The air is stale in Lucky Leo's Arcade; the shore tourist season won't start for another two months. The clear windows boast the arcade is 'open year round.' However, there is nothing like heat inside, and the March winds rattle the building. Sand blows up on the boardwalk, battering the closed gaming stands.
Inside the arcade the lights still flash, and the machines still squeal with music and explosions. A bored looking college student stands behind the counter filled with plastic toys and electronics that can be won with the right number of tickets.
There are no children now, just an old man in the back, plugging quarters into the rickety old skeeball machines. It's his favorite, you see. The wooden balls racket down the square shoot, lined up perfectly waiting for him to make his selection. Eight chances for the highest score possible.
He's on his fifth ball before the stranger comes up to him. The old man ignores him, rolling the ball which spins along the track, rocketing off the ramp and into the 150 point target.
"I've heard you did this, but I didn't believe it until now." The stranger's voice is raspy, as if he'd smoked too many cigarettes in his lifetime. "I assume you're taking better precautions these days."
The old man still doesn't speak. He moves to the sixth ball. The stranger continues to watch. "Typical. Your silence is what's going to doom this world. I've got your little princess all picked out. She's going to be mine, just like the others."
The old man spins two more balls in quick succession, and if his throws are harder and less accurate, the stranger doesn't comment. "You don't think I can do it. You're pretty sure your little chosen ones are going to stop me. But you're wrong. They may have bought you some time seven years ago, but I will win this time."
The last ball has been thrown and the machine beeps, sending out a stream of cardboard tickets from the front slot. The old man bends and rips his winnings off. He turns to the stranger and says, "I'm sorry, were you talking to me?"
The stranger's eyes flash yellow, liquid spilling across his dark pupils.
"She's just a little girl," a female voice said. "She's just a little girl!"
And in less than a moment Sam sees a flash of yellow eyes, the darkness of night, a car racing past. There is a house with all the lights on, and a woman standing in the doorway. She's crying.
The vision skips a beat, and he sees the girl, jumping rope on the sidewalk. She turns and screams as hands grasp her and pull her into the darkness.
When he came to, his head aches and his brother is at his side.
"Dean," he said, "I think we have to go to Illinois."
They've had less to go on. This time Sam got lucky, he managed to see both a street sign and an Illinois license plate in his vision. Sam managed to grab the name of the town and it's enough information that Dean finally agreed to set off driving to McHenry, Illinois.
He slept off the migraine in the car, head pressed against the glass of the passenger side window. He doesn't wake until the motion of the car stops, startling him out of his doze. Dean's outside, gassing up the car.
Sam got out of the car, and stretched his legs a bit before leaning against the side. He figures he must have lines across his face again, and rubbed at his cheek.
"Do we know how we're going to play this?" Dean's come around the side of the car, and hands Sam a cup of coffee.
"We find the house first, that's where they live."
"This chick the demon's going to kidnap?"
Sam took a sip of the coffee and nearly gagged. It's way too bitter. "I think so. I mean, it's not clear. Something takes her. And since my visions mostly deal with the demon…"
"These visions don't tend to end well." Dean snapped
"You think I don't know that? But we have to check it out, Dean. She's just a little girl…" he realized he's echoing the vision and snapped his mouth closed.
Dean's gone over to the driver's side. "Well come on then, Sammy, don't want to be late…"
They have to drive through McHenry twice until they find the street sign Sam saw in his vision. It takes them another fifteen minutes to find the house. Dean parked across the street from it and turned off the car. Just when he's about to ask Sam the plan it happens again…
Pain flares behind his eyes and Sam is somewhere else.
It's a church, old, filled with people. Children are laughing, milling around the front dressed in startling white suits and dresses. He sees her, the girl, with the woman, their hands linked as they walk through the doors of the church.
That's when the screaming starts.
"Sam! God damn it, Sammy…"
This time he's sure he's out of it longer than before. "It's the girl again. I think he wants to kill her."
"We need more information than that, Sam. What are we going to do? Ring the bell, ask politely if little Mary Sue can come play so we can protect her from some demon son of a bitch who's trying to kill her?"
"We could…" Sam paused, the idea suddenly coming to him, "we could kidnap her."
"What?"
"Get her away from here, away from the house, the church, any place he could think to look for her. Protect her."
Dean smacked him on the back of his head. "Your brain get more fried than usual? What the fuck are you thinking?"
"We can't let him kill a child, Dean."
"Ok, ok, chill. Let's figure it out. What do we know?"
Sam shook his head. "It doesn't fit any of the patterns. The girl is six or seven years old, not six months. The mother is apparently alive and well. I haven't seen any of the signs Dad told us to watch out for, no electrical storms or cattle mutilation."
"Ok, here's what we're going to do." Dean reached for the door handle. "I'm going out there to get their name from the mailbox – you're sure this is the house?" Sam nodded. "Then you do what you do best, geekboy, find information."
It's surprisingly easy to find information about Bethany Sloane, Sam discovered searching through the local newspaper archive at the local library. Turned out she worked at an abortion clinic until up about seven years ago, right when her daughter was born. He found the birth announcement too, Christy Serendipity Sloane. There were more articles with Bethany's name in them, apparently she volunteered in the community, got herself a bit of a reputation for that.
Dean had scoped out the neighborhood, chatted up some of the neighbors. Bethany and her daughter were well liked. Christy was a happy kid, apparently. Made friends real easily.
They were parked across the street from the house again when a car pulled up into the driveway of the house. A woman and girl got out, the girl pulling a backpack from the trunk.
"Those the gals from your vision?" Dean asked.
Sam swallowed. "Yeah."
"Ok…reporters or FBI?"
"Dean, that's not going to work. We can't ask questions about something that hasn't happened yet."
"Gas leak?"
"I don't know when it's going to happen, I've seen two different places. I think…maybe we've already changed it from happening the way it was supposed to the first time, just by being here."
"Ok, ok, fine. So, stakeout?"
