All I remember is feeling a burning pain in my head and then the next thing I know I'm being woken up by cops in the middle of the night and they are trying to take me somewhere so I did what my instinct said and then started running. I turn a corner and I can hear the sirens behind me. I see a door and run to it, trying to open it but it's locked. There's a gate a bit father ahead that I kick open and hide behind the wall as a police car goes by. When it's gone, I go back to a door that has a 'Delivery entrance only' sign above it, this one is open. The door leads to a bar.
"Hey, we're closed." A woman says.
"Just, uh, just give me a second." I say. I go to the window that has blinds covering it.
"So pal, we open at noon."
"Look, you don't understand." The cop car passes the window, making me move away from it.
"Okay, I-I think I understand just find. Look, I-I don't need this kind of hassle. So seriously, just get the hell out."
"Please. Please, just give me a minute to think, that's all. Then I'm out of your hair." I watch as she grabs a baseball bat from behind the counter. "One minute. Please." She puts the bat down.
"Well, my name's Robin, what's yours?" She asks.
"I don't know." I say.
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"I mean I don't remember. I don't remember anything."
"Come on, you're dickin' with me. Nothing?"
"I'm telling you. Blank slate." She pours me a drink of water.
"Well, you got a wallet? ID?"
"I wish I did."
"Okay, well what's the last thing you remember?"
"Um, I woke up on a park bench, cops shoving a flashlight in my face, trying to take me in."
"So you ran."
"No, I, um, knocked them out cold. Both of them. No, look, I didn't mean to. It just happened really fast, you know, I think instinct or something. I guess." I say.
"Some instinct.
"Yeah, tell me about it. I mean, who even knows how to do something like that?"
"We'll get you to the ER. The quacks will has it out."
"No." I say.
"Try 'yeah'. Look the bats have flown the belfry, you need to see a doctor." She says referring to my pregnant belly.
"No. I don't have time."
"Time for what?"
"Look, it's hard to explain. I just feel like I have to be somewhere. There's something I gotta stop."
"Oh, like a wedding? A train?"
"No, something important. Something like life or death, like-"
"Okay, hey, hey, hey. Just relax, you know, you - you can't poop it out, so just... It'll come to you." She says. I nod my head. There's a bookshelf behind the bar. I go see it and pick out a book. The Haunter of the Dark by H.P. Lovecraft. "What is it?" I show her the book. "You a horror fan?"
"Yeah, um, I think so. I really think so. Something about this..."
I get a head ache and visions...? Or memories... of talking to an older man with a beard and a trucker cap... he looks so familiar. A guy that's actually super attractive standing outside of a hospital. A little kid sitting in a car. Me, stabbing someone with black eyes. A British guy that seems really cocky. A hotel called the Nite Owl. By the time these flashbacks are done I'm slumped over and gasping.
"Hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey. Seriously, we are taking you to a doctor."
"Have you got a computer?" I ask.
"What?" She asks.
"I need a computer." She takes out her laptop. I search the Nite Owl to find where it is. "That's it. It exists. Look, two towns over." I turn the computer so it's facing her.
"What, you think you're staying in this dump?"
"Maybe."
"Oh, maybe you're a hooker
"I guess I'll find out." I say with a chuckle. "Look, um, I don't know how to say, uh, thanks for everything."
"Where do you think you're going?"
"I'll be fine."
"Says the pregnant head case that just slumped over a minute ago. Look, is there any way I can convince you to go to a hospital?"
"No. Apparently, I'm stubborn."
"Oh. So am I. I'm driving."
"Look, that's really nice of you, but not necessary." I say.
"Really? Okay, look, your eggs are scrambled."
"But-"
"But nothing."
"No, I mean I'm just some girl. I could be anybody. You gotta be nuts."
"I've been called that. Look, if I let you go off alone, I won't be able to sleep at night. And, honestly, I'm dying to know how it all turns out."
"Well, okay then. Let's go." We walk to her car. She drives us to the Nite Owl hotel.
"So, uh, where do we start?" She asks.
"Uh, ground floor corner room, nearest to the fire escape. That's the one I'd pick, quickest getaway." I say.
"And why do you know that?"
