BACK IN BLACK follows on directly from HIGHWAY TO HELL and I really suggest you read it first. But, I've included a brief summary below, if you'd rather read a very condensed version.
If you already have read HIGHWAY TO HELL, then by all means skip the summary.
BACK IN BLACK begins with the next chapter.
I hope you enjoy.
oooOOOooo
HIGHWAY TO HELL Summary
The Crossroad Demon's contract was binding, iron clad; end of story. Dean was going to die, or Sam was. And Dean wasn't about to let Sam die again! Only Sam wasn't so willing to give in.
With the clock literally ticking down the days Dean had finally accepted facts, even though Sam couldn't; he was a dead man walking…
Dean had already forced himself to accept facts; he was going to die, and his time could be counted in days. Torn to shreds by huge invisible Hell Hounds, hounds he was sure he'd already heard, late at night, and possibly even glimpsed out of the corner of his eye. Hounds that he knew he would eventually see, when his time was up, even when others still couldn't.
Dodge City. KANSAS.
And now they were in Dodge City. Sam's relentless pursuit had been hidden under the guise of meeting up with Bobby. Their reunion began with a few coffees, some doughnuts and casual chit-chat, with both Sam and Bobby tactfully avoiding the pressing issue at hand.
However, tact wasn't one of Dean's specialties…
"So, as a dead man walking, I say I go out in style!" Dean smiled as he said it, already anticipating the dropped jaws and silent awe that he would provoke. "I want… whiskey - good whiskey - women and par-tey!" Dean's eyebrows wiggled with anticipated delight.
oooOOOooo
Dodge City, KANSAS
King Solomon Motel
As his time drew closer Dean had demanded he'd go out with a bang. Celebrate his life rather than mourn him. And Bobby and Sam had put on brave faces and come to the party, just for Dean. And, after a night of drinking, strictly top shelf stuff, both Sam and Bobby were pretty out of it, enough not to have noticed that Dean hadn't actually consumed anywhere near as much alcohol as they'd thought. By the time they had begun on the second bottle of whiskey their bodily defenses had kicked in and both Dean's companions pretty much passed out.
It certainly made sneaking away a lot easier. Dean couldn't bear to have Sam or Bobby witness his ultimate death at the gory jaws of the Crossroad Demon's Hell Hounds. And he couldn't risk the Hounds going for a two for one deal in the Winchester stakes. He couldn't put Sam or Bobby at risk.
And besides, he was never, ever, one for chick-flick soppy, drawn out, good-byes.
Dean rearranged his belongings on top of his bed. He flipped Sam's laptop open and left him a quick note. He removed his amulet and ring, his only real personal possessions, valuable enough to him that he wasn't about to let the Hell Hounds ravage them. He placed them carefully on the bedside table by Sam's side, along with his cell phone. He wouldn't need that any more either and he didn't want them trying to contact him. He was going to die, he'd faced that now, and any discussions to the contrary would be far too disturbing. He'd rather not hope; it would make things far harder when his time came. Last of all he slipped a carefully written set of instructions underneath his phone, on how Sam should look after the Impala. The car was his only other valued possession.
Even as he drove away he had to tighten his grip on the Impala's steering wheel because his hands trembled uncontrollably. A foreboding ache grew somewhere in the pit of his stomach and he found himself almost hyperventilating with trepidation…
The following morning…
Sam, still dazed and intoxicated, took a few minutes to register anything at all.
"Dean's gone." Sam whispered to Bobby as he stared blankly at Dean's amulet and ring. He knew exactly what they meant. Dean was gone, and he wasn't coming back. Sam moved to the window and squinted out into the car park. "Car's gone too."
Sam's heart leapt up into his throat, momentarily, when he heard a low gravelly rumble entering the motel car park. At first Sam thought that maybe Dean had returned, however he quickly realized the sound was more akin to a motorbike than the Impala.
"What the hell do you want, Bitch?" Sam snarled at Ruby, as she hung her helmet on the handle bar of the Harley Davidson behind her.
"I'm here to help Dean." She quipped back with her usual haughtiness. "I might have an idea. To save him…"
"He's gone already!" Sam snapped at her.
"And you have no idea where he's gone?" Ruby sighed as she ran the grave consequences through her mind. "You must have some idea!"
"No! If he'd have wanted us to know where he was going, he'd have invited us." Sam snapped at her. "He could be anywhere."
"No, no he's not." Ruby stated emphatically. "He would have left you a clue."
"Why?" Sam snapped at her. "When he obviously doesn't want us to find him!"
"You telling me, he's gonna take off, to die, and not make sure the Impala's taken care of?" Ruby queried haughtily. "Cause he took the car right?"
Sam's glance snapped to Bobby, and they glared at each other with renewed hope. She was right. Dean would never take the Impala without making sure she'd be found, once the deed was done.
"What is most important to him?" Ruby urged impatiently.
"Shit… Sam!" Bobby stated with enthusiasm. "You Sam, you're the most important thing to Dean… you and that bloody car!" Bobby explained as his mind began to turn. "She's right, he'd have left something and he'd make sure you would find it. It wouldn't be in his stuff, it'd be in yours, Sam!"
Sam ripped his cell from his pocket, hoping Dean had sent him a message, or left him a voice mail. But again there was nothing. Then Sam flipped his laptop open, a small light in the corner reminded Sam he had a scheduled meeting coming up. Sam eagerly brought up the appointments screen. Quickly a smile of desperate hope plastered across his face. "Damn him!" Sam sighed as he turned the screen around to show both Bobby and Ruby his findings.
Under the next day's date, Dean had left a solitary message: 'Lloyd's Bar'.
"You want to tell us what you have planned?" Bobby demanded of Ruby, still not persuaded to entirely trust her.
"The way I see it, Dean's only chance may be to draw out whoever owns his contract." Ruby informed them. "And kill their sorry ass!"
"I tried that already." Sam sighed. "Not as easy as you may think. I tried summoning the Crossroad demon, and she came and she pretty much told me she didn't… couldn't… She wasn't the one who held the contract." Sam snapped at her. "She wouldn't tell me who did."
"No, and from what I hear, she never will either…" Ruby glared accusingly at Sam, knowing that he'd killed her, and possibly exasperated Dean's situation rather than helping it. "But I kinda have an insider's advantage in that area." Ruby pursed at him.
"You know who the Crossroads demon's boss is?" Bobby queried.
"Maybe, there are a few possibilities, but I have a fair idea." Ruby nodded. "Just how did you summon the Crossroad's wench?" She queried Sam.
"Umm… a photo… black cat bones and cemetery dirt." Sam admitted to Ruby.
"Ok… Then it could be Eshu or Legba, but my money's on Kalfu. But, in the end, it doesn't really matter." Ruby smiled with relief.
"Hoodoo deity?" Bobby frowned.
"Well yeah! Cat's bones and cemetery dirt… Mississippi… definitely Hoodoo…" Ruby smiled smugly.
"You really think this can work?" Sam questioned her.
She nodded. "Yeah… If we can stave off the hounds long enough… and any wenches he may send, then hopefully we'll piss him off enough he'll come himself to collect his prize: who ever he is! You know of any secluded places we can lure the demon and his minions to? Things will probably get messy, and a bunch of civilians caught in the cross fire will just complicate things."
"There's an old deserted town…" Bobby suggested tentatively. "Doctrine Springs, Arkansas. Supposed to be haunted... But definitely secluded, and not a civilian for 20 miles! Just the other side of the state line."
