Chapter 6

It took Sam a lot longer to make his way through the woods this time, thanks to the search teams that were now sweeping the area. Sam could only guess that they'd called in reinforcements, because he seemed to narrowly escape bumping into a new group every ten seconds.

Still, their search grid seemed to be sloppy, and Sam knew how to move quickly without leaving a trail to follow, so he wasn't all that worried about being found. His main concern was their proximity to the barn - not so much out of fear for Dean's safety, but fear of what Ruby might do to anyone who stumbled upon their hiding place. He hadn't exactly given her strict instructions not to kill any intruders.

But he didn't have time to worry about that yet. He soon found himself back at the veterinary clinic, which was now in darkness aside from a faint glow behind the curtain of one of the ground floor windows. The back door was still broken and barely hanging on its hinges, but since these people had been so helpful to him even after he scared the wits out of them earlier that night, he figured he should do them the courtesy of knocking this time.

Moments later, he saw the face of the veterinarian peering out of the dimly lit window. Sam waved, hoping the man would understand that he posed no threat. He seemed to get the message, and soon he appeared at the back door and timidly pushed it open.

"Did the morphine not work?" he asked, concerned.

"No, it was fine," Sam assured him. "He's resting comfortably. Thanks."

"Then... what..."

"I just need a little more information about Gavin Chamberlain, if there's anything else you can tell me."

The man sighed and nodded, ushering Sam inside. "What do you need to know?"

"Well... I have reason to believe that he has something to do with what's been happening to the people in this town, and I really need to find him. He ran when I found him at his cottage, so... do you have any idea where he might have gone? Somewhere he would feel safe?"

The doctor looked puzzled, but not particularly surprised at Sam's words. He thought for a moment and then answered, "Well, I suppose there's always his parents' house. They're away for the winter, so the place is empty."

"Great, that sounds perfect. Do you have the address?"

The man hesitated, eyeing Sam warily. "May I ask what you plan to do to Gavin Chamberlain when you find him?"

Something inside Sam withered at the question. There was a time when in situations like this he would be asking it himself, but now... now he knew that he had to do whatever he had to do. "Hopefully," he said as carefully as he could, "I'll stop him from hurting anybody else."

It wasn't exactly a satisfactory answer and Sam knew it, but it got him the address, and after offering the veterinarian many sincere thanks, he was on his way to the center of town.

Not that getting there was easy. It seemed downright impossible at times, considering all the cops and feds crawling all over the place. It had been a whole lot easier to dodge them in the dark woods than on the brightly lit streets of town, but somehow he arrived at his destination and scaled the fence to the backyard just in time to avoid being spotted by a squad car.

The house was in total darkness, but Sam could tell at first glance that it was dirty and rundown, as though the people living there never lifted a finger toward its upkeep. Even the yard was overgrown with weeds and grass that were up to Sam's knees.

He was beginning to understand why Gavin kept his cottage obsessively neat and spotless - it was his own way of rebelling against the lives his parents were leading.

The back door was locked, so Sam picked the lock and showed himself inside. He knew it was a long shot that Gavin would be hiding out in such an obvious place, but he had to start his search somewhere. He figured he might at least find some clue of where to look next.

He hadn't been in the house for more than thirty seconds when he heard the sound of a voice coming from the basement.

With his weapon ready, he tiptoed across the house looking for the basement door, trying not to step on any squeaky floorboards along the way. He half expected this place to have a hidden staircase somewhere, too, but fortunately it was a normal house with a basement door leading off the kitchen. There was a light coming from down below - flickering with an orange glow, so Sam figured it must be firelight. He crept down the stairs and peeked around the corner into the room that both the light and the voice were coming from.

There was the beekeeper outfit again. This time he was standing over an open flame, holding up a bowl full of some kind of liquid and chanting something with a stutter so thick that Sam wondered if the spell would really work at all.

He didn't want to give the guy time enough for him to find out. He stepped out into the open and for the second time that day pointed his gun at Gavin's chest. "You know, it's rude to run out on someone in the middle of a conversation," he said.

