Chapter 30 Caleb Vs Tommy
Caleb had always been impressed with Dean's hand to hand fighting skills. The kid had always been a fast learner and Caleb was almost proud to say that he had had a hand in Dean's training. He was always willing to help out whenever he could although he himself had learnt a lot of what he knew from John himself.
This was different though. Dean seemed faster and the power behind his already normally strong muscles seemed to be amplified and Caleb had noticed that every time the kid managed to get a decent punch or kick in.
The psychic hoped that John had heard his message because in all honesty he wasn't sure how long he would be able to hold Dean off. He knew one thing for sure; he really didn't want to have to face a possessed Dean ever again. With Tommy having access to Dean's memories and his own added power he was definitely a force to be reckoned with.
Caleb saw Dean's fist coming for him again and skillfully dodged it and grabbed hold of the younger boy's wrist, quickly pinning Dean's arm behind the teens back.
"I am so going to kick your ass!" Tommy grunted as Caleb wrenched his arm further up his back before adjusting his grip so he was only holding Dean's wrist with one hand. With his free hand he reached around to grasp the Beretta that he always kept in the waste band of his jeans at the back.
Caleb didn't have a chance to do anything other than bring the gun around to his front before Tommy was taking him by surprise by using the very same reverse maneuver that John had taught both Caleb and Dean, also sending the gun flying a few feet away in the process. Caleb mentally cursed for letting himself fall into it.
"Ha! Now we're talking and what the hell were you going to do with a gun anyway? If you shoot me you'd be hurting your friend."
"You don't know Dean like I do … he'd probably want me to burn a clip in your ass on principal alone." Caleb struggled to get out of the hold Tommy had on him.
/Ease up there Damien. I don't particularly want any holes in this body that aren't meant to be there if it isn't absolutely necessarily/ Dean thought, hoping that it wouldn't come to that but knowing that if it came to being held hostage in his own body and possibly hurting someone he cared about or copping a bullet then he would gladly take the bullet.
Tommy smirked from behind Caleb's back before positioning himself to Caleb's side and driving a knee into the hunter's stomach.
Caleb folded in on himself with the force of the blow to his abdomen as the breath was knocked out of him but he didn't fall the whole way down. He managed to stay on his knees while trying to get his breath back.
Dean looked on, not liking what he was seeing and feeling completely useless. The second he got the chance he was going to do a little ass kicking of his own /well more like mind kicking actually/ he thought.
"You're not so scary," Tommy taunted.
"You sure are a chatty feller aren't ya?" Caleb wheezed, still in Tommy's grasp.
Tommy laughed and kicked out, planning to land a kick to Caleb's stomach again. But Caleb was prepared and caught the boy's leg, pulling Tommy off of his feet to land on the hard ground with a thud. Caleb wasted no time and pounced on Tommy and somehow found himself on his back when the teen flipped him over. Caleb managed to get a hand free and struck out with a powerful fist knocking the teen to the side and quickly struck again, mentally apologizing to Dean as he forced himself up.
Now that he had Tommy down Caleb thought that he better take this chance to get to his bag. He had his shot gun in there plus the tazor that John suggested that he bring along just incase he ran into one of the boys. His aim was to get the tazor and incapacitate Dean because Tommy was right he didn't want to hurt Dean if he didn't have to. Caleb took quick steps towards his bag and just short of reaching it he felt something hard slam into his kidney making him cry out and fall to the ground.
Caleb curled up on the ground as he felt that same thing slam into him again, hitting the same spot. When another hit didn't come Caleb looked up to see Dean standing above him, the branch in hand and blood running down the side of his face from a split in his eyebrow where Caleb's fist had broken the skin. Caleb winced at the sadistic smile on his young friends face and realized that Tommy was enjoying himself. It reminded him that the spirits they were dealing with had come from a disturbed children's home /underline disturbed/ he thought. Caleb brought himself up to his knees and thought that he was starting to spend too much time on them for his liking.
Tommy dropped the branch and took hold of Caleb's shirt, pulling him up to his feet. Caleb managed to block the first punch that was directed at his face but Tommy hit his mark on the second try, snapping Caleb's head back in the process.
