Chronicles of Absolution: Darkened Rage

Chapter 1

Then

… She smiled at the memory of when the goddess gave the amulet to her as a reward citing that she was a beloved daughter. It was a comforting thought but not enough to erase the debt that she needed to pay back…

… "Great. We have to babysit humans who think waving a big gun makes them a hunter. Why couldn't it be someone from the clans?" Angela made her displeasure with mortal hunters clear. She had to deal with them constantly and it left little to be desired regarding any positive impression.

"They are of the clans, just a very distant branch," Brendan replied. Here comes the bombshell. "They are the Winchesters."…

… Lenya then got hostile and her voice took a deep overtone, "You aren't in a position to make threats bitch. You can try and protect them but in the end, Sam Winchester will be ours." She was then gone leaving Angela on the empty street…

… "Because I merely give a nudge in the right direction to the players." Lenya blew on her nails and buffered them against her coat. "You are one of the players. Always have been since your time with Daddy."…

… "There is a champion and it is already there."…

… Keep fighting and maybe you can forgive yourself…

… You do have the choice to tell them but be aware that such revelations always have consequences that are not always foreseen. The Apkallu stared at Angela. "You cannot deny that which is within you, what you were born with…"

… The Guardian looked at her for a moment and then grasped her wrist and gave a shake. He then said something in Sumerian in a whisper before turning and crossing the barriers…

… They left the stadium and headed towards the Impala. Suddenly Angela said, "You know John said you were good boys and I believed him."

Christian sighed. There was no going back now. He said, "A demon is starting trouble in Wyoming." He saw the expectant look on Angela's face. He knew she wasn't going to like it. He added, "It is Lenya…"

Now

The town of Hudson, Wyoming looked sleepy as Natalia Abeyta walked down the main street towards her car. She was on a nightly run to the store picking up some milk since the house was out and the baby needed milk and diapers. She got her purchases and paused to talk to old Mrs. Ferguson at the cashier. That lady was a lifesaver when it came to child care and Natalia was grateful for any information that the old lady could offer.

"Now the best way to keep those congested lungs clear is to use a humidifier. Sometimes a wet cloth helps." The old lady was bagging the groceries for Natalia.

"I'll try it Mrs. Ferguson. At this point I am desperate for a means of battling the congestion. The antibiotics the doctor gave me just don't seem to cut it." Natalia was getting some cash out of her purse. She sighed, "Oh Jake is getting so big. He's already getting into things."

Mrs. Ferguson laughed, "They do that honey. Now I threw in a little something for that boy of yours."

"You didn't have to do that," Natalia protested.

"I wanted to." Mrs. Ferguson smiled as she took Natalia's money and gave her the change.

Suddenly the door opened and Mr. Hartshorne came walking in. To Natalia that man looked agitated but then again the problems that man had been having lately. He deserved a kind word every now and then. She said, "Good evening Mr. Hartshorne. How are things?"

Mr. Hartshorne muttered something and walked into the store. He seemed to be searching for something. Natalia gave a concerned look at Mrs. Ferguson. That old lady just gave a shake of her head and shooed her out saying, "Oh don't worry about it. Now you get on home to that boy of yours and try that remedy."

Natalia gave a nod as she picked up her bag of groceries and walked towards the door. She looked at Mr. Hartshorne as he wandered down the aisles searching for something and then back at Mrs. Ferguson. She gave the old lady a smile and left the store. She could hear Mrs. Ferguson's voice saying, "Now you old rascal what can I help you with?"

The next thing that Natalia heard was the old lady asking what Mr. Hartshorne was doing. Natalia turned to see a spray of blood streak across the glass windows of the store. Natalia dropped her groceries and ran into the store. When she got inside, she saw Mr. Hartshorne swinging something like a bat and he was beating the old lady to death. The blood was spraying everywhere. She screamed and ran outside calling for help.


Dean stood in the bathroom brushing his teeth as usual. He glanced at his brother Sam who was surprisingly still asleep. Then again after what he heard last night, it wasn't surprising. It had been nearly, what, three weeks since he had a nightmare? Dean had traveled with his brother long enough to know when his brother was having trouble sleeping. He wondered if it was about his girlfriend Jessica or one of those visions linked to his psychic abilities. Or it could be the usual, clowns or midgets.

Dean finished brushing his teeth and started his gargling. He was right in the middle of it when he heard his brother groan indicating her was awake. Dean spit out the mouthwash and said, "Rise and shine Sammy."

