Chapter 4
When it became late, Castiel had urged Alex and Claire to eat. For hours, they had waited for their foster mother and the Winchester brothers to return. Of course, they saw how bad the weather became, and still they hoped that the trio would make it back.
Now, the girls lay curled up on the sofa, fast asleep, while Castiel stood at the window. Staring into the snow that swirled through the dark, he tuned out the angel radio and concentrated on the hunters instead. He knew they were alive, but due to the warding on their ribs, he could not locate them while his sense of the sheriff was strong. It would not be difficult to find her if only he knew how to reach them.
Since he had ridden along with the Winchester brothers to Sioux Falls, he did not have his car. Maybe it would not even get far in the storm that raged outside. Going by foot was possible, but it would take him like forever to make it out to the lake.
Unable to shake his unease, Castiel heaved a sigh. With every passing minute, his concern grew. At some point, he could not contain his nervous energy anymore and began to walk up and down in front of the window.
"Castiel," Claire gently said, putting a hand on the angel's shoulder to stop his pacing. "They will be alright. Dean and Sam are experienced hunters. They can take care of themselves."
"I know," Castiel rumbled. "This was not part of the plan. I am concerned."
"We're concerned as well," she murmured, "but Jody knows her district like the back of her hand. She knows where they can find shelter. I'm sure they're safe."
Eyeing her intently, Castiel could not find fault with her reasoning. Trying to lighten the mood, he asked, "Should not I be the one to comfort you?"
"Didn't you once say you're a warrior?" she asked back with a wink, "So you're not one to comfort others anyway, now are you?"
Castiel just blinked a couple of times. It was then that he felt a tingling in the back of his mind. The bond he shared with Dean alerted him.
"I should go."
"What?"
Perplexed, Claire saw him stride purposefully to the hallway.
"Wait!" she called out, following him. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to search for them."
"In the blizzard."
Castiel lowered his head in earnest confirmation, "Yes."
"You're serious..."
"Claire, I'm an angel. I don't feel the cold. I don't tire. I should have gone with them in the first place."
Seeing Claire offer him a small, uncertain smile, he turned around and left.
xXx
"Dean!"
Sam's scream echoed in Dean's ears when the pack leader dragged him out of the cabin. Still dazed by her punches, he hung in her grasp on the back of his shirt collar. Freezing cold assaulted him as soon as they were outside. His boots protected him, but jeans and shirts were quickly caked with snow and half frozen.
"You thought you could kill me?" Scarlett spat viciously over the howl of the storm. "Well, you can't."
Unable to find a footing as she hauled him along backward, Dean draggled a furrow into the snow. His hands found her arm and he clawed at her jacket in an attempt to slow her down. Feeling her pause for just a second, Dean twisted his body around and tried to plant his feet to no avail. Stumbling forward, he fell to his knees and was pulled up again.
"You must know that my children are totally loyal to me. Given the opportunity, they will bite your friend and your brother. Turn them."
The laughter in her voice sounded mocking to Dean's ears.
Doesn't she feel the cold? I'm freezing!
"Then they'll come to find me. They're always coming for me."
Feeling his limbs stiffen up by the cold already, Dean wracked his mind about what to do. If he wanted to have any chance to overpower her, he had to act fast.
"What about me?" he panted. "Don't you want me for your pack?"
"You'd be a fine addition to my pack," she sneered. "But I'm afraid that all you're now... is food."
Awesome!
Struggling against her relentless grip, Dean did his best to get away. A powerful shove thwarted his potential escape, throwing him face first into a drift. Before he could do as much as gasp, he felt her weight on his back.
Piercing pain in his neck made him scream into the snow.
She's drinking off me!
Gunshots thundered through the howling of the wind and the weight lifted. Pushing himself up, Dean turned. Scarlett lay in the drift, stunned by the impact of the silver bullets fired from close range.
"Sam?"
"Yeah!"
He heard him, but he did not see him. The dark shape to his left? Sensing her move rather than seeing her, Dean lunged at the Nachzehrer. His hands found her neck, throttling her. How she did it, he never knew, but suddenly, he fell forward, flipping over and landing on his back. This time, she grabbed an ankle and began to run.
"Sam!"
Dragged through the deepening snow on his back, Dean could not tell whether his brother still pursued them. All he saw were flecks of white and black rushing by.
Scarlett cried out.
