Chapter Nineteen

Amie couldn't sit still any longer. She got up and began pacing the perimeter of the room. She was fighting to keep calm, when what she really wanted to do was scream and pound on the walls and doors. But since that wouldn't do any good, she figured she would try to walk off the nervous energy she was feeling. She had to find a way out. As she walked, she examined the room. The ceiling was at least fourteen to fifteen feet high, piping crisscrossing it at regular intervals. There was a vent about halfway up the wall, just above the door. It was just high enough that she didn't think she could reach it, even if she jumped. The floor was concrete and papers were strewn everywhere. That was it, there was nothing else.

Her phone vibrated in her hand. She turned it to see a text from Dean: "You're still in Carthage. Warehouse. Sit tight. On our way." She tucked the phone in her back pocket.

Amie rolled her eyes. Sit tight? Where the hell was she going to go? And why hadn't the angel taken her someplace else? Why keep her so close to Dean? Nothing about this was making sense. Katarina let her keep her phone, even let her call Dean. She'd been locked up and left alone, there hadn't even been an attempt to get her to talk. If the angel wanted information, she was really going about getting it in an odd way.

Amie continued pacing, widening the perimeter as she walked. On the fourth trip around, she felt something sharp jab the instep of her left foot.

"Ow, shit!" She immediately dropped to her knees, scrambling to find whatever it was she had stepped on. She sifted through the papers and other debris on the floor around her knees until she felt metal. It was a small paperclip, bent and twisted. It must have been lying on the floor with the bent end pointing up. She was lucky she stepped on it; she just might be able to use the paperclip to get the door open. She tucked it into her front pocket.

Amie quickly examined the bottom of her dirty foot, hoping the paperclip had not done too much damage. Unfortunately, it looked to be more than a scratch; there was also a hole with blood seeping from it and it really stung. Amie grabbed the sleeve of her shirt, ripping it. She wrapped it around her foot and tied it off. She pushed herself to a standing position and tried putting weight on her foot. It seemed to be okay, though she still hobbled slightly as she walked to the door.

Amie pulled the bent and twisted paperclip from her pocket as she crouched in front of the door. It looked to be a simple deadbolt; she hoped she could pick it relatively quick. She wasn't going to sit around and wait for Dean and Sam to show up and rescue her. She could at least try and get out of the room.

Amie spent the next few minutes working the lock on the door. It wasn't as easy as she'd thought it would be; the paperclip was small and difficult to use. She dropped it at least three times and once she thought she'd lost it. It took her several minutes to find it again. Finally, she was able to twist the tumblers and unlock the door.

She waited a few minutes after unlocking the door to make sure no one was coming. After several minutes of quiet, she slowly twisted the knob and peeked out. The hallway outside the door was empty. There wasn't even the clichéd inept guard sleeping in a chair. God, she hoped there wasn't a camera watching the door. Amie opened the door just enough that she could slide out. She tucked the paperclip back in her pocket as she pulled the door closed behind her.

Amie stood in the hallway for a few minutes, unsure of which direction she should go. She was concerned that any direction she chose would just take her deeper into the warehouse. She waited, listening carefully. When she still didn't hear anything, she took a deep breath and turned to her right.

The hallway was dimly lit, stretching out about thirty yards in front of her. As she walked, keeping close to the wall, her eyes roamed the floors, looking for anything she could use as a weapon. She was reminded of every bad horror movie she had ever seen—stupid girl wanders in dangerous place, alone, as the audience yells at her to go back to the locked room where she was safe. She was the stupid girl in this picture.

She had made it almost three-quarters of the way down the hallway when she thought she heard voices. She paused, waiting and listening. She couldn't make out exactly what they were saying, but she could hear the muffled sounds of talking. It sounded like there were at least two, maybe three people. Amie hurried to the end of the hall, hoping to hear something to help her get out.

Amie paused and scanned the large room the hallway had dumped into. There were piles of boxes carelessly stacked around the room. Fluorescent lights were suspended from the ceiling. They were turned on, but so many were broken that the room was poorly lit. A set of stairs went up to what appeared to be small offices around the perimeter of the room. Amie could see a door set between two of the glassed-in offices that looked like it could possibly go outside. She needed to get to that door.

Unfortunately, she would have to get past the three people standing at the base of the stairs. One of them was Katarina and the other two were big, burly guys that looked like they had gone one too many rounds in the ring of a UFC fight. There was no way she was getting past them and there was no other way upstairs. Since she was weaponless, Amie didn't see herself getting out any time soon. But, she needed to get out of the hallway. She quickly made her way behind a stand of boxes about twenty feet from the stairs. She sat down, hoping she wouldn't have to wait long for them to leave.

Katarina was addressing the two men. "I know what he said. I want to find Castiel too, but I want to talk to him. Not kill him. He is important. I cannot explain why, but he is. I think I know how to get the Winchesters to cooperate. He will just have to trust me to do it my way."

Amie shifted in her position on the floor. Well, that was interesting. From what Dean had told her, every angel on earth wanted Castiel dead. Except, apparently, this one. And who the hell was this 'he' she was talking about.

The burly guy on the left looked confused. "So, why did we take the woman? If not to kill her? I thought that was how we were going to convince the Winchesters to tell us where Castiel was?"

"Yes, I want to find Castiel and the Winchesters can help us." Katarina paused, as if she had to think about what she wanted to say. "I think Dean Winchester will tell us where Castiel is if he thinks that the woman will be hurt. She is useless to us if she is dead. But, we will make it so he cannot refuse to answer once he sees the pain she is going through." The angel adjusted her suit jacket. "Go get her. I am sure she has had time to call them. They are most likely on their way."

The two big guys moved off down the hallway. Shit. Amie was out of time. She tried to look everywhere at once, trying to figure out where she could hide. Anyplace she tried to go was going to put her out in the open. It was just a matter of minutes before they realized she wasn't locked in the room anymore. Her only choice was to try to make it up the stairs and out the door.

Just as she was about to make a run for the stairs, Amie felt herself being lifted off of the floor and carried forward. She was dumped unceremoniously at Katarina's feet.

"You are injured," the angel said, as she grabbed Amie's foot and examined it.

"It happens when you walk around without shoes," Amie muttered.

Katarina pulled an angel blade from inside her jacket and gestured to a chair sitting near the stairs. Amie was pulled to a standing position and pushed toward the chair, limping as she went. Once she was seated, one of the big guys tied her up and then pulled it to the center of the room.

"Well, this is original," Amie sputtered, her voice heavy with sarcasm. "Let me guess. Now you smack me around a little bit or cut me with an angel blade so when Dean gets here and sees me, he's good and pissed. Then you'll threaten to kill me unless he tells you where Castiel is. Did I get it right? Isn't that what you just decided to do?"

Katarina moved in close to Amie, until they were practically nose to nose. "Well, yes," she whispered. "That was the plan." She placed the blade against Amie's arm. "Have you ever been cut with an angel blade? I have been told it is a pain like no other, even for a human. Let's find out, shall we?" Katarina pulled the blade down Amie's arm, slicing it open from elbow to wrist.

Amie screamed.