Sam rubbed his eyes. "At least until we get more info."
"Uh, Sam, Sam, wake up…" Dean hissed, jabbing an elbow in his ribs.
The sun had gone down and they were no closer to figuring out what they were going to do. Sam must have fallen asleep – the headaches tended to take a lot out of him. He woke at Dean's jab and opened his mouth to ask what was going on when he saw her storming across the street to pound on the window of the Impala.
"I don't know who you fuckers think you are, but I don't work at that fucking clinic anymore, so you can get your fucking activist asses out of my neighborhood!"
Sam winced. "We're not, uh, activists." He shouted through the window.
"They why the hell are you watching my house? And asking my neighbors about me?" She held out the cordless phone she had carried out of her house. "Make it quick, I have the cops on speed dial…"
Dean rolled down the window halfway. "Actually, we are the cops, we're here to…"
Sam leaned forward. "Your daughter is in danger. We just want to help."
"In danger from what?" Bethany demanded.
Before either of them could answer, a clear voice called from the house, "Mommy!"
Bethany turned, "Go back inside, sweetheart, mommy's got this."
Christy ignored her mother and ran across the street. She looked long and hard at Sam, her dark eyes intense in the twilight. "What's wrong?"
He couldn't lie to her, felt like the world would end if he lied to her. "The demon wants to kill you."
"Sam?" Dean whirled around, his eyes widening in shock. Sam knew what he was thinking, normally Sam was immune to anyone using their psychic abilities on him. Well, this was a nice change of pace.
"Of course," Bethany appeared to be talking to herself, "I shouldn't have expected anything else. I forgot about her sense of humor…so what are you guys? Prophets? Forgotten apostles? Let me guess, elves? I haven't met any of those yet."
"Wait, you believe us?" Dean asked.
She put one hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I sort of have to. Nobody can lie to Christy. She'll see through it anyway."
"She's a psychic?" Sam asked. He was always eager for more information about people like himself.
"Not exactly." Bethany cocked her head to one side.
"We want to help you. Honestly," Sam looked directly at Christy as he said it. "We want to save you."
Bethany sighed. "I guess you guys had better come on in."
Bethany served them coffee. After about five minutes listening to Sam and Dean speak, she wished she had spiked her own cup with something a bit stronger. She was glad she had sent Christy up to her room while they talked. The kid so did not need to be hearing this.
Christ, she thought she was done with demons and all that bullshit.
They looked like such normal guys too. A bit younger than herself, and much better looking than she'd seen in a while. Hard to believe they were demon hunters, or ghost busters, or whatever they called themselves.
"So this demon," she began, aware they were giving an abridged version, and right now she didn't think she wanted to know the intricate details. "You have no idea what he wants with my daughter?"
"We're hoping you can shed some light on that. You didn't seem to be surprised when I mentioned it in the car." Sam's eyes went soft.
Bethany frowned. "It's not the first time I've had to deal with something like this…" How to put this exactly? Might as well go for the gusto. "About 7 years ago, I helped save the world. Couple of fallen angels would have gotten back into heaven against God's wishes due to a loophole in Catholic dogma called plenary indulgence. If that had happened, we would have all blinked out of existence." she could tell she was losing them. "Turns out it was all a plot by this demon who wanted to end everything, he was sick of living in hell. We killed him, but were too late to stop the angels from going forward with his fucked up plan."
"We?" Dean asked.
"Couple of prophets, the thirteenth apostle and a muse," Bethany said with a smile.
Dean turned to his brother, "Is this how we sound to other people?"
"So how did you stop them?" Sam ignored him.
"I didn't. God did. She fixed everything once I got her off life-support…."
Sam was rubbing at his forehead again. Dean looked at her. "God's a woman? Course she is…"
"No jokes," she smacked his hand. "Trust me, it was just as weird as it sounds. Try hearing that you're the last living relative of Jesus Christ and see what that does to you."
"You're the…" Sam started.
"Like the DaVinci code?" Dean asked. Sam muttered something under his breath about not taking him to the movies ever again.
"Exactly. Only nothing like that. And I'm not the last anymore, there's Christy." She looked up the stairs, making sure her daughter wasn't sitting on the landing and listening in. Christy wasn't exactly ignorant of her own origins, but there were still some things she wanted to keep to herself. Christy deserved to have a childhood. "She's my miracle baby."
"What other powers does she have?"
"She doesn't have powers," Bethany snapped. "She's just a little girl." Sam's face had gone white. "People can't lie to her, but I think that's because…well, she's touched by God. She can't hide that." She couldn't tell them more than that. That was her secret to guard, no matter how helpful they wanted to be.
"Touched by god," Dean repeated, "Really doesn't sound like the Demon's MO."
"Bethany, in my vision I saw a church and Christy in a white dress. Does that mean anything to you?" Sam asked.
She nodded. "Christy is making her First Communion on Sunday."
Sam sat back, a frown on his face. "First Communion? That's a right of passage, isn't it? Like baptism for an infant…"
"No way," Dean muttered.
"We have to keep her from that church. That's where he'll try to take her."
"But it's a church, for God's sake, shouldn't that be the safest place for her?"
They both were shaking their heads. "These guys don't have a problem with killing on holy ground. We…we lost a friend like that."
She stood and began pacing. "I can't keep her from making her Communion. We're going to have a huge party here afterwards, my family, her friends…I'd have to tell everyone not to come…"
"No," Dean stood. "You can't tell anyone. The Demon will know you know."
"And any one of the people you call could be possessed," Sam added.
"So, what do we do now?"
Dean picked up the duffle bag he had brought in with them. "We do our best to prevent them from coming in."
Well, Dean thought, stepping into Christy's bedroom, purple was a step up over pink. Christy was no tomboy, if the shelves of dolls and ruffled bedspread were any indication. She also seemed to have a disturbing number of stuffed unicorns tucked in odd places, two on her bed, one sitting up on her window seat, and two plastics ones on their side on her desk.
