Seven Devils

Chapter 19 / The Road Goes Ever On

"Crouched on the altar-steps, a grisly band

Of women slumbers — not like women they,

But Gorgons rather; nay, that word is weak,

Nor may I match the Gorgons' shape with theirs!

Such have I seen in painted semblance erst—

Winged Harpies, snatching food from Phineus' board,—

But these are wingless, black, and all their shape

The eye's abomination to behold."

— Aeschylus, "The Furies"

Oh, God, oh God, oh God Marlene was repeating in her head as she all but glided down the stairs. Never in her entire life had she felt so freaking stupid. Of course, it had to be three innocent girls living with their windowed pastor father in a little cottage up the hill — it's creepy shit 101. The truth had been right there the entire time: three sisters whose names just happened to be almost synonymous to three goddesses of vengeance with snakes for hair and taste for blood of the sinners.

Marley knew she had to kill Sam. She wished she didn't have to, but the voice in the back of her head wasn't lying — it was either her or him, and Marlene wasn't ready to die just yet. Perhaps, she wouldn't even need to kill him. If she could just reason with him —

No. God, what was she thinking? It wasn't the voice in the back of her head, it was Alex. Alecto — the goddess of wrath, she was the one driving Marley mad. But why? Yes, she had thought about killing her father once or twice in her twenty four years, a bit more in the past few months, probably, but she'd never actually done it.

Go figure.

Sam hadn't been in his room. Or in the bathroom, or in the kitchen, or anywhere in that blasted house of horrors. Where the hell was he? Marlene would kill h — nope, no she wouldn't. She ran out to the porch that was lit by a single struggling lantern and saw a tall, dark silhouette by the withered field. It could easily be a scarecrow but for the voluminous hair.

Marlene stormed up to him, "Sam, we gotta leave before I kill you. I know that didn't at all sound reasonable, but you have to trust me. Just this once." When Sam didn't make a single move to turn around, she frowned, a foreboding chill running down her spine, "Sam, are listening to me? I'm saying it's the sisters. Alex, Tiffany, Meghan — they're the Furies and they know we know. It's starting, Sam, we gotta go before we kill each — ," she was cut off by the barrel of the gun being pointed in her face, "— other."

"I'm sorry, Marlene," Sam told her, his eyes resolute, "But there's no other way."

Marley eyed the gun, then looked up at him, "I'm sure there're lots of ways," she said very carefully, "You could put the gun down and have a talk with me — that's one of them."

"No...No, you were right — I am a monster. And this — this is my chance to repent. To fix it," Sam was saying frantically, "You're an abomination, Marlene. You — you and your father, you started all of it. And for that, you must die." Marlene stumbled back, "Don't move!" Sam yelled.

She raised her hands in the air, "A-alright, alright! See? I'm not moving," Marley let out a measured breath, her eyes glued to the gun, "Sam, this isn't you talking — it's the venom. Remember? The snake bite, the murders, the madness? That's the madness part."

"And how do I know you're not lying, huh? You're so good at it," Sam snarled.

The irony of this situation didn't escape Marlene. This entire trip she'd been trying to rile him up and now that she'd succeeded — sort of — and all the anger he'd been suppressing was finally beginning to resurface, she wished Sam was still his silent, brooding self.

"Because you're aiming a gun at my head," Marley replied plainly, "Look, I know I'm a devious little abomination that had you fooled. But — " she broke off when Sam's face darkened at her words, "— but you do trust yourself, don't you? You feel that something's wrong, that your mind is not your own?"

Sam frowned, his hand wavering a little. Yes, Marley thought, fight it. "I know you're angry, Sam. You have every right to be. I...I'm so, so sorry for lying and for everything my father did. To you, to the millions of people who're very possibly going to die because he wanted to save me," her vision became blurred from the veil of tears that were clouding her eyes, "You're right, I'm a monster. You're a monster — but we didn't choose it. We had no control over the cards we were dealt. The game, though? The game is ours to play, Sam. And how we decide to play it — that's what matters." His face was contorted with tormenting indecision, "If you just listen to me, we can beat this. Together," Marlene implored, "Fight it, Sam."

