Demon Blood

Chapter Five: Message

Marian slept all through the day and well into the evening, only waking up to the smell of Bobby frying up some steak for dinner. John noticed her stumbling into the bathroom, and when she reemerged, she looked much more put together than she had upon her arrival that morning.

Dean had stayed outside the entire day, working on the Impala until Bobby yelled at him to come in and eat. Unfortunately, dinner was tense and silent. John knew he should try to get some kind of conversation going, but he wanted only to know what it was Marian had to tell them. Finally, dinner ended and the three men led Marian into Bobby's study, Marian looking incredibly nervous as she took a seat before them.

"It's all right," John finally managed to say, "just tell us at your own pace, okay?"

Marian nodded and tucked her hair behind one ear. "I'm from Washington," she began softly. "I was running an errand for my mom when the demon got me, and it…" She trailed off with a shudder. "It's painful, being possessed," she finally said.

"It is," John agreed, and Marian met his eyes briefly before continuing.

"I wasn't aware of too much at first," she said, eyes going distant, "not until the first time I saw Sam. I — The demon, I mean, she was bringing him some food, but she was really nervous about it and I couldn't figure out why. Three hours later she was waiting to bring him some food while some of the other demons were giving him his latest dose."

"Dose?" Dean asked, and Marian couldn't quite look him in the eye.

"I couldn't figure out what that meant at the time," she said, "but then I was going in to give him some toast. When I — the demon returned to take away his empty dishes, she finally cracked and asked Sam why he wasn't doing anything." She frowned, staring into space. "I didn't understand what she was talking about until Sam said something about preferring Devil's Traps and memorized exorcisms in Latin over whatever power —" She broke off, shifting nervously in her seat and not meeting anyone's eyes.

"Marian?" Bobby asked.

"He said… Sam — he had been forced to drink blood, demon blood," she said, and John froze.

"Demon blood?" Dean choked out.

Marian nodded. "Sam said it gave him powers," she told him, "and the demon wanted him to use whatever these powers were, said he would be able to save hosts, save me if he did what they wanted." Marian swallowed hard. "He kept refusing, and the demon in me, she got so angry and she… God, it felt like I was the one choking him to death."

John closed his eyes briefly as Marian broke into soft sobs. "I t-thought I was going to k-kill him, and he was staring d-down at me as he was gasping for air, a-and then —" Marian broke off, shaking her head. "It was something about his eyes," she said so softly John almost didn't hear her. "They flashed or something, and then I suddenly dropped him because the demon was losing control, just bubbling out and sinking into this cracked, g-glowing oblivion beneath the ground…"

Marian shook her head. "Next thing I know, I'm on my hands and knees, sobbing because I couldn't get over choking Sam like that. His nose started bleeding when he was getting rid of that demon, and it looked like he had a massive headache that was completely draining him, but he told me it was the demon, not me and I couldn't understand how he freed me, why he wasn't angry at me." Marian closed her eyes. "He looked so sad, like he thought he'd just sold his soul…"

Bobby scrubbed at his face with one hand. "He didn't chant in Latin at all?"

Marian shook her head again. "It just looked like he was concentrating really hard with one hand lifted toward me like it directed what his mind wanted." Marian's eyes started to tear up again. "God, he looked so tired, but he still tried to comfort me…"

Dean smiled sadly. "That's Sammy for ya," he said. "What happened next?"

"Two demons came in," Marian answered quietly. "The girl looked so normal, but the guy had these weird yellow eyes and he was praising Sam and Sam looked so miserable…"

"Azazel," Dean whispered harshly.

"Is that his name?" Marian asked, and John nodded silently. "He — Azazel, he said I had I had one more task to do, and I thought I was gonna die, and Sam freaked, told them to leave me alone —" She broke off again with another sob. "H-he was in no position to say anything," she managed after a moment, "I could tell he was a prisoner, but he was still going to fight for me…" Bobby handed her a tissue and she wiped at her face and nose before going on. "Anyway, Azazel said I had to go to South Dakota before I could go home, deliver a message, and then he asked Sam if he understood." She smiled sadly at Dean. "That's when Sam asked me to tell you he was sorry."

John looked over at Dean and he knew that Dean understood what Sam meant now, same as him. John had never witnessed him having a vision, but Sam had been deeply bothered by it when he had met up with him and Dean again in Salvation. He was clearly trying so hard to use his visions for good, but being forced to use this new ability by Azazel must have made him feel like he was betraying them, betraying Dean.

