Chapter Five
Asmodeus groaned as he woke up, head pounding as he tried to remember what he had done the day before to leave him feeling like this. As he shifted, he sniffed at his wrist and frowned.
"'Guini?" God, even his voice sounded rough.
"Yes Kitten?" Came Sanguini's voice quietly from across the room. Footsteps indicated that he was coming closer to him and then Asmodeus felt the bed dip when Sanguini sat down on it next to him.
"Why does my wrist smell like Dean? And why do I feel like I've just been trampled by an angry dragon?"
"Ah, what do you remember about yesterday?" Sanguini asked softly, rubbing Asmodeus' back.
"Not much, it's all kind of blurry. Um..." Asmodeus frowned as he tried to put together the fuzzy memories in his head. Suddenly he gasped and spun around, dislodging Sanguini's hand and sitting up in his bed. "That bastard!"
"Kitten..."
"He drugged me!"
"He didn't mean it. He didn't realise what it would do to you."
"Oh well that's okay then." Asmodeus spat sarcastically, Sanguini sighed and cursed Dean Winchester in his mind.
"For what it's worth, he's very sorry."
"Who cares? It still doesn't explain why my wrist smells like him." Asmodeus grumbled, sniffing at his wrist and then shoving it under Sanguini's nose as if to prove it to him.
"He licked it."
"What?" Asmodeus shrieked, and before Sanguini could explain further, he had jumped up out the bed and had stormed out of the bedroom. Asmodeus stormed into the other bedroom, door slamming into the wall and making Sam and Dean wake up with a jump. Asmodeus lunged the rest of the way across the room and landed on top of Dean, hands wrapping around his neck and choking him.
"As! Stop it!"
"You drugged me!"
"Asmodeus stop this right now!"
"And you licked me!"
"You. Licked. Me. First." Dean choked, which quite possibly only exacerbated things as Asmodeus growled and started to shake him.
"Asmodeus! Let him go. It was my fault he licked you!" Sanguini shouted, tugging at Asmodeus to try and get him off Dean and falling back with him when Asmodeus suddenly let go.
"What do you mean it was your fault?" Asmodeus asked in a deceptively calm voice. Turning around to face Sanguini.
"It was a joke. I told him to lick your wrist to get you to let go of the catnip. I'm sorry, I forgot you would be able to smell it."
"You are all despicable! And you! What have you done, huh?" Asmodeus demanded, turning to face a stunned Sam, who was standing next to a silent Dean.
"As. I had no idea what was going on. I would have stopped him if he had told me what he had planned." Sam said, pleadingly.
"Well I hope you're all very happy! I was nearly mated, enslaved, to that... that moron!" Asmodeus yelled, pointing to Dean, who was now sitting up in his bed, rubbing his red neck.
"Hey! That's harsh." Dean muttered, voice slightly rough.
"It's not harsh enough! You retard! Were you dropped on your head as a child? Maybe all the hunting you did killed off your remaining brain cells!"
"Hey! I didn't know what catnip was used for!"
"Well now you do! And surely you had some idea as to what would happen! I mean, even normal cats act a bit off when they are given catnip! They rub themselves against whatever is nearest! What did you think they were doing?"
"Playing?" Dean said weakly, swinging his legs off the side of the bed.
"Playing! That is it! I am officially giving up on you! You are a health hazard! Seriously, how have you survived this long? Is it just pure dumb luck?" Asmodeus demanded, stepping round Sam to stand in front of Dean.
"Look. I just wanted to do something nice for you. Okay? You always seem as though you are running from something, I wanted to find a way for you to relax a bit. Cats always seemed relaxed when given catnip, so I gave you catnip."
"What?" Asmodeus asked weakly, sitting down on Sam's bed.
"I was worried about you."
"Why?"
"I don't know! Alright! I don't even like you! You annoy me and I don't trust you not to turn on us and kill us! But still, I felt sorry for you!"
"Oh cheers. Well I don't need your sympathy. And I certainly don't want to be enslaved to you for the rest of our lives. However long or short they may turn out to be!" Asmodeus said, only Sanguini seeing that he was in fact lying. Sanguini sighed and walked over to Asmodeus, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Come on Kitten. Just leave him be. We'll go get our things from the room, and we can leave."
"No. We're going to stay with them until my car is fixed, then they are going to take us back to Bobby's to get said car and then we are going to leave them. They can do whatever the hell they want to do after that." Asmodeus said, straightening his back and standing up, brushing past Sam, who grabbed his arm to stop him.
"As! Wait! Don't listen to him! He doesn't know what he's talking about! He's lying for one, and he's just saying all that to make you hurt."
"Why does he want to hurt me Sammy? What have I actually done to him to deserve that?" Asmodeus asked his friend, before yanking his arm out of his grasp and leaving the room, Sanguini following behind him, glaring at the two before he left the room.
"You jerk!"
"Sammy..."
"Don't Sammy me! You said you were going to do something to apologise to him and what do you do? You crush his feelings! Why Dean? Why did you do that?"
"I don't know."
"Well you had better make things right or I will leave with them and you can do whatever the hell you want alone."
"What? Surely you don't mean that Sammy."
"Don't call me that. And yes. I do. The Dean I knew wouldn't have deliberately hurt the feelings of a friend. I don't know you anymore. You're certainly not the brother I thought I knew."
"Sam."
"No Dean! Fix this! Fix this right now! Sanguini and I are going to go out, you are going to stay here with Asmodeus and make him realise that you do in fact like him! Got that? When we get back, you two had better be on talking terms again or else." Sam said, turning on his heel and leaving the room, walking into the main room where Sanguini was sitting alone on the couch.
"Told him we're going out?"
"Yep, you got his keys?"
"Of course." Sanguini said with a grin, holding up the keys to the Impala and shaking them.
"Good, let's go then before Dean realises what I said and that I implied I would be taking the Impala." Sam said, grinning and walking out of the room with Sanguini following close behind.
About ten minutes after they had left, the door to Dean and Sam's room slammed open and Dean ran out in a panic, cursing loudly and getting the attention of Asmodeus in the other room.
"What's wrong with you?" Asmodeus asked coldly. He leant against the doorframe of his room and looked at Dean with a raised eyebrow.
"They took my Impala!" Dean exclaimed, storming over to the main door to the room before spinning round to pin Asmodeus with a glare when he burst into laughter. "It's not funny!"
"Oh it's hilarious. They've taken your baby hostage because you are a selfish, inconsiderate moron." Asmodeus told him with a smirk and then turned and walked back into his room, closing the door behind him. "And the door is locked!" Asmodeus yelled through the door.
Dean looked at the door to Asmodeus' room in silence before turning and hurrying to the door and trying to open it. Asmodeus was right, somehow they had managed to lock it from the outside and Dean could see no way of opening it. Growling, he kicked the door and then stormed over to Asmodeus' door and threw it open, startling the demon on the other side, who was reclining on his bed, reading.
Asmodeus looked up from his book in shock and placed it down when he saw the look on Dean's face. "'S'up?"
"'S'up? That's all you have to say?"
"It's not my fault. This is all your fault. Relax, they won't do anything to your car. Sam promised he wouldn't let Sanguini drive on busy roads." Asmodeus told him as he turned his attention back to his book.
"What do you mean 'busy roads'? If he wants to survive the rest of the day then he won't let that menace drive at all!"
"Oh for gods sake, your precious car will be fine. Sam won't let Sanguini drive it. He only did it to punish you for being an idiot." Asmodeus told him, not taking his eyes off his book, which made Dean grind his teeth.
"What are you reading that is so damn interesting?"
"Compared to you Dean, I could be reading the most boring book in existence and find it more interesting."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I would have thought that much was obvious, even for one of your mentality. You're boring me." Asmodeus drawled with a put upon sigh. "Is there a reason you are still here?"
"How have they managed to lock the door."
"I'd imagine Sanguini had something to do with it."
"What?"
"Magic Dean. Magic."
"So how do we get out?"
"Throw yourself out of a window. In fact, I'll give you a hand if you want." Asmodeus told him with a grin.
"So I'm stuck in here."
"No, you'll be stuck in your room. I will stay in here."
"Actually. No." Dean told him calmly, facing the closed door behind him. Asmodeus put the book aside and stood up from the bed.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, your beloved brother has 'voodoo'ed the door. It won't open."
"Move." Asmodeus muttered, gently shoving Dean to the side to look at the door. Asmodeus placed his hands on the door and the whole thing started to glow, shocking Dean into stepping back a bit more. Asmodeus muttered to himself and slamming his hand into the door, hitting a force field.
"Not opening?"
"Shut up. Do you want to get out or shall I throw you out the damned window?" Asmodeus growled, muttering something under his breath and then tracing a rune on the door. The rune glowed along with Asmodeus and then stopped and Asmodeus sighed, kicking the door.
