Tabula Rasa

Sam circled the tied-up demon and wondered just how many of Lilith's and Alistair's demons were loose, wreaking havoc on earth. Every single demon needed to go back to Hell.

He glanced over at Ruby, who smiled at him.

This demon wasn't talking. About Lilith or Alistair. Not for the first time, Sam wondered if he was just on a wild goose chase.

"You don't want to talk to me?" Sam asked.

"Go to Hell," the possessed woman sneered. "You'll definitely get the royal treatment there. Unlike your brother. You should have a good time there. Plenty of other demons besides this bitch to screw."

Sam stopped his pacing and glared at the woman. He had enough of this woman, smirking at him. Two old and boring implications in the same breath. He sure wasn't Hell's royalty, and it was nobody's business what he did with Ruby.

In the back of his mind, he could hear Dean's voice, protesting one of those arguments. He missed Dean. It dawned on him that he hadn't spoken to Dean in almost a month.

He made a mental note to call Dean when he got back to the motel tonight.

"Are you going to do something, or just stand there and glare?" the possessed woman asked. "Since I don't know anything about Alistair or Lilith, you could just let me go."

Sam didn't answer. Instead he put out his hand, and immediately, the woman began gagging up the demon. In less than 30 seconds, the exorcism was over.

He rubbed out a portion of the Devil's Trap on the floor to allow Ruby to untie the woman.

She helped the woman out of the chair and walked her to the door, while Sam pulled out his maps. So far, they had no leads of Alistair or Lilith. This was the last town Alistair had wreaked havoc in, and that was 6 weeks ago. He was long gone now. And there seemed to be no psychotic, murderous little girls running around either.

He was frustrated. He just wanted this over with.

"That was record time, Sam," Ruby said as she came back from the door. "You're getting fast with that. No more headaches or anything?"

"No," Sam said curtly.

"Just asking. Dean hasn't called to distract you while you're doing the exorcisms. He's obviously moved on, getting on with his own life."

"Yeah." Sam pulled out his phone. "I also turn off my phone whenever I do have a hunt or an exorcism." He slammed the table beside his maps. "Nothing! It seems like Lilith and Alistair have disappeared off the face of the earth!"

"You need to calm down. This hunt for two demons who are not in the same towns is going to make you crazy. Lilith's not dumb—she knows what you're doing. Let her come to you."

"What if she goes after Dean first? That's what she's done in the past."

Ruby frowned. "Dean is not a threat to her anymore. She won't go after him. It's you she wants. So let her come to you. Plus, if you calm down, maybe Lilith will turn up."

Sam rubbed his face with his hand. He was tired. He could use a break. "What about Alistair?"

"Quit looking for him. He's Lilith's lap dog. If a lap dog was a snarling, growling Rottweiler. And, as I said, if you want to look for him, count me out of it."

"OK."

Ruby's frown transformed to a smile. "Really?"

"Yeah. I'll let them find me."


Brent came into the garage with the tow truck and threw down the keys, causing Dean to roll out from under the car.

"I think people should take IQ tests before they drive," Brent announced.

"You didn't bring the car here?" Dean asked.

"Of course not! There was nothing wrong with Old Lady Peterson's car!"

"That's not what she said on the phone. She said it sputtered and died."

"Of course it did!" Brent practically shouted. "The car ran out of gas! I think if you can't read the 'E' on your fuel gauge, maybe driving isn't for you! I towed her to QuickTrip, and charged her $80 for my trouble!"

Dean chuckled and rolled back under the car, stopping when he heard Brent say, "By the way, it's really starting to snow out there. The roads are starting to get really slick. It's supposed to last all night. Dean, be careful when you're driving to Bobby's tonight. And especially in the morning. The roads are going to be murder."

Dean stood up and looked out of the garage door's window. The whole outside was gray and white. He could hear ice pelting on the parking lot. "Terrific. We'll be busy tomorrow because idiot drivers who forget how to drive on this stuff."

"Yep."

