Pale cold light covered the entire ward, with only one window with iron bars letting in a few fragmented rays of sunlight. The air was filled with the bitter smell of disinfectant, and it was so quiet that only the ticking of the clock on the wall could be heard, as well as the breathing of Anna Milton.
She sat on the edge of the hospital bed, her body leaning forward slightly, her whole body like a fully drawn bow, her ears moving slightly, as if catching some kind of whisper that only she could hear. Her fingers were unconsciously picking at the cuffs of the hospital gown, the fabric had been picked up, and her knuckles were bloodless white.
On the chair opposite her, her psychiatrist held a medical record and frowned, looking at the journalism student in front of her who had a bright future two months ago, but now he was like a frightened bird being hunted.
"Anna?" The doctor's voice was very soft, fearing to scare her, "Do you know where you are? This is the Connor Beverly Behavioral Medicine Center."
Anna's fingertips paused, then he lowered his head and glanced at the wristband with his name written on it. His fingertips lightly brushed over the line of black words. He said nothing, his eyes wandering.
"Do you remember why you came here?"
Anna shrugged, as if she had finally recovered from the whispers, but her eyes still did not fall on the doctor, as if there was a third person talking to her in the ward.
"Do you still remember what you did?" The doctor sat forward and tried to be as gentle as possible, "Yesterday you lost control of your emotions and were hysterical. It took the combined efforts of four nurses to hold you down."
"I just want to warn them." Anna finally spoke, his voice hoarse with a hint of exhaustion.
"Who to warn?"
"Everyone." Anna shook his head and twitched his lips in a self-deprecating tone, "Forget it, this is too stupid, you will just think I'm crazy."
"What do you want to warn them? It doesn't matter, you can tell me, I'll be here to listen."
Anna sat upright and finally looked directly at the doctor. His eyes were full of unquestionable seriousness, but there was also a hint of fear of being regarded as a madman, like a drowning man grabbing the last straw. "Listen... I know you will think I am crazy, and I would think so too. But it's all true."
"The end is coming. Apocalypse."
The doctor's brows furrowed even more. "Apocalypse? Just like what's written in the Bible?"
"Almost, the ending is the same anyway." Anna's voice trembled, "There is a big demon named Lilith, who is trying to break 66 seals, and Lucifer was released from Hell. As soon as Lucifer came out...Apocalypse came. So... just do what you have to do, there is no hope."
As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly turned her head again, her brows furrowed more and more tightly, and her body trembled uncontrollably, as if she had heard something extremely terrifying.
"Anna?"
"Sorry." She suddenly came to her senses, cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
"What were you doing just now?"
"Nothing, just listening."
The doctor lowered his head and wrote something in the medical record, trying to be as calm as possible. "You just said that there are 66 such seals in the world?"
"No, that's not right." Anna corrected her immediately, her tone urgent, "There are about 600 possible seals in total, Lilith only needs to break 66 of them, and no one knows which 66 she will choose. That's why it's almost impossible to stop her, that's why the angels are losing ground, and that's why all of us have to die."
The door to the ward was gently pushed open, interrupting her words. A tall male nurse came in carrying a medicine tray with a gentle professional smile on his face, "It's time to take medicine, Anna. Anna?"
Anna turned around suddenly, and the moment he saw the nurse clearly, his pupils suddenly shrank, his body shrank back suddenly, his back pressed against the cold wall, and his whole body was shaking like chaff.
"What's wrong, dear?" The nurse took a step forward, her smile still gentle.
"Your face... what happened to your face?!" Anna shouted hysterically with a cry in his voice.
The smile on the caregiver's face slowly faded, and his eyes turned completely black in an instant. There was no white of the eyes, no pupils, and there was only pure darkness. That was the true form of the devil. A cruel smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and his voice was very low, like a poisonous snake spitting out a message: "I know. I'm so handsome that people want to kiss me, right? Shhh."