Asmodeus growled again and slammed his fist into the door. The door shuddered and Dean believed that it was going to open, but it remained shut and he sighed and moved to sit on Sanguini's bed. Asmodeus muttered something else under his breath and ran his hand around the edge of the door but it didn't shift.
"What has he done? I'm more bloody powerful than him! How has he locked the bloody door?" Asmodeus yelled, kicking the door and then leaning against it.
"Obviously not that powerful." Dean muttered, wincing at the growl that brought from Asmodeus.
"Are you trying to get killed? Because I must say, you are going to right way about it! Anyway, aren't you supposed to be apologising?" Asmodeus asked, not taking his attention away from the door and muttering yet another spell under his breath. The door glowed and stayed locked.
After ten minutes of continuous spell casting, Asmodeus suddenly dropped to the floor and Dean looked at him in confusion for a couple of minutes before getting up from the bed and walking over to him, nudging him with his toe.
"Leave me alone." Asmodeus groaned, rolling over on to his back and looking up at Dean. He looked paler than normal and had a sheen of sweat covering his skin, his hair sticking to his face and making Dean think he looked strangely attractive.
"Why are you on the floor?"
"I used too much magic. I'm just a little tired."
"Looks more than a little tired to me."
"Yes, well no one was asking, were they?" Asmodeus snapped, struggling to sit up and shuffling back to lean on the door. "I don't know what he did but I can't open the blasted thing, so we are stuck in here together. Try not to piss me off too much because I know for a fact you don't have any weapons on you and I can kill you with a word. Sound reasonable?"
"By reasonable, do you mean completely unfair? If you do, then yes. I completely agree."
"Good. Now shut up and stay out of trouble."
"How much trouble can I get into in here?"
"Don't open mine or Sanguini's bag and we should be home safe until the other two get back."
"Why, what's in your bags?"
"All sorts of stuff. Don't even think about it." Asmodeus growled, watching Dean move towards his own bag.
"What are you going to do to stop me?"
"Fine. Do whatever you like. That's a sure fire way to get me to forgive you for nearly forcing me into mating with you." Asmodeus told him rolling his eyes.
Dean sighed and left the bag alone and then moved to sit on the floor opposite Asmodeus. Asmodeus looked at him with a raised eyebrow and then dropped his head back against the door with a slam.
"I honestly am sorry you know. I didn't know what it would do to you. I dunno, I just thought you could do with chilling out a little." Dean said with a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. Asmodeus looked up at Dean and sighed.
"I know. Really, I do understand that, I just." Asmodeus sighed and ran his hands through his hair before pinning Dean with a piercing look. "I just felt a bit violated, you know?"
"I'm sorry. I don't know what I can do to make it up to you." Dean admitted with a sigh and a shrug.
"Actually, there is something you could do." Asmodeus said, standing up and walking over to the bag next to his bed. He dug around inside of it and then pulled out a book and handed it to Dean. "Read this. It will tell you some things about nekos."
Dean took the book and opened it, reading the first page before looking up at Asmodeus. "What will you do whilst I'm reading this? I mean, watching me read can't be all that exciting."
"No, you're right, you're boring at the best of times, reading you will be excruciatingly boring. I'm going to lie on my bed and read the book I was reading before you came storming in here. Sit there or sit on Sanguini's bed. I don't care."
Dean nodded and stood up with the book and made himself comfortable on Sanguini's bed to read. Though he would willingly admit to anyone that asked that he normally let Sam do all the reading.
"So I read this and then what? I understand you more?"
"No. But you will know what things I can and can't eat or do without consequence." Asmodeus told him with a shrug, reading his own book.
"Ah. Best read it then, huh?"
"That would be why I gave it to you."
((page break))
Sanguini and Sam arrived back later that day to silence in the hotel room and looked at each other nervously before walking over to the door to Sanguini's room and listening to the silence on the other side nervously.
"Think they've killed each other?" Sam whispered, trying to hear anything on the other side of the door.
"I don't think so. Maybe they've finally realised that they are deeply in love with one another and are in fact sleeping off some of the best sex they've ever had. Or in the case of Asmodeus, the only sex he's ever had." Sanguini suggested, tapping his wand on the handle of the door. "Wonder why Asmodeus never thought of trying Alohomora? Idiot."
"Come on, let's check them out and hope that they are at least dressed." Sam said, shuddering at the mental image that conjured. Sanguini pushed the door open and they both froze at the sight before them. Dean was sitting, not wearing much at all on Sanguini's bed, whilst a smug Asmodeus was sitting on his own bed, fully clothed, both had cards in their hands.
"Er..." Sanguini gaped at the sight, smirking when Dean glanced over and blushed, covering his chest unsuccessfully.
"Hi 'Guini! Dean challenged me to a game of strip poker. Well to be fair to him, the strip part was my idea."
"You didn't tell him you were taught poker by the goblins did you?"
"Actually I did. Didn't mean anything to him though." Asmodeus admitted with a wicked grin.
"Ah. I see. So I assume you two patched things up then?" Sam said, smirking at Dean.
"We agreed to talk to one another for the sakes of you two but besides that we're just going to ignore one another. Oh, and Dean promised to run any dumb ideas through you Sam." Asmodeus said, throwing his cards down on the bedside table they had dragged to stand between them. "Boxers Mr Winchester."
((page break))
"So what do you think they're up to?" Sanguini asked, motioning to the car in front of them. Asmodeus was driving and occasionally patting and stroking his newly returned car as they drove through Texas.
"Do we even want to know? As long as they aren't getting into any trouble, then seriously, do we need to know?" Asmodeus asked, patting the car happily and purring.
"Dunno, could be funny. Dean looked particularly mischievous when they got back in their car at the petrol station."
"Gas."
"You have gas?"
"No. The Americans call it gas, not petrol."
"Does it really matter?"
"Not really. Still, I hope we don't get dragged into a prank war between the two. You're very vicious when you are pranking. I still remember the fire ants you shoved into my bed that night." Asmodeus grumbled with a glare aimed at Sanguini.
"Ah, yeah I had clean forgotten about that!"
"Funny that."
"I do seem to remember that you were hardly the innocent party in all this! You turned all my bagged blood into ketchup!"
"Oh boohoo. You prefer it from tap anyway!"
"Not the point! It took three people to get that vile taste out of my mouth." Sanguini said indignantly. Both suddenly turned to the car in front of them when the music started to blare and the passenger of the car, which both knew was Sam, jerked up in his seat.
"Definitely a prank war." Asmodeus grumbled, sighing. "Damn. We are getting separate hotel rooms tonight and whilst we are here."
"We won't have to."
"Why not?"
"I have property here." Sanguini told him, as they passed a sign for Richardson, Texas.
"Okay, that's cool. I'll ring Sam and tell him, and also ask where the hell we are going and why we are here in the first place."
"It's a ghost apparently."
"Another one? Don't they ever hunt anything but?" Asmodeus asked, searching for his phone in his pocket whilst keeping an eye on the road.
"Er... How about I ring Sam and you drive?"
"Got ya." Asmodeus agreed and Sanguini took his phone out of his pocket and dialled Sam's number.
"Hey, Sam?"
Asmodeus looked at Sanguini and then back to the road, keeping an eye on where Dean was driving.
"Okay, that's cool. We'll just follow you two then. Okay. See you in a bit." Sanguini hung up the phone and turned in his seat to look at Asmodeus. "So, they are going to talk to some teenagers at a er... drive-in?"
"Huh. Okay. We'll just follow them then. Oh god, we're going to have to talk to people aren't we?" Asmodeus groaned, sulking.
"Well, we could just stand to the side and let the Winchester's do all the dirty work."
"Sounds like a plan."
((page break))
"Well that was a waste of time." Asmodeus groaned as they walked out of the restaurant at the drive-in.
"I have to agree with As. Though we did find out that they all spoke to someone called Craig." Sam said as they made their way to their cars.
"So we have to go to the record store that Craig works in and find out where he heard about this ghost." Sanguini said, walking to the passenger side of the car.
"Let's go then" Dean said with a grin, walking over to his car. "I'm assuming you two are going to follow."
"You would assume correctly. For once." Asmodeus muttered under his breath, getting a chuckle from Sam and they all got into their respective cars.
((page break))
"Gentlemen, can I help you with anything?" A man in the record store asked when they entered the record shop.
"Yeah, are you Craig Thurston?" Sam asked, as Asmodeus and Sanguini looked around them curiously.
"I am."
"Well, we're reporters with the Dallas Morning News. I'm Dean, this is Sam."
"Who are they?" Craig asked, pointing to Asmodeus and Sanguini.