"Yeah, I know the place…" Ruby nodded as she exited their room. "The church will be a good start. I'll meet you there once I find Dean. Let me have the Colt." She demanded as she revved her bike and prepared to leave.
"What? You're kidding aren't you?" Bobby gruffed. "After all it took to get it back from Bela?"
"You want me to try and save Dean or not?" She snapped. "It's not like I can fend of a Hell Hound with my bare hands!"
"She has a point…" Sam muttered. When Bobby remained hesitant Sam reached out to Bobby. "I'll take it, then! I'm going with her! Dean's not gonna trust her, he never has…"
"Sam no…" Ruby interjected.
"If you want the Colt, then you'll have to take me with you!" Sam demanded.
"Fine. Come with me. But only if you bring the Colt!" She demanded. "And stay outta my way!"
Sam checked that the Colt was loaded, and then shoved it down his own jeans waist band. Bobby handed him extra rounds of his specially cast and blessed silver bullets.
Sam leapt down the steps and mounted the motorbike behind her. "You'd best hold on… and put the other helmet on." She smirked at him. "And just so you know… I'll be taking that Colt once we get there!"
oooOOOooo
Lloyd's Bar
Greenwood, MISSISSIPPI.
Dean had parked the Impala near Lloyd's Bar. The bar seemed deserted; there certainly weren't any cars about. However as Dean alighted the car he noticed a man sitting outside the bar, in the shadows of its verandah. He was rocking in a rocking chair, contently smoking a cigarette. The man was dressed in a black, pin striped suit with a tie; however, strangely, he didn't look out of place. The man was tall and muscular and when he smiled his teeth looked as white as snow against his dark chocolate skin. He leered intensely from beneath his fedora as he approached Dean.
"Ain't open, man." He commented, sucking back on his cigarette. "Not tonight."
"That's ok." Dean replied as he concealed his car keys behind the wheel rim, under the guise of checking his boot laces. "I was planning on taking a walk anyway."
Dean had every intention of walking a few miles down the road to await his fate, or somewhere off in the grass lands. He really didn't want Sam and Bobby finding his mauled remains. Once he was gone, he was gone; he didn't much care for a funeral.
He took his whiskey bottle in hand, and secreted a packet of peanut M&M's in his jacket pocket. Then he began his final walk, chucking back a mouthful of M&Ms followed by a huge gulp of whiskey.
After an hour Dean found himself a peaceful spot under a huge overhanging tree. It was late afternoon, and the sun was getting low on the horizon, but the tree gave him ample shade. He sat down at the base of the trunk. After taking in the landscape he opened the whiskey bottle and took a long gulp. Then he grasped a handful of M&M's and began munching contently away.
He could hear the Hell Hounds, lurking in the bushes that lined the roadside. He'd heard their unmistakable, low guttural growls, had for some time now, ever since the sun went down. And he was pretty sure he'd seen their glowing red eyes through the vegetation too. They were obviously waiting; biding their time until his was up…
oooOOOooo
Ruby and Sam arrived at Lloyd's Bar well into the night. The ride had been long and grueling. Every bone in Sam's body felt as if it had been shaken to almost snapping point.
When they finally pulled up outside Lloyd's Bar relief swept over Sam, when he spotted the Impala. Until they found Dean gone… again! Lloyd's Bar was closed, and no-one was in sight.
"Let's go." Ruby stated simply. "He can't have gone far."
Sam eventually nodded in acceptance. "I'll take the car." He stated. "You got any idea where he went?" He hoped she could tap into her demon senses and pull out an answer.
She squinted into the dark and scoured each of their four possibilities, at the crossroads. "That way." She eventually said confidently as she mounted her Harley. Sam peered down the road, but saw nothing but pitch black.
"You sure?" Sam queried, partially skeptical, partly awestruck.
"M&M's that way." She smirked confidently as she pointed down the road. She could see the two brightly colored spheres, one yellow, one red, lying in the center of the road, even if he couldn't.
Ruby tore off long before Sam had time to approach the Impala; he would have to haul ass or risk loosing her altogether.
"Damn you Ruby…" He sprinted to the car as fast as his long legs could carry him. He was relieved to find Dean had left the keys secreted behind the wheel rim of the driver's side, front fender, as he usually did. He gratefully ripped the Impala's door open and hurled himself inside.
oooOOOooo
Dean heard a deep muffled humming. It wasn't long before he saw a solitary light well off in the distance. It was completely dark, and the road was completely cloaked in darkness. The full moon was his only amnesty to the all-consuming shadows.
The motor bike came from Lloyd's and it was the first vehicle to come his way all day. It was difficult not to fear that it had something to do with him. It was almost midnight; execution time Dean figured. So it was a little concerning that even if it was just an innocent passer-by, they could be in real danger if the Hounds decided to make an appearance.
Dean stood up, intent on hiding himself from the intruder, and moved into the concealing shadows of the tree.
Dean watched as the obviously female rider kept the bike from spilling her halfway across the road. As far as he was concerned she controlled the weight of the Harley far too well for her slight frame and immediately he became suspicious.
"Ruby? What, the hell?" Dean began to snap at her angrily as he stepped towards her.
"Dean." She grinned at him.
His advance halted within a couple of steps and then he staggered backwards as her face stretched and faded to pale grey and her eyes blackened to hollow cavities. His fears and suspicions escalated. "You've come for me?" Dean snarled at her as he cocked his gun and aimed it at her. "I shoulda known you had some kind of ulterior motive! You've been stringing us along all this time!"
"Dean I didn't come to…" She began to explain.
"What the hell are you?" Dean demanded as her features grew more evil in appearance. "I can see your true form now. Stay away from me!"
"I haven't come to kill you." She chided, remaining perched on her bike, her hands held up in surrender. "I'm here to try and save you."
Dean was stunned when the Impala eventually pulled up in front of him.
"Sam?" Dean queried with genuine bewilderment. "What the hell? How… what are you doing here?"
"We're here to try and help you." Sam replied. "And besides, don't you think I'd want to be here… for you."
As Dean gazed at Sam's perplexed expression his pistol suddenly snapped towards his brother instead of Ruby, as the younger Winchester's face melted and distorted just as hers had. Sam's face contorted until his features twisted into something that looked like Death itself. "What the hell are you?" He demanded again, suddenly suspecting Sam and Ruby were both demons. He raised the colt and aimed at Sam's perverted face, hesitantly ready to shoot.
"Dean, NO!" Ruby intervened as she realized what had suddenly freaked the elder Winchester out. "What you're seeing, they're just hallucinations, it's the Hounds, they're doing it to you. It's really Sam… you have to trust me on that."
"Dean, NO!" Sam pleaded, alarmingly more nervous. Dean drunk and scared was never a good combination. "She's right, remember Evan Hudson? He had the same visions… remember… please?" Sam urged, hoping Dean would recall some of the finer details of the hunt.
Dean shook his head clear of the apparition. And Sam and Ruby returned to normal. He kind of recalled something about visions of death accompanying the Hell Hounds. "Visions?"
"Hallucinations remember?" Sam pleaded.
"Sam, is it really you?" Dean queried nervously, everything about him seemed to spin and sway unnaturally.
"Yeah, it's me… Sam" He reassured his ailing brother.
"Just… hallucinations?" Dean muttered.
"Look… There might still be a way." Ruby interrupted, impatiently maneuvering her bike around to Dean's side. "To save you."
"I think you're a bit late." Dean snarled at her.
"No, we're not. Not as long as you're still breathing! Let's go! Get on!" She urged him with haste, putting her helmet back on, and pushing the visor back to speak. "Sam, get in the car!"
