SUPERNATURAL

THE PARCAEX RITUAL

Chapter Nine

"So, Sammy, what's the plan?"

They were walking towards the car, a small bag of supplies strung over their shoulders. "Truthfully, I have no idea," he answered as they stepped into the Impala, "But we'll figure something out, I guess."

"I still think we should have gone with my idea," Dean complained.

"What? Parade in with an army of tanks, grab Bella and escape on Jetpacks?"

"Come on, Sammy! Have a little imagination! I know you're just jealous because you couldn't come up with such a brilliant plan."

"Uh-huh, right then. Well, when you find us a few army tanks and jetpacks we might incorporate them someday, but until then we're sticking to what I've got."

"Which is what exactly?" Bobby asked.

"Oh, you'll see."

Sam began to start the engine when Dean stopped him, "Hang on, Sammy. In case you forgot, the Demons want us to be driving this time around."

"So what? You want to walk?"

"No," he smirked, "I mean they're not gonna stop us this time. Which means I'm driving."

Sam rolled his eyes and got out, walking around to the passenger door.

"Yeah!" Dean exclaimed, "And here we go!"

They set off down the road, following a line of flickering street lamps that stretched into the distance.

"Sam, how do you know they're not just going to try and run us off the road, kill us and take the knife?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah," began Dean, "If I were them, that is what I would have done."

"Well, luckily it looks like we're safe at the moment, but when we arrive we'd better all be careful. We don't know what they've got waiting for us there."

"Oh, joy!" Dean exclaimed, "Ice cream and Pancakes here we come!"

Sam laughed, "Oh Dean, its such a shame that you wouldn't be able to eat them now, isn't it?"

"What- Oh right," he frowned, "The bet."

"You thought I'd forgotten already?"

"No!" Dean answered, "Well, I'd hoped you would! I don't know if I can do it!"

"But you said it yourself, Dean. You didn't eat for days in hell!"

"Yeah! But I wanted to! I just couldn't!"

Sam sat laughing at him, "Oh how its fun to watch you suffer!"

Dean scowled, "I'll make you suffer if you don't shut up. Now give me some private time with my baby!"

He revved the car loudly. They could feel the power in its wheels as he sped down the highway.

"We need some music!" Dean yelled over the noise, "No more Michael Jackson crap!"

"Ah, how about some Guns and Roses, eh?" He asked, but Bobby and Sam didn't speak a word, "I'll take that silence as a no, but screw you both, I'm driving!"

He turned the volume up loud as Sweet child O' mine began, "Wish I could play the guitar like that!" Dean moaned.

"Dean! Can't you turn it down? We've got to work out how to save Bella, remember?"

"Sorry, Sammy!" he turned it up louder, "But I just couldn't resist, its great music!"

The first verse began and Dean started mouthing the words, tapping his hands on the wheel and shaking his head, "She's got a smile that it seems to me, reminds me of childhood memories, where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky!"

Sam sat back, an annoyed look on his face.

"Come on, Sammy, you know you love it!" he yelled over the music, "Waaaah woa woa! Sweet child o' mine!"

Sam leant over and switched the stereo off.

"What're you doing?"

"Dean, you've really got to pay more attention. Look," he pointed out the front windscreen, "The lights have stopped flickering."

Looking behind them, Dean couldn't see any flickering back there either. "Then where the hell are we supposed to go?"

"Down there, Dean." Bobby pointed to the left of the road, where a dirt road stretched into the darkness.

"Ah, come on! Don't you remember what happened last time we went down a dirt road?"

"What's wrong Dean? Getting scared?"

"Who, me?" Dean laughed, "Tell me you're kidding. Come on," he beckoned, opening the door, "We're going on foot."

For fifteen minutes the three of them had been walking down the dirt road, equipped with nothing except a bag of salt, a bottle of holy water each, their fathers old journal and a travel-sized bucket of paint.

"Dean, was it really the smartest idea to ditch the car at the road? This walk is taking forever!"

"Well, when I thought of walking I didn't realise that it would be so far!"

