American Nightmare Part 2

Later that night, Sam and Angela walked into the Peterson farm with their EMF meters and flashlights. They heard a door creak and hid quickly as Abraham and Elijah entered.

"Elijah? What's wrong?" Abraham asked worriedly.

"Mom's with Magda."

"Your mother's doing God's work," Abraham assured.

"She's hurting her," Elijah argued.

"Son," Abraham sighed heavily. "The Devil's a deceiver. Don't let him sow doubt in you."

A horse whinnied from the stall that Sam and Angela were hiding in.

"If anyone found out about Magda, they'd come for her." Abraham continued as he grabbed a bucket and hung it in the stall. "And if that happened… I love your sister… but you know what she can do. Magda… Magda's our cross to bear."

Abraham and Elijah left the barn. Sam and Angela left the stall, taking out their cell phones, but receiving no signal.

"Come on." Sam groaned.

~/~\~

Beth sat at her desk, bored out of her skull.

"Working late?" Dean asked suddenly.

Beth startled and looked up to see Dean standing in the doorway, hands behind his back. "Oh. Sorry, Agent, you surprised me."

"No worries." Dean smiled.

"Can I help you?"

Dean walked further into the room, holding a gun behind his back. "How you liking the new gig?"

"I hate it." Beth huffed.

Dean's brows raised in shock. "What?"

"Yeah," Beth muttered. "You make more, but you work more. And if somebody screws up, that's on you. If somebody blows a deadline, that's on you. And if somebody's photocopying their ass in the breakroom, you have to adult and act all mad, even though it's kind of hilarious. Being the boss sucks. I don't know how Olivia did it."

"I—I thought you wanted this job."

Beth chuckled. "No. Nobody wants this job."

"Oh," Dean muttered as he tucked the gun into the back of his pants.

"So… why are you here?"

"Um…" Dean trailed off.

~/~\~

Sam and Angela looked into the window of the basement and saw Gail walking around Magda, who was whipping herself.

"W-Al this-that-lak…" Gail chanted. "A-pawch me-'av-dawch. A-Ni yaw-thi sar-hev a-rum 'yawk Li."

Magda cried out in pain as Sam and Angela looked on in disgust.

"Again," Gail commanded. "Again!"

Magda continued sobbing and she whipped herself again.

"Ra-chamawch this-tha-kal lwaw-thi. Shezev-No mba'Le dvawv-vay. A-Ni yaw-thi a-do-naw a-rum tawv."

Suddenly, Sam's phone buzzed and he turned to grab it. He and Angela moved out of sight before Gail turned to look at the window.

"Hey," Sam answered his phone quietly.

"Beth is not a witch." Dean's voice rang through. "You guys were right about the whole ghost thing."

"Listen, Magda is still alive," Sam replied quickly.

"Wait, what?"

"Yes, Magda's not dead. She's alive."

Suddenly, Sam and Angela heard the sound of a shotgun cocking.

"Sam," Dean called out.

Sam and Angela turned to see Elijah holding a shotgun.

"Don't move," Elijah warned.

"Sammy? Angie?" Dean asked in concern.

"Okay, listen to us," Angela pleaded. "We can help your sister, okay? We just need you to trust us here."

Suddenly, Abraham came up behind the couple and hit them with a stick, knocking them unconscious.

~/~\~

"Sam? Sammy? Angie?" Dean asked as he rushed into the Impala and sped off.

~/~\~

"Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbling down," Magda hummed.

Sam and Angela awoke and found themselves in the basement floor with their hands tied behind their backs.

"You okay, baby?" Sam asked in a hushed whispered.

"I'm fine," Angela murmured. "How about you?"

"I'm good," Sam replied softly.

"You may talk about your men of Gideon, you may talk about your men of…" Magda continued humming.

"Magda?" Angela asked, catching the girl's attention. "Magda Peterson."

"That's. not my name." Magda replied. "I'm not Magda. I'm the Devil."

"No," Sam shook his head. "No, you're not. You're really not."

"He's inside me." Magda continued. "I can hear him whispering. He lets me hear what people are thinking. He lets me do things."

"What kind of things?" Angela asked gently. "Magda, we're here… we're here to help you, hon. Show us. Please."

Magda looked up at the cross that was mounted on the wall. With the power of her mind, she made it come off of the wall and hover.

~/~\~

"Magda… You're not the Devil." Sam stressed. "You're just psychic. There are others out there like you, like—like me and Angie. We have powers, too. We'd get these visions sometimes and—and I could move things with my mind."

"You can do that?" Magda asked.

"Well, no, not anymore, I don't think," Angela answered. "But that didn't make us the Devil. It—it—it just made us who we are."

"Then you are evil," Magda replied. "Mother says I'm evil, 'cause I hurt people."

Sam's brows furrowed slightly. "Who did you hurt?"

"I didn't mean it." Magda murmured. "She was pretty, and she always smiled. And I thought maybe she could help me. I couldn't talk to her, but I could hear her thoughts. And I thought maybe I could make her hear mine. So, I prayed. Prok yaw-thi a-law-haw. Tma-'ith bama-'a-ma-ke syawn w-leth a-Thar lma-kum. And I reached out to her… but she never came. And I did it again with the delivery boy. Mother says I killed them."

"Magda, that wasn't your fault," Angela assured. "You are not the Devil. You're not evil. And it's scary. I—I know it's scary. But you can learn how to control it. You don't ever have to hurt anyone ever again."

Suddenly, the door opened. Magda's chains rattled as she turned toward the sound. Abraham and Elijah walked down the stairs, and Abraham held the shotgun.

"It's time for supper," Elijah said.

~/~\~

Sam and Angela were tied to the dining room chairs in the Peterson's dining room. Gail grabbed a pot of stew and brought it to the table.

