Disclaimer: If you recognize it from Supernatural I don't own it. I'm just playing with it!
Hunted
John Winchester is hunted by more then just demons.
Chapter Twenty Seven
John had no real idea where he was going other then somewhere in Pennsylvania. He needed more information but was afraid if he took time to stop and research it he would arrive too late. As it was he was going to be pushing it just to make it there before the demon struck. He needed help with the research for this one so he called Bobby.
"Hey John," Bobby answered. "Good to hear from you."
"Bobby, I need some help."
Bobby was silent for a few seconds. Something was wrong, John Winchester did not ask for help. "Where are you, I'll get there as fast as I can."
"Thanks, but not that kind of help," John replied. "I'm on my way to Pennsylvania. The demon is there."
"What do you need," Bobby asked.
"Pennsylvania is a big state. I need you to narrow down the search area for me. Look for reports of cattle deaths and electrical storms."
"You got it. I'll call you back as soon as I have something."
"Thanks Bobby," John said and flipped the phone closed and pressed down on the gas. This was going to be close, even with Bobby doing the research while he drove. The demon had one hell of a head start on this one. If he was going to be able to meet the ones John had killed in a few days then John would have a very limited time to find the possible families.
Bobby called back less then an hour later. "Portersville," he told John. "Six cattle had their hearts ripped out during an electrical storm."
"Where is it?" John asked.
"About 40 miles north of Pittsburgh on I-79 near US 422," Bobby replied.
John pulled out his map as he drove and found the town on it. "Okay, I got it. Tell me what you can about the town." He asked knowing his friend would have done as much digging as possible. He knew what John was after and he knew the signs.
"Portersville is a very small town John, the population is less then 300 people. They don't have any medical facilities but three surrounding towns do."
"Damn," John said, knowing that was going to make his search more difficult. There was no way he was going to have time to get records from three different hospitals.
"Does Portersville have a newspaper?" John asked. If they did he could check the listings for births in the area.
"Not that I could find," Bobby replied. "I'm sorry John there just isn't that much online about the town. I did find something else though."
"What?" John asked.
"I don't think it has anything to do with the demon John, but when you're done with that you may want to check out the McConnells Mill State Park," Bobby told him. "They're having a few problems out there. Our kind of problems."
"Bobby…"
"I know John, but if have time when you're done you can save me the trip," Bobby told him, then asked. "How did you find out the demon was going to be in Pennsylvania?"
"They tried again. I heard them talking before I took them out."
"You okay?"
"I'll survive," John told him.
"How many were there this time?"
"Four."
"Damn John," Bobby said. "One of these times they are going to succeed. You need help. Call your boys to back you up."
"No," John said grimly. "I will not have them involved in this, it's too dangerous."
"John, they're already involved."
"No." John replied quietly.
"Okay John," Bobby replied. "Just… be more careful will you?"
"Bobby…," John said. "Thanks, I owe you."
Bobby laughed, "Just remember you said that John," he told his friend before hanging up.
Despite his anxiety about the demon John grinned when he flipped the phone closed.
It was well after dark when John arrived in Plantersville. Bobby was right it was a small town. A post office, a diner a small grocery store and a gas station were the only businesses he found. John stopped at the diner. In a town this small the diner would be the hub of the local community. If he was going to find out anything this would be the place.
He entered the diner and found it was larger then he expected. There were half a dozen booths lining the walls on the left and right sides of the room. Square wooden tables were checkered across the center of the room leaving a wide berth for walking room between them.
For such a small town the diner was busier then he would have expected especially so late at night. But he noticed that the diner also sold beer and wine making it not only the only place to eat, but the nearest bar too. John sat at the table in the centermost part of the room and listened to the buzz of people talking. From the snippets of conversation that he was able hear most people seemed to be talking about the dead cattle.
The waitress, an elderly woman, came over, handed him a menu and asked, "Can I get you something to drink?"
"Coffee please," John said. He had no interest in beer tonight.
As the waitress left he pulled a photo out of his wallet. He had decided to use it to try and get the information he needed. It was a picture of Dean at age four holding the newborn Sammy in his arms. He remembered the day the picture had been taken. It was the day Sammy came home from the hospital. Dean had been so excited he and Mary had a hard time getting him settled down enough to safely hold his brother. He was staring at the picture with a genuine smile on his face when the waitress returned with his coffee.
"What adorable children!" she said.
"Thank you," John replied, then spun the tale he'd decided on. "There grown now, but I'm on my way to see my youngest. His wife had a boy six months ago and this is the first time I'm going to get to see him."
"Well congratulations," she replied. "I love it when they're that young."
"Yeah," John replied with a grin, "Too small to do more then sleep and eat."
