Chapter Eight : Pain and Salvation

Crowley glared down at the demon strapped down to the medical exam chair in front of him a binding link carved into her stomach to keep her from smoking out on him. She let out a pained screech as the holy water he'd sprayed on her caused her body to sizzle as steam and smoke rose up off her body.

Crowley had been locked up in this old abandoned hospital for three days now, torturing the three demons he'd snatched up at their hideout. The same three demons who had eaten his tailor alive.

The demons had been dumb enough to choose a hideout not far from Crowley's now burnt down home. They weren't the most powerful demons. All three of the were lower tier demons. They had obviously only escaped the pit so soon because Eli needed them to do his bidding.

Crowley had been at this torturing the demons for the past three days now, not stopping for rest or food. He couldn't rest until he found Grace. He refused to allow himself to relax even for a moment until she was back with him, safe.

He knew that Eli wouldn't take Grace to Lucifer, not yet at least. Lucifer wouldn't allow Eli to have any fun with Grace. No Lucifer wouldn't allow Eli to touch her. Lucifer would try to charm Grace. Try to bring her around to his side of things. Eli was too stubborn to allow his only chance at toying with Grace to slip away that easily.

The amount of guilt Crowley felt for allowing Grace to get out of his grasp was immense. He had promised her that he could keep her safe. He had told her that Eli wouldn't lay a hand on her. He had promised her. She had trusted him to take care of her, and now she was being tortured. All he could keep thinking was that he had failed her.

"Tell me where Eli is !" Crowley demanded his voice loud and harsh. The demon looked up at him looking frightened for only a moment before a feigned calm expression worked its way on to her face.

She spoke up her voice strained and crackling as her body still showed signs of being effected by the spray bottle of holy water. "I don't know...Ask one of the others. They know more than me."

Crowley leaned in close to her a confident smile on his face, she was lying and he knew it. The two other demons had already sold her out after he'd tortured them extensively.

She was their supervisor, the one Eli had put in charge of the other two demons. She would know where Eli was. She was Eli's only confidante. His favorite minion.

"That's funny, Daphne, because you see your little comrades have already told me that you are Eli's favorite little minion. Now where is Eli ?"

Daphne glared up at him irritated that he now knew her name and even more irritated that the other two demons had sold her out. The idiots didn't understand loyalty.

She did her best to give him a cruel smile. "Did you know your little whore prays ? Every single night when Eli shoves her down in that box he keeps her in when he's not playing with her, she prays...its hilarious. A demon praying...like God even gives a shit about her. God is gone, he's nowhere around to hear her prayers."

Crowley reached over picking up a knife wetting it down with plain water before he dipped it down in a bag of rock salt. He did his best to ignore the pain in his hand as a little salt brushed up against it.

He moved the knife over to Daphne sliding it across her cheek cutting lightly before he moved the knife down shoving the knife fully into her upper left arm. She let out a pained scream as the salt burned against her wounds.

"Tell me the truth." Crowley ordered as he finally pulled the knife away throwing it down on the table beside him.

She glared up at him her voice defiant as she spoke. "Never. She's ours now."

He shook his head trying not to show signs of irritation. He had one last plan up his sleeve. His hellhound, one of his biggest and meanest he owned. He had allowed the hound to eat the other two demons once he was satisfied that they knew nothing of any use to him.

He whistled causing the hound to make its way into the room, its mass knocking furniture out-of-the-way causing the old tile floor below it to crack, as the beast moved forward.

Daphne let out an anxious noise as she spotted the hound. The hound licked its lips when it spotted her, it's mouth foaming, it's sharp jagged teeth showing, its red eyes cruel and wild.

"Now you talk, or you become Alpo." Crowley said as he reached over patting the hound on the top of its head.

"He took her to Lucifer." Daphne blurted out lying through her teeth as the beast moved forward getting too close for comfort to her.

Though the two demons had never had any sort of actual interaction in hell, Crowley knew better than to believe what Daphne was telling him. Crowley was aware of almost all of the demons within Eli's inner circle. He knew that Daphne hadn't been a demon very long. She was inexperienced in the art of being decent liar.

Crowley knew that it was a fact that Eli had been the one to torture Daphne when she first arrived in hell. Eli had developed a fondness for her deciding to keep Daphne at his side as his little sheriff so to speak.

