SUPERNATURAL

THE PARCAEX RITUAL

Chapter 11

They weren't expecting her back so soon, but when she walked through that door holding up their prize, they instantly knew that they'd made the right decision in choosing her.

Bella approached the Demons, "Here, Xelas, I have brought you what it is you wanted."

"Bella!" Xelas looked shocked at the sight of her, "You're back awfully quick. I must commend you on this; you've done such a fine job."

"And my reward?"

"Yes, of course," he answered, "The reward."

He turned and walked over to a nearby table where he picked up a small bag and brought it back over, handing it to her.

"What is in there?" Bella asked.

"Everything you need, and more."

"Is that money?"

"Well, you've done such a fine job that I thought I'd throw in a few extra dollars. Sound good?"

"Yes, that will do fine," she replied, grabbing the bag.

She now held the knife out and placed it on the box to her right and began to walk away.

"Hang on a second, Ms Talbot."

Bella stopped in her tracks, and Xelas approached her once more, "Should we need you again, I have other… items, that you may be interested in."

"Well, if you ever find me again, I'll be sure to help you. Until then," she answered, "I have work to do."

He moved out of her way and she left, never looking back.

"Well, my faithful servants, it seems that fate has rewarded us at last! Behold," Xelas held the knife at arms length, "The legendary Knife of Amaethon himself!"

"Sam!" Dean called, "Sammy?"

Sam woke with a start, "Dean!"

"You were having another nightmare," he said, looking relieved, "You're still having those?"

Sam rubbed his eyes and looked ahead of them. It was sometime around midday and they were still on the road after travelling for a long fourteen hours.

"Where are we?"

"We just passed the state line into Indiana. But you haven't answered my question. Since when do you still get nightmares?"

"Not since recently, but I know who Bella took the knife to."

"How? You're not still having those freak-show visions are you?"

"I think I am, Dean. I had one before of what Lilith was planning to do, back in Kansas with Bobby, and it came true. Somehow I'm still getting them."

"But we killed the Demon!" Dean exclaimed, "We killed Azazel! Weren't they supposed to stop after that?"

"I have no idea, Dean. But it's happening again, and I just saw Bella trade the knife to a demon called Xelas, but I have no idea what he gave her in return."

"Anything else?"

"Actually, yeah. When Bella had left he told his followers that it was the 'Legendary Knife of Amaethon'. What does that mean?"

"Well, maybe it's one of the original crusaders names?"

"Most likely, but I still couldn't work out where they were."

"Aagh, come on, Sammy! You've gotta give us something to work with!"

"So how long is it before we get to Colorado?"

"Well, at the speed we're going, probably not for another thirteen hours, so you might want to get comfortable. There's a long way to go yet."

"Do you want me to drive?"

"Nah, its fine for now," Dean replied, "I haven't driven my car for a while and now that we're driving cross-state again without Demons right behind us I figured that heres my chance!"

"Okay then, but remember that we've got to stop at- ouch!" he grabbed his forehead, "My head!"

"What is it?"

"It feels like it's burning!" Sam yelled.

"Sammy?" Dean shook him, "Sammy!"

After a blinding flash of white light, a new vision met his eyes.

Xelas played with the knife, tossing it up and catching it, thrilled to finally have the weapon in his possession.

"Xelas," one of the lesser Demons called, "When are we taking off? Lucifer will be waiting for us."

"Oh, we'll be leaving as soon as night falls. Until then we'll stay hauled up here, keeping safe. Those Winchesters will come looking for the knife, and they're not to be underestimated."

Xelas sat in silence for more than ten minutes; completely enthralled with the knife, when suddenly he heard a loud noise and a man entered the room. The demons around him smirked and allowed him to pass. He approached Xelas with a large manchette in his hands.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Xelas questioned, "Boys, take him away, why would you even let him through? Boys?"

They didn't move an inch. They just stood there watching. "What is your name? And why are you here?" Xelas demanded from him.

