SUPERNATURAL

THE PARCAEX RITUAL

Chapter 14

The road back to Colorado seemed so much quicker than the first trip, and Sam lay quiet in the back seat. The loss of blood had knocked him out, but thankfully he was still breathing, and the blood loss had ceased.

Dean and Bobby had been talking for the entire ten hours of their trip so far, but for now they sat thinking, and before long Bobby became restless and switched on the radio.

The shocking coincidence was what they heard when a newsreaders voice began to read a new story that had only recently been revealed.

"Its almost two o'clock in the morning here at Idaho Springs, where a man has been murdered on the streets less than an hour ago. The Police are stumped at who could have done this, as the wound was knife inflicted and there were no witnesses. Police are also following up another incident that occurred early yesterday morning, where another homicide victim was stabbed outside a local bar. The Police suspect that there is a connection between the two killings, and descriptions are being taken from the witnesses of the first murder…"

Dean and Bobby both looked shocked. "But if they're getting descriptions of Sam from the people who saw him murder that girl, then its not safe to take him back into the town, Bobby! What are we going to do?"

"Well, there's always my brothers old farmhouse," Bobby suggested, "Nobody would ever find him, it's in the middle of nowhere!"

"Yeah okay, that sounds good. But one of us is going to have to stay with him, we can't have him running off on his own again, that could be catastrophic."

"Dean, how the hell are we going to fix this? It almost seems irreversible!"

"I'll tell you how, by killing that son of a bitch who did this to him."

"You think Lucifer is manipulating him somehow?"

"Well, who else has that kind of power? And I know it's not actually Sam. No matter what he says, I don't believe it, because it's just not true."

Dean stood by this and Bobby didn't even try to contradict him. Not only was he completely at a loss to understand, but also they didn't need another feud at that time.

Sam began to stir, and instantly Dean and Bobby braced themselves. They knew that Sam would not take too nicely to being tied up by his own brother.

Rubbing his eyes, Sam opened them and glanced at where he was. Anger began to flow through him and when he attempted to sit up he realised that he'd been tied down. "Dean," he whispered through clenched teeth, "Let me out of here or I swear I'm going to kill you with my own bare hands."

"Well, the least you could do is ask politely!"

"Dean!" he started to get angry, "Untie me now!"

Sam began pulling at his ropes as hard as he could, his face becoming red and his body jerking violently as he continued to attempt to free himself, with no success.

"DEAN!" Sam screamed, causing Dean to jump in his seat, "I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU DON'T LET ME GO!"

He just kept screaming, and a few nasty choice words sprang from his mouth, and until his wrists were blood red he pulled at the ropes that had bound him.

"AAAGGHHH!" Sam continued to scream, but Dean and Bobby tried to pretend that they couldn't hear it and continued to drive.

The sound was utterly deafening, and what they didn't expect was for Sam to suddenly stop the screaming and begin laughing; an ice-cold laugh that sent a shiver down their spines. All of a sudden the car began to shake heavily, and the steering wheel began to turn of its own accord.

"If you won't let me out of here," Sam smirked, "Then I'll have to do it myself."

The knife Bobby usually keeps hidden in his waist pocket suddenly flew out from beneath his jacket and – floating in mid-air – began to saw through the bonds that held Sam down.

"What the-"

"Bobby, do me a favour," Sam began as he sat up at last, "Open the car door, undo your seatbelt and jump out."

"Sure, no problem, Sam."

"Bobby, no!" Dean yelled, but it was too late.

Within seconds Bobby had opened the door and thrown himself out, crashing onto the road as they travelled at 50 miles per hour down the road, and Sam just continued to laugh at the top of his lungs.

The car was now out of Deans' control, and without even thinking he dived into the back seat after Sam, knowing that he didn't have much time at all before Sam would overcome him with his freakish mind powers.

Sam wasn't expecting it, and as they struggled with each other for a few moments Dean pulled his pistol from his pocket and slammed the handle over Sams' temple, knocking him out cold.

The car spun out of control, and it was lucky that there was no oncoming traffic as the car switched lanes and Dean had to dive head first into the front seat, reaching down with his hands to push the brakes.

