First Solo Flight
Chapter Six
Disclaimer: Except for Christopher and Aidan, no one here is mine
A/N: I really, really want to get this finished soon. School work is calling and, although I want to ignore it, that wouldn't be in my best interest. Thanks for the feedback so far and, please, keep it coming. It really helps to know what you guys think!
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Aidan wanted time to think, but Christopher was right. They had to find Dean and the others before it was too late. But what if Christopher was right about something else? What if this was, somehow, related to his parents' death? How could that be possible? He came across the Milton disappearances in a search of newspaper archives. He'd never even heard of the town before. He investigated the stories, talked to the families of the missing men… all the research he did pointed to something similar to the necros demon. He knew it couldn't be the necros because they had been exterminated a long time ago.
"Aidan!" Christopher hissed.
Lost in thought, Aidan had fallen behind. He saw Christopher standing before doors that obviously led to an underground cellar. He quickly caught up to the psychic.
"Is Dean in there?" Aidan whispered.
Christopher nodded. "He's weak, but he's in there."
"Others?"
"I don't sense anyone else in there; other than some of those servants." he sighed and checked the gun he'd gotten from Aidan's weapons locker. He was also carrying a satchel with the items they'd need to purify the area. "You see anything with that freaky thing you do?"
"You're one to call someone freaky, psychic wonder." Aidan shot back, but took a few moments to look around. "I don't see anything out here."
"You ready?"
Aidan hesitated a moment before he nodded.
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"You doin' okay, Sammy?" John asked. Sam had not spoken in nearly an hour.
"Yeah." Sam said quietly, leaning against the passenger side door.
"You want something to eat or drink?"
"I just want to get to Dean."
"We'll get there." John cast a worried glance at his son.
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Christopher led the way into the cellar. John was right about him; he was a flake, but he rarely let his friends down. He definitely took himself and his needs into consideration first and used his skills to earn fast and easy money, but he was as capable a hunter as any of them when he needed to be.
They didn't know how many of the creatures were in the cellar, but Aidan brought several vials of the binding potion with him and broke them against the walls as Christopher looked for Dean. Aidan could see the shadows of the servants and knew he'd successfully incapacitated most of them. He used his rock salt filled gun to handle the others as he followed Christopher through the cellar.
"Here!" Christopher said, rushing toward Dean. He was hanging from the ceiling by his hands, flanked on each side by bodies in a similar pose. Aidan checked the other bodies and shook his head at Christopher.
"Dean's alive." Christopher said a moment later. "But his pulse is weak; he's unconscious. They must have already fed on him."
"Let's get him down." Aidan said. "Can you tell if there's anyone else here?"
"There are still people in the barn. Two, I think. Those servant things are trying to block me."
"What about our demon friends?"
"Still dormant. But I can feel some more of those servants around. You see anything?"
"Just the ones I bound. Let's get Dean outside; we'll purify the place and then go to the barn."
Christopher glanced at him. "You doing okay?"
"No, but I want to get Dean out of here."
They carried Dean out between them, settling him against a tree near the cellar doors. They briefly discussed one of them staying with him, but knew the purification would go faster if they both worked on it. Christopher kept a psychic link open with Dean so he'd know immediately if was in danger.
They finished the ritual and, after getting Dean into the truck, drove closer to the barn. They left him in the cab while they went inside to rescue the other prisoners. Aidan used the last of the vials he brought to bind the servant spirits so they could get to the prisoners without danger.
They were alive and after being unchained, were able to walk outside on their own.
"You see anything?" Christopher asked Aidan.
Aidan stared at a far corner of the barn. "The ones that are dormant – they're here."
"I don't sense them. That's just creepy." Christopher shook his head. "I think we should burn it down since we don't know the purification will work on them."
Aidan glanced away, but quickly agreed.
Once they were sure the barn would completely burn, they left the farm. Dean was leaning against Christopher in the cab of the truck while Aidan drove toward town. He was still unconscious, his pulse weak, but there were no apparent injuries.
"Do we take him to the hospital?" Aidan asked.
"I don't know. I think we need to call John."
"I'm not looking forward to that."
"How are you doing?"
Aidan shrugged. "I don't understand any of this – I can't believe I screwed up so badly."
"Yeah, well –" Christopher truly felt sorry for Aidan. "We'll figure it out."
Aidan nodded as Christopher reached for his cell phone. He turned it on and saw he had five messages from John. He decided not to listen to them and dialed John's number instead. He answered quickly.
"Christopher – "
"We have Dean." he said before John could ask. "We ran into some problems, but we've got him."