"My name is Mathew Walker, and I'm here to take back what's rightfully mine."

And with those words he swung the machete high in the air and brought it down on the Demons' neck, instantly beheading the enemy.

Taking the knife for himself, Mathew left the room and called out to the Demons, "Are you coming or what? We've got some searching to do."

The demons nodded and followed after him as he left.

For the second time in less than ten minutes, Sam awoke, breathing deeply.

"Sammy! Oh thank god you're awake. That was just creepy. So what did you see?"

"I have some relatively good and some relatively bad news, Dean."

"I'll take the bad first. Always the bad first."

"Well, the knife is no longer in the possession of Xelas, in fact Xelas is dead, betrayed by his own army of demons."

"Why would they turn against their leader?"

"Well, Dean. It seems they have a new leader, he showed up and decapitated Xelas."

"But that wouldn't kill him, beheading a Demon would only kill the body he inhabits, not the demon himself. So who was he?"

"A man named Mathew Walker."

Dean sat up quickly, "Mathew Walker?" he asked, "And he was the one who stole the knife?"

"Yep."

"So we were right, he has got one of the weapons, and now he's out searching for the others. Which means that he'll be going after Lilith next."

"But if he gets himself killed then Lilith will have all three of them, which would ruin our plan to kill Lucifer."

"Speaking of Lucifer, where the hell is he? Shouldn't he be destroying homes and killing by now? We haven't heard a single thing!"

"I don't know, Dean. It's like the eye of the hurricane. I have a feeling that we're going to be seeing a lot more in the time to come."

"Well there's a comforting thought."

Sam clutched at his head, "Aagh! Dean, this headache is killing me!"

"What is it? Another vision?"

"No, it's more like a side-effect, but it hurts like hell."

"So, did Mathew say where he was?" Dean asked, "or where he was going?"

"No, but I think we should start in Colorado, that's where Lilith wanted me to go."

Dean slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road, getting out of the car, walking around and pushing Sam into the drivers seat.

"What's this?"

"You drive for a while," Dean said, stepping into the passenger seat, "It'll help keep your mind off that headache. Plus I'm a little tired myself."

"Sure, okay then."

He disengaged the handbrake and took off, while Dean laid his seat back and closed his eyes.

Deans' phone began to ring, but he was too deep in his sleep to notice, so while he kept the car moving straight, Sam leaned over and searched his brothers pockets.

He pulled it out, flipped it open and hit the little green answer button.

"Hello?"

"Sam, is that you?"

"Jo!"

"Sam, I'm sorry to hear of Deans death, but this is really important and I need to talk to you."

Sam realised in that second that she didn't know that Dean was still alive. She seemed almost in tears just mentioning him.

"Jo, where are you?"

"I'm at my bar in Oklahoma, how far away are you?"

"Not far, maybe half an hour from the state line bordering Missouri, so you can count on us arriving there in the next few hours."

"Us? Who's with you?"

"Oh, nobody special. Just an old friend that you might want to meet."

"Okay, Sam, but this is really important so please don't bring anyone that we can't completely trust."

"Don't worry about that. Talk to you soon."

"Bye, Sam."

Sam hung up the call and threw it onto Dean's chest, who coughed once and went back to sleep.

What could be so important that Jo would need to call him? And since when would she choose to speak to them after what she'd found out about her father?

"Dean, wake up."

"What is it? Breakfast?"

"No, better."

"Better than breakfast?"

"Jo called."

Dean sat up phenomenally quickly, almost throwing his head through the front windscreen, "Jo?" Suddenly he was wide-awake, "What did she want?"

"I don't know Dean, but she said it was urgent."

"Well, where is she?"

"Down at her bar in Oklahoma."

"Okay then, how far to Oklahoma?"

"Actually, we crossed the boarder almost an hour ago," Sam replied, " We should be coming into the town of Quinton where her bar is any minute now."