Sam grimaced from pain, his hand trembling violently. In the silver light of the moon, Marley could see a shimmer of sweat on his forehead — it took everything in him to fight the venom. Sam let out an animalistic growl, mouth curling into a snarl, and dropped the hand. His body instantly went slack.

"Sam?" Marlene called tentatively. His head was bowed in shame.

After a beat of silent, Sam looked up at her, eyes filled with remorse, "Marlene, I..."

"Alright, you're good," she breathed with relief, "We can apologise and sing odes to each other when we're out of this Sleepy Hollow. Do you still have the keys to the pastor's car?" Sam nodded, still disoriented from the violent, venom-induced daze, "Give them to me."

He pulled the car keys out of his jacket and tossed them to Marlene.

𖤐𖤐𖤐𖤐𖤐𖤐

"Where are you driving?" Sam asked from the passenger seat.

Marley glanced in the rear-view mirror to make sure Apollo wasn't giving the sisters a lift, "Away from the piggy farm. Are you feeling better?"

"I don't know..."

"Do you still want to kill me?" Sam gave her a side-eye, "What? I, for one, would still very much like to do something violent with you. Can I slap you?"

He sucked in an annoyed breath, "Marlene — "

"We have to stay honest with each other, Sam," Marley glanced over at him, "That's the only way to know if things get bad."

"No, I don't want to kill you," Sam answered demonstratively, "But how do we kill them?"

"They're vulnerable to brass. Something about their weapon being used against them," Marley said, "And, uh...well. It kind of has to be "soaked in the nectar of pain"?" she quoted with a healthy dose of scepticism, "Whatever that means."

Sam's brows twitched towards each other. The nectar of pain...God, his neck was itching again — he stilled, eyes widening. Of course, "It's the venom," Sam turned to Marlene, "The venom is the nectar of pain."

Marley felt a familiar tingle in the skin of her neck, "What a poetic way to put it," she seethed and pressed on the gas. She felt like Captain Hook being constantly reminded that his time was running out by an annoying crocodile. "Where do we even get their venom?"

"The coroner's," Sam told her. He seemed to have regained his strength, fueled by the break in the case, "The doc keeps all the samples in the lab. We get inside, we grab the vials, we get out."

Marlene threw him a scandalised look, "Are you suggesting we pull a heist, Winchester?"

"If that's what you want to call it," Sam turned away to his window.

"I do," she assured him, ignoring all the sarcasm, "Have to say, though, I've imagined my first heist being somewhere in Monte-Carlo. Stealing a Faberge egg from a sheikh."

Sam hated to indulge in this, but he couldn't help but ask, "Why would he bring a Faberge egg with him to Monte-Carlo?"

"Because he's rich. So I seduce the sheikh and while he's telling me all about his horses, you sneak in, steal the egg and disappear in the dead of night."

"And what are you gonna do?"

"Oh, I stay with the sheikh," Marlene replied like it was plain as day, "He's indecently wealthy, I decide to infiltrate his harem. Stakes are very high, his wives are jealous. Some of them plot to poison me. But I play to win," she points out matter-of-factly, "I give him a son, now I'm the favoured wife. He buys me a yacht. Life's good."

Sam frowned, "What about the heist?"

"What heist?" Marley asked innocently.

He couldn't tell annoyance from the desire to kill anymore.

𖤐𖤐𖤐𖤐𖤐𖤐

"This is a very bad idea," Marley whispered. She parked the car almost a block away from the morgue and turned off the headlights for complete obscurity.

Sam eyed the entrance — there was no one at the door, "Come on," he said to Marlene and got out of the car. Murkiness of the night gave them the perfect cover to stay unnoticed, which wasn't even necessary, really — the streets of Caney were peacefully deserted.

