Flicking through the worn pages of the old journal, Sam found the torn paper that had been hastily glued in place years ago. For a moment he was lost in the sudden unexpected yet familiar pain of losing their father and his vision misted. He stared unseeing at the scribbled handwriting and traced his fingers over the text.
"Ready?"
Glancing up suddenly, Sam saw his brother unscrewing the cap from a small silver hip flask. Dean's hands were shaking and Sam could understand how he was feeling. He glanced across at the bound form of the small child and shook his head sadly.
"I think she's right." Dean offered quietly.
"But …" Sam closed his eyes, "Dean, we've seen grown men who didn't survive an exorcism. What if - ?"
"Not gonna happen, Sammy." Dean stepped closer to his brother and smiled thinly.
"How do we know that?"
"Oh, come on." Dean laughed, "Our luck's got to change at some point, bro'!"
Sam groaned skeptically.
"Come on." Dean nodded towards the journal. "Let's get this done."
Nodding slightly, Sam stood and crossed the short distance to stand beside the opposite bed. He took a deep breath and began the incantation from memory, glancing down at the page for the occasional prompt.
Dean watched Morgan stirring and held his breath as her eyes blinked open. Despite seeing it a hundred times before, the deep dark nothing of her black eyes made his heart slam against his chest. Somehow it was so much worse amid the small features of a child.
"Mommy?" Morgan husked wearily, peering around the room. Her eyes fell on Dean and she gasped in fright. "Mommy!"
"Be quiet." Dean ordered. It came out as more of a plea than he had intended and he saw Morgan had sensed his hesitation.
"Mommy! He's hurting me!" Morgan wailed, suddenly smiling. "Mommy, please! Don't let him hurt me! Mommy!"
"Hush!" Dean pleaded, his pulse racing as he neared the bed. "You don't have to do this. We're trying to help you."
"You're trying to kill me." Came a sudden calm reply, far older than the voice of the child should have been. "But He will stop you."
Dean glanced back at Sam and frowned in concern. "Why have you stopped? Get this over with already!"
Sam sighed in dismay and his lips trembled as he continued with the recital.
"Mommy! Mommy help!"
"Don't!" Dean sat beside Morgan and placed his hand over her mouth, his stomach lurching as she screamed into his palm. The child writhed around the bed and her body twisted unnaturally. Closing his eyes and turning his head away, he listened to his brother concluding the incantation and quickly moved back.
Morgan was still for a moment. Her eyes closed and her breathing shallow, she seemed unaffected by the words and the brothers glanced at one another in confusion. And then she screamed. The sound filled the room and pierced their ears. Both men held their heads in pain and grimaced as the sound continued.
The partition door opened and Lena hurried into the room, covering her mouth in shock. She fell to her knees and looked on in horror as her daughters body was jerked by powerful spasms.
Sam hurried over to Lena and crouched beside her. He pulled her face into his neck and held her close, keeping her eyes from the sight. Glancing back, he saw the familiar black smoke begin to pour from Morgans wide open mouth.
The plume of smoke filed up into the trap drawn on the ceiling and was gone. Morgan fell limply back against the bed and was deathly pale. Dean hurried over to her and untied the ropes which bound her, his hands shaking as he unravelled her lifeless form.
Relaxing his hold on Lena, Sam moved back from her a little and they both looked up towards her daughter.
"Baby?" Lena got to her feet and stumbled across to the bed, watching in dread as Dean leaned his face close to Morgan's mouth.
"She's breathing." Dean announced in delight, sighing in unison with his companions.
"Morgan?" Lena sat down on the bed and gathered her daughter into her arms. "Come on, baby. Wake up." She sobbed, rocking Morgan gently. "Please be okay."
Dean backed away from the bed and stood next to his brother. "I hope we did the right thing, Sammy …"
"So do I." Sam agreed quietly. "Cos if they weren't here already, that noise is sure to have attracted some unwanted attention."
"A demonic homing signal, huh? Groovy."
"I'll call Bobby again. See where he's at."
Dean nodded in agreement and continued to watch Lena crying softly into her daughters hair. His throat tightened and he suddenly recalled clutching his brother to him in just the same way. It still seemed like only yesterday and - despite having brought him back - the pain of losing Sam was still so raw. That his brother might be clinging to his lifeless form in a few months time was a notion that he simply could not face and he quickly shook the thoughts from his mind.
"Morgan? Baby?" Lena sighed in relief and leaned back a little, hearing the soft moan of response as her daughter blinked her eyes open.
His shoulders dropping with the shedding of some of his tension, Dean hurried closer to Lena and smiled as Morgan came to.
"Hey, baby." Lena soothed, kissing Morgan's forehead. "How you feeling?"
Morgan seemed dazed and looked around her in uncertainty. Her eyes then rested on Dean and she whimpered in fear as she shied away and buried her face into her mother's jumper.