"Er..." Dean looked at Sam helplessly before looking at Asmodeus, who turned to Sanguini, who was looking around him disinterestedly. Or he was until Asmodeus kicked his shin.
"Ow, what?"
"'Guini. Glamour."
"Oh, right. We are of no consequence." Sanguini drawled before turning his attention back to his surroundings. Craig looked at them both blankly before blinking and looking at Dean, paying no attention to Sanguini or Asmodeus, much to the Winchester's shock.
"No way! Yeah, I'm a writer too. I write for my school's lit magazine."
"Oh good for you, Morrison." Dean said, still a little in shock about the fact that Craig didn't seem to be able to see Asmodeus or Sanguini.
"We're doing an article on local hauntings, and rumour has it you might know about one."
"You mean the Hell House?"
"Hell House? Who would name a place Hell House? Sounds pretty ominous to me."
"You know, the glamour only works so long as there isn't really much there for him to notice. You knocking down his ideas is something to take notice of." Sanguini hissed, making Sam smirk, though wonder what the hell a glamour was.
"That's the one." Dean said, ignoring the bickering two behind him and wishing he could lose them on the highway somewhere and not have to face Sam's wrath. Or Asmodeus' when the two finally caught up with them, which Dean knew they would.
"I didn't think there was anything to the story."
"Why don't you tell us the story?"
"Oh god, does he have to?" Asmodeus grumbled, getting a snicker from Sanguini.
"Well, supposedly, back in the thirties, this farmer, Mordechai Murdoch, -"
"Sounds like something from a Marvel comic." Asmodeus muttered, Dean's lips twitched into a smile before he wiped his face and listened to Craig.
"It was during the Depression. His crops were failing. He didn't have enough money to even feed his own children. So, I guess that's when he went off the deep end."
"How?" Both Sam and Asmodeus asked, though Craig only registered hearing Sam.
"Well, he figured it was best if his girls died quick rather than starve to death. SO he attacked them. They screamed, begged for him to stop. But he just strung them up, one after another. And then, when he was all finished, he turned around and hung himself. Now, they say that his spirit is trapped in the house forever, stringin' up any other girl who goes inside." Craig finished, looking at Sam and Dean.
"But where'd you hear all this?" Dean asked, still pretending to take notes in his notebook.
"My cousin, Dana, told me. I don't know where she heard it from. You've gotta realise I didn't believe this for a second."
"But now you do?" Sam asked, looking up from his notebook.
"I don't know what the hell to think, man. Guys, I'll tell you exactly what I told the police, okay? That girl was real and she was dead. This was not a prank. I swear to God, I don't wanna go anywhere near that house ever again, okay?" Sam and Dean exchanged a look and then turned back to Craig.
"Thanks." Dean told him and then all four left the shop. As soon as they had reached where the cars were parked, Dean turned around to face Asmodeus and Sanguini. "What was that?"
"What?" Asmodeus asked innocently, looking at Dean with wide eyes.
"Don't play innocent with me cat. What was the weird Jedi mind trick shit Sanguini pulled?" Dean hissed, ignoring the fact that Asmodeus was pouting at being called cat.
"Oh that. Simple. It is something my people can do. We just input subtle suggestions into someone's mind. That there was me suggesting that Craig couldn't see me or Asmodeus." Sanguini said with a shrug, moving past Dean to get to the car, when Dean grabbed hold of him and slammed him against the side of the car.
"Hey! Watch the car!" Asmodeus cried out, not particularly worried about Sanguini. Sam watched on nibbling his lip.
"You don't do that! It's not- Shit! It's just not cool! Don't do that again."
"Who are you to tell me what I can or can't do. If it makes you feel better I promise not to glamour you."
"What? No! You don't 'glamour' anyone!" Dean cried out, waving his arms around in the air to emphasise his point.
"You don't have any say in the matter. Accept my offer of not glamouring you or don't. I don't care. I've already told you that you can't kill me by shooting me. So what, exactly, are you going to do to stop me?" Sanguini asked, looking up at Dean with a sneer on his face.
"Dude! You can't do this! It's taking away peoples rights!"
"Who cares about the rights of some random stranger? I don't. Asmodeus doesn't. I'm sure Sam probably wouldn't either if you actually let him think for himself." Sanguini drawled, making Sam gape at him and Asmodeus roll his eyes and the groan softly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Dean asked in a dangerously quiet voice, making Sam wince and step away from the volatile two.
"Exactly what it sounds like. You don't really let Sam think for himself. Form the stories 'Mody has told me about the time he spent with Sam when you weren't in the picture, Sam was a hell of a lot more out going. But then you come along and Sam gets shepherded along by big brother Dean. What Dean says goes. Even when he drugs poor unsuspecting young men."
"That was a mistake that I have cleared up with Asmodeus. He accepted my apology, why can't you? And don't try to change the subject. You will not glamour anyone."
"Yes I will. I will glamour whoever I see fit to glamour. If I wish to glamour a pretty girl into my bed, then I will, and you will have no say in it."
"No you bloody well won't Sanguini. Not if I have anything to say about it." Asmodeus hissed from the other side of the car and getting the attention of the other three.
"See! Asmodeus doesn't agree with you glamouring people either! Will you listen to him."
"I do listen to him, that is why I would never glamour Sam. He didn't ask me not to glamour you though." Sanguini added ponderingly, tapping at his chin. He then focused his attention back on Dean with a wicked grin. "In fact, I might just glamour you into forgetting this whole debacle."
"Sanguini. That's enough. Dean, deal with it. Sanguini, will at some point, have to glamour someone and you won't stop him. As was indicative in the shop, I have no problem with it. It's a part of who and what Sanguini is. So just deal with it. It doesn't harm anyone. If it makes you feel any better, Sanguini, Dean is under my protection."
"What? That's not fair 'Mody."
"I'll place this whole damn planet under my protection if you don't stop using that merlin damned name." Asmodeus hissed, tail puffing up behind him , much to Sam's amusement.
"Oh come on. That's just mean. Fine. Protect the Winchester's. I don't care." Sanguini said sulkily.
"Oh not all the Wincehster's. Do whatever you damn well please to John." Asmodeus said, waving his hand negligently.
"What! Don't you dare glamour my father!" Dean hissed, shoving Sanguini again. Sam sighed and moved over to Asmodeus.
"This is never going to end. They are both as pig-headed as each other, and you telling Sanguini to glamour our father didn't help matters."
"Sanguini can handle himself and I don't like your father. He's a dick. He is handsome though." Asmodeus added as an after thought.
"I'm sure he'll be very happy to hear that." Sam told him dryly. "Why don't you like him? He didn't actually do anything to you surprisingly enough."
"He was a dick to you. He calls himself your father and then tells you to get out of his life and not to return just because you wanted to further yourself. Oh yes. I love this guy. I just want to give him a huge hug." Asmodeus said with a sneer.
"You can't not like him just because he treated me like crap."
"Yes I can. And I will. Until he proves himself to be any different, I will continue to dislike him. Simple. Now, shall we stop Dean from trying to kill Sanguini? I'm rather fond of my brother, no matter how irritating he can be." Asmodeus said with a put upon sigh and walked around the car to Dean and Sanguini.
"Look. Understand this hunter. I don't like you, I will glamour who I like and no one will stop me except Asmodeus should he so choose. However, you may not have noticed, but Asmodeus' moral compass is a little broken." Sanguini told him with a smirk. Asmodeus sighed and bodily forced himself in between the two, facing Dean and looking up at him.
"Leave him alone You aren't going to win this fight. There is a reason that I shoved my morals to the side and Sanguini is it. He will get to anyone eventually. I'd just give up while you have the strength." Asmodeus told him with a small smile, getting an incredulous look from Dean and an exasperated one from Sanguini.
"Oh Kitten, you know how to say the nicest things about a person."
"Shut it Sanguini." Asmodeus said through gritted teeth. Befroe turning back to Dean and smiling widely. "So! I'm going to go with you to check out the Hell House or whatever its called and Sam and Sanguini will head to Sanguini's house to clean the place up and keep you two separated. Sound good? Good. Sam, you drive my car with Sanguini, I'll go with Dean." Asmodeus said, throwing his keys to Sam, who caught them, just. He then turned back to Dean and hooked his arm through Dean's and dragged him over to the Impala.
"What?"
"Just get in the car Dean. See you two later." Asmodeus called out, before climbing into the car after Dean and turning slightly in his seat to look at Dean.
"Why did you want to come with me? Why not go with Sanguini and let Sammy come with me?"
"Two reasons. One, you've been avoiding me like the plague since the catnip incident and two, I'm the only one, besides Sanguini, who knows how to get to the house. 'Guini told me on the way to the drive-in." Asmodeus said with a shrug, turning back round in his seat.
