Chapter 12

Jesse cursed himself for losing Gina. A ghost popped out as they looked around and scared all three of them. Gina got separated and now it was just him and Petey alone again. He kicked a wall in frustration at his carelessness.

"We'll find Gina," Petey said with that childlike faith he had in his friend.

Jesse looked down at Petey and saw the look in his eyes. Petey may have had the worse scare of his life but it amazed him how the kid could still manage to give a smile when he talked to him. He gave a slight smile and ruffled Petey's hair. "You're not bad kid."

Petey grinned back. He looked around where they were. They were near the playroom and he started to shake a little. He whispered, "Jesse, we're near where…"

Jesse took a moment to look around. Petey was right. They were back near the playroom. He felt a little scared being there but he had to be brave for Petey. He wondered what to do next since he didn't want to go anywhere near that place again. He found a hall and decided to go down that direction.

He was stopped when he felt a sudden chill come down his spine. He stopped and looked around. He felt Petey's hand tighten around his so that meant that he knew Petey was feeling the same thing. He took a breath and saw his breath come out in a cloud. He didn't know what it meant but he was sure that something was up and he had to protect Petey. He pulled him close and looked around as he felt the temperature get colder.

To Jesse's left a ghost appeared. It was nasty considering that it had finger marks on its neck. It looked at them both for a long time. Jesse stared back, trying to be tough about it. He put on his tough face and glared at the thing. He said, "Go away… whatever you are."

The ghost looked at him and then contorted its face and roared at the pair of them. Jesse didn't wait for an invitation. He pushed Petey in front of him and they ran for it. It scared Petey when a lady popped out shrieking but Jesse kept Petey in front of him and pushed him ahead.

Petey didn't like the grey things that were appearing and disappearing. Some were throwing the fake fruit and he didn't find it funny. He just wanted his mom or somewhere safe. As he rounded the corner in the direction of the playroom, he saw a familiar shape. He knew it wasn't his mom but he was desperate and for some strange reason it was going to be okay. He ran right into the person and wrapped his arms around the waist and clung tightly to it. He heard Jesse make an 'oof' sound as he ran into someone. Then he heard Jesse say, "Hey watch where you're going ya giant." It was followed by a bark of laughter. All Petey did was grip tight and bury his face into the hip.

"Angie please tell me that the noises will stop when this is over."

Angela looked over at the boys. Sam kept looking around for the source of the noise he said was around somewhere and he kept looking behind him at eye level. Dean was making similar reactions but he was looking at the floor and ready to jump if a shadow looked at him the wrong way. She could honestly say that there were a few things that would have made her jump had she been a few centuries younger but so far what she heard and saw proved to be annoyances. The boys though were another story and she debated on the wisdom of bringing them along. She replied, "I think it will."

"Well it better," Dean said as he looked around the ground, "Cause I don't want to think about another one of those freaking little monsters."

Angela watched the boys. She knew that Dean hated rats and Sam's problem was with clowns but she never commented on it preferring to let them have their privacy with their fears. The only exception she made was when she made Sam a short stack with the face of a clown. She blinked almost sleepily while she observed them. It seemed that the demon was playing on fears and maybe peeves. Thomas implied as much when he said the demon made them kill each other; the 'them' being members of his family.

Angela looked around and then down the hall. She could tell that the feelings were becoming stronger. Somewhere she could make out screams and voices shouting something or other. She also heard footsteps running. She had to admit that she was surprised at the layout of the house. All the twists and turns and the excess rooms made the house look bigger than what it really was. She looked to see an image from a time long ago and she merely raised her brow at it and turned away to focus on the boys.

Looking at Dean she said, "Dean, look at me." It was not harsh or even barked like an order from John. It calm and firm and certainly grabbed Sam's attention too. However Angela was focused first on Dean.

Dean looked up from the ground. He could still hear the squeaking of those… things and tried to ignore them as he looked at Angela who was looking at him straight in the eye. He said in a joking manner, "Yes dragon lady."

Angela twitched her lips. At least it was a response. She continued, "Dean, there are no rats in here. The demon wants you to think that." She thought of something and then asked, "What do you do when Sam is in trouble?"

Dean listened the first time when she said that they were not real. When she mentioned that the demon was making him think like that, he started getting pissed. He remembered the last time and no way was he going to let that happen again. Then she asked him what he would do if Sam was in trouble. What kind of question was that? She knew the answer. Then it dawned in him that she was giving him a focus point so if that assphat demon tried something again, he could counter it. He nodded, "I got what you're thinking of Angie."

