When I opened my eyes, I was in a poorly lit room, tied to a chair.

Due to the musty smell and lack of windows, I was guessing it was a basement. Fantastic. The walls and floor were cement, and I knew there was no way anyone would hear me if I screamed.

Just as I was beginning to weigh my options (which weren't many), the door at the top of the stairs opened and slammed shut. I heard footsteps and smelled sulfur and smoke.

Demon.

Soon, a man in a plaid shirt and dirty jeans stood in front of me. His eyes were a deep red, sclera included, with only a pinpoint of black in the center. He was old in a way that my human brain still struggled to understand. He chuckled as he ran a hand through his greasy blonde hair.

"Well, well, well. Look what we found. Miss Cara Deel. Too bad your buddy, Shane, couldn't make it to our little rendezvous. I'm sure hearing him scream as he watched what we are gonna do to you would be... satisfying." He quickly made his way to me, placing a disgusting hand on my thigh. I repressed the urge to vomit.

"It seems you have heard of me," I laughed. "Too bad, I have no idea who the hell you are." My eyes met his as I grinned.

"My name is unimportant," he sighed, taking one of my cigarettes from my purse and lighting it. He placed an unlit one between my lips and held a lighter to it. "Puff." I did as he said. "Boss will be here in a moment. He's... excited to see you. But until then, let's play a little game. I wanna see what makes you tick."

He placed a sickeningly cold hand to my temple and I felt my eyes roll back.

"We aren't in Kansas anymore, Dorothy," he chuckled. I was paralyzed. Pain raked through my body, hot coals searing into my tender flesh. I could smell my own burning hair and skin as he fiddled with my brain. It wasn't real, but at the same time, it was. I wanted to cry out, to gasp, to writhe under his touch but I couldn't. He pulled back and my sharp intake of breath hurt my chest. Steam poured off of my body. He extinguished his cigarette on my neck, and was now taking the one I held between my teeth as his own.

"Oh. I see." He closed his eyes and suddenly, I was in my childhood bedroom. I watched as a seven year old me scribbled in a notebook with crayons, humming a song that I could not remember. My mom strode into the room, walking right through me. Present day me was now a ghost. I watched as she kissed my forehead, told me she loved me, and walked to the back of the house. I followed her, leaving my childhood self behind. She pulled a gun from her waistband. No. I swiped for it, again and again as she stared at the firearm. My hands passed right through her. I watched as  she pressed the gun into her porcelain temple and pulled the trigger. Everything went red.

When the demon released my mind, I vomited over the side of the chair. "You son of a bitch," I gagged, tears welling in my eyes.

"Mommy mustn't have loved you so much after all," he replied, picking his fingernails. "I couldn't imagine leaving my kid in the hands of monsters."

I wanted to question him. I wanted to scream that he was lying. But I couldn't. My entire body was limp and tired and broken. My heart was shattered. This psychological warfare was something I had never encountered and I was incredibly ill-prepared.

I was screwed. Completely and totally screwed. My self-destructive tendencies had really done me in and even so, all I wanted was a bottle to drown myself in. Suddenly, the demon was gone in a puff of smoke and footsteps trailed down the stairs.

I couldn't see a face at first. I smelled no sulfur, but some demons could easily mask that scent as they became older. It's why aged demons were more dangerous. New demons were predictable, and not able to control their eye-shifts or other tell-tale signs of demonic presence. Which is why I was able to easily do in that demon at the bar. But this was no young blood. He was old.

"Hello, Cara." That voice. No. No. God, please no.

"D-dad?" I whispered. "What did you to do him? What did you do to him, you sick bastard?!" I screamed. He just laugh. The entity wearing my father's skin laughed and laughed.

I let a feral scream ring through the basement as he stepped back in surprise.

"Are you really surprised? I'm in awe that you didn't come after me sooner. After you joined up with your little reject Justice League, I figured you would have my name first on the list. But you never figured it out. Maybe you aren't as smart as your old man," he chuckled. There was no mistake. That wasn't a demon possessing my father. That was my father.

