Her head hurt and her body protested any noise or even the slightest movement as she cried into the pillow. She had wanted to end it yesterday. Put it all to an end. But was she ending it or beginning it.
The door opened she knew it was either Sam or Bobby.
Had she really asked Sam to pull the trigger on her?
"Anya it's time to come down stairs." It was Dean's voice. Maybe if she could bare it just a little longer she could ignore her tossing stomach and Dean's loud for no reason voice.
"Anya?" She closed her eyes against the sound of his voice and curled in on herself a little deeper then stopped moving.
Silence. She wanted this. She pushed away any thoughts and let herself relax as best she could. "I don't think so." The voice called out.
"Let's go we've got work to do and I'm not giving you break because you're hung over lets go." Bobby growled. Anya continued to ignore him until the older hunter became tired and sick of her act. She was giving up again and Bobby wasn't about to watch it happen like this.
Bobby never put his hands to a woman never would but desperate times call for desperate measures and he grabbed her upper arm and pulled her out of the bed and to her feet taking Anya by the shoulders and making her look him in the face.
"Let me go." Anya said weakly.
"You quitting? Cause if you are then I'm not letting go. You're too young to go out like this and I'm not letting you. We still have time to figure this out."
"What time Bobby? What time do we have 18 days from now hell gets my soul? How many more hellhounds, and demons do I have to see and talk to before you let me go? Before you realize there is no saving me. Want to help me then pull the trigger like I told Sam." She yelled back at him.
Bobby let Anya go and left her there to return to Sam and Dean who had for a better part of the night been doing research. Dean threw the book nearly across the room.
"Oh no I will not have you giving up on her too." Bobby said.
"I never said I was quitting on her."
"Then what the hell is the damn problem?"
"The last few books we've looked through they all say something about a walk. It says 'and as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I have no fear as I enter once again into the land of the living'." Sam read.
"Bobby we're out of options call him." Dean told him.
"Hell no."
"Bobby he's our last option. We've called up dozens of demons and sent them back again with no answers. We're running out of time here man just call him already." Sam said.
Bobby let go of a heavy sigh and got to work on summoning the much-hated demon. "You didn't have to summon me if you wanted another smooch darlin'." The voice made Bobby gag.
"Keep it to yourself Fergus."
"Fine them I'll take the girl and go." He said.
"It's not her time yet. Besides you can't move anywhere anyway." Dean said looking at the ceiling.
"Now we'll let you go if you tell us what we want to know." Bobby bargained.
"Depends what do you want to know? No wait I already know. You've been going through one demon after the next looking for answers and there's four hellhounds outside your door waiting for her." Crowley smiled.
"How do we save her? She shouldn't have to pay the price when she didn't sell her own soul." Sam growled.
"Calm down Moose." Crowley smirked at him turning back to Bobby.
"And as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I have no fear as I enter once again into the land of the living." What does it mean?" Bobby asked.
"It's missing some bits there. The bible gets things wrong and things get lost and changed in the translation. It should say 'And as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will not give into the fear, loneliness, doubt, and pain. I will conquer my fear as I once again enter the land of the living, the land of which I've once come'." Crowley recited.
"Meaning?" dean huffed.
"Meaning there is a way but no one's made it out before. The valley of death it speaks of is hell to pass through after having everything you fear and have doubted over the years laid at your feet to scare you enough just long enough." Crowley explained.
"What do you mean?"
"Others have done it before they walk into hell thinking that they can walk out as if it were nothing. The gate of hell is open for a soul to be taken and to walk out for twenty four hours to that person alone."
"Sam I don't care how you get her down here but bring Anya down stairs." Bobby said.
Sam pushed open the door to find her staring at the ceiling chest rising and falling as she breathed at a steady pace. She had a far away look in her eyes.
Down stairs Crowley was getting impatient. "Let me go and I'll see her myself." Crowley stated.
"I don't think so." Dean told him.
"He can't leave the house anyway. If he does he turns to dust unless I say so." Bobby said.
"Then why keep him in the living room?" Dean said.
"Because I don't want him snooping in my house." Bobby said matter-a-fact tone.
"Let me out."
Bobby huffed and pulled out his knife. "That's right on your knees for me." Crowley smirked. Dean puked a little in his mouth.
"Anya we found it. We found a way to save you."
"Don't lie Sam."
"He's not lying Love." Anya sat up at the sound of the unfamiliar voice in the corner. Two sets of footsteps came pounding up the stairs to the room.
"I remember you. You were there that night I got processed. You were there waiting." Anya told him.
