CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Unanswered Questions

"Basement is salted." Jo reported to her mother and John who had just finished the living room.

Ellen nodded, placing her empty salt container on the coffee table before taking out two more iron rods from John's duffel for her and her daughter.

"Help me." A groggy voice pleaded from behind them. The three spun around quickly in a defensive position with their weapons raised. Their eyes widened in shock at the little boy in front of them who looked to be about four years old, still wearing superman pajamas.

Against her better judgment, Jo knelt down to where she was at the spirit's level and smiled sadly. "Hi sweetie. My name's Jo. What's yours?"

"Greg." The child answered shyly as he hugged himself. The boy's eyes darted between the three new faces, not sure how trustworthy any of them could be.

"Are you the one hurting these people?" Jo's voice was soft and not accusatory as she wanted to make sure she didn't scare him off.

The kid nodded as his lips started to quiver, obviously taking a liking to the nice woman before him. He took a hesitant step towards the blonde hunter and begged her with his eyes to understand. "I don't want to. This mean man makes me."

Jo brow's knitted together as she tilted her head curiously, Ellen and John watching expectantly. "Who is it? Can you tell me anything about him?"

The child glanced around worriedly to make sure no one else was around before leaning towards the teenaged hunter, speaking in a hushed whisper. "He has yellow eyes."

…

Dean went to take a desperate step forward only to stop with confusion when Mary held out a threatening hand, motioning him to stop.

"Dean, please. Stay back." She pleaded, his eyes filled with sorrow and regret.

"Mom, what the hell? Are you the one hurting these people?" The eldest demon questioned sadly, taking a step forward anyways.

Mary winced and stepped back, putting both her hands up in a calming gesture. "Dean, just listen to me. You need to take care of Azazel. He's going to hurt your brother." She warned, her strong tone wavering.

Bobby stared wide-eyed at the young mother, still unsure how she was there. He took a worried glance towards Dean when he heard the sound of a something breaking coming from across the hall.

The eldest demon turned towards the door with a look of horror, torn between Mary and Sam.

"I've got Sam." Bobby put a reassuring hand on the demon's shoulder and took off across the hall.

"How are you even here?" Dean demanded, his voice gruff with emotions. He was still in disbelief about the fact that his mom was standing in front of him.

Mary shook her head, wanting to remain professional. "It's a long story and I don't have much time. But-" She hesitated, not able to meet her son's prying gaze. "Just watch out for Sammy okay?"

"Always do." Dean answered without any hesitation. "Are you… back?" He asked with uncertainty, not wanting to let himself believe.

Mary smiled, her face enveloped with grief as she looked up to her son's hopeful gaze right before she vanished.

….

"What the hell does that mean?" Sam spat from his position on the wall, a cool breeze coming in from the October night through the open window.

With a cruel glint in his eye, the yellow eyed demon crossed his arms as he watched the distressed demon squirm in front of him. The loud crash of a vase reverberated off the walls, after it had been accidentally kicked to the ground in Sam's hopes of landing a hit on Azazel.

The yellow eyed man's eyes sparked with excitement, eager to get his plan in motion. "Anger like that will get you places Sammy. Wonderful places that people will be telling ghost stories about around a campfire. I hope you're up to the challenge."

Sam's nostrils flared as his eyes switched to black, trying frantically to get off the wall.

"You can smell it can't ya?" Azazel pressed, watching the youngest demon intently. At first, Sam didn't know what he was talking about until the sweet smell of crimson penetrated his nostrils. "The whole time you were growing up, you knew something was different. How every time Dean got a cut or scrape, you wanted nothing more than to lick it clean." The yellow eyed demon's tone was seductive as he tried to make what he was saying sound appealing. "Although, his blood wouldn't have been enough. You'll only settle for the best. Well Sammy, I've got good news."

Azazel reached into his pant pocket and pulled out a long glass vial full of dark scarlet liquid. Sam's body tensed as yellow eyes popped open the lid and took an energized step forward. "Straight from the tap." Without much of a warning, Azazel gripped the youngest demon's face with his right hand, making sure his mouth was forced open before he dumped the contents of the container into Sam's mouth with his other hand.

"Shh, it's okay. Drink up." The older demon soothed, clamping a hand over Sam's mouth and pinching his nose, wanting to make sure he swallowed it.

"Sam?" A panicked voice came from the door. The youngest demon tried to answer but it came out as a muffled complaint.

