It was late Tuesday afternoon and Sam was busy working on the mojo pouches once more. He had already sewed the bags and attached them to black cord necklaces. Now he was attaching small mirrors to both sides of the bags so that no matter how they were hanging the wearer would have a mirror showing at all times. He just hoped the info he had researched was true and that the herbs and plants that now filled the pouches and the mirrors would really act to repel a demon. It would be a great help in fighting the thing if they knew they were each safe from possession.
He looked over at Dean who was busy cleaning every single weapon once more. All the guns and knives were laid out in neat rows and Dean had his cleaning kit out.
Sam finished the pouches and set them on the coffee table.
"All done?" Dean asked.
"Yeah. I just hope they do what they're supposed to."
"I'm sure they will," Dean said. "Your research is hardly ever wrong."
Sam picked up the Key of Solomon that Bobby had shipped them. He took his time studying every single page making sure he missed nothing. It seemed that the best weapons at their disposal in the book were still the demon trapping circle and the devil's trap to keep evil out.
"I wonder," Sam spoke aloud.
"What?" Dean questioned as he sharpened his knife.
"The devil's trap keeps evil out of something. They couldn't open the trunk of the car. I wonder what would happen if we drew the symbol on ourselves. It might provide one more layer of protection against these things trying to possess one of us."
"It makes sense. I say we do it."
Sam smiled at Dean's quick acceptance of his idea.
Both looked up when John walked in from work. He looked hot and tired.
"Hey boys."
"Hey Dad."
John had a seat and Sam fetched him a cold soda from the fridge.
"Thanks. Are those the pouches?"
"Yeah, I finally finished them," Sam replied.
John picked one of them up and studied it closely. "Looks good."
"Sam had another brilliant idea," Dean said. "There is a symbol called a devil's trap. If you put it on something it prevents demons and evil spirits from being able to open it. Sam suggested we draw the symbol on ourselves preventing the demon from being able to open us up to it so nobody gets possessed."
John looked at Sam. "Sam, that's ingenious."
"Thanks Dad."
"What's for dinner? I'm starving?"
"I made lasagna with garlic toast," Sam replied. He walked to the kitchen, put a large piece of the pasta onto a plate and heated it in the microwave. Once the timer went off he tossed on two pieces of the garlic toast and carried the plate to his father. He was just handing the plate over when suddenly the pain ripped through his head. The plate crashed to the floor and the food splattered as Sam fell to his knees.
Strong arms grabbed at him and he heard his name being called but the vision was already pulling him away from them.
Dean and Dad were pinned to the wall. Dean struggled to get free as Dad cried out in pain. Sam slowly walked up to his father and brother, only it was clear by the yellow fire present in Sam's eyes that something was terribly wrong.
"You two have been a thorn in my side long enough," evil Sam spoke. "This ends tonight."
Suddenly two black swirling masses came into view. Dean and John's faces were surrounded by the demons who were about to possess their bodies. The masses seemed to poke and prod but couldn't possess the two trapped men. Finally they retreated and Sam stepped forward.
"Let me guess," Sam sneered and then ripped Dean's shirt open with his bare hands. "So, you finally took my advice on something," Sam mocked. "No matter. A little water will wash those symbols right off your bodies."
"Sammy, you have to fight this," Dean said.
"Your precious Sammy is in no position to do anything. I am in control now. He was too afraid to use his powers. He was terrified he might accidentally hurt you. Did you know that? Well, now it's too late. Sam might as well be dead. His body and his powers are mine." Sam took several more steps up to Dean and then punched him hard across the face."
John started repeating the incantation that Sam himself had found to try and stop the demon. Dean joined in and soon both of them were saying it.
Dean cried out in pain as Sam waved his hand and slashed Dean across the face. John never stopped his chanting.
Sam then made a slash appear across John's chest. John groaned but continued as Dean once more started the chanting.
