Chapter 8: Revenge
"We need to get back inside the museum. We need to get rid of the ghost that started this whole Damn mess." The whole time they were in the truck Chris heard that line echoing in his head.
"What the hell did John mean by 'ghost'?" Chris thought to himself. "He can't be serious."
"You have no idea buddy." He heard Dean say in his head. "Hell yeah, it's about time we went after that bastard."
Finally John pulled over after determining they were far enough out in the country where he knew no one would hear the gun shots. Chris was nervous when he saw the arsenal John carried in the back of his truck. At first it was just the standard shooting, tin cans, tree branches, etc. Then John started shouting commands putting Sam and Chris through their paces. Shooting while running, and shooting while rolling on the ground, different types of guns. Chris was used to rifles and had never handled a hand gun before. The recoil left his hand stinging after a few hours of constant shooting. Chris, getting sore and tired of listening to John shouting at him, started glaring at John. Sam saw the look and knew right away he had to do something to prevent Chris from 'accidentally' shooting John or vise versa.
"Dad lets take a break. I don't know about you two but I'm about to fall over." He said casually coming between his father and Chris. John eyed Chris, saw the glare, and nodded.
"Good timing there Sammy."
"Thank god." Chris exclaimed, rubbing his sore hand. "This is what you two like to do for fun?"
"Not fun, necessity." John explained tersely.
"Oh that's right cuz you're 'hunters'." Chris said sarcastically. "That's why you want to get back inside the museum, you want to hunt what ever it was that attacked me and Dean?"
"It was a ghost and yes we're gonna hunt it down, and you're gonna get us back inside. Besides we need you to help us find that urn." The way John sounded Chris knew it was not just a threat it was a promise, he just couldn't believe John was expecting him to help catch the creature that killed him.
"Alright Dad, I knew you'd come up with a plan."
"And if say no?" Chris asked defiantly back.
"Dad you've got to be kidding." Shocked, Sam just looked at his father.
"That is not an option. You will get us in and you will help us stop this bastard. I would think that you would jump at the chance to avenge your own death." John moved closer to Chris with a determined look on his face. Once again Sam stood breathless waiting for the two to go at it.
"Maybe I'm not so quick to face that thing again, after all it didn't go so well for me the first time," Chris retorted as he stared John back down. "And what do you mean with that urn, what urn?"
"I say it again, that is not an option, and you will be inside with us. You're the only one who can talk to Dean and Dean is the only who can see this thing in time to warn us." John spoke with all seriousness. "The urn we need to find was the one that housed that damn ghost in the first place. Apparently one of your buddies chipped it and once the ghost was loose it killed him."
"Oh my god that's what killed Thomas? They never told us, just that he had been attacked and killed. I'm friendly with the other guy, Carlton. He told me it all happened so fast and now I know what he meant." Chris remembered talking to Carlton shortly after the attack. Still he couldn't believe John wanted him to revisit the scene of his own grisly murder. "So this ghost was responsible for Thomas's murder and my own and you expect me to go back inside to help hunt this thing?"
"Dad seriously, you can't expect Chris to come along. Isn't there some other way we can do this?" Sam asked giving Chris a sympathetic look.
"Sammy clearly we can't fight this ghost on our own. If we could have spotted it the first time Dean wouldn't be dead and we wouldn't be dealing with whole mess now. If we are going to believe Chris can talk to Dean then maybe we can use that to our advantage. Dean can spot it before we can, warn Chris, and then he can warn us in time to kill it. Listen Sammy, I know you don't like this idea but I don't think we have any other choice, it's too dangerous to go against it otherwise. We would be just as defenseless as we were before and I'm not willing to take a chance with you…." John stopped from stating the obvious.
"So you're telling me I don't have any say in this?" Chris asked, still incredulous that John would even suggest that he be brought along.
"Not once my Dad has made up his mind."
John moved in very close to Chris. His eyes narrowed and when Chris looked down he saw John had a weapon pointed against him.
"I will not say it again. You will be inside with us. You will help us hunt this bastard down. I've already lost one son to this ghost, I will not allow my other son to also become a victim. Only you can hear Dean and only Dean will be able to spot this guy before he can attack." John threatened. Chris took John's threat seriously. He backed away slightly but never took his eyes off John.
"You have completely gone mad." He seethed back. "It's only because of Sam that I am submitting to this lunacy. But once this is over, I am gone, do you understand that. I will walk away and you will not follow me." Chris's voice held his own threat. Neither man wavered for what seemed like an eternity until John slowly nodded his agreement.