Gaining momentum when she dropped him, Dean rolled down a short slope. When he came to a stop and tried to stand, he slipped on ice beneath the snow. Looking around, he found Scarlett sprawled on the ground.
She might be impervious to the cold but she was not without weakness. Grabbing a fistful of snow and throwing it in the monster's face, Dean momentarily blinded her. As she attempted to wipe the snow out of her eyes, Dean took the first opening he saw to lunge at her and, reaching into his pocket, grabbed the handful of change there.
"Eat that," he hissed as he pushed the coins into her mouth, covering it with one hand to keep her from spitting the copper out.
Craning his head back, Dean avoided her hands lashing out at him. With his free hand, he felt for the knife that he carried on his belt. It was not as big as his hunting knife, but it would have to do.
"Dean?!"
Barely audible, the call drifted through the blizzard.
Damn! He won't find me!
"Argh!"
Something scratched at his leg, tearing the jeans and his flesh.
Ignoring the pain, Dean sliced at her neck. Blood gurgled out, hot on his hand and wrist. Once more, he lashed out, stabbing, slicing, somehow trying to sever throat and spine. Suddenly, the monster beneath him went limp.
Breathing heavily, Dean knelt over her.
Then he began to shiver violently.
"Deeeeean!"
"Sammy!" he shouted back, shocked by his voice giving out. How bad was his neck injured? Trying once more, he managed a hoarse yell.
"Dean!"
His brother's cry sounded closer this time. Thankfully, he headed in the right direction. Dean could see a light amidst the snowfall.
"Sam!"
"Dean!"
Seemingly out of nowhere, he was there. Dean was so cold that he hardly felt his brother wrapping his arms around him and pulling him up.
"Wh-where's the c-c-cabin?" Dean asked, teeth chattering as the wind whipped snow into his face.
"Over there," Sam muttered back, "First... let's get this on you."
With some effort, he helped Dean into the coat he had grabbed as he ran out after the creature and his brother. The icy storm threatened to wrangle the heavy fabric out of his hands while he struggled to maneuver his brother's arms into the sleeves and pull the coat onto his shoulders. At the same time, he had to manage to keep Dean standing. After fumbling the zipper closed, Sam put an arm around Dean and demanded, "So... off the ice. C'mon!"
As they slithered across the lake, Dean could hardly stay on his feet. Somehow, they supported each other until they reached the bank. Once Sam got his footing, he offered Dean more help as they climbed up and back into the forest. Unfortunately, they could not find their way from there. The tracks they had made were blown away by the storm and the constant swirl of flakes made it hard to see far.
Sam knew they needed shelter.
Then and there!
Where?
Looking over a towering snowdrift they came across, the younger Winchester recalled something he had heard or read a long time ago. Grabbing his brother tighter, he steered him over to the mount of snow. Pushing his free hand deep into the drift, he felt resistance and grabbed a branch. Making a decision, he shouted over the wind, "Dean! We won't find our way back!"
"So what?" Dean groaned.
"Keep standing for a moment," Sam demanded and quickly reached out for Dean again when his older sibling could not stand on his own. Damn!
Lowering Dean into the snow, Sam turned back around and began to dig at the drift. As soon as he uncovered a branch, he pulled on it to try and make enough space to crawl under it. On his knees, Sam used his flashlight to shine into the cavity. As he did not flush any animal, he declared it safe and turned back around. Awkwardly holding the branch up with his back and taking the flashlight between his teeth, Sam took hold of Dean and dragged him with him as he moved backward into the dark.
As he had hoped, they got out of the harsh wind.
Pulling Dean all the way in and leaning him against the tree trunk, Sam backtracked and shoveled some snow back to where they had passed.
"Wh-what are y-ya doin'?"
"I'm closing the door so to speak," Sam replied, sitting next to his brother and putting the flashlight down on the forest floor. Patting down Dean's coat, he searched for gloves. Pulling them out of the pockets, he took Dean's hands between his own and blew warm breath on them before he began to rub them for warmth. He could feel his brother trembling with the cold. Once he thought it was enough, he put the gloves on Dean's hands.
"S-s-sam?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm... not sure, but... I think she... scratched me."
Sam cursed.
Picking up the flashlight, he first shone at the branches they cowered under and found a place where he could hang up the lamp. Then he searched for any wound and first discovered the bite mark on Dean's neck. Cursing, he examined it closer. As it did not bleed anymore, he kept searching for the scratch his brother mentioned and that turned out to be a claw mark on Dean's thigh. It did not look too bad but Sam still wracked his mind about how he could treat it. He also had to warm Dean up or he would be going into hypothermia.
