Summary: Hershey is the oddball son of Juliet the Hellhound. He's no good at dragging souls down to Hell. Retraining him doesn't go well and he ends up living on the mean streets topside. One night Hershey meets a wayward Knight of Hell named Dean Winchester. Chapter 1 of 12 (plus Epilogue).

Chapter 1 – one dark knight

I wanted to end myself. So I sat out in the rain. Maybe I'd get lucky. Maybe it would wash me away. Suicide by rain. Sounds dumb, right? Well, rain is from Heaven. I was born in Hell. I figured the rain would just take me apart, dissolve me away. Out on the streets I always found a place out of the rain, somewhere I could hide and stay dry.

Now I just don't care anymore. I miss my mom but I can't go home. I don't think she loves me anymore. My pack doesn't want me. I don't belong anywhere.

It was night time. Cars went up and down the street. No one stopped. No one paid me any attention and that was fine. They couldn't see me anyway, what with all the rain, fog and wind. The rain came down so hard it slanted sideways and the air looked smoky. I crouched there on the sidewalk, out in the open and I waited to fall apart. I have thick fur so it took a while for to get soaked down to my skin.

I don't know why humans say that it rains cats and dogs. Tabbies and chihuahuas and Irish setters and Persian cats falling out of the sky? I've never seen that. Ever.

I was tired. Hungry. Couldn't remember the last time I ate something. The neighborhood cats were bigger than I thought they'd be. Bigger, faster and meaner too. I managed to catch a few and eat them but I got scratched up pretty badly.

Holding a soul or live food in my mouth, having it wriggle and squirm around like that feels funny to me. I mean funny-peculiar, not funny haha. Makes me shudder and shiver all over. That's why I let some of the small dogs and cats I caught get away.

The humans blamed coyotes. If they only knew. They kept their pets inside after that. The stray dogs and cats left the neighborhood. So did the pigeons, squirrels and racoons.

Dragging souls down to hell? I'm just not good at it, not like the rest of my family. My mom Juliet is the best. Me? Not so much.

The pack master and the trainers told King Crowley I have a soft mouth. I don't know what that means. That's why they sent me topside, to toughen me up I guess.

That didn't work out. I messed that up too.

At first I didn't want to attract too much attention to myself out here. I look like a big black German Shepherd. My eyes are electric blue. I can fool humans into thinking I look like a Yorkie most days when I put my mind to it.

Why a Yorkie? Well, humans like small and cute, right? Sometimes they even feed small and cute.

That didn't work all the time. Certain humans can see what I really look like no matter what I do. Whenever that happened all that screaming gave me a headache.

This place has turned mean. Instead of food lately all I got for my trouble was a stick or a rock upside my head. I dumpster dived, but rotten food tasted nasty and upset my stomach.

I even thought about breaking into the human houses and taking their food.

Or taking one of the small human kids to eat.

I thought about it, on those dark nights when I was so hungry my chest folded in on my belly.

Fresh meat. Warm blood.

Those nights I'd sit there with my eyes closed until those thoughts went away.

All that's over now. The cold rain came down. It soaked my skin and I waited. If I had anything to say about it this would be my last night on earth.

A big black car rumbled down the street. I remember thinking that it sounded angry as it passed by. Halfway down the block it stopped. I saw the brake lights flash red. The car sat there. Then it backed up.

The car stopped in the street right in front of me. The rain and the streetlights overhead made its black metal hide look slick and shiny.

I stared at the driver and he stared right back.

He looked big, blond and wolfy at first, with short black twisted horns. Then he looked human. Short light colored hair. His skin had spots. I think you humans call them freckles. He had the brightest, greenest eyes I'd ever seen. Green turned black and I knew then what he was.

He was a demon. The horned wolf was his trueform.

Rain ran into my eyes. I blinked and lowered my head. I was cold, soaked to the bone and miserable. If Heaven's rain was going to wash me away it was taking its own sweet time about it.

I heard the car door creak. Then footsteps and the door creaked again, closer this time. I took one last look. Last time pays for all.

The green eyed demon from the big black car stood there staring at me. I couldn't tell from the look on his face what he was thinking. The rain slicked his hair down and made his clothes dark. He ignored the wet.

He knelt down in front of me and he stared at me even harder. Well, I couldn't blame him for that. He'd probably never seen such a worthless piece of shit like me before in his entire life.

"Dude. You've got ears like Batman."

Who?

He had a nice voice, kind of deep and rumbly, like the car. But that's how they sucker us in. They lie. Two leggers all lie. Doesn't matter if they're human or demon.

I flinched when he put his hand out. At first I thought he was going to touch the top of my head. I don't like being touched there. When I jerked back he stopped and his eyes narrowed as he looked at me. Then he held his hand out palm down, fingers curled under, right in front of my nose. I couldn't help myself. I sniffed at his knuckles. He was different from any other demon I'd ever seen or smelled. He had the Mark of Cain on him. Its power prickled the inside of my nose like red pepper.

My mom used to tell me and my brothers and sisters that if we didn't go to sleep Cain would come and get us. I wasn't sure this was Cain, though. I'd heard there was more than one Knight of Hell.

"Hey buddy. What you doin' out here, huh?"

I was so tired I didn't react, even when he stroked me underneath my chin. My tail thumped the ground a couple of times at the sound of his voice. Damn thing always did have a mind of its own.

"Suicide by rain doesn't work. You know that now, right?"

I didn't speak. I whined like a day old pup instead. Yeah. I know that now. I closed my eyes. My tail stopped wagging.

"Don't bite me now, y'hear?"

His arms wrapped around my body. That made me whimper. I don't like surprises. Surprises are always bad. I didn't bite him, didn't struggle. I didn't have any energy left in me anymore.

He lifted me up. I went limp on the outside and numb inside. I always do that so I don't feel the pain when they hurt me. It was better this way. Hell found me at last and they were going to get rid of me.

I cracked one eye open and saw the car sitting there. The door nearest the sidewalk was open.

When the Knight put me down on the seat I pancaked flat onto my stomach. Everything got blurry. The inside of the car was warm and dry. It didn't smell like I thought it would. I expected sulfur and brimstone. Instead I smelled cooked meat.

My belly rumbled. Food.

Shut up.

It didn't stop. My belly's just as mindful as my tail.

The door behind me closed. I heard him walk around the front of the car. Another creak as the door on his side opened. I felt his weight on the seat beside me. The door creaked shut again.

The big car rumbled again and away we went. I'd heard rumors about what Crowley did to useless things like me. Some said he made furniture out of our hide and bones. Some said that we went to Purgatory when we died.

I didn't care anymore. I was done.

TBC: Chapter 2 - hellfire and bubblebath.