Chapter 21

John and Ellen checked into a Bed & Breakfast in the quaint little town of Pleasant Springs. Their room was small really, and if they could have gotten separate rooms they would have. Only it seemed the Bed & Breakfast was about the size of someone's house…as in, John nearly passed it going down the road until he noticed the sign on the front lawn.

So John and Ellen slept in the same room. Ellen of course took the queen sized bed, and John took the broken yet lumpy floral patterned recliner chair.

But it wasn't like they were doing too much sleeping anyway. They both had their eyes peeled for a way to help Sam, meaning they had to find this kid. But where would the demons take him?

Actually the more John thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. The demon he had let into his body told Sam, Dean, and Bobby who the kid was, and since he escaped instead of being exorcised, surely the other demons now knew what happened to Sam and what his family was trying to do in order to help him.

However what John found most disconcerting was the phone call he had gotten from Bobby only a couple hours ago telling him that Sam had some sort of episode but broke through and was able to stop himself before he hurt anyone. But when he noticed what he nearly did, he locked himself in the panic room in a desperate attempt to hide himself away so he didn't hurt anyone else again.

John then as soon as he hung up with Bobby, called Sam's phone. Sam didn't want to hear what he had to say; instead he only made him feel worse by throwing what was happening to him in his face.

John wasn't a naïve man. He could admit to himself that he definitely wasn't 'Father of the Year', but Sam and Dean were still his children, and he loved them as such. So here Sam is, accusing John of not caring enough to be there for him.

He knew that Sam may probably undergo this transformation while he was away. It was a sacrifice John willingly made because he hoped that maybe when the animal was present in Sam's mind, it wouldn't think too much about killing this kid.

It was a cheap shot, John knew. Trying to get Sam to attack this child when he wasn't in his right state of mind seemed pretty unethical, but John was out of options. And his family always came first.

But to John's relief, not long after his phone call to Sam, he had gotten a call from Dean telling him that he had arrived at Bobby's and had talked Sam into coming out of the panic room.

That was something Dean was always good at, John knew. Dean, no matter what, could always get through to Sam.

But what had John most worried was when Dean told him that Sam had gone in there with every intention of not coming out. Sam had given up, and had made the cot in the panic room his Death Bed.

The thought of Sam just giving up like that sent a cold shiver up John's spine. And now he felt grateful to Dean for pulling Sam from the ledge.

But this just meant that now John had to do everything in his power to put Sam back to normal again. Everything. At this point, John wasn't even worried about the cost.

So now John sat perched on his 'bed', of course meaning the horrible pink floral recliner with a laptop open, and balancing on his knees. Ellen on the other hand paced the room slowly; her cellphone pressed against her face as she spoke with Ash heatedly, but kept her eyes fixed on the sheet of paper in her hands.

As of yet, no one has found anything useful telling them where Jeremy was taken to. It seems these demons really didn't want the kid to be found. But still, John had a feeling that as soon as Sam completed his change, the kid would suddenly appear somewhere right under their noses. Because that's just how demons where. They were probably all watching Sam, and waiting patiently.

That thought made John cringe. It seems that no matter what happens to Sam, the demons are never that far behind.

"Okay Ash…just keep lookin'." Ellen requested as she pulled the phone away from her face and clicked it shut. As she slid her phone back into her pocket she plopped on the bed with a sigh, still keeping her eyes on the paper in her hands.

"Ash got nothing?" John asked, noting the look of clear frustration on Ellen's face.

She finally looked up from the paper intently and gazed at John before shaking her head. "Jo doesn't either."

"I do…sort of." John announced sounding slightly annoyed as he averted his eyes back to the laptop's glowing screen, "Demonic Omens just sprung up outta nowhere."

"Hell yeah," Ellen rejoiced feeling much more hopeful, "let's go get 'em."

"But…" John interjected, still looking sullen, "Not just here. Omens cropped up all around Wisconsin, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota - seems like the demons are trying to throw us off."

