Family Ties
Chapter 9
(recap It's in Bold so if you don't want to recap just scroll to where the bold ends )
Railean rubbed her eyes and cracked her neck. Both she and Dean had been reading through the books she and Sam had 'borrowed' from a local Wicca store, going on two hours now. Her eyes where tired and her neck muscles were getting stiff. A loud slam brought her back to reality.
"This is bull." Dean said from the coffee table. "Half the stuff in here I can't make out and the stuff I can make out, I can't understand." He looked up at Railean. "I told you. I am not Research Boy. That title belongs solely to Sam. He finds them and I kill them."
Marking her place with her finger, Railean looked up at Dean. They had had this argument before. When she and Sam had walked through the door of the hotel room they were renting and told Dean that Sam had had another premonition and was going to lie down for a little while, leaving Dean and Railean on research duty. He hadn't liked it then and it was apparent that he still had not warmed up to the idea.
"Dean, get over it alright. You have officially been demoted from the Killer-Of-All-Things-Creepy down to Research Boy. And I really hope you know where you were at in that book."
Dean locked his hands behind his head and leaned back, "I really hate this part of the job."
Railean went back to where she had left off, "Hey if you would rather have the part that causes killer headaches, I am sure Sam would love to trade with you right now. But since that ain't happening, get back to reading."
"Who died and left you in charge," Dean mumbled as he re-opened his book on Demonic Rituals for Demons.
Railean grinned and continued to read, Demonic Prophecies: Then and Now. She hadn't been paying attention and hadn't really read the text in front of her. She shook her head to clear it and re read it. "Dean! I found it!" She gathered up the heavy book and plopped it down on the coffee table. Nearly crushing Dean's head in the process, "The prophecy about Azazel, it's right here."
Dean leaned forward to look, "Umm…where?"
"Right here."
Dean just stares.
"I'm pointing right at it."
"Did I forget to mention that I don't speak gibberish?"
"It's not gibberish," Railean said, rolling her eyes. "It's an old form of Navajo. Here: 'After many lifetimes of destroying the innocent and hunting the…' I think the word is gifted ones. 'He, who is Azazel, will be defeated by the three…Fire sticks?' What the heck… oh wait guns, guns were known as Fire sticks. 'Azazel will be defeated by the three guns of the time" Railean continues to read while Dean keep looking for his lost spot.
"Lets see…yada yada yada…'A life for a life.' Yada yada yada…'Human flesh is his weakness and human flesh is what he will become." Railean slugged Dean in his arm. "See, I told you there were two other guns that could kill him and not just the Colt."
Dean glared at her and rubbed his arm. "Great, but I don't see where your book says where to find these other two guns, or how we're suppose to get the Colt back from Azazel. Because I'm pretty damn sure he isn't just going to hand it over because we ask him nicely," he resumes flipping the pages on his book.
"Well no it doesn't say, but I am sure that…" she slammed her hand down on top of his, "Wait! Stop!"
"OUCH! What the hell? What!"
Railean flipped back three pages and pointed to the content of it, "That's what."
Dean leaned forward to read the top of the page, still nursing the hand that Railean had clobbered, "Demonic Right of Power, and that warranted you squishing my hand?"
Railean tucked a strain of hair behind her ear. "Try reading the whole thing and not just looking at the pretty pictures Dean. This particular ritual says how a demon can be given human flesh and still keep its full demonic powers."
Dean rubs his hand, "Now why would a demon want to do that? I mean the SOB could just possess a person and keep it powers."
SMACK
"No it can't"
"HEY! You really need to stop hitting me."
"Then pay attention, when a demon possesses a person, it keeps it basic abilities. Trust me. Being able to pin people to the ceiling and causing your liver to rupture is not the worst a full fledge demon can do." She flipped the page. "It loses its more powerful ones."
Dean rubbed the back of his head and kept reading the ritual. "Alright so a demon performs this and boom its human. That could be a good thing. Makes Azazel easier to kill right?"
Now Railean is really confused, "Well yea. And that is why most demons opt for simple possession. If the host is killed, the demon is still alive. Well unless it's killed with one of those guns. And seeing as Azazel has one of them why would he want to perform…" Railean trailed off as she sees what is required for the ritual.
"Dean? We have a problem." She points to the last item on the list.
