And the next chapter and let me tell you this: It's going to get interesting in this chapter ;)

And again many, many thanks to all you kind people who take some moments to write me a review.

I really, really appreciate this :)

Chapter 26

Dean ran and ran and ran.

Ran until the muscles in his legs burned and until his lungs felt as if they were on fire.

He forced himself to keep running, didn't want to take a break. He wanted to run far away, just wanted to get away from this place, away from Castiel, but his body couldn't take it any longer, had reached the end of his strength, forcing the hunter to take a break. His heart was pounding relentlessly against his ribs, his lungs burned with every breath and his knees were shaking and felt like Jelly.

He couldn't believe what had just happened!

It should have been such a nice evening.

He just wanted to get away from Crowley, as he could no longer bear this eternal bickering between him and Gabriel. He had just wanted to escape to a quiet place where he was alone, where there were no demons or angels.

And then Castiel had found him...

The angel now knew where Dean was and the hunter doubted that he would give up easily. And that scared him. Yes. He was afraid of the Seraph, as he had never been afraid of anything before. Not even Lucifer could frighten him so much, as Castiel could, because he knew how strong the Seraphim was. The hunter had learned a lot about this kind of angel in the last weeks. He knew with what they would deal if Cas would lose the last bit of sense and Dean couldn't stop thinking about what a terrible mistake he had made, when he had threatened Cas, that he and his brother would hunt and kill him, if he would dare to get too close to them again.

Dean had no right to threaten this powerful angel and he knew how terrible this would end for all of them if Cas would get serious and attack them. He hoped so much that it would not come to an attack, because otherwise he could now take his gun and end it here and now, before his former best friend would do this for him.

Dean shook his head.

No.

Castiel would never do such a thing, because Dean knew him too well already.

Gabriel had told him and Sam a lot about his little brother and they knew themselves that Cas had a soft heart and that he would never ever do such a terrible thing.

But who knew what Lucifer had done to him and how much he was eaten up by hatred and how much was left of the clumsy angel he once was.

The hunter knew one thing for sure: He wouldn't stay here to figure that out, because Cas would certainly not give up easily, and probably he was already on the way to him.

The Winchester shuddered at the thought and he quickly started running again.

His heart was still racing in his chest, but this time the fatigue was not the reason.

He was afraid...

From far away rose a rumble of thunder, the air around him seemed to part under the mighty force of Mother Nature and the hunter flinched. Shortly after it began to rain, as dark clouds slid across the sun. The forest enveloped in darkness. Branches looked now like claws that wanted to reach out for him, moving in his direction, as the ever-increasing wind whipped them. His feet moved faster and faster over the muddy ground. He nearly tripped over a small branch that he had not seen and had almost landed in the mud, but he was able to keep his balance and just kept running.

Behind him he heard something rustling in the undergrowth, and he could feel how his pulse rose at the sound. Sweat stood out on his forehead, his limbs trembled; but not because of the cold...

"Damn Cas! I told you to leave me the hell alone!" he yelled into the darkness of the forest, and he kept on running.

A dark laugh rose from the depths of the forest, which made Dean shudder.

Goosebumps covered his body when he heard footsteps coming closer and closer.

The steps seemed to come from everywhere, or his mind played a trick on him.

He didn't know, didn't want to find out and he kept running.

But he didn't get far, because only fractions of a second later a figure appeared in front of him. He was dressed all in black and had his face turned away from him.

Just the sight let the adrenaline shoot through his veins and Dean didn't hesitate, grabbed his gun and aimed it at the figure, who blocked his way. He tried not to let his fear get the better of him, moved slowly towards the figure, but he felt how his knees trembled, heard his teeth chattering and could feel how the goosebumps on his body got stronger the closer he got.

That was not Castiel.

No, it was someone else...

"Whoever you are, I strongly advise you to disappear and to stop blocking my way!"

Dean tried to intimidate the stranger, but that didn't seem to work, because the other, which clearly was a young man in his thirties, didn't move a bit and seemed to continue to ignore him.

"Are you deaf man?! I said: Go away!"

Now at last the man turned his head toward him and Dean felt how his heart stopped beating briefly, when he looked into two black eyes that looked at him scornfully.

A demon!

