Chapter Eight

Oh, I know! I know! I'm a bad girl. Holidays and then end of the year wrap up for my accounting job (that was fun) and then moving and then trying to find a second job. Ugh! I finally started writing again!

Four months later, and Dean's new powers still had not gone away. He seemed to be getting the hang of things, though. His strength, speed and skill were coming in real handy on their hunts. Although, it came as a real downside when Dean started beating on Sam during his hallucination caused by the ghost sickness.

In the past four months, they had beaten back the Witnesses, traveled back in time and uncovered the truth about their family and the Yellow-Eyed Demon, hunted a rugaru, taken down a psycho shapeshifter, dealt with a rogue case of ghost sickness, banished Samhain back to hell, destroyed a wishing well, helped an angel-turned-human turn back into an angel, and—oh, yeah—discovered why Castiel had raised Dean: to stop Lillith from breaking the seals and freeing Lucifer from hell.

During that time, they had been searching nonstop for an answer to what had happened to Dean. Two months after Dean had come back, they had finally found an answer in one of Bobby's many lore books.

Two months ago…

"Ha-ha!" Dean laughed as he skidded to a stop at the edge of the woods on Bobby's property. "Woo!"

Sam jogged into view, coming to a stop next to Dean and putting his hands on his hips. "Not fair. You got those abilities and stuff. That's cheating."

"Aw, you're just jealous that I can kick your ass blindfolded and hands tied behind my back," Dean smirked at him.

Sam shoved him in the shoulder as Dean laughed.

"Boys!"

Sam and Dean glanced over to see Bobby standing on the front porch.

"You might wanna take a look at this!" Bobby called.

Dean glanced over at Sam. "Race ya." He took off running towards the house.

Sam watched his brother, whose legs were almost a blur as he ran.

How is he not winded by now? Sam thought as he caught his breath and followed after Dean.

Sam arrived in the living room to find Bobby sitting at his desk and Dean leaning against the entryway to the kitchen with a beer in hand.

"'Bout time, slow poke," Dean said. "Pull up a chair."

Sam fondly shook his head as he sat on the couch.

"Alright, Bobby, what do we got?" asked Dean. "Seal thirty-five?"

"No, this has nothing to do with Lillith or the apocalypse," Bobby told him. "It's about you."

"Oh, even better," muttered Dean.

Bobby pulled a large tome out of a pile of books that read "Vampyr" on the cover and opened it to a marked passage.

"Now, it doesn't mention anything about going to hell, but it's the closest thing to what happened to you that I could find," said Bobby. "Ages ago—before the first hunter picked up his silver sword—a group of men called the Guardians sought a way to fight the 'forces of darkness.' They took a young slave girl and imbued her with the power of a demon."

"They had a demon possess her?" asked Sam in surprise.

"Not possess her," Bobby clarified. "They took the essence of a demon—its strength, speed, skill—and put it in this girl. They called her the Vampire Slayer. It was her job to use the demon's strength to fight the forces of evil in this world."

"So, they basically violated this girl just so she could do their dirty work for 'em?" said Dean, huffing in annoyance. "Self-righteous dicks."

"Well, that's how the legend goes," said Bobby. "There's no evidence the Slayer was ever actually created…until now."

Dean frowned at him. "Wait, you're not seriously suggesting that I'm the Slayer."

Sam nodded. "It makes sense."

"How?" asked Dean.

"Well, people who go to hell become demons if they're there long enough, right?" speculated Sam. "So, maybe having been pulled out before you could fully turn gave you this essence of a demon thing. I mean, you are the first one to actually be pulled out of hell."

Dean shook his head. "No, no, no. That is not what this is."

"Well, then, you come up with a theory," Bobby shot at him. "Your strength, your reflexes, the way you can recognize a demon in an instant…It looks like this Slayer myth might actually be true now."

"Oh, come on!" said Dean, frowning. "Really? That's just…so gay."

Sam struggled to hold in his laughter.

"Shut up!" Dean hissed at him.

