Part One: Dark One

Chapter Nine: "Where does it hurt?" "Everywhere."

A/N: Buckle in kiddies. This is where shit gets dark. Seriously graphic violence in the following chapter. You've been warned.

I don't remember
when my screams
turned into silence.

I don't remember
why my vision
had gone black.

I don't remember
where I dangled
off that edge.

All I remember is that I let go.

April 27th, 2011

Sam threw an angel blade at Adrienne. She stopped it, sending it skittering on the wood floors.

"Try again," Adrienne said, managing to sound supremely bored while surrounded by holy fire.

Sam ignored her, returning to the book he was reading. Adrienne thought it might be a journal; it was stuffed with pictures and filled with messy writing.

Adrienne sighed when Sam ignored her. She'd been here for over an hour now, and was finding her limited company to be extraordinarily dull. She glanced at Sam, who was doing a superb job at ignoring her so far. His brother and the angel were guarding the back and front doors, leaving the moose to attempt to kill her every ten minutes. And though she refused to say it, it was getting harder and harder to stop the blades. Worse still, the feeling in her stomach had grown so that it was encompassing her entire body, leaving every inch of her sore and aching as her head pounded and sweat accumulated on her skin. She would kill for some demon blood right now.

In an attempt to distract herself from the pain, she spoke to Sam again. "Do you know what I don't get?"

Sam ignored her.

Adrienne continued speaking. "I don't understand why you and Dean are against me."

Now Sam responded, looking at her as though to sarcastically ask 'Really?'.

"It's true," Adrienne insisted, "It's easy to tell why your angel buddy doesn't like me; I'm a threat to him and the other heavenly dicks. Plus, I killed his brother. That's gotta sting, even if the guy was scum. But you," she looked at Sam like he was a puzzle she couldn't figure out, "you're human. You've lost friends and family, some of them because of angels, and now you're on their side?" She shrugged, leaning back a bit, "Just doesn't make sense to me."

"Yeah? And whose side should we be on? Yours?" Sam had put the journal down and was paying attention to her now, though his voice kept a bit of its sting.

Adrienne shrugged. "I don't see why not."

Sam scoffed. "Really? How about the fact that you're a killer and a monster?"

"Well yeah, but I've only killed criminals. People who posed a threat to others; it's no different than what you and your brother do really." Adrienne's expression was calm, her eyes clear while a tiny smile crinkled her eyes and turned up the corners of her lips.

Sam rolled his eyes and returned to the journal.

Adrienne refused to be discouraged. If everything Vetis had said about them was true, and she had no reason to doubt him, the Winchesters could be powerful allies. "As for being a monster … am I really? What makes me one? Is it because I'm half-angel, or because I'm Lucifer's daughter? I have no more control over those things than you do the demon blood in you." Sam stared at her, the journal falling from his loose grip. He paid it no attention, focusing entirely on Adrienne, who continued talking. "Am I more of a monster than some self-righteous pigeons who kill three people, including a child, and for what? Because they were here and I wasn't? Because they were my family? Because they loved me? Kept me safe? Hell, I didn't even know what I was until that happened. I might have lived a peaceful, human life if the angels hadn't killed my family. But they took that from me. They took everything from me." Adrienne's face had grown harsh as she thought about the angels, having locked those memories away as well as she could for as long as she could.

Sam flushed, doubt eating away at him. What happened to Adrienne had been horrible, but... "That was just a few angels. They didn't represent the whole."

Adrienne chuckled darkly, groaning at a new wave of pain. "Then why is your little winged friend so eager to kill me? I've only killed one angel, and it had no problem killing my family."

Sam stayed silent for a few seconds, before saying, "Maybe it's because you want to start the apocalypse."

Adrienne couldn't help it; she let out a sharp laugh, which soon turned to a harsh cough. Sam stared at her, wondering if he should get Cas, but Adrienne kept talking. "That's rich coming from the same guy who actually started the apocalypse." Her expression softened at Sam's pained face. "I'm sorry. I'm sure that's not something you like to think about. My point is that I don't want to raise Lucifer anymore than you want to shoot up a diner. I could, but it's not gonna happen. Remember, I'm part human. I love this planet, these people. I don't want them to be in pain. If anything, I want to protect them."

