My hands are broken,
And time is going on and on, it goes forever (how long)
So I got high and lived all that life that I've taken all for granted.
Promise me you'll try
To leave it all behind,
'cause I've elected hell,
Lying to myself.
Why have I gone blind?
Live another life.
You. You.
The only way out
Is letting your guard down and never die forgotten (I know).
Forgive me, my love,
I stand here all alone, and I can see the bottom.
MALLEUS MALEFICARUM
Ireland 1348
During the Black Death
"Reports from Dublin say people are dying at one hundred per day in the cities," my mother said as she said darning a sock by the fire place. "It is only by the grace of our King in Heaven that we are untouched by this evil."
"Amen!" Father said, blowing out a puff of smoke from his pipe. I watched them both, drawing a brush through my long red locks and then parting it into a long braid.
"I'm going over to the O'Malley's to check on Aideen," I announced, standing up and wrapped a shawl around my shoulders. "Don't wait up."
My parents nodded at me and I picked up my basket of supplies and let myself outside into the cool night's air. The full moon was shining overhead so I didn't need a torch to light my way.
I followed the well trodden track down the valley toward the O'Malley homestead, taking in the beauty of the night. It seemed strange to delight in such things when the people around us were dying, but I had no fear, our Heavenly Father would protect us.
A shadow stepped out into the moonlight from the trees and I hesitated for a moment until I heard his voice.
"Nice night for a midnight stroll," he said.
"Aengus! You scared me!" I said with a smile, skipping up to him and grasping his hand with my own.
"My apologies, I was coming to get you," he said with a slight bow.
I looked up at him and there was worry in his eyes. "What is it?" I asked, a frown creasing my brow.
"'Tis Aideen, she has taken a turn for the worse," he said quietly, looking down at me. "The priest has already been, he says it is only a matter of hours."
"No...no she was getting better!" I insisted, shaking my head.
"Come, she is always better when you're around, we all are," he said, slipping his arm around my waist. I walked next to him, shocked at the news, my head spinning with despair. Why had our Father forsaken us? We couldn't pray any harder than we already were.
Sturbridge, Massachusetts
- Present Day -
Beth's POV
The latest job we'd picked up was a strange case of a woman who had died in her bathroom after spitting up all her teeth and then collapsed. The fact that the door had locked on her husband and he couldn't get in was what piqued out interest, one minute it had been locked, the next it wasn't.
Dean and I were questioning Paul Dutton, the victim's husband while Sam looked around in the bathroom.
"She was so scared," Paul said. "I couldn't help; I couldn't do anything to stop it. And I've talked to the police, and I've talked to the medical examiner and no one can explain it," he said, looking troubled and confused. He stared up at us from the end of the bed he was sitting on; his eyes were wide and red, like he hadn't slept in days.
"Well that's why they put the call in to us Mr. Dutton," Dean said, looking up from the notes he was taking.
"But the CDC, that's disease control right?" Paul said, looking from Dean to me. "What do you think; it's some kind of virus?"
I looked at Dean and he raised an eyebrow just slightly, he wasn't sure either. I smiled slightly and inched my way toward the ensuite where the victim had died, Sam was already in there looking around.
"We're not ruling out anything yet," Dean said as I moved to join Sam in the bathroom. "Mr. Dutton did Janet have any enemies?" He asked as I closed the door behind me.
"I'm sorry?" We heard Paul say from the other side of the bathroom.
"Anything?" I asked softly and Sam shook his head as he rifled through the towels on a shelf. I started to go through the toiletries and other items in the shower while Sam looked under the bathroom sink.
"Anyone that might have a reason to hurt her?" Dean asked, continuing his questioning.
"What are you saying? That someone poisoned her?" Paul asked.
Sam stopped suddenly and I could tell he'd found something. He stood, pulling out a little bag from under the sink. He held it up for me to see, and I raised an eyebrow. Hex bag. Great, that generally only meant one thing: witches.
I exited the bathroom and found Paul standing, face to face with Dean. "I'm just saying we have to cover every base here," Dean said.
"Well, I mean, what kind of poison?" Paul asked, his brow furrowed and upset. "You think a person could have done this?"
"Would anyone want to?" I asked, walking over to them both.
"What?!" Paul said, looking at me. "No, no, there's just no one that could've..." he trailed off, staring at the wall behind Dean, lost in his own thoughts. Dean exchanged a curious look with me.
"Mr Dutton?" Dean prompted, bringing the man back to look at him.
"Uh, everyone loved Janet," he said, suddenly seeming aloof and avoiding the question.
Sam came out of the bathroom and nodded at Dean to let him know we were done here, and Dean wound up the interview.
"Okay. Thank you very much; I think we've got everything we need. We'll get out of your way now," he said.
It was raining when we left the house, the grey, dreary day doing nothing for my mood.
"That dude seem a little evasive to you?" Dean asked as we walked down the steps toward the car.
"I don't know, I was under a sink, pulling this out," Sam answered, handing over the hex bag. We all stopped and Dean opened the bag to have a look.
"Awww gross," Dean muttered, shaking his head.
"Yeah, there are bird bones, rabbit's teeth. This cloth is probably cut from something Janet Dutton owned," Sam said. Dean turned around to look back at the house, thinking, and then handed the bag over to Sam before walking toward the car again.
"So we're thinking witch?" He asked, and I nodded.
"Yeah, and not some new age wicked water dowser either. This is old world black magic, warts and all," I said. We all got in the car, and I breathed a sigh of relief to be out of the rain.
"I hate witches," Dean said, turning to me. "They're always spewing their bodily fluids everywhere. He grimaced and crossed his eyes and I laughed in spite of the disgusting picture he was painting.
"Pretty much," I said with a chuckle.
"It's creepy, you know, it's downright unsanitary," Dean said, shaking his head.
"Yeah well, someone definitely had it out for Janet Dutton," I said, glancing back at Sam.
"Yeah, someone who snuck into that house and planted the bag," Sam said with a nod.
"So what are we thinking, we're uh, looking for some old craggy Blair witch in the woods?" Dean asked. I thought about it, and Sam expressed what I was thinking.
"No, it could be anyone. Neighbour, co-worker, man, woman, that's the problem Dean, they're human, they're like everyone else," Sam said. Dean was nodding, looking around at the houses in this quiet, upper class suburb.
"Great, how do we find 'em?" Dean asked.
"This wasn't random," I said. "Someone in Janet Dutton's life had an ugly axe to grind. We find the motive..."
"We find the murderer," Dean said and I nodded.
"Yeah," Sam said from the back seat.
He started the Impala and pulled away from the curb, pointing us toward the motel. Now it was going to come down to some old fashioned detective work.
Ireland 1348
When we reached the homestead, the entire family had gathered around the little bed laid out in front of the fire. Aideen, barely five years old was lying feverish and pale under a blanket.
They made room for me when I entered, and I knelt by the little bed, placing my hand against her forehead. The priest was right, she was dying, and there would be very little we could do about it without a miracle.
"I'm sorry," I said softly, looking up at Fiona O'Malley, the matron of the family and Aideen's grandmother, "I don't know that there is anything I can do now." The woman looked at me and nodded, her lips pursed with sadness.
"Thank you for coming," she said quietly. She looked up, her eyes seeking out a face, and when she did not find it, a frown marred her features. "Where is Bronagh?"
Aengus looked around and shook his head when he couldn't find her among the other children. "She isn't here," he announced.
I stood up, taking one last look at Aideen on the bed and I knew where I would find her.
"I think I know where to look," I said, "I will go and bring her home."
Aengus followed me out the door, his hand settling at my lower back. "Where is she?" He asked. I hesitated, because if she was where I thought, he couldn't know.
"One of two places," I said, knowing I would have to lose him. "The church? Or maybe she has gone to see Deaglan." I didn't believe she was at either place.
"I will go to Deaglan's homestead and check, it is a further walk. You check the church," Aengus said, pausing to look down at me.
I watched as conflict ran across his face, and he fought with an inner turmoil. "Aengus..." my thoughts were interrupted as he grabbed me, his lips claiming mine in a heated, forbidden kiss. He held my face between his palms, the calluses of his farming hands rough against my cheek and sending shivers down my spine.