She sat curled up on the plush looking bed, a doll tucked between her arm and body, while the other hand kept her place on a large colorful looking book. "Hi." She sat up when he entered.
"Uh, hi." He flashed a grin. "I'm just going to put some stuff on your window, ok?"
She smiled back. She really did look a lot like Bethany, her mother's features on a smaller, chubbier frame. If she made it through this, Dean thought, Bethany was going to have to beat the boys off with a stick. "What kind of stuff?"
"Rock salt." He showed her the bag from his duffle. They ended up buying the stuff in bulk, since they used so much of it. "It'll keep the monsters out."
"There's no such thing as monsters." She set her hands under her chin, regarding him thoughtfully.
He moved over to the window, pulling the curtains away from the sill so he could work. "I hate to tell you this, kid, but there are definitely monsters out there. But you're not going to have to worry about them with me and Sam here." Dean poured the salt in a perfect, unbroken line. "Demons can't cross salt lines, so we're going to make sure nothing can get in this room."
"You don't have to talk to me like a little kid, you know."
He turned and raised an eyebrow. "I don't?"
"Nope. Mrs. Rickard says I read at an 8th grade level."
Of course, that made perfect sense. Dean leaned over to see what the kid was reading and was surprised that the brightly colored pictures were illustrating medieval tapestries instead of puppies and kittens, or whatever the hell little girls liked to read. Of course, he look a second look, those medieval tapestries were of unicorns.
"I guess you like unicorns."
She smirked. "They were a medieval symbol for Christ."
God, she sounded a lot like Sammy when he was a kid.
"They did that a lot, hid things in pictures." She turned the page. "Like even the color of a flower could mean something."
"You wouldn't happen to speak Latin too, would ya?"
A tap at the door caused him to look up.
"Am I interrupting story time?" Sam asked with a smirk.
"Shut up." Dean pushed himself up from where he was crouching. "I salted the windows. You carving the symbols?"
Sam nodded. Good.
Bethany didn't know what good salt was going to do them, or the protective symbols Sam had carved into the doors and windows. She let them do it anyway, once again swept into something she had little understanding of. She offered them her couch for the night – it folded out into a double.
Christy was in her room playing with her dolls when Bethany went upstairs to tuck her in. She wasn't quite sure what to tell her. "Time for bed, hon."
Christy looked up, "Are Sam and Dean staying?"
Bethany sat on the bed and patted the space next to her. Christy curled up beside her. "Yeah, Chris, for tonight."
"I like them, they feel nice."
Bethany frowned. Please don't let this be anything, she prayed, let her be a little girl. "Get some sleep now, hon, we'll talk more about it in the morning."
How did you tell your seven year old that not only did demons exist, but they were out to kill her? And barring that, how to tell her she was part divine?
Before she went to bed, Bethany knelt to pray, like she did every night. "You know," she whispered, "now would be a really good time to give me a clue. She's never been in danger before. She's your child…" Bethany trailed off. "Please help us…"
She was half asleep when she realized what it was she had to do.
"Get up, boys. We're going to Jersey."
Sam was pretty sure Dean had his hand on his knife, so it was a good thing he woke up first. Bethany was standing at the food of the sofa bed, fully dressed and with a gleam in her eye. "Christy's almost ready. I think she's packing her dolls. I'm not a big fan of Barbie, but well, she likes them…"
"Wait a minute," Dean was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Jersey? As in New? That's like 14 hours away."
"There's coffee in the kitchen." She spun on her heel and turned back.
Sam pulled on his jeans and slid out of the bed to follow her. He took the cup she had poured, taking a long swallow before asking. "Why there?"
"Because that's where everything happened the first time…seven years ago." Bethany was pouring a second cup, presumably for Dean. "The church that had the plenary indulgence, where God likes to play skeeball, where Christy was conceived…"
Sam stopped in mid-sip. He sniffed at the coffee, trying to determine if it had been spiked. "Did you say…where God likes to play skeeball?"
"She takes human form once a month to play. Gives her points to the local kids."
"Dude," Dean had entered the kitchen. "This is weird even for us."
"What do you think? Is she nuts or does she have a really close relationship with God?" Dean had taken advantage of the free shower and coffee and now looked almost human.
Sam was still trying to turn his mind around it. "Maybe it's not God, God. We've encountered demi-gods before. Maybe this is some benevolent spirit who's convinced Bethany that she is who she is."
"And why would the Demon be after Christy then?"
"Because she's one of the psychics," Sam answered without a beat. "He missed his chance when she was an infant, now he's going for her after the next rite of passage. Dean, this gives us a whole new pattern to search for…"
"Didn't you say he's trying to kill her?" Dean interrupted.
Sam paused. "I'm not sure. I see darkness and blood, but not who's dead."
Dean patted his shoulder awkwardly. "Yeah, well any more visions, let me know."
Bethany burst back into the kitchen, brandishing two large bottles of Air Freshener. "Found them."
"Uh, what?"
"They sent a shit-demon after me before. I'm going to be prepared this time."
"You know, you're entirely too happy about this," Dean said.
She slammed the bottles down on the table. "I'm not happy that my daughter's in danger. I'm sure as hell not happy that the forces of darkness are after us both. I'm just glad that I know what to do now."
"And taking a road trip to Jersey is the best you can come up with?"
"It's better than what we had last night, which was, oh that's right, absolutely nothing."
"Look," Sam stepped forward, trying to mediate. Dean always got uncomfortable when the G word was mentioned, and especially so if it meant the Demon was involved. That bastard had screwed up their lives, took their dad and who knew what it meant for Sam.
Before he could speak any further, the doorbell rang. They all froze.
"Wait here," Bethany told them, "I'll get it."
Dean peered at the bottles of air freshener. "Hmm," he murmured.
Bethany left them in the kitchen, a bit apprehensive. Who would be ringing her doorbell this early on a Saturday morning? Christy had appeared at the top of the steps with her backpack. "Just wait up there, hon!" she called, looking through the peephole.
