(I somewhat feel that Creedy and Kubrick were somewhat out of character in this chapter but in my defense the two of them are pissed off from being humiliated by the Winchesters and shot by Bela. But then again it made no sense in the normal episode where Creedy isn't around at all and why Bela just betrayed the boys without even warning them of Gordon. She could have at least called them up after her deal but I suppose then the episode wouldn't have been very exciting.)
Shelton, Connecticut
Bela's luck seemed to be on a roll as of late. First she sold the Hand of Glory and survived thanks to the Winchesters and now a few days later, what started as a wild goose chase finally paid off. An old contact of her's found some sort of grimoire that dealt with possession and tons of other demonic lore. With less than a year left before her deal comes due, Bela had been scrounging up whatever information she could buy on demons and how to get out of a deal with one. This grimoire supposedly had a ton of information on Crossroad Demons and that really perked her interest.
Her contact, Mark, seemed on edge when they met underneath an old wooden bridge at night. Bela's first thought was this was a set up but after examining the book and confirming it looked genuine, Mark took her money and left without incident. So book in hand, Bela headed back to her car thinking everything was fine. Until she could see a figure coming up behind her. Bela was about to draw a pistol concealed inside a pocket in her jacket when she noticed two more men coming up from around her car and aiming their own pistols at her.
"Bollocks," Bela cursed as she raised her hands. So Mark set her up after all. She should have followed her instincts but she was too desperate to get her hands on the book. One of the men, dark skinned and bald, quickly patted her down and pulled out the gun in her jacket and the one hidden on her ankle. He also retrieved two knifes Bela kept hidden up her sleeves. "It's rude to sneak up on people," Bela quipped as she put on a calm demeanor.
"Bela Talbot?" the man who searched her asked.
Bela turned, hands still raised. "You have me at a disadvantage. I don't know you or your friends," she stated.
"Gordon Walker," the man answered. "My friends here are Kubrick and Creedy. You might remember him a few weeks back in Buffalo," he pointed them out.
"You shot me bitch," snapped Creedy. Bollocks she did remember them. This just keeps getting worse and worse. Not only was Bela dealing with a psychotic hunter who was supposed to be in jail but he was out and working with two people she really pissed off.
"Because I thought you were going to shoot me," Bela snapped back at him.
"That's enough," Gordon spoke. He didn't yell but just his voice alone caused everyone to shut up. There was something was terrifying about that. "Believe it or not we're not actually here to hurt you. We just want to know where the Winchesters boys are."
"What makes you think I know?" frowned Bela.
"We saw a newspaper picture of you and Dean at the Sea Pines Museum the night it was robbed," answered Kubrick. Damn it, someone took a picture of her and she didn't even know it. Bela got careless during that job. Maybe if she spent more time minding her surroundings and not Dean's tuxedo, she wouldn't be in this mess.
"Alright I was with them," admitted Bela. "But I dumped them soon afterwards to sell the artifact we took. I don't know where they are now."
Kubrick glared at her. "You're lying."
"I do that quite often darling but this is the rare exception," retorted Bela.
"Try again," Gordon told her as he aimed a pistol at her. Bela had no doubt he wasn't going to kill her. You can't get information from a corpse. Well Bela could but she doubted these hunters could. But that didn't mean they wouldn't torture her to get what they wanted so it was best not to antagonize him.
"Calm down. What's so pressing about finding the boys anyway?" asked Bela.
"Sam Winchester's the Antichrist," Gordon responded.
Bela had to bite her tongue to not burst into laughter. Really? Sam Winchester. From what she heard about him, he couldn't step on a grasshopper without crying. "Right and Dean Winchester is the Easter Bunny," she said trying to keep a straight face.
"It's the truth," said Kubrick.
"Are you all off your meds?" Bela asked. This whole situation was becoming more ridiculous by the moment.
Gordon wasn't amused. "The world hangs in the balance so you go ahead and be a smart-ass. But if you don't tell me where they are I shoot," he threatened.
