Welcome to Third Time's The Charm, my Purgatory/Benny Lafitte fanfic! There is a sad lack of Benny and Purgatory related fics around here, so I decided to pitch in. Be the change you want and all that jazz. Not going to make any promises about update speeds, but I do know the story I want to tell in a nutshell so there's that. Enjoy!
Benny
Sam Winchester and the tear in Purgatory that lead to Earth disappeared in a wink, no sign of either having ever been there. Of course, Benny was more concerned with the two remaining vampires attempting to shred his guts out just then. Tumbling down with his blade in hand, Benny kicked up his legs as the woman in a bloody and tattered white dress fell on him, tossing her overhead to land in a snarling heap.
Staggering to his feet and ramming the slender man in a black suit back bodily with his shoulder, Benny's fangs dropped as he grinned and gripped his blade hard, "It's good to be back, boys 'n girls." The struggle was brief and intense, his enemies didn't have any weapons beyond their teeth and natural vampire given strength and speed, at the end there was three headless bodies and Benny staggering off into the dark to gain his bearings. He had a plan; The Old Man, his nestmates and former lover were out there somewhere and Benny's retribution would be just as swift in this world as the last.
At least the area was familiar, Benny reasoned, he knew the area around the portal to Earth well enough. Although there was a darkness creeping at the edges of his vision, suggesting a night would be coming soon. Everything was bloodier during the nights.
26 years later...
Rois
Tap, tap, tap. Metal hitting metal was a familiar cadence coming to an end, finally. Letting out a tired huff, Rois stood up from the last tent peg she had grounded with the head of her small camping hatchet and smiled. Mary and Lisa, steadfast friends from her school days, were each at a tent of their own and working on getting them standing to varying degrees of success.
"Coming along good, just make sure you fit the poles through each loop so they hold up the tent properly, easy peasy." Rois remarked, standing next to Lisa's much more slight and short form as she clumsily pressed the assembled tent pole through each loop as instructed.
"It feels like we've spent all day doing this, we're not even going to get to hang out before it's time to go to bed!" Mary's high voice chimed in. She was already well ahead of Lisa, having had some previous experience with camping, and her tent was standing up as she spoke.
"We're here for a few days Mary, no rush- that is the point!" Rois smiled, ever the relaxed one, and helped Lisa finish up her own tent with minimal fuss.
A camping trip in the woods a few miles out from her country home was Rois' idea, and so far it was pretty fun. They had spent the better part of the day talking while hiking on foot to the place Rois scouted out in the previous weeks, despite Mary's grumblings otherwise. None of the women wanted to camp out in a place none of them were familiar with and Rois had been the one to come up with a solution. Rois knew the woods for miles around, was very comfortable with their surroundings and their cellphones had reception if there was an emergency at hand. Lisa was moving away at the end of the year and they all agreed it was high time to spend more time together before their trio became a duo.
After their tents were arranged and an area cleared for a modest fire, Lisa crossed her arms and looked at her two friends through her thin black wire frame glasses and smiled, "Glad I came, it's so nice to not have all the rug rats around sometimes!" Lisa had two very energetic 5 year old twins who were being babysat for the weekend.
"I hear ya." Mary chimed happily."Lets go get some wood for the fire and start up this vacation?"
"Sounds good." Rois looked up and around, judging. "Not much sun left though, so lets make it quick. Don't go too far!"
Each woman chose her direction and wandered off, picking up deadfall along the way. Rois was right about how much sun was left though, by the time her and Lisa came back with as big an arm load as each could carry, it was dim and hard to see. Dropping off her sticks in a pile, Lisa huffed "Getting too old for this, you know? Probably the first and last time I'll be doing it! Have you seen Mary anywhere, by the way?" Lisa had a soft voice but she spoke very quickly, a tribute to her Newfoundland heritage that had not faded any by moving to Ontario when she was a kid.
"No, actually." Rois lips pursed into a thoughtful frown, taking a moment to absorb their surroundings again. "Now that you mention it, I haven't seen or heard anything. Very quiet." A needle of fear poked at her calm facade before she schooled her features, it would not do to spook Lisa for no reason. "I'll have a look, you stay here and get the fire going alright? Use small sticks and the lighter, make them into a teepee shape with some dry grass inside, that will do the trick. Got it?" Lisa nodded, clearly nervous but keeping a hold on it as she picked up the lighter and knelt down to set to her task quietly.