"Why do you let him get away with that crap?"
"What, the glamours?"
"Yeah."
"It's just the way he is. He only does it when he thinks it is needed to keep me safe or to help me out. I asked him to do it in the shop, so he did. He wouldn't have cared otherwise."
"Is it true? What you said about losing your morals when you're with him?"
"Not really. To be fair to Sanguini, it was the war that made me shove my morals to the side. Sanguini was just there with me, giving them an extra push. I wouldn't have done half the things I had to do in either war if Sanguini hadn't been there to help me get through the feelings of guilt. Eventually, I just learnt to listen to Sanguini and ignore the little voices in my head screaming at me that it was wrong to rip out someones soul."
"But it is wrong."
"Maybe, but isn't it just as wrong to kill someone just because they are different to you? I only ever killed in self defence for myself or my loved ones. Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not saying I'm innocent in all this, but I did what I had to do to survive. Sanguini helped me to achieve that."
"Will he do the same to me and Sammy."
"If you want him to, then yeah. He will help you to come to terms with what you have to do in this business. But I don't think you need that, do you Dean?"
"What you trying to say?"
"I'm saying that you don't have a problem with killing things that you see as being evil. Sam might have doubts, but you don't. Your dad trained you to be the perfect soldier."
"And you think he was wrong in what he did?"
"Not wrong, per se. Misguided maybe. Either way, I can't change anything. Just so you know, I don't see anything wrong with what you do. You kill supernatural beings because that is what you were taught to do from a young age and because they are hurting people. You didn't kill me or Sanguini straight away and let us explain our side first. That took a lot of guts." Asmodeus said with a smile.
"Guts?"
"Yeah. You had to go on gut instinct that we wouldn't turn on you and Sammy and kill you. We never would or will, but you didn't know that. Hopefully, you do now though."
"Yeah, I do. Besides the fact that you're not human, you're not all that bad. Sanguini however. Well the judge is still out on him."
"I wouldn't have let Sam go with Sanguini alone if I thought Sanguini would hurt him. Sanguini will protect Sam with his life because he knows how much Sam means to me. According to Sanguini, I need all the friends I can get. Being the last of your kind gets kind of lonely."
"Yeah, it must suck. Well looks like this is it." Dean said, pulling up to a derelict house.
"It certainly lives up to its name." Asmodeus said, getting out of the car and looking up at the house.
"Yeah, so much for curb appeal." Dean said, getting a small laugh from Asmodeus.
They walked to the side of the house and Dean held out his EMF meter, which started to beep. Asmodeus looked over at him curiously.
"You got something?"
"Yeah. The EMF's no good."
"Damn. How come?"
Dean nodded towards a nearby telephone pole. "I think that thing's still got a little juice in it. It's screwin' with all the readings."
"Oh. Do they do that then?" Asmodeus asked, looking around Dean to look at the EMF reader. When he got near to it it started beeping quickly. "Huh, guess it doesn't like me."
"You're telling me. Whoa, it's going crazy." Dean said, running the EMF over Asmodeus, the noise making Asmodeus' ears to flatten to his head.
"Okay okay, we have gathered that the stupid machine doesn't like me. Can you turn it off now if it's not gonna work around me anyway?" Asmodeus whined, tugging on his ears as the beeping of the machine drove him nuts.
"Oh yeah. Sorry. Why do you think it did that? You're not a ghost." Dean asked, switching the machine off and getting a sigh of relief from Asmodeus.
"It was probably my magic. It makes some electronic devices go a bit crazy." Asmodeus told him with a shrug and then headed to the door of the house. Dean followed closely behind him. They entered the house and looked round, noticing symbols on the wall. Dean walked around the main room and Asmodeus looked at one with a tilt of his head, frowning slightly.
"Looks like Old Man Murdoch was a bit of a tagger during his time."
"Hmm. Looks like." Asmodeus mumbled absently, still looking at one symbol.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. Take a look at this. Does it look familiar at all to you?" Asmodeus asked, tracing the symbol slightly with his claws.
"Yeah, somewhere."
"Hmm. Me too. I just can't remember where. You got a camera on you?"
"I have on my phone."
"Take a photo of it, Sanguini may remember where I've seen it before. If not, then Sam could always do what he's so amazing at and research it."
"Yeah. Sammy is scarily good at the research. Probably why he never gets laid."
"Huh. You didn't live with him and Jessica. At it like rabbits. Sammy-boy is a monster in the sack."
"So didn't need to hear that." Dean groaned, taking a photo of the symbol with his phone and then showing it to Asmodeus to get his approval. Asmodeus looked at it and smiled brightly at Dean.
"Good! You can do something! Knew I'd find a use for you eventually." Asmodeus said with a cheeky smile, getting a shake of the head and a small smile from Dean. "Back to the symbol. It's been painted on and by the smell of it, recently too." Asmodeus said with a sniff to the wall.
"You can tell that from the smell?"
"Yep. I can also tell that you had a burger and fries for lunch and that you may have asked for a regular coke, you got a diet. My nose is just that good." Asmodeus said with a smile, turning around and flicking Dean on the nose with the tip of his tail.
"Creepy. I don't know though. I mean, I hate to agree with authority figures of any kind, but the cops might be right about this one." Dean said, looking around the room and following Asmodeus, touching his nose where Asmodeus' tail had touched it.
"Maybe you're right." Asmodeus agreed. They heard a noise coming from another room and looked at each other. They both turned and went towards the door. Crashing through it, they saw two computer geeks standing in front of them carrying flashlights, along with other video equipment.
"Er..." Asmodeus said, looking at the two geeks then turning to look at Dean beside him.
"Cut! Just a couple humans. What are you guys doing here?" The one carrying the camera asked in a whiny voice, making Asmodeus and Dean gape at him slightly.
"What the hell are you doin' here?" Dean demanded, finally finding his voice again, moving closer to Asmodeus and frowning when his tail wrapped around Dean's waist lightly.
"Uh, we belong here. We're professionals." Camera guy said, getting a snort from Asmodeus.
"Professional what?" Dean asked, hand brushing casually against the tail around his waist.
"Paranormal investigators." He took out two business cars and handed them to Dean and Asmodeus. "There ya go. Take a look at that, boys." Asmodeus and Dean read the cards and then glanced at each other.
"Oh, you've gotta be kiddin' me." Dean muttered, rolling his eyes upwards.
"Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spangler. Hell Hound's Lair dot com, you guys run that website."
"Yeah." Ed said proudly.
"Oh, yeah. Yeah, we're huge fans." Dean said, moving away from Asmodeus and into the room fully.
"And, uh, we know who you guys are, too." Dean looked at Asmodeus nervously, where as Asmodeus frowned, wondering how the hell they knew who he was.
"Oh, yeah?" Asmodeus asked, arms crossing over his chest, tail waving dangerously behind him, though only Dean could see that.
"Amateurs." Ed said, causing them both to relax slightly. "Lookin' for ghosts and cheap thrills."
"Yeah. So, if you guys don't mind, we're trying to conduct a serious scientific investigation here." Harry told them in a tone of voice that reminded Asmodeus of Hermione.
"Mmhmm."
"Yeah? What do you got so far?" Dean asked curiously, as Asmodeus rolled his eyes and walked into the room to stand beside Dean.
"Uh, Harry, why don't you tell 'em about EMF?"
"EMF?" Asmodeus asked curiously.
"Electromagnetic field." Harry told him matter-of-factly. He walked over to his bag and removed an EMF meter. "Spectral entities can cause energy fluctuation that can be read with an EMF detector, like this bad boy right here." The EMF detector started to buzz wildly, and Asmodeus took a discreet step to stand behind Dean. "Whoa, whoa. That's 2.8 MG."
"2.8"
"It's hot in here."
"Wow." Asmodeus said, trying his hardest not to smile too widely.
"Huh. So, have you guys ever really seen a ghost before, or-?"
"Once. We were, uh—we were investigating this old house, and we saw a vase fall right off the table."
"By itself." Harry added.
"Well, we didn't actually see it, but we heard it." Dean shook his head in shame and Asmodeus had to cover a laugh with a cough. "And something like that, it, uh—it changes you." Asmodeus looked at them, pretending to be riveted.
"Yeah, I think I get the picture. We should go – let them get back to work." Dean said, turning slightly to look at Asmodeus and grinning.
"Yeah, you should." Harry told them.
"As?"
"Yeah, work." Ed said, laughing as Sam and Dean left. "I'm sorry. That pot we smoked gave me the giggles. Woo!"
((page break))
Sam walked out if the library with some files in his hand and walked over to where Asmodeus was waiting with Dean. Sanguini had decided to stay at the house and look through some post that had been left there.
"Hey." Sam called out as he walked over to them.