Bela needed to think of a way out of this. It wasn't like she had any loyalty to the Winchesters but they saved her once and she might need their help in the future so she wasn't about to get them killed. But she wasn't going to die for them either so for the moment she stalled. "Boys we don't know each other very well so let me tell you a little something about me. I don't respond well to threats but if you make me an offer and I think you'll find me highly cooperative," she said.
"Okay then," Gordon glared at her. "How about you tell me where they are or I kill you now?" Did he really expect her to fall for that?
"Kill me. Good luck finding Sam and Dean," Bela challenged him. She knew the moment of frustration shown on his face, she'd won. Gordon exchanged glances with his two friends and Bela knew she was safe at least for the moment.
"I can wrangle up three grand," Gordon finally spoke.
"Gordon!" protested Creedy.
"No he's right Creedy," said Kubrick.
Bela let the two of them argue for a minute while she considered her options. Three grand was virtually insulting to someone like her but if she refused, things might get a lot worse. Then she noticed a bag on Gordon's belt and a plan formed in her mind. This might actually be worth enduring this whole fiasco. "Give me the mojo bag and we'll call it even," Bela said quickly. A hex bag like that might be worth quite a lot to the right buyer.
"Oh hell no. This thing's a century old. It's…" Gordon started to protest.
"Priceless. I know." Bela finished his own sentence. "Now how badly do you want the Winchesters?"
"C'mon Gordon. You can't possibly agree to this," Creedy groaned. Kubrick said nothing but he was clearly not happy over this. Seeing no other choice, Gordon pulled the bag off his belt and tossed at Bela. She caught her prize and smiled as she pulled out her cell phone.
"Put it on speaker," Gordon ordered.
Bela couldn't believe what she was about to do but she was going to give up the Winchesters while warning them. Anyone else, she would have simply sold them out but Bela might need the boys in the future. They were after all the only people who'd risk their own lives to save her. She dialed Dean's number and waited three rings before she got an answer, putting it on speaker. "Hello?" grunted Dean on the other end.
"Hello Dean. Where are you?" Bela asked as cheerfully as she possibly could.
"Bela. What the hell do you want?" Dean sighed.
"Remember that offer you gave me a few days ago about showing me a good time?" Bela asked. Of course she was the one who offered him something and that was angry sex but Dean was the only other person who knew otherwise. She just hoped he wasn't stupid enough to figure this all out. "I decided to take you up on your offer." Bela quickly blurted out before Dean could say a word.
There was silence on the other end. "What made you change your mind?" Dean asked. Thank god he wasn't a complete idiot.
"I'm in a good mood and I feel like celebrating. Where are you?" replied Bela.
"Just so happens I'm celebrating as well. Hittin the tables in Atlantic City," answered Dean.
Bela rolled her eyes, "Glad you're putting the money I gave you to good use."
"Yeah well you pop in and I'll put it to good use for you," chuckled Dean.
"That was the worst proposition line I've ever heard. You're lucky I'm in a good mood. Now where are you?" asked Bela.
"Lucky Slevin Motel off Route 30. Room 107," Dean informed her and judging from the look of Gordon and his goons, they were buying Dean's acting. Good thing because he was completely terrible. Thank god he wasn't an actor.
"See you in a few hours," Bela told him before hanging up.
Instantly Kubrick had a gun in her face. "You warned him didn't you?" he accused her.
"And when exactly did I do that?" Bela challenged him.
"I don't know but I'm sure you warned him somehow," Kubrick glared at her. Judging from Creedy's face, he was buying it but he wasn't the problem. All that mattered was if Gordon believed her.
"Tell you what Bela. If you're information leads us to the Winchesters, I'll let you walk away free and clear. You can even keep the hex bag. But if you're lying and you warned him then you'll just have to be bait. Either way you're coming with us," said Gordon.
"Bollocks," Bela cursed again.
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Dean hung up and noticed Sam staring at him flabbergasted in their motel room. "Are you serious?" he scoffed. Dean lied that he was hitting the tables at the casinos. That's how it all started until a damn vampire had to start killing people in the city. They tracked her down and shot her up with dead man's blood. But things got worse when they interrogated her and found all this happened after she was given some kind of unknown drug. Some vampire was finding random drug addicts and feeding them his own blood. Sam and Dean were about to go hunting when Bela called.
