Cas coughed faintly, a dribble of red oozing from the corner of his mouth. When the angel didn't open his eyes, Sam's brow furrowed deeply. "Castiel. Hold on!" The situation looked pretty dire to the younger man. He ripped off a strip of his shirt and used the material to mop up the angel's blood. From the front seat Dean cursed heatedly. "What the hell? Hang on!" Sam knew that Dean meant for him to do the hanging. The hunter grabbed hold of Cas with one hand and braced himself against the roof of the car with the other. Rubber screeched in complaint as the car swerved so sharply that it nearly rose up onto its two right side tires. Dean's hands clenched tightly to the wheel as he steered it expertly out of the dangerous turn. The back end fish-tailed for several seconds before launching forward once more. In the rear view Dean caught a glimpse of what had caused him to take such evasive action. The creature stood in the shadows glaring after them, its hulking shoulders rising and falling with each savagely taken breath.
"We need to get back to the room," Dean said. Sam nodded quietly as he turned to look out the back window. "We'd better lose Paul Bunyon first," the younger brother replied. The elder hunter didn't need to be told twice, so he mashed his foot down on the accelerator and began to put some space between them and their adversary. Castiel moaned painfully as another rivulet of blood burbled forth. Sam placed a large hand against his friend's chest, covering the wound that was causing so much trouble. With his other hand he wiped Cas' mouth with the makeshift rag. It infuriated him that they had walked so blindly into Dregan's trap. As Dean drove like a maniac through the deserted streets, Sam went over everything that had come to pass in his mind as he sought for some explanation on what had happened. From the moment they had arrived at the deserted warehouse, the younger hunter had felt as if something was terribly wrong. He had tried to warn Dean and Cas, but they had assured him that the only way to find the demon they hunted was to revisit the last place they'd seen him.
The open space of the warehouse had done little to banish the reek of the sulfur that always remained behind as a result of demonic possession. On top of that smell, the coppery tang of blood could still be made out. All three men had blanched because they knew the blood had come from Arianna. Congealed puddles of the red fluid were scattered all around the center room. Cas ground his teeth together in anger, picturing the wounds that were the results of such carnage. The three of them had spread out to look for clues on where their quarry might have fled. That was when Dean found the makeshift totem. He alerted the other two, who quickly came to investigate. It was at that point that a loud, crashing noise came from the far end of the warehouse. The angel had stepped up before the brothers, his penetrating blue gaze staring off toward the trouble heading their way. Sam remembered feeling the hair on his arms raise when Cas's voice spoke two little words. "Not good."
The creature had come at them with fists blazing. It literally looked like a behemoth of a man made out of molten lava. The three of them scattered as the thing attacked. The following battle was something of a blur to Sam. He remembered Dean shooting the thing full of buckshot. When that hadn't even phased the monster, Sam had done the only thing he could think of and stabbed the creature between the shoulder blades with the demon-killing knife. He'd never felt so much pain in his entire life as he had the moment the steel connected. It had felt like his arm had burned off clear to the shoulder, which in turn had caused him to release the dagger's hilt. Even now, as they fled, the weapon still protruded from the thing's back. Sam barely remembered waking up on the cold stone floor and watching as Castiel slammed both fists into the center of the hulking beast's chest. The utter look of surprise on the angel's face had made the younger brother clamber to his knees, but not in time to stop the monster from reciprocating Cas' attack. One fiery fist slammed full force into the heavenly servant's chest, narrowly missing his heart. A spray of blood flew from Castiel's mouth before he slumped forward.
What happened next, Sam wasn't exactly sure. He knew that Dean had come forward and helped him up and he recalled that his brother had thrown an entire flask of holy water over the protruding arm of the magma man in desperation. The creature had screamed in fury as it pulled away, giving the two hunters enough time to gather Cas up and high tail it out of the warehouse. Now they were running for their lives.
Dean looked into the mirror, his green eyes catching Sam's briefly. The two of them shared a moment of concern. The younger brother looked down to Castiel and sighed in silent frustration. At least the blood had stopped oozing from the corner of his friend's mouth. Sam wasn't sure how quickly angels healed, but he hoped that it was fast. "We're gonna need help, Dean." The elder hunter didn't answer, but he knew that Sam was right. They couldn't just leave that creature to roam the city streets and with Cas injured they were seriously out of their league. It was time to call in a favor.