"After that, Tara — that's the girl demon who was in the room — dragged me from his room and told me that I had to tell you about my experience being possessed and what happened with Sam." Marian shuddered. "They blindfolded me, and then…" Marian frowned again as she clearly tried to make sense of her memories. "It's hard to describe," she finally said. "I felt like everything was being displaced around me. The air felt different, and it was warmer like I was outside suddenly. They put me into a vehicle, and twenty minutes later, they pulled off the blindfold and shoved me out of the car here."

Marian fell silent, and John felt his brain kick into overdrive. The demons had been very careful in making sure that Marian had no clues about where she had been before coming here. Maybe if she could remember something about the building she and Sam had been in…

"There's one other thing Tara wanted me to tell you," Marian said hesitantly, and John raised his head to meet her eyes. "I don't really understand it, but she said looking for immediate signs won't work this time. He's made sure he can't be traced like that again, but if you look for patterns in what you have tracked in years previously, you might have a chance that way."

Shit. Dean let out a loud curse and bolted to his feet, storming from the room. Marian jumped, looking incredibly frightened.

"It's fine," John quickly said, wincing slightly as the front door was forcefully pulled open and slammed shut. "We understand the message. Dean's just upset because it's going to make our search for Sam a lot harder."

Marian looked out the door where Dean had gone. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

"Don't be," Bobby said, standing slowly. "You're just as much a victim of this as Sam is."

Marian nodded. "He doesn't look bad off," she offered, "I mean, apart from being choked and some older-looking injuries on his face, anyway. They were still feeding him. He's just stuck in that room with an observation mirror on one wall and a mattress for company."

John smiled, or at least tried to. "Thank you, Marian," he told her, standing himself. "I'm sorry you went through all this, but any news of my son is better than no news, no matter what the message is." He looked at Bobby. "You'll see about getting her home?"

"Of course," Bobby said, and John went out to go find Dean.

His oldest was sitting on the Impala's trunk with a beer in his hand. "Hey," John said softly, taking a seat on a nearby workbench.

"Hey," Dean replied before taking a sip of his beer. There was a long moment of silence.

"We can't give up, Dean," John finally said.

"I'm not," Dean said, looking over at John and revealing the wetness in his eyes, something John knew to be a very rare sight. "I just want Sammy back home, safe with us like he should be."

"I know," John sighed. "So do I, son."

"Christ, he must be so terrified," Dean said after another moment. "He was barely coping with the visions and the one burst of telekinesis, and now they're making him drink demon blood so he can exorcize demons with his mega-smart brain, too?" He shook his head and took another sip of his beer before looking over at John again.

"I tried making light of the visions before," he said, "but it all freaked me out just as much as it did him. I mean, between dreaming of Jess dying days before it happened, that family in our old house in Kansas, Max killing his family, that little girl's mom dying like Mom and Jess had…" Dean shuddered, clearly remembering the night Jessica Moore had died; John knew he had been the one to pull Sam from the apartment when it had happened, just as he had carried Sam from the house fire as a child.

"He's always struggled with nightmares, you know?" John nodded and Dean sighed. "It's so much fucking worse now that sometimes I don't think even I can cope with it, and I know he knows it, too." Dean took another gulp of beer, and it suddenly struck John that he was seeing a side of his son that almost no one had ever witnessed. To be this open about Sam, about himself told John how terrified the man really was. "He's always been so moody, but now he probably blames himself for Mom's death and I bet you anything he feels like using his brain to get rid of that demon in Marian was a downright betrayal to us." A tear finally escaped from one of the green eyes, and Dean angrily swiped at it. "He thinks he betrayed me, Dad."

"He didn't," John finally said. "I know it, and so do you. We'll just have to convince him once we find him."

"And how the fuck do we even do that?" Dean exploded. "You heard her! Find a pattern in the past? We've got everywhere he's been between '72 and '83 before vanishing for over twenty years, and it's just about everywhere in the Midwest and tons of other places everywhere and in between!" He let loose a string of curses that rivaled an injured Marine in the line of duty and threw his empty beer bottle as hard as he could against the nearest junker, watching with heaving breaths as the glass exploded in the dying light.

"Dean, that's enough," John said, standing and crossing to his son's side. "I know it seems hopeless right now, but I tracked Azazel down before. We can do it again, and we will do it. We'll save Sam, I promise you." Dean looked at him, and the broken-hearted look in his eyes was so much like Sam's, like Mary's the night she had lost both her parents that it almost took John's breath away. He put up the wall in his heart again and tugged Dean off the Impala. "Let's go inside son, it's about time for bed."

Dean nodded mechanically and followed John inside, saying nothing until John was about to turn off the light in their room. "Dad?"

"Yeah, son?"

"Azazel's trying to make Sam go darkside, isn't he?"

John met his son's eyes, smiling slightly at Dean's wording. "I think that was always a large part of his plans," he said softly. "And not just Sam." He sighed before letting a little piece of the secret he kept fall free. "I believe he's looking to make an army, with kids like Sam as the soldiers, maybe even a leader or something."