Caleb felt Tommy hold onto his shirt tighter before he felt the kid kick out at his leg .The hunter heard a popping sound before he felt blinding pain in his knee. Dean felt sick as he felt his own foot connect hard with Caleb's knee dislocating the joint. The sound of the bones popping out of place hadn't helped him feel any better either. Dean felt anger once again build inside him when Caleb couldn't hold back the growl of pain that erupted from his throat and watched sympathetically as his friend tried to grab his knee.
Caleb knew a dislocation when he felt one and even if he hadn't, the sickening popping sound would have given it away, "God damn it," he gritted out through clenched teeth.
"How does that feel freak? Tommy laughed, keeping his hands clenched in Caleb's shirt, trying ineffectually to hold him up.
/I am going to kill you, you little bastard!/ Dean threatened while Tommy continued to ignore him.
"Peachy," Caleb rasped out, his breathing becoming faster as he tried to control the pain that his leg was causing.
Caleb had become a dead weight in Tommy's grasp since his knee had been dislocated but instead of letting him fall to the ground Tommy wrapped his arm around the psychic's neck and started to drag him forward.
With one hand gripping his injured leg and the other on Dean's strong arm that was currently wrapped around his neck Caleb tried his best to stay on one foot to avoid strangling himself on Dean's arm. He was trying to keep his pained gasps at bay but was having trouble as his leg was dragged across the rough ground bumping into fallen tree branches and other plants that were in his way. He could feel the bones in his knee grinding against each other and it was taking all his concentration to stay conscious at that very moment.
Dean didn't have to be a psychic to feel the pain roll off of Caleb in waves and the fact that he wasn't able to do a thing about it was really getting on Dean's nerves.
Caleb was concentrating so hard on staying up and trying to control the pain in his knee that he didn't feel when Tommy stopped moving. He did however feel it when his head was slammed into something hard and flat and assumed as he was seeing stars that his head had been introduced the cabin wall.
Tommy and Dean watched as Caleb slumped to the ground, both hands going straight to his injured limb, blood now seeping from a gash the contact with the wall had made on his head just below his hairline.
"Had enough yet?" Tommy asked playfully.
Caleb looked up, pain evident in his eyes but Dean mentally smiled when he saw a hint of the trademark cocky smile Caleb always wore, "You kidding … I hav…haven't … finished with … you yet." The twenty six year old replied between pained breaths, squinting to try and focus on his friends face.
Tommy laughed and Dean mentally cringed. He hated the sound of Tommy laughing at Caleb's expense using his voice. He felt himself bend down and lift Caleb up awkwardly, holding him against the wall.
Tommy leaned in close to Caleb's face, "This should be fun." Smiling evilly Tommy stood back holding Caleb against the wall with his left hand and bringing back his right one, making a fist. Caleb tried to struggle but it was useless as Dean's fist crashed into his stomach. Caleb would have doubled over if he hadn't been held up by Dean's strong arm. Caleb didn't have chance to think or breath before two more followed, plowing into Caleb's stomach with no mercy. The power of the blows stealing his breath away. When the onslaught on Caleb's stomach stopped, leaving the young hunter struggling for breath, Tommy aimed higher, smashing his fist into Caleb's face. Caleb could taste blood on his lips and stuck his tongue out to lick them finding he had a small split lip.
Dean mentally closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. He needed to do something to stop the onslaught. He knew that Caleb wouldn't have been so easy if that bastard ghost hadn't of dislocated his knee and Dean knew from experience that breaks and dislocations hurt like a bitch.
He felt Tommy laugh in his mind at the attempts he was making to break through his defenses and it frustrated him to no end that he was making little difference but his hopes were starting to lift as he could feel some of his strength returning. He was just praying that it came back to him before it was too late for Caleb.
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Marilyn Chipshaw stood at the kitchen bench humming to her self as she began to put dinner together. She was feeling happy. Now that they had that boy out of the way everything was going to be fine. Now all they needed was one more child for one more possession and she would have all her children back, for a couple of years at least.