"I just do." We walk into the hotel and go to the room I suggested. We get to room number 107. I knock on the door. No answer. I try to open it. But it's locked. "Hey, you got a credit card?" I ask.
"Uh, why are uh, checking in?"
"Sort of." She hands me her card and I'm able to pick the lock with it. There's papers all over the walls, newspaper articles and maps everywhere. Stuff all about murders.
"Dude... who are you?"
"Good question."
"This all yours?"
"I don't know. I guess."
"Well, I love what you've done with the place. It's very 'Beautiful Mind' meets 'Se7en'. Sorry, I talk when I'm nervous." She picks up an ID from the table. "Hey, well I guess we know your name. Nice to meet you, Jamie Page." She leafs through the other fake IDs. "And uh, Nelly Peart, and Andrea Young." She chuckles nervously. "Okay, listen no offence but I'm - I'm really starting to freak out."
"You and me both." I say. There a newspaper article about a missing Professor from SFU. I recognize the Professor, she's an older woman but I don't know where she's from. And I get another flashback?
"Where is she?" The attractive guy asked.
"She said to meet her here. I'll try her again." The older man said as he took out his cellphone and dialed a number. We heard a cellphone ringing from nearby and followed the sound. The woman, the professor, was on the ground next to a dumpster. She was hurt. The old man knelt down in front of her. Me, the attractive guy, and a tall guy are were standing behind him.
"El?" The old man asked.
"Hey, I guess I could've used your help after all." The woman said.
"Just be still."
"What happened?" The tall guy asked.
"They took me. I got away." She opened her coat. Her shirt was soaked with blood around her stomach area.
"Oh Ellie, what have they done to you?" The old guy asked.
"Everything. The demon I could've handled, but when the angel stepped in, I told him, Bobby. They have enough to crack Purgatory wide open."
"Tell me. I need to know." The old man, Bobby, asked.
"They need virgin blood. That's a milk run for them. And they need the blood of a Purgatory native and well, they've got plenty of that now." Ellie said.
"Have they opened it yet?" The attractive man asked.
"Tomorrow. The moon and an eclipse. I'm sorry, Bobby."
"No, it's okay. It's okay." Bobby said.
"I'm really sorry."
"Tell us where they are?" She slumped and we got no other response from him. "El?" Bobby closed her eyes. A guy in a trench coat appeared behind us. I can remember that.
"I'm sorry this had to happen." He said. Bobby stood up. "Crowley got carried away."
"Yeah, I bet it was all Crowley you son of a bitch!" Bobby said, he started to go after the trench coated guy but the other two guys stopped him.
"You don't even see it do you? How totally off the rails you are!" I said.
"Enough! I don't care what you think. I've tried to make you understand. You won't listen. So let me make this simple. Please, go home and let me stop Raphael. I won't ask again." Trench coat said.
"Well, good, because I already think you know the answer." The attractive one said.
"I wish it hadn't come to this. Well, rest assured when this is all over, I will save Ash, but only if you stand down."
"Save them from what?" Trench coat disappeared from in front of us, and then I could feel two fingers pressed against the side of my head.
"Hey, hey. Are you okay?" Robin asks.
"Ashlee. My name is Ashlee." I say. I get up and go into the bathroom. I splash water on my face from the sink.
"So, uh, what do you remember?"
"Well, it might sound pretty strange if I said it aloud." I dry my face with a towel.
"Oh, it couldn't get any stranger."
"Yeah. Don't be so sure. Look, I don't know, I mean it's all pretty spotty, you know? I just remember I was with, uh 3 guys. One was a, like a male model type, another was a tall guy, like Sasquatch height, and the last guy was older named, uh, Bobby." I pick up an address book from one of the tables and look through it.
"Okay. What are you looking for?"
"Here. Bobby Singer. That has to be it." I find his name.
"Is there a phone number?"
"No, just an address. Sioux Falls, South Dakota."
"South Dakota. Okay, uh, listen, Ashlee. Ashlee, right?"
"Yeah." I say.
"Look, I'm really sorry, but this is where I get off."
"Oh, no, of course. No problem."
"Okay, well how are you going to get there?" I notice a set of keys on a table and grab them.
"I guess I'll take my car." I say. We walk out of the hotel and I see an impala. "That's mine." I point to it.
"Are you sure?"
