Chapter 7

Dean puts down his brother on a old mattress in one of the abandoned houses. He leans against the door frame, staring at him, his eyes filled with tears.

"Dean?... I brought you this back..." Bobby calls him from the other room, putting a bucket of chicken wings on the table.

"No thanks... I'm not hungry..." He sadly whispers.

"You should eat something... Getting some strength to save Eli from that guy..."

"I said, I'm fine..." He grabs the bottle of whiskey instead, engulfing nearly half of it at once.

"I hate to bring this up... I really do... But don't you think maybe we should bury Sam?" Bobby says as carefully and gently as possible.

Dean looks dagger at him. "No..." He just answers.

"Well, we could maybe..."

"What, torch his corpse?... Not yet..." He cuts, letting himself fall on a chair.

"I'd like you to come with me and get my daughter back..."

"I'm not going anywhere..."

"Dean... Don't you..."

"Would you cut me some slack?... You go... I stay right here..."

"I gotta admit, I could use your help... Something big is going down... End of the world big... And Eli is somewhere in the middle of it... Ready to be sacrificed for some dark Apocalyptic means... Who knows..." Bobby trying to reason him.

"WELL, LET IT END!... LET IT ALL HAPPEN!" The young man yells.

"You don't mean that..."

Dean rises from his chair to face Bobby in the eyes. "You don't think so?... You don't think I've given enough already?... You don't think I've paid enough?..." Pointing a finger to his dead brother.

"I though you and her... That you had..."

"That was a mistake..."

"Careful, son... You're talking about my girl here..." Bobby slowly clenching his fists.

Dean heavily sights. "I'm sorry... But, seriously we never should have... Come on, Bobby... You know the odds to have a normal relationship the way we live..."

"Your Dad did... At least, before your mom..." He lowers his gaze. "And I know some couples that are hunting together..." He continues to avoid the delicate matter that is the lost of Mary Winchester.

"We are doomed, Bobby... We are carrying too much... And honestly, I think I'm toxic to anyone..."

"Dean... Don't be so hard on yourself..." The old man really feels for the young man, him he considers like his own son.

"It's final... I'm done with it... All of it... I'm sorry... So, you turn around and get the hell out of here..." He starts to push the old man away. "Go!... Please leave..."

"Fine... I'll give you some space... To think it through... And when you'll feel it, you know where I'll be... I'll keep you updated if I find anything..." He says, but Dean does not listen anymore. He finally leaves the house.

As the older Winchester is now alone in the room, he finally lets out the tears he was holding.

.

Deep in the woods, Jake has build a survival camp, just as he was taught in the Army. A fire surrounded by stones, a hand made shelter with two ropes and an old blanket and a some traps here and there around the perimeter to protect them from any wild animals.

Eli is tied up on a tree next to the fire to keep her warm. The soldier, in front of her, is leaning against a trunk, slowly starting to fall asleep. He suddenly wakes up again. The Yellow-Eyed Demon sitting between them.

"Howdy..."

"I'm dreaming again, am I?" Jake directly jumping on his feet.

"No, Jake, you're not dreaming... I see him too..." Eli hurls at the soldier.

"I got a genius on my hands... Brilliant!" The Demon whispers. "Well congratulations to both of you... You're it... My Royal couple."

"What?... Sam is dead?... You killed him, you Son of a... Wait till I got my hands on you!... I will cut you in piece and let you rot in the open..." She mumbles between her teeth, looking dagger at Jake.

"Houhouhou..." The Demon smirks. "That's promises to turn out ugly... Easy, Sweetie... You will have all the time in the world to let out all that anger of yours... Be patient..." He turns towards Jake. "I have to admit... You wasn't the horse I was betting on at first... But still, fair is fair, I gotta give it to you."

"Go to hell..." He breathers out.

"Been there... Done that..." The Demon sneers.

"Everything you put us through... Dragging me to that place, making me kill those people..."

"All part of the competition... Jake, I needed the strongest and the smartest... And I got it with both of you..."

"Need us for what?"

"Oh, I got a huge list of tasty things for you in store..."

"The only thing I'm gonna do is wake up, hunt you down and kill you myself..." Jake angrily says.

"You know, others have already tried... Isn't it Eli?..." The Demon softly laughs. "It's not easy... Trust me... And look, I'm still here, right?... You wanna be good little soldiers here?..."

"I thought you didn't need soldiers..." Eli wryly voices.

"Don't play smartass with me, young lady... I can still change my mind and get rid of you!..." The Demon raising his hand as a threat.

"And if we don't wanna play your game..." Jake cuts to take his attention away from her.

"Well, your families... What's left over anyways... Your friends... All your loved ones... I'll make certain that they will live long enough to know the chewy taste of their own intestines... And I'm not bluffing... Eli can tell you what I'm capable of..."

"What do you want us do to?" The soldier finally asks.

.

Dean is still sitting next to his brother's corpse, gently talking to him. "I had one job to do, that was to protect you, keep you safe... Just that simple job... And I screwed it up... I completely blew it... And for that, I'm sorry... Agh, I guess that's what I do... I let down the people I love... I let Dad down... I let you down... I'm about to let Eli and Bobby down too now... How can I let that all happen?... Am I suppose to continue to live with that?... Both of you gone?... What am I suppose to do, huh?... What?" He bursts into tears again.

As he finally calms down, he grabs his jacket and his car keys and leave the house.

He drives like a mad man along the dark and empty road.

.