Archive of Our Own

The man stood over the crib and slit his wrist with a fingernail. Drip, drip, drip, into the crib, into the baby's mouth.

He turned away and stared his yellow gaze into her eyes.

It's you or them, he said.

He snapped his fingers.

Ava gasped and jerked awake.

She wasn't lying next to Brady. But she hadn't been the last time she woke up, either. She remembered now: the ghost town with the windmill and the bell, the others she'd found...

...the corpse lying in the middle of the dirt streets, throat slit.

The room they'd barricaded themselves in sat dark and silent. The candles they'd found had burned out, leaving only the smell of melted wax and burned wick behind. No one had stayed awake, from the sounds of things. Hadn't they talked about keeping watch?

Ava's blood rushed in her ears, and it was only luck she heard the floor creak behind her.

She jumped to her feet as an arm came swinging through the dark. It swung back, and she caught it with both her hands. Something reflected a sliver of moonlight coming between the boarded windows.

A knife.

With a cry, Ava jerked the arm holding the knife, and a figure slammed against the wall. The person's other arm swung, and the free hand caught her across her cheek. Her world spun, but she shoved her knee up, and the knife fell to the floor as the person - a man, since his voice was deep - grunted.

Ava picked up the knife and stumbled back a couple feet. She hit a chair, and a body slid to the floor. She shrieked and jerked the other way, and ran into another chair. This area had some moonlight, and she saw a line of scarlet across the dead woman's neck.

Amanda. The woman's name had been Amanda.

The man clattered forward, but Ava slashed the knife through the air in front of her.

"Leave me alone," she said, her voice too loud for her ears, "or I'll use it."

The man stepped into the light. His eyes were wide, his mouth stretched in a horrible grin. "The man with the yellow eyes said no one leaves until there's only one left."

He rushed forward, and Ava's hand shook, but she shoved the knife forward, as a last warning. But the man didn't see it in time, or at all, and he ran into the blade. With his throat.

The man grabbed at the knife and pulled it out as Ava screamed and jumped away. But as blood gushed out of the wound, he gurgled and fell to his knees, and on his stomach. The blood oozed around him.

Tears dripped out of Ava's eyes, and she shoved them away. It was only when she heard hands clapping and saw a small orange glow out of the corner of her eye that she looked to her right.

"Well, well." The hands belonged to a woman with short brown hair, cropped to her chin. She grinned. "I didn't think it'd be you, but here we are."

"Who..."

"Call me Meg," she said. "I'm your reward."

Meg guided Ava into another building, off the main area of the now-silent town. It was more intact than the others, and illuminated by rows of candles. In the middle was a long table with plates of food, and a bed.

"I killed," Ava gulped, "and you're giving me food?"

Meg shrugged. "Go for it. It won't kill you."

"I'm not hungry."

"Fine." Meg sat on the bed and crossed her legs. "We'll do part two."

A man appeared from the back, clad in a black suit with a skinny tie. He took off his jacket, and Ava shrank toward the door behind her, but it was blocked by two other men in matching suits.

Meg was smirking. "Just because this is a reward doesn't mean you get to leave."

The man without the suit jacket was now rolling up one of his sleeves. He walked up to Ava. She shook a little.

"This," Meg said, "will help you in the next rounds."

Ava swallowed. "I don't know what you guys want, but..."

She cut off with a cry when the man pulled out a knife and drew it across the tender flesh of his inner arm. Blood gushed forward, and Ava's stomach rolled. He extended his arm under Ava's face. She took a couple steps back, and he followed.

"I...I don't want to," she said.

A bite appeared in Meg's voice. "I didn't ask what you wanted."

The men from the doors grabbed her arms, and she rocked back against them. But their grip was firm, and she could feel their fingers bruise her skin.

"Help me!" she screamed. "Please!"

The man pinched her nose savagely with the hand of his uninjured arm, and shoved his bleeding wound against her lips. Ava couldn't get leverage to breathe, much less break free, so the blood poured down her throat in a steady stream. Her stomach lurched, and she gagged, but the blood kept coming.

After a few moments, she grew lightheaded, and the room spun. Her body was growing warm, and Ava realized, with alarm, she was aroused. It was wrong, so completely freaking wrong, and oh God she was going to die, and--

The arm moved away, and Ava fell to her knees, gasping for breath. She gagged once or twice, but nothing came up. Tears, on the other hand, flowed freely from her eyes and disturbed the dirt on the floor.