"Pack your things," Dean ordered him. He quickly started grabbing all of his belongings and throwing them into his gym bag.
"What?" asked Sam.
"Bela just warned us. Someone or something's coming. The way she was talking it was if someone had a gun to her head," said Dean. He wasn't sure what was going on but he knew they couldn't sit in here waiting for the slaughter.
"Wait a minute. If someone's coming then we've got the upper hand. We set up a few cameras and wait until it shows up," suggested Sam.
"And then deal with it," agreed Dean.
"What about Bela? You think she's alright? " asked Sam. That had to be the first time he sounded genuinely concerned over her well-being.
"She can handle herself Sam. Besides there's nothing we can do for her even if she's in trouble until whatever this thing shows up," answered Dean.
"Are you sure Bela wasn't just screwing with you?" grumbled Sam in the Impala. Dean was seated next to him and they were both getting impatient. They set up a wireless camera in their hotel room, synced the video stream in Sam's laptop, and waited in the Impala for whatever was gunning for them. That was six hours ago and there wasn't as much as a ripple in the window blinds.
"Sammy I swear if you ask me that one more time I'm going to stick my foot so far up your…" Dean started to threaten his brother when they noticed movement on the doorknob in their hotel room. The door slowly opened, revealing the last person they were expecting. Gordon Walker, gun in hand, stepped inside. "Oh son of a bitch," groaned Dean.
"I guess he got out of prison," sighed Sam. They watched Gordon slowly sweep through their room then another man soon joined him. Sam recognized him as Kubrick, one of the guys Gordon sent after them around the time they got the rabbit's foot.
"Great. He brought one of his trained monkeys," commented Dean. He pulled out his pistol and popped out its clip, checking how much ammo he had. "Sam I hate to say this but…." He started to explain like this was a difficult thing to do.
"We kill him and his friends," Sam interrupted him as he pulled out his pistol and ammo checked. Dean threw him a look, not exactly what he was expecting to hear from his younger brother. "They're never going to stop trying to kill us until they are dead Dean so it's us or them."
"Well…yeah but I just thought you'd be against killing humans," admitted a confused Dean.
"Not today," said Sam.
"Okay then," shrugged Dean. They both got out of the car and headed around the alley towards their hotel room. Hopefully they'd catch Gordon and his goons unaware and put a few rounds into them before disposing of the bodies outside of town. Their room was on the ground floor with the only windows next to the door, meaning there was only one real way out. Gordon and Kubrick were boxed in a kill zone and didn't even know it.
The brothers split up and used parked cars for cover as they got closer. Neither of their targets emerged, probably scouring through the room for any clues. Hopefully that would keep them distracted long enough for Sam and Dean to finish them off. They were maybe fifty feet away from the door when Sam noticed a pedestrian moving through the parking lot. It wasn't until he saw a gun being raised that the man was Creedy, Gordon's other goon. "Dean look out!" Sam shouted.
Instantly shots rang out. Bullets whizzed past Sam's head as he took cover. He returned fire, forcing Creedy to hide behind a nearby car. So much for catching Gordon and Kubrick off guard. Speaking of which, the two of them came running out shooting. What started as a trap had turned against the brothers. "Hey ass hats over here!" Dean shouted, taking a few shots at Gordon. He took off running the opposite direction of Sam.
"Dean!" Sam shouted but his older brother wasn't listening. Kubrick and Creedy raced off after Dean but Gordon ignored him. He had his eyes dead set on Sam, advancing as he fired away. Gordon was barely missing and Sam didn't want that to change, taking off running towards a chain-link fence. Bullets whizzed by him as he scaled over it. He continued running into an alley and turned to check on his pursuer. To his surprise, Gordon was gone. Walker was a hunter and there's no way he would have lost Sam so easily. Unless something else got his attention.
