Roads Untraveled ~ Sam Winchester

Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Six - Ghost Town

The ride in the Impala was taken up by Sam doing news checks to see if he could find anything about the ghosts happening elsewhere, concluding that it hadn't. Belphegor had informed them that Hell had about two or three billion souls, saying that it wouldn't be long before every single one would be released. He'd also suggested containing the ghosts with a spell in the form of a salt circle with a mile radius.
Agreeing to the plan, Dean offered up evacuating the town, which was when Sam spotted a car stopped in the middle of the road.
They pulled up to it, seeing the driver's door wide open.
"I smell blood." Eden told them.

They approached the car with flashlights and weapons at the ready. The radio blared music as they checked it over.
"There's no body." Dean frowned, scanning his flashlight over the surrounding area. He then turned back to Sam. "This look familiar to you?"
"Yeah." Sam replied. "Looks like a Woman in White."
"Exactly." Dean huffed.
"This could be our Woman in White." The younger brother pointed out.
"Dude, we sent her to Hell years ago." The older scoffed.
"Yeah, but she could be back."
"How many souls do you think we've put in Hell over the years?" Eden asked. "Because I'd say the hundreds of thousands – if not, more – for me, alone."
"Eden's right. If our Woman in White is back, then they're all back." Dean nodded. "Every last one that we ever killed... Let's go."

As the sun rose over Harlem, Kansas, the group rolled into town, parking up in the town centre.
Sam got out, spotting the local Sheriff not too far from them.
"We got town evac, so you guys take Crowley Junior and grab everything for his spell. Eden, if you think anything's up, kill him." Dean instructed from the driver's seat.
"No." Cas muttered.
"What?"
"Dean, I... I can't even look at him."
"Then look at me and I'll look at you." Eden told him, resting a hand on his knee. "We've got this, Pigeon."
"Fine." The Angel eventually huffed.
He climbed out of the back seat and held out a hand for Eden to take, helping her slide from the middle seat.
They approached Sam and the Sheriff, catching the tail end of their conversation.
"Well, I suppose we could move people up to the high school." The plump, Caucasian, middle-aged Sheriff suggested.
"Where is that?" Cas asked.
"About five miles that way, up two-eighty-one." The Sheriff replied, pointing to the road behind him.
"That's far enough." Cas nodded to Sam.
"Great. Get these people on the move; we'll go house to house." Sam nodded, walking away.
Eden observed Castiel's body language, opting for a change of plan.
"Okay, that's enough." She started, stopping the boys. "Pigeon, you're in no fit state to be doing anything Belphegor-related. So, you go with Sam, do the house to house thing. Dean and I will handle the stuff for the spell."
Castiel took a visible sigh of relief.
"Thank you." He said. "I know you feel as bad about this as me. I admire your strength."
Eden gave him a small, reassuring smile, tapping him on the shoulder before giving a glance Sam's way and skipping off into a jog back towards the car.
"So, what do we need for this spell?" Dean asked.
"Uh, a big bag of rock salt." Belphegor replied as Eden got in the passenger seat.
"Easy enough." Dean shrugged.
"Oh, and a Human heart." The Demon added.
Dean and Eden glanced to one another, giving a deep sigh.

The Impala parked up outside of the local hardware store.
"Okay. You two stay in here. Belphegor, if you say anything to her that she doesn't like - and I mean anything - expect to get dead. I'll be back in a few." Dean said, getting out of the car.
"So..." The Demon started, clapping his hands together to rest them on the back of the bench seat. "Heard about your kid. I'm sorry."
Eden rolled her eyes, propping her head up in her hand, her arm resting on the open passenger window.
"You can't be that sorry. You're still using his body as your casual walk-around."
"That's fair. I get it, you're grieving. That's okay. I was just wondering what the backstory with him was. Dean said he was your kid, but only sort of." Belphegor seemed genuinely curious.
Eden gave a sharp huff, turning around to face him with a deep, pained scowl.
"He was the Nephilim child of a Human and Lucifer. He chose Castiel and I to be his guardians. Then... Something happened and he lost his soul and became uncontrollable. God came down from his stalker cloud and killed him. Enough for you?" She spat, returning to her previous position.
Belphegor raised his brows, putting up his hands in defense as he sat back.
"Wow. Heavy. Extra sorry." He sighed, glancing out of his window at nothing in particular. "Lucifer's kid, huh? Yeah, I heard about that. It was all anyone would talk about in Hell for months. It was kinda-"
"Stop talking." Eden growled. "You're only here because you won't tell us how to do the spell; otherwise I'd be doing it instead. So, watch where your mouth is headed because, like Dean said, I won't hesitate to kill you if you piss me off."
"Got it. My bad." Belphegor mumbled.