Bobby Singer had loved his wife very much, right up until the moment that he'd stabbed her. It hadn't actually been her, she'd been possessed by a demon. Demons were real. They possessed people in real life, not just at the movies and on TV. But, just like in TV and the movies, they could be returned to hell...excised from their human host through rituals and other means. Unfortunately, humans rarely survived these possessions.
Monsters were real, too. He'd found that out when he'd gotten help to get rid of the demon that had possessed Karen. Rufus Turner was a hunter of demons and monsters. He had been reading the signs, following the trail of the demon. He'd watched Karen attack Bobby with superhuman strength...had watched Bobby stab his wife. Then, Rufus had helped Bobby subdue Karen and Rufus had performed the exorcism. Rufus had helped him hide his wife's body and stood beside him while he had cried.
He and Karen hadn't had a family. Three days before she'd died, Karen had tried to talk to him about wanting kids and he had finally admitted that he didn't want children, had never wanted them. She still hadn't been speaking to him when the demon took her over body. Once the demon had been removed, Karen had died instantly from the wounds Bobby had inflicted on her in self-defense. And...the demon had said he'd be back before it had disappeared...Bobby knew if it ever did come back, he would be ready.
He'd started hunting monsters and ghosts and demons with Rufus. That had been 5 years ago.
Tonight, as he and Rufus parked the banged up blue Chevy in the driveway, he looked at the house in front of him. The small, one-story residence was painted yellow with blue shutters. It was close to the street and had a small, white picket fence that ran the front of the property. The lawn was cared for and a variety of pink and purple flowers dotted the gardens spaced around the house. The walkway that led up to the house was complete with a small white wooden gate and a mailbox painted the same blue as the shutters.
He heard the voice from the call he'd received that morning. 'I'm…I'm looking for Bobby Singer. This is Karen's sister Joyce. I know…we've never spoken. I should've reached out after Karen's death, I just wasn't sure... I wasn't sure what you knew…wasn't sure what I could…or should tell you. I…I need your help…'
A strange screeching sound had come over the phone line, cancelling out the voice on the other end. Then all he'd heard was a dial tone. He'd dialed the operator, trying to reverse the call to the original number, but the operator had told him that the line was busy and that she couldn't break through. He'd asked if she could give him the location or the number. She'd given him both, which is why he and Rufus were now sitting in a driveway in Madison, Wisconsin.
He'd never known that his wife had any family. Karen had told him that her parents had died when she was 19. They'd won a vacation somewhere and there had been a boating accident. She'd never mentioned a sister or any other remaining family.
He opened the car door, a loud whine coming from the rusted hinges. He watched Rufus exiting the car from the passenger's seat and returned his gaze to the house in front of him. The lights coming from the windows were soft and inviting. He conducted a swift scan of the peaceful neighborhood and seriously considered climbing back into his car. Everything looked perfectly normal. So, why did the hairs keep rising at the back of his neck?
He shut the door to the Chevy and started up the cement walkway to the front door, Rufus right behind him. When he got to the stoop, he realized that the door was slightly cracked open and the door handle was missing. He'd been unable to see it from the angle of his car in the driveway. He quietly removed the gun he always kept in the holster at his hip and undid the safety mechanism, nodding as his partner did the same. He slowly opened the door and softly stepped into the house, Rufus close at his heel.
He and Rufus methodically made their way through the front of the house, sweeping left to right with their guns. The house was chilly, a sharp contrast to the soft and warm lights inviting entry. Moving towards the back of the house, he heard a quiet, muffled moaning. He looked at Rufus and nodded his head in the direction of the where the sound was coming from. Rufus backtracked the route they came and Bobby knew he was looking for an alternate way to get to the sound. Bobby walked forward and as he entered the kitchen, his heart dropped at the sight before him.
A large, blonde man stood with his back to him. The man was not moving, but was breathing heavily, the large movements of his shoulders betraying a recent exertion. The left side of his head seemed to be bleeding as the hair was rust-colored and matted. The man's head tilted at an odd angle from the neck, almost like it was just being held up by the skin around it. One of the man's legs seemed to bend incorrectly.
In front of the man, gagged and bloodied, was a woman, vaguely similar to Karen's shape and coloring – right down to the short, light brown hair. Her dark brown eyes were holding back tears and her mouth was covered by a dirty rag, causing her to struggle to breath. The man turned to look at Bobby as he entered the room. The man's eyes were black and Bobby knew that the man was possessed.