"Oh crap." He and Railean look at each other. A second later they hear Sam yell from the next room.
"DEAN!"
Both Railean and Dean bolted.
Railean and Dean burst into the room; instantly Railean felt her feet leave the floor and was slammed into the wall. She gasped, "Dean!" She felt the wall thump and looked over; Dean was next to her, struggling against the invisible bonds that held him. Railean gasped for breath and tried to find Sam. He was across the room pinned to the wall as well. A dark figure was in front of him.
"Why is it when humans hear a scream for help, they rush in without thinking?" The figured turned and Railean saw the yellow eyes.
"Azazel," she whispered and Dean stopped struggling.
Azazel crossed the room and stood in front of Dean. "Now this does seem familiar. Funny how every time you and I have met, you end up in the same position. Me having control over whither or not you live." He lowered his eyes and Dean's face contorted with pain.
"STOP IT!" Sam and Railean shouted together. Azazel glanced over at her and Dean's face relaxed, but blood was dripping out of his mouth. "Looks like we have a new player. How is it that I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you?" He moved to stand in front of her.
Railean tried to press herself flat against the wall. "We have meet." She pushed at him with her mind and he even took a step back, but that was all.
An evil grin spread across his face. "Witches? Sammy, you're hanging with demon whore's now?" He stepped up to her and she tried again. "Tsk tsk tsk." He slapped her hard and Railean felt the wall greet the other side of her face, "I'm a demon girl. You're not strong enough to take me on." He made to hit her again, but his hand froze in mid air.
"But I am." Sam's voice was little more then a whisper, but there was strength in it. Azazel spun on him and Railean looked at him. Sam was focused on Azazel and there was a thin line of blood coming out of his nose.
"Well Sammy, seems I underestimated your abilities. I'm impressed." He dropped his hand and Railean saw Sam relax. Azazel struck her again. It was so quick that Railean didn't see it, only felt it. Her head felt like it would explode.
"But not that impressed."
Sam started to struggle. "Leave them both out of this! It's between you and me!"
Azazel seemed to loose interest in Railean and returned to stand in front of Sam. This gave her a chance to think, which was hard because of the pain on the left side of her cheek and her right side was throbbing from the wall. She looked to Dean, who was again struggling. He looked over to her and mouthed, "Do something."
Railean nodded. She closed her eyes and concentrated, but not on Azazel. She was concentrating on her mother. Melinda had been able to hurt Azazel, all Railean had to do was remember the spell she had said. A flash of yellow and Azazel was thrown out of Railean's line of sight. Railean looked up and saw that Azazel was still across the room. Her mom was standing beside the crib, her arm outstretched, her mouth forming words. Railean concentrated on those words; then shouted them, "Foris of vicis, foris of lucrum. Teneo tantum moestitia, teneo tantum poena!"
Azazel was jerked off his feet and thrown into the desk. The bonds holding all three of them were gone and they dropped to the floor. Railean knew that Azazel was hurt. "Two beings now dwell where only one can be. Release this demon and set this man free!" She was on her knees, gasping for breath, when she saw black clouds pour out of the man's mouth. But the cloud didn't leave the room; it circled the man and made to reenter him.
"NO!" Railean held her hand out and pushed her energy towards the cloud. It froze, but Railean could feel Azazel struggling and her grip was weakening. "Dean! Get Sam and get the hell out of here! I can hold him but not for long!"
She didn't know if Dean heard her but she did see him go to Sam, help him up and take him out of the room. Her grip on the cloud was slipping, but she managed to hold him while getting to her feet. She backed out of the room, once she was across the threshold the door slammed shut and she bolted. Dean had Sam in the back seat, the car running and the passenger side opened. She slid in and Dean took off.
Railean touched her nose, withdrew blood and wiped it on her sleeve. She stared rummaging in the glove box, "Dean you got any napkins." He reached under his seat and pulled out a towel. "I don't want to know what that is doing there, do I?"
Dean glanced at her as she wiped her nose, "No you don't."
Railean turned around in her seat to cheek on Sam, "Sam? You all right?"
His eyes were closed but he nodded, she turned back to Dean, "So now where? The books are still at the motel and Azazel is pissed as hell at us."
