Discovering Hell [COMPLETED]

Chapter Twenty-three

It was the constant, annoying beeping that finally woke me up. It was loud and sounded much like my alarm back home. For a second I thought that maybe it was my alarm that I needed to wake up and turn it off. But when I opened my eyes, I was greeted by the white walls and a single large window--not my bedroom.

My whole body ached, pain throbbing from every joint and limb. It took me only a second to remember what happened. When I did, I was confused. I thought we'd gotten hit, head on, by a semi truck. How were any of us still alive? We all should have been killed on impact.

I looked around the hospital room to see an IV in my left arm pumping pain medication into my body and one of those pulse reader things on my finger. My ankle was bandaged and elevated on a flat hospital pillow while my arm was in a sling. I sat up, wondering where everybody else was.I prayed that I wasn't the only survivor.

The door to my room opened, making me jump, and a doctor in a white lab coat entered my room. He looked down at the clip board and then up at me. "Lauren Kennedy?"

I nodded. "Where are the other people from the wreck? Are they all okay?" 

"They're all doing fine, Miss Kennedy. Just focus on getting yourself better. I have a few questions about what happened but, before I get to all the boring stuff, your father is here to visit."

My dad? How'd he even know where I was? I hadn't talked to my parents in a whole year, much less told them I was running away with two brothers I barely knew. The doctor opened the door a little wider and, instead of the familiar, smiling face I was expecting, Crowley walked through the door.

"Can I have a moment alone with my daughter please, Doctor?" He asked politely. The doctor nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him.

I wanted to yell for help, to tell the doctor that this was not, in fact, my father, but there was a lump in my throat so big I couldn't speak, only watch in horror as Crowley made his way across the room to me. 

Crowley sat on the edge of my bed and patted my let gently. "Lauren. You had to know your little trick wouldn't work for long. What I don't understand is why you're running from me?"

I finally found my voice. "You're a demon." I sounded a lot braver than I was feeling.

Crowley looked hurt, pressing a hand to his chest. "So are you. Besides, how do you know I'm the bad guy? You barely met those boys and just got in a car with them, believing every word they told you, to run away to their little hidey hole."

"How many stories have you read where the demon's the good guy?" I asked. I knew I hadn't read too many.

Crowley frowned at me, looking both annoyed and disgusted. "I'm not saying I've never killed in cold blood or anything, but I want what's best for you. What're those boys doing for you? Training you so they can use you to fight their battles."

Tears spring in my eyes and I clenched my teeth angrily. "What do you want, Crowley?"

He smiled devilishly, glad that we'd finally gotten to the part of the conversation that he wanted. "I'm here to make a deal with you, Lauren." When I kept quiet, he continued. "I can get to you. I can find you and those bloody Winchesters whenever I want to. And I know you're probably thinking that the Bunker is safe. But I will swarm Lebanon, slaughtering man, woman, and child until I find that godforsaken pit that they call home. All of that blood will be on your hands."

A few traitor tears slipped down my cheeks but I refused to draw attention to them by wiping them away. "What do you want from me?"

"I will leave them alone: all the good people of Lebanon, your parents, and the Winchesters. But you have to give me something in return."

I knew what he wanted but I didn't want to agree. "You want me to come with you." A statement, not a question.

"Ah, a smart girl. You come with me and I will leave all your precious loved ones alone."

"I doubt your power is that encompassing," I spat angrily. There was no way that he could slaughter a whole town. "You're only saying all this because you want me to agree. As soon as I do, you'll kill everybody I've ever cared about."

"You obviously know nothing about me, my dear. When I make a deal, I always--always--keep my end of the deal.  It's one of the main reasons I was able to become King of Hell. People can trust me. And as for my power being all encompassing, I'll let you in on a little secret of mine." He leaned in close, then. So close the five o'clock shadow on his face scratched my cheek and I could almost feel his lips on my ear. "The car accident was no accident." He pulled away, a triumphant smirk on his face.

I glared at him, anger boiling up inside me as I started to understand his words. "What do you mean?"

"Come on, Lauren. I have hundreds of thousands of demons that will do my bidding whenever I tell them to. It only took a single command for one of my demons to possess that truck driver and swerve into your lane. We weren't expecting Dean to pull off the road and flip the car, but it all ended in the desired outcome."

"You could have killed someone," I hissed through clenched teeth.

"A small price to pay," he shot back. "There will always be collateral damage, Lauren." I continued glaring at him, unable to find the right words to express the immense hatred I was feeling at the moment. Crowley sighed and got to his feet. "I'll add on a little extra to our deal. Just for you." He glanced at the clock on the wall and straightened his suit jacket. "Let's say...three hours? Three hours from now, meet me in the basement morgue. If you don't meet me, I'll assume you aren't taking the deal and I'll have my demons start in their little...escapade, if you will." He snapped his fingers and was gone.