Knowing that his brother's clothes were caked with snow, he unzipped the coat again and urged Dean to shrug it down to see how bad it was, to see whether the snow melted and soaked his clothes.
"What...?"
"Shut it," Sam demanded, brushing away snow from his shoulders. "Out of the coat."
Of course, Dean did not want to and struggled, but Sam was having none of it. Once he got the stiff-frozen over-shirt off as well, he wrapped his arms around his brother and rubbed his back and shoulders for warmth before he helped him back into the coat. Neither was an easy task within the confines of the comparatively small space underneath the tree's branches that were weighed far down by snow.
Shaking out the shirt, Sam contemplated whether he could use it for bandaging the scratch. Producing his knife, he cut it up and wrapped a long strip around Dean's thigh to make a pressure dressing.
"S-s-sam-m-my..."
Hearing the pitiful moan, Sam pulled Dean against himself, murmuring to him, "I know, you're cold. I'm cold, too. But here we're safe for now. No storm... and the whole tree's covered with snow. That should give us some protection."
"Like an igloo."
Startled by the chilling female voice, Sam reached for his gun.
"Easy, Samuel."
"Billie..." Dean coarsely ground out, recognizing the voice and shivering all the more in the presence of the reaper. In the shadows beyond the cone of light, they merely made out eyes and teeth of the dark-skinned woman.
"Get away from him!" Sam demanded angrily.
Clicking her tongue at him, Billie chided, "Oh, you Winchesters. Always out for trouble. Always bending the rules. I'm fed up with it."
"You won't take Dean," Sam hissed. "Once the storm is over, I'll take him back to town. So you will keep your scythe off him."
"Who said I'm here for him?" the reaper retorted.
Sam choked.
"Nothing to say, Sammy boy?" Billie snickered.
Groaning with the struggle to sit further up, Dean tried to get between the reaper and his sibling, warning, "Don't you dare touch my brother."
At that, Billie just could laugh.
"That's the Winchester boys to a T," she chuckled. "Oh so protective of each other. Sacrificing for each other..." her voice became a furious hiss, "defying the natural order. I'll rejoice on the day when I will finally come for you."
For a second, her words confused Sam as they struck him as odd in this situation where she virtually just had to wait until they froze to death. Holding her glare, he realized what was wrong.
"You didn't come to get either of us," he said, "You're not mad at us, at least not now."
Scoffing, Billie sarcastically came back, "Now aren't you a smart Alec?"
"Your hands are tied..."
"Someone ordered me to stand down," she groused and spat, "See you on your final day, Winchester."
For a moment, both Sam and Dean thought she was gone, releasing a breath of relief before an eerie sound put them back on edge, "Merry Christmas."
This time, it seemed like she really left.
Exhaling in an anxious rush, Dean moaned tremulously, "Sh-sh-she scared the c-crap out of-f me. Why's she g-got to show up when it's NOT our time?"
"Guess she just likes to mess with us," Sam shrugged. "Her idea of payback for cheating Death before."
"It's so not funny."
"Certainly is for her."
Dean did not buy that. "And what did she mean with s-someone told her to s-stand down?"
"That doesn't have to concern us now."
Unzipping his own coat, Sam squirmed around to get even closer to his brother. Turning Dean became awkward when they needed to tangle their legs, but then Sam pulled him close to his chest in order to share his body heat. Fumbling with the coats, he managed to push the respective zippers together.
Pays off that we both got the same model, he thought with relief as he closed the coats and put the collars up. Dean's icy cheek rested against his own and he turned his head to blow his breath on his sibling's skin. Maybe it's wishful thinking or imagination, but I think it's less cold in here.
"Sammy," Dean muttered tiredly, his anxiety making his voice waver a little. As much as he tried to snuggle up to his brother, he failed. Gratefully, he felt Sam closely put his arms around him. "I'm sorry, Sammy."
"What for?" the younger Winchester asked with confusion.
"For being such an ass lately."
Sam chuckled.
"I mean it, Sammy," Dean groused, "I don't even know what's wrong with me. I just feel... weird."
"How so?" Sam wanted to know, deeply breathing in the scent that was so much Dean and that mingled with the smell of resin.