"Untie me," I whispered. "You untie me. And you take this ass-beating like a man. It's long overdue. You piece of shit."

"Ooh, brave, are we? You feelin' big? Fine. I'll untie you. On one condition. You tell me where Shane is."

"Fat chance, you old prick." I felt my phone vibrate. One long. One short. One long. They hadn't taken it out of my pocket. And the vibration pattern was unique. Shane was tracking me. I wanted to scream.

"His life for yours. Easy trade. And that way, I don't have to kill my kid. Come on, Cara-boo."

"For one, fuck you. And for two, don't call me that, ever again. Do I look like a goddamn reindeer to you?" I hated that nickname. He was laughing again but I could sense his frustration.

"Fine, then. We'll do this the old fashioned way." He walked to the corner of the room and picked up a long, thin, metal pipe. He turned and smiled at me, his stocky body angled defensively and his leather hands brushing away gray hair from his green eyes. I felt my heart drop. My face was a blatant picture of hatred.

"Oh, still picking on those smaller than you, I see. You've gone from fists to the big guns, this time. And even tied me up. You must be afraid. You make me feel so special, dad."

Whack!

My leg screamed in pain, fire erupting at my shin and climbing into my thigh, warm, thick blood trailing down into my boot. I let out a muffled wail, dropping my head, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing my face. My lip was bleeding from how far I was sinking my teeth into it.

"Now. Where is Shane?" He caressed the pipe and  I shook my head, refusing.

"Not gonna happen."

Whack!

I tried to hum to stifle the screams and tears pushing out of my body. It came out as a strange, pained laugh. The pipe had collided with my other shin. Waves of pain raked through my body, and I felt one of my teeth chip and I slammed them together. He was hitting me with an inhuman strength.

He pulled back the pipe as gunfire erupted above us.

No. Shane.

"Seems like your rescue party is here. What a shame. Guess I won't need this after all." He shrugged and with one last burst of anger, slammed the pipe into my skull. I screamed, then once again, everything went black.

This time, I regained my bearings in only minutes. When I opened my eyes, I saw my father laying on the floor with silver chains tying him down. There was heavy breathing from behind me. I was too afraid to turn. I closed my eyes and feigned unconsciousness.

"What do you want from us?" the voice behind me asked. Shane. Oh, thank the heavens.

"For you to disappear."

"I would love that. But you see, you laid hands on my partner, here. So now, we have a score to settle."

"Your partner is my fucking daughter, you dimwit."

Shane paused. "Well then. This is well deserved." He quickly approached dad and drove a steel-toed boot into his chest. Dad yelped and gasped. I was positive I heard the crunch of breaking bones. "She never deserved what you put her through," Shane growled into dad's face. "She's incredible. She's fucking wonderful. And you're a piece of fucking gum stuck to the shoe of humanity."

I suddenly realized that I was untied. I groaned and then cried out when I tried to move my legs. Shane was at my side in an instant.

"Woah, there, baby. Relax. I'm here," he whispered, stroking my hair gently. I let a tear fall from my eye.

"I'm sorry," I croaked. He quickly shushed me. He placed a soft kiss on my forehead. I glared at my father, who was sneering at me from the floor. "Give me my gun." I wasn't asking. I was telling. Shane searched my eyes.

"Cara, are you... sure?" he asked. I laughed grimly.

"Never been more sure of anything in my life." I looked the gun over as he placed it in my lap. It was loaded and cocked. I just had to pull the trigger. My hands shook in anticipation. I stared at my father. His eyes were wide in fear. "This is for everything you put me through. For everything you put Chris through. For everything you put mom through. You piece of shit."

Bang.

Bang.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

"Baby, baby, enough, enough," urged Shane, as tears streamed down my face. I pulled the trigger again, only to hear it click. I threw the gun across the room, burying my face in my shaking hands as I weeped openly.

Wasting no time, Shane gently gathered me up into his arms, and carried me outside.

The sunlight was blinding as unfiltered light poured over the horizon.

Dawn.