Just a Baby in a Trench Coat

Chapter 4 ~ Un-Pacify Me

The ground was muddy when Dean stepped out of the Impala, the mud sticking to his shoes brought back the fresh memory of the stormy night. The window Sam had thrown them all out of was still broken and created an ominous black hole in the side of the house. If Dean thought the house was creepy before, he definitely thought it was creepy now. Sam stalked his way up to the house while Dean pushed away all the pesky annoying thoughts of what could be at stake if they botched this hunt. At the entrance of the house, Sam pointed to recent footprints left on the hardwood that looked like the person had entered and then exited. Dean let out a mental sigh of relief that there was a chance the perp wasn't there. If there was a kid somewhere in all this, the last thing he wanted was a gunfight. Sam crept inside and immediately cringed at the fresh smell of blood. Dean merely scrunched his nose as the two spread out across the living room.

The room was even more demonic than the first time. The paint had been redone, and Dean quickly found out why the room smelled so coppery. Overlapping all the sigils were thick lines of red that he chose to ignore as he walked past. Sam stopped, checking over the symbols as Dean went to the stairs. Sam had said the only downstairs room was a kitchen in the back, and Dean hypothesized that a murderer wouldn't hide their victim in a pantry closet as he mounted each step carefully to avoid creaks and groans. Looking down the hallway, Dean found that he preferred all the doors to be closed instead of open because of the eerie feeling that crawled down his spine as he stared at the vacant space in front of him. Waiting only a moment for Sam to start climbing the stairs Dean moved forward, anxious to find the kid and maybe an answer to help Cas. The first room was empty with the exception of a large circle on the ground, the second room was the same, and so was the third. It was the fourth room, the one next to the stairs up to the attic, that Dean found a child bound with old rope. Moving quickly, Dean scoped the room and slid beside the kid, shocked to see Aubrey, the little girl from the park, looking up at him with red teary eyes.

"Hey, hey it's okay now." he murmured, cutting the rope with a pocket knife. He shushed her as she wept and when her arms were finally free she leaped into his arms and buried her small head into his shoulder. She was still wearing the solitary red ribbon that matched the one in Cas's hair. Dean picked her up, eyeing Sam who was waiting in the doorway. Sam barely opened his mouth before something small struck him in the nape and Dean watched him crumple to the floor. A figure appeared in the doorway, dark and ominous, and Dean turned to keep Aubrey safe when he felt a prick in his neck. With a curse, he caved around Aubrey in an attempt to save her from attack. He couldn't even focus enough to try and see who the shadowy figure was as he collapsed on the floor.

It was Dean who woke up from the drug-induced nap first. The wailing was disorientating at first, but when his mind suddenly cleared he realized the wailing was unsettlingly familiar.

"Cas," he wheezed as he tried to lean forward but was stopped as a rope had been wrapped tightly around his chest and wrists in an unrelenting knot. His vision was blurry but when his ears stopped ringing he focused carefully on his surroundings. He could hear tender shushing and comforting mumbles as the crying continued, his heart hammering as he tried to convince himself that the sound couldn't possibly be Castiel since Castiel was back at the motel. When his vision came back he held his breath as he saw Cas, little baby Cas in his bright yellow onesie, being cradled by the dark figure. The person had a black hood and dark clothes on and Dean became frustrated with himself for not being able to gauge who it could be. Sam had thrown out a few ideas on the way, but none of the descriptions fit this person, who was short, skinny and limber. Not a deputy, not an elderly woman, and definitely not a middle-aged stout balding widower. Another woman was in the room, and Dean registered that they were all in the attic with it's bowed roof and opening that revealed a perfect starry night sky. The other woman looked exhausted and haggard, with mousy brown hair that was matted and tangled. She was wearing a dirty purple floral dress and seemed absolutely miserable as she held Aubrey protectively against her chest. Dean figured that the woman was probably Lisa. Dean felt the large, slumped weight against his back and let out a sigh of relief when he focused on the sound of breathing. So far, everyone was accounted for. Cas continued to cry, trying desperately to wiggle out of the figure's arms, but whoever it was holding him firmly enough that he couldn't escape their grasp. The figure turned, facing Dean entirely. Cas looked over, eyes red as he reached out and tried to stretch towards him. Dean's heart started to ache in his chest at the sight as the feeling of helplessness set in. When the figure pulled out a gun and pointed it at Cas's head, multiple things happened to Dean. The first thought was that this is it. This is the case we die with. The second thought was incoherent screaming as some beast inside became utterly enraged at the sight of Cas so defenseless. The third thing was Dean watched Lisa start to cry awful silent tears. The fourth, final thing Dean did was mentally scream. He screamed for God to step in, he screamed for something, anything to stop this person. His muscles were tensed and he tried so hard to just get up. He couldn't just sit here and do nothing.

"Stop!" Dean bellowed, his word potent with anger. It startled everyone in the room, including Dean, who didn't even know his voice could sound so threatening.

The person froze. They became completely still and even Cas had stopped his crying to stare at Dean with wide sparkling eyes. Dean realized this was his chance: time to negotiate his own hostage situation.

"What's your plan here? Kill some kids, keep a teacher locked up here, throw in some random guys for good taste, I mean, your plan is lacking some finesse."

Lisa's face could not have been more disbelieving if Dean had just claimed the Earth was flat and gravity was a social construct.

"Think about it," Dean continued, a small sweat starting to build up and irritate his skin where it was painfully bound together by a rope, "What do you gain from all this? You think some dead kids will please the gods or something? Cause let me tell ya', gods could care less about child sacrifices nowadays. They're more into virgins if ya know what I mean." Dean added a wink in there for good measure.

Dean could hear Lisa mutter something under her breath as Aubrey started to look back and forth between the figure and Dean. The person faltered, obviously confused, and Dean realized how inexperienced this person may be when it came to adults and pushed forward, "Besides, that's not even a kid! Sure, he looks like a baby, but that's a full-grown man you've got there. The Gods are sure to be angry if you fuck up a sacrifice, right?"

Cas suddenly perked up and, with all his might, let out a spew of syllables. Everyone was confused at this sudden burst of noise, but Cas continued until it became a crescendo of nonsense. The woman, having a moment of clarity threw her hands towards Castiel and a wave of blue light flooded from her fingers. Grace, Dean realized belatedly as it drifted through the air, slowly being siphoned back to the angel who apparently lost it. The room glowed with the pulsating celestial light and Dean watched as Castiel's tiny body shone like a blue ember, illuminating the face of the person that Dean frustratingly still could not see well enough to identify. The figure, being disoriented and panicked by this, raised the gun they were holding and fired.