Chapter 12
"Sam!" Bobby grabbed the youngest Winchester by the upper arm. "Hold on. You can't just go barging back in there! You saw what happened to Kendall."
Sam stopped, shrugging out of the hunter's grip. He backed away and turned with outstretched arms, looking at the older hunter incredulously. "So, what do you suggest, Bobby? Just leave Dean alone in there?"
"Hell no, kid. But let's have some kind of a plan to stay alive once we do get in there. We can't help Dean if we're the next victims. Let's at least get some weapons."
Sam looked contrite for a second and nodded. "Sorry, Bobby, it's just that . . . "
"Yeah, I know. I'm worried as hell about Dean myself. But we can't get sloppy now."
Sam started back towards the car. "So, what weapons are we going to use? We don't even know what these things are."
Bobby stopped and removed his ball cap to wipe his forehead with his forearm. He nodded. "I have an idea about that. I do remember a hunter that your dad and I worked with in Mississippi. He told us about a job that involved African witchcraft. Now, I don't know if it was the same thing as this umthakati thing, but in his case, electricity was the weapon of choice. It didn't destroy the spirit, but it kept it at bay so he could finish his hunt."
"So, we grab the tasers?"
Yeah, and let's crank 'em up. We can't take any chances."
Sam frowned as he unlocked the Impala's trunk and handed a taser to Bobby. An odd déjà vu feeling passed through him at Bobby's words. He hadn't used a taser since the brother's encounter with the raw head, and he didn't even want to think about how badly that had turned out. He stuffed his handgun into the back of the waistband of his jeans, and handed Bobby the shotgun full of rock salt. The older hunter opened his jacket to reveal a flask of holy water, as well. Sam took a deep breath and gave his friend a quick nod as he closed the trunk.
"So, you think that journal is somewhere in the room where the woman was killed?"
"Yeah, Kendall said he had it when he got to his wife. So that means it has to be in the lobby somewhere. In my vision, Dean was reading from it, I – I think he may be in the same room where Judith was mutilated, the blood – God! Bobby we have to get in there now. I don't think there's much time."
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Dean lay prone and unconscious on the cold cement floor. He was pale, save for the dark circles rimming his eyes and the red welts and dark bruises on his torso where he had been violated by the ethereal sangomas. The two bright amorphous lights hovered above him.
"He is not responding."
"Give it time. We may have given him too large a dose."
"We don't have time. It's nearing dawn."
"This boy is the only one with the ability to stop it. He took the only muti that will work against this umthakati. Once he awakens, he will be ready."
Dean's subconscious registered voices from what sounded to be a long distance away. He'd heard them before, but was confused. Where's Sam? Why isn't Sam here?
"He is concerned about his brother."
"Perhaps we should bring the brother to him, so he will focus on his task."
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Sam and Bobby approached the large front door. They moved forward purposefully as one and Sam pulled on the heavy wrought iron latch. Surprisingly, it opened without any effort. In fact, Sam thought, it seemed to open of its own accord. He and Bobby exchanged concerned expressions, both of them tensing suspiciously with their ease of entrance.
The overpowering sweet smell of congealed blood still hung in the heavy air, nearly taking their breath away as they cautiously made their way towards the gruesome remains near the lobby bar.
"Sam," Bobby whispered, "where was Kendall standing when you got to him?"
Slightly disoriented, Sam pointed his flashlight around the dark red pattern on the floor. "Um, he was nearest the bar, but he was kneeling beside Judith's remains, in her blood. If he was holding the journal, he must have dropped it around here when he went down." Sam's voice caught and he swallowed back bile as he recalled the scene.
Bobby nodded and trained his light onto the floor around the bar. "It has to be around here somewhere, then."
"Wait! Bobby, I thought I saw something." Sam flashed his light under the short but deep recess at the bottom of the bar. "I see it!" Sam dropped to his hands and knees and fished his hand under the bar, struggling to grasp the book in the confined area. His long fingers could just feel the edge of the book, but his hand was too large to reach in far enough to retrieve it. He groaned in frustration.
"Bobby, I need something to slide in here to move the book. Do you see anything I can use?"
The older hunter looked around quickly, spying an umbrella stand near the closet. The umbrella had a hooked end. He grabbed it and handed it to Sam. "Try this."
After a couple of attempts, and nearly shoving it completely out of reach, Sam successfully slid the journal out. He grabbed it triumphantly and stood up, smiling.
"Now, let's see what we're dealing with here."
As Sam opened the journal, Bobby kept watch and assessed the large room again. He frowned as he realized something.
"Uh, Sam? What do you think happened to Kendall?"
The young man's concentration suddenly broken, he looked up from the journal and over at Bobby with a puzzled, slightly annoyed expression. "What?"
"Look kid, we heard the guy's screams. By all accounts, Kendall's remains should be in here right along with his wife's. But they're not. There's no sign of him at all."
Sam shrugged. "Maybe they dragged him off somewhere. Maybe he's not dead. We can only hope he escaped."
Bobby was about to respond when the temperature in the room began to drop quickly. The two looked at each other, and in unison, brought their tasers up to the ready. The familiar, disembodied voice broke the silence.
"Those weapons will have no effect. We have little time remaining. You must cooperate now. If you don't, your brother will die. His death will be followed by countless others because we will have failed."
"Where is my brother?" Sam growled out, ready to lash out at the entity.
"Follow my instructions and I will take you to him. You must convince him to complete the task."
"This task― what do you want Dean to do?" Sam yelled, angry and scared, his breath heavy in the cold air.
"The only thing you need to know is that your presence is required. Otherwise, we will have to take drastic measures. It is not our prime directive to hurt innocents. But this is an unusual circumstance and your brother is now caught in the middle. At dawn, he must fight or die. You will be the one to influence that outcome."