The sudden voice startled Gavin, and the bowl and its mysterious contents fell to the floor. "Y-y-you! Y-y-you're... y-you sh-should..."

"Be dead?" Sam finished, inching closer to the terrified little man. "Yeah, I get that a lot. But since I'm not, how about you tell me what the hell you've done to the people in this town and how to reverse it?"

Gavin hesitated, rocking back and forth on his heel as though inwardly arguing with himself over whether to stay or make a run for it. Then he seemed to gather up his confidence as he moved his head to look at something on the other side of the room.

Sam could see it coming a mile away, and he planted himself firmly in the doorway between Gavin and the stairs just as Gavin once again spoke his magic words.

This time Sam saw exactly where the bugs were coming from - a weird contraption on the other side of the room that seemed like a cross between a refrigerator and an air conditioner. Hundreds of them were pouring out of the vent on one side.

Sam groaned as the swarm surrounded him, but he held his arms out to his sides and aimed a glare at Gavin as the bugs began to bite.

He stood motionless as they dropped dead all around him.

Gavin had been slowly approaching, waiting for Sam to panic or try to escape so that he could slip out the door, but when he saw what was happening he started backing away in fear. "Wh-wh-what a-a-are y-you??"

Sam didn't answer, knowing the bugs would just invade his mouth if he opened it, but he figured the effect of the dying bugs along with the eerie shadows reflected onto his face from the firelight would be enough to scare the kid into doing whatever he wanted.

Turned out he'd figured correctly. Gavin shrieked out more words in the unknown language, and the few remaining mosquitoes flew back to their nest.

"H-h-how..."

Sam raised his gun again, cutting Gavin off mid-stutter. "How about I ask the questions now, okay? What have you done to the people in this town? What's the deal with the bugs?"

Gavin shuffled his feet, his gaze darting around the room as though searching for another way to deal with this super-human intruder.

Sam sighed, tucked his gun back into his pants, and marched over to him, grabbing him by the front of his costume and ripping at it as he dragged Gavin kicking and screaming over to the mosquito contraption. "You're gonna tell me one way or another, Gavin," Sam said as he tore off a glove and exposed Gavin's bare hand. "You can tell me now, or you can tell me while hallucinating. It's up to you."

Gavin screamed as Sam forced his bare hand closer to the machine while turning the handle on its front-facing door. "O-o-okay!! I-I-I-I..."

Sam let him go, but blocked his path so he couldn't move. "Tell me what you did and how to reverse it," he repeated.

Gavin took a deep breath and finally attempted to answer the question. It took him a while to get it out, but between all the stammering, Sam got that he had infected the bugs with a mild virus and placed some kind of spell on them to both control when and where they attacked and to amplify the virus to a lethal degree. "B-b-but th-th-those p-p-people de-s-s-served..."

"No, they didn't," Sam said. He picked up the spell books Gavin had been reading when Sam had walked in, grabbed Gavin by the scruff of his neck, and dragged him toward the door. "And you're gonna reverse the spell and send everyone back to normal, or you'll be getting what you deserve."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Dean was vaguely aware as he floated through the clouds that something wasn't right. He knew he had been afraid moments before, but he couldn't remember why or of what. He had an unexplainable feeling that he should be looking for Sam, but he couldn't seem to control his own movements as he floated along, and for some reason that was okay with him. His eyes were closed, and he didn't want to waste any energy trying to open them unless it was absolutely necessary. He just lay back and let the clouds carry him along.

But then suddenly the clouds were gone, and he was falling again. His eyes flew open and he tried to look down at the ground, but he couldn't tell which way was up and which was down... there was nothing but blackness in every direction. He screamed and started clawing at the air, trying to catch hold of something, anything to stop him from falling yet again into the pit of Hell.

Soon he felt a presence at his side, and demon-white eyes flashed in the darkness. Alastair.

He tried to lash out at him, but his arms felt like lead and refused to move. The face disappeared, but he still felt that evil presence nearby, and at one point was sure he saw a glint of light reflecting off a blade. He braced himself for the torture to begin, but as the seconds passed and his mind became clearer with every moment, the thought of just allowing himself to be hacked to pieces for the millionth time became intolerable.

