Chapter Text
In one click, everything went completely dark.
Everything happened suddenly and confusingly. One moment she saw and heard the worst things a human being could in a lifetime, and suddenly, it all disappeared into thin air, leaving her in the dark and in absolute silence.
She tried to move, only to run headfirst into something solid right in front of her. Her hands felt the surface and it looked like some kind of wall, which also closed in on her sides. Her hands desperately groped around in search of something, anything, and by chance, her hands managed to find something close to her body with a familiar shape and cold to the touch, Deanna recognized it as her lighter.
"What...?" She murmured in question, her dry throat barely able to utter any sound. As soon as she turned on her lighter, she came face to face with a ‘wall’ that wasn’t really a wall, but rather the inside of a wooden box. Just like a coffin.
A feeling of panic invaded her, "H-Help...! Help!" Instinctively her hands flew to her front and pushed to try to get out, and with just with the slight effort, the wood in front of her crumbled and a large pile of dirt fell right on her face and over her body, suffocating her.
A few agonizing minutes later, with an immense terror of dying again, Deanna used all the strength she could find to dig herself out of the hole she was in. The gulp of air that her lungs received as soon as her head was outside was as liberating as the fact that she was no longer in hell, but in the middle of an open field inside a pit. She even had a cross and everything. Creepy.
Once her vision finally got used to receiving sunlight after who knows how long, she didn't know whether to be surprised or alarmed to see mountains of trees felled right around her grave, as if a bomb had simply exploded. Whatever had revived her, it was definitely something incredibly powerful to do that kind of damage.
"What the hell..." She was worried of course, but moments of hunting needed to come later. Now, she needed to get out of there as quickly as possible.
2 miles later, walking under a scorching sun, which didn't even compare to the fires of hell, let's face it, she finally managed to find a piece of civilization in the form of a gas station.
Hurrying up, she knocked on the door hoping to find someone who could help her, but after calling for minutes with no answer, she simply decided to break the glass window and open the lock. She didn't have enough patience or time to care about trashing the place.
"God finally" She sighed as soon as she entered and went straight towards a refrigerator full of bottles of water, grabbing one and emptying it in a few sips, finally wetting her poor dry throat. After throwing the first empty bottle away and picking up another to drink, her attention turned to the newspaper rack right next to the refrigerator, which was clearly dated 'Thursday, September 18, 2008'. September.
She remembered that everything that had happened with Lilith and the hellhounds had happened in June. Did that mean... it had only been 4 months?
' Huh, it seemed like a lot more than that to me…' she thought. In a way that was very… disturbing.
A few pieces of memories flashed through her mind as she thought about it. Alastair, Hell, Tortures and damned souls.... the memories were so disturbing they made her head spin.
She quickly ran to a nearby sink to wet her face. ' Come on Deanna, don’t be lax! Hold yourself together!' , she thought to herself as she looked in the mirror, focusing angrily on her own green eyes. She needed to hold back and stay calm.
She took time to clean herself up. She scoffed at her own appearence as the whole earth was making her look like a zombie, only with no limbs hanging off and no organs showing. Realizing the thought, she slowly lifted her shirt, looking at her own torso, which at the moment was completely clean, without any scars in the same place where the hellhound had positively torn her belly and chewed her intestines. She didn't even feel any remaining pain.
Well, besides a tingling sensation in her shoulder.
Curious, Deanna lifted the sleeve of her shirt and hissed as she saw a large burn on her left shoulder in the shape of a hand. She stared in shock. The wound was fresh, raw, and very swollen, certainly something that would make a terrible scar, but the strangest thing was that instead of feeling it burning or pain upon touching it, when she ran her fingertips over the mark it felt cold to the touch and a little throbbing kind of energy pass through her fingers so bizarrely and sudden that it made her instantly jerk her hand away from it.
What kind of demon could do something like that? She didn't know, and she was certainly afraid of finding out.
After ' borrowing ' food and drinks from the store (and a magazine of hot men. Don't judge her, she needed some eye candy after all that shit she been trough) , Deanna headed towards the cash register to get some money and survive the trip that would probably be long until he got back to Bobby and Sam.
' Sam… what the hell is he doing now?' . She thought worriedly. Clearly her little brother had done something to free her from hell, and it certainly wasn't something simple.
" D̷̫̼̘̻̈e̷̩͕͉͓͔͎̗̮̝͚̽͐͠ȇ̵̜̲̌̓͘e̵̠̩̳͈̔̾̅͘͜e̵͍͕̲̽́̽͛̑̚̚͝e̵̛̲̥̖̰̳̫̾̓͒̽͘ē̵̘͈̥̌̋͒̃͗̄́́̂ę̶̟̖̤̮͓̋͌̆͗̏̀̎̐̚͠ͅe̷̞͌́͆̐̿͋͜-̴̻͈̜̱̯͎̥̹̰̰̐͐̍̕͘̕͝- " Suddenly, a sharp sound began all around her. It started lowly, just a small irritating noise that gradually increased, accompanied by the TV right next to her turning on by itself, scaring her, and the radio next to her started making crazy static sounds. She didn't stop for a moment to think before jumping on the counter and grabbing a can of salt and starting to put it in the doorway and on the windows.