Now…

Dean stood at the table in the motel room, searching through his duffel. "Okay, not funny, Sam. Where'd you put it?"

"Why would I take your gun?" Sam said as he sat at the table with his laptop. "We have dozens of them."

"I don't know," grumbled Dean, digging into the last corners of his bag. "All I know is, it's not here."

"Then maybe it's in the trunk," Sam suggested.

Dean paused long enough to give him a look. "It's not in the trunk. I never leave my gun lying around."

"Well, I don't know," shrugged Sam. "All I know is, I don't have it."

Dean sighed as he straightened back up, hands on his hips. "Great." He glanced over at Sam's bed and spotted his duffel.

"What are you doing?" asked Sam as Dean headed for the duffel and unzipped it.

"Checking your bag," Dean told him simply.

Sam jumped to his feet, heading for the bed as Dean dug in the bag. "I told you, I don't have it." He grabbed for the bag just as Dean latched onto something it.

Dean pulled his ivory-gripped pistol out of the bag and held it up in front of Sam, glaring at him. "I think someone owes somebody an apology."

Sam stared at the gun, frowning. "I told you I didn't take it, and I meant it. I don't know how it got in there. Maybe you put it in there."

Dean lowered the gun. "Why would I put my gun in your bag?"

"Well, the bags look the same," said Sam. "Maybe you were tired."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure, Sammy, I was tired."

Sam sighed as he went back to the table and his research.

Dean glanced over at Sam. "Maybe we should mark 'em or something."

Sam looked up at him.

"You know, with a Sharpie or tags or something," Dean suggested.

Sam shrugged. "Whatever."

Dean frowned suddenly, turning towards the rest of the room.

"What?" asked Sam.

"Heads up, Cas is coming," said Dean.

They heard a flutter of wings, and Castiel appeared at the motel room door, looking between the two of them.

"You know, that just gets creepier the more you do it," Sam told Dean.

Dean shrugged with a smirk. "Hey, it's a gift."

The first few times Dean had got that feeling, he had vaguely remembered it from when Castiel had tried appearing to him just after he came back. The next moment, Castiel had suddenly appeared in the room. After a while, Dean had come to recognize that sixth sense for what it was and knew the angel was about to come to them.

"How's it hanging, Cas?" asked Dean.

Castiel frowned. "How's what hanging?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "It's an expression. It means, 'what's up'?"

Castiel frowned even further.

"Ugh, never mind," muttered Dean. "You need something?"

"I came to warn you about a seal," Castiel told him. "Lillith is trying to break it as we speak."

"Okay, what seal?" asked Dean. "Where?"

"North and Claymont," Castiel answered.

"That's here in town," said Sam.

Castiel nodded stiffly. "'New blood under a new sky brings light.'"

Dean frowned. "What does that mean?"

Castiel's head shifted to the side somewhat, listening to something. "I must go."

"No, wait, wait!" said Dean, but Castiel had already disappeared. "Son of a bitch! How are we supposed to know what we're stopping?"

"Okay, 'new sky,' that's gotta be the new moon," said Sam. "There's one tonight. Then 'brings light,' Lucifer means 'light-bringer.' That's just referring to the fact that it's a seal on Lucifer's cage. And then 'new blood…' I don't know. Maybe a murder?"

"Well, let's go find out," said Dean, grabbing his gun and jacket and heading for the door as Sam followed him.

*************************************************************Supernatural*************************************************

The Impala pulled up to the intersection of North and Claymont, and Dean parked the car. The brothers got out and pulled some salt guns and Ruby's knife out of the trunk.

"What are you grabbing a machete for?" asked Sam.

Dean shrugged, tying the machete to his side. "Better safe than sorry."

Sam closed the trunk, and they headed down the street a little, looking all around for anything related to "new blood."

"This is ridiculous," muttered Dean, his gun hand stuffed into his jacket pocket as they passed a few people. "Why can't Cas ever just tell us what we have to do? Freaking angels and their cryptic bullshit."

"We'll find it," Sam muttered back. "Just shut up and hunt." He looked over across the street as they made their way past an alley.