"Do you know how to — " Sam already crouched down to pick the lock, "— of course you do," Marley muttered. She swept her eyes over the street to make sure no one was around to see a 6 feet tall giant breaking into the morgue in the middle of the night.

Sam opened the door carefully to avoid making any noise as though it could somehow wake up the dead. The place felt even more unsettling in the dark, like an entrance to the underworld where Charon was waiting in his boat to take you to the other side. This place didn't belong to the living.

"Do you know where the samples are?" Marlene asked.

"They should be in the lab," Sam switched on the flashlight and turned to her, "Stay here, watch the door. I'm gonna be back."

"But — " he already turned the corner, leaving Marley alone in the hall, surrounded by dead people. She heaved out a resigned sigh, "You've gotta be kidding me."

What was she going to do? Wait there until the venom had completely kicked in and she killed Sam? At least, they wouldn't have to take his body anywhere. It was a pretty convenient place to die.

"Did you find it yet?" Marley yelled, her voice echoing down the hallway.

"Not yet," Sam replied significantly less loudly, "It was supposed to be in the lab."

Marlene frowned, "And now it isn't?" she thought she saw blue and red lights through the little window in the door. Her suspicions were confirmed when the sound of wet tires came from the street, accompanied by the unmistakable roar of an engine. Please don't stop, please don't stop, please don't stop —

The roar faded out right outside of the coroner's office. "Shit," Marley cursed and looked around frantically — where would she hide? She tried the study, but it was locked, so was the freaking bathroom. Who locked a bathroom? It's not like any of those guys were going to take a dump and forget to flush after.

Marlene could hear the footsteps at the door — there was no time to waste. And so she pelted down the hall and stormed into the laboratory, shutting the door behind her. Sam turned around, hands filled with a pair of vials, "Hey, I think I — " Marlene pressed a hand to his mouth and pushed him behind a tall storage cabinet.

"Shh..." she jerked her head to the hall. The entrance door creaked open and someone walked inside. With bated breath, Marley and Sam listened closely to the officer's steps, his flashlight getting closer and closer to the lab door. He checked the other doors, then stopped and peered inside the lab window — Marlene and Sam stilled, staring at each other in alarm. Five seconds...ten...twenty...

The flashlight disappeared. And a moment later, the officer's footsteps could be heard retreating down the hallway, towards the exit. Only when the door closed behind him, did Marley finally breath and also realise that her hand was still covering Sam's mouth. She became awfully aware of it in that moment, and of the fact that her body was so close to his, she could feel his heartbeat. Which meant that he could also feel hers —

"Sorry," Marlene all but jumped away, hoping that her red face would go unnoticed, "So, uh, are those?..." she pointed at the vials.

Sam, still slightly abashed from what had happened, nodded, "Charlie and Kayleigh's samples," he pursed his lips, showing a pair of dimples.

"Alright, good. Now we just need to find...brass," as soon as she said it, Marley realised that she could name very few object made of it, neither of which were eligible to be used as a weapon. By the look on Sam's face, he, too, was a little stumped.

But then his eyes brightened with an epiphany, "Bullets. They got brass casing," he took out his gun and put it on the autopsy table, "If we cover them in venom..."

"...one shot to the head and the bitches are dead," Marley finished.

Talk about the taste of your own medicine.

𖤐𖤐𖤐𖤐𖤐𖤐

"Are we sure this is gonna work?" Marlene asked when they were on their way back to the pastor's house. This time, Sam was driving and she was coming up with all the ways this entire plan could go south, "What if killing them doesn't stop the venom from spreading?"

"Then...we die," Sam said casually. Marley noticed that he was scratching his neck. He had been a little jittery ever since they left the coroner's, "Did you load your gun?"

"Y-yeah. I think so."

"And do you remember how to shoot it?" Sam asked, referring to the five-minute master class he had given in the morgue. It was like preparing for a thesis discussion right before you go in. Not helpful at all but kind of reassuring.