'Well, is this your cavalry, Joyce? Has he come here to save you? He's not very goooooooood,' the man said, mockingly, 'You know that, don't you? He couldn't save your sister. I wouldn't put any faith in a rescue at this point.'
Bobby looked past the demon and saw that the woman's wide eyes showed a momentary relief. She knew who he was.
'What do you want?' he asked the demon.
'I came to end the line. The upper echelons of Hell have finally found their enemy's family and have come to take their revenge. There is a large reward for anyone who can destroy them. I just need to finish with Mommy over here and find the child and take care of her.
'Child?' Bobby asked as Rufus entered the kitchen from behind the woman, gun pointed in the direction of the demon. Rufus didn't say a word, just nodded so that he knew that Rufus was waiting for him to make the next move.
The demon sighed and turned. At the sight of Rufus, he smiled with an evil glee.
'Yes, the child, the last to be born from the union of Cain and his wife, Awan.' The blonde man turned back in the direction of the woman. 'Jamie didn't need to die, did he Joycie? If only he'd picked up the phone when you tried to call him…However, he's become a rather nice vessel, don't you think? I might just keep him.' The demon turned and smiled at Bobby, showing perfectly aligned white teeth.
Joyce had wanted to cry with relief when she'd watched the scruffy-looking, brown haired man enter her kitchen. Although she'd never met him, she knew Bobby Singer from the pictures Karen had sent from their wedding. He'd looked younger and happier in the pictures. Joyce understood that. Gabriel had kept her informed about Karen, sending messages, calling or even the occasional visit. When Karen had died, she hadn't reached out to her sister's husband to keep him safe. That was what Karen would've wanted. It was why they'd all separated after their parents' deaths, to keep the family safe.
Now, she mentally apologized to her sister for reaching out to Bobby for help. She knew he'd become a hunter thanks to Gabriel. The angel's visits had slowed over the years, at least to her. Sara, her twin sister, was the one who'd had the Mark appear when their parents had died. The same Mark their mother had carried on her right forearm. The instant it had appeared, Sara's green eyes had glowed and a diamond-shaped, silver blade flew into Sara's hand. Sara had inherited Awan's responsibility to defeat Cain.
Their mother had told them the legend of their ancestor. She'd introduced them to Gabriel, the Archangel who'd promised to watch over their family. The Archangel who had successfully carried out his mission, until recently.
Karen, her older sister, was dead, possessed by a demon to gain information about their family and killed by a man who was now Bobby's hunting partner. Sara, her husband and her unborn daughter had been in a car accident last night. Joyce had received the call this morning that all three had passed away due to complications from the accident. As she hung up, she'd looked at her arm, expecting the blazing white Mark to appear, but it hadn't. That meant only one thing: Ripley. She'd tried calling her husband at work before he went to pick up their daughter, with no luck. She'd prayed to Gabriel over and over, still he'd yet to appear. As a last resort, she'd called Bobby Singer.
Now, as she watched the demon hold up his hand, the guns flew from the hands of Bobby and the black man who had come in with him, who she knew was his hunting partner. Another move from the demon's hand and Bobby was forced up against the kitchen wall and held there, almost like he was tied by invisible ropes. Bobby's partner started grabbing at his throat and began gagging, like he was choking on the air around him.
The demon turned back to Joyce and pulled the gag from her mouth. 'Where is she?' he asked coldly.
'I…don't know. She was with you – her father, he was picking her up from the sitter.' Joyce replied.
Bobby looked at the woman. She was calmer than he'd noticed before. Her chin was jutting out, almost in defiance, and her stare was cool as she looked at the demon. She was definitely scared, but she also seemed…determined? She wasn't giving into the demon without a fight.
'She ran off. Didn't even wait for anyone to come to the scene of the accident. Daddy here died almost instantly. His neck snapped in two when I drove that truck into his car. He did, however, have enough life in him for me to take over and keep him going!' the demon laughed at his little joke before his voice turned into a snarl. 'Your daughter, well, she was too quick for me. She completely disappeared. It appears she must have been conscious and ran off. She has nowhere else to go though…no other family at all…she has to return here. We can wait until she comes.'
Joyce's face went white for a moment, like something very bad occurred to her. The demon laughed again, almost like he was reading her thoughts. 'Yes, Joyce, she's the very last one. She's the only one born to this generation…but, you knew that, didn't you. You'd begun to notice all the 'accidents' that were occurring in your family. The accidents that were thanks to me and mine…your parents drowning on their vacation,' the demon turned his direction to Bobby again. 'You're older sister possessed and killed by the man she loved…and now,' the demon turned to Joyce, 'Your husband gone in another tragic accident and you and your daughter soon to follow.'