Sam made his way back towards the hotel parking lot and was surprised to see Gordon nowhere in sight. His first instinct was that Gordon was setting a trap for him but everywhere he checked a possible ambush position, there was nothing. A new problem emerged as police sirens were heard in the distance. Someone must have called the cops and who could blame them after that little shootout. Sam quickly made himself scarce and hoped Dean was alright.
Dean groaned as he regained consciousness. The last thing he remembered was getting the drop on one of Gordon's goons, pounding his face on a concrete pavement after the two of them knocked each others weapon away. Then something hit him in the back of the head and he woke up here. Wherever here was, Dean found himself lying on his back staring up at a ceiling which looked like it belonged to an RV. His hands were bound behind him and the back of his head was throbbing in pain.
"He's awake," announced a voice, one of the Gordon's goons. Dean was grabbed by the shoulders and lifted to his feet before being shoved onto a mattress. Finally getting a good view of the room, Dean's instincts about this being an RV were right. It was covered in Jesus paraphernalia and crosses. Funny how the religious types could be so violent. Both of Gordon's trained monkeys were present but the boss himself was nowhere to seen.
"Where's Gordon?" demanded one of them, the older of the two with blond hair.
"Excuse me?" frowned Dean. That got him a punch to the gut.
"Don't get cute with me. What did your brother do to Gordon?" snapped Blondie. Looks like things weren't so bad after all. If Sam managed to take out Gordon, that just left these two. Of course Dean first needed to get himself out of this mess first.
"At your mother's house. I don't want to be one to judge but I think she's a little into the dead kinky…." chuckled Dean before he got a punch to the face. "Do that one more time. See what happens," Dean threatened Blondie.
"I've got a better idea. Creedy go get the girl," said Blondie. Creedy, the somewhat overweight dumb looking guy with a goatee, headed towards the door and left the trailer. Dean didn't need to be told who they were talking about. At least Bela was alive albeit for the moment. A minute later, Creedy returned with a very angry Bela. Her hands were tied behind her back and her hair was a mess.
"Hello Dean. I've waiting to do this," Bela said. Suddenly, she turned and lashed out with one of her elbows catching Dean in the face. She must have got him good because the next thing he knew, Dean was lying on the floor with a pain ridden jaw. "That's for getting me into this mess! I just spent the past few hours in a bloody car trunk!" Bela shouted at him, being restrained by Creedy.
"Nice to see you too," groaned Dean.
"Alright that's enough!" snapped Blondie who shoved Bela onto the mattress while Creedy helped Dean up and sat him down right next to Bela.
"Could be the concussion you gave me but I love your hair," chuckled Dean. Bela gave him a death glare.
"Alright enough flirting you two now how do you get in touch with your brother?" demanded Creedy.
"Sorry buddy but he doesn't swing on your side of the fence. You could always try online dating," mocked Dean. Creedy punched him in the stomach. Winchester was really starting to get pissed off. "I am going to kill you."
"Your brother's not answering his phone but you probably know that don't you?" Blondie glared at him. "Ditched it to make sure no one could trace him."
"Poppa didn't raise no fool," smirked Dean. They could use Dean's cellphone directory to track down Sam's number but it wouldn't do them much good. It was a lesson Dad taught them a long time ago. If it looks like one of the two was killed or captured, the other turns off their phone. That way whatever's hunting them can't track them with it.
Blondie suddenly pulled out a knife and grabbed Bela by the hair to pull her to her feet, sticking the knife under her neck. "Now you are going to tell me where that monster you call a brother is or I am going to split her open from ear to ear," Blondie threatened. Bela gave Dean a look, her eyes begging him to say something.
"Just hang on alright. If you want see your buddy again then you better put that knife down. Sam will kill Gordon if anything happens to even one of us," Dean warned. It seemed to work as Blondie put away the knife and then roughly shoved Bela back onto the mattress. Dean took the angry glare she gave him as her own way of saying thank you.
Blondie turned to Creedy. "Keep an eye on them and don't kill them. We might need them for leverage if Sam has Gordon," he ordered.
"Just where do you think you're going?" demanded Creedy.
