Chapter One
The Emergency room is busy tonight, like every other night of the week… the year… always. Patients are sitting, standing, lying on gurneys waiting for treatment. Doctors, nurses and hospital staff are bustling around at an unearthly pace trying desperately just to keep up with the tide of sick and injured.
A sturdy looking man sits on the edge of a hospital bed in an examining room of the ER, gripping the mattress so hard his knuckles are white from the strain. It's not just the hair…or the eyes… it's everything about him that feels dark.
Deep, intense eyes shift slowly from side to side as he takes everything in…sees every movement…accounts for every person.
The nurse is speaking to him but he acts as if she's not even there. She's concerned about him. Asking him questions. Trying to get a fix on what's wrong… because something is most definitely wrong. So wrong that she decides to consult the doctor on this one. They may need to call psych to figure this guy out.
"Excuse me. Doctor, if you have a moment?"
"A moment, what's the crisis?"
"More of a situation: A gentleman in examining room three"
"What's the problem?"
"That is the problem. We're not sure."
"You got the chart?"
"Right here"
"Hmm, not much here is there?"
"No doctor"
"Nothing on his physical turned up. Not sure about this one. Mmm, vital's are stable
Name?"
"No sir. He's not talking. Just sits there. Looking at…well, everything."
"Someone drop him off? Maybe we can speak to them. Let's get some background on this guy."
"He just walked in. Alone. No Id, Nothing and he won't speak to anyone
"Well then let's say hello"
"Good morning, I'm Doctor Johnson. How are you today?"
The man doesn't answer, just looks right through him.
"How are you today?" The doctor tries again. Still he gets nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. Now the man is making eye contact… staring him down. Burning a hole that felt like it went straight through his soul.
"Look son you're in a safe place. We want to help you, whatever way we can but we need to talk to you. We can't help you otherwise. Now: what's happened? Tell me everything."
Finally the man speaks, voice deep. Unearthly. Evil. "You sure you want to know?"
"Absolutely. It's the only way we can help."
John Winchesters' eyes flash bright yellow as the demon within lets himself be known. The doctor wants to turn and run but he can't. Something is holding him there, frozen. Fear creeps slowly up his spine like fingers walking their way creepily up his body. Just the sight of the toothy wolfish grin was enough to make the doctors' skin crawl.
"Alright then. Let me tell you a little story… about a family and how they have managed to phenomenally fuck with my plans… and about how I am now currently fucking with them and they don't even know it yet… but they will. And that's why I'm here. Y'see this is my time. My reckoning." (The doc hears the distinct sound of a flatline and a code red being called. He stares at the demon in horror)
"My family is here, and we're here to stay. There's only one thing standing in my way. Well, three if you want to get real technical." (Another flatline, and another until soon the shrill sound of death announced by machine is all that can be heard. That and the evil voice coming from the dark, disturbed man before him)
"One of those things is Daddy Winchester here. He's been kind enough to lend me use of his meat suit for a little while. Traded it for a life he desperately wanted to save. The other two are his sons. That lovely Sam and all his power… and his brother Dean who has been a pain in my ass since day one."
(The Emergency ward is in chaos. Hospital staff are running around frantically trying to save critical patients who were stable just a moment ago and were now suddenly dying right before their eyes.)
"Now, I'll bet you're wondering to yourself doc… how do I fit into this little story. What kind of role could I possibly have to play in all this? Well I'll tell you a little secret. It's not you I'm after. It's not this emergency room…or this hospital. What I'm going to do to you guys... Nothing personal. I just need a way to draw the boys out. It's hunting season, and I'm hunting Winchesters! You guys…you guys are going to be the bait."
Suddenly the entire hospital goes quiet as if time itself has stopped. All eyes are on the doctor as he levitates a good three feet above the ground. John Winchester is smiling pure evil. "Brace yourself Doc, 'cause this is really going to hurt." The smile disappears and the entire population of the Emergency ward watches in horror as the doctor soars through the air and is slammed against a wall, around the nurses station, through the computer until he finally is smashed straight through the glass door of a trauma room. He is broken, bloody and very obviously dead.
