Demon Hunter

Chapter 28

"You smell an awful lot like wolf, my girl."
My mother sauntered into the room, her dark hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. The smile on her face was radiant and brought back memories from when I was a kid. She put her hands on her hips and stopped a few feet away from Gabe and I.
"I just can't believe my little girl grew up and bagged herself a Lycan." She scuffed and looked back at the five men that had came in with her. "Can you believe it? I mean, we've been following you for years and I never not once felt the Moon Goddess's presence on you. That bitch is getting clever." She shook her head in disbelief and slid her hands into the pockets of her brown jacket. "Where's your pet now?" She grinned at me, tipping her head to the side.
"Dead." I said, emotionless. It was taking all of my willpower not to lodge my knife in the demon's neck. There was no way to tell if my mother was still kicking in there, it was the only thing keeping me put. "I shot him." The demon laughed, her eyes never leaving me. She didn't spare Gabe a glance. "Now why would you do such a thing? The only person who'd ever give a damn about your pathetic life, you shoot dead. Oh wait, but that's your thing isn't it?" She grinned and my lip twitched in agitation. "I'm a Hunter. I did what I was taught to do." I said, keeping my voice calm. She took a step closer to me and scratched her head. "Oh so you were taught to hang your family out to be eaten by dogs?" My eyes widened but the rest of my face remained the same. She couldn't know about that.
"Oh demons talk sweet heart. And we talk about Phoenix a lot. Was it payback, for when he got you sent to hell? An endless cycle with this family. Always selling each other out." My leg began to bounce on it's own accord and she looked down at it. "Oh am I angering you?" She chuckled and shook her head. She clasped her hands together and looked at her shoes. "I can't wait to have the entire family. Minus Gabe, he means zip to my boss. Only want's the ones that came out of this one." She patted her stomach and I decided I'd had enough.
"Where's Atarius." I ground out. She placed her hand over her heart in mock surprise. "You don't think he's that stupid do you? Atarius know's that the merry band of demons that found you aren't exactly devil worshipers. Where is that bunch anyway, I'm itching to rip their heads off." She clapped once and giggled like a child. If Atarius wasn't coming, I'd have to get the next best thing.
"This was a nice chat mother, but I'm afraid it's going to have to come to an unexpected ending." I slipped my arms out of the ropes and readjusted the knife in my hands. Gabe followed my lead and attacked the demon closest to him. A feral growl spread through the warehouse and then Castiel's wolf was on two demons, tearing them to shreds. Drake and Malcolm sank their teeth into the remaining two. My mother looked around in genuine shock before focusing back on me. "Look's like it's about time I take my leave." She tilted her head skyward but the black smoke that was really the demon didn't emerge. She looked at me in confusion and I smirked. I pointed towards the ceiling of the warehouse. The biggest demons trap you could imagine was drawn on the ceiling. We'd had a lot of time on our hands.
"Clever." She winked at me before making a run for the door. Castiel's giant wolf stood growling in her way. She turned back towards me and I winked at her. "Go for it." I gave her an encouraging smile and she huffed. "Well, maybe I'll stay for a chat." I nodded and clasped my hands behind my back around my knife. "Oh, yeah. I think that'd be for the best."

We tied her up in an empty storage room. We spray painted a demons trap on the floor and made one of duct tape over her head. She said she was impressed by my thoroughness. Dean popped into the room after we'd tied her down.
"Where the hell were you? We could use those smiting powers of yours." I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at him from the corner of my eye. He was breathing heavily but looked fine. "That is your mother." He stated and I rolled my eyes. "Yes Dean, that is the body of my mother. Could you do me the huge favor of telling me if my mother is still in there." Dean nodded and approached the demon. She leaned away from Dean's hands and shook her head. "Hey, get this saint away from me!" She hissed as Dean placed his hand on her forehead. He held it there for a moment before shaking his head. "Your mother died long ago. Nothing in there but demon." He stepped back and out of the circle. "I feel so clean." The demon said in disgust. "Yeah well, I feel dirty." Was Dean's response.
"I have some things to do." Then he was gone. I threw my hands up in exasperation. "Goodbye to you too!" I yelled. Gabe shook his head and rubbed his wrists for the 100th time. He'd gotten a decent rope burn and his wrist were an angry red. "Sit this one out Gabe." I told him and he nodded, leaving the room.
"What are you planning to do here?" Jacob asked an all eyes were on me. I breathed out heavily, memories from hell flashing through my mind. "I picked up a few tricks in my time down under."

**************
"Take a break." Castiel said into my ear. I'd been going at the demon for three days straight with no results. The only conversation she was willing to have was about me. I shook my head at Castiel and wiped blood from my face with a white towel. "I'll take a break when she's dead." I said simply. I stepped back into the circle, a flask of holy water in my hand. I took a swig and held it out to the demon. "Want some?"
"Oh no than-" I shoved the opening of the flask into the demon's mouth and emptied its contents into it. She gurgled, the water spilling over from her mouth and down it's face. The water left burn marks down the demons face. I snatched the flask away and slammed it against my table of torture, as I'd taken to calling it. The demon coughed and sputtered around a breathless laugh.
"I just can't believe the guts on you. Nothing like I saw in Phoenix." I kept my face clear but breathed through my nose heavily. My hand wrapped around a knife and I picked it up from the table. "You talk about Phoenix like you know what happened." I said, twisting the knife around in my hand. "Oh that's because I do sweetheart. I was there, well just outside the room. But gone before daddy dearest showed up, an unexpected twist." My temper flared and I stabbed the knife into the demons leg. She cried out, arching her back and hanging her head.
"You should have just killed him. That would have been more humane than what you did." The events of that night flashed through my mind and I turned away. My head was pounding from the guilt, something that I could never live down. I'd messed up, and Henry had paid the price.
"But I guess it's better than what Henry did." I pressed the blade deeper into it's flesh and it merely grimaced. "We were nine." I growled and she smirked through the pain. "He sold you to a crossroads demon." She ground out and I pushed harder on the knife. I yanked it from her leg and she squeezed her eyes shut. "He did what he had to do." I used the same towel I'd used on my face to clean the blade. "He sold you, to a crossroads demon, to bring your brother back from the dead. Didn't even give you the luxury of ten years!" The demon shouted and I sighed, trying to control myself. "I got Gabe killed, I take the sentence of Hell to bring him back." The demon scuffed and I turned to face her again.
"I mean dear God, we have the O'Harrin family on back order. We've done business with all you twerps, except Gabe that is. He's a sheltered brat." I couldn't disagree with her there. "Mom sells her soul to have you and Henry. Henry sells you to bring Gabe back to the land of the living. Dad sells his to get you out of Hell. What about you Aurora, are you up for a deal?" She snickered and I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate. Demon's lie, I reminded myself.
"Let's talk about something that matter's, hmm?" I asked stepping towards the demon with a canister of salt. "Where's are they?" I shook some salt into the palm of my hand and the demon smirked. "Honey, I'm over 6 centuries old. If you think a handful of salt will get me to talk, you're just as crazy as your mother for thinking we weren't going to come back for you two."
"Maybe this won't get you to talk, but you can choke on your family memories in the mean time." I then shoved my hand down the demon's throat.

Listen to "Black Bird" by India Jean-Jacques to set the mood for this chapter.