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 Thirty six
John spent a large portion of his final week of bed rest on the laptop searching for information on "The Colt". He prepared a list of museums, private collectors and firearms exhibitions for him to go to for more research. Some of the collections boasted documents, drawings and plans. He needed to find more details about the gun. Specifically a description of the gun and the name of the hunter it was made for would assist him in finding the gun.
Jefferson arrived at the end of the week and gave John a clean bill of health. He still didn't have his usual strength and stamina, but time and exorcise would correct that problem. He was now sporting several new scars across his chest, on his arm and on the side of his head. And, regardless of what his three friends said he knew he deserved every one of them.
The next day John packed his bags and loaded up the truck. He was headed to Hartford Connecticut home of Colt's Fire Arms Manufacturing Company and Wadsworth Athenaeum museum which housed the Elizabeth Colt Collection. He was hoping they had more information on "The Colt" or maybe, if he was lucky, he would find the gun itself. There are more than 1,000 objects, photographs, and documents, including Sam Colt's personal collection of firearms and the entire original contents of Elizabeth Colt's 1860s vintage gallery at the museum.
"Daniel," John said to his friend. "Thank you… for everything."
"Anytime John," he replied. "You take care of yourself, no hunting yet, you're not ready. Remember an important part of being a hunter is knowing when not to hunt."
John grinned, "Yes sir," he replied.
"I'm going to continue the research from this end, see if I can find out if the gun will work on it on the demon."
"I appreciate any help you can give me on this Daniel." John said and sighed. "I need this to end. I can't keep this up much longer."
Daniel's face turned serious and he replied sternly, "You'll do what you have to do for as long as it takes. You're not a quitter John."
John looked at him nodded and replied, "Yeah, I will… Goodbye Daniel."
"Be safe John," Daniel replied.
John watched Daniel in the rear view mirror as he pulled away from the cabin. Little did he realize it was the last time he would ever see his friend and mentor alive.
Two days later he checked into a small motel in Hartford and began a weeklong study into the life and works of Samuel Colt. Each day started with his usual web searches a cub a black coffee and then a trip to either the museum or manufacturing company.
The man was amazing. Sam Colt had developed the first reliable revolving cylinder hand gun at the age of twenty one. As a direct result of his invention and the marketing and sales success that followed, Sam Colt had achieved a level of both fame and fortune known to few other inventors. As a part of his marketing scheme Sam Colt made more than a thousand of those guns specifically for many individuals. He gave substance to each of these guns by hand carving the parts for them and etching into them designs that matched the personality and profession of the person for whom it was designed.
That made John's job so much harder. The museum had over six hundred of those guns on display each of them with a description card telling who it was designed for. He didn't think any of them were the one he was looking for, none of them seemed right.
At the Colt Fire Arms Manufacturing Company he found documents and designs for many of Colt's vintage weapons. He also found another collection of guns, but again none of them seemed to be the one he wanted. However, while at the manufacturing company he did discover that in 1900 Elizabeth Colt donated a series of personal diaries written by her husband to the Connecticut State library.
It was in one of those diaries that John found the information he was looking for about the gun. The diary included a beautifully drawn diagram of the gun. The gun was intricately carved with a pentagram on the wooden grip. The design of holly leaves was etched into the metal mechanisms and the inscription on the barrel was in Latin. It said: Non Timebo Mala, which translated to "I will fear no evil". Each of the thirteen silver bullets was numbered.
The entry in the diary was both interesting and informative. It sent John reeling inside when he learned the identity of the man for whom the gun was created.
Today I designed a very special gun. It is so special that I have named it the Myth of the West. Tomorrow with the help of Catholic Priest, a Wicca Priestess and someone… else I will create the gun. Tomorrow Halley's Comet will reach its zenith. The strength of the Comet will add to the strength of the rituals we will use to create the gun. When it is done the power of the gun, together with the bullets that were made from consecrated silver and strengthened with rituals of Wicca, Blessings of the Church and rituals of another kind will destroy anything. The man for whom I am making this gun is a hunter, but not just a hunter. Dale Elkins hunts creatures of the most evil type…
"Son of a bitch," John said to himself as he left the library and went back to his motel room. He suspected the man was related to Daniel. He called Daniel but got no answer. John opened the laptop and began a search for Dale Elkins. He was surprised to find Daniel Elkins name come up at one of the search results. Clicking on the website he was devastated to learn that his friend had died. According to the article he was mauled by a bear inside his cabin. John packed his bags and left immediately for Manning Colorado.