"Oh yeah."
"Look, Ashlee I don't feel right about you going off like this."
"Oh, look, don't worry. You've done way too much for me already." I say.
"That's not what I mean. What I mean is uh... I've got a bad feeling you know, with those IDs and that shady-ass hotel room. Whatever you're looking for, you might not like what you find."
"What other choice do I have?" I hear a gun cock.
"You could stick around here a little longer, I mean get your head straight instead of going off, flying blind into..." Someone shoots at us, making me knock Robin to the ground, the bullet hits the window of the car. "What the hell was that?"
"Stay down." I stand up to try to get a look at the shooter. I can't tell who it is.
"Ash! Ashlee!" I hear Robin calling me.
DEAN'S POV
"Ashlee? Come on, snap out of it." She's unconscious. I've asked Alex to help but she can't do anything because she's like locked from her heavenly powers.
"Anything?" Bobby asks.
"I can't just sit here Bobby. I've got to help her."
"Dean." Sam says.
"You know, dreamscape her noggin. Something."
"You know what Cas did. The dam inside your girlfriend's head is gone and all hell's spilling loose. We don't know what's going on inside." Bobby says.
"I don't care. We have got to do something!" I yell.
"And we will, but right now we got sixteen hours till they pop Purgatory. I'm down soldier. I can't afford to be down two."
"Yeah, and how's that going, huh? We've got no line on Crowley. We got no line on Cas. Balthazar's MIA. I mean, all we've got is Ash going through whatever the hell this is!" Bobby offers me a glass of whiskey. I take it.
"You know, this is exactly what Cas wants. For you to fall to pieces. Just try to think of what Ash would want." Sam says.
"Find Cas. Find him now."
ASH POV
We get in the car and start driving.
"Do you smell whiskey?" I ask.
"Okay, Ash, would you focus?" Robin asks.
"Yeah. Sorry."
"Okay, so who shot at us?"
"I didn't really get a good look."
"Okay, so we gotta go get the cops."
"No, look, if we can just get to my friends, they can help us. I know it."
"Okay, you don't know if they're your friends, okay, you don't know anything about anything! Just turn around."
"No. Look, you're safer with me." I say.
"How do you know that? You're scaring me." Suddenly I'm blinded by a bright light. I slam on the brakes and get out of the car. It's day time... what the hell?
"What? No way" I say. Robin get out of the car too.
"What was that?"
"What do you mean? It's daylight." I say.
"Yeah."
"It was night, and now it's day."
"It was always day."
"No. no, no, no. No, it wasn't. It... what the hell is going on here?" I hear something in the woods surrounding us.
"Okay, so I am all filled up on crazy for today. You know what, Ash? I'll see ya." She starts to walk away.
"Wait, wait. Hey, hey, hey. Get in the car." I say as I gesture to the woods with my head. She does so, probably sensing that I think something's there. I go and open the trunk of the car, there's a freakin' arsenal in here. "Wow." I grab a pistol and cock it, then put it back and take a shotgun. I cock that then close the car and walk into the woods with the gun aimed. Further in the woods, I feel something because pushed against my head. I freeze and quickly turn around. It's... me. The person, which looks like me, grabs my gun from me, hits me in the head with it and then empties the shells from it.
"My god. Am I really that gawky?" The other me says. It throws my gun to the ground. "Howdy."
"This is impossible." I say.
"Cold. Try again."
"I'm uh, I'm hallucinating."
"Warmer. But see, normally, you're awake when you're tripping balls."
"I'm dreaming?" I ask.
"And someone just won a copy of the home game. We're inside your grapefruit, Ash. Sister, you've been juiced."
"I don't remember anything."
"Well, your BFF, or should I say BF, Cas brought the hell-wall tumbling down and you, pathetic infant that you are, shattered to pieces." The thing points to me. "Piece." Then points to herself. "Piece."
"I have no idea what you're talking about what."
"Why would you? You're jello, pal. Unlike me."
"What are you?" I ask.
"I'm not handicapped. I'm not saddled with a soul. In fact, I used to skipper this meat boat for a while. It was smooth sailing. I was sharp, strong. That is, 'til they crammed your soul back in. Now look at you. Same misty-eyed milksop you always were. That's because souls are weak. They're a liability. Now, nothing personal, but run the numbers. Someone's got to take charge around here, before it's too late." She cocks her gun. I get up and start running and I get shot at but luckily the bullet misses. I keep running. I hear the footsteps coming after me. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."