Meanwhile, Rois picked up her hatchet and took a moment to recall what direction Mary went. The woman was almost as tall as her own 5'8", had long curly brown hair and wore light colored clothing as advised, she would be easy to find. Tromping off, hatchet in hand, Rois stared intently at the ground and the footprints her friend mashed into the soft soil all while feeling uneasy over the lack of croaking, chirping and buzzing insects and birds. "Hey Mary, where are you?" She called, receiving only silence in answer. It was going to be impossible to find her if she went too far and night fell, Rois was not an owl after all. "I'm coming Mary." Rois muttered, moving with a sense of urgency that was increasing by the second.
Mary's trail was walking in a straight line away from camp so she couldn't get lost, and was picking up deadfall along the way too. But when Rois saw that she had started dropping and not collecting sticks, she looked up and around fearfully. "Mary! I'm coming, please say something!"
A fearful wail, dulled by distance, came from behind. Rois' eyes opened wide and she froze momentarily, sucking in a sharp, fearful breath. "Lisa! Lisa I'm coming!" In a moment Rois was barreling through the woods towards the camp, clenching her hatchet for dear life and hoping for all it was worth she wasn't too late.
In the center of their camp there was a soft white light casting a shadow over the shape of Rois' friend Lisa and illuminating the front of an unknown, rather tall, man. Stumbling to a halt and transfixed in terror, Rois watched haplessly as the silhouette of Lisa began to crumble away, the angular features of her attacker showing a wicked smile. Sucking in a breath and grasping her hatchet unsteadily, Rois trembled as Lisa fell in on herself, reduced to a pile of silent dust as the soft white light was absorbed into Lisa's attacker and darkness fell over their camp site.
"Lisa..." Rois whispered fearfully, straining to keep an eye on the stranger who remained standing in the clearing, unmoving.
"Gone." His voice was chilling, confident and cool, altogether unconcerned about the life, maybe lives, that he had just defiled. Like a shadow, he began to approach at a smooth and leisurely pace; Confident that Rois would not escape whatever fate he had planned for her, it seemed.
"What did you do to my friends? Who and what are you?" Gritting her teeth, Rois raised her hatchet in warning, spreading her feet further apart across the pine needle covered ground for better balance as she addressed him.
"Doesn't matter, you will join them shortly." He had stepped close, too close, and with a snap of movement Rois was gripped by the throat and lifted bodily. There was a crude feeling tingling through her skin as she looked the monster in his dark eyes, a surge of anger flooding through her limbs.
"No!" Rois' voice was choked but it was clear enough, as she shouted her hatchet came up and collided with the side of the man's head, a loud crack indicating a direct hit and bone being broken. All at once she was dropped and bolting into a terror infused run, legs pumping, lungs burning and skin stinging at the lash of small branches.
"Where do you think you are going?!" His angry voice sounded off, far too close for comfort, and another set of feet thundering through the woods was almost louder than the sound of blood pounding through Rois' ears. Rois had only hit him with the flat side of the hatchet, fearful of killing even thought he clearly just killed one of her friends, but there was bone broken and he should definitely not be running after her like this, not after that.
Lungs burning and legs stumbling, Rois almost careened over the edge of the cliffs she had been intending on showing Mary and Lisa the next day. Crashing to her knees, Rois heaved in a lungful of air and rested. There was no choice, her body demanded it even though her mind continued to scream flee. Thump. Thump. Thump. Footsteps leaving the treeline and tracking onto the hard packed earth closer to the cliff, right behind her. He was strolling leisurely again, mocking. Rois' will to fight was leaving her, whatever this monster was, it was going to win. Instead of looking back at him she looked out over the forest below and beyond, and the moon creeping along the sky lazily. It would have been a beautiful sight.
"Quite a sight." His voice was above her, apparently he had stopped to admire the view. Rois was still trying to catch her breath, but shakily stood up and renewed the death grip she had on the hatchet, muttering "Would have been better if I could have shared it with my friends, not a monster." Her voice choked and tears that had been streaming down her face as she ran through the woods came to her with renewed force.
