Ch 48
"Like how bossy?" River asked from the backseat of the Harvelles truck. Her window down and EMF detector dangling in her hand. The Impala inched along ahead of them, the Winchesters with their own long arms hanging out searching for cell signals or spikes in radio frequencies. The trucks radio had frizzed out a few miles outside of Carthage followed by their phones. Castiel had taken to popping in and out between the vehicles acting as messenger after the phones died.
Jo turned the knob on the radio again only getting bursts of static. "Bossy-bossy. But in a good way. A really good way…the hells going on with the damn radio?" she muttered spinning the dial.
River snorted, adjusted the setting on her EMF detector and frowned at the reading. "I just don't see Sammy as a Mr. Grey type. The guy has a hard time deciding on what to order for dinner when we go out."
Ellen sighed and shook her head, "Your daddy'd whoop your ass if he found out you'd knocked boots with one of the Winchester boys."
Castiel appeared next to River interrupting the women's conversation. "Where is everyone, Cas?" she asked. The caravan had driven several blocks into town not seeing any signs of life, human or otherwise. The traffic lights flashing on empty streets. Office buildings and grocery stores dark; parking lots and an elementary school playground noticeably silent and deserted.
"I'm not sure. Sam and Dean are going to check out the Police Department. They want you three to start checking the town." The Angel answered. He turned away from River and looked down an empty street. "Stop the car." Ellen pulled the truck over as he requested. The hunters climbed out of the truck, slinging duffle bags across shoulders and gripping their guns. Castiel sat in the car a moment longer, continuing to stare down the empty street.
"Cassie, you gonna join us?" River called to the Angel. She blinked and he was on the street next to her. His brow furrowed and steel blue eyes tracing the street.
"This town is not empty." The Angel murmured.
River gripped the wood handle of her shotgun trying to suppress a shiver threatening to run down her spine, "What do you see?"
"Reapers." He answered turning to face her and the other two women.
Ellen blinked several times, "I'm sorry. Did you say 'reapers'? As in there's more than one?"
Castiel nodded. With his Angelic senses he could see the dozens of silent, pale figures dotting the streets and standing atop the brick buildings. They appeared to be converged near an abandoned and boarded up movie theater near the town center. "Yes. They're everywhere. They only gather like this in times of great turmoil, Pompeii, The Chicago Fire, Nagasaki….I'm sorry. I must find out why they are here. You need to look for the town residents." The trench coated Angel told them before walking away. The Reapers stood silent, not so much as blinking as he passed by.
River faced Jo and Ellen, "So anyone else feel like we're totally screwed?" Jo raised her hand. "Alright. I say we start at the Church on first and move East to West. The P.D. is a couple blocks over from here. That's were we'll meet up with Dean and Sam." Ellen nodded and the three hunters walked towards the steepled building. The searched the church and the surrounding neighborhood, finding nothing out of sorts except that everything was completely abandoned. There were no people, no hints or traces of the inhabitants of the town. Not even any pets in the quiet houses or birds chirping in the trees. They made it to the Police Department as the brothers were exiting the glass doors at the front.
"Departments empty. Nada," Dean said as the women met up with him and his brother.
River nodded, "So's everywhere else. Deserted. I guess except for all the Reapers."
"Reapers?" Dean repeated.
"Cas said he saw Reapers. Lots of them. He went to go check them out. He's been gone about an hour. Or I think it's been an hour. My watch stopped working." River said glancing at her wrist watch. Dean and Sam checked their timepieces also and noticed they had stopped as well.
Dean muttered, "Shit." He looked worriedly at his brother, "How come I get the feeling we're hand delivering you to Satan?"
Sam's jaw tightened. "Where was the last place you saw Cas?"
"Down town. Back by the old theater." Jo answered.
The group headed down the empty street towards the movie theater. "We're in town less than an hour and we already lost the Angel." Dean muttered quietly to River and Sam.
"You think Lucifer nabbed him?" River asked, her eyes tracing back and forth along the empty brick buildings and storefronts.
