HERE IT IS! This is a long one, no spanking's in this chapter but it will be coming in the next one, so here's your warning! I'll try to finish this portion of the story in the next couple days before I start a new chapter of Silhouettes! As always, thank you SO much for the reviews and views and reading of this story. I'm glad to be getting back into a routine of writing and they make my day so much better!
They had been too late.
Two Hunter's had beaten them there, a married couple called Tobias and Laurie, they had called Dean's burner to let them know where to meet, informing them that four other's were on the way as well as Bobby. Dean had pulled up to the old, decrepit house sitting deep in the woods where Laurie had said they'd be waiting and there they were. Emily's palms were sweaty, the ever present knot of dread winding tighter in her stomach as she'd gotten out as well. She knew Laurie, she'd once babysat Emily as a child when they'd been stranded in town with a burnt out car, and the Hunter recognized her as well, giving her a warm hug that had done nothing but twist that knot tighter. So much danger she'd put them all in.
"Emily," Laurie had reintroduced her to Tobias, whom had nodded gruffly. "We were so sorry to hear about your father. We'd heard you'd taken up with the Winchester's, but truth be told, weren't quite sure how to reach you all." Emily had the good grace to blush and offer a sweet, too sweet to sound genuine, response of thanks.
"So what are we dealing with here, exactly?" Tobias had cut through the scene as he strapped a gun across his chest, handing his wife one as well as he looked between Emily and the two boys.
"A particularly nasty demon named Ezreil," Dean had filled them in quickly, tactfully leaving out the part about Claire escaping with Emily's help. "He's been gunning for Emily for awhile now, thinks she's some sort of key for him to be able to take over both Hell and Heaven, he was responsible for the massacre of Hunter's a month back, we're fairly certain he's using Claire as bait to draw us out. We have to be smart and ready. He's not normal, not like anything we've ever dealt with, but we know he's got a weakness, and we know that he's got a lot of enemies up there and down there." Dean had nodded upward and downward, before he'd gone to their own trunk and begun setting up.
"I think there may be an incantation we can use to trap him," Sam had cut in then, allowing Dean to work as he took over. "Not a normal one, something darker and older and much more powerful, but we haven't been able to test our theory, and to be honest, I'm not positive I've got it right."
Emily let them continue to plan and talk, and she wandered away a bit to the edge of the wood that surrounded the house, lost in thought. Other cars had begun to pull up, other Hunter's getting out and beginning their own preparations, all of them known to the brother's but not to Emily. So vastly sheltered she had been compared to these people, these selfless souls who'd answered the call without a second thought of what lay in wait for them. It wasn't fair. Their blood would be on her hands, and Claire's too, if she even survived this, if she was still alive now. Tears sprang to her eyes at that thought and Emily wiped them away impatiently, turning to go back to join the rest of the group when it had happened.
One moment, Emily had been awake, upright, and the next it was as if everything around her had dissolved into a golden light and she was somewhere else entirely. For one panicked, horrible moment Emily was sure that Ezreil had gotten her, but that dissolved immediately as a figure, glowing in gold, had stepped out of the shadow of the nondescript room she'd found herself in and spoken in a voice that Emily could only remember from her dreams.
"My darling," the glowing figure had said, hands outreached as they stepped closer and closer to Emily, who still couldn't get her bearings straight. "I've waited so long to see you again."
Emily didn't bother to stop her tears as she choked out, "Mom?" And fell straight into those arms, not sure she could believe this was happening. Her mom felt both solid and light all at once, and as she pulled her daughter back to look into her face, Emily could see her expression was serene but hurried. "I thought you were trapped in hell, I thought that….I thought that I'd never see you again."
"Shh, my child," her mother's voice, so surreal, spoke to her soothingly. "Do not fret over me, do not worry. It is you whom I concern over. I need you to listen. I need you to learn quickly. Repeat; Ol cast g geta demon, zacam zacam de darsar g niis."
Confused and unsure what to do, Emily pulled back slightly, her tear stained face unable to hide the pain and misperception of what was happening. "Mom, what?"
"Emily. Repeat. Repeat. You must learn this, quickly. It is the only way. Do as I say, my daughter." Again, she spoke the strange passage, in a language Emily had never heard before, not even with all the hours she'd spent in the library with Sam. But she listened, carefully as she could, and repeated the phrase, the words sounding so foreign in her mouth. Her mother smiled down at her, approvingly, lovingly, and then she spoke one final time. "My child, my dear, sweet girl. I love you. I watch over you always. Go now, and defeat this evil. Save your friends. Save your love. You must repeat this phrase three times, three times to send him to heaven, to hell, to purgatory. Then you will be saved. For now."
