Hello! Thank you so much for patiently waiting for this chapter. This chapter is slightly different, and it's also going to be longer than the others. This is going to be a prequel to the events in the first chapter, before Dean woke up in the Pit. Hope you enjoy! :)
"So get this," Sam began as he and Dean drove down a long, deserted back road in Michigan as the sun began setting. The screen of his laptop was illuminated on a Maryland news site. "Three suspected suicides in the last month. So far no connections other than one thing; they all had their necks slit."
Dean raised his eyebrows and sighed. "You think this is something more than suicides?"
Sam nodded his head. "Yeah. It's just too much of a coincidence."
"Alright," Dean agreed. "Where are we going?"
"Small town in Maryland. Spencerville."
"Really?" Dean responded with disdain. "Well you'd better get comfortable. It's going to be over a 10 hour drive."
"Should we find a motel?"
"No need, not tired."
Sam hesitated, but reluctantly agreed. They've driven overnight before, why should anything be different now?
The answer: What isn't different? Dean tries to ignore it, but the Mark on his arm is getting worse and worse. Anything he does can be concerning. He doesn't want to believe it, but if they don't do something soon, the Mark will consume him.
The brothers drove on into the night; Dean still refusing to find a motel. At around 5 in the morning, Sam noticed Dean begin to slump over the wheel.
"Dean!"
Dean snapped back up, and looked over at Sam.
"What?" He mumbled groggily.
"Pull over, I'm driving now."
Surprisingly, Dean gave no argument, and pulled the Impala over to the side of the empty road. The two got out of the car and switched seats, and then Sam began driving as Dean passed out almost instantly in the passenger set. At this point, the night sky had the smallest hint of light appearing in front of them; the top of the morning sun almost visible.
Silence hung in the air. For the next few hours, Sam had nothing but his thoughts to keep him company. What were they going to do about the Mark? Is Dean every going to accept that he needs help? Is this case a good idea? What if something goes wrong? Will Dean ever be okay? Unfortunately, he had no answers to the many questions filtering through his mind.
At 7am, Sam knew he had to pull over, or risk crashing the Impala because he passed out from sleep deprivation. So he kept driving until he reached a small dirt back road. There he pulled off into the shoulder, and he collapsed in exhaustion.
When Sam woke up a couple hours later, something was different. There was a feeling deep inside of him, a feeling he was all too familiar with; a feeling of dread. He didn't know why, but it was there, and it refused to leave. But he tried pushing the feeling away, and began the second half of the long drive, Dean still asleep next to him.
Finally, after almost 11 hours, the brothers arrived in the small town of Spencerville. Sam parked the Impala in a motel parking lot and, after checking in, grabbed their bags, and walk around the side of the car and woke up Dean.
"Dude, get up," Sam nudged Dean to the side, snapping him awake. "We're here."
Dean looked around groggily with a dazed look in his eyes. "How long was I out?"
"Around 5 hours," Sam responded as Dean dragged himself out of the car. "Do you want to stay here for a bit before we start questioning the police?"
"Nah," Dean replied, brushing the offer away. "I'm good."
"Alright. If you say so."
*Hours pass*
"These were definitely not suicides," Sam exclaimed as the two walked away from the final victim's family.
"Well no shit," Dean scoffed. "Each had no symptoms of depression, and there wasn't a single warning before it happened. Not to mention slitting your neck isn't exactly the easiest way to go."
"So an angry spirit maybe?"
"I don't think so," Dean replied doubtfully. "There were none of the usual signs. No flickering lights, weird noises or smells, sulfur; nothing."
"Demon then?"
"It's a possibility."
"Alright," Sam sighed. "So how are we going to trap this thing?"
"Let's just summon up our good buddy Crowley," Dean said mockingly. "You know, just get him to call off his minion."
"Well that would be boring, wouldn't it?" A voice mumbled from behind.
Sam and Dean spun around to see Crowley leaning against the side of the Impala.
"You sent someone to kill these people?" Sam questioned. "Why?"
"Now hold on," Crowley stated. "I said it would be boring to call them off. I never said I sent anyone."
"So you at least know who was behind the supposed suicides?"
Crowley shrugged. "Not a clue. Must be a rogue."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Can you find out then?"
"Don't care. Have fun though." And with that, Crowley had vanished.
"Damn it!" Dean threw his hands up in frustration. "Now how are we going to track this son of a bitch?"
"Dean…" Sam suddenly exclaimed. He was facing the opposite direction, staring at someone across the street.
Dean turned to see who Sam was looking at. It was a young man. Short, blonde hair, sharp features, tall, and jet-black eyes that were fixed on the brothers.
They started walking at a fast pace, trying to avoid causing panic from bystanders. The man stood his ground, a large smirk stretched across his defined face. As the Winchesters were only several feet from him, he was gone; as though he had never been there to begin with.
The two stopped and both had a look of annoyance and frustration cross their faces.
"Now what?" Dean muttered.
"Well, we saw his face," Sam attempted. "At least now if we see him again, we'll know."
"Or the damn thing could have switched vessels or be miles away at this point." The defeated tone in Dean's voice was clear that there was no point in trying to be optimistic.