Dean shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe Lucifer isn't even here. And we're just dealing with a bunch of douchebag demons." The group rounded a corner and came face to face with a young woman with long dark brown hair.
"Well, nice to see you're enjoying the sights," she called across the empty street. The hunters stopped in their tracks and stared at the stranger.
"Meg!" Sam yelled at the woman.
She smiled and nodded, "I'd love to catch up but my father wants to see you."
"Screw you," River said. "We're not going anywhere with you."
Meg shifted her weight on her high heeled boots, wrapped one hand around her hip and sighed. "You can make this easy and come with me. Or you can make this difficult."
Dean smiled stepping to the front of the group and raised the Colt at Meg. "Come on, Meg. When have you known us to ever make things easy?"
"I was hoping you'd say that." Meg whistled once through her dark red lips. Snarls and growls erupted around the street. Invisible paws splashed in puddles, puffs of putrid breath wafted towards the hunters. "Hell Hounds. I heard they were you're favorite, Dean-o." River, Jo and Ellen raised their shotguns aiming in the general direction of where they saw shimmers in the air. Dean's throat constricted, he could feel his testicles shrivel up and a pool of sweat suddenly soaked his armpits as several of the Hounds snarled low and dangerous. A few of the invisible beasts taking menacing steps towards them causing splashes and ripples in the rain puddles. He looked over his shoulder, searching his brothers face before turning his eyes on River. She gave him a slight nod.
"You heard the lady. Screw you." He fired the Colt and struck the devil dog closes to Meg. Dark red blood splattered the demons jeans and boots and the hound howled in pain. The hunters turned and fled down an adjoining street. The Hell Hounds close behind. Invisible jaws snapped inches from Rivers boot steering her away from Sam and across the empty street. Dean was in the rear of the group trying to keep any more of the hounds from flanking them. He stumbled and fell to his knees with a grunt.
Jo screamed, "Dean!" Firing her shotgun into one of the beasts knocking it away from Dean.
River skidded to a halt and ran back towards them, "Jo! No!" But she was too late. One of the Hell Hounds pounced on the thin blonde woman, invisible claws tearing into her abdomen. Jo let out a pained scream; Ellen charged towards her daughter firing into the beast that was mauling her. Dean scrambled to his feet and scooped up Jo's weak, bleeding body. Snarls and growls stopped River mid-run and she swung her shotgun blindly in front of her. Her eyes darted up and across the street where the rest of her group was running, being ushered into a storefront by Sam. Dean turned around, looking frantically for her. Their eyes met briefly before one the demon dogs nipped at the barrel of her shotgun trying to wrench it out of her sweaty hands. She pulled the trigger on the shotgun knocking away the monster closest to her.
"RIVER!" Dean yelled as she turned and took off down another street, her red hair flying behind her as she whipped around a corner and out of sight. Sam pulled him and Jo inside the building and slammed the door closed. He quickly dumped a bag of salt along the door and under the windows facing the street. They could hear the Hell Hounds baying and snuffling at the door, searching for a way inside. Dean gently sat Jo down in front of the cash register. His shirt soaked in her blood.
Ellen collapsed onto her knees in front of her daughter, "Joanna Beth, what have they done to you?"
"It's gonna be ok, mama." Jo replied weakly. Sam searched the small shop for first aid supplies as Dean gingerly inspected her wounds. The blood bubbling up from the deep ragged furrows, Jo's pale, sweaty face and the mess that used to be her abdomen were all he needed to see. She wasn't going to make it. Dean moved out of the way when Sam returned with the makeshift dressing supplies, a bag of sanitary pads and some nylon stockings to hold them in place. "Where's-where's River?" Jo hissed as Sam tied a stocking and several pads around her midsection to try and slow her blood loss. Sam looked over his shoulder at his brother.
Dean ran one hand around his jaw, "She's ok. She ran…she's ok." He turned back towards the windows of the shop. The outline of Meg, her long dark hair and pale features were just visible through the frosted glass.
