The Anger of Innocence Lost Ch. 4
Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable in this story. I am just playing with the Winchesters and will return them to Kripke's sandbox later.
Author's Note: I took a little artistic license and made up a name for the Aitu demon.
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Previously: "Oh God, I never meant for Sammy to get hurt on that hunt. Please forgive me, it was a mistake, I should have put Sammy first…"
As John neared consciousness once again, his mind began to assault him with memories of the many times he had hurt Sammy, not physically but mentally and wasn't that just so much worse. He couldn't begin to imagine how much his verbal abuse had affected his baby boy's psyche. No wonder Sammy finally snapped and took off for Stanford after years of hearing how worthless he was. John was tormented as the scene's played over and over in his head:
"Sam go check the arsenal in the trunk and see how many flare cartridges we have left. You can at least do that much without messing up can't you?"
"Suck it up son, it's just a stomach ache, quit acting like a damn baby and get your ass in gear."
"I don't care if you're not hungry kiddo. I said you need to eat more and you will or I'll force it down your damn throat myself. Do you hear me?"
"This is all your fault dad. If you had been more of a father and less of an ass, then Sammy wouldn't have felt the need to hide his sickness from you."
"Stop, just please stop" John groaned out as he clasped his hands to his head. He couldn't stand watching the memories play through his mind like a movie reel showing him just how bad of a father had been to his youngest. He opened his eyes to find himself alone in the cave and wondered where the demons had gone off to. "Well, at least I've got a few minutes reprieve from the pain"he thought but then wondered if that were a good thing since his memories were the thing assaulting him now.
He tried shifting to make himself comfortable but immediately regretted it when pain spiked through his leg and up his ankle. "Son of a bitch" he grumbled. "How in the hell will I get out of this mess when I can't even stand to put pressure on my foot?" John wondered for the first time if he had gotten himself in over his head. Jim was the only one who knew he was out on the hunt and even he didn't know John's exact location, only that it was in the North Cascade Mountains.
He knew the chances of Dean showing up weren't very well since the kid had taken to hunting by himself lately or helping Caleb when he needed it. If he could only get to the phone in his jeans then he could call his son, but his hands were shackled to the wall in a way that reaching the phone was impossible.
John hung his head as he thought about the very real possibility of being slowly tortured to death. Sammy would never know how much he now regretted the mental abuse that he had heaped on him. God forgive him, he was only trying to make the kid tougher since he wore his heart on his sleeve, but instead he had destroyed his youngest to such a point that Sammy had felt the need to leave the family. "Please, just give me one more chance with my youngest" he thought as he hung his head and prayed to whomever out there was listening. He had to let Sammy know how much he loved him and how wrong he was.
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As the sun peaked over the horizon, Dean glanced over to see Sammy sleeping with his head lying against the window. The window would lightly fog with each shallow puff of breath. He was happy to see the kid getting some rest knowing that he would need to be alert once they got the hunt started. He wasn't worried about himself, hell he had gotten used to losing a night's sleep here and there while driving through the night and enjoying the peace and serenity that it afforded him.
Deciding to use the time wisely, Dean picked up his cell phone and hit sped dial number three. He waited for five rings before hearing a familiar gruff sounding voice coming from the other end.
"This better be mighty damned important waking me up so frigging early in the morning"
"Hey Bobby, sorry to wake ya, but I need your help" Dean said as he kept his voice low so he wouldn't wake Sammy.
"What's wrong Dean?" Bobby asked as he immediately became alert upon hearing the fear in Dean's voice. Bobby knew it had to bad whatever the news was to have shaken Dean ip, the kid was tough as nails and never showed weakness.
"I think dad's been captured by a demon, I need to know everything you can tell me about the Aitu demon"
"There's not that much to tell you boy" Bobby replied as he ran his hands through his sleep mussed hair. "Let's see, they are known to be trouble makers who thrive on being cruel. They have been known to take the forms of plants, animals, and even humans when necessary. Mythology refers to them as calamity or sickness demons because once they entered a village, calamity ran rampant." Bobby hesitated and took a deep breath before telling Dean the next part. "Dean, if one of those things has captured your dad, he's going to be in a world of suffering. You're gonna need some help son. Please don't try to handle this one on your own."
