After the initial roll of intense heat had dissipated, only a few flames flickered within the doorway of the house. Pain radiated up the length of my body, I felt bruises in places I had never hurt before. My ribs throbbed painfully with each breath but I couldn't stop the gasping breaths.

The edges of my vision was a red tinged and fuzzy. Yet, no matter how many times I blinked my eyes, the red haze persisted.

Groaning loudly, even as I heard footsteps racing towards me, I pushed my body up off of the ground. Every part of me protested, each movement jarring my damaged body uncomfortably. Still, I placed one hand in front of the other, dragging my legs behind me as I crawled forwards.

"Savannah, are you okay?" Lucius called out, his voice oddly muffled.

Blearily, I looked up at him, before slowly staring back at the building. Damn it. I had triggered a bomb. In a world of angels and demons, I hadn't even considered the possibility of incendiary devices. Who knew that they even had them down here in the underworld? Then again, destruction always found a way.

"Are they okay?" I croaked, my eyes falling to the men who were still lying on the floor, appearing just a little disorientated as I felt.

"They should be okay but we'll get the healer to look them over. She should take a look at you too."

I shook my head, and as soon as I was up on my feet, I pushed his hands away. "I'm fine. I don't need to be looked at. But there is a woman in the house; we need to check she's alright."

"Savannah, there was a bomb in there. I don't think anyone in that building will be okay." Lucius stated his voice hard and unrelenting.

"I need to check. I need to know for certain." I replied back just as firmly.

He glared at me. I could feel his eyes roving over me, looking for signs of weakness but when he saw that I would not budge, he finally nodded his head. "Okay, we'll check the building for survivors. And then, when we find none, you will go to the healer and get examined. Agreed?"

Pressing my lips together, I was tempted to fold my arms over my chest and refuse. Yet the truth was I was exhausted, my body ached, and my vision was not how it should me. I struggled to actually focus on the world before me.

I hobbled forwards, my sword reforming within my hand. I drew in a breath and took comfort from the reassuring weight of the blade within my hand.

The door had been ripped off of its hinges during the blast and it hung diagonally across the doorway. Not even waiting for anyone else to intervene, I turned to the side and kicked out as hard as I could. My foot connected with the wood, the shock reverberating through my leg and up through my battered body.

The wood splintered under the impact and the crashed out of the way. I drew in a deep breath and then edged into the house. Despite the fact that the house had just exploded, I tiptoed cautiously over the threshold. I paused before moving all of my weight on to the floorboards, reluctant to trust the strength of the flaming boards.

Lucius was at my back, his sword glowing right alongside mine. We scoped out every nook and cranny before moving into the next room. Despite the explosion which had decimated all life within the hallway, the room beyond was relatively intact. Other than a few scorch marks from the flash fire, the blown out windows were the worst of the damage.

The room was lit only by the flickering light from the lantern which was set on the sideboard. It had somehow remained upright during the blast and continued to shine unrelentingly misery of the house.

Stepping further into the room, my sword held aloft as I searched for any signs of danger. My arms shook from the effort, but I felt oddly calm as I walked through. I felt that the danger had passed – I didn't feel like my life was in immediate danger. Still, I refused to drop my guard until I knew for certain I was safe.

Even though I was looking for signs of life – I knew. Something terrible had happened here. It was like the evil deeds and desire for pain had left a taint in the air. They had soaked into the walls, the floor and, hung in the very air I breathed. And then there was the smell, the smell of death. The young woman seated in the corner of the room remained unmoving as I approached. Lucius remained poised for action at my back as I edged my way further into the room.

When there were no signs of our enemies, I finally addressed the person who had drawn me into the house.

Stepping close, I tentatively stretched out my free hand. Then placing my fingers under her chin, I lifted the woman's head. Her eyes were open and unstaring; the whites of her eyes had turned red from where all of the vessels had blown. Bloody tear tracks had dried on her cheeks and her face was etched in an expression of horror. It felt like a physical blow in the chest. To know someone had died alone and so afraid the expression lingered after death hurt worse than the bruises forming on my body.

There were no obvious signs of trauma, no signs of what had caused her death. I could see no mortal wound which would cause the death of a demon. Yet I knew within my heart that whatever had made up this person was long gone.

And the worst of it was I recognised the woman. Even without the cap on her head, I knew exactly who she was.

"She was the informant." I whispered, my voice cracking slightly over the words. "She was the one who gave us this location. She tried to warn us and now she's dead."

"They must have found out." Lucius murmured behind me.

I turned only to be faced with the word 'Traitor' painted on to the wall in large four-foot tall lettering. I had no idea how I had missed them on the way in. They were huge and now that I had seen them, I could not look away.

"They're monsters." I stated. "No matter how much I have seen since becoming a part of this world, it still struggle to understand how a person could do this to another. She was an innocent. She didn't deserve this."

"They never do. Unfortunately she is just collateral damage in the war to come." Lucius stated blandly, his eyes staring up at the wall with eerie detachment.

I felt goosebumps form on my arm. His lack of reaction didn't sit right with me.

"People are never collateral damage. They are more than that." I stated, glancing over my shoulder at the dead demon. "They matter."