"Uh-huh," she mumbled.

Sam gripped the wheel tighter, feeling a wave of drowsiness wash over him. His head felt light, too light, the road ahead twisting into a spiral. What was happening? Sam shook his head to fight it. His heart was thumping in his ears, temples pulsing. You can't trust her.

Marlene eyed him with worry — he was shuffling in his seat and constantly stretching his neck, "Sam?" she frowned when he didn't reply, "Hey — "

"I'm fine, Marlene," he greeted out.

"Fight it. We're almost at the finish li — Hey!" Marlene yelled when three figures appeared in the middle of the road, "Sam, stop!" Despite her frantic pleas, Sam stayed frozen, just staring blankly at the road. Marlene darted forward and gripped the wheel, turning it all the way to the left to avoid collision. The rubber shrieked against the dry asphalt, and the car went off the road, heading straight for a tree.

Smoke, broken glass — Marley couldn't see anything through it. Her head was pounding with pain, blood dripping from her forehead. She turned to Sam, and saw him looking around in shock as though he had been out the entire time before the crash. When he noticed the blood on Marlene's face, his eyes widened, "Are you okay?"

She unfastened the seatbelt and winched. God, every muscle in her body was aching, "All good," Marley whimpered and all but hauled herself out of the car, "Oh, God...Sam, you got the gun?"

She heard him reload it, "Yeah. You good to walk?"

"I'm not sure I'm good to stand," It seemed like she'd strained her ankle, "Maybe if we pretend we're dead, they'll skedaddle back to the underworld?" She wondered hopefully, looking at the three wraiths patiently waiting for them.

Sam and Marlene walked back to the road and stopped, facing the three sisters. None of them were smiling anymore — stone-faced, they stood in a triangular formation, emeralds gleaming in the dark. It was true what they said — appearances could indeed be deceiving.

"At last, you've come," Alecto spoke, her voice soothing. Like a hiss.

"We were growing weary," Tisiphone added.

"Death awaits no one," said the youngest one.

"Why are you here?"

Alecto flashed her cunning eyes to Sam, "Because of you," she looked at Marlene, "And her. You can't imagine how long we've been waiting for this moment. The likes of you have escaped our punishment for thousands of years. And now here we are."

"The girl with the angel blood," Tisiphone derided.

Megaera tilted her head, "The boy who freed the Devil."

"The natural order of things has been disturbed. And those responsible must be punished," Alecto stepped forward and the shining bracelet that was curled around her wrist unwinded itself into a brass whip in her hand. Like a snake... "We simply couldn't stay away."

"We needed to right the wrongs," Tisiphone said, taking hold of her own serpent.

Megaera joined her sisters, "It's what we do."

"That's why you killed innocent people?" Sam spat.

Alecto cut him a glare, "They weren't innocent! They killed their elders!"

"Because you drove them to it," said Marlene.

"The intention was already there. We knew their hearts and they spoke violence," Tisiphone replied, ever the reasonable one.

Megaera nodded, "They got what they deserved."

Alecto gripped the scourge tighter, "And so will you." The sisters advanced on them, the brass serpent-whips glimmering in the shadows.

Marlene and Sam drew their guns and started shooting at the slowly approaching figures. Marley couldn't even tell where she was aiming or if she was aiming at all — the adrenalin pumping through her body made it impossible to concentrate. She could only pull the trigger again and again, hoping that one of the bullets would miraculously meet its aim.

Sam was more successful, though, and managed to hit the youngest one in the arm. Megaera let out a piercing shriek, her eyes glowing bright green. She swung the whip with a ferocious snarl on her doll-like face, but Sam had seen it coming and darted to the left, dodging the blow.

"Poisoned bullets," Alecto purred, unbothered by the relentless attacks, "How very inventive." Sam noticed something strange on her left arm — a bloody gash. He hadn't shot her, had he?

