CHAPTER 4
Sorry again… should I have mentioned that there are numerous references up to and including 'Jus in Bello'? Don't think I've elaborated enough to really have spoiled too much, but might, just a little, in this chapter…
Foundations are laid, and things will really start to heat up… literally!
St. Dominic's,
Dominion Springs, ARKANSAS
The Crossroad Demon laughed with amusement at the rag-tag group. They were hardly about to present any great resistance to his ultimate goal. There wasn't one among them that wasn't worse for wear! His hounds and his faithful underling, Ignatius, had given their lives to subdue the hunters to this point. However, the loss of his coveted pets and one, or more precisely, two, devoted minions was a price too high to pay, for the younger of the brothers had already taken his beloved Cassandra from him too. Not that the Winchester soul wasn't worth it, for that he would sacrifice many more, but the task should have been straight forward, had the interfering demon whore, Ruby, not meddled! However she would pay for her prying; she was a demon and he could do with her as he wished…
Snatching the souls of mankind, however, was ultimately at the hands of the beholder. Sin, wickedness and all kinds of debauchery was a surefire way of condemning one's soul to Hell. As was murder, rape, blah, blah, blah; the list really was endless! Hell was filled to the brim with their ranks! But their souls were hardly worth the brimstone it would take to burn away their fickle humanity. But a prized soul like the Winchester soul could only be obtained through a pact of some sort. Like the deal Dean brokered with his loyal emissary, Cassandra. She had acquired many prime souls during her centuries of faithful service, but obtaining the right to resurrect the likes of Sam Winchester was an honor, if not completely to his advantage. And securing the soul of Dean Winchester in payment was unbelievably miraculous!
In the Underworld, souls were currency, and where most were mere pocket change, Dean Winchester's soul was priceless! His soul was worth every effort and hazard of coming Top Side to collect. As was his father's for Azazel, although, with his untimely demise at the hands of Dean Winchester, Azazel hardly missed the loss there, when John Winchester was released from Hell in the same heart beat. And undeniably the younger brother, Sam's soul, would eventually be worth his weight...
But all good things come to those who wait… one priceless soul at a time. He had a different plan for what would become of Sam's soul. So it really was in his best interest to ensure Dean came to him willingly, for although, if Dean welched on his deal, he could seize Sam's life, as yet, he had no claim on his soul. And unbeknownst to either Winchester, especially Sam, should Dean renege on his contract, although Sam's life would be forfeit, both Winchester souls would be saved from the fiery pits of Hell!
So he really had no choice. He had come for Dean Winchester's soul, and he would make damned sure he was going to collect it!
He was as intimidating as he was ruthless. Tall enough to rival Sam in height, black as the proverbial ace of spades and built like a quarterback. He enjoyed the terror he could instill with a simple glare and a grin that was evilly maniacal. His eyes flickered like smoldering embers from beneath the brim of his hat and as he raised his hand the elements at his disposal leapt to attention. Instantly the winds resumed their bluster, slowly at first but noticeable gaining with momentum. He relished the stunned fear reflected in all their faces. Even his own feared him and Brenna cowered by his side, fearful of the unavoidable wrath she would face for her failure.
Dean stirred. He blinked groggily at the demon, as he forced himself up onto his elbow. As he glared at the demon he was certain that he'd seen the man before. "Lloyd's…" Dean muttered softly. "You were at Lloyd's." Sam placed his hand protectively on his shoulder, urging him to lie back down.
The Demon simply grinned at having been recognized.
Bobby gulped nervously, as he got up the balls to advance. He fired his rock salt filled shotgun at the Crossroad Demon. However the Demon simply waved his hand and the salt was sent shooting off in all directions bar towards him. The distraction opened up a brief window of opportunity that lasted but a split second, but was seized upon in half that time. The ensuing diversion allowed Ruby to fire the Colt at the Demon, almost instantaneously. Bending time and space, or so it would seem, the Demon arched back, deflecting the shot. He spun around angrily as he ducked her deadly aim. The bullet, aimed at where he should have had a heart, glanced instead off his shoulder and slammed straight into Brenna's skull, right between the eyes. The demoness had no warning, or inkling at what had happened. She convulsed and shuddered as her body hit the ground and veins of lightning streaked across her face. Eventually her body stilled and a single drop of deep red blood trickled from the hole in her skull. Her startled blue eyes gawped with shock, glaring lifeless into the shadows of the church.
