[Five hours ago]
"Mom!" Jo yelled, blocking the window with the heaviest boxes she could find lying around the pub. They were under attack. Jo didn't know what it was, or what it wanted, but she knew it couldn't be good. She couldn't see her mother anymore, and she was beginning to get scared. After the Roadhouse had been destroyed, Ellen had come looking for Jo, and she had finally found her. Therefore, Jo had just gotten her mother back, and she would be damned if she was going to lose her again.
"I'm right here, baby," Ellen answered, coming up behind Jo, helping her move the rest of the tables in front of the entrance, attempting to secure the area; protecting her daughter from being injured.
Jo smiled at her mother, glad that she was there to help her at this moment. She knew the demon was going to get in eventually, and they would probably not be able to fight it off, but having her mother there made her feel safe and peaceful. If she was going to die, she would rather she die with her mother than die alone. The women slid down to sit on the floor, their backs resting against the tables blocking the doorway.
Suddenly, there was a white light, blinding the women for a second. When the light was out, they were able to open their eyes, only to find they were staring a demon straight in the face. It backhanded Ellen, sending her into the opposite wall. Jo stood up and took a swing at the thing, but it dodged, counter-attacking her, causing her to hit her head hard on the table. She tried to stand, but she was too disoriented. And that's when she felt the hands on her hips, pulling her up off the floor. She was turned in the demons arms so she was staring at the thing. The white light appeared again, enveloping Jo.
Ellen stood just in time to see her daughter being engulfed in the white light. "No!" she screamed running for the demon holding her daughter. Suddenly, she was knocked backwards, smacking her head off the table, causing her to black out.
[Now]
Slowly, Ellen opened her eyes, blinking against the bright rays the sun was shining through the windows. All of the boxes that were put in front of the windows were gone, having been blown out of the way when the demon entered the pub. Also, the tables and chairs had been blown out of the way of the front entrance, leaving the pub completely open. Ellen raised herself up off the ground, holding onto a table to steady her wobbling movements. She put her hand up to the back of her head, seeing her blood on her fingers when she pulled her hand away.
"Jo!" Ellen yelled, hoping she was in hearing distance. When she didn't answer, Ellen yelled again. "Jo! Where are you?!" Again, Jo didn't answer.
Forgetting all about her own injuries, she ran through the pub, yelling Jo's name, hoping her daughter would answer her. She stopped once she was back at the table, holding onto it once again to steady herself. Suddenly, everything came rushing back to her; the fight to keep the demon out; the demon finally getting in; the bright light as it attacked; and finally, Jo in the things arms, completely taken over by the same bright light she had seen when the demon came in.
Fingers trembling, entire body shaking, Ellen reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She rang Bobby's number, hoping he would pick up. He did. "Bobby! Jo's gone!"
"What?' Bobby asked on the other line. "What happened, Ellen?"
"We were attacked. A demon came in and fought us. I was knocked out and when I woke up, Jo was gone. The demon took her, Bobby! Please, I need your help!"
"Okay, yeah, of course. I'm about two days away."
Ellen rolled her eyes and leaned further onto the table, feeling the tears stinging, ready to fall. "That's too long of a wait, Bobby! She could be dead by then!" She drew in a long, deep breath. "I can't lose her, Bobby. I lost my husband to a demon. I can't lose my daughter to one, too."
"All right, Ellen. I'll be there as soon as I can. In the meantime, call Sam and Dean. I think they're close by working a case. They can help."
Ellen shook her head, not caring that Bobby couldn't see the gesture. She closed the phone, quickly opening it again and dialing Sam's number. Her breath caught in her throat when she heard his familiar voice. "Sam?"
Sam looked over at Dean, not able to believe who he was hearing on the other line. "Yeah, I'm here."
"Oh, Sam." Ellen let out a sigh. "I need your help."
"Okay, it's okay. What's wrong?" Sam could tell Ellen was crying.
"It's Jo. She's missing. I called Bobby but he's a couple days away. He told me you boys might be nearby and could help me find my daughter. I'm at the pub."
Sam breathed in deep when he heard Jo was in trouble. He remembered the time he had been possessed and had tried to hurt Jo. He figured he owed it to her to find her. "Okay. We'll be there in ten minutes." Sam hung up.
"Who was that?" Dean asked looking at his brother, still crunching down on the chips he was eating for breakfast. Sam didn't answer. "Sam?"
"Huh? Oh! That was Ellen. She's at the pub." Sam looked into his brother's eyes. "Jo's in trouble."
Practically breaking all the driving laws, Dean turned the car around and sped off in the direction of the pub. He didn't need details; well, not yet anyway. The only thing he needed to know was that Jo was in trouble, and he was on his way, prepared to do whatever it took to get her safe again.
