Dean tried to find a way out of the room, but as Zachariah had said, there was no exit. He pried at the floorboards and the wall paper, hoping there was something hidden beneath or behind, but there was nothing...absolutely nothing.
He then tried to call Sam, to at least warn him of what was to come, but it just disconnected again and again. As the frustration was getting the better of him, he heard Castiel's voice. "You won't be able to reach him, Dean. You're out of your coverage zone."
Dean kept his back to Castiel as he asked. "What are you going to do to Sam?"
"Nothing. He's going to do it to himself."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Dean asked, Castiel staying silent as Dean turned around and got closer. "Why are you here, Cas?"
"We've been through much together, you and I. I just wanted to tell you...I'm sorry it ended like this," Castiel muttered.
Without hesitation, Dean's fist flew forward and slammed into Castiel's face. The collision sent pain up Dean's arm as if he had punched a cement wall at full force. Castiel barely flinched as his head flew to the side, Dean bringing his fist up to his chest with a painful sigh.
When the pain had subsided, he turned back toward Castiel. "It's Armageddon, Cas! You need a bigger word than sorry."
"Try to understand. This is long foretold. This is your…"
"Destiny?" Dean finished with a shaking head. "Don't give me that holy crap. Destiny. God's plan. It's all a bunch of lies, you stupid son of a bitch! It's just a way for your bosses to keep me...and to keep you in line. You know what's real? People. Families. That's real. And you're going to watch them all burn?!"
"What is so worth saving?" Castiel snapped, moving closer to Dean. "I see nothing but pain here. I see inside you. I see your guilt. Your anger. Confusion. In paradise all is forgiven. You'll be at peace...even with Sam."
Dean leaned in close so their eyes would meet. "You can take your peace and shove it up your lily white ass 'cause I'll take the pain, the guilt, and I'll even take Sam as is. It's a lot better than being some stepford bitch in paradise. This is simple, Cas. No more crap about being a good soldier. There is a right and there is a wrong here and you know it!"
Castiel turned his back on Dean as he grabbed Cas' arm, flipping him around. Once they were face to face, Dean sighed. "You were going to help me once, weren't you? You were going to warn me about all this before they dragged you back to bible camp. Help me...now...please."
"What would you have me do?" Castiel asked.
"Get me to Sam and we can stop this before it's too late!" Dean insisted.
Castiel shook his head. "I do that we will all be hunted. We'll all be killed."
"If there is anything worth dying for...this is it."
Castiel met Dean's pleading gaze, but shook his head, taking a step back. He whispered sorry before vanishing from the room, leaving Dean all alone once again.
Once Sam, Carly, and Ruby had Lilith's location, they made a few stops along the way. Ruby got the demons to come close so Sam could drink their blood, Carly being made to watch as Sam fed. The more blood Sam consumed, the stronger he felt. It was taking over all his senses, blocking out all reason and thought. Sam had one thing on his mind and one thing only; killing Lilith.
Once he was high on power, Ruby got him back to the car. The ride there was in silence, Carly trying to speak through the tape but to no avail. When they arrived at the broken-down church, Sam stepped out while Ruby ran around the vehicle to slide the door open and throw Carly onto the ground.
Her head collided with the dirt, causing Carly's vision to spin. Ruby leaned down and wrapped her hand around Carly's arm, pulling her to her feet. With that she made Carly walk forward, Ruby pushing her if she began to slow.
The paint was chipped and cracked, the windows shattered and faded, and the wood splintered and rotted. It barely looked stable enough to stand on its own without the wind coming to knock it over. No sane person would step foot inside, but candles could be seen lit within the building.
Without speaking, Sam and Ruby made their way to the front doors, Ruby pushing Carly in front of her. When they got to the double set of doors, Sam opened it for the ladies and followed after them. After a short hallway, the three made it to another set of double doors. Ruby kept her grip on Carly as Sam placed a hand on each of the doors, pushing them wide open as they slammed against the wall with a loud bang.