The dark figure staggered backwards with dismay and awe. Rage and wrath boiled within him and as he recomposed himself he howled in anger and with, what Sam construed, was a hint of trepidation... The Colt had wounded him. Thick, almost black, blood oozed from the wound and splattered on the floor, hissing and bubbling as it hit the consecrated floorboards. His face snarled and grimaced as he momentarily glared at the hunters with dismay. If for only a moment, he was obviously worried. Sam suspected Ruby's plan may just have some solid merit.
If they could just get another shot in, they could kill him, however Ruby had only just had time to load another bullet...
With a low and ear shattering bellow that reverberated to their very bones, the Demon angrily swept Ruby off her feet and slammed her into the back wall. It was an equally swift retaliation, achieved with a simple flick of his wrist. She hit hard enough to smash the plasterboard, and probably shattered several bones. The Colt was sent flying from her grasp.
He was dark and imposing in every manner; from his near-black skin and his neatly cut, tailor-made, black, pinstriped suit, to his perfectly polished black patent leather shoes and leather gloves. He peered at the remaining trio of hunters with blazing eyes, from beneath his black fedora. He curled his lip in irritation. He had tired of their game of cat and mouse.
"Bow 'afore me, ya double-dealin' witch!" He demanded of Ruby as she struggled to raise herself off the floor. "Or I'll rip ya two-timin' deceitful soul from tha' skinny-assed body and grind ya into dust!"
"Not likely!" Ruby spat back defiantly from her crumpled position in the corner. "You have no power over my soul! It is not yours!"
"Maybes not yet." He snarled in return. "Bu' it be a small task to be remedyin' that!"
"I doubt that… Kalfu!" She sneered. "All this bullshit… I knew it would be you."
"Shoulda placed a wager then!" He growled at the rebellious demoness, slamming her against the wall again.
"I put it… on saving… Dean's soul, instead!" Ruby rebuked breathlessly with unsubstantiated confidence.
"Then your wager is lost!" Kalfu laughed with amusement; they were like fish in a barrel, he could almost do as he wished with any one of them. "You forget witch, ain't no way's outta this deal. Ain't no welchin'!" He stated arrogantly, believing himself in total control. "It be the night for one Winchester, or the other, to be dyin'!" His glance quickly flew over both Sam and Dean, only just protected by what remained of the salt and goofer dust circle. He was confident that wouldn't last much longer.
Bobby fired at the Demon again, only to have the blast avoided; Kalfu barely raised an eyebrow as the rock salt rebounded away.
"I'd be thinkin' about doin' that agin'!" Kalfu snapped at Bobby. "I've come for whats due me, an tha like ov you ain't gonna stop me! Which o' you boys's ready ta die?" Kalfu waved at his hounds and they stalked to the goofer dust's edge, glaring at the hunters in their faltering sanctuary.
"Well technically Dean hasn't welched." Ruby shot back with equal assurance. "So you can stop counting your chickens before they renege! Sam's not yours, and never will be!"
"Really? My pets came for him…" Kalfu rebutted as he pointed at Dean. "Only they's was slaughtered!"
"Dean was actually going to give himself up to your Hell Hounds." She smirked defiantly.
"Yeah… He was a gonna." Kalfu corrected angrily. "Tils ya meddled." He crushed her body harder against the wall with retaliation. She gulped nervously as fear flickered in her defiant glare.
"You never said… he couldn't try… to run!" She retorted acerbically, biting back the pain she obviously felt at his hands. "Bit hard… to put fine print… into a verbal contract… I suppose…"
Sam took it upon himself to try and stop the Demon once more. Ruby was hurting, Dean was dying, the Colt was out of reach, and another gust of wind would obliterate their tentative circle of protection altogether. He had to do something.