Motel Room
Present Day
Dean's POV
Beth was staring at the computer screen, and hadn't moved in a good half hour, TV was boring me, but I wanted to give her some space, we hadn't been apart for the last week except from a few half hours here or there. She was starting to appear anxious and I knew it had everything to do with the New Year that was coming up in a few days.
I sighed, looking down at my hands and twisting the ring on my finger as I thought through everything that was coming. There was nothing I could do to ease the pain she was feeling, and she was holding up extremely well, too well really, considering with situation. She was going to hit a wall eventually, I knew it, Sam knew it because he kept nagging me about it, and I think she knew it too.
Sam had left to do a little night time reconnaissance in Perfectville suburbs, so that left me with a very distracted girl on my hands, and no decent TV. Another sigh from the direction of the computer and I took it as a sign that things were not looking up for the research. I climbed off the bed and walked over to Beth, placing my hands on her shoulders and starting to knead at the knots there.
She groaned and sat back in her chair, sighing with pleasure as I rubbed her neck. "Mmmm, that's nice," she said with a smile.
"That's the idea," I said and leaned down to kiss the top of her head, looking at the laptop screen. "What are you looking up?"
"Witches," she said, looking up at me.
"Anything interesting?" I looked at the screen again, Beth had a scan of an old archaic book open, it was written in English, but it was clearly a translation and left a lot to be desired.
"Only that old world witches are said to draw their magic from the Devil himself," Beth said, sighing and gesturing to the screen.
"Heh, like there's a Devil," I said with a snort, shaking my head. All these years and I'd never heard of anything until that Casey girl had brought it up, even now I didn't believe she'd be on to anything other than a severe case of too-much-faith-not-enough-proof.
"Come on, take a break," I said, sliding my arms around her neck and leaning in to pull her against my chest.
Beth sighed and nodded, allowing me to step back and pull her up from the chair. "What's going on with you?" I asked. I already had an idea, but she was clamming up, I had to get her talking or it was going to be even worse in a few days.
"Nothing," Beth said frowning.
"Uh huh," I said, raising an eyebrow. "You want to try that one again?"
Beth sighed and rolled her eyes at me. "You're not going to let up on this are you?" She asked, and I shook my head.
"You have to talk to me sometime," I said with a smirk.
"Oh yeah?" She asked. "I can think of better things to do than talk when we have a motel room to ourselves," she said, sliding her hands up my chest to cup my face and pull it in for a sensual, breathtaking kiss.
I pulled away with a groan. "You're just trying to distract me," I said, looking into her deep brown eyes.
"Is it working?" She asked, raising an eyebrow with a twinkle in her eye. I looked at her long and hard, reading more into her expression than I wanted. She wasn't ready to be pushed on this one; vulnerability lay just below the tough exterior that she'd been showing to the world these last few months. She'd been angry, upset with me at the start of the year, now she was quietly resigned; I wasn't sure what was worse. I decided to let it go for tonight, but we'd be having this discussion soon, and she knew it.
"Yeah, it is," I said, taking her face in my hands and claiming her lips in a slow, lingering kiss. She returned it softly at first, but as soon as I ran my tongue over her bottom lip she moaned and leaned in to me, winding her arms around my neck. I couldn't help but smile, she was so incredible to watch, and I loved her every response to my tiny little licks and nips.
I pulled her over to the bed, sitting back and then tugging at her hand. She lay beside me and I stared up at her, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "You're beautiful," I said softly, and she blushed, smiling at me. I smiled at how I could still make her do that.
"Shut up," she said with a grin, catching my bottom lip in between her own and sucking softly before sliding her tongue in to meet mine. Our kiss was slow and undemanding, lingering in just the right places until I was breathless and my body started to ache for more.
Beth pulled back, her eyes turning troubled. I frowned, looking up at her. "What is it?" I asked.
"What if some of this research is true? Maybe we've been going about this all wrong? What if some demon doesn't hold the contract, what if the Devil does?" She asked, leaning against my chest and watching me intently.
"Beth..." I sighed. "What difference would it make?"
"Well maybe it'd be somewhere new to start!" She said, the same familiar look passing from her eyes like it had been lately when she least expected it. I don't want to lose you. I sighed. Reaching up and stroking her face gently, I considered what she was saying.
"Even if that's true, and I doubt it very much because I don't believe in the Devil any more than I believe in God, it's not going to be any easier to find a way to reach him than some demon," I said, taking a breath. Beth looked at me and bit her lip, sighing softly.
"Hey," I said, reaching up to stroke her cheek. "It's a dead end Beth, and you're using it to avoid what's coming up in a few days."
"No I'm not," she denied, pulling away and sitting up at the edge of the bed. I sat up next to her, and she glanced at me warningly: so much for not pushing.
"We need to talk about this," I said, and received a troubled look in reply.
"No," she said. "I can't."
"Beth..." I sighed, frowning.
"I said no, Dean," she said anxiously, standing up and grabbing her candle from her bag, shaking her head.
"Where are you going?" I asked, as if it wasn't obvious she was running away.
"Out," she said, using my trademark line, the one I'd always used on Sam.
"Beth!" I called out as she walked out of the room, glancing back at me apologetically. I lay back on the bed with a groan, damn!
Ireland 1348
Leaning into the kiss with a moan, I allowed myself this one small moment, my heart skipping a beat as I wrapped my arms around his neck. We pulled back and I sighed, because this couldn't be allowed to happen again.
"Meara would not approve," I said. Aengus sighed and looked away.
"Meara does not approve of many things," Aengus replied. "You have been a better mother to Aideen these past few weeks than she." That wasn't a fair statement. Meara had only just given birth a few months ago to their son, and was still not well as she had gone through a difficult birth.
"Well, I don't approve," I said, sighing. I loved him so very much, but he was married and there was nothing to be done about it. The only thing I could do was help keep his family safe from this plague, and even now I was failing. But maybe I could do something about that.
"We should go and get Bronagh, your mother will need her," I said, pulling away with a sad look at Aengus. He watched me silently before turning toward the outskirts of town and walking quickly away. Only then did I allow my tears to fall.
As soon as I was out of sight of Aengus I doubled back through the woods. Bronagh was not at the church, this much I knew. For the last few days she had become obsessed with the rumour that somewhere in the woods there lived a witch, someone who could work miracles and heal the sick – for a price.
I hurried toward where the rumours said this homestead was; within minutes I was lost in the darkness, the moon obscured overhead. An owl hooted and I jumped, everything had suddenly turned quite frightening and I wished I had brought Aengus with me.
Thoughts of his little sister in here spurred me on and I steeled myself against the dark, listening for the sound of the stream which would lead me to the homestead according to town talk. I found it and walked along its banks, careful not to slip in the mud.
Impala
Present Day
Sam's POV
We hadn't had a lot of luck with the canvassing of the neighbourhood, so we were now tailing Paul Dutton in the hopes of getting lucky. He'd stopped to grab a burger for dinner, going through the drive-thru and pulling over nearby at a park. We stopped at the end of the street, watching his car, Dean mumbling something about being hungry. I chuckled, he was always hungry.
Suddenly Paul fell out of his car, hunched over himself on the pavement beside the open door. He was choking, and Dean kicked the car into gear, speeding us to at stop in front of Paul.
"Check the car!" Dean called out to us as we got out of the Impala.
Beth and I ran for Paul's car, searching for the hex bag, while Dean tried to help get Paul to his feet. Beth searched the back seat of the car while I took the front.
"Guys!" Dean yelled urgently.
I sighed with relief, finding the hex bag tucked behind the rearview mirror. "Got it!" I called out, pulling a lighter out of my jacket pocket and setting the bag on fire. It flared up with a blue flame, and I dropped it to the ground as it got hot to the touch.
Paul stopped choking and leaned back against his car while we looked on.
"You okay?" Beth asked him as she looked him over.
"What the hell is happening to me?!" Paul asked, still clutching at his throat.
"Someone murdered your wife and now they're trying to kill you, that's what's happening to you," Dean said, laying it on hard.
Paul looked at us incredulously. "That's impossible! There's no way..."
"If we hadn't been following you, you'd be a doornail right now," Beth snapped, and he looked at her with a frown.
"Now who wants you dead?" Dean asked. Paul shook his head, feigning confusion.
"I-uh..." he struggled to come up with a viable reason.