Dean didn't know whether he should be happy about this or not. The last time he had seen Jo he had walked out on her, and for all he knew she didn't even know he was still alive.

"Did she say anything about me, Sammy?"

"Well, she doesn't know that you were brought back, because she gave condolences for your death so obviously she has no idea."

"Oh great! So how do you think she's going to react when she sees somebody that she believed was dead walk through the door?"

"Well, I guess we'll just have to find out, won't we?"

"Oh, great."

They rounded a corner and slowed down to find themselves staring up at the large road-side bar.

"You know, this place reminds me a lot of the roadhouse that it's creepy."

A large "Closed" sign had been placed out the front, "Hey Sammy, I think they're closed. Maybe we should come back tomorrow."

"Yeah, sure Dean, lets do that," he replied, continuing walking.

"I'm just saying, Sam, that I don't think she'll be real happy to see me."

"Whys that?"

"Because," Dean sighed, "Because I turned her down, not long before I died. She called me a few weeks ago and we talked for over an hour. But I couldn't give her what she wanted, and I hung up."

"Ouch."

"Yep. Trust me, this won't be the fairytale reunion you expected."

Sam opened the door to the bar and they stepped inside, instantly stopping as they saw the mess that had been made. "Yeah, I don't think it will be either."

"Oh my god," Dean whispered as he looked through into the back rooms.

"Jo!" Dean yelled, "Jo, are you there?"

"Dean, over here!" Sam called, and Dean ran over to see what he was looking at.

"Blood. It looks like somebody got into a fight."

Dean saw a strange substance to the right of where Sam was pointing and pinched it with his fingers. "Sulphur," he muttered, "A demon has been here."

"Oh that's just great!" Dean exclaimed, "Why does this always happen? Somebody tells us there's something important, but no, it has to be said in person. But when we get there there's always nobody there. They're all gone. Or in Ash's case, burned to death."

They found traces of blood splattered everywhere, and a much larger area in the place it was obvious that the struggle had occurred.

"Sammy, come check this out."

Sam walked over, as Dean bent over a puddle of blood on the floor. "I think Jo was trying to tell us something."

It was very clear. On the floor, written in her own blood Jo had sent them a message: two letters reading-

"M.W?" Sam questioned, "Does that mean-?"

"Mathew Walker? Yeah, that's what I'm assuming."

"Great, just great. Not only has he got two Crusaders Knives, but he's kidnapped Jo too. This is terrible."

"Yeah," Dean replied, "But the good news is that we only have to look in one place, and its pretty good luck that we know where that place is."

"Idaho Springs, Colorado."

"Damn straight," Dean said, "So I say we get going."

"Give me a few more minutes."

"Okay, Sam, so Idaho Springs, how far is that?"

"I'm not sure exactly but I'd say it'll take us about three or four hours to drive there."

"Brilliant, for all we know he'll be gone by the time we get there. How could this day possibly get any worse?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" Dean mocked, "Well, first we almost get killed saving Bella from a bunch of psycho demons, and then she turns against us and steals the knife. Not to mention handing it over to demons herself, who are then killed and the knife is handed over to Mathew Walker, another man we're trying to hunt.

"Then we get a call from Jo who says she has something important to show, but it seems that Walker has gotten to her first. Plus there's the fact that we don't know for sure that he's even in the place that we're going to look for him in!"

"Wow, you seem to be having a pretty rough day."

"You're damn right I'm having a rough day!" He exclaimed, "Oh crap!"

Sam looked up at this and held on tight as Dean slammed on the breaks, pulling the car to a stop before a body in the middle of the road.

They both got out of the car and walked around to the body. By what she was wearing Sam recognised her immediately, and Dean rolled her over, "Bella?"

Bella stirred and looked up at them, "Ouch, my head."

"What do you want from us this time?" Dean asked, "I'm not going to fall for your tricks again. I could throttle you where you lay, but I know Sammy here would stop me before I could, lucky you."

