The Preacher
I feel I should point out that this story was completely written before the fabulous Dark Side Of The Moon aired on tv so any similarities are entirely coincidental.
Disclaimer: Don't own them, more's the pity.
This chapter is a little shorter than the previous one but it was just the perfect place to end it. Hope you enjoy it.
Chapter Two
"Dean, drop."
Without missing a beat Dean threw himself to the ground, the blast of the shotgun ringing out even before he hit the floor.
"Dean, are you hurt?" Sam rushed to kneel beside his brother.
"What was that?"
"The preacher, he was right behind you."
After helping his brother to his feet Sam once again led the way towards the ravine, filling his brother on what he'd seen as they went, his heart hammering at the thought of what just very nearly happened.
"You mean it was right behind me? No way Sam, no way, I'da felt it." Dean scanned the surrounding area as he spoke.
"Dean I'm tellin you, that freaky preacher man was right behind you and he had these, these, hands…"
"Wow Sammy, he had hands, that's really unusual, specially for a preacher man…" Dean interrupted, smirking at his brother's impatient expression.
"If you'll let me finish smartass, the hands were" Sam paused "different."
"Whaddya mean, different?"
"Well at first they were just regular hands, well regular except that they belonged to a spirit and I could kinda see right through em…"
"Sam will ya just get to the point, at this rate we're gonna be here all day and I'm gonna have to call Bobby to come and save you from the driven insane older brother."
Cheeks reddening Sam huffed before continuing "As he or it raised the hand these really long, sharp claw like things shot out of the fingertips and they were headed straight for your head and back and I'm tellin ya Dean, if they'd made contact there'd a bin bits and pieces a you all over the place."
Both lost in their own thoughts but keeping a close eye on their surroundings Sam and Dean continued in silence until they reached the clearing signifying their arrival at the ravine.
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On arrival at their destination Sam and Dean went about setting up their camp which consisted of a small fire, a wide line of salt encircling them, several bowls of holy water spaced around the inner circle and their weapons close by but hidden from view under a pile of leaves and twigs.
Conscious that his brother had been recently injured Sam wanted Dean to get some rest after the long drive not to mention the hike through the woods.
"Dean, why don't you try and get some sleep, I'll keep first watch." Sam offered.
"Don't you think maybe we should look around, see if we can find any sign of the victims, or the preacher and his pet." Dean moved towards the edge of the salt circle as he spoke, his eyes straining to see over the edge of the ravine.
"No Dean, I think we should get some rest, recharge the batteries before we try anything coz if what Bobby says is true then we need to be ready and seeing as I slept in the car it's only fair that you should get the first rest break.
"What you gonna do while I sleep?" Dean questioned.
"I'm just gonna stay right here, keeping watch and thinkin up a plan."
"You're not gonna wander off or anything?" Dean questioned.
"No Dean, I'm not gonna wander off, I'll be right here" Sam paused before tentatively broaching the subject of his meltdown the previous day "remember Dean, remember what you promised…"
Unwilling to go there again Dean quickly cut in "Yeah, I remember, just make sure you don't go outside the circle." Dean then lay on the ground, his rucksack a makeshift pillow and closed his eyes.
Sam watched his brother and was stunned to see just how quickly Dean's breathing evened revealing that he was already asleep. Sam knew his brother really was in dreamland and wasn't pretending, he'd lived with him for long enough to know when he was putting on a show but decided that Dean really didn't need to know that, it was helpful for Sam to know when his brother had gone without sleep, it meant he could surreptitiously ensure the two of them took it a little easier than usual.
Lost in his thoughts as his brother slept Sam slowly became aware of a voice repeatedly whispering his name. He stood and turned full circle but couldn't see anyone, a rustling behind him had him spinning, shotgun at the ready but seeing his brother changing position as he slept Sam lowered the gun and returned to his original position, the breath catching in his throat as his eyes landed on the smiling face of the very same spirit he'd encountered as he and Dean trekked through the thick trees.
