It wasn't often that the guys encountered a demon that was actually brazen enough to spout out informationâ€"whether it was false or notâ€"about the boys. Usually, they performed the exorcisms and went on their merry way.

It was an entirely different matter when they received word on a demon that claimed to have information on one of the boys; coming so close on the heels of the nursery fires, it couldn't be a coincidence that this demon was hanging around town.

Bill's friend, Joshua, had caught the demon prowling around his shop, and had quickly subdued him. That was when the demon had started manically rambling about something to do with Sam, and the plans he had for the precocious eight-year-old.

"What do you think this demon knows?" Caleb whispered to Jim, as they walked in behind Bill into Joshua's weapons and ammunition shop.

"I don't know," Jim said. "It might be a trick. Demons aren't exactly known for their honesty."

"Yeah," Caleb said, as he fingered the smooth handle of his hunting blade. "Or it could be telling the truth."

That's why they had to check it out. Any lead that concerned one of the boys, they had to check out to make sure it wouldn't pose any threat to Sam or Dean.

The demon had been bound inside a protective Devil's Trap circle, rendering the demon incapable of making any move against the hunters who had captured it. It was tied to a straight wooden chair, with Joshua keeping an eye on it until the guys arrived.

"Found this bitch creeping around here," Joshua said, as he looked up when his friends entered the room. "I was about to exorcise, usual ritual, but then she started talking about those two boys that you have," he said, looking at Jim and Caleb, "and I figured I better hold onto her."

"Well, it's appreciated," Caleb said, shaking his hand. "Thank you."

"You bet."

Joshua left soon after that, not wanting to intrude on the private interrogation session that had become so personal in a matter of only minutes.

Stepping toward the trap, but careful not to step over the line, Caleb turned and addressed the demon that was riding a twenty-something body. Feeling his heart swell with pity for the girl who was trapped inside her own body, Caleb wanted to get the interrogation session over with quickly in order to free the girl from her own prison. Whenever he could, he avoided killing the victim. Not unless it was absolutely necessary, and when it was a life or death situation, did he kill someone human. It was a personal, moral code that he tried his best to hold onto.

"What do you know about Sam?" Caleb asked, not bothering to beat around the bush, as he leaned as close as he could to the demon without actually stepping over the line.

"You didn't ask very nice," the demon smiled.

Caleb nodded, smiling harshly. "Bitch, what do you know about Sam?"

"Well, well," she said, tsking in fake disapproval. "Do you kiss your wife with that mouth? Oh," she smiled sickly. "I forgot...you don't."

"You think this is a game!" Caleb yelled, as he stepped over the line. "You tell me right now what you know," he said, as he gripped the girl's jaw with his hand and poured some holy water down her throat. "Or so help me, this will be a cakewalk compared to what will happen to you!"

The holy water wouldn't hurt the innocent girl trapped inside, but would sure as hell hurt the demon taking over her body for itself.

"You can go to hell!" the demon yelled, spitting the water back at Caleb's face.

"Wrong answer."

Picking up the small salt bag he had brought with them, he took a handful of it and shoved it into the demon's mouth. The demon coughed, sputtering, as it tried to spit out the toxic combination of the water and salt. It had to be horribly painful from what he had heard, and he was hoping it would get it talking.

"We can do this all night, but you're still not getting a word out of me!"

"We'll see."

Using his last resort, the exorcism ritual that he had memorized long ago, he started reading, hoping it would entice the demon to start talking. If it didn't, at least the poor girl would have her life back, if the demon started talking, they would perhaps get some answers.

"Wait! Wait!" she yelled, when Caleb was halfway through the ritual. "I'll talk," she gasped , even though she eyed him like she wanted to see him fry on a spit. "I'll talk," she panted.

"Good," Caleb said roughly. "Tell me what you know. Now!"

"I don't know a lot," she said. "I swear, but what I do know, came from my father."

"Your father?"

"Yes. He doesn't trust a lot of us, thinks that we have to earn it or something," she said, giving a mirthless laugh, "but all he would tell me was that he had plans for Sam."

"Plans?" Caleb demanded. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know."

Plans?

What could that possibly mean unless the demon was lying? What plans could a demon have for an eight-year-old child?

Shaking his head, he resumed the exorcism ritual, intent on freeing the poor girl from the poison that had infiltrated her body.

"What are you doing!" She shrieked. "I told you everything I know!"

"I don't care," Caleb said, through gritted teeth. "You can burn in hell."

Once the ritual was finished and the girl had been taken to a local hospital to recover, Caleb and Jim finally had a chance to consider everything that the demon had said.

"What do you think she means?" Caleb asked, as they returned to Bill and Ellen's.

"I don't know. We don't know if she's lying, if the demon she was close to, was lying. We don't know," Jim said, as he scrubbed a hand over his face.

"I don't know. The signs popping up all over here, this bitch saying those things? It's too closely related to be coincidental."

"Well, what do we do from here?"

"I don't know, see if we can find out more."

"Alright. What do we tell the boys?"

"I don't want to mention this to Sam. I'll think of something to tell Dean," Caleb said. "Even though I dread it."

"Okay. Somehow or another, we'll figure out the truth."

"I hope so."

And in the coming weeks, they would find much more than what they were bargaining for. In the endless unpredictability of their lives, one thing they could always rely on was the steadfast love they showered one another with. Caleb could not account for what would happen if the demon made a move against them, but what he could guarantee was that he and Jim would be there, ready to go to battle for Sam and Dean. It was just one perk of their beautiful bond as a family unit.

AN:

Prepare yourselves.