~XXXII~ – Goose Chase

Ruby's help has gotten me somewhere. Her lead is the strongest I've got since starting this mission. Granted, it's taken a few days, and a few demons to kill (and one angel), but I think this is almost over. I can return to Sam and Dean and to the original mission.

I feel the anticipation in my veins. I want this to be put to rest. Once my mind is at ease on this, I'll feel better.

Ruby and I stand before an empty, closed barn in the middle of the night. According to what she's helped me find, our prime suspect of Alona's murder is lurking inside. I got a name from Ruby: Silas. He sounds like one tough demon with a name like that.

"So, plan?" I ask, looking to Ruby.

"Oh, so I'm calling the shots? This was your thing, not mine."

"You're in this too. You volunteered. You get some say in it."

"Thanks, V. Well, we might not have long if Silas detects us from inside. We got to be quick about it. You wouldn't happen to have any cloaking abilities in your arsenal, would you?"

"Sadly, no. You?"

"I'm a demon, not a witch." She taps her fingers against her side. "Tell you what: I'll sneak up top, you go in on the ground. I'll hang back as backup in case you really need me. This is all you, V. I've done what I can. I'm not taking your kill away from you."

"Good, because I would fight you if you tried." Producing a blade at my side, Ruby and I branch off. She rounds a side of the barn while I approach the closed doors. My heart is running faster. This is it. Sam, Dean, I'll see you very soon.

Instead of kicking the door down, I use my powers to throw the doors open. Above, thunder crackles with a spot of lightning. Hmm, my anger affects the weather. Usually that doesn't happen. Usually more powerful angels can manipulate the weather. I guess I'm just lucky this time.

The barn is dark, and it's full of rusty equipment and bales of unused hay. The blocks look like walls in the dark. I step inside, my feet crunching on the hay on the ground. I'm sure Ruby is somewhere on the upper level by now, waiting.

"I find it hard to believe that a demon would run away from a fight like a coward," I say loudly. "I can sense you, Silas. Come out now, and maybe I'll make your death quick."

"You angels are always so dramatic with your words." The voice is behind me. I turn, weapon aimed right at him as he emerges from a high stack of hay. He stands taller than me by a few inches, and his eyes are his natural, demonic color of black. "I thought with the impending end of the world that you would be trying to stop that. But here you are, seeking out little old me. Should I feel honored?"

"Why are you hiding out in this place?"

"Gotta have a hole to hide in." He stuffs his hands into his pockets. "What do I owe this intrusion?"

"You murdered one of my friends."

Silas frowns. "I didn't think angels had friends."

That's getting really old. "Her vessel had darker skin and a serious face. She was female. Does that strike anything for you?"

He shrugs. "Look, who and what I kill aren't your concern."

"Answer my question."

"I kill a lot of people, human or not. You're going to have to give me more. The tally blends together after a time."

"Her name was Alona. You stole her weapon. I'd like that back now."

Silas scoffs. "What are you ranting on about?"

I cock my head. "I told you. You killed my friend. You stole her weapon. I've come to punish you."

"I'm punished enough by being what I am, cupcake. Whatever delusions you've got going on in that angelic head of yours...Look, I ain't the demon you're looking for. I haven't picked a fight with any angels since you wingnuts came to Earth. I'm scared of you sons of bitches."

"I don't...I don't understand." I keep my weapon raised.

"I do." He clucks his tongue. "Someone's screwed with your mind."

"The only one who's doing that is you. You're lying to my face. You killed her."

"Why, because you think you smell her scent on me?" Silas grimaces even deeper. I stalk towards him like a predator. "Hey now, I'm telling you the truth."

"Demons don't ever tell a truth. All they do is lie. Lie, after lie, after lie. Even if you did tell a truth, it won't set you free." I grab Silas' shoulder and thrust my blade into his chest. He screams, shorting out in his vessel, his mouth agape. "I hope you stay in Hell."

I glower at the body as it falls at my feet. I toss my head, moving the hair out of my eyes. Do a quick sweep of the barn and then it's back to the Winchesters. I tune into my other senses on top of physically looking through the barn. I make sure to check Silas' body to make sure it doesn't twitch or he doesn't spring alive and ambush me.

The longer I look, and the longer I come back empty, my mind replays the confrontation with Silas. Demons lie. He was lying. He killed Alona. Nobody has manipulated me. I've never let anyone do so. Not Uriel or any of his insane followers.

Feeling the barn is clear, I start to head for the doors. But the doors fly shut, slamming loudly. At the same time, a circle of fire envelops me, encasing me in a fiery arena. What the...?

Holy Fire. I can't move out of this until it's put out. Crap.

"Ruby?" I yell, figuring she's still in with me. "Help me put this out so I can leave! We found him, Ruby! We found Alona's killer."