Dean wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, but all that was accomplished was smearing the blood there. Railean took the towel and started to wipe his mouth but Dean stopped her, "I got it. He took the towel. "For now we keep moving. Make it hard for him to pin us down."
Railean face forward in her seat, "You do realize what he wanted back there right?"
Dean looked pissed but not at Railean, "Yea. I do."
"You also realize that unless we find those other two guns and get the Colt back we are royally screwed."
"
Rai, I realize that!" The out burst surprised Railean but she didn't take it personally. "Sorry Rai. It's just that…"
"Don't' worry about it Dean," she told him patting his arm. "I'm use to your fits by now. I'm climbing in back. See how Sam is really doing." She found Sam's breathing quick and coming in gasps. "Sam? Open your eyes, Sam." He did and they were glassy.
"I'm fine Rai."
She sat him up straight by pulling on his jacket. "I'll believe that when your breathing is normal. Come on deep breath." He did as she suggested. "Better?" He nodded his color improving. "That was pretty impressive back there Sam."
He reached up and touched her cheek, "Not impressive enough." She took his hand.
"True. I guess I was the more impressive one but hey, I'll make you a medal for runner up first chance I get." She leaned into him. "For now I'm taking a nap. Keeping you two out of trouble can be so exhausting." She closed her eyes and fell asleep, but she did catch Dean's remark, "So can keeping you."
It was the Impala slowing down and coming to a stop that woke Railean. She glanced up at Sam and saw that he was still asleep. She lifted her head, "Dean? What's going on?" She sat up and saw that they had returned to the motel. "What the hell are we doing here?"
Dean turned around, "Stay here."
"Dean wait," she hissed but he was out of the car and heading towards the room they had just fled. She watched as he opened the door and disappeared into the room. She slid towards the door being careful not to wake Sam.
Looking around the parking lot she saw the sun just barely starting to creep over the horizon. She glanced at her watch. They had been driving for five hours. She was about to get out of the car when she saw Dean emerge from the room. He had his arms loaded with all three bags. She got out of the car and went to help him. "I told you to stay in the car." He hissed at her as they hauled to bags and tossed them into the trunk, not caring if the weapons got tussled.
"What are we doing here? Azazel could still be here." She whispered to him.
He headed back into the room and gestured for her to stay by the car. He didn't take as long this time, coming out with the books from the bookstore and Railean's spell book, "Like you said we needed these books. It was worth the risk." He shoved the books into Railean's arms and climbed back into the Impala.
Railean stood there for a second then climbed in shotgun and Dean peeled out of there. Somehow Sam slept through the whole thing. Railean dumped all but Demonic Rituals for Demons, on the floor. She opened to the page she and Dean had been looking at. Dean looked over at her, "What are you hoping to find in there?"
"Just finding out what they hope to do if they ever get their hands on Sam." Blank look from Dean, she rolled her eyes, "I'm looking to see what the ritual intel's for Azazel to become human and keep his powers." Dean rolled his eyes at her.
"You mean other then killing Sam?"
She slammed the book closed and saw Sam jerk awake. "Sorry Sam. I didn't mean to wake you."
Sam waved her off. "Don't worry about it." He leaned forward and saw the books on the floor. "How did we get those? Didn't we leave them at the motel?"
Railean nodded, "We went back for them. We needed them to figure out what Azazel is planning."
Sam became very quiet. Railean re opened the book to Demonic Right of Power, and showed Sam what it said. "He needs you to perform it. My guess is that he just figured that out, other wise he would have tried this earlier."
Sam read through the ritual, "But why would he want to become human? I mean he could just keep…"
Railean cut him off, "Possessing people? That's what Dean thought to. But like I told him a demon loses a lot of it's powers when it posses someone. Like this it would keep those powers and still be hard to kill. From the ritual it looks as if a demon has to become flesh and blood and then perform this. So my guess is that during the ritual Azazel would be easy to kill."
"Don't even think about it. We aren't using Sammy as bait."
"I wasn't thinking that, I was thinking out loud is all." Sam took the book from her.
"That isn't a bad idea."
Railean was quick to take the book back and closed it, "Yes is it! Forget it. Besides what do you think Azazel would think if you strolled up to him and said, 'Yea sure I'll let you sacrifice me,' He's not as dumb as we would like him to be."?
