July 13th - July 14th, 2006
We were still in Colorado. Dad had a motel room that he had been hanging onto for a while. It was a big deal for him to show us because it was covered with all of the research, he had collected about the demon we had been chasing for so long. He explained everything that he knew about it and where he thought it was going. He also told us that now that we had the colt, we would hopefully be able to kill it.
Dad sat behind a desk strew with research and the colt. "So, this is it. This is everything I know. Look, our whole lives, we been searching for this demon, right? Not a trace, just… nothing. Until about a year ago. For the first time, I picked up a trail."
Dean nodded. "And that's when you took off."
"Yeah. That's right. The demon must have come out of hiding, or hibernation," Dad said.
"All right, so what's this trail you found?" Dean asked.
"It starts in Arizona, then New Jersey, California. Houses burned down to the ground. It's going after families, just like it went after us," Dad explained.
"Families with infants?" Sam asked.
Dad nodded. "Yeah. The night of the kid's six-month birthday."
"I was six-months-old that night?" Sam asked.
"Exactly six-months," Dad said.
"So basically, this demon is going after these kids for some reason. The same way it came for me? So, Mom's death… Jessica. It's all because of me?" Sam asked.
"We don't know that, Sam," Dean said.
Sam furrowed his brow. "Oh, really? 'Cause I'd say, we're pretty damn sure Dean."
Dean was getting frustrated now. "For the last time, what happened to them was not your fault."
Sam raised his voice, "Right. It's not my fault, but it's my problem."
"No, it's not your problem, it's our problem!" Dean yelled.
Dad stood up. "Okay. That's enough."
Sam and Dean took a deep breath and were silent for a moment.
"So, why's he doing it. What does he want?" Sam asked.
"Look, I wish I had more answers, I do. I've always been one step behind it. Look, I've never gotten there in time to save…" Dad looked down, upset.
"All right, so how do we find it before it hits again?" Dean asked.
"There's signs. It took me a while to see the pattern, but it's there in the days before these fires, signs crop up in an area… cattle deaths, temperature fluctuations, electrical storms. And then I went back and checked… and—" Dad explained.
"These things happened in Lawrence," Dean said.
Dad nodded. "A week before your mother died. And in Palo Alto… before Jessica. And these signs, they're starting again."
"Where?" Sam asked.
"Salvation, Iowa," Dad said.
We set off for Iowa. I rode with Dad while Sam and Dean trailed behind in the Impala. We had been riding for a while, randomly making eye contact, but not saying anything to each other. I had so much to tell him, but I didn't want to get any of us in trouble, so I kept quiet, and so did he. It made for an awkward ride.
After a while, Dad looked over at me. "Your hair's gotten long."
I touched my hair. "Yeah." I smiled.
"Your brothers haven't told you to cut it?" Dad asked.
I looked down and sighed, "No."
"When we stop, we should do that," Dad said.
"Do we have to?" I asked, unhappy.
"I would like you to," Dad said, clearly not intending to let me get my way.
"But I like it the way it is," I said.
He nodded. "I know, baby, but you know the rules."
I sighed. "Yeah, shorter is safer."
"Why?" he asked as if we hadn't gone over this a million times before.
"It's not as easy for someone to grab on to. I know." I groaned.
We were silent for a moment.
"Uh, Dad? Can I tell you something?" I asked.
"Of course." He laughed.
"Promise you won't get mad?" I asked.
Dad looked over at me and furrowed his brow. "It depends on what you're gonna tell me."
I took a deep breath. "I've been going on hunts," I said quickly.
Dad didn't say anything for a moment, which made me nervous, then he hit his steering wheel. "Damn it, Dean."
"It's not his fault, he tells me not to, and I just go anyway. It's my fault, it's not Dean," I said.
"I knew this was gonna happen, you're just as stubborn as your brothers," Dad said, with a disappointed tone.
I sighed. "I want to go, though."
"Not when you're eleven, Maddison Renee," Dad snapped.
Uh-oh, he brought out the full name.
I sighed. "But Dad—"
"But Dad nothing," he snapped. "You need to do what you're told. and that means, when I'm not here, Dean is in charge." He looked over at me. "You hear me?"
"Yes, sir." I looked out my window and rested my head against it. "I'm gonna have to learn at some point," I mumbled under my breath.
"What was that?" Dad asked, annoyed.
"I'm gonna have to learn at some point!" I yelled. "You taught Dean how to shoot before he was my age."