Sam blasted his shot gun at Kalfu twice, in quick succession. Kalfu laughed with supremacy as another flick of the wrist returned the rock salt back at the hunters with equal force, without ever coming close to reaching him. The ricocheting shots were sent back directly at the hunters. The force of the salt blasted Bobby side on, slamming him to the ground and winding him. As Sam turned to lunge over Dean, in a futile attempt to protect his brother, the force of the shot caught him square in the chest like a sledge hammer and he was slammed to the ground, temporarily knocked unconsciousness. Dean hissed with agony, when unable to protect himself, he was subjected to the salt's scathing attack as it ripped into his already battered body.
"This be runnin', be it? Ain't nothin' so 'zilaratin' as the hunt." Kalfu snarled angrily. "But this," he swept his hand over Dean's prone body, slumped by Sam's unconscious side where they cowered on the floor in the middle of the goofer dust circle, "this looks to me like he's tryin' to weasel hisself outta his deal!"
Dean clutched at Sam's sleeve, as lay splayed beside him. "Sammy…" He whispered, desperate to ensure his brother was ok and thankful when Sam groaned wearily.
"Technically, no he's not." Ruby rebuked defiantly. Her confident rebuttals empowered her. She relished that she could wield such power over the likes of a demon such as Kalfu. "Your dogs worked him over pretty good. We put him there, he had no idea what was going on. He was unconscious and therefore unable to make his own decisions, ergo, not welching!" Ruby smirked with self-assurance.
"Hmmm…. Playin' the words now? Bit of advocating is it?" He demanded; trepidation glimmered in his expression again. "And my pets?" Kalfu frowned as he examined the carnage of his Hell Hounds, collapsed around him on the floor.He knelt by the carcass of one huge beast and affectionately stroked its bloodied pelt. He glared at her with a defiant challenge in his fiery eyes as his hand also motioned towards Brenna and Ignatius. "And slaying my poor emissaries… Ain't that welchin'?"
Kalfu glanced at the pitiful hunters. They hardly seemed worth the effort. Bobby still struggled to get his breath back, Sam lay prone on the floor, groggily trying to regain consciousness. And his prize was allowing a two-bit scraggy-assed demoness do his fighting for him. She was like a wild cat, impressive as it was, she was a major thorn in his side at the moment and she would soon pay…
Dean glared back defiantly, despite the odds, green eyes blazing with rebellious conviction; his hand still laid, in vain hopes of protection, upon Sam's arm.
Kalfu smiled contently; perhaps Dean Winchester's soul was worth the effort. He had to give the kid credit for trying…
"He hasn't killed a one." Ruby hissed back at him with a condescending smirk, almost with a death wish of her own. "I did, every last one of them! Every stinkin', flea bitten, mongrel, but, the one I savor the most is your trashy, little whore-wench Brenna! Can't condemn him for my actions, can you Kalfu? I mean your word is your bond, isn't it?"
"True, I stands by my contract, Ima wondrin' if he'll be standin' by his? An' I gots ta correct ya… he tried to put my faithful lil' pets down." Kalfu frowned, his irritation welling as he slammed her back into the wall.
"What, with… a simple gun?" Ruby rebuked, uncomfortably. "Even Dean… knows… that's about as effective… as a Be Be gun! No grounds… for welching!" Ruby knew it wasn't just Dean's life she was fighting for; it was both of the Winchesters.
"Can't see it's a gonna do him no good..." Kalfu muttered, seemingly affronted, deep in thought. "I think you're a fightin' for naught. With all tha' blood he's a loosin', looks ta me likes he's a dead man alreadys."
"Maybe…" Ruby struggled to maintain a composed expression, although gulped nervously to herself as she sucked in a lungful of confidence, tentatively hedging towards the Colt. She'd unbalanced him, she realized, and now he was quickly trying to make up lost ground. "But if that were the case, then why are you here?" She demanded boldly. "Are you maybe just a little worried that if your dogs don't drag him down into the depths of Hell themselves you'll miss out on his soul?" Ruby glared at him, relishing her tentative advantage. "Cause you've no grounds to take Sam!"
'Could she possibly know?'Kalfu wondered. He proceeded cautiously, fearful now that she may either wittingly, or unwittingly weasel Dean's soul out from under him.