"Stop it," evil Sam shouted. "Stop it or I'll kill you both!" He raised his hand to inflict more damage but Sam's body faltered as the incantation began to work.
John was suddenly free of the wall and he pulled out the Colt and pointed it at Sammy.
"Dad, no," Dean begged. "No! Please, not Sammy!"
"Sammy," John whispered as he raised the gun higher. Sam never got to see whether or not his father pulled the trigger as everything went black and the vision faded from view.
"Sammy!" John shouted.
"Dad, stop shouting," Dean said. His attention went back to his brother as Sam began to groan. "Sammy, that's it. Slow and easy breaths," Dean spoke gently.
Sam opened his eyes and saw he was lying flat on the floor with his head in Dean's lap. Dean had a hand resting on Sam's forehead. Sam looked over and saw his father also kneeling down next to Sam holding his hand.
"Sammy, what did you see?"
"Dad, give him a minute," Dean said.
John ignored Dean. "Was it the demon again? Is he still at the cabin? What happened?"
"Dad!" Dean warned. "Can you get him a glass of water?"
For a second John looked like he was about to yell at Dean but he clamped his mouth shut and went to the kitchen to get the glass of water.
Sam was grateful for Dean's intervention. His head was splitting and at the moment he was struggling to just stay conscious. The vision had been with out a doubt one of the most terrifying, most horrifying things he had ever witnessed.
Dean pulled Sam into a sitting position and then helped his little brother to his feet. Sam swayed and for a moment his knees threatened to buckle once more but Dean's strong hands held him upright. He guided Sam to the sofa and they both sat down. John handed Sam the glass of water and Sam gladly gulped down half the glass before he felt ready to talk.
"The visions seem worse," Dean pointed out.
"They are," Sam agreed. "Ever since meeting up with the demon six weeks ago when they come they're more painful than ever."
John's impatience couldn't be contained any longer. "What did you see?"
"I saw us, only I wasn't me."
"What does that mean?" Dean asked.
"I…I was possessed. The demon…it was in me. I had you and Dad up against a wall. There were two more demons but they were just the black mists. They were trying to possess you and Dad but they couldn't. You two had put devil's traps on your chests."
"What happened then?" John asked.
"I said that I was going to wash them off. I couldn't stop what was happening. It had total control and…it…it knew how to use my powers. You two started saying the incantation I found and it made the demon weaker. Dad, you were able to get off the wall. Then…" Sam stopped talking though. He didn't want to tell his father or Dean what was going to happen next. "I was right. This thing, it does want me, or at least, it wants to use me, make me evil."
"Sam, I'm not going to let that happen," Dean insisted.
Sam was almost panicked. "How are you going to stop it? It was a vision. They don't lie."
"No, but we know for experience that we can stop them, change things. We will stop this!" Dean told him. "I swear Sam, this thing is NOT going to get you."
"Everyone dies or gets hurt because of me! I'm going to get you and Dad killed. I…I need to leave. I need to get far away from both of you."
"If you do that you'll just make it that much easier for the demon to get you," John finally spoke. "And even if you leave us now that doesn't mean that the demon will leave us alone once you are possessed."
"Then what do we do?" Sam gasped. "I don't want to hurt you. I'd rather die than let that thing use me to hurt you."
"Don't you talk like that," Dean spat. "I mean it, Sammy. We'll find a way."
"Dad, listen, if this vision ever happens, I want you to know, I won't blame you if you use the Colt on me. You have my blessing to do what ever you have to do to save yourself and Dean."
"Sammy, Dad isn't going to shoot you," Dean gasped. He looked to his father hoping the man would support Dean in this decision but John just looked away. Dean chose to ignore him. He turned to Sam once more. "Sam, we will find a way to stop this vision from happening. I won't let that motherfucker possess you. I swear it! And I'll never let Dad shoot you."
Sam shook his head back and forth. "Dean…" he started but John interrupted him.
"Actually, I already know what we need to do, how we are going to stop this" John said. "What does this devil's trap look like?"
