Chapter 10- Devil's Trap

Sam's POV

"Call him again." I told Dean. Dad hasn't been answering his phone for the last few hours. Both of us were growing more and more worried about him. Plus, Charley was out with Bobby and she seemed troubled the last time Dean talked to her. I saw Dean pick up his cell and dialed. I paced around, waiting.

"Where is he?" I heard Dean say. I looked up at him and he was looking at me, worry flashed across his face. He ended the call immediately. "They've got Dad."

"Meg?" I asked. It had to be her. "What did she say?"

"I just told you, Sammy!" He spat out, the he sighed. "Okay." He picked up the colt from the side table, along with his bag.

"What are you doing, Dean?"

"We've got to go."

"Why?"

"Because the demon knows we're in Salvation, alright? It knows we've got the colt. We're leaving, now!" He said, gathering our things. Soon enough, we were inside the Impala. He's driving, and I don't even know where we're supposed to go.

"I'm telling you, Dean. We could've taken him." I told him. We still got three bullets left, that's more than enough to kill the demon.

"What we need is a plan. They're keeping Dad alive, we just got to figure out where." He replied, never taking his eyes off the road. "They're gonna want to trade him for the gun."

I kept silent.

"What?" He asked, looking at me.

"Dean, if that were true, why didn't Meg mention anything about a trade?" I told him. "Dad, he might be—"

"Don't!"

"I don't want to believe it any more than you do." At least he still has his hopes up. "But if he is, all the more reason we kill this damn thing. We still have the colt, we can still finish the job."

"Screw the job, Sam!" He yelled.

"Dean, I'm just trying to do what he would've wanted us to do." I told him. "He would want us to keep on going."

"Just quit talking about him like he's already dead already?" He scolded me. "Listen to me, everything stops until he gets back. Do you understand me? Everything."

I sighed. "So how do we stop him?"

"Maybe we go to Lincoln." He suggested.

"Come on, Dean. Do you really think these guys would leave a trace?"

"You're right." He said. "We need help."

Several minutes after, I heard my phone ring. I checked my phone, it was Charley.

"Charley, is everything okay?" I asked her. It's been hours since we last heard from her. The last time she called, it was on Dad's phone.

"It is… for now." She said. "Sam, I… I couldn't do it." I could hear from the other line that she was crying.

"What are you talking about?" I asked her.

She told me the story, about the man who had haunted her. Apparently he was a vampire and he lost his mate because of our father. She couldn't do it. She couldn't kill her. During that moment, I was really proud of her, of what she had become. She's a strong-willed girl and she's sticking for good things. Letting Alexander go might not be the best thing, but sparing his life was a noble thing to do. Especially from the fact that he lost someone he loved.

"You shouldn't be ashamed of yourself." I told her. "Look, you didn't kill him, not because you can't do it. You didn't do it because you're noble. It's okay, sweetheart."

"I hope so. I truly hope so." She sighed.

"So, where are you now?"

"We're headed back to Iowa." She replied. "Are you still in Iowa?"

"Yes." I sighed. I should probably tell her what happened about Dad.

"Sam, is everything okay?" She asked, her voice full of concern.

"Charley, they got Dad." I told her. "Meg, she got him. He went in Lincoln to meet up with her. Meg wanted the colt, Dad brought her a fake one."

"What?" She gasped. "Why did you let him go?"

"Charley, it's Dad. You know how he goes into this stuff, his orders and all." I said. "Listen, we need help. Tell Bobby that we're meeting him up. We're going to Sioux Falls."

"Sam—"

"We're going to find him, alright. That's why we need a lot of help."

"Okay." She finally said. "I'll see you at Bobby's."

We grew silent for hours as we made our way to Sioux Falls. I told Dean about what happened to Charley, he just sighed and continued to drive. We arrived at Bobby's at around 9 in the morning. His place was still the same, full of old cars piled up in his junk yard. His dog, Rumsfeld, was slouched on the hood of one of his trucks.

"Hey guys!" Charley met us outside.

Dean immediately slid off the car and gave her a tight hug. "Charley, are you okay? Are you hurt?" He said as he released her.

"Relax, Dean. I just had a couple of stitches. I'll live." She said, smiling. It's a great scene, Charley smiling. "I thought you don't do chick-flick moments?"

"Yeah," He scratched his head. "Shut up."

"Dude, it's fine." She laughed. Then she turned at me. "Sam."

"Charley." She motioned towards me and gave me a hug. I hugged her back, enveloping her into my arms.

"This is what I totally like about you, Sammy." She said, chuckling. "You give bear hugs." We released each other and made our way inside.

"Sam, Dean." Bobby greeted us and gave us pat in the back.

"Bobby." We gave him a nod. I saw two other persons inside. I recognized the boy as Charley's friend from the orphanage. The other one, the girl, must be one of her friends too.

"Guys, you remember Dustin." Charley told us.

"Ah, the one I shot in the chest." Dean said, trying to scare him off.