The doctor was so frightened that he froze on the spot and couldn't move. Anna exploded with amazing power at that moment. Without thinking, her eyes suddenly turned white, and invisible telepathy exploded. The heavy solid wood wardrobe in the ward hit the nurse hard with the roar of the wind. The nurse groaned and was knocked unconscious to the ground. The medicine tray in her hand fell to pieces and the pills were scattered on the floor.
Anna rushed out of the ward without even wearing shoes, ran along the fire escape, opened the back door of the hospital, and disappeared into the sunshine outside.
In the dark bar, the crisp sound of billiard balls, the raucous country music on the jukebox, and the noisy laughter and curses of the drinkers were mixed together, and the smell of tobacco and beer filled the air.
Sam pretended to be drunk, leaning swayingly against the pool table. The cue in his hand was almost unsteady, but his eyes glanced at the door from time to time, with an imperceptible smile hidden in the corner of his mouth. Brian, who was opposite him, shook the banknotes he had won in his hand, with a proud look on his face - he had won Sam all night.
Dean leaned against the edge of the pool table next to him, folding his arms, looking at the two of them with an unhappy expression, rolling his eyes from time to time. Bai Haorui stood beside him, playing with a beer bottle in his hand, pretending to persuade Sam in a low voice.
"Brian, please, brother, let's play another game." Sam burped, swayed and almost fell, "Just give me a chance to make a comeback."
Brian smiled and shook the stack of bills in his hand, "The money is in your hands. If you want to play, I will accompany you. Anyway, I won all night, and I don't mind winning more."
Dean looked like he couldn't bear it anymore. He stepped forward and pulled Sam's arm. His tone was full of helplessness. "I'm sorry, my brother drank too much. It's not suitable for gambling anymore."
"You've won enough, don't play with him." Bai Haorui also stepped forward, stretched out his hand to hold the club in Sam's hand, and raised his eyebrows at Brian, with a hint of undeniable toughness in his tone.
"He insisted on playing it himself." Brian spread his hands, looking innocent.
"Yes, but you have already won him 200 yuan, right? I'm just saying." Dean frowned, the displeasure in his eyes was obvious.
But Sam slammed Dean's hand away, and said in a drunken and irritable tone, "Hey, shut up, Dean. I'm fine."
"No, there's something wrong with you. You're so drunk that you can't even stand!"
Sam slapped a stack of banknotes on the billiard table, his eyes cleared up for a moment, and he was still half drunk. "It's a bet of five hundred yuan."
"Five hundred yuan? Are you crazy?" Dean's eyes widened.
Brian's eyes lit up, and he immediately bent down to swing the ball, smiling from ear to ear, "No problem."
"Five hundred dollars, you tee off." Sam held the club in his hand and stood still.
The moment Brian lowered his head and bent over to swing the ball, Sam raised his eyebrows at Dean and Bai Haorui. He was so drunk just now. There was nothing left, and their eyes were very clear. Dean and Bai Haorui immediately looked at each other and winked and gave a bad smile - you kid, you are pretending to be drunk.
Before the kick-off was completed, Sam took over the white ball and knocked it out, scoring several colorful balls one after another. His movements were crisp and neat, and he didn't look drunk at all. Brian's smile instantly froze on his face.
At this moment, from the shadows at the other end of the bar, a woman wearing a black leather jacket walked in, with long black hair hanging on her shoulders and cold eyes. It was Ruby.
Sam's movements stopped instantly, the club stopped in mid-air, his eyes were full of confusion and astonishment. He put down the club, said "The money is yours" to Brian, and walked straight towards Ruby.
Dean's face instantly darkened, he gritted his teeth and immediately followed. Bai Haorui also put down the beer bottle in his hand and followed the two of them, Spiritual Sense locked eyes with Ruby instantly and frowned - the demonic aura on her body was stronger than the last time they met, but there was a trace of unnoticeable panic hidden in the deepest part, like a wild boar that had been chased by a trusted hound for several days and nights.
"Hey." Sam stood in front of Ruby, his voice was very low.
Dean crossed his arms and looked Ruby up and down, his tone full of unabashed ridicule and hostility. "Oh, you still dare to appear in front of me, you are so courageous. I haven't even settled the mess of Halloween last time with you, and now you are here again?"