Sam sat up in bed and rubbed his face with his hand giving a slight grunt. "What time is it?"

"Time for you to stop being a Sleeping Beauty."

Sam managed a tired scowl. "Jerk."

"Bitch. Come on I saved the hot water just for you," Dean replied as he came out of the bathroom. "Take your bubble bath and I'll go see if Angie got any coffee."

"I don't think she'll be up," Sam muttered as he picked through his duffle for the clothes he wanted to wear. He frowned as he searched still feeling a bit tired. That could be easily explained by what happened the night before but he was hardly in the mood to discuss it with Dean and he seriously doubted Angela would want to talk about it. He was musing through his thoughts when all of a sudden something hit him on the back of his head. He looked to find that it was a crumpled ball of paper. He turned to find Dean looking at him with a look of concern. Sam did what he usually did, back into a corner and wait for the opportunity to clam up. "What?'

"Had a nightmare?"

Sam raised his brow. Dean was getting right down to brass tacks this morning. Usually Dean would manipulate the situation to give half a dozen chances for him to open up until he finally gave up and asked straight out. He replied, "No idea." He finished picking his clothes and started towards the bathroom.

"Sam."

Sam chose to ignore Dean and went into the bathroom and shut the door. He could hear his brother grumbling through the door and knew he was going to pay for it later. Thing was he needed to think it through and in order to do that he didn't need Dean hovering over him and asking questions. The fact that he did the same to Dean never entered his mind. He turned on the water to the shower and stepped in and let the hot water cascade over his body. He pressed his forehead to the tiled wall of the shower stall and he allowed his mind to think about what he dreamt about.

It was like the other nightmares. Sam walked into the bedroom, glad to be home and looking forward to the interview for law school. He flopped on the bed and closed his eyes. It was then he felt the drips of blood. Sam looked up and he saw her on the ceiling, a bloody hole in her middle and then the flames came.

He woke up and found himself in the middle of a cabin. It was ramshackle and half completed but that didn't matter for the purpose it was serving. Sam looked around and saw a familiar shape tied to a chair in a dark corner. Her head was down and she wasn't moving. Sam tried to move forward but as soon as he took a step, he was stopped.

Sam was no longer in the cabin. Instead he was in the Impala. Dean was sitting next to him and Dean's Zeppelin album was playing with the volume cranked up. They were on some nondescript highway. Sam looked forward and there she was sitting tied to the chair. She was looking at them as the headlights lit up her face and accentuated the bruises. Sam screamed at Dean to stop but Dean kept on driving.

Sam was back in the cabin and someone was laughing. He turned to see a strange man in a black suit just smiling and laughing at him. Sam thought the guy looked like one of those dick bodyguard types but that was the least of his concern. He looked around trying to find her. He thought he saw her sitting in the chair but all he got was from the suit looking at him and he said, "Interesting. My talents may be wasted on you Sam Winchester."

"You know who I am?"

"Who doesn't?" Suit just shrugged his shoulders. He got close to Sam and started inspecting but not touching. "Hmm definitely a good one."

"What do you want?"

"To observe Sammy. Surely you must know by now that you're special," a new voice entered. The owner entered to reveal the yellow eyed demon and he was holding to a woman with dark hair but it was covering her face. "And of course this is a test for another one of my favorites."

Sam looked at the woman and then found himself in an empty room. A fair distance away was the familiar silhouette sitting in the chair. The chair was in the center of a ring of light. The back was facing Sam. He could hear a question but it was distorted. He heard her response and tried to get to the chair. Suddenly there was a flash of silver and he saw something protruding from the back…

Sam felt the water start to cool as he finished his shower. The nightmare had him wake up around three in the morning. He wasn't able to go back to sleep until closer to six and that was after a walk around the motel. In his excursion he saw Angela out in the grassy field performing some sort of martial arts thing that she did. When he came back from his walk she was still at it or rather just finishing it and starting to walk back to the motel. He left her alone and went back to the room.

"Sammy? You drown yourself in there?"

Sam jumped slightly at his brother's voice and shut the water off. He replied, "I'm fine Dean."

"I'm going to grab some coffee and a paper. You want anything?"

"Whatever."

Sam didn't hear his brother's reply as he started drying off and getting dressed. At the moment his thoughts were in a jumble. He couldn't tell if he was having a vision or if the yellow-eyed demon was trying to make his life miserable by being in his dreams. He did say it was a test but for whom? He also wanted to know why she was in his nightmare and why didn't Dean hear him? He stumbled through the whole morning routine not paying much attention to anything.