When he arrived at Daniels cabin John didn't know if he should be happy or upset, but he grinned. His son's were already there and we inside searching the cabin. John stayed outside hidden in the trees and watched them expertly work through the cabin. He waited for them to leave. He followed them expecting them to go to a motel or perhaps a roadhouse so he was a bit surprised when they stopped instead at the local post office. John knew now what they had found. Somehow Daniel had left a message and the boys had found it.
He had not intended to contact his boys, but he needed to know what was in the letter they had pulled from the post office box. If he was right then that letter would contain the information John needed to find "The Colt."
He waited until the boys were in the Impala and he watched to be sure they had not been followed and then he walked up and tapped on the driver's side door startling both his sons.
"Dad," Dean said in shocked surprise.
As he climbed into the back seat of the car Sammy asked, "Dad what are you doing here? Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm okay. I read the news about Daniel and I got here as fast as I could." John replied. "I saw you two up at his place."
"Why didn't you come in dad?" Sam asked him.
"You know why," he replied. "I had to make sure you weren't followed by anyone… or anything. Nice job of covering your tracks by the way."
"We learned from the best," Dean told him with a grin.
"Wait," Sam said. "So you came all the way out here for this Elkins guy?"
"Yeah, he was…he was a good man. Taught me a hell of a lot about hunting."
"You never talked about him," Sam said.
"We had… we had kind of a falling out." John replied not wanting to go into details, certainly not wanting to tell them how much time he had recently spent with the man and why. "I should look at that," he told Dean indicating the envelope.
Dean handed him the letter and opened it and began to read.
John,
If you're reading this, I'm already dead. First let me apologize for not telling you about the gun. I have it, locked inside the safe at my cabin. I intended to give it to you as soon as I was sure it would work on the demon you were chasing. The Colt has been handed down in my family from father to son for generations. It hasn't been used in three generations, so I don't know if it really will work as the legends say it will. I have no children of my own, but I want you to have the gun. Take it and use it to save your family and yourself. The combination to the safe is 38-21-03.
Good luck and Good hunting.
Daniel Elkins.
"That son of a bitch," he John said after reading it.
"Dad what is it?" Dean asked.
"He had it the whole time," he replied.
"Had what?"
"When you searched the place did ya… did ya see a gun, an antique… a colt revolver?" John asked excitedly. "Did ya see it?"
"Ah, there was an old case," Dean told him. "But it was empty."
"They have it," John said.
"You mean whatever killed Elkins?"
Then John made a decision that he hoped he would not regret latter. He chose to involve his children in the search for the gun. John knew that he wasn't in the best physical shape and he knew Elkins was right. A good hunter knows when not to hunt. But John needed that gun and he didn't think he could fight off a nest of Vampires by himself. He needed help and his son's were here. It would take too long to get someone else. Getting out of the car John told them, "We need to pick up the trail."
"Wait, you want us to come with you?" Sam asked shocked.
"If Elkins was telling the truth we've got to find this gun," He told his son.
"The gun. Why?" Sam asked.
"Because it's important that's why," John snapped at his youngest son.
"Dad we don't even know what these things are yet," Sam said.
"They were what Daniel Elkins killed best," John told him. "Vampires."
He could see the shocked look on the faces of both his boys and he couldn't blame them really, he'd never taught them about vampires. They'd never run across them before.
"Vampires?" Dean asked incredulously. "I thought there was no such thing."
"You never even mentioned them dad," Sam said.
"I thought they were extinct. I thought Elkins and others had wiped them out… I was wrong," he told them. And he realized he was wrong about a lot of things. He just hoped he wasn't wrong about getting his son's to help him find this gun.
A/N Sorry it took so long to post this chapter. I had to do a bit of research for this one. I hope you enjoy it! Please read and review. Thanks again for taking the time to enjoy my work.