The next thing she knew, she was on the ground, surrounded by faces both familiar and unfamiliar, who were yelling her name, tapping her cheeks, shaking her shoulders. Blurrily, she sat up, aware that it was Dean's hands on her, helping her. "Emily? Oh my god, Emily are you okay? What happened?" His voice was pained and the worry in his eyes was overwhelming, but Emily just smiled at him, serenely, feeling more at peace then she had ever felt in her whole life. Her body still felt as light as air, and she could sense everyone around her was lost and scared by the scene they were witnessing, but she didn't care. She just looked to them all, the smile still gracing her mouth, her own light glow casting light on them.
"I know what to do," her voice was confident, strong, and she looked to Dean again, putting a hand to his cheek affectionately. "All of you stay, stay safe here, I'll go. I know what to do." She repeated the words, even as anger flared immediately in Dean's eyes, even as the Hunter's around her began to all speak at once, their words mixing together in a mash of confusion and anger. Emily held her hand up, silencing them all as she did. "I know what to do. Trust me. You're safe here, I can't guarantee you'll be safe there."
"You're not going anywhere," Dean growled, taking Emily's arms in his hands and giving her a small shake. "What just happened here? Where did you go?"
"It's going to be okay, Dean." Her voice was soft, but still strong, Dean had never seen her like this before and it freaked him out more then he cared to admit.
"Is it?"
They'd never even seen them coming, one moment they were alone, the next he was there, and not just him, but many, many others. And there was Claire, limbs and mouth bound but seemingly unhurt, eyes wild and frantic as she searched them out and landed on Emily. Emily held her stare, for just one moment, before chaos erupted around them. Demon's on hunters, Hunter's on demons, all of them fighting around them. Dean had shoved Emily backwards, and Sam had caught her, trying to force her from the fight, force her away from Ezreil who'd begun to walk forward amongst the pandemonium, ignoring everything around him. Anyone who approached was tossed aside like they weighed nothing, Hunter's, Demon's, it didn't matter, anyone in his path to her were tossed aside, destroyed. Emily placed her hand on Sam's arm and firmly pushed it down.
"I know what to do." It was her mantra now, the only thing keeping her calm and ready. She was ready. "Go. Dean needs you."
Later, much later, the brother's would recount to her what had happened in the following few moments. It was such a blur, her state of being hadn't been human then and so it was hazy, like trying to remember a vivid dream, but they had remembered, they had seen it all. Witnessed for the first time a Nephilim take on a demon king. But Emily had said the words burned into her brain by her mother's spirit, a golden light had overtaken them all, so dazzling and so bright that it blinded them all. Then a powerful wind had swept through, knocking the hunter's down where they stood and once it had passed, once the light had faded, the demon's had all vanished. All save for Ezreil, who was prone and seemingly bound with invisible ropes, holding him in an awkward, painful looking position. The boys had sprang into motion then, leaping forward to grab Claire from where she lay at the Demon king's feet, and just as they'd gotten her up and back past Emily, who still stood, her hands outstretched and palms up, emitting that ethereal, golden glow still, lips still murmuring the incantation under her breath to hold him there, another figure had appeared. Sam recognized him, it seemed, and he'd grabbed Emily just as Lucifer had grabbed Ezreil, another blast sending them both backwards as he broke the spell.
"Thank you." The only words he'd spoken before he vanished as quickly as he had come.
A week had passed since that day, since the hazy memories had stopped plaguing Emily's every waking moment, since Claire had brokenly sobbed in Sam's arms for the first time since they'd met her, since Ezreil had been taken back to Hell. The girl's had been fussed over, suffocatingly so, neither of them had been left alone for more then a few moments at a time, the boys were so worried and so relieved that they couldn't bear having them out of their sight. Claire didn't ever fully reveal what Ezreil and the demon's had done to her in the time she'd been captured, whether it was because of shell shock or memory loss, they weren't sure but no one pushed it. Claire had apologized to Emily privately one day while they hung out in Emily's room, reading. Of course, Emily had accepted it, but not before she very sternly reminded Claire what she'd earned the both of them with her actions. Claire hadn't replied, just nodded dejectedly and gone back to her book. No one had really broached that subject either, whether or not Claire would be leaving or staying now that the threat of Ezreil had been taken care of.
That is, until now.
The boys' had called a "family meeting," and Emily had known immediately what that meant. The dread from the day they'd discovered Claire missing had begun to creep back up but for an entirely different reason. When Claire and Emily had found themselves seated on the couch in the living room that night, the two brother's across from them in armchairs, it had felt like sitting in front of disappointed fathers.
"We need to talk about some things," Sam had started the lecture without anymore ado, looking pointedly to Claire as he began. "Which is starting first with whether or not Claire has made a decision on staying with us or not."
Emily had been startled by that, wholly unaware that any private conversations had taken place regarding what the young Hunter was going to do now that the threat was gone and her free will was restored. She hadn't really wanted to think about it either, especially since she had a sinking feeling that Claire wasn't going to stick around with the looming punishment they had coming hanging above her head. But she was surprised when Claire sat a little straighter up, not looking to Emily or to Dean when she responded in her pretty, southern drawl, "yeah, I been thinking a lot about it, about what you said and your offer to get me trained up a bit more before I try it on my own again. I don't agree with y'alls methods, but I know you're damn good Hunter's and if being caught by a demon taught me anything, it's that I wasn't as prepared or knowledgeable on my own as I mighta thought. So, yeah, I'll plan to stay if y'all will have me."