Dean paced back and forth, clenching his fists tight enough that his nails were digging into the palms of his hands. He had no idea how much time had passed, but sitting there was driving him crazy. Dean stopped with a sigh, pulling his phone out and scrolling down to Sam's contact.
He hesitated for only a moment as he pushed talk, placing it upon his ear. After several moments of ringing, he expected it to disconnect, but this time it went to voicemail. Dean thought about just hanging up, but he had something to say.
"Hey...it's me. Look I'll just get right to it. I'm still pissed and I owe you a serious beatdown. But...we're brothers...we're family. No matter how bad it gets, that doesn't change. Sam, I'm sorry…"
The message cut out as the beep sounded in Dean's ear. He ended the call and shoved his phone back into his pocket, running a hand through his hair. Dean contemplated his next move when he felt a rush of wind hit him in the face. He looked up to find Castiel in front of him.
Before he could even speak, Castiel appeared before him, slamming Dean's back into the wall. As he collided with the surface, Castiel pressed his hand against Dean's lips. With the other hand, he pulled out a knife, which Dean noticed with wide eyes.
Dean prepared for Castiel to stab him, but Castiel did something unexpected. He removed his hand from Dean's face as he placed the blade against his wrist, cutting into his flesh. With the blood now pooling on his skin, Castiel began to draw a symbol on the wall behind Dean. Just as he finished, Zachariah appeared.
"Castiel, what are you doing?" Zachariah asked.
"The right thing."
Castiel placed his palm upon the symbol, a bright light filling the room. Dean covered his eyes at the intensity and when he reopened them, Zachariah was gone. Castiel pulled his sleeve down and turned toward Dean.
"We don't have much time before he is able to return. If you want to stop Sam, we must go now," Castiel explained.
"So, you're going to help me?" Dean asked.
"Yes, I will help you get to Sam and watch the area for any angels that decide to follow. You got one shot at this Dean. Are you sure you can get through to him?" Castiel said.
"I don't know, but I'll try..." Dean said.
Lilith leaned up against the altar, barely flinching at the sound of the doors opening. She glanced up from the floor with a smile, her sight going from Sam to Ruby to Carly and back again.
"Nice to see you all," Lilith said, her gaze landing on Carly. "Did she not want to join your crusade?"
Carly made some mumbling noises as Sam took a step forward. "She is here to watch a glorious defeat. I've come for you and I don't plan to leave until you're dead."
"I don't think you have the strength, Samuel. You've tried to catch me time and time again, failing every single one. So, this time around I thought I'd wait for you to come to me, so I could end this chase. I am the first demon ever made, one blood-fueled human is not going to defeat me," Lilith explained.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that. There are two of us and one of you. I don't think you have the power to fight us both off," Ruby pointed out.
"Oh, we'll see about that."
Lilith raised her hands into the air, pulling them toward herself before flinging them outwards, throwing the three against the wall as hard as she could. When Ruby collided with the wood-panelling her grip on Carly loosened, Carly falling onto the floor a few feet away.
She scooted backward into the adjoining wall as Sam and Ruby went straight for Lilith. A fight ensued, Carly doing her best to break her restraints. Her gaze fell on a piece of wood sticking out of the cracked paneling on the wall. She dragged herself over, pulling her hands over the shard of wood, rubbing the rope up and down against it.
She found the rope to be fraying as her attention returned to the fight beside her. Sam and Ruby were fighting Lilith off together, but neither were getting close enough to get a good hit in. They would hurt Lilith and she would hurt them ten times as bad, throwing them around the room as if they were both ragdolls.
Carly continued fraying the rope as it fell apart. When the pieces hit the floor, Carly removed the tape from her mouth and turned toward the others to see Sam run forward, punching Lilith straight in the face, her head shooting to the right. Sam grabbed at his hand as Lilith turned to face him, a sadistic smile appearing on her lips.