Dad shook his head, angrily. "It was only a matter of time before you were gonna—"
Ring! Ring!
He answered his phone, "Caleb?" (…) "Damn it!" He hung up the phone and pulled off onto the side of the road.
Dad got out of his truck and Sam, and Dean quickly jumped out of the Impala as well.
Dad hit the side of his truck. "God damn it!"
"What is it?" Dean asked.
"Son of a bitch," Dad said, looking down.
"What is it?!" Dean yelled.
"I just got a call from Caleb." Dad sighed.
"Is he okay?" Dean asked.
"He's fine… Jim Murphy's dead," Dad said.
"Pastor Jim? How?" Sam asked.
"His throat was slashed. He bled out. Caleb said they found traces of sulfur at Jim's place," Dad explained.
"A demon," Dean said, "The demon?"
Dad shook his head. "I don't know. Could be he just got careless, he slipped up. Maybe the demon knows we're getting close."
"What do we do?" Dean asked.
"Now, we act like every second counts. There's two hospitals and a health center in this county. We split up, cover more ground. I want records. I want a list of every infant that's going to be six months old in the next week," Dad directed.
"Dad, that could be dozens of kids. How do we know which ones the right one?" Sam asked.
"We check 'em all that's how. You got any better ideas?" Dad asked.
"No, sir," Sam said.
Dad was about to get back into the truck when he paused and looked down sadly.
Dean called out, "Dad?"
Dad looked up. "Yeah. It's Jim. You know, I can't…" His face hardened. "This ends now. I'm ending it. I don't care what it takes."
Sam, Dean, and Dad went out to collect information on all the babies in town, while I was left in the motel by myself. Sam came back a lot sooner than I had expected, and he looked completely stressed out.
"What's wrong, Sammy?" I asked after he shut the door behind him.
"I wanted to take a break and go on a walk. I came back to see if you wanted to come," Sam said, still looking like something was wrong.
I stood up from the couch. "Yeah, I'll go with you."
Sam went for the door but then clutched his head in pain.
I ran over to him. "Are you having visions again?" I didn't need him to answer. "What is it this time?"
"I saw the demon. It killed a woman the same way it killed Mom and Jess. I think that family is here," Sam explained.
"Okay, then let's go look for her," I said.
Sam looked at me, confused. "You're not going to ask me any questions?"
"What are you talking about? I trust you, let's go," I said, gesturing to the door.
Sam shook his head. "I'm not talking about you believing me. Dean always acts like I'm some freak or monster, even though he doesn't say it. I see how he looks at me when I have a vision."
"I don't think Dean thinks you're a freak. I think he's just worried about you. I'm worried about you having these visions too, but it doesn't mean you're a freak or a bad person. You have only used them to find people who need our help." I gestured to the door. "So, let's go find this woman and her family."
Sam nodded and opened the door. We left the motel and searched around the town for a house that was similar to what Sam described.
We were walking through a park when Sam clutched his head in pain again. I turned to him and rubbed his back, trying to make him feel better. I figured asking him if he was okay or what was wrong was completely unhelpful. Then he looked up and stared at a house in front of us and turned his attention to a woman walking down the sidewalk with a stroller.
"What is it?" I asked.
"It's her." Sam grabbed my hand. "Come on."
We walked across the street to her as she was trying to close her umbrella.
"Hi. Here, let me hold that for you." Sam put his hand on her stroller handle so she could put her umbrella away. "You look like you don't need that anymore."
"Oh. Thanks." The woman smiled and tucked her umbrella under the stroller.
"She's gorgeous. Is she yours?" Sam asked, smiling down at the baby.
"Yeah." The woman smiled proudly.
"Oh, wow, hi!" Sam said excitedly to the baby and then looked back up at the woman. "Oh, sorry, I'm rude. I'm Sam, and this is Maddi. We just moved in up the block."
"Hi. I'm Monica. This is Rosie." She gestured to the baby.
"Rosie?" Sam smiled down at the baby. "Hi, Rosie."
"So, welcome to the neighborhood." Monica smiled.
"Thanks. She's such a good baby," Sam said.
Monica smiled proudly. "I know, I mean she—she never cries. She just stares at everybody. Sometimes she looks at you, and I swear it's—it's like she's reading your mind."
Sam nodded, taking that in for a moment. "What about you, Monica? Have you lived here long?"
