The nameless boy, who had only ever been known to the world as the Anti-Christ, struggled with the wrist restraints that were keeping him strapped to the chair. A torture device was strapped to his head of the nine-year-old as the boy tried to break free, but he couldn't teleport away.

"It didn't have to be like this," Dawn said as she watched the boy struggle. "If they had only trusted me, none of us would be here right now. We'd be the perfect family. Lucifer the loving father, me the faithful mother, and you the perfect child. But it just had to be ruined because of that fool Azazel."

"Who's Lucifer?" the boy asked nervously. "I don't know any of those people. "

"Why, Lucifer is only the most handsome, most powerful, most giving creature in the world," Dawn told him. "And we're nearly a decade behind in your training. You were supposed to be the evilest thing that ever walked the Earth, and yet when I finally found you, you were wearing a Flash t-shirt and smiling?"

"I like the Flash," the boy said.

"Not anymore," Dawn told him. "From now on, you're going to be the ultimate soldier, and starting with this town, we're going to hand it all over to Lucifer on a silver platter. Get ready, kid, because Lucifer's rule starts now."

Dawn turned on the torture device as the boy started screaming in horrible pain.

"Such a pleasant sound," Dawn smiled as she listened to the screams.

Wayward Sons #19

"Graceland, Part One"

Mike's Roadhouse

Asher was sitting on his bed, staring out of the window into the open field where his life had been destroyed by werewolves just days earlier. He was still touching the wedding ring on his finger as a knock came at the door. Connor walked in with a tray of food and set it down in front of him, feeling sorry for the young man.

"You gotta eat," Connor told him as Asher remained fixated on the field. Connor took a seat on the bed, looking for the right words. "Look, they told me what happened to your husband and... I'm sorry. It sucks losing someone you love. I lost my entire family to vampires, then got turned into one. Now I'm on an all blood diet and have to live on animal blood to survive. But you know, put a few herbs and spices into it and it's not that bad."

Asher's gaze remained outside as Connor looked out the window to see the open field. "Maybe Jesse's right, you should get away from this place for a few days."

"Do you believe in Heaven?" Asher said in barely a whisper as Connor had to do a double-take.

"Did you just-? Yeah, I guess, not that I expect to get there,"

"The Reaper said Mason would be waiting for me, but it hurts having to wait to be with him. It physically hurts. I want to die, Connor, but I can't kill myself."

"And you're telling me this because..."

"I want you to kill me,"

"Come on, Alfie, you've been saying you wanted to be an angel again," Jesse said as he stood outside of the bathroom door. He was propping himself up against the wall, still trying to regain his strength from the previous evening when he'd teleported himself, Alfie and Connor to the roadhouse. He hadn't told his friends, but ever since he'd been depowered, he'd started feeling weaker every time he pushed his powers. "Now's your chance, while Ben and Adam aren't here to treat us like babies!"

"AH! I got shampoo in my eyes!" Alfie said from the shower. "Johnson & Johnson have deceived me!"

"Alfie, you can be an angel again. And with everything Gabriel told me, you'd be one of the few angels whose wings aren't broken. You'd be superior to most of your brothers and sisters."

Alfie opened the door and stared at him. "I do not wish to be superior. But I would like to be more useful to our friends."

"Then put some pants on and let's get going! Seriously, put some pants on, no one wants to stare at little Alf-," Jesse looked down, then looked up. Then down, and back up. This continued for several seconds. "What THE HELL have you been eating?"

Mike and Ben arrived just outside of Lawrence, Kansas, stopping just short of a large 'Road Closed' sign that was blocking the street. Ben jumped out of the passenger side and looked at the sign.

"Road closed? It's the only damn road into the town!" Ben said. "Something's not right he- Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Mike asked.

"I'm hearing a voice, it feels like it's coming from inside my head," Ben told him. "It's saying to ignore the sign."

"Are you feeling okay?" Mike asked as he got out of the truck. "Are you sure you're just not going crazy? People usually shouldn't listen to out of the blue voices in their head."

"Load up with whatever you can carry, we're walking from here," Ben said as he looked ahead. "I think something's screwy with this town, and we're going to find out what."

"Got food packed?"

"Check!"

"Cell phones charged?"

"Check!"