"Wait, guys," Bobby paused, "I think I see it."

Out of the darkness, rising three storeys above them stood a large grey warehouse, its windows barred and the door sitting wide open.

"Do you think they know we're here?" Dean whispered, trying to gain a better look at the inside.

"I think they're expecting us, but I don't sense the presence anymore, so I don't think we're being watched."

Bobby laughed, "Idiots. Have we got a plan now?"

"Something like that," Sam replied, pulling a knife from his pocket and handing it to Dean, "You guys walk in there with the knife, but make sure you keep him distracted for a good ten minutes at least."

"What are you going to do?"

"Don't worry about me, I'm just going to do a little snooping around."

Dean hitched up his small carry-bag, "Sounds like a plan to me!" he turned, "You comin' Bobby?"

"Yeah, just try not to be an idiot."

They approached the doors slowly as Sam disappeared into the night. The wind whistled through the leaves as they came within twenty metres of the door. "Anyone home?" Dean projected, walking with immense caution.

"Dean Winchester."

The two of them turned sharply to find themselves staring upon a dark-haired demon - though it may have been a reflection from the sky - and Dean raised his knife ready to slash.

"Whoa, Hey! Easy there, Dean. You don't want your girlfriend to be hurt now, do you?"

"Where are you keeping her?"

"Oh, we'll get to that later, but what I want to know is where dear little Sammy is."

"Never you mind."

"Oh, but Dean, I do mind. You see, I know he was with you travelling over here, but where has he run off too? Sneaking up from behind won't do him much good now, will it? You're the one with the weapon, Dean, which is why I want to talk to you."

"I get it, you want to trade Bella for the knife?"

"I'm not even going to ask how you know this already, but yes, Dean. I want that knife, and I also have something that you want."

"Why do you want this knife so badly?"

"Now now, no need to go into details. All you need to know is that I'm offering you a trade. Should you say no? Well lets just say you're girl will never see daylight again."

"Oh, tempting," Dean thought, "But I'm just not sure. Throw in a few cheeseburgers and buddy, you know we might have a deal."

"Sorry, but I'm afraid we don't have any of those."

"Oh, that's a shame. So tell me, what's stopping me from jumping forward and sticking this knife through your chest right now?"

"Well, for one I'm much, much quicker than you are and could jump out of the way as easily as pie."

"Oh man, I agree. I think we should just give in, Bobby," Dean snorted, "They've got pie, we can't match that. All we have is a demon-killing knife, a bag of sulphur and some holy water."

"Come, Dean. We'll talk inside."

The demon led them into the warehouse and over to the far side, where Dean spotted Bella lying asleep on a few blocks of hay.

"Yes, she is unconscious. But don't blame anybody but yourself, Dean. You're the one who woke her in that coffin anyway."

"Whatever, now about this trade?"

"Yes. Your knife for the girl."

"And how do I know that I can trust you?"

"Well, that's the thing, you don't. But I swear to you Dean - and you know that a Demon always holds faithful to their word - I swear that I will give you your girlfriend and let you walk out unharmed. But first you must give us that knife."

Dean stared at him thoughtfully, "Okay. I'll hold you to your word."

Dean held out the knife for him, but he wasn't as stupid as he looked. "Put it on the ground, Dean, and walk away."

Dean did as he was told. He slowly bent down and placed the knife on the floor, before standing up and backing off.

The demon smiled, moving forward to claim his prize. "Now, that wasn't so difficult, was it?"

Dean glanced over the Demons shoulder as Sam crept in silently down the staircase from the second floor.

The demon laughed, "Do you really think that I can't see you, Sam? I knew you'd plan something like this, which is why I also came prepared. Boys!" he yelled, "Come and meet our newest guests!"

No less than fifteen demons entered the warehouse, some from outside, and others out from hiding places within the room itself.

"I knew we couldn't trust you! You gave us your word!"

"Oh, did I? Well sorry, I lied", he whispered, "it's just so much more fun toying with you Winchesters, because now we've got you exactly where we wanted."