Crowley shook his head frowning. "No he didn't. Lucifer wouldn't allow him to have his fun with Grace. We both now how much Eli enjoys a good torture session. He's practically addicted to torture. So come on, be honest with me. Never lie to a liar."

She glared at him refusing to speak. Crowley rolled his eyes. "Come on now. It's for your own good to talk to me. My hound is still hungry and you look like you have enough meat on you to settle this hound's stomach."

Daphne leaned back down into the exam chair as the hound neared her a bit of its foamy saliva leaking out of its mouth down onto her leg.

She looked at Crowley realizing that the older demon was quite serious, either she talked or she became a chew toy for the hound.

She let out a sputtered anxious noise as she finally spoke. "Fine...there's a factory in New Morris Pennsylvania. The factory use to be used to build furniture like stoves and crap like that...she's there. I swear she's there. The factory is abandoned. It's called the Williams Furniture and Appliance Factory. It's huge there's a bunch of other abandoned factories near it. It's in the old industrial district of town. It's just him, her, and five demon guards that's it."

Crowley nodded his head not calling the hound off as he turned to leave the room. Daphne let out a cry as she yelled at him. "Wait !, let me go ! You said if I told the truth then you would let me go !"

Crowley turned to face her shrugging his shoulders. "I'm a demon, ducky. I'm a liar."

And with that he left the room closing the door behind him blocking out the noises of Daphne's screams as the hound tore into her.

Grace closed her eyes feeling so weak. Her arms were beginning to lose sensation as the rope dug into her wrists. She was hanging from the ceiling her arms extended above her, a rope wrapped around her wrists. The rope was attached to a long chain that hung from the ceiling above her. Her body was left to dangle like a worm on a hook.

She cringed as Eli reached out caressing her bruised skin. The bastard would beat her and cut her for hours until she felt like she was going to fade away, he'd never let her faint from loss of blood though. No, he healed her instead before starting over once again.

Every night he would shove her in and lock her into a rectangular box. A box that made her think of a casket. She would stay up and pray unable to force herself to sleep. She felt silly praying, like God still cared for her. She was a demon now, the last person God should care for.

Mostly she prayed for Crowley to find her, for Crowley's safety, prayed that the house fire hadn't killed him. She prayed for Eli to drop dead, for his meatsuit to have a heart attack. She prayed for death too, for all of this to end, for her body to give up and let her go.

She could admit that she worried that Crowley may not come for her at all. What if what she was sure he might have been feeling for her wasn't there after all. She feared that he may just let the contract go, find someone else, forget about her.

Grace tried not to focus on these fears so much, she couldn't lose hope. She had to believe that Crowley wouldn't abandon her.

Eli continued to caress her side as he spoke. "I have to say I was jealous of Crowley...having such a pretty little toy. I'm frustrated that the fool wouldn't take advantage of such a gift...You would think he would understand and be able to appreciate just how fun torture can be."

"Do you know how easy it was for me to find a witch ? Especially one that I could force to apply for that maid's position at Crowley's little desert home. It was so easy for her to plant that hex bag and those tracking devices. That hex bag stopped Crowley's abilities just long enough for me to set fire to place and snatch you up." Eli explained a proud smile on his face, as he refused to move his hand away from her.

Eli paused for a moment before he smirked a laugh escaping his mouth "Oh and the amazing things I heard on those tracking devices. Gracie isn't that what he calls you ?...How funny it is to hear him comfort you."

Eli gave her a cruel smile before laughing. "He's in love with you, I can tell it from his voice...it's hilarious. Look what love got him ? A burnt down home and a stolen lover. I've heard such interesting things, oh and the noises of pleasure I've heard him make you make. He's so weak...letting humanly emotions cloud his mind. Humans are weak little bags of filth. Look how they've destroyed the world and each other. Lucifer is right to want to destroy them. "

Eli ran his hand down her body stopping at her inner thigh. He caressed it for a moment before finally pulling his hand away. He spoke sounding amused. "Let's just say I can see why he chose you...such a pretty little thing...so young, so innocent, so trusting."