The car slid for a moment and then pulled to a stop, and after applying the handbrake Dean hauled himself out of the car and looked back. He could see no sign of Bobby, and as he got back into the car, disengaging the handbrake, he hoped that Sam wasn't going to wake up anytime soon.

Driving back, he found Bobby on the side of the road. He was alive, but his body was broken and bruised, a lot of blood bleeding from his wounds.

Dean stopped the car and ran out to him, "Bobby?" he whispered, "Bobby, come on, we've got to get you out of here."

Bobby groaned, "Dean, where's Sam?"

"Don't worry, I took care of him. He's in the back seat now, out cold."

Bobby sat in the back with Sam the entire way, keeping a close eye on him in case he woke up. Luckily Sam was deep in his sleep again and didn't wake as they entered the barns' driveway. Dean dragged Sam's body out of the car and into Bobby's brothers barn, where they lay him in a corner and sat down, breathing deeply.

"Dean, what happened out there? I don't know why I did it, it was like I couldn't control myself!"

"It was Sam, his abilities have returned."

"Abilities? I thought Sam only had those premonitions?"

"No, it must be more than that. Remember Jake? Sam said that the only ability he had was super strength, but when we met him at the Devils Gates it seemed that he'd gained a lot more. He made Ellen hold a gun to her head, remember?"

"Yeah, of course I remember, but why does Sam have them now?"

"I don't know, but if he actually has all the powers, as he seems to have, then we're in a lot of trouble."

"But why? Why Sam?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure as hell going to find out. I'm not going to let Lucifer control Sam like that."

"Are you sure he's actually controlling him?"

"Bobby! Do we have to have that conversation again? Of course he's being controlled!"

"Dean, I'm just saying-"

"Saying what? That Sam is actually a violent murderer? That he really wants to kill me?"

"No, but you must at least consider the fact that there's something more to this than you want to believe."

Dean said nothing, and Bobby opened his mouth to continue when they heard Sam groan. The two of them instantly reached for their guns and approached Sam slowly.

Sam sat upright and looked at them, a shocked look coming over his face, "Dean! What are you doing?"

It took only a few seconds of staring, and Dean lowered his gun.

"Dean?" Bobby questioned, "What are you doing?"

Dean crouched down next to Sam, "It's actually Sam this time, Bobby."

"How do you know?"

"Well, when he becomes that... other person, you can just tell by the look on his face. He has these shadows under his eyes, and the lines on his face change. Trust me, Bobby, I can just tell."

Sam looked confused, "What's happening? Where am I?"

Bobby lowered his gun, "You don't remember anything?"

Sam blinked slowly and rubbed his face with his hand, "No, last thing I remember was searching through the local phone directories for Mathew Walker. Then everything went black."

"Were you possessed?"

"Not that I know of. I mean, you would usually remember bits and pieces if you were being possessed, but I don't remember a thing!"

Dean gave Bobby a confused look, and Bobby shrugged his shoulders. He winced in pain and lay down on a haystack. Sam looked at him strangely and asked, "Did I do that?"

Dean sighed, "We don't know, Sammy. But something came over you earlier, something terrible, and we need to find out what."

Dean pulled a spoon from one of the kitchen drawers and turned to Sam, holding it up. "Sam, I've asked you before and I'll ask you again. Try to bend this spoon."

"What?" Sam asked, confused, "Why?"

Sam took a breather. "But how?" he asked, "How could I use all those abilities if I've never been able to before."

"I don't know," Dean replied, "But something came over you. I don't know what, but it was like an alternate personality or something. You know, like that kid from the movie Primal Fear? With the multiple personality disorder? One of his personalities was a harmless boy, and the other was a vicious serial killer."

Sam laughed, "But Dean, at the end of that movie we found out that he was just pretending to have that disorder, remember?"

"Oh yeah. But still, lets forget that part. What do we do about this?"

"Dean, you know this must be what Dad warned you about."