Dean froze on the sidewalk, head turning towards the alley as that sixth sense sprang into existence once again.

Sam realized Dean wasn't with him anymore and headed back to him. "What is it?"

"There's something down there," Dean mumbled.

"Something?" asked Sam.

Dean nodded, pulling his gun out. "Definitely."

The two of them made their way down the alley, canvassing the shadows for anything out of the ordinary. As they neared the end of it, they heard someone struggling and spotted a man standing over a young woman, face planted on her neck.

Dean charged forward. "Hey!"

The man looked up at them, causing them to freeze in their tracks.

"What the…" mumbled Dean.

The guy had blood running down his chin from his mouth, so Dean's first thought was vampire, but this wasn't like any vampire he had ever seen before. Instead of a second set of teeth, this guy had actual fangs. His eyes were a demonic yellow, and his forehead was all bumpy and rigid.

Taking a chance, Dean raised his gun and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the maybe-vampire in the forehead, knocking him back against the alley wall behind him. Sam rushed towards the girl as she stumbled out of the guy's clutches.

Dean rushed towards the vampire as he regained his balance and turned to Sam and the girl. Dean punched him several times as Sam ushered the girl towards the alley entrance. Dean muscled all the power he could into his legs and jumped, aiming a kick at the vampire's head. As Dean landed effortlessly and the vampire hit the alley wall, the vampire glared at him.

"Slayer?" said the vampire. "But you're not—"

Dean grabbed him by the throat, throwing him to the alley's gravel floor. He grabbed a splintered-off two-by-four nearby and raised it above his head so he could pin the vampire to the ground and then cut his head off with the machete. For some reason, instinct took hold of Dean and aimed the board five inches higher. Dean rammed the board through the vampire's breastplate and into his heart. In the split second that Dean then began reaching for the machete, the vampire's skin turned to ash before his whole body crumbled into dust.

Dean stared at the ground where the board was jammed straight into it, not sure if he was seeing things or not. Did that just really happen?

Sam came to a stop next to Dean. "What happened? Where is he?"

Dean slowly looked up at Sam, a frown on his face. "I…staked him."

"Staked him?" asked Sam, looking down at the wood in the ground. "As in, a stake to the heart? I thought the only way to kill a vampire was to cut their head off."

"So did I, but you ever seen a vampire look like that before?" asked Dean.

Sam shook his head, digging in his pocket and pulling out his cell phone. "I'm calling Bobby. Maybe he'll know."

Dean pulled himself to his feet. "Well, I do know one thing."

Sam put the phone to his ear. "What?"

"That thing called me the Slayer," said Dean. "Looks like Bobby was right."

"Bobby Singer," he answered on the other line.

"Hey, Bobby," said Sam. "We're on a hunt, and we just ran into a vampire that…well, wasn't a normal vampire. Dean just dusted him."

"Dusted?" said Bobby. "Huh…Well, that's a new one."

"New breed of vampire?" asked Sam.

"No, an old one," said Bobby. "Vampires of popular folklore—you know, sunlight burns, stake to the heart kills, holy water, crosses—actually did exist before one mated with a human. That child started the vampires we know today. I didn't know any of the old ones still existed. I thought they'd been wiped out long ago."

"Okay, and, uh, he called Dean the Slayer," said Sam. "We're thinking your theory might be right."

"Well, I could've told you that, ya idjit," said Bobby. "Shag ass back to my place. I got a new hunt for ya." He hung up.

Sam put his phone away.

"What'd Bobby say?" asked Dean.

"I'll tell you in the car," Sam told him. "Bobby wants us at his place."

*******************************************************Supernatural************************************************************

Willow Rosenberg sat staring at the crystals set on the dining room table in front of her. She just couldn't believe what she had seen with that spell. She had been afraid of something like this ever since the spell that brought her best friend Buffy Summers back had created a demon that tried to kill her. She had been hoping that had been the only consequence of the spell she, her girlfriend Tara Maclay, her best friend Xander Harris and his girlfriend Anya Jenkins had performed. Willow knew she didn't have a choice now; she had to tell the others.