Dean's heart sank. Somehow he had hoped that the child would have no memory of what had happened. Bile gathered in his throat and he turned away.
"It's okay, baby." Lena soothed, hugging her daughter close to her and watching in dismay as Dean turned from them, seeing the pain in his face that he was too late to hide.
Sam concluded his conversation and closed his phone, smiling in relief. "Ten minutes." He announced merrily. "Bobby's almost here."
"Thank god." Dean sighed.
Catching the sorrow behind Dean's small smile, Sam frowned and looked over at Lena. "Hey." he began, stepping closer to his brother. "You had no choice, man."
"No?" Dean snapped back, suddenly vulnerable.
"No." Sam urged, reaching out towards him.
Dean flinched away and headed for the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.
"Will he be okay?"
Sam looked across at Lena and forced a smile to his lips. "Yeah. He'll be fine." He swallowed back the lump in his throat and grabbed the pink bag that had been dumped by the motel door. Carrying the small rucksack across to Lena, he perched beside her and reached into the bag.
Lena smiled warmly and gave her daughter a gentle squeeze. "Hey. Look who Sam found."
Morgan pulled her face from the folds of her mothers jumper and turned slowly. She smiled in delight and reached out a small hand for the cloth rabbit Sam pulled from the bag. "Mr Pickles!"
Sam passed the teddy to Morgan and smiled as she clutched him to her tightly and gave him a small nod.
"Say thank you." Lena whispered.
"Thank you." Morgan offered quietly.
"You're welcome." Sam smiled, meeting Lena's tear-filled eyes and seeing her also mouth a quiet 'thank you'. He nodded and stood from the bed.
Noise beyond the door then caught Sam's attention and he hurried to the window. Peering out into the still night, he watched a large 4x4 climb carefully up the slope into the car park, the bright headlight beams washing across the snow.
"Who is it?"
"A grey Land Rover." Sam answered, peering out at the approaching vehicle. "Wyoming plates."
"Jerry." Lena sighed.
The large vehicle rolled across the fresh snow and pulled up outside the motel reception. Sam watched as the driver climbed out and head inside the far corner of the building.
"What's wrong?"
Shaking his head, Sam glanced back at Lena. "He's gone into the reception."
"What? Why?" Gathering Morgan tightly against her, Lena stood quickly and crossed to the window. "We have to stop him! Sam! They'll get to him!"
Sam turned back into the room and sighed wearily. "If they haven't already."
ooooo
The water had been running for a few minutes now. Staring into the basin, he watched the small whirlpool hovering over the plug hole. His arms locked straight on the edge of the white porcelain, he sighed and let his head hang a little heavier.
Witnessing the torment that demonic forces left in their wake always took its toll. But seeing a child in pain had been too much. His mind reeling with memories and worries, Dean closed his eyes and tried to will the images from his thoughts.
Adjusting his stance and reaching down to cup his hand under the flowing water, Dean splashed his face with the icy liquid and gasped as it stung his weary face. He was so tired. And it would take more than a good nights rest to come close to giving him some peace. In fact, if current events continued for much longer, he wondered how much of a soul would be left when his year was up.
Shouts from beyond the closed bathroom door caught his attention and sprung him back to instant alert. Quickly patting his face dry with a thin towel, he turned and yanked the door open.
Sam was standing in front of the motel door, blocking Lena's exit and urging her to stay inside. Dean stepped into the room and called for calm, pleased with the immediate effect his stern tone achieved.
"But Jerry is out there!" Lena argued, spinning to face Dean. Angry tears marked lines down her flushed face and her tired eyes sparkled with panicked fury.
Dean looked past her and saw his brother give an exasperated sigh.
"We need to stay here." Sam urged, looking to Dean for back-up.
"No!" Lena spat back at him. "We can't just sit here. We have to dosomething! I saw what happens!"
"She's right." Dean offered quietly.
"What?" Sam looked betrayed and his shoulders hung heavily as he shook his head in disbelief.
Dean shrugged, "We have the upper hand here." He moved his focus to Lena and smiled thinly. "Preemptive strike. I agree."
"Dean. No." Sam continued, "We've already changed things. Let's wait it out."
Striding across to the window, Dean pulled the edge of the curtain back a little and peered outside. "That Jerry's 4x4?"
"Yeah." Lena affirmed.
"Dean." Sam cautioned.
Dean turned back and his gave his brother a nod of acknowledgment before then looking to Lena and his frown fading a little. "You think he'll mind if you borrow it?"
"Dean!" Sam protested, "We can't - "
"Yeah, we can, Sammy." Dean countered calmly. He looked down at the frightened child clinging to Lena's leg and smiled warmly. "We need to get these guys clear away from here. And now."
- tbc -