Chapter 4

Sam had encountered more deranged, murderous spirits throughout the course of his life than he cared to remember. Along with spirits, he had been allowed on hunts for a myriad of other creatures with his Dad and brother, most of which they had encountered many times before even if Sam hadn't. But, altogether, the three of them had dealt with demonic possession only twice.

The first time had been when Sam was 15. John had been reluctant to bring Sam along since he had never dealt with a demon before, but had decided, in the end, that Sam's Latin could use a little practice under stress. It was an experience Sam would never forget. He had fought a lot of scary things, even by that point in his life, but a demon is something else entirely.

With John's practice of always telling his boys only what he thought they needed to know and nothing more, he hadn't warned them that demons lie. So, when the demon started screeching to Sam about how his mother's death, and, as a result, the way the remains of his family now lived, were all his fault, Sam was shocked into stopping in the middle of reading the exorcism. John had had to finish it, and the demon had turned to trying to convince John that Mary was burning in hell once it realized Sam was no longer a threat.

The second time had been much easier, a few years later, since they all knew what they were dealing with. They got separated during the chase, though, and Sam had missed the actual exorcism. He could tell, afterward, that Dean had been the one to do it, because something was bothering him. Whatever the demon had said this time had done a real number on Dean. But when Sam asked him about it, tried to get him to talk about it, he got a typical evasive reply—Demons lie, Sammy—and that was the end of it.

For the second time in as many weeks, Sam thought about calling his Dad or Dean. He'd never gone on any hunts by himself before, and he didn't really like the thought of facing down a demon alone. He came closer than he ever had to actually doing it, and he might have if he hadn't thought about what it would be like when they came.

Even if they were all the way on the other side of the country, Dad would order him to wait, which was bad enough. As far as Sam could tell, Pete hadn't done anything violent yet, but with demons, it was only a matter of time. Then, when Dad and Dean actually got there…seeing them after all this time would be difficult and awkward, to say the least. He knew there wouldn't be any talking about what had happened between them; Dad would be all business as usual, and he'd take command and order Sam around, expecting complete, unquestioning obedience. That, Sam could not stand. It was part of the reason why he'd left, and he couldn't go back to that.

So Sam made his preparations on his own. He went back to the library and got online. He spent a while searching the internet for exorcisms, having to weed through sites made by people who really didn't know what they were talking about until he found a legitimate one and wrote it down in his notebook. He made it to the local grocery store right before it closed at eleven and bought the biggest container of salt they sold and a 2-liter bottle of water. He stopped to sit down on the first bench he saw, opened the water, and recited the quick Latin blessing that would turn it into holy water.

Now that he had everything he needed, he wasn't quite sure what he would do next. He wanted to do it now, to get it over with before the demon started getting ugly, but he had no idea where Pete was.

Wherever he was, Sam figured he had to go back to his dorm room to sleep eventually, so Sam headed back to where he had been earlier. After making sure Pete wasn't already in his room, Sam went back down the hall to a small common area. Most people didn't even use it, and at this time of night, it was deserted. Sam set the bottle of holy water and the salt out beside him, got out one of his books to read, and settled down to wait.

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Sam sat there for an hour, pretending to be engrossed in his psychology textbook. In actuality, he had every sense trained on the slightest noise or movement. Once, at about half past eleven, he heard footsteps, and thought it might be Pete coming back. He put a hand next to the bottle of holy water and watched carefully as whoever it was came closer and closer to passing the doorway to the common room…but it wasn't Pete. It was just a student passing through.

Finally, he heard another set of footsteps, and Sam could tell these belonged to somebody in a hurry. He barely had time to glance up to see Pete rushing past towards his dorm room.

"Hey, Pete!" He called, getting up to move towards the door to the room. Pete stopped and turned around, and looked confused when he saw Sam there.

"Sam…hey. What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to talk to you," Sam replied, letting some of his stress show, hoping Pete—or the demon, rather—would buy it. "Please? You left so fast earlier, and it'll only take a minute."

"Well…" Pete sighed. "I guess. Sure."

Sam motioned Pete into the common room and followed him, heart pounding. He was still holding out the hope that he was wrong. He'd throw the holy water and nothing would happen, Pete would be really wet, he'd end up looking like an idiot, and that would be the end of it.

While Pete's back was still turned walking into the room, Sam grabbed the bottle of holy water and tossed a liberal amount of it onto Pete in one fluid motion before Pete could even have a chance of stopping him.

His heart sank as he recognized the familiar signs. Steam rose from the body of his friend immediately on contact with the holy water, and an inhuman screech came from his mouth as he writhed in a futile attempt to escape the pain.

Sam knew he didn't have much time; holy water only works as a temporary distraction, and he hoped that nobody had heard the demon's shriek and would decide to come investigate. Pete turned around to face him, and even though Sam had been expecting it, it still shocked him to see it in the face of one of his closest friends. Though it was Pete's body, it was no longer Pete. His face was contorted in a snarl of rage and hatred, and his eyes had gone jet-black.

Sam executed a quick, strong right hook. It hit Pete square in the jaw and sent him flying further into the room. Combined with the pain of the holy water, it made the demon lose its footing and fall backwards to the ground.

Sorry, Pete, Sam silently apologized to his friend, but didn't waste any time. He poured more of the holy water onto Pete, incapacitating the demon long enough to grab the container of salt and lay a solid ring around it.