"I'm going to head to local police station and get an APP circulated. The cops might actually be useful for once," answered Blondie before he left. And now there were three. Creedy kept a gun trained on Bela and Dean while he took a seat in a chair.
"So what's the plan?" whispered Bela.
"I'm thinking," mumbled Dean.
"We're screwed," growled Bela. Dean glared at her. "Honestly the more time I spent around you and your brother, the more I realize the legend of you two is vastly overrated."
"Our overrated asses saved yours just a few days ago. Can't say I surprised you need my help once again," shot back Dean.
"I'm in this mess because of you. If I didn't know you Winchesters, they wouldn't have come after me," snapped Bela.
"Shut up!" shouted Creedy. "I swear you two are worse than watching of an episode of Jerry Springer."
"Oh stay out of this picklepus. You should be grateful I didn't gank you back in that motel room in Buffalo," Dean vented his anger on his captor.
That didn't go over well with Creedy. "I don't know what kind of mojo you people were dabbling with but you've clearly lost it so don't push me."
Bela chimed in, "It was a rabbit's foot actually. I was going to make quite a fortune on it until Abbot here and his partner Sasquatch Costello burned it."
"Who's on first?" chuckled Dean. Bela rolled her eyes.
"Alright enough of the dysfunctional couple routine. Shut your mouths," ordered Creedy, losing his patience.
"Or what? You gonna run into a wall and knock yourself out again?" retorted Dean. Creedy stormed over to him and pistol whipped Dean in the face, knocking him to the floor. Dean was really getting tired of getting pounded every time he opened his mouth and yet he refused to shut up. Maybe he was just too stupid but he never backed down from a fight.
"Keep your mouth shut or the next time I'm gonna…," Creedy warned him before he gasped, his body twitching before falling right down on top off Dean and unfortunately, the man was quite heavy.
"Oh dammit," groaned Dean. He glanced up to see Bela with her hands free clenching a bloody knife. The same knife Blondie threatened to kill her with. She must have pickpocketed the man before he left and stabbed Creedy in the back of the head first chance she got. "You actually pickpocketed that?"
"Of course Dean. My main problem was waiting until the three stooges separated and I only had to deal with one of them. You provided a wonderful distraction by the way. Making friends must come naturally for you," chuckled Bela. She picked up Creedy's pistol and checked the amount of ammo in it.
"Uhh…a little help here," moaned Dean. Bela took her sweet time rolling Creedy off Dean and then didn't bother helping him up. Dean sighed in annoyance as he was forced to get to his feet by himself with his hands still bound. Bela cut Dean's hands free then headed towards the sick to wash the blood of her own hands. Normally Dean would lay into her for killing a human being but this bastard wanted to kill them. The truth was that he should have been killed the first time Dean had a chance to do it then they wouldn't be in this mess. At least it was one down and two to go.
After breaking into a local tarot reader's store and procuring a few items, Dean and Bela arrived at Sam's hotel room. It was at a motel the Winchesters agreed to fall back to if they were separated and their old motel room was compromised. Sam had the whole place barricaded and needed to move some furniture just to let the two of them inside. "So Bela's alright I see," he commented.
"Nice to see you too Sam. Give us some good news and tell us Gordon's taking a dirt nap," replied Bela.
"I don't know where he is," said Sam.
Bela sighed, "Am I the only one in this room that actually accomplishes anything?"
"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Sam.
"Bela took care of the ugly goatee guy which just leaves the Jesus freak and the big cheese himself," explained Dean.
Bela headed off into a corner while the brothers argued about their recent gun fight with Gordon and his goons. Using a talking board, Bela contacted recently deceased spirits hoping to find any clues on Gordon or Kubrick. She needed them both dead and as quickly as possible. The Winchesters were unfortunately Bela's only real chance of getting out of her deal. She came to accept that after her little brush with death a few days ago with the drowning spirit. There was just something about Dean and Sam risking their lives to protect that had some kind of effect on her. Or maybe it was something else. Bela felt different around Dean the moment she first met him. Anyone else would call it an attraction but Bela always kept her distance from any kind of emotional connection. How could she be with anyone after what happened? Just watching a stupid romance flick would conjure painful memories of her past. Even in his grave, Father still haunts her.