Sam wearily raised himself up off the floor, teetering groggily until Bobby steadied him.
"With all he's a done, in his life, what makes ya think, he's goin' anywhere buts to Hell, witch?" Kalfu smiled audaciously.
Both Bobby and Sam glanced at Dean as he visibly flinched at the accusation. Wasn't as if any of them hadn't ever speculated where their ever after would take them. Fighting for the greater good and all, one would hope Upstairs… however, with the number of innocent lives dying in the cross fire… the rules on that one were hazy.
Ruby glared back at Kalfu with rebellious venom in her eyes. "No, he won't" She replied emphatically, chancing a glance at Dean, who gazed wearily back at her. "His intentions have always been… honorable!"
Dean's brows arched in amazement: even though it seemed to set her tongue alight to say it, he'd hardly picked Ruby as a fan.
Kalfu laughed with a maniacal grin plastered to his face. His white teeth glimmered in the half dark, in stark contrast to the rich umber of his skin as he casually lit a cigarette and sucked back a deep lungful of the invigorating fumes. His casual demeanor only served to heighten the hunters' anxiety. Kalfu seemed to be enjoying the challenge of claiming Dean's soul, and far too nonchalantly.
He had everything under complete control, and now he was simply toying with them until the inevitable came…
"No… He's always been selfish, witch!" He snapped back with renewed confidence. He sat himself down on the back pew, stretching his long legs out in front of him as he lounged back on the seat. He glared at Dean as he made his accusations, rolling the cigarette between his fingers. "What he's done, he's done to appease hisself. First he hadda have Daddy's 'pproval so bad he done whatever the fool man asked. And the fool wanted his youngest, most precious boy safe." Kalfu paused and inhaled deeply from his cigarette. "An' when Daddy done sold his soul for him, Dean here was sooo lost; he hads ta justify his lonely, pathetic 'xistence with nuffin' more an' his Samuel." He exhaled the thick wafting fumes, however even as he continued to speak, tendrils of smoke were expelled with every breath. "Thought that ifs he made protectin' his dear, dear brotha, his only 'ntention he'd have some kinda 'mportance, some reason to be livin' at all. He ain't no hero; he's a contemptible, scared an' lonely 'xcuse for humanity. He don't care 'bout anyone he's saved, wouldn't care if'n they died! An's plenty he done killed 'longs tha way! He's a killin' machine, an' it don't concern 'im who has to die, so long as he can protect his dear Samuel! Couldn't help hisself really, under Samuel's spells he was. Both were; Daddy an' Dean! So you see, all this was 'nevitable… if Samuel's gone, Dean's life ain't worth livin'!" Kalfu laughed with glee exhaling small rings of smoke.
Dean grimaced at the cutting intensity of his words, but unable to dispute them. As far as Dean was concerned Kalfu was pretty much spot on. Kalfu's Cheshire grim broadened as he watched Dean squirm under his scathing truths. It wouldn't be long now, before he would collect on his deal. And then he could set about luring Sam into a deal of sorts as well. It was obviously the Winchester way…
"No." Sam rebuked his claims as he struggled to sit up without the church spinning around him. "He cares! He fights for the innocent, even at his own expense."
"Feelin' tha guilt Samuel?" Kalfu sniggered. "For whats ya made 'im do?"
"Sam's right. He does care!" Ruby interrupted. "I know, I've seen him, willing to fight to the death for an innocent." She glared at Dean. Only this time, more so with a hint of loathing, than admiration; obviously not a fan after all.
For all the repulsion she had for the hunter, and his pathetic fight for lost causes, she did, begrudgingly admire him for his unwavering beliefs. He truly did believe he was fighting for the greater good. Unfortunately he actually thought he could beat the evil that roamed the earth, thought he could make a difference. And she knew Dean was prepared to go down fighting, just to save the life of one solitary innocent, even a virgin, no less!
She'd offered him a viable alternative, to take out the entire demon swarm in one foul swoop… 'But, no, he couldn't let the Virgin's heart be hacked out! Don't worry that I'd have to sacrifice myself as well!' Ruby sneered to herself. 'He'd better appreciate my efforts this time!'