Dean held up his hand, "Sam, stop. I'm not going to kill you and that's final, so stop bringing up all this stuff that Dad said so long ago."

"But Dean!" Sam exclaimed, "I don't want to hurt anyone else! I've killed one girl and I may have killed more! Also I practically threw Bobby out of a moving car. You have to do it, Dean."

"I can't, Sammy," he was practically in tears, "You know I won't do that."

A harsh silence hit the room, and Dean sat down, placing his weapon back into its holster.

Sam stood up, "Well, we know Mathew Walker is in town now, don't we?" he asked, "Shouldn't we go find him already?"

Dean looked at him, "I'm not sure if it's safe for you Sam."

"What? Because you think I'll turn into some psycho killer?"

"Sammy," Dean started, "I don't know what to think at this point. I know it wasn't you, but in another way, it was."

"Come on, that's no reason not to let me come."

"Well, I should probably point out that the cops are looking for your ass now, ever since that girl was murdered outside that bar."

"Yeah, that's a good point," Sam said slowly, "But you can't just expect me to stay here the whole time."

"That's exactly what I expect you to do," Dean answered, "You can't come, and that's final."

Sam knew that there was no point arguing, and limped over to help Bobby, who attempted to patch himself up with a few bandages, "Jesus, Dean! Why did you have to shoot me?" Sam asked.

"Can you feel it?"

"Well, actually no, which I'm glad about. But I sure as hell can if I try to walk."

"That's just another reason to stay behind, isn't it?" Dean mocked, "Bobby, are you gonna be okay?"

He smiled, "Boy, I've suffered worse than this in my years of hunting. I'll be fine. Lets just go and find this Walker guy already. The sooner we find him, the sooner we can waste Lucifer and this will all be over."

"Yeah, let's hope so." Dean muttered.

Once they had gathered their strength back, Dean and Bobby headed out, though they were a little hesitant leaving Sam behind, even though they knew that it would be impossible to take him too.

They headed off in the Impala, and Sam laid himself down on a haystack, furious that they refused to take him with them.

"Okay, Bobby," Dean began, "Where do we start searching?"

"Well, I guess we start over. We'll give Ellen another visit. Maybe she's seen something since last time you talked to her."

"I highly doubt it, but okay, we'll have a look. But we have to be careful, Bobby. If Sams' visions were right, then he has an army of Demons at his disposal, and we can't match that."

"Well, once we find out where he's hiding, we'll think of something, like always."

"Yeah," Dean nodded, "You're right. We just can't fail at this one, you know? Not only are our lives at stake, as well as everyone that Lucifer may fall victim to, but Sammy's fate as well."

"Don't worry, Dean. Sam will be okay, you'll see."

It took no time at all to get into town, but when they turned the corner coming into the bar, they instantly knew that something was wrong.

"What the hell?" Dean asked, staring down at the ambulance and two police vehicles parked outside the bar, their lights ablaze.

They stopped the car and got out, walking up to the police who were interviewing a young girl who had been drinking in the bar.

"Excuse me," Dean interrupted, "What's happening here?"

The officer turned to him, "The fire alarms were pulled no more than twenty minutes ago." He announced, "There was a large commotion, and when everything was cleared up the girl bartender was missing."

"How do you know she was missing?"

"Well, somebody said that they saw her disappear from behind the bar; screaming, and when we had a look we found blood on the other side of the counter. We're sure that it's hers."

A thought struck Dean, "What was her name?"

"A friend of hers identified her as Ellen Harvelle."

Deans' stomach dropped at this. "Who saw her being grabbed?"

"He's sitting inside at the moment, waiting to be interviewed again."

"Do you have any leads at all? About who did it?"

"Not yet," the officer replied, "But we're suspecting a young male who was spotted yesterday at the scene of the first death."

"Does he have a name?" Dean asked.

"Not that we know of, but we've had a few people give descriptions of the guy and his-" The officer glanced behind Dean and saw the Impala, "Is that yours?"

Dean looked behind him and realised what he was talking about, "No, that's my cousin's car. My own broke down and I'm just borrowing it for the day."

The officer looked at Dean suspiciously, and then walked away whispering into his mic.

