Ok gang, this is a little present for you. This is the longest chapter I have ever written and I was tempted to split it into two. Could have left a major cliffhanger and made you wait for the resolution, but I didn't. So if you like cliffhangers just stop reading halfway through and stew for awhile before you read the rest, but if you don't like those nasty nail biting cliffies then you're welcome!
This is the last chapter with Jake, Deke and Scott. (I'm tearing up here, gonna miss the guys!) Final two chapters are Dean and Sam in 2006. I gotta tell you, I have loved writing this story and I hope you have enjoyed it half as much as I have. Thanks so much for all your wonderful support.
Chapter Nineteen – Final Conflict
Jake and Deke exited the bank and split up again. Jake headed down the street and Deke headed back up the street toward the hotel. He had a quick detour on his agenda. A little matter he needed to take care of.
With the roofs cleared of snipers and Cain still on lookout, Elkins left his post and was returning to the hotel. He was confidently walking down the walkway just a mere ten feet from the door, his rifle on the ready just in case as he checked the street for gunmen. Deke was fast approaching from the opposite direction and saw Elkins heading to the safety of the lobby.
David Elkins was finally getting the hang of this fighting and prided himself on being a factor in releasing his town from the death grip of Carpenter. He was beginning to feel a certain confidence in his abilities when he suddenly felt a thick, warm liquid running down the front of his shirt. He grasped his hands to his chest and looked puzzled at the red substance covering them. A momentary gasp and he fell to the ground, dead from a bullet hole through his heart.
"Daddy, noooooo!" Davy, his eight year old son yelled, coming out of his hiding place inside the hotel to run to his father's still form.
Deke took aim on the gunman that had cut down Elkins and placed one fatal shot between his eyes, feeling no satisfaction in avenging the first of the good guys gunned down. Elkins was a good man. Gabrielle now had her first warrior to mourn. He shook off his thoughts and sprang into action.
Davy was clutching his dad's dead body, his fists tightly wrapped in his shirt, pulling upwards, willing his dad to move once more, tears streaming down his face as Deke quickly grabbed the boy, dragging him back inside to the safety of the hotel.
"Kid, I'm sorry, but you gotta stay put here. You understand? Your dad wouldn't want you getting hurt. You gotta be the man now. Believe me, I know how tough this is gonna be, but you've got to stay strong. Your dad was a brave man and I know you can be brave too. Just remember that, all right? You've got to be brave for your dad."
Tears stained the young boy's face as he silently nodded his head. Deke recognized the determination forming in his hurt eyes, a look too reminiscent of his own reaction to losing his mom all those years ago. The kid faced a tough road, but he knew a steadfast resolve would enable him to carry onward.
Gabrielle appeared and locked eyes with Deke, her eyes filled with a knowing sadness, as he handed Davy off to her. After a quick reassuring pat through the young boy's mussed, brown hair that was long past due for a trim, he left him with his thoughts and worries and headed back into battle after uttering his final instructions to Gabrielle.
"Gaby, you and Davy get hid. You take care of each other now, you hear?"
"Take care of yourself, Deke." She whispered as he left them behind.
Jake spotted the sheriff just outside the jail. He turned the corner and checked the street for more gunmen, unsure how many still remained. He saw one gunman lurking by the Mexican café and was just taking aim when a shot rang out and the man dropped. He turned around to greet his approaching son.
"Nice shot Scott."
"I did have the best teacher. Where's Deke?"
"He went to check up on the ladies at the hotel, seems they just can't stay out of this fight, took out two gunmen who made the mistake of walking by the front window."
Scott grinned at the prospect of what lay ahead for his brother and his dad. They had fallen for formidable women and their futures looked mighty interesting.
"Huh, well I guess you'll both have your hands full with those two."
"Don't I know it. Sometimes I wonder if the drifter life still doesn't hold a certain appeal." Jake responded, smiling like the devil.
"Yeah, right!" Scott grinned at his dad's feeble attempt to distance himself from Aggie. He knew they were just words, he could tell from the first time he laid eyes on Jake with Aggie back at their camp that he was a goner.
'Wanna teach that sheriff a lesson about following the law?" Scott asked.
"Never could abide a dishonest lawman. Demons I get, people are the ones that can't follow the rules."
"Yeah, guess he lost his moral compass."
"He's about to lose a lot more than that." Jake declared.
