Thank you so much Jenjoremy for beta'ing this for me. I really appreciate what you do. Thank you Gredelina1 for all your help, and you all for reading and reviewing.
Chapter Twenty-Six
John rubbed a hand up Jessica's arm as Dean pulled them onto Bobby's land. "We're here," he said and she sat up.
She had been so quiet on the drive that John had thought she was sleeping, but her eyes were alert and aware as she looked around. He supposed it was probably too much to hope that she would find any kind of rest after everything that happened.
They stopped beside Bobby's Chevelle and climbed out. Daniel pulled up beside them, and John's eyes scanned the other cars parked there, seeing that all his friends had already arrived. Without a backwards glance, Dean strode up the steps and though the door. John followed with Jessica and they walked into Bobby's kitchen. Ellen and Bill were sitting on the couch together, Bobby was at his desk and Jim was at the table. When Daniel entered, he leaned against the counter. There were new traps painted just in front of the door and at the center of the kitchen and a dozen new sigils on the walls.
As they entered, Bill and Jim got to their feet. Jim's eyes moved from John and Jessica to Dean and his brow furrowed. "Where's Sam?"
"Gone," Dean said harshly.
There was a cacophony of questions, but John led Jessica to the couch and saw her settled beside Ellen before explaining. "Azazel came for us. He possessed Jess."
Jessica made a small noise of pain and Ellen curled an arm around her shoulders.
"And he took Sam?" Bobby asked. "How are you even alive?"
"Sam," Dean said bitterly. "He made a deal with him."
Jim gasped. "Sam made a demon deal!"
"Yeah. The deal was that the demons would let us live and he'd willingly go with them."
"How?" Daniel asked. "Demons don't deal for crap like that. Why wouldn't they have just taken Sam and killed you anyway?"
"Sam was pointing a gun at himself at the time," John said. The absolute horror he had managed to force down so far rose in him and he had to fight to hold back a cry. The image of his son with that look of resolution in his eyes as he prepared to shoot, the things he had said to save them, was never going to leave him.
"He did what?" Bobby asked in a hoarse voice.
"He was going to shoot himself," Jessica said quietly, and all eyes moved to her. "I know Sam. He was going to do it." She shuddered.
"He didn't, though," Ellen said reassuringly. "He's okay."
"Is he?" Jessica asked. "He's not here. The demons took him. He's got no weapon. How do we know he's okay?"
Ellen's mouth pressed into a thin line and she didn't answer.
"We have to find him," Jim said.
"How?" Daniel asked. "If the demons took him, he could be anywhere in the world."
Ellen shot him a baleful look and glanced at Jessica who was folded over with her hands over her face. Daniel looked apologetic but the question was still valid. How could they find Sam?
John looked at Dean and saw the barely concealed panic in his eyes, though the lines of his face were hard, not giving away a thing.
"What about the other special children?" Bobby asked. "Have any of them been taken?"
"All of them," John confirmed.
"So he's probably not alone," Jim said with the air of a man clutching at straws.
Dean huffed a mirthless laugh. "No, he's not alone. He with other scared kids that know even less about hunting than he does. All they can do is bless water and make devil's traps. They'd need a rosary and salt to do that, of course, which I'm pretty sure the demons won't leaving lying around." His voice rose to a shout. "They have no weapons to protect themselves, but hell, at least they're together!"
"Dean," John said quietly.
"No!" Dean roared, making Jessica flinch. He grabbed a glass from the drainer and threw it at the wall. It smashed and the pieces fell to the floor, glittering in the light. "He's gone, and you… You're acting like you don't even care! How can you be so calm?"
"Of course I care!" John growled. "I am so damn scared I can hardly breathe. But I have to keep going if I'm going to save him. I know I have let him down, again, and let him be taken from us, again, but letting myself feel that is going to break me all over again, so I can't let myself."
He could feel the need to disconnect as he had so many times over the years Sam was gone. He wanted to drink and blot out the pain. He wanted to cry and wail. But to do that was to serve himself. He had to concentrate on what Sam needed him to be.
Dean sagged. "I know," he said. I'm sorry. But Sam is out there somewhere and I'm scared. He isn't a hunter, Dad and when he tries to be, he gets himself hurt. He doesn't take care of himself."
John knew he was thinking of a lamp cord around Sam's throat. A barred door and Sam trapped inside Jenny's burning house. Ava telling them how Sam would die trying to save Dean. His mind was consumed with the same. If Sam was with the other children, he would fight to save them first. He would do what he could because, though he wasn't an experienced hunter the way they all were, he had a hunter's instinct to protect. It was a dangerous combination.
"Demons," Bill said. "If it's demons that took him and they're all together, there would be a lot of demons there, right?"
"Probably," John said, hating the thought of his son surrounded by those black-eyed bastards.
