The Ways and Paths that Cross
Despite what people think, finding the right type of crossroads for this spell is not easy. For the summoning to work the box had to be buried in the dead center of the crossroads which meant you had to find old, unpaved roads. Even when you did, the earth was so hard from years of traffic it was still hard to dig. At least it was better than using a pick to break through asphalt. That tended to get people's attention even at two in the morning in most places.
The ringing of his cell momentarily drowned out the crunch of shovel on earth. Sam didn't answer. He knew it was Dean wondering where he went and Dean didn't need to know. He'd hoped the honky tonk Sam had left him at, perched on a bar stool and lazily watching a pool game would keep him occupied longer. Dean could steal a car to get back to the motel or take a cab if he were feeling lazy.
He was the only Winchester not to make a deal. Maybe if they kept summoning the crossroads demon they could juggle contracts indefinitely.
Sam had stripped off his shirt in the mid-August heat; he was so far from civilization that no one would see. He had to choose an isolated place so that no one would notice what he was doing.
A dog bayed somewhere just at the very reach of his hearing and Sam shivered. He had to admit this place was eerie enough to be a Hollywood horror set. It was a three-way crossroads rather than the more common four ways and there was a small, broken cemetery on a hill nearby; centuries-old tombstones were toppled over or sat crooked on their graves. A small stream ran to his left that created a big enough pool of stagnate water to spawn frogs. Their constant chirping was getting under Sam's skin, making him twitchy. The moon was just past new, so even after his eyes had adjusted he couldn't see as well as he liked. He was not risking using a flashlight that could rob him of what little night vision he had.
There was a feeling of waiting, as if someone or something were watching him from the shadows, anticipating. Sam's attention was jerked to the edge of the stream. He thought he had seen someone, but it was just branches of the willows along the bank stirring in the wind. The baying seemed to get a little closer and he checked for his pistol. It'd be a joke if he was killed by feral dogs while trying to summon a demon.
He buried the box with all of its assorted occult items and sat in the middle of the road. This would either work or it wouldn't. The demon had to find someone to possess before it transported its host here; there was no telling how long he would have to wait. Sam felt a guilty twinge; he'd been possessed once and it was horrific. Sometimes these crossroads demons wanted a little immediate and personal payment as part of the deal to enjoy before it left its host. It was rape, but Sam felt desperate enough to do it. Dean didn't have much time left and what was one rape compared to someone's life?
Something seemed to move in the willow branches by the stream, but he could never see anyone there. He swallowed and just waited. If he left the crossroads the summoning spell would break.
"Why Sam, I'm honored. The boss has assigned me to you Winchesters. As many deals as your family wants to make you almost need someone full time."
The voice came from behind him and the crunching of dry dirt and gravel made a surprisingly loud sound as Sam lunged upright and turned.
Dean had told him this demon preferred women as hosts but Sam was not prepared for the reality. The woman was blonde, wearing a ripped up tee shirt and bikini cut underwear and looked all of 18 or 19. She didn't look exactly like Jessica but there was enough of a resemblance for Sam to realize the demon had done it on purpose. Her hand softly touched his chest and he knew that taking off his shirt wasn't such a good idea. Her touch felt filthy but his cock started getting hard. He knew then what she'd want if they came to an agreement.
Sam steeled himself not to pull away from her touch, not to break eye contact.
"I'm here about Dean. You can have both of us, just…"
"No no Sam, before we even bargain I need a gesture of good faith." Her smile was soft, almost shy, but there was ancient evil lurking behind it. "Blood sacrifice."
He laughed. "Want some of my demon-tainted blood? Fine sweetheart, you can have it."
Her only response was a giggle. "No, not yours Sam. You've left enough blood behind on your hunts." She ran a suggestive hand over the body she was possessing; down her jaw and over her breast before brushing between her legs suggestively. "I want her blood."
"You want me to kill your host?" Sam was dumbfounded. "It'll be a little hard to bargain, don't you think? Or do you just want me to kill her and wait with the body until you find someone else to possess?"