Eli reached down for a knife before he slid it across her thigh up to her hipbone, causing her to let out a pained scream. "Did you know I tortured Crowley when he first came to hell ? Of course he wasn't Crowley back then...no his name was Fergus McLeod. A useless tailor who sold his soul on the crossroads...so pathetic. I should have been King of The Crossroads, not him...the rat. He betrayed our father...the colt didn't work though. Lucifer is too strong to be killed by a pathetic little human tool."

He paused laughing as he spotted the look of panic in Grace's eyes. "The colt failed to kill Lucifer. Your hunter friends failed you. In my opinion my father should have crushed the Winchesters...the insects had the nerve to come after him...He needs Sam Winchester though. Little Sammy is his vessel after all. And Sam will give in soon, allow my father to dwell within him. Allow the end to come. The world will be rightfully ours for the taking. Maybe if you're nice I'll keep you around hmm...keep you as my pet."

Eli placed the knife back down on the table as he examined his tools. The tools were unimpressive to him to say the least, he much preferred hell's tools of torture instead of these silly little human tools.

He stared down at pair of pliers wondering if he should yank another tooth out of that pretty little mouth of hers. He had done it yesterday. He'd already healed her back up of course so that tooth was back in her mouth. It would be so easy to yank that molar right back out again.

He picked up a scalpel before he ran it across her stomach enjoying the way she squirmed and let out a cry as he pushed the scalpel in. Her eyes were watering making hot tears stream down her face.

"When your boyfriend shows up... I think I may string him up beside you. Let the two of you have a reunion." He blurted out laughing his raspy voice making his laugh crackle.

He spoke up finally stopping his laughs "It'll be just like old times for Crowley and me. I wonder if he still screeches when someone tries to cut off his ear."

Grace closed her eyes unable to look at Eli any longer. The demon had removed his suit jacket leaving him in his crisp white shirt and slacks. The white shirt was splattered with her blood now. And Eli's eyes were no longer that cold pale blue, they were black, the entire area of the eyes were pitch black.

Eli reached up slapping her face as he spoke his voice mean and loud. "Look at me !"

She reluctantly opened her eyes, her face stinging as it began to swell up bruising from his inhumanly hard slap. Eli sighed as he spoke up. "Don't you ever close your eyes girl, not when I'm talking to you."

"Now how about you tell me if your boyfriend has anymore plans to get rid of my father hmm?" Eli asked leaning in close to her as he tilted her head back forcing her to look at him.

Grace responded by spitting in his face, blood and saliva coating his shocked face. She cringed ready for another slap or punch.

Eli reached up wiping his face before he laughed. "I see Crowley chose you for more than your looks. I do recall Crowley doing that to me once when I tortured him down in hell. You know what I did to him ?"

She felt bile rise in her throat as Eli spoke up answering his own question. "I cut his tongue out."

Eli reached over for the scalpel again slowly bringing it up to her mouth. He held it up against her closed the mouth for a moment before finally pulling the scalpel back down. "I think I will be kind though...let you keep your tongue, for now at least. Don't you dare do that to me again girl...or you won't even live long enough to regret it."

Crowley made his way into the dark factory, two of his best hellhounds beside him. He had been breeding hellhounds for years now, for almost as long as he had been King of the Crossroads.

Lots of demons bred hellhounds as a hobby a way to pass the time, but Crowley knew that his hellhounds were the best. His hounds were the strongest, the fastest, the biggest. Nobody could handle the hounds quite like him.

The two hounds that Crowley had chosen to come along with him were both quite large, they were almost as tall as him with big hulking bodies, full of pure muscle.

His hounds had already slaughtered the guards at the front of the factory. The guards didn't even have the time to alert Eli that Crowley had arrived. So he would hopefully be catching Eli by surprise.

He moved through out the factory the hounds on either side of him. It didn't take long for him to spot some light coming in through a heavy looking set of double doors.

He made his way over to the doors entering the room alone. He allowed the hounds to stay behind far out of view, until he was sure that he absolutely needed them. He didn't want to rush in with the hounds just in case Eli had somehow gotten some hounds of his own.

The last thing Crowley needed was to lose his best hounds in a dogfight. He needed to make sure that he had the hounds in his back-pocket, as a last resort weapon against Eli.

Crowley tried not to focus on the sight of Grace hanging by her wrists from the ceiling. He let out a quiet relieved inner-sigh thankful to see that she was still alive. Though she looked as though she was close to death. She was too pale, there were too many broken bones, too many slashes and too many bruises.

