"At the moment that goal seems to be mutually exclusive. We have to stop the Rider, if you want to save Dean."
"If you so much as say save Dean save the world…"
Ezra flashed a strangled smile, "No, trust me. You're going to need…"
"I don't even know you!" Sam's frustration and pain fused.
The response he received was soothing as fresh washed sheets. "I understand that, but you going off without knowledge will do little to help you or your brother."
"Do you know what demons do to the human host!?"
"I am quite aware. But, that is why it sought out you both."
Frustration boiled. "What are you talking about!?"
"First, lie down and let me get you a pain killer. Then, I will tell you all that I know," the preacher said in a matter of fact tone. Ezra looked at Sam with a mixture of command and sympathy. He understood the young man's frustration. For men of action lying around in pain must be doubly frustrating.
Somewhere deep inside some angry inside of Sam melted. "I don't need a pain killer. I just need answers." Sam said a bit more calmly.
Before Sam was aware, Ezra had got close enough to ease Sam back down into the cot, so the young hunter could be more comfort. Sam felt a cool soothing cloth on his forehead. Ezra hummed part of some hymn that Sam swore was familiar, but he couldn't place the tune.
"That tune? What…?"
"Your mother use to hum it to you," Ezra said as if he were an expert on all things Winchester.
Sam found it hard to fathom that the preacher could know that, when he didn't even have a way of confirming it. It was far easier to make a claim like that with no proof to validate or invalidate it. "You don't expect me to believe…"
"God doesn't believe in atheist, therefore they don't exist." Ezra snapped out without blinking. He had said it in such a way as to give Sam something to think.
"That's not what I meant," Sam reasoned.
"I know, but you need to have faith. You have always had in the past, why do you question it now?"
Scoffing, Sam paused before he spoke. "All of this. Dean is..."
"You're worried about Dean's deal?"
"How did…"
"I think you know my answer, young one."
"But, I don't understand. I have prayed to God and asked for help, but none comes. We have faced so much, why us… I don't…"
"You are Appoloin."
"The demon said that to us." The thought sparked to life like a match near gasoline. "What….?"
"Appoloin was the angel of destruction, charged with guarding the pit of hell. When Appoloin was finally defeated in battle, he knew the gates would be left unguarded. His final act was to give up the last part of him that made him divine. That energy spread to the earthly realm inside human vessels. Through the years and long lines only a few of you remain. They are fated to vanquish evil back to hell."
"Come on, this is a bit too Harry Potter, defeating some dark lord…."
"Fiction comes from a shred of truth somewhere. You should know that from all the legends you have researched. And knowing your legacy will not help change the past or the future."
"Dean's going to be alright, isn't he?" Sam asked staring at Ezra.
"I don't know."
"Isn't he?" Sam demanded. "Dean's OK?"
"For now, but I'm afraid you won't like what he's become. You must be strong enough to face battle with your own sibling and things are going to get ugly."
"I've seen ugly before."
"Not like this. The Rider is acting like a demon at this moment. He is the ultimate reaper of souls and he is been given a demonic army that will come to destroy this church for it is the last one foretold in Revelations."
Sam stared off, thinking that Ezra was a nutter. He didn't notice that the preacher had gone quiet for a moment. When the holy man began to speak, he wasn't speaking to Sam. "Father, it pains me that you ask this of me. I do not take pleasure in breaking a young man's heart, but I serve you as always." Finally, he turned to Sam " You need proof of how ugly this is going to become. Come….there's something you should see. Prepare yourself for a harsh reality."
"There is nothing you can show me that I can't take. If you know where Dean is, take me!" Sam reassured.
--x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Later inside Jolly Darcy's………..
Sam closed his eyes, but the terrible scene didn't vanish, glaring like a beacon inside his mind. So he opened his eyes, and still the horror remained. Sam wasn't sure how many bodies lay in the massive collection of tissue, blood, and bones. The light shone dimly over the carnage, cruelly almost, as a spotlight of what had happened here.
"I'm sorry." Ezra said solemnly. "It is not only Dean you face, with all his skills, but a creature that can take men's peace with a single touch. I'm sorry you had to see this."