The demon actually squealed in delight. "As much fun as that sounds, no. Besides, that's a little too crude for you." She pressed her possessed body up against Sam's and stood on tip toe to whisper in his ear. "She's a virgin. I want you to take us, throw us down in the middle of the crossroads and fuck us, long and slow and hard. Rip this little girl open with that monster cock of yours and let that be your blood sacrifice." Sam closed his eyes as his level of arousal increased, but that didn't stop the whispering. "Deep down, no matter how good or sweet or loving you are, all men want to do it. All you have to do is turn it loose Sam. Want you to mark her up good as you fuck us. I want to feel the pleasure of sex and enjoy her pain when you breach her. I promise, she won't remember what happened. She'll just wake up at the crossroads in the morning, well fucked and naked." She writhed against him, almost desperate. "I promise that will put me in a very, very good mood."
Sam was disgusted but not surprised. When Meg possessed him for those two weeks, she smoked, drank and screwed around. He was glad that the worst diseases he caught were Chlamydia and syphilis.
Before Sam could even force himself to answer a cold, dry wind struck him from behind and the possessed girl that had been writhing against him sprawled in the dirt a few feet away. He stared in disbelief; the sudden gust had not been that strong.
As the demon-possessed girl looked up, she focused on something behind him and to his right. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a dark figure and quickly jumped out of the way. Last thing he wanted was to get into the middle of a demonic fight.
"You," the crossroads demon snarled as she got to her feet, her eyes flashing then remaining red.
Sam turned to see a woman, tall, taller than the possessed girl with dark, wild hair and three jet-black dogs lolling at her feet. Her skin was pale but she still looked human, although her eyes were black speckled with bits of light, reflecting the bright stars in the near moonless night above them.
The woman smiled and Sam shivered, the night suddenly cool. Her face held some sort of otherworldly rage. He knew that whatever she --or it-- was, it was not any type of demon, ghost or creature he would ever run across.
He could hear the crossroads demon moving and quickly looked at her and backed up a few paces to keep both of them in his line of sight. He did not want to get between them and he could not leave. Even though he had considered raping her, there was still a young woman in the crossroads and she was there because Sam had summoned the demon possessing her.
The girl was dirty now, a raw scrape on her cheek from the rough surface of the road. She barred her teeth at the new arrival.
"You hag, you washed up has been. What are you doing here?" The last word came out as a rough, almost rumbling shout.
The strange, dark woman just continued to smile eerily as one of the dogs whined for her attention. One of her hands lovingly stroked the large dog's head.
"Better a has been then a never been." The woman's voice had a bizarre effect on Sam, it was both cooling and somewhat refreshing, like the first cool breeze before a storm broke in hot weather. It also held the same terrifying power of an oncoming storm and he wondered what the hell he had just gotten himself in the middle of.
The dark woman continued speaking, her words vibrating around him.
"You have usurped my trappings for the last time demon." The last word was cut off and abrupt, as if the word was so foul to this woman she could barely stand to speak it. "You have profaned My sacred rites for almost two millennia now."
"And you have done nothing to stop us you bitch, i nothing /i . We're taking over, your time has past and this world is ours now!"
"Yours?" The woman asked casually and pointed at him. Sam backed up a few more steps. "I think his kind have something to say about that."
The crossroads demon did not even bother to glance at Sam. "They are nothing, when one of them manages to actually kill one of us it's a fluke, an aberration. They are nothing more than cats batting at moths. They are pets, food and nothing more."
The woman laughed and it held a mocking derision that felt like icicles to the chest. Whatever it was, it affected the demon far more than it did him as she paled and staggered back a few steps.
"Then why do you bargain so? If they are yours, what need do you have of their goods? The truth is that they must acquiesce to you for you to truly do them eternal harm."
The crossroads demon looked wild at this statement. "It means nothing! Nothing! You can't touch me." She turned back to Sam, a savage look on her face. "What do you want? I'll give it to you – I'll be generous, just to show this sorceress bitch our power."
Sam just gawped at her, so stunned by this turn of events he could not answer at once.
"You want Dean's soul back." She hissed, small hands grasping at his wrist. "Make me an offer, any thing!"
The woman just laughed again. "You never had a claim on Dean's soul and you know it. My northern sisters made a prior claimed him before he was 20. They take turns hovering over him, each one hoping to be the one that convinces him to accept their invitation to Valhalla. Do you really think the Valkyries would let a true warrior fall into your hands? All you ever had was his death."