"In a few moments, you'll be able to look at it with them. Don't worry." A large hand clasped her arm and spun her around to face him with a sharp jerk while his free hand grabbed, took and chucked away her hatchet smoothly. With the moonlight on his face Rois could make out his handsome features, a 5 o'clock shadow, short black hair and piercing eyes, maybe green like her own. He would have been an attractive man, if he wasn't a murderer.
"If there is a hell, I'll see you there when you arrive." Rois spat angrily, jerking against his hold as his free hand gripped her upper arm, tugging her into place in front of him roughly.
"That's the trick girl, I don't plan on ever dying." A force seemed to draw her eyes to his again, and her skin started tingling and burning just like back at camp as their gazes locked.
"No no no!" she tried shaking her head but found herself transfixed even though her whole body started to burn up painfully, she was being destroyed like Lisa and Mary had and there didn't seem to be any way to avert it. It registered to her that she could actually move her limbs and with just a thought and no time for regrets, Rois let out a choked cry and jerked forwards and to the side, grasping at her captor and sending the two of them careening over the edge of the cliff. The man let out a surprised angry cry of his own and grasped her tighter, eyes boring into hers as they made their rapid descent.
As they fell, Rois cried out in agony and shock as her body began to disintegrate into a fine gray dust that streamed through the air on their way down. All at once she felt a sort of tug that separated her from the physical agony, and that strange white glow appeared between the two of them. Rois felt distant, like she was watching what was unfolding from the outside, as this white light started to sink in to his chest she was being pulled along. It registered dimly that she was the light; her essence, or something like that, was being stolen. A darkness was gripping her tightly and taking her in, shrouding her vision as she was absorbed. The monster only had a moment to bark a short laugh of triumph, however, as his body came crashing into the ground. His mortal shell burst like a melon on the hard, flat rock and all that remained of Rois coated and mixed with his remains until it was just red gooey mud.
Everything had gone perfectly dark and silent for a heartbeat, and then it was over. With a jolt, Rois was standing in front of her attacker once more, but it was no longer night and there was no cliffs to her left. Stumbling backwards slightly, Rois tried to wrap her head around what the hell was happening while the expression on her attackers face flowed from triumph to confusion and finally, anger. But he was no longer a handsome man, in the gloomy light that they were now bathed in, Rois saw clearly that his flesh had turned a sickly mix of green and gray, that he'd become desiccated and stick-like. Worse yet were his eyes or lack thereof, only sockets remained. His voice was much the same, but with a hollow tone, as he took one step towards Rois "I'm... Dead. You killed me."
Rois was taking a long step backwards from his outstretched withered hand when an unearthly howling sounded off all around them, accompanied by snarls and snaps. Her attacker paused, withered lips curling into a sick, dead smile "Have fun while you can princess, you don't have much time left it seems." Without pause, he turned and ran at a speed Rois' eyes could barely keep up with, leaving her with whatever was coming.
She almost yelled "Wait!" before catching herself. That was her friends murderer and if what he said had any truth in it, her own murderer too. A cruel laugh brought her thoughts back in to focus, and Rois saw a man leaning against one of the old, unfamiliar trees that surrounded her. There was something off about his face, though.
"Whats this then?" Others were stepping into view alongside the man who had spoke, tears started to spring from Rois' eyes again as the stress of the past hour started to boil over. The man leaned forwards and sniffed audibly, laughing in pleased surprise "A human? Don't know how you got here girl, but I do know that we haven't gotten to have fun with one of you in a long, long time..." A tenseness filled Rois as the man spoke, suddenly shifting from possibly friendly to threatening. "So we're gonna let you run, y'see, and you're gonna try and escape while we have some fun. Got it?" Rois was already backpedaling.
"Where am I, and what do you mean by a human? Please... I don't know what's going on!" Rois' breaths were coming ragged as fear started to amp her up, but she received no response. The man and his four friends, three more men and one woman, all started to glide down the gentle slope towards her. It only took another moment of scrutiny to realize that there really was something wrong with their faces. Pushed in noses, bright animal eyes and great fangs, even their hands had wicked claws. They really weren't humans and Rois needed no other warnings to spin on her heel and start running as fast as she could away from them. Several delighted hoots sounded off behind her and the chase was on.
