Chapter 7 Retribution and Restoration.
Dean had no idea what was happening back at the cemetery. He figured it would only take a couple of hours or so to dig down to the coffin so he would have the time he needed to sort through and get the right answer. That they would use a backhoe never occurred to him since that was a luxury usually not afforded to them on a hunt. As much as he wanted them to get done quickly he realized he still needed more time. He sat in the library reading John's journal searching for the right exorcism to use against Rollins. One sounded promising but he dismissed it because it was more for a full demon, not a ghost with some demon attributes.
After an hour of searching he wasn't any closer than he was in the beginning. His eyes blurred as he read each page carefully. So many times he had been through John's journal the pages were burned into his memory but nothing seemed to fit. Again he came up with another answer, this time a spell, but it too was not quite right for this occasion. Getting desperate Dean decided he might have to combine them, taking parts from both that he thought would work. He wrote out the pooled exorcism/spell on a piece of paper and stuck it in his jacket pocket. If things got hairy he would not have time to be flipping back and forth in the journal. The journal he put back in the duffle bag.
Looking up at the clock he saw that 45 minutes had gone by. He still had go back to the kitchen, grab as much salt as he could find there, encircle the gym and set the trap for Rollins. Luckily the cafeteria was on the same side of the school as the gym was. He ransacked the kitchen and finally found a case of salt shakers and only a few actual cartons of salt. Dean cursed to himself when he saw the case of little salt shakers. Realizing he didn't have much choice he balanced the case, the cartons, his shot gun and his duffle bag and made his way back to the gym.
He dropped his duffle bag and shotgun by the southwest door and grabbed one of the cartons of salt. He quickly sprinkled some around the cold spot in the northeast corner of the gym, the one spot Rollins was seen in the most. It was Dean's plan to trap him there until he could use the exorcism. He then used the remaining cartons to continue around the gym but only got about half way around when they ran out. Cursing again he started opening every little salt shaker and poured out their contents. He was almost back to the beginning when he felt the telling chill. At first he couldn't see anything amiss but the hair on the back of his neck told him otherwise. He pulled out his phone and quickly dialed his brother.
"Come on Sammy pick it up." Dean continued to pour as he listened to his brother's phone ring.
"Damn it Sam why didn't you keep your phone in your pants pocket instead of your jacket?" If they were still digging he knew Sam would have left his jacket up on top like they always did. Dean listened to the phone ring a few more times, and then hit the redial button. What concerned him as well was the fact that it didn't go to voice mail. He knew Sam would have never turned his phone off during a hunt.
"I'll kill him if he let his battery die out." He muttered as he slammed his phone shut. Suddenly he started to notice a bluish glow from the north east corner to his left. He opened a few more shakers and poured them out but realized he wasn't going to get done before the Rollins re-entered the gym.
"Crap" he said looking around over to the corner. "Sammy hurry it up dude."
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Sam slowly raised his head, sat up, and assessed his injuries. Gratefully besides the tingling in his extremities and some singed clothing, he was relatively unscathed. Looking around he found Willis coming to close by. Sam crawled over to him and shook his shoulder.
"Willis! Willis can you hear me?" He leaned close to the old man as he called to him. Willis started to mumble as he stirred.
"Son of a bitch" he cried out as he became fully conscious. He looked up at Sam's worried face.
"Son what the hell just happened?" He sat up as well and rubbed his own hands and legs trying to remove the tingling feeling. His heart racing as his mind tried to comprehend what just happened to them.
"It didn't work." Sam said with a frightened tone.
"What do you mean it didn't work?" Willis turned and stared at him. "I thought you said this thing was over the minute you burned his bones?"
"I did and it usually does. Dean's right, Rollins has some become some sort of demonic ghost. Toasting him didn't stop him. I think he's heading back to the school right now." Sam said standing up and brushing himself off. Willis stood up next to him and looked over towards the school.