Sam stood and walked towards his brother. Dean was picking items off the store shelves, not actually seeing the things he touched but needing to move. "Dean-we gotta figure some way outta this town man." Sam told him.
Dean let his hand rest on an box of nails and shook his head. "You heard Meg, Lucifer is here. We have to find him and we have to take our shot. We don't know when we're gonna get another chance." His green eyes focused and he let them trail over the shelves around him, "Propane tanks. Batteries. Copper wire. Nails….Everything we need for couple of nice and dirty fragment bombs. Toast the Hell Hound bitches out there. Give us a few minutes to maybe make a run for it."
"I ain't exactly in the shape to walk outta here," Jo muttered.
"Then we'll carry you," Sam replied.
Jo laughed weakly, "No. No, Sam you won't. I'm not going anywhere." Ellen took a deep breath through her nose, her bottom lip trembling so hard she bit into it to stop the sob threatening to bust through.
"Jo-"
"No, mama. We don't all gotta die today." She took her mothers hand and squeezed it. The tears started and Ellen kissed her dying daughters forehead.
A large blue metal post office box was knocked off its legs as one of the Hell Hounds slammed into it, skidding around the corner mere feet from where River was running. She jumped out of the way of the tumbling metal, changed her angle and ran towards the opposite side of the street. Once again stopped in her tracks when one of the beasts jumped onto a parked car and flattened the hood. She raised her shotgun and fired into the center of where she guessed the Hell Hound was standing. The demon dog let out a high pitched whine and was thrown back into the windshield causing it to spiderweb and shatter. Putrid breath and growls were at her heels as she ran down another street. She flicked her shotgun open and tossed the empty shells behind her, reached into her jacket pocket for extra shells and almost ran into a dumpster. The street dead ended into a high brick wall, flanked on either side with empty buildings. She spun on her heels, slamming the salt filled shells into the shotgun and snapped it closed. Heavy paws splashed into a puddle behind her and she turned back towards the only way out of the alley. Two distinct growls echoed, two sets of paws slapped on the wet cement towards her. A deafening thud, crack of metal and a third snarl signaled the arrival of another Hell Hound landing on top of the dumpster effectively trapping her.
"Fuck you!" she screamed firing into the Hell Hound standing on the dumpster. Her eyes fell on a dark green door, hidden in shadows behind the dumpster at the far end of the alley. She ran towards it, hurtling her body at the wooden frame and using all her strength to slam through the warped hinges. The door angled open and she slipped inside, kicking it shut behind her just as the Hell Hounds flung themselves towards the door. She skipped back several steps as the door fractured and splintered. She turned and ran further into the dark building as the door exploded inwards with a heart freezing howl from one of the Hell Hounds. Her boots echoed off the cold brick walls as she ran down a long corridor. A moment later it dumped her into a large dark, high ceilinged room. Grey sunlight filtering in through dirty windows only adding to the shadows and distorting her vision. The sun was setting quickly, hours earlier then it should. She ran an arm across her eyes, wiping sweat and hair out of her face as she quickly scanned the walls for another door. Her eyes finding nothing but inky shifting shadows.
The Hell Hounds growled behind her, their paws slapping off the cement floor, sending up puffs of dust. She fired the shotgun again and missed. She dropped the empty shotgun and reached behind her waist for her pistol loaded with silver bullets. They wouldn't do enough damage to take a Hell Hound down but it might stagger them enough for her to run. She fired the pistol and missed again, the snarls and puffs of dust inching towards her. "I hope you bitches choke on me!" she yelled stopping her retreat.
The Hell Hounds stopped also and she heard them pant loudly, sniffing the air around them. They broke into low, keening whines. Their steps retreating away from River. The Hunter raised her pistol again, taking aim at the shifting shadows slinking away from her. "Will you please not fire that thing again. The noise is deafening." A low, smokey voice drifted out from one of the darker corners of the building. The Hell Hounds turned tail, crying like puppies that had just been kicked. She spun towards the voice and came face to face with a young man in an expensive suit.