It was only her friend Liz. Bethany let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding and opened the door. "Liz, what are you doing here?"
Liz stepped inside. "Just came around to see if you needed any help before the party."
"Aunt Liz!" Christy shouted, bounding down the steps towards them. She stopped just a few feet away from Liz, her face suddenly going white.
Bethany frowned. "Christy? What's wrong?" Out of the corner of her eye she saw Liz flinch when she said Christy's name. What the…
"Hey kid, don't you want to say hi to your aunt Liz?" Liz had her hand out, but Christy kept backing away.
"Mommy, something's wrong …" Christy whispered, tears running down her face.
"Christy, get into the kitchen," Bethany stood between her child and her friend. "Liz, what the hell is …" before she could finish, she found herself flying through the air and slammed against the wall. "Liz…"
Liz's eyes had gone completely black. "Liz isn't home right now."
So this is what they meant by possession. "Leave her alone!"
"You don't even know what you have, scion. Come along, little girl, unless you want to watch your mommy die…" the thing inside Liz had turned towards Christy, her hand held out. Christy kept backing up towards the kitchen.
"I don't think so," Dean shouted, coming through the door with Sam at his side. He raised his hand and sprayed the air freshener at Liz.
To her shock smoke started coming from Liz where the liquid hit her. She coughed and screamed as she fell to the ground.
Sam had picked up Christy and grabbed Bethany by the hand. "Let's go now!"
They ran out the front door, Dean pulling up the rear, still brandishing the large bottle of air freshener. Bethany followed Sam to their car, sliding into the backseat with Christy. Dean tossed his duffel in with them, then jumped into the driver seat, started the car and took off.
Bethany rocked Christy in her arms. "What the hell was that?"
"She was possessed," Sam told her. "by one of the demons. That must be how they snatched her in my first vision…"
"And air freshener is demon RAID?" Bethany spit out.
"I spiked it with Holy Water," Dean said proudly from the drivers' seat.
"Oh, dear lord." Bethany closed her eyes.
"Mommy," Christy's small voice broke into the conversation. "What's going on?"
Sam listened as Bethany told Christy that she wouldn't let anything happen to her. He pursed his lips. It was a promise he wanted to keep, but wasn't sure they'd be able to. He looked over to where Dean was gripping the steering wheel. He opened his mouth to speak, but ended up crying out again as another vision pulled him down instead…
It was too late. They were pulling her away, there were too many, dark hands like claws in the night, dragging Christy through the dirt. She screamed as they pulled her past Dean, lying motionless on the ground. Sam was running, but he knew he wouldn't reach them in time. The woods were closing in on them.
"Sam? Sam!" Dean was shouting.
"Don't pull over, keep driving…" Sam ground out. "I'm ok."
Bethany leaned her head on the seat. "What was that?"
"Vision," he explained.
"Anything helpful?" Dean looked over.
Sam saw his brother lying in the dirt, blood seeping from the side of his mouth, head hanging at an unnatural angle. "No. We were in the woods, somewhere. They were trying to take her…"
"They?"
"Demons."
"As in more than one?" Dean asked.
"Too many to count."
"Shit."
"Language," Bethany said, holding her hands over Christy's ears.
Sam looked over at her. Bethany held Christy to herself, stroking her daughter's hair gently. Her eyes were unfocused, as if she was deep in thought. "What aren't you telling us?"
"What?" Bethany turned around, her face flushing.
"What I saw…there's never been multiple demons going after a child like that. The only time…well, when our dad pissed off the yellow eyed demon." Sam said, trying to work it out in his mind.
"Christy, hon, why don't you listen to your ipod for a little bit, we have a long drive." Bethany zipped open Christy's backpack and handed her the ipod. She waited until Christy had her ears plugged with the earbuds and the music was loud enough for Sam to hear. Then she leaned back over the seat.
"You won't believe me, you haven't believed half the shit I've told you so far," she whispered.
"Try us," Dean suggested. "The Febreeze thing worked out ok."
She bit her lip, then finally met Sam's eyes. "Back in '99 when I went to Jersey – I couldn't have kids. Infection in my uterus. She…God that is, she healed me, and gave me Christy."
"She enabled you to get pregnant?" Sam asked, confused.
"I'm saying Christy is God's child," Bethany hissed, looking back to make sure her daughter wasn't listening. "Like the immaculate conception only without the virgin part."
Dean laughed. Sam jabbed him with his elbow. "Dean!"
"C'mon Sammy, do you honestly believe we have the second coming of Christ in the back seat of the Impala?"
"It's important that she believes it. And, besides…"
"Right the demi-god theory." Sam could hear Dean rolling his eyes. "Look, you know me, I only believe what I can see. The only thing I know is that those demons are after your little girl, just like all the other psychics we've met."
"Still doesn't explain why, Dean."
"I'm still working on that." Dean paused. "Wait, so you find out you're having God's baby and you name her Christy?"
"God has one hell of a sense of humor, you know."
Dean eyes flickered to the rear view mirror. The get away had been just a bit too clean. He needed to stop for gas soon, they were running low, but he sure as hell needed to make sure they weren't being followed before he stopped. They were making good time, he figured he'd have them to this church in Jersey at least two hours before someone following the speed limit would have them.
Not that he knew what the hell that was going to do for them. It was distance from Illinois, true, but they were backing themselves against the wall, driving to the coast like this.
"Dean?" Christy had leaned over the seat and tapped him gently on the shoulder. "I gotta use the bathroom. And I'm hungry."
He risked a glance back there; Bethany was dozing against the backseat. Sam looked up from paging through Dad's journal. "Ok, kid. Let me just find a good place to stop. Hold on."
Blue signs along the highway indicated food and gas at the next exit, so Dean took it. The facilities were a mile or two off the main drag in a small town. It was just like hundreds of places he'd seen across the country before. He pulled into the gas station and turned around.
