Demon's Trial

Chapter Nine: The Key

Here's the final chapter of this story. I hope you've enjoyed the ride (please tell me if you did!), and I'll see you in the next one, entitled "From the Shadows"!

Gordon picked up the phone and placed it to his ear, staring through the glass at his visitor. "Have you found him yet?"

Kubrick nodded. "Still at the same address."

"And Sam?"

"Disappeared with his brother, it seems."

Gordon frowned. "You need to find him," he said, "he's the only one who knows how to find the others like him and Scott."

"I'll call around, let as many Hunters know as I can that I'm lookin' for 'im," Kubrick promised. "He'll turn up eventually."

Gordon nodded. "And in the meantime?"

"Don't worry about it," Kubrick said with a smile that bordered on creepy. "I'm taking care of that as soon as I can get him alone."

"Good," Gordon said. "Now all we gotta do is find a way to get me the hell outta here."

"We will," Kubrick said. "Just sit tight for now, okay? I'll get some friends together and we'll work this out, I promise you."

Gordon nodded, Kubrick left, and Gordon went off to recreational time. He needed to keep up his strength and endurance until he could get out of this place and find the Winchester's. They were both going to die, and he would be the one to kill them both, nice and slow if he could manage it, too.

It took two days of planning to get Scott back home. He had to convince the police that Sam was protecting him from Gordon. He had to claim to not know what was going on with the strange, hairless creature witnesses had seen. He had to say that he didn't know why the unknown man and woman had stuffed Mrs. Hillary Weston into the trunk of the long, black car before taking off with him and Sam, only that he knew he had to stay with Sam. The man and woman were only protecting them.

It was easy to say he didn't know Gerald or Thomas, because honestly, he really didn't. He knew the Fulmer's across the street, though he hadn't spoken to them in months. In the end, he managed to convince the police that he was fine, that Sam had already been attacked by Gordon before finding out that the man was going after Scott and driving here to alert him and try to fend Gordon off himself, and that Sam had taken off as soon as they'd heard that Gordon was behind bars, leaving Scott to return home safely.

Scott told his father the entire truth, and showed him his power by electrocuting a stray mouse. "I'm wearing the gloves to protect everyone until I can learn to control it," he explained. "I never thought that was possible, but Sam and Dean gave me hope." He smiled sadly. "I'm sorry for how I've been acting the last few months," he added. "I was completely terrified of myself and what I could do to you. Not that the nightmares helped any…" He trailed off with a shrug.

His father had been taken aback by the story, but when he pulled Scott into his arms and assured him that everything would be all right, that they would find a way to get through this and that he had never been so proud of him, Scott knew he was safe and that everything would be all right. He didn't know that it would last forever, he couldn't predict the future by any means, but for now, he was safe and there were no demons possessing the people he knew. And even better, Azazel stopped visiting him in his dreams. The collage came off the back wall of his closet, and Scott finally found that he could breathe again. It certainly wasn't perfect, but it was good enough.

Ava fingered the ring on her left hand as she waited for Karena to open the door to her apartment. "Hey," Karena said brightly. "I wasn't expecting you."

"I know," Ava said. "Christo."

Karena hissed, eyes turning black as she flinched away. "I thought so," Ava said, pulling out a flask of holy water. "Sam, Dean!"

Thirty minutes later, Karena was freed from possession and Sam and Dean were ready to hit the road. "I'm keeping in contact with the both of you," Ava told them firmly as she walked with them to their car. "Don't you dare try to cut me out."

"We won't," Sam said, smiling. Ava insisted on hugging both of them before they could leave.

"Where are you two going next?" she asked.

"Maryland," Sam answered, shoving his hands in his pockets as he leaned against the car. "We think we may be able to find out more about Azazel's plans there, maybe even learn what his end game is."

"Wow," Ava said. "I hope you find out, cause I sure wanna know what's going on. I really don't wanna have more visions of death, you know?"

"Yeah," Sam said. "I know."

Ava bit her lip as Dean opened the driver's side door. "What if I do have another vision?" she asked.

"Call me," Sam answered at once. "You take care of yourself, okay?"

Ava nodded and smiled. "You, too."

She watched as Sam and Dean slid into their car, watched as they drove away, turned the corner and sped out of sight. Sighing, she turned back to see that Karena was leaning against the open doorway of her apartment and headed back over to her. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah," Karena said softly. "Well, not really, but I think I can cope with it." She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind one ear. "I found something the demon left behind," she said after a moment, holding out an envelope with Ava's name written on the front. "It's my handwriting, but I don't remember writing it."

With a frown, Ava took the letter and opened it.

Ava,

If you're reading this, then I was exorcized and sent back to Hell, setting your dear friend free from my demonic clutches. Or whatever. Anyway, the reason I'm writing this is because there are some things you need to know.

I'm going to assume you know who Sam and Dean Winchester are, that you got caught up in some crazy adventure with them. They're the only ones who could possibly find out about me and send me back to Hell. Their father, John found a way to track Azazel (you should know who he is by now, too) and was doing research to try and find all the other special children like yourself and Sam. If us demons know anything about Sam Winchester, it's that he's a research nut and he's probably trying to find the other special children, the ones who, like you, did not lose their mother's in a house fire at the age of six months.

Sam should already have a list of the right locations. What he doesn't have is the key to identifying the other special children. Azazel doesn't want him to find the others. I do.