Crap!

And he had taken no weapon that could have done something against a servant of hell!

A fatal mistake that could cost him his life here and now!

But it didn't look like the demon would attack him.

He just stood there and stared at him. His lips curled slowly into a diabolical grin, which gave Dean another shiver down his spine. The gun in his hand began to tremble, just like the rest of his body.

"You know that this weapon will not hurt me, don't you Dean?"

Dean's eyes widened.

"How do you know my name?"

As much as he tried, but he didn't managed to get his voice under control, which made the demon laugh.

"Who doesn't know the legendary Winchester brothers?" He sneered and he took a step toward Dean, who then took a step back.

"But when I look at you now, then you're anything but legendary. Look at you! You're afraid of me and fear is a sign of weakness! But I have expected nothing else from a puny little human like you Dean."

The words dripped with scorn and derision, but Dean was trying to stay calm and didn't let the demon know how afraid he was of him.

The grin of the demon widened, became dark and he took another step toward him.

"Look at you Dean. Without your heavenly Lover Boy you're nothing!"

The hunter gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes threateningly.

"Shut up!" he snarled, but this only earned him gleeful laughter.

"Looks like I hit a soft spot, huh? Give it up Dean. Castiel is now one of us. He will never come back to you. He will kill you and then deliver your brother to Lucifer. And there's nothing you can do about it. You're too weak, you miserable human!"

A shot broke away from the weapon in Dean's hand and the bullet pierced the left shoulder of the demon, who didn't even flinch. Slowly his grin disappeared from his lips and his eyes grew as dark as the deepest night and a low growl rose up in his throat.

"Actually I wanted to let you live and only tell Lucifer about my discoveries, but my plans have just changed!"

And before Dean could react in the slightest, he was being attacked.

The demon moved at a speed that Dean couldn't follow.

One minute he was standing a few meters away from him, then he suddenly disappeared, only to shortly thereafter appear behind him and to hit the back of his neck, which forced the hunter to the ground.

Dean didn't even make it to turn around, let alone get up, as the next blow hit him in his stomach and brought him back to the ground. He howled loudly when a foot kicked him in the ribs, then against his side and in the abdomen and the hunter doubled over in pain and spit blood.

"You're pathetic!" He heard the demon growl, when he bent down to him, grabbed him by the shoulders and flung him against the nearest tree. A loud crack filled the air, as one of Dean's ribs broke under the force of the impact. Dean's pained scream pierced the air, mingled with the gleeful laughter of the demon and the thunder above their heads and when he raised his head, he looked right into a pair of pitch-black eyes that looked down at him mockingly.

"Yes human, suffer from the pain I give you! It's going to be much, much worse!"

The hunter was grabbed by his throat and pushed against the tree.

He gasped and gripped the wrist of the servant of hell with his own and tried to kick him, but he was just too weak. The pain clouded his vision and it would not be long until he would lose his mind...or his life...

"So many of us died at the hands of a Winchester, and now the time has come to let you pay for it! Don't worry Dean. Your little brother will soon pay for what he did to us too..."

The hand around his throat squeezed more, also robbed him of even the last bit of oxygen, as his windpipe was pressed together. From an eye out Dean could see how the demon raised his free hand. Claws manifested where else were the fingers of a human being.

Claws, that would burrow deep into his flesh and killing him every second.

But this should not occur, since only a short time later it was the demon who screamed and he freed Dean from his iron grip, as an invisible force grabbed him and slung him away from the hunter. He bounced to the ground a few meters away from the human, where he tried to get back to his feet again, all the while snarling and hissing with pure rage.

He managed to sit up and his black eyes were terror-stricken when he looked into Dean's direction.

The hunter was no less surprised, because he was no longer alone.

"You?!" the demon growled and his eyes narrowed to slits.

"Traitor!" he growled and his voice was filled with his anger when he looked up at the angel, who had placed himself protectively in front of Dean. His wings were spread out to their full span and his eyes were glowing in a radiant light that blinded the demon so much that he had to look away.

"Don't you dare to touch him again!" Castiel snarled with his deep voice and he drew his sword that stuck in the scabbard, which was attached to his side.

"Otherwise, I'll kill you!"

Then he made himself ready to fight...