"Asher dressed and ready to roll?"

"Check!"

"Sunscreen for Connor?"

"Check!"

"What form of payment are we using for our diner bill?"

"Cash!"

"Alright, boys," Jesse said as he looked at Alfie, Connor, and Asher sitting on the couch. "Let's go!"

Connor raised his hand. "Where are we going?"

Jesse opened his mouth to speak but came up with nothing. "Damn, I knew we forgot something. Alfie, you want to take over?"

"Well, Joshua was pretty vague about where to begin the search. Perhaps we should start with him."

"To Joshua!" Jesse said as he leaned in close to Alfie and whispered. "Where's Joshua?"

Oasis Plains, Oklahoma

The elderly black man was tending to his greenhouse, enjoying the peace and quiet. The angel who was now in possession of the body loved gardening and considered it one of the greatest joys that mankind had to offer. As he watered the plants, Joshua felt a slight breeze behind him.

"Samandriel, welcome," Joshua said without turning around. "And I see you've brought friends," Joshua turned around and looked at Jesse. "The Anti-Christ."

"Why does everyone always say that like it's a bad thing?" Jesse asked as he fell back into a seat, now feeling dizzy. "Oh, look, there's the Anti-Christ, he's probably going to kill us and light fire to our kittens. I happen to like kittens, thank you very much! Little bundles of warm fur, I could just hug them all day. Where was I going with this?"

"Are you okay?" Connor asked.

"Yeah, just a little winded, teleporting three other people takes a lot out of me. I'm not a young Anti-Christ anymore, you know. When Lucifer got canned, he took most of my powers with him."

"I need to know where to locate my lost grace, it's time that I became an angel again," Alfie told Joshua.

"You have come a long way, Samandriel," Joshua told him. "You have made many new friends and learned a lot about what it is to be human. But your grace will not be easy to obtain. There is one who will stand in your way."

"So, a guard dog is guarding Alfie's grace? We'll just toss him a bone and slip on past," Jesse said.

"It is an angel," Joshua told them. "One who was on Earth when the fall happened. One of the few angels left who is still at full strength."

"My brother will surely listen to reason," Alfie said.

"It's Todreel,"

"... F***," Alfie said in a low whisper.

"Did he just say what I think he said?" Connor asked.

"Alfie never swears, this must be bad," Jesse replied. "Who's Todreel?"

"Todreel was... my best friend," Alfie told him. "We were cupids together. But while God himself reassigned me to angel status, Todreel was promoted by... Lucifer, just before his fall. Me and my beloved brother ended up on opposite sides of the war. When Lucifer and his followers fell, the only thing that kept Todreel from being banished alongside them was the fact that I had tricked Todreel into a private battle, and entombed him until he calmed down."

"How long did you entomb him?" Jesse asked.

"... A few centuries,"

"Did he calm down after you let him out?"

"He tried to behead me, but at least he wasn't banished to Hell," Alfie sighed. "We kind of stopped being friends after that. Todreel was one of the main angels that pushed for the apocalypse because it meant that Lucifer would walk free. But when Lucifer finally was released, no one had heard from Todreel. It was like he was off of angel radar. No one could locate him."

"And I'll bet you know why," Connor said as he looked at Joshua.

"It was a top secret mission from Raphael," Joshua told them. "He was to collect all of the lost grace on Earth so it couldn't be used by rogue angels. And when the fall happened..."

"Thousands of angels lost their grace, he must still be out there, collecting it," Alfie realized. "So Todreel has my lost grace. I find Todreel..."

"We find your wings," Jesse said. "Then what are we waiting for? I'm sure this guy's calmed down by now."

"You need to rest for a while," Connor told him. "I think all this teleporting is too much strain on you."

"I'll be fine," Jesse said as he tried to stand up, but fell back into the chair. "I meant to do that."

Asher looked around them, realizing that the bags they were holding weren't there. "Weren't we holding bags when we came?"

"Yeah, and," Connor asked as he raised his pant leg. "I could have sworn I was wearing socks a few minutes ago. You don't think that Jesse's powers are-"

"Weakening to the point where he's not able to teleport us all in one piece?" Asher asked. "Maybe you should rest a while, Jesse. Jesse?"