Seeing no way out of it, the tall demon swallowed begrudgingly while Bobby rammed his shoulder into the locked door, the old hunter's anxiety levels rising when he heard no answer. Sam could hear Bobby faintly yelling for Dean but it was almost drowned out by the sound of the yellow eyed demon's blood pumping in youngest Winchester's ear.

"See was that so hard?" Azazel teased, letting go of the furious demon. "I'll see you again soon Sammy."

The youngest demon fell to the floor the second Bobby and Dean barged into the room.

….

"Mom!" Dean looked around the room hysterically, searching for any sign Mary was still there. He ran shaky hands through his short hair, eyes shining bright from unshed tears.

"Dean!" The eldest demon heard Bobby yell. As if that was all he needed to be brought back into reality, Dean rushed to the doorway to see the old drunk throwing himself at the door Sam had gone in.

"What the fuck is going on?" The demon barked, eyes now black orbs.

"Your brother is in there with the door locked. Figured that might be a bad sign." Bobby answered sarcastically before Dean shoved him out of the way. His demonic strength coming in handy, he kicked the door in to find his brother collapsed on the floor.

"Sammy?" The eldest demon rushed over to the hunched over form, gripping Sam's shoulder so he would look at him.

The youngest demon shook his pounding head as he hauled himself up. "I'm fine. Have we found the spirit?" He questioned as he tried to seem like everything was okay.

"I'm not sure-" Dean started before he was cut off by a rough voice from downstairs.

"Boys! You better get down here!"

….

"The yellow eyed man is making you kill people?" Jo questioned slowly, wanting to make sure the small child understood what she was asking.

Greg spared a glance up at John who had been watching him intently. "Yes. I told him I didn't want to but he said I had to get you guys here." The boy said in a rush as he stared at his suddenly interesting shoes.

All three shared a look before Ellen stepped forward, her tone nurturing as her motherly instincts took over. "What do you mean sweetheart? Why did you have to get us here?"

Seeming wary of the old brunette, Greg took a small step towards Jo who gave him a thin lipped smile. "It's all a part of the bad man's plan."

Sensing something important was about to be revealed, Ellen turned and gave John a hard look. "Get those three down here."

With a curt nod, John hurried over to the bottom of the stairs. "Boys you better get down here!"

As if noticing the old hunter's urgent tone, the two demons and one hunter rushed down the stairs, their gazes resting on the spirit in front of Jo.

"Who the fuck is that?" Dean questioned unsympathetically and earned disapproving gazes from John, Jo, and Ellen. He held his hands up in surrender before walking over closer to the group.

"Greg, can you tell my friends here what you just told me?" Jo asked, standing up and moving to the side of the small boy.

After Greg had reiterated everything, Sam started to look extremely guilty which didn't go unnoticed by the blonde hunter. Figuring the youngest demon was more likely to open up one on one instead of with the whole group, Jo held her tongue.

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose as he squeezed his eyes shut. Exhaling deeply, he motioned for the group to huddle around him.

"We gotta put this kid down." The eldest demon stated once everyone had gathered near him.

Sam looked taken aback, eyes wide with shock. "He's a kid Dean. Plus he didn't tell us why he had to get us here." He chastised.

"No, Dean's right. This kid is killin' people." John argued, meeting Bobby's gaze who gave a nod of agreement. "I doubt he even knows"

"There's gotta be some other way." Jo reasoned, feeling physically sick at even the mention of salt and burning some poor kid.

"What else can we do?" Ellen asked, trying to be the voice of logic to get through to her daughter.

Reluctantly, Jo gave an almost imperceptible nod of the head before she took off outside.

…

The Winchester brother's and Jo had been completely silent the whole car ride home, all lost in thought of what happened in that house.

After John and Bobby had questioned the kid on where he died and how, it didn't take them long to find his bones and take care of it.

The three hunters in the backseat of the Impala all felt awkward, not used to the three in the front seat being so quiet.

Of course, only Bobby knew why Dean was upset, everyone knew why Jo was upset, but no one knew what was wrong with Sam.

Dean kept sideways glancing at his brother, noting the way he seemed to sit taller and how he seemed to radiate a different sort of power then what was usual. Shaking the thought from his head, the eldest demon drove the last hour thinking of different ways to confront Sam on what happened.

Little did he know Jo had the same thoughts going through her head.

….

TBC

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