"No!" Dean objected resolutely. "I can't… I can't welch on this, you know that! Sammy…"
"I didn't think the Crossroad Bitch had said anything about not trying to run!" She retorted anxiously. "As far as I know you don't have to make this easy for them."
Dean shook his head with skepticism. "Seriously, how long do you think I can run for?"
"As long as it takes…" Ruby frowned impatiently. "Sam you wanna call Bobby for me?"
Sam pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket and dialed, and then he passed the phone over to Ruby. It must have been answered almost immediately.
"Bobby?... No Ruby… Are you ready?..." She queried. "Yeah, we've got him." She replied anxiously. "Yeah… A few hours." She answered another garbled query. "Yeah, Ok… Good."
She pocketed the phone as she revved the bike impatiently.
As they tore away, the bushes by the roadside exploded in a flurry of leaves and branches as the Hell Hounds broke through the shrubbery. Although Sam was oblivious to their appearance, they raced past the Impala in long bounding strides, hot on the trail of Ruby and Dean on the Harley. The hounds were intent on stopping their fugitive.
They seemed to have made a clean break, leaving the hounds in their wake, until suddenly Dean grunted, and his grip around Ruby's waist tugged at her. Then abruptly he was yanked from behind her. She fishtailed slightly on the thick gravel as she banked a corner. Then the world tumbled ass over in front of her. She was unexpectedly airborne, and the bike left her grasp with an abrupt jerk. The sounds of metal twisting and screeching, and screams of agony filled her ears as she somersaulted across the road and down a grassy embankment. She yanked her helmet off with ease, as she leapt up the low grassy bank and back onto the road she paused in horror.
The Hounds had caught their prey and their huge fanged jaws tore into their struggling victim's flesh. Ruby winced in horror. Dean was pinned helplessly to the ground, just meters from the mangled wreck of her bike. One huge, black brute ripped at his thigh, another tore at his left shoulder whilst he tried desperately to fend the beasts off. The third mauled his right forearm, its crushing gnaw tearing through both flesh and bone in its savagery. Their fangs ripped through his soft tissue like a surgeon's scalpel.
Sam slammed the Impala to a screeching halt, mere feet from Dean's writhing body. He sprang from the Impala before the car had even come to a complete stop and gasped with horror as he saw as both Dean's clothes and flesh ripped apart, and blood swiftly gushed from the open wounds. The elder Winchester thrashed around with his invisible attackers, and although muffled by the helmet, shrieks of agony were torn from his screaming lips.
Sam fumbled for the Colt, not knowing where to shoot until Ruby ripped the pistol free from his grasp and blasted a shot into the Hound closest. Its grasp upon Dean's shoulder abated and the creature howled in pain and convulsed into death at his side.
With their momentary pause Dean was able to rip his colt from his waistband. He snapped the pistol up, and with a pain-trembling hand he blasted at the closest hound. The beast reeled around from the sheer force of the shot. It swiftly limped back to its feet and then sprang back towards him with savage determination. Ruby shot at it, as it leapt into the air, with its gaping maw lunging at Dean. It was halted mid leap by the blast, its carcass skidding to the ground by Dean's side as its final breath was forced from its lungs by the impact. She spun around swiftly and plugged another shot into the third's chest. The Hound cart wheeled away from Dean's writhing silhouette and came to a gory halt several feet from the maimed hunter, all signs of life extinguished.
As the landscape stilled and silence enveloped them Ruby trembled with fear. An iciness had descended upon them, and the sky grew eerily dark as clouds passed across the moon. She spun around cautiously, awaiting another onslaught. Every fiber of her being screamed at her that something else lay in wait for them, for Dean.
"Something else is here, and close by!" She informed them with dour gravity, her demonic eyes scanned the countryside, looking for what every nerve in her body told her was there. "We gotta go, NOW!"
"What?" Sam dared to ask. "What is it?"
"I'm not sure, but it's big and it's bad!" She snapped back.
oooOOOooo
As the Impala sped off, a tall dark man revealed himself from the nearby bushes. He strode to the center of the road where his hounds lay massacred. He had others with him, huge black beasts that whimpered at their pack-members' demise. They sniffed at the fresh pools of human blood and a deadly blood-lust swelled in their fiery red eyes. He indicated to another Hound to pursue his fleeing fugitive.
As he disappeared back into the shadows, the carcasses of the executed hounds slowly vanished in a thick black cloud of smoke.
oooOOOooo
Ruby studied the brothers as she drove. Who'd have though the Winchester name was actually feared in the Underworld? Before having met either she'd even imagined them to be some kind of super human, family force. Invincible even! Only goes to show you can't believe everything you read!
They looked pretty pathetic right now; one dying and the other turning into a sappy marshmallow!
She had observed the Winchester brothers for months now, twelve to be exact. And she had to admit sometimes she wondered if she hadn't put her money on the wrong horse. Sam was supposed to have been the next big thing, the Grand Po-bah, the new leader who would reign over the Legions of Hell. As far as a demonic messiah was concerned he hardly fit the bill!
And little did they know, the Winchesters had unwittingly started a turn of events of monumental proportions.
Events that began with Sam's resurrection. Ruby chuckled a little to herself, Dean had no idea just what price he'd paid to have his brother returned to him. Sam's resurrection had had a powerful impact on the Underworld; there were both celebrations and commiserations. Not to mention the celebrations of those that could finally seek their vengeance on the hunter who had condemned them to Hell and would now soon to join them.
There were many demons who rejoiced that Dean had brought Sam back. Dean had done the Underworld a favor by resurrecting their demonic messiah. He'd brought Sam back for a destiny big brother may not be altogether pleased about. And he'd brought him back even stronger than he'd been before, because the Crossroad Demon had brought Sam back… a little off. Unbeknownst to his big brother guardian, Sam had been stripped of huge slabs of compassion and humanity; almost all his inhibitions had been obliterated. He'd been tweaked towards a more demonic destiny.
Then Dean had executed Azazel, one of the few who could keep the legions of demons in line. The race was on, for a new leader, and there were many powerful contenders in the ring. But ultimately only one could succeed, and there would be a blood bath before that one could rise.
Ruby realized if she was going to back Sam, she had to first save Dean.
oooOOOooo
St. Dominic's Church
Dominion Springs. ARKANSAS.
They drove almost three hours before Ruby pulled off the main highway and zigzagged through the forested hills for another half hour, until she reached the abandoned mining town. As she drove through the church gates, Ruby involuntarily shivered. She squeezed her eyes shut, as an instant wave of nausea swept over her, and steadfastly remained. She wondered just why she was doing this…
Dominion Springs' house of worship was still in reasonably good repair, although a decent section of the roof, above the altar, had collapsed with age and white ants. The high-set, stained glass windows were all intact, bar one by the double entry doors. Inside most of the pews had been removed, all except those that had been fixed to the walls at the very rear of the church. Also removed were the pulpit and all other furniture. The cathedral-style, high wall at the rear of the church bore a shadowed outline of where a huge crucifix had once held pride of place. Similar ghostly silhouettes lined the walls where numerous pictures had once hung. All that remained of anything holy were the stained glass windows, depicting the life of Jesus Christ, two solitary angelic statues, one of which lay in pieces across the floor, the other had been decapitated, and a huge marble baptismal font off to one corner, most likely too heavy, or cumbersome to move. Bobby had filled it to the brim with water that he had subsequently blessed. All the windows and doors had a thick line of goofer dust and, for good measure, salt, layed across them. In the center of the church Bobby had laid out a large circle of the same. He'd also painted a devil's trap in front of the doors, and numerous symbols, some of which Sam didn't even recognize, in various places across the floor, along the walls and even on the door. In some places, along the window ledges, and in the corners he'd carefully placed small leather pouches; mojo bags most likely. In demonic terms, it was like Fort Knox!