"Don't worry, I've got it handled" Dean said hoping to ease Bobby's worries. "There's one more thing I need to know, how do I get rid of the damn thing?"
"The only known thing I've heard about that will keep the demon down long enough for you to exorcise it is to shoot it through the heart with consecrated iron bullets." Dean heard an uncomfortable silence coming from Bobby's end before he finally added "Be careful ya idjit. You're like the son I never had and I don't want to lose you boy."
"I will Bobby, and you uh, well you know" Dean replied trying to let the grizzled hunter know he loved him like family too.
"Yeah, I know. I'll see you soon okay Dean?"
"You bet" Dean answered before hanging up the phone and placing it back in his jacket pocket.
"So what did Bobby have to say?" Dean was surprised to hear Sam's voice suddenly ask him. He glanced over to see Sammy still with his eyes closed and his head propped against the window.
"Sorry kiddo, I didn't mean to wake you."
'S'okay, I was just resting my eyes anyway" Sam replied with his eyes still closed.
"Uh huh, and I believe you too" Dean stated before telling Sammy all the information that Bobby had relayed to him about the demon and how to keep it down long enough to exorcise it back to hell. After he finished his spiel, he said "Now go back to sleep, I'll wake you when we get there."
"Kay." Within minutes, Dean could hear the soft sounds of Sam's even breathing once more. He marveled at the way that Sammy could always fall asleep so easy in the car, he figured it was because the Impala was the only real home that Sammy had ever known.
Sammy had only been asleep about twenty minutes when Dean observed him becoming restless. He wondered if his baby brother still had those nightmares that seemed to plague him as a child. He thought about reaching over to wake him up, but knew how tired he was. He decided to give him a few more minutes to see if he would calm down on his own.
Sam awoke and suddenly found himself no longer in the Impala. He glanced around and noticed that he was once again in the cave. "What the hell?" he thought wondering how he ended up there again when it seemed that he'd been in the Impala riding down the road with Dean only a few moments ago. He could hear the sounds of moaning coming from far off and followed the sound with trepidation. As he got closer, he could hear a woman's voice also. "Who the hell is that?" he questioned wondering what a woman would be doing in a cave, Whoever the hell she was, she sounded angry.
"I ought to kill you, you fcking bastard" he heard the woman scream with rage. "Sammy was my last gift to you and you did nothing but break his heart. He was my light in life John and you snuffed the light right out of him with your anger. I hate you" Sam's eyes grew huge as he rounded the bend in the cave and saw what appeared to be his mother screaming in anger at his father. He was taken aback as he saw her raise a knife and sink it into his father's chest.
"Noooo" screamed Sam as he abruptly bolted upright in the car. He gasped in shaky breaths as he looked around with terrified eyes. He soon felt himself being pulled into a comforting embrace as he heard the words. "Shh, it's okay little brother, Shhh, I've got ya."
Dean had noticed that his little brother was becoming more agitated as his eyes started darting about in his sleep. He didn't like the mumblings that he heard coming from his brother's mouth. Deciding that he needed to wake Sammy up, he started to pull the car over to the side of the road. He had just put the gear into park when Sammy shot up in his seat screaming the word no. He quickly reached over and pulled the kid to his shoulder and rubbed his hand in circles on Sammy's back since it always calmed him when he was younger. "Shh, it's okay little brother, Shhh, I've got ya." he said as he felt the tremors shaking his brother's body.
"M'sorry" Sam said as he finally pulled himself together and sat up in his seat. He felt embarrassed for losing it like that in front of his brother after all this time. He didn't want Dean to think he was a big baby.
"No need to apologize kiddo" Dean responded as he cupped the nape of Sam's neck with his palm. "Damn it, I was hoping those nightmares had stopped haunting you since you went away to school. You wanna talk about it?"
"No, not really. It was jut a stupid nightmare anyway." Sam told his brother. He didn't want to have to tell Dean about his mind conjuring up something as horrible as their own mother torturing their father. Dean's memory of their mom was scared to him and he wasn't about to hurt Dean with what he had dreamed. "Let's just get to dad"
TBC