Years ago when she was a young woman she had worked at the orphanage. She had worked there for a couple years before the fire and was crushed when she learnt of the deaths. She had seen something in those children that no-one else did. Everyone had just seen them as trouble makers and some of them even dangerous but all those people were wrong. Those children were just trying to get by in life like everyone else in the world and over the last ten years those very same children had been able to have more of a life than they had before the fire. In her mind they were her children and she needed to look out for them because they should never have died in that fire.
The fire had been her fault. She should have never let those boys in her kitchen without supervision. If she hadn't then they would never have found the matches. Ever since opening the place up again she had been very strict about the kitchen being off limits because she didn't want a repeat of the fire that had taken those precious lives.
The old woman continued humming until she heard the kitchen door open. She spun around to see who had dared to come in her kitchen but calmed immediately when she saw that it was Pierce or Mr. Graham as these current students knew him as. Pierce had run the orphanage and had unfortunately been upstairs sleeping when the fire had started, trapping him up there. He had been the first person she had brought back and so far the only one that had managed to keep a long term host. She didn't know why the others only last for two years but it was something she hoped she would have time to rectify.
"Mr. Pierce, what can I do for you?" she asked giving him a polite smile.
"We have a problem Marilyn," Pierce began walking up to stand in front of the short old woman, "Miss Northam and some of the students … they … well they are starting to get suspicious, some of them know what we are doing here and two are missing. One of them is the other Winchester boy."
"What do you want to do?"
Pierce looked a little hesitant, knowing that the old woman was not going to like what he had to say, "Marilyn … I have spoke with the other teachers and considering that we definitely can not afford for the outside world to know about this … we think there needs to be an accident."
Mrs. Chipshaw looked at her friend suspiciously, "What kind of accident?"
"No-one can leave this house. The insurance should cover the damages but I think it will be worth it in the end."
"What are you talking about Mr. Pierce?"
"We are going to set fire to the house again … and we are going to lock everyone inside it when we do." Pierce told her, not surprised to see the look of shock plainly written across the crazy old woman's face.
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Sam followed his father into the forest with Daniel right at his side. Sam noticed that his friend had become a bit clingy ever since his confrontation with Dean. It was like Daniel had started out thinking that everything that was happening was cool but then it started getting a little to real for him. But Sam had to give him credit because he was still sticking with them; he was just staying extra close to Sam.
John hadn't glanced back since taking off towards the forest and Sam knew that his father expected him to be right on his heels.
"Sam?" he heard Daniel asked quietly.
Sam turned his head so that he could see his friend, "What?"
"What's going to happen when we get to Mrs. Chipshaw's cabin?"
"I'm not sure yet but Caleb could be in trouble."
"Who is Caleb anyway?"
"Caleb is … Caleb is a friend of the family. He's hunter like my dad." Sam looked back towards his fathers back as he explained to his friend.
"How many more of these hunters are there?" Daniel asked as he continued to walk down the path next to Sam.
Sam shrugged his shoulders, "I only know a few."
"Boys!" John hissed turning around slightly, startling the teens, "Keep it down, we don't know if anyone is out here and I would like to keep the element of surprise if you don't mind."
"Yes Sir." Daniel shrank back a little.
John inwardly winced. He hadn't meant to scare the kid but if they were going to come with him then they needed to do as they were told and with the way Sam was lately he wanted to get across how important that was.
"How much further is it?" Sam asked quietly.
John looked in the direction they were heading and then back at Sam, "Not far. I think I can see the clearing from here."
"What are we going to do when we get there?"
"We need to find the ritual … they'll be on pages ripped out of a book. We also need to find Caleb Sammy. His message sounded … it sounded urgent."
"Okay." Sam decided now was not the best time to correct his father on his proper name.
"Okay. Now Daniel I need you to stay close to Sammy okay." John was now looking at the other boy.
Daniel pushed his glasses up higher on his nose, "You won't get an argument out of me for that."
"Good, now let's go." John turned around and continued on the way he was going.