As Bobby and Sam hoisted Dean's lethargic body into the church Ruby remained by the door, Colt in hand as she scanned the surrounding woods for any signs of more Hell Hounds or worse... They carried him into the center of the circle where the hunters laid Dean down. Blood loss and exhaustion had rendered him temporarily unconscious.
"We'd best see to those wounds…" Bobby muttered, pulling his first aid kit closer. "But we gotta keep him warm." Bobby moved off to retrieve a blanket from his pickup, which, given Dean's state, hardly seemed adequate.
Bobby paused by Ruby's side as he exited the church. "Listen… Thanks. I'm still not sure any of this is gonna work… But thanks for trying…" Bobby's voice trailed off with mounting emotion. "… To help Dean."
She gazed solemnly at Bobby for a moment then offered him the Colt. "You wanted this back…"
Bobby was surprised by her gesture. "No. You'd best keep it; at least you can see the bastard mongrels."
If only he knew… she hadn't done it for Dean.
Bobby tended to Dean's wounds. Much of the bleeding had ceased, except for a small number of profound lacerations across his thigh. Bobby set about swiftly bandaging a thick gauze pad over the wounds, applying, he hoped, enough pressure to stem the flow of blood. As he bandaged Dean's leg Sam proceeded to cut away the tattered garb of his t-shirt and jacket, across his shoulder, to reveal further blood covered gore and carnage. Dean hissed with pain, as Sam's trembling hands examined the damage.
Had it not been for his helmet, the Hound would most certainly have ripped Dean's throat out. As it was, the hound's huge jaws had mauled deep puncture wounds and long gashes into Dean's shoulder and upper arm, extending to across his clavicle to his upper chest. Sam could see clear to the bone, to where his fractured collar bone protruded through the mangled flesh. The sight had him gag with horror and fear. The wounds were extensive, far worse than he'd tried to convince himself of.
Ruby sat in silent contemplation of the trio. "Looks pretty bad to me." She remarked. "I could always… you know… possess him." She pondered. "I could keep him alive, at least until all this is dealt with."
"Like hell!" Dean objected, having heard her, casting her a defiant, but beaten, glare. "I ain't gonna have a demon chick in me! Not after what had happened to Sam…"
"Wouldn't work anyway." Sam replied, wishing he could have avoided Meg's unwanted violation of his body. "We got tattooed with protection charms… neither of us can be possessed."
"That charm you're so smug about, the hounds tore it up pretty bad. He can still be possessed!" Ruby declared haughtily.
"What?" Sam daunted. He lifted the gauze to inspect the tattoo, and sure enough the lacerations at the hound's fangs had ripped the image apart. It couldn't possibly offer any kind of protection; probably never heal well enough to ever do so again.
Dean suddenly flinched; his eyes snapping wide open in fear. He gasped as his gaze bounced around the church, searching, trying desperately to find the source of his terror. He tried to push away from Sam, as his stare fixed upon the doors.
"Sam you gotta run… They're back… they're here…" Dean warned them.
"Its ok, we got it covered… you're safe here." Bobby consoled.
"It's the Hounds. They're here." Ruby called to them from her vantage point on one of the remaining pews at the rear of the church, where she could peer through the stained glass window through a broken pane. She loaded more shells into the Colt, although her eyes remained fixed on the black hounds that charged towards them outside.
"Can you hold them off?" Bobby queried her. There was no point defending a dead man, and if they couldn't stabilize Dean's condition that was all he effectively was.
"Yeah…" She fired several shots into the night and smiled smugly to herself as two hounds bit the dust. Another two raced towards the church, but as they bound through the church gates they slowed noticeably, and grew instantly nervous. As they leapt up the church steps they came to a skidding halt at the doors where they recoiled in fear and scampered away. They weren't about to be easily persuaded into venturing anywhere onto holy ground. Instead they retreated to the perimeter where they ran in tandem, back and forth, at the church gates. They were obviously anxious to complete their task, but weary of venturing onto consecrated soil.
Ruby knew their pain. Hallowed ground made her nauseous at best, and even that sensation had quickly developed into something far worse. She could feel as her energy drained and her blood seemed to boil in her veins. Stabs of pain hacked at her head and her insides, like she had been stuffed with razor blades.
"I sure, as hell, hope this doesn't constitute welching!" Bobby mused. "Running from the damned things is one thing, killing them, well that a whole different kettle of fish!"
"Well I'm not dead yet." Sam replied, optimistically, "…and I think quite a few of the Hell Hounds are." He glanced at Ruby for confirmation of the fact.
"Technically Dean hasn't actually killed any of them, so he couldn't be accused of trying to welch." Ruby added to their discussion. "Ain't nobody said I can't kill the filthy, flea-ridden mutts!"
"Suppose that's something." Bobby sighed.
Ruby was shooting at something again, in quick succession.
Bobby strode to her. "How many?"
"Now? About a five." She replied, obviously taking aim at another. "They're getting braver," she added, "coming right up to the doors."
"Well, that can't be good." Bobby muttered.
Almost as if to punctuate his dread, a hound managed to avert Ruby's shot and pounced upon the door. Bobby scampered back to the doors and checked that the age-old latch would hold. He could feel their immense weight as they pounced against the bolt. The force was enough to nearly knock him to the ground.
And then the pouncing stopped. Bobby checked the door once more, insuring they remained firmly latched, and double checked his lines of defense.
"What's going on?" Bobby queried her.
"I don't know, they just pulled back." Ruby replied.
Bobby was startled when the doors rattled again, almost pushed off their hinges.
"Ruby, what is it?" Bobby demanded. It was a constant pushing, rather than indicative of the hounds pouncing against it. "What the hell?" Bobby frowned as he considered the possible explanations. "Ruby?"
"Not the Hounds." She replied, there was nothing outside as far as she could see. Then, as the doors rattled again, she realized, as the icy wind forced its way through the broken glass and swept at her, blowing her hair from her face. The hounds had limited control over the forces. She reloaded in anticipation of another attack. "They're trying to blow the doors in!"
"Bobby its wind…" Sam tried to warn of the elemental control the Hounds seemed to have when, with an all mighty bang, the doors were flung open. Instantaneously there was an explosion of splintered timber as the crude wooden latch shattered and a gust of rustling leaves burst through the doorway as the doors were finally blown off their hinges. They were sent flying into the church, the noise of the discharge echoing throughout and then swamped by the deafening howl of the ensuing wind.
One of the doors slammed into Bobby, knocking him to the ground, and burying him beneath.
"Bobby!" Sam cried as he eased Dean from his lap and sprang to Bobby's aid.
"No Sam!" Ruby cautioned as she leapt from the pew and sprinted towards Bobby. "Get back, I'll get him. Stay in the circle!"
Sam paused, as he considered his options. However Ruby was already by Bobby's side, hoisting him to his feet and half dragging him back to the circle. Blood streamed down the side of his face and he was visibly dazed and confused. Unable to step over herself, she had to pass Bobby to Sam. However the salt and goofer dust lines were broken by Bobby's stumbling feet and Ruby was unable to fix it…
With another gust of wind the fragile lines of salt and goofer dust were blown from the door's threshold and Ruby gasped in angst as three huge hounds leapt through the entrance, skirting the devil's trap as if it were a snake pit. She glanced at the fractured lines of restraint that circled the hunters, with trepidation.