Jake moved out and crept up behind the sheriff. The sheriff felt a presence and turned quickly to face Jake's gun. He smiled, his hand raised up away from his gun in a defenseless motion.
"Jake, guess you boys are taking over this town, huh? You know, I haven't drawn down against any of you. I've stayed out of this fight."
"And why is that Sheriff? Could it be that you're a yellowbelly? Or you trying to say your conscious just kicked in and you're ready to repent your evil ways?"
"Look, I did what I did to survive. No one could stand up to Carpenter until you boys arrived. Let's let bygones be bygones."
"Sure, Sheriff." Jake agreed as he holstered his gun.
The sheriff smiled, waiting for Jake to let down his guard, before going for his gun. With lightning quickness Jake drew and fired, the shocked look on the sheriff's face faded as the realization hit he was done for.
"Guess you reconsidered again." Jake spoke.
Scott came up and the men exchanged glances.
"Let's head on back to Deke and find out what happened to this Lila and Rance." Jake directed.
After checking out the northern end of town and not encountering any more gunmen, Deke turned and retreated to the hotel. As he approached he saw a gun sticking out the doorway. He circled around and came in the back way.
"Gaby, I thought I told you to stay hid?" Deke chastised as he slipped through the hotel's back door.
"I'm not one to hide in a closet when evil is out and about trying to kill the people I care about." She replied with a firm voice betrayed by the twinkle in her eyes as she dropped the gun to her side.
"Just stay inside…. Please?"
"Since you put it so nicely."
Deke turned to head on back into the street to meet up with his family. He gave her one final glance as he opened the back door to leave and a shot rang out. He staggered back grasping at his chest where his heart beats, the expression on his face total shock as he turned and gave his love one last look. Gaby gasped as she witnessed the love of her life fall face first onto the wood floor.
"Deke!" She screamed as she raced to his side.
"I told you I wanted him alive. He's no fun if he's dead." Lila moaned, glaring at the young gunman who had spoiled her fun. Lila entered the hotel smirking at the still body of her former plaything.
Gaby tenderly brushed her cheek against Deke's face, her hands frantically brushing through his short brown hair, tears flowing as she whispered goodbye to her love. All the moments to come extinguished with one deadly shot. The pain in her soul aching for one more kiss, one last embrace, her body trembling at the prospect of never having him love her.
She raised up her gun and fired into Lila's chest.
"Ouch!" Lila laughed. "Sorry darling, bullets don't hurt me."
Gaby then turned her gun on the young gunman who had killed her Deke and fired again. He slumped to the floor dead.
"Well, bullets hurt him, don't they?" Gaby stated as her tears stilled, her determination steeling her will.
"What difference? He was beginning to annoy me anyways."
Gaby dropped her gun and turned back to Deke, cradling his still form in her arms.
The close gunfire had drawn Aggie from the next room where she had been watching the street outside. As she entered the room her heart shattered at the anguish she saw on Gabrielle's face, an anguish she knew would soon possess Jake. An anguish that hit her like a shot to her own heart, her pain immeasurable at seeing this good man die, and fully understanding the devastation Gaby felt.
"Welcome to the party Aggie. When's your man gonna stop by?" Lila leered.
"Jake will kill you. You're dead, Lila." Aggie swore, anger and sorrow filling her heart.
"Oh, big surprise Aggie, I am dead. I'm what they call the undead. Care to join me?"
Just then Rance appeared behind Lila. She turned to greet him as he presented the bad news.
"Lila, your father's dead. Jake decapitated him."
"Well, it looks like all your lives have taken on a new despair. You will all pay for this. Vengeance is a bitch and her name is Lila. You hear me bitch?" She yelled at Aggie, ready to inflict all her wrath onto these Winchesters and rip them apart bit by bit, her blood lust for revenge enflamed.
Just when Gabrielle thought her entire world had ended and all hope was lost, she startled. The still form of her Deke moved ever so slightly beneath her hands. She grasped at his chest where the bullet had ripped through his heart and was shocked to not see or feel any blood.
The hole was evident right where his heart was. She placed her hand on the spot and felt something hard. Her fingers felt through his shirt until she could feel all the edges of the item and then her heart fluttered, once again steadily beating, her hopes once more alive, her dreams once more possible. She reached into his pocket and removed his ranger badge, a deep indent where the bullet had mangled the metal, stopping the slug from ever entering his body.
She murmured a silent prayer to the heavens above for this second chance. A second chance if they could manage to overcome Lila.