Angela nodded in approval. She figured that Dean would be pissed once he figured out that the demon was messing with him. He hated that. She just gave him a focus so he wouldn't get too crazy with his anger. She then turned to Sam who looked ready to punch something as he looked behind his shoulder again. She could help with the marionettes since those were real but the noises were something else. If she had to venture a guess, it was more likely he was hearing laughter but not the kind that they would indulge in. More likely it was a maniacal form that only showed up when he saw a clown. "Sam," she said as she blinked in a tired fashion. She had an idea but it was a stepping over the line for her.

Sam knew that it wasn't real after hearing Angela say it to Dean but it really hadn't stopped since the whole marionette thing when they passed through one of those rooms before. That cackling, maniacal laughter that he always heard when he saw their painted faces… He then heard his name and he turned to look at her. He saw Dean looking calmer and watching. He looked at Angela full on so that she was able to lock eyes on him.

Angela glanced at Dean and silently asked if he trusted her. She didn't have to spell it out to him for him to see what she had in mind. Dean gave his approval readily with a slight nod. Now she needed Sam's permission. Funny thing was he demanded her to show him a while back but she had refused. Now she was faced with actually doing it. She asked, "Sam, do you trust me?"

Sam frowned even though he could still hear the laughter. What kind of question was that? He was going to ask her why she would even ask a stupid question when it dawned on him why she asked the question. He gave a slight nod and followed her instructions and looked her in the eyes full on. He started to feel a calming sensation.

"Just calm down Sam. I know you hear it but I don't. If I can't hear it, well that means it's not real. Right?"

The laughter died down to a dull roar. He could barely hear it. She was right. Dean always said she had the ears like a bat. If she couldn't hear it, it wasn't real. He took a deep breath and the laughter was gone. "Thanks Angie."

Angela gave a sad slight smile. She didn't want to but she couldn't figure anything else out. At least Dean was behind her. He implied as much when they brushed over how she took over Ellen's body at the cemetery. She looked and saw another image and blinked at it.

"What about you?"

Angela turned towards Dean and replied, "What?"

"What are you going to do about the things you may see? You know the demon?"

"Oh," Angela replied, "I see them but they are things that would have made me jump a couple of centuries ago. It sort of proves a theory and from what Thomas was telling us. The demon is using worst fears and the like. Its idea of a joke is watching people kill each other while trapped in their fears. Thomas was trying to help. Remember the banana peel Sam?"

"Yeah?"

Dean gave a big grin. "Oh I remember that. Someone 'Russian' slips on a banana peel and breaks their neck. Damn that is a stupid old joke."

"Saved Angie from being sliced in half," Sam countered.

"Right and you saved me in the hall," Angela added. "Anyway, I think that was how Thomas and the demon battled. They used their mojo but in the form of pranks. That's why one seemed deadly and the other childish but both serves a purpose."

"So you're saying that Thomas is a big kid?"

Angela gave Dean a wry smile. "Back in his day, yes. He was eighteen when he died but he stayed on to finish what he started and he bound the demon and that is in the playroom." She would have said more when something collided with her hip and a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. She looked down and saw a small boy with dark hair gripping her like she was the lifeboat in the middle of the ocean.

"Hey watch where you're going ya giant."

Dean's laughter diverted Angela's attention and she saw an older boy glaring at Sam. The kid looked ready to pick a fight with Sam. Angela could understand why Dean was laughing at that. She would have thought it funny too but right now she had a little boy hugging her like she was his mom. She had her arms up as if to avoid touching him, not sure of what to do.

It was Dean who noticed the kid sticking to Angela like glue. He wondered why she was looking so puzzled when he had seen her with Clare, the baby kelpie from before. It was almost comical and was a whole lot better than her way of getting him to ignore the squeaks of rats. He said, "And here I was thinking I was a chick magnet."

Angela didn't respond. Instead she was looking down at the boy. He refused to let go and his face was buried into her hip. Yeah sure kids came up to her voluntarily and she sort of knew Clare and Clyde but this sort of surprised her. She knew the kid was scared and tentatively put one of her hands down to stroke the locks of the boy. "Hey little guy. What are you afraid of?"

"The name's Petey lady. Now you better not hurt him or I'll…"

"Brave words kid," Dean countered. "He's your brother?"

"Best friend but might as well be my brother. Now leave Petey alone." Jesse started moving forward.

Dean stopped the kid and said, "Whoa there. Angie's not gonna hurt him."

"Yeah well if anyone hurts him, they have to answer to me. If I have to I'll… I'll… I'll rip their lungs out." The last part came out kind of fast and it was easy to see that the kid was showing bravado but he was determined.

