Cultorture Ch 3

Signs

Mac waited for the two hunters in front of the motel. Darla had fallen asleep, but not without giving Mac a headache. She was not alone; other girls had been tortured and raped. Darla managed to escape because she pretended to be unconscious after being raped repeatedly and managed to steal the key to the cell from one of the bastards. She managed to escape, but the key did not match the other cells. So Mac had to find out that her sister and 5 other girls were still stuck there.

Caleb got out and the worry lines on Mac's face made him pause.

"What's the matter, dad? Are you okay? "

Dean walked around the car and opened the trunk to get the bags out, but he was following the conversation closely.

"Depending on the circumstances, yes, come in first. You've got everything?"

"Of course Dad, we didn't miss any point of your list."

Caleb gave Dean a crooked grin, who only rolled his eyes. Could Damien finally grow up?

Darla was still sleeping, Mac told everything he knew so far.

"How are we supposed to find the place where the others are being held, we only know where we found Darla."

The phone rang and Dean answered it.

"Yes?"

"Dean, Bobby here."

"Bobby. Do you have something?"

"Listen, boy, it took me a while. The signs you sent me are not exactly common. They are runes for summoning demons. This requires a ritual for which one does not need virgins, on the contrary, it has to be raped women. They are dedicated to the demon Astnaroth with the ritual. If seven women were consecrated to him, the sacrifice takes place. It doesn't say exactly what that means. The whole thing only works with a certain star constellation, which is only correct for two days."

"Dean, what does Bobby say?" Mackland asked eagerly.

Mac had the dull feeling that time was pressing.

"Is that Mac in the background? Give him the damn phone."

Dean handed the phone over and helped Caleb unpack the things and told Caleb what Bobby had said.

"I'll start up the computer. We need to find out where Darla was held. We need a map of the area."

"If the runt were here now, we would probably already have one. Do you even know how to use that thing?"

"Of course I know, but maybe Grandpa Reaves wants to show me?"

"Oh shut up, your old man jokes are getting boring."

Mac hung up and sighed as he thought. Caleb looked thoughtfully at Darla, who was sleeping in bed.

"Deuce, didn't Bobby say you need seven consecrated girls? They only have six now. They need Darla back or need to find another girl and do the whole prep ritual from the beginning. What would you do?"

"Apart from the fact that I am not a rapist nor a demon worshiper, I would probably look for Darla, otherwise the time window for the summoning will be too narrow to find a new one."

Caleb nodded in agreement.

"Guys, you can't seriously consider using her as bait."

"Dad, I'm not saying we're giving her back to them, if I get near enough on one of the guys I could get a reading from him and we'll know where they are."

"Caleb, I think it's too risky. We do not yet know whether it is actually only humans we are dealing with."

"And how should we find the others in time?"

A groan from Darla interrupted all discussions. Mac immediately rushed to his patient and took her vital signs, touching the bracelet Darla was wearing, and winced in pain.

"Dad! What's wrong?"

Caleb was right at the doctor's side to keep him from falling. With a frown, he looked at him, then at Darla, and drew the right conclusion. He grabbed Darla's wrist and took a closer look at the bracelet. It was a tag with a name on it, like the ones couples often wore, but it said "Marcy". He turned it off and pulled Mac with him to the other bed.

"Deuce, can you check on her? I take care of Mac. He could see something through the bracelet. Maybe that will help us."

Dean put a reassuring hand on Darla's forearm, which made her wince. The young hunter immediately noticed his mistake and let go.

"Sorry, it's all right, just me, Dean. How are you?"

Darla started to get up and lean against the headboard. She was glad that good people had found her and looked after her. She tried to calm down and said to herself several times

this is Dean, he won't harm me, just Dean.

Her heartbeat slowly calmed down and she could no longer feel it beating up to her throat. After a few moments, she wondered why he was looking at her so waiting until she realized he had asked her something.

"Sorry, what did you ask?"

"Are you feeling better?"

"Oh,... yes, I think so ..."

Dean smiled at her. It was a warm friendly smile, but then he suddenly looked worried over at Doc Ames and Caleb who seemed to be meditating somehow on the other bed. Darla frowned.