"Dean." Charley and I said in unison. I shoved him lightly with my elbow, while Charley said, "Behave."

"Well, it's nice to see you not possessed." He said to Dustin and offered his hand. I offered my hand to and he shook ours.

"This is Amy." She pointed at the girl. "Amy, these are my brothers, Dean and Sam." We offered our hands also and she shook it.

After all the introductions, we settled in. We told Charley in detail what happened to Dad. Then, we decided to find more details about those demons and how to protect ourselves from them. Bobby excused himself and went to the kitchen. I grabbed some of his books from a pile of big ones and settled on the couch.

"Here you go." Bobby said to Dean, holding two flasks. He gave one to Dean.

"What is this? Holy water?" Dean asked.

"That one is. This one is whiskey." Bobby said, referring to the flask he was holding. He took a swig of whiskey and handed it to Dean. He took one as well.

"Bobby, thanks for everything." Dean said. "You know I wasn't really sure if we'd come here considering the last time you and Dad really had a talk."

"Nonsense!" He said. "Your daddy needs help."

"Yeah, cause you did threaten him a blast full of buckshot. You cocked the shotgun and everything."

"No shit." Charley said, in surprise. I saw her friends' faces change too.

"Shit." I nodded at her. I saw her exchange glances with her friends. I knew her friends really didn't want to eavesdrop but the oddity of our lifestyle really makes this conversation interesting. I returned to reading the book I had, which was pretty interesting. It has relevant information about almost everything regarding demons.

"Yeah, well. What can I say?" Bobby sighed. "John just has that effect on people." He's right. Dad has that effect on other people.

"Yeah, I guess he does." Dean agreed.

"None of that matters now. The only thing that matters is we find your father and get him back."

"Bobby, this book," I said, calling his attention. "I've never seen anything like it."

"The Key of Solomon?" He said, motioning towards me. "Yeah, well. It's the real deal, alright."

"And these protective circles, do they really work?" I asked.

Charley stood up behind me. "What the hell does that do?"

"Hell yeah. It's a devil's trap. You put a demon in one, they're trapped, powerless." He answered. "It's like a satanic roach motel."

"The man knows his stuff." Dean commented.

"I'll tell you some stuff too." He said. "This is serious stuff you guys stepped into."

"Why'd you say that?" Sam asked.

"Normal year, I hear, say three demonic possessions. Maybe four tops." Bobby explained. "This year, I heard twenty-seven cases so far."

"Twenty-seven?" Charley said, surprised.

"More and more demons walk among us. A lot more."

"You don't say." I heard Dustin mutter.

"Do you know why?" I asked Bobby.

"No." He replied immediately. "But, I know it's something big." He's probably right. Demon cases had been off the charts compared to normal years according to Bobby. This must be something big. Bobby continued to speak, "Storm's coming, and you guys, your Dad. You're all smacked in the middle of it.

Charley's POV

Being smacked in the middle of something big is never a good thing for me. I've never been a fan of large crowds, and I really don't know why.

After hearing the reason why Bobby cocked a shotgun in my father's face, we heard Rumsfeld, Bobby's dog, barking out loud outside. Bobby took a quick peek outside the window.

"Something's wrong."

"Charley, get your friends outside this room." Dean ordered me. I grabbed both of my friends' hands and pulled them towards the adjacent room. As I was about to get inside with them, I heard the door crash open. It was Meg.

"No more crap, okay?" She said. I stiffened at the sound of her voice.

"Charley." Dustin whispered.

I regained my senses. "Okay, guys. You stay here okay? Don't make any sound." I tiptoed outside and closed the door carefully. I saw Dean making his way to Meg. Meg sent him flying backwards, knocking up Bobby's big pile of books.

"Dean!" I called. I ran towards him and shook him awake. Meg didn't seem to notice me, or maybe she chose to ignore me.

"I want the colt, Sam." She said. "The real colt."

"We don't have it here." Sam replied, placing Bobby behind him. "We buried it."

"Didn't I say 'no more crap'? I swear after everything I heard about you Winchesters, I gotta say I'm a little underwhelmed." She spat back at Sam. "Or do you want to see your pretty little bastard of a sister die in front of your eyes?" That was when she noticed me. She had her hands up and all of a sudden, I was off the floor and gasping for air.

"Stop it!" Sam yelled. I can't see what he was doing, but I can hear them walking.

"Give me the colt."

"We don't have it."

"Fine." She sent me flying towards the wall. My body slamming towards it, then I fell down. It hurt like hell.

"Did you really think I wouldn't find you?" I heard her say. I opened my eyes and saw Dean standing behind her. Looking at me, he held his fingers up to his lips, silencing me. I nodded at him and he spoke.

"Actually we were counting on it." He said, looking at the ceiling, then at Meg.

Meg looked up, her expression changed. Above her, was the Key of Solomon. The bitch was trapped. I smiled. Bobby motioned towards me and helped me stand up. My right shoulder hurts. It would probably bruise.

"Charley, you okay?" Dean asked.

