stubble rubbed painfully against my face. His tongue pushed my lips apart and assaulted my mouth, he tasted like alcohol, smoke and blood. I pulled away as quickly as he would let me. He sneered at me.

"What about me Crowley? I did what you asked, I brought her here, where's my promotion?" Thomas asked. Crowley nodded and leaned over to him, he placed his hand on top of Thomas' head, Thomas' eyes went all black again and then slowly a small trickle of yellow seemed to bleed into and mix with the black until his eyes were now completely a sickly yellow. Thomas looked at me, seeing the horror on my face he laughed.

"I told you I was up for a promotion Rayne!" he sniggered. I looked back over at Crowley as he stepped out from behind the desk.

"Now, Rayne, follow me. We have work to do." he said as I followed him from the room.