Chapter 8

Within several minutes of leaving the hospital grounds, Dean was screeching the Impala to a halt in front of the cemetery gates. Dean and Sam went to the boot of the car and began to rummage for the necessary tools to rid the town of Charles Conrad once and for all.

Karla eyed the equipment with fear. "What the heck is all that for?"

"We'll explain later." Dean said, handing Felicity another flashlight. "C'mon, let's get moving."

"Uh no…. I think I'll stay here." Karla said in a small whisper. "I've had enough excitement to last me a couple of lifetimes." But only Felicity heard her quiet response.

She turned to her friend, "Karls, this has to be done. I don't know what has to be done, but…." She shrugged.

"You can do this without me. You know you can" Karla said as her bottom lip began to tremble. "You're stronger than me Flick. I'm just a weak pile of jello and besides, I feel sick to my stomach."

Felicity took her friend's hand. "I'm so sorry Karls. You've had a rough trot haven't you and you're all up in the air about all of this. You just wait here for us. And when we get back, I'll take you home and you can have a long hot bath. How does that sound?"

"At the moment, I'd settle for just going home and drinking a whole bottle of booze." Karla said as silent tears coursed down her cheeks.

Felicity encircled Karla in her arms and held her as she cried for a short time. She then settled Karla in the back seat of the Impala and went to join the brothers.

She shone the torch onto the ground before her, following the path that led to the center of the cemetery and the Conrad mausoleum. She could make out the halos of light from the torches that Sam and Dean held and angled towards them as her ears picked up the sounds of someone trying to smash their way into the crypt.

As she approached, Dean turned to her, 'Where were you?"

"Had to see to Karla. She's a kinda freaked out and a little upset right now." Felicity said defensively. "Didn't know you actually had missed me."

A small smile played on Dean's lips. "Think we need to talk about that later, perhaps."

"Perhaps." Felicity said with a smile of her own. How did he do it? She thought. He's so damn annoying but….. this guy had something that just intrigued the heck out of her and besides he was just too damn good looking….. in fact, so was his brother.

Sam stopped pounding the lock on the door with his shovel and turned to the both of them. "Do you think you could keep the light pointed in the right direction?" He asked with frustration at his brother's blatant attempt to entice Felicity.

"Easy there Sammy. You'll have your time to shine." Dean replied, pointing the torch onto the crypt door. A few more blows and Sam had the lock broken on the crypt.

"Now let's get that creepy-ass bastard and finish him off." Dean said leading the way into the crypt.

Shining the torch around, they could pick out several marked urns and also coffins. They located Charles Conrad's coffin. After breaking the seal on the coffin, Dean leaned over and slowly pushed open the lid.

"Ah, I think I'm gonna go wait outside." Felicity said, feeling the bile begin to rise and burn in her throat. She turned on her heel and made a hasty exit. Once outside, she leaned heavily against the side of the crypt, her eyes closed and sucking in large gulps of air.

She felt a hand on her arm and opened her eyes expecting to see Dean, Sam or Karla but was struck dumb when she came face to face with the ghost of Charles Conrad. She tried to scream but nothing would come out.

Conrad had a malicious evil smile on his face as he began to drag Felicity away. That was when Felicity found her voice and let go with a loud wailing scream.

Back in the crypt, Sam and Dean stared at each other at the sound of Felicity's scream and then made a hasty exit for the door.

Once outside, they saw Charles Conrad dragging Felicity who was putting a good fight trying to free herself from Conrad's spirit.

Sam didn't hesitate. He closed the short distance between them and hurled himself at Conrad's frame. As Sam flew through the air, Conrad vanished in a wisp of smoke and Sam hit the ground with a heavy thud along with Felicity who was released from Conrad's hold.

"Sammy!" Dean said, leaning down to check on his brother.

"I'm okay." He said, regaining his breath which had been knocked out of him as he hit the ground.

Dean then checked on Felicity – kneeling down beside her. She opened one eye and took in the sight of Dean leaning close to her. "I've died and gone to heaven, haven't I?" She muttered.

"Not quite." Dean smiled at her. "We'll maybe try for heaven later." He helped Felicity to her feet.

"Y'know this Conrad guy is becoming a real pain in the ass." Sam said, anger beginning to show on his face. "Let's get this finished once and for all." As these words left his mouth, he was physically thrown through the air coming to rest against a tree at least 30 yards away.

"What the…." Dean began but was then also hurtling through the air and landed with a bone-jarring crunch against the solid base of a statue. He felt his stitches tearing as unconsciousness took a hold from the heavy blow to the back of his head.

Once more, Charles Conrad appeared in front of Felicity. "You will be mine." He sneered at her. She slowly began to back away from him as his cold deathly fingers grasped at her upper arms.

Suddenly, Conrad's evil form dissipated into the dust as a loud shot split the air around her.

With wide-eyed terror, Felicity took in the sight of Sam standing 10 feet to her right with the shotgun in hand and still smoking. "Whoa!" The word came out of her mouth like a sigh. She then began to look around her; her eyes travelled to where Dean was slumped at the base of the statue.

Sam's eyes followed to where Felicity was looking and took in the sight of his brother's crumpled body. He dropped the shotgun and rushed to Dean's side as Felicity leaned over the other side of him.

"Dean!" Sam said, his voice full of worry as he eased his brother onto the ground.

"Is he okay Sam?" Felicity asked as she gently clasped Dean's limp hand in both of hers.

"I think we need to get him back to the hospital quick smart." Sam replied. "I'll have to get him to the car."

Felicity reluctantly released Dean's hand and wrapped her arms around herself in a self-comforting motion. "What is that?" She thought to herself as she looked at her hand in the dim light of the cemetery. "Oh my God! Is that blood? Sam! I think Dean's bleeding!"

Sam lifted up Dean's blood-stained t-shirt. Dean's wound had re-opened and blood was seeping from the torn stitches. Sam lifted his still unconscious brother into his arms and then turned to Felicity, "Grab the gun! We're gonna need it!"

"What about the other stuff?" Felicity enquired.

"Just leave it! Just get the gun!" Sam said as he began to make his way back toward the Impala. His progress was slow and steady as he didn't want to make Dean's injuries any worse than they already were.

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Inside the car, Karla was looking out the window for any sign of the others when she spotted them heading in her direction. She got out of the car and held the door open when she realized that Sam had his unconscious brother in his arms.

Karla stepped away from the car door so that Sam could gently lay his brother onto the back seat.

"Oh my God Flick! What the hell's happened? Are you okay?" Karla bombarded questions at her friend.

"Yeah, I'm okay but Dean's not1 We gotta get Dean back to the hospital!" Felicity replied, the strain showing on her face as she made her way around the back of the Impala. She opened the rear door and tossed the shotgun and torch onto the floor. She gently lifted Dean's head, slid onto the seat placing his head onto her lap and lay her hand softly against his cheek. "Hang in there." She whispered.

Sam turned the ignition and gunned the engine. The seat next to him was empty and Karla was standing outside the open door to the Impala, her mouth agape.

"Karla! Get in the damn car!" Sam said, as his concern for his brother's welfare gave his voice an angry tone.

Without speaking, Karla hastily got into the Impala and slammed the door shut just as Sam took off with a squeal of tires.

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