"Problems?" John asked, glancing at Sam. He appeared to be asleep as he leaned against the window. "How is he?"
"Unconscious. Pulse is thready – do you want us to take him to the hospital or –"
"I doubt it's medical."
"I agree."
"Take him back to the motel. Sam and I are on the way."
"You are?"
"Didn't you get my messages?"
"I didn't listen to them, I wanted to let you know we had Dean –"
"We'll meet you at the motel. Did you destroy the demons?"
"Yeah. But, like I said, there were some problems. How far away are you?"
"Probably three hours."
Christopher glanced at Dean. "Okay. We'll meet you at the motel."
"Call me if –"
"Yeah." Christopher hung up and looked at Aidan. "John and Sammy are on their way."
"What? Why?"
"I didn't ask, but I assume it's because he was worried about his son."
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Aidan pulled the truck into an empty lot so he and Christopher could talk to the other men they had rescued.
"Look, guys, we need your help." Christopher started. He couldn't make people bend to his will, but part of his ability allowed him to influence them in small ways. "It's really important that you not tell the police about us. Just tell them you managed to get away – you can tell them you got picked up on the highway, but –"
"Anything you want, man. I'm just glad to be out of there." one of them said quickly.
"Me, too. What about that guy?" the other one gestured toward Dean.
"He's hurt, but we'll take care of him. If we drop you off here, can you get home, or to the sheriff's office?"
"Yeah. It's just a couple blocks away."
"And you'll keep us out of it?"
"Sure." they said in unison.
"Great." Aidan and Christopher moved toward the cab.
"Hey –" one of the men said. "I – uh – I don't know how you found us, but thanks."
"Yeah, thanks." the other agreed.
"No problem. Take care of yourselves."
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"Before we kill that thing, let's see if it can tell us how to help Dean." Aidan said as he parked in front of the motel room.
"It's worth a shot." Christopher laid Dean across the seat. "Let's leave him here; just in case."
Aidan stared at his unconscious friend. "Can you get anything from him?"
"I can tell he's still in there." Christopher said sympathetically. "Why don't you stay with him? I can deal with our friend inside."
Aidan nodded and Christopher walked into the motel room. "Hi, Honey, I'm home."
You've killed them.
"So you guys are – were – all connected?"
Yes. And now I suppose you're going to kill me?
"I can't have you hurting people."
We were here first.
"Be that as it may –"
There are others, in other places.
Christopher sat down on the chair they'd left in the middle of the room. "Is that supposed to scare me?"
No. I'm just stating a fact.
"So you wouldn't be interested in telling me how to help my young friend, would you?"
You can't help him. If he's been fed on, he'll die.
"That's not an option."
It's a fact.
Christopher attempted to read the spirit, but he found it difficult. The spirit attacked him psychically and telepathically threw things around the room. Christopher sheltered himself from the flying debris as he continued trying to read the spirit.
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"Dean." Aidan said to his friend, putting a hand on his forehead. "I'm so sorry. I don't know how I screwed this up so badly, but you've got to fight whatever is happening to you. Christopher is inside the room with one of the spirits and he's trying to find out how to help you, so hold on."
He wasn't expecting an answer and didn't get one. He heard the commotion from inside the room and, although he didn't want to leave Dean alone, he was afraid for Christopher's safety. He rushed inside and was nearly hit with a flying Bible.
"Get back out to Dean!" Christopher yelled. "I've got it covered!"
Aidan looked at him, unsure.
"Go!" Christopher yelled again.
Reluctantly, Aidan did as he was told.
Finally, Christopher got the information he needed. It wasn't what he wanted to find out, but facts couldn't be changed. Once the spirit was destroyed, he went outside to help Aidan bring Dean in. He was tired, physically and mentally, but there was still work to be done.
"What did you find out?" Aidan asked after they had Dean settled in one of the queen-sized beds.
"I need to call John." Christopher reached for his phone and dialed John's number.
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"John here." he said. As he listened to Christopher, he looked over at Sam who still appeared to be asleep. After glancing into the rearview mirror, he pulled off the road and killed the engine. "Hold on."
He put the phone on the dashboard and reached for his son. "Sammy?"
Sam had been leaning against the passenger side door, but when John reached for him, he fell listlessly toward his father. "Sammy! Damn it!"
After trying unsuccessfully to rouse him, John grabbed his phone. "He's unconscious. What the hell, Christopher?"
"Apparently there's more than a brotherly bond between your boys. It may be transitory, but right now they're connected."
"How do we wake them up?"
"The first step is to get them into the same room. Just get him here; I'll work on the rest."
TBC