Joyce's defiance began to falter. Her tears began again, this time they seemed to be coming quickly. Bobby struggled against his invisible chains. He saw Rufus's eyes begin to bulge wildly in his face. If Rufus didn't get oxygen soon, he would die. But, Bobby didn't understand what the demon was talking about. All he knew was that he needed to get out of this hold, needed to get help to Rufus and this woman. Plus, there was a little girl out there – his...neice? – that was being hunted by demons and he needed to figure out how to help her.
He felt a strong breeze move through the house and could've sworn he heard the sound of wings flapping. Suddenly, he dropped hard on the kitchen floor. He looked across the room and saw Rufus gulping in air and coughing hard.
'You will not have the child,' a quiet voice spoke to his right.
Bobby turned. A man, about his size, was standing in the door frame of the kitchen. He had a smirk on his face, but his eyes glowed with power. The man gazed calmly at the demon in front of him. He could feel power radiating from the stranger.
The demon turned and looked at the man. Anger radiated through the demon's visage, mixed with surprise. 'Gabriel. I didn't think you were still around. Haven't seen you in ages…Neither has the rest of your family, according the whispers that abound. Your brother misses you.'
'Ahhhh…of course. You are on a misguided mission for Lucifer,' the man called Gabriel replied, still calmly standing in the doorway. 'And, how is he? Still trapped in a cage?'
The demon snarled at him. 'Doesn't matter if he is. He will be released very soon, especially once I have the girl.'
'I've already told you, you will not have her.' Gabriel said again.
'Are you sure about that?' the demon asked, an evil look in his eye.
Suddenly, the demon turned his head to the ceiling and a large, oily stream of black smoke erupted from his mouth. The man fell to the floor. Rufus still trying to breath regularly, reached out to the man to help him, but it was too late. The demon had left the man's body and it was now clear, that had been the only thing keeping the body alive.
The smoke moved towards the woman and forced it's way into her mouth as she struggled against her bonds. As quickly as the onslaught had started, it stopped. She went limp in the chair she was held. The room was filled with an eerie silence. The woman slowly raised her head. Her bonds broke with a snap and she stood, staring at Gabriel. Her eyes were black and her mouth was formed into a cruel smile.
'They will all die, Gabriel,' Joyce said. 'And I wi-'
Gabriel moved so fast, Bobby didn't realize he stood before the woman until Gabriel had his hand on her throat. He saw a flash of silver as something dropped from Gabriel's jacket sleeve into his hand.
'I'm sorry Joyce...' Bobby heard Gabriel whisper, then saw him thrust a bright silver blade into her chest.
The woman's head was thrown back again and blinding white light erupted from her eyes and mouth. She fell backwards into the chair with such force that the chair tipped over and she tumbled to the floor. Bobby moved forward to help the woman and found Gabriel was already on the floor, Joyce cradled to his chest. Again, Bobby wondered at Gabriel's speed.
Joyce's eyes fluttered open and Gabriel smiled down at her face. He felt the tears starting to sting and blinked them back. 'I'm so, so sorry,' he said.
'No...no other...choice...'she said weakly. Her eyes widened and her face contorted with pain. She was going to die. He'd felt the demon claw up her insides when he'd stabbed her, when his power had destroyed the demon. The demon had left it's own mark and they were beyond his ability to repair.
He returned his focus to Joyce and saw her eyes find his again. He saw the unspoken question there. 'I have her. She's ok.' She smiled at him and then closed her eyes, tears streaming from them. Her body quickly went limp and her head lolled back, the small smile still on her face.
Gabriel felt the tears fall freely down his face. He held Joyce to his chest for a moment and then lowered her body to the floor. This wasn't supposed to have happened.
Bobby watched the angel stand and rub his hand over his face. Rufus, standing next to him, began to raise his gun. Bobby held his hand out to stop him.
'That is a wise decision Bobby Singer.' the angel said, turning and staring at him. 'I have no reason to harm you or your partner.'
Gabriel flicked his hand and Bobby watched his gun fly from him for a second time that evening, Rufus's as well. They landed at Gabriel's feet. Bobby met Gabriel's steely glare with a rigid one of his own. He had so many questions, but he waited, as did Rufus.
'I am the Archangel, Gabriel,' the man began. 'And, I need your help.'