Bethany was coming awake. She shook her head and looked around. "Where…?"
"Pit stop. We make this fast. Gas up, pee and get out. Sam and I will grab some food at the store. Don't poke the Amish."
"Just wait in the car for us when you get back," Sam was giving them his puppy-eyed expression. Dean wondered why he bothered.
It started out just fine, he set the car to pumping, then went to take a leak himself. In the bathroom he asked Sam if he had found anything in the Journal.
"Nothing like this."
Of course not, that would have been too damn easy to have found wedged between "wendigo" and "woman in white" something about "crazy lady who thinks her daughter is the second coming of Christ."
Sammy was always weird with the faith stuff. Dean couldn't figure out why he wasn't buying it this time. Maybe he had hoped too many times. That kinda thing got you killed.
The store was tiny, but it had the necessities, chips, snack cakes and bottled water. Couldn't get dehydrated on the road. Dean allowed Sam to sneak some travel boxes of cereal in his pile, they really did need something for the kid to eat.
They moved up to the counter, waiting patiently for an old woman to finish counting her change. When she was finally done, Dean slid his choices onto the counter.
"Lovely day, isn't?" The clerk flashed them a toothy grin.
"Oh it's just sunshine and rainbows."
"You seem to be awfully hungry," the clerk continued, putting the snacks into a plastic bag after scanning each one.
"Long drive." Sam said. Dean wondered if he thought the guy sounded like a demented Mr. Rogers too.
"That'll be twenty-seven fifty."
Dean handed him twenty-eight. "Just keep the change."
Sam grabbed the bags and turned to go.
"You know, you could just let him have her." The clerk's voice went from happy go lucky, to creepy and murderous.
Sam whirled and Dean tucked his hand in his jacket for the holy water. "What?"
"Let him have the little girl. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to make a deal for you." The clerk grinned again, his eyes going all black. "Aren't you Winchesters fond of deals?"
"You son of a bitch!" Dean cried.
"Don't shoot the messenger. I'm just here to tell you that if you leave the little bitch behind, he's willing to work something out. Maybe leave you two out of the final shebang, eh?"
Dean's stomach turned over. He must want her bad to be willing to make that kind of deal. And why the hell was the yellow eyed bastard even trying to contact them? Had to be a trap.
"Get back to the car, Sammy, make sure they're ok."
"Dean."
"Go!" He turned back to the demon, holy water out now. "You tell your boss we don't make deals."
"How disappointing. I thought you were more like your father than that." And then the clerk's mouth stretched wide, wider than a person's mouth should be able to stretch, expelling clouds of black smoke into the store.
Dean turned and ran back to the car. Who knew what would be following them next?
"Freakin' Garden state with it's stupid freakin' toll booths!"
Sam bit his cheek to keep from laughing. Dean was desperately trying not to curse in front of Christy and it showed. "I told you to get on route 9."
"Which would have taken forever. We need to make time, Sammy."
"Whatever," Sam rolled his eyes as Dean inched forward in the "Exact Change" line. He saw his brother looking over to the express ez-pass lanes. "Don't even think about it, the last thing we need is for you to be picked up for evading tolls of all things."
"Here," Bethany handed Sam the change she had cobbled out of the bottom of Christy's bag. "We're hiding from the police?"
"Any one of them could be possessed," Dean explained.
Sam coughed. He guessed she hadn't seen their faces on the 6 o'clock news a few months back. Better she not know.
It was also better that she didn't know about the demon at the rest stop. Sam still didn't know what they were going to do. Bethany was sure they needed to get to some church in Red Bank – the last place she had seen God. She finally told them that knowledge had come in a dream, but Sam really was the last person who should be knocking that kind of information.
"It's getting late," Dean interrupted his thoughts. "We should think about finding a place to camp out for the night."
"We're not going straight to the church?" Bethany asked, straightening in her seat. Christy had her dolls out and was currently having a Barbie walk along the seams of the backseat upholstery. She was humming under her breath.
"We need a place to make a stand. I don't feel like shooting up a church in the middle of the night. A motel is a much better place for a shootout."
"You think they're coming tonight?" Sam asked. "Dean?"
Dean shrugged, easing the Impala between the slim concrete barriers of the tollbooth. "Give me the goddamn 35 cents…"
Bethany watched Sam pour salt along the floor under the doorway. It was easier than watching Dean clean and load his guns. For the first time she wondered exactly who she had gotten mixed up with. They were nothing like her previous companions. Perhaps she had put too much trust in Christy's sixth sense.
Then she remembered Liz's eyes going dark and how she had managed to toss Bethany across the room without lifting a finger. Bethany eyed the guns with new appreciation.
"We sleep in shifts." Dean tossed Sam a sawed off shotgun. Sam opened the gun and checked the ammunition. "You take the first one, wake me up around 3."
"What about me?" Bethany curled up on one of the motel room's two double beds, Christy already asleep at her side. It had been a long day for her. Bethany still didn't know what Christy thought of all this. She had told her daughter some bad men were after her, but she was hard pressed to explain what had happened to her Aunt Liz.
It had been Dean who had sat down and explained demonic possession to her seven year old.
"Our dad always told us to know the enemy," he told her. "It's information that will keep her safe."
She wondered if he had children, he seemed to be more comfortable with a child than his brother.
Right now he stooped by her bed, smoothing the covers around Christy. "You get as much rest as you can, it's going to be a long night."
"How am I supposed to sleep? They could be out there, waiting for us."
"They can't cross the salt," Sam said reasonably, peaking around the flimsy curtain of the front window. "And, this isn't the place from my vision. I don't think they're ready to hit us with all they've got yet."
"Well, that's reassuring." Dean dropped onto the second bed. "Hit the light, Sammy. Wake me up in 5 hours."
"I know, Dean."
