Bloodline (Supernatural)

21 - Hell's Newest Resident

While I'm not an expert, I know for a fact I'm not on Earth anymore. Judging by how malevolent this place feels...there's only one place that I can be.

And here I've always thought I'd visit Heaven.

I'm not sure what I expected when in captivity. Being strapped in a torture device? Hung upside down by my ankles? Someone playing the most annoying song known to the human race on an endless loop?

Though I can take waking up not hanging as a win, I'm still very suspicious. The ground is unforgiving and hard, and a little warm. I wonder if Hell cranks up the heat when prisoners are being too rowdy. I don't want to be the one to figure that out.

Three quarters of my cell is dark brick, the only quarter that isn't is the cell bars in front of me. Moans of other prisoners drift towards my ears. Screams of pain. Screams of...passion? This is twisted.

Everything is sore as I rise, as though someone beat the crap out of me while I was unconscious. It wouldn't shock me if the demons had. They were still wailing on Sam, Dean, and Mom just before Finn put me under...

The bars feel cool, refreshing, as I touch them. I can't put my head through to peek out into the dank hall. I don't want to be mocked for getting my head stuck, anyhow.

There's no way out. I'm stuck here. Sam, Dean, Mom...Their faces swim before my eyes. Stupid, we were stupid.

I think back to the one day, which for all I know, could've been days ago depending on how long I've been out. I don't know how Hell time works in relation to Earth. It had almost felt normal...minus all the baggage brought into the Routh household. The piece I had always been missing had been brought home. I would've been leaving anyhow, but to have my family all in the same place...

I wasn't sure that would've ever happened. But it had. And for that, the house was broken into, my family was given a serious beating...

Does the world not want a happy ending for me, or for the Winchesters?

Where was Cas when we needed him? How come he didn't swoop in to lend a hand? He'd seemed like the most reliable angel in the world.

As much as I don't want to do it, I close my eyes. Allow my ears to paint the picture of Hell for me. Aside from the occasional crying, where I'm at doesn't have a lot of action. Though...at times, screams sound as though they come from above. They just hold us here until they want to break us in. School has been trying to do that for years. If I can get through that, I can get through this, right?

School can be compared to Hell, but it will never be the real thing.

Time feels like it's creeping. No random patrol demon to try and annoy or strike a chat with. Aside from my neighbors, I'm completely alone. Maybe it's for the better considering where I'm at.

My body sends a fresh wave of aches through my system, causing everything to throb. I glance down at my one hand, the one I foolishly thought could catch an airborne glass shard. It's not wrapped, it doesn't look like it's cleaned. Blood is crusted around the wound.

Why would they treat me any differently than the others? I'm a Winchester by blood. Regardless of how little or how much hunting I've actually done, I'm a threat.

I hit my knuckles lightly against the cool bars, something to entertain myself. I try to make my own music from them, scuffing my feet on the floor, and rubbing my fingers against the bricks. It's not a great melody, and after a time my knuckles throb. I'm sure I've whittled skin off my fingers from the bricks.

I peek out from the bars in the hopes someone sees how shiny and new I am to Hell. But the cells I can see, nobody dares come forward to try and sneak a peek. Perhaps they're engrossed in their own mental torture to want to embrace reality.

They'll test me. They'll put me through things I can't begin to imagine. But I have to be strong. Sam and Dean are stubborn, they'll bounce back. They'll come for me. I know they will. Cas...

Thoughts of my family and friends are disrupted by incoming footsteps. Shadows are before my cell door. I count three. Ah, finally, visitors. Yay. Not.

"So, you're the next generation of hunter," one of the demons says. She's joined by two others—both males. "Pretty pathetic if you ask me."

"If you haven't kept up on your Hell gossip, apparently I'm something special to you freaks," I croak. "One of your guys told me Hell wants to recruit me."

"Oh yeah? Why?"

"I'm a Winchester with a hint of magic in my blood." I crack a smile. "Who wouldn't want to claim that?"

One of the male demons snorts down at me. "I don't buy all the hype. You're more trouble than you're worth."

"You must be in the minority on that."

"Can you not hound our future addition, please?" comes Finn's sneering drawl from a distance. "Don't give her more reason to hate us."

"You've given me plenty," I say as Finn comes into view. The trio of demons are shooed away by him. "With as high as you've put me on a pedestal, I thought I'd get some VIP treatment."

"Eh, not quite. Getting you here was half the freaking battle. The other half is making you see things from our perspective."

"Couldn't give me more time to settle in before you try to manipulate me?"

"You say manipulation, I call it opening your eyes." Finn kneels down to my eye level. I shrink back instinctively, trying to be out of his reach should he try to slip his arms through the bars. "You see some truth in my words. You took the blood."

"Yeah, and it was snake oil. It didn't do shit."

"That's because it was your first time on it, and it was a little. Besides, you're still new to your powers. You don't really know how to work them."

"I never wanted these stupid abilities. I was fine in my own world. You freaks ruined my life!"

"Why do you think your power is so low, Willa?" Finn ignores my brief attack. "What you could be capable of...there's a lot of untapped power inside of you. We can help you bring it out."

"If it were anyone else selling me this, then sure. But because it's you, that's a no from me."

Finn scoffs. "I knew you'd want to play hardball, that's that Winchester stubbornness in you. Fine. In time, you'll see that they've been cutting you off from greater power because they fear you'll outgrow them. If you become too much, then they won't have control over you."

I shake my head slowly. "Empty words are all I hear."

"For now. If you want to play the long game, we'll make you play it to the fullest."