After about twenty minutes, Bela's reading finally paid off. "I've got some good news. Kubrick's spirit is among the deceased. He's not talking much but he's at least he's no longer a problem," she said.
"Great. Hope Jesus freak ends up somewhere very hot," commented Dean.
"Anything about Gordon?" asked Sam.
"Warehouse. Two stories, riverfront, blue neon sign outside. The spirits also said leave town, run like hell, and whatever you do don't go after Gordon," said Bela.
"Well I never was very good at listening," chuckled Dean. The two brothers started gathering up their weapons until they noticed Bela taking a seat. "You coming?" Dean inquired.
"Hell no. This is your mess you got me into. You go clean it up," scoffed Bela.
Dean glared at her. "Fine stay here then," he fumed. Bela watched the Winchesters leave and turned on the television. She doubted there was anything good on but she needed to wait until Gordon was dealt with then she would be on her merry way. Bela didn't want to head back home only for Gordon to eventually track her down. She needed to be sure something like this didn't happen again. Of course that didn't mean she was going to put her ass on the line especially when this was the Winchester's fault in the first place.
Nearly an hour later, Dean and Sam returned. "Don't tell me what you did with the body. Just tell me this is all over," Bela said to them as they came through the door. Judging from the look of their faces, it wasn't over.
"Gordon's a vampire," Sam blurted out.
"Excuse me?" Bela asked, hoping he was joking.
"We were hunting a vampire operating in the city before all of this started. He must have figured out there were hunters in town and managed to get the drop on Gordon. But instead of killing him, Count Chocula in his infinite wisdom decided to turn him into a vampire as some kind of punishment. We took care of the vamp but now Gordon's loose and stronger than ever," explained Dean.
"I guess we know who's responsible for killing Kubrick," sighed Sam.
"This is why you kill people that try to kill you. If you two bloody saints took care of those three when you have the upper hand on them, you wouldn't be in this mess. More importantly I wouldn't be in this with you!" snapped Bela. Dean explained their past encounters with Gordon, Creedy, and Kubrick after they escaped the trailer. More importantly he mentioned they could have killed all three of them at one point or another. Something Bela was sure to lay into them again after this. That is of course if they survive all of this.
"What do you know about vampires?" Dean asked her.
"They're rare but strong as hell and sunlight only gives them a tan. The only way to kill them is cut off their heads," replied Bela.
"Correct princess now you're gonna help us kill one," Dean remarked.
Damn it this was the last thing Bela wanted to get into. Once upon a time she was a hunter and got pretty good at killing things. However Bela wasn't very good at the saving human lives portion of the job. But Gordon was probably after her too so that left only one horrible option. Joining the Winchesters for a monster hunt. "Oh bullocks," Bela groaned.
"Well that was a day of my life I'll never get back," muttered Bela once she got back to the motel room with Dean. Sam was waiting for them there and obviously didn't have to ask whether the other two were successful. After finding Gordon's trailer with Kubrick's body inside, the three of them had split up and searched every motel, warehouse, and empty building they could find. Aside from a few squatters, no one found any clue where the new vampire was.
"It's a big city," muttered Sam.
"It's like a giant haystack and Gordon's a deadly needle," muttered Dean as he headed into the bathroom and washed his face off.
"Speaking of which. Dean nearly got me tetanus after he knocked me down to chase some squatter," Bela added.
"Oh shut up. It was an accident and for all I know it could have been Gordon," grumbled Dean.
"Are you two done flirting because we're running out of daylight," Sam spoke up. That earned him death glares from both his brother and Bela. "And once the sun's down he'll practically be unstoppable," he continued.
"Thank you captain obvious. Anything else you need to lecture us on that we already know?!" snapped Bela. To say that she was in a bad mood was an understatement. Thanks to these two, Bela was now possibly being hunted by a vampire and if he gets her scent then she'll never be safe. So now she was stuck helping Dean and Sam track Gordon down and killing him. Bela got out of the hunting business long ago because she was sick of putting her life on the line for nothing. At least when she was selling rare artifacts, she was getting paid for it.