It wasn't long before the three of them were standing at the clearing. It was obvious that they weren't alone. The sounds of flesh hitting flesh were unmistakable especially to the two Winchester's.
Sam looked up at his father, "Dad?"
John looked down at Sam with a new urgency, "Sammy this is very important," he began, gripping his youngest sons shoulder, "I need you and Daniel to go into that cabin and look for the pages."
"Yes Sir."
"When you find them there should be an incantation to exorcise the spirits. Don't waste any time son. Read it out loud. Do you understand me?" John asked looking at both Sam and Daniel.
John knew without a doubt that the sounds they could here were coming from Caleb and Dean. He had had a feeling that he was going to find trouble with the two hunters once he got to the cabin and he didn't want Sam near it.
Sam looked hesitantly at John for a second, worry for his brother and Caleb overcoming his automatic response of 'yes sir' for a moment. He realized that this was not the time to be arguing with his father and nodded, "Yes Sir."
"Good Boy," John said, patting Sam on the shoulder and then heading straight out into the clearing. The boys following close behind him.
"I don't hear anything," Daniel whispered.
John realized he was right. The sounds of the fight they had heard only minutes ago were gone and John was hoping that it meant something good but he knew that with the way his luck ran that it was highly doubtful.
The three of them started walking even faster when they could hear the struggle start out again and now that they were closer they could see where the sound was coming from. Oblivious to their arrival Caleb and Dean were on the ground, both looking a little worse for wear, struggling for a gun.
Daniel stood in shock at the scene while Sam automatically went to run forward. The site of Dean viciously fighting with Caleb was more disturbing that he wanted to admit. He was stopped by a large hand on his shoulder.
"Sammy. Go. In the cabin now. You need to find that ritual." John ordered. Their attention was drawn back to the two fighting near the side of the cabin when Caleb let out a piercing scream.
John looked back at Sam's frightened brown eyes. He didn't have time for Sam to be stubborn, "Now Sam!"
Sam seemed to snap out of it and took off towards the door of the cabin wordlessly. Daniel was, as always, close behind.
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Tommy laid into Caleb a little more before letting the man fall to the fall, a pained groan leaving his lips as he hit the ground. He could feel Dean building up a little strength and decided that it was time to stop playing around and finish the job.
He walked the short distance away and picked up the Caleb's gun that had been dropped amidst their fight. With all the things he had done, he had never actually used a gun before. This was something new and he was excited. He walked back slowly over to Caleb, touching the cut to his eyebrow as he went and was pleased that at least it had stopped bleeding.
Caleb Reaves was just as human as anyone else and once he had taken out the man's leg he had found himself having fun at the other man's expense and even more fun with the feelings he was picking up from Dean.
People thought he was sick. That's why they had locked him up in the orphanage after his parents had died but he reasoned that he just liked different entertainment than most people and he had been taught that everyone is allowed to have their own opinion.
He was now standing by Caleb again. He brought the gun up and glanced at the weapon. It was nice. He pointed the gun at Caleb's head, "It's been fun," he said before cocking it. Tommy was caught by surprise when Caleb's good leg swung out and knocked his feet out from under him.
Dean could feel more energy and felt like he might just be able to put up at least a decent try. He couldn't let Caleb die and he knew that's what Tommy planned to do next.
Caleb had been trying to get his bearings back when he had heard Dean's footsteps coming back towards him. He had heard the teen ready the gun and kicked out on instinct. The pain that came from jarring his bad knee was excruciating but he didn't have time to think about it. He needed to get to that gun if he actually wanted to survive this. Pushing past his pain he moved so that was leaning on Dean and grabbed hold of the gun still gripped in the boy's hand.
"Don't … you … learn … to … ever … stay … down?" Tommy asked as he struggled with the weakening hunter.
"Don't … aghh … know how!" Caleb replied. The pain from jostling his leg was starting to eat through his reserves.
Tommy had somehow managed, in their struggle, to get on his knees. Keeping both hands firmly in the fight for the gun he used his leg to kick Caleb in his bad leg. The hunter screamed in pain, hands automatically leaving the fight for the gun to grasp his leg.