Marlene kept on blasting at Tisiphone, but the girl masterfully evaded every bullet, blocking some of them with a precise swipe of her scourge. She was getting closer and closer to Marley, face the picture of quiete rage. Concentrate, Marlene told herself when Tisiphone came close enough to take good aim at her head. She bated her breath, gripped the gun with both hands, squinted her eyes —

— and Tisiphone's scourge wrapped itself around the barrel. The goddess snatched the gun out of Marley's's grip, leaving her weaponless. To the mercy of devine retribution. It came quicker than she'd expected, which made it all the more sweet for Tisiphone when the scourge slithered around Marlene's neck like an anaconda.

Sam must've heard the suffocating gasps and whipped his head to see her fighting against the serpents's deadly hold. He pointed the gun at Tisiphone, but before Sam could pull the trigger, it was swung out of his hands by Alecto. He didn't even have the time to retaliate — next thing Sam knew, his hands were being tied behind his back by Megaera's scourge. She tugged on it harshly, tightening the knot. Sam hissed and fell to his knees. He turned to Marlene who was writhing on the ground, scratching at the whip around her neck. "Let her go," Sam seethed, glaring at Alecto who was standing before him.

"Let her go?" she feigned surprise, "But she's going to die. Isn't that what you wanted?"

Sam fought against the restraints until it suddenly struck him. An abomination. It was what he wanted. She can't be trusted.

Marlene saw the shift in Sam's eyes and tried to yell, but only a horse croak came out. Tisiphone tugged on the scourge, and Marley grimaced with a silent cry.

Alecto pulled out an old, rusty-looking knife from her blue cardigan and rolled it between her fingers. She brought the blade to Sam's face — it was dark yellow, bordering on red. Brass, "Perhaps..." Alecto traced it along his cheekbone and down his chin. She tipped it up, making Sam meet her cunning, reptilian eyes, "...you would like to do the honours?"

Tisiphone jerked Marlene up and held her on a tight leash as an unwilling offering. Marley couldn't make a sound — she could barely breathe, her eyes doing all the talking. She implored Sam to look at her, to hear the pleas to fight the compulsion, to fight the anger, but he was staring at the knife in Alecto's hand. And then he nodded.

With a gesture from her older sister, Megaera freed Sam's hands. Slowly, he rose to his feet, head still bowed, and reached for the knife. Marlene wished she could see his face — why wasn't he looking at her? Was he sorry? She doubted it. The venom left no room for doubt.

"Do it, Sam," Alecto whispered.

"All will be absolved."

"Repent."

Sam curled his fingers around the jagged handle and turned to face Marlene. He expected her eyes to be filled with rage, but was surprised to meet cold resignation. Her jaws were set tightly, mouth an unwavering line. Sam frowned.

"Kill her," Alecto hissed in his year.

He glanced at the knife, then at Marlene, who was staring at him with a strange resolution. It almost seemed like she was ready to meet her death. Where would she go if she died? None of them knew. From what she'd told him, it could give Hell a run for its money.

"She's a monster, Sam," Tisiphone said, noticing his hesitation.

"Yes," Sam gripped the handle tighter, "And so am I," he growled and sliced his palm with the brass blade, coating it with his blood. Before the sisters knew what he was doing, Sam turned around and thrust the knife under Alecto's chin, piercing her head.

The three sisters let out an ear-splitting cry, their faces painted with horror. A bright green light shot out of Alecto's eyes and mouth. and both Sam and Marlene turned away from the blinding explosion. The scourge around Marley's neck limped, and she jumped away right when the Furies' bodies caught emerald flames. And with a final tormenting screech, all of them turned to dust.

Marley stared at the three piles of ashes, open-mouthed. Her neck was still hurting from where a brass whip had been curled, squeezing the living shit out of her. She looked at Sam, "How did you know it would work?"

The dropped the bloodied knife and answered after a moment of silence, "I didn't."