"And he thinks that leader is Sam," Dean said flatly, and John nodded.

"He could very well be planning to have some kind of face-off between these children," he said, "but now he's given Sam an advantage over the rest. I honestly think that being able to exorcize demons is just the start of what Sam might be capable of now."

Dean swallowed hard before nodded. "Night, Dad," he whispered before turning away onto his other side. John closed his eyes for a moment before switching off the bedroom light and trying to fall asleep himself.

It was several hours before sleep came to either Winchester.

Sam slammed into the wall and gasped as he felt an ungodly pressure on his heart. Damn it all, but these demons just couldn't take 'no' for an answer, could they? He struggled weakly against the pressure holding him in place and heard a cry of pain escape his lips.

"You know," Thomas said casually, his right fist slowly continuing to close and causing the pressure on Sam's heart to increase, "once I kill you, I'm gonna go after that brother of yours. Daddy, too." He smirked, black eyes almost sparkling with excitement. "I bet their screams will be even worse once they find out you're gone for good. Although," he paused, thinking for a moment, "considering that they must know about the blood and your abilities after delivering that girl to them, how much effort do you really think they're putting into finding you, now? It's been almost three days, Sammy."

It was too much. Sam snapped. He could feel the blood in his veins, and he was suddenly free, on his feet. With barely a twitch of his own hand, Thomas was sent flying across the room, slamming into the one-way window and actually cracking the glass.

"Go. Back. To. Hell." Sam raised one hand, and Thomas was pinned on his knees, the demon inside slowly being choked out through his mouth before Hell cracked through to take back another one of its children. Sam slumped to the ground, watching as Thomas tried to put himself back together again.

"Shit," Thomas breathed as he watched Sam try to stand, "I almost killed you, kid."

"Wasn't you," Sam gasped out, slumping back against the wall, feeling drained beyond description. His nose was bleeding again, his head was pounding worse than the last time, and his heart? It felt like it was still beating, but with far less strength than it normally had. "It was that… that demon in you."

"But how'd you do that?" Thomas asked, stumbling to his feet and helping Sam over to the mattress in the corner. Sam collapsed onto it gratefully, still gasping for breath. "My uncle's a Hunter, and he has to do all this chanting in Latin to get rid of a demon."

Sam smiled without humor. "You know… what they've been giving me?" he asked between pants, and after a moment, Thomas nodded slowly.

"Demon's blood," he said quietly, and Sam closed his eyes briefly.

"I'm a new level… of freak," Sam managed. "I can do exorcisms with my mind." He smiled slightly. "Maybe your uncle can find me and… and put me out of my misery."

"Oh, we don't mean that, do we, Sammy?" The door had opened and Azazel entered with Tara and another demon named Buck in two. "Although, judging by the nosebleed and how exhausted you seem, I think the current doses you're getting three times a day aren't giving you enough juice to keep this up." His yellow eyes flashed. "We're upping them." He glanced at Tara. "Double his dosage."

Buck moved forward and hauled Thomas to his feet. "Anything to tell your family?" Azazel asked brightly, and Sam closed his eyes, still breathing hard and wishing to God his heart would gain strength again. There was so much he wanted to say to Dean, to his dad. Don't find me, kill me if you do find me, I'm terrified of myself…

"No," Sam finally whispered, looking up at Thomas. "Just… find your uncle… okay?"

Thomas nodded and was pulled from the room, Tara following and leaving Sam and Azazel behind.

"Why won't you just do what I ask and save yourself the trouble of being hurt?" Azazel finally asked. He didn't sound angry so much as intensely curious.

Sam's head was pounding, and he desperately wanted to pass out and forget this nightmare for a few hours, if not forever, but he forced himself to meet those hated yellow eyes. "What's the point of all this?" Sam asked. "Where is all this even going?"

Azazel was silent for a long moment before moving forward and crouching in front of Sam. "I'm just doing as ordered," he said plainly. "I somehow doubt you can imagine just where all this is headed, but I can tell you this: once we get there, you'll wonder how you never managed to figure it out." He suddenly grinned. "In the meantime, I think I'll leave you with this little piece of knowledge."

Sam's vision was beginning to swim, and he flinched when Azazel leaned to whisper in his ear. When he pulled away, it took Sam a second to understand what the demon had just told him. "No," he whispered, "no, you can't."

"Oh, I can, Sammy," Azazel chuckled, standing up. "I can, and trust me, I will." With that, he turned and left the room.

For the first time in many, many years, Sam cried himself to sleep, feeling lonelier than he had ever felt at any other time in his life.

TBC...