"Say goodbye to your friend because it's time for you to go." Tommy once again pointed the gun at Caleb's head.
Dean was concentrating as hard as he could, trying to accomplish what he had done when with Sam. His time was almost up and he was beginning to panic. He felt a little relief when he finally felt Tommy falter a little.
"It's not your fault Deuce," Caleb rasped out, pain evident in his voice but needing to speak to his friend. He knew that if Dean actually made it out of this it would kill him to know that someone he knew and cared about died by his hands, regardless whether he was in control of said hands at the time. Dean seemed to accept the responsibility for everything that goes wrong around him and this was no different.
Dean almost lost his concentration at Caleb's words. As much as he appreciated what Caleb was trying to say, he knew that he would never be able to forgive himself if the stupid bastard went and died on him.
"Bye bye," Tommy said, aiming the gun more steadily as he felt a niggling sensation in the back of his mind.
He once again cocked the gun and smiled as he began to tighten his finger on the trigger when he felt a sharp pain like someone was digging around inside his head, "Aghh!" he gasped and brought his left hand up to his head. It started to subside and he thought he was okay when another jab inside his head had him dropping the gun and grabbing his head. This time the pain didn't die out. It was continuous and it didn't leave him any time to think. All he could do was hold his head in his hands.
Dean kept the pressure up. It was the only thing keeping Caleb alive at the moment and as much as it was painful to him as well he needed to give Caleb time to be able to defend him self. He heard someone screaming and then realized that it was his own voice that he was hearing. Tommy was screaming. He was starting to feel the effects of his attack and hoped to god that when he finally lost consciousness this time that he would wake up and this would all be over.
"Caleb! Dean!" It sounded like his father's voice but he wasn't sure because it sounded like it was under water.
He could feel his reserves slipping and he tried to hold on just a little bit longer. He felt his body hit the ground and curl into a ball, his hands holding his head tightly as if that would ward off the pain. Dean felt his last bit of strength leave him and his last thoughts as he fell into the abyss was that he hoped that his father had shown up because he had really screwed Caleb up.
Xxx
Sam slammed open the door to the small cabin and both he and Daniel rushed in, "Okay we're looking for pieces of paper that look like they have been torn from a book," Sam explained.
Daniel automatically went to the door on the other side of the room and walked through to check the adjoining room. Sam stayed in the main room scanning it as fast as he could. Daniel came back out of the room and shook his head in the negative when Sam looked at him. Sam was starting to get impatient. He needed to find that ritual and he needed to find it now.
"Sam, I think I might have found something," he heard Daniel say. He immediately raced over to his friend
Daniel was holding a small book. It looked like it was some type of journal but the youngest Winchester smiled when he saw some extra pages sticking out of the top. Sam grabbed the book out of Daniel's hand and opened it up to where the loose pages were. He took them out and passed the book back to Daniel. He skimmed over the words. This was definitely what they had been looking for. He rubbed his forehead as he felt a headache coming on and continued to skim down the pages in order to find the exorcising ritual, hoping that it was there.
Sam let a sigh of relief when he got to the last page and saw what he needed, "Is this what we needed?" Daniel asked him, looking at his friend in concern when Sam squeezed his eyes shut, "Sam, are you okay?"
Sam squinted at his friend, "What? Umm yeah I'm fine, come on we need to … agghh!" Sam was cut off by a sharp pain making it self known in his head just before his vision faded out to white …
"What are you doing?" Miss Northam yelled, walking quickly up to Mr. Graham who had reached the dining room door.
The old man turned around and looked the teacher in the face, almost looking sad, "I'm sorry Jacqueline, I really am but there is no other way out of this."
"What are you talking about? What are you going to do with those students that you had leave the room?"
"This is all for them, now it will be all over soon!" Mr. Graham turned around and opened the dining room door to reveal Mr. Taylor waiting on the other side.
"Everything's set, she should go up with no trouble," Mr. Taylor informed the older man.
"What should go up?"