"She's been like this the whole day. I'm just glad she's not on her period as well," Dean muttered to Sam. Bela was half ready to bolt out the door to give her some time away from the two stooges when she noticed Dean pulling an old colt revolver out of a drawer. "You two stay here."
"What? Where you going?" demanded Sam.
"I'm going after Gordon," stated Dean as he checked the revolver's ammo. Has he gone insane?
"With that peashooter? Dean if you to commit suicide just take some pills," laughed Bela.
Dean held up the pistol. "This smarty pants is the one weapon that can kill him without having to cut his head off," he said.
"You're serious?" frowned Bela.
"Kills everything. Including demons," Dean added. Bela couldn't imagine just how much that gun would sell for but that wasn't her first thought on what she could do with it. If it could kill demons then maybe Bela might finally have found some kind of leverage over the crossroad demons. Of course that meant stealing it and she wasn't prepared to do that just yet. For the moment Bela was content with letting Dean handle it.
"You're not going alone Dean," Sam said firmly.
"Sammy I don't need you to sign me a permission slip okay?" Dean replied. "He's after you, not me or you Bela. And right now he's supercharged. I want you both out of harm's way. I'll take care of it."
"I don't know whether to consider this sweet or stupid. You're going to get yourself killed," sighed Bela.
Dean smiled. "See. You do care about me," he chuckled. Bela rolled her eyes.
"So you're the guy with nothing to lose now huh?" snapped Sam. "Let me guess it's because you're already dead right?"
"What are you talking about?" asked Bela.
"Nothing," Dean said in a tone that meant drop the subject. Whatever was going on was apparently a private subject and they weren't going to discuss it in front of Bela.
"Fine. Have your brotherly chat in private," she grumbled before leaving the room.
Whatever Sam said to Dean apparently did the trick because the plan was to hold up in the hotel room for the night and then resume the search in the morning when it would be safer. Bela thought Dean was finally thinking rationally again but the argument earlier lingered in her mind. Something was going on with Dean and it wasn't good. Maybe he was dying but from what Bela couldn't say. The man seemed as healthy as a horse but then again that didn't mean he had something like maybe cancer or some kind of terminal illness. If so then it seemed Dean and Bela had something in common after all. They were both dying.
After barricading themselves in, the three waited for morning. They all had machetes in their hands or close by in case they had company. But hours passed and nothing happened. Bela was half tempted to ask Dean about his ailment just to pass the time when his cell phone rang which was strange because he just bought it.
"You've had that phone for two hours Dean. Who'd you give the number to?" grumbled Sam.
"Nobody," replied Dean who answered it. "Hello?...How'd you get this number?" He didn't need to tell them who was on the other line. Dean's face said it all. Gordon Walker. Dean made a few insults and offered to even tell Gordon where they were. Bela was about to lay into to him for doing something so reckless until she heard crying on the phone. Judging from Dean's face, he wasn't talking to just Gordon now. "Gordon let the girl go. Don't do this. You don't kill innocent people. You're still a hunter," Dean pleaded but then hung up a moment later.
"What?" asked Sam.
"Gordon's got a hostage. Wants us at an old factory down on Riverside in twenty minutes or he kills her," said Dean.
"Wait a minute. You're not seriously going?" Bela asked as the two started packing their weapons.
"Damn right we are," replied Dean.
"That's suicide. You'll be going after him at night in a building of his own choosing," said Bela.
"You coming or not?" Dean demanded to know impatiently.
"No. You two want to get yourselves killed then so be it but I'm not jumping off the cliff with you," scoffed Bela.
"You realize Gordon will come after you if he kills us," Sam stated.
"I can take care of myself. I've been doing it my whole life," Bela replied.
Now it was Dean's turn to scoff. "Yeah and you do it so well because you only care about yourself. I know you don't give a damn about that girl Gordon's got but just remember it was the two of us who saved you from that ghost in Sea Pines. So just maybe you might want to care about what happens to us since you might need our help again," he said.