I get no response. All I hear is the crackling Holy Fire circle around me. I look to the upper level of the barn.

"Ruby?" I'm getting slightly worried now. Did Silas catch her off guard and kill her? Am I going to be stuck in this fire circle? Am I going to miss stopping Lilith?

"I'm here, V," I hear her from up above. "Give me a sec." I hear her feet on the wood above, and she slides down the ladder, landing nimbly on her feet. "Looks like you got yourself in a pickle."

"Yeah, put the flames out so we can get out of here and get back," I insist.

But Ruby doesn't move. She crosses her arms, watching me from the outside of the fire circle.

"I said let me out, Ruby."

She clucks her tongue. "See, I would, V, but, ah, here's the thing: I'm not gonna."

"What do you mean you won't?" I squint.

"I honestly didn't think this was gonna happen so easily. Guess you surprised me."

"What are you going on about?"

"This." She gestures to the barn. "This whole goose chase."

"So Silas wasn't lying to me? You were?" I feel my heart drop. I feel betrayal settle in me. Just when I've come to trust Ruby, she pulls this. Why?

"I gotta say, you're one of the most clueless, gullible angels I have ever met. I thought I would never crack you, but I did. And once I got in, boy, you gave me access to quite a bit." She slowly paces around the fire. "I wanted to kill you from the minute we met."

"The feeling was mutual." I scowl. A troubling thought comes to mind: "You did it, didn't you? You killed Alona."

"I hoped you would've stuck on one of your angel pals to have done it, but you insisted the possibility that it wasn't." She groans. "She figured it out, there was no other choice."

"Figured what out?"

"You honestly didn't believe for a minute that I actually was fighting for the Light Side, did you?" She raises a brow. "It was all a show, Vera!"

"But you helped..."

"It's all part of the plan. Unlike Uriel's, mine is still in action. I'm still alive, he got himself killed. But your friend, she figured it out. I had no choice. She didn't give me one."

"What did she figure out?"

"I'll give you some time to think on it. Put the pieces together in that brain of yours."

I try to. I try to figure out Ruby's motive for killing Alona. So far, it's giving me a headache. I don't want to think about it. I don't want to go back to hating her, I'd just come to like her. "You want Lucifer to rise."

"There's not a demon who doesn't want it."

"I'll bet you've been biding your time. And I'll bet you really got things going when you whispered into Sam's ear like the snake that you are."

"What can I say? He's corruptible. I didn't force him to do what he's done, he chose it. I just gave him a little push." She winks. "Just as I gave you little pushes. I have to say, you losing your angel mojo, I didn't see that twist coming." She laughs. "I was hoping that would definitely keep you off my back. But when I had your friend on my ass..."

"Lucifer won't rise," I say strongly. "Sam and Dean won't let that happen."

"Oh, but they will. I'll let you in on a little secret, because this is the last one you'll ever hear: the final seal...We've been trying to get her all this time since this thing started."

"Lilith is the final seal?"

"You bet your angel ass she is." Ruby raises her head. "And with Sam hell-bent on wanting her head on a stick, it's inevitable."

"Why tell me this?"

"Cause, Vera, you're not going anywhere. You're not zapping yourself to the Winchesters, or to any of your angel buddies—if you still have any, to tell them what you've just been told. Can't have my hard work go to waste because I let you go when I'm just a few seals away from victory. As much as it pains me, you have to go."

My grip on my weapon tightens.

"Nobody's gonna miss you, except for Sam. I know you guys finally got the ball rolling, but, ah, yeah, I can't have you trying to keep him on the Light Side. I took him into the dark, and he's gonna stay there. You do know that it would have never really happened, right? You and him? He's a hunter, and you're a monster on his list."

"I fail to see how I'm more of a monster than you are. Your kind are cold-blooded killers. Remorseless. Lowlifes. And that's all you'll ever be."

"Then what are you to the angels? You're run-of-the-mill, expendable. You're an outcast, just like Sam. Oh, that's why you two connected." She makes a face of disgust. "No angel is going to miss you. The only one that would, I killed her."

Anger bristles in me. "I don't know why I trusted you in the first place."

"Because you're weak, Vera." Ruby produces an angel blade—whether it's my original or Alona's, I can't tell. "We're way overdue for our fight, wouldn't you say?"

"You don't have to do this, Ruby."

She sighs heavily over the crackle of the fire. "Feathers, I do." She climbs the ladder she slid down and uses the height from it to clear the ring of Holy Fire she's trapped me in.

Suddenly, the heat from the fire feels amplified.

"You got no one to help you, no one to call for help," she says lowly. "May the best monster win."

I sniff and straighten my shoulders. "I plan to."

**The biggest betrayal of all is when someone close to you totally blindsides you. Poor Vera. She actually believes that Veruby was a real thing. For her, it probably is.

For Ruby...well...**