The same relief that welled in Emily's heart was written all over Sam's face as the younger brother fought back a smile at the news and sat back, letting Dean take over. His voice was such a gruff, stark contrast to the gentleness of Sam's, but that wasn't surprising. Dean had never been one for small talk or beating around the bush.
"Now that that's settled, we're moving on to the unpleasant part of this family meeting," he leaned forward a bit, catching Emily's eye before moving confidently to Claire's gaze, then back. "You know you earned what you're going to get, and I don't want any arguments about it. Claire, you put yourself and us in danger. Your actions were reckless, unacceptable, and goddamned stupid and you know that. I know you ain't gonna argue with me on it. Emily, you're just as guilty as Claire, helping her leave and encouraging her to do it was the catalyst of her getting out of here and risking her life and all those Hunter's who showed for us' lives as well. You aren't kids, neither of you, Sam and I don't think of you that way, and we sure as hell don't like treating you that way, but goddamnit if you didn't piss me the hell off with the stunts you pulled last week. You're lucky to have escaped Ezreil, Claire, and if you don't want to talk about what happened, that's fine, but what I know from the time I spent in the pit? Whatever it was is a cakewalk compared to what you would've faced if he'd taken you down with him. And that would've been on you, Emily. Did you think about that for even one moment when you helped her leave? Did you think of what Ezreil could've done to her? To both of you? We. Got. Lucky."
The girl's could see a vein starting to throb in Dean's forehead as his voice got louder, clearly working himself up as he spoke and Sam cleared his throat, putting a hand on Dean's shoulder to calm him down as he took over. "You know you both earned the spanking of your lives. You know you deserve it, you knew it was going to come. Dean and I had a long talk about how we were going to handle this whole thing, especially with the circumstances being what they are now, but then we thought about how our dad would've handled this if he were here, or your mom, Claire." Emily reached over to hold Claire's hands, feeling her friend's shoulders stiffen at the thought. "It wouldn't have mattered who was who, who was dating who, who was attracted to who, we would've all gotten our asses handed to us without a second thought. So," Sam paused, looking straight at Claire as he brought down their sentence. "Both of you will be getting spanked, by both of us throughout the course of this week. We decided to give you a break in between because this isn't going to be pleasant or easy on any of us, and we aren't trying to cause any permanent damage, but we are very serious about this never, ever happening again. We are a family, whether we want to be or not, and that means we treat each other with respect, it means we don't lie, we don't scheme, and we certainly don't put each other in danger the way that you girl's did."
Claire had opened her mouth to argue, but Sam held up a hand, interrupting her before she could even begin. "I don't want to hear any opinions on this, it's done and decided and I think you both know you deserve it. Am I right?"
He paused again, waiting for verbal confirmation from the women in front of him. "Yes sir," Emily said quietly, knowing that was what was expected when Sam got into "dom mode," as she called it. She nudged Claire with her elbow when the blonde didn't respond right away, and Sam bristled for a moment.
"Yeah, fine." She spat out, bitterly. Emily groaned inwardly, even Dean brought a hand up to his head, unable to keep down the grin at the audacity of the girl. But Sam didn't back down, and he gave her another chance with a quiet, "try again," his palm twitching slightly at his side as he stared her down seriously.
Claire didn't respond for a long moment, so long that Sam had started to move out of his chair and Emily had opened her mouth to help her, before Claire came to her senses and gave a begrudging, "Yes sir," too.
Sam sat back down, satisfied and Dean picked up for him again, seemingly a lot more calm now that they were at the sentencing portion and past the part where the girls had almost killed themselves with their own stupidity. "Starting tonight, you'll both be getting the first spanking of this week. Tomorrow you're getting a break, then we'll start again the following day, and then we'll repeat, and so on blah blah," he waved his hand, knowing that the girls' got his drift. "I wasn't kidding when I told you I'd make sure you felt every single item in this house that could be used to bust your ass, and I hope by the end of this week, you're both going to be thinking very seriously about what the consequences will be if you ever pull a stunt like that again. So, lets get his over and done with. Em, you're with Sam, Claire, you're coming with me." The boys stood before Emily had time to react, but Dean could already tell she was angry at this news and he gave her a very pointed, "Don't even start with me, you earned this and we aren't playing favorites now or ever. Now march, or you'll be dealing with two whoopin's tonight and I won't go easy on you just because you're getting another one on Tuesday."
Emily shut her mouth angrily as Sam came to her side and began guiding her out with a firm hand on her back, and Dean approached Claire where she was, apparently planning to utilize the room for now. With one final glance back to her friend, Emily disappeared around the corner and took a deep breath, knowing that this wasn't going to be easy on any of them, but most especially on Claire.