I sat at the foot of the bed and stared at the television, wringing my hands and uttering pleas under my breath that it would come back on and show me my friends.
The screaming from the bathroom had subsided. Without Lee awake, there was no one to inflict the torture on me. I had peace at last, but not my freedom.
A small point of light appeared on the screen. I didn't notice it until it widened and spread; the pixels reigniting as my body woke up from whatever Castiel had done to me. As it returned, so did Lee. The screaming began with renewed vigour, as if it was my fault all this had happened. That he'd been caught. I supposed it was, in a way. I mean, I was the one who'd formed a friendship with the hunters in the first place. I'd called out to Castiel. Lee should've known better than to confront the people who knew and loved me the most.
The television showed a room. A basement. It wasn't wholly unlike Bobby's but there were differences. If I had to guess, I'd have said that he'd given Ellen some design tips when it came to constructing the warded prison cell that my possessed body had been flung into. The camera panned down to the restraints on my wrists. They kept me fixed on an iron chair bolted to the floor. The hunters weren't taking any risks. Devil traps, salt circles, runes, and warding. They were prepared to lock down everything and anything that happened to intrude on the bar.
"Thanks for the nap."
The voice wasn't mine and it wasn't Lee's. It was a disturbing blend of both which echoed through the chamber. I trembled. This was beyond possession. It was like we were becoming one entity. The longer Lee stayed inside my body, the more blurred the lines between us became. If he continued to linger, there'd be nothing of me left for the Winchesters to save.
"What is it?" Sam asked Castiel with breathless awe and fear. "If not a demon...?"
"Shut up!" The creature snapped at anyone who was making noise. "Shut up, shut up!"
"Lee?" Bobby asked in horror.
"Who the hell is Lee?" Ellen still had her gun pointed toward the creature. The restraints weren't enough to convince her that they were safe.
"Her brother," Castiel explained. "Lee Sampson. He revealed that he was on Crowley's side the night she was taken. We thought they were working together with the demon, but –"
"But now it looks like the son of a bitch was acting alone after all." Dean grasped the creature by the throat. "And now he's just sitting in there like a damn tapeworm."
The creature wasn't intimidated. It'd killed far worse during its time on Earth. It rolled its shoulders and fixed Dean with a glare. "Do you know why I call myself Lee?"
"Do I look like I fricken' care?"
"It's short for Legion, you worthless amoeba."
"Legion?" Sam asked. "As in... For we are many?"
"Son of a bitch," Bobby muttered.
"And I have consumed so many." Legion chuckled. "I have fused with demons and monsters, and now I will take my missing half and become more powerful than that pathetic excuse for a demon, Crowley. I will take Hell for my own!"
"Yeah? When we're done with you, all you'll be able to take is a dirt nap, you sorry son of a bitch!" Dean roared.
"You sure you can't just angel magic him outta there?" Ellen asked.
"If I use my power to drive out Lee, I could burn out the host. Evelyn will be free of him, but she will die. The creature didn't lie about that."
"If we don't do somethin' there won't be nothin' of her left in there to save," Bobby said.
At least one of them had realised as much. It didn't get them any closer to a solution, but if they weren't willing to cut my head off and wipe us both out in one go, then they needed another plan and they needed it quickly. I was barely holding on as it was. Every time I heard the screams a little more of my sanity was scratched away. I lost more of myself. Soon, there'd be nothing left.
Legion chuckled cruelly. "You're all so pathetic. That's what made it easy to pick you all off. And the second I get out of this chair, I'm going to finish what I started, and check you off my list."
"The only person who'll get out of that chair is Evelyn," Sam asserted.
"It's cute that you think there's anything left of her to save. Maybe if you'd found her a year ago, you'd have stood a chance. She fought me hard back then. Had real spirit. But I broke her down. Told her that you weren't coming for her. That you didn't save monsters. Now all that's left is the shell."
"You're lying," Sam told him. "Evelyn wouldn't give in to you, she would never stop fighting."
"You tell yourself that, Sammy, if it makes you feel better." Legion tilted his – er – my head to the side and ran my tongue over my lips. "When I consumed her soul, it was divine."
"No! Sam, I'm here! I'm right here!"
I shook the television again. I'd taken control once. It'd only been for a second, but if I really focused, maybe I could do it again. I might be able to warn them just how dangerous Lee was. That he didn't intend to stop at hunters. He would take out skinwalkers, witches, and Crowley himself. All he wanted was vengeance and he wouldn't let anything stand in his way.
Of all the people to lash out in response, I hadn't thought it'd be Castiel. His fist landed on Lee's cheek. I knew I'd feel that if I ever got out of my cell. One problem at a time. Besides, he was hitting Lee, not me. He just so happened to be wearing my face at the time. And it wasn't like the Winchesters hadn't landed a few hits while they'd fought him. I was a big girl; I could take it.
Castiel grasped Legion's shoulders. "Evelyn, if you're in there, you have to fight him!"
"She's not in here," Legion taunted in a sing-song voice.