Bethany lay back against the pillow, her head sinking nearly to the cardboard hard mattress. They had found this run down place just outside of Red Bank, a little truck stop motel off a two-bit excuse for a highway. Dean had gotten the room, had parked the Impala sideways in front of the door – an extra shield if they needed it. Inside they found cheap wallpaper, old stained carpet, and two beds that looked very welcome at that time of night.
Why was Dean so sure the demons were out there? He had gotten increasingly agitated after they had left that rest stop in Pennsylvania. Something must have happened.
All she could hear were Dean's soft snores in the dark room. Bethany closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but still strained to listen. Was that the plumbing dripping, or were those footsteps?
It was so dark, they could be anywhere, could be in this room with her, monsters lying in wait under the bed. She gulped in deep breaths of air, leaning over to cover Christy with her body. Let them come, let them try to take her daughter. She'd show them what a scion was capable of, damn it.
"Still being overly dramatic I see."
She sat up quickly, the light almost blinding. But she wasn't in bed, and this wasn't the hotel. Mariachi music played, as three men in Mexican hats approached her and started to play. She looked around the restaurant, eyes settling on a welcome face in the crowd.
"Metatron." She grinned, moving to sit beside him. "I've been waiting for you to show up."
"Oh? So confident are we?"
She poked him. "How else was God going to get in touch with me?"
He signaled the waiter over and asked her "Tequila?"
"No, I'm good." She sat back and took in his features, the worn, but handsome face, the perpetual scowl he wore like a badge. "What am I supposed to do?"
He took a shot, swirled it and then spat it out before answering. "You're doing it."
"Hiding out in a dingy motel room?" Bethany raised an eyebrow.
"You know better than that."
"Something told me to come back here, where it all started. I just…I just need to know I'm doing the right thing. If anything happened to Christy I'd…" she trailed off, not wanting to finish.
"You have your protectors, Bethany. But they aren't your only friends in this. Listen to the prophets, they'll show you the way."
"What?" Bethany asked, and realized she was sitting up in the motel room. Metatron, the restaurant, both were gone.
Dean's eyes flickered to the rear view mirror every so often, watching Bethany as she stared out the window, one arm thrown around her daughter.
Around five am that morning, Bethany had slipped out of bed and stood by his side as he kept watch over the parking lot. The sun slowly crept across the sky, illuminating the cars in the lot, the forest green dumpster, and the weeds waving in the early morning breeze. Nothing the remotely resembled a demon had showed.
"Thank you," Bethany said softly, fisting her hands in her pockets. Dean spared her a glance.
"It's what we do." He flickered his gaze back out there. "You seem all right for someone who's completely insane."
Bethany let out a laugh and he smiled in triumph. "I try." She touched his shoulder then, briefly. "Please keep her safe."
He wasn't sure if she was still talking to him at that point. So he just nodded.
They were all a bit more subdued this morning. Christy hadn't even taken her dolls out of her backpack. Dean's eyes felt strained and gummy. He had spent a long night watching shadows in the parking lot. None had come very close.
They hadn't even stopped for coffee, intent on hitting the road and finding this church. Traffic was non-existent, but the lights on this route seemed determined to keep them from their destination.
"Do you think stop lights can be possessed?" he asked Sam.
"Wait, pull over there!" Bethany shouted.
Dean swerved. "What the f…"
"That store over there…Quick Stop…"
Well, he was pretty desperate for coffee. The place looked rundown, there were no other cars in front of it. Two guys stood against the wall in the parking lot, which seemed strange for so early on a Sunday morning.
"I don't believe it." Bethany said. She turned to Christy, "Put your headphones on. Jay has a bit of a potty mouth."
Dean and Sam both turned to look at her. "What?"
"I know these guys." She slipped out of the car and towards the strangers, tugging Christy behind her.
"Sam…"
"I'll get the holy water air freshener."
"Good boy."
They followed Bethany.
"Shit, Silent Bob, fucking yuppies are invading. Not that we have any problem with that. We treat all our customers the same…." The thin one started off.
Bethany ignored him and moved to hug his trench coat covered companion. He in turn grinned and hugged her back.
"Fuck, lunchbox. Chicks do dig the silent type."
"It's good to see you, Bob." She pulled back. "And you too Jay…"
"Who the fuck…"
The heavier of the two nudged his friend. He made little flying motions with his hand.
"Oh! It's you. Am I finally going to get laid this time?" His companion slugged him in the arm.
"Subtle," Dean murmured to Sam.
"You should take notes," Sam shot back.
"I think the pot's fried your brain," Bethany continued to smile at them.
"Shit, no, we don't use no more. Don't need that fucking parole officer on our backs again. We just deal. You interested?"
The quieter of the pair calmly lit a cigarette and offered one to Bethany. "No thanks," she told them both. "I wanted…" She shook her head. "This is my daughter, Christy, and not one word, Jay…"
"Oh, I think he probably has several." Dean couldn't help adding.
"Those the dudes you're fucking?" Jay asked, "We could probably take them. Yeah, me and silent Bob are masters of kung fu hustling, we'll fuck your shit up…"
"Just stop it… I'm not fucking anyone!"
"You some kinda nun now? After all the freaky shit that happened last time? Man, Jersey gets all the freaky chicks, least you ain't shutting yourself up on a convent like that one bitch…"
At this point, Dean realized the person he should be paying attention to was Bob, who had bent down and handed Christy a lollypop. Hmm, they should probably check that before she ate it.
"C'mon, Sam, let's get some coffee, I think Bethany can handle things out here."
Sam and Dean emerged from the Quick Stop with four paper cups and a newspaper tucked under Sam's arm. Bethany took the coffee gratefully and eyed the fourth cup.
"Hot chocolate," Dean explained, handing it to Christy before ruffling her hair gently.
"Thanks," Bethany said. She was disappointed that Jay and Bob hadn't been of any help. Though it was good to see Bob again. Everything was bringing her closer to the church, where it had all began. As she sipped her coffee she watched as Dean opened the door for Christy.