"What are they doing?"

"Mac is trying to find out where the other girls are with your bracelet. Is Marcy your sister?"

Darla nodded and touched her bare wrist at the mention of the bracelet.

"Can you remember anything? Anything striking in the area? Every little detail could help to find the others."

"I don't know, it was a detached house, quite far out. There was only one dirt road next to the forest that I took. There was a mechanical squeak, but it was dark, I don't know what it was."

Caleb looked up when Mac opened his eyes and took a deep breath. The two looked intensely into their eyes. When Caleb was sure that his father was okay, he sat on the chair by the bed and waited for Mac to calm down.

"There's a wind turbine outside. I could see it from the window. That should be able to limit the selection."

*** SPN *** BH AU ***

Mac had convinced Darla to go to the hospital and have a gynecologist check her out. He had assured her that he would not leave her alone if she did not want to. He hoped Dean and Caleb wouldn't dare to go in alone before they told him where they were, but he had a bad feeling about the whole case.

Another hour later Dean and Caleb were sitting in the car and drove the way from last night to look for the right homestead on the map three were possible. Dean steered his baby straight over the gravel path that branched off the road and led to the second homestead. The road changed into a dirt road and finally, they were in front of the homestead.

The wind turbine made a squeaking noise, just like Darla had said. Dean had the feeling that they were in the right place and looked questioningly at Caleb, who nodded.

They got out and looked around when the door of the house opened and two men came out. They stopped abruptly because they hadn't expected any visitors.

"Can I help you, gentlemen?"

"Uh yes, we are looking for "Melody's Coffee … Something ", but somehow we got lost."

"Yes, you're a few miles too far out there. You can follow us, we just wanted to drive into town."

"OK, thanks. Do you have a family reunion? Because of the many cars?"

Caleb tried to catch her thoughts, but he just crashed into a mental wall. Something was blocking him here and stabbing pain in his head was the reward for his snooping.

"Yes, something like that."

The guy gave his buddy a quick look and the four men got into their two cars.

"Damien, tell me you know more than I do."

"Sorry, Deuce, something is wrong here. I couldn't read them and I'm no longer a beginner. But that's why I think we are right here."

They followed the guys who stopped at the turn to Melody's. Dean raised his hand in thanks and drove up the driveway. Caleb texted Mac their position. After a few minutes, Dean steered the Impala back but turned a forest path beforehand and parked the car. In the trunk they supplied themselves with weapons and made their way through the undergrowth of the forest to the homestead, the terrain was difficult to walk on and it took them almost half an hour to see the edge of the forest again.

When they crept along the edge of the forest and got behind the house there was no sign of any other guards. They found cover behind a pile of firewood.

Caleb tried to receive something telepathically again but gripped his temple with a pained expression. Dean put a hand on his shoulder to ask him what was going on. The future knight raised his hand to make Dean understand that everything was ok. Well ok not exactly. Something was generally wrong with this place.

*** SPN *** BH AU ***

Mac turned the key in the motel door lock and led Darla back into the room when he got a text message from Caleb. They had found the homestead. Hopefully, they didn't do anything rash. He was their backup now and was ready to step in. Inside he put his cell phone on the little table in front of the sofa.

"Are you hungry or thirsty Darla? I can order us some pizza."

"Just a drink, thank you, Mac."

The young woman had been quiet. Mac had assured her that when the test results were in, the hospital would be in touch. He handed her a soft drink from the small refrigerator and they sat down.

"Everything OK?"

"Yes, do you mind if I turn on the TV?"

Darla had already picked up the remote control and was no longer waiting for permission. Mac was tired. The night soon took its toll and after a few minutes Mac had inadvertently dozed off. The young woman relaxed again in the four walls of the motel and made herself comfortable.

*** SPN *** BH AU ***

"Here it is."

The two men got ready to strike. The lock wasn't much of a challenge. The door swung open inwardly. The salt line in front of the door made him pause briefly, but he stepped over it. It was not bright in the room, only weak light came from the TV and a reading lamp on a side table was on.

Mac was awake for a split second when a hard blow struck him and the world went dark. The last thing he heard was Darla screaming.

TBC

A/N: Please don't forget the review!