"My husband and I, we bought our place just before Rosie was born," she explained.
"And how old's Rosie?" Sam asked.
"She's six months today. She's big, right? Growing like a weed." Monica looked down at her baby.
"Yeah." Sam sighed. "Monica…"
"Yeah?" Monica asked, concerned.
"Just uh, just take care of yourself, okay?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, you too, Sam. We'll see you around." Monica turned as a station wagon pulled into the driveway honking. "There's Daddy!" she told Rosie as she walked up the driveway.
We walked across the street and watched as Monica greeted her husband, and then Sam clutched his head again. "Ah!" Sam took a deep breath and recovered himself. "Come on, it's definitely them. Now we have to tell Dad and Dean."
"Are you gonna tell Dad about your visions, or are you just gonna make up some reason why you know it's them?" I asked as I followed Sam down the sidewalk.
"I'm gonna tell him the truth," Sam said.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked.
"It's the only way to convince Dad that they are the family we need to protect because we actually have proof," Sam said.
"Well… what if he doesn't believe you?" I asked.
"I have you and Dean to back me up," Sam said.
After Sam and I got back to the motel, Dad and Dean were already there. Dad wasn't too happy that I had left. They were about to go look for me until Sam and I walked in. Dad's annoyance with Sam for taking me with him, dissolved after Sam informed him of Monica and the vision he had.
"A vision," Dad said.
"Yes. I saw the demon burning a woman on the ceiling," Sam said, rubbing his forehead in pain.
"And you think this is going to happen to this woman you met because…?" Dad asked.
"Because these things happen exactly the way I see them," Sam explained.
Dean stood up from the bed and crossed the room. "It started out as nightmares. Then it started happening while he was awake."
Sam winced. "Yeah. It's like the closer I get to anything to do with the demon, the stronger the visions get."
"All right. When were you going to tell me about this?" Dad asked.
We all stared at Dad, entirely in disbelief that he would even ask that question.
"We didn't know what it meant," Dean said.
"All right, something like this starts happening to your brother, you pick up the phone, and you call me," Dad said.
Dean dumped his coffee in the sink and walked over to Dad. "Call you? Are you kidding me? Dad, I called you from Lawrence, all right? Sam called you when I was dying. I mean, getting you on the phone? I got a better chance of winning the lottery."
Dad nodded and sighed. "You're right. Although I'm not too crazy about this new tone of yours, you're right. I'm sorry."
"Look guys, visions or no visions, fact is, we know the demon is coming tonight. And this family's gonna go through the same hell we went through," Sam said.
"No, they're not. No one is, ever again," Dad said.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Sam answered his phone, "Hello?" (…) "Who is this?" (…) "Meg."
Dad, Dean, and I all stared at Sam, waiting to know what was happening, how she was alive, and why she would be calling.
"Last time I saw you. You fell out of a window," Sam said. (…) "Just your feelings? That was a seven-story drop." (…) He looked up at Dad. "My Dad? I don't know where my Dad is." (…) He hesitated and then handed the phone to Dad.
Dad took the phone. "This is John." (…) He sighed. "I'm here." (…) "Caleb?" (…) "You listen to me. He's got nothing to do with anything. You let him go." (…) "I don't know what you're talking about." (…) "Caleb. Caleb!" (…) "I'm gonna kill you, ya know that?"
Sam, Dean, and I exchanged looks, knowing something was wrong.
Dad was quiet for a moment, thinking. "Okay." (…) "I said okay, I'll bring you the colt." (…) "It's gonna take me about a day's drive to get there." (…) "That's impossible. I can't get there in time, and I can't just carry a gun on a plane." (…) He pulled his phone back and just stared at it.
He stood up and put his coat on, he explained that Meg demanded that he meet her in some warehouse in Lincoln, Nebraska, or more people he cared about were going to die. He also told us why he thought Meg was still alive.
"So, you think Meg is a demon?" Sam asked.
"Either that, or she's possessed by one." Dad shrugged. "It doesn't really matter."
"What do we do?" Dean asked.
"I'm going to Lincoln," Dad said.
"What?" Dean asked.
"It doesn't look like we have a choice. If I don't go, a lot of people die, our friends die," Dad said.
"Dad, the demon, is coming tonight. For Monica and her family. That gun is all we got, you can't just hand it over," Sam said.
"Who said anything about handing it over. Look, besides us and a coupla of vampires, no one's really seen the gun, no one knows what it looks like," Dad said.
