9
In the Land of Monsters
"Well…at least is sunny-ish here at least." Adam remarked when they passed through. "Everything looks…washed out here. What's the deal with that?"
"Purgatory is closer to Earth then Heaven or Hell, as in the souls here do not affect the environment as they do there. God created this place to keep the Leviathans from creation, and since most monsters descend from Eve, a mutant Leviathan, their souls are kept here." he explained, "and here, they do what monsters do…hunt and kill."
"So…those things that ate me and my mom?"
"Here, but I doubt we can find them," he looked over at Dean. "I never was able to solve that metaphysical question."
"Which one?" Dean asked as he began heading to the direction of the exit. Sam had given detailed instructions back, so as long as they moved quickly, they hoped to avoid any monsters.
"Kill a monster in monster heaven, where does it go?" he asked, trying to keep up with Dean.
"Maybe it's like Riverworld, they end up somewhere different in Purgatory." Adam theorized as he walked briskly along beside him. "So what's here? How many monsters are there?"
"Hundreds…Eve popped them out like no other." Dean supplied. Dean suddenly stopped and held up his hand, signaling them to be stop and be quiet. He pulled Adam next to him behind the largest tree and looked over at Dean. Dean looked back and held up two fingers and mouthed vampire. Then remained still, waiting them to pass.
No such luck, they were upwind from them and the vampires caught their scent. They came crashing through the bush right at Dean who rolled away and used his machete to mostly slice the head off one. He jumped in to flank the other vampire who sidestepped him but then left himself open to Dean, who grabbed him long enough for him to slice through the neck cleanly.
"Holy shit! You guys are fast!" Adam exclaimed coming out from the tree.
"You do this your whole life, you learn to be fast." Dean said calmly as he cleaned his blade. "This is the life dad was protecting you from, cause it's like this day in and day out."
"Well, he did a shitty job keeping you guys out of it." Adam retorted.
"Yeah, he did." Dean agreed and he pointed down to the decapitated bodies. "Vampires. They don't glitter or do the stake to the heart thing. Only way to kill them is to behead them. Oh, and daylight is annoying, but not lethal to them."
Adam nodded, "they drink blood then?"
"Yeah, they have a secondary pair of teeth that sharp as needles. Most are evil bloodsuckers, but there's a couple that are ok." Dean explained.
"Like Benny. Do you think Dean we might encounter him here?" he asked.
Dean shrugged, "kinda hope I do, but there's no way telling if he's even alive. Sam said he was fighting when he stepped through. If we do though, I'll see if he wants to come topside again." He looked over his shoulder, "better get a move on."
They began their trek again, though he took lead as Adam and Dean conversed on the various monsters they might encounter. Dean was inadvertently training his youngest brother, if only to defend himself here. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, but Purgatory was huge. Here though, the time was relative to Earths and distance was finite. In Hell, time was in flux and distance was relative whereas Heaven was outside of time and infinite in nature. He wondered what the fey realm was like, or the other dimensions were like. The magicless universe where their lives were a show seemed particular interesting. Stuff like this though, trying to figure it all out was above his, as Dean would say, his pay grade.
Soon the day passed into the night and they found a spot to rest. There was no need to sleep here, just like there was no need for food or drink. At night though they were disadvantaged because of their limited sight, so it was better to wait until the sun came back. He and Dean leaned next to each other while Adam leaned across from them in the small cave they ran across. Noticing some dirt on Dean's face, he cleaned it off. When he looked over at Adam, he looked at them curiously.
"Are…are you two a couple?" Adam asked hesitantly.
He felt Dean stiffen beside him, and he worried for a second Dean would deny it, but Dean said,
"yeah…that's not a problem is it?" He used the tone he termed the 'the answer better be no.'
"No, it's totally cool. I just took you as a…well, a ladies man." He could tell Adam was sincere. There was an article he read that stated that the newer generation of Americans were far more accepting of homosexual relationships than previous generations, like Deans. Personally, he didn't consider himself homosexual, it was a term that held no weight to him. He loved Dean, simple as that.
Dean chuckled, "I am…" he punched Dean with his elbow, "was…listen, if you want pointers about making out with the ladies…"
"Nope. I'm good." Adam cut him off. "Dean, I'm 20…well, technically, I guess I'm almost 24 really, but I think I can handle the ladies all by myself."
"Pfft, I thought that too man, but I'll let you figure that out with Sam. He's the touchy feely one."
"Yeah, I noticed." Adam shifted, "so, what's the plan when we get back? Are you going to train me like dad did you guys, carry on the 'family business'?"
"Hell no! You got dragged into this life bad enough as it is. We have a prophet, Kevin, who's about your age. He's heading back to school, if you want to do that, then cool. Let's just talk about this stuff when we're out of here 'k?" Adam nodded.
The night was spent in silence, especially since there were howls that sounded far too close for his liking. Dean though about what Adam has asked. They were pretty close to the end now, and though there were some close calls, they made it so far without serious injury. Once they were done with this mission, he had to face, at long last, what the future would hold for him.
For him and Cas he corrected himself. He still had a hard time thinking of a concept of what to do in the future. The mere fact that he was hoping for a future was a miracle in itself. All he knew know is that he had a person who loved him, broken as he is, a brother…correction, brothers, and a nephew. A sweet home, baby and no one was trying to end the world. He wanted to keep it that way for as long as he could. For now, he'll focus on that.