The Demon bent down and picked up the knife, examining it closely with his cold, black eyes.

He laughed again, "Wow, Dean. You really underestimate what us demons know, don't you? Sending us a fake weapon? Unless I'm mistaken, you used the same trick to fool Azazel."

"Who?" Dean looked puzzled at the name, not remembering when he had faced a creature with such a name.

"Azazel, or Yellow-Eyes as I seem to remember you referring to him as. That was his real name."

"Oh, no way!" Dean exclaimed, "You mean like 'Astaroth and Azazel', Azazel?"

"Yes, Dean. But back to the point, I've learned from his mistakes. Now tell me," he demanded, "Where is the real knife?"

Sam stood his ground, slowly reaching his hands behind his back.

"You'd have been much better off giving us the knife, boys. But now I'm afraid that we're going to have to tear you to shreds and search you ourselves. Oh joy, isn't this going to be fun?" he looked around at his servants, "Hungry, boys?"

The group of Demons began moving towards them, and the demon yelled out to Sam, "Don't even try to run, m'boy, it won't do you any use at all."

"Now, Sam!" Dean yelled.

Sam reacted quickly by pulling a long knife from his back pocket and throwing it through the air, but the demon's reflexes were too fast, and he caught the knife within his two fingers, without even a scratch.

But he didn't get the chance to uncover their real plot. At exactly the right moment, Bobby had pulled the knife from out of his coat and it now stood in the back of the demon, its power quickly radiating from his wound.

Not only had they brought with them two fake knives, but they'd given the real one to the person who would have been least suspected of having possession of it.

They didn't have much time now. The initial shock of their leader dying had passed, and now they all looked murderous.

"Sammy!" Dean called, "What about the other demons?"

"It's taken care of, let's go!"

Dean ran over to the haystack behind him and lifted Bella onto his shoulders, and Sam pulled the knife from the demons back as the three of them sprinted out the back door, closely followed by the hoard of demons.

"Oh, crap!" Dean exclaimed, "What do we do?"

Sam stopped running and looked back, "Don't worry Dean, I took care of it."

The demons suddenly stopped five metres from the door, yelling and cursing their names as the three of them walked off.

"Nice work, Sammy! What'd you do?"

He laughed, "There's a twenty squared metre Devils trap painted into the floorboards on the second floor. There's no way those demons are escaping."

"Aww, man! Does this mean we have to walk all the way back to the car? Bella here weighs a tonne."

"Dean, stop complaining. Remember that it was your decision to walk down the dirt road."

"Yeah, I know. What time is it?"

"Why? Are you still tired?"

"Nah, I'm just curious about how long is left until I'm allowed to eat again."

"Not for a while yet, Dean," he laughed.

"You know, if I starve because of this bet of yours, you'd better be sure that I'll be suing both o' your ass's."

"Fat load that'll do, Dean. We'd probably get, what? A ten thousand dollar penalty? That'll just come right out of all your credit card scamming."

They opened the trunk of the Impala and stored their kit bags. Dean was highly disappointed at the lack of weapons in there. "We need to re-fill this thing," he began, "Have either of you got any idea where I can get some new weapons?"

"Well," said Bobby, "I know I would have some spares you can use, but my car is over a thousand miles west from here, so we won't be getting there any time soon."

They began to drive back to the motel. Dean sat in the back with Bella's head resting on his leg, "How long do you think it'll be until she becomes conscious again?" he asked.

"I don't really know, maybe four, five hours?" Bobby answered, "But I think until then we're going to have to head back to the motel room, and I sure as hell want to know more about this Azazel thing."

"Yeah, Dean. What was all that in there? What do you know about this Azazel, and who's Astaroth?"

"Well, I have some really good news," Dean smirked, "Not only do we know how to bring down Lucifer, but I think I just found out how to stop Lilith too."

"How?"

"Give me some pie and I'll tell you."

"Forget the pie, Dean, just tell us the story."

"Fine, but you guys are shouting me to an all-you-can-eat at midnight!"

