Chapter 41
"Sammy." Dean stated, not needing to say any more. Sam nudged MJ's legs off of his lap, pulling out his gun as he stood. He turned to MJ.
"Stay by Dad." Sam ordered her quickly as he and Dean made their way to the front door.
MJ made no argument, making her way quickly across the room to stand beside her father.
"Dean, bring me the gun, son. Quick." John said urgently. He turned to MJ, sparing her a brief glance, before returning his gaze to Dean who was heading toward them. "Don't worry, Mary Jane. We're gonna be okay." He placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly.
The room dissolved from around her as her legs gave out and she fell to her knees. The roaring began and this time, it did not relent. The images flicked in front of her eyes more quickly than ever before: her father with hate filled yellow eyes, Dean shoving her behind him as John reached out toward him, a calculating smile on his face, Dean falling to his knees, the light going out of his eyes as blood trickled down his chin, John grabbing the gun from Dean's lifeless hand.
MJ could feel that the vision was not over, but seeing Dean like that…she wrapped her arms around herself, squeezing her sides as hard as she could, pinching the skin for all she was worth. And somehow it worked. The vision stopped and while everything around her was washed out and fuzzy, she forced her way out of the weird, semi-conscious state and back to the surface. A feral rasp escaped her lips as she forced her unwilling body to stand and shoved out blindly in front of her at the approaching figure, knowing it was Dean, shoving him as hard as she could. He stumbled backward, probably more due to shock than her actual physical strength. She squinted her eyes, determined more than she had ever been in her entire life about anything, to alert them of the danger that was right in front of them.
"Don't give it to him, Dean! He's not Dad!" She snarled. "Stay back!"
She felt John's hand at her elbow. "Mary Jane, what are you saying? What just happened, are you sick?"
MJ yanked her arm free, moving quickly away from him and toward Dean, who was standing two feet in front of her, an alarmed expression frozen on his face. MJ shoved at Dean's chest, which didn't even really seem to faze him.
"Move away from him, Dean. Please!" She looked up into Dean's face, the tears streaming down her cheeks only working to make her vision worse. "It's the demon." She whispered harshly. She swayed on the spot, the growing pain in her head threatening to pull her under. She fought it, hell bent on alerting her brothers to the danger she knew they were in.
"Dean, what the hell is going on with her? We don't have time for this, son. Give me the gun. Now!" John ordered irritation clear in his voice.
Dean stood in front of MJ, frozen in indecision. He was staring over her head at John and MJ knew he was trying to decide who to believe. Sam was standing next to Dean, also searching John's face, hoping to find the answers there.
Very suddenly, Dean's expression cleared and he quickly took a step forward, shoving MJ behind him as he drew the gun on John.
John's eyes grew wide in surprise, but he remained still. "Son, what the hell are you doing?" he asked calmly.
Dean took a deep breath, gun trained on John, his other arm curling around MJ's waist, holding her behind him. "Dad would've been furious that I'd wasted a bullet." He said simply. "He wouldn't be proud, he'd tear me a new one."
Sam inched closer to his siblings, eyes trained on John.
"Dean." John said, his voice cold and urgent. "We're running out of time. Give me the Colt." He held out his hand. "Now."
Dean's hand shook slightly, but he kept the gun trained on John. "I know my Dad better than anyone and you're not him." Dean spat.
John considered Dean for another moment before turning his attention to Sam. "You know, we don't have time for this. Sam, if you want to kill this demon, you have to trust me."
Sam looked from John to Dean and back again. Dean stayed quiet, sparing his brother only the briefest glance.
"Sam, please." John begged.
Sam looked back at John, the uncertainty blazing in his eyes. A small noise, somewhere between a whimper and a sniffle from MJ, made Sam turn toward her. One look at her face, as she stood, encircled in Dean's outstretched arm, trembling from head to toe, and Sam knew. He closed the short distance between himself and his siblings and crossed his arms, facing John.
"No." He said firmly.
John just stared back at them for a moment.
"Fine." He said finally. "If you're so sure, then kill me."
He continued when no one made any response. "Go ahead, Dean. Shoot me. This is your chance." He held his arms out wide, as if waiting patiently.
Dean never lowered his gun, but his finger never moved toward the trigger either.
John looked down, shaking his head.
"I thought so." He said. He looked up at them, an eerie grin on his face, his eyes blazing yellow and sinister. Dean stumbled back half a step, shoving MJ as he went, before he was thrown against the far wall, Sam following close behind him.
Dean grunted and tried in vain to move as the demon stooped and picked up the abandoned Colt from the floor. MJ stood frozen on the spot, face to face with the demon.
He smirked, pointing a finger at her. "You, little girl, have been almost as much of a pain in the ass as this gun has." He slowly walked around her, looking her over. "No offense, but I don't see what all the fuss is about." He picked up a lock of her hair, bringing it to his nose, inhaling deeply, making Dean and Sam struggle even harder against their invisible bonds.
MJ took a shaky breath, turning her eyes up to meet his. "Let my brothers go and get out of my father." She rasped.
His only response was to throw his head back and laugh, as he strolled across the room toward Sam and Dean.
"It's you isn't it?" Sam said through clenched teeth, gasping for breath and fighting for all he was worth against the force holding him against the wall. "We've been looking for you for a long time." He spat in disgust.
John held out his hands, a nasty grin on his face. "Here I am."
MJ made her way slowly toward the door, praying she didn't draw the demon's attention before she made it there. She was trembling from head to toe and could barely stay on her feet. A floor board creaked when she was feet from the door and, his attention still trained on Sam and Dean, the demon gave a lazy flick of his wrist, sending MJ flying backward. Her back met the wall opposite her brothers with a bang, sending pain coursing through every inch of her as the invisible bonds took hold.