"Sam, the line!" Ruby yelled as she ran forward towards the hounds, firing at the first demonic canine bounding towards them. Sam struggled with Bobby's lumbering weight, easing him down by Dean's side in haste. He had no idea just where the hounds were, or how many, however he could see by Ruby's panicked expression that their circumstances were dire.
Their only hope was for Ruby to eliminate the hounds as they leapt through the doors. She shot at the next hound, as another two forced their way into the church. It would appear consecrated ground was loosing its inhibiting effects upon the hell hounds. As she spun around, to face one of the charging creatures she was thrust to the ground by another.
Sam watched in horror as she was pinned helplessly to the ground, gashes appeared along her arm, from her invisible attacker. Ruby cried out, in her weakened state the pain was enough to hurt even the demon within. Sam was at a loss as to how he could help her; not when he couldn't even see the hounds!
Desperately Ruby thrust the Colt up and blasted the beast that pinned her down, clean in the chest. Her aim swiftly moved and she fired again, somewhere off to her right. They attacked on mass, coming at her from all sides. She spun around as she expertly fired a compilation of shots at the huge black beasts, until the Colt's ammunition was expelled and the floor around her was littered with the carcasses of Hell's canines.
Although Sam was still oblivious to the Hell Hounds' presence, he could see the disruption to the thick dusty coating over the floor where they had pounced, clawed and finally fallen.
Before Ruby could make it to her feet Bobby's torch faulted and began to flicker and, if it weren't for the moonlight streaming in through the gapping hole in the roof, they would have been thrust into complete darkness.
"Oh Shit!" Bobby complained as his torch extinguished altogether. It wasn't so much that they would be without light that concerned him; it was more so why the torch had begun to fail in the first place.
Then, as the winds intensified again, swirling dead leaves and dust into eddying mini-tornadoes, a woman and a man, both tall and athletic, stepped cautiously through the doorway, passing through the break in the salt and goofer lines. They meandered around the devil's trap and glared at the battle-weary hunters. However the woman's gaze fixed solely on Ruby and hatred flooded her expression.
"Ruby! I should have known!" The redheaded woman hissed at Ruby as she stepped over the lifeless carcass of a hell hound. "We'd heard you were playing for the other side!"
"So... it's time for the wenches!" Ruby snarked. "Hounds down, Big Bad still to come?" Ruby staggered to her feet; the fight and the church having taken a significant toll on her strength and energy. However, she placed herself between both hunters and the demons. Neither hunter could get a clean shot at the demons without risking hitting Ruby as well.
The redhead strode directly up to Ruby and hurled a fist into her abdomen. Ruby, still weary and ailing, crumpled with the blow and the woman proceeded to plant her boot into her. Ruby was sent sprawling across the floor. "You obviously sided with the wrong side!" The redhead sniggered with triumph.
The brute of a man advanced, his muscular, exposed arms covered in heavy black tribal tattoos. He strode forward with imposing menace, towards Ruby, lethal thoughts clear on his face. Ruby remained prone on the floor, as she struggled to summon the will to battle on.
"Ruby!" Sam called to her as he fired upon the man, pelting him to the ground with rock salt, where he landed with a loud thump by the woman's side.
"Ruby!" Sam yelled again. "Ruby! Get up!"
"Battle's not over yet, Brenna!" Ruby snapped back, with confident triumph, as she huddled on the floor, concealing the Colt from their view as she desperately forced another bullet into the chamber. She staggered to her feet and stood tall, boldly prepared for a fight. "I got a little surprise for you…" She commented, as she swiftly fired at Brenna's dark haired companion as he struggled back to his feet.
The shot hit Brenna's tattooed cohort, clean in the chest, and he staggered backwards with bewilderment. As Ruby shifted her aim towards Brenna, the demon swiftly cast her hand up in a swiping motion and hurled Ruby into the church wall by will alone.
"Ignatius!" Brenna bawled in horror, as the blessed silver bullet worked its mystical toxic magic on the demon. "No, no, NO! You bitch, you'll pay for that!" She screamed at Ruby. Iridescent veins glowed across Ignatius's face and neck and he convulsed where he stood, until he stood no longer. He crashed to the floor as his eyes blacked over, momentarily, and then all signs of life ceased.
Bobby fired at Brenna, hoping to keep her incapacitated until Ruby could get herself back on her feet. The demoness staggered backwards with the impact, screaming in pain. When Bobby and Sam both fired again she was prepared. Her hand flew up and deflected the shot with a whistling howl of wind. She glared at the hunters with anger. The redhead screamed like a banshee, then thrust her hands forward. There was a sudden crashing sound as she blasted the stained glass windows from their frames, showering them all with a blizzard of rainbow colored, glass shards.
With her short triumph Ruby grappled to reload the Colt. However, her task was incomplete, interrupted as she was jerked from her feet and tossed to the opposite side of the church, and slammed into the baptismal font. The solid structure remained fast. Not a drop of holy water spilled upon her, however the rib-jarring jolt had incapacitated the demoness. She remained stunned and splayed on the ground.
Brenna strode swiftly towards her, pulling a dagger from her boot. Sam feared it was a dagger, just like Ruby's; a demon slaying dagger! Ruby's swift and gory, fatal demise seemed inevitable.
"Ruby!" Sam shouted again, as he leapt to her aid. He fired at the woman with rock salt, and caught her by surprise, too engrossed in executing Ruby to notice him, or care. As Brenna was pummeled backwards by the blast he tackled the redhead to the ground. With the demoness dazed, he scooped a large handful of the holy water from the baptismal font and splashed it over her.
"Kill her!" Sam demanded of Ruby as she staggered to her feet.
Ruby glanced back in defeat. "It's empty!" She exclaimed as she held the Colt up.
Recovering quickly, Brenna spun around and vaulted Sam across the altar floor and sent him crashing into the wall behind and then sent Ruby tumbling across the floor to his side. Ruby pulled herself up, and attempted to reload the Colt with as many bullets as she could.
Bobby managed a rushed shot at the demoness, however the blast was blown off track by a huge wind gust. The inhabitants of the church were all nearly blown to the ground as gale force winds swept through the church doors, eradicating what was left of the hunters' feeble salt lines at the threshold. The splintered shards of window and fractured slivers of roof thatching were swept up and blown to the rear of the church in a blustery gust of dust and glittering glass. Bobby's inner sanctum of goofer dust and salt was reduced to a bare minimum.
"Stop!" A deep gravelly voice boomed into the church. A hurricane of winds followed and nearly blew the thatched roof completely off the small church. And as intent as Ruby was on killing Brenna the sheer ferocity of the voice startled her into submission. Sam, Bobby and Ruby were all intimidated by the dark, imposing figure that stood in the doorway, with a posse of Hell Hounds by his side. Hounds that all, alarmingly, could see; Bobby feared they were all now at risk of the hounds, as only demons and those on their hit list could see them!
As the figure stepped forward several boards were ripped loudly from the floor by invisible means, annihilating the devil's trap drawn upon them. The tall, dark man entered the church, unencumbered by any of Bobby's precautions. Brenna retreated to join him by his side. He gave her a fleeting glance of disappointment as she crept behind him.
Bobby aimed his shot gun at the demon. Ruby did the same with the Colt, having only managed to load a few bullets into the pistol.
Somehow they all knew: This was 'the' Crossroad Demon. The one who held possession over Dean's soul.