Sam snorted, "Yeah, whatever Dean. So what's the story?"

"Okay. Well, as you know, Yellow-eyes real name is Azazel. Some of the old legends say that he's in the league with Lucifer himself, leaders of hell, whereas others say that he's a dedicated servant of him instead."

"And which is he really?"

"Neither. Azazel is the grandson of Enlil, who is second only to Lucifer in rank. He is like a prince of hell, he and his twin sister Astaroth."

"You think Astaroth is Lilith?"

"Well, it says in the legend that Astaroth was sent by Lucifer to live on Earth, but as her true form was something of a twisting, torn mass of black flame, she had to take the form of something else. In other words, she possessed someone. She chose small children, and disguised her name as well, though it is not written what she changed it to."

"That sounds like our lady friend, all right. What's her weakness?"

"Well, it says that Astaroth can only be summoned on the fourth day, and only during the twenty-first and twenty-second hours. Because that is the only time of the week that she loses her physical form and becomes the monster she really is, part of some strange curse."

Sam looked confused, "I still don't get it."

"Well, Sammy," Dean smiled, "Astaroth is only vulnerable in her non-physical form."

"So, what? We have to find her on a Wednesday at 9pm to 10pm at night, and only then we can kill her?" he asked, "Wow, talk about being specific. But we don't even know where to find her, nor do we know how to summon something as powerful as her."

"Oh, don't worry about that, I think I know where we can find her." Bobby answered, "But I'm afraid that I'll be taking off on you boys in the morning, I have some things that I need to take care of. Plus you boys had better find this Walker fellow before you track down Lilith."

"How are you going to get back to your truck?" Sam questioned.

"Oh, don't you worry about me, boys," he answered, "I have my ways."

"Of course you do, Bobby," Dean laughed.

When they arrived back at the motel, they laid Bella's body on one of the beds with her head supported by a few pillows, making sure that they kept her airway clear.

"Dean, what if the legends are wrong, and Lilith isn't vulnerable at that exact time?" Sam asked Dean, "I mean, it sounds a bit farfetched doesn't it? Even for us."

"Yeah, well, if I had told you three months ago that we'd be taking on the devil with nothing more than a few knives, I don't think you would have believed me then either."

"Yeah, true," Sam nodded, "Where are you going to go, Bobby?"

"Oh, nowhere special, but I should like to go and see a few fellow hunters before I get involved with something as big as this. We could use all the help we can get on the hunt for these knives. They don't have to travel with us, but the more people we have on the lookout for them, the better."

"But you'll be back, won't you, Bobby?" Dean asked, "I mean, when we find the knives we're going to need a third person to help us take on Lucifer, and Sam and I are only two people, as far as I know."

Bobby sighed, "Don't worry boys, we'll catch up later I assure you. But remember to call me if anything happens. I want to know all the progress you make while I'm gone."

"Sure thing. Bobby, do you reckon you could hook us up with some weapons, I feel naked!"

"Don't worry, Dean. Actually, I know this guy Cotalus, his lives in the area, and he's a good friend of mine. I'll give him a call and tell him that you boys will be stopping by. He'll give you those weapons you are wanting."

"Thanks a lot, Bobby. I don't know what we'd do without you."

It was ten in the morning, but the light outside was still very dull. The sky was red and the days were growing darker.

Bobby picked up his duffel bag and held up his hand in salute to the brothers, "I'll be seeing you two later."

"Goodbye, Bobby."

With those words he left, and the brothers lay themselves back on the bed, resting from their fight.

"Do you think he'll be back?" Sam asked.

"Sure he will, Sammy. He's a hunter; they have a thing for leaving at the strangest of times. It's what they do."

"I'm so glad we have you back, Dean."

"Sammy," he warned, "If you start another one of those 'at least we have each other' speeches, I'm going to strangle you."

The two of them sat in silence for a long time, thinking of the times to come and what they had dragged themselves into.

As they stared up at the ceiling, Bella's fingers began to twitch, and at long last she started to open her eyes.

She was awake at last.