Whatever the thing making the sound was, it wasn't shaken in the slightest by the salt, and it just kept getting louder and closer " D̵̢̧͈̣̂̂e̵̟̖͇̬̥͌̒̓̉͑̋͑̈́̊̔e̴̛̮͕̩̙̰̯̺͚̓̇̈́̈́̽̉̓e̷̙̙͔̮̫̼̻̋̿̀̌̔̄͐͠e̸͇̰͉̼̼̣̽ͅe̷̢͈̤̺̬̪̖͂͊̉̊͌̒̎e̵͎͚̱̦̰̝̩̫̗̾̈́͆̚e̸͕͉̥̣͖͝e̵̩̓ạ̵̓́̅̑͜ạ̴͉̱̮͙͓͙͙͔̀̑͋̽͑̍͑̓̚a̶̙̲̬̬̽͂̀̀̃͑̊̃̾̚â̸̘͕̼ä̷̛̺̼́͋́̒̆͘͝à̵̡̘͖̳͔̳̬͖͝ã̴̛̯͖̥͔͔̮͇͍̗̋͛̽̽̽́-̵̺͇̺͓̰̹̟̪̫͕͗ " It went on and on, until it became so loud that Deanna couldn't stand it and covered her ears, dropping the can of salt and quickly walking away from the window before it exploded into millions of pieces, followed by all the others and all the glass bottles on display in the store.
The noise lasted for a few seconds, until it suddenly ended, leaving Deanna completely disoriented on the floor covered in broken glass.
-- x --
" This isn’t funny. Call again and I’ll kill you " Bobby said before hanging up on her.
Well, that was unexpected.
Clearly asking Bobby for help was not available at the moment. She couldn't judge the poor man, after all, she was supposed to be dead. She needed to get to him and clarify things, in addition to asking for help to find Sam, who wasn't answering her calls at all.
But anyway, it wasn't the time to whine, she needed to leave before the thing that destroyed everything inside the store came back to get her.
One hot-wiring and many miles later, Deanna found herself in front of Bobby's door, ready to see her old friend again. After just one knock, the man was already in front of her, with an expression of absolute shock.
"Surprise" she spoke in a soft voice, since by the look on Bobby's face she was really afraid that the man would end up collapsing on the floor just by her presence.
The man’s mouth opened and closed a few times without making a sound before his brain finally managed to process what he was seeing into words "I—I don’t…. I".
He didn't need to finish the sentence for Deanna to understand, "Yeah, me neither. But here I am..." She approached him, some tears wanting to fall from her eyes, until she saw the glimpse of a silver knife being picked up by Bobby and barely managed to avoid it when the man advanced towards her.
She grabbed his arm and tried to pin him against the front door, but Bobby broke free with a punch to her nose that made her fly back, "Bobby, it’s me!" She said, grabbing her painful face.
"My ass!" Bobby shouted, advancing against her again.
"Wait!" She grabbed a nearby wooden chair and used it as a shield between her and Bobby "Your name is Robert Stephen Singer! You became a Hunter after your wife got possessed. You are the closest Thing I have to a Father...".
The two stared at each other for a few seconds, "Bobby, it’s me" she begged.
Bobby lowered the knife for a moment and carefully walked over to her, pushing the chair aside and reaching out with a shaking hand to her right shoulder, gripping it tightly. For a moment it seemed like he had accepted the information, but soon Deanna had to dodge the knife again that came at her face with a speed that she found impressive for someone so older than her. Points for him.
After a few more minutes of fighting, Deanna finally managed to snatch the knife from Bobby's hands and pinned him against the wall before he could go after another weapon, "Look, I'm not a shapeshifter, nor an apparition, Okay?? If I was one of them, would I do this??" Momentarily she released the man to cut her own arm with the silver knife as a clear proof of her humanity.
"....Deanna?" Bobby spoke in a low voice, some tears fell from his face and he jumped towards her, hugging her tightly, "......It’s good to see you, girl".
Deanna smiled happily, hugging him with the same intensity "Yeah, you too".
"But, how did you bust out of hell?" Bobby pulled away to give her a confused look, still gripping her shoulders tightly.
"I don’t know..." she shook her head "I just... Woke up in a pine bo-... what are you doing?" She asked as Bobby held a bottle high above her head from which water came out and wet her entire face.
"Checking if you're not a demon" He replied simply. So, holy water then.
"I’m not".
"I can see that" Sighing, Bobby put the bottle of holy water on the table and turned to get a towel from the other room, Deanna following right behind, "Sorry about that. Can’t be too careful" he said as he handed her one.
After drying off, the two headed towards the office. Bobby paced back and forth with an air of confusion and tension.
"Look, that doesn’t make a lick of sense" he said after a while.
Deanna huffed, "Yeah, you’re preaching to the choir".
"Deanna, your chest was ribbons. Your insides were slop and you’ve been buried four months ago!" He turned around looking at her frustrated, "If you could slip out of hell and back in your flesh-".
"I know, I would be like a zombie from ‘Thriller’, but a rejected version".
Bobby leaned over and sat at his table, crossing his arms, "What do you remember?".