I hide behind a giant rock that's at the base of a big tree. I take off my jacket and leave it there, trying to use it as a decoy and find a pistol on the other side of the tree. I hear the footsteps walking towards my jacket. That was a good idea. I move out of the way so I'm not behind the thing. From behind, I shoot the soulless version of me. It falls to the ground and groans.
"You think I'm bad. Wait till you meet the other one." A bright white light comes out of the soulless version of me and comes into the real me. I remember it. I walk back to the road. Robin is standing by the car.
DEAN'S POV
I shined a light in one of her eyes to see if I could get any response. Actually it was Alex who suggested it. So far, I trust her. I haven't left Ashlee's side since she's been like this.
She starts violently convulsing
"Ashlee! Ash!"
ASH POV
"I remember who I am. Everything I did this past year. And I remember you." I say to Robin.
A demon was holding Robin hostage in his arms by holding a knife to her neck. I approached the demon with a gun, Sam and Samuel were on their way there.
"Walk away or the girl dies." The demon said. I shot Robin in the stomach. Killing her. The demon looked at me shocked.
"There goes your leverage." I said then shot the demon.
Blood seeps through Robin's shirt, right where I shot her last time.
"Didn't I tell you to turn back, that you wouldn't like what you found?" Robin says to me.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Not as sorry as you're gonna be." She says then disappears. I guess I have to keep going.
DEAN POV
Sam brings me a glass of whiskey. He knows I'm not leaving Ashlee's side.
"Look what the cat dragged in." Alex says from the doorway of the panic room. Balthazar is with her.
"Well, at least you mudfish finally got the angel-proofing right. How's sleeping beauty? You stole a few kisses, I trust?"
"What the hell took you so long?" I ask as I walk up to Balthazar.
"Honestly? I was having seconds thought."
"About?"
"About whether to help. I was thinking maybe... maybe I should rip out your sticky bits instead."
"And what did you decide?" Alex asks.
"Well..." He pulls out a piece of paper and hands it to me. "Cas and Crowley are there. That's where the show gets started." I open the paper and show Alex. It says Bootback, Kansas.
"Alright, well give us a minute to pack up and then zap us there." I say.
"Oh, no, no, no, no. I don't think so."
"Balthazar." Alex says.
"I'm betraying a friend here. A very powerful friend. We all are. And although Alex and I have a history, this is not something I'd be willing to do. So, I think I've stuck my neck out far enough already. Good luck." He says then disappears.
ASH POV
I get to Bobby's house. All the furniture is covered in white sheets. There's candles everywhere, but other than that there's no light source. I go through the rooms with my gun ready. I go into Bobby's study, someone is sitting at the desk.
"Hey. Hey!" I yell.
"Oh. Hi, Ash." That's my voice. It sounds weak.
"So, which one are you?" I ask.
"Don't you know?" The other version of me stands up. The face is bruised really badly. "I'm the one that remembers hell."
DEAN POV
"Time's up, Dean." Bobby says. Him, Alex and Sam were packing a bag for this hunt.
"Yeah, just a second." I say. "Alright, this is where we're gonna be, Ash. You get your ass out of bed and come and meet us. Ashlee, please." I place a note with a gun on the bed beside her. Give her one last kiss then walk out.
ASH POV
I put a hand to my lips. I could've sworn I felt something touch them.
"I wish you hadn't come, Ash." The other me says.
"I had to. I'm here, right? Out there in the real world, I'm at Bobby's, aren't I?"
"How do you know?"
"This whole time, I've smelt nothing but Old Spice and whiskey. Figured if I could get back here, back to my body, I could... I don't know, I could snap out of it somehow."
"But first you have to go through me."
"Why?" I ask.
"Humpty Dumpty has to put himself back together again, before he can wake up. And I'm the last piece."
"Which means," I lower my gun, "I have to know what you know. What happened in the cage?"
"Trust me, you don't wanna know it."
"You're right. But I still have to."
"Ash, you can't imagine. Stay here, go back, find that bartender, go find Adam