Dean was willing to be patient with his brother. He was almost certain that the kid had a nightmare but he wasn't talking. Dean figured that it must have been that bad if Sam was walking and talking like the living dead. He let the ignoring go by since he wanted to get as much information as possible before grilling his brother. He briefly toyed with the idea of getting Angela on board to talk to him since he noticed that whenever the two of them talked, Sam would get a few more nights of good sleep. The same went for him.

Once Sam was in the shower, he went to see if Angela was up yet. He knocked on the door. "Angie you up?"

There was no response. Dean tried again to make sure but when she didn't respond, he figured that she may be out on a coffee run or something. The last few days had been rather strange. She would not show up for meals or rather late for them and when they were in the car, she was always looking out the window as if she expected something to show up. He wanted to ask but he figured that she needed a cool down period after the jokes about her being drunk when they left Grant.

Dean tried peering in the window since he noticed a slit in the curtain. The room was dark and there seemed to be nobody in. He gave up presently and went to grab coffee for him and Sam. The coffee and the paper were easy to get. Dean even managed to charm doughnuts out of the girl at the counter. At the last minute he ordered one more coffee just in case Angela showed up from whatever she was doing. He arrived to find that Sam was just finishing and was exiting the bathroom with his toothbrush. "So you awake now Sleeping Beauty?"

"Bite me jerk," Sam replied as he put his stuff away.

"At least you're in a better mood than when I left," Dean replied as he took a gulp of his coffee. "So you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what Dean?" Sam picked up a cup from the carrier and took a sip.

Drinking coffee black was a form of habit. Cream and sugar, Dean called it being a pansy and even more so if Sam happened to order a nonfat latte on occasion. Since they started hunting together it became something more of a brotherly bonding thing between Sam and Dean. Sam drank his coffee and noted that it was pretty strong but didn't say anything except give a slight frown.

Dean knew that Sam was being deliberately evasive. He could tell that whatever it was really bothered his brother and if Dean wanted to admit it, it hurt him. It was like Sam getting picked on by bullies and Dean wasn't there to help him get out of it. He was going to get to the bottom of this. "You know what I mean Sam. You had another nightmare."

"Yeah I did Dean but what do you want me to say?" Sam looked at his brother with a look that told him to back off. Not that Dean was going to listen to that. "I had a nightmare and it was the same thing. Jess dying."

Dean gave a look like he was hurt by what Sam said but he wasn't fooled. "Fine, be that way Sam." He turned to look at the paper he bought while giving an injured look. Rather it came off as a pout that worked much like Sam's puppy dog eyes.

Sam knew this tactic and he fell for it. "Dean, it was the same thing as before. It just caught me off guard."

"Whatever you say Sammy," Dean replied in a manner that could have been interpreted that he didn't give a damn at the moment. In truth he did but he was hoping this tactic would get Sam to open up. He didn't look at his brother but instead continued to read the paper looking for a possible job.

Sam was agitated with Dean and decided not to play this game anymore. He replied, "Fine. I'm going out for a walk."

"Why don't you look for Angie while you're at it?"

The door of the motel closed leaving Dean feeling like a total ass.


The view of the motel was a good one. All the possible exits were visible. Several meat suits were wandering about the parking lot with some minding their own business and some were being busybodies. What was interesting was the tall meat suit that walked out of the room that was the furthest from the main office.

The blonde woman who was watching looked on with piqued interest all the while her complain stood looking bored at the whole thing. He asked, "Are we done here? I feel the mayhem dying down and I want to stir it up again."

The woman replied, "All in good time. Uncle Azazel wanted us to check on one of his special kids."

"It's always about the kids," the man replied as he adjusted his sunglasses. "What is so special about this one?"

The woman laughed. The lesser demons and the specialty ones were only concerned about themselves and the little corners of the world they decided to set up shop in. They lost sight of the big plan that they all had a part to play in. She understood it well and she was doing her part to set things up as Uncle Azazel wanted them to be. Plus it was a bonus to get back at the ones who killed her favorite cousins. She replied, "It's because Sam Winchester travels with the one Daddy had so much fun with."

"The Chaser bitch?"

The woman gave a slight giggle. It sounded like it was a little girl giggling. She replied, "Yes."