Sam admitted to himself that he was beginning to feel a bit sympathetic to her, but that was no reason to trust someone who had already admitted to being a killer. "So what? You think Dean and I are just gonna jump on the SS Antichrist?"

"No," she admitted, "but it would be nice for you to not actively oppose me. I'll even let you, your brother, and your angel go free of harm if you let me leave now." Sam scoffed, but she could tell her words were starting to affect him. He was hooked; she just needed to reel him in. "Sam, on my family's graves, I swear that I will not hurt any humans, or any angels that didn't participate in my family's murders or tries to harm me or my followers.' Her voice was starting to get so quiet Sam could hardly hear her, and her eyes were barely open. "I'm not… the villain…" Adrienne fell over, her eyes rolling back in her head as her body began to shake.

"Adrienne?" Sam moved to the edges of the holy fire, careful not to get too close. He could only see the whites of the girl's eyes; her body shook as though she were having a seizure. "Cas! Cas, get in here!"

The angel appeared next to Sam, immediately seeing Adrienne. "What happened?" He asked, leaning down to better see Adrienne.

"I don't know," Sam told him, "One minute she was fine, and the next…" He didn't say anything, instead gesturing to Adrienne to make his point.

Dean entered the room, abandoning the back door after making sure the sigils and demon traps were all intact. "What the hell's going on?"

Castiel searched Adrienne's body, soon finding the cause. "Demon blood."

Sam frowned, looking from Castiel back to Adrienne. "What? Why did she have demon blood in her?"

"Most likely she used it to make herself more powerful when she was still used to being human. It appears she never stopped."

Dean stooped beside his angel. "So she's detoxing?" He asked, staring at her. Cas nodded. Sam winced in sympathy, remembering the times when he'd been forcibly detoxed after becoming addicted to demon blood.

Dean, however, was uncaring as to the nephilim's pain; he simply asked Cas, "Can we gank her now?"

Castiel took the angel blade that Sam had tried to kill Adrienne with earlier, throwing it through the flames. It bounced off an invisible wall, leaving the end flattened. "No. Adrienne's angelic instincts have taken over her board. She's effectively put up a very powerful shield around herself."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Great, so now she's gonna be harder to kill. Awesome."

Castiel gazed at his niece, telling Dean, "Power like this takes a lot of energy. She can't keep it up for long, especially while going through withdrawal. Soon, we will be able to kill her."

Dean hummed in satisfaction, but Sam wasn't so sure this was the right thing to do anymore. Looking at the poor girl, writhing on the floor, he couldn't say for sure that killing her was the best choice. He decided to talk about it to his brother once Cas had left. Until then, he would maintain watch over Adrienne. But he wasn't sure if he could.

Sam was gone. When had he left? Adrienne didn't know.

Adrienne's arms and legs were bound by strong rope that chafed at her skin. Each length of rope led to a white pillar, spreading her body out like a star.

Everything hurt. Every never was on fire, every cell was dying. Her blood boiled and her eyes likely would have fallen out by now if she were lying face down.

"Adrienne."

Adrienne slowly turned to face the small voice. Zac stood inches apart from her head, wearing his favorite Spongebob t shirt and a worn pair of jeans. His eyes were there, a brilliant hazel that she wanted to stare at forever.

"Zac?" Adrienne's voice was low, barely above a whisper. She wasn't sure how she even managed to speak as her throat felt like it was about to explode. It didn't matter. Zac was there, and he was alive and healthy.

But something was wrong. Zac's face was cold, expressionless. He was unfeeling as he stared at his sister's strung out body, dressed only in blood and smoke. "Why'd you do it?"

Adrienne's face contorted into one of confusion. "What? What did I do?"

Zac remained staring at her. "Why did you kill us Adrienne?"

Adrienne couldn't speak. Her words caught in her throat as acid-tears spilled down her eyes. "I… I didn't…"

"Don't lie, Adrienne." This voice was new, though just as familiar as her brother's. It came from her mother, who was to her side.

"You shouldn't lie to your family, Adrienne." This one was her father, on her other side. "Oh, but we're not your family, are we?"

"We never have been," Mari remarked. "Didn't stop them, did it?"