"Hey What do you got?" Dean asked, as all three started to walk back to the car.
"Well, I couldn't find a Mordecahi, but I did turn up a Martin Murdoch who lived in that house in the thirties. He did have children, but only two of 'em – both boys. And there was no record he ever killed anybody."
"Huh." Both Dean and Asmodeus said at the same time.
"What about you two?"
"Well, those kids didn't really give us a clear description of that dead girl, but I did hit up the police station. No matching missing persons – it's like she never existed." Dean said as they reached the car. "Dude, come on, man. We did our digging, this one's a bust, all right? For all we know, those Hell Hound boys made up the whole thing."
Sam sighed and looked at them. "Yeah, all right." He admitted reluctantly.
"I don't know. Something about that symbol we saw on the wall is bugging me. I think we should stay here for an extra couple of days. It's not like we have anywhere to go or any bills to pay." Asmodeus said, frowning and nibbling on his lip as he climbed into the back of the car.
"True. Personally, I say we find ourselves a bar and some beers, and leave the legend to the locals." Dean said as he climbed into the car. Sam remained outside and smirked when Dean turned the car on. Fast-paced music blared out from the speakers, making Asmodeus yelp and hold his ears in pain and the windshield wipers started to move back and forth. Dean jumped and rushed to turn everything off before turning round in his seat to look at Asmodeus as Sam climbed into the car laughing. "You okay As? What the—?" Dean exclaimed, looking at Sam, who licked his finger and drew a number one in the air, then pointed to himself and mouthed 'me?' "That's all you got? That's weak. That is Bush-league. You might want to apologise to Asmodesu though, I think you may have temporarily deafened him." Dean pointed out, nodding to Asmodeus behind him, who was glaring daggers into the back of Sam's skull, ears still flat against his head and his tail, which was fluffier than normal, swishing back and forth furiously.
"I'm sorry As, I couldn't stop you from getting in the car without alerting Dean ot there being something wrong."
"Oh that's just fine. Just so that you know, I was going to stay out of this petty little war you two have going on, but Dean, consider yourself to having an ally." Asmodeus said, still glaring at Sam, who glanced between him and Dean nervously.
"Come on now As, you don't mean that."
"Yes I do. Ask Sanguini what happened to him the last time he went up against me in a prank war. Dean, we need to get together to plan the next move."
"Sure thing, As." Dean said with a wide grin as he moved the car out of their parking spot.
((page break))
The next morning Dean and Asmodeus walked up to the Hell House where ambulances and sheriffs were surrounding the building. A body was being carried out of the house in a body bag. Asmodeus and Dean walked up to an onlooker.
"What happened?" Dean asked, watching as they put the body in the back of an ambulance.
"Couple of cops say that poor girl hung herself un the house."
"Suicide?" Asmodeus asked, nibbling on his lip, trying to ignore the bad feeling he was getting from the house.
"Yeah But she was a straight-A student, with a full ride to UT, too. It just don't make sense." The man said, before walking away from them.
"What do you think?" Asmodeus asked as they watched the ambulance with the body drive away.
"I think maybe we missed somethin'." Dean told him not looking away from the house.
((page break))
That night Asmodeus, Sam and Dean were all watching the building from behind some trees, making sure not to catch the notice of the two sheriffs guarding the house.
"I guess the cops don't want anymore kids screwin' around in there." Sam whispered to them, getting a nod of agreement from Asmodeus.
"Yeah, but we still gotta get in there." Dean said, before turning to the trees where Asmodeus' ears were also facing, hearing whispers. "I don't believe it." Sam and Asmodeus turn and see Ed and Harry.
"Is that-?" Sam asked, not recognising the two men behind the trees.
"Yep, the one and only." Asmodeus whispered dryly.
"I got an idea." Dean whispered before he stood up behind the trees and shouted. "Who ya gonna call?"
The sheriff turned and saw Ed and Harry. "Hey! You!" The two sheriffs began to chase after them. While they were running, Dean, Sam and Asmodeus managed to slip past them and got into the house.
Inside, Dean and Sam got out their weapons and Asmodeus' claws began to drip a vicious green substance.
"Man, where have I seen that symbol before? It's killin' me!" Dean whined, looking at the symbol. Asmodeus frowned at it and shrugged, whilst Sam rolled his eyes.
"Come on, we don't have much time." Sam whispered, leading them through the house and heading down to the cellar.
All three of them quietly walked around the cellar, looking for anything that could be seen as suspicious. Dean picked up a jar from the shelf.
"Hey, Sam, I dare you to take a swig of this." Dean called out, shaking the jar.
Asmodeus and Sam looked at him strangely before looking at each other, Asmodeus shrugged and turned his attention back to the walls. "What the hell would I do that for?" Sam asked, causing Dean to go silent for a moment.
"I double-dare you." Dean said. Asmodeus snorted in amusement and Sam just shook his head. They all heard a noise come from another room. Dean put the jar back down and got his weapon ready. All three walked over to a cabinet before Asmodeus put his arm out, stopping the brothers from moving nearer and shook his head with a grin.
"I wouldn't."
"Why not? You know what made that noise?" Dean asked, looking at the cabinet, as though itching to open the door.
"It's rats." Asmodeus told him with a shrug, grinning when Dean shuddered.
"Ugh, I hate rats."
"Heh, maybe I should have let you open the door then." Asmodeus said with a wide grin.
"You'd rather it was a ghost?" Sam asked them both incredulously.
"Yes." Dean told him bluntly, ignoring the snort of laughter that brought from Asmodeus. They all turned and saw Mordechai standing behind them with an axe. Sam quickly shot Mordechai a few times and he dissolved into a cloud of smoke.
"What the hell kind of spirit is immune to rock salt?" Sam asked incredulously, looking at where Mordechai had stood.
"I don't know. Come on, come on, come on." Dean muttered, getting an incredulous look from Asmodeus, whose claws were once again dripping. Mordechai reappeared and began to smash the shelves. He treid to take a swing at Sam with his axe, but Sam managed to stop it with his rifle.
"Go! Get out of here!" Sam yelled out. Asmodeus wasted no time in grabbing the arms of the brothers and practically dragging them back up the stairs. They ran through the house, not bothering to look behind them to see if they were being followed by the creepy ass, anti-ghost and ran out of the house, where they were met with Ed and Harry filming them.
"Get that damned thing out of my face!" Dean yelled, and he, Sam and Asmodeus all ran past them, leaving the house behind.
((page break))
Later, when they were all sitting in the living room or Sanguini's house, Asmodeus was reading through a letter that Sanguini had handed to him when he had entered the house, leaning against the chair Sanguini was sitting in, and occasionally looking up from the letter to glance at Sam, who was doing more research on his computer and Dean, who was lying on the couch, drawing something on a notebook. Asmodeus suspected he was drawing the symbol from the house.
"What the hell is this symbol? It's buggin' the hell outta me. This whole damn job is buggin' me. I thought the legend said that Mordechai only goes after chicks."
"He does." Asmodeus muttered, frowning at something the letter had said.
"Right. Well, then that explains why he went after you two, but why me?" Dean asked, making Sanguini snicker form where he was writing a letter back and Asmodeus and Sam to scowl.
"Hilarious. The legend also says he hung himself, but you see those slit wrists?" Sam asked, looking over the top of his laptop.
"Yeah." Dean said with a frown.
"Maybe he wanted to get the job done. You know, slit wrists and hang himself. No coming back from that... Except he did come back... But... OH you know what I mean. I bloody hate ghosts." Asmodeus grumbled, batting at Sanguini's hand when he ruffled his hair.
"The axe too. I mean, ghosts are usually pretty strict, right? Following the same patterns over and over?"
"Don't ask me. Ghosts aren't my area of expertise. I deal with demons and demons only. With the occasional angel should they ever show their overly glowy faces." Asmodeus mumbled, correcting something on the parchment in his hands.
"You're supposed to be reading it and then telling me what you think, not correcting the damn grammar." Sanguini told him with a frown.
"Not my fault Griphook has atrocious grammar. And spelling. You'd think a banker would be able to spell properly."
"Er... back to the matter on hand. Mordechai." Dean said, interrupting the bickering siblings.
"Fine fine. What about him? I don't know much about ghosts so really I'm confused as to what has your two's knickers in a bunch." Asmodeus said, placing the parchment on the floor to look at Sam and Dean.
"His moods keep changing'! That isn't normal for ghosts. They stick to a strict pattern. If they died via hanging, they generally don't have slit wrists. If they kill by hanging people, they definitely don't go after people with an axe." Dean explained with a frown.
"Exactly." Sam said with a nod, he logged onto the Hell Hounds website and found the right page about Mordechai. "I'm tellin' you, the way the story goes – wait a minute."