Sam shouted as the crossroads demon clawed his chest in rage and wrenched himself back from her. His eyes snapped to the strange woman, the demon's reactions to her words a sure sign she was telling the truth.
"Yes Samuel, that is correct. These demons cannot truly take anyone's soul unless they allow it. The demons say their word is their bond, but their bonds are only as good as the intensions behind their words. It is with a web of words and double talk they persuade their victims that they have sold their eternal souls. They ask for something that can never be truly bartered."
Sam staggered a few steps towards the woman, leaving the crossroads demon snarling behind him. He dimly understood she held important truths. Before he could ask, she answered him.
"Your father knew this at the last. He let them lead him into their world so he could spy and wait for the chance to aid in your fight. When the demon you chased was finally dead, he went to where i he /i wished. They never had any hold over him. He traded his death for Dean's life; nothing more."
"Bitch!" The crossroads demon screamed her host collapsing to her knees as the demon streamed out of the girl's eyes and mouth, ready to run. The woman laughed again as the demon hovered ten feet above the girl who had collapsed unconscious on her face. The darkness that was the demon thrashed futilely but seemed held in an invisible ball. The dogs bayed excitedly, like hounds that had something treed.
The woman took a few steps closer to the demon, the pinpricks of light in her eyes blazing.
"My followers came to the crossroads looking for my aid. My rites were to relieve their suffering and you dared to come to them, taking advantage of their desperation. They came to the crossroads to decide their ways in life, to commune with their dead, to pray for my aid in protecting women and their children. I tell you now not only are you going to be destroyed but also all of your blasphemous deals will be broken. Your victims will keep what you bartered to them but they will not be beholden to i you /i . My worshipers are growing as is My power."
Samuel gasped, realizing that Dean and everyone else this demon made a deal with were completely and totally free, no strings attached.
Her voice rose, cresting with an awful power. "Ask Me Samuel, ask Me who I am."
Sam shuddered. Names were power in magic. Knowing a demon's name could give you power over it, the name of the Jewish god was so sacred that it was not to be spoken aloud, some gods killed those that dared ask them for their names. But this being-- whatever she was-- wanted Sam to ask, it was almost like she were offering her name as a gift.
He could barely force the words out through his dry throat. "Who-- who are you?" His voice was barely a whisper and for a moment Sam was terrified he had not asked her loud enough.
"I am the One Before the Gates. I am the Mighty One and Queen of the Dead. I am the Goddess of the Three Roads. I am i Hecate i , Mistress of the Ways and Paths that Cross."
Sam shook where he stood. Hecate was the goddess of ghosts, witches and demons. Why was she here killing a demon? Why did she care about breaking the deals this particular hell spawn had made and freeing her victims?
"Watch Samuel!" Her voice compelled him for the first time. "Watch as I reclaim My rites from those that have profaned them. Stand witness!"
Her last words were a roar without sound. The crossroads demon shrieked and screamed as it seemed to twist in on itself, writhing and imploding soundlessly before it was gone, taking along with it the feeling of filth she had left behind.
The only sound was Sam breathing harshly. The dogs had fallen quiet as soon as their mistress began speaking. The three-way crossroads, the cemetery, the frogs and willow trees-- all were sacred to this dark goddess.
Hecate looked at him oddly for almost a full minute before she slowly moved towards him.
"I have a deal to offer you Samuel." She tossed a roll of parchment at his feet. "You can take it up if you choose or walk away. You have served my purposes for this night already and I offer you my thanks. I believe that you will find the deal I offer you much more equitable."
"Why," Sam lost his voice before finding it again. "Why would I want to make a deal with you? You're just as bad..."
She raised her hand and Sam fell silent, unsure if it was some sort of compulsion or fear.
"You believe the lies spread about me Samuel? Yes, I am Goddess of ghosts; your ancestors beseeched my protection from them. Demons I have never trafficked with. Witches? Yes, some witches consider me their goddess and their devotions have given me power I have not had in centuries. I am the Goddess of Boundaries, between life and death, protector of women giving birth to new life. I assist those who call upon Me to make the transition between life and death. I am the Keeper at the Gates between this world and others. I stand guard over the dusk and dawn, the two most dangerous times of day. Dark I may be Samuel, but dark does not mean evil. You and Dean have darkness within you, but that darkness is not evil. The darkness gives you strength. That you have a small bit of darkness within you means that you are not afraid to see what the dark might hold. Remember, the Gods of the old religion become the demons of the new."
