Chapter Six : Getting Closer and the Colt
Crowley took a sip from his glass of whiskey as he peered down at the familiar blonde beside him. She was asleep resting on their bed. They had spent most of the day at the park. They hadn't really said much, or at least Crowley hadn't. Grace had talked to him expressing all of her doubts about what he was asking from her, and he had listened.
He had done his best to soothe her, to keep her mind occupied on something other than the apocalypse and the fact that her human life was over.
The guilt that he had felt throughout the day had only intensified. He knew that what he was asking of her was selfish. What he was asking her to do was dangerous, what he had forced her to sacrifice, it was too much for anyone to have to take in.
It was too late to change anything now, what he had done to her was irreversible. She could never go back home because she would just put her family in danger, and he couldn't just let her go, leave her on her own with no means to protect herself. She was stuck with him for an eternity.
He thought that she should hate him, Grace should absolutely despise him.
He downed the rest of his craig placing the crystal glass on the bedside table as he settled down onto the bed.
He was startled when he heard Grace's soft voice beside him. "Crowley."
He turned to face her watching her as she opened her eyes eying him groggily. He expected her to ask him to move away from her, they were lying so close beside each other.
So he was shocked as she leaned over pressing a kiss to his right cheek. She pulled away as she spoke. "Thanks."
She paused for a moment noticing that he looked puzzled. She swallowed the lump in her throat a little unsure of how to explain her statement. "I mean thanks for...for being there, for listening."
Crowley nodded his head a little speechless as how to reply to what she had just said. She settled back down beside him still not moving away from him.
He had expected her to scoot as far away from him as she could manage, sleeping close to the edge of the bed like she had done the night before. She remained by his side though lying right against him. She had even laid her arm out across his waist almost like she was afraid he would move away from her during the night.
Crowley watched her as she closed her eyes falling asleep pretty quickly. He felt his own eyelids grow heavy as a sudden realization passed through his mind, For the first time in a long time he felt content.
Crowley glanced over at Grace as they sat back on the sofa in the study. He had spent the day searching the room from top to bottom for tracking devices. He was relieved that he'd found none.
He eyed Grace as she took a big gulp of the vodka she'd been nursing for the past hour. She had been drinking a lot over the past two days. He guessed it didn't matter really, Demons didn't get drunk easily. It was almost impossible for them to get completely wasted considering they weren't exactly human.
She was no longer crying but her eyes and face were still a little pink and puffy. Her hair was a bigger mess than it usually was. She was wearing a baggy ugly brown cardigan that looked as though it was falling apart over her tank top and pajama shorts. She hadn't slept well over the past few days and her eyes had dark circles underneath them.
All she could do was worry. Worry about her family, worry about her future, worry about Crowley's plans to kill Lucifer with the colt.
Her family had to be worried sick about her. Grace could imagine that her roommate had called Grace's mother when she realized that Grace was missing. It looked like Grace had just packed up all her belonging and taken off not leaving a note or even a hint of where she had gone. Grace imagined that the police wouldn't do anything since there was no sign that Grace had been forced to leave against her will.
Her future didn't look too bright. She was destined to be queen of hell. That didn't sound very promising. It sounded terrifying actually. All she could think of when she thought of hell was fire, brimstone, pain, and horrible red creatures with horns. Would Crowley and she be able to keep their meatsuits when they went down to hell ? Or would they be the frightening monsters she pictured in her mind ?
What if these Winchester brothers didn't believe that Crowley and she truly wanted to stop the apocalypse ? They were hunters, or at least that's what Crowley had said, and Crowley had said that hunters obviously hated demons. What if the Winchesters screwed up somehow ? What if the colt didn't work ? What if Crowley and she got caught trying to undermine the apocalypse ?
She could imagine that if they were caught then the punishment would be heinous. If other demons were anything like Eli, then she was sure that the punishment would be horrible.
Eli worried her as well, the way the demon had asked Crowley if he was attached to her. The comment he'd made about how bruises and gashes would look gorgeous on her skin. The way Eli had touched her had made her skin crawl.
She finally worked up the nerve to ask Crowley about one of these worries. "What is hell like ?"