Sammy, standing nearby, released his long held breath, his hands shaking at the prospect that his father was about to shoot his 'brother'. What ever worries he had about Chris joining them on this hunt were tripled by the thought of Chris leaving them afterwards. He had already lost his brother and now he was about to lose what little was left of him. Sam kept silent as the three of them went back to the motel room and got ready for the hunt.
The ride to the museum was tense with none of them speaking until they had reached the door. After a quick glare from John, Chris typed in the security code for the back door and they all quietly slipped inside. Familiar with the layout, Chris led them to the restoration room on the 2nd floor of the museum. Armed with only flashlights they searched until Chris spotted the small wooden crate that contained the cursed urn.
"What I don't understand Dad that if he was already cremated, how he could come back as a ghost. His bones are clearly toasted." Sam asked as he looked down at the simply decorated urn.
"He used his blood in the paint to decorate the urn son. As long as the urn was around so was he. Perhaps it was his plan the whole time to come back from the dead but we will never know. We're gonna get rid of this urn once and for all. Chris I'm assuming this museum has a boiler room." John explained.
"Sure John, down in the basement. What do you plan on doing?" Chris asked still mesmerized by the thought of someone using their own blood to decorate their cremation urn.
"I'm gonna smash this into pieces and let it burn up in the furnace. What ever spirit is left, the flames will take care of it. Now show me where the boiler room is." John told him picking up the urn with his left hand, his gun still in his right. "Sammy, stay out of sight until you hear from me and don't let your guard down. This Caspasian is still a danger until we get the urn destroyed."
Sammy nodded as he watched his father and Chris leave the room and head down to the basement. Curiosity got the better of him and he started looking around the room, eventually heading out to the main museum. Meanwhile Chris had lead John to the basement and to the boiler room. After sending Chris back up to Sammy, John quickly began smashing the urn into tiny pieces. When he felt they were small enough he scooped them up and began throwing them into the furnace. He hoped he could get it destroyed before Caspasian attacked again but he was wrong.
Chris headed back up to the restoration room. He had just reached the landing between the 1st and 2nd floor when he spotted Sammy checking out a Renoir near the top of the staircase.
"Sammy, look out behind you." Dean suddenly shouted in Chris's head as he spotted the occultist's ghost before Chris did.
Sammy behind you!" Chris then shouted at Sam seeing the shadow quickly approach and aimed his shotgun. Caspasian managed to take a swipe at Sam, sending him to his knees before Chris could get off a shot. Chris's aim was true but the ensuing recoil from the gun caused him to step backwards towards the edge of the staircase. To Sam's horror, he watched as Chris lost his balance, and went tumbling backwards down the steps landing in a thud at the bottom.
"Chris!" Sam shouted as he flew 3 steps at a time to get down to the bottom. Not caring if Caspasian had been destroyed or not, he gently rolled Chris over and was terrified to find he wasn't breathing. Already heading back to the duo, John came running across the gallery only to find a panicking Sammy doing CPR on Chris.
"C'mon Chris don't do this to Sammy. He can't lose you as well."
"Sweet Jesus." John yelled as he ran up to Sammy and Chris. Sammy was doing mouth to mouth when he stopped and felt for a heart beat. John dropped to his knees next to them and looked at Sam expectantly as relief began to pour over Sam's face. Just then they could both hear the low slow sound of Chris taking a breath.
"Thank God." Sam said as tears of relief filled his eyes.
"That's it, slow breaths, hang in there."
Hours later they waited at the hospital for the doctors to let them know how Chris was doing. Neither Sam nor John spoke to each other as the doctors finally came out and told them about Chris's condition. Hearing that Chris was awake, Sam went down first to visit him, leaving John alone in the waiting room.
"Hey." Sam said as he poked his head in Chris's hospital room. Chris turned his bruised face and smiled when he saw Sam.
"Come on in" he said weakly. With his left arm in a sling from a broken wrist and collar bone, an ice pack on his right knee where he had wrenched it and a bandage over his left eye, Chris looked like he had been through the ringer.
"You look like hell." Sam joked, concerned but trying to stay upbeat.
"Yeah look what he did to my gorgeous body."
"Thanks I feel like it too. Who knew that falling down a staircase could be so painful?" Chris joked back. The two of them fell silent not sure what to say to each other. Suddenly uncomfortable, Sam began to fidget and looked around the room. Finally Chris broke the silence.
"Um Sam, I just wanted to tell you thanks, you know for saving my life back there. One of the doctors told me you had to use CPR to bring me back." Chris said trying to get Sam to look at him. Sam grimly nodded and continued to look anywhere but at Chris.
