His hands were bleeding. Plants still reached forward to snag at his legs and face, and all his cuts had gone numb, leaving only a dull ache.
He could still hear the Hellhounds some distance behind him. They were following him without getting too close on his tail. Shepherding him somewhere.
An unearthly scream rent the night air. The third scream in two hours. It seemed to echo in every fold and crevice. And it gave Sam a small respite from his tormenters as he realised that Jo wasn't running after him like he half expected.
She was doing her job.
And it was time for him to do his.
Turning around and staring these two spawn of Hell in the eyes was probably one of the hardest things he had ever done, but he did it. His brother had bravely stared down his fate and so would he.
He spread his arms wide. "Come on and kill me then. And I bet there's going to be plenty of other demons out there pretty cranky that they didn't get a shot. Come and kill me, Mother."
Sam had said the magic words. Both Hellhounds shot out to either side, yipping and whining like pups that had been kicked. Sam watched in astounded silence as they bounded off into the hills.
"So. You think to summon me. What's in your head, boy?" He knew that voice. The one from his dreams. His head whipped around to keep an eye on her as she approached.
She was lovely, with clear liquid eyes and hair that seemed to shimmer with whatever colour she wanted it to. She smiled and Sam once again felt himself floating away. He dug his fingernails into his palms and the monetary pain woke him up again.
Another scream rent the air. "Your companion is decimating my pets." The Mother said calmly. "In another time and another world I could have had your flesh peeled from your bones for such an insolence." Although it was a threat, her musical voice and the enchantments she wove made it seem like an endearment.
"You expect us not to do anything when we know how to take them out?" He asked. "Who are you? Really?"
"Take your pick. I have been known as Lilitu, Ardat Lili, Lillake, Lamashtu, Lamia, the Seductress, the Mother, and Queen of the Witches. Do not think that with all my might that I fear you, as insignificant as you are."
"But you still came." Sam said. "I have some hold over you, even if you don't like to admit it."
She frowned, and even that ugly expresion failed to spoil her face. Whoever the host had been, her natural beauty had been eclipsed by what the demon though she should look like.
"Why me? Why all those people?"
She casually began to circle him, taking in his every angle, eyes narrowed. Sam began to feel uneasy; it was like a vulture circling his prey.
"Well, since I helped kill your… husband and all, it's hardly surprising why you're going after me." Keep talking. Keep her talking.
The Mother laughed. "That putrid sack of excretion? If anything, I should be thanking you for removing him from the inner circle. His absence makes things so much easier. I've already thanked Dean for his part in his downfall."
He finched a bit at his brother's nameThen he grinned. Demonic marital disharmony. Who would have thought? "For you in particular?"
"Of course." She gave a toss of that long hair. "Now, Sammy, what is it you really want from me?"
"How do you know me?" He whispered.
"My consort spoke of you. Of your strength and resiliance and courage. Of power unrealised. Unrealised still, if I am correct. And I always am."
"I know what I can do." Sam growled.
"Then show me. Show me what a Wichester can do, and I'll squash you like an insect." Sam made a mistake then. He paused, and the Mother threw him back against a tree, pinning him down.
"Oh, Sam. You could have had me then but you had to stop and think. That consciousness is going to get you into trouble one day."
Helplessly he watched as the undegrowth rustled and out stepped the Trickster. He was scowling. After a moment he was followed by a tall man with wooden features and poisonous green eyes.
"Samuel Winchester, meet my son Cerberus."
Cerberus. The keeper of the mouth of Hell. Oh dear.
The Mother glanced at Sam's face. "Poor boy. You didn't think that my dear Hades was my only son, did you? And my little girl is counting the days until you meet again, face to face."
Crazy runs in packs. And family sticks together.
"My consort never came out and propositioned you directly, preferring the clandestine approach. And look what that got him. So I will ask you directly. Join us, and live forever, alongside your beloved brother."
"So you can have a matching pair?" Sam spat.
The Mother was about to reply when the Trickster cut in. "I kept my part of the bargain, Lilith. I brought you the kid. Don't tell me you aren't going to honour your side. You swore."
The Mother cast an amused sideways glance at him. "True to your word as always, no doubt you have thought of a way to double cross me as soon as I leave this thicket if I give you what was your asking price. Our agreement still stands, but you failed to negotiate a time and a place for the transaction to take place. And so it is entirely up to my discretion."
The Trickster looked shocked. Clearly no one had ever got one over him before. The lines of his face settled into a deep sneer. He'd been had and he didn't like it.
"Now where were we?"
"This one was about to refuse you." Cerberus growled in a deep, gravely voice. His eyes flashed a toxic colour.
"Calm, Cerberus. You will have another soon." And it chilled Sam as he realised what they were taking about. Finally, he noticed that the Trickster was staring at him with such intensity it could have drilled hoes through brick.
"You are one of the elite. You have trained all your life for a battle such as this one, though you were unaware at the time. You are a creature of destiny, Sam. It wasn't a coincidence that you were born into the Winchester family, or with your peculiar talents. The way you were raised was not left to chance, and neither the fact my husband targeted you." She said. "You are destined to do great things."
"But who for?" Sam asked sardonically. "You don't know. That's still my decision. Otherwise you would just wait for me to turn evil."
Lilith pursed her lips. "My husband tried that, to influence people. And was unsuccessful. Have you spotted the failing point? Free will. You've got to really want it. That's why you were able to be pulled back so many times."
Sam remembered then all the other psychics. Jake, the soldier who abandoned the moral high ground to reach his full potential. Ava, who, on the quest for survival had grasped her power with both hands. Max, who found something better than what he had. Even Andy, who experimented with his talents more than was strictly safe.