What if God wanted Christy back? The Lord giveth and taketh, and she'd been on the receiving end of that truth too many times. Maybe this was the worst possible thing she could be doing.
"Ready to go?" Sam asked.
She realized she was standing and just staring at the car. Bethany shook herself. "Right."
St. Michael's church looked naked without the "Catholicism wow!" banners that had draped across its front seven years ago. Other than that, and the lack of general carnage in the streets, the church looked exactly the same. She blew out a breath, nothing had changed here. The most incredible experience of her life and the world just kept rolling.
"Are we going to mass, mom?" Christy asked. She had taken the cup of hot chocolate out of the car with her. "I shouldn't have had anything to drink."
"God will forgive you," Bethany said with a smile. "Remember that talk we had?"
Christy rolled her eyes, "Yes mom." She made her way up the stairs of the church.
Dean came up on her right side, Sam on her left and together they entered the church.
Mass had already started and the place was packed, which was surprising. Most churches were losing parishioners, not gaining them. Huh, Bethany thought, maybe the events here changed the community somehow. She smiled as they slid into the very last row, Christy on her right next to the aisle. Christy always wanted to see what was going on.
The organ was loud enough that no one could hear them, for the moment. Sam had popped open his laptop.
"You brought a computer into a church?" Bethany hissed.
"With all the time on the road I didn't get the chance to research like I wanted," he whispered back.
Dean leaned over. "What, does the church have wireless? God paying for the internet now?"
Sam opened his mouth to reply, then let out a brief, "Huh. Apparently the rectory does and none of the priests know how to secure a wireless network."
Bethany looked over, her mind tuning out the specifics of the mass. It faded to a soothing lilt in the background, familiarity she could sink herself into. "What are you looking for?"
"Catholic Encyclopedia," he pointed out. "I'm curious as to why this date is so important, why the ceremony stood out in my vision. Why do the demons want to wait until her First Communion?"
"And not when she was six months old," Dean said. He shared a look with Sam. "Anything in there about yellow-eyed demons?"
"You think I haven't looked?" Sam snapped, clicking through the entry and skimming past the long blocks of text. Bethany tried to follow along, but honestly she didn't know what he was looking for.
"What's that thing about 'years of discretion'?" Dean poked the screen, Sam batted his hand away.
"It means a kid has to be aware of how important this is. It's like how they can't try a child under seven for murder, they don't know the difference between right and wrong…"
Bethany leaned forward, a thought suddenly occurring to her. "Kind of like Christ in the temple when he was a child…"
"Wait, where's Christy?" Dean interrupted.
Bethany whirled around, where only moments before he daughter had been tucked into her side; there was nothing but empty pew. She stood and looked around frantically, terror flooding her throat. She had completely lost track of where they were in the mass; now people were lining up to receive at the altar.
"There!" Sam pointed.
Christy had gone and joined the line. Of course, she had been looking forward to this moment for so long, she wouldn't let anything like being on the run from demons to stop her. Bethany pushed her way forward, needing to stop Christy from taking communion. If what Sam had suggested was true…"Christy!" she screamed, ignoring the dirty looks everyone was giving her. But there were too many people and she couldn't get close enough.
She couldn't stop her.
For a moment, it seemed like time stopped, everything was moving so slowly. Bethany couldn't move, she was surrounded by strangers, all looking at her. She could see perfectly, Christy opening her mouth and saying a soft "amen."
Then the stained glass windows began to shatter. The first row blew inward first, then the second, exploding and covering the churchgoers with glass. They started screaming and running.
"I got her!" Dean had had more luck in moving ahead through the crowd and had slung Christy in his arms.
"Let's move," Sam grabbed her arm and pulled her back, running with the people trying to escape the church.
"Sam!" Dean called. He was still behind them.
Bethany turned and realized people were trying to stop Dean, pulling at him, keeping him from leaving the church. Demons, she guessed. When she looked back at Sam, he had pulled a gun out of his pants and had shot into the crowd.
So much for not wanting a shootout in the church.
"Go," Sam pushed her ahead, keeping them both moving in the flow of traffic.
They emerged from the church, erupting from the doors with such force Bethany nearly fell down the stairs. "Christy!"
But Dean was right behind them, Christy still in his arms. Sam's shots had scattered the demons for now. "In the car!"
It turned out to be a good thing that Dean had parked illegally in front of the church. Bethany pulled open one of the back doors when she got an idea. She moved to the front of the car.
"What are you doing?" Sam asked. He was already half into the passenger's seat.
"Blessing the car," she made the sign of the cross with a quick flick of her hand. "Should give us some time."
Dean pushed Christy into the car and moved to the driver's side. Bethany dove into the car, grabbing her daughter. "Don't ever do that again! You know we're in danger!"
Dean peeled into traffic, the crowd parting from the car like the red sea did for Moses. Blessing the vehicle had obviously worked.
"Where to now?" he snapped out.
"Just drive," Sam breathed.
Bethany tucked Christy under her arm. She whispered, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," over and over again. What were they going to do?
Sam watched in shock as the possessed bodies parted for the Impala. Bethany had hit on a genius idea; it made him wonder why they hadn't blessed the car before now.
It was nothing like he had ever seen before. The demons had swept in, possessing the weak among the crowd, surrounding the car. They all stood and watched as Dean sped away.
He could hear Christy sniffling in the back seat. There was nothing he could say to make it any better. The last time they ran from a horde of demons it didn't end well at all. He wondered if he and Dean could protect Christy from what was coming.
"So, out of air freshener?" Bethany asked, almost hiding the hitch in her voice.
"Blessed iron rounds," Sam told her. "It won't stop them for long." He didn't tell her that only the demon inside kept the people he had hit moving.
Dean had made it back on the highway in record time, speeding away from the coast. "Either of you chuckleheads have any idea where we go now? Jersey, as usual, was a bust."