She got up and headed towards the living room, where Buffy, Tara, Xander, Anya and Buffy's little sister Dawn were hanging out in the living room watching a movie. Buffy, Tara and Dawn were on the couch, and Anya and Xander were cuddled together in the lounger.

Willow stood in the doorway, wringing her hands nervously. "Um…guys?"

They all looked up at Willow.

"Hey, Will," said Buffy. "Come join the party. We have another seat…somewhere." She looked around for anything that could be used as a seat.

"Here, we'll make room," said Dawn, scooting over practically into her sister's lap.

"I need to talk to you guys," said Willow.

Buffy picked up the remote and turned off the movie.

"What'd you do that for?" asked Anya. "The annoying fat man was just about to be eaten by a dinosaur."

"Willow wants to talk to us, sweetie," Xander told her.

"Oh," said Anya, turning towards Willow with a sweet, fake smile. "Please, continue with your story."

"O-okay," said Willow, staring at her. She looked at the others. "I've been keeping an eye out for anything…out of the ordinary."

"Will, our whole lives are out of the ordinary," Xander pointed out.

"You know what I mean," said Willow. "Something out of our ordinary. And…well…there's something I picked up on."

"What is it, sweetie?" asked Tara.

"Well, ever since that demon we…created tried to kill Buffy, I've been doing spells regularly to watch for anything else like it," Willow explained. "And…I've found something."

Buffy leaned forward, interested. "Not another demon—"

"No, no!" said Willow quickly. She then frowned. "Well, at least I don't think so. I mean, it can't be—"

"Willow, get to the point," said Xander.

"Right," said Willow. "There's this energy I've locked on to. I don't think it's anything like what happened with that spell, because I've traced it all the way back to the day you…you know…died."

Buffy frowned. "So, something that got loose when Glory opened the portal?"

"I don't think so," said Willow. "It didn't pop up until after the portal was closed. There's this energy that appears in Sunnydale and heads for Illinois. Then, over the last four months, it's jumped all over the place. First, it's in Illinois, then South Dakota, then back to Illinois—it's going all over the country. And then I got to thinking. If it didn't appear until the portal closed, that was when you died, Buffy."

"And?" said Dawn.

"Well, when Buffy died four years ago, the next Slayer was called even though Buffy came right back," said Willow. "It would stand to reason that another Slayer would be called if Buffy died again. I mean, she is still the Slayer."

"So, you think this energy you found is Buffy's successor?" asked Tara.

Willow nodded. "I think so. And it looks like she's on the road. You know, going wherever the call of evil takes her."

"And we're concerned about this, why?" asked Anya.

"Anya—" began Xander.

"No, really," said Anya. "I mean, it's nice that Willow discovered another Slayer in the world, but why is she telling us? I kind of figured that was gonna happen anyway."

"Well, we haven't had much luck with new Slayers," said Willow. "I mean, Kendra tried to kill Buffy because no one knew there were now two Slayers, and then Faith, well…"

They all knew what Willow meant by that; Faith had turned into a psychopath. Buffy still wasn't very comfortable with the subject, even though Faith was now doing penance in a Los Angeles prison. Faith had once switched bodies with Buffy, which nearly got Buffy put in Watcher's jail in London. To add insult to injury, Faith then screwed Buffy's boyfriend while in her body.

"So, what are you saying?" asked Buffy.

"I think we should talk to this girl," said Willow. "We should know what we're dealing with."

"Alright, road trip!" exclaimed Dawn.

"Oh, no, not you," said Buffy. "You have school."

"But Buffy—" began Dawn.

"No buts," said Buffy. "You are not missing anymore school."

Dawn pouted, crossing her arms. "I never get to do anything fun."

"Alright, I'm road food guy!" said Xander, pulling himself and Anya to their feet.

"Well, that's just it," said Willow as Buffy and Tara stood also. "We don't have to hit the road."

"Why not?" asked Tara.

Willow hesitated. "Because she's headed right for us."