Eli gave Crowley a pleased smile as he dropped the knife he was holding. The demon had tortured Grace for over an hour now. He hadn't bothered to heal her just yet. He had a feeling that Crowley would be here soon enough and he wanted to make sure that Crowley was able to get a full view of his little pet in pain.

"I see you've made it past my guards." Eli blurted out turning to face Crowley, enjoying the pained look on the demon's face as he spotted Grace.

"I didn't have to make my way past them. Your guards are dead...all of them." Crowley responded reluctantly pulling his gaze away from Grace.

He didn't miss the panicked look on Eli's face before the demon tried to recover giving him a calm smile. "So It seems that it's just you and me then...a fight for the girl...I've had such fun with her."

Crowley frowned trying to push the rage he felt back down into his gut. He had to remain level headed.

Eli had clearly gone insane. He couldn't risk a one on one fight with Eli, it was too risky. What if he lost, then there would be no chance of saving Grace. He hadn't rested in days. His demonic mojo wasn't at it's strongest. The hounds were his last hope.

"No...I brought a little backup." Crowley responded trying to ignore the urge to step forward and rip Eli apart himself.

Crowley whistled causing the hounds to enter the room. Crowley pointed at Eli before he spoke. "Sic em boys."

The hounds rushed forward catching Eli by surprise.

The demon had been arrogant enough to believe that Crowley would come here alone without a backup plan. Eli's biggest mistake was being egotistical enough to believe that he was so much stronger than Crowley, that Crowley was too weak and too low on resources to pose as a real threat.

Eli let out a scream as the hounds tore into either side of him causing him to fall to the ground. He struggled against the hounds but was unable to fight off their strength. The hellhounds weighed too much for him to shove them off. The hounds weren't your average hellish canine they had been bred to completely destroy their targets.

Crowley moved forward towards Grace once he realized that Eli no longer posed any real threat. Crowley moved his arm up flicking his wrist causing the rope to unravel and release Grace's wrists.

The beaten weakened young woman fell to the ground. She was far too weak to stand, she had lost so much blood. She hadn't been a demon long enough to build up a strong body that would be able to fight off the trauma of such beatings.

He knelt close to her tucking a hand underneath her head, caressing her cheek as he caused her to look up at him. She frowned peering up at him almost afraid that this wasn't real. That he really wasn't here, that she really wasn't safe.

She could hear screaming, someone was screaming out in clear anguish, but she was too disoriented to tell who it was. She was having such a hard time focusing on what was going on around her.

Crowley spoke up trying to keep her head upright and her gaze focused on him. "Darling, let me heal you please. Please let me take care of you."

Grace tried to speak but her mouth was so dry like she'd been sucking on cotton balls for days, and her throat hurt so badly. She had no voice left due to screaming for hours as Eli tore knifes into her flesh.

She was afraid that Crowley healing her would hurt. It had hurt when Eli had healed her those few times, her bones had shifted within her body snapping her broken body back into place, and her skin had burned and stung as the wounds closed back up.

She knew that she was fading away though, she was having trouble focusing on Crowley, she was feeling so light, so airy, so close to death.

She only managed to nod her head knowing that she would die without Crowley's interference. And she wasn't sure what could be after this, after her afterlife. There could be nothing, and the thought of there being nothing but black emptiness frightened her.

Crowley reached down placing his hand on her stomach as a bright light enveloped her beaten body. As soon as the light faded away she was left covered in filth and dried blood, but she was healed. It had been painful her body repairing itself and though her body may be as good as new, her mind was still in shambles. She was still exhausted from not allowing herself to sleep, and weakened from having no food and only a small glass or two of water over the course of the past three days.

She still felt so tired. Her mind felt so foggy still, she was trying to keep it together, not break down here. Keep strong.

Crowley took his coat off putting it on her covering her nude body. He scooped her up in his arms holding her bridal-style. He turned to look at Eli or what was left of him. Grace closed her eyes not wanting to see anymore of the factory or of the demon whom had caused her such pain.

Crowley did his best to keep ahold of her as he snapped his fingers, causing them to disappear far away from the factory.

He knew that he may have gotten her back, Grace may be safe physically, but it would be a very long time before she was truly really okay.

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