Meg walked up to her and crouched. "Do you feel it?"

Ava tried to focus on her, but she could only stare at the floor. Meg didn't seem real. Nothing around her did.

"Close your eyes. Sense the room around you."

She dropped her lids, but only because she didn't want to find out what would happen if she fought back this time. Still, she understood what Meg meant the minute she did it. She could feel the air crackle with energy in front of her, as if Meg were a conduit of energy instead of a person. Smaller sources in the rest of the room felt similar, three for each of the suits.

Ava opened her eyes. "What did you do to me?"

"You have visions, right?"

"I...so?"

"So you can do more." Meg's eyes flashed black. "Like control demons."

Ava jumped to her feet, but she didn't try to run out of the door. Even though she wanted to. She realized she was speaking under her breath, saying "oh God oh God oh God" as fast as she could.

But Meg waited, and finally, Ava was able to say, "Demons?"

"Demons. Like the yellow-eyed man you saw in your dreams? He's running this, and every round you win, you get more help from him."

Meg had mentioned rounds before. It must mean...they were supposed to kill each other?

"But why?" Ava said, wiping the still falling tears from her cheeks. "What's the point?"

"You'll find out if you win. For now..." Meg pointed at the man without the suit jacket behind her. "Exorcise him."

"What?"

"I don't feel like going into Demon 101 right now," Meg snapped. "He's human; there's a demon inside him. Get it out."

Ava gaped at Meg, at the man - demon? - and back at Meg. Meg slapped Ava hard, and grabbed her by the hair and pulled her forward. Ava struggled, but Meg was too strong.

"You can't fight me. You can only make me leave. So do it."

Ava squeezed her eyes shut and felt Meg's crackling power again. She pushed at it without thinking, and she felt her power yield the slightest bit. She pushed some more, and pain built in her head. But maybe if she managed a little further...

Meg let go of Ava's hair, and Ava stumbled back a couple steps. It felt as if her nose was running, and she wiped with her fingers. She looked down, and they were stained with blood.

"Good," Meg said. "It's a start."

She nodded toward the door, and the demons walked out. Meg hovered in the doorway for a second and said, "Don't try to leave. Or we'll stop you."

And Ava was left alone.

The man was hovering over other cribs. He disappeared, and the babies grew to young adulthood. When the man reappeared, their worlds stopped around them, and he pulled them out, leaving a trail of blood behind.

When the last was gone, he smiled again.

Go get 'em, tiger, he said.

Ava woke up the next day in the town. The people she dreamed about were around her, confused and lost and terrified. Maybe it was because of the demon blood, but she was less scared.

Or maybe she was less scared because a man by the name of Angelo started beating the others with a two-by-four.

This round, as Meg had referred to it, was much easier. The man and woman who tried to subdue him got their brains bashed in as Ava hid by the side of a building. Angelo chased the others, and Ava knew, long before the sun set, only the two of them remained.

While she'd hidden, she'd sensed a demon crackling in the town. It wasn't strong enough to be Meg, and Ava could feel it move when she pulled on it. She'd almost brought it to her when Angelo appeared around the corner.

"I don't want to hurt you," Ava said, with a shaky voice. Okay, she was still crap-her-pants terrified. But she saw him heft his board, and she knew he was as scared as she.

"Me neither," he said, in a small voice. "I want to go home."

He took a step forward and raised his board in the air, but there was a flash to the side, followed by a crackle. Angelo turned to look, and Ava leapt forward and took his board.

"Back off," Ava said, as he tried to grab it back, "or I'll do it."

Angelo held his hands up, but he shook his head and sagged. "We have to."

Without warning, he jumped forward, and Ava swung. The board hit his head full-on with a loud crack, and Angelo dropped heavily, his blood mixing with the mud.

Ava dropped the board and fell to her knees, hands trembling.

"Nicely done."

"Please," Ava said, not looking up at Meg. "Let me go."

She could feel Meg's grin. "When you're doing so well?"

There was fresh food and candles in the building, and Ava struggled under the grips of the demons once more as blood poured down her throat.

It wasn't as bad this time. She wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the energy pouring through her body. Maybe it was knowing in advance it would happen. Maybe it was that she was so turned on, she didn't have the ability to feel anything else.

Meg seemed to sense the latter. As Ava choked for breath when the demons let her go, Meg drew the back of her hand on Ava's cheek, and Ava leaned into her caress a minute before she thought about it.

