Escaping Hell

The Screams Still Sound The Same

"Lucy, I know you're worried about Cas, but you need to sleep," Sam tells me.

"No. We need to find him," I firmly reply.

Sam sighs, and crosses his arms, saying, "Who knows? Maybe you'll have a premonition about him like you did Dean." Then, he leaves the room. This in itself persuades me to try to go to sleep.

I kick off my shoes, and I toss my jacket on the chair next to my bed. Grabbing my demonology book from my bag, I read it as I walk to the bathroom. Believe it or not, being dead for a week means that you should probably take a shower. Since I'm not really looking at where I'm going, I blindly run right into Dean.

"Oh sorry! I was busy reading this," I apologize, holding up my book.

"Why are you reading that, anyway?" Dean asks.

"Because I want to," I say, although I'm really reading it to see if I can find anything about Lucifer and how he works.

"Okay..." Dean replies slowly. "By the way, how's your cut thing doing?"

I lift up my shirt to show him the healing wound, telling him, "It's a lot better. It'll have a scar, but I'll be completely fine. I'm glad that Cas got the chance to heal the important stuff."

Dean smiles a little to himself, and then he goes downstairs, probably to strategize with Sam. I already know that both of them aren't going to even try to get much sleep tonight; they never do on days like this. But tonight, I'm not going to argue against it like I usually do; they deserve at least a day of not having me force them to get a decent amount of sleep.

As I strip down for the first time since the accident, I take a look at myself in the mirror. My bare body looks worn, but still strong enough to snap a demon's neck if it needs to. The gash? There's a gnarly scabbing line there, but nothing more. I turn on the shower, and the flow is warm in an instant. Dirt and grime from sitting in a stinky cabin for a week washes off of my body, allowing me to feel clean for once. After the shower, I dry my hair and go back to my room to put on some clothes. I grab my bag and get out an old black tee as well as my red shorts. My hair is still a little bit damp, but it'll do. It's not like I need to impress anyone.

Bowing my head, I pray, "Hey, Cas. Don't worry. We'll come get you. Ruby and Sam and Dean are trying to figure out how we'll kill those demons and save you. You'll be okay."

I climb under the covers, and turn off my light. The full moon light still fills the room, but it's sufficient enough for me to sleep with. I close my eyes, and my head hits the pillow with satisfaction.

I am awoken again at around two in the morning by an owl hooting outside my window. Opening my eyes, I gasp at the ceiling.

Cas is up there, and he is set on fire.

"Cas! No!" I scream in panic. I bolt up out of bed and see Lucifer by the window, not even worrying about the blaze above him.

"You know, this could be real. That is, of course, only if you don't listen to me," Lucifer smiles.

"No!" I scream again.

"Oh well, then. I guess I'll continue to torment you. And Dean. And Sam," Lucifer laughs.

"Lucifer!" I beg, feeling the burns as the ceiling starts to collapse from the fire.

"Oh, here come the boys. Time for you to go back to reality now," Lucifer smiles again, snapping his fingers.

I slump to the floor, clutching the bed and my chest. My breathing is heavy and fast.

"Lucy?!" Sam and Dean yell from downstairs. In no time, they're kicking my door open, wielding their guns. Seeing no threat, Sam comes over to me on the floor.

"Hey, are you okay? What happened?" Sam asks, eyes alert.

I stutter, still in shock, "Lucifer was here and the ceiling was burning and Cas..."

"Oh no. He's started to make you have hallucinations," Dean says, his face dropping. Sam lifts me back onto the bed like someone would a child, and he keeps an arm around me as I shake uncontrollably from the fear.

"Hey, you'll be okay. We're gonna get Cas and we'll lock up Lucifer forever. He won't ever be able to touch you, okay?" Dean tries to reassure me. I nod, the image of Cas burning and Lucifer fresh in my mind.

"We need to get him back," my voice cracks, and I start to cry, hugging my knees and burying my face in between them.

"We will, Lucy. Trust me," Dean nods.

"I need to go to sleep but we don't have Cas here to knock me out," I sigh, feeling myself start to get the hiccups.

"You know what always calms me down? Whiskey," Dean comments, leaving the room.

"I'll let him do this just this once, but it better not become a habit for you like it has for him," Sam warns me before Dean comes back in the room with some whiskey. He brought a glass, but I just take the bottle from him and chug some. I don't have time for this shit; I want to go to sleep so I can find Cas.

"Do you need one of us to stay in here to make sure you're okay?" Dean asks.

"Do you think that Ruby or someone like that could stay with me? I mean, I appreciate your offer, but I'm a girl, so..." I trail off.

"Yeah, yeah, you're estrogen, we're testosterone, we get it," Dean laughs. Sam just looks downright uncomfortable.

"I heard someone say my name," Ruby says.

"Sammy and I are gonna go back to figuring out how to get Cas," Dean says, reaching for the whiskey bottle. I grab it before he does, as my own way of saying that I'll probably need it. The boys leave without question.

"So what's Lucifer been doing with your noggin'?" Ruby asks, sitting down on my bed.

"Hallucinations, freaking me the fuck out, etcetera," I nonchalantly explain.

"He does have that effect on people," Ruby says. It's obvious that she isn't entirely sure on how to help people. Not that I blame her, though. She may be my friend, but she is a demon, after all.

"Have you found out any more info on Cas? Is he okay?" I ask.

"I managed to get a glimpse of him a few hours ago. He's okay I think, but they are guarding him like the Secret Service," Ruby informs me.

"Thank god he's okay, at least," I shrug.

"Hey, listen, you're gonna be fine. We'll figure out how to lock Lucifer back in his cage," Ruby reassures me, giving me a pat on the shoulder.

I half-smile, saying, "Thanks."

I can feel the whiskey slowly making its way through me. Grabbing the bottle, I take another huge swig.

"I never was much of a whiskey person; I was more of a margarita-type girl," Ruby comments.

I laugh, "I'm not drinking for taste, at least not tonight."

"I understand completely," Ruby nods, "Sleeping pills only help you sleep. Alcohol helps you forget."

"Amen to that," I reply, laying back on my pillow.