"Come on, think!" Dean instructed, he was clearly frustrated and you could hear it in his voice.
"There's a woman..." Paul said.
Beth rolled her eyes and looked at Dean. "A woman, okay?" She asked.
"An affair – a mistake, she was unbalanced, she was blackmailing me and I put an end to it a week ago," he said. Suddenly things were starting to make a lot more sense.
"What's her name?" I asked.
"What could she have to do with...?" Paul shook his head, still reeling from the events that had just transpired.
"Paul what is her name?" Dean asked more forcefully.
It was late by the time we arrived at this woman's house. Her name was Amanda, and she lived in one of the upscale neighbourhoods that we'd been checking out. The house was dark, and fortunately no one was around to see us pick the lock and enter.
The inside of the house wasn't quite so peaceful.
Dean and Beth entered first, guns drawn and I shook my head at them, they were always ready to blow someone away. We moved through the living room and found the woman face first on a table, covered in blood.
"That's a curveball," Dean said as Beth turned on the light and grimaced at the sight.
"Yeah," I said, nodding and moving forward and inspecting the woman. Dean lifted her wrist with the barrel of his gun, and then looked at the other one.
"Three per wrist, vertical. She wasn't fooling around," he said with a frown, tucking his gun into the back of his jeans. I looked down at the altar that was scattered underneath Amanda, pinching my nose when the smell from a plate of rotten food hit my nostrils.
"Yeah, looks like she was working some heavyweight evil here," I said, Beth nodded looking down at the table and holding a hand over her nose.
"Yep," she said, with a digusted look and shudder.
Dean turned around and called out in surprise when he nearly came face to face with something hanging from the ceiling. I looked up quickly, and heard Beth snicker when we realised it was a rabbit's body.
"Oh god! Freakin' witches!" Dean said loudly. "Seriously man, come on!"
"Guess we know where she got the rabbit's teeth from," I said.
"Well, Paul sure knows how to pick them huh? It's like Fatal Attraction all over again," Beth said. She walked around looking at the room.
"And why does the rabbit always get screwed in the deal?!" Dean asked, looking back at the rabbit corpse. "Poor little guy."
I rolled my eyes and shook my head at him. "You know what I don't get? If she was so bent on revenge, why do this?" It didn't make any sense.
"Well she got Janet Dutton, thought she finished off Paul, decided to cap herself and make it a spurned lovers hat-trick," Dean suggested.
Beth was kneeling by the glass table Amanda was spread over and looking under it. "Maybe," she said.
"I mean, this doesn't exactly look like the TV room of a bright and stable person you know?" Dean added, starting to pace the room.
"No..." Beth said, reaching for something under the table. "But then ..." I watched as she grinned and pulled out another hex bag, standing up and tossing it to Dean. "...there's this."
"Another hex bag?" Dean asked, looking sceptical. "Come on!" He opened the bag and I walked over to look at it, it had similar items to before, such as the rabbit teeth.
Beth pulled out her phone and dialled, holding it to her ear. "I'd like to report a dead body... yeah... 309 Mayfair Circle," she said, looking down at the body. "My name? Yeah, sure my name is..." she clicked the phone shut, shrugging and put it back in her pocket.
"Why are witches ganking each other?" Dean asked, holding his chin in his hand. Beth stiffened and looked over at him; they exchanged a look that said they'd been in a similar situation to this before.
"You guys okay?" I asked, looking at them.
"Yeah, yeah..." Dean said with a nod. "It's just, the whole New Orleans thing, when Beth got zapped... that was a witch war we got caught in the middle of."
"Oh, right. Well you think this is similar?" I asked. Beth shook her head.
"No. Those guys in New Orleans didn't need hex bags..." she said thoughtfully. Dean nodded. "Maybe we have a coven on our hands?" She asked.
"Yeah could be," Dean agreed. "Let's get some sleep. Tomorrow we start investigating who Amanda was hanging around with."
Ireland 1348
After a time I started to hear sobbing, and I hurried toward the sounds. Bronagh was crouched under a tree crying, clearly as lost as I was.
"Bronagh!" I said, rushing up to her and taking her arm.
"Rhu? What are you doing here?" The young girl asked, wiping her tears and climbing to her feet.
"I should ask you the same question," I said to her, checking her over for injuries – she seemed all right.
"I have come to get a miracle for Aideen," Bronagh confessed and I sighed.
"Yes, I guessed as much," I said to her. "Come, you need to return home, your mother is worried."
Bronagh nodded and didn't question me. We followed the river back, it brought us out further down the valley, but at least we didn't get lost in the woods trying to find our way out. When we reached the outskirts of the woods I waved her off.
"I need to go and collect some herbs for Aideen," I said to the young girl. "Tell Aengus I may stop by later tonight, but not to wait up, I will check on Aideen and then go home." She nodded and I turned back into the woods, my mind made up.
In no time at all I was back where I had found Bronagh, and I followed the hoot of an owl, it seemed to be leading me into the woods. Witches have familiars; it made sense to me that this may be one of hers. I knew I was right when I found the little cottage sitting in a clearing.
There was light from a fire shining through the window, and I stepped into the clearing, hesitating for only a moment before hurrying to the door and knocking, I had to do this before good sense talked me out of it.
Mayfair Neighbourhood
Present Day
Dean's POV
A young woman with long dark hair was gardening when we arrived to do our investigations. We decided to start with the neighbours of Amanda's, and that led us here.
"You must have a green thumb," I commented as we approached her. She looked up, startled a little, like she'd been lost in her own thoughts.
"Excuse me?" She asked.
"Getting these herbs to grow out of season like this, quite impressive," I said, gesturing to the garden she was digging in. She looked at me confused and I exchanged a quick glance with Beth.
"I'm sorry; we should have introduced ourselves first," Beth said, pulling out her badge. "Detective Bachman, this is Detective Turner," she said gesturing to me, we didn't introduce Sam.
"Elizabeth," she said, nodding and standing up.
"We're following up on Amanda Burns' death, going around the neighbourhood and talking to neighbours and stuff like that," I explained, and the woman looked surprised.
"But didn't she – I mean she killed herself right?" She asked.
"Maybe, maybe," Sam said thoughtfully.
"We heard you were friends with the deceased, right?" Beth asked her.
"Yeah, I guess so," Elizabeth answered with a shrug.
"Did you have any idea about her practices?" I asked, noting that she didn't seem all that surprised by the question.
"I'm sorry, what kind of practices?" Elizabeth asked.
"Well, see her house was littered with satanic paraphernalia," Sam said.
"A regular Black Sabbath," Beth added with a nod. Elizabeth looked a little shocked, and it was almost like she tried to deny the Satanic claim, but she caught herself in time.
"No, the – but she was an Episcopalian," she said with a frown. Beth's phone started ringing and she excused herself to take the call, throwing me an apologetic look as she walked back toward the Impala, half a block down. I shrugged, curious as to who was calling, but she'd been on the phone a bit lately. I suppose I should have been happy she was talking to someone, because she sure wasn't talking to me.
"Well, then we're pretty sure she was using the wrong Bible," Sam said with a raised eyebrow, I turned back to the woman and nodded.
"Elizabeth? You all right?" A voice sounded from beside us. I turned to see a cold-faced blonde woman staring at us.
"I'm fine, uh Renee, these are detectives. They say Amanda was – she was practicing..." Elizabeth struggled to find the words, but Renee was as cool as a cucumber.
"I'm sorry detectives; you can tell that Elizabeth is a little bit upset," she said.
"Of course, Miss...?" I interjected.
"Mrs... Renee...Van...Allen," the woman said, enunciating each word. "Would you like me to spell it for you?" She said, talking down to me like a queen to a peasant.
"I'll get by, thanks," I said and smirked at her, ignoring the attitude.
"This Amanda business has been hard for Liz, for all of us," Renee said, getting back to the point.
The other woman with them sported short brown hair and coffee coloured skin. "Yeah, I mean, you think you know a person," she said, agreeing with Mrs Van Allen.
"Well, I guess we all have secrets, don't we?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well thanks, um, we'll be in touch," Sam cut in, taking my arm and pulling me away.
"Have a nice day," I finished as we moved away.
Beth was hanging up the phone as we reached her and she looked questioningly at my expression of amusement.
