The Impala zoomed along the highway, going well above the speed limit. AC/DC blasted through the speakers, Dean humming along and Sam complaining about the noise, but secretly enjoying the familiar tunes. However, when the first notes of "Highway to Hell" sounded, Dean drastically lowered the volume, before removing the cassette completely. As he put it, "There's a fine line between irony and just plain cruelty."
And for hours of the trip, that's how it was. Music, a couple of jokes, and the open road. Then, everything lit up. Literally.
Dean slammed on the brakes, causing the car to skid to a stop along the desolate country road. Both brothers stepped out of the car in shock, staring at the scene before them. "What the hell?" Sam stuttered, too shocked to say anything else.
The small town in front of them was totally ablaze. Every building in the village was engulfed in flames that rose high and hot. People, presumably the town's residents, filled the streets, panicking as their homes and stores burned to the ground. Children and adults alike screamed and sobbed. One little boy called out for his mother, who was either lost in the crowd or who had suffered a much worse fate. The smoke filled the air, clogging the lungs of anyone in the vicinity and causing their eyes to burn, tears filling the citizens' eyes. As the firefighters and townspeople rushed to put out the flames, more black smoke corrupted the once-clear air, drifting upwards and turning the blue sky black as night.
Fire and Winchesters had never mixed very well, but the brothers gathered themselves and took a couple of cautious steps into town. A young woman sat on the curb of the street, ash on her cheeks and in her hair. She blankly stared at the fire consuming the town. Sam crouched down and looked in her eyes, concerned. She barely registered his presence, and only turned her gaze away from the flames when Sam asked, "Are you okay?"
"Do you know where David is?" She asked, obviously in shock. "I haven't seen him in hours… do you think he's okay?"
No, Sam knew, whoever David is, he is probably not okay. Instead of telling her that, Sam just patted her shoulder, and asked gently, "What happened here?"
The tears flowed from the woman's eyes. "Fire. Everything was burning. It was raining fire from the sky. Anything it hit burned."
The plagues were progressing faster than either brother had anticipated. Sam wanted to stop and console the woman, but there was no time. Instead, he gave the now-sobbing female a gentle pat on her shoulders and stood, making eye contact with his brother, both silently agreeing to depart. As they drove through the town, the people stared at the car, the only car daring to drive through the flames surrounding them. The ash-stained faces of the unfortunate citizens only made the Winchesters more determined to stop Lucifer in his tracks, even if it would be the end of them.
The radio on the drive brought even more bad news: "A freak swarm of locusts has destroyed more than a miles' worth of crops near the small town of Geneva, Illinois. Experts are baffled by the cause of this swarm, and it is estimated that at least 90% of all crops in this area have be completely destroyed."
This development was disturbing, to say the least, but Dean was able to find a small silver lining on the dark cloud. "Hey, at least no one got hurt," He pointed out, trying to brighten the dreary situation a little. "Plus, can you imagine what it would've been like if we had driven through that? I don't know about you, but that many bugs on a windshield sounds like too much to handle."
The brothers were nearing the Chicago warehouse when a blanket of darkness descended over everything in sight. It was only about 4:00 in the afternoon, yet everything became pitch black. The stars weren't even visible overhead, and the moon was missing as well. The darkness came so fast that drivers were startled, scared out of their wits. Dean had to swerve to avoid a man who had slammed on his brakes in the middle of the road, staring up at the "night" sky that had descended.
The Impala was parked a block away from the warehouse, in a dark alley hidden from view. As the brothers gathered their weapons from the trunk, Sam posed a question that had somehow never come up in Winchester conversation beforehand.
"Do you think it will be easier this time?"
Dean cast a side glance at his brother but did not stop unloading. "What are you talking about?"
"Dying." Dean stopped completely this time, looking his brother in the eyes. Sam continued. "I mean, we've died enough. This time it will be final. Billie is going to make sure of that."
"I don't know if it's going to be easy. Lucifer's not going to let us go easy."
"But still," Sam speculated, "it's going to be it. No heaven, no hell, just nothing."
"That's the way a lot of hunters want to go. I have to admit, it sounds a little appealing."
"It does sound like a break." Sam admitted. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it.
"What?" Dean asked.
"I just… I always thought that when it was over, we'd go to heaven. You know, get to see the people we lost." Sam shook his head. "It was a long shot, I knew that, but I always hoped, you know?"
Dean just gave a small smile. "You always were the dreamer, Sammy." The smile disappeared. "Sorry that this wasn't everything you hoped for."
Sam patted his brother on the shoulder. "We had a pretty good run, didn't we?"
Dean grinned. "Hell yeah we did. Now let's go kick some ass."
Every mission has its setbacks. No matter how much planning you put in, something is bound to go wrong. Considering the Winchesters' luck with "setbacks" in the past, they already expected to hit a major roadblock. But they hadn't considered that it would be an actually roadblock.