Zac shook his head. "They still came for us. They still killed us." Zac leaned his head to one side, movements jagged, like an insect's. "Why'd you let them kill us Adrienne?"

"I didn't know…"

Josef scoffed. "Didn't know." He stomped on Adrienne's wrist, crushing the bone. Adrienne screamed in pain, but was helpless against him. "Didn't know what Adrienne? Didn't know you were a monster? Didn't know that we would die because of you?" He ground his foot on her wrist, pulverizing the bone.

"Please… stop…"

"Why should we stop Adrienne?" Mari asked, mimicking her husband's movements, aiming for her daughter's shoulder. "The angels didn't stop. Not until our eyes were already burnt out of our skulls."

Adrienne forced herself not to scream, biting down on her lip until it bled. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, you're sorry," Zac mocked, kneeling now, grabbing her head and forcing her to look at him. "I'm sorry, sister. Sorry that I'm dead but a monster like you is still alive."

"I'm not a monster…" Adrienne's voice trailed off, though she kept repeating it in her head, like a mantra.

I'm not a monster, I'm not a monster, I'm not a monster, I'm not a monster, I'M NOT A MONSTER

"Yes you are," Zac stated simply, like it was a fact. "You always have been. You never even tried to stop being one." Zac leaned over Adrienne's neck, biting into it until it severed the flesh, pulling a chunk of her neck out. He swallowed while his sister screamed. Blood spilled over her neck and shoulder, coating her jaw and chest.

Mari and Josef finished where they'd been, soon crushing her ribs and sternum. Adrienne could not breathe; logically, she knew that she did not need to, but she still would have given anything to be rid of this utterly human feeling of suffocation.

Zac stared at her softly, blood covering his mouth, cheeks, and chin, soon spilling onto his shirt. His expression reminded her of the philosophy professors from school. "But maybe you should keep being a monster. 'Cuz if you're not a monster, then you aren't anything. Because it's all that you are. Without that, you would just be a soulless husk, not even worthy of being called an animal. You'd be nothing."

I'm not soulless… Vetis told me I have a soul… Where is he? I miss him.

Adrienne tried to call for the fallen angel, but could not speak.

"Then again," Zac continued, far too eloquent for such a little boy, "Maybe you already are."

Vetis sat in his parlor, trying not to smite the sniveling demons that had come to speak with Adrienne, but now had to deal with him instead. This was especially difficult as he had a hard time just looking at their broken forms; they were pathetic really, creatures with no place in this world except as servants and cannon fodder. Even their creator was disgusted by them; when Lucifer returned, he would rid the universe of their filth as soon as humanity was finished off.

It was that thought that gave Vetis the patience necessary to pay attention to the demons. There was a group of four demons, a human with his hands and feet bound by rope on the floor in front of him, a gag preventing him from being too loud. The boy was crying pitifully; Vetis was tempted to kill him now just to make him stop. The boy was Asian and probably around Adrienne's (physical) age. He was dressed in a blue shirt that was completely buttoned and khakis. His clothes were dirty, no doubt because of the demons who had captured him.

Vetis looked to the demon, James, who had brought him the boy. Vetis waited for an explanation. When none was given, he grew more irritated. "Well?" He snapped at the demon. "Who is this?"

James cleared his throat, nerves clear on his face. "His name is Kevin, sir. Kevin Tran."

Vetis smiled, delight replacing any irritation he had. He looked at Kevin, using his power to force the boy to meet his gaze. "You're a prophet," Vetis said, beaming cheerfully. He tilted his head to one side curiously before asking, "Have you seen anything?"

Slowly, Kevin nodded. Vetis's smile widened, and he stood, quickly kneeling so that he was face to face with the boy. It was good that the house was so thoroughly warded; no angels would be coming to the prophet's rescue.

Vetis grabbed the boy's head, fingers clenching the flesh as Kevin attempted to cry out. Vetis ignored him, forcing the vision from Kevin's mind, quickly experiencing it for himself.

Kevin had become a prophet after Chuck Shurley's death weeks ago. He knew about the apocalypse, about Adrienne, and everything that Vetis had done to get them here. But so far he had only had one vision of the future.