The man growled slightly. If his sunglasses were off, one could see the change in his eyes that indicated what he was. "Almost everyone up the chain wants a piece of her." The man watched as Sam Winchester started walking in no particular direction. "It seems that what I was told to do last night has taken some effect but I sense it's going to take a lot more or someone more susceptible to my work."

"That's what Uncle Azazel wanted to make sure of. Sammy there is immune to the virus and he wants to make sure that your influence does not affect him." The woman twirled one of her locks as she watched the younger Winchester walk away. She then noticed that the elder came out and looked in the direction of his brother before turning around and walking in the opposite direction. That raised some interesting questions and maybe they would be able to have a candidate for the test that Uncle Azazel wanted to perform.

The man saw the same thing. Certain influences required a certain mindset. If he was to succeed in setting this up, he needed someone who already had what he needed festering inside. It was his specialty after all. He had an idea and he asked, "The bitch has one weak spot doesn't she?"

"I wouldn't necessarily call it a weak spot but if you are referring to the Winchesters, then yes. She cares for them both more than she lets on and it has less to do with some promise she made to their father." The woman then turned to look at the man. "Why, do you have something in mind?"

The man looked at her with a grin. "I know that Azazel wants me to test Sammy boy's resilience but doesn't he want her to 'toughen' up a little? Remember the good ole days?"

The woman had an idea of where this was going. Even though she was under orders to push little sister in the right direction that was a part of the plan, she was given some leeway to have fun with her. After all little sister had to be reminded of the good timed they had all those years ago. What was even more interesting was that little sister hadn't even told the Winchesters about those times. She was sure that they were suspicious by now. "I do remember. Daddy and I had such fun teaching her."

The man grinned. "What would you say we have a little fun? I think I have the perfect candidate. It will really teach the bitch the meaning of betrayal."

The woman looked out. She saw that Sam had found little sister finally. The woman knew that there were some things that were supposed to happen but that didn't mean they couldn't have fun with it. She nodded, "I am up for a little fun with little sister. I assume that you want it to happen in your neck of the woods?"

The man nodded as he adjusted his glasses. He saw the elder Winchester head back to the motel. He noted the disappointed look that flashed briefly on his face. "Of course. What I need you to do is to make sure that they find their way there. Do whatever you need to do to make sure they get to my domain."

"Oh I can take care of that. Little sister is already onto us since those Centurion fools found out that we're stepping up with the plan. Fortunately for us she has no clue of where to look nor have any idea what Uncle Azazel is planning. If she did, she would want to stop it before Sam could get involved."

"Selfless martyr… and a bitch," the man replied. "Well I'll leave it to you to decide but I'll drop a suggestion: Convince the Winchesters that it is someone that they trust telling them to go."

The woman smiled, "Oh I knew Uncle Azazel was right in including you in this little test. You will make this game interesting." She gave another one of her giggles. "I have a few tricks up my sleeve. I will have them in your territory."

The man gave a nod. He could always count on her. Also he was a little bit afraid of her father and Azazel. He was willing to go along with anything they wanted as long as he was left to his own little corner of the world. He had earned it after all. His siblings had to wander about and take orders from those like him. Of course he was doing the same thing but that was the chain of command. Azazel and the woman and her father were above his pay grade so he had little choice but to obey… unless he wanted to be sent back to the pit after burning him out of his meat suit.

Suddenly a beeping sound came. The man checked his watch. The liquid inside swirled and he listened to the sounds it made. He gave a slight frown but it turned into a smile. He said to the woman, "Well it appears I have to get back to my day job. Gotta keep those emotions running high."

"Try not to kill off the whole town while you're at it."

"I wouldn't dream of it. Besides like the other times, it takes a hunter and them thinking that they stop an angry spirit or a witch or even one of those lower class demons." The man brushed off his suit as if to say he was better than that. Of course he was. He knew the power of self-control. "You have it covered here?"

The woman smiled, "Of course I do. Stir up little sister, get them to the meeting place and of course let Uncle Azazel know of the plan."

"Shall I do that?"

"No I will," the woman replied. She turned to watch the motel as well as Sam talking to little sister. She didn't bother to acknowledge when the man left. He had his job and she had hers. Let the test begin.


A/N: Welcome to another installment of Chronicles of Absolution. Looks like the familiar entrances we see on TV now and it seems Sam and Dean have gotten off on the wrong foot. Where will that lead? What does the demon pair have in mind? Find out next time on Darkened Rage...