"That means your brother's over there all by himself. We got to get over there son." Willis was trying not sound alarmed in front of the younger man but he was frightened. Not for himself. He had lived a long life and was willing to face the possibility that he would die soon. No it was for Dean and his brother. The two boys had taken up a cause that was never theirs to begin with and now it might get them killed. If he did anything with his life it would be to make sure nothing more happened to any body else because of Donald Rollins. He wasn't sure how much he was going to be able to help but he sure wasn't gonna stand there much longer and let something bad happen. He turned and started for the school.
"Whoa Willis where do you think you're going?" Sam called him back as he watched the old man spin around.
"Son I know you don't know me but ones things for sure there's no way in hell I'm gonna let your brother get hurt again because of that bastard. That man caused enough grief when he was alive and now he's causin' more dead. I'm not havin' anymore of it. We're settlin' this once and for all." Willis spoke with a determined voice. Sam knew he couldn't have stopped him even if he tried.
"Let's go then." He nodded to Willis and together they ran as fast as they could towards the school.
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Dean watched only a few feet away, as the bluish glow became a huge fireball and entered the gym.He quickly reached around his pocket for the exorcism he had written out.
"Crap" he yelled when he realized his pocket was empty. He felt around in his jeans never taking his eyes off the figure that was now developing out of the fireball. It was no good the exorcism was gone. He cursed himself again when he saw the piece of paper lying on the floor over by the duffle bag and his shotgun.
"Damn how the hell did I lose that bitch?" He cursed his carelessness.
"What ever you had planned wouldn't have worked anyhow." The figure spoke to him. It had resumed the semblance of Donald Rollins and except for the bluish tint still looked relatively human.
"I can not be destroyed." He said menacingly. "Certainly not by you."
"Let's see about that." Dean said defiantly. Rollins laughed at him, taunting him.
"Your rock salt was simply an annoyance and even now your brother and that old man have failed to destroy my spirit. I have evolved past the prison of my bones. They have merely set me free." Rollins's laughter echoed off the gyms walls.
Dean set aside his momentary fear over what might have happened to his brother and Willis. Instead he started reciting the exorcism, trying to recall its exact wording from his memory. Rollins flinched ever so slightly as Dean spoke the words he had taken from his father's journal. His voice grew louder as he watched Rollins begin to weaken. The exorcism speaking to the demon part of Rollins. Dean watched as he grew desperate, the wicked smile wiped from his face.
Rollins could not contain the surprise he felt as he realized Dean could drain his powers from him. After all Dean was a mere human and he was part demon. The spell Dean was now using on him was weakening him even further. Dean could see the bluish tint begin to fade as Rollins began to revert back to a ghost again. He prayed Sam had had the chance to burn the bones before Rollins attacked them.
With a defiant burst of energy, Rollins threw a huge fireball at Dean. This one much bigger than the one that burned him before. It spun around the laid out salt, instead burning through the one part of the gym Dean hadn't had a chance to protect. Dean threw up his arms in a vain attempt to protect himself. The impact send Dean flying across the gym where he landed with a thud. Stunned he got up and started to recite the exorcism and the spell again, this time with more conviction. His eyes wandered to his shotgun as he spoke. Rollins immediately sensed what Dean planned to do, drew up another fireball and threw it in Dean's direction. Dean started running for the gun just as Sam and Willis ran into the gym behind him. Dean saw his brother as he dived for his gun.
"Sammy shoot him!" Dean screamed as he rolled on the floor firing towards Rollins. Sam didn't need any further motivation. He fired at Rollins at the same time Dean did. The already weakened Rollins screamed defiantly one last time before exploding in a bluish cloud of dust. His scream echoing through the gym.
Dean laid on the floor panting, adrenalin still pumping through him as he watched the dust disappear. Sam quickly ran over to him.
"Dean are you okay?" he asked as he helped his brother up.
"Damn Sammy that sure was close." Dean started to smile as he looked over at Sam. His smile quickly disappeared however as he looked past Sam only to see Willis now laying on the floor, slowly moving.
"Willis!" He cried out as he ran over to his friend. Sam joined him at Willis's side. Dean could see him struggle to breathe as he looked up at Dean.
"Willis lay still we're calling an ambulance." Dean spoke as Sam pulled his phone out, and was calling 911. Willis shook his head defiantly.