‘ Enough ’ she thought irritably. Everything that had happened in hell was stuck in her memory like one of the most irritating movies that you can't forget. God knows how much she wanted it, but those memories would probably haunt her for a long, long time. But Bobby didn't need to know that, she didn't want her friend to worry about her when they both had bigger problems to solve.
"Not Much" she ended up replying, "I remember the hellhound chewing me up, and then the light went out and then six feet under the ground. About that, why the hell did you people bury me?".
Bobby sighed, "I wanted you salted and burned, as usual, but Sam wouldn't have it. He said you'd need a body when he got you back home somehow. That's about all he said".
"What do you mean?".
Bobby gave her a odd look, huffing "He was quiet. Really quiet. Then, he just took off. He wouldn't return my calls. I tried to find him but he didn’t want to be found".
Deanna sighed, bringing her hands to her face, "Damn it, Sammy...!".
"What?" Bobby asked intrigued.
"Oh, he got me home, okay? But whatever he did, it was bad mojo" She couldn't believe it. Of course, Sam would do whatever it took to get her back, even if it was something incredibly stupid and immoral.
"What makes you so sure?".
"You should’ve seen the grave. It was like a nuke went off. Then there was this...force, or presence, I don't know. And then this power went through me.... And then this" She lifted the sleeve of her shirt to Bobby, showing the clear-as-a-sunshine handprint on her flesh. Bobby quickly got up worried and walked over to examine it.
"What the hell is this?!".
"I think a demon just yanked me out of there, or rode me out".
"But why?".
"To hold up their end of the bargain".
Bobby bit his own lip, passing his hand across his forehead in stress, "You think Sam made a deal?".
Deanna sighed in defeat. As much as she wanted it to be a lie, she knew her family of idiots couldn't help but carry on with the apparent tradition.
"That’s what I would have done".
-- x --
The two went after Sam in Pontiac, Illinois, broke into his hotel room, kicked out the girl 'Kathy' or 'Chrissy' who cares, and peppered Sam with questions until he confessed to having made a pact.
The problem was, he hadn't done any. In fact, he seemed as surprised as Bobby to see her alive and well.
"I’m so sorry D" Sam said with a bitter tone, apologizing for not being able to get Deanna out of hell and leaving her in the lurch.
"Stop it Sam. You don’t need to apologize" She placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him, "You said you tried, and I believe you. Don't need to keep blaming yourself for it. I’m here now, and I’m not planning to going anywhere".
Sam looked at her lovingly and hugged her again. She had missed him so much she wished they could just stay glued together in a hug for the rest of their lives.
"Look, not wanting to ruin the meeting.... but it does raise a sticky question, you know?" Bobby, who was sitting not far from the two brothers, spoke. Deanna didn't even need him to say it to know what the damn question was.
"If he didn’t pull me out, then who or what did it?".
They were alarmed. No ordinary demon could have done that kind of thing, no chance. Maybe Lilith could have done that, but what sense was there in letting the hellhound tear her apart and throw her soul into the terrors of hell and then bring her back without a single scar ( appart from the handprint) . That meant that someone who was possibly as powerful or even more powerful than the bitch Lilith herself had done it, and the idea wasn't exactly comforting.
"How are you feeling, anyway" Bobby asked, suddenly catching her attention.
"I’m hungry as hell" Bad joke haha good one Deanna .
Bobby rolled his eyes, "I meant, do you feel like yourself? Anything strange or different or -"
"Demonic?" She asked with disdain, "Bobby how many times will I have to prove I’m me?!"
"I’m just asking kid" He raised his hands in surrender, "You said yourself that you felt a ‘force’ when you were there. Who knows what the thing could have done to you".
"Look, we don't know what they want. All we have is a bunch of questions and no easy answers available" Sam said, looking from Deanna to Bobby "We need help".
The three remained silent for some time, thinking. They didn't know many people who could help them with this kind of thing, and thinking about it, most hunters would probably want to stay as far away from Deanna as possible after learning that she was brought back to try to prevent their own demise.
"I know a psychic. She lives a few hours away. Something big like that, maybe she could have heard the other side say something about it" Bobby said after a while.
"Think she will want to help us?" Deanna asked.
"She is a kind soul. Would help a demon turn into an angel if she could. I'm almost certain she will help"
The brothers looked at each other and nodded their heads in agreement. Who could know more about this than a psychic?
Everyone agreeing with the idea, Bobby left the room to make the call and Sam got up and went to a minifridge, bringing two bottles of beer with him and offering one to Deanna, who took it willingly.
“Hey...” Sam fished something from around his neck and held it out to her. “You probably want this back.”
She blinked, realizing only now that it was missing—the necklace he’d given her as a kid. Her fingers closed around it, warmth blooming in her chest.
“Hey, who said you could wear this?” she smirked. “You know the rule. Only the person I’m planning to marry gets to take it from me. You basically violated my corpse you know?".
Sam scoffed. “You were dead, Deanna. Who exactly were you planning to marry from the afterlife? Besides, I’m your brother—I should outrank any future maybe-husband".
She chuckled, slipping the necklace back on. Now she finally felt whole again. “Thanks".
"Don’t mention it" Sam muttered, turning to take a long sip of his beer, with a strange look on his face, Deanna would think someone had kicked him for looking so sad.