Bela stayed exactly where she was seated, not moving an inch. Dean just shook his head and left with Sam. He was right about one thing. Bela didn't give a damn about that hostage. She didn't care whether that person lived or died. As minutes passed, Bela started thinking. Helping people wasn't a habit of hers but so far being selfish got her nowhere in saving her soul. The clock was ticking and while this pistol might just be her last chance, there was no guarantee it could save her. Even if she could kill the hellhounds that would come for her, she was still screwed. It didn't matter if you died days after your deal expired or years later, the destination afterwards was still the same. And just maybe there was something Bela cared about besides herself. Maybe not the hostage but someone else.
Dean groaned as he struggled to get back to his feet. Gordon's hostage turned out to be a vampire and nearly just killed Dean. Luckily he managed to get a shot off with the Colt and the blood sucker was dead. But now Dean was separated from Sam and Gordon was still out there. He made his way around the building back to where he got separated from Sam and found someone killed the lights. Now he was hunting a vampire in the dark. This day just keeps getting better and better.
A sound caught Dean's attention. Like something just ran through a wooden wall. He dashed towards the source and found he was right. Something literally ran through a wall and in the other room Dean saw Gordon tossing Sam into a too rack. Raising the colt, Dean rushed inside and took aim. But Gordon turned around and caught Dean with a right hand and before he knew it he was flying into a wall. The whole room seemed to spin as Dean could hear Sam and Gordon fighting but he was too disoriented to do anything about it.
Then a shape passed by him and a shot rang out. Dean's senses came back to him as he could finally make out what had happened. Gordon's body dropped to the ground, his neck wrapped in barb wire. Sam stood over him but he seemed confused until he noticed something. Dean followed his brother's eye and found Bela with the colt raised in her right hand, smoking from a recent shot. "Glad to see I didn't miss all the fun," she quipped as she took a closer examination of the weapon. "Nice toy," she commented.
Dean got back to his feet and snatched the colt out of her hands. "Don't get any funny ideas," he mumbled to her. Then he noticed a nearby sign that said 183 days with an incident. Dean just shook his head and knocked the numbers down.
"I thought you said you weren't coming with us," said Sam.
"I changed my mind. Someone has to save me from vengeful spirits," shrugged Bela. A smile formed on Dean's face at her comment.
Outside, the Winchesters bandaged themselves up at the Impala while Bela watched in amusement. "I think you can handle yourselves from here boys," she said.
"Where are you headed next?" Sam asked.
"To get my car back. It's probably still sitting in the same spot when I got grabbed. Do me a favor you two and next time some hunters try to kill you, kill them so they don't end up kidnapping me," she said.
"I guess we owe you one. Still in the mood for celebrating?" Dean smirked, making a joke about their phone conversation when Bela warned them.
Bela smiled back. "I've had my fill of this town but don't worry you don't owe me anything." She turned and headed towards a car she "borrowed" to get here. Dean couldn't help but feel this wasn't the last time he was going to see her.
At their motel room, Sam and Dean were exhausted and tired. After getting beat up by a vamped up Gordon and getting no sleep, the two of them didn't exactly look at their peak. Dean was lying on his bed while Sam freshening up in the bathroom. "You know we should at least hit some blackjack tables before we skip town," suggested Dean.
"Be my guest," muttered Sam. Dean headed to the room safe and was thinking about what casino to check out as he entered the combination. He opened it up and didn't find fifty thousand dollars, only a small handwritten note. He picked it up and quickly skimmed through it.
Hello boys. If you're still alive then I wanted you to know I subtracted my fee for helping you out and getting forced into this whole mess. If you're not then I figured I shouldn't let fifty grand go to waste.
Dean finally understood why Bela said they didn't owe her anything earlier. "SON OF A BITCH!"
(If you think this chapter was different from the normal episode, wait until the next one. I was disappointed when in I Dream A Little Dream of Me that they didn't try to utilize the dreamscape as best as they could. But since I don't have to worry about certain things like a TV budget, I'm going to change that. Hope you enjoyed and please review.)