He stared back at her, thoughts tumbling like opening locks through his mind. How much did he really know about her? How many texts had he read about her were written while she was still being worship and not from second or third hand accounts centuries later?
"What do you want?"
Hecate smiled and then pointed to the scroll at his feet. "I have given you a ritual that will kill crossroad demons and break all of the deals they have made. It is a new ritual. You will not find it anywhere in your studies. Take it and kill them in My name. Place my symbol wherever you destroy one to let it be known that it was done in My name. I acknowledge the work that you and Dean do will be dangerous and difficult so I offer you this. In return, for every three demons you kill I shall give you and your brother one life." She held up a single forefinger to emphasize her point. "The person you bring back will be totally healed of whatever ailed them. The person you chose must have been dead for less than three nights. As I am Goddess of the boundaries between life and death, I can offer this to you in My name and My name only.
If you take up the scroll and decide you do not want to do this, you can leave here with your brother's life and soul intact. I will not punish you for not taking up this burden if you do not want it. I prefer that those who work in My name do so willingly. I only ask that you give the ritual to others that would use it. The offer of life however, is only good for you and your brother."
Sam blinked, dumbfounded. "Why me? Why us? Other hunters have summoned crossroad demons."
The goddess seemed to look right through him with her starry eyes. "Your mother was one of my followers Samuel. She cried out to Me in desperation during her labor with you. Did your father not tell you that you almost died at your birth? Your family was chosen by that demon," again she spat out the word, "to mock Me. He wanted to contaminate you, one of the children I had been called upon to protect during their birth. He wanted to taint you to teach your mother and all of my followers a lesson." Hecate barred her teeth and her dogs began to growl. "He was contaminating children already, but you were always his special favorite because of your mother. I could not save your mother, as my new power was still weak and I was assisting another; twenty-two years ago, my worship was just beginning again. Now my followers have multiplied a thousand fold and so has my power, and it grows every time someone remembers me, worships me and even calls for my aid."
"But dad…"
"Your father did not know Samuel. Your mother kept it hidden from him, fearing what he would do. All signs that she worshiped me were destroyed in the fire." She stepped closer to him, the dogs brushing up against his legs as she laid a cool, somewhat comforting hand on his chest and suddenly she was as tall as he was, staring him straight in the eyes. "What a glorious mistake the demon made. You grew up sending ghosts back to the places that they belong, you and Dean became hunters in the night, the closest thing I have to warriors. You send back what should not have slipped through a gate. Your mother would have chosen a more peaceful life for you Samuel, but she is proud of you and what you have done. She chose to stay at your home as a guardian at the gates, knowing what evil would try to break through there. Despite what that old fumbling seer in Lawrence told you she did not destroy herself. You and your brother had come; you banished the evil that was there as a i family /i and she saw you again. At that, your mother chose to move on to a place of her choosing, as your father did later."
There didn't seem to be enough air in the night as he stared into her fathomless eyes. Everything she told him rang true, explained so much, was in some ways so comforting…
"Samuel, you were one of my special children long before the demons; why do you think you were one of the few not to fall prey to that bit of evil he tried to implant in you? I demand nothing of you, your mother followed me, but her choice does not bind you, although I would be proud to claim you if you chose. I offer you my deal out of affection, remembering you fondly as one of the first children born to my new followers."
The goddess stepped back again. "I have come to aid you at the crossroads. I have given you the truth. I offer you a dark but goodly power. As you stand here at this place of power Samuel you to have to chose which path to take."
One of the dogs licked his hand and suddenly he was standing alone at the crossroads, the goddess and the girl gone, the box he had buried at his feet along with the scroll the goddess had given him. After a long moment, he took up the scroll and put it reverently in the trunk of the Impala along with their other weapons.
Then he came back to the center of the crossroads, opened the old cardboard box he had used to summon the demon, doused it with lighter fluid and set it on fire.
His choice was made.
Sam summons a crossroad demon and someone crashes the party.