Discovering Hell [COMPLETED]

Chapter Twenty-six

I was glad that Dean had come into my room when he did. It had only been five minutes since Crowley had left and I'd basically been bawling like a baby the whole time. Dean's interruption had given me a second to calm down. I knew what I had to do but that didn't mean I had to like it. I really had no choice and that was Crowley's fault. He could kidnap me, threaten me, do whatever he wanted to me, but as soon as he made threats to the people I loved and random innocents that had nothing to do with any of this...well I couldn't let him slaughter a whole town only because I wouldn't leave with him. 

I had planned on leaving right then (after I stopped crying, of course) but, when Dean had told me that he was coming back with an angel, I figured I could wait a little bit longer so I wasn't hopping down to the basement. I did have three hours to meet with Crowley so I figured I might as well use that time wisely. 

A few minutes after Dean left, Cas entered my room. 

"Where's Dean?" I asked. I didn't mind that Cas was here, I just was curious about where Dean had gone off to. 

"He's with Sam down the hall," Cas explained, putting his palm against my forehead. "He had to assure Sam that you were fine. Sage tried to heal you earlier but she was weakened in the wreck so she only fixed up some cuts and bruises."

"That's nice of her." I could feel my ankle and ribs heal by themselves in a second and, although I was still sore, I felt ten times better. I hadn't completely lied when I told Dean that I was hurting. But when the nurse came in, she said I had the maximum amount of pain medication and she couldn't give me anymore. I looked around the hospital room. "Where's Meg?" I had assumed that, after we'd gone through all that trouble to get her back, Cas wouldn't ever leave her side again. 

"She's back at the Bunker. Her vessel needs a while to rest and heal completely."

"Vessel?" I asked. 

"Angels and demons...we don't appear in human form unless we take a vessel. Demons will just possess whoever they please, whenever they please. But with angels, we have to get permission from the person to inhabit their bodies."

"So...why don't you just heal her like you did for me and, I'm assuming, Dean?"

Cas frowned. "My grace won't allow me to heal her."

I raised my eyebrows. You'd think that angels would be able to use their celestial powers whenever they wanted and however they wanted. "But, isn't that what angels are supposed to do? Heal people?" 

"Demons aren't 'people.' They're demons, devil spawn, the offspring of Satan himself. To heal a demon would--put very simply--stain my grace, make it unholy and unworthy of Heaven."

I nodded thoughtfully. "So then how come you were able to heal me? I'm part demon."

Castiel sighed. "Long story short? You're not entirely human or demon. You are neither worthy nor unworthy. Most demons would hate you as well as most angels. You've got twice as many enemies as regular demons or humans. You are sort of like a demonic limbo--neither fully evil or completely good."

I thought about it for a minute. It made no sense to me what he was talking about but I figured, I was healed so it didn't really matter the science behind it. "Wait, if I'm despised by both demons and angels, why does Crowley want me so bad?"

"Most lower ranking demons would despise and hate you. Try to kill you even. But that's only because you are one of the most powerful creatures to ever exist. You have more power than most demons and angels and they envy you. But Crowley, well he could use you to his advantage. If he can train you to be on his side, you'd be a very valuable weapon to him."

"So it matters not at all that he's technically my father? He just wants me around to do his dirty work?"

Cas thought about this for a minute. "Well, I think that maybe, some small part of him--and I mean a very small part--might care that you're related. A few years back, Sam dosed him with quite a bit of human blood in an attempt to cure him--to make him human again. And sometimes, that humanity shows through just a little bit."

I frowned and then forced myself to smile at him. "Thanks, Cas. I think I'm gonna rest a little bit. Tell Dean I said thank you."

Cas nodded and left my room. I glanced at the clock to see that I had a little over two hours left to meet Crowley and decided that I probably did have some time to get a bit of shut eye before having to go downstairs. 

Using my phone to set an alarm, I made sure it went off ten minutes before the meeting time and then closed my eyes and fell into a restless sleep. 

Fast forward an hour and I woke up to the obnoxious beeping of my phone. I hurried to turn it off and then groaned before throwing the blankets off my legs and getting out of bed. I changed out of the hospital gown and into my regular clothes before leaving the room. 

Nurses were putting files away and making their rounds and all seemed far too busy to notice that someone was out of their room and probably shouldn't be. I had pulled the IV out of my arm as carefully as possible but still had to staunch the blood flow with a handful of toilet paper. The machines in my room were probably going crazy and, sooner or later, someone would realize I was gone. 

I walked down the hallway, headed straight for the elevator. I pressed the button to go down and the doors quickly dinged open. Stepping inside, I pressed the button for the basement and waited for the doors to close and take me down to the morgue. 

Of course, when I got there I had to look at the signs to figure out where the morgue was exactly, but it didn't take long for me to find myself staring at the large silver doors with the word MORGUE in big, block letters above the door frame. I could feel the adrenaline fill my bloodstream and my heart started racing ten times faster than before as the reality of the situation finally set in. I didn't want to change my decision but the more rational part of me told me that what I was doing was stupid. 

Sadly, the more rational side of me lost the internal struggle and I pushed the doors open to see Crowley standing there with a smirk on his face. "Ah, finally. I was beginning to think you wouldn't come."

I swallowed and stepped forward, letting the doors swing closed behind me and sealing my fate.