But no, she knew exactly what was going through his head. She knew him too well not to know, but she really didn't want him to ask about it.
But obviously being revived had ruined all her luck, "Deanna.... What was it like there?".
“Hell?” She forced a laugh, waving it off. “I... I don’t know. Guess I must’ve blocked it out. Can’t remember a thing". Wow, someone give her an Oscar.
Sam didn't seem to believe it for a while, but thankfully for Deanna, he eventually accepted her story and thanked God she didn't remember anything. Either he did really believe it or chose to because it was easier than to think that Deanna remembered such terrible things. She was just glad the matter was dropped. At least for now.
--x--
Deanna got her beloved impala back and after ripping the hideous iPod out of its radio ( with much complaining from Sam ) and throwing it out the window, the three headed towards the psychic's house.
A few hours into the trip later, she turned to Sam and decided to ask him something that had been gnawing at her "Hey, there’s a thing still bothering me".
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, the night that I bit it. Or got bit. How’d you make it out? Lilith wanted to kill you, right?"
Sam shrugged, "She tried. She couldn’t".
"What do you mean she couldn’t?".
"She fired this, like, burning light at me. And... it didn’t leave a Scratch, like I was immune or something"
Dean raised an eyebrow in question, "Immune?".
"Yeah, heh, I don’t know who was more surprised, her or me" He giggled, "She left pretty quickly after that"
Deanna pondered the matter for a moment, "What about Ruby? Where's she?" No, she didn't care not even a little about the Demon, but she had helped them in a way, so she thought it was the bare minimum she could do.
"Dead. Or in hell" Sam replied as if he didn't really care.
Deanna looked at him suspiciously, but decided to let the subject pass, focusing on something else, "So You've been using your freaky ESP stuff?".
"No," he replied, too quickly for Deanna's liking.
"You sure about that? I mean now that you've got immunity, whatever the hell it is. Just wondering what more weirdo crap you got".
Sam scoffed irritably, "Nothing, Deanna. You didn't want me to go down that road, so I didn't go. It was practically your dying wish!".
She was quiet, thinking about it. That was supposed to be a relief, but Deanna knew her brother too well not to realize he was hiding something. This worried her, far beyond the fact that she had been brought back from hell, just because all she wanted most was for Sam not to get involved in any more problems that would put his life at risk. She loved him with all her heart, far more than she loved herself, but she couldn't bear to go to hell again.
It just wasn't a possibility anymore.
The trip lasted all night, but sooner than they thought they found themselves at the house of the famous psychic Pamela Barnes ( The best damn psychic in the state, as Bobby said ), who welcomed them with a big smile on her face and warm hugs.
"Deanna Winchester. Out of the fire and back in the frying pan, huh? Makes you rare individual".
"I'm more scared than amazed of turning a rare individual". Deanna gave her a half smile.
Pamela chuckled, resting a hand gently on her shoulder. “You Winchesters. So dramatic. Who knows? This might turn out better than you think.”
Deanna just nodded sadly, she really wished Pamela was right about this.
The four entered the room, Pamela arriving last after closing the door and raised a hand to silence Bobby before he said anything "Before you ask, I Ouija'd my way through a dozen of spirits. None of them know who got your girl out".
Bobby huffed irritably, rolling his eyes, "So, what's next?".
"A séance, I think. See if we can see who did the deed".
"You aren't gonna summon the damn thing here, will you?", Bobby asked in alarm, Deanna and Sam giving her looks of similar panic, making her laugh.
"No. I just wanna get a sneak peek at it. Like the crystal ball without the crystal". Pamela spoke as she headed to another room up ahead, filled with boxes and shelves. There was a similarity to Bobby's house, only more organized.
"Think it will work?" Sam asked a little septic.
Pamela turned and shot him a sharp look, and Deanna laughed when she saw her brother swallowing hard, "Didn't Bobby say I'm the damn best? So trust me boy.." She returned with a dark tablecloth and candles, placing them all with a thump on the table, "I am the damn best”
Sam turned to Deanna only to see her give a wicked smile and whisper 'take that' under her breath.
With everyone seated, lights off and candles lit, Pamela asked everyone to join hands.
"I need to touch something our mystery monster touched". She gestured to Deanna, extending her hand towards her. Deanna hesitated for a moment before taking off her coat and pulling up the sleeve of her shirt, revealing the strange handprint on her left arm. Sam made a small impressed sound, as he hadn't seen the mark before.
Pamela thanked her, placing her hand just above the mark. The second her fingers hovered there, a wave of something—something wrong—crawled down Deanna’s spine. Her skin prickled, something inside her was screaming bad idea, bad idea.
"I invoke, conjure and command you...appear unto me before this circle". Pamela began reciting the spell to get the creature's attention. Everyone kept their eyes closed during the process, but Deanna suddenly opened them when she felt the same presence that she had felt before passing around her. A nearby television turned on by itself and the static noise began to increase, just like at the gas station, she was about to report the fact when Pamela interrupted her.
"Castiel?" Sam and Bobby also opened their eyes, looking alarmed, "No. Sorry Castiel, I don't scare easy." Pamela informed the creature and continued to recite the same words as before.
"Castiel?" Deanna asked.