Castiel shook the creature and stared into its eyes. My eyes. He was talking to me, not Lee. It was like he could see me staring out. I guessed he was trying to reach whoever had told him that he should just kill me.
"Evelyn!"
"Sorry, Evelyn can't come to the phone right now. How about you leave a message?"
The phone?
There was a phone in the room. I hadn't given it a whole lot of thought before. I always just tried to break down the door or watched the television. Sure, I'd always wanted to get out, but the people who'd claimed I was family hadn't been in fatal peril before. It was time to try everything, no matter how stupid it seemed.
I raced for the phone and snatched up the handset. There was no dial tone and the numbers were just painted on. Still, I screamed into the receiver, "Lee, stop!"
The television faltered again. Outside in the real world, Legion twitched and writhed against the restraints. I banged the receiver against the table. It must have felt like I was hammering it against the inside of his skull from the way he struggled and snarled.
"Cas', what are you doing?" Dean asked.
"It's not me," he said. "It's her."
"There is no her," Legion lied. "She's dead."
"Evelyn, whatever you're doing in there, it's working," Sam told me.
It was annoying Lee, but it wasn't driving him out. It wasn't going to set me free. The only way out was the door. It always had been. Lee might be in control but that was only because he was in the one driving seat my body had. If I found my freedom, I'd be able to grab the wheel. I could occupy that seat and there'd be no space for him.
All I needed was to break through.
I headed as far back into the room as I could, lined myself up with the door, and ran. Throwing my whole body into it hadn't made much of a dent in the past, but those had been half-hearted efforts. Weak attempts when I wanted to warn strangers about Lee's power. For Castiel, Bobby, and the Winchesters, I was willing to up my game.
The room felt my rage. Felt the strength of will behind every blow. The paint chipped and the wood splintered. It hurt so much. It was like being hit by a car every time, but I wouldn't stop. I couldn't. This was my one shot. If I failed here, I wouldn't get another chance. Legion knew it too. The room quaked. Paintings fell from the walls. The television tipped over and shattered into pieces. The lights flickered and the screams became a cacophony that came from all directions at once.
"Stop it!" Legion thundered all around me, in the real world and in my head. "You're mine. This is my body. My power!"
I placed my hands against the door and roared, "Yeah? Well, you haven't seen my power!"
Neither had I.
If only Crowley had taken us, I might have had a complete list of the creatures lurking in my bloodline. I'd have had some idea of how to wield and control them. Tapping into them was a shot in the dark. I didn't know what they were or what they could do. Just that I needed them, and I was willing to die throwing everything at that door.
"No!" Legion shrieked. "NO! I will not lose to you, you are nothing! NOTHING!"
He wouldn't utter another word with my voice, not if I had anything to do with it. The light which filled the room emanated from my eyes and mouth. It was a pure glow, blinding and unearthly. It wasn't just outside. It was in me. It was everywhere. A flood of purity. A light that consumed everything it touched. It came from the hands pressed to the door, spilling from my lips as I screamed. It bled from the walls and bubbled up through the kitchen sink. The lightbulbs exploded and my eyes oozed white, sparkling tears.
Outside, Castiel ordered the others, "Close your eyes!"
Legion shrieked like he was on fire. I couldn't blame him; I was doing the same. The ringing was ear-splitting. I felt like my head was about to split in half, but I wasn't about to stop. Not when I was so close to breaking through. Chunks of wood were blasted out of the door, the fragments lost in the light. I gritted my teeth and, with one final push, forced the barrier to explode outward into the void.
It was over in a snap, the socket pulled from the wall to cut the power off at the source. I drew in a gasp of air like I'd been held underwater. Like that terrible day in the motel. Blood streamed from my eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. It ran in rivers over my face and neck, mingling with the beads of sweat that clung to my skin. Every injury the Winchesters had inflicted struck at once, but they were nothing to what I'd felt inside that room.
The hunters crouched around the prison cell, sheltering from the light in case it took them the way it'd almost broken me. As the silence persisted, they unfurled from their defensive positions and cast their gaze about the room, checking first on each other, and then found me in the middle of it all.
"Evelyn?" Bobby asked hesitantly.
My response was to cough. It was a wretched, feeble, gurgling sound. More blood spilled over my chin and my head slumped forwards. If it hadn't been for the chair, I'd have been on the floor already. I was wracked with pain and exhaustion, but it was still better than letting Lee run the show. If I died, then he couldn't take my body or power again. In my book, that still counted as a win.
Dean was closest and scrabbled to his feet. He tapped his hand against my cheek before holding my face in his hands and forcing me to look at him. "Hey, you hang in there, kid."
"Worried?" I mumbled. "About a monster?"
"Yeah, well... Times change."
I tried to smile. I wanted to smile. I wanted to laugh and joke about how it had been a long time. A time that I'd spent trapped in a cell thanks to an insane long-lost sibling while he murdered his way across the United States. One day, I might have the energy, but not after I'd just burned up my insides trying to kick the bastard out.
Instead, I coughed one last time and passed out.