He was as intimidating as he was ruthless. Tall enough to rival Sam in height, black as the proverbial ace of spades and built like a quarterback. He enjoyed the terror he could instill with a simple glare and a grin that was evilly maniacal. His eyes flickered like smoldering embers from beneath the brim of his hat and as he raised his hand the elements at his disposal leapt to attention. Instantly the winds resumed their bluster, slowly at first but noticeable gaining with momentum. He relished the stunned fear reflected in all their faces. Even his own feared him and Brenna cowered by his side, fearful of the unavoidable wrath she would face for her failure.
Dean stirred. He blinked groggily at the demon, as he forced himself up onto his elbow. "Lloyd's…" Dean muttered softly. "You were at Lloyd's."
The Demon simply grinned at having been recognized.
Bobby fired his rock salt filled shotgun at the Crossroad Demon. However the Demon simply waved his hand and the salt was sent shooting off in all directions bar towards him. The distraction opened up a brief window of opportunity that lasted but a split second, but was seized upon in half that time. The ensuing diversion allowed Ruby to fire the Colt at the Demon, almost instantaneously. The Demon arched back, deflecting the shot. He spun around angrily as he ducked her deadly aim. The bullet, aimed at where he should have had a heart, glanced instead off his shoulder and slammed straight into Brenna's skull, right between the eyes. The demoness had no warning, or inkling at what had happened. She convulsed and shuddered as her body hit the ground and veins of lightning streaked across her face. Eventually her body stilled and a single drop of deep red blood trickled from the hole in her skull. Her startled blue eyes gawped with shock, glaring lifeless into the shadows of the church.
The dark figure staggered backwards with dismay and awe. Rage and wrath boiled within him and as he recomposed himself he howled in anger and with, what Sam construed, was a hint of trepidation... The Colt had wounded him. Thick, almost black, blood oozed from the wound to his shoulder and splattered on the floor, hissing and bubbling as it hit the consecrated floorboards. His face snarled and grimaced as he momentarily glared at the hunters with dismay. If for only a moment, he was obviously worried. Sam suspected Ruby's plan may just have some solid merit.
If they could just get another shot in, they could kill him, however Ruby had only just had time to load another bullet...
With a low and ear shattering bellow that reverberated to their very bones, the Demon angrily swept Ruby off her feet and slammed her into the back wall with a simple flick of his wrist. She hit hard enough to smash the plasterboard, and probably shattered several bones. The Colt was sent flying from her grasp.
Bobby fired at the Demon again, only to have the blast avoided; Kalfu barely raised an eyebrow as the rock salt rebounded away.
"I'd be thinkin' about doin' that ag'in!" Kalfu snapped at Bobby. "I've come for what's due me, an tha like ov you ain't gonna stop me! Which o' you boys's ready ta die?" Kalfu waved at his hounds and they stalked to the goofer dust's edge, glaring at the hunters in their faltering sanctuary.
"Well technically Dean hasn't welched." Ruby shot back with equal assurance. "So you can stop counting your chickens before they renege! Sam's not yours, and never will be!"
Sam took it upon himself to try and stop the Demon once more. Ruby was hurting, Dean was dying, the Colt was out of reach, and another gust of wind would obliterate their tentative circle of protection altogether. He had to do something.
Sam blasted his shot gun at Kalfu twice, in quick succession. Kalfu laughed with supremacy as another flick of the wrist returned the rock salt back at the hunters with equal force, without ever coming close to reaching him. The ricocheting shots were sent back directly at the hunters. The force of the salt blasted Bobby side on, slamming him to the ground and winding him. As Sam turned to lunge over Dean, in a futile attempt to protect his brother, the force of the shot caught him square in the chest like a sledge hammer and he was slammed to the ground, temporarily knocked unconsciousness. Dean hissed with agony, when unable to protect himself, he was subjected to the salt's scathing attack as it ripped into his already battered body.
Kalfu snarled angrily. "This," he swept his hand over Dean's prone body, slumped by Sam's unconscious side, "this looks to me like he's tryin' to weasel hisself outta his deal!"
"Technically, no he's not." Ruby rebuked defiantly. Her confident rebuttals empowered her. She relished that she could wield such power over the likes of a demon such as Kalfu. "Your dogs worked him over pretty good. We put him there, he had no idea what was going on. He was unconscious and therefore unable to make his own decisions, ergo, not welching!" Ruby smirked with self-assurance.
"Hmmm…. Playin' the words now? Bit of advocating is it?" He demanded; trepidation glimmered in his expression again. "And my pets?" Kalfu frowned as he examined the carnage of his Hell Hounds, collapsed around him on the floor.He glared at her with a defiant challenge in his fiery eyes as his hand also motioned towards Brenna and Ignatius. "And slaying my poor emissaries… Ain't that welchin'?"
"He hasn't killed a one." Ruby hissed back at him with a condescending smirk, almost with a death wish of her own. "I did, every last one of them! Every stinkin', flea bitten, mongrel, but, the one I savor the most is your trashy, little whore-wench Brenna! Can't condemn him for my actions, can you Kalfu? I mean your word is your bond, isn't it?" Ruby knew it wasn't just Dean's life she was fighting for; it was both of the Winchesters.
"True, I stands by my contract, Ima wondrin' if he'll be standin' by his?" Kalfu frowned, his irritation welling as he slammed her back into the wall. "I think you're a fightin' for naught. With all tha' blood he's a loosin', looks ta me likes he's a dead man alreadys."
"Maybe…" Ruby gulped nervously as she sucked in a lungful of confidence, tentatively hedging towards the Colt. She'd unbalanced him, she realized, and now he was quickly trying to make up lost ground. "But if that were the case, then why are you here?" She demanded boldly. "Are you maybe just a little worried that if your dogs don't drag him down into the depths of Hell themselves you'll miss out on his soul?" Ruby glared at him, relishing her tentative advantage. "Cause you've no grounds to take Sam!"
Kalfu seemed to be enjoying the challenge of claiming Dean's soul, and far too nonchalantly. He sat on a nearby pew and casually lit himself a cigarette. He had everything under complete control, and now he was simply toying with them until the inevitable came…
"But then, Samuel has always been meant for much, much bigga things. Haven't you Samuel?" Kalfu continued, having grasped their attentions hook, line and sinker.
Sam glared back at Kalfu, having regained consciousness, intrigued the demon's his new approach.
"Dean's long outliveds his time as protector; you's so much stronga 'an he is now." Kalfu declared. "He was a jus' a passin' interruption, tills ya reached your full potential. Now all he's is, is ya one last blemish. Ya last, useless shred o' mankin', a mere shado' ofs ya humanity! An' tha ones thin' holdin' ya back. Dean ainst ya protector no more, Samuel, he's ya jailer! You shoulds just… let… me… 'ave him, so yous can gets on with 'filling ya true destiny."
"Dean is my destiny!" Sam snapped back defensively.
Kalfu laughed again. "Well then, it'll be a shorts one! But I doubts it, Samuel. Not for'n the likes of your kind!" He charged. "I find it 'musing that ya grasp so dearly at whats little humanity ya is so u'fortunately tainted with. Once Dean is gone ya wills swiftly feel as'n the burden of ya human weakness are burned away. It'll leaves ya pure an' powerful."
"And just what is my kind?" Sam demanded apprehensively.
Kalfu was greatly pleased at the new found clout his knowledge gave him. He paused purposefully as he relished his cigarette, no more than a small stub. As the demon inhaled, the stub glowed like the smoldering embers in his eyes. He was calculating just how much he should reveal, and the sweet taste of the taunt was invigorating.