"It's name. It's whispering to me, warning me to turn back." She spoke in between magic voodo words. The high-pitched sound from the TV was starting to get louder and louder, and the table where they were performing the ritual began to shake violently.
"Maybe we should st-". Bobby started, but Pamela shook her head negatively.
"I almost got it! I command you, show me your face. Show me your face NOW!!".
A loud BANG sounded around them, the fire from the candles shoot to the ceiling and Pamela let out a deafening scream. The three looked in her direction only to see her eyes glowing as if on fire and blood gushing from her eye sockets before she collapsed to the ground.
“Pamela!” Bobby lunged to catch her as Sam scrambled for the phone, frantically dialing 911.
Deanna stumbled closer, staring in horror. Bobby cradled Pamela’s face in his hands, but when she opened her eyes... there was nothing there. Just two scorched, empty holes where her eyes had been.
Pamela gasped for breath, trembling, then let out a heart-wrenching sob.
"I can't see. I can't see!! ".
--x--
Pamela was rushed to the hospital, Bobby accompanying her, leaving Deanna and Sam behind promising to keep them informed of anything.
Later the news came and it wasn't the best. Pam was alive and stable, but permanently blind. The news only infuriated Deanna even more, who soon suggested that they perform a summoning ritual to bring whatever have done that to Pamela to them so they could kill it. Sam did not agree, warning of dangers far beyond what they had ever faced before, after all, just looking at the thing Pamela now couldn't see ever again.
"Do you have any better ideas?" Deanna asked Sam angrily.
"Yes. As a matter of fact, I do. I followed some demons to town, right?" Sam asked rhetorically and Deanna just responded by raising an eyebrow in question, "So we go and find them! Someone's gotta know something about something".
The waitress they had ordered from earlier returned with two plates of sandwiches and handed them over, immediately wiping her hands on her skirt and sitting down in the empty chair right next to them. Deanna and Sam looked at her in mutual confusion.
"You angling for a tip? You should ask some to my handsome bro right here". She asked playfully, pointing at Sam who gave her an annoyed look.
The girl smiled, "I'm sorry, I thought you were looking for us." Her eyes instantly turned black, catching the two brothers by surprise. Behind her, another demon got up from his table and locked the front door. Great, they were trapped with damn demons now.
The demon looked directly at Deanna and gave her a cruel smile, "Deanna. To hell and back. Aren't you a lucky duck?"
"That's me". She responded jokingly but at the same time she was getting ready for a fight if they needed to.
"So you get to just stroll out of the pit? Tell me, what makes you so special?" The demon asked with a very irritated tone. Clearly Deanna's situation was not appreciated by them.
Deanna huffed, "I like to think it's because of my beautiful boobs" She emphasized her sentence by slapping right above her breasts. The Demon continued to look at her, not at all moved by her mockery, so Deanna decided to retaliate with a frown, "I don't know. Wasn't my doing. I don't know who pulled me out".
The demon raised her eyebrows, clearly skeptical of her response, "Right, you don't".
"No, I don't".
"Lying's a sin, you know".
"I'm not lying". She reaffirmed. Sam's hand clenched into a fist on the table and he seemed to be holding himself back from doing something. The demon noticed and gave him a warning look to stay put before turning to Deanna again, "I'd like to find out, so if you wouldn't mind enlightening me, Flo...".
She made an irritated face, tilting her head to the side, "Mind you tone with me, girl. I'll drag you back to hell myself."
Sam made a move to get up, but Deanna stopped him by raising her hand to stop him. The two exchanged looks and Sam leaned back in the chair, waiting for Deanna to talk, "No you won't." She said mockingly.
The Demon lets out a dry laugh, "No?"
"No, If you were, you'd have done it already". Deanna stated, continuing when the woman did not deny the information, "Fact is, you don't know who cut me loose. You're just as spooked as we are. And you're looking for answers. Maybe It was some turbo- charged spirit. Or maybe godzilla... or a big bad-ass boss demon, but I'm guessing at your pay grade, that they don't tell you squat. Because whoever it was, they want me out. And they're a lot stronger than you".
She just kept looking at Deanna, but her instance was now broken and no matter how much she tried to convey an air of superiority and calm, it was clear that she was apprehensive.
Deanna and Sam were in control of the situation, so she didn't worry as she leaned over to the demon and threatened her, "Go on ahead, send me back. But don't crawl to me when they show upon your doorstep with Vaseline and the fire hose".
"I'm gonna reach down your throat and rip out your lungs," She threatened, but Deanna knew it was an empty threat. She came closer to the demon for a moment, slapping her hard across the face, encouraging a reaction, but she just looked back, then slapped her again, and again, got no reaction.
"That's what I thought. Let's go Sam". The two siblings got up, Deanna in front, unlocking the door and leaving quickly, Sam stayed behind a little, watching the group of demons that looked at him threateningly.
Once they were outside Deanna let out the breath she was holding and grabbed her knees as she leaned in, "Holy crap, that was close.".
"We aren't gonna let them there, right?".
"There are three of them, probably more, and we only got one knife".
"I've been killing more demons than that lately".
Deanne huffed and started walking towards her baby, "Not anymore. Your smart older Sister is back in town". Sam made an irritated sound disagreeing with the idea, "They are scared Sam, scared of the thing that had the juice to yank me out, and that's another reason for us to kill the thing before doing anything else. One thing at a time, okay??".