"You won't need that Sam, I'm not here to hurt you."
A shiver ran up Sam's spine at the emphasis the spirit put on the word you. Keeping his voice low and fighting to control his fear he replied "What does that mean?"
"I know how you feel about him, really feel, not just what you show everyone else, I know what's deep inside of you and it's okay to feel like that Sam, it's normal, but eventually it'll eat you up if you don't deal with it." The preacher's sympathetic, gentle tone having a hypnotic effect on the young hunter.
Fighting to stay in control Sam slowly shook his head "You don't know."
"Oh but I do Sam, I know all too well. It's always the same, they come through here, the people, try to bury their innermost feelings but it doesn't work, eventually they crack and that's where I come in, I save them Sam, save them from themselves, I take care of the problem for them and then take away the guilt of what they wanted to do themselves but were too weak." The preacher continued.
"You torture and kill them, how's that helping." Sam could feel his eyelids growing heavier and heavier.
"There's always a price to pay for services rendered and that is mine, I get to indulge me and mine."
"Indulge me you bastard." A loud blast sounded from behind him pulling Sam out of the stupor he was falling into.
"Sam you okay?"
Blinking rapidly Sam's eyes landed on his brother's face just inches from his own, he could feel the strong familiar hands resting one on each cheek and suddenly, from nowhere wanted to simply cry.
Instead of giving into the tears Sam fought them back, grasped his brother's forearms and simply nodded his head his choked whispered words barely audible.
"M'fine Dean."
"You sure?" Dean continued "Did it hurt you?"
"No, I'm fine, really, I'm fine." Sam reluctantly pushed away from his brother when all he really wanted to do was stay close to Dean, the spirits words leaving a chill deep inside of him and a knawing fear in the pit of his stomach.
Stepping back to let Sam rise Dean turned full circle to make sure they were alone before once again turning to his obviously spooked younger brother. "What did it say, I heard some of it, didn't sound too good."
"I know what it's doing, why it's killing people." Sam indicated they sit before continuing "It thinks it's doing good work, saving a person from killing the other, at least that's what it said. It seems to be able to determine whether there's been any" Sam paused as he searched for the right word "misunderstandings, tension, arguments or whatever you want to call it between its victims."
"Yeah well, god save us from do-gooders like the freaky preacher, I tell you Sam I can't wait to toast that bastard." The fear in Dean at seeing that thing so close to his brother fuelling his need to get this hunt underway and completed in the shortest time possible.
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The rest of the day and following night passed without incident although Dean noticed that Sam never strayed further than an arms length away from him and that was just fine with him, he was gonna make sure that thing didn't get anywhere near his brother again that was for sure.
"You ready?" Sam looked to his brother for confirmation before stepping over the salt line, shotgun raised and ready whilst Dean did the same, then they set off for the edge of the nearby ravine to look for any remains or the slim possibility of survivors.
"Damn that's deep." Dean stood on the edge and looked down.
"Don't get too close to the edge." Sam pressed a hand to Dean's chest, pushing him back a couple of steps "We don't know how firm the ground is."
"Whaddya say we get started on this thing." Dean fished around in his backpack before producing the book of rituals that Bobby had insisted held the best chance they had of sending this thing into oblivion. Even though they knew they were dealing with a spirit it wasn't just any ordinary spirit, for one there was the creature they'd yet to see to contend with and then, coupled with that was the preacher himself, they had to find whatever it was that was holding him here and get rid of it whilst being on the lookout for any unplanned visits from either of the aforementioned and the ravine was the most logical place to begin as that is the spot that each of the survivors had mentioned when recalling the horrific details of their visit to these woods.
Sam lifted the binoculars hanging around his neck and after adjusting the focus on them began to scan the bottom of the ravine leaving Dean to keep watch.
"What if can't find anything…" Sam's words were abruptly cut off.