They arrived at the pub in less than five minutes; Sam hadn't expected Dean to drive so fast. Dean was out of the car first and headed into the pub, almost running. When they entered, they saw Ellen sitting at one of the tables having a drink. She had an ice pack on the back of her head, and her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Sitting across from Ellen, Dean asked, "Ellen, what happened?"
Ellen looked up at Dean, eyes rimmed with tears. "A demon attacked us last night. It knocked me out. Right before I passed out, I saw it take Jo. I don't know where she is. I don't even know if she's--" Ellen lowered her head, unable to finish her sentence and took another swig from the beer in her hand.
"She's alive," Sam assured her, taking a seat next to Dean. "It's okay, Ellen. Dean and I are going to find her and bring her back to you. Safe and as good as new." He touched her hand, looking into her eyes. "I promise."
Ellen smiled at Sam, knowing that he was just trying to help. She gave his hand a strong squeeze, letting him know she appreciated the effort he was making at helping her feel better. Then, she turned her attention to Dean. "Can you do this? Can you bring her back to me? Safe and in one piece?"
Dean looked into Ellen's swollen, puffy eyes. "I can. And I will. I promise." He put every bit of emotion he had in him into those two words. "Now, tell me everything about last night that you remember. I have to know what we're going up against so we can kill it." He made sure he emphasized the last part of the sentence. He wanted to kill this thing so bad. He had never wanted to kill anything more in his entire life.
Once Ellen had told them everything, they were in the car and on their way to find Jo. Sam had done some research on his lap top, and he had come up with a name: Amore. Also, he found that these things would live in big, abandoned, mansion-type houses; places no one would ever think to search for anyone. After calculating how much time the thing had to get away and how many miles it could have traveled in that amount of time, they came to the conclusion there could be ten places this thing could be hiding. They had already hit seven of them.
As they continued to drive, Sam began to wonder if they were ever going to find Jo; they had been driving all night, and it was well into the next morning. And even if they did find her, who's to say she would be all right? Sure, he wished she would be intact and safe, but from his experience, the people they cared about always ended up getting hurt; their mother, Jess, their father. Hell, even he and Dean had died. Of course, he didn't remember anything about his death, but Dean had been in Hell for four months before he was pulled out. Bad things always seemed to happen to them.
The tires skidded against the gravel as Dean pulled the car over. He jumped out of the car, slamming the door behind him, walking to the trunk. Quickly, he opened the trunk, pulling out his favorite sawed-off rifle and his '45. Then, he handed Sam the sawed-off rifle he always used. With his gun, he pointed to the alley. "You hit the back, stake it out. I'll check out the front."
Sam closed his mouth, pressing his lips into a hard line. "Dean, I don't think we should split up. It could be dangerous."
"Sam, you said this thing doesn't stick around after it has it's victims. That it only comes back when it's ready to kill them." Sam shook his head 'yes'. "Then we should be fine. This thing only took Jo a couple of hours ago. Surely, it's not ready to kill her yet."
Sam knew Dean was right, and they would get a lot more covered if they split up. Without arguing anymore, Sam shook his head, heading off in the direction of the alley leading to the back entrance of the building. Before he disappeared into the alley, he looked back at his big brother, watching as he kicked the front door open, walking inside, gun at the ready. He turned back to the alley and entered.
Hearing the sound of a door being kicked open jerked Jo out of her comatose state. She moved her head around slowly, still feeling a little disoriented from where she had hit the table before she was kidnapped. She tried to move her hands, but she noticed they were cuffed to the bedposts. Jerking her hands back and forth quickly, violently, she attempted to break free. Her attempts, however failed. Remembering she heard the door being kicked in, she yelled to the stranger. "Hello?! Hello, is anyone out there?!" She struggled against the cuffs again.
Carefully, Dean walked through the house, looking for any sign of Jo. He walked to the stairs, looking up them before returning his attention back to the bottom floor. He walked through every square inch of the first floor, not seeing anything. As he was walking out of the kitchen and back into the living room where he had seen the stairs, he heard shouting. He looked up the stairs, lowering his gun. "Jo? Jo, is that you?" Dean started taking the stairs two at a time.
Feeling the metal dig into the tender flesh of her wrists, Jo stopped struggling against the cuffs. She threw her head back on the bed, wanting to cry when she heard no answer. She banged her head on the soft mattress, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. Suddenly, she heard her name being called. At the sound of the voice, she snapped her head back up, looking at the closed door about two feet ahead of her. "Dean?" she shouted. She felt so relieved to hear his voice. "Dean, I'm upstairs! I'm cuffed to a bed! I can't get out! Help me!" Again, she began to struggle, not caring about the pain that shot through her wrists and up her arms.