Lucius didn't respond immediately, his gaze on the lettering written on the wall while a frown played across his features. Finally he turned to me. "I'll get the guards to move the body and then we'll go over the property with a fine tooth comb." He glanced towards the doorway as if he was searching for an escape. "The fact that she was killed tells us she was being honest. Hopefully, in their hurry to leave, they left some information behind about whom they are and what their plans are. Her death won't have been in vain."

With that, Lucius walked out. I stared at the doorway for several long seconds, a forehead creasing into a frown. It was like the man I had known on Earth was slowly slipping away the longer we were here. I wasn't sure if I liked this side of him.

Turning back to the woman, I stared sadly at her face for several long seconds. It felt as if her sightless eyes were boring straight into my soul. I met her stare for as long as I could stand before I reached up and ever so gently closed her eyelids. Gently setting her head back, I wiped the tear tracks from her cheeks. I set her clothes right and removed the binding from around her wrists. There was still tightness to her face even in death.

Her. I still didn't know her name.

"I'll find out who you are and I will make sure they pay for doing this to you. You didn't deserve this." I whispered. It was awful to see how still she was when just a few hours before she had been alive. "I will get you the justice you deserve. I promise it."

The woman looked as if she could be asleep so I tried to pretend it was so as I stood by her side, keeping guard against anyone else who might come to do her harm. I remained by her side even as the healer arrived with Castiel on her heels. I remained standing even when she confirmed the death of the young woman and ordered the removal of the body.

She began to fuss over me, her hands poking and prodding. I sent her away with a look and a wave of the hand. Despite the concern on his face as he looked my way, Castiel was close on her heels as she left.

It took a long time after the young woman's body had been carried away before I could kick my body into action. Finally, I blinked and became aware that a considerable amount of time had passed and I was alone in the house of death. No one had disturbed this room, they had searched everywhere else. Even in my weird stasis I had heard them moving from room to room as they searched for evidence of Terran and his followers.

Turning on the spot, I tried to take in everything about the room; from where the dust had settled to the areas that were clean as if they had been freshly polished. One corner has accumulated so much dust and dirt I was almost certain the pile of debris was going to get up and start walking.

Walking around the perimeter of the room, my eyes searching the walls for clues while I stomped my feet on the floor. The drawers within the worn wooden sideboards were filled with older curled pieces of paper. The writing on them had faded with time so that it was nothing more than a pale grey stain on the parchment.

Squinting at the writing, I struggled to read the words but they were illegible no matter how hard I tried. Folding them carefully, I tucked them into the pocket of my trousers. I rifled through the other cupboards but they were empty except for more dust and more decaying remains of papers. Most were so old they disintegrated as soon as I attempted to pick them up.

With a growl of frustration, I stomped across the room. About four paces from the door, the floor groaned beneath my weight. Freezing, I stared down at the rug covered floor beneath me. My heart thudded loudly. For a second, I worried that the floor would give way beneath me. The way that everything had been allowed to deteriorate had left some concerns about the structural safety of the building.

Taking a cautious step forward, I allowed myself to breathe in and out slowly. Another step forwards and then another breath. When I was off of the rug, I turned back to survey the room.

"I must be crazy," I muttered before crouching down and grasping the edge of the threadbare and musty smelling rug.

Rolling the worn fabric back over on itself, I kept pushing and pushing. My eyes never left the wooden floor beneath that was revealed bit by bit. I almost missed it. There was no metal ring or an obvious handle for the hatch. Lines along the boards outlined the edge of the hatch but they were so thin that I was barely able to distinguish them from the rest of the floor. The handle was nothing more than a small ridge at the edge of the furthest edge of the square. If you weren't looking for it, you would simply dismiss it as a defect in the wood.

Taking a deep breath, I placed my fingers into the hatch and then tugged sharply. The wood came away easily, so easily that I fell backwards in surprise. Tossing it to the side, I edged back to the hole I had created in the floor and stared down into the dark depths below.

There were stripes of light which crept through the gaps in the floorboards and banded across the darkness below. The air was still. There were no signs of movement but it was difficult to see too far into the gloom. Calling forth my sword, I allowed my hand to dangle into the space below with the hit grasped firmly within mine.

The sword shone brightly, the light from the angelic blade radiating outwards to fill every nook and cranny. There was a large open space, intersected only by a few support beams. There was nothing much of immediate interest, A few empty crates had been pushed against one wall and a table had been set up in the centre with old mismatched chairs had been placed around it. A few of the chairs had been knocked over as if the person seated at the table had been in a hurry to get away.

And there, on the wall off to the left was a doorway. The wooden door had been left open leading into the darkness beyond. The light of my sword was too far away to permeate the full extent of the darkness. The only to see where it lead would be to explore.

Resting my head on my arm for a moment, I glanced back over my shoulder. "Cass? Lucius?" I called loudly but neither of them came.

Glancing back at the hatch, I closed my eyes for a brief moment. Was I really going to do this?

Curiosity got the better of me. Besides, it might be the only chance we had at finding out exactly what these men were up to.

"He's going to kill me for this," I muttered, allowing my angel blade to wink of existence.

Placing one hand on either side to brace my weight, I edged closer. Swinging my legs around, I dangled them over the open drop into the darkness. I drew in a deep breath as I slowly lowered myself down into the basement. Then, when I could hold on no more, I closed my eyes and I let go.