He reached for his cell phone in his pocket and walked outside. The cold air hit him like a knives. He didn't want to stay out here too long. He sure didn't want to drive the 15 miles to Bobby's, not if he could help it. He trusted the Impala, and he trusted his own driving skills. He just didn't trust anyone else's skills.

He dialed Caden's cell phone, hoping her offer was still good.

"Hello?" Caden's voice answered.

"Hey, Caden. It's me, Dean? Dean Winchester?"

He could hear a laugh in her voice as she said, "I'm pretty sure that I don't need your last name, Dean Dean Winchester. What's up?"

Dean instantly felt this was a bad idea. He felt awkward. I'm forcing myself on her. "Just thought I'd tell you to be careful when you're driving. I don't want to see you or your Kitty in here."

"Well, I appreciate that. I'm pretty sure we're going to have a snow day tomorrow. That's what the rumor is. I'll find out for sure, probably in about 30 minutes." She paused and cleared her throat. "You know, my offer still stands. You are more than welcome to crash at my place tonight. In fact, I'm going to have to insist. I would feel horrible if I found out you got into an accident tonight or tomorrow."

"Are you sure it's OK?"

"Well, I can check with Maverick, but I'm sure he'll be cool with a guest. When I get out of here, I'll swing by the grocery store, pick up a frozen pizza. That's OK with you, right?"

"Yeah."

"Any particular kind?"

"Can you get all meat?"

"I'll try. I've also got tons of movies. I might have something you can watch."

Dean chuckled. "All chick flicks, right? I don't do chick flicks."

"I've got a couple, but that's not my genre either. So, I'll see you when you get off of work?"

"Yeah."

"See you then." With that, she hung up.

Dean smiled and clicked off his phone. He beat a hasty retreat back inside. It was freezing out here.


Caden hung up her phone and looked out the window at the snow. She hated the snow. She wished that her assignments would have taken her to Hawaii, but in the words of the philosopher Jagger "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you find, you get what you need."

She walked out of her office and glanced into the vice principal's office. "Dan, have you found out if there's a snow day tomorrow?"

He looked up at her. "I'm thinking yes, but I'll let you know."

She nodded. She itched to talk to him about his marriage because she knew it could be saved. But, he was such a private man, and she wasn't supposed to know that his wife was threatening to leave him.

You can't always get what you want…

Caden walked towards the main office area. When you want to find out something, ask the secretaries, not the principals. "Michelle? Any word on snow days?"

"I got an email from the superintendant's office. I'm looking now," Michelle said. "However, this isn't word on snow days or if the school is closing early."

Caden looked over. Castiel was sitting in a chair, gazing at her. "Hey, Michelle, when you find out something, knock on my door."

"Will do, Caden."

Castiel stood up and followed her to her office. She let him in and locked the door behind her. "I don't have much news, Cas. I did already report that Dean remembers shooting… stuff… right?"

"Yes."

"I really haven't had much of a chance to talk to him since then. But, he's spending the night at my house tonight. Tomorrow, I may know something more. Heck, we may watch The Exorcist, just to see if that sparks anything."

"We're running out of time."

She sighed. "The Exorcist it is."

A knock sounded on her door. "Caden, I got word. We're getting off now. And no school tomorrow."

She ignored Michelle's knock. "Cas, I'll see what I can find out tonight. Get in touch with me tomorrow."

"Alright."

She grabbed her coat and walked out of her office.


Dean hesitated as he sat in the Impala in front of Caden's house. Although Bobby seemed pleased that Dean had a place to stay in town and not risk the roads and the idiot drivers.

He just felt awkward.

However, it was cold out. He couldn't stay out here.

He walked to the front door and rang the doorbell. Inside, he could hear Maverick tripping over his big feet, trying to get to the door. Everything seemed so normal. He suddenly felt a longing for it.

He knew he had never had a normal life. The life he had now seemed false.

His melancholy thoughts left when Caden answered the door. "Come on in. Stay down, Maverick!"