"He didn't tell you? You're all going to burn up with this house."
"You can't do that!" Miss Northam yelled and went to grab the door only for Mr. Graham to tighten his hold on it.
"Sorry but there is no other way." Mr. Graham slammed the door shut in Miss Northam's face. She leant on the door for a moment after and heard the unmistakable sound of a lock being put in place.
She turned around and looked into the faces of her students who were starting to become alarmed at hearing the conversation … The vision of the frightened faces vanished to be replaced by flames … heat … kid's were screaming and trying to break out of the hot box formally known as the dining room. Everything started to fade together.
"Sam!" Sam vaguely heard someone calling his name and found that he was sitting on the ground being held up by someone. He was breathing hard and could feel a sheen of sweat across his forehead as his headache faded.
"Sam, come on man talk to me." Daniel. It was Daniel and he remembered now that he was in Mrs. Chipshaw's cabin, "God!" he exclaimed as he wiped the sweat of his forehead and tried to assimilate what he had just seen. He had never experienced anything like that before and it scared the crap out of him. All he knew was that his family wasn't the only ones in immediate danger.
He got up on his shaky legs with Daniel's assistance and once he was standing he looked at his friend who looked kind of pale, "Have you still got the papers?"
"Yeah here." Daniel handed Sam the pages he had found before he had witness Sam collapse in pain in front of him, "Dude what the hell happened?"
"We don't have time for that right now. Come on!" Sam exclaimed as he ran out of the cabin. Daniel threw the useless book that he still had in his hand, on the table near the door on his way out.
xxx
John had been approaching Caleb and Dean prepared to tazor his son if need be when Dean had grabbed his head as if he was in pain. John ran over to the boy and as Dean dropped the gun and fell to the ground in obvious pain.
John skidded to stop next to his son and crouched down and took hold of Dean's wrists trying to see what was wrong, "Son?"
"John," he turned his head to look at Caleb when he heard his name spoke softly, "That's not Dean."
As suddenly as it started Dean's body became lax and John turned back to him and saw that he was unconscious for the moment. He eased himself away from Dean, picking up the discarded gun, so he could get to Caleb and look the younger hunter over. Caleb was breathing hard and John could see the lines of pain. As he got up closer his knee accidentally bumped into Caleb's. John had not been expected Caleb's scream and panicked.
"What's wrong?"
"Son of a," he bit out, "my damn knee … Keep away from my damn knee!" Caleb ordered through clenched teeth.
John looked down at the offending limb and even through Caleb's jeans he could see that the knee did not look right.
"God damn it Caleb! What the hell happened?" John asked angrily, gently reaching out for the gash on his young friends head. Caleb had his arm wrapped protectively around his stomach and John noticed that the young man also had a split lip and looked like he was going to have some wonderful colours on his face come morning.
"It's not like I meant to get my ass kicked Johnny … the kid was damn strong!"
"Yeah well you look like crap!"
"See what you look like … after tangling with a freaking … possessed Dean and then you can talk to me about looking like … crap," Caleb responded and John noticed that his breathing was still seemed a little forced.
John had been about to take a closer look at Caleb's leg when he heard movement and automatically brought the gun up and pointed it at his oldest son who was now in a sitting position, "Don't move!"
John watched as Dean winced once in some residual pain and then looked at him with a smirk, "I said don't move," John stated, still pointing the gun at him.
"Like I really believe that you will shoot your own son," Tommy answered cockily and began to get up.
"You're right … I won't shoot you with the gun but I have no problem using this," John answered pulling out his tazor and replacing the gun with it, making Tommy pause his upward motion /Come on Sammy/ John pleaded in his mind.
TBC ...
Well there is only a couple of days till christmas and i did say i was going to have this finished by then so tomorrow when i am finished with everything i have to do, my whole attention will be focused on writing the last 2 chapters. I am pretty sure at this moment in time that i will only need 2 more chapters to complete this story, without totally screwing up the ending :-) wish me luck with the christmas crowds and avoiding writers block and i'll see you very soon :-) Thanks for all of your continued support :-)