No, it wasn't okay for Sam, but at that moment he figured it wasn't worth fighting with Deanna about it. He had just won her back and didn't want to start fighting at the same moment they disagreed about something. Either way he could take matters into his own hands, he just needed to hide it from Deanna.
Just another one of the things he would need to hide from her.
-- x --
Sam waited until Deanna was in a deep sleep before sneaking out and returning to the coffee shop to finish the job. It had to be done.
A few minutes later, Deanna woke up to the static sound of the TV turning on by itself, startling her. She quickly jumped out of bed and grabbed her gun to defend herself when the creature's high-pitched sound came again, this time appearing to be closer than it had been at the gas station and Pamela's house. It started to get louder and louder to the point that she could no longer take it and cover her ears dropping the gun to the floor, kneeling in agony at the same moment that the windowpanes began to break and the ceiling mirror cracked. She barely managed to avoid it when the glass shattered to pieces on the floor.
"D̴̡̡̨͇̣̼͉̠̞̐͠e̸̼͇̅̉̓̓͗͂̕ͅȩ̷̜̫̬̐̓̈́ͅe̸̠͐̽͌̋͝ȇ̷̦̮̘̭̣͔͙̃ͅe̶̺͔̯͓̗͖̘̒̏͒͂̃̈̑̅ͅę̷̨̮̤̝̮̏̉͒͌̌͂̅e̸̡̛̱̘̬̝͋͆̈͆̋̏̈ę̷́́̐́e̷̢̛̞̳̫̗̼̯͚̹͆̋͋͒͐̉͗̕ͅạ̷̢̧̞̚a̴̼̝͓͉̳̭͋̍̈͠a̷̢̻̖̒̋͛̓ͅa̴̢̖̮̱̙̙̪͐̅͋͂͛̔̎͒̾͘ͅâ̸͙̬͓͔͕͓̔̃͜a̷̯͚̗̫̯͎̬̗͈̅͌̐̈́a̸̻͈̫͌̐̑̑̒̃͐ͅn̴̻̲̈́͗̒̈́͜ņ̶͓̞̪̞̺̺̒ͅn̷͈̣̠͉̫̥͚͇̦̻̑̈́̑̕n̷̛̞̦͋͌͋͊͑͂̚͠͝-̸̧̧̱͇̳̝̗͖̞̒̒̿͆̈́̂̇̕ͅ-̸̝̪̗͌͋̐̽̂̏͐̂̑̀". Whatever was making that noise seemed to be more determined than ever to get to Deanna, as the sound began to become so loud that blood began to come out of her ears.
"STOP IT YOU BLODDY FUCKER!!!". Deanna screamed over the noise, trying to speak to the thing that was nearly making her deaf. The sound wavered for a moment, as if she had actually been heard, until it was gone almost immediately. Deanna remained on the ground, her hands over her bloody ears and her breathing heavy from the pain she was still feeling.
"Deanna?" A muffled voice sounded from the entrance, followed by the door opening and a stunned Bobby walked through, only for her expression to change to one of horror as he saw the state of the room and Deanna lying in agony on the floor. He immediately ran to her and held her in his arms, "Deanna! What the hell happened?!?"
Deanna removed her hands from her ears, looking at the blood that had dripped onto her palms and gave Bobby a pained look, "The thing, or Castiel whatever was here".
Bobby helped her up and gave her a clean cloth to clean her bloody ears and hands. "Deanna, I'm worried. That thing seems pretty determined to get to you, and I doubt anything good will happen if it does."
"Yeah, you don't need to tell me".
"Where's Sam? Your car isn't out there, I thought you weren't even here."
Deanna raised an eyebrow, sitting down hard on the bedroom couch that miraculously wasn't covered in glass, thank you, "I don't know, I didn't see him leaving. He must have gone to get something to eat."
"We should call him and let him know what happened." Bobby said, already putting his hand in his pocket to dial Sam's number, but Deanna stopped him.
"No, we won't call him." She stood up and snatched the cell phone from his hands, "If he finds out he'll just try to stop us."
"Stop us from what?".
"From summoning this thing. It's time we face it head on".
Bobby looked at her like she had gone crazy, "You can't be serious".
"As a heart attack. It's high noon baby!". She spoke with a triumphant smile on her face, grabbing her weapons bag and heading out the door quickly, followed promptly by Bobby.
"We don't even know what it is. It could be a demon, it could be anything!".
Arriving at the vehicle, Deanna opened the door and threw her luggage inside and took Ruby's knife out of her pocket, turning to Bobby with determination, "So then we gotta be prepared for anything. I got the bigtime magic knife, and you got an arsenal in the trunk".
Despite many complaints from Bobby, the two got into the car and headed towards his house, ( probably the safest place to do something like this ).
A short time on the road later, Bobby shook his head and clicked his tongue in stress, "This is a bad idea".
"Couldn't agree more, but what other choice do we have?".
"We could choose life".
Deanna looked at him seriously, "Bobby, whatever this is, whatever it wants, it's after me, that much we know right? Well, I got no place to hide. I can either get caught topless again or we can make our stand".