Dean knelt down beside the excitable dog, who immediately flopped over on his back. Caden shook her head. "You're just spoiling him, you know. He's going to expect that from you all night. Prepare yourself for a bedmate."

"I've had worse things in bed with me."

Caden paused. "I so didn't want to know that."

Dean stood up and walked into the living room. On her wall was a picture of an angel. "You like angels?" he called to her in the kitchen.

"Yeah," she called back.

"You believe in angels?" He picked up the picture.

She came out into the living room. "Not like that. That's a Renaissance adaptation. In reality, angels aren't cuddly, Roma Downey-type beings. They're warriors, messengers, guardians. Although, probably guardians would be closer to this type of depiction. Just without the wings."

"You have quite an imagination." He caught something on the ceiling out of the corner of his eye. An odd wood color that didn't match the other boards and looked up. "Hey, Bobby has this same pattern on his ceiling."

"It's a Key of Solomon, probably better known as a Devil's Trap. It keeps people I don't want to see at bay."

"Creditors?"

She laughed. "Not as many as you would think." She put down the picture. "I'll give you a grand tour before we eat. This is the living room. Don't sit in Maverick's chair. Kitchen through that door." She led him upstairs. "Bedrooms. There's a hallway bathroom. My bedroom has its own bathroom. This is it."

Dean looked in Caden's bedroom. It was a spacious room, with antique furniture, although there was little in the way of personal items. "Are you collector or have they been passed down to you?" He asked.

"I've picked them up along the way."

A display case caught his eye. There were different sizes of daggers and blades. It seemed like such an odd thing for a woman to have. "These look old!" Dean said.

"A couple of them are over 300 years old."

"Why do you have them?" Dean looked closer at the knives. Some of them had similar markings on them. "These are awesome!"

"Let's just say right now that they're for protection. The ones with the markings on them can kill anything." At Dean's strange look, she chuckled. "It might be a legend. My family has an interest in what these can kill." At that, she backed up. "You have your pick of either one of the spare bedrooms. I'm going to check on the pizza."

Dean looked back at the knives. Again, he was struck by the idea that these were such an odd thing for Caden to have. But, something in the back of his mind told him that he had not only heard of knives and daggers that could kill anything, he had used one.

Maverick whined, interrupting his thoughts. Dean looked down to see the yellow dog sitting beside him, grinning up at him. He reached down and pet Maverick's big head, which caused the tail to thump against the floor. "I'll go look at the other bedrooms. Which one do you think I should crash in, Mav?"

The dog stood up and led him out the door and down the hall.


Dean sat back as he ate the last bite of his pizza and watched Caden finish her slice. "Thanks, Caden," he said softly. "I've really enjoyed this."

She stood up and picked up Dean's plate. "You're welcome. Usually, it's just me and my dog. It's nice having a friend over." She walked to the sink. "If you want, we can watch a movie. I've got many DVDs. What do you want to watch?"

"I don't care."

She rinsed off the plates and put them in the dishwasher. "How about P.S. I Love You?"

"Is that a chick flick?"

She grinned. "Yeah."

"No thanks."

"No chick flicks. That's right. How about horror? How about The Exorcist?"

"You go in extremes, don't you? The Exorcist would be better."

She followed him into the living room. "OK." She popped in the DVD and sat in a chair. Dean took the couch. Maverick took another chair beside Caden's.

They watched in silence for several minutes. Dean watched it intently, while Caden jumped at the appropriate scares. "That nightmare always gives me the creeps," she said.

Close to the middle of the movie, Dean leaned forward, listening to the priests' exorcism of Regan. "Those aren't the right words."

"What do you mean?"

"They're doing that exorcism wrong. You do it in Latin, for one. And those aren't the right words, even with the English translation."

Caden leaned forward. "What do you remember?"

Dean stood up. "I don't know," he said as he walked out of the room. He turned back to Caden. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm turning in. I have to get an early start tomorrow. G'night."

"Good night, Dean," Caden said softly as he went upstairs.

TBC

A/N: I'm ending here. I could have gone further. But, I'll save it for the next chapter.