Dean who'd been checking behind him began to turn as his brother spoke but couldn't move his feet fast enough, it was as though he was wading through wet cement, the sound of something approaching overhead, the shadow it cast engulfing him in semi darkness had him struggling with everything he had to move but still he could do no more than shuffle, the sound of, 'what did it sound like, wings, shit, it was the fucking creature' his mind screamed as the realisation of what it was struck home.
"SAM…SAMMY…RUN…FOR GODS SAKE RUN…SAMMY." Dean shouted at the top of his voice whilst continuing the struggle to break free.
Without warning Dean's feet broke free of the invisible hold sending him crashing to the floor with the momentum of his struggles. Still gripping his shotgun he rolled over, scrambled to his knees and and raised the gun just in time to see an enormous winged, feathered creature swoop, sink its talons into his brothers shoulders and then soar skywards, a struggling Sam screaming for him to do something.
Adrenaline took over and Dean raised the shotgun, pulled the trigger and ran, following the path the creature was taking even as the shot rang out; firing off another round Dean continued to run, replacing cartridges with the expertise and skill of someone who'd been around weapons his whole life.
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Sam, who'd been so engrossed in his search of the bottom of the ravine, had been unaware that anything untoward was taking place until his words to his brother were abruptly cut off as the breath was sucked out of his body in shock as something sharp embedded itself into his shoulders and his feet left the ground.
He could see Dean below him, his back to him and shouted, screamed for help but for some reason his brother didn't react, didn't move. He continued to shout for his brother even as his face and body were battered by branches as he rose into the air, he could feel the warm stickiness of blood raining from the puncture wounds on his shoulders where the creatures claws dug into flesh and then hope soared, his brother was running, firing shot after shot at his captor but the creature picked up speed and Dean's running figure became smaller and smaller until he was little more than a moving speck barely visible through the trees.
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He was losing sight of his brother, the creature had picked up speed and didn't have the obstacle of trees obscuring its vision or massive roots to negotiate, it was getting away and it had Sam, it had his little brother and try as he might Dean could not keep up with it. He watched as it became nothing more than a fast moving speck in the sky before it completely disappeared from view.
Falling to his knees, face still turned upwards Dean once again shouted his brother's name before his body sagged as desolation overtook him. Tears welled before spilling over and trailing down his face as the enormity of what had just happened slammed into him again and again.
"NO! NO you can't have him you bastard, I want him back." With renewed determination and pushing thoughts of anything but finding his brother alive out of his mind Dean set off at a run, shotgun in hand, eyes searching both sky and ground as he ran.
Stopping to take catch his breath Dean pulled a bottle of water out of his pocket as he leaned against a tree and after taking a couple of long gulps screwed the cap back on and readied himself to continue the hunt for his brother. As he pushed away from the tree he felt a stickiness on his hand and brought it closer to his face.
His palm was covered in a light blue, transparent goo of some kind. Looking further up the tree Dean could see blobs of the same goo dripping down the trunk. He moved to the next tree and found the same, and on the next and the next.
"Well waddya know, I got myself a trail to follow." He whispered without humour.
Tree after tree he followed, the goo getting more and more the further he went until he came to a small clearing the opposite side of which was lined with a mountainous rock-face which was obviously where the woods ended and on the other side civilisation began. Dean could imagine the day to day life taking place beyond the huge edifice and wanted more than anything right now for him and Sam to be a part of it.
Sure he would find his brother in one of the many small openings which most likely led to caves Dean cautiously took a step into the open, he looked around him and when he was sure he was alone broke into a jog, not stopping until he reached the first of the outcroppings where he checked his shotgun, patted his pocket to reassure himself that the holy water was where it should be and made to step forward, into the gloomy cave.
"Hang on Sammy, I'm gonna get you out of here." Dean spoke to himself quietly as he took the first step into the dark.
"And how do you think you're going to manage that Dean?"
Dean spun as the voice sounded behind him and came face to face with the preacher man.
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T.B.C.
Thanks for reading.