"I'm gonna kill you." Sam hissed.
The demon chuckled. "Oh, that'd be a neat trick. In fact," He set the Colt down on the table beside him, a nasty grin on his face. "Here. Make the gun float to you, there, Psychic Boy."
Sam looked over at the gun, desperation plain on his face. The demon laughed when nothing happened and moved a few steps closer to the boys. "This is fun." He said with a sigh, before the smile faded and he turned serious. "You know, your dad's in here with me. Begging." He moved closer to the boys, is face close to Sam's. "It's pathetic."
MJ was watching him taunt her brothers, struggling for all she was worth. When the demon began tearing at Dean, ripping his torso to shreds, MJ screamed out, tears of frustration and agony streamed down her face. A surge of hatred and fury coursed through her and suddenly MJ was able to move. She stumbled forward a step, nearly falling to the floor before catching her balance. The demon was too busy torturing Dean to notice. Amidst Dean's screams of pain and Sam's shouted pleas, no one noticed or heard MJ moving forward. She picked up the gun from the table, and swung it around, not taking the time to aim, knowing the demon was killing Dean. MJ fired in the general direction of the demon, the bullet catching him in the leg.
The demon fell to his knees for a moment before collapsing onto his back. He groaned, grabbing at his leg. Sam and Dean were freed from the wall, and Dean immediately collapsed to the floor, barely conscious while Sam quickly moved forward, Sam taking the gun from MJ and training it on their father. The siblings huddled over him, waiting for his eyes to open. MJ was trembling, shocked at what she'd done. She was silently praying for him to open his eyes and at the same time terrified that he would.
"Ohhh." He groaned, opening his eyes. MJ's legs nearly buckled when she looked into the brown eyes of her father.
John took in the gun in Sam's hand before locking eyes with his son. "Sam, shoot me in the heart. Do it. He's still in here, I can feel him. Kill me son! I can't hold on much longer!" He groaned again, his eyes pleading with Sam.
Sam held the gun on John, his hand trembling for another moment, before John's mouth opened, expelling a cloud of black smoke into the air.
The next ten minutes were a blur, as Sam and MJ struggled to get an unconscious and bleeding Dean and a barely conscious John into the car.
They had loaded Dean into the back seat, and Sam was now practically dragging John along, MJ following behind him, when Sam stopped suddenly.
"MJ, the Colt." He said.
"I'll get it, just get Dad to the car!" MJ yelled, already running back to the cabin. She had snatched the Colt off the floor where Sam had abandoned it in his haste to help his brother and father. She turned to head back out the door and slammed into someone. She fell backward and was caught just before she hit the ground by a pair of strong arms. She froze, dropping the Colt. She was staring up into the eyes of the man from her dreams. The man who had said she belonged with him. The man who said he wanted her back.
A smile played at the corner of his lips, and his eyes were alive with victory.
"Finally." He said.
Then everything went black.
"Sam, go back! Go back now!" Dean grunted from the backseat. He could barely hold his head up, but managed to insert some authority into his voice.
"Dean, you'll bleed to death. We have to get you to the hospital." Sam said, all the while fighting the urge to turn the car around. He had gone back in after MJ once John was in the car, to find the Colt on the floor by the front door, and MJ nowhere to be found. He had stood, frozen in panic for all of 5 seconds before snatching up the Colt and running flat out back to the car. "I'll get you to the hospital and go back. I'll find her. And then I'll find that son of a bitch and kill him." He took a deep breath, looking over at John. "Everything will be okay."
Sam was blinded by lights a second before a semi-truck plowed into the Impala.
SPNSPNSPNSPNSPN
"Dean? Dean, can you hear me?"
Dean recognized Sam's voice, but couldn't make his eyes open, couldn't make his body respond in any way. He tried to remember what had happened…how he had ended up in such horrible pain…he played it back in his mind...they were in the cabin and the demon was coming. Dad wanted the Colt. MJ had another freakin' vision…and Dad…Dad was-
His eyes flew open and with a gasp he sat bolt upright. He instinctively reached for the tube in his nose, intent on yanking it out, when Sam grabbed his wrist, stopping him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Take it easy, Dean. You're okay. Just lie back down."
"Dad." Dean croaked. He didn't need to say any more. Sam understood.
"He's in the next room. He's okay. The demon…I thought it was gonna kill you, Dean." He took a ragged breath. "I mean, I really thought-"
"MJ?" Dean asked, urgently, suddenly noticing her absence from the room.
Sam clenched his teeth, his jaw muscle jumping uneasily. Dean saw unmistakable terror in Sam's eyes.
Dean sat back up, ignoring Sam's hands on his shoulders trying to push him back down. "Where is she?" Dean demanded, panic rising inside him. "God damn it, Sam, answer me!"
"I was trying to get you guys to the car. You were both bleeding so much, and then I realized the Colt was still inside." Sam ran a hand through his hair, a tortured look on his face. "I sent her back inside for it…and she never came back out." His voice cracked and he backed away from Dean's bedside. "I'm sorry, Dean."
Dean barely heard Sam's apology. Blood was rushing through his ears, his heart pounding like crazy in his chest.
"I went back last night, as soon as you and Dad were out of the car, I rushed back, but…she's not there. I have no idea where she went."
"I know where she is." Both boys turned at the sound of John's voice, not even bothering to hide the tears shining in both their eyes. John was leaning against the door frame, clearly struggling just to hold himself upright. He was pale as death, and the look of anguish on his face matched his boys' perfectly. He took a ragged breath, looking between his sons.
"He found her."