"I'm... I'm not sure. Maybe it's putting down roots? Does that make sense?"
"I think it does," Sam nodded, "Though I'm not sure why it should affect you now. We've spent a couple of years at the bunker after all."
"I could only imagine that it's got to do with the trials we've been through," Dean contemplated. "I mean, we've almost constantly been on edge, often left to work cases or fight Heaven or Hell... Most recently, we've spent a lot of downtime at the bunker."
"Yeah, I think that makes perfect sense," Sam told him, ruffling his short hair. There still was some snow in it and he brushed it away.
"I want Cass..."
Smirking to himself, Sam thought about the plaintive remark. It almost made Dean sound like a child. What exactly his brother meant remained unclear, though. Somehow, Sam doubted that he just asked for the angel's company.
Nestling up to Sam, his head in the crook of his brother's neck, Dean murmured, "I love you, bro."
"I love you, too, jerk," Sam replied with a teasing edge to the insult.
"Bitch."
xXx
At the sheriff's house, Claire tried to concentrate on the book resting in her lap. Beside her, Alex was sleeping, and she wished, she could do the same. Knowing that Jody, Dean, and Sam were out there, likely caught in the blizzard, she worried. As a result, she merely stared at the book instead of reading it. Though she believed she made it through both pages, she could not tell at all what they were about.
In addition, there was Castiel.
Despite his assurances that he would not suffer from the cold in the blizzard, she could not help her concern growing at the thought of him wandering the storm. Or maybe it was the fact that Castiel worried for the others. Blizzards could be deadly. Each year, several people died because they got lost in the storm. Drivers whose cars got stuck and did not hold out in their vehicles froze to death.
Her imagination pushed pictures of Jody and the brothers into her mind as they stood rigid as ice statues in the forest, frozen in motion like the victims of the Snow Queen in the Narnia movies.
Shaking her head violently, she tried to banish such thoughts.
"Wha's up?" Tiredly, Alex rubbed at her eyes. "Are they back?"
"No."
"How late is it?"
Instantly alert, Alex sat up.
"Early morning," Claire replied, glancing at the clock on the satellite receiver. "Almost five."
"Oh, my God. Did you hear from them? Are they safe?"
"Nothing yet," Claire shook her head. "The phones are down."
Groaning, Alex got up and padded over to the dining table to get herself something to drink. As she was on her way back, a bell that hung on the Christmas tree jingled softly.
Smirking at her foster sister, Alex remarked, "What did they say on the movie? Every time a bell rings..."
"...an angel gets his wings," Claire finished the line. Secretly, she hoped that was true. As it was, all they could do right now was wait until the storm was over. "C'mere," she said, holding her arm out invitingly and Alex crossed over to scoot onto the sofa and snuggle up to her.
xXx
Out in the blizzard, Castiel walked as briskly as the storm allowed. Wind and snow whipped into his frame and face and he pulled the trenchcoat tighter around him. Though he did not actually feel the cold, it seemed to tire him this time. The way was long and he had not even made half of it yet.
Night is drawing to an end and I am still of no help.
If there was one thing that Castiel hated it was to be helpless. Where humans felt it in their guts, he kind of felt it in his grace that something was wrong. Though he did not hear either of the brothers praying to him, he just knew that they were at risk.
It was right then that the tingling in the back of his mind intensified with Dean calling out for him. A moment later, his sense of yearning turned into words.
'Cass, where are you? If you can hear me, please get us home.'
Dean's in danger!
Despite the storm, Castiel fell into a run that turned out to be more a jog hindered by snow. By now, he had reached the forest and blazed a trail through the drifts where the dirt road to the cabins meandered through the woods.
Not for the first time that night, he mourned his ruined wings. Once upon a time, he would have soared above the dark clouds and the flakes obscuring his vision now. With his flight feathers that were longer than his vessel's arm, his wings had been magnificent, shimmering like diamonds on the velvety, blue sky that was about to turn into night.
Castiel would have been able to search the forest in no time.
A surge of grief coursed through him and he subconsciously called out to his father in Heaven to hear his prayer.
Driven by fear for the Winchester brothers, he plowed on through the snowdrifts.
"Argh!"
Sudden pain in his back made him cry out. Agony pooled between his shoulder blades and he sank to his knees. Deep dove his hands into the snow as he doubled over, head bowed, and groaned through clenched teeth.
Pain wrecked him, so intense that it almost made him black out.
tbc...