Feigning unconsciousness, he waited for the presence to draw nearer. He felt it approaching, hovering over him, ready to strike. Without even opening his eyes, he brought his head up suddenly and felt his forehead connect with something hard. He heard a loud cry, but it wasn't Alastair's voice after all... this voice was female.

Lilith.

His ankles seemed to be bound together, but he was still able to lift his legs, so he summoned up all the energy he had to spare and thrust his knees into the air, swinging his hips in the direction of his attacker. He heard a dull thud as his knees made impact.

He managed to flip himself over onto his stomach as he followed the motion through, and he found himself on his hands and knees with Lilith sprawled out beside him. With a snarl he grabbed her throat between his bound hands and pressed them down with all his might.

Her arms flailed wildly at first, her fists striking him but not doing any damage. But then she uttered an angry curse and grabbed his side.

Fiery pain seared through Dean's entire upper body, and he had no choice but to let her go and crumble to the ground in agony.

He was sure he was finished. There was no way Lilith would let him get off easy after what he'd done. He tried to crawl away, but his energy was spent. He curled up in a ball and waited for the worst.

But then he felt a hand on his back and a reassuring voice in his ear, and it seemed like someone was turning him over onto his back. His eyelids were heavy, but he was sure it was Sam's face he saw as he fought to hold them open. All of Hell was swimming in and out of focus behind him, but he focused on that one image of comfort and rescue as his eyes started to droop and finally closed again.

And then he was back among the clouds.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

"What the hell happened?" Sam demanded as Ruby hoisted herself onto her feet and backed away from Dean's corner.

"That morphine doesn't last very long, that's what happened," Ruby answered, rubbing her throat and glaring down at Dean's still form.

Sam lifted Dean's eyelids to make sure he was out. "I told you to give him more if he woke up," he said, checking him over for any fresh injuries.

"I tried! He attacked me! But hey, I'm fine, thanks for asking."

Sam was so not in the mood for her sarcasm, and told her so with the glare he shot in her direction. "I told you to stay out of sight, Ruby," he snapped.

"What could I do? He was freaking out!"

"You should have called me."

"Oh, right. Well, I'm sorry for thinking your quest to save this town took priority over your brother having a nightmare."

Sam gritted his teeth and shook his head, giving Dean one last once-over to make sure he was okay.

Ruby came back over to stand beside him now that she was sure Dean was unconscious. "I didn't hurt him, Sam," she said almost softly. "I just grabbed his bullet wound so he'd let me go."

"It's fine. He's out now." Sam stood up and looked over to where he'd left Gavin huddled by the wall on the opposite side of the barn. Right next to him was a pile of bodies that Sam hadn't seen when he'd first walked in.

He felt his anger boiling as he turned an even more ferocious glare on Ruby. "What did you do?!"

"Whoa, take it easy," Ruby said, backing up a step with her hands raised. "I just knocked them out. They came sniffing around a few minutes ago."

"And if their friends come looking for them?"

Ruby smirked. "I faked a check-in on their radio. Created a lot of static so they couldn't hear my voice clearly and told them this section was clear and they were heading in the opposite direction."

Sam didn't want to let her know how grateful he was for the way she'd handled the situation, so he shrugged it off with a quick thanks and waved his hand in Gavin's direction. "Go help him."

Ruby looked back and forth between them. "Help him do what?"

"He needs to work a spell to reverse all of this."

Ruby stared at Gavin dumbfounded as he removed his headgear and nervously looked around. "That's the guy who did this?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Yes. Could you save your disbelief for later and just go help him out?"

"Fine, whatever." Ruby sauntered over to the kid, and Sam watched as she immediately asserted her control and started barking out orders.

Sam smiled, knowing she had the situation well in hand. Then he turned back to Dean with worried eyes. He had no idea how long the spell would take, and Dean was already stirring, tossing his head back and forth as though fighting against the sedative. He knew that giving him more morphine so soon would be dangerous, but he really didn't want to have to watch him suffer any longer.

He rested a hand on Dean's arm and gave it just enough of a squeeze to let him know he was there. "Just hang in there, Dean," he said. "It's almost over."