"What a bitch!" I snapped, glaring back at Van Allen. Beth frowned and pulled me toward the car.
"What's wrong?" She asked quietly. I leaned against the inside of the door, shrugging.
"I don't know, I'm just ... irritated, and you should have heard the uppity attitudewe just copped?" I looked over at Sam who was raising an eyebrow at me. "Was she trying to intimidate us? Who does she think she is?" I asked, scowling.
"Eh, let her think what she wants, it's only drawn more attention to herself, not less," Sam pointed out and I nodded. We got in the car and I started up the engine, looking over at Beth.
"Who was on the phone?" I asked, curious.
"Jefferson," she said quietly, watching me.
"Heh, what did he want?" I asked, still feeling a little irritated over Van Allen.
"I called him to see if he knew anything about the whole witches getting their power from the Devil research," she said. I stopped myself from sighing at the fact that she was still chasing that dead end.
"And did he?" Sam asked, leaning forward. She shook her head and shrugged.
"Nothing conclusive," she answered. I blew out a long breath, looking at the women who were now going inside to Elizabeth's house.
"Come on, let's go do some research on Mrs Van Allen," I said, pulling the car away from the curb.
Ireland 1348
A young woman came to the door of the cabin hidden in the woods; she was scantily dressed, with a fur cloak around her shoulders. When I looked at her eyes it was like staring into black pits of tar, not a spot of colour was to be seen.
"Come child, I have been waiting for you," she said, gesturing for me to enter.
"You have?" I asked, frowning as I walked into the tiny cottage.
"Yes, I have been expecting you to come soon, you're here to save the child," she said, looking into a bowl of what looked like blood. I grimaced, and then nodded.
"Can you help me?" I asked.
"Of course," she said. "For a price." She guided me to a chair and indicated I should sit down; she took a seat by the fireplace, looking up at me.
"Do you know what I am child?" She asked.
"You're a witch," I said, the word distasteful in my mouth.
Her laughter rang throughout the house, and she nodded. "I am that and so much more," she said.
I fidgeted in my seat, twisting my hands in my lap. "You do not approve?" She asked, sitting up and casting an amused look in my direction.
"I do not. Our Heavenly Father ..." I was interrupted.
"Your Heavenly Father has abandoned you girl, where is he? Hundreds are dying each month, and not a finger does he lift to help," she said. "I can help. I can give you the power you need to save your family and loved ones."
"At what price?" I asked.
Country Road
Present Day
Beth's POV
Night had fallen while we were at the library in town doing some research, we were on our way back to the motel room, it was already too late to go anywhere with our investigations. We would have to bide our time, and check things out in the morning.
"Well, I'm already sold on that Elizabeth chick," I said to the others and Dean nodded.
"Yeah, I agree. Did you see that victory garden of hers? Belladonna, wolfs bane, mandrake, not to mention that little flinch she threw in when we mentioned the occult," he said. I'd noticed the flinch too, it wasn't the first time the woman had come across witchcraft, that much was clear.
"Well, she's definitely had a good run lately," Sam said from the back seat. "Gone up a few tax brackets; won almost too many raffles. Kind of thing a little black magic always helps with."
"Yeah," I agreed, looking back at the road. It was dark out, and there was a fine fog creeping along the blacktop, eerie in the way it curled around the trees by the side of the road.
"I don't think she's alone either," Sam said. "Looks like Mrs Renee Van Allen has won almost every craft contest she has entered in the past three months," he said, looking at the laptop on his knee.
"Yeah, a regular Martha Stewart huh?" Dean asked.
"Except for the devil worship," I said. "I'm thinking that was the coven back there we met, minus one member."
"Amanda was clearly going off the reservation, what do you think? They killed her to keep up appearances?" Sam asked, looking up at us.
"Seems like an appearance kind of crowd don't you think?" I asked.
"Yeah," Dean muttered, still fuming over the Van Allen woman. I raised an eyebrow at him and chuckled. He was cute when he was angry.
"If they killed the nut-job, should we uh, thank them, or what?" Dean asked, wondering exactly how we were supposed to deal with this.
"They're working black magic too Dean, they need to be stopped," Sam said determinedly. I glanced over the back seat at him, noting that his eyes were dark and grim, his mouth set in a line.
"'Stopped' like... stopped?" I asked, surprised. Sam looked at me, his expression pretty clear.
"They're human Sam," Dean pointed out, frowning at him.
"They're murderers," Sam countered, leaning forward.
I looked at him, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the fact that suddenly Sam was all for ganking a few humans, even if they were witches. But he was right; they couldn't be allowed to continue. We'd have to at least talk to them, though it seemed unlikely that it was going to make a difference.
"Burn witch, burn," Dean said with a raised eyebrow, looking at me. I continued to gaze at Sam with a concerned look on my face. Suddenly the Impala started to stutter and choke up as we came to a stop in the middle of the road.
"What the hell?" Dean asked, frowning.
The source of the problem revealed itself a moment later as the fog cleared to reveal a young blonde woman standing in the middle of the road smirking at us.
I was sudden hit with an overwhelming feeling of nausea. I groaned and leaned over in my seat, Dean looked at me in alarm.
"Beth?" he asked, leaning over to place a hand on my back. I groaned again and sat up, whispering something I hadn't used in a long time as I closed my eyes and concentrated. Sam was getting out of the car, and I looked urgently at Dean.
"Demon," I muttered, nodding at the woman. His eyes flicked toward the girl and he was out of the car in a flash. I stepped out of the car, the nausea now pushed behind a wall as I continuously recited St Joseph's Litany in my head.
"Ruby," Sam said and I paused before walking around the back of the car to come up behind Dean.
"Sam, listen to me, there's no time," she said, seemingly quite comfortable with our little brother. That was disturbing in and of itself.
"For what? What are you talking about?" Sam asked.
"You have to get out of town," she said.
Dean snickered, shaking his head. "So this is Ruby, huh?" He asked, pulling the Colt from his jacket pocket where he'd had it tucked for the duration of the investigations since learning we were dealing with witches. He raised the gun, pointing it directly at the demon and cocked it.
"Never had the pleasure," he added, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her.
"Dean!" Sam protested, reaching an arm out toward us.
"I was hoping you'd show up again," Dean said.
"Point that thing somewhere else," Ruby said, looking unconcerned.
"Hahahahaha, right," Dean laughed, shaking his head.
"Sam please, go, get in the car and don't look back," Ruby said, turning back to Sam who was looking entirely too comfortable with this woman.
"Why? I don't understand," Sam said.
"Hey hot stuff, we can take care of a few kitchen witches, thanks," Dean said smirking.
"I'm not talking about witches, you jackass, witches are whores. I'm talking about who they serve," she said.
"The Devil?" I asked, taking a punt at some of the research I'd been coming across.
"Not quite," Ruby said, turning to look at me and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Demons," Sam said suddenly. "They get their power from demons."
"Yeah," Ruby said with a nod. "And there's one here, now."
"Oh, what, you mean besides you?" Dean asked, still holding the gun out like he was debating shooting her.
Ruby glared at Dean, realising she wasn't going to get any help out of him. "Sam, it knows you're in town and it's gonna come after you and it's way more than you can handle," she said.
"Oh come on, what is this huh? Please tell me you're not listening to this crap!" Dean snapped, looking over at Sam. But that was exactly what he was doing.
"Put a leash on your brother Sam, if you wanna keep him," Ruby instructed.
"Dean, look, just chill out," Sam said and that statement irritated me to no end. Demons were what got us into this mess in the first place, our entire life-long mess, and he wanted to consort with her?
"No, no Sam! She's messing with your head, God knows why, but that's who they are!" I said, glaring at her.
"I'm telling you the truth," she said, staring at me.
"And I'm telling you to shut up bitch!" I snapped. "You think you demons haven't caused us enough grief? It's all you ever do, no, whatever your game is; it's not to help us!"
"I'm sorry, why are you even a part of this conversation?!" Ruby said, exasperated with us.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because he's our brother you black eyed skank!" Dean retorted, bristling at the demon.
"Oh, right, right. You care about your brother so much, that's why you're checking out in a few months, leaving him all alone?" Ruby asked.
"Hey!" I snapped. "Shut your mouth, Sam won't be alone."