"Damnit!" Ellen swore, suddenly back in her sour mood, "Those bastards…"

"Yeah." John agreed.

"So we got a game plan?" Ellen wondered aloud, still keeping her eyes on John imploringly.

"As of now…? No." John replied, clearly frustrated.

Suddenly John's cellphone rang loudly from his pocket; the abrupt vibration on his thigh caused him to jump slightly before reaching into his pocket and retrieving his phone.

He looked at the ID, and was immediately suspicious when it flashed 'Unknown'.

Hesitantly, John flipped open his phone and held it up to his ear – his face a mask of determination as if whoever this was could see him right now.

"Hello?" John greeted harshly.

"We have something you want, John." A slimy serpent-like yet clearly feminine voice said almost gleefully.

"Jeremy?" John questioned, assuming he was speaking to a demon.

"That's right." The demon confirmed, "And we understand that Sammy hasn't got much time left, is that right?"

He knew that by saying 'yes' John would immediately lose the upper hand in the conversation, making him sound weak. And the last thing you wanted to do in front of a demon…even on the phone with one was show your weaknesses.

But thinking things over, John doubted very much that he had the upper hand to begin with – otherwise they wouldn't have felt safe enough to call him. They must've know that if John caught wind of where they were, he'd come after them.

Taking the risk, John swallowed his pride before muttering, "Yes."

"Well John, it's your lucky day." The demon teased smugly, "We're feeling…rather generous I suppose is the word for it. We're willing to let the kid go."

"Yeah right." John snapped defensively, "What's the catch?"

"How about I talk and you listen!" The demon quipped back with a snarky tone. However, when she spoke again she seemed slightly more at ease, "Now we're willing to give you the kid that could save Sam's life…but we'll need something in exchange."

"What?" John demanded threateningly.

"The Colt." The demon replied simply.

Normally, this would be a tough call. The demons wanted The Colt. The Colt, the only weapon John Winchester had that could actually kill the Demon that killed his wife and his son's girlfriend. It had only one bullet left, and John was saving it. The Yellow-Eyed Demon's name was written all over this bullet, and John was just aching to send it into that bastard's skull.

But then again…if John didn't hand The Colt over to the demons, then he would lose everything. Because he knew that if Sam went down, then Dean wouldn't be too far behind. And then John knew he would have no one left to fight for.

And right then, it was no contest…but not without a few conditions.

"Fine." John agreed grudgingly, "But before you get anything from me, I'm gonna have to see that Sam will be okay with my own eyes."

"That's fine." The demon replied sounding suddenly bored, "But you'll have to come to us to retrieve the kid. Four-Twenty-Four Westfield Ave, Green Plaines, Minnesota."

Then the line went dead, and John pulled the phone away from his ear before closing it, and shoving it back into his pocket. His face looked worried yet pensive as he stared at the wall trying to think of why on earth this was so easy. Did the demons really just want The Colt that bad?

Sure it made sense. It was the only known weapon on the planet that could actually kill demons – not just send them back to Hell, but really kill them. John could see why it would pose a threat to them, even if it only held one bullet.

"John?" Ellen suddenly piped up sounding surprised.

John looked over at her and noticed that when he was on the phone Ellen had gathered her laptop and was glaring at the screen with a wide-eyed stare.

Immediately, John moved his own laptop from balancing on his knees to the nightstand that stood between the recliner and the bed. He got to his feet and looked over Ellen's shoulder to get a better look at what she was looking at.

After a few moments of reading the file that was up on the screen, John's eyes went wide and he cast his eyes over to Ellen who was now looking back at him.

"I got this e-mail from Ash." Ellen explained, "This sure puts an interesting twist on things."

It definitely did, John agreed to himself silently. And he hadn't even told Ellen yet about what the phone call was about.

But this information changed everything.

Sorry this chapter was so short, but it needed to be done. Hehe.

And of course I had to put a twist on things! You'll just have to wait till the next chapter to see what the twist is exactly. Hehe.

Aw, I'm so evil! :D