Sam sighed, kicking aside the hex bag. Another dead lead. Maybe that's too on the nose, he thought looking at the dead witch.
She thought she had him pinned and was going to use him as a pawn in Heaven and Hell's current war.
Guess no one let her in on a little secret about Sam's abilities. Not that anyone really knows about it, Sam didn't find out on purpose.
He walked out of the room, over the body. She played her cards stupidly, however, she was a very gifted woman.
Going to room to room, Sam walked around, grabbing essential ingredients he's been struggling to find.
None of it would do what he needed, but they're good for other things. He grabbed a lot of herbs with protective abilities, out of habit but also to try and reverse them.
She had a good stock, it was a shame that most of it will go to waste. He made sure to browse through everything, books included.
Once he was sure he grabbed anything useful, he packed it away into his bag. He considered burning the place down. But it didn't seem necessary, there's no one for miles, and a spell that helps invade most intruders.
Stepping out of the house, it seemingly disappeared again. He just continued his walk. Pulling out a piece of paper and crossing her name off the list.
He didn't want to kill her, he's befriended most people on the list, but power makes people do crazy things. He knows that well over.
It was still early in the day, he could simply trek further into the woods and maybe set up somewhere there.
Some theories ran through his brain, how he could break down his new stock. Last week he managed to stay down for three days.
It was the longest he's managed, and while it was awful being trapped with Lucifer for that long, it was worth it. He'd spend an eternity with Lucifer if it meant that this war was over, allowing him to pay for his sins.
He walked and followed nature's guide to a creek. Now all he needed was a clear area, but it was pretty dense here.
Sam set his bag down, opening it and picked up his axe head. The stick that was on the outside of his bag, he grabbed it and started to put them back together.
It helped that he had a little extra insurance that they'd stay together with a little spellwork. They were practically melted into each other now that they're reconnected. And to undo it, all he had to do was chant a few words to get it to release.
Witches. They have taught him a lot since he started this suicide mission. Lots of them helped just for the Hell of it, they get a Winchester as an ally, meaning no one is going to be after them as long as Sam's breathing. And since he's trying to do the impossible, they've got nothing to lose.
Or so they believe. Sam's more determined now than he ever has been. He put that determination and anger into the axe that he swung into the tree that he was clearing.
He asked for its forgiveness before chopping away, so he has a tree trunk as a table to throw together a new spell.
It didn't take very long for the tree to knock down, and hit the ground with a loud thump. With that out of the way, he could set up camp.
It shouldn't take too long to throw together the mixture. Either it worked or it didn't. While he always worked in a rushed manner, he was still careful about and intentional about each step.
Jotting down everything he used and how he did, and the result that came from it. Best way to avoid repeats and to figure out what ingredients work and which ones don't.
He tied off a bag with some materials that he really didn't want to use if this didn't work. They're a fucking pain to find, but if it does work, it was well worth it.
Grabbing his knife, he digged into his hand, allowing it to bleed onto the bag, and chanted some rehearsed lines.
A light show of purple surrounded his mixture and wrapped around him. And while that seemed promising, the only way to truly know is by testing it.
With that, he quickly started packing away items, he could test it here, but he didn't want to accidentally lose anything important.
His axe went into two separate pieces again as he said the practiced line that takes away their strong hold. Packing it carefully back where it was.
Sealing away any herbs or other magical properties he used and needs, especially the rare ones.
Once all was said and gone. He patted the stump, and the tree he chopped down, whispering it well words, allowing both to start an early decay and life cycle. He may not be able to unchop the tree, but at least he could speed up the process of a new life there.
He needed the forgiveness of the trees if he was going to test his spellwork. He just needed a tree big enough first.
So, he followed the pattern in the trees, looking for the older, taller ones, rather than the youth. They were easier to cut down, but he needed it to remain standing.
Sam walked as far as his legs were willing to carry him, forcing him to take a break. He sat against a rock, while he was used to checking it over for danger, if anything deadly striked him, it saved him a climbing trip.
However, he wasn't granted that mercy. Although, most would believe that in itself, being safe is a mercy, but with Sam, it was simply a curse.
He sat and drank a little bit of water, trying to regain the strength to keep walking a bit longer. He still had a tree to climb, so probably not too far.
It gave time for him to think, which was never a good thing anymore. It's how he ended up on this mission to begin with.
But there he was, thinking about the irony of it all. He wanted to escape away from Lucifer, and so far, the only way to do so, is to be stuck with him in Sam's mind.
At the very least, this way, the only one who gets hurt is Sam, and not anyone he cares about. And while Lucifer can taunt and try to trick him out of his autonomy, he can't physically hurt him. He can't lay destruction onto the world. And that's enough for Sam to keep going with his insane plan.