"And poop!" she laughed. "I don't have any children, so I don't have any grand children, but I still love them!"
"That's a shame, I bet you get to see almost all the children here, especially in a town this small," John said.
"Oh, yes! And let me tell you for a small town there's quite a few babies here."
"Really," John asked. "Do you know how many are going to be six months this week, like my grandson?"
"This week?" she asked, thought about it then said, "Well, let me there are the Smith twins Alice and Alicia, the Hamilton boy little Tommy, ah… and the Ozborne girl Sally."
"Wow," John said. "That many, that's amazing?"
"Well, there may be more and I may be off a bit on the dates but kids that young are wonderful," she said. "At least until they learn to walk! Then things get crazy!"
"Yeah," John replied with a chuckle. "They get into everything."
She nodded knowingly then asked, "Have you decided what can I get for you today?"
"I'll take a burger and some fries please," John replied. "Oh, and do you have a phone book?"
"Sure honey," I'll be right back.
She brought the phone book and John began looking up the addresses for the names she'd mentioned. He could only hope that she was accurate in her list. He looked up Smith, the first name she'd mentioned. Smith was a popular name and he hoped there weren't too many listed in the book. When he found it he was surprised to find only one. He wrote down the address in his notebook and hoped the other names would be so easy. Hamilton had two listings and the addresses for those two followed the previous ones. The problem came with the Ozborne child. There were nine Ozborne's listed. That was going to be problematic since it brought the number of homes he needed to check up to twelve.
When the waitress brought his burger and fires John ate quickly and left to begin his search. He had no way of knowing which child was six months old today. So he would have to check them all out. He found the homes for the first two children easily, but the third, the Ozborne child was turning out to be a difficult task. He was driving slowly past one of the homes on his list when red and blue lights began flashing behind him followed quickly by a siren.
John pulled over to the side of the road hoping the cop behind him would continue passed. Luck however, wasn't on John's side tonight. The officer got out of his car flashlight in hand and stepped up to John's window.
"Sir," the officer said. "Can you step out of the car please?"
"Yes sir," John said. "Was I doing something wrong?"
"That depends. Let me see your driver's license please."
John pulled out his license and gave it to the officer.
"Well, Mr. Winchester the reason I pulled you over is because I had a complaint about you driving around the neighborhood," he explained.
John cringed inside. Sometimes he hated small towns. "Sorry officer, I'm looking for my second cousin's house. I wanted to surprise her. It's been so long since I was here last I seem to have forgotten which one it is." As he spoke John's attention was drawn to the house across the street from where they stood. The lights of the house began flickering on and off. The demon was coming.
The officer also noticed the flickering lights and John asked him, "Does that happen often around here?"
"No, never," the man replied handing John back his license.
"Officer, I work for an electric company. That can be a major electrical short. We need to get that family out of there!" John told him.
"You stay here," the cop said and headed for the house.
Ignoring the officer John followed irritated at being hindered by the officer. If the man wasn't here John would have just broken down the door and gone in.
The cop pressed the door bell of the home, but before he could even remove his hand flames burst from one of the windows of the home. John rudely shoved the officer to the side and broke down the door. As he entered the house he heard the officer call for the fire department on his shoulder headset. The home was quickly filling with dark smoke and John could feel the heat of the flames that he knew were now consuming more than just the home. He headed directly for the heart of the fire knowing that was where the demon was going to be.
The officer followed after calling the fire in and when he began shouting for anyone inside to wake up John could have smacked him for alerting the creature to their presence.
Two teenaged girls came out of the first room looking wide eyed towards the fire. Both were shouting, "Mom, Dad!"
"Get them out!" John yelled at the officer shoving the girls his way. "I'm going after the parents!"
Flames burst from the doorway at the end of the hall and John heard a man screaming in agony. The smell of burning flesh assaulted him as he stalked closer to the flames with no thought to his own safety. He knew he was too late to save the man. He was too late for the wife and baby too. Now he had only one thought on his mind. He was going to destroy the demon no matter what it cost him to do it.
Suddenly an arm snaked around his neck and he was dragged back away from the flames. "It's too late, their gone!" said the officer pulling John back away from the flames that had now begun to engulf the hallway.
"Let me go! I can still do it!"
"It's too late! It would be suicide to try!"
"No!" John shouted shaking the officer off, but before he could go back a pair of burly firefighters grabbed him. With the help of the officer they dragged John from the burning building.
John struggled against the arms restraining him until he saw the ceiling collapse and realized it really was too late. He had missed his opportunity again and the demon had killed another family and gotten away.
A/N Thanks for reading! Please take time to review and let me know what you think!