Why he'd ever want to save a prissy, little Miss Goody-Two-Shoes, Ruby had no idea! Not when her sacrifice could have saved the greater number. And even though, in the end, it ended up costing more lives… Ruby bit her lip as she suppressed that thought. When would the brothers ever learn to listen to her? Then again, in all honesty, it was only that Lilith had found Hendrickson and the others, or Dean's plan would probably have worked…
Kalfu laughed mockingly.
"But jus' who was he really tryin' to protect?" Kalfu taunted. He seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. "In the ends it woulda been Samuel!" He added with a smile.
Dean knew Kalfu had hit home again. Lilith had only wanted Sam. He could have sacrificed Sam and saved them all, however that thought never, ever, even entered his mind. Even if it had he would never have considered it an option. Because Kalfu was right, without Sam, life wasn't worth living.
Dean sighed, he wasn't sure what ached more; his injuries or Kalfu's brutal perspective on his life's truths. As he glanced at Sam, he could see in his eyes that Sam was soaking up every last accusation, every last truth. Dean hadn't the strength to dispute them, couldn't even if he wanted to, because Sam could always see through his bull shit!
"But then, Samuel has always been meant for much, much bigga things. Haven't you Samuel?" Kalfu continued, having grasped their attentions hook, line and sinker.
Sam glared back at Kalfu, intrigued by his new approach.
"Dean's long outliveds his time as protector; you's so much stronga 'an he is now." Kalfu declared. "He was a jus' a passin' interruption, tills ya reached your full potential. Now all he's is, is ya one last blemish. Ya last, useless shred o' mankin', a mere shado' ofs ya humanity! An' tha ones thin' holdin' ya back. Dean ainst ya protector no more, Samuel, he's ya jailer! You shoulds just… let… me… 'ave him, so yous can gets on with 'filling ya true destiny."
Dean's gaze suggested he was soaking up Kalfu's allegations, just as quickly as Sam had. And it filled Dean with a sudden anguish to realize maybe Sam didn't need him anymore…
"Dean is my destiny!" Sam snapped back defensively, sensing Dean's despair at Kalfu's allegations.
Kalfu laughed again. "Well then, it'll be a shorts one! But I doubts it, Samuel. Not for'n the likes of your kind!" He charged. "I find it 'musing that ya grasp so dearly at whats little humanity ya is so u'fortunately tainted with. Once Dean is gone ya wills swiftly feel as'n the burden of ya human weakness are burned away. It'll leaves ya pure an' powerful."
Bobby and Sam both glared at Kalfu, speculating upon just what he was inferring to. Dean wearily raised his hand to clasp Sam's in a show of unconditional support.
"And just what is my kind?" Sam demanded apprehensively.
Kalfu was greatly pleased at the new found clout his knowledge gave him. He paused purposefully as he relished his cigarette, no more than a small stub. As the demon inhaled the stub glowed like the smoldering embers in his eyes. He was calculating just how much he should reveal, and the sweet taste of the taunt was invigorating.
In the dark corner of the church, with Kalfu temporarily distracted by his banter with Sam, Ruby cautiously hedged her way towards the Colt, still lying some feet away from her.
"No, Samuel." Kalfu eventually retorted. "If Mommy never done told you… oh that's right, Azazel kinda killed her, didn't he, before she ever could…" Kalfu laughed with sinister glee. "I'm guessin' Azazel wanted ya, and all ya kind, all to hisself. Guess he didn't quite count on Daddy Winchester gettin' all agitated an' turnin' hunter on him. And Dean here, damned if your Daddy didn't create hisself one hell of a fightin' machine; Azazel sure didn't see th'un comin'! But not for much longer though… Even John didn't knows ya power, did he Samuel? Poo' confused Dean here, didn't stands a chance! I'm bettin', Samuel, ya darned fool brother is so committed to ya he'd sell his soul a dozen times ova if'n he hadta. That's your doin' Samuel, that's ya 'nfluence on him. Ya power! You gots him so wound up in ya, he can't stomach to breathe withouts ya! You used him Samuel, and ya didn't even knows it! That's what ya power can do, has its own agenda its does!"
