Reckless [Dean Winchester]

30. Purgatory (Part 2)

Sam makes sure I don't make a wrong turn, he corrects me when necessary. We're all focusing straight ahead and nowhere else.

"You know where the hell you're going?" asks Bobby.

"Yeah, we're almost there," says Sam. "Get back. Get back, get back. Max." I'm pulled into a niche of the corridor with the men as we all hear the quiet footsteps.

I'm pushed aside gently as the men barrel out from our hideout and attack, with Sam leading the charge. Bobby kills the demon with the knife. I run out as another rushes for Bobby. Taking my weapon, I swing, it moves away. When Bobby slices into its body, I shove my weapon deep into its chest. Its body glows gold inside, a flickering light, before it drops to the ground. My body tingles from the fresh kill. I haven't killed anything since I saved Emmett and Sophie.

"Let's go!" Sam urges. "We got to get out of here!"

Whoa. My head spins. There's not one Sam, but two. Identical in every way. Bobby and I exchange a confused look. How can we tell which is which? I don't trust myself to take a chance and kill one Sam, because my luck, I'll actually kill Sam Winchester, and then Dean will kill me. Just because I'm his girlfriend doesn't mean he'll forgive me or give me a free pass for the murder of his baby brother.

"Guys, they're messing with you," says the Sam on the right of Bobby.

"Don't listen to him," says the Sam on the left. "He's not real."

"Guys, get away from him!"

"We got to go now-" Left-side Sam screams as Bobby shoves the knife into him. I cover my mouth with my hand in horror, but then slightly relax. Left-side Sam's body lights up, confirming that he's the fake. I let out a shaky breath of relief as the body crumples and lies still on the corridor floor.

"You knew somehow, right?" I ask Bobby, hopeful.

"Took a chance. Fifty-fifty." Now we're running down the corridor. If someone finds the body, they'll know something's up. We can't get away if we're walking. "What do we do now?"

"Look, look," says Sam. I catch him grabbing a high ledge-where he put his watch.

Next thing we know, we're spat out of Hell, and we're back to the familiar Purgatory forest. For once, I'm relieved. The little Hell tour was much longer than I had wanted it to be.

"What the hell is this?" Bobby asks.

"All right," says Sam carefully, "don't get pissed off. Purgatory."

"Balls!"

"Let's go," I say. The three of us leave the portal to Hell behind us. I don't want any more trips like this. It's not that this scares me or anything, I've caught a glimpse of Hell.

"So, what kinda bet did you lose to get your ass sent here?" Bobby asks me.

"No bet," I say. "I owe the Winchesters for saving my life."

"And you think paying it back is sending yourself to Purgatory and Hell?"

"I think it's safe to say I've earned enough experience to be here. Besides, this is good for me. Good practice."

"Let me get to the real question: why are you two really here?"

Sam is the one to explain it to Bobby: how Kevin translated the Demon Tablet; how he found out that there are three trials to complete to shut down Hell for good; how we figured out what the first trial was and how it was accomplished; and how we're on task number two.