One thing the Winchester's don't know is that Azazel had to find a way to gain permission to enter each house, and he did this by making Deals. He would perform medical miracles, and all the humans he made the Deals with had to do was grant him permission to come by sometime in the year 1983. The Deals were made, the miracles performed, and the humans would eventually mate, have their babies and create their families. Then every mother would end up giving birth in the year 1983 between the months of May and June, and he'd come to collect exactly six months later.

The key consists of two facts: it was always the mother's who made the Deals, saving their future husbands from certain death, and every child was born exactly one month premature. Not even Sam knows about this last part.

I bet you're wondering why I'm telling you all this. After all, Azazel's my boss and I'm supposed to do what he says, right? Well, here's the thing. Sam is Azazel's favorite, though I can't say what that means, exactly, because I just don't know. But if you know Sam, then you know that he is consistently working toward averting Azazel's plans by getting you all on his side, against the idea of becoming a soldier in a demon's army. Azazel doesn't want this. I don't think it'll make a difference either way. You don't understand what that means right now, but I guarantee that someday you will. And you'll say that I was right.

Take care, and be sure to pass along the information I've given you to Sam.

Karena

Sam read over the email Ava had sent him. "Dean," he said after a long moment, "was I born premature?"

"Huh?" Dean looked up from cleaning the guns. "Oh uh…" Sam felt Dean's emotions shift as he tried to remember. "Yeah," he finally said. "You were. I remember Dad took me to see you in the hospital, but he said I could only look through a window at you because you were born early and could get sick too easily." He met Sam's eyes. "You didn't get to come home with us until the end of the month." Then he frowned. "Why you askin', Sammy?"

"Well uh…" Sam huffed a small laugh and gestured at his computer screen. "I got an email from Ava. You know that demon we exorcized this morning?" Dean nodded. "Apparently it left a letter behind that gives the key to finding all the other special children. And, weirder than that, it really does seem to check out completely." He watched as Dean stood and came over to read the letter himself.

"So you were all born in the months of May and June," he said after a moment, "and you were all born one month early."

"I know it sounds crazy," Sam said, looking back at the computer screen, "but Ava called Scott and talked to her parents, and it already seems to check out. Scott's dad was completely cured of cancer in 1973, and Ava's dad managed to recover from what should have been a deadly car crash the same year. They were also born one month early, Ava on May 23, and Scott on June 1."

Dean rubbed the back of his neck as he stared down at Sam's laptop. "And then we know Mom made a Deal for Dad's life," he added quietly, and Sam nodded. "I can't believe a demon would willingly tell you all this."

"I know," Sam said, staring at the reason the demon had given. "Still, it sounds like the kind of thing a demon would say, that it won't change anything."

"It'd better change things," Dean said, placing a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Anyway, we should start heading towards Maryland in a couple days, so I'm gonna head to the bar and hustle some pool for toll booth and gas money."

"Okay," Sam said, watching as Dean put the guns away and pulled on his jacket. "Have fun."

"Get some sleep," Dean replied in turn before the door closed behind him. Sam smiled softly before turning back to his laptop. He had a lot of research to do.

"Well?" he asked as soon as she entered the room.

"He resisted," she said after a moment, "and the Humphrey's still live." She remained standing, shifting her weight uncomfortably.

"Still live," he echoed slowly. "Why didn't you finish the job?"

"Dean Winchester captured me with unexpected help in the form of the child Ava Wilson."

That was unexpected. "Ava showed up?" he said. "I thought her visions hadn't become any more distinct than strange nightmares."

"Well, apparently they have, because she was there and she knew about demonic possession. I believe they already sent Hillary back into the Pit, and Karena will soon follow, if she hasn't already." They stared at each other for a long moment.

"… I'm very disappointed in you, Tara," he said. "I guess this task was just too much for you."

"It wasn't!" Tara exclaimed. "I simply failed to plan for the unexpected. It never occurred to me that Ava's nightmares would become true, distinct visions after so long of them not being that way."

"It is the simplest of mistakes that can make an entire nation fall, Tara. Surely you remember that from when you were once human."

"I do remember," Tara said, lowering her head and allowing her dark hair to obscure her face.

"Then make sure that this never happens again," he told her, "or I'll send you back into the Pit myself."

"Of course. Thank you."

Azazel watched as Tara left and leaned back in his desk chair. He was never fond of laying low and letting others do his work, but not all the pieces were in their proper places yet on his playing board. For one, he still didn't have a way to get Dean downstairs, and it was becoming increasingly crucial that he did; word from below was that John still wasn't breaking. Of course, it had only been about ten years down there, and John was a strong-spirited man. He still couldn't help but feel that John would continue to resist, would never give in.

What a shame.

There were also tests that needed to be performed with Sam as the test subject. Could the boy sense demons who were hiding inside their hosts as easily as he could a demon who was in control? And what about the virus he was told to perfect? They needed to know if it would affect just the normal human population as targeted, or if it would take down the special children, as well. It was going to be a key part to the end game, and the sooner they had answers, the sooner they'd know if it was going to be usable or not. Hopefully it would work correctly, because if Sam wasn't immune, then none of the others would be. And he needed them all to be, needed Sam to be.

Azazel propped his feet up on his desk as he thought. He had demons stationed in people close to every special child, including that Jake kid out in Afghanistan. The question now was which one Sam and Dean would find next. There were so many of them out there. In any case, Sam's next test needed to be set up just as soon as he had word of the boys' current location. So much to do, and so little time to do it in…

Azazel grinned. He did love a challenge.

END