"Then we have something to look for," Bill said. He took his phone from his pocket and dialed. "Ash? Yeah, we're okay. We need you to do something for us. Look for demon signs. Big ones. Anywhere it looks like they might be gathering."
John's heart raced as he waited for Ash's news. There was silence in the room apart from Jessica's sharply drawn breaths as she cried quietly.
"Yeah?" Bill said. "Really?"
John held his breath hopefully, willing Ash to have answers for them. But then Bill shook his head and his heart sank.
"Call me if anything changes," Bill said. "Keep your ass glued to that spot and stay sober. Yes, I am deadly serious." He snapped his phone closed and said, "There's nothing that looks like it. There's the usual signs spread across the country, but nothing that looks like it's more than one demon in one spot."
Dean cursed. There was a feeling of hopelessness in the air that seemed to swamp John.
"We need a demon to talk," Bobby said thoughtfully. "That's what we spent these past months doing, right? All of us have been questioning them for stuff about this. Why would we stop now? Let's get ourselves one to talk to."
Dean nodded and walked to the door. He looked back over his shoulder and said, "You coming, Dad?"
It was on the tip of John's tongue to say yes, to go, but his eyes fell on Jessica and he knew he needed to stay. Dean was more than capable of dealing with a demon, and Jessica needed him. Sam needed him to stay and watch over her. After what she had been through, she needed to be protected and supported. He wanted to be able to look Sam in the eye when they found him and say that he had done what Sam would want him to do.
He shook his head. "Bill, you mind?"
"Not at all," Bill said. He smiled at Ellen and then walked out of the door after Dean. John sat down beside Jessica and she quickly leaned against his shoulder. John smoothed her hair back and spoke softly, "It's going to be okay, Jess. We're going to find him."
He hoped.
They were all shell-shocked after Karen's death. The sight of what had happened to her seemed to make them all realize just how much danger they were in. They all knew about the war in theory, but now it seemed very real and immediate.
No one spoke of leaving again, which Sam was relieved for as he was sure that, if they tried, they would be picked off one by one. To keep them occupied, he created make-work tasks for them. He sent groups out to find water, food if they could, salt and anything to use as a weapon. Lily was the only one that didn't join them. Sam knew she was already a wreck after living in isolation for so long, and the fear of the others being close to her compounded it. Sam understood it, but he couldn't bear to see her sitting in the corner alone, so he tried to engage her. She gave only monosyllabic answers and her discomfort was obvious enough that he eventually left her alone. He occupied himself with preparing the schoolhouse he'd chosen to shelter them in, pushing the desks against the walls to give them room.
"Look what I found," Jake said from the open door. He held up a hunting knife, pitted with rust.
"Is it sharp?" Sam asked.
"It is now," he said. "I've given it a good going over with a stone. I think that with enough force behind it, it could do some serious damage."
"Good," Sam said. "When the others get back, I'll have Andy and Weber use it to carve us some traps." He remembered that they had been particularly adept at the traps when they'd been teaching them protection.
"These are the traps that were broken when the others were snatched, right?"
Sam sighed. "Yes. It's all I can think of to do though. We've got no way to make holy water."
Jake raised an eyebrow. "That's a thing, too?"
"It burns demons like acid. It wouldn't kill them, but maybe it would have held them off for a while."
"When do you think they'll come?" Jake asked.
"I don't know. I'm assuming that by keeping us here, they're buying themselves some time, but I don't know what for. I wish I did."
"Do you? Don't you think it'd be harder for to cope if you knew what was coming for us?"
Sam shrugged. "Maybe. I knew what was coming from my visions before, and I was scared, but I at least could prepare. One time my visions spiraled out of control. I had so many and they hurt like I can't even describe, but I felt better when it was over as I had seen everyone; I could help them."
"Have you had any visions since you got here?"
Sam shook his head. "The doors they lay behind are all gone. It's like they were never there. I wish I had though. Maybe I could see my family."
"That man that was in the bar with you?"
"My dad," Sam said with a small smile. "He and my brother are what they call hunters. They're heroes. They save lives all the time. They're going to save us; I know it. We just have to hang on until they get here."
"You really believe that?"
"I do," Sam said. "They won't let me down."
There was movement at the window and Ava and Daryll came in. In Daryll's hands was what looked like a fireplace poker. "Lookie what I found," he said with a smug look.
"That's awesome," Sam said. "You can hurt demons with iron," he added for Jake's benefit. "Well done, guys."
Ava looked pleased and Daryll shrugged. "It wasn't like it was that hard, to be honest. The stuff here is so full of memory it pretty much shouts at me."
"Sam!" a voice called outside. It didn't sound worried, more excited, so Sam didn't panic as he followed it.
Laura and Sarah were in the housing area behind Main Street and they had a bucket of water.
"We found a well," Sarah said. "So that's dehydration off the table at least."
"Great," Sam said. "There's tin cups in some of the desks. Get everyone set up with a drink. I'll find the others and send them back."
