A/N Hey guys, sorry about the wait. I really hope this chapter is worth it, so yeahJ hope you like it.
Chapter 5-
For a minute I couldn't even move. Subconsciously I heard James saying my name frantically, asking me what was wrong, but I couldn't answer. His voice over the phone, the hurt and terror emanating in my skull, the demon's cold laugh, all of it froze me with shock and panic and I didn't know what to do.
"James, we have to get there, now. No stopping, we just have to get there as fast as we can," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. James looked shocked and worried.
"Allison, you need to tell me, what the hell just happened."
"Alex, he was on the phone, and he was asking for help, then the demon was talking. I think it's torturing him, James. We just have to get there now," I told him. James sat silently for a moment, processing what I told him.
"Okay. I'll try, but you know we're gonna have to stop at some point, we need sleep!" James insisted, but I wasn't having it.
"Dammit, James, for all we know Alex is being tortured right. Now. If you need sleep then I'll drive but we are not stopping!" I sounded more upset than I've ever sounded in my life, which sure was saying something. I guess James could hear how distraught I was because he just sighed and agreed.
"Fine. You can take over the wheel in a few hours, for now just try and get some sleep. And Ally…" I looked over at my brother, eyes wide. James sighed and glanced over at me from the corner of his eye. "It'll be okay. Now get some sleep, kid."
I blinked and nodded, laying back in my seat and closing my eyes, but I couldn't seem to shut down my brain. All I could think about was Alex; try not to imagine the horrible things the demon could be doing to him. How all of this was my fault. I opened my eyes and stared out the window at the scenery streaking past. Under different circumstances, I might have thought the place we were in was pretty. But I had other things on my mind.
How does everything always manage to get so incredibly screwed up? I asked myself, fighting against the tears that were threatening to spill over. A yawn interrupted my thoughts and I knew I needed to get some sleep. I closed my eyes and finally succumbed to my fatigue.
"Ally, wake up." I jolted up in my seat. The car wasn't moving, parked on the side of a road. James sat in the driver's seat, an expression of absolute exhaustion on his face, complete with dark circles under his eyes. A glance at the dashboard told me it was three a.m.
"I need some sleep," James told me. I took a deep breath and nodded, still a bit groggy. We switched seats quickly and James told me we were in Arizona, just a few mere hours away from California. James fell asleep almost as soon as I was back on the highway, so the entire drive was silent save the faint music coming from the radio. Finally, I saw the big sign on the side of the road: Welcome to California.
I stopped at a small store a few miles into Inyo. Leaving James asleep in the passenger's seat I walk inside, hoping to find a newspaper. Thankfully there was one, and I bought it and hurried back out to the car, scanning the articles.
Come on, come on! Please have some sort of sign, I thought desperately. I knew that the demon wanted to be found, why else would it kidnap Alex instead of killing him, or call, or even leave the bloody message on my wall? So I knew there had to be some sort of sign letting me know where to find them.
"Bingo," I muttered. Electrical storms for the past week in San Diego, in the middle of the summer. It wasn't a whole lot but it was something. And that's all I needed.
I pulled out of the parking lot and drove back onto the highway. It would take about 5 hours to get there at 70 mph, and I barely went under that. All I could focus on was kicking the ass of whatever demonic son of a bitch that ever hurt my Alex.
James woke up about 100 miles away from San Diego.
"We there yet?" he mumbled groggily. I shook my head.
"Almost, we're about an hour away from San Diego," I told him. He looked at me in confusement.
"San Diego? Why're we going to San Diego?" he asked. I nodded to the newspaper, which he read.
"I dunno, Ally. S'not much to go on," he said skeptically.
"Come on, electrical storms in San Diego? In the middle of the summer? That sounds pretty out of the ordinary to me. And anyways, it's all we got so I'm going on it," I insisted. James shrugged but didn't argue anymore.
The hour felt like almost nothing. Like the newspaper said, it was stormy and I could hear thunder off in the distance.
"Okay, we're here. Now what? Allison, we don't even know if this is where the demon is," James complained. I frowned.
"God, James, what is with you? We've gone on less than this before," I said. James scowled at me.
He's not acting like himself… I thought, and then I realized. My hand immediately went to my belt, but the knife wasn't there. James' eyes flicked to black and he grinned, holding up my demon killing knife.
"Looking for this?" He asked, and then hit me on the head with the handle, knocking me out cold.
When I woke up I was tied to a chair in a strange room and my head was throbbing. The demon possessing my brother leaned against a wall, staring at me with its cold black eyes. I glared at it with as much contempt as I could muster.
"Did you have a nice sleep, Ally?" It drawled, my brother's voice unnaturally cold.
"Let my brother go, you son of a bitch," I growled, but it just laughed.
"Well that's no way to ask for something; didn't your daddy ever teach you manners?" it grinned at me, and I noticed it was fingering the blade of my knife.
"How long were you in him? The whole time?" I asked, cursing myself for not realizing sooner. The demon shook my brother's head.
"I jumped him back in Faulkner. After you ganked that poor little ghosty?" It sneered at me, the expression looking plain wrong on James' features. "Can't believe you never noticed a thing." It started towards me. I saw its neck twitch and I almost smiled.
James must be fighting tooth and nail in there. I just needed to keep the demon occupied for a bit until he gets back control. If anyone could, it was James.
"So," I began, thinking fast, "R'you in league with the demon that took Alex then?" The demon rolled his shoulders back, looking uncomfortable.
"I guess you could say that. That Alex kid, god is he annoying. Frankly, I'm surprised we didn't just kill him to begin with. Would've made this a hell of a lot easier," it muttered.
"So he's still alive?" I ask hopefully. The demon snorts.
"S'not like it matters, now does it? I'd be more worried about yourself if I were you," it grinned, playing with the knife again.
"Y'know, you have your father's eyes. He used to glare at me like that all the time," it laughed, throwing my brother's head back. I creased my eyebrows.
"You know my dad?" I asked, to which the demon rolled its eyes.
"I just said that," it muttered, then it spoke again, only louder. "Has your dear old daddy ever told you about his time downstairs? I really got to spend some quality time with him. Of course, that was so long ago."
What is it talking about? I asked myself, confused. Downstairs? Slowly, it dawned on me, and my eyes widened.
"My dad's… been to hell?" I asked incredulously. The demon grinned widely.
"Oh, so he hasn't told you?" it laughed at my expression. "Well your daddy spent a nice long time in the down under. In fact, he even had a bit of fun himself down there; he was Alistair's star student! I can't believe you never heard about this."
"You're lying," I muttered, refusing to believe it.
"I'm sorry, sweetie, but I'm not. The Dean Winchester you loved and looked up to was a cold blooded torturer-"
"Shut up!" I shouted, closing my eyes. "Demons lie, and that's all you are. A sick, twisted, ugly monster. Now get out of my brother, you evil son of a bitch," I growled with as much hate in my voice as I could muster. The demon narrowed its black eyes angrily at me, advancing towards me. It brandished the knife, fury contorting my brother's handsome features in a way that honestly chilled me to the bone. And suddenly, it stopped cold, still holding up the knife. Its eyes flicked back to my brother's warm brown.
"James?" I gasped, and he nodded. Suddenly, he stuck out his wrist, where a strange symbol was burned. James cut it with the knife.
"What're you-?!" I began, but my words were cut off as black smoke poured out of my brother's mouth. When it was all gone, he rushed forward and cut away my bindings.
"What the hell was that about?" I asked, standing up.
"Binding symbol," James explained wearily. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eye seriously. "I know where Alex is."