Dean chuckled. The kid sounded like him when he was that age especially if someone tried to pick on Sam. "The only lung ripping you'll do will be never… unless they pick on your friend there. So kid what are you doing up here?"

"Name's Jesse, spikey haired freak. We were in the playroom when the whole thing started. We bolted the moment that guy Hugh wigged out. We've been running around this joint since. Stuff has been popping out and everything," Jesse replied crossing his arms. He looked at the three adults. At least Petey was doing good with the lady.

Sam and Dean exchanged glances with each other. It was obvious the kids had seen the demon and they were just barely staying one step ahead of the demon's tricks. They looked at Angela who finally managed to get the kid Petey to unstick his face from her hip. She was talking to him but they could barely hear what she was saying. It was obvious though that the kid had calmed down enough to talk to her and he wasn't even wigged out that she had a dangerous weapon strapped to her waist along with the knives she kept.

Angela got over her surprise enough to fall into the habits she fell into when it came to kids or sick/injured Winchesters. Her fingers ran through the little boy's hair and it calmed the boy enough to answer her when she asked in a teasing voice, "You know I'm not your mother right?"

"I know but you are nice like a mom."

Angela gave a slight smile as she slowly began to unwind the kid's arms from around her so she could kneel and look him in the face and talk to him. She came face to face with a pair of blue eyes that reminded her of another person from long ago. The same color eyes but a different lifetime and she gave a smile. "So Mr. Hugh had black eyes."

"Yeah. Something was bad about him. He made the guy with the suit fly and then took him away. We tried to tell Mom but she was too busy being mad with Jesse. She told us to go back."

"Us?"

"Gina was with us but she got lost when she said she saw a monster and ran." Petey wiped his face with his shirt sleeve. "Jesse protected me while we tried looking for her. There were ghosts everywhere and then I saw you. You are nice." He grabbed her into a hug, wrapping his arms around Angela's neck.

Angela just smiled as she let the boy hug her. Now there was the problem of the kids. They couldn't come with them but there was the room that Dean had been locked in. They could be safe in there since Thomas did mention that room had been given the treatment. "Well you're okay now so…"

She didn't expect the grab from behind even though she smelled the demon. It was instinctive to grab Petey and protect him with her own body. She dropped the poker on the ground with a loud clang. She held onto Petey who let out yelp and grabbed onto her. She angled her body to keep the demon from trying to get to Petey. She struggled as was her nature to get free even though it was futile at the moment.

She found herself flung on the floor and she took the brunt of the impact with her body and landed on her elbows. It was nothing to her since she had hit the ground harder than that. She looked down at Petey who was holding tight to her and asked, "You okay?"

Petey nodded into her shoulder. However another voice answered, "So sweet. My new plaything is so sweet and so far hasn't been affected by my little jokes."

Angela released Petey and he let go. She stood up to see the room full of kids. They were huddled on the ground and looking up at her and then at the demon. She said nothing but stood facing it and looked around. She needed to find the means to getting the door open though that looked like at the moment going through the demon. She was just surprised at the speed. Finally she said, "So what is your plan now… whoever you are?"

The demon smiled, "Ah the kind to ask for a name but what is in a name?"

Angela replied, "But a rose by any other name would smell as sweet and roses have thorns." She looked the demon in the eye. Her experience with demons was a fairly good list but this one was different. She didn't know how different since Thomas hadn't really given details. That led her to believe that he really didn't know too much about the demon and what its tendencies were.

To Angela it was a little humorous that she could profile demons and actually would do work to determine demon types. Before teaming up with her, Sam and Dean never really took into account that there were demon hierarchies and demon types. That was until they met their first rage demon and that kerfuffle. Now per habit, she was trying to determine what this demon was. She could add demon profiler to her list of abilities though it was just what a hunter did and that was to identify the thing you were hunting.

From what she could tell so far that the demon liked to play pranks but these pranks had a deadly twist to them. Also the fact that it liked to play on fears added to the identification. She could surmise that it was clever and powerful given that its ability to play on fears was enabled to be near crippling as was the case with Sam and Dean. It did shed some light on some things given that what the demon threw at her was not as intense and she merely brushed it off. That told Angela that the demon could touch surface thoughts and feelings. That was so far.

The demon looked at her and kept grinning, "Beautiful as well as intelligent; a worthy toy but there is something different about you."

Angela molded her features into her inquisitive look. As long as she stayed between the demon and the kids things should be fine. It was just a matter of finding an opportunity to get them out. She replied, "Could you tell me exactly what is different about me? I would really like to know."