"So I do leave and impression. But it looks like you won't be getting possessed ever again." he pointed to the tattoo on her chest. "Now down to business. You want your soul to be yours again do you not?"
Anya stared at him wide eyed.
"That's what I thought." Crowley smiled. "Now your case is extremely difficult. Your soul was offered and we don't want to lose that. But your father wanted to be rid of you so badly he offered you up BODY and soul. We get the whole deal. Now that works in you favor. If you can walk out of the gates of hell, which no one has done, you get to keep your soul."
"And the catch we all know you get me for all eternity." Anya told him.
"You have twenty four hours here to get out of hell. The gates will open for you only but you better hold on to every bit of sanity you've got."
"So when does it start? Can't she just walk if now and fight her way out?" Dean asked.
"No moron haven't you been listening?" Crowley asked.
"When the contrac6t is up at midnight enter my birthday they take me to hell."
"See someone has a brain around here." Crowley commented. "See you around." Crowley smiled at her then cast a look at Bobby making the man shudder and feel the vomit rise up in the back of his throat.
"Get out." The hunter frowned. Anya hadn't miss4ed the look that Crowley had given Bobby.
"Relationship gone bad?" she asked. Bobby's glare fixed on her but with what she had been seeing it didn't do much of anything.
"They made out once." Dean told her.
"We did not ya idjit."
"You still kissed him." Sam said.
"Like your daddy kissed yellow eyes." Bobby threw back.
"But dad had enough sense not to get it on camera." Dean grinned.
Bobby walked out of the room leaving the three adults behind with grins on their faces despite the events that waited them. A few days went by and the heat of June loomed over them as Anya continued to separate herself from the others. She'd been sitting on the porch watching the pack of hellhounds chase each other in play. There were seven now. She'd even taken the liberty in naming them. What possessed her she couldn't care?
"Peaches let got of Canter's ear." She shouted at them.
Inside Dean and Bobby just exchanged a look with each other before going back to their research. Sam was somewhere off in lala land.
"120 days in hell. That's nearly four months down there?" Sam said.
"What are you babbling about?"
"I did the math. When Dean went to hell he was gone for four months roughly each month is ten years so I did the math and 24 twenty four hours here in 120 days there roughly about four months."
"Nerd." Dean grumbled.
"Well when she comes back we'll deal with the fall out." Bobby told them.
"And when I don't come back?" they all turned to see the woman standing in the doorway a thin sheen of sweat of her forehead from standing in the sun. It was slowly becoming darker with a tan, which gave color to her once pale skin. The eyes stood out against it pale blue and full of hurt.
The days seemed to be getting shorter until they came to the final three days. "Dean wake up." Sam shook his brother.
"What's wrong? Who's possessed?" dean asked.
"We have to go. We need to open the gate and get her." Sam said.
"What?"
"We can go in Dean we go in and we walk out. We've been to hell and we'll walk right out of it with Anya." Sam told him.
"Dude I don't know what drugs you got hooked on since I went to bed but go get de-toxed cause I ain't going back and I damn sure ain't letting you go. No Sam." Dean stood firm to his word.
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this Sam. Going back to hell is suicide. Barely made it out last time. Cas can't bring us back if we go in there and you know it. Even if he could he could only bring one with him he can't carry all three of us." Dean bitched.
"Dean we said we would help her and we're going to. We'll all walk right out by midnight."
"Glad to see you're so upbeat about this. Cause Sam if we don't I'm kicking your ass for the rest of eternity." Dean growled.
"Dean eternity lasts forever so how are you going to beat me up for the rest of it?" Sam gave his two cents.
"You know what Sam it'll be a daily ass kicking end of story."
Bobby searched his house but didn't find any of his adopted children. Panic room, bedrooms, kitchen, closet, toilet, the yard, garage, and all three sheds. They were gone. "Sam and Dean have gone to Hell's gate to open it and walk in." Cas appeared.
"Can't you just go get them out?"
"No. I cannot enter Hell again also I won't be able to return with all three of them. It rests solely upon them getting out alone. If they don't…"
"Then I lose the only family I've got." Bobby said.
"I'm sorry." Cas said disappearing again.
Anya watched the clock counting the seconds maddening her self slowly. She had ten minutes.
Five minutes.
Four minutes.
Three minutes.
Two minutes.
One minute.
Thirty seconds.
Ten seconds.
"Happy Birthday." She said as the flames sprung up around her.
"Now Dean!" Sam shouted forcing both of them into action breaking the door open.