"I'm just here to bring you some news, and I'll leave after I finish speaking." Ruby ignored Dean's sarcasm, his eyes fell directly on Sam, and his tone was serious.
"What news?"
"I got some rumors."
"Oh, great, the devil's whisper is so reliable." Dean rolled his eyes and sneered.
"There is a girl named Anna Milton, who escaped from the locked mental hospital ward yesterday." Ruby's voice lowered, "The demons are looking for her like crazy now, and even a few really ruthless characters have been dispatched."
Sam's brows frowned instantly. "Why? Who is she?"
"I don't know. But I am sure that she is definitely not ordinary. A death order was issued from above to capture her alive and see her alive. Even if she is dead, she will see her body." Ruby glanced around and confirmed that no demons were listening. "I just think that no matter what the situation is, you should find her first before the demons find her."
Sam turned to look at Dean and Bai Haorui, with a serious tone. "Listen, maybe we should go take a look."
"No, we have a case on hand and important clues, thank you." Dean refused without thinking, his face still ugly.
"I'm just here to deliver a message, you can do whatever you want." Ruby shrugged, "For me, as long as I brought the message, it has nothing to do with me."
After saying that, she turned around and walked into the back door of the bar and disappeared into the shadows. Dean looked at her back and spat hard, her expression turned extremely ugly.
"Damn bitch! Nothing good comes of it!" Dean gritted his teeth, his voice full of suppressed anger, "Sam, this kid, the way he looks at her is wrong! What happened in the four months since I had Hell?!"
"Ruby will not bring us news for no reason. This Anna must be very important. The devils are looking for her. We must find her first." Sam said in a firm tone.
Bai Haorui nodded, True Fire's fingertips twitching slightly. "Ruby has a panic that cannot be hidden. This is not an easy matter. The girl who can make Hell dispatch high-level demons to capture her alive, either holds a big secret, or is a trap specially designed to lure us into the bait."
The night was as thick as ink that cannot be melted. The Impala was driving smoothly on the country road. The headlights cut through the darkness and cast two long beams of light on the road. Dean held the steering wheel with a gloomy face and said nothing.
Sam, who was in the passenger seat, was on the phone, talking to the other end of the phone, nodding from time to time, and tapping his knees unconsciously with his fingertips. Bai Haorui was leaning on the back seat, with the faint True Fire lingering on his fingertips. He was still warming his meridians, but his ears were listening to the conversation between the two people in the front row. Spiritual Sense was always alert to the movements around him.
"Can you send me a missing persons report? Anna Milton, 23 years old, a patient at Connor Beverly Behavioral Medicine Center." Sam said in a very polite tone, "That's great, thank you."
After hanging up the phone, he turned to look at Dean, breaking the silence in the car. "Okay, Anna Milton is indeed a real person. Dean, we have run through clues that are even more unreliable than this before. If you have anything to say, just say it, don't hold it back."
Dean stepped on the brakes, and the Impala made a harsh friction sound and stopped suddenly on the side of the road. He turned his head and looked at Sam, his eyes full of suppressed anger. "Okay, let me tell you this - this is too ridiculous."
"What makes you unhappy is not that we are going to find this girl. What makes you unhappy is that this news was given by Ruby." Sam could see through his mind at a glance.
"Yes!" Dean's voice suddenly rose, "Because in your eyes, this bitch from Hell is about to get married! Boy, something big must have happened during the time when I was Hell. When I came back, you actually became best friends with a demon? I don't even know why!"
"I told you, Dean, she helped me hunt down Lilith." Sam's tone also darkened.
"Oh, thank you, this introduction is really detailed." Dean sneered, his eyes full of hurt and confusion, "Can't you give more details? I stayed in Hell for four fucking months and was tortured every day. After I came back, my brother got together with a demon, and I don't even know why!"
Sam looked at him, a trace of hurt flashed in his eyes, and then he cooled down. "Of course, Dean, let's exchange stories. First, tell me, how is it in Hell? Don't be picky, tell all the details, every word."