Her hand flew forward, throwing Sam backward into the hallway. Ruby ran at Lilith next and she did the same thing, Ruby hitting Sam straight on. Once they were both out of the room, Lilith lifted her hand with a twist, the doors flinging shut. When they closed, her attention turned to Carly with intrigue.
Within the blink of an eye, Lilith appeared before her, grabbing Carly by the collar of her shirt and lifting her up so her feet dangled above the floor. Carly was weak and knew fighting against Lilith would mean her death and she wanted to live frankly.
Lilith looked her up and down, leaning in close to sniff Carly. "Oh, you truly are interesting."
"Interesting?" Carly asked.
"I can smell it all over you. Not just the power that you could wield if you gave into the call of demon blood, but something else. Sam has a similar smell to him, almost identical, but there is something more…potent about you," Lilith said.
"What is it that you smell?" Carly asked.
"That's not for me to tell, but know that soon," Lilith began as the doors began to shake. "Very soon...you'll have a question asked upon you and if I were you...I'd say yes."
"Question? What question?"
The doors shaking got faster as they flung open. Sam stepped into the room, raising his hand into the air. With the flick of his wrist, Lilith went flying across the room, Carly falling onto the floor. She slammed into the side of the altar, sticking like glue.
Sam approached with his hand in front of him, palm facing Lilith. That's when a loud bang could be heard down the hall, footsteps stumbling forward. Ruby saw who had entered and used her strength to close the doors with her mind. As they slammed shut, pounding fists could be heard on the other side with Dean's muffled voice.
It was clear Sam had heard Dean, but the blood was too loud in his head to fight it now. With a squeeze of his fist, light escaped through Lilith's eyes and mouth before dissipating. He did this again, weakening her further. When he went for the third time, Carly ran forward, Ruby coming up behind her and holding her back.
Carly went to scream when Ruby held her hand over Carly's mouth to shut her up. As she tried to pry her hand away, Sam pointed his palm at Lilith once again with his eyes turning as black as coal. He twisted his hand into a fist as Lilith lit up like a Christmas tree.
Her scream echoed throughout the broken down church, shattering all the windows around them. As the scream died out, so did the light in Lilith's eyes as she collapsed onto her side. Sam's eyes returned to normal as he staggered backward, breathing deeply.
Ruby still clung to Carly as the doors flung open to let Dean in. Blood began to seep from Lilith onto the ground around her. Yet, instead of pooling like normal blood did...it moved. The blood began to create a circle with intricate symbols inside. As if the blood had a mind of its own.
The sight of this made Sam's proud smile vanish into worry and horror, turning his gaze toward Ruby. "What's happening?"
"What was meant to happen," Ruby said, smiling wide. "He is coming."
"Who is coming?" Sam asked.
"Lucifer, Sammy," Dean muttered, Sam looking back at him. "You just started the apocalypse."
Sam's entire demeanor went from running high on demon blood to utterly terrified. The room around them began to shake and shutter as the blood connected, a light beginning to emanate from the middle.
Carly, understanding the dire circumstances, slammed her head backward into Ruby's face. This disorientated her enough for Carly to get free. Dean and Carly's gaze met with a nod as he pulled the demon blade from his belt loop and threw it toward Carly. She caught it and with no hesitation turned around and stabbed it into Ruby's stomach.
The knife hadn't gone deep enough to kill her as Ruby grabbed at the knife, trying to push it out with her gaze meeting Carly's. "The lock upon his cage has been severed. Killing me won't save anyone."
"No, maybe not, but it'll make me feel better."
Carly used both hands to jam the blade right into Ruby, deep enough for the hilt to touch the surface of Ruby's skin. An orange light emanated from her eyes and mouth. Carly pulled the blade out, Ruby falling to the ground motionless.
As she did, the light from the circle had grown twice its size and continued getting bigger. Carly met Sam and Dean's gaze, knowing it was time to go. They ran for the doors as they slammed shut. The three tried to get them to budge, but the doors were stuck and so were they.