"It's in the book," Sam whispered. His head hung down already feeling defeated.
Dean walked across the room and grabbed the book. He flipped through the pages until he got to the symbol that he remembered. John took a moment to look at it.
"Sam, can you walk?" John asked.
"Yeah."
"Good, we need to go, right now!"
Sam and Dean shared a look but quickly followed their father out the door and to the truck. John drove them to the downtown area. He went up and down several streets looking for something.
After twenty minutes of driving he finally parked the car. Everyone got out of the truck and Sam and Dean suddenly knew what their father was thinking. They were standing in front of a tattoo parlor.
"Tattoos?" Dean asked.
"Yes, for all of us. Sam, where did Dean and I have this symbol in your vision?"
"It was on your chests."
"Then that's were we will have the tattoos put. This way the symbol can protect us and there is no way to wash it off."
"Okay," Dean said. "Let's do it." At the moment the way he was feeling he'd put the damn thing on his forehead if it meant keeping Sam safe from the demon.
Sam nodded his head in agreement. He never thought he would ever have a tattoo, but if doing this meant he wouldn't be forced to hurt his family later on then so be it.
Inside John used one of his bogus credit cards to pay for all three tattoos. The tattoo artist kept trying to talk them into getting something different or a little more flamboyant. He stopped when John put on his scary face and demanded that all three be a perfect match to the illustration in the book.
John got his tattoo first in black ink and it was about three inches in diameter. Sam went next. He didn't want to wait one more second. His only thought was that he had to protect his family from him. Usually when he had a vision there wasn't much time to spare before it actually happened. The demons could be looking for him right now.
Getting the tattoo hurt but the pain was worth it. This idea of his father's might just be the thing that would save Sam from his so call destiny or fate or what ever the hell one was to call it.
Dean sat next to Sam and watched as the artist did his work. Sam waited for Dean to crack some smart-ass comment or call him a name but his brother never said a word. If anything Dean actually seemed to be on full alert, every few seconds he would scan the room for anything unusual. Sam glanced at his father and saw that he was doing the same thing. He realized that they were actually guarding over him, making sure that nothing tried to possess him before the tattoo was complete. It took about forty minutes start to finish and Sam breathed a sigh of relief when it was done.
Dean sat down in the chair last and didn't even flinch when the needle touched his skin. Sam made a point of watching out for Dean they way he had for him. Luckily the whole thing was incident free. After two and a half hours they were able to get in the truck and go home.
Back in the living room Sam used some paper towel to clean up the lasagna that now lay ruined in the floor. John cut off a fresh piece from the pan on the stove, nuked it in the microwave, and sat at the table to eat.
"Dad, thank you," Sam said.
"There's no need to thank me," John said. "I'm willing to do what ever I have to do to keep you boys safe. Sammy, in your vision, did you have a location?"
"No. We were in a room, but where it was I have no idea."
"How old did you look in the dream? I mean, was you hair longer or shorter? Was mine grayer? Do you have any idea when this thing is coming for us?"
"You mean when is it coming for me?" Sam asked.
"Sammy, Dean's right you know? This isn't your fault. Besides, we took measures now to prevent the demon from using you. Your vision can't come true, but that doesn't mean the demons won't still come."
"In my vision we looked the way we do now, but that still doesn't help. The vision could be a warning for tomorrow or a year from now. I just don't know."
"Maybe we should pack up and leave," Dean suggested. "I mean, nothing has bothered us here so far but we haven't exactly been in hiding while we were here. It's possible they know where we are at?"
"No," John said. "We are safe in the house. There are symbols and protections all over the place. They can't get in here. I even have symbols on the truck. Now we have the tattoos. Even if they know we are here we should be safe for a while longer. I just don't want to run out of here blindly and maybe walk right in to a trap. We've now been trapped by them twice, I'll not let there be a third time."
"We make a stand," Sam said.
"Exactly," John replied.