A gulp caught in Sam's throat, not of fear, but horror that his brother was the vessel of so much death. Some were so mangled it was impossible to tell where one body began and another ended. A select few still looked as if they were about speak, unuttered words forever frozen on
their bloodless lips. Silent screams hung on still air with a deafening silence. Sam turned away, when a fly lighted on his hands. "God no…"
The inhabitants were far from human now. The warped and hideously mangled bodies twisted and oozed along the floor boards. The abominations continued as mere spatters on furniture and the four walls. The dreadful stench had already begun. Blood. Rotting. Death.
Sam closed his eyes, trying not to see and wondering if his brother was near. He opened his eyes, searching the bodies to see if Dean lay among the dead. And feeling guilty crept in that he was relieved that his even the bastardized version of his brother still lived.
A small noise caught Sam's ear and he turned on instinct. Just beneath the broken remains of a table someone still lived. Then he saw a slight movement. With a rough kick he cleared the wreckage. A woman, badly injured, lay barely alive, but still conscious. She was covered in human blood and remains.
"Help me…" She begged and struggled to sit up, peering at Sam through the dry blood that caked her face.
Sam knelt down by the woman and clutched her hand. "I got you. Help is on the way! CALL 911!" Sam yelled at Ezra.
The holy man shook his head confirming the idea Sam already had. It was too late, but Sam didn't want to accept it.
"I'm dying… aren't I…" She panicked, coughed and clutched at Sam. Her breathing was harsh, and she gurgled out blood. She cried, fixing Sam with her penetrating stare.
"No…no…you're going to be fine." Sam lied and choked out the words, wiping the tears away from her stained cheeks. Chest heaving, he did his best to caress her pain away. He stared at her for a long while, giving slight, almost imperceptible reassurances.
Ezra knelt down next to Sam. "Rest my dear child. When you wake again all the pain will be gone." Sam's newest friend crouched by his side and soothed the woman. "Carney, my dear, you are safe now."
"How did you…" She wanted to ask the man how he knew her, but the words would not fully form.
"He just knows," Sam said as he stroked her blood soaked hair. He thought he heard her sob, but he wasn't sure. She reached out a hand blindly, and he hesitantly took it. He squeezed it, wanting to reassure her, to comfort her.
She squeezed his hand back gently. "I killed…Please… I didn't want to….he…he made me… Pleaseforgive me," the woman sobbed.
Sam said it first. "You're forgiven."
"Rest in Peace, dear sister" Ezra stated, pitching his voice louder and more somber. "No servant of God goes unremembered.
With that last rite of forgiveness, Sam felt Carney's soul stir for an instance, then watched her fall into eternal slumber. Sam bowed his head, and gently let go of her hand.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, spirit lay to rest," Ezra finished.
Sam looked away, and when he finally turned back, tears run down his cheeks. "She gone." His voice became small, sounding very much like a little boy. "Dean did this?"Bottom of Form
Ezra gave a small nod.
"What do I have to do? Tell me. You don't know him! He'll hold himself responsible for them. This will kill all he is."
"You have to be stronger. You brother is a better man than he knows. But someone does know and he is on your side, Samuel. Dean's done so much. Helped so many people. Changed so many lives.
"He's never left any place or person untouched, always for the better."
"Not anymore. Now, his touch is deadly. You have to forget you fight Dean's body. You felt the pull to that in your first battle, but you couldn't go to the place to do the job. Dean is your strength and weakness. You must figure out the timing of when to choose your brother over mankind. Forces are pulling you more than you know. You are on a path of destruction and you feel that anger growing."
"Tell me what is there not to be angry about!"
I honestly don't know. However, you must learn when to be the hunter and when to be the brother. We must lure the Rider to the church before he amasses a bigger army. God gave Dean this burden for he is strong enough to fight from within. Even in the smallest of ways, he can tip the balance in our favor. We must be ready to capture a creature that has been given superior domain over men. He carries his seal with him. It is the only thing that can contain him. We must close his portal to this world."
"Are you telling me that we have to steal the Rider's closest possession!? Get so close that he can touch…"
"Yes, and getting him back inside of the seal will be even more difficult."