The Winchester Code

Chapter 17 - Devil Inside

Devil Inside

Chapter 17

I take a deep breath and walk through the door. I’m not quite sure what I’m expecting to find. So far, there’s been no evidence of fire, the bunker hasn’t disappeared, and there wasn’t vampires trying to bang down the doors. So far, so good.
Inside, there is no visible evidence that anything is wrong. Dishes are piled in the sink – about three days worth. Kevin is sitting with the tablet in the study. He looks a bit worse for wear. I’ll have to talk to him later.
“Kevin,” I ask. He looks up. His eyes are sunken and red, black rings packed under them. Maybe I’ll push forward that talk.
“You’re back.” He exclaims, rubbing a hand over his face. “Where’s Dean?”
“He went to Utah to check out the vision. Didn’t Zai tell you about it?”
“No.” He answers shortly, turning back to his tablet. I watched him scribble something down in his note book before I realised that he wasn’t going to elaborate.
“Did something happen?”
“No.” He says again.
“Well, do you know where-”
“No!” Kevin snaps, slamming the tablet on the table. “Stop asking!” I take a step back and Kevin apologises.
“It’s just,” I try to explain, “She called and I thought that maybe-”
“Listen, Sam,” Kevin hunches his shoulders as he looks at me. “I need to get this translated. I don’t want to talk. Especially not about Zai.”
“Why?” I ask again. “Did something happen?”
“Sam…” He warns.
“Alright.” I sigh. “Sorry.”
He rubs his neck and looks down at the tablet again. I’m definitely going to talk with him later.
I proceed to search the rest of the bunker. Everything seems to be in reasonable order. There are cards spread across the library floor, books piled next to the loveseat, and wooden chess pieces are stacked into a tower – but Zai’s not there. She’s not in the rumpus room either, and her bedroom is unoccupied. There’s no sign of her in the shooting range, or the war room. I check the bathrooms, the other bedrooms, the control room; no Zai.
“Zai?” I call, quickly exhausting my room options. When no one answers, I decide to check outside. “Zaviana!”
She’s not at the archery range and the tennis court is as empty and run-down as ever. I race back inside, feeling far more panicked now than when I first entered the bunker. I skid around the corner and trip into the table. Kevin jumps as the tablet falls.
“Shit!”
“Where’s Zai?” I exclaim.
Kevin gives me a measured look. “I don’t know.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” He answers, picking up the stone. I march over to him and pluck it from his hand. “Hey!”
“What happened?” I demand.
“Nothing!”
“Something fucking happened! I got a call from her yesterday asking me to come back. Now I’m here, and she’s gone. What the fuck happened?”
Kevin looks at me with terrified wide eyes. I quickly wonder if he really doesn’t know and I am scaring the poor kid for no reason.
“We had a fight.” He answers quietly. “I – I tried to…” He puts his hand on his neck again and I watch the movement carefully. “She went crazy, Sam!”
“What do you-”
“She nearly killed me!” He slams his hands on the table and jerks his chin up, revealing purple bruises on his neck. “She grabbed me by the neck and choked me!”
“Are you sure?” I ask, trying to make sense of the information.
“No shit, Sam.”
“But…” I don’t know what to say. “Do you know where she is?”
“No.” I can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic. “I haven’t seen her since then.”
“Ok.” I turn around, handing him the tablet. “Listen, I’m sorry-”
“Just…” He sighs. “Go make sure she’s alright.”
“Yeah.” I say, walking away.

I turn into the kitchen. She’s nowhere. I have looked literally everywhere in the bunker. Well, everywhere that she would know of. I feel myself shake a little as I think of the one place that I haven’t checked. If she’s in the dungeon…
I race to the storeroom.
“Zai!” I call as I pull on the shelf. The secret door swings open and light floods the devils trap, revealing the carved out symbols on the floor and the chains anchored to the ground. Each shackle, enchanted and carved to keep whatever is shackled in. And in this case, the thing shackled is Zai.
“What are you doing?” I pant, relief flooding my system. She is sitting on the floor in the middle of the trap and scrambles backyards as she sees me.
“Get away.” She hisses as her back presses against the wall. Her eyes are red and her hair is a mess. She squints against the light and looks equally like a scared child and a murderous demon.
“Zai,” I say, stepping inside the devils trap. Her eyes widen and then snap shut.
“Go away.” She whimpers. The chains clank against the floor as she raises her hands to her face, trying to cover herself.
I walk further into the dungeon.
“What happened?” I ask softly, trying to ignore the fact that she’s shaking. “Who did this to you?”
“Go away.” She says again, looking up. “GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!”
I pause. “Why are you in here.”
“You’re not supposed to get in. You can’t get in here.”
“Zai,” I say softly. “I’m not Lucifer.”
She stares at me, debating whether or not I’m telling the truth.
“Just leave me alone.”
“Come one,” I say, knelling beside her. She smells salty, like sweat. I grab her hand, knowing that if she really does think that I’m the devil, human touch would convince her otherwise. She yanks her hand away and slaps me across the face. Stunned, I reel back, but she lunges at me, grabbing my ear, pulling at it, digging her nails into my skin. The force of her body sends me sprawling on the ground, my skull smashing hard into the concrete ground.
“Zai!” I yell dazedly while my face burns. “Let go!”
“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”
“ZAI!” I yell, trying to fight her off. She smacks me across the face with the chains on her wrists and continues ripping at my ear. “You’re hurting me!”
Her eyes lock on mine, completely void of the girl that I carried to the hospital. She relaxes for a moment, as if something inside her recognises that I really am not the devil, but as quickly as the look came, it’s gone again. She plants her left hand next to my head and uses her right to grab the chain and force it against my neck.
“Zai!” I yell as she strangles me. “Stop!”
She pushes harder, crushing my larynx. I feel my brain shutting down, deprived of oxygen. I try to keep focus. She’s crazy. She’s gone. She has to die. And I’m going to have to kill her.
“Zai,” I whisper with whatever breath I have left. “Please.”