Hell's Greatest Weapon

Chapter 10: Cain

“What exactly am I looking at?” You tilted your head to the side as you bent at the knees, attempting to get closer to the dead body that lay at your feet.  “How many did you say there were?”

You knew the answer, of course, but needed something to fill the silence while you investigated the demon that sat before you; it was a peculiar thing, this killing, because a magic was used that you hadn’t seen in far too long.  You could not, in fact, even remember when this particular brand of magic had come about.

It seemed to have bound the demons to their physical form, evidently killing the human that owned the body.  After being bound, they were killed; this was clear by the black ooze that appeared to cover every surface but was even more prevalently oozing from the orifices of each of the dead bodies.

“Where were you when this happened?” You stood to full height and turned to the demon that stood behind you.  His meat suit was tall, forcing you to look up to talk to him, but your aura caused him obvious distress since he was shaking from head to foot and his voice quivered as he spoke.

“I—I was in the back.” He pointed a lazy finger to the back of the establishment.  “I called you as soon as I found the bodies, you have to believe me.”

You nodded and turned to face the wreckage once again, searching for any hint as to which of the witches caused this; they had to have been old as they were using magic you thought had gone extinct long ago. Since the coven had been broken up (thankfully) the amount of witch-on-demon deaths had been significantly lowered, but you were noticing the number go up, which only further added to the list of things Hell was struggling with since you had taken your years off.

“I believe you,” you said before walking across the room to look at another of the bodies.  “Tell me,” you leaned down to get a closer look at the figure.  “What was going on, exactly, that this many demons were in the same place?”  The demon behind you didn’t speak so you stood and turned to him, putting your hands in the pockets of your leather jacket as you began walking toward him.  “All these deaths and not a single collection to be shown for it?”

“It was—it was a way to…” the demon choked on his own words and stumbled backward, holding a hand up as though it would protect him from anything you did.  You struggled to keep a straight face—you hadn’t even forced any torture or influence on him and he was already stumbling—and only barely managed to keep from snickering.

“We were collecting.”

“Collecting?”

“It was a type of…” he swallowed and stood back to his full height, adjusting the tie that hung loosely around his neck. “A type of service exchange.”

“A sex ring, you mean?”

The demon’s eyes widened and he rapidly shook his head, once again raising a hand for protection.  “I swear I didn’t start it, I was only doing what I was told and had no—“

You rolled your eyes and turned as the demon was sent back to hell, allowing his meat suit to fall to the ground.  Hell truly had fallen since you were gone, and if there was any motivation to not take another couple years off, that was plenty. Let alone the guilt of having left the Winchesters to rot.

Your stomach clenched at the thought of the brothers, the guilt overflowing you.  It was odd, guilt, especially considering you had never felt anything like it prior to the eldest boy’s birth; you knew there was a reason for their being your weakness, you had been made that way, but you still wished there was a way to rid yourself of it.

The canvas backpack that had been positioned on your back swung around and you reached into it, pulling out an old flip phone that you used exactly for things like this.  Dialing the number of one of Crowley’s higher-ups, you waited for them to answer before demanding that someone show him the mess that had been made. No, you did not know who did it. No, you would not be there when he arrived.  No, they were not to tell Crowley that you were the provider of the hint.