Chapter 4
FYI: The Italics is Demon!Neal's words and actions.
Neal came to himself. He had no idea why he was so far from home, or how he had gotten there.
But the demonic entity currently residing inside Neal's body was very happy. He got what he wanted. The Winchesters were on their way. Elizabeth Burke had called, just like he had wanted her to.
"Dean." El said as soon as Dean answered.
"Ne…." Dean had started to say Neal. But this was a female voice, and a female voice he didn't recognize at that.
"It's Elizabeth Burke, Dean. I'm using Neal's phone." El explained.
Dean cast worried glance at Sam while he listened.
"What's…what's going on El?" Where's Neal?" Dean asked. He was afraid he already knew the answer.
"He's here…sort of." El said.
Neal smiled and encouraged her to continue. She was doing fine.
"What does that mean?" Dean asked.
"What it means, Dean Winchester…" Neal said taking the phone. "…is that pretty boy here has a passenger these days."
"You bastard!" Dean yelled into the phone. He understood immediately what was happening. "You leave him right now!" He had not expected that answer. He had thought that maybe Neal had gotten injured on the job, not this, never this.
"I want you to come here and make me." Neal chuckled into the phone.
"You…!" It was all Dean could get out before the phone went dead.
Dean threw the phone across the room.
Sam looked at him with a mixture of shock and expectation as he watched his brother hurriedly throw items into a bag.
"Dean…?" Sam started. He also grabbed his bag and began to pack.
"We need to get to New York…Neal!" Dean said as he rushed around the room.
"What…?" Sam started. He didn't like seeing Dean like this. It had to be very, very bad.
"I just spoke with the demon playing piggyback with Neal." Dean stated.
Sam's mouth opened and closed a couple of times. He was too shocked for words.
"Let's roll." Dean said as he and Sam got into the car.
Neal had never had any dealings with the Winchesters directly. He had just heard of them through various entanglements with his demonic brethren. And, like most arm-chair quarterbacks, he thought he had the perfect play to get rid of the flesh-covered, mouth-breathing nuisances once and for all. Sam and Dean were loyal to their friends and family. That was very well known, even in…lower circles. Of course, Neal also knew that the Winchesters were on the FBI's most wanted list. So why not involve the wife of an FBI agent? Why not have an agency looking for them? These meat suits should really be good for something, right? And if they were to say….take care of the Winchesters before he actually got around to it. Well, that would be okay too.
El was shaking. She stared at the door for what felt like an hour after Neal had left. She could not believe what had just happened. Whoever had been in her home had been Neal, but had not been Neal, all at the same time. She had seen his eyes go black. She had seen his face sort of change. And she had heard the change in his voice when he spoke. And it had been particularly pronounced when he had talked to Dean. She looked at her phone as if she was amazed by it. A demon had used her phone.
El was not a particularly religious person. She knew of angels and demons. She knew that they existed. But she lived in the modern day, in a modern society. Things like possessions and the like just didn't happen today. The majority, she felt, of what used to be called possession could be explained away, these days, as some sort of mental illness. But she had her beliefs tested, in a big way. She didn't believe, for a moment, that Neal Caffrey suffered from any form of mental illness. But the Neal she had known, the person she had just seen who liked like Neal, was not him. She tried, with trembling fingers, to call her husband. But after hitting the wrong number, even on speed dial, she gave up. What would she say? How could she explain this to Peter? How could she expect him to believe her? Maybe she was the one going crazy. Maybe she had just imagined the whole thing. She checked both doors. Then realized what was missing. Satch had whimpered and even growled when Neal had come in. It was unusual behavior for Satch towards Neal. But El had just basically ignored it. Now she called him. She hunted for him and she finally found him. He was hiding under the bed in their spare upstairs bedroom. El then sank down into a corner in the living room. She pulled Satch into her lap and waited for Peter to come home.
TBC