The tracking spell wasn't lying; Lucifer's spell was in the warehouse in the middle of the street. The problem was, the mostly-abandoned street had been blocked off on both sides, and black eyes could be seen through every window of every building on the block. Plus, there seemed to be a cloaking spell, where the human people who lived and worked around Hell Street (Dean named it, obviously) seemed to be completely oblivious to absolutely anything that occurred there.
At this point, the Winchesters had two options. In one scenario, they could storm down the middle of the street, guns blazing, hoping they don't run out ammunition before they get to the warehouse. In the other scenario, they could sneak in, to the best of their abilities, disrupt the spell and fight their way out. Option 2 was the one that could get them the closest to the spell without much conflict, and it was their best chance of stopping it before the final plague and the destruction of Illinois' biggest city.
The brothers began to move quietly down the street. The darkness was working in their favor; as long as they stood far from the street lights they could move undetected. It was all working out, at least for a while. They were almost at the warehouse when a figure appeared in front of them. Black eyes stared at the pair for a moment, then the demon shouted, "They're he-"
He was unable to finish, as Dean brought a knife up to slit the demon's throat, but it was too late. Demons began to swarm the street, blocking the way to the warehouse. Sam and Dean stood back to back, brandishing an angel blade in one hand and a gun in the other as the demons circled around them, like sharks circling their prey. A demon charged forward.
Then all hell broke loose.
Demons came in left and right. Most met the sharp end of a knife or had a devil's trap bullet fired into their heads, but that couldn't last forever. The Winchesters were far outnumbered, and the demons were already closing in.
The demons' hands were almost on the Winchesters when the revving of an engine caused all heads to turn. Down the street, riding a black Harley motorcycle, was a figure in jeans and combat boots, and a leather bikers jacket. The person's face was covered by the black motorcycle helmet.
The engine revved once more, and suddenly the motorcycle was flying down the street towards the street, the figure brandishing what looked like a water gun. Water sprayed from the gun, and demons screamed in agony as the droplets hit their skin. As the motorcycle circled the demons, the figure cut a bag of salt that was taped to the back of the bike, creating a circle of salt encompassing the confused demons. Sam and Dean took this opportunity to exit the circle as quickly as possible, slashing any demons that dared to get in their way. The figure stopped the motorcycle down the street, revved the engine, and then took off, full speed towards the door of the warehouse. Right before the bike hit the door, the person bailed, rolling to a stop on the cement while the motorcycle flew through the door and crashed into a wall.
Sam and Dean didn't have time to wonder what happened, but instead pulled the figure inside the doorway, which they lined with salt. Heavy breaths could be heard from inside the biker helmet, and the figure pulled it off, brown hair falling around her face as she panted.
"Tara?!"
"Hey guys," Tara managed between breaths. "How's it going?"
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"Saving your asses, obviously."
"We asked you to stay back!"
"You asked me not to come. You never said I couldn't follow."
"And why on a motorcycle?"
"You slashed my tires, you dick! Which, if we survive this, you are so paying for."
"Do you even know how to drive a motorcycle?!"
"No, which makes what I just did even more impressive. I did not think that was going to work."
Sam opened his mouth again, but Tara put her hand up. "I get it, you're pissed, but can we argue later? Something tells me we're going to have more to worry about very soon." She pointed out the door. The brothers looked where she was pointing and saw very angry demons already starting to slowly break through the salt circle she had created.
The three didn't need to speak again, but instead took off running down the corridor toward the center of the warehouse. There was no time for debate or arguing. The warehouse was getting darker and darker, and none of them could see a few feet beyond their faces. They could hear the sounds of restless, angry demons, and they ran faster. Surprisingly, they saw no demons anywhere as they sprinted down the halls, which worried them as much as it pleased them.
Finally, they reached a large opening, and in the center, just barely visible, was a wooden bowl containing everything needed to power up an archangel. Sam took off towards it, know that they would have mere seconds before the demons were upon them.
Please, God, Sam prayed, although he felt no one was listening, Just this once. No complications, no mistakes. Just this once, let us be heroes.
He was so close now. The fire burning in the bowl slightly warmed him, keeping out the chill that had recently materialized. He pulled the ingredient out of his pocket and popped open the bottle easily. He looked at the dark abyss, just for a moment.
That was his mistake.
He suddenly understood why there had been no demons in the warehouse, why the spell was sitting unguarded in the middle of a giant room.
It wasn't unguarded.
There, in the middle of the black abyss, were two glowing red eyes, with an enraged fire inside of them. A voice spoke, one he had spent years trying to forget and still appeared in his worst nightmares. "Hiya, Sammy." The dark shadow stepped forward into the light, which had once seemed comforting but now became hellfire lighting up the cold features of the most feared being on Earth.