"Just shut up!" Sam snapped at him angrily, clutching at his shotgun with forced restraint, his finger teasing the trigger. "You don't know squat about us!"
"I'm guessing I know a hell of a lots more 'an you do Samuel." Kalfu taunted.
Sam fired at him angrily. Kalfu deflected the rock salt blast without even raising an eyebrow. He barely raised his hand, simply waved his finger slightly and the winds returned, blowing the salt from its path. He laughed with amusement.
"I know you're not getting my brother's soul!" Sam snapped back at Kalfu desperately, firing again.
Kalfu deflected the blast with almost monotonous ease. "I gets what's due me, Boy! An' payment's long ova due!" Kalfu snarled, irritated by Sam's defiance. "It's time for what's owed to me!"
Bobby also blasted at Kalfu with rock salt, fear and trepidation was mounting within him. He was growing increasingly nervous. Kalfu glared at him with growing irritation as he deflected the shot once more.
With his concentration upon the hunters, Ruby lunged at the Colt; however Kalfu ceased her last bid attempt at retrieving the pistol by hurling her at the feet of his hounds. They set upon her, drowning her in a savage sea of black, as the Colt skidded across the floor, far out of Sam's reach from within their circle of protection.
Ruby fought her way to her feet, and in a desperate attempt to save herself she lunged towards the doors, the hounds at her heels. Kalfu's pets had no reservations in savaging the demoness and she was sent sprawling through the doorway.
"Enough! I'm tirin' o' these games!" Kalfu snorted. "Ya childish 'tempts to keep me from takin' what's mine ain't gonna work!" Kalfu raised his hands to waist height, fingers spread wide. Then he lowered his head and glared at the hunters through vehement eyes, glazed over like the fires of Hell.
What began as a gust of wind, escalated to a tempest. As the winds intensified and howled through the church, glass, timber splinters and dust pelted them relentlessly until Bobby's carefully laid circle was all but swept away in the turbulent gusts of wind. The hounds stalked forward eagerly…
Bobby and Sam shot at the beasts in desperation, fighting not just for Dean's life and soul, but their own. The rock salt glanced off their pelts like water off a duck's back, although, they snarled and growled angrily in retaliation. However, true to his word, Kalfu's hounds only sought out Dean, glaring menacingly at Sam and Bobby, however not attempting to advance upon them. It was Dean they glared at with intensely focused eyes of fire.
"Your wasted 'tempts to stop me claimin' my contract's damned stupid. You cann' stop me. Did ya really thinks ya could stop me wiv all dis hocus-pocus?" Kalfu waved his hand again and more of their protective circle eroded with the ensuing wind.
Then Kalfu turned his attentions solely on Bobby and Sam. The winds intensified, and with their circle broken both hunters found themselves at Kalfu's mercy. His hands snapped to either side and he laughed with victory. He tossed them in different directions, smashing them into opposite walls of the church and pinning them there with nothing more than an upturned hand.
Dean lay crumpled on the floor in what remained of Bobby's goofer dust circle. It was most certainly breached in more places than one. In his weakened, groggy state, Dean didn't stand a chance. Although, the hounds didn't advance.
"I guess you just gotta decide, Dean. Who's walkin' outta here? I wills be collectin' on my contract, or penalize ya for lack of payment!" Kalfu demanded. "Whose shall it be, Dean? It's ya decision. With whose life will you make payment? Your's or Samuel's?" To validate his point, Kalfu clenched the fist that he held in Sam's direction. Sam began to gag and gasp for strangled breath, his hands grappling with unseen hands about his throat.
Kalfu wanted to make a final point to all concerned. He would take what was owed to him, and he'd make the notorious, defiant Dean Winchester beg him to take him. He'd break him before he ripped his soul out…
Dean pulled himself up onto his knees. And as Sam and Bobby gazed in horror, from where they were pinned to the wall, Dean staggered to his feet. With painful effort he forced his lacerated leg to hold his weight, and he hobbled forward, with precise, determined steps. Fresh blood oozed through his bandages, and every footfall elicited a grimace of pain. He clutched his arms tightly against his chest, easing the pain from his shoulder, the other from his forearm. He staggered perilously, barely keeping himself upright, however he pushed himself to continue, until he stepped over and out of the goofer dust circle. Weary and lethargic, Dean teetered and swayed precariously, however he forced himself to stand proud, mere meters from Kalfu.