"There's no point in fighting it," Meg said, amused. "It's so much better when you stop fighting."

Ava shook her head. "I can't."

Meg walked away and sat on the bed. Ava longed to join her, but she squashed the feeling.

"You will," Meg said. "You can die, or you can try to get back to your...what's his name?"

It was obvious Meg expected an answer. "Brady."

"Brady." Meg grinned. "I could have some fun with him."

Ava crossed her arms and hugged herself. Meg got to her feet and went for the door.

The next round ended with a half-dozen people dead at Ava's feet.

She'd made it quick; the thought of killing them slowly wasn't appealing. But the demon she'd yanked around before only needed to be pointed, and she eviscerated them all in a handful of seconds.

The demon was a little blonde girl. A kid.

Ava swooned, and she dropped to the ground and vomited in the dirt.

Meg waited while she'd expelled the contents of her stomach. Like Ava'd known she would.

"Easy, wasn't it?" Meg said.

Ava was too tired to answer. Her eyes rolled up in the back of her head, and she passed out.

She woke on the bed to the metallic smell of blood.

Meg was standing, and the man who'd been force-feeding Ava was crouched next to her, bleeding wound ready.

"I can force you," Meg said, "but you'll feel better if you drink what you want."

Ava felt the memory of pleasure washing through her body, followed by the revulsion of not being forced to not move or breathe. She leaned forward, not sure which of two memories was driving her, and put her mouth on the gash. The warm liquid flowed through her mouth, and almost immediately, she was aroused. She groaned and grabbed the demon's arm, making sure he wouldn't move.

Just before she'd had her fill and her energy returned in full, she opened her eyes and stared at Meg, who watched with a keen interest.

Ava withdrew. Some of the blood on her face had dried, and she found herself licking it away. She wasn't so far gone that she didn't feel a very strong shame about it. Just far enough that she knew she'd killed, and she wouldn't hesitate to kill again.

The body count grew, and the girl demon who followed Ava seemed positively gleeful. Ava herself was numb for weeks, but as time passed, she found herself waiting more and more for what came between the fights.

She'd lost count of how many times the man'd rolled up his sleeve and slit his arm when she returned to the room, looked Meg dead in her solid-black eyes, and said, "You."

"Me?" Meg asked.

Ava nodded. "I want your blood."

Meg waved the other guy away, and sat on the bed next to Ava.

God, when Meg rolled back her sleeve, and exposed her arm...Ava bit her lip. Meg took the knife and rested it against the skin. The candlelight reflected on her arm, making it golden and even more pristine.

She dragged the blade, and her skin slid open. She made a small noise in the back of her throat, and Ava shivered. She'd wished she could've cut her, but Meg would never allow it. Ava knew without asking.

Meg's blood was clean and red, and Ava could barely wait before the blade was gone before she dove down and took it in her mouth. She licked away the blood flowing around the wound with small, even strokes, and edged the wound with her tongue. Meg hissed, and Ava started to suck on the wound itself, filling her stomach.

And the power.

The other guy had been small fry, Ava'd known all along, but Meg...the second Ava really gulped down her blood, her veins seemed to turn into electrical wire, and her blood the electricity shooting through it.

She hardly noticed when she started kissing Meg, and Meg started kissing back. Meg licked the blood from her mouth, and Ava licked it back. Meg placed her leg between both of Ava's, and Ava rubbed, her mouth moving on Meg's as it had moved over the gash in her arm.

Ava came so hard, she lost consciousness.

I've been here a long time. And not alone, either.

The more Ava spoke, the more horrified Sam Winchester seemed. And she felt, for the first time in weeks, the heaviness of the guilt she'd forced away.

Oh my God.

Don't think God has much to do with this, Sam.

She waited. Sam could take care of himself. And maybe, just maybe, he could take care of others. Take care of her.

How could you?

I had no choice. It was me or them. After a while, it was easy. It was even kind of fun.

A jump in time, and Ava had hands around her throat. Her neck cracked, and she fell to the ground. She could hear the man with the yellow eyes laughing in her head.

Ava jerked awake. She was alone in blood-stained sheets, but she could feel Meg and the others outside the building, almost as if she could see them with her two eyes. She was the most powerful she'd ever been.

She slid back down onto the pillows, and closed her eyes.

She was powerful, but it was all going to end.