Sam stepped back, chest heaving with nervousness as much as the physical exertion. The hardest part was over, and he'd done it. The demon couldn't cross over the ring of salt as long as it stayed solid, and all he had to do was read the exorcism to send it back to hell where it belonged.

He pulled his notebook out from under his psychology textbook and opened it to the marked page where he had written down the exorcism. He glanced up at the demon. It had sat up but was still breathing heavily, dealing with the lingering pain of the holy water. It clenched its jaw once and then looked right up at Sam with those black, black eyes that seemed to see right through him into the darkest parts of his past.

"The great Sam Winchester himself," The demon said in Pete's voice, grinning. "We finally meet."

Sam ignored it and started reading. "Regno terrae cantate Deo, soli te Domino pre fertum super celum tribute virtutem deo exorcizamus te spiritus admissi satanica—"

"Once a hunter, always a hunter," it said, raising its voice to be sure Sam heard it. "You can try to escape your fate, but you will fail."

Sam had expected it to talk about his Dad and brother, maybe even his Mom. He had anticipated the possibility that it would talk about him trying to escape his past, so he wasn't caught completely off-guard. He forced himself to keep ignoring what the demon was saying, not pausing in his recitation.

"Potestas admissi curgio infernalis adversali et omnis letio omnis congregatio et sectario perditiones venenam propinare Vade satana—"

"After all you've done to get away, to feel safe, look where you are now. Taking on a demon all by yourself," it said mockingly, its voice gaining strength as it continued to recover from the holy water. It slowly, carefully stood up within the circle.

Sam kept his voice steady, working to retain his control. "Inventor et magister omnis invocato at nomi santo et tribali nomine quem inferi tremant. A mercedes diavoli libera nos domine—"

"It's amusing, really, your futile attempts to avoid your destiny," it said, and if Sam had been watching it more carefully, he would have noticed a dangerous glint penetrate Pete's blackened eyes before it continued. "And now, all you've managed to do is put others in danger because of your childish denial."

Sam's voice faltered, but he continued anyway, knowing that it would all be over once he finished reading. "Ut ecclesiam tuam secura tibi facies. libertate servire te rogamus audi nos sante ecclesiae te rogamos audi nos In nominis deus sanctuario tuus—"

"Too bad your little girlfriend will be the first to go."

Sam looked up sharply into cold black eyes, all awareness of the situation fleeing his mind. Jess.

The demon's grinned as it realized it had finally hit a nerve. "Yes, that's right. Jessica. You haven't told her the truth. You haven't taught her anything, how to protect herself. She won't have a chance."

"Why?" Sam spat out angrily, not trusting himself to say anything else, part of him trying to get him to wait, hold on, find out what the demon meant, the other part straining to cross over the circle of salt and knock it out on principle alone before finishing the exorcism.

"Why haven't you told her? I don't know, that's your question to answer. Why does Jess have to die?" It smirked, knowing its words were hitting their mark. "I've told you that already. You can't escape your future, and Jess isn't a part of it. You think I'm here by accident? I was sent. We have plans for you, Sammy."

Sammy. His childhood nickname snapped him out of his blind rage and fear for Jess, and he heard Dean's voice in his head—Demons lie, Sammy—and that was all he needed.

"Exert tua virtute et fortitudinem levi sue benedectis deus gloria patri!" Sam shouted out the last line of the exorcism before the demon had the chance to say anything else. It let out a snarl of frustration, but it was too late. It dropped to its knees, crossing its arms over its chest in a futile attempt to hold on and avoid being sent back to hell.

Pete's body convulsed as if he was going to retch, and he lurched forward before he snapped upright again and threw his head back. A volatile, black, smoky substance began flooding upwards out of his mouth. Sam watched as it dispersed and disappeared against the ceiling, not relaxing until all of it was gone.

As the last of it vanished, Sam turned his attention back to his friend. Pete had fallen forward onto the floor and lay unmoving in the now scattered salt circle.

Sam dropped his notebook and knelt down at Pete's side. He rolled him over onto his back and quickly checked for injuries. He was relieved to find none aside from a small bump where his forehead had hit the floor. Sam reached to gently brush the salt off where it had stuck to Pete's forehead, and Pete groaned and moved his head away in response.

"Pete?" Sam asked tentatively.

"Sam?" Pete asked groggily, blinking in the direction of Sam's voice above him, trying to focus enough to be able to see.

"Yeah, Pete, it's me. I'm here." Pete moved to attempt sitting up, but Sam stopped him. "Whoa there, just hold on a second. Just stay there for another minute or two, wait until you feel like getting up." Pete looked like he might argue for a minute, but he relaxed, letting Sam lower him back to the floor.

"Sam…" he started, his brow furrowed as if he was trying to recall something. "Sam, I couldn't…do anything, I couldn't talk, I was trapped—"

"I know, Pete," Sam interrupted as his friend's voice started to grow frantic. "I know. It's okay now, it's gone. You're okay."

Sam sighed in relief as he sat by Pete waiting for him to regain his coherence. It was over. He was safe again. He and Jess were safe.

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Note: In "Devil's Trap," Bobby says that normally, there are only 2 or 3 demonic possessions a year; that's what I based how many times Sam has been up a demon before on. Going by that, him only facing a demon twice before makes sense. The exorcism Sam reads here is (roughly) the one from "Devil's Trap."

One more chapter left to wrap things up with Sam and Jess and bring it up to the pilot episode. :)