Adrienne stood in a black ceremonial gown with bare feet and no jewelry. There were over three dozen bodies laid out in a wide circle around her. Vetis just outside the circle, along with several living demons, looking smug and proud as he listened to the Enochian on her tongue. There were glyphs drawn in blood on each of her arms, spread out as though to allow someone to view them more clearly. As Adrienne spoke, her eyes and the glyphs began to glow white. Blood spilled from every little sigil, spreading out in harsh lines to each of the bodies that surrounded them.

But something was wrong. The blood never stopped, even as Adrienne's voice faltered and she grew dizzy, eyes forced to remain open even as she fell to the ground, skin tight and dry around her bones, no sound coming from her as the cage opened and light filled the night sky.

Vetis gasped in a breath he did not need as he came back to himself, hands falling from Kevin's head. He stared at the body, imagined killing him. But it did not matter. Killing Kevin would not change the future; Adrienne had to open the cage, Lucifer had to come back.

But as he remembered the image of Adrienne's lifeless body, all he could think was, This can not happen.

The door burst open, revealing a frantic Dakota. "Get out!" She barked at the demons. "Get out or Adrienne will have all of you executed!"

The demons quickly left the room. Vetis came back to himself enough to have Kevin sent with them, leaving only Dakota and himself. He decided to put what he'd just seen out of his mind; it did not matter right now. He would think about it later, when his mind was clearer.

Vetis scowled at Dakota, annoyed that he could not kill her as that would be depriving Adrienne of her favourite. "You have no right -"

"Adrienne's gone."

Vetis stared at her in shock. "What?"

"She's gone! I went to check on her and take her some demon blood, because she get's really bad headaches if she doesn't get enough, and she wasn't there!"

Vetis felt himself begin to panic, imagining all the awful things that could have happened to Adrienne. "Well don't just stand there!" He shouted at Dakota, jumping to his feet. "Find her! I want the entire building and every town and city in this state searched now!"

"What if we don't find her?"

Vetis was finding it very hard not to kill Dakota. "Then look somewhere else!"

The demon nodded, quickly leaving. Vetis growled, trying to force himself to calm down. He stood still and imagined Adrienne. Her eyes, smile, her power…

He would find her. And then he would destroy anything and anyone that tried to hurt her.

Zac. Josef. Mari. The human prisoners. The demon traitors. Kushiel. Their eyes were wide open, staring down at her accusingly. All of them hung suspended from the ceiling, secured by inky black tendrils around their necks, wrists, and ankles. Adrienne did not know what they were. She did not want to.

Adrienne was in a sort of coffin. It was so small that she barely fit inside, and made of clear glass, allowing her to see through the sides, though there was not much to look at. Only more bodies, these ones faceless. They floated in their own blood, which was only just shallow enough that it did not spill into the open coffin.

Adrienne tried to sit up, but could not breach the invisible barrier over her. She squirmed until she could get her hands to the top, pushing against the shield. Soon she was not able to do even this as whenever she moved, the coffin grew smaller until she was held completely motionless. A drop of blood fell onto Adrienne's forehead. Above her, gashes opened across Zac's torso, then his arms and legs, and finally his face. His body ripped itself apart, spilling his blood until there was nothing but his skin left hanging from the ceiling. There were no organs, or brains, or meat, or anything you might expect to find in a body. Just blood.

Soon, the other bodies followed suit, until Adrienne could not see anything past the red that rained into her eyes. Blood soon filled the coffin completely, spilling past her lips and nose, filling her lungs, drowning her in all the people she'd killed.

Sam stood guard over Adrienne, unable to look away from the tears that slid past her glassy eyes. She was trembling softly, just enough to be noticeable. Occasionally she would start shaking for minutes at a time, goosebumps erupting over her skin, only to be half-drowned in sweat a moment later, as though her body couldn't decide what it wanted to do. Blood trickled from her eyes, barely an ounce altogether, but there none the less. He wondered if he'd been like that when Dean and Bobby had locked him in the panic room. He knows that though Dean and Bobby had been there, he had never realized they were, too caught up in the hallucinations.

Finally, Sam left, going to talk to Dean instead. He felt guilty about leaving Adrienne alone, but there was nothing he could do to help her, and he doubted she would find him comforting even if she knew he was there.