"Who's hungry?" she asked with a smile.

"Abraham… your daughter is sick." Angela stressed.

"What do you think we've been doing all these years?" Abraham asked as Gail began to serve the food.

"You talk about knowing God, but we know the Devil," Gail added.

Sam and Angela scoffed as Gail continued to serve the food.

"We've been wrestling with her for years." Gail continued. "You have any idea what she's done?"

"Those people, but… That wasn't her fault." Angela retorted.

"You think they're the first?" Gail's brows shot up. "Tell them. Tell them!"

"Before we came here…" Magda stared at the table. "I wanted a new cell phone, but my mom wouldn't buy me one."

"We were driving home, and she screamed at me to pull over," Gail recalled. "And I felt the Devil at my hands. I yanked that wheel right into oncoming traffic. She did this to me. She did this to us. She has taken lives. Don't you understand that by keeping her here, we're protecting you?"

"By doing what? Beating the hell out of her?" Sam snapped.

"That's not how you treat your kid." Angela sneered.

"Pain purges sin," Gail replied.

"No, it doesn't. You're wrong." Angela stressed. "Abraham."

"It's time." Gail sat down at the table.

The family bowed their heads in prayer.

"We thank you for these bountiful gifts," Abraham prayed. "May they nourish our body and soul. And look after each one of us, now and until our dying day. Amen."

"Amen." Gail and Elijah repeated.

Abraham took a bite of his stew. "Mm."

"Dig in, everyone. Elijah." Gail smiled.

Suddenly, Abraham dropped his spoon and began choking.

"Dad?" Elijah frowned.

Abraham continued choking and began to foam at the mouth.

"Abraham?" Sam and Angela asked worriedly.

Abraham grabbed at his throat and Elijah rose from his seat.

"Dad?"

"Shh." Gail hushed as she stood up.

Abraham continued to choke until he fell face-first into his bowl of stew.

"What did you do?" Angela asked in disbelief.

"Eat," Gail instructed as she sat back down.

"What did you do?!" Sam roared.

"This is how we will stay together. We will enter Heaven as a family. Eat!"

"Elijah, do not eat that," Angela stressed. "Elijah!"

Elijah picked up a spoonful of stew as Gail rose. "Mom?"

Gail moved so that she stood right next to her son. "Eat."

"Elijah, do not do it," Sam said firmly.

"Eat!" Gail yelled.

"No!" Magda screamed.

Elijah dropped the spoon and Magda stood up.

"Devil." Gail glared icily.

Suddenly, dishes and bowls flew off the table. Gail looked down and reached for a knife. She lunged for Magda.

"No!" Elijah jumped in front of Magda.

As he jumped in front of his sister, the knife plunged into his chest. Gail pulled the knife out and Elijah fell to the floor. Gail lunged at Magda with the knife, but her forward motion stopped before she could complete it.

"I'm not the Devil. You are." Magda clenched her jaw.

Sam and Angela tried to get out of their chairs as Gail fought the knife that was slowly turning in her direction.

"Magda, stop!" Angela pleaded. "You don't have to do this. You could control it."

"Magda, nobody else has to die," Sam added. "Please!"

The knife paused at Gail's chest. Magda released control of the knife and it fell to the ground.

~/~\~

Outside the Peterson house, law enforcement and an ambulance were parked outside. An EMT checked Magda as Gail was walked to a police car.

"She's the Devil!" Gail screamed. "The Devil is among us! She must be cleansed! She is the Devil! Pray for us!"

"Sorry I missed all the psycho." Dean scoffed.

"Hey, you thought our family was crazy," Sam replied as he wrapped an arm around Angela's waist.

"Yeah." Dean agreed as the police car drove away.

The three hunters walked over to check on Magda.

"Hey, Magda." Angela smiled softly. "Are you holding up?"

"Beth called my aunt in California. I'm gonna be staying with her."

"She has a ranch," Beth added. "Lots of wide-open country."

"Well, that's great." Dean nodded. "You know, sometimes in order to figure things out, a person needs space."

"Agent, can I talk to you?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, sure."

Dean and Beth walked off while Sam and Angela sat next to Magda.

"Magda, I—I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but… you're gonna be all right." Sam assured. "You can do this. You will do this. Just remember, that power… it doesn't control you. You control it."

"I know." Magda nodded.

"If you ever need anything, anything, call us, okay? We'll be there, hon." Angela comforted.

~/~\~

Sam, Dean, and Angela walked down the driveway toward the Impala.

"Think you made the right call back there, letting her go?" Dean asked.

"I hope so." Sam sighed heavily. "I mean, Magda didn't know what she was doing. She had no idea. I think she deserves a second chance."

"What did Beth want?" Angela quirked a brow.

"She gave me her number, her personal number," Dean smirked.

"You were gonna shoot her." Angela scoffed.

"Yeah, I know." Dean chuckled. "Kinda weird. Kinda hot."

"Hey, um… did you mean what you said back there?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, you guys were right," Dean admitted. "The whole mom thing, it's… I mean, we get her back, and then she leaves. I hate it, but I get it. I do. I guess I just… still working through some of that crap. I'll try to be less of a dick about it."

"Deal." Sam nodded.

Dean's cell phone chimed and he looked down to see two texts from Mary that said, 'Hey Dean, phone died, didn't have a charger. Things are good. I'll always be mom. Tell Sam I love you boys and tell Angie I say hi.' Dean smiled and looked up as he put his phone in his pocket.

"What?" Sam and Angela asked.

"Nothing." Dean shrugged.

Dean opened the door, and they all piled into the Impala before speeding away.

A/N: Hey, guys, I hope you liked this chapter! Don't forget to leave a review to let me know what you think. Feedback is so, so important to a writer :) Love you guys, xoxo.

~Emily