Chapter 10

Sam pulled out a small flashlight and turned it on so he could see better. He let it play off the floor to be sure there was nothing for him to fall over before bringing it up to look around. The light played over stacks of boxes, discarded furniture, tools, broken garden equipment, and shelves with odds and ends tossed on them. Spider webs hung from the rafters coated in dust. He eased slowly forward looking for anything that would tell him this was the right place.

He saw several doors across the room and walked cautiously toward them, ever wary of his surroundings. Sam stopped at the first door and tried to open it surprised that the knob turned easily in his hand. He cracked the door to be sure there was no one inside before pulling it further open and found a room with supplies stacked on shelves against one wall. He closed it back when he didn't see anything of interest in there.

The next door had two padlocks on it that Sam made quick work of and carefully checked the door before turning the knob. The smell hit him first as he pushed the door open enough to see no one was inside. The air was filled with smoke, incense, herbs, and spices, but there was some underlying scent he couldn't name that smelled like death. Once Sam let his light slowly roam the room, he was sure he had found the witch that took Dean's memories. He quickly took out his cell and texted a message to Bobby to let him know.

Seeing several oil lamps sitting on a small table nearby, he walked over to light them so he could see better. He let his eyes adjust for a moment before looking around inside the room. There was a table with shelves along the back that was filled with bottles of all sorts liquids, ground leaves and twigs, crystalized substances, powders, and some things he had no idea what they were. He saw several bowls sitting on the table that looked like they were coated with blood.

What looked like an altar sat in the middle of the room. It had an array of items scattered across the top. There were symbols and glyphs painted on it with puddles of candle wax built up on each corner. Feathers, bones, crystals, and bowls with sand like substances sat around a symbol he had never seen before. It looked like they were offerings of some kind to some unknown entity. Sam pulled holy water from his jacket pocket and doused everything with it. He took a knife and broke the symbols, hoping that would break whatever spell the witch was using.

"No!" an unfamiliar male voice screeched in rage when suddenly Sam was propelled backwards away from the altar and landed hard on the floor, cracking his head on the cement almost knocking him out.

Sam saw blackness pass across his eyes as he shook his head to try and clear it. He tried to get his gun out, but it was suddenly jerked from his hand and slid across the floor. He rolled away until he hit the wall and used it to level himself to a standing position. He staggered to his feet and looked toward Hubert Sampson who was breathing hard and staring at Sam with a death glare. He was red faced and slowly raised his hand to point at Sam.

"You, dare try to stop me from my mission!" Sampson spat at him before speaking loudly in Latin.

Sam gasped for a breath when suddenly his lungs wouldn't working, and he couldn't breathe. He started clawing at his neck as he tried to pull air into his lungs but wasn't succeeding.

"I will bring forth my master and he will reward me with unstoppable power." Sampson keened as he yelled an incantation at Sam making him fall backwards.

A loud shot echoed through the room and the witch fell silent as the bullet penetrated his skull, taking off the back of his head. His body fell to the floor in a heap and remained still. The sound finally died away and the hold the warlock had on Sam was gone.

The shelf that Sam fell into shook and jars turned over and several fell onto Sam's body. He gasped in a mouth of air and tried to get his breathing under control as he lay there. His head began to ache from hitting it on the cement floor. Sam slowly raised his head to see what was on his chest and saw two small half-pint jars that had swirling, rolling clouds of silvery substances inside them.

"Looks like some demon has a new job opening," Bobby commented as he walked to the warlock and checked to be sure he was dead. "Sam, are you okay?" he called as he turned to look at Sam.

"Yeah, I think so. I hit my head," Sam wheezed out as he carefully pushed himself to a sitting position and ran his fingers over the lump on the back of his head. He felt a sticky wetness, but it didn't seem bad, except for the beginnings of a headache. He looked up at the shelf he had fallen into and could see other jars the same size sitting on a shelf and saw one tilting at the edge getting ready to fall to the floor and break. He made a lunge for it and caught it in one hand before it smashed into the floor. "Bobby, I think I found the memories," Sam told him as he held the jar to his chest. "One of these has to be Dean's memories."

"Well, that's good to know. We should take them all with us. Does your head need to be looked at?"

"No, it's not bad. That altar needs to be destroyed, I didn't get the job finished before I was attacked."

"Fire will cleanse the place and get rid of any evidence. We should be sure there's nothing upstairs like books or ingredients so we can make sure nothing is left."

"I'll gather these jars first to keep them safe," Sam replied finding an empty box and some rags. He carefully wrapped the jars and placed them in the box. He treated each one with reverence and respect hoping to return what was inside to their rightful owner.

Bobby found the stairs and went up them to check the house out for any incriminating evidence that needed to be burned. He went room by room and checked closets and cabinets until he was sure there was nothing there. Once he was done, he headed back downstairs to find Sam in the basement sitting a box on a table.

"I didn't find anything upstairs."

"I found some gas we can use," Sam offered. He stepped back into the room and sat the gas can down and moved to the body. With Bobby's help, they got the body up against the altar and then poured gas over it and the altar.

"I don't think the fire will spread much since this room is made of cinder blocks and concrete. We need to get that shelve over there to burn those ingredients so they can't be used."

"Okay," Sam nodded moving to the table and helped Bobby lift the unit and dump it over the body.

After stepping back, Sam lit a book of matches and tossed them on the pile. Flames erupted from the mess and fire slowly began to consume everything. It was like the fire had a mind of its own as it ate away at the altar, making things explode and pop with loud noises.

Bobby pulled Sam out of the room as the fire got hotter as the altar burned so brightly it hurt their eyes to look at it. A horrible stench filled the room making them cough, until Bobby closed the door.

"Let get out of here Sam, we've done what we came to do," Bobby told him, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Okay," Sam nodded wincing as the pain in his head began to build. He rubbed a hand over his face and went to pick up the box with the jars before heading for the stairs that led outside. Once he was outside, he drew in some deep breaths to clear his lungs and waited for Bobby to close and relock the back door, knowing he had already secured the other door.

The trip back to the Impala didn't take as long since they didn't have to be cautious or quiet. Sam put the box in the trunk of the Impala and cushioned it with a blanket to protect the contents. It was precious cargo that he had to guard with his life if he hoped to help his brother and the other victims.

"Bobby, none of this is going to come back on us is it?" Sam asked as they settled in the Impala.

"We should be good. Those security footage is taped over weekly, and we presented ourselves as CDC checking out leads. I don't think he's going to be found for a while and we'll be long gone. We should be good."

"Good to know." Sam pulled back onto the road and headed back the way they had come to get back to the motel. He was anxious to get Dean's memories back to him so he could have his brother back.

A/N: One warlock dead and burned, the memories found and saved. Now to restore the memories of the victims. Thank you for coming along for the ride. One more chapter and the story will be finished. Reviews/Comments would be great. NC