"What?" Everyone else in the room asked, even Sanguini, who had given up pretending he wasn't interested and was hanging on to every word the two brothers had been telling Asmodeus.
"Someone added a new post into the Hell Hounds site. Listen to this. 'They say Mordechai Murdoch was really a Satanist who chopped up his victims with an axe before slitting his own wrists. Now he's imprisoned in the house for eternity.'" Sam frowned and Dean looked at the symbol he had drawn and then sat up suddenly, having seemingly realised something. "Where the hell is this going?"
"I don't know, but I think I might have just figured out where it all started." Dean said, smiling at Sam and standing up from the couch.
((page break))
Asmodeus followed Dean and Sam into the record store, sighing slightly and wondering when he would actually get a chance to kill a demon. It had been a bit too long for his comfort and he was starting to get restless. He didn't want to think about how Sanguini was feeling. It was probably why Sanguini had decided to bury himself in his and Asmodeus' finances.
"Hey Craig. Remember us?" Dean asked, causing Craig to turn around and look at them with a frown.
"Guys. I'm really not in the moor to answer anymore of your questions, okay?"
"Oh, don't worry, we're just here to buy an album, that's all." Dean reassured him. Craig turned his back to them once again and Dean started to walk over to the albums and started to flip through them, looking for one. He finally chose one and all three walked over to where Craig was standing. "You know, I couldn't figure out what that symbol was, and then I realised, it doesn't mean anything. It's a logo for Blue Oyster Cult." Dean said, Craig turned to face them, looking guilty. "So tell me Craig – are you in BOC? Or just scarin' the hell outta people?" Dean asked, handing the album over to Craig, who flipped it over and saw the symbol. "So, why don't you tell us about that house without lyin' through you ass this time." Dean growled. Craig sighed and placed the album down on the counter before looking at them.
"All right, um – my cousin, Dana, was on break from TCU, and I guess we were just bored, lookin' for something to do, so I showed her this abandoned dump I found. We thought it'd be funny if we made it look like it was haunted. So we painted symbols on the walls – some from some albums, and some from some of Dana's theology textbooks. And then we found out this guy Murdoch used to live there, so we made up some story to go along with that. So they tol d people, who told other people, and then there two guys put it on their stupid website. Everything just took on a life of its own. I mean, I thought it was funny at first, but... now that girl's dead. It was just a joke, you know, I mean – none of it was real, we made the whole thing up, I swear." Craig sobbed, wiping his tears away and making Asmodeus sigh and roll his eyes at his stupidity.
"All right." Dean said and he left with Sam and Asmodeus following behind. "If none of it was real, then how the hell do you explain Mordechai?"
((page break))
Dean walked into Sam's bedroom hearing, the shower running and grinned before turning to face Asmodeus, who was grinning behind him and motioned him to move with a nod of his head. Dean grinned back and then took out a packet of what Asmodeus assured him was itching powder, as well as a little something extra according to the neko, and poured it over Sam's clothes.
"Hey, we're back." Dean called out once he had finished and had stowed the packet back in his pocket.
"Hey. Where were you?" Sam called out, turning the water off.
"Oh, we went out."
"So, I think I might have a theory about what's goin' on?" Sam called to them through the door.
"Oh yeah?" Asmodeus asked, leaning against the door frame and smirking at Dean, who smirked back.
"Yeah. What if Mordechai is a tulpa?"
"A tulpa?" Dean and Asmodeus asked at the same time, looking at each other with confused expressions. Sanguini walked past the bedroom and glanced inside before seeing the mischievous glint in their eyes and quickly walked away with a shudder.
Sam walked out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, frowning at Dean when he jumped and patted his pockets to make sure the powder was hidden and causing Asmodeus to sigh.
"Yeah, a Tibetan thought form."
"Yeah, I know what a tulpa is."
"I didn't." Asmodeus admitted with a shrug.
"Hey, why don't you get dressed? We'll go grab somethin' to eat." Dean said with a smile before walking out of the room, dragging Asmodeus with him, when it looked like he wasn't going to move to give Sam any privacy. Asmodeus grumbled but allowed Dean to drag him away.
"Will it work?" Dean hissed, as he walked into his room, pulling Asmodeus behind him.
"Of course it will work. We just have to give it time. Let's go ask 'Guini if he wants to come along." Asmodeus said, shaking Dean's hand off his arms and walking back out of the room. Dean sighed and followed behind him with a smile on his face.
((page break))
At the restaurant, Sam and Dean walked over to the booth Asmodeus and Sanguini were sitting in and took their seats, Dean next to Asmodeus, and started to eat. Asmodeus and Dean hid their grins when Sam shifted uncomfortably in his seat tried to scratch himself.
"Hey, what's your problem?" Dean asked, taking a sip of his beer to hide his grin.
"Nothing. I'm fine."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"All right, so, keep goin', what about these tulpas?"
"Ooh, I met a tulpa once. They're kind of like boggarts As. Well sort of. Except they are brought to life by the thought of other people as opposed to taking form from other peoples thoughts." Sanguini said with a shrug, nibbling on a chip.
"Sanguini's right. Uh, there was an incident in Tibet in 1915. A group of monks visualised a golem in their heads. They meditate on it so hard, they bring the thing to life – out of thin air."
"So?" Dean asked, but Asmodeus could see where Sam was going with this and frowned, nibbling on his lip and catching Sanguini's eye. Sanguini nodded ot him to tell him that he too had seen where Sam was going.
"That was twenty monks. Imagine what ten thousand web surfers could do. I mean, Craig starts a story about Mordecahi, and it spread, goes online. Now there are countless people all believing in the bastard."
"Okay, wait a second. You're trying to tell me that just because people believe in Mordecahi, he's real?" Dean asked as Sam shifted uncomfortably in his seat causing Asmodeus to snort and get the attention of everyone at the table.
"Sorry, just remembered this boggart that one of my old classmates had. Caused it to take the form of hated teacher, but in drag." Asmodeus explained quickly, getting a grin from Sanguini and Dean and a frown from Sam.
"Right. Anyway, back to the tulpa. People believe in Santa Clause. How come I'm not getting' hooked up every Christmas?"
"'Cause you're a bad person." Sam retorted dryly, getting a laugh from Asmodeus and Sanguini and a scowl from Dean. Sam typed something into his laptop. "And because of this." He turned the computer so that the other three could see. ON the monitor there was a picture of another symbol on the wall of the house.
"That will do it." Sanguini said with a nod, pinching some chips form Asmodeus' plate. Asmodeus made a noise that sounded like a disgruntled kitten and then wrapped his arms around his plate.
"What is it?" Dean asked, looking at the symbol then pinching one of Asmodeus' chips with a grin when his attention was fixed on Sanguini.
"Hey! And for your information, it's a Tibetan spirit sigil on the wall of the house. Or at least, it looks like its on the wall of the house. I would assume it was, or else Mordechai wouldn't be haunting that house." Asmodeus said, scowling when everyone looked at him in shock. "What? I'm not just a pretty face you know. Besides, Griphook taught me Ancient Runes when I was trapped inside of Gringotts for the better part of five months."
"Right. Well Craig said they were painting symbols from a theology textbook. I bet you they painted this not even knowing what it was. Now, that sigil has been used for centuries – concentrating meditative thoughts like a magnifying glass. So, people are one the Hell Hounds' website, starin' at the symbol, thinkin' about Mordechai – I mean, I don't know. But it might be enough to bring a tulpa to life."
"It would be enough." Sanguini told them, rubbing his hand when Asmodeus clawed at him for straying too close to his plate.
"It would also explain why he keeps changin'" Dean, also rubbing his wrist where he had become a victim to Asmodeus' claws. Sam smirked at him before shifting in his seat.
"Right. As the legend changes, people think different things, so Mordechai himself changes, like a game of telephone. That would also explain why the rock salt didn't work." Sam explained to them.
"Yeah, 'cause he's not a traditional spirit, per se." Dean said with a nod.
"Yeah." Sam said, scratching himself, causing Dean to look behind him to hide his smile. Sanguini looked between Asmodeus, who was doing his damndest to look innocent, and Dean, who was struggling not to laugh and sighed, before silently pledging to help Sam in this war.
"Okay, so, uh, why don't we just get this spirit sigil thingy off the wall and off the website?" Dean asked, once he was sure he wouldn't burst out into laughter.
"Well, it's not that simple. You see, once tulpas are created, they take on a life off their own."
"Great," Asmodeus groaned, slamming his head down onto the table and just missing his plate.
"All right, so, if he really is a thought form, how the hell are we supposed to kill an idea?"
"Well, it's not gonna be easy with these guys helping us. Check out their homepage." Sam said, turning the laptop once again to show them a video on the website which sowed the events of the previous night at the house. "Since they posted the video, the number of hits have quadrupled in the last day alone."