She leaned in and whispered to her love, hoping he was conscious enough to heed her warning.
"Deke play dead. Lila thinks you're dead."
"What are you saying there Gaby? Last words to your great love? Think he can hear you in hell? That's where he is, you know, where all misguided hunters go. After all, he is a murderer. How many has he killed in his lifetime?"
Lila reached down and grabbed Gabrielle's wrist pulling her to her feet. She gasped from the tight grasp Lila exerted and the sharp tear of her nails as her tender flesh bled. Deke had come to and it was all he could do to not spring up to confront Lila, yet the pain in his chest still had him silently suffering. The bullet may not have penetrated his flesh, but the force of the impact was considerable and he still found it difficult to breathe.
Rance was the one to inadvertently expose their deception, his contempt for this 'traitor' lived on even in Deke's 'death'. It should hardly be a surprise that he would kick a dead man when he was, uh dead. Deke took the first kick to his ribs without flinching, but then Rance proceeded to kick harder and as his boot headed for his face, he knew the gig was up.
He grabbed the foreman's boot and threw him off balance as he struggled to overtake these vamps. Coming from a prone position and being injured with two fierce vampires as opponents made the outcome of this little fracas a virtual certainty.
After a few heroic efforts, Deke was subdued and Lila gleefully proceeded with her chosen method of torment. Rance tied him to the pillar in the lobby of the hotel and Lila gloated once more at her victory.
"Deke I told you, you'd be one of us. Pretty boy should listen to momma. You're gonna be my boy for all eternity."
"Look Lila, you're never gonna make it out of this town. Jake and Scott are still out there, you best be looking to make a deal. Trade us for your freedom."
"Do I look like a fool? They're hunters; they'd never let us leave this place. Sorry Deke, poor attempt to save these lovely ladies of yours. Now, let me tell you what the plan is." Lila was enjoying this more than any of her previous attempts to torture him. "First I'm going to turn you and then when the blood lust is driving you insane, you're going to feed on these women. Of course, we need Jake here to witness this. Won't that make Daddy proud? Watching his own son devour his love?"
"Lila, you're dreaming. That's never gonna happen."
"Deke, your time is up. I will have you as mine; you have no choice in the matter."
Lila pulled the collar of his shirt down ogling his neck, the previous bite wound still red and nasty looking. Lila licked her lips as the lusty, virile taste of his blood resurfaced in her memory. Once he was turned he would be hers, all earthly concerns forgotten, as he ascended onto a higher plane.
She smiled at him, confident in her victory, reveling in the fear she saw momentarily cross his face as his bravado slipped, as he realized his fate was one bite away, as he realized Scott's vision had foreseen this. The fear lingered a mere few anxious seconds before his smartass demeanor returned.
"Game's over Lila. Prepare to die." He smirked.
She heard the arrow whizzing through the air and ducked behind the pillar Deke was tied to. The arrow hit the pillar and fell broken to the floor. Rance was not so fortunate, Scott's arrow connected squarely through the foreman's chest. Rance staggered and dropped to his knees, the dead man's blood spreading its poison.
Lila grabbed Deke's head in a tight grip, one snap of his neck and the hunter would be dead.
"Move and I kill him."
"Lila is it? You don't want to do that." Jake calmly replied.
"You're right. Doesn't mean I won't though. In fact, Deke's fate isn't looking too stellar right about now. Drop your arrows and machetes or he dies."
"No problem. Scott, do as she says." Jake instructed.
They dropped their weapons to the floor and stepped to the side. Lila relaxed as the means to kill her slipped from the hunters' hands. She smiled then, she had won out over worthy opponents. She turned her hold on Deke into another caress, her hands once more treasuring her prize.
She then determined she would turn all these Winchesters, one by one. Her family had been destroyed and she needed to rebuild. Her brother Luther would be returning soon and she wanted to present him with some powerful allies to lessen the pain of losing the rest of their group. Who better to have united by your side in the next battle, but hunters as skilled as these men?
Before she bestowed the gift of eternal life to them, she intended to make their human selves suffer for killing her father, a little mortal torment to ease her own considerable pain and suffering. There was nothing like witnessing the despair of mortals to make you feel more powerful, more alive. She was feeling very forlorn over the fates of her father and evil family; several days of torture should help to ease her grief.