Hearing her voice again, closer this time as he reached the top of the stairs, he followed it. "Yeah, Jo, I'm here. Keep talking to me so I can find you." He listened, waiting for her to speak again so he could follow her comforting voice once more.
"Oh, thank God," Jo breathed. "Dean, you have no idea how good it feels to hear your voice. My mom and I were attacked last night, and the next thing I knew I was cuffed to this bed. I don't know if--Is my mom okay?"
"Yeah, she's fine," Dean answered, letting Jo know he was still looking for her. He could hear her voice loud and clear coming from the last door at the end of the hallway. As he walked towards it, his cell phone rang. He answered it, seeing that Sam was the one calling. "Sammy? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. The back entrance is locked. I tried to pick it, but it's an old house and it's locks are weird. I'm coming back around front. I'll see you inside. Did you find any sign of her yet?"
"Yeah," Dean answered. "I found her. I'll meet you outside." He hung up, reaching the door he was headed to. He drew his leg up, slamming his foot into the door, feeling it break off its hinges from the massive force he put behind the kick. He ran inside. "Jo?"
As the door flew off its hinges, Jo closed her eyes, just in case any debris flew over to her. She heard Dean say her name, and she wasn't afraid anymore. "Dean, I'm over here."
Dean looked at her, cuffed to the bed, helpless. A feeling of rage washed over him, again thinking about how much he wanted this demon dead. He ran over to the bed, pulling his lock pick out of his pocket, not wasting any time. He knelt down by Jo's left wrist, seeing that the flesh on her wrists were raw from struggling against the cuffs. Quickly, he began to pick the lock, moving on to her right hand once her left was free.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she watched Dean pick the locks to the cuffs. He was good, so she knew he would have her out of there in no time. She didn't care what her mother thought about him; she trusted Dean with her life. Sam, on the other hand, was a different story after what he had tried to do to her when he was possessed. She knew it wasn't him, but she was still a little nervous around him.
As soon as she was free, Jo pushed herself up to a sitting position on the bed, rubbing her tender wrists, wincing against the pain. She gasped as Dean pulled her into a tight embrace. She felt his breath on the back of her neck, pushing her hair aside slightly. Slowly, she put her arms around him, open palms resting on each of his muscular shoulder blades.
He pulled away, looking into her eyes. "Are you okay?" He pushed her lond blonde hair away from her forehead, seeing the gash where she had hit her head on the table, feeling the rage bubble inside him once again. She didnt say anything, just nodded her head 'yes'. He stood up, taking her hand in his, pulling her to her feet. "Come on. We gotta get outta here. Sam's outside waiting in the car."
As soon as Dean pulled away, Jo missed him. Missed his breath on the back of her neck, his warm body pressing against hers, his strong arms holding her fragile 5'4", 105 pound body. When he grabbed her hand, she latched onto it with a death grip, never wanting to let go. She allowed him to lead her out of the room and down the stairs.
When they reached the front door, she saw Sam leaning against the car. As they were about to walk out, the door slammed shut, locking itself. Jo grabbed ahold of Dean's arm with her free hand, letting out a small shriek as the door slammed. She let him go as he threw himself against the door, banging on it with all he had, trying to get it open, but failing miserably.
Sam smiled when he saw Dean and Jo standing in the doorway. He was so happy that she was all right, and he knew now that he hadn't lied to Ellen about being able to save her daughter. He pushed away from the car, ready to greet Jo and Dean when they came out, only they didn't. When the door slammed shut, he ran for it, pounding on it, attempting to open it. "Dean?!"
Dean continued to pound. "Sammy?! Sam, get us out of here!" He banged on the door again, harder this time.
Sam kicked at the door, knowing it wouldn't budge but trying anyway. "Dean, it's the Amore! It's locked you inside! It doesn't want you to take Jo away!" Sam beat the door with the palm of his hand. "Dean, I'm going to go kill the thing. Once it's dead, you guys should be able to come out."
"Okay. Okay, Sammy, I hear you. Hurry back!" Dean turned around, looking back at Jo, leaning against the door, breathing heavily.
"I'll be back as soon as I can, Dean." Sam put his forehead against the door, not knowing where to begin to look for the demon. Suddenly, he heard someone behind him say his name. Quickly, he turned, instinctively putting his gun up, ready to shoot if there was a threat. He lowered it when he saw who the new arrival was.
"Sam, that's hardly going to do you any good," she said, staring at the barrel of the gun as he pointed it at her.
"Ruby?" Sam asked. "What are you doing here?"
"We have work to do, Sam," she answered, looking into his big, innocent, hazel eyes.