Sam had only glanced down a moment to check the time. He had left the Laundromat after Ella had wandered out of his field of vision and had followed at a reasonable distance, making sure to dip into the surrounding buildings so that the spirit or demon did not realize he was tailing her. Looking up from his watch, his eyes widened as he saw that she was gone. He did not hesitate before leaving the store and jogging down the sidewalk. "Ella?"

Ella tried to yell Sam's name, but her cry for help was muffled by the man's hand covering her mouth. She was suddenly thrown against the brick wall of the building, crying out in pain. She slowly tried to stand back up, lifting a hand to feel the back of her head where she had hit the wall. Blood was smeared on her hand as she pulled it away and looked down. She was caught off guard as the figure lunged towards her, pinning her against the wall. "I came here to thank you and your sister personally for starting this whole apocalypse thing and letting me out, but seeing as she's not here at the moment, I'll just let you pass the message along," He grinned a bit before pulling out a blade that seemed to come out of nowhere, and shoving it into her abdomen.

He pulled the blade from her stomach and brought it to his lips, running his tongue over the blade and smearing the blood. He smirked and thrust the knife back into her midsection. He had lifted it for a third strike when there was a gunshot. His form flickered and vanished briefly before reappearing by Sam, who had appeared in the alley. The spirit lifted the knife and struck Sam across the face with the blunt end of the hilt, sending him staggering. The gun skittered away from him, and his attacker drove his fist into his face before kicking him to the ground. Sam crawled forward and snatched up the gun, twisting onto his back and aiming just as the spirit lurched toward him with the knife. The gun fired and the spirit's form burst into ash and vanished. Sam scrambled to his feet, rushing over to Ella and kneeling down beside her. He pulled out his cell phone in a panic and called the first person on his contacts as he shed his shirt and pressed it to her wounds. "Dean! Dean... Ella's been hurt, we need to get to a hospital! Now!"

Less than a minute later the sound of the Impala came roaring down the street, Dean behind the wheel and Oshea sitting shotgun. As soon as the car stopped, Dean hopped out of the vehicle and ran to help Sam put Ella in the back seat of the car. Ella groaned quietly as they started to move her.

xx

It was in the early hours of the next morning before the doctors were able to stabilize Ella. The sun did not come that day. Instead, the sky was black and rain was pouring down from the sky. Oshea crossed her arms over her chest as she stood outside of her sister's room. The doctors only allowed one person at a time while Ella was still in critical condition, and Sam was inside now. He had pulled up a chair right beside her bed and was holding her hand in his while he spoke quietly to her. Oshea sighed, running her fingers through her hair. She had gone back to the hotel just long enough to change into her black zip up hoodie and blue jean shorts. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

Inside the room, Ella's eyes slowly fluttered open. At first she cringed and squeezed her eyes shut, the whiteness of the hospital room around her too bright. After a moment, she slowly opened them and looked over at Sam, who had looked away from her for a moment. "That stupid plan almost got me killed... but at least now I can truthfully say I took on the Jack The Ripper and lived," She said with a chuckle.

Sam looked back over to her quickly, his eyes growing wide. "Ella! I'm so glad that you're okay." he said, squeezing her hand in both of his. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles gently before lifting one of his hands to stroke her cheek. "I'm so sorry… this is my fault. If I had gotten there sooner maybe I could have stopped this."

Oshea smiled a little from the hallway, looking through the window and watching Sam and her sister talking. She turned away, giving them a little privacy and leaned her back against the window, rubbing her temples slowly. She lifted her eyes and glanced down the hallway as Dean walked toward her carrying cups of coffee. "Ella woke up," She said once he had reached her, taking one of the cups from him. "The doctor said that the knife missed all of her major organs and that she should make a full recovery."

"That's good," He said with a nod, glancing in at Ella and Sam through the window before looking back at her. "Is it just me or do we spend a lot of time in hospitals these days?"

Oshea nodded, the smile fading from her face as she stared through the window at her sister and Sam a moment before turning back to Dean. "Dean, there is something I've been meaning to talk to you about," She began slowly. "Bobby and I finally found the ritual we need to close the Pandora's box that released all of the demons and spirits from Hell."

"So how come that sounds like a bad thing?" He asked, looking at her for a moment. "What is it?"

Oshea lowered her eyes. "Because it's some pretty intense stuff, Dean." She said softly. "It has to be performed by the person who opened the door in the first place and it requires both the blood of the opener and demon blood. The opener has to drain their blood and the blood of a demon until it fills up the trench surrounding the pedestal the box sits on. Once that is done, the box will close, but all of the demons that have escaped while the box has been opened do not return to Hell. They are placed into the opener of the box, who must then kill themselves with a holy blade to destroy the escaped demons."

"But that would mean you-"

"Yes, Dean." Oshea interrupted, not wanting him to say the words aloud. She had known about this ritual since they had come to Potlatch, and had only just now gathered up the courage to tell him. "Please, don't tell Ella... at least not until after it's done."

He shook his head. "No, there's gotta be another way, Oshea."

"I've looked, Dean. Bobby and I have looked. I'm not happy about this either," She said quietly. "But it's the only way to fix this."

"No, dammit... just no," He said a little loudly. "You're talking about killing yourself..."

Oshea sighed, finally looking up at Dean. "I caused this, Dean. I opened the door, and I'm the only one with demon blood... the blood has to be given willingly, and no demon is going to do that for us."

"You act like this is all your fault, Oshea, but if you remember, I'm the one who broke the first seal. I started this whole mess. You're not the only one around here carrying all this guilt," He sighed and shook his head, looking down at the linoleum floor. "Look, if you're dead set on doing this, I sure as hell can't stop you. But..."

Oshea lowered her eyes, curving her arms around herself. She was not ready to die again, and she knew this time she would not be going to Heaven. When Dean's voice trailed off, she looked up at him. "But...?"

He hesitated a moment, and then cleared his throat, looking back up at her. "But this is the third time I'm going to have to watch you die. And it doesn't get any easier, watching people I love die."

Oshea's eyes widened as he spoke and her lips parted. Tears gathered in her eyes and quietly spilled down her cheeks. "Oh, Dean...," She whispered weakly, overwhelmed. He had never said anything like that to her before. She stepped toward him and curved her arms around him tightly, burying her face into his shirt. "Dean, I'm scared..." She whispered. "What... what if I can't do this...?"

"Oshea, you've been through more than me and my brother have combined. If there's anyone out there who's strong enough to do this, it's you," Dean said, rubbing her back and resting his head on the top of hers.

"Dean... I need you to promise me something," She said quietly, closing her eyes. "If... if I am not strong enough to do it myself... you... you're going to have to promise me that you'll end it..."

Dean pulled away from her. "What?"

Oshea looked up at him. "You have to promise me that if I can't do it... if I am not strong enough to regain control after the demons possess me... that you will take the knife and kill me."

There was no point in arguing, he knew she was right. "Okay, I promise," He said quietly.

"Thank you," She said with a little smile. She took a deep breath and released it in a quiet sigh, looking through the window toward her sister and Sam. "The ritual should take care of the Ripper as well."

She said with a nod, turning back to look at Dean. "We... we should go and do this now. You can tell Sam where we're going, but... please... please don't tell Ella. She needs to focus on getting better..."

Dean nodded. "I'll wait til they're done talking in there, and I'll tell him. You go set things up... but don't start until I'm there."

Oshea nodded. "The ritual is going to take place where Ella and I were buried. If I remember correctly there is a small house there, I think that's where the box is. I'll be there waiting for you." She leaned up and kissed his lips lightly before she turned and started down the hallway.