"Are we busted?" Bobby asked, watching the officer walk away.

"No, not yet. Let's just get a look inside. If we're right, then Walker has taken Ellen as well as Jo, and he'll hold them against us. Also we had better talk to the guy who saw it happen, he might be able to help."

The two of them walked back to the Impala, and Dean reached into the glove box, pulling out a few state police badges and placing them in their pockets.

They flashed the officer standing guard at the police-tape, who lifted it to allow them to enter, without questioning them at all. They walked into the empty bar and up to a young male who sat in one of the seats, and by the look on his face he'd been there for a long time.

"Hey there," Dean sat in the seat next to him, "I'm Officer Gant and this is Officer Gordon, State Police."

"Why would the state police be involved in this?"

"Well, we believe that a known serial-killer is on the loose in this town, and this is a case that needs closing. We asked the police and they said that you saw Mrs Harvelle being attacked, but do you remember any other details? Did you see his car by any chance?"

"Well, he didn't have a car. I saw him grab that lady and he exited the fire doors. He left on foot and that was all."

"Anything else?"

"No, sorry. That was all I saw."

"Thanks for your time." Bobby said as they walked out of the bar and back to the Impala, "So, what do you think?"

"Well, first thing is we've got to find out if Mathew Walker ever lived in Idaho Springs."

"Where can we find that?"

"Well, there's a local library up on 14th Avenue, they've probably got a few computers we can use."

"Do you even know how to use a computer?"

"Well," Dean thought, "I've seen Sammy use one enough times."

"Yeah, whatever."

Driving through the streets and using the Idaho Springs road map from the Colorado state directory, they found 14th avenue and eventually stopped outside the library.

"Closed?" Dean asked, looking up at the large sign, "But we need it now!"

Bobby laughed, "Since when has a 'closed' sign ever stopped you before."

They stopped the car around the corner and opened the trunk, taking with them a small kit bag of anything they could need to gain entry.

"Do you think they'll have an alarm system?"

"Most unlikely, Dean," Bobby answered, "Look how ancient this place is; founded in 1904." he read aloud.

"Shall we use the front door?"

"I don't see why not."

Dean pulled out a few tools and began working on the lock. It took him barely a minute before they heard the lock click and they gained entry.

They scanned the front room for any signs of an alarm, and when they were sure that they were safe they walked in and found the computers, switching one on and making sure that there was nobody else there with them.

"Okay," Dean muttered, logging in and opening the Idaho Springs database recorded on the computer.

A large screen came up with the title 'Idaho Springs Phone and Address directory since 1859.'

"Well, that was easy." Bobby whispered.

"Yeah, well being around Sammy you tend to learn these kind of things. Every town library has a database of residents that have ever lived there, and they come in very useful sometimes."

"Okay, so what now."

Dean typed into the search box 'Mathew Walker'. The search took no time at all, after a quick scan a notice appeared on the screen reading "'0' matches for 'Mathew Walker' found in database".

Bobby thought for a minute, "Try just 'Walker'. See if he has any relatives in town."

Without question, Dean searched it, '14 matches for "Walker" found in database'.

"We can't search fourteen homes, Dean. You've got to break that down a bit."

"How about we search for homes close to the Bar. He would've had to go somewhere close, it's not exactly inconspicuous walking around with a hostage in your arms."

Dean searched the addresses from the fourteen listings, looking for one close to the bar. "Well, twelve of the fourteen are completely on the opposite side of town, and there's only one that is anywhere near the bar."

"Is it close enough to walk to with a hostage?"

"Actually, yes. I think so."

"What's the address?"

"'Eighteen high street'. It's just around the corner from the bar, but there's also a nearby alleyway that short cuts through close to the house. If he went anywhere, I'm guessing it would have been there."

"Well, lets get going then."

Thanks for reading - i'm posting these real quick... No, i'm not that fast a writer. They were written an age ago. I'm just posting the entire story because I know I won't later on... I probably won't get around to re-writing the whole thing. It's not lack of persistence, but i'm very busy at the moment.