𖤐𖤐𖤐𖤐𖤐𖤐

Amid this entire chaos, there seemed to be some good news, after all — Rory-the-mechanic had finished the car, and they were good to get the hell out of that blasted town. Sam took the wheel since Marlene's leg was still a mess — she was pretty sure she'd have a limp forever.

The car ride was silent again, but Marley attributed it solely to the fact that she could barely talk after having been strangled with a whip. Why did everyone always go for her neck? There were other perfectly vulnerable parts of her body. It was getting kind of old, to be honest. The silence wasn't unsettling anymore, though. There was no animosity or tension in the air — it felt peaceful, like an unspoken reconciliation.

"I've been meaning to say," Marley croaked out. Sam glanced over at her, "Thanks for not killing me."

He didn't say anything for some time, face thoughtful, "Did you really think I would?"

"A little," she confessed, "I kind of had it coming, though, didn't I? For trying to awake the beast." Sam shook his head with a small smile. Marley watched his from the corner of her eye, "Hey, I — uh, I'm sorry. For what I said to you." Sam turned to her with a frown, "About Lucifer?"

He looked away, "I'm sorry, too. I was kind of...being an asshole."

"You could say that," Marley muttered ruefully.

"I do trust you, Marlene," Sam told her, "But — I need time. To process everything and..."

She nodded, "Of course, I get it. You don't feel the burning urge to kill me anymore, though, do you?"

"No," Sam chuckled, "I'm feeling — actually, I'm feeling pretty good," he said, surprised to realise that it was actually true. Well, Marlene thought, perhaps, she hadn't almost died for nothing.

A ringtone broke the soothing quiet that had settled over between them. Sam looked at Marley, but she just shrugged. He took the phone out of his pocket and spoke wearily, "Yes?" When the other person replied, Sam's face completely changed, "Dean? Yeah...We're in Kansas. Yes, I'm with Marlene," he glanced at her, "Alright. We'll meet you there."

"What is it?" Marley asked.

Sam hung up the phone, "It's Dean. He wants to meet."

𖤐𖤐𖤐𖤐𖤐𖤐

Dean stood leaning against the Impala, eyes glued to the road when finally, a bumpy old Chevrolet pulled up. He could see Sam's enormous head at the steering wheel, and in the passenger seat was Marlene, looking ridiculously tiny next to his brother.

She squinted her eyes and saw a figure standing by the ancient piece of metal. Seeing Dean filled Marley with panic. She knew she'd have to tell him the truth at some point, in the very near future, and the thought gave her crippling anxiety. It only grew when Sam stopped the car and got out — Marlene'd decided to stay behind to give them some brotherly time to reunite.

Dean and Sam met half-way and just stood there for a moment, both too stubborn to start talking. Marley saw Dean reach into his pocket. He pulled out a knife — the knife, the one they'd killed Ruby with, and handed it to Sam. They exchanged some words, and Sam smiled. Oh, thank God, Marlene thought.

"Hey, Marlene!" Dean yelled. She almost jumped in her seat from shock. Was he calling for her? Thoroughly mystified, Marley got out of the car and trudged up to the brothers. Dean didn't miss the limp in her step, "Let me guess, I should see the other guy?" he looked between her and Sam.

Sam huffed out a small, enigmatic laugh, "It's, uh, a long story."

"I'd rather forget these three days ever happened," Marley said.

Dean let out a heavy sigh, "Couldn't agree more."

"So, what do we do now?" Sam asked.

Dean looked at him, then at Marlene. There was something strange in his eyes, a warmth that hadn't been there before, "We make our own future."

Sam nodded, staring at the winding road ahead, "Guess we have no choice."

hey guys!

So that marks the end of Sammy and Marley's little adventure. What did you think about it?

Thank you for all your comments!

I've also got a bit of an announcement, sort of.

After the last episode, I feel like I need to take a little hiatus, just to come to grips with the lot of it (those who've seen it, will know what I'm talking about).

So I'll see you in a week or two!

xxx, marie