Ruby rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right, like you're gonna be any good to him once lover boy is gone," she said. "At least let me try and save him, since you won't be here to do it anymore."
"Shut up!" Dean snapped and he re-aimed the gun at her, starting to pull the trigger.
"Dean, no!" Sam yelled, and he grabbed Dean's arm, pushing it away as the gun fired, the bullet going wide. Dean struggled with Sam and I tried to grab at Sam to pull him off his brother. As I got Sam's arms locked behind his back we turned to look for the demon, but Ruby had vanished.
Dean shot a disappointed look at Sam as I released him, moving back toward the car.
Ireland 1348
The witch looked at me, smiling at my question of what the price would be in exchange for her help.
"Not much," she said non-committally. "I am lonely, I simply wish to have companionship over the coming years, a student to teach, someone who will join me in my travels." I looked at her, frowning.
"And where do you travel?" I questioned, not quite believing her.
"All over the world, child. I would take you with me, it would be an adventure," she said.
"I have family here...and love," I said.
"Love that cannot be requited," she pointed out and I glanced down at my hands, sighing. She sat up straighter. "I can fix that too. I can give you ten years with your love, but only ten years. Then you will need to come with me, and I will show you the world, and you will be my companion."
I thought about it, ten years with Aengus seemed like such a gift. But even without him, I would do it for his daughter; I would do it for him. Slowly I looked at this woman, this strange creature before me, and I nodded.
"I accept," I said, "but no harm is to come to Meara. Just help me save the child."
The woman smiled and nodded. "Agreed," she said, leaning toward me. "Let us kiss on it," she said, and before I could refuse, she grasped my face between soft, gentle hands, brushing her lips across mine. I was captivated by this woman of beauty before me. I didn't know if I'd done the right thing or not, but I had to save Aideen.
Motel Room
Present Day
Sam's POV
Dean stormed into the motel room, switching on the light. Beth was right behind him, trying to calm him down, but he was pretty livid. I followed them both with the knowledge that I was about to get a lecture, just like Dad used to dish out.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Dean snapped, turning to face me. Beth looked anxiously between the pair of us, and I rolled my eyes.
"What?! What the hell was I thinking?" I retorted with a sarcastic look.
"She's a demon Sam, period, all right? They want us dead, we want them dead," Dean said, laying down the law.
"Oh, that's funny; I remember that demon chick in Ohio, Casey? You didn't want her dead," I pointed out to him as he took of his jacket and tossed it on the bed.
"Yeah, well she wasn't stringing me along like a fish on a hook," Dean said, turning to face me again.
"No one's stringing me along!" I insisted. "Look, I know it's dangerous, that she is dangerous, but like it or not, she is useful." So far Ruby had actually helped us out a lot; Dean and Beth were just refusing to look at this little fact.
"No, we kill her before she kills us," Beth said, not surprisingly agreeing with Dean. I sighed and rolled my eyes at her.
"Kill her with what? The gun she fixed for us?" I asked.
"Whatever works," Dean said, throwing his arms out.
"Dean, if she wants us dead, all she has to do is stop saving our lives," I said with a smirk. Dean snorted and walked back into the bathroom, leaning over the sink and turning on the water, letting it run until it got warm.
"Look," I said, following him, glancing over at Beth who had flopped down on the bed, grasping at her head with a groan. "We have to start looking at the big picture Dean, start thinking in strategies and – and moves ahead."
Dean splashed water on his face, and I continued to lecture him, turning the whole thing on him, instead of it being me that was getting told off like a naughty child.
"It's not so simple, we're not – we're not just hunting anymore, we're at war," I said, watching as Dean turned off the water. He looked at me in the mirror, grabbing a towel and wiping his face dry.
"Are you feeling okay?" Dean asked, his eyes looking concerned.
"Why are you always asking me that?" I asked, perplexed. I sat on the end of the bed that Beth was lying on, looking over at her. Dean followed me out of the bathroom, leaning against the doorway.
"Because you're taking advice from a demon for starters, and by the way, you seem less and less worried about offing people, it used to eat you up inside," he said.
"Yeah, and what has that gotten me?" I asked, looking down at my hands. Truth was, our humanity seemed to be holding us up, and our dedication to each other had brought us nothing but pain and loss. I glanced back at Beth again; she had sat up on the bed, and was watching the conversation from a cross-legged position up against the headboard.
"Nothing, but it's just what you're supposed to do okay?" Dean said. "We're supposed to drive the friggin' car and friggin' argue about this stuff. You know, you go on about the sanctity of life and all that crap..." He looked like he was struggling to find the words and was rubbing at his stomach. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
"Wait, so – so you're mad because I'm starting to agree with you?" I asked incredulously, looking at him with a shake of my head.
"No, I'm not mad, I'm – I'm – I'm worried Sam," Dean said sitting at the end of the other bed, leaning forward, his arms on his knees. "I'm worried because you're not acting like yourself."
"Yeah, you're right, I'm not. I don't have a choice," I said quietly.
"What's the supposed to mean?" Beth asked, speaking for the first time since her comment about killing Ruby.
"Beth, come on, you can't say you've not thought about this," I said to her, she looked confused, shrugging her shoulders and looking questioningly at me.
"Dean, you're leaving. And, we gotta stay here in this craphole of a world, alone. So the way I see it, if we're gonna make it, if we're gonna fight this war after you're gone, then I gotta change." I said. I'd been giving it a lot of thought. Beth and I were so used to letting Dean call the shots, and before that it had been Dad. Who was going to take care of Beth if it wasn't me?
Dean was looking uncomfortable again, clutching his stomach like he had a indigestion or something.
"Change into what?" He asked.
"Into you, I gotta be more like you," I said.
Dean's face tightened into a grimace of pain and he leaned forward, clutching his stomach still. Beth was moving toward him before he even cried out.
"Ah!" Dean said, gasping for breath.
"Dean? What's wrong?" Beth asked, dropping to her knees in front of him and grasping at his arms, looking panicked.
"I don't know," Dean groaned, "Oh – Beth something's wrong – bunch of knives inside of me," he said, groaning and leaning over again, his head almost between his legs.
"Sam..." Beth said, looking up at me.
"Son of a bitch!" Dean said.
"It's the coven," Beth said, looking up at me. "It's got to be the coven." She stood up and ran over to the cupboards against the wall, starting to go through them as she tossed worried looks back at Dean.
"Don't worry," I said, following Beth's lead. There had to be a hex bag somewhere. I looked through the cupboards below the sink. Dean groaned and lay back on the bed, clearly in a lot of pain.
"Dean, hang in there," Beth said, as she started to feel between the couch cushions. In response, Dean leaned forward again, falling to his knees on the floor and spitting up blood as he choked and spluttered. Beth tossed me a knife as she ran and cut into one of the mattresses. I looked through the bedding, nothing, so I slashed through the other mattress as Dean groaned louder.
Nothing. I looked up at Beth and she shook her head, falling to her knees beside Dean again, her hand on his back as he leaned in to her, crying out in pain.
"Beth, I can't find it!" I said, looking at her urgently. She looked forlornly at me, shaking her head. "No..." I muttered, refusing to give up. I rummaged through my bag, finding the colt, opening it to check there were bullets in it.
"Sam, what are you doing?" Beth asked, watching me. I didn't answer her; I had to get out of here. I grabbed the car keys and moved to the door.
"Sam!" Beth called out to me; I glanced back at them and left before she could follow me.
Within five minutes I was back at Elizabeth's house. The windows were dark. I spun in a circle, looking for a sign, and saw candle light flicker in a window across the road. It was enough; it had to be the house. I ran toward the front of the house and kicked open the door, letting myself in. My hunch had been correct, they were there gathered around a coffee table, chanting with their hands joined. When I pulled out the gun, the women screamed, scrambling apart and raising their hands in the air when they saw me with the colt.
"Let him go!" I demanded.
"Let who go?" Renee asked, looking confused. "What are you doing? You're insane, get out!"
"Look, if you know about me, you know about this gun. You're killing my brother, now let him go. Get away from the altar," I said, waving the gun between the lot of them.
"What?" Renee questioned.
"Now!" I yelled. They all moved away from the altar, and I kept the colt trained on them.
"What – we – we weren't hurting anyone," Elizabeth said, looking at me with honest eyes.
"Please, we don't even know your brother," Renee said, rolling her eyes.
