Chapter Four: The Cage
"I'm in Heaven. I'm a God. I'm everywhere, I feel so hot. Its not a habit. Its cool. I feel alive. If you don't have it, you're on the other side…"
"So did you find anything out?" Sam asked the next night while Summers was in the shower.
"No. I couldn't find anything about what the demon said. Maybe he was just trying to get away." Dean said as he flipped through pages of an old book. "You know the kind of shit they say."
"Why would Summers have acted like that then?" Sam asked, leaning back in his chair. "Something isn't right."
"Is anything ever right with our lives?"
"I'm gonna call Bobby." Sam said and grabbed his cell phone then walked out of the motel room.
Dean shook his head and took a sip of his beer. He heard the shower turn off and looked up when the door opened slightly. Summers poked her head out, her wet hair falling from her shoulder.
"Could you hand me my bag?"
Dean stood up and grabbed her bag from the side of her bed. Walking towards her, he swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat when he saw how tan her wet skin was. On her shoulder, peaking out from behind her hair just above the towel, he saw a small tattoo of a intricate devil's trap. She reached out and took it from him, giving him a smile and a quick thanks before disappearing back behind the bathroom door. Dean stood there staring at the bathroom door for a few moments, his heart falling deeper in his chest, before he heard the motel door start to open and he quickly made it look like he was going to the cooler for a beer.
"What are you doing?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Just getting a beer."
"When you have a half bottle on the table?"
Dean looked over at it, then at the one in his hands. He twisted off the top and held it out. "For you." He said. Sam gave his brother a skeptical look, but took the beer anyway. "So did Bobby know anything?" Dean asked, sitting at the table and taking a large gulp of beer.
"Yeah, but it's probably not a good idea to talk about it with her in the room." Sam said sitting down in front of his computer.
"Sam she had a tattoo." Dean said suddenly.
Sam looked up. "What?"
"She looked out of the bathroom to ask me if I could get her bag for her. When I gave it to her I saw a tattoo on her shoulder."
"Lots of people have tattoos, Dean." Sam said.
"It was a devil's trap, Sammy." Dean looked over at Sam, who was now looking at him.
"Dean, its not what you think. I think if we talk about what Bobby told me, it will explain it. The Cage is…" Sam started but stopped when the bathroom door opened.
Summers walked out of the bathroom, her bag hanging off her shoulder and her head down as she dried her hair with a towel. Throwing her hair over one shoulder, she looked at them, still drying her hair.
"What's with you two?" She asked, moving towards her bed.
"We were gonna get a pizza." said Sam.
Summers gave a sideways smile. "You boys always have intense looks when ordering pizza?" She asked, sitting down on her bed.
Sam looked over at Dean, who opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water. Summers laughed and threw the towel at him. He licked his lips and slowly dropped the towel on the floor. Getting a bit nervous, Summers looked from Dean to Sam and back again. "Alright, seriously, what's going on with you two?" She asked, placing her hands on either side of her on the bed and crossing her legs.
Dean slowly stood up and walked over to the door. Turning the deadbolt, he looked over at Summers. "We need to talk."
"Dean, will you let me explain what Bobby said first?" Sam started.
Dean looked over at Sam, who stopped talking and sat uncomfortably in his chair. "Sam here did some research. He doesn't have to tell me what he found out because I already know. All I needed was to see that little tattoo of yours." Dean said, looking back at Summers.
"What are you talking about?" She asked, sitting up a bit, visibly tensing.
"Don't act like you don't know. We trusted you." Dean said, venom in his voice.
"Dean…" Sam said, standing up.
"Shut up, Sam!" Dean said looking back at his brother. When Sam didn't say anything, he turned back to Summers. "You know we got our tattoos to stop ourselves from getting possessed. You, on the other hand, have a devil's trap." Dean stood in front of Summers and placed a hand on either side, and towered over her. "So what is it?"
Summers stared up at Dean through dark, angry eyes. "Just back off, Dean. You don't know what you're doing."
"Dean…" Sam tried again, but he wasn't listening.
"What kind of evil are you holding in there, Summers?" Dean said through grinding teeth, as he watched her eyes begin to glaze over like they had at the apartment.
"Dean, stop!" Sam yelled, standing up. "You don't know what you're doing! Let her at least explain it!"
Dean pushed himself away from Summers and turned to face Sam. "You know she's got a demon in her Sam! We gotta get rid of it!"
"We can't do that, Dean. Bobby told me what that demon meant by her being The Cage."
"Which is what exactly?" Dean asked, still clearly annoyed.
Noticing the look on Sam's face he followed Sam's gaze over his shoulder and swore. Summers was gone. Sam and Dean ran over to the now open window and looked out. Dean swore again. Grabbing his coat, he headed towards the door. "I'm going to find her. Stay here incase she comes back."
"Dean you can't kill her."
Dean stopped and looked at Sam. "I know you're sweet on her but, Sammy come on. She's a demon."
"She's not a demon. She's a cage."
"What the hell does it matter? There's a demon inside her!"
"Bobby said that not all demons are what they are now. They're nothing compared to the first demons!"
"What does that have to do with her being a cage?"
"She's a cage for one of the first demons. The first demons, Dean, they're worse than anything we've seen."
"Worse than Lilith?" Dean asked.
"Worse than Lucifer."
Summers ran. She didn't know where to, all she knew was that she had to. They were going to kill her. She couldn't let that happen. She had been The Cage for five years. It was the whole reason she got into hunting. She had to defend herself and her family some way. She couldn't let it lose after all the pain she's been through just to keep it locked up. She couldn't fight them; Not yet. They were stronger than her. If they were going to fight, she had to be ready. She couldn't die…even if it meant killing the Winchesters. The wind felt like it was cutting her skin she was running so fast. She was sure they would be looking for her. She had to get as far from them as she could until she was ready to fight. It there was one thing every hunter knew about the Winchesters…they didn't give up.
Dean stared at Sam, unsure of what to say. "Dean, we can't kill her. She dies and that demon is set free."
"The Gentlemen. That demon. They knew."
"What?"
"The Gentlemen and that other demon. Sammy they knew. Remember what they said? They knew about all of this. That's why they were trying to kill her." Dean said. "If they knew, then every demon out there knows and they're gonna be gunning for her head on a platter."
"Dean, we need to find her."