Jesse's head was tilted down, having passed out in the chair. A small trail of blood was running down from his nose, dripping onto his shirt.

The head of the demon who was trying to locate the legendary grace collection flew off of his body, landing in the grass. The possessed form of 10-year-old Todd Grantham watched the body collapse as he picked up the head.

"Demon filth," Todreel said as he drop-kicked the head as far as his young angel legs could kick it.

On the other side of the forest, the head landed at the feet of the half-demigod Prometheus, who was passing through the area. Having returned to Earth after having been kidnapped by Ares, the God of War, the now aged Oliver had decided he needed to use the abilities he'd inherited from his father, the original Prometheus, to help those in need. He hated having to leave his mother, but now that looked no older than 19, the young man knew what he had to do with his life.

Prometheus headed into the forest and found the boy disposing of the demon's body. The demigod pulled out his sword, looking at Todreel.

"Murderer!" Prometheus shouted. "Prepare to taste the justice of my blade!"

Todreel just snorted and started laughing wildly.

"What's so funny?"

"You are, you stupid dick! This guy wasn't just some innocent soul, he was a demon, and I put an end to him."

"You're just a kid, why are you killing... anything?" Prometheus asked.

"I'm not a kid, I am an angel of the Lord, you may call me Todreel!"

"Well, Todreel, playtime's over. Let's get you back to your parents and-"

Thunder and lighting were heard around the forest as Todreel's large black wings were illuminated around him before the light returned.

"Okay, so you're an angel," Prometheus said. "This just got a lot more interesting."

"Nice sword," Todreel told him as he pulled out his angel blade. "You have three seconds to leave my forest before I make you sit on it."

"You can't sit on a- Ohhh, I see what you did there," Prometheus told him. "Alright, you want to fight? Let's do this."

"The road wasn't damaged, or even under construction," Ben said as he arrived in town with Mike. "Something screwy is definitely going on here. We'd better keep a low profile until we-"

"Ben, you notice anything strange going on?" Mike asked as he looked around the corner. "Look at all the people."

Everyone on the street was going from one building to the next. No one was smiling, no one was saying 'hi' or stopping to talk to anyone. No one was holding the door open for anyone else, and even the kids that were with their parents were oddly silent with blank expressions on their faces.

"Yeah, it's quiet and... no one's really acknowledging each other," Ben said as he looked at everyone. "It's like a Sims game where everyone's just doing what they're pre-programmed to do. Like mindless puppets going from one thing to the next."

"You think this demon has anything to do with it?" Mike asked.

"Or my name isn't Benjamin Jensen Braeden," Ben said as he pulled out the demon knife. "I say we do some recon, find out where Dawn is, and go from there. We've still got the element of surprise here."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Dawn said from behind them. Ben quickly turned around as Dawn used her powers to knock the knife from Ben's hand. "Oh, little Ben, I'm not here for a fight. If I was, you'd already be dead."

"I came for my uncle's soul," Ben told her. "I'm not letting you kill Adam."

"Who said anything about killing Adam?" Dawn asked. "No, no, no, my dear Benji. There is much, much more."

"Only my mom calls me Benji, you demon whore," Ben said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, right, your missing mommy," Dawn said with a devious smirk. "Perhaps I'll arrange a reunion for the two of you after I'm done in this town."

"She's lying, Ben, she doesn't know anything about your mom," Mike said.

"Oh, but I do, and I know another missing relative of yours," Dawn said as she stepped aside. In the shadows, a pair of pure black eyes opened. "I want you to meet your cousin. Of course, he hasn't been formally named, but we'll leave that up to Lucifer. Meet Adam's son."

"Adam's son?" Ben and Mike asked as the nameless boy stepped out of the shadows, dressed in black. Both young hunters immediately fell to their knees upon looking at the boy.

"Two hunters down," Dawn said. "And one of them is of Winchester blood. Good work, boy."

The boy remained silent as Dawn patted his head, now in the service of Dawn and her plans for his family.

Elsewhere in the town, Missouri Moseley was comatose, her psychic energy being used to keep the town hidden from further intruders, and to pull in the ones that Dawn wanted to come in. Except for Ben, whose capture was the key to bringing the one person to town who could stop this madness...

TO BE CONTINUED...