Dean stood next to the back door, looking out on the backyard where only weeks ago Mari and Josef Morgenstern died. A sick feeling twisted in Sam's stomach as he looked outside.

Dean, of course, immediately noticed Sam, turning to look at him when he came to stand next to Dean. "What are you doing in here? Thought you were supposed to be babysitting Lucy-junior."

"I was, but it was kind of hard to watch. Kind of brought back some bad memories, you know?"

Dean winced, quickly covering it with a nod. Neither of them said anything, but Dean soon realized that something was going on with his brother. It could just be from the demon blood, but it seemed… deeper, somehow. "What's eating you?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

Dean rolled his eyes. "C'mon Sam. I know you. You're upset about something. Is it the demon blood? Cause I can watch Adrienne if you want."

"It's not that. Well, not entirely." Sam would be lying if he said that the sight of Adrienne, unable to control her body or mind and without friends or allies, was not making him of his own experiences with demon blood.

"Then what is it?"

Sam stood silently, staring out the window. Just as Dean began to give up hope for an answer, Sam said, "Are you sure we're doing the right thing?"

Dean frowned at his brother, eyebrows furrowing as he lips pursed. "What do you mean?"

Sam sighed, looking for the words to explain what Adrienne had said to his brother, who tended to have a bit of a 'shoot first, ask questions never' policy. "I don't know if killing Adrienne is the right thing to do."

Dean made an irritated noise, but Sam hurried to explain. "I'm serious. Adrienne hasn't hurt any innocent people. Even Cas said that the only humans she had killed were murderers and rapists. Not exactly model citizens. And the only angel she's killed at all helped murder her family."

"She's dangerous, and she could start the apocalypse over again."

"Dean, we're the ones who started it in the first place. Why should we get forgiveness, but not someone who hasn't actually done anything yet?"

"Sam, that girl is powerful and angry and will do anything it takes to get revenge -"

"Oh yeah, 'cuz that's something you know nothing about, right? You didn't dedicate most of your life to hunting down a demon for revenge? No, you would never do that."

Dean flushed, visibly reigning in his anger. After a moment, he seemed to have calmed down. He let out a breath and said, "Maybe you're right. I'll talk to Cas, but until I do, stay away from Adrienne. She's not our friend, and we don't even know what the hell she wants."

"She wants revenge, like you said."

"Yeah, but against who? Just the angels who killed her family, or all of them? Hell, she actually threatened to kill us earlier. We have to be careful."

Sam sighed, but had to admit that his brother was right. "Okay, you have a point."

"I know that."

Sam scoffed and pushed his brother's shoulder. "Jerk."

"Bitch." The brothers smiled, tension dissipating before Dean said, "Stay here. I'll watch Adrienne, you keep an eye out for any demons."

"Sounds good."

Dean started to leave the kitchen, stopping in the kitchen doorway. "Sam?"

"Yeah?"

Dean looked back at his brother, careful not to show too much emotion. "Don't think you can trust Adrienne because she's like you. She's not."

Sam stared in stunned silence as his brother left, leaving Sam alone to guard the place where Adrienne's parents had lost their lives.

Adrienne did not know where she was. She was not at home, nor was any of the rooms she had seen in the building Vetis had kept her in. There was a king sized bed with silk white sheets, and the walls had a black base with lacy golden designs. Paintings hung on the walls, showing scenes from Hell, Heaven, and even Purgatory, but none of Earth. On either side of the bed was a black Grecian pillar with gold statues of angels and demons sitting on them. The ceiling had stars painted on it. Adrienne swore she could make out some of the constellations.

But she still did not know where she was. Perhaps Vetis had found her and brought her here? But the how were the hallucinations gone?

"They're not gone."

Adrienne turned around to see who had spoken. It was a man, with blond hair and blue eyes. He wore an olive green t shirt with a slightly darker, unbuttoned shirt over eat, and blue jeans. Though he wasn't particularly handsome, he had a pleasant smile and calming presence.

"You're still hallucinating. This one is just a bit more real than the others." A small smile rested on the man's face, but Adrienne remained tense, ready to fight if necessary, but not sure she could win.

"Who are you?"

The man tilted his head slightly to the side. "I think you already know."