Dean was speechless for a moment, and his eyes dodged suddenly, as if he had been stabbed in the wound. He opened his mouth, but said nothing. Finally, he turned his head sharply, restarted the car, and stepped on the accelerator. The Impala let out an angry roar and sped off again.
The car fell into deathly silence again, with only the roar of the engine echoing in my ears.
Sam's eyes fell back out of the window, and the rapidly retreating tree shadows cast bright and flickering shadows on his face. His thoughts were instantly pulled back to the dark summer that Dean had just left six months ago.
On a dark night, the wind at the crossroads swirled the fallen leaves, bringing with it the chill of late autumn. The drunk Sam stumbled to the ground, digging the soil with the shovel in his hand, staggering, and exuding an aura of despair. His eyes were red, his beard was unshaven, he had lost a lot of weight, and his eye sockets were sunken, completely losing his usual appearance, like a walking corpse.
He buried the box containing the cat bones, Dean's photos and soil into the soil. He threw away the shovel and shouted into the empty night, "Come out! Where the hell are you?!"
A burst of black smoke flashed, and the Crossroads Demon appeared behind him, wearing a crisp black suit and a playful smile on his lips, as if watching an interesting monkey show.
"I'm still thinking about whether to come out. After all, you shot and killed one of my colleagues." The devil's voice said with a smile, "Don't get me wrong, Sam, you seem to be in a bad state. I guess it's because you feel bad about burying your brother?"
Sam turned around suddenly, his eyes were bloodshot, he was holding the dagger that could kill demons tightly in his hand, his eyes were fierce. "You are talking nonsense."
"Okay, let me see that special knife first."
Sam slapped the knife hard on the outdoor iron table next to it, making a sharp and crisp sound, "No Devil's Trap, I'm not here to play games."
"Let me guess, you want to make a deal. It's Winchester Brothers's old trick." The devil shook his head, his tone full of pity and a hint of cruelty, "Sorry, Sam, it's impossible."
Sam stepped forward instantly, pierced the devil's palm with a knife, and nailed his hand to the iron table. The devil let out a scream, and his face instantly became ferocious.
"I don't want ten years, I don't want one year, I don't want anything!" Sam's voice was full of madness, "I want to change places with Dean! Take me away! This deal is fair!"
"No." The devil grinned in pain, but still shook his head, his eyes full of determination.
"Why not? Lilith wants me dead. If you let Dean go, she can get me."
"Don't you understand yet, Sam?" The devil laughed, cruelly and proudly, "This matter has nothing to do with your soul. Dean is in Hell, right where we want him to be. Everything is going according to plan. You want to kill me? Do it. I have already confessed to my Lord."
Dean was holding the steering wheel, his knuckles were clenched white, his eyes were full of complex emotions, including anger, anxiety, and the deepest pain that he didn't dare to express. Sam looked out the window, his eye sockets were slightly red, and his fingertips were tightly clenched into fists.
Bai Haorui looked at the two people in the front row who were at war with each other, sighed softly, and broke the silence in the car. "Both of you feel that the other person doesn't understand you, so what's the use of arguing? You can't fall in love with someone like this. Find the girl first. For other things, we can talk slowly behind closed doors."
Dean glared at him from the rearview mirror, but did not retort. He just cursed in a low voice, "I know, you verbose devil."
Sam lowered his head, his voice so hoarse that it was almost inaudible. "Okay, let's find Anna first."
In the bright doctor's office, various psychological medicine certificates are hung on the wall, and the bookshelves are filled with professional books. The sun shines in through the blinds, casting light and shadow on the floor.
Dean and Sam Bai Haorui pretended to be a state policeman, sitting at his desk, with Anna's psychiatrist in front of him. Dean was playing with the fake police badge in his hand, with a nonchalant look on his face, but his eyes were scanning every corner of the office sharply; Sam leaned forward slightly and asked questions in a precise and polite tone, like a real policeman.