She turned her attention back to her prize. Deke would be the first to be turned; she had been salivating for his taste for too long, she could no longer postpone her pleasure.
"Deke, say goodbye to your mortal family and hello to your immortal one. Welcome home." She started for his neck when she heard a gun cock. She looked up to see Jake pointing an old colt revolver at her.
"You really are annoying, not to mention stupid. What part of guns can't hurt me don't you understand?" She wisecracked.
"Sweetheart, this is no ordinary gun."
"Yeah, I can see that. Pretty gun, nice engraving. Now you want to put it down before I really get mad?"
"Step away from my son, bitch."
"Or what? Hello! Guns… can't… hurt… me."
"Let me introduce you to this gun. Samuel Colt made this gun just for evil like you."
"Oh yeah? What was that saying, 'God made all men, Samuel Colt made them equal'? Sorry, that just doesn't cut it with me." Lila released her hold on Deke and stepped forward toward Jake.
"Well then, let's just say 'Samuel Colt made you dead.'" Jake grinned as he pulled the trigger.
The bullet rotated through the air until it met its target, penetrating Lila's chest right between her ample bosoms. Lightning flashed around her and the black hole glowed bright, as flashing lights illuminated the skeleton beneath her skin. She sank to her knees as the lightning expanded until the void sucked all her life energy away and her broken hull of a body appeared frozen in time. With one final flash of lightning she fell forward, destroyed by Samuel Colt's amazing gun.
"Son, you all right?"
"Never better. Untie me."
Scott went to his brother's aid, cutting the ropes with his bowie knife.
"What did I tell you brother? Don't go doubting my visions, I told you Lila was going to try to turn you." Scott gloated.
"Yeah, I guess vision boy really knows his stuff, that is everything but when and where." Deke laughed.
"Just remember, we saved your ass."
"All right, I'll give you that. You saved my ass this time, next time….we'll just have to see who saves who. What happened to your arm there bro? Get a little too close to a bullet or something?"
"Just a nick, no big deal."
Deke shook off the numbness in his arms and hands from being so tightly bond and quietly walked to the machetes lying on the floor. He tightly wrapped his hand around the grip of one and released it from its sheath. He calmly walked to Rance, still kneeling on the floor in his drugged state.
"Rance, you best go join the rest of your brethren." Deke declared as the blade separated his head from his body. His cocky grin once more in place as he savored their victory.
As the gunfire stilled and the tenseness of the morning evaporated the townsfolk once more emerged from their hiding places. Whispering amongst themselves, breathing free air once more, no longer encumbered with Carpenter's wrath, they milled out into the street looking over the destruction and spoils of war. The last of the vampires were dead, the battle was officially over, and the Winchesters were once more victorious.
Deke looked into the relieved eyes of Gabrielle, Davy by her side clutching to the last of his relatives. He walked over to them and brought them close in a warm embrace, the three of them finding comfort in each other.
Aggie smiled with satisfaction at this final outcome, thankful Deke had once more postponed his date with the grim reaper, and ecstatic Jake was safe and unharmed and she could lie with him tonight with no worries or cares. All the Winchesters were safe and unharmed and her town was once more free. Suddenly the West did not appear to be the harsh, unforgiving land she had always bore witness to. It now seemed to hold promise of a new and better life.
Cain finally managed to hobble back down to the lobby of the hotel, using his rifle to steady himself. His right leg dragging with a bandana wrapped around his thigh, blood showing through the impromptu bandage.
"Cain, you manage to get yourself shot there?" Jake inquired.
"Yeah, guess I still had some blood left to spare after those vampires had their way with me. Think I best be sitting down now." He staggered as he fumbled for the chair, Scott came to his aid to help steady him.
"Hang on there Cain; I'll go fetch the doc." Scott instructed.
Jake smiled at the scene before him. Against unimaginable odds the Winchesters had once more fought and won and come out intact. Elkins death was regrettable, but considering the number they had fought against, they had survived this battle in remarkable shape. They had emerged victorious one more time. They were becoming accustomed to winning over long odds. Perhaps, the fates were on their side in this battle against all things evil.
Aggie pressed her body against his side and he wrapped his arms around his salvation. Man, it was good to be alive.
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The funeral for David Elkins was an event to be seen. The entire town came out in respect for the one man who had given his life to release this town. Gabrielle decided to stay on in the town and run the hotel, her entire family now gone except for her young cousin Davy. She needed to be there to support him as he dealt with his father's passing.