"Now…" Kalfu demanded. The sheer taunting was worth the wait for this soul. "Tell's me who?"
Dean gulped back nervously, glancing at Sam's struggling form, pinned to the wall by invisible means. By a force that was slowly choking the life out of him. "Me!" He hissed with defeat.
Kalfu nodded with acknowledgement, smirking with triumph as he allowed Sam and Bobby to drop to the floor. The hunters staggered cautiously to their feet.
"Dean, NO!" Sam pleaded, gasping for breath. He couldn't bear to see Dean sacrifice himself, not after their efforts to save him. "Please don't…" The Colt lay just a few feet away, close enough Sam could almost will it into his grasp…
Then Bedlam ignited. Tempestuous winds ripped through the church, and literally tore it apart. The force of the gale lifted both Sam and Bobby off their feet and thrust them back to the floor, and pinned them there. The roof was completely blasted off the church, and two of the four walls disintegrated like a house of cards. Then the earth beneath them began to quake and shudder, the floorboards undulated in a sea of waves until the church itself ruptured in two. The floorboards through the center of the church exploded outwards, showering them in a hail of splintered timber. The floor joists were laid bear like the ribs on a skeleton, as the ground below ruptured. Only Dean and Kalfu were encircled by the only remaining stable ground, apparently unaffected by the demon's destruction, whilst Sam and Bobby were tossed about like kids on surf boards. The separate halves of the quaking building divided as the earth below parted to reveal a gapping fissure that continued to expand in depth and width. The earth groaned and rumbled as the gapping maw obstinately pulled apart. An intense orange light erupted from the abyss, accompanied by an overwhelming heat, as if they stood upon the precipice of a volcano. The fires of Hell leapt up from the chasm.
Dean cast a final glimpse towards Sam before clenching his eyes closed in fear to await his final demise. He swayed precariously as he waited, almost welcoming an end. Heat and a scarlet luminance cloaked him, as searing winds swirled up from the fissure. A misty orange haze encircled him, with tendrils of searing wisps greedily whipping at his body.
Kalfu leaned over and patted his favorite hound on the head. He leaned to whisper in the dog's ear then sent it on its mission. It leapt towards Dean and pounced upon his chest, its savage claws gouging themselves into Dean's already lacerated shoulder. The momentum of the hound's lunge hurled them both into the fiery crevice.
"NOOOO!" Sam screamed in horror, and with a miraculous, magnetic draw the Colt leapt up from the floor and flew into his hand. Without considering the rationale Sam squeezed the trigger as he aimed the pistol towards Kalfu. The shot hit the demon in the upper thigh and downed him instantly. Kalfu wailed in both pain and awe, glaring with bewilderment at Sam with blazing eyes. Kalfu's body trembled until it was wracked with violent convulsions. His face twisted and contorted as electrifying pulses erupted from his mouth. His face slowly burned away, the fires in his eyes consuming his flesh in a slow cremation of his entire body. Kalfu shrieked with an ear-shattering wail as thick, black ichors spewed from his mouth. The smoke hovered hesitantly above them, blacking out the moon's feeble glow, then with an unearthly shriek the cloud was sucked, like a vacuum, back into the depths of Hell.
At the same instance the winds ceased and the hounds vanished, in growling agony, in a similar hazy miasma of smoke; sucked back into Hell with their master.
Sam collapsed to his knees in despair; Kalfu's demise was mere seconds too late. Sam's breaths came in short gasps, hyperventilating in shock and horror as the Colt tumbled from his grasp. Bobby gazed back at him with equal dismay from the other side of the fiery abyss.
Their last bid attempt to save Dean had failed and there were no more second chances.
Dean had been cast into the fiery pit of Hell.
TBC.
Not quite finished, so I hope you'll hang in there for the last chapter. I promise things will get interesting!
Chrissymi.
P.S. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. (All Good too??) It really does make writing worth all the late-night effort!