Bai Haorui was leaning against the window, seemingly looking at the scenery outside, but in fact Spiritual Sense had already quietly dispersed and swept across the entire hospital, especially the ward where Anna had lived. A strong sulfur smell remained in the corner of the ward, and there was a weak but pure fluctuation of thought power that stayed in the air like water waves. In addition, there was an extremely weak breath of angels, so weak that it was almost imperceptible.
"Of course I will do my best to help." The doctor nodded and his tone was very cooperative.
"The nurse who was attacked by Anna has no memory of Anna's escape?" Sam asked.
"Apparently, Anna knocked him unconscious. The impact caused partial retrograde amnesia. He didn't even remember that he had entered her ward." The doctor sighed.
Dean raised his eyebrows, leaned back on the chair, and said with a hint of ridicule in his tone, "It's a punch that can knock out a man who is 80 pounds heavier than her. Didn't you ever doubt that she was not a sneak attack?"
"We think she had a plan and hid behind the door to attack." The doctor shook his head.
"By the way, you said Anna's illness only happened recently?"
"Two months ago, she was a cheerful, well-adjusted journalism student with many friends and a bright future." The doctor's tone was full of regret, "Schizophrenia is like this, it comes without warning. In just a few weeks, Anna was completely devoured by delusions."
"Then what happened? Suddenly... went crazy?" Dean asked.
"She feels that there are demons everywhere." The doctor handed Sam a thick sketchbook, "It is not uncommon for our patients to believe that monsters are real."
"No, this is too outrageous." Dean sneered, spread his hands, and looked at each other with Sam, both of them had a hint of understanding in their eyes.
Sam opened the sketchbook and the smile on his face disappeared instantly.
The drawing book is filled with dense sketches, and the lines drawn with charcoal are sharp and crazy: witnesses with countless eyes, each eye has a broken seal; next to the burning jack-o'-lantern, there is a broken chain, and the footer reads " The next seal is broken: Samhain Festival"; there are countless drawings with 66 seals, each one marked with the serial number that has been broken, which is exactly the same as the seal they have blocked in the past few months but failed to stop in time.
Dean came over and took a look. The carelessness on his face disappeared in an instant, and his face was as solemn as ice.
"This is the content of "Book of Revelation"." Dean's voice was very low.
The doctor was stunned for a moment and frowned. "When did there be a jack-o'-lantern in "Book of Revelation"?"
"Ah, this is... a relatively unpopular translation." Dean immediately laughed and fooled him.
"Anna's father is a deacon in the church, so after she became ill, her delusions took on a religious color." The doctor didn't think much and continued, "She firmly believes that the devil is coming and the world is going to end. I hope you can find her. It's too dangerous for her to be alone outside."
Bai Haorui walked over from the window, and lightly brushed the page of the sketchbook with his fingertips. True Fire's fingertips jumped slightly, and the fluctuations of thought power remaining on the paper became clear instantly. He raised his eyes and looked at the doctor, and said calmly, "Doctor, before Anna became ill, did you go to any special place? Or come into contact with any strange people or things?"
The doctor was stunned for a moment, thought carefully, and shook his head. "No, her life is very regular, school, home, church, three o'clock and one line. Oh, by the way, before she got sick, she had been working as a volunteer in the church, helping to sort out the church's old files, which lasted for almost a month."
Bai Haorui, Dean, and Sam looked at each other, and all three of them had answers in their eyes.
After walking out of the mental hospital and sitting in the Impala, Dean cursed fiercely, "This girl is not crazy at all! All she drew are things that have already happened! Samhain Festival's seal has been broken, Rise of the Witnesses, it's all successful! She really knows the inside story of Apocalypse, and knows things that we can't find out!"
"The devil is looking for her like crazy. It's not without reason." Sam flipped through the sketchbook and frowned, "She is just a walking Apocalypse intelligence station."
Bai Haorui leaned on the back seat, closed his eyes, and sorted through the information captured by Spiritual Sense: "There was an angel's breath in her ward, very faint, and it flashed by. She is not only a devil's plan, but also an angel's."