"You scared the hell out of me, Chris. You weren't breathing….I couldn't… I didn't want to lose you too…." He said as he finally looked at Chris. "And by the way we're even."
Chris looked up at him confused.
"If you hadn't shot Caspasian's ghost, who knows what he might have done to me. As it is, he managed to give me one good scratch before you got him, I figure we're even." Sam said giving Chris a big smile, showing him his bandaged arm.
"He scared the hell out of me coming out of nowhere like that. For a split second I wasn't sure if I got him or you." Chris stopped and remembered the moment he fired before he fell backwards down the steps. "You guys do this all the time, hunting ghosts. Doesn't it ever scare the crap out of you?"
"I guess I don't really think about it much anymore. Dad had us hunting stuff from the time we were little kids. Dean, I think he was born to be a hunter. By the way you shot Caspasian's ghost I'd almost say you were channeling him." Sammy said, smiling as he thought about his brother.
"God I hope not. It's bad enough he's in my head. If he's gonna start moving around my body as well…" Chris started to laugh and then winched as he tried to move his left arm to get it more comfortable.
"Well if you're gonna keep throwing me down a flight of stairs I might just have to take over."
"They got you on any pain meds?" Sam asked as he saw the pained look on Chris's face.
"Yeah they're making me all dopey. I feel like I'm under water." Chris said as he started blinking his eyes trying to stay awake.
"Why don't you get some sleep then Chris? Dad and I will be down in the waiting room if you need anything.
"s'okay." Chris murmured as he closed his eyes. Sam watched him quietly for a moment before leaving the room.
"I owe you a big one." Chris heard Dean say before he drifted off.
"For what?" Chris murmured back to Dean.
"For saving Sammy's life back there." Dean replied.
"Seems to me you did the saving, I just shouted a warning." Chris was trying to stay focused but wasn't having much luck.
"But you shot the bastard, Chris. He was close enough to slash Sammy and if you hadn't hit him with the rock salt just then I'd be short one little brother."
"You're welcome." Chris said as he finally fell asleep.
Hours later he woke up to find John lost in thought sitting next to his bed. He studied the man for a moment trying to decide if he should disturb him. Seeing Chris move slightly John looked over at him and gave him a grim smile.
"You're awake, how are you feeling?" he asked, his eyes filled with concern.
"'bout what you would expect. My left arm is killing me. I think the meds are wearing off." Chris answered
"I could go get the Doctor if you want?" John offered.
"No don't, I hate the way they make me feel." Chris said adamantly not wanting to feel dopey again.
"Sounds like something Dean would say." John said wincing himself. Chris slowing nodded and looked across the room not knowing how to answer that.
"You almost did it, didn't you?" he asked suddenly knowing John would know what he was talking about. John looked down at Chris's bed but nodded in agreement. "Why didn't you then? You had your chance, you could have had your son back."
"Chris it's not a simple as that." John answered but avoided Chris's eyes.
"Why not? I'm sure by now you figured out where you made your mistake. This whole mess could have been over with. Dean would be back with you two and life with the Winchesters would have just continued on."
"Maybe I just wasn't willing to do it?" John answered so lowly Chris wasn't sure he heard him correctly.
"What?" Chris yelled almost getting up from his bed.
"Ah damn it I wanted you to protect Sammy, I didn't expect you to get yourself killed. If you hadn't been there….." John's admittance shocked Chris. "Maybe I wasn't willing to take that chance and have it fail again. Maybe I wasn't willing to kill you to get my son back. Maybe I'm just trying to say thank you. "
"You're welcome. Listen I didn't do anything that you weren't already expecting me to do. I saved your sons life, now all I want to know is are you going to live up to your end of the bargain." Chris turned his bruised face to look John in the eyes.
"I gave you my word. Not so much for my sake as for Sammy's, but call him now and then after you leave. Just let him know you're okay. Since you've been around he hasn't really lost his brother but when you go…" John's words trailed off.
"He hasn't really had a chance to grieve yet has he?" Chris asked watching John expression change from anger to sadness.
"No" John answered lowly.
"But then neither have you." Chris said realizing John was still hanging on to hope. John's next words proved that.
"As long as you are alive, my son is not dead."
Suddenly Chris wasn't sure he could leave the two of them.
XoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooX
Authors note: This chapter is a little bit longer than the rest to make up for my lack of updates recently. Thanks to the readers who have been sticking it out so far. Lack of reader's interest really had me considering whether I was going to finish this story or not. I'll probably just wrap it up in the next chapter and then just put it to rest.
Thanks again.