"I'll live." I told him. "We should probably tie her down. I'll find some ropes."

"There's one in the next room." Bobby said. I went inside the adjacent room, where Amy and Dustin were hiding.

"Charley, is everything okay?" Dustin asked.

"I really don't know how to answer your question, so I'll get back to you on that." I gave him a shrug. "Can you find me some ropes, please. Bobby said there are some here." He nodded and rummaged the room.

"Charley," Amy motioned towards me and held onto my arms.

"Ow!" I yelped. She was startled. "I'm sorry, I was just… My shoulder hurts."

"What happened?"

"I flew." I told her. "Can you believe that?" She shook her head. I sighed. Yeah, me too.

We sat down in the bed for a couple of seconds when Dustin finally found some ropes. He held it out to me triumphantly.

"Thanks." I said.

"Charley?" Sam called. "You got that rope already?"

"Yes!" I shouted back at him. "Do you want to stay here? I don't know if you should come out." I turned to my friends and asked them.

"We'll go with you." Amy said.

I went back to the living room, with Dustin and Amy following me. Meg was still standing under the trap. Sam, Dean and Bobby around her. I gave the ropes to Sam, he and Dean tied Meg down to a chair. Bobby instructed me and my friends to help him put salt around the house. I took a can of salt and started to spread out on the windows, Amy helped me. On the other hand, Dustin was helping Bobby in the other rooms.

"You know, if you wanted to tie me, you could've asked." Meg said, looking at my brothers.

"Where's our father, Meg?" Dean asked.

"You didn't ask very nice." Meg replied, obviously toying with my brother's mood.

"Where's our father, bitch?" Dean asked again.

"Jeez. You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Meg said. "Oh, I forgot. You don't."

"Don't push it, Meg." I warned her.

But at the same time, Dean yelled at her, "You think this is a freaking game?" He put his hands on the arms of the chair, his face inches away from Meg's. I could see rage in his eyes, but concern at the same time. "Where is he? What did you do to him?"

"He died screaming. I killed him myself." She said carefully, as if emphasizing each and every word.

"NO!" I dropped the can of salt and ran towards her. I was really going to beat the crap out of her, only if Sam didn't prevent me. Dean did something though. He slapped her face with the back of his hand. Amy was at my side now, prying me off Sam.

"Charley, I think you should get your friends somewhere safe. Somewhere far from here." Sam whispered to me. I looked up at him, he nodded.

"No." I said through my teeth.

"It's for the best. Look, we'll find Dad then we'll come and get you. Please, Charley. It's the only way for your friends to be safe." He's playing the puppy-dog-eye card on me.

I closed my eyes and sighed. "Fine." Sam released me. I held Amy's hand and went to call Dustin. It's a good thing our things were still packed up.

"Dustin." I called his attention. He was in the kitchen, putting salt in the windows.

"Yeah?" He turned around to look at us.

"We gotta go." Amy told him. He set the pack of salt down and stood abruptly. I think he knew that something's happening, or at least going to happen.

We collected our bags and stood by the door. Sam and Dean with us. Dean handed me the keys.

"Is this your baby's key?" I asked him.

"No, that's some of Bobby's." He replied.

"I figured." I gave him and Sam a hug. "You better come and get me."

"Will do." Sam said. "Take care."

Amy opened the door and stepped outside, I was about to do the same when I heard Dean call Dustin.

"Hey, Dustin, come over here for a second." Dean called him. I looked at Dustin, he took a nervous step towards my brothers.

"Listen, I know this is a huge favor to ask of you and you're probably not the best person for the job but I want you to look after them, especially my sister." Dean clapped his back. "I know you like her, young boy, and she probably likes you too but I'm not going to let anything happen between the two of you if she gets hurt because of you. If you hurt her, I swear to god—".

"Dean, you're scaring him." He cut Dean. "Look, Dustin, the point here is that you take good care of them and yourself of course. There's salt and holy water in your bags, you know what to do with them. Alright?" I saw Sam gave him a grin. "But, if you hurt her, if you let anything happen to my little sister, I swear to god, she would kill you."

"Come again?" Dustin said.

"Yeah, you heard the man." I said. "If you let anything happen to me, if you hurt me. I'll kill you." I smiled at him.

"Wow. You grew up well, Winchester." He smiled back at me, trying to ease his nerves.

"I learned it from my brothers." I told him. "Come along now, you've had enough." He stepped outside the house and we slid inside one of Bobby's truck. Dustin and Amy settled on the backseat. I put the keys in the ignition and turned it. The engine purred. I looked back at the house. My brothers were still standing there, I gave them a final wave and they nodded at me. And then, I was driving away from Bobby's house.

"I'm sorry, Dustin." I told him but I can't help but laugh. I remembered the look on his face when my brothers warned him.

"Nah, they were right." He said. "Hey, where are we going anyways? And when did you learn how to drive?"

"Several months ago, Dean taught me. The three of us switch places from time to time." I replied. "About your first question, I really don't know where to go."

So we just drove away.