I didn't believe them for a second. "Stop the spell or die, five seconds," I said, handing out my ultimatum.
"What?" Renee said, looking shocked. I cocked the gun, pointing it back at her.
"Four," I said, starting to count down.
"No, please, don't kill us!" Renee said.
"We were just getting Renee a lower mortgage rate," Elizabeth said, looking anxiously at me. I paused, something about what they were saying seemed right, but at the same time, someone was trying to kill Dean!
Ireland 1348
Later that evening I was sitting by the side of Aideen, looking at the fading child. I placed my hand over her forehead and started to chant as the witch had told me. As the chant finished I heard someone enter the room, and turned to see Aengus's blue eyes staring at me in horror.
"What are you doing?" He asked, pushing me away from Aideen.
The little girl blinked and sat up as he reached her, beaming a smile at her father. "Papa!" She said, throwing her arms around his neck. I stood up and stepped away. She was all right, I sighed in relief – it had been worth it just to save the girl. I turned and left the homestead.
Aengus followed me, catching me as I was half way up the hill. He grabbed my arm forcefully and turned me to face him.
"What did you do in there?" He asked, eyes glittering in anger.
"I saved your daughter," I answered, looking back at him. Desperately I wanted him to understand, to see why I had done it, it had been for him. His oldest daughter had been dying; I couldn't stand by and do nothing!
"Yes, but how? What manner of witchcraft have you subjected my child to?" He asked.
"Maybe it's a miracle Aengus, have you thought about that?" I asked, staring at him. He scowled at me.
"A miracle perhaps, but not by God," he said. "From the Devil himself perhaps." Too late did I realise that he was so firmly entrenched in his beliefs that he could never accept what had happened. I hadn't intended to ever tell him, but now he'd seen me, it was too late.
"I don't expect you to understand. Good bye Aengus," I said quietly, turning my back to him. "Go back to your wife and children."
He growled angrily, and I felt a sharp pain as he grabbed me by the hair, pulling me against him. He dragged me over to a tree nearby and threw me against the trunk. Everything around me went black.
Motel Room
Present day
Beth's POV
I watched as Sam left us, guessing that he was going after the coven. I got up to leave, but Dean reached out, grasping at my ankle, and pulling me back to him.
"Beth..." he groaned, and I sank down beside him, unable to do anything to help.
"God, Dean..." I muttered, and he looked up at me, pain in his eyes, coughing blood out of his mouth. Quick footsteps sounded outside the door and then it was kicked in, I stared as Ruby walked in.
"You wanna kill me?" Dean spat at her. "Get in line bitch!"
Ruby ignored him, walking over to us and pulling Dean up by the collar, tossing him on bed.
"Hey!" I said, grabbing at her, she shoved me, the strength from that one movement sending me flying across the room where I collided with the wall hard. Dean tried to push Ruby away as she leaned over him, forcing his mouth open. She took a bladderskin and poured a black liquid from it into Dean's mouth, forcing him to drink.
I got to my feet and ran at her, shoving her hard off him. "Get off him bitch!" I said, she rolled gracefully to her feet and glared at me.
"Stop calling me bitch," she said as Dean spat up half the liquid she'd just forced him to swallow. Dean sat up, gasping for breath and I grabbed at his arm, hovering over him. He looked at me, nodding that he was all right. I moved toward the bathroom, grabbing a washcloth and wetting it.
"Next time you point that gun at me, I'm not gonna just disappear, understand?" She asked. I glared at her, returning to Dean's side.
"You saved my life," Dean said, sounding surprised. I started to wipe the blood from his face, looking him over for any other injuries while I did.
"Don't mention it," Ruby said, tossing him a sawed off shotgun.
"What was that stuff?" Dean asked, grimacing in disgust at me. "God, it was ass, it tasted like ass," he said and I snickered, shaking my head at him: he was always the joker.
"It's called witchcraft shortbus," Ruby snapped, rolling her eyes. She spun on her heel and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Dean looked at her a little offended and swallowed.
"You're the shortbus...shortbus!" He said after her, causing me to grin and kiss him quickly.
"Come on, we need to get Sam," I said.
Ireland 1348
I woke up to find myself tied to the tree, and Aengus and his brother were collecting firewood and stacking it around me.
"Aengus, what are you doing?" I asked. "Let me go!"
"Quiet witch!" Donal snapped at me and I turned my eyes to his younger brother.
"Aengus please! Don't do this, you don't want to do this!" I said as he put a couple of pieces of wood at my feet.
"I'm sorry Rhu," he said, "but the Bible is clear on this."
"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," Donal finished for him, glaring at me.
"So you're going to just burn me alive, after everything I've done for your family?" He stopped and I waited for Donal to go out of hearing range. "After all that we mean to each other?" I asked quietly, looking at him sadly.
"You're not who I thought you were," Aengus said, turning cold eyes to me.
I sucked in a breath, realising that he was going to do this, he was going to go through with it. "Nor are you," I said finally, tears coming into my eyes.
He watched me for a moment and I made no secret to hide how I was feeling, how betrayed I was.
"I curse you Aengus O'Malley. I curse your children and your children's children. How dare you? After all I have done for you! I have given everything for you. Just to see you happy. Well now I will see you all burn, each and every last one of you. I'll see you in Hell Aengus, because if you burn me this night, that is most surely where you will be going!"
He ignored me, and Donal gave him a shove toward the wood heap, where he gathered more kindling. They built up the wood around me, adding in straw and then, just as I had started to lose my voice from the begging he turned, looking me in the eyes, hatred there which I had not seen before.
Without a word, he tossed a lit torch among the straw and it caught fire, slowly at first, and then building, fanning its way through the wood. I could feel the heat, the flames licking around me. I tried to block it out; I could barely breathe from the pain. My voice didn't even sound my own as I screamed, my skin sizzled in a pain I'd never felt before: mercifully I blacked out. The last thing I saw before I was burning in Hell were the blue eyes of Aengus watching me, full of self-righteousness. I vowed he hadn't seen the end of me, I would return, and one day his family would burn just as I had.
Van Allen House
Present Day
Sam's POV
"Okay," I said, looking at Elizabeth. "Maybe it's not you." I said, looking at the woman. I pointed the gun over at Renee. "Or you," I added, and she looked shocked.
"Maybe it's you," I said, turning to point the gun at Tammi, the woman with the short dark hair. She had the good grace to look upset and scared at me, she was a good actress. However, I was certain I was right.
"I don't even know what he's talking about, what are you even talking about?" Tammi asked, looking anxiously over at the other women.
"All of you, everyone in your little coven, you've all had runs of good fortune, newsworthy good fortune, except for you Tammi," I said, raising my eyebrow at her. "Now tell me, why is that? You didn't want anything for yourself? Or is it because you're already getting what you wanted, like these women's souls?"
Tammi's eyes widened and for a moment I almost believed her. "I can't – I – I'm not – I – I – I dont..." she stuttered, failing to come up with a denial. When I didn't fall for it, she sighed, putting her hands down. Her demeanour changed in an instant, going from scared to smug. She blinked and her eyes turned black, revealing that she was a demon.
"Nice dick work Magnum," she sneered, looking at me.
"Let my brother go," I said, holding the gun pointed at her.
"What's wrong? Couldn't find my hex bag? Sorry, sweetheart, but your brothers' lungs should be on the floor by now," she said with a smirk.
I pulled the trigger, seeing red. The bullet shot through the air toward Tammi, and suddenly slowed mid-air until it lost momentum, suddenly coming to a stop and falling to the floor in front of her. Elizabeth gasped and I knew instantly that I was in trouble.
"You're in a lot of trouble Sam," she said with a raised eyebrow. She motioned with her arm at me and I found myself propelled through the air, hitting the wall where I stayed pinned.
"Tammi, what are you doing?" Renee asked, looking shocked.
"Renee, shut your painted hole," Tammi said, glaring at the woman.
"What? I – I will – You can't – Not in my house Tammi Fenton!" Renee spluttered, finally getting the words out. Tammi waves her hand at Renee impatiently and there was a disturbing crack as her neck snapped, her head almost completely turned backwards. Renee fell to the floor dead while Elizabeth shrieked in terror.
"Look, you got me, let the girl go," I said, trying to get the demon's attention.