"Huh. I got an idea. Come on." Dean said, standing up. Asmodeus followed him out of the booth as Sam closed his laptop and stood up also, scratching himself slightly and causing Asmodeus to snort once more. Sanguini sighed and followed the other three out of the booth.
"Where are we going?"
"I gotta find a copy store."
"Man, I think I'm allergic to our soap or somethin'" Sam grumbled, causing Asmodeus and Dean to laugh out loud. "You did this?" Sam asked incredulously and Dean just laughed again. "You're a friggin' jerk."
"Hey! I'm just the accessory to all this." Dean admitted with a grin, looking at Asmodeus whose eyes widened innocently, though his devious grin gave him away.
"As! You jerk!"
"Yep!" Asmodeus said with a smile, walking out fot he restaurant with Dean, both chuckling.
Sanguini walked up to where Sam was standing, gaping at the other two and placed his hand on Sam's shoulder, leaning up to whisper in his ear. "I'll help you get them back. It's not fair, two against one. I'll even the field a bit. Plus, you wouldn't have stood a chance against 'Mody, what with his magic." Sanguini told him before patting his shoulder and walking out the door. Sam soon followed after, grinning slightly.
((page break))
"So how come it's just us two again?" Asmodeus asked quietly as they walked to the trailer that Harry and Ed were in.
"Dunno, Sam just said that Sanguini had asked for his help with something. Something about Goblins and um... Gallons? He may have mentioned a scythe as well." Dean said, trying to recall what it was Sam had told him exactly.
"Galleons and sickles?"
"Yeah, that's it!"
"It's the money we use. Well you will use it as well soon, it's what we get paid in when we kill off a demon, so I assume Sanguini is setting up an account for you and Sammy."
"I still don't get why you get to call him that and I get punched."
"Because I'm adorable and you're a jerk." Asmodeus told him before knocking on the door to the trailer.
"Who is it?" The muffled voice of Harry came through the door, causing Asmodeus to grin.
"Come on out here, guys, we hear you in there." Dean called out, grumbling under his breath about paranoid geeks and causing Asmodeus to nudge him to shut him up.
The door opened and Harry poked his head out, Ed looking over his shoulder at them. Dean looked past them into the trailer and grinned.
"Oh, look at that. Action figures in their original packaging. What a shocker." Dean drawled, getting a snort of amusement from Asmodeus.
"Guys, we need to talk." Asmodeus told them.
"Yeah, um, sorry, guys. We're uh – we're a little bit busy right now." Ed told them nervously.
"Okay, well, we'll make it quick. We need you to shut down your website." Dean told them and Ed laughed at them
"Man, you know, these guys get us busted last night, we spend the night in a holding cell." Ed said to Harry, ignoring the fact that Asmodeus found this highly funny.
"I had to pee in that cell urinal in front of people. And I get stage fright." Harry added, frowning when Asmodeus howled with laughter, leaning on Dean heavily.
"Why should we trust you guys?"
"Look guys, we all know what we saw last night, what's in the house. But now, thanks to your website, there are thousands of people hearing about Mordechai." Asmodeus said to them once he had calmed down.
"That's right, which means people are gonna keep showin' up at the Hell House, runnin' into him in person – somebody could get hurt."
"Yeah." Ed said with a nod.
"Ed, maybe he's got a point."
"No, no."
"Nope."
"Okay, we have an obligation to our fans, to the truth."
"Well, I have an obligation to kick both your little asses right now—"
"Dean, Dean, hey, hey. Forget it, all right? These guys – I could probably bitch-slap thm both. I could probably even tell them that thing about Mordechai –" Ed and Harry suddenly stood up straight looking very interested. "—but they're still not gonna help us. So, let's just go." Asmodeus said, pushing gently on Dean to get him to move.
"Yeah, you're right." Dean said and they started to walk away. Ed and Harry looked at each other and then followed after them.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What did you say about—? Hold on a second there." Ed called after them.
"Wait, wait. Yeah, what thing about Mordechai, you guys?"
"Don't tell 'em, As."
"But, if they agree to shut their website down, Dean..." Asmodeus said, grinning lightly before smoothing it away.
"They're not gonna do it. You said so yourself."
"No, wait, wait. Don't listen to him, okay? We'll do it." Ed called out to them. Dean and Asmodeus stopped walking and turned to face them. "We'll do it."
"It's a secret As."
"Look, it is a pretty big deal, all right? And it wasn't easy to dig up. So, only if we have your word that you'll shut everything down." Asmodeus said, seemingly ignoring Dean.
"Totally." Ed agreed, nodding his head furiously.
"All right." Asmodeus said with a nod, and Dean took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to them. "It's a death certificate from the thirties. We got it at the library. Now, according to the coroner, the actual cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound."
"That's right, he didn't hang or cut himself."
"He shot himself?"
"Yep. With a .45 pistol. To this day, they say he's terrified of them." Asmodeus said earnestly, patting himself on his back for his acting skills.
"Yeah, as a matter of fact, they say if you shoot him with a .45 loaded with these special wrought-iron rounds, you could kill the son of a bitch." Dean told them. Ed and Harry smiled at each other and Harry ran back to the trailer whilst Ed walked behind him. Asmodeus and Dean watched them go before turning back to each other with a grin.
"Looks like it worked." Asmodeus mused.
"Mmhmm. Lets go meet the other two at that restaurant."
"Okey choke."
((page break))
They met Sanguini and Sam at the restaurant and walked over to where they were sitting with four bottles of beers in front of them. They sat down and Dean looked at the wall next to him, where, mounted on a piece of wodd, was a painted wooden fisherman holding a fish in his hands. Dean pulled the string hanging from it and the fisherman began to laugh, making Asmodeus jump and look at it incredulously. Sam pulled the string and stopped the laughing.
"If you pull that string one more time, I'm gonna kill you." Sam told Dean, who grinned at him and pulled the string again, but Sam stopped the laughing once more. Dean laughed and looked at Sam.
"Come on, man. You need more laughter in your life, you know, you're way too tense." Sam took a sip of his beer but said nothing, whilst Asmodeus kept an eye on a suspiciously silent Sanguini, who was innocently peeling at the label on his beer.
"You know, they say that is a sign of sexual frustration." Asmodeus told Sanguini as he watched him peel at the label.
"You would know, kitten." Sanguini drawled, getting a snort of amusement form Sam and Dean.
"They post it yet?" Dean asked Sam, nodding to his laptop. Sam turned the computer to Dean, who began to read what was posted. "'We have learned from reputable sources that Mordechai Murdoch has a fatal fear of firearms.' All right. How long de we wait?" Dean asked and Sam closed his laptop.
"Long enough for the new story to spread and the legend to change. I figure by nightfall, iron rounds will work on the sucker." Sam said, holding up his beer. Sanguini looked over at him and held up his too, chinking it against Sam's. Dean and Asmodeus both looked at each other and then grabbed their bottles and tapped them against their brothers'.
"Sweet." Dean said, taking a sip of his beer. Both Sam and Sanguini smirked, which caused Asmodeus to immediately get suspicious and put his bottle down. Only to realise that he couldn't let go. Dean looked over at him and put his own bottle down, to realise that he too had been glued to his bottle. "You didn't." Sam grinned and held up a bottle of superglue.
"Oh, we did."
"'Guini! I thought you were staying out of this!" Asmodeus asked in shock whilst Dean just stared at Sam in stunned silence.
"Well, I thought I'd even the field. Sam wouldn't have stood a chance against you on his own. Now, you have to go up against me and him. I must say, some of his ideas are genius!" Sanguini told him with a side, toothy grin.
"Damn." Asmodeus muttered, slumping in his seat and looking at Dean. "We're fucked mate." Sam grinned at them and pulled the string under the fisherman. As it began to laugh, Sam joined in.
((page break))
San, Dean, Asmodeus and Sanguini entered the Hell House, shining their flashlights and each holding a gun. Both Dean and Asmodeus looked somewhat disgruntled, whilst Sanguini would occasionally burst into uncontrollable giggles before getting hit by Asmodeus.
"I barely have any skin left on my palm."
"I told you I could have used my wand to remove the stupid thing." Asmodeus grumbled, rubbing his own palm and ignoring as Sanguini choked on his laughter and Sam looked between the two in shocked amusement.
"That there. That line, I'm not touching with a ten-foot pole." Sam told them as Sanguini burst into loud raucous laughter.
"Shut it 'Guini." Asmodeus grumbled as Dean shone his light in Sam's face and Sam grimaced before shoving Dean out of the way and they all walked further into the house and into another room. They saw the door leading to the cellar and looked at each other.