It only makes sense though, Sam thought, he's always ran to angelic and godly presences. Whether it was a holy ground, a scripture, sculpture, even a painting of anything holy, Sam was drawn in.
And while Lucifer is a fallen angel, he's still an angel. The one angel he'd love to avoid and have no part with is the one he's the most connected with.
Because God has a sense of humor that always bites Sam in the ass. It's cruel and ironic, Sam hates it.
The actual angels that he'd be okay with on a different basis, are the ones who either want him dead, are hunting him, or want him to give into the devil.
All of them tired of waiting on a Father that doesn't care. That abandoned them long ago.
He tried to avoid dwelling on any of this, the fact that he's a dead man walking. Even if that's a difficult thing to accomplish.
That he is running from what he prayed to for so long and still somehow in a sick and twisted way, has faith in.
That he's running straight to the Devil himself and that his existence is technically for the Devil.
It didn't take long for Lucifer to tune in and see what Sam was up to. He's well aware of Sam's mission and fails to see how it'll work. Something Sam struggles with himself.
He quickly blocked Lucifer and started walking again, he got too comfortable and needs to accomplish his plan.
So for the next fifteen minutes he searched for a good tree to climb. Whether he just got tired of looking for a tree or finally found a good one was up for debate.
The tree he stood in front of would have to do nonetheless. He walked around it looking for the best way to do so.
Briefly wondering when was the last time he actually climbed a tree. Maybe it was when Dean and him got drunk and dared each other to jump off the tallest tree they could find.
They got no sympathy from their Dad and had to do more drills than usual after that. Broken bones or not.
A part of Sam missed that, not the drills, just doing stupid shit with his brother. Now there's no time for that.
He found a branch he could reach and could get a boost up with a groove in the roots. He set his bag down, and backed up.
He patted himself over, taking out his gun, knife, and his back up weapons that may be a little diy.
He didn't want to lose them climbing up and risk them breaking. He put them in his bag, double checking he didn't have anything else.
Once he cleared himself he backed up further, before getting a running start and jumping up using the root.
He pulled himself up, and walked up a little in order to be able to sit on the branch. He sat there and laughed, he's really just climbing a tree.
Standing up, he looked for the next branch and pulled at it, testing it, he wasn't confident in it holding his weight. He went to the next one and it felt a lot sturdier.
It was closer so he was able to just pull himself up, and maneuver his legs onto it as well.
And that's what he did, stood up tall, tested branches, when he found a sturdy one, he'd pull himself up, and sit on it.
He repeated this action over and over, he started to feel some strain after a while, and made a mental note to do more pull ups.
It wasn't clear how long he ended up climbing, and he didn't look down, just kept looking up, using the branches disappearing as his reference for height.
With one more pull up onto a branch he sighed, his arms were screaming at him, but he stood up and pulled at another branch. It was too weak, so he grabbed for another, same story. With more branch in reach, he pulled, and it went crashing down.
Sam took that as a sign he climbed high enough. He leaned against the tree, and looked out at the view.
There was a lot of nature that stretched for miles. He could see the creek he stopped at. And how far it went.
If he could, he'd spend the rest of his time mapping this place out. It was gorgeous. And there weren't any towns, cities, nothing like that for hundreds of miles.
Maybe it's a good thing he can't stay. So it remains untouched and poisoned by humanity. Especially him. He's not known for keeping things he cares about alive and safe. With his luck it would all be up in flames within a day.
He looked at the sky and tried to guess the time. His notebook at least has the date, he could give a rough estimate from that.
A breeze flew past, sending chills down his back. One more look upon the land and he knew it was time to test it.
He closed his eyes and could hear everything so much clearer, birds chirping, he saw some crows earlier on his way up.
An owl or two were hooting, but most of the chirps went unidentified.
He was too high up to hear the crickets, and other insects that flew, hopped, or simply buzzed by.
Sam took a deep breath, he knew he was stalling. It wasn't due to the height or the impact.
No, the true fear is what happens afterwards, especially if he succeeds. But, he didn't do this all for nothing.
With that thought, Sam scooted to the middle of the branch. Or what he assumed had to be. Now all he had to do was lean back and let go.
And he did.
As he was falling, he did his best to remain calm. The drop in his stomach made the rest of his body scream in resistance, knowing what was to come. His arms wanted to drift out to catch a branch but Sam kept them crossed over his chest.
The drop down was timeless, his eyes nearly opened but Sam kept them scrunched closed.
Falling he appeared peaceful, internally he was terrified.
He slammed into the ground, a gust of wind from all sides flew out underneath toed with a purple light that surrounded his body, swarming around it. Rotating around as a shield.
Sam was gone. Dying upon impact. With no one to mourn, just as he had hoped. As long as he remains dead, he's truly done it.