CHAPTER 28
"You ready for this, old man?", Dean jabbed playfully at the elder hunter as they watched Cas measuring out ingredients carefully and putting them in the metal bowl that sat on the hood of a rusty old Bel Air convertible. Bobby gave Dean a dirty look and tightened his grip on his newly acquired angel blade.
"Watch it, boy!", Bobby growled. "This OLD MAN was gankin' monsters while you was still in diapers!" Dean just chuckled and threw his hands in the air in surrender. Bobby poked Dean in the ribs with his silver dagger hard enough to sting, but not enough to draw blood. "I pulled your daddy's ass outta the fire more than once!"
"OW!", Dean whined, still laughing. "Watch it with that thing!" But then his face became serious and he put a hand on his surrogate father's shoulder. "Look, we wouldn't want anyone else fighting beside us down there, right Sam?"
"Of course not, Bobby!", Sam affirmed. "You're one of the best hunters we know! We couldn't do this without you!"
"Thanks, boys", Bobby said with a heavy sigh. "Jo's become like a daughter to me. I couldn't sit this one out. Not this time" Sam and Dean both smiled in understanding. They knew that, even though it hadn't been easy for Bobby to deal with what had happened to Jo or the boys, he had done his best to give them the paternal support that Jo hadn't had since she was little and the boys never really had at all.
"We'll get her back, Bobby", Dean whispered. "I'm not comin' back without her." The determined look on Dean's face gave Bobby the most hope he's felt since Jo was taken.
"Yeah, me neither", Sam snarled. The both had the same angry and slightly crazed looks on their faces. A look that told Bobby all he needed to know about how the brothers felt about Jo. Bobby had suspected for a while that something was going on between the brothers and Jo and he couldn't say he agreed with it. But if it made them happy, who was he to judge? Cuz, let's face it, happiness is so rare in the life of a hunter.
"I know boys", Bobby whispered. "I get it." And he did get it. The death of his beloved wife, Karen, at his own hands was something that he never talked about. Not to anyone. His greatest regret was not knowing how to exorcise the demon that had possessed her and having no other choice but to kill her. Knowing that he could have saved her with just a few words of Latin would forever haunt him. He wouldn't let that happen to his boys. Not if he had anything to say about it.
Everyone jumped when the contents of the bowl suddenly burst into flames with a loud whoosh. They had been too busy with their own conversation to notice what the angel was doing. In the next instant the four men(well, three men and one angel) were standing in a narrow corridor, in front of a huge wooden door. The walls were made of large, uneven stones like you would see in a medieval castle. The hallway was lined with lit torches with long stretches of darkness in between. It was eerily quiet.
"Warn us next time, Cas!", Dean spat angrily. "I almost left my stomach back there!"
"My apologies, Dean", Cas replied flately. "I assumed you wanted to get Jo away from Crowley before he has a chance to defile her." Dean shot Cas a credulous look before he looked back at his brother.
"Well, of course I do!", Dean growled. "But you gotta let us know that you're about to fling us into the pits of Hell!"
"Oh, this isn't the pit, Dean. This is a much higher level." Cas gave Dean a befuddled look when Dean narrowed his eyes at the angel. "Did I say something wrong?"
"No, Cas", Dean mumbled wiping his face with his free hand. "Can we just get on with the rescuing?! I don't wanna be down here any longer than we have to be!" Castiel moved toward the door, but paused with his hand on the latch.
"After we go through this door, we won't have much time before we are noticed by Crowley's guards. Be ready." Everyone raised their angel blades in preparation for the demon horde that they were sure to face on the other side of the door.
Cas pressed down on the latch and slowly pushed the gigantic wooden door open. It should have taken all of Cas' strength to get the thing to move as each one of it's timbers were the size of railroad ties. But the door swung open with just the gentlest touch. A true testament to the angel's strength. As quiet as the dead, they stepped through the doorway and into the chamber on the other side, expecting to be bombarded by demons waiting inside. But they were greeted by only silence and an empty room.
"Ummm... Cas?", Dean whispered, his voice tinged with fear and confusion. "What's..."
"Quiet!", Cas hissed, cutting him off. "We're not alone!" Dean's eyes darted everywhere, but he didn't see anything. What was Cas seeing that he couldn't? Dean could feel goosebumps on his arms and the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
"Cas, what..." Dean was cut off again, but this time it wasn't Cas' gravely voice. It was a deep rumbling growl coming from the far corner of the room. Something was there, but it wasn't a demon and it was invisible. And the beastly snarling was soon joined by several others from different points in the room. Before long, there was so many that it became too difficult to tell where the growling was coming from. They seemed to move around the room like hungry sharks circling a wounded fish.
"Hell hounds!", Cas shouted, bringing his angel blade to bare. His eyes followed movement that nobody else could see.
"WHERE?!", Dean bellowed, looking at the empty corner that Castiel was staring at. But before he could answer, the angel was shoved violently backwards into the wall behind him.
"NO! CAS!" Dean ran at his friend, but was knocked flat on his back by what felt like an invisible cement truck. The thing stood over him, breathing hot, stinking breath in his face and dripping drool over his chin. Dean had the wind knocked out of him and all he could do was lay there, wheezing and gasping for air.
"DEAN!", Sam screamed from somewhere off to Dean's left. Dean couldn't see what was happening. All he could hear was growling and shouting as Sam, Bobby, and Cas fought against the massive unseen monsters that wanted to rip their throats out. This was NOT how any of them saw this going down! Hell! Let's just call it what it is!
A total fucking disaster!