"So, what, you're just going to pick up a ringer at a pawn shop?" Dean asked.
"Antique store," Dad said.
Dean furrowed his brow. "You're going to hand Meg a fake gun and hope she doesn't notice?"
"Look, as long as it's close, she shouldn't be able to tell the difference," Dad said.
"Yeah, but for how long? What happens when she figures it out?" Dean asked.
"I just— I just need to buy a few hours, that's all," Dad said.
"You mean for Dean and me. You want us to stay here and kill this demon by ourselves?" Sam asked.
Dad sighed and shook his head. "No Sam. I want to stop losing people we love. I want you to go to school, I want Maddi to have a normal childhood, I want Dean to have a home." Tears formed in his eyes. "I want— I want Mary alive. It's just— I just want this to be over."
Sam and Dean reluctantly agreed to let Dad go. Sam went with Dad to help him get the equipment and weapons ready to meet Meg while Dean and I went to an antique shop to get another colt. We met them on a muddy back road by a bridge to exchange the gun and say goodbye.
Dad and Sam were already standing outside of Dad's truck when we got out of the Impala.
"You get it?" Dad asked as we walked up to him.
Dean pulled a paper bag out of his pocket and handed it to Dad. He opened the bag and pulled the fake colt out of it.
"You know this is a trap, don't you? That's why Meg wants you to come alone," Dean said.
Dad nodded. "I can handle her. I got a whole arsenal loaded. Holy water, Mandaic, amulets—"
Dean sighed. "Dad…"
"What?" Dad asked.
"Promise me something," Dean said.
"What's that?" Dad asked.
"This thing goes south, just… get the hell out. Don't get yourself killed, all right? You're no good to us dead," Dean said.
"Same goes for you," Dad said and then thought for a moment. "All right, listen to me. They made the bullets special for this colt. There's only four of them left. Without them, this gun is useless. You make every shot count." He pulled the colt out of the back of his belt.
"Yes, sir." Sam nodded.
"Been waiting a long time for this fight. Now it's here I'm not gonna be in it. It's up to you boys now. It's your fight, you finish this. You finish what I started. Understand?" Dad handed Dean the colt.
Sam nodded. "We'll see you soon, Dad."
Dad smiled and put his hand on Sam's shoulder. "I'll see you later."
"Bye Dad," I said.
Dad looked at me. "Listen to your brothers, I don't want you involved."
I nodded. "Yes, sir."
Dad knelt in front of me. "Even if you think you can help. Just do as you're told. You understand me?"
"Yeah, I understand," I said.
Dad smiled and winked at me as he stood up. Then he hugged me before walking over to get into his truck.
"Later," Dean said.
Dad looked back at us one more time and smiled, then he climbed into his truck and drove away. We stood there watching until we couldn't see his truck anymore.
We made our way to Monica's house and watched to make sure that she and her family were safe. I was told that if anything happened, I had to stay in the car, and I reluctantly agreed.
"Maybe we could tell 'em it was a gas leak. Might get 'em out of the house for a few hours," Sam suggested.
"Yeah, and how many times has that actually worked for us?" Dean asked.
"Yeah." Sam thought for a moment. "We could always tell 'em the truth."
Sam and Dean looked at each other for a moment, considering the suggestion and then spoke in unison, "Nah!"
Sam sighed. "I know, I know. I just… with what's coming for these people…"
Dean nodded. "Sam, we only got one move, and you know it, all right? We gotta wait for that demon to show itself, and then we get it before it gets them."
We all watched the house for a while.
"I wonder how Dad's doing," Sam said.
Dean nodded. "I'd feel a lot better if we were there backing him up."
Sam sighed. "I'd feel a lot better if he were here backing us up."
Dean nodded and then turned back to the house.
Sam broke the silence again. "This is weird."
"What?" Dean asked.
"After all of these years, we're finally here." Sam shook his head. "It doesn't seem real."
"We just gotta keep our heads and do our job, like always," Dean said.
Sam nodded. "Yeah, but this isn't like always."
"True," Dean said, turning back to the house.
Sam sighed. "Dean… uh… I wanna thank you."
"For what?" Dean asked.
"For everything. You've always had my back, you know? Even when I couldn't count on anyone, I could always count on you. And uh… I don't know I just wanted to let you know. Just in case…" Sam said.
"Don't do that," I interjected.
