World So Cold

27. Croatoan

Dean was in a dim hallway, grimly turning towards a door and pulled out a gun. He slid out the clip, tapped it on the gun, then replaced it. Inside the room, there was a Crater Lake poster on the wall. Below it, a young blond man, Duane, was tied to a chair. Nearby, were a young woman, Pam, a middle-aged woman, Dr. Lee, and a tough-looking black man, Mark. Duane looked up as Dean opened the door and entered, raising the gun.

Duane began babbling. "No, no, no, no, no, you're not gonna... no, I swear! It's not in me!"

"Oh, God," Pam said. "We're all gonna die."

"Maybe he's tellin' the truth," Mark guessed.

Dean advanced and cocked the gun. "He's not him, not anymore."

"No, stop it!" Duane cried. "Stop it! Ask her, ask the doctor! It's not in me!"

"I just... I can't tell," Dr. Lee admitted.

"No, please, don't. Don't. I swear I-"

"I got no choice," Dean said.

Duane started sobbing. "I swear, it's not in me, it's not in me! Don't, don't. Please!"

Dean fired twice.

MOTEL ROOM

Sam was lying on the floor beside a motel bed and coming out of his vision. Laurey was shaking him, having just seen something similar. The door opened and Dean entered, chewing on jerky and carrying a six-pack of beer. Sam sat up, panting.

"Sam?" Dean called.

"No..." Sam said.

The four got into the Impala. Dean was driving, Laurey and Jonathan were in back, and Sam was navigating with a GPS device which spoke directions.

"Continue on O-R Two-Two-Four West."

"There are only two towns in the US named Rivergrove," Sam told his brother and friend.

"How come you're so sure it's the one in Oregon?" Dean asked.

Sam had a flashback -- the Oregon poster on the wall. "There was a picture. Crater Lake."

"Okay, what else?"

"I saw a dark room, some people, and a guy tied to a chair."

"And I ventilated him?"

"Yeah. You thought there was something inside him."

"What, a demon? Was he possessed?"

"I don't know."

"Well, all your weirdo visions are always tied to the Yellow-Eyed Demon somehow... so was there any back smoke? Did I try to exorcise it?"

"No. Nothing, you just plugged him, that's it."

"Well, I'm sure I had a good reason."

"I sure hope so," Laurey mumbled.

"What does that mean?" There was a silent beat. "I mean, I'm not gonna waste an innocent man." Sam and Laurey raised their eyebrows. "I wouldn't!"

"I never said you would!" Sam and Laurey yelled.

"Fine!"

"Fine!" Sam snapped. "Look, we don't know what it is. But whatever it is, that guy in the chair's a part of it. So let's find him, and see what's what."

"Fine."

"Fine."

RIVERGROVE STREET

The four pulled into town past a large billboard advertising Crater Lake. They pulled up in front of a wooden shop. Out front, a man in a short-sleeved blue shirt and a multi-pocket brown vest, Mark was cleaning a rifle. Sam, Dean and Laurey got out and approached him. Jonathan stayed in the car.