The Dark Forces of the Devil's Hotel

Demons and Monsters and Ghosts, Oh My!

Dean already knew that the fight was far from over. They hadn't been able to properly exorcise the demon, so he'd been able to smoke out on his own terms. He could be anywhere by now, but regardless of where he went, Dean knew he'd be back. He'd merely paused their match, setting his next turn up to his advantage.

They had to use however long that demon was taking a timeout for wisely, which meant getting the two civilians out and away from the hotel.

One look at the two of them told Dean they were shaken, which was understandable. You don't just walk away from near-death experiences and demonic encounters unscathed.

The no-longer-possessed one was being helped off the ground by Sam, while the taller one was staring at his hands in bewilderment. Dean wondered if his confusion had anything to do with that perfectly timed blast during the fight. He had been hoping to ask the guy just what the hell it was, but it was starting to dawn on Dean that the other man might not know either.

"Well, I'd love to do some introductions, maybe play a few icebreakers, but we need to get the hell out of here before that asshole comes back," Dean said.

"He can come back?" The shorter of the two asked.

"Unfortunately," Sam chimed in. "We didn't properly finish the exorcism. He split before we could."

"Which means we need to get you two out of here now. Can everybody walk?"

The two of them gave each other a look before nodding.

With that, Dean started out of the room, giving a motion with his head to indicate that they should follow. Sam tailed the two civilians in case something decided to come at them from behind and Dean took up the front to make sure the way to the door was clear.

They travelled down the hall in silence, as if a word spoken by any of them might summon the demon once more. Their cautious footsteps, sustaining the quiet atmosphere, finally reached the main entrance. But, when Dean tried the handle, he couldn't help but break that eerie stillness by cursing.

"It's locked," Dean announced with a sigh.

"You don't think..." Sam thought aloud as Dean turned around.

"It's worth a shot anyways."

Dean picked up a stool that stood by the entrance to another room and hurled it at the window next to the door. The stool shattered instantly, as if it was the true object made of glass in this situation.

"Not this shit again..." Dean muttered.

"What the fuck is happening?" The shorter of the two civilians asked, clearly growing more panicked the longer they stayed in the building.

"Most likely, some kind of spell has been put on the building to keep us in here. Any way out has been magically sealed." Sam answered grimly. "That demon would have to be fairly powerful to be able to pull off something like this..."

"You... you don't mean we're stuck here, right?" The shorter one asked, a brief hysterical laugh trailing the question. He ran his fingers through his hair, and Dean felt like the guy was only two more seconds of paranormal mishaps away from cracking.

Dean couldn't exactly blame the guy. While he'd thankfully never had black smoke jam itself down his throat, he'd been worn like a prom dress by the archangel Michael and had had various other creatures and forms of magic mess with his head. It was horrible every time, even for an experienced hunter like Dean, and he knew it could only be ten times worse for a guy who had just been thrown into the supernatural deep end headfirst.

"Not if we have anything to say about it," Dean attempted to reassure him, not acknowledging how screwed they were, being trapped in the demon's playground.