Crowley turned to face her raising his eyebrows as he spoke. "Why do you want to know love ?"
Grace took another gulp of her vodka as she turned to face him as well. "I have the right to know...I mean if I'm going to be...queen, then I deserve to at least know what it's going to be like."
"I'll make changes long before you ever go downstairs Gracie." Crowley attempted to reassure her, not really wanting to tell her what hell was like at the moment.
"Yeah, but what is it like right now ? I mean if we get caught...doing what we're planning. Then we might be taken down there, right ?, to be punished ?" She asked not minding that he was calling her Gracie, even though if he'd called her that a few days ago she probably would have made some rude remark and gotten irritated with him.
Crowley let out a sigh as he tried to reason with her one last time. She really didn't want to know. "If they catch us they'll probably just go ahead and kill us."
He paused seeing that she was still staring at him expectantly. He rolled his eyes knowing that she was right. She did have the right to know and he couldn't just leave her in the dark forever.
"It's hot, dry, drier than any desert on earth. You're always thirsty when you're there. There are levels of hell, the bottom level being the pit where most of the torture takes place, there is a level below that, it's the cage...the cage Lucifer use to reside in, it is off-limits to everyone, locked up tight no way to get in no way out, well until the seals were broken and he was released. All the other levels are full of mazes of hallways with doorways that open to different nightmarish situations..., it's so easy to get lost there. All you can hear is screaming...the screaming of those being tortured." He stated pausing for a moment.
He glanced at her seeing that she looked ill. He took a deep breath as he continued. " It smells horrible, like rot and decay, sulfur. There are offices for the kings and queens of the crossroads, of torture, and so on. Of course the offices are tiny cramped little places, barely any room to move about in them. There are living quarters for those that earn them, though they aren't great...they're crappy tiny apartments, dirty, poor yellow lighting, peeling wallpaper, dirty stained floors, just disgusting. That's why everybody is so desperate to get topside."
Grace took another gulp of her vodka nodding unable to find the words to respond to everything he had just shared with her.
She took a deep breath as she sat her now empty glass down on the table in front of her. She frowned remembering the look on Eli's face when the demon had heard Crowley say that she was his. "Eli...he asked if you were attached to me ? If I wasn't contracted to you...then he would try to scoop me up wouldn't he?"
Crowley took her by surprise as he reached out for her letting her lean against him, with her head resting against his chest and his arm wrapped protectively around her. She was surprised to see that she felt so safe leaning against him like this, letting him hold her.
"He won't lay a hand on you. I promise. " Crowley stated not letting go of her.
She nodded her head not really sure if she believed him. Ever since Eli had laid eyes on her two nights ago Grace had maintained a feeling of dread deep within her gut that wouldn't seem to go away.
Before the two of them had much time to think about how much their closeness had complicated things between them, they felt their faces getting dangerously close to one another.
Crowley leaned down brushing his lips against hers so gently and hesitantly, waiting to see if she would shove him away or slap him.
Grace frowned her brain telling her that this was a horrid idea abort,abort, her brain was practically screaming, get away from him, this is bad, just say no, don't do it. Remember what happened on that crossroads, kissing him got you into this whole mess to begin with you idiot.
Her hormones were telling her to go for it though. She knew from the experiences she'd had with him that his kisses were incredible. Just let him make you feel good her body kept telling her.
She pressed her lips against his letting the kiss become deeper. He coaxed her mouth open letting his tongue slide against hers as he tasted something so sweet against her tongue, it suddenly hit him that she had eaten quite a few hard candies before she had poured herself another glass of vodka . Grace tasted a hint of whiskey on his tongue and something else, cinnamon maybe, she realized that she had seen him chewing cinnamon gum earlier.
He pulled away for only a moment as he let his hands run down her sides wrapping around her waist as he moved them over positioning them to where they were laying back against the sofa.
Their lips found each other again as Grace wrapped her legs around him allowing him to move even closer to her. She reached around him raking her nails down his clothed back as the kisses deepened even more. She couldn't help but to let out a moan as she felt him begin to rock against her.
