Chapter 17

The door of the motel room opened and Castiel let himself back into the room carrying a bag of food and drinks. He found Sam still sitting at the table with papers spread out around him and a map in front of him. He was looking for possible locations for the vampires' nest.

"I have food Sam, you should eat something," Castiel spoke to him in a concerned voice.

"Maybe later," Sam mumbled not looking up from his work. He barely acknowledged that Castiel was in the room and still wasn't happy he was tagging along on his hunts.

"You need the nourishment if we're going after a nest of vampires."

Sam looked up at Castiel as he moved some papers to sit the bag beside Sam. He took a seat at the table and pulled out wrapped sandwiches for them. Castiel gave Sam a drink and took one for himself. Sam's mouth watered with the smell of the food and finally put aside the maps and papers to eat. He sipped on his drink as he ate the sandwich, not really tasting the food.

"I think I have a couple of places that the vampires might be hiding at. Think you can check them out?"

"Of course," Castiel replied happy Sam was letting him be more involved in the hunts. He was stubborn at first, wanting to do everything himself at first but saw Castiel could be helpful. He stood and disappeared to check the locations and do a quick sweep of the town also.

"Moose, you're not looking so good," Crowley said when he appeared in the middle of the room.

Sam didn't even flinch, just stared at him with despondent eyes like the King of Hell visiting him was an everyday occurrence.

"What do you want Crowley?" Sam asked in a dull voice. "I'm busy."

"I thought you might want to know that I found a certain little book…." Crowley teased letting his voice trail off.

Sam stood up so fast his chair tipped over with a crash. He was in the demon's face before you could blink and towered over him desperate to get the book and finally save his brother.

"Where is it?" Sam demanded feeling his hope building again.

"Easy there, Moose," Crowley replied taking a step back as he wrinkled his nose from the body odor wafting off Sam. "You know you should really attend to a few more hygiene issues."

"What's he doing here?" Castiel demanded when he saw the demon in the room as he appeared behind Sam. He let his angel blade drop into his hand and stepped toward Crowley.

"He was bringing me a book," Sam stated holding out his hand impatiently. "Did you find the vampires?"

"Yes, but we will need to call in help, there are a dozen hold up in an old barn on the outskirts of town."

"We can handle that," Sam told him not wanting to leave the vampires to kill again and then a thought occurred to him as he looked back at Crowley with arched eyebrows. "Especially if we had a little demonic help." He eyed Crowley as he took the book from him.

"What? You have a vampire problem? You know I don't get my hands dirty with menial tasks," Crowley complained in disgust.

"Oh, I think you can make an exception. You get to kill something, and it might be fun. It'll give you something, different to do."

"He won't help us, Sam," Castiel sneered. "He's too much of a coward."

"Who are you calling a coward?" Crowley questioned as his eyes flashed red. "Shall we go kill some vermin?"

"Let me get my weapons," Sam told them. He went to his bag and stored the spell book to check out later before looking in the weapon's bag for a machete, gun, and extra knife. "Okay Cas, take us there? Let's get this done."

Castiel placed a hand on Sam's shoulder and transported them to the woods beside the abandoned barn. He frowned in disgust as Crowley appeared beside them.

"What are you waiting for?" Crowley asked. "I have other things that need my attention."

"I'll go in the side, Cas, you go in the front. Crowley do whatever, just don't let any escape," Sam ordered. He pulled his machete out and made his way to the side door and snuck inside. The interior was draped in shadows and there was movement toward the middle of the large room.

"Who the hell are you?" the leader of the vampires asked when Castiel blew open the double doors of the barn and stepped inside.

Sam moved in and with one wide swing took off the nearest vampire's head. Before he could attack again, a vampire took him down hard, knocking the air from his lungs. He threw up a hand to hold the fangs away from his throat but felt weak and exhausted as his arm began to give way. Suddenly, the weight of the vampire was gone, and Sam looked up to see Crowley holding the vampire by the throat for a moment before ripping the head off and tossing the body aside.

"You should be more careful Moose," Crowley noted dusting his hands off and snapping his fingers to destroy another female vampire, burning her to ashes.

Sam got to his feet and threw himself into the fray wanting to get this over with and release some of his pent-up anger. He hacked, sliced, and stabbed in such a fury that he didn't know when all the vampires were dead and kept stabbing the last one repeatedly.

"Sam, it's over," Castiel insisted, grabbing his arm and stopping him from continuing the attack. "They're dead."

"Well, it was fun boys," Crowley said. "It did get the blood going, but I have better things to do." He snapped his fingers and disappeared leaving Sam and Castiel alone in the barn with the dead vampires scattered around them.

Sam was heaving each breath as he fought to get control. He was spattered with blood and wiped an arm across his face only smearing it and making him look even more sinister. He wavered slightly and felt lightheaded but knew they needed to get rid of the bodies.

"We need to burn the barn," Sam told Castiel.

"I can do that. Why don't you go outside and wait on me." Castiel did not like what he had seen and was going to get Sam to go to Bobby's even if he had to knock him out. This wasn't healthy and Sam was not getting better.

Sam stood back and took some deep breaths as he let the adrenaline high wear off. He shook his body to stop the trembling from getting worse. This was not like him losing control like this and it scared him. Sam looked at the double barn doors as Castiel walked out, his body framed by the growing flames of the fire behind him. It was strange or his eyes were playing tricks on him, but it looked like the fire was only in one place and not devouring the entire structure.

"It is done," Castiel stated.

"Let's go back to the motel room and pack up," Sam told him.

"What do you have planned? Are we going on another hunt?"

"No, we're heading for Bobby's. You were right, I should take a few days down time," Sam told him glancing away so Castiel couldn't see he was lying. He wanted to go to Bobby's so he could research the spell book and see if there was anything that would help him get to Dean.

Castiel put a hand on Sam's shoulder and returned them to the motel room. He sensed Sam wasn't telling him everything but didn't press him. Sam stored the weapons back in the bag and went to the bathroom to wash the blood from his face and hands. He grabbed a halfway clean shirt and changed before stuffing his clothes into his duffle. He gathered the papers from the table and crammed them along with his laptop into his computer bag and slung it over his shoulder. After giving the room one last glance, Sam headed out the door with Castiel following along behind him.

"I'll drive," he told the angel as he stored his bags in the trunk.

Castiel didn't say anything knowing it would do no good. He had learned Sam's moods the past couple of months and knew when not to press him. They were about three hours from Sioux Falls, so he thought Sam would be safe to drive. When they got there, Castiel planned on talking privately to Bobby to voice his concerns and get his feedback regarding Sam.

Sam settled among the traffic on the highway and got comfortable as they sped toward Sioux Falls. His mind was spinning as he gripped the steering wheel too tightly. With the book, it gave him hope he could find a spell or ritual that would allow him to get to Dean. His hope had been renewed with this new information. He just prayed it wouldn't be crushed again.

A/N: Sam had the spell book, but will it help him? How far is he willing to go? Thanks for coming on this journey with me. I hope I have been able to entertain you. Mary Leal, I would never leave a story unfinished. I respect my readers too much to do that. Reviews/Comments would be great. NC