Chapter 3
An hour later everything was ready for the ritual. The candles were lit; four white ones, one black one and one blood red one. They were clustered closely around a crystal candle holder of a beautiful rose color that glowed brilliantly in the flickering candle light. The room lights were dimmed and Ruby sat on the floor to the south of the candle cluster, the red candle in front of her. Sam sat to the north, the black before him, and Dean paced around the room like a caged lion. He was furious and more than determined that he was going to kill Ruby. If Sammy so much as gets a headache from this ritual…
Ruby took a deep breath and looked at Sam. "Are you sure you're ready for this? It might be a little…uncomfortable."
Sam swallowed hard and looked at her. "Do it."
Ruby let her eyes fall to the candles before her and moved her hands to dome them over the crystal candle holder. "Ego advoco ater atra atrum, hic haec hoc, unus commoror. Exsisto luminarium praesieo-sedi-ere. Ubi necessaries reverto procul aeris." The crystal's glow began to pulse and grow brighter as Ruby repeated the ritual. Ruby was on the third repetition and her hands moved away from the rapidly pulsing light from the crystal. The fire ball took on a life of its own and lifted from the wick of the candle inside the crystal holder. It began to spin and turn to a blindingly bright silver color with a bottomless black spot in the center. It levitated even with Sam's forehead and suddenly flew forward, careening at him to strike his head, penetrating his skin and flowing through the veins in his forehead to reach his eyes. They took on the startling silver of the orb and had the same black spot in the center where Sam's hazel wrapped pupil should have been.
"Sammy!" Dean cried out as his baby brother turned those scary eyes on him for a second. Sam gasped and his body began lurching, convulsing. His eyes rolled back into his head, glowing that iridescent silver now and he fell back to the dingy motel room carpet. "Sam!" Dean was on his knees beside his brother.
"I remember this. Just give him a minute." Ruby said quietly, part of her lost to her memories. She knew Sam was in pain. She had been, when she'd taken her brother's powers. Her brother had faced the same terrible pain Sam was facing when the deities had given Akshay these very same abilities that Sam now had.
"I'm gonna KILL YOU!" Dean growled, moving to lift Sam into a semi sitting position against his chest. He turned his attention from the demon to his brother. "Easy, Sammy. Just… look, you wanna do this, fine, just don't fight it then. I think that is hurting you more than anything. Just take it easy." Dean wrapped his arm around Sam's shoulders and brushed his long hair back from his sweat drenched face. Those scary silver eyes closed and Sam began to breathe easier.
Sam settled down and breathed deeply, the pain abating as he opened his eyes to find Dean scrutinizing him as he was tucked up against Dean's chest. "I think I'm okay." Sam spoke with a shaking voice. "That was… I never thought it would hurt so much. Help me up, Dean." Dean moved and hauled Sam to his feet, helping him to the bed where he sat down with a ragged sigh. He stared at his shaking hands and willed them to stop. Dean crouched down in front of Sam and lifted his chin so he could see his little brother's eyes. They were normal, hazel green and human. Dean breathed a sigh of relief. Sam looked at Ruby. "What's next?" He asked her as he stood from the bed.
"We go after the bastard that has Dean's contract." Ruby said standing from the bed. She ran a hand over the hole in her shirt; brushing away the ashy substance that still clung there. "Either of you have a shirt I can borrow?"
Dean reached for his bag and tossed Ruby a gray t-shirt. She shrugged out of her jacket and turned back to look at Sam and Dean. "Uh, you guys mind?"
Sam pulled a face. "Oh." He grabbed Dean by the sleeve of his army green button down and hauled him outside the door. Dean followed and stopped in the hallway outside the room, a smirk on his face.
"Great, we're running with a bashful demon. Nice."
"Dean, she's not a demon." Sam said quietly.
"Yeah, yeah. I guess we'll see. You scared the hell outta me back there by the way."
Sam turned and watched Dean, making eye contact. Dean looked at him briefly before dropping his gaze, centering it on the two inch wide leather band he wore on his right wrist. Sam swallowed hard and knew he had Dean worried. "I'm sorry." He said. Dean shrugged and turned away. Sam quickly caught his arm and Dean glanced at Sam sharply. "Dean. For everything."
" S'okay, Sammy."
"No. It's not. I shouldn't have said what I did. I wish you woulda slugged me or something. I full on deserve it."
"Rain check on that." Dean smiled at Sam. Ruby came out of the motel room, wearing Dean's shirt and her jacket. It was slightly large on her small frame but tucked into her jeans.
"Let's go break that deal."
"How do we find him?" Sam asked.
"Simple. We find a crossroads first. Dean, you know you can't so much as lift a finger or brandish a gun. If you do…"
Dean cut her off. "I do anything to try and weasel my way out Sammy dies. Trust me, I know that. I won't even get out of the car."
"Good." Dean led the way to the Impala.