"Dean, I…" Sam gasped in pain, he was tumbling, lost in a vision…
They were skidding, sliding across the road, and then tumbling down a ravine. The Impala was on its side, its wheels spinning aimlessly, one of them flat. Dean slumped over the steering wheel, blood covering the windshield.
Sam jerked his head up. "Dean, pull over, they're going to shoot out the tires…" And we're all going to die, he left out. As he spoke, they could hear the wailing of a police siren behind them.
Dean didn't question, just slid the car to the side of the highway.
"We have to run," Sam said. The police car was getting closer.
"But the car is blessed," Bethany protested.
"Blessed won't help when they shoot out the windows," Dean shot back. "Sam, you take Bethany. I got the kid."
"Wait," Bethany protested as Dean took off into the woods with her daughter.
"It's better like this," Sam promised, pulling Bethany after him. They hadn't gotten more than 12 feet into the forest when he realized this was it, the place from his vision two days ago, where he saw Dean die. "No," he whispered. He didn't have time to think or act, he could hear the police approaching behind them.
He pulled Bethany behind an especially large tree, his back against it. Sam cocked his gun and dropped the safety. He still didn't know if they were ordinary police officers or demons.
That question was answered when a strangely pitched voice called out, "Come out little girl. We know you're in there."
Before Sam could stop her, Bethany threw herself around the tree. She shouted at the demon, "You demon bastard, you're not going to touch my daughter."
"Let me guess, over your dead body, right?" The demon laughed. "I was hoping for something a little less cliché."
Sam used the distraction to circle around behind the demon, keeping one ear on the conversation.
"I won't let you kill her," Bethany snapped.
The demon laughed. Sam had gotten behind the thing at this point, but he held his shot, he needed to hear how this played out.
"We don't want to kill her. If he wanted her dead, she'd have been dead already."
"Then what the hell do you…" Bethany trailed off. "There's a reason you had to wait for her Communion…"
"Figured it out yet? He's going to corrupt her. Twist the only daughter into something unrecognizable. Too bad the rules kept us from taking her any younger. She had to know right from wrong before we started."
Sam took his shot. He'd heard all he needed to know and the demon crumpled to the ground.
"Dean!"
Sam and Bethany whirled at the sound of Christy's voice. "No!" Sam ran towards it, Bethany behind him.
They weren't alone in the woods; he could hear them now, more than the two cops who had entered before. They were facing an entire demon army, somehow. Sam nearly tripped over a log and caught himself in time to stumble into a clearing.
Dean was on the ground, just as he was in Sam's vision, head hanging twisted, blood smeared along the side of his face. Christy knelt over him, tears coming from her eyes. Above her stood the other cop. He turned when Bethany nearly tripped over Sam.
"Just in time." The demon raised his hand and threw both of them against trees. Sam felt pressure against his throat, he couldn't breathe. He struggled to get air in his lungs, but he was fading fast.
Christy screamed, "Leave my mom alone!"
Even in his struggles, Sam was aware of Bethany dropping to the ground, suddenly freed from the demon's hold.
"Go away!" Christy shouted now. "Go away and leave us alone!"
Sam gulped in air like it was going out of style as he slid to the ground. The demon's hand dropped and he lifted his head, a cloud of inky smoke releasing into the sky.
The sounds of others in the forest stopped.
He crouched, trying to gather his strength. Sam could feel himself fading. "Dean," he gasped out.
Christy placed her hand on Dean's chest, tears still falling from her eyes. Suddenly, Dean sat up, his eyes wide. He turned to Christy and smiled, wiping her cheeks gently.
Sam allowed the darkness to swallow him and passed out.
(Epilogue)
Dean leaned against the stone wall of the courtyard, watching as Christy ran with the other little girls all dressed in matching plaid skirts and sweaters. She seemed happy, none of the darkness of the last weekend had touched her spirit. Bethany was over talking with one of the nuns, and the worry was gone from her eyes too.
Sam came over and leaned next to him, content to watch. He had been the one, after all, to put it all together. After they had gotten back to the car, stunned at the sudden quiet, Sam had found the newspaper they had bought at the Quick Stop early that morning.
"Psychic Nun retreats to cloister." The headline had read. Bethany took the paper. "That's what Jay was talking about…That's what we came here to find, it wasn't the church at all…"
Dean complained about having to drive another hour north, but only to get Sam to stop worrying. Sam kept looking at him like he was surprised Dean was still walking around. Demon hadn't hit him that hard.
They found the convent from the article, only it was one hell of a convent. Villa Walsh was an estate, bequeathed to the church by some guilty millionaire and nurtured over the years to host not only the nuns who lived there, but also a school for girls.
"And," Sam had said, "it's built on a huge Devil's Trap. The demons won't be able to come after her as long as she's here."
"So," Dean turned to look at his brother. "We done then?"
"Dean," Sam began, and Dean braced himself, he knew that tone of voice. "You were dead. You were dead and she …"
"Dude, hold on. I was unconscious. Not dead. Trust me, I remember dead." He turned away, not wanting to meet Sam's eyes. He had been knocked out early on, and hadn't heard the demon or how Christy had managed to send them all away. Dean shook his head, for some reason he had an image of a woman in his mind, with long dark curls and eyes he could get lost in.
"Do you think she could possibly be…?" Sam began; Dean could fill in the blanks.
"What, just cause she can cast out demons?" Dean snorted. "Nah."
Sam laughed. It was a bit shaky, but good. He didn't need Sam getting all serious on him. Not when the job was finally over.
Bethany finally approached them. She had her hands in the pockets of her coat and she squinted against the wind. "I guess this is it. Thank you both, for everything."
"It's just too bad you guys are stuck in Jersey now," Dean told her. "Wish we could have done something about that."
Bethany threw back her head and laughed. "That's the least of my troubles right now. I have to call my family and cancel the missing person's report. Oh, and there's the matter of my job." She looked over to where Christy was playing. "But I wouldn't change a thing. She's a special girl, and she's got work to do."
"Have her call us in about 20 years."
"We could use the help," Sam agreed.
end