The eyes stared into Sam's very soul, and the voice taunted, "Did you miss me?"
Sam tried to throw the ingredient into the spell, but Lucifer caught the vial in his hand. "Uh, uh, uh, Sam. Didn't your mom ever teach you not to mess around with other people's things?"
With that, Lucifer waved his hand, and Sam flew backwards, slamming into the wall. Before Tara or Dean could move to help him, arms grabbed them from behind. Tara let out a surprised cry and fought to free her wrists, which had been pinned behind her back.
"Stop moving!" The demon yelled, infuriated. She felt a sharp pain on her right wrists, and cried out in agony. The demons shoved her and Dean against the wall to join Sam. Dean crouched over his brother, checking for damage. All three turned, however, when a chilling voice said, "Well, if it isn't my favorite family. How're you doing, boys? Have my demons been treating you well?"
"Where are you?" Dean asked, searching for a sign of the devil in the darkness in front of him. "I'd prefer to kill you face to face."
"Dean! Haven't lost your sense of humor, I see. You wanna see my face? Let there be light!"
Lights turned on with a snap of the devil's fingers. In the new light, Tara looked down at her painfully throbbing wrist, and saw a sizable cut. The blood flowed, staining the newly-torn leather bracelet.
"So you got my message!" Lucifer gloated, smiling and pacing the floor. "I knew you would. You know, I was planning on having you dead by now," he glared at his demons, "But, now that I think about it, it's going to be so much more fun to kill you myself. I would never miss an opportunity to see you bleed."
"What makes you so sure you've won?" Dean remarked. "Every time you think you have us, we find a way to get out."
Lucifer laughed humorlessly. "Good luck getting out of this one." He gestured to the hundred demons surrounding them. He shook the vial in his hand. "I have your plan right here." He closed his fist, crushing the bottle and summoning fire, which disintegrated the ingredient immediately. "Whoops."
"Besides," he chirped, "You don't have your angel friend here to save you anymore." Suddenly the boys felt a force push them against the wall, holding them there. "It's time for me to have some fun with you."
Tara, who had been trying to stop the blood flow of her wrist, let out a small groan of pain. Lucifer whipped his head around, cold eyes falling on the teen. His mouth formed a twisted grin.
"Boys, you didn't tell me you brought a friend!" He bent down and looked Tara in the eyes. "You shouldn't've come here, little girl. But I am so happy that you did."
He stood, looking to his demons with a cold stare. "Hold her."
The demons grabbed Tara's arms and dragged her forward, thrusting her at Lucifer's feet. The devil looked positively giddy. "It's always so exciting to meet a friend of the Winchesters'. They're normally dead."
"Leave her alone!" Sam yelled, while Dean looked ready to murder someone. "It's us you want, not her."
"Oh, is somebody jealous?" Lucifer taunted. "Don't worry, boys, you two will always be my favorites. But I never could resist a new toy."
Lucifer spotted the blood coming from Tara's wrist and growled. "Typical. I get a new toy and the first thing they do is break it. Luckily, it's an easy fix." He snapped his fingers and the blood and the cut disappeared.
"Now that that's cleared up," Lucifer knelt down and looked Tara in the eyes, "how would you feel if I made a couple of improvements to that pretty little face of yours?"
Tara stared him down, defiance in her eyes, drew herself together, and spit. The spit hit Lucifer right in the eyes. He stood up and flicked it out of his eyes. He sent an amused smile at the boys. "Feisty one, isn't she?"
His hand came down in a closed fist, and the next thing Tara heard was the sound of a foot cracking her ribs.
She gasped for air, in extreme pain. She looked up, only to be knocked in the face with powerful knuckles. The hits kept coming, each one more painful than the last. She vaguely heard Sam and Dean yelling, begging for Lucifer to stop, and threatening him with the worst fates imaginable, but it was all just noise.
The hits stopped, but her head rose only to see a knife being held at her cheekbone. She screamed as the blade sliced skin. Another noise rose above the Winchesters cries: the demons. They were laughing. It was a haunting cacophony that she had only heard in her nightmares. The noise was becoming too much, hurting her head as it grew louder and louder. She had told herself that she was ready to die, but now that it was time, she was terrified. And the noise wouldn't stop.
"Shut up," she whispered, coming out as more of a plea than a demand.
"Or what?" Lucifer taunted. "What are you going to do? What is the scared little girl gonna do? Are you gonna run to your mommy and daddy?"
The noise became overwhelming, a feeling like she had never known. It was like she was acutely aware of everything in the room: every noise, every voice, every movement. She felt something inside her, fighting to escape, to be free. Her fists clenched, and she found new strength in a way she never had before.
"I said SHUT UP!"