That's when panic takes over, but the demon is ready for it. Knows what he is doing. Hell, he's done this so many times before that he can pretty much predict the reaction of the masses.
Patients, the ones who are mobile, are pushing, pulling and shoving each other to get to the doors. Looking for a way out. The doors won't budge though. They're trapped. Hospital staff is trying to save patients… from death yes, but not with the usual machines and medication. They're trying to find a way out, an escape. It's too late for that now. They're all dead. They just don't know it yet.
The demon enjoys watching the staff, who normally suffer from god complexes from saving lives every day, stumbling around helpless and panicked. Unable to help those they would normally be saving. Unable to even help themselves. Oh, he was going to have fun with this!
He feeds off of their panic, their fear. Feels his power grow…become stronger as the mere mortals become desperate… some clawing at the exits still trying to get out. Others grasping for anything that they can find to defend themselves with.
The nurse who had spoken with the good doctor is on the phone with Security. The demon just laughs. As if a couple of piddly security guards could possibly do anything for these disposable vessels. Against him? Ridiculous. They don't stand a chance. The thought only makes him laugh harder, the sound so chilling that it actually produces whimpering and screaming in those close enough to hear it.
Alright, enough messing with their heads. Time to play!
Live bodies on gurneys and hospital beds begin to levitate initiating screams from all over the ward. Fire traces lines on the drywall, burning in the shapes of satanic symbols everywhere. Oxygen tanks explode, one after the other. People are running around like rats, trapped in a cage. There is so much activity, so much to fear, so much to run from that no one even notices the twin shadows slowly creeping out of the air ducts and into the fray. The demon has friends… and they want to play too. But first they need bodies.
The nurse is the first victim. She doesn't even know it's happened. Just suddenly freezes mid-sentence with the security guard she'd been yelling at to get someone down there please! Clear green eyes turn pitch black, face suddenly expressionless and her panic is gone. Replaced with unnatural calm. "Never mind Jack. Guess I was overreacting. We've got a handle on things here." She doesn't even bother to hang up the phone, just lets the receiver drop wherever it may and joins in the fun.
Across the room, a patient with a limp and an arm in a sling suffers the same fate. His eyes go wide and black as the shadow instills itself in him. He pulls his arm out of its sling and flexes fingers that had until now been stiff and unusable. This one smiles then grabs the person closest to him by the throat with his now healed hand and tosses them as hard as he can against the nearest wall. There is a large blood stain where the body hit and it trails all the way down to where it now lies prostrate and lifeless on the floor.
Minutes pass, maybe a dozen or so. Twenty at the most. To those that manage to stay alive long enough it feels like hours… days… years. Then they are dead as well and the only ones left standing are John Winchester, the nurse and the patient. One last look around from three sets of disturbingly dark eyes until finally they are satisfied that their hearts are the only ones left beating.
"What do you think kids. Will they be able to tell it was us?" the demon asks his companions. They don't answer with words, just nod and smile evilly. Oh they'd be able to tell alright. It might take them a day or two to figure out which demon had created this mess… but they will figure it out. And when they do they will come looking for him… he is so looking forward to reuniting the Winchester boys with their dearly departed daddy. He can hardly wait.
"Alright kids. Time to go. Leave your toys here though. You can pick up couple of new ones on the way out." The boys'll need a little shove in the right direction. He wants them sooner rather than later. Eye witnesses are just the thing…
The only remaining live people drop unconscious to the floor as the shadows come rushing out of their bodies.
Twin shadows drift over the walls, following a very possessed John Winchester as he leaves the hospital looking for all the world as if nothing has happened. Well, except for the blood and gore all over his clothes, hair and face.
His time was NOW. The sooner he got the Winchesters out of the way the better.