In the dark corner of the church, with Kalfu temporarily distracted by his banter with Sam, Ruby cautiously hedged her way towards the Colt, still lying some feet away from her.
"No, Samuel." Kalfu eventually retorted. "If Mommy never done told you… oh that's right, Azazel kinda killed her, didn't he, before she ever could…" Kalfu laughed with sinister glee. "I'm guessin' Azazel wanted ya, and all ya kind, all to hisself. Guess he didn't quite count on Daddy Winchester gettin' all agitated an' turnin' hunter on him. And Dean here, damned if your Daddy didn't create hisself one hell of a fightin' machine; Azazel sure didn't see th'un comin'! But not for much longer though… Even John didn't knows ya power, did he Samuel? Poo' confused Dean here, didn't stands a chance! I'm bettin', Samuel, ya darned fool brother is so committed to ya he'd sell his soul a dozen times ova if'n he hadta. That's your doin' Samuel, that's ya 'nfluence on him. Ya power! You gots him so wound up in ya, he can't stomach to breathe withouts ya! You used him Samuel, and ya didn't even knows it! That's what ya power can do, has its own agenda its does!"
"Just shut up!" Sam snapped at him angrily, clutching at his shotgun with forced restraint, his finger teasing the trigger. "You don't know squat about us!"
"I'm guessing I know a hell of a lots more 'an you do Samuel." Kalfu taunted.
Sam fired at him angrily. Kalfu deflected the rock salt blast without even raising an eyebrow. He barely raised his hand, simply waved his finger slightly and the winds returned, blowing the salt from its path. He laughed with amusement.
"I know you're not getting my brother's soul!" Sam snapped back at Kalfu desperately, firing again.
Kalfu deflected the blast with almost monotonous ease. "I gets what's due me, Boy! An' payment's long ova due!" Kalfu snarled, irritated by Sam's defiance. "It's time for what's owed to me!"
Bobby also blasted at Kalfu with rock salt, fear and trepidation was mounting within him. He was growing increasingly nervous. Kalfu glared at him with growing irritation as he deflected the shot once more.
With his concentration upon the hunters, Ruby lunged at the Colt; however Kalfu ceased her last bid attempt at retrieving the pistol by hurling her at the feet of his hounds. They set upon her, drowning her in a savage sea of black, as the Colt skidded across the floor, far out of Sam's reach from within their circle of protection.
Ruby fought her way to her feet, and in a desperate attempt to save herself she lunged towards the doors, the hounds at her heels. Kalfu's pets had no reservations in savaging the demoness and she was sent sprawling through the doorway.
"Enough! I'm tirin' o' these games!" Kalfu snorted. "Ya childish 'tempts to keep me from takin' what's mine ain't gonna work!" Kalfu raised his hands to waist height, fingers spread wide. Then he lowered his head and glared at the hunters through vehement eyes, glazed over like the fires of Hell.
What began as a gust of wind, escalated to a tempest. As the winds intensified and howled through the church, glass, timber splinters and dust pelted them relentlessly until Bobby's carefully laid circle was all but swept away in the turbulent gusts of wind. The hounds stalked forward eagerly…
"Your wasted 'tempts to stop me claimin' my contract's damned stupid. You cann' stop me. Did ya really thinks ya could stop me wiv all dis hocus-pocus?" Kalfu waved his hand again and more of their protective circle eroded with the ensuing wind.
Then Kalfu turned his attentions solely on Bobby and Sam. The winds intensified, and with their circle broken both hunters found themselves at Kalfu's mercy. His hands snapped to either side and he laughed with victory. He tossed them in different directions, smashing them into opposite walls of the church and pinning them there with nothing more than an upturned hand.
Dean lay crumpled on the floor in what remained of Bobby's goofer dust circle. It was most certainly breached in more places than one. In his weakened, groggy state, Dean didn't stand a chance. Although, the hounds didn't advance.
"I guess you just gotta decide, Dean. Who's walkin' outta here? I wills be collectin' on my contract, or penalize ya for lack of payment!" Kalfu demanded. "Who's shall it be, Dean? It's ya decision. With whose life will you make payment? Yours or Samuel's?" To validate his point, Kalfu clenched the fist that he held in Sam's direction. Sam began to gag and gasp for strangled breath, his hands grappling with unseen hands about his throat.
Kalfu wanted to make a final point to all concerned. He would take what was owed to him, and he'd make the notorious, defiant Dean Winchester beg him to take him. He'd break him before he ripped his soul out…
Dean pulled himself up onto his knees. And as Sam and Bobby gazed in horror, from where they were pinned to the wall, Dean staggered to his feet. With painful effort he forced his lacerated leg to hold his weight, and he hobbled forward, with precise, determined steps. Fresh blood oozed through his bandages, and every footfall elicited a grimace of pain. He clutched his arms tightly against his chest, easing the pain from his shoulder, the other from his forearm. He staggered perilously, barely keeping himself upright, however he pushed himself to continue, until he stepped over and out of the goofer dust circle. Weary and lethargic, Dean teetered and swayed precariously, however he forced himself to stand proud, mere meters from Kalfu.
"Now…" Kalfu demanded. The sheer taunting was worth the wait for this soul. "Till's me who?"
Dean gulped back nervously, glancing at Sam's struggling form, pinned to the wall by invisible means. By a force that was slowly choking the life out of him. "Me!" He hissed with defeat.
Kalfu nodded with acknowledgement, smirking with triumph as he allowed Sam and Bobby to drop to the floor. The hunters staggered cautiously to their feet.
"Dean, NO!" Sam pleaded, gasping for breath. He couldn't bear to see Dean sacrifice himself, not after their efforts to save him. "Please don't…" The Colt lay just a few feet away, close enough Sam could almost will it into his grasp…
Then Bedlam ignited. Tempestuous winds ripped through the church, and literally tore it apart. The force of the gale lifted both Sam and Bobby off their feet and thrust them back to the floor, and pinned them there. The roof was completely blasted off the church, and two of the four walls disintegrated like a house of cards. Then the earth beneath them began to quake and shudder, the floorboards undulated in a sea of waves until the church itself ruptured in two. The floorboards through the center of the church exploded outwards, showering them in a hail of splintered timber. The floor joists were laid bear like the ribs on a skeleton, as the ground below ruptured. Only Dean and Kalfu were encircled by the only remaining stable ground, apparently unaffected by the demon's destruction, whilst Sam and Bobby were tossed about like kids on surf boards. The separate halves of the quaking building divided as the earth below parted to reveal a gapping fissure that continued to expand in depth and width. The earth groaned and rumbled as the gapping maw obstinately pulled apart. An intense orange light erupted from the abyss, accompanied by an overwhelming heat, as if they stood upon the precipice of a volcano. The fires of Hell leapt up from the chasm.
Dean cast a final glimpse towards Sam before clenching his eyes closed in fear to await his final demise. He swayed precariously as he waited, almost welcoming an end. Heat and a scarlet luminance cloaked him, as searing winds swirled up from the fissure. A misty orange haze encircled him, with tendrils of searing wisps greedily whipping at his body.
Kalfu leaned over and patted his favorite hound on the head. He leaned to whisper in the dog's ear then sent it on its mission. It leapt towards Dean and pounced upon his chest, its savage claws gouging themselves into Dean's already lacerated shoulder. The momentum of the hound's lunge hurled them both into the fiery crevice.