With the last word, a power electrified the room, a force so powerful that it sent Lucifer backwards a few feet. The demons that had been holding her let go and backed away, looking terrified.
Her panic stilled existed, and she panted, trying to catch her breath, staring wide-eyed at the ground as the tears she hadn't realized had been falling stained her face. She felt no pain anymore. Bringing a hand up to her face, she found smooth skin, free of bruises, scars or flaws. She cast a glance at Sam and Dean, who stared back at her, shocked and in awe.
The noise was gone, but the pounding in her head still existed. The lights above their heads flickered. Lucifer, despite looking shocked, grinned. "The Angel of Death. She's here."
A wind blew through the warehouse, chilling all of those inside. A cloaked white figure, with the wings of an angel, floated in. The creature was nothing but wisps of light, but was altogether unsettling. It turned to Dean and moved swiftly towards him. It came for the firstborns, and the firstborns it should get.
"NO!" Tara cried, reaching out her hand. The figure turned from Dean and looked at Tara. Tara stared down at her own hand, which was grasping the Angel's wrist, and was glowing.
"That's impossible," Lucifer stuttered. "You shouldn't be able to do that."
The Angel struggled to get out of Tara's grasp, but couldn't. The pounding in the teens head was getting stronger and stronger, and all at once, she knew what she had to do. She closed her eyes, and gave in.
The Winchesters stared at the girl in front of them, holding the Angel of Death hostage. Tara opened her eyes again, but this time they were glowing with a fierce intensity, a sparkling, unnatural color, an intense emerald-gold. She looked at the Winchesters, and cried, "Close your eyes!"
Sam and Dean, out of pure instinct, shut their eyes, and just in time too, for a blinding light lit up the dark room. The Angel of Death screamed in agony as the light ripped her apart. The spell in the middle of the room was completely destroyed as well, leaving nothing but ashes.
The light faded, and Lucifer saw what had been done. "NO!" He screamed, furious. He looked Tara in her glowing eyes, and said, "You're going to pay for that."
Motioning to his demons, he yelled, "Get her!"
The demons rushed forward, but a power pushed them backwards. The ground began to tremble and the whole warehouse threatened to come down. The lightbulbs began to shatter and thunder and lightning began to flash overhead.
The demons and Lucifer stared in awe as the lightning flashes revealed a magnificent sight. The shadows of wings unfolded around Tara, stretching from wall to wall, shielding both Winchesters. It was powerfully beautiful, and the demons were profoundly scared and tried to run. Tara lifted her arms, the light around her hands beginning to glow red. With a yell, she pushed the light forward. It went through the demons, pulling out the dark smoke from their bodies and gathering it in the air. The smoke ignited, and the sounds of a hundred dying demons echoed through the concrete halls.
Lucifer was livid. "So that's how you want to play, huh?" With a flick of his hand, he sent her flying into the wall. She was back on her feet surprisingly quickly, cracking her knuckles and her neck. She snapped her fingers and an angel blade appeared in her hand. She launched herself at Lucifer, striking his cheek with the blade before he blocked her attack. She dropped to the ground and swung her legs, causing him to slightly lose his balance and fall to his knee.
"ENOUGH!" He screamed, lifting her up in the air, cutting off her air supply. Tara felt herself beginning to choke as the air left her. She looked over at the boys, who had been watching, speechless. She looked at Sam, and gave him a half smile and a wink. She snapped her fingers, and suddenly the boys found themselves sitting in the front seat of the Impala.
"Very clever, but your Winchesters will never be able to save you." Lucifer grimaced as he tightened his hold.
The light began to gather around Tara, and for a second Tara cherished the look of pure surprise on the devil's face. Then she let loose, and her world exploded.
Sam and Dean heard the explosion and had taken off down the street. They watched in shock as the dust of the now-demolished warehouse rose into the sky. What had been a building minutes before was now a pile of rubble.
"Tara!" Dean yelled, jumping into the pile, turning over rocks and stones. Sam stood still, shell-shocked, praying that they hadn't lost another friend. "Cas?!" Dean called out for their angel friend in vain. "Anyone?!"
They heard a whooshing sound behind them. They both turned, staring at the dust covered teenage girl, or what they thought was a teenage girl, standing in front of them.
She gave them a small smile, taking a step forward, but stumbling. Tara swayed unsteadily, her legs unable to hold her. With an exhausted smile still on her face, her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she collapsed to the ground, unmoving.
Sam, who had been silent this whole time, finally spoke, "What the hell?!"
A/N: A new episode of supernatural premieres tonight! I'm planning on doing something with this story that they were planning to do on the show, but it will definitely vary at least a little bit from the new episodes. I had this idea first, but I guess the writers of the show had the same idea. Anyway, enjoy the premiere tonight, and check back soon for an update!