The Elkins became one more family torn apart by evil finding their revenge and purpose the only way they could, as a new hunter took his place on the field of battle. With the determination of a warrior, Davy proclaimed his vendetta against evil and his intent to vanquish it.
"I'm gonna grow up and kill evil every chance I get." He vowed.
"You need to train and learn. I'll help you. Let me show you what you need to know." Deke responded, knowing he could guide the young hunter in his vengeance, just as Jake and Cain and others before had trained and prepared previous generations of hunters.
Davy silently nodded. His determination steeling his resolve, he now knew the extent of the evil in the world and he was going to fight it with everything he had. He would make evil pay for taking his father and ruining his hopes of a normal life.
"I want you to show me how to kill these vampires. If Luther ever sets foot back in this town, I'll kill him. He can go to hell with the rest of his family."
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Exactly one week after the big showdown, Deke and Gaby finally found their passion realized in the first of many memorable nights. Davy had finally settled down and was comfortable sleeping alone in his own room, his new determination placing him on the fast road to becoming a man.
Gabrielle came to Deke in his room, the wait no longer bearable.
"You know, I'm not going to stop hunting. This thing, whatever it is we have, it's not going to be a normal relationship. I mean, don't expect the white picket fence." Deke cautioned.
"Deke, I think I left normal a long time ago, about the time I found out vampires really exist. I told you, I've led a normal and respectable, but immensely boring life until now. I'm ready to live another life now. I'm ready to give this a go. No promises, no commitments, just see where this leads us. I love you, that's all I need to know."
Deke smiled in amazement at this beautiful woman, this determined lady.
"I never said no promises or commitments; I just said no ordinary life. I love you Gaby, and I want you in my life. If you're willing to take me when you can, then I'm yours."
"Sounds like the best offer I've had in……oh, I don't know…., how about forever?"
They dissolved into each others arms, their desire unveiling a new wondrous world for them both. A world filled with love, passion and commitment. Perhaps not the traditional life of ordinary citizens of the times, but an amazing life full of promise and excitement.
Jake and Aggie had already forged their own lifelong commitment. Jake could not stop hunting, and would not stop chasing the Demon that killed his wife and tore apart his previous life; still they came to an understanding. Aggie would wait for him, however long it took. She had already waited her entire life to find a love such as theirs, she was not about to give it up now.
Aggie and Gaby now held even more in common. They were women in waiting. Their men were powerful and dedicated warriors with a tough job to do. Their job took them down the dusty trails of the old West for too many nights, fighting the evil good men refused to acknowledge, but when the jobs temporarily waned or the fight became too hard, both men knew where they could find comfort.
A little town known as Valentine, Texas became their home, their refuge, their port in the storm of life. Whenever the need arose, they always knew they would find loving arms and a tender embrace back in the town that became known throughout the West as the Home of Romance.
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Three weeks after the fight, duty called and the Winchester men set out to rid a neighboring town of vengeful spirits that had sprung up after the desecration of ancient Indian burial grounds. The job had gone smoothly and the spirits were once more laid to rest.
They were headed to the livery after a hard day to pick up their horses so they could be back in Valentine by morning when Scott collapsed to the ground gasping as the piercing pain threatened to split his head in two. Deke rushed to his side, trying to offer what little support he could to his suffering brother. Scott just shuddered from the intensity of his vision.
"Look, we still got the colt; we still have the one bullet left. We just have to start over, all right? We already found the Demon once…." The words echoed through his thoughts and the pictures in his mind only served to confuse him. The voice was so familiar, but the clothes and machinery they were contained in were most definitely from the distant future. Nothing like that existed in their time. All three of the men sitting in the menacing black contraption that was roaring down a dark road, with trees flashing by the side indicating an extreme speed, were strikingly familiar.
After several moments of intense pain the vision vanished, replaced by countless questions.
"Scott, we need to head out somewhere? Did you get a location?" Jake asked, concerned another job was pressing them into service again so soon after the completion of this job.
"No. No need us rushing out to take on this job."
"What was it? What'cha see bro?" Deke prodded.
"I'm not sure. I'm not sure you're gonna believe me on this one. I'm not sure I believe it."
TBC
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Farewell Deke, Jake and Scott, I'll miss ya! So what do you guys think? Did I send the boys off in a respectable manner? You gonna miss them? Any and all comments greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading! Remember two more chapters to go.