Crowley pulled away from her trying to think through his hormones. He stared down at Grace her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath, her lips swollen from his kisses, clear lust in her eyes.
He knew that doing this was a bad idea, doing this would only complicate things farther. He wasn't sure how he felt about her. In the short time she had been around he had felt such unfamiliar emotions. Emotions that he hadn't felt in such a long time. It had been centuries since he'd felt half of the things she was causing him to feel.
She looked up at him wide-eyed not sure what to do or say. They had crossed a line and she wasn't sure if she wanted to go back behind the line.
Grace felt conflicted, part of her told her that she should still hate him, he had brought her here, he had ruined her life, he was evil and she should get as far away from him as possible.
But the other part of her told her to think about how wonderful he had been over the past few days, how he had protected her, how his kisses made her feel. He had to have some goodness in him if he had been capable of these actions, if he had bothered to keep her safe, to reassure her that everything would be okay, if he was so willing to take care of her for an eternity.
She let out a nervous sigh as she reached out hesitantly placing a gentle hand on his cheek as she leaned forward. She pressed her lips to his in a kiss that could only be described as sweet....loving.
Crowley felt himself returning the kiss a little surprised by how passionate the kisses were becoming.
They reluctantly pulled away from each other as the power suddenly went out darkening the room. The only light in the room was coming from the lit fireplace.
Grace gave Crowley a worried look as he sat up. She sat up as well shocked when he spoke up. "It seems the Winchesters have finally arrived."
She watched Crowley go over to his desk unlocking the bottom drawer. He pulled out an old looking revolver shoving it in his suit-jacket.
He took Grace's hand in his holding lacing their fingers together as they left the room. He only released her hand as they began to move down the darkened hallway. They suddenly stopped as they spotted two men. The men had guns.
Grace frowned as she stared ahead at the men who had to be the Winchesters. They looked younger than she had expected. They didn't look to be that much older than her. They were both dressed so casually, jeans, jackets, a plaid shirt, a t-shirt, boots. She wouldn't have even noticed them in any other situation.
She frowned even more suddenly realizing just how easy it could be to run into a hunter without realizing it.
Crowley spoke up sounding almost amused as he began to move towards them "Well, so it seems the Hardy Boys have finally found us."
He stopped mid-step frowning down at the rug in front of him. It was folded over in places as though it had been moved recently. He leaned over turning a corner of the rug over as he spotted it.
Grace stood behind him peeking out around him as she looked down at the rug. She widened her eyes spotting a familiar symbol.
Crowley had shown it to her just earlier today, in one of the books he owned, and had told her to avoid it, never get caught in one he'd said. She frowned trying to remember what he had called it a devils something...a devils-trap...yeah, that was it.
Crowley let out an annoyed sigh as he placed the rug back down. "Do you have any idea how much this rug cost me ?"
Two large guards suddenly appeared behind the Winchesters knocking the guns out of the brothers hands as they took ahold of them.
Crowley reached into his suit jacket pulling out the revolver, he looked at the gun holding it up before he looked over to the Winchesters. "So this is it. This is what it's all about huh?
Everyone but Crowley was shocked as he pointed the gun at each of the guards killing them instantly. Grace frowned spotting a strange orange glow that took place in each of the guards bodies as the bullets hit them.
The Winchesters stared at each other stunned at what had just occurred. Why would Crowley kill his own guards ?
Crowley let out a sigh lowering the gun as he spoke. "We need to talk...privately."
He took ahold of Grace's arm gently leading her into his study as the Winchesters followed them.
As soon as everyone entered the study Crowley flicked his wrist locking the door tight behind them.
He went over behind his desk, Grace following him. She stood beside him trying to look calm and confident, even if she was freaking out internally.
"Do you have any idea how deep I could have buried this thing ?" Crowley asked looking at the still stunned brothers.
Grace looked back and forth between Crowley and the Winchesters. What if this didn't work ? This was probably their only chance to stop the devil, they needed this to work.
One of the brothers finally spoke up pointing over to Grace. "Excuse me but who the hell is she ?"
Crowley rolled his eyes nodding over at Grace. "This is Grace. Consider her my partner in crime."