*Hours Pass*
"Nothing. Absolutely no news on the man we saw." Sam exclaimed as the Impala traveled down a back road. With no leads, Dean had made the decision to head back to the bunker. Sam made no objection; mainly because of the concern he had of the Mark taking control.
"I told you; the demon probably moved to a new vessel." Dean sighed, clearly fed up. "Just drop it, okay?"
Sam looked over at Dean in confusion, but still hesitantly agreed.
"We can look for a different - "
"DEAN!"
A man was standing in the center of the road, unfazed by the oncoming car. Dean's attention snapped forward and he slammed on the brakes. They both lurched forward as the car skidded to a shaky halt, inches away from the man.
Sam turned to Dean, but Dean was already getting out of the Impala. Sam looked ahead, and realized the man in the street was the same demon they had seen earlier that day.
"Shit," Sam muttered under his breath as he fumbled to open the car door.
The demon stood his ground, smirking as Dean charged towards him. Dean swung a punch, hitting the man straight in the jaw.
"Dean!" Sam shouted. "Wait!" He wanted to at least know why the demon had done what he did; and why he was seemingly following them.
Dean didn't stop. He kept swinging and kicking. The demon fought back, but with hesitation. Almost like he didn't want to hurt him...
The moment that thought occurred in Sam's mind, the demon reached for something tucked into the back of his suit pants.
Before Sam even had a second to warn Dean, the demon wrapped his arms firmly around Dean's head, turning it abruptly to the right; a loud snap resonating through the air.
Sam stood in shock and horror as his brother's limp body fell to the ground; stiff and lifeless.
"Dean!" Sam cried, his heart dropping to the point where it felt like it had stopped all together. Sam started to run towards the demon and Dean, but the man held up his arm; Sam freezing on the spot.
"I don't think so Sam." The demon's scratchy voice was full of amusement and no remorse. "You don't get to save your brother. At least, not this time."
Rage built inside Sam. "Let me go! Let me go you bastard! Dean!"
The man chuckled, glancing down at the pale corpse by his feet.
"Why?" Sam breathed out, tears threatening to escape the corners of his eyes. "Why did you do this? What was the point?!"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" The demon scoffed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to bring the true King his new guest."
Sam lurched forward, the pressure keeping him in place was gone. And so was his brother. Correction: brother's body.
There was a pause. A long, devastating pause. Sam didn't move. He stood and stared at the spot. The one spot on the ground that, only moments ago, was covered with a pale, limp corpse. Dean. Dean's pale, limp corpse.
The tears that were threatening to fall began to spill out of his eyes. How could he even begin to comprehend what had just happened? Everything has happened so quickly, so suddenly that it's just... how do... what happened?
Try as he might, the tears kept flowing. Nothing he could say or do would be able to stop them.
"Cas," Sam mumbled under his breath, almost too softly to understand. "Cas," he choked out again, his voice slightly more powerful than before.
"Sam." A serious voice sounded from behind.
Sam turned around to face Castiel. The angel furrowed his brow when he saw the tears streaking down Sam's cheeks.
"What happened?" He inquired. "Where's Dean?"
Sam tried to say it, to actually say it out loud, but he just couldn't seem to form the words
"Sam." Cas repeated, a clear sense of urgency in his tone. "Where's De-"
"Dead," Sam blurted out, interrupting Cas.
Cas stood silently for a moment, dumbfounded. "How?" He asked, breaking the lingering tension.
Sam took a deep breath and began explaining what had happened.
"It was a demon. He snapped his neck." Sam's voice was shaky. "He wasn't one of Crowley's minions. I thought he was, until -"
"Until what?!" Castiel demanded.
"Until the demon said something up 'Bringing the true King a guest'!" Sam turned and started pacing towards the Impala.
Cas stood quietly for a moment, pondering on what Sam had told him.
"Sam!" He suddenly exclaimed just as Sam reached the Impala.
Sam turned to see a look of... fear on Castiel's face. Fear? That was something Cas rarely ever showed.
"The true King," Cas began. "Crowley is only King of Hell because..."
Sam's heart dropped as realization hit him. "Because Lucifer is in the Pit." He took a deep breath, blinking away the remaining tears in his eyes. "But the Pit is sealed. Lucifer has no way of communicating with anyone. How -"
"I don't know. Witchcraft possibly," Castiel suggested. "It would have to be incredibly powerful, but it is possible. It could also be how the demon could get Dean down there."
Sam took a second to absorb all the information he had just been given.
"So now what?" Sam asked. "We need to get him out. How are we going to that?"
"The only way to get him out without releasing Lucifer is for me to go down there like when I raised you from the Pit."
Sam hesitated. He didn't want Cas to have to go down there again, but he couldn't think of a single other option. It was the only way.
"Do it."
Cas nodded. "I promise Sam, I will do everything I can to make sure he comes back safely; soul intact." With that, Castiel had vanished.
Sam opened the Impala's driver door and collapsed onto the seat. More tears were threatening to fall, and this time he didn't try and stop them.
Who knows how long it could take Cas to reach the Pit, let alone drag Dean away from Satan himself. Dean's soul could be destroyed by then...
Why? Why couldn't they both be done with this? Couldn't, just for once, they both make it? For once?
"Dean," Sam thought to himself, "I'm sorry."