Bobby looked like he wanted to argue, but he probably didn't have anything that could counter Deanna's idea. He knew she was right, after all, trying to prevent the inevitable had only screwed them over before, so why make the same mistake again? "We could use Sam for this..." He muttered quietly after some time of silence.
She shook her head briefly, "Nah, he's better off wherever he is".
-- x --
Sam was attacked from behind as he entered deeper into the diner where he and Deanna had encountered the demons earlier. He quickly defended himself by pulling the person off his back and kicking them, almost getting punched in the face at the same moment before he managed to free himself and push the person away, who hit one of the tables violently but quickly got to their feet again.
It was the demon from earlier who had sat with them, she sounded like she was having trouble breathing and even with the dim light coming from outside, Sam could see that her eyes were missing, blood oozing from both holes just like had happened to Pamela.
"Your eyes", Sam said breathlessly, still keeping his distance from her.
"I can still smell your soul a mile away!" she spoke, trying to sound threatening, but her instance showed that she was absolutely terrified.
"It was here, you saw it".
She shook her head in affirmation, letting out a tearful breath, "I saw it.... it's the end. We're dead. We're all dead...!".
"What did you see?".
She let out a sad, evil laugh, giving Sam the middle finger, "Go to hell".
Sam huffed irritably at the lack of response, but he wasn't there to argue anyway, "Funny. I was going to say the same thing to you". He steps forward, planting his feet, and shuts his eyes in concentration and extends his right hand towards the demon. She heaves and begins to vomit black smoke into her hand. In seconds all the fog is gone down into the pit on the ground, and she collapses to the floor totally immobile.
Sam open his eyes again as he finishes and runs to the woman's direction, looking for a pulse to check if she is alive after removing the Demon from inside her. He sighs in disappointment as he confirmed that she was dead.
"Getting pretty slick there, Sam. Better all the time". A female voice suddenly sounded, startling him and causing him to jump to his feet, only to see the same woman from the hotel room standing there smiling at him. He relaxed a little but gave her a hard look.
"What the hell is going on around here, Ruby?".
Ruby shook her shoulders, "I wish i knew".
Sam walked up to her, standing right in front of her, "We were thinking some high-level demon pulled Deanna out".
"No way. Sam, human souls don't just walk out of Hell and back into their bodies easy. The sky bleeds, the ground quakes. It's cosmic. No demon can do that. Not Lilith, not anybody".
Sam breathed nervously, "Then what can?".
"Nothing I've ever seen before".
-- x --
Sometime after all the confusion in the motel room, Deanna and Bobby were already close to the house when Bobby suggested that they go to another place not too far away, using the argument that if they were to face something as powerful as what was Following Deanna, they must prepare as much as possible. Deanna didn't argue much and soon the two were in a large warehouse, which from the outside didn't look like much, but the inside was completely covered in several different symbols as well as some tables with hunter tools on top.
Deanna raised a questioning eyebrow at Bobby, who just shrugged defensively, "I thought one day we'd need something like that. Traps and talismans from every faith on the globe. At least this way we're less vulnerable to whatever we're going to invoke".
She laughed and placed a hand on his shoulder, "That's exactly why I love you Bobby".
Bobby coughed and turned his face with his flushed cheeks to the side in shyness, before entering and walking over to one of the tables quickly, "Stop being emotional and go get the guns from the car".
Deanna carried everything that was available in the trunk of the car into the warehouse, placing everything on one of the tables that seemed emptiest. She and Bobby shared the weapons, prepared the salt, put bullets in their pistols and after everything was organized, they finally considered themselves ready to start the spell.
"This is still a bad idea" Bobby said again, alarmed, looking like he didn't want to do that at all.
Deanna scoffed, "Yeah Bobby, I heard you the first ten times. What do you say we ring the dinner bell already and just get this over with?"
Bobby ends up nodding reluctantly. He goes towards one of the tables, where he had already prepared the pot to perform the invocation. He takes a pinch of some kind of powder from a small jar and puts it in the pot and as the mixture begins to smoke he begins to speak the words of the spell. Deanna just watches him, ready with a shotgun in hand.
As soon as Bobby finished speaking the full spell, he placed the pot on the ground, which continued to smoke for some time until it gently dissipated. And so, they waited.
And they waited.
And they waited longer.
After an hour they had already abandoned their nervous postures and sat down at the tables. Deanna bounced her feet like a small child while Bobby whistled boredly.
"Are you sure you did the ritual right?", Deanna asked after some more time without anything happening. Bobby just gave her a look and she raised her arms in surrender, "Sorry. Touchy, touchy, huh?".
As if on cue, a loud rattling shakes the roof. At the same moment Deanna and Bobby were already standing, holding their shotguns, walking backwards to the wall opposite the entrance while observing the ceiling shake violently.
"Wishful thinking, but maybe it's just the wind". She spoke over the noise.
Bobby shook his head in denial, "I wish it was".
For a few more seconds the sound of the roof crashing continued, until it suddenly stopped. Deanna heard something like the sound of a bird's wings flapping, but it was too loud to really be one.