"It was just a thought Rai."
"Well Sam it was a bad thought." She leaned back. "We'll just find those other two guns and kill him that way."
Sam looked at Dean, "What other two guns?"
"Rai found that prophecy Lilah was talking about. It says something like three guns will kill Azazel or something along those lines."
"'Azazel will be defeated by the three guns of the time,'" Railean said with her eyes closed.
Sam looks a little confused, "So how do you fit in there?"
She turns and looks at him, "What do you mean?"
"Well Lilah said that she, for lack of a better word, conceived you because of that prophecy. But I don't hear how you fit into it. I mean anyone could find those guns and use them. Why did she need for you to be born?"
Railean was very quiet. She hadn't thought about it. She knew that Lilah was telling the truth; she had seen the prophecy for herself. But Sam was right there was no mention of why she had to even be born. "I don't know Sam? But she was telling the truth about the prophecy.
Dean looked over at her "Maybe she translated it wrong. I mean you almost did."
"Maybe."
Sam sat back in the seat, and Dean went back to driving. Presuming that Dean didn't miss any exits, they should be able to make good time to the Roadhouse. She let her mind wonder, mainly to her theory about the prophecy. She didn't want to tell the boys but she was thinking maybe she had translated it wrong. She read and re read but it said the same thing.
After many lifetimes of destroying the innocent and hunting gifted ones, He, who is Azazel, will be defeated by the three Fire sticks of the time. In the essence of Death help can be found. Human flesh is his weakness and human flesh is what he will become. While many before him will try, it will be Azazel who comes closest to a demons ultimate goal. Defeat of this monster rest on the three Fire sticks.
Railean kept reading that one paragraph, knowing she was missing something but not able to see it. At some point she must have dozed off, Sam was shaking her awake, it seemed he and Dean had switched places while she slept.
"Yea," she asked sleepily
"What is a demons ultimate goal?" he asked returning his eyes back to the road
"Most demons just like to hurt people," she told him leaning in between his and Dean's seat, "they get some kind of kick out of it. Others they have a real plan and it usually ends with them destroying the world."
Sam looked out his darkened window. "You think that's what Azazel wants? Destroy the world."
Railean shrugged, "Couldn't say."
"Sam?"
"Yes."
"What was your dad like? I know him through a few of the stories that Mal's told me. But that's about it."
Sam looked over at her, "Why do you want to know?"
Now it was Railean's turn to shrug, "I was just thinking of my dad and I realized that I'm not that much like him. I mean I loved him. He was there for me. One time I was going out with this guy, I was maybe nine."
Sam grinned, "You were dating at nine? Dang I think even Dean waited till he hit the double digits."
"It wasn't like that," Railean signed. "He was the neighbor kid and we hung out a lot. We started telling everyone that we were dating to shock people. That's not the point. The point is that at some point Jeremy broke up with me and my dad was there for me. He just told me that Jeremy wasn't worth my time, I was better them him. You know TV dad stuff. I guess I'm wondering what a hunting dad would have done."
Sam shifted in the seat, "Well first off, you wouldn't have ever dated Jeremy, because you would have been moving around so much. Second, you would have spent most of your life in motels, being very careful that no one noticed that your dad was gone for days at a time. That was one of the biggest worries I think my dad faced. Not the demons or the other things he hunted, but having someone from Child Welfare came find Dean and me alone."
"Sounds lonely."
Sam shrugs, "A little bit but I had Dean to keep me company. We kind of entertained each other."
Railean nodded, "But I was an only child. So I wouldn't have like that."
"I have a feeling you would have managed. How long have you been hunting with you uncle?"
"Seven years, ever since my mom and dad died. Mal didn't know what else do to with me and handing me off to a foster family was not an option. Besides I kind of think by keeping me around it was like hunting with my mom again."
"So your mom was a hunter and a witch?"
"Yea, Mal says she was really good."
"I bet she was. If she was any thing like you she would have been." Sam nodded up a head, "Roadhouse is just over that hill."
Railean yawned, "Talk about cliché."
Sam grinned and Railean decided she liked it when he smiled. "Should we wake Sleeping ugly?" She jerked her head to the passenger seat where Dean was snoring away.
Sam raised his eyebrows, "Got a bowel of warm water."