The demon continued to smile. "Ah but you do know. It is all in the scent. The scent of the prey like the little one you were protecting. You are different." Seeing that she wasn't going to say anything else, he added, "This meat suit they call Hugh but I do have a name that is old… older than you can imagine."

"Oh I know that story," Angela replied. "Most of your kind are pretty old and I know how you guys are made."

"Oh so you're a study in demonology," the demon replied in glee. It had been such a long time since he had met someone who knew more than the basics with demons. "Just for that, I will tell you my name."

"Oh goody."

The demon laughed replying, "Your enthusiasm is rather endearing. The name is Acheron."

Angela raised her brow. She was familiar with Grecian names and the like. In fact the name Acheron was considerably a rare one. At least she had a name so if it decided to smoke out before she sent it straight to hell. She replied, "Well met. So you want to tell me why you picked this place?"

"Now don't be rude little pretty. I gave you my name so it is only polite you give me yours." The demon kept that grin plastered on his meat suit's face. He was going to have fun one way or another and there wasn't anything little Tommy could do.

Angela narrowed her eyes slightly. So this demon wanted to play the manners game? She glanced at the kids on the ground. Most of them had wide eyes of fear but they were looking at her. She felt a small hand touch her hip right on her chakram. She looked to see Petey looking up at her. Just like she always told the boys, she folded bad when it came to kids. She sighed a little and replied, "It is good manners but let's get one thing straight: I am no one's pretty."

"Merely a compliment since it is the truth," Acheron replied. He was beginning to like this girl that he grabbed along with the one of the boys he tricked into setting him free. It had been a gamble when he watched them and made the decision but he figured right when she moved to protect the smaller boy. "So do you have a name? Or shall I make one up for you?"

"You can call me… Angela."

Acheron made a slight nod with his head. "Ah the female version of the creature that humans seem to believe in no matter what. So do people tell you that you are an angel?"

"An joke," Angela replied firmly.

"A joke but probably told in truth," Acheron replied. "So you want to know what I want with this piece of junk of a house?"

"That thought crossed my mind but for some reason I am disinclined to continue this conversation unless you would exert some consideration and let the children go," Angela replied. Though her hands were by her side, she managed to snake her hand towards her chakram just in case she needed to use it. She looked like she was standing there and she wasn't going to risk the children.

Acheron continued to grin. He grabbed someone who knew how to bargain. It made him wonder if she was one of those dealing devils. Hell knows he met crossroad demons before but this one was no demon. In fact he recalled seeing someone like her before. Maybe he would entertain her a little. He really didn't need all the children. Just the two who set him free. "Well I do have a generous steak but it is so much fun to watch the chaos."

"Yes I figured as much," Angela replied, "Thomas was just a young boy practicing and he fell for your charms and he set you free."

"It was easy. Just as it was easy to get the little brat and his friend to set me free again. However the stupid boy who bound me was meticulous to be specific in the spell," Acheron growled. "Alright, the children may go." With a wave of his hand, the door to the playroom flew open revealing Sam and Dean along with Jesse. "However…"

Suddenly Sam and Dean and Jesse were yanked in. Acheron barked at the children and they ran towards the door except Petey and Angela. Once the last child was through the door, it slammed shut. Acheron looked at Angela and finished, "Your friends and the two boys will stay here."

Angela had jumped slightly and her first finger wrapped around the inside of her chakram. She felt Petey's hand tighten on her hip. She was ready to yank it off her belt and throw it but when the boys flew in, she paused. She was good but she was not willing to add an element that could put people at risk. She straightened up and said, "Alright. You have us in here. Now what do you want?"

Acheron smiled and replied, "Freedom."

Well that was something that she wasn't going to allow. "You should know that I won't allow that."

Acheron gave a smiling nod, "Of course. You are welcome to try to stop me. I know you will try to kill me. That little poker of yours is designed for it. Just remember, there is someone else in this grapefruit." Acheron pointed at his head while his eyes flickered. "Take your best shot."

Angels tapped Petey's little hand and said, "Go to your friend. Stay back." She glanced at Sam and Dean who were getting to their feet and wondering what she was going to do next. She then looked back at the demon. Her fingers closed in on her chakram and when Petey's hand left her hip, she removed it and held it.

"Impressive little toy."

Angela said nothing. She made a slight movement and ducked as the demon charged at her with his fist swinging. She blocked and started with her own version of punches and swings. Her chakram would be a good guard. She said, "Follow the plan."

A/N: So finally the showdown with the demon. What exactly is the plan? Find out next time on 'Trick'steen Candles...