"Shhh, Lizzie, it's okay," Tammi said to her.
"You're not Tammi," Elizabeth said, staring at the woman.
"No," Tammi confessed. "But I'm wearing her meat. I had to break the ice with you girls somehow," she said.
"You killed Renee," Elizabeth said, tears in her eyes.
"Renee, Amanda, what's what happens to witches who get voted off the island," she said, circling the altar in the middle of the room, watching Elizabeth with dark eyes.
"Who are you?" Elizabeth asked.
"Funny story actually. You remember all those dark demonic forces you prayed to, when you swore your servitude? Just who did you think you were praying to?" Tammi said, smiling cruelly at the woman whose face was starting to see the reality of the situation she had gotten herself into.
"This – this isn't, it can't be..." Elizabeth said, shaking her head.
"What did you think it was? Make believe? Positive thinking? The Secret?" Tammi asked, smirking. "No, it was me. You sold yourself to me, you pig," she said. Elizabeth gasped, staring at Tammi in horror.
"No, no, we didn't know..." Elizabeth denied, stepping back.
"Oh, yes you did. You knew every step of the way, and now your ever living souls are mine," she said.
Tammi turned back to look at me, her head tilted to the side. "Comments? Questions? Hmmm, Sammy Winchester, wow! Right here in our little town. You know, my friends and I, we've been looking for you."
"Why?" I asked, letting out a short laugh. "Oh, right, because I'm supposed to lead some piss poor demon army," I said, goading her.
"No, not at all," Tammi replied with a smile. "You're not our Messiah, we don't believe in you. But, there's a new leader rising in the west, a real leader. That's the horse to bet on Sam, the one who's gonna tear this world apart. Thing is, this demon, it doesn't like you very much, doesn't want the competition."
She raised her hand and I felt myself slide up the wall, hanging suspended, unable to move regardless of how much I struggled.
Topeka, Kansas
38 Years Ago
Six hundred years. Six hundred burning, torturous, soul-breaking years in the Pit. All that time I held on to one thing. One thing to keep me going. Revenge.
It took me almost fifty years to track them down, the descendants, and one by one I took their lives. Men, women... even the children. All of them would suffer my wrath, I would not leave any of them alive.
The first time I saw Patrick he was a young man. I had tracked down his parents, but they were already dead, passed on. His uncle wasn't however, and neither was his young female cousin Amanda. I took her body first, wearing her like a new dress and gutted the father – the direct descendant from Aengus himself.
Patrick walked in at that moment, just as I was preparing to turn the knife on the girl whose meat I was wearing. He tackled me to the ground, and I found myself tied to a chair.
"Who are you?" Patrick asked and I snarled at him.
"Shouldn't you be asked, 'what am I'?" I said cockily, looking up at him. These silly little ropes wouldn't hold me for long.
"Oh I know what you are," the teenager responded, pacing in front of me. "What I don't know is who ... you... are. You've been killing my family members off, why?"
"You family is cursed O'Malley, and I will see you all burn for what you did to me," I said.
"Cursed?" Patrick asked, rocking back on his heels, looking thoughtful. He crossed to the shelf near where he had me tied up, pulling on a lever to reveal a hidden panel. He pulled an old leather bound book from a shelf and flipped it open, walking back to me.
He looked at the journal, flipping through it to the start of the journal he started to read.
"And on this night I committed the biggest sin of all, I betrayed the woman I love, and burned her alive. Heavenly Father forgive me, for I will never forgive myself. I can still hear her screams, the piercing cries in the night as the fire claimed her. What have I done? She placed a curse on me as she died, on our family, that she would see us all die, burn for my betrayal. I must now educate my family on how to protect themselves from such an attack, and to do so, I must discover the truth of what happened. I must go to the witch in the woods, and learn of what she did to Rhu, dear, sweet Rhu who would have done anything for my family. Rhuddhem, please forgive me."
Patrick closed the book and looked at me. "You are Rhuddhem, are you not?" He asked.
"I have not been Rhuddhem for centuries, that weak, lovesick stupid little girl died that night, she is no more," I said, glaring at him.
Patrick flipped further through the book he held, and came to a page he was looking for. He looked up at me, a smirk coming upon his handsome face. Suddenly he started reading in Latin and I felt myself being pulled out of the body I possessed.
"My forefather put you in the right place, and I'm going to send you back there myself." He said, shaking his head at me.
"Nooo!" I yelled, fighting the exorcism. Patrick continued to read and I felt myself being pulled under, further and further. Finally, I had to vacate the body or risk being sent back to Hell. I left in a cloud of black smoke, but not before vowing to find them all again. I would come back, and I would take my pleasure in killing this cocky teenager who knew too much about demons.
I'd heard about these families of hunters, there were quite a few, I'd just never thought to find them among the members of the O'Malley clan.
Van Allen House
Present Day
Dean's POV
I rushed into the house, shotgun drawn, Beth right behind me with her own gun. We weren't given a moment to breathe before finding ourselves thrown against the wall, suspended and unable to move.
"Three for one, lovely," Tammi said smirking. I looked over at her, guessing this was clearly the demon.
"Wait," a voice said, and Ruby walked into the house, her hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Please, I just came to talk."
Tammi stopped to give Ruby an appraising look. "You made it out of the gate, impressive. That was a bitch of a fight, wasn't it?" She asked.
"Doors outta Hell only open for so long," Ruby said.
"What do you want Ruby?" Tammi asked, looking at the blonde demon.
"I've been lost without you, take me back. That's why I led the Winchesters here," she said, looking over at Beth and me. I glared at her, and looked at Sam mouthing I told you so to him.
"They're for you, as a gift," Ruby said.
"Really?" Tammi asked, almost seeming surprised. The girl nodded, seeming to place herself figuratively at Tammi's feet.
"Let me serve you again. I've wanted it, I've wanted you for so long," Ruby said. Tammi's face actually seemed to soften as she looked at her old prodigy.
"You were one of my best," she said. They looked at each other, staring for a moment, and then suddenly Ruby moved, pulling out the demon-killing knife and trying to stab Tammi. It was too slow, Tammi blocked the swing and looked at smirked as she held Ruby's arm. "But then," she said. "You always were a lying whore."
She disarmed Ruby, the knife sliding out of her hand and across the floor. Tammi and Ruby started to fight. I watched, unable to move as Tammi picked up Ruby and threw her across the room into the TV. Moving as if nothing had happened, Ruby got up and kicked Tammi, moving to run past the dark haired demon.
Tammi clotheslined her, knocking Ruby to the floor, flat on her back. Pulling Ruby up, Tammi tossed her into a bookshelf and picked up a fireplace poker from the stand on the hearth, looking over at Elizabeth, who was still cowering from Tammi.
"You're really telling me you threw in your chips with the Three Stooges?" Tammi asked Ruby, who was struggling to stand after being thrown against the wall. Tammi hit her with the poker. "Come on, get up."
I watched as Elizabeth moved to the altar, unseen by Tammi, whose attention was on Ruby, the girl at her feet, panting and not moving.
"I said get up!" Tammi ordered her, tossing the poker aside and crouching over Ruby, grabbing her by the jacket and pulling her up.
"We've been here before, haven't we?" Tammi asked Ruby. She chuckled and looked over at Sam. "She didn't tell you?" She asked, and when no one responded she turned back to Ruby. "Pretty mortifying I guess. She was one of mine. I turned her out a long, long time ago. Ruby here was a witch. Of course, that was when you were human."
I looked at Beth, surprised, who was staring at the two women, looking horrified. Tammi threw Ruby back down on the broken bookcase.
"Didn't want your friends to know what all those centuries back you sold yourself to me? Embarrassing I guess, but don't worry love, no secrets where you're heading, remember?" She said. Tammi began to chant in a language I didn't recognise, and black smoke started to rise out of Ruby's mouth.
Suddenly Tammi's chant was interrupted, she started to choke. Elizabeth had started her spell, and it was causing pins to spit out of Tammi's mouth. Tammi coughed up the pins and she looked over at Elizabeth in fury. She raised her hand up in the air and clenched her fist, Elizabeth started to gag and then her eyes went wide and she fell face forward on the table, dead.