Rois had been running for what felt like hours, the back of her black sleeveless shirt had been ripped open in several places and had become thoroughly bloodstained. Sometimes the monsters would be directly behind her and around her, giving her nicks and cuts and trying to trip her up, teasing. Her voice had become strained from yelling, begging and finally cursing at her pursuers, and now she was on her last legs, heaving in breaths as exhaustion crept up on her. Coming over a low rise in the soft, foliage covered earth, a root came up and sent Rois tumbling down a steep decline gracelessly. Holding her arms to her body and closing her eyes, she hoped to roll into a safe landing and was thankful when that was the case. Opening her eyes did no good, however. Fog, thicker than any she had ever experienced, had enshrouded her and the angry shouts of her hunters were all around but muffled.
Rois laid prone on the ground until she thought her attackers might have moved on, no longer hearing them cursing and snarling. Breathing still labored and uneven, she stood up and grasped at her sore knees a moment before straightening and starting a slow, forward march through the fog. When the thumping of feet running hard started up again, she turned to flee outright but her shoulder hit a body and a hand snapped up to cover her mouth and muffle her startled yelp.
Stubble from unshaven facial hair pressed against Rois' neck as she was held tight and a warm, southern accent whispered into her ear "Not gonna hurt you darlin', you gotta calm that heart down though." There was a brief reassuring pat on her arm, but Rois was still held firm.
A surge of relief flooded her at the thought of someone who, if only for the moment, wasn't trying to eat, kill or otherwise maim her. Nodding her head slightly in response, Rois was relieved to have the large hand slowly removed and to no longer be directly up against whoever this person was. Holding very still, she refrained from moving, muffled talking and snarling sounded like it was coming from all around in the confusing fog.
There was a quick movement from behind, and Rois found herself presented with a hat that reminded her of golf "Hold this for me and don't move, darlin'." Confused and weary, Rois wasn't about to question it and just took it in hand, nodding quietly. It was actually rather comforting to rub her fingers against the old fabric as the man walked past silently. He was not much taller than her, but he was quite broad, had short hair and wore a dark ratty jacket, details were hard to make out and before she knew it he was gone.
Keep your heart calm Rois. The mental reassurance kept her still as stone, along with a healthy dose of fear, and listening as hard as she could.
"Don't know where she went, Big. Can't smell or see shit in the fog, you know that." That was the female monster talking, not far away either. Rois crouched as fast as she could, trying to get smaller.
"Worthless rats, all of you. If you can't smell the stupid human then go to the hill where she fell and follow her damn steps. Morons." Undoubtedly the leader who spoke to her originally. Rois thought about his animal eyes and maw of thick fanged teeth and shivered involuntarily.
"Marks!" The woman again, but the name she cried was a distressed yell. "Big, someone got Marks! BIG!" Clearly there was a rising panic happening and Rois couldn't help but get more fearful too. Sounds of muffled fighting and yelling were all around and Rois couldn't crouch there waiting to be found anymore. Standing up and staggering through the white blanket blindly while clutching on to the hat she was told to hold, Rois couldn't help but think about the absurdity of it all right up until she ran into what she was looking for- a big tree.
Stay calm, be quiet, hold the hat, climb. It was a steady mantra she kept running through her head as her arms, less tired than her legs, grasped at branches and pulled her upwards into the towering sentinel. What kind of tree is this even? There was time to mull over her situation as all muffled sound gave way to her labored breathing and the crumbling of bark under her raw hands and bare feet. This isn't home. Hell, this might not even be Earth. Scrabbling on to a thick branch, Rois all but threw herself down across it and laid on her stomach, letting her legs dangle while wondering if they'd ever work again. Staying in the tree forever was not an option, but Rois was going to get as much rest as she could and keep an eye out for the possibly helpful stranger in the meantime.
Rois laid in the tree silently for enough time to almost fall asleep and fall out of it several times over, but in that time the fog had started to clear enough that she could see the ground below at least. When an unfortunately familiar figure staggered into her sight below, huffing for breath and sniffing loudly, Rois froze in fear. Big is his name, she recalled and hoped that he wouldn't look up. That was too much to hope for.