"So, you think old Mordechai's home?"
"Where else would he be? A bar?" Sanguini asked with a roll of his eyes.
"I don't know." Sam answered Dean, ignoring Sanguini.
"Me neither." All four jumped around and pointed their guns at the one who had spoken and made Ed and Harry jump and scream. "Whoa, whoa! Hey!"
"What are you tryin' to do, get yourself killed?" Sam asked them incredulously as he lowered his gun and nudged Asmodeus to do the same.
"Please let me shoot them." Asmodeus muttered to Sam, who shook his head and frowned at him. Asmodeus sighed and lowered his gun.
"We're just tryin' to get a book and movie deal, okay?" Ed told them before they all heard the sound of sharpening knives coming from behind the door. "Oh crap. Uh, guys, you wanna go open that door for us?"
"Why don't you?" Dean told them, but a second later, Mordechai burst from the room behind the door. Sam and Dean shot him several times, only to watch in disbelief as Mordechai just dissolved into a cloud of smoke once more.
"It didn't work." Asmodeus said, stunned, as he walked around Ed and Harry to look around the room.
"Oh, he's gone. He's gone." Ed said dumbfounded, apparently ignoring Asmodeus, much to the neko's disgruntlement.
"Did you get him?"
"Oh, yeah, they got him." Ed assured him.
"No, on camera, did you get him on camera?" Harry asked Ed, motioning to the camera Ed was holding.
"Uh, I..." Harry grabbed the camera from him. Suddenly, Mordechai appeared and destroyed the camera with his axe. Harry fell to the ground in shock and Mordechai disappeared again. Asmodeus looked at them in shock, before walking over and helping Harry up off the floor, turning when Sam and Dean ran into the room from another one they had been searching.
"Hey. Didn't you guys post that BS story we gave you?" Dean asked, walking up behind Asmodeus and frowning at Harry.
"Of course we did."
"Yeah, but then our server crashed."
"Yeah."
"So, it didn't take?"
"Uh..."
"So, these guns don't work?" Dean asked, looking at the gun in his hands.
"Yeah.."
"Shit." Asmodeus grumbled, stepping back into Dean and wrapping his tail around Dean's waist.
"Great. Sam, Sanguini, any ideas?" Dean asked, looking behind him at Sanguini and Sam, who both looked somewhat annoyed.
"We are getting out of here." Harry told them, glancing at the shattered camera on the floor.
"Yeah." Ed agreed hastily.
"Come on, Ed." Harry grabbed Ed and they start to leave, leaving the others in the room in silence. They stood there contemplating what to do for a few minutes when they heard a scream coming from another room. Sam and Sanguini run out of the room, with Dean and Asmodeus following closely behind.
"Hey!" Sam yelled to Mordechai, who was cornering Ed and Harry. "Come and get it, you ugly son of a bitch." Mordechai turned and took a swing at Sam, but Sam ducked and the axe hit the wall. Mordechai then took another swing at Sam, this time he manages to pin Sam against the wall and begins to choke him. Sanguini jumped forward and wrenched the axe away from Sam, helping Sam up when he slumped to the ground. He then turned to Ed and Harry and frowned as he watched them standing there watching. "Get out of here! Now!"
"Run!" Ed called out, running form the room, Harry ran after him. Meanwhile, Sanguini was holding Sam up whilst trying to dodge the swings Mordechai was taking at them with his axe.
"'Kitten! Now would be a good time to help!" Sanguini yelled out, causing Asmodeus and Dean to run into the room, Dean holding a canister of lighter fluid.
"Hey!" Dean yelled, and dropped the canister bringing out an aerosol can and holding it behind a lighter. He pressed it and it burst into flames. Mordechai quickly backed away from Sam and Sanguini, who ran over to where Dean was standing with Asmodeus. "Go, go, go! Come on!" Dean yelled, helping Sanguini hold Sam up and all four running to the exit of the house.
"We figured if Mordechai can't leave the house, and we can't kill him, we should improvise." Asmodeus explained to them as they ran out of the house. He then turned and threw his arm out, causing the house to erupt into flames. They managed to get out the house, Mordechai following them only to stop at the door of the house. The four ran behind the trees and watched the house burn.
"That's the solution? Burn the whole damn place to the ground?" Sam asked incredulously.
"Hey, don't look at me. He's the pyro." Dean told him, pointing to Asmodeus, who was watching the burning house with a grin.
"Well, no one can go in there anymore. I mean, look, Mordechai can't haunt a house if there's no house to haunt. It's fast and dirty, but it works." Asmodeus said with a shrug and sheepish grin.
"But, what if the legend changes again, and Mordechai is allowed to leave the house?" Sam asked him, causing Asmodeus to nibble his lip and shrug.
"Well, then, we'll just have to come back." Den said and they all sat in silence for a few minutes.
"Kind of makes you wonder – of all the things we've hunted, how many existed just 'cause people believed in 'em?" The other three looked at him thoughtfully before turning back to the burning house.
((page break))
The four waited outside of the trailer where Ed and Harry were staying, waiting for the terrible duo to come over to them from their car.
"Gentlemen, and lady." Ed said, with a nod to Asmodeus, causing the other three to snort and Asmodeus to bristle in anger, lunging for Ed, only to be held back by Sam.
"I'm a man! Moron!" Asmodeus growled, struggling to reach a terrified Ed.
"Oh! Sorry. It's the long hair."
"He has long hair as well!" Asmodeus growled, pointing to a laughing Sanguini.
"Yes, but he so masculine and handsome."
"You wanna shag him or something?" Asmodeus asked, stopping struggling against Sam and stared at Ed incredulously, ignoring a sputtering Sanguini.
"Er..." Ed floundered, looking between Sanguini and Asmodeus in panic. Harry walked over to them and looked at them all before turning to Ed.
"Should we tell 'em?" He asked, obviously not noticing the aura surrounding the other five, much to Dean and Sam's amusement.
"Oh, you might as well, you know they're just gonna read about it in the trades." Ed said, grasping on an excuse to change the subject.
"So, this morning, we got a phone call from a very important Hollywood producer."
"Oh yeah? Wrong number?" Dean asked with a smirk.
"No, smartass. He read all about the Hell House on our website and wants to option the motion picture rights – maybe even have us write it."
"And create the RPG."
"The what?" Dean asked, looking at them confused.
"Role-playing game." Harry told him absently.
"Right."
"It's a little lingo for ya. Any who, uh, excuse us, we're off to La-La-Land."
"Well, congratulations, guys, that sounds really great." Sam told them, not letting go of Asmodeus, who grumbled to himself, ears flat on his head.
"Yeah, that's awesome. Bets of luck to ya."
"Oh, yeah, luck – it's got nothin' to do with it. It's about talent, you know? Sheer, unabashed, talent." Ed told them and then he gave them the peace sign. "Later." He told them and he and Harry climbed into their car, which has their trailer attached to it. "See you around." They called as they drove away. The four watched them leave before all laughing and they started to walk back to their cars.
"Wow." Dean said as they reached the cars.
"I have a confession to make." Sam admitted, getting the attention of the other three.
"What's that?" Sanguini asked, with a smile.
"I was the one who called them and told 'em I was a producer." Sam told them, causing them all to burst into laughter.
"Well, I'm the one who put the dead fish I their backseat." Dean admitted with a laugh.
"Truce?" Sam asked, looking at Asmodeus and Dean.
"Yeah, truce. At least for the next hundred miles." Dean agreed with a wicked smirk, causing Asmodeus to roll his eyes and then grin at him before walking over to his car, Sanguini following behind, laughing.
"You asked for it Winchester!" Sanguini called out to them, climbing into the car next to Asmodeus to the laughter coming from Sam and Dean.
A/N – Well another chapter done! Yay! And after a shaky start with Dean and Asmodeus, I put in a little flirting between the two! Yay! And reading through this once again, I also notice that something seems to be going on between Sam and Sanguini... Huh. That was never my intention, just to say. It just seems to have happened. Of course, that doesn't mean anything is going to happen between the two. Just saying that it could be read into... Oh well. Think what you like and tell me what you think! Yay!
Um... Unlike with For WHome The Bell Tolls, I'm not going to be following every episode that happened. I'll brish over some episodes that aren't really very important to the overall plot of the story, unless I liked the episode, then I'm completely biased and it's being included! Lol! As for the Hell House episode... Well I really liked Ed and Harry! Heh! Plus, them thinking Asmodeus was a girl is hilarious! Lol!
Oh and Sanguini crashing the car into a field was based on a true event. It was something I did when I had a driving lesson. Which was quickly followed by my being banned form driving and my driving instructor retiring... Meh, oh well! Lol! So please do tell me what you thought of this chapter and I hope to have the next one out again soon! Thanking you!