"What are you doing here, Bella?" Sam asked, a cold look etched into the harsh lines of his face.

"I don't know, the last thing I remember is being confronted by a dark man. I couldn't see his face because it all went so quickly. When he was finished he must have left me out here on the road."

"Bella, why did you steal the knife?"

"Because the demons said they would pay me well for it."

"Pay you with what?"

"Never you mind."

Sam's expression eased and he bent down, placing his right hand on her shoulder. Instantly she jumped backwards as if his hand had burned her.

She looked over at where he had laid his hand, "What did you do?"

Sam showed his hand, it was wet; Holy water.

"Dean, that's not Bella!"

Dean didn't need telling twice; in an instant he pulled a rock-salt gun from his coat pocket and aimed it at Bella. She stood up and her eyes turned black.

"How did you get into our apartment with Ansazi symbols painted on the door?" Sam demanded.

"Oh, that wasn't me, I haven't been in her that long. I'm terribly sorry to tell you that it was actually her when she broke in and stole that accursed knife of yours. But now I'm on the search for it, and you boys know who has it, don't you?"

"No, actually we don't, that's what we're looking for."

"Liars." Her voice was cold and harsh.

"Dean?" Sam whispered, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I think I am B2."

"Dean, now's no time for jokes!"

Sam began to walk around her, Dean staying put with the gun held at her face.

"What are you going to do, Dean? Shoot me? I'm afraid that it wont kill me, it will only hurt Bella here."

"So what? Do you think we care about her?"

"Of course not, but I know that you wouldn't kill her, would you now?"

"Its a thought," Dean muttered, "Lady, you don't know how much hell this girl has put us through, I wish I could put a bullet through her skull right now, but there are some things that are higher on my 'to do' list at the moment."

"What do you want?" Sam asked.

"Oh, nothing much, just a little information from you boys, and you're going to give it to me, or…"

"Or what?"

" Or I'll personally slaughter your good friends Ellen and Jo in their sleeps," Dean looked horrified, "No, I'm not bluffing."

"You know," Dean started, "I would really love to stay and chat, but I'm afraid that we're in a bit of a hurry, so you must excuse me for doing this."

He instantly threw himself at the demon and pinned her to the ground, but her strength was overwhelming and Dean had a real hard time keeping her down. "Sam! Get the paint!"

She fought back and Dean pushed as hard as he could, before letting his right hand go and reaching for the rock-salt gun, pointing it at her head.

"Dean," she hissed, "Rock salt won't kill me."

"Oh I know, but it'll hurt like hell."

"You know nothing of hell, Dean Winchester."

"Oh really? Because I seem to recall spending a few days in there myself not too long ago, so I think I get the gist of it."

"A few days," She laughed, "Oh don't make me laugh. I endured thousands of years trapped inside that hole, but the first six months or so was nothing. Absolutely painless. All they do for the whole time is try and screw with your mind by showing you those visions, the first steps they make you take to becoming what you would eventually have become. After that is where the true torture begins."

"Whatever," Dean stood up, leaving her on the ground, "Don't you move an inch or I'll shoot."

She lay there hissing at him, and he jumped backwards behind the symbols that Sam had painted, "Good work, Sammy! Ansazi symbols," Dean nodded, "That should keep her there for a few days as we head off in the other direction. It was nice catching up with you again, honey!"

The demon looked furious. Sam and Dean got into the Impala and Dean started the engine. "Oh, how it would be so fun to just drive right at her now."

"No, Dean, that would only hurt Bella."

"She deserves it."

"Actually, I'm not so sure she does."

"What do you mean, Sammy?"

"These items she has been collecting from the demons, I think there's more to them than we can know."

"Well, I guess we'll find out somewhere along the track. Until then," Dean revved the engine, "We're off to Idaho Springs."

Yeah, shutup =P Just 'cause this writing is terrible...