Two days later, they arrived in the town of Rock Ridge, Colorado. Over the last two weeks, seven people had suddenly dropped dead from heart attacks. One or two cases could have been dismissed as coincidence, but seven deaths in such a short time were enough to attract the attention of hunters.
By the time they reached town, night had already fallen. They checked into a roadside motel and decided to begin the investigation the following morning.
Henry unlocked the door to his room and switched on the light. He immediately stopped.
Crowley was sitting comfortably in one of the chairs as though he owned the place, calmly waiting for him.
"Fuck... do you demons have no manners?" Henry said. "You almost scared the hell out of me."
Crowley rose from the chair, casually straightening his expensive black suit. "Really? I was beginning to think nothing frightened you, big boy."
"I'm not scared. If anything, I'm annoyed," Henry replied, shutting the door behind him. He stopped about five feet away from the demon. "So, did you get the contract, or did you come all this way just to feed me more bullshit?"
Crowley reached inside his coat, pulled out a folded document, and tossed it toward Henry, who caught it with one hand and quickly glanced over the contents.
Bela Talbot's Crossroads Contract.
A small smile crossed his face. "Well, it seems even demons value their lives."
Crowley smirked. "My dear boy, self-preservation is one of Hell's finest traditions. Everyone wants power, but no one fancies ending up dead." His smile faded into something more serious.
"Now then, since I went through the trouble of getting that for you, perhaps you'd satisfy my curiosity."
Henry folded the contract and slipped it into his pocket. "What do you want to know?"
"Care to explain why demons have suddenly started dying?" Crowley asked. "Something rather unpleasant has been happening over the last five days."
Crossroads Demons had become terrified. One after another, demons had been killed while possessing human vessels — not through ordinary exorcisms or hunter attacks.
Every vessel found had its eyes burned completely out, leaving behind corpses that unsettled even seasoned demons. Whatever was hunting them possessed overwhelming power, and the killings had spread enough to put the entire Crossroads network on edge.
Crowley had no idea who was responsible, but he knew something significant was happening. Lilith and Hell's higher-ranking officers had been holding private meetings behind closed doors, and whenever he tried to learn what was going on, he was politely dismissed.
At the end of the day, he was only a Crossroads Demon. Matters involving Lilith's inner circle were well above his pay grade, and they clearly intended to keep it that way.
"Well, it seems your colleagues never bothered telling you Hell's little master plan," Henry said.
Crowley's eyes narrowed. "What plan?"
"Lilith is trying to free Lucifer."
For the first time since entering the room, Crowley's smug expression cracked. "...Lucifer?" he repeated slowly. "As in the Lucifer? The Devil himself?"
Henry nodded. "The very same."
Crowley let out a low whistle. "Well... that's considerably worse than I expected."
"Lilith is trying to break the seals," Henry continued. "Heaven found out about it, and the angels aren't sitting around doing nothing. They're hunting demons across the country, trying to slow Hell down. That's why your fellow demons have been turning up dead."
Crowley was silent as he absorbed the information. He had assumed some new hunter organization was responsible. Instead, Heaven had entered the war directly. He slowly stood and straightened his coat.
"Well, that explains rather a lot." He gave Henry an amused smile, noticeably less confident than before.
"I believe I'll be keeping my head down until this delightful little apocalypse blows over. No sense getting caught between angels and demons. I've always found survival to be a wonderfully underrated talent."
"Until next time, Henry." With that, Crowley gave a small nod and disappeared.
Henry shrugged. Crowley had the information he wanted — there was no point in killing him. A well-connected Crossroads Demon who owed him a favor could prove valuable in the future.
He pulled out his phone, scrolled to Bela's number, and pressed call. After three rings, she answered.
"Who is this?"
"Good news," Henry said. "I got your contract."
A brief silence. Then Bela's voice exploded through the speaker. "Wait... where the hell are you? Why haven't you called me? Madison said you were alive, but you've been missing for a week!"
"Can you let me finish? I have your contract, and I'm burning it. That means your deal is over. You're free."
The anger disappeared almost instantly. "...You actually did it?"
"I told you I would."
Another silence, this time much softer. "When are you coming back?"
Henry frowned. "Coming back where?"
"I'm staying with Madison. Come back when you're done. There's... something important I need to talk to you about."
"You can tell me now."
"No." Her answer came immediately. "It's not something I want to say over the phone. Just come back when you can."
"I'm in Colorado working a case with Sam and Dean. It'll have to wait until we're finished here."
"I suppose I don't have much choice," Bela said with a sigh. "Just... don't disappear again."
"I'll call when we're done."
Henry ended the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket.
*****
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