"NOOOO!" Sam screamed in horror, and with a miraculous, magnetic draw the Colt leapt up from the floor and flew into his hand. Without considering the rationale Sam squeezed the trigger as he aimed the pistol towards Kalfu. The shot hit the demon in the upper thigh and downed him instantly. Kalfu wailed in both pain and awe, glaring with bewilderment at Sam with blazing eyes. Kalfu's body trembled until it was wracked with violent convulsions. His face twisted and contorted as electrifying pulses erupted from his mouth. His face slowly burned away, the fires in his eyes consuming his flesh in a slow cremation of his entire body. Kalfu shrieked with an ear-shattering wail as thick, black ichors spewed from his mouth. The smoke hovered hesitantly above them, blacking out the moon's feeble glow, then with an unearthly shriek the cloud was sucked, like a vacuum, back into the depths of Hell.
At the same instance the winds ceased and the hounds vanished, in growling agony, in a similar hazy miasma of smoke; sucked back into Hell with their master.
Sam collapsed to his knees in despair; Kalfu's demise was mere seconds too late. Sam's breaths came in short gasps, hyperventilating in shock and horror as the Colt tumbled from his grasp. Bobby gazed back at him with equal dismay from the other side of the fiery abyss.
Their last bid attempt to save Dean had failed and there were no more second chances.
Dean had been cast into the fiery pit of Hell.
As Sam peered into the blazing inferno he could almost make out innumerable souls clawing their way up towards the surface.
"We have to close it somehow Sam… it's another damned Devil's Gate!" Bobby urged, reaching for his duffle and his leather-bound compendium of rites and rituals. "I'm sure there's something in here…"
Bobby began to chant in Latin.
The earth began to shudder, and what commenced with a slight tremor quickly grew to a discernable quake. Sam watched as the fissure creaked and groaned as it tenaciously inched closed.
"Dean!" Sam pounced to the fissure's edge and almost threw himself over. Bobby had to lunge at him to stop him from throwing himself in after his brother. "No… Dean!"
"No Sam, you gotta let him go!" Bobby grabbed Sam by his jacket and shook him, to make him accept the full reality of the situation: Dean was gone, and he was never coming back!
"No, Bobby, I can SEE Dean!" Sam yelled back. He broke free of Bobby's grasp as he pointed into the depths of the chasm.
"Damned, Son-of-a-bitch!" Bobby shouted in dismay.
He really was there. Dean lay precariously on a miniscule excuse for a ledge. The abyss walls shook and trembled, as the gapping crags closed, and Dean's limbs dangled like a rag doll: He was at serious threat of plummeting over.
"Stop it closing Bobby… we gotta get him out!" Sam begged desperately; on the verge of scaling down the precipice bare handed.
"I can't stop it Sam. I'm not even sure I got it to close…" Bobby certainly hadn't gotten more than a few lines into the ritual.
"I'm not leaving him!" Sam snapped back instantly. "And you can't stop me!"
"No, not like this Sam. I got rope, in the pickup!" Bobby clarified. "You can't carry him back up bare handed!"
Sam lashed the rope around himself, in crude a harness, then without thought or doubt he scaled over the precipice and abseiled down into Hell.
As the abyss groaned and grated, steadily narrowing, Sam's task became precariously desperate. The fissure would soon close completely, crushing both Winchesters to death between its rocky faces, if it's staggered, volatile jolting and shaking didn't toss them into its fiery depths first.
As he approached the ledge, mere seconds from finding his own foot hold, the chasm shuddered once more. Dean's weight shifted and he began to slide over the edge, the weight of his dangling limbs over balancing him entirely.
"DEAN!" Sam screamed as he relinquished his hold upon the rope and dropped the remaining meter to the ledge, his feet precariously planting themselves between Dean's thighs, and temporarily halting his slide. Sam carefully knelt down, acutely aware that he stood mere inches from plummeting straight into Hell. He was pretty sure this way was a direct route; do not pass Go, or Judgment, or Purgatory or any other hopes of redemption. 'Abandon Hope, all ye who enter… or fall in!'
Dean lay deathly still and inert. Sam was at a loss at to weather he even lived or not. Blood seemed to dribble from his mouth and from a brutal gash across his brow, and Sam prayed it indicated his heart still pumped vital blood through his ravaged body…
Dean's eye's snapped open and he arched back in dismay. He gasped with a frantic lungful of air, as if all this time he hadn't taken breath. He coughed, as the acerbic sulfuric gases filled his.
"Where?" He gasped, his throat still gravelly as his lungs filled with the suffocating fumes of Hell. "Where the hell are we?"
"Yeah, pretty much… Hell." Sam smirked in trademark Winchester 'situation normal' fashion.
Dean's gaze scanned the formidable wall opposite. The chasm had closed enough he could almost reach out and touch it. His gaze inched up the seemingly infinite meters to the top, where Bobby's anxious face peered back with unbridled apprehension.
"Who's up there?" Dean muttered.
"What?" Sam muttered as he tried to lift Dean's lethargic torso up. He glanced upwards at Bobby's unmistakable face peering back. The seasoned hunter was even wearing his trademark baseball cap and flack jacket. The fires of Hell had brilliant illuminating qualities. "Dean, its Bobby! Dean are you o…."
Sam's concern sprang up a notch; however it was quickly stifled as they were rocked by another quake.
"I'm gonna haul you up. All you need to do is hang on, ok? Can you do that?" Sam queried nervously. Dean's gazed found him once more and Dean almost managed a confident smile as he nodded his head again. "Ok, on three…" Sam instructed.
"One… two… three!" Sam pulled on the rope, hoisting Dean a foot higher. Once he had the momentum, Sam compelled his arms to continue with the next heave, and the next and another after that. He kept tugging on the rope, hand over hand, over and over again. Until Bobby finally managed to haul the injured hunter over the edge.
"Sam!" Bobby shouted to the hunter. "SAM! Get your ass outta there!" Bobby ordered. "And fast!" Bobby tossed the other end of the rope back down to him, so that he could climb out himself.
Sam had neglected the closing abyss and the devious chasm had almost closed in about him. The opposite crag was within arm's reach.
Sam pulled on the rope, allowing his feet to rise off the ledge and stepped up the crevasse, one step at a time.
Bobby was awestruck as Sam's momentum suddenly surged upwards. Only to realize Dean had regained enough strength to begin tugging at the rope himself. He could scarcely keep himself upright, however he'd found the strength and will to save his brother.
"Just hang on Sam, we'll haul you out!" Bobby yelled to him.
Eventually Bobby's hand was reaching for him, desperate to secure a firm handhold on his jacket. Once achieved Sam was amazed at Bobby's strength, when he was hauled out in one almighty heave.
Sam gagged and coughed as Bobby's arms were strangled them both; hugging both Winchesters so tight they could barely breathe.
As the trio shuffled from the fissure's edge the chasm groaned rebelliously and slammed closed. With an ear shattering crash, the earth impacted and pulverized with the force of its closure. Thick clouds of dirt and remnant sulfuric gases exploded over them in a shower of rocks and dirt. The heat dissipated instantly and the devastated ruins of the church fell silent once more.
"Let's get the Hell outta here." Bobby sighed as he held Dean in his arms. Sam nodded enthusiastically and he staggered to his feet.
"Shit yeah!" Sam agreed.
Although Bobby searched for her, Ruby was no where to be found. Both Bobby and Sam feared her fate had been sealed by the Hounds that perused her. The carnage of evidence of both beast and demon had disappeared; their carcasses and their very remaining essence had been sucked back into the very depths of Hell. It would seem this particular battle was a win to the only humans in the group.
Daylight's first tentative fingers of pink and gold clawed at the horizon. Dawn was just breaking as they made their way back to their cars.
Dean had lived to see another day…