They all wanted it. Sam was the only one who had pushed it away. At first. It was still there, beckoning at him from behind the walls he'd erected to protect himself. And more and more was creeping in all the time.
"I am not evil."
"Keep telling yourself that, dear, until it really hurts." The Mother smiled. "I knew people just like you, before I was forced to surrender my domain during the War. Those who saw more than ordinary people, and who comforted themselves at night by telling themselves that they'd done the right thing. That to hunt was the right thing. Asking each other the age-old adage. Does slaying make me a killer? What do you think, Sam?"
"Go to hell."
"Darling, I'm already there."
Jo wondered why they were all clustered in the same spot after she nailed the number five ghost by aiming a shot into the ground. Earth sprinkled around her ankles as she reloaded, ignoring the scream she could hear echoing throughout the park. Across the lake, two homeless men were staring at her, no doubt wondering what schizophrenic disorder she had.
Over the other side of town she could hear answering gunfire. She ignored it and continued walking, her nose up close to the paper. As she turned a corner in the park, she almost ran headfirst into someone.
"Oh." Jo said. "I'm sorry, I didn't see-"
He came into the moonlight. It was Gabriel Forsyth. "Nice night for it." He said pleasantly, nodding his head toward the sawn-off shotgun that Jo was still holding by her side.
"Oh, uh, yeah." Jo swallowed, jiggling it up and down. "You see-"
"You're hunting for ghosts. I know."
"You what?" Jo said dumbly.
"Don't forget I've been here a lot longer than you. I know a hunter when they mooch into my neighbourhood. There's a certain stroll, a certain arrogance that comes too. Tell me, Jo. Where's Sam?"
"How did you-?"
"Don't you think I haven't memorised the hunters hereabout? He's older, but looks just about the same on his wanted notice. Now, where's Sam?"
"I don't know what-"
"The hell you do. He's a danger to all of us and needs to be taken down." Gabriel took a step forward menacingly and Jo raised the shotgun.
"It's loaded." She said quietly. Gabriel scowled. "Let us finish this job and we'll be gone off your turf. You'll never see us again." She took a breath in. "I only have eight left."
"One."
"What?"
His scowl deepened. "You think I'm a rookie? I was working this scene long before you two greenhorns showed up." It was then that Jo finally noticed the bulge beneath his long coat, the bulge that looked suspiciously like a rifle. She swallowed. "You think you could shoot me before I shoot you?" He asked pleasantly. "I get the last ghost, we all go home. And out of the goodness of my heart, I'll give you and psychic boy a head start."
"No." Jo finally growled out.
"Don't want me snatching your victory?" Gabriel asked.
"I couldn't care less. It's dirty and sweaty and I don't care about the freaking ghosts!" Her voice rose in crescendo and all of her fears for herself and Sam and this whole sorry mess spilled out. "You think that's it. You have no idea. Why do you have such a set on Sam?"
"My sister was Chosen." Gabriel spat. "She killed our whole family and I couldn't… I didn't… I should have…" He took a deep breath. "After that I finally had the strength to kill her. She became something else and would have kept killing if someone didn't take her out. The Psychics are just as dangerous as the demons they serve."
"Yeah, well, tough on you. Just so you know, there's a new demon out there right now. She calls herself the Mother and she's one tough bitch. All those disappearing hunters you've been hearing about? That's her work. She's taking out everyone that could be a real danger to her. And she's banking on winning because none of us can get along. She thinks we might all destroy ourselves first."
"Pull the other one." Gabriel scoffed.
"She has Sam. I have no idea what she's doing to him, or where he is." Jo lowered the gun. "You can shoot me later if you want. But I need to see this job through and find my friend before…" She left the sentence hanging.
Gabriel was still standing there with his hands in his pockets, completely impassive. "The last ghost, you say? That should be easy. You're standing on top of her."
Jo gave a start, moving from the spot. Gabriel knelt down and rubbed a forefinger along the grass. It came away with a dark, sticky stain. "Madeline Carmichael. A working girl from further up the block. I wasn't fast enough… And while I was watching, she just got up and walked away."
He withdrew something from his pocket. It was about three inches long, but very thin. As Jo watched, he plunged it into the dewy ground. His expression was hard and set as he waited for the heartrending scream.
"They thought no one remembered how to kill them anymore." He said, and as he spoke the moon was hidden behind clouds so she could no longer read his expression. "This demon. Is she powerful?"
"She's bound a Trickster to do her bidding."
He readjusted something underneath his coat. "Come with me."
"I-"
"I'm just going to make a call. Honestly."
There was a two-way radio mounted on the dashboard of his car. He sat down and picked up the mouthpiece. "Base, this is squad car 3. I need a vehicle chased up. It's a black hardtop 1967 Chevrolet Impala, registration CNK 80Q3. I need to know where it was last headed."
Jo slid into the passenger's side. "Why?" She asked.
"I'd rather no more demons went about messing with people." Gabriel replied.
"Squad car 3, this is Base."
"Hi, Suze."
"When I'm the switchboard I'm Base, Gabe."
"You've been working too long."
"Duh. Anyway, CNK 80Q3 is registered in the name of a kid called Dennis. I ran the plates through CCTV, and the driver was last spotted going into the woods. None of the cameras spotted him coming out the other side, though."
"Thanks, Suze. I mean, Base."
"Aren't you going to tell me what-" He disconnected her.
"That was a bit rude, wasn't it?"
"Shut the door. We've got a psychic to find."