He pointed over to the brothers as he spoke again. "Dean Winchester and Sam Winchester. At best they're functioning morons."
Dean Winchester frowned obviously a little thrown off by Crowley's insult. "Oh yeah, well you're both functioning morons...moron..."
Crowley paid no notice to Dean's attempt at a comeback as he spoke up nodding his head at the colt. "There is no reason that anyone should know that this gun even exists. Except that I told you."
"Wait...you told us ?" Sam asked giving Crowley a look of disbelief.
"Rumors innuendo all sent out through the grapevine." Crowley admitted.
"Why ? I mean why tell us anything ?" Sam asked again taking a cautious step forward towards Crowley and Grace.
Crowley raised the gun pointing at Dean making the man step back slightly. "Because we want you to take this thing to Lucifer and empty it into his head."
Crowley lowered the colt as Dean stepped forward giving Crowley and Grace a look of utter disbelief. "Yeah okay...and why would the two of you want the devil dead ?"
Crowley let out a sigh as he finally placed the gun down on the desk in front of him. "It's called survival."
Sam and Dean stared at Crowley still looking as though they didn't believe a word that was coming out of the demon's mouth. Crowley spoke up again trying to explain himself as he reached over on his desk taking a glass and pouring himself craig from the flask he kept in his suit-jacket. "Lucifer isn't a demon remember...He's an angel...an angel famous for his hatred of mankind. To him human beings are all just filthy bags of puss."
Crowley paused for a moment taking a drink from his glass before he spoke again. "So if that's the way he feels about you, well then imagine what he must think of us."
"But he created you." Sam tried to reason. None of this made sense. Two demons saying that they wanted the devil dead.
Crowley nodded his head placing the glass down on his desk and letting out tired sigh. "Yes but to him we're just servants nothing more."
Crowley sneaked a glance at Grace seeing that she still looked anxious. She had crossed her arms over her chest and she had a frown on her face.
He let out another sigh as he spoke again. "So if Lucifer manages to exterminate mankind...then we're next."
They all stood in an uncomfortable silence for a moment the Winchesters trying to decide if they could believe two demons and Crowley and Grace hoping that the Winchesters would go along with the plan.
Crowley picked up the colt holding it out to Sam wiggling it a bit as he spoke. "Help us out huh. Let's all just go back to simpler happier times, times when we all could just follow our true natures. I mean I'm in sells dammit. So please take this and go kill the devil."
Sam hesitantly stepped farther forward as he reached out and took the colt from Crowley. Grace let out a sigh of relief thankful that this was working.
Crowley clasped his hands together smiling. "Wonderful."
Sam spoke staring down at the colt. "You wouldn't happen to have any idea where the devil is...would you ?"
"Carthage Missouri. A little birdie tells me he'll be there Thursday." Crowley stated as he reached over picking his glass back up and taking a sip.
"Okay, thanks." Sam stated as he raised the gun pointing it right at Crowley's head. Grace let out a gasp as she fought the urge to step in front of Crowley or at least shove Crowley out-of-the-way.
She closed her eyes tight as Sam pulled the trigger. She frowned not hearing anything. She opened her eyes letting out a breath that she hadn't realized she had held as she discovered that nothing had happened.
Crowley gave Sam a bored look as he spoke. "Oh right huh, you're going to need some more ammunition."
He placed his glass on the desk as he reached down opening a desk drawer and retrieving what he was looking for. He tossed the ammunition at Dean before he picked his glass back up.
Dean spoke up as he tried to recover from the shock of everything that had just taken place. "Excuse me for asking but aren't the two of you kind of signing your own death warrants ? What happens to the two of you if we go up against the devil and lose ?"
"Number one: he's going to wipe us all out anyway. Two: After you leave here, Gracie and I go on extended vacation to all points nowhere. And three: How about you don't miss, okay? MORONS!" Crowley stated screaming out Morons.
Crowley took Grace's hand in his snapping his fingers causing the two of them to disappear into thin air, leaving a startled Dean and Sam behind.
Sam and Dean stared at each other a little astonished and irritated as they realized that they were left alone in a house filled with the corpses of four demon guards.
reviews anything please ?