Funny thing was, she did. She just hadn't been sure; Adrienne had only ever heard about him from Vetis and a few demons, but they had never said what he looked like. At least, not physically. And trapped within her own mind, she could not see his true form as she had been able to with Vetis and Kushiel. But she knew him.

"Lucifer." She was quiet when saying the name, barely able to hear herself. But he heard.

"Is that really how you should speak to your father?"

Adrienne recognized what he was doing. He seemed nice so far, but she had no doubt he could turn on a dime. Father or not, he was still an angel. "What do you want?"

"Only to help you." Before Adrienne could ask what he meant, he was already speaking. "I was in the cage, having a nice day in Hell, when I sensed this horrible pain coming from you."

"How did you -"

"We're connected Adrienne. And as God feels the suffering of each of his children, so I know when you are in pain, in such a way that no human parent ever could."

Adrienne did not have anything to say to that. Instead, she asked him, "How are you here? Aren't you supposed to be in the cage?"

Lucifer let out an annoyed sound, more at the mention of the cage than at her. "I am. But ever since I got out the first time, the locks on the cage has been just a little bit weaker. I can't get out completely, but sometimes I can visit people in their dreams or send them messages. That's how I showed you the protection sigils when you were on the run. It is, after all, every parent's duty to protect their children."

Adrienne didn't know what to say. Everything she could think of in response to that would either sound stupid or bitchy, so instead she looked at the room again and asked, "Where are we?"

Lucifer looked at one of the paintings - this one of angels fighting each other - and said, "This is where you were born." He walked towards the bed, looking down at the pure white sheets. "Your mother, Lorelei, died almost immediately after."

Adrienne stared at him with wide eyes. "Because of me?"

Lucifer shook his head. "No. Not really. She died because Vetis killed her."

"What? Why would he -"

"Because she tried to kill you."

Adrienne felt her expression twist into one of confusion and horror. Lucifer gave her a sympathetic look before continuing. "I know, it's awful. She thought that you would plunge the world into darkness." He smiled warmly, looking at her in a way that reminded her of Josef. "Little did she know that you were always meant to bring light."

Adrienne tried not to break. To know that her mother, even if she had never met the woman, was dead was already hard enough. To know that it was because even she thought her daughter was an abomination made her feel like she was drowning again.

But she did not let herself fall apart. Not this time. She was stronger now then she was before, and refused to appear weak in front of Lucifer. "And how am I supposed to do that?"

Lucifer's gaze was unwavering, eyes alight with power as he said, "Free me. Start the apocalypse."

Adrienne's heart pounded against her ribs as her skin felt frozen. "No."

"Adrienne, -"

"No! I know you don't get it because you're an angel, but everyone on Earth - literally billions of innocent people - would die."

"It would be a mercy kill. These people are weak and in pain. You can help them -"

"Stop. Just stop. I'm not going to kill everyone on the goddamn planet just so -"

Lucifer had tired of her rebellion and pressed his hand to her hand.

At first, Adrienne was just confused. Then the pain overcame her, crushing down like a tsunami. Every nerve was on fire, there was not a single cell that was not in so much agony as not to commit suicide if it could. Her heart pounded as her lungs forced themselves to contract, more out of instinct then an actual want to live. Adrienne fell to the ground, like a marionette doll with its strings cut, as vomit mixed with blood forced its way up her throat.

And God, her head. She felt like it would explode at any moment, and if her eyes weren't in so much pain, she would use them to search for something to kill herself with.

After several horrific seconds that felt like years, it stopped. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see Lucifer crouched over her, sympathy in his expression if not his eyes. She flinched when he reached for her, but he only rested his hand on her hair comfortingly.

"What was that?" Adrienne bit out, curling into a ball.

"That was pain. The pain of every single living person on the planet. If you were human, it would have killed you before you even registered it."

Adrienne did not say anything. Not even when Lucifer pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her. After a hesitant moment, she grabbed his hand.

The poem at the beginning was written by dvoyd on tumblr.

Damn, that was a long chapter. I was not expecting it to be this long. I liked it though.

The next chapter is the last one in Part One, which means next we'll be reading Part Seven! (I'm kidding, it's Part Two next.)