When the dawn, or what passed for dawn in this bleak world they resumed their journey to the exit portal. He kept them at a fast walking pace, with cool downs every so often. According to Sam, the portal shouldn't be far from here now. The woods were beginning to look familiar, though, all the woods looked the same really. He had the feeling that he had been here before. It was only a little while he was able to spy the cliff from a distance that held the portal.
"Dean…do you hear that?" Cas asked and he listened. It sounded like there was a fight, a pretty big one at that, not far from them. Holding his finger to his mouth, they silently walked forward to see what was happening. He would like to go around, but there's only one path up the cliff, so they had to see who was fighting. If it was two monsters going at it, then all the better. He was right though, it was two monsters, five actually, but one was one he knew all too well. Benny.
Who was cornered by the remaining vampires. Dean saw that two vampires were already dead, along with what looked like a couple leviathans decapitated. Then he heard one vampire speak.
"Clever, running us into some leviathans but you're not the only one to stop them for a while Benny. The Old Man has a hit out on you, and we're not going to stop coming."
"And here I though y'all were after to have a nice talk about the weather." Benny retorted.
Dean turned to Cas, and he saw that Cas already knew what he was going to ask. "Adam, stay here." he told his brother before he and Cas jumped out. they were able to catch them by surprise and already had two beheaded before the others could react. Seeing his chance, Benny took out the ringleader and it was only a small scuffle before the other two lost their heads.
Once the dust settled, Benny gave him the best hug he ever had. "Brotha, what brings you back here?" Benny asked after letting go.
"Kid brother, had to bust him out from Hell." Dean replied Adam came over from his hiding spot. "Last we saw you, Sam said that vampires were all over you. How'd you make it out?"
"Please Dean, I've been in a tumble or two, I can handle them." Benny huffed in his gruff voice.
"Like you were handling that back there?" he pointed out.
"I had it under control. My maker figured he don't like Purgatory much and has a bunch of vampires out for my head. This ol' dog still has some tricks." Benny then saw Cas and gave him a hug too. Then he looked at Cas weird when he let go. "Something's different about you angel."
"It may be perhaps that I am no longer an angel." Benny arched his eyebrow. "Long story."
Dean walked over, "Benny, come back with us. Please." He had half hoped he would run into Benny here, so he can offer him a way back home. "It's different topside now, we can make it work. We can find a way for you to fit in. I won't leave you to fend for yourself this time."
Benny shook his head, "don't know brotha, you offerin' a sweet deal, but I can't say that'll be a good choice for me. I belong here, with my kind Dean."
"Dammit Benny, you can do more good back there than here." he almost shouted back before he reigned in the volume.
"Benny, please return with us. Dean is right, things have changed considerable since you left. We can do more for you, to repay for what you did for Dean, and for Sam." Cas pleaded. "I found a way to fit in, and so can you."
"Please Benny, I can't leave you here. You're like my family too, and if you don't come back with us now, I'll find a way to come back and drag you through." He would too. He's never going to leave another family member behind again. "I'm not leaving if you don't come with man."
"Neither shall I." Cas added.
Benny mulled it over, and he saw that there was no point in arguing. "I ain't agreeing to this, you coercin' me into a corner and all." He looked up. "We better make this quick, I think we're going to have company soon."
Cleaning his blade, he cut himself and Benny, and preformed the ritual. Again, he felt the heat of Benny's soul in his arm, but he got him. Now he just needed to get through the portal and his family would be whole and safe again.
"Dean…Leviathans!" Cas shouted as he grabbed Adam and began running up toward the cliff. He ran after them and looked over his shoulder. At least four landed somewhere behind him, but he couldn't see them. Looking forward, he saw that Adam and Cas were already scrambling over the cliff face. He was right behind them when he looked over again. There were three black suits behind him, the other must have stayed behind to reattach the other two ones back there.
He climbed up as quickly as possible and as soon as he had a hand on the ledge, Adam pulled him up. Cas was trying to push a rock over and together, they quickly sent it over the edge. The portal was only couple hundred yards ahead and reacting to their presence. Not checking if they hit anything, they ran as fast as they could.
"Guys, look out!" Adam yelled, as he ducked when he sensed an arm coming from behind. Cas spun around him and cleaved the guys arm right through before he was punched in the face by another Leviathan. He used his momentum and swung his blade right through the neck of the injured one.
Cas rolled away from the punch and then jumped back up and began walking backward toward the portal, keeping the leviathan at bay. He himself was doing the same, knowing the portal wouldn't stay open for long. "Adam, get through the portal!" he shouted as he swung at not at the leviathan facing him but at the one that Cas was facing. The sucker avoided his blade but ran smack into Cas's. Now there was only one, but behind her, he could see that the other three were climbing up. "We need to make this quick Cas."
"You're stating the obvious again Dean." Cas said as he pulled out his gun and emptied the clip into the leviathans face, distracting it. With that moment, he scrambled up the small stones and into the portal. Adam handed his gun back and he aimed at the leviathan to buy Cas the time he needs to get to the portal. Cas was sprinting up and grabbed Adams arm when Dean finished emptying his gun. With Cas in, the portal closed and they were thrust into the escape hatch between dimensions.