"No ambulance." He said weakly. "They won't make it on time." Sam looked over to Dean to see if he should continue. Dean's expression changed as he realized Willis spoke the truth. The 911 operator suddenly answered and Dean could hear Sam speaking to her.
"No Willis you have to hang in there." Deans eyes welled up as he spoke unwilling to give up yet. Willis just looked back up at Dean, his face getting more peaceful as he accepted his death.
"We got the bastard right Dean?" He spoke between gasps of breath. Dean smiled down at him and nodded.
"We got him Willis thanks to you." Dean needed the old man to know how much he appreciated his help.
"The kids are alright?" Willis asked his final thoughts on the children Rollins hurt so many years ago and the children he loved about to have their spring festival.
"The kids are alright Willis. They're safe now. " Dean promised him as he heard Willis take his last breaths with a smile. Sam hung up the phone and put his hand on Dean's shoulder.
"I know it's too late but they should be here momentarily." He too looked down at Willis's peaceful face.
"Give me a minute." Dean said quietly looking over at his brother.
"Sure thing." Sam said getting up. He pickup Dean's gun and his own and walked over to Dean's duffle bag putting them inside. He gave Dean a worried glance as he began to wonder how this death would affect him too.
They stood together as the paramedics arrived and determined that Willis had died. It was assumed that the old man had suffered a heart attack and the autopsy would later attest to that. Dean called his boss with the news. Jack immediately suggested that they call off the children's spring festival in honor of Willis. Dean knew that Willis wouldn't have wanted that to happen and convinced Jack to not make the announcement about Willis's death until after the festival. He knew the old man had been looking forward to seeing all the happy children and their parents having a good time. Jack assumed they hadn't had time to set up and offered to come over and help but Dean emphatically told him no. This was something he wanted to do, he needed to do.
Dean and Sam quickly cleaned every trace of salt around the gym. Then Dean pulled out the tables and the decorations as Sam went about and set up the stage area for the children's skits. They hung banners and crepe ribbons. Sam got the helium tank out, blew up a ton of balloons, and put them up all over the gym. He even made Dean laugh as he took a breath of helium and started to talk like Donald Duck. By morning they had finally finished just in time for some of the teachers and students to come in and add their own touches. By noon the place was filled with laughing kids and parents having a good time.
Sam snuck a peek at Dean a few times and caught him laughing as he watched the kids run around chasing each other.
"This is good." Dean said as he walked over to Sam. "Willis would have love this."
Sam laughed with him as they looked around the gym. Suddenly Sam spotted a group standing across the gym from them. He nudged Dean and pointed over in their direction. There was Miss Springton and her young students smiling at them. Miss Springton mouthed a thank you as the children waved at them. Dean nodded as Sam waved back to them. Neither one of them was prepared when a 7th child stepped up from around the group. There was Willis with his childhood friends at last. He smiled the biggest smile Dean had ever seen before turning around and taking off around the gym with Robby chasing after him. Dean looked over at Sam eyes wide and noticed Sam had the same amazed expression looking back at him. When they looked back at the children and their teacher, they were gone. Dean put his arm around Sam's shoulders and gave him a squeeze.
"We did good little brother. We did good." Dean said finally at peace himself.
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Epilogue.
Jack wasn't shocked when Dean told him he was quitting. They stuck around town long enough to go to Willis's funeral. Dean was quiet as usual but this time it was out of respect for his friend. Still Sam was surprised when Dean suggested that they hit the road again.
"You sure, cuz we can stay a little longer if you want." Sam asked not wanting to push Dean into doing something he didn't want to do again. Dean didn't see the point of staying any longer.
"No Sammy I think its time I get back to being the 'man of action' I really am." Dean said smiling, remembering how he reference himself the first time he met Willis.
"Man of action eh? Oh pleaseeeeeeeee." Sam gave him an eye roll before standing up and gathering their stuff.
15 minutes later they were back on the road.
The End.
Authors note: Thanks everyone for hanging in there. I kept having a massive writers block trying to come to the end of the story without hitting too many clichés. I don't know how well I succeeded but at least this one has finally come to a rest. Reviews are always appreciated. Thanks again for reading.