The warehouse doors opened completely by themselves, and only one figure stood right in the center of the entrance. It was a man with dark hair, in a business suit and trenchcoat. He started walking towards the two, the light bulbs above his head shattered in a shower of sparks as he passed them. As he approached, Bobby and Deanna started shooting at him, but the shots don't even slow him down, just blow holes through his clothes and he didn't even seem bothered by it.
He approached Deanna, making her retreat to one of the tables and grab the magic knife from behind, keeping it close.
"Who are you?" She asks as soon as he stops a few steps away from her. His presence very intimidating though she had expected something more menacing than someone who looked like a real estate agent or a tax collector.
"I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition". He replied simply. His voice was serious and deep, very calm for someone who had just been shot several times and was in a place that was practically a big fucking trap to any type of monstrous beings.
"Yeah, thanks for that". Deanna fake thanks him and he only has time to nod his head before Deanna plunges Ruby’s knife right into the middle of his chest, expecting him to scream and fall back in agony.
But to her complete surprise, the stab had not even made him twist his face in pain. He just watched her, still impassive, curious even, if the slight twist of his head to the side was any indication. Deanna quickly jerked away gasping with wide eyes as she watches the man rip the knife that she left on his chest easily like it was just a splinter and letting it fall to the ground, his eyes fixed on her intently.
Bobby tried to use the man's moment of distraction with Deanna to try to attack him from behind with an iron bar, which was promptly grabbed by him without him even looking and ripped it out of Bobby's hands. He briefly turned his attention to him and moved his hand with two fingers up and touched Bobby’s forehead softly, making him collapse on the ground. Deanna stared in horror at the scene and she would be lying if she said she wasn’t a tiny bit scared.
The man turned to her again, "We need to talk, Deanna. Alone".
He moved away from Bobby with a few steps back, paving the way for Deanna to get to her friend as if he knew that would be her first instinct. Even though she was suspicious, Deanna soon ran to his side, checking his pulse.
"Your friend is alive". He said simply, opening a book about demons that Bobby had brought with him and flipping through a few pages. Deanna shot him an angry look.
"Who are you?" She asked again, wanting a clearer answer this time.
"Castiel".
"Yeah, I figured that much, I mean what are you?".
Castiel closed the book and looked at her with a strange look of ....peacefulness, "I'm an Angel of the Lord".
Deanna looked him up and down, processing the information as if she'd just been punched. The measly idea of something like that was so unthinkable that she immediately registered it as a huge lie.
She stood up slowly, taking a few steps in front of Bobby to protect him. If this Castiel guy did something, at least her friend would be safe, "Get the hell out of here. There's no such thing".
Castiel, the 'angel', smiled sideways, walking slowly until he was a short distance away from her, "This is your problem, Deanna. You have no faith".
A flash and the sound of lightning sounded loudly outside, and in a moment, great black wings sprouted from Castiel's back, as real and majestic as a sunrise. Deanna couldn't help but open her mouth in surprise, since she had never seen anything like that in her life, it was understandable. Castiel let her watch them for a moment, maybe a tad bit too long just to prove a point, before making them disappear again.
Deanna pondered the image for some time in her head, before her anger returned, "Some angel you are. You burned out that poor woman's eyes".
Castiel sighed, "I warned her not to spy on my true form. It can be... overwhelming to humans, and so can my real voice. But you already knew that".
"You mean the gas station and the motel. That was you talking?", Castiel shook his head at her in affirmation, and she furrowed her eyebrows "Buddy, next time lower the volume".
"That was my mistake. Certain people, special people, can perceive my true visage. I thought you would be one of them. I was wrong".
"And why can I now hear you and see your big pigeon wings without my eyes burning out?".
"Because I'm not in my true form right now, this.... is just a vessel", He explained, pointing to himself... or the body he was technically using.
"You're possessing some poor bastard?".
"He's a devout man, he actually prayed for this". Castiel said it as if it was something that justified the fact that he stole someone else's body.
"Uh-huh. Y'know, it might've been easier to show up like this the first time instead of all the burning bush crap".
"Finding a human vessel durable enough to contain me... it's not easy".
Deanna laughed wryly, "Yeah, I have the same problem with men", She joked, rolling her eyes as Castiel made a little confused face at her like an innocent child. A few uncomfortable seconds of silence later, Deanna huffed angrily and swung an arm toward him. "Look, I'm not buying what you're selling, so who are you really?".
Castiel this time actually frowned deeply, as if he didn't understand why Deanna didn't believe him even after what she had seen, "I told you".
"Riiiight. And why would an angel rescue me from Hell?".
He approached her, staying just a few centimeters away. From this close, Deanna noticed that he was actually quite a bit taller than her, probably not as tall as Sam, but still tall enough that she had to look up to meet his eyes, and being looked down by people was something she never really liked, it was actually very disconcerting.
"Good things do happen, Deanna. Why don't you believe me...?", he asked more to himself than to Deanna herself, tilting his head to the side just as before, squinting his eyes, almost like if he was trying to read her mind. A few moments later his expression of questioning became one of surprise, "You don't think you deserved to be saved?".
Deanna swallowed dryly, "Why'd you do it?".
Castiel looked at her with determination, adjusting his posture to demonstrate firmness in his next words, "Because God commanded it. Because we have work for you".
And, fucking hell, this just had to be a big fat prank.