Rivers dry throat stuck as she tried to swallow. "Got a new meat suit, Harob?"
The demon nodded. "So sorry to have missed your call. I was a tad busy with that friend of yours," the man smiled wickedly. "Thank you for the summoning though…it helped me track you here." He clicked his tongue impatiently. "I'd prefer if you wouldn't fight. I want to be gone from this wretched town before my Father realizes I'm here. He's just a quarter mile that way as we speak." Harob said pointing his thumb over his shoulder. "Sacrificing the last citizen of Carthage, Missy Brown aged 7. He's raising Death. Did you and your friends realize that? The last and most powerful Horseman will be free to roam the Earth for the first time in millennia."
"Cool story," River replied firing her pistol into the Demons chest. The silver bullets tore through the expensive Italian silk jacket and the Demon growled, doubling over in pain. River turned and ran in the same direction the Hell Hounds had gone. She made it less than a dozen paces before her feet were yanked out from underneath her, she hit the cold cement floor hard enough to daze her but still able to keep her gun gripped tightly in one hand. She was yanked by an invisible force ensnaring her ankles back across the dirty floor towards Harob.
"Well, I can't have you run away before we get properly acquainted," He said looking down at her. River kicked out with both legs trying to catch the Demon in his stomach. Harob grabbed her left leg before it made contact. His hands digging into her boot as she tried to scramble backwards out of his grip.
She started reciting the exorcism spell as she struggled. "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas-" The Demon smiled again and began twisting her foot. River felt the bones in her ankle grind against each other then snap and give way under the Demons strength. She choked on the next words of the exorcism and screamed in agony; the burning daggers of pain in her ankle blocked any coherent thought. He dropped her leg as River took another shuddering breath and let out a low wail of pain. Her free hand scrambled on the cement as she tried to push her self backwards with her right leg. She raised her pistol, arm trembling from the pain searing at her nerve endings and the adrenaline coursing through her; kicking her sense of self preservation into overdrive. Harob was on her in a second, his heavy body pressed down on her as she bucked and thrashed her arms. His coal black eyes narrowed in malicious glee as he grabbed a handful of her hair, yanking her head to the side then up finally slamming it onto the cement floor. River heard a dull 'pop' as something in the back of her head cracked, her struggle petered out, limbs relaxing as her brain fought to stay conscious.
The Demon leaned down, his nose less than an inch from her own, his sulfuric breath nauseating. "Aren't you a feisty one? I bet this will be a bit like breaking a wild horse. Patience and a heavy hand when needed…" River took a breath, willing her limbs to cooperate. The cold, reassuring weight of her pistol still sat limply in her outstretched hand. Her fingers slowly and painfully curled around the grip, her finger sliding along the trigger. "You could be my new Prime. I sense the potential you have-" An explosion rocked the brick building on it's foundation. Dust and debris rained down on them. Harob spared a glance over his shoulder to watch as a great orange fireball rose up to the heavens and shined through the dirty windows. "Yes, I believe it's time we made our exit." He turned his pale face and onyx eyes back to the woman trapped underneath him.
River jammed her pistol under his jaw. "Go back to hell," she said squeezing the trigger. His head snapped back, blood and gore dripping from the hole the bullet created. Harob's head fell forward and a violent shudder ran through his body. His eyes appeared to move independently of each other, swirling whirl pools of black with flecks of the hazel irises beneath. He choked and sputtered, wisps of black smoke escaping from his lips. River tried to fire again but the gun was torn out of her hand. It skittered across the floor and into the darkness far out of her reach.
Harob coughed again, "Well, that was unpleasant." His hands encircled her wrists and yanked them above her head, "I'm going to enjoy breaking you."
Authors note:sorry I forgot to add a note when I posted this last night. Thank you to everyone reading and reviewing. It's GISH week and this is the first year I've signed up and I'm freaking out a little lol. I borrowed the term "prime" from American Horror Story because I love that show and it sounds like a cool witchy term. See you soon !