The break in Tammi's concentration was enough to free us all of her bonds. Beth crouched next to me on the floor and nodded toward the discarded knife on the floor, closest to me. I crept over to it, taking it in hand, feeling the comforting weight of the knife in my hand. I moved quickly, standing up and stabbing Tammi in the back several times until the bitch died, falling to the ground.
Ruby looked up at me, breathing hard, and I looked at her for a moment, considering doing the same thing to her. Beth moved to Sam, helping him up and they both turned to look at me.
"Go," Ruby said, standing up. She looked slightly embarrassed, wiping the blood from her mouth. "I'll clean up this mess," she said. I didn't move, I didn't know what to do about the mess we were in.
"Dean," Beth said softly, looking at me from where she was helping Sam, his arm around her neck. "Baby come on," she urged me.
I followed her, nodding, shaking my head and attempting to pull my wits around me. I needed some time to think, everything seemed wrong. A witch had just helped us kill a demon, which had been trying to kill another demon that had saved my life. Life used to be so much easier to make sense of when we could just kill all the monsters, and there was no grey to get lost in.
"Go," Ruby said, her eyes black tar pits once more. We left, heading back to the motel.
An hour later I was walking outside, trying to clear my head. Beth was in the shower, and would come looking for me no doubt if I didn't get back to the room soon, but I just couldn't bring myself to go inside yet. The lights around me started to flicker and I glanced around, instantly on the alert.
When I looked back to where I had been headed, Ruby was standing in the shadows of the parking lot. I moved toward her, frowning.
"So the Devil may care after all, is that what I'm supposed to believe?" I asked her.
"I don't believe in the Devil," she said, crossing her arms.
"Wacky night. So let me get this straight, you were human once, you died, you went to hell, you became a..." I trailed off, the reality of what I'd been about to say hitting home with me.
"Yeah," Ruby said, turning to leave.
"How long ago?" I asked, curious. She turned back to me, raising an eyebrow in my direction.
"Back when the plague was big," she said. I thought about that, centuries of being in Hell, it had to be ... well... Hell.
"So all of them, every damn demon, they were all human once?" I asked.
Ruby looked seriously at me. "Every one I've ever met," she said.
"Well, they sure don't act like it," I said.
"Most of them have forgotten what it means, or even that they were. That's what happens when you go to Hell Dean. That's what Hell is, forgetting what you are."
I snorted, shaking my head. "Philosophy lesson from the demon, I'll pass, thanks."
"It's not philosophy, it's not a metaphor. There's a real fire in the pit, agonies you can't even imagine," she said.
"No, I saw Hellraiser, I get the gist," I said, putting on a brave face.
"Actually, they got that pretty close, except for all the custom leather," she said. I looked at her thoughtfully. Ruby looked like she was about to leave, and then she turned back.
"The answer is 'yes' by the way," she said.
"I'm sorry?" I asked, not sure what she was talking about.
"Yes, the same thing will happen to you. It might take centuries, but sooner or later Hell will burn away your humanity. Every hell bound soul, every one turns into something else. Turns you into us, so yeah, yeah, you can count on it." She said.
"How is it you're not like the others?" I asked.
"I remember how I ended up in Hell. I had something to hold on to, all those centuries, something to remind me why I was fighting to get back to the surface." She said.
"What?" I asked. "Love?"
She snorted and shook her head. "Love put me in the Pit, love is pointless, makes us stupid. Look at you, going to Hell and for what? For Beth? For love? She's not worth it. She'll betray you one day, when you least expect it."
"You don't know anything about her," I said, narrowing my eyes.
"I know more about her than you think. I know her whole family. It was her forefather who betrayed me, burned me at the stake as a witch when he had told me he loved me, but he got what he wanted, the safety of his child, his family." Something about what she was saying rang a bell with me.
"Ruby, that's not a name you would have gone by hundreds of years ago?" I asked, suddenly suspicious.
"No, my name was Welsh," she said, "Ruby is what it means."
"We've met before," I said, taking a guess.
"Do you think?" She asked, gazing at me curiously.
She looked at me and I shook my head. "You're the one; you possessed Beth, killed her father." I said. She smirked.
"Beth should think herself lucky she hasn't joined her father, she's special, you know that? She might prove useful later on, besides, watching her suffer, knowing where you're going. That's better than killing her. Let her suffer the way I did because her ancestor was a lying, self-righteous prick of a man who betrayed me." She scowled, looking up at the stars as she said that, I thought I saw sadness for a moment in her eyes.
"You going to tell her?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow and pulling herself together.
"No," I said. "She has enough to deal with, and like Sam said, you've proved yourself useful so far."
I paused, looking at her, all manner of thoughts running through my head, but one more than any of the others.
"There's no way of saving me from the pit is there?" I asked, thinking about how I didn't want to leave Beth here with a crazy demon on the loose hell bent on killing her as soon as the next mood swing hit.
"No," Ruby said. I nodded.
"Then why'd you tell Sam you could?" I asked.
"So he would talk to me, you Winchesters can be pretty bigoted. I needed something to help him get past the..."
"The demon thing?" I asked with an inclined head. "It's pretty hard to get past."
"Look at you, trying to be all stoic. My god it's heartbreaking," she said.
"Why are you telling me this?" I asked, completely confused by what she wanted, why she was even talking to me.
"I need your help," Ruby confessed.
"Help with what?" I questioned.
"With Sam. The way you stuck that demon tonight, it was pretty tough. Sam's almost there, but not quite, you need to help me get him ready, for life without you; to fight this war on his own."
"He'll have Beth." I said, frowning at him.
"Yeah, like I said Dean, I can't see her being much good to Sam once you're gone. She loves you, she's going to be a mess. I need Sam ready to fight, not deal with her having an emotional breakdown." Ruby said, taking a step toward me.
"You need to leave them both alone," I said.
She snorted and shook her head. "Won't matter what I do Dean, they're targets, in a war that wants Sam dead, Beth too."
"You just said you wanted Beth dead." I said, crossing my arms.
"I'm willing to put aside my grudge for the good of the mission," Ruby said. I looked at her sceptically.
"Why do you want us to win?" I asked, genuinely curious.
She looked at me, shrugging her shoulders. "Isn't it obvious? I'm not like them, I – I don't know why. I wish I was, I wish I could go back to killing just for the fun of it. But I can't. I remember what it's like."
"What what's like?" I asked.
"Being human," she said.
I frowned, looking down at my feet. When I looked back up again she was gone, leaving me with a sick feeling in my stomach. I couldn't tell Beth what I'd just learned; she'd never be able to deal with it. One day maybe, but not yet.
"Dean?" Beth's voice startled me out of my revelry.
"Dean are you okay?" She asked, stepping out of the motel room nearby and smiling at me.
"Hey," I said, smiling back at her. "Yeah I'm fine," I lied, walking over to pull her into my arms and kiss her forehead. "Big day huh?" She nodded, resting her head against my chest.
I held her tight, thinking about how little time we had left. I didn't have a lot of time to prepare them for my death, and suddenly, after this latest conversation, I wasn't sure I was as ready to sacrifice myself to Hell as I had been letting on. I wouldn't take it back, not if it meant saving Beth from Hell, and keeping Sam alive. But I was starting to wonder if trying to mess with the contract wasn't such a bad idea.
I sighed, pulling her toward the motel room. Time to get some rest, a new year would begin the next evening, and I had another crisis that was going to begin in the morning no doubt.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Song for this chapter is "You" by Breaking Benjamin
Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving if you celebrated. We don't do it in Australia, and boy do I miss it every year after having celebrated it when living in America!
I hope you enjoyed this little story with a bit more of a look into Beth's family history :) I actually found this episode fairly boring myself, but I enjoyed writing the Ruby history :)
I have a new story for a Gabriel fanfic coming through, hoping I can actually start to get my ideas down in written form some time during my work's hiatus over Christmas and New Year, but we'll see because I'll be staying at my mother's for about six weeks as I wait on my new rental house to become available to move into! Ahhhhh, that's going to be fun with how much she and my Grandma argue!
Hope you're all still enjoying the story - everyone has gone a little quiet, so I'm hoping that's not a BAD THING and that you're all just really busy! If you get a chance, please leave me a review and let me know if you're enjoying the story - I start to get paranoid (haha)
OK, not even sure what comes next, but there's likely to be a side story first, I just have to get it out now. :)