Sarah and Laura walked back to the schoolhouse with a spring in their steps. Sam was pleased that his plan to occupy them was working. They felt like they were helping themselves, taking control.
Andy and Weber were leaning against a wall at the side of the school house. Weber had his fingers pressed to his temples again and his face was pained. Sam jogged over to them.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"It's his head again," Andy said, his face creased with worry. "They must have done some damage when they knocked him out."
Sam frowned. There was nothing he could do to help Weber until he could get them out of there. All he could do was distract him. He felt almost cruel as he said, "You can handle it, Weber."
Weber nodded. "I know."
"Good. Now, Jake has found a knife, so I need you two to carve traps in the schoolhouse. Put them in the doorways and center of the room. If there's room, put in more. Can you do that?"
Andy looked shocked at Sam's hard tone, but he nodded, too. "Yeah. I'll do it."
Sam nodded, satisfied and watched Andy take his brother's arm and tug him away. Weber allowed himself to be led away and Sam carried on around the corner. He saw Scott standing off to one side outside a house. He looked thoughtful as he stared into the woods.
"Scott," Sam called.
When Scott looked at him he saw tears in his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked.
"Karen," Scott said.
Sam nodded. He was feeling the weight of her death, too.
"Since I discovered this 'ability' I have been so careful not to hurt anyone," Scott said. "Then I came here and I thought I was finally okay. We were all together and since the other's powers don't work on each other, maybe mine wouldn't either. I thought I was finally safe to be around. But then she died."
"That wasn't your fault," Sam said.
"I was close to her though," Scott said. "That thing, the child, was between us, and it went for Karen. I can't help but think I could have saved her somehow. Maybe I could have killed it."
"It wasn't human," Sam said. "I don't know what it was, but I don't think you could have even hurt it, let alone killed it. It's just survivor's guilt. I understand it. Since this started I have lost a good friend to the demons, and I have seen two of us kill themselves. I was there each time, and I couldn't save any of them. Rick, my friend, was the worst, because the demon snapped his neck in front of me to stop me exorcising it. For a time, I was consumed by that. I learned that I couldn't let it stop me though. They're gone and they can never come back, so we have to make what happened to them count for something. For Rick, I am doing that by helping people in his name. For Max and Linda, I am going to survive this and make sure the rest of us do, too."
"I believe you," Scott said. "Thank you, Sam. I don't know what we'd do without you."
Sam understood. He didn't know what he'd do without them. If he had been here alone, he thought perhaps he would have just hidden and waited for John and Dean to save him. With his appointment as leader, he was forced to do something to help the others cope, and that was better for him.
They walked back to the schoolhouse together. Sam heard the voices before he reached them and he frowned. It sounded like an argument. He hurried his steps and saw Andy and Weber on their knees in the middle of the room. In each of their hands was one of the sharp stones that they were using to sketch in the devil's trap on the floor before carving it.
"That's not right," Ava was saying. "The squiggle under that bit is longer."
Sam cleared his throat and they turned to look at him.
"Sam, tell them," Ava said. "It's got to be longer."
Sam peered down at the scratches in the floorboards and brought the image to mind of the trap he'd painted into these people's homes more times that he could remember. "It looks fine," he said. "Just make sure the outer circle is as perfect as you can make it."
Andy looked pleased as he went back to work. Sam looked around and spotted the missing person among their number at once. The corner where Lily had been sitting was empty.
"Jake," he said quietly and tipped his head toward the door before he walked outside. He didn't want to panic the others.
"What?" Jake asked when they were a safe distance from the others.
"Lily is gone."
"Damn. You think she tried to escape through the woods again?"
"I hope not," Sam said. "Help me look for her. Don't get too close if you find her, and don't make too much noise. I don't want everyone freaking out."
Jake nodded. "Sure."
"And, Jake," Sam said as he started to walk away, "don't go into the woods."
"Not a chance," Jake said.
Sam took off down the street, peering through doors and windows of the buildings he was passing. There was no sign of her though. He was staring to really worry that she'd gone into the woods when he heard footsteps behind him. He spun on his heel and his relived smile faded as he saw Jake's stony expression. "You found her?" he asked.
"Yeah."
Jake walked through an alley and Sam followed him. There was a high water tower at the edge of the woods, and Sam's breath whooshed out of him as he saw the figure on it. Lily was hanging from it with a noose around her horribly stretched neck.
"No," he moaned.
Jake put a hand on his shoulder.
"I was supposed to protect her," Sam said.
"She was already too damaged. There was no saving her. It's not your fault."
Sam raked a hand over his face. "We have to get her down. I don't want the others seeing her like that. They're already scared enough."
"We all are," Jake said heavily. "Let's get her down."
So… There goes another one. Poor Lily. She may have been damaged, but she was an innocent, too.
Until next time…
Clowns or Midgets xxx