"Yeah, are you kidding me?" Dean asked.
Sam looked back and forth at Dean and me. "What?"
"Don't say just in case something happens to you. I don't wanna hear that friggin' speech, man. Nobody's dying tonight. Not us, not that family, nobody. Except that demon. That evil son of a bitch ain't getting any older than tonight, you understand me?" Dean said, sternly.
Sam nodded reluctantly, and Dean went back to staring at the house.
"Hey, isn't Dad supposed to have called by now?" I asked, spotting the time.
Dean looked at the clock, nodded, and then picked up his phone and called Dad, (…) "Dad's not answering." He shook his head and then hung up.
"Maybe Meg was late." Sam shrugged. "Maybe cell reception's bad."
Dean shook his head. "Yeah, well—"
"Dean, wait… listen." Sam turned the radio up.
There was static coming and going. Almost immediately after Sam turned the radio up, the wind started to pick up. The lights down the street and in the house began flickering.
"It's coming," Sam said.
Sam and Dean jumped out of the car and ran toward the house. I watched from the car as Sam and Dean unlocked the front door and walked in.
Nothing happened for a few minutes until I heard a gunshot. At that point, it took everything in me to not run into the house, but I decided the boys would probably be safer without a distraction. Moments later, a light flashed in one of the rooms, and then flames exploded and shattered the window. A man came running out of the front door, and I jumped out of the car and ran over to him.
"Where are my brothers?!" I yelled as the entire house burst into flames.
The man turned to me, put his hands on my shoulders, and shook me. "Who are you, people? What have you done to my family?!"
"We're trying to help you!" I yelled.
The man turned as Monica, and my brothers ran out of the house. "You get away from my family!" He yelled as he let go of me and ran over to them, fists clenched.
Monica blocked him from charging Sam. "No! Charlie don't. They saved us."
Dean handed Monica her baby. "Thank you," she said as her husband pulled her and their baby into him.
We turned back to the burning house and watched the disaster, but then a dark silhouette appeared in a window on the top floor.
Sam started to rush back to the house. "It's still in there!"
Dean grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Sam. Sam, no!"
Sam tried to pull away from Dean. "Dean, let me go. It's still in there."
"No. It's burning to the ground, it's suicide!" Dean yelled.
"I don't care!" Sam yelled, still struggling.
"I do!" Dean yelled, pushing him back.
We watched as the demon's silhouette disappeared. Then we quickly made our way back to the motel before the police and firefighters showed up.
Sam and I sat on the beds and watched Dean pace as he called Dad for the tenth time.
"Come on, Dad, answer your phone damn it," Dean said, frustrated, "Somethings wrong." He hung up.
I watched Dean anxiously.
Dean made eye contact with me and then looked past me to Sam. "You hear me? Somethings wrong."
Sam was staring at the floor. "If you had just let me go in there, I could'a ended all this."
Dean walked over to Sam. "Sam, the only thing you would have ended was your life."
Sam looked up. "You don't know that," he snapped.
Dean raised his eyebrows. "So, what, you're just willing to sacrifice yourself, is that it?"
Sam stood up. "Yeah. Yeah, you're damn right I am."
Dean shook his head. "Well, that's not going to happen, not as long as I'm around."
"What the hell are you talking about, Dean? We've been searching for this demon our whole lives. It's the only thing we've ever cared about," Sam said.
Dean sighed. "Sam, I wanna waste it. I do. Okay? But it's not worth dying over."
"What?" Sam asked.
"I mean it. If hunting this demon means getting yourself killed, then I hope we never find the damn thing," Dean said.
"That thing killed Jess! That thing killed Mom!" Sam yelled.
Dean pointed at Sam. "You said yourself once, that no matter what we do, they're gone, and they're never coming back."
Sam shoved Dean against the wall, tugging at his shirt collar. I stood up and just watched, not knowing what to do.
"Don't you say that, not you! Not after all this, don't you say that!" Sam yelled.
"Sam, look. The four of us… that's all we have… and it's all I have. Sometimes I feel like I'm barely holding it together, man… and without you, Maddi or Dad…" Dean said calmly.
Sam let go of Dean. "Dad." He turned away and rubbed his face.
Dean took a deep breath.
"He should have called by now. Try him again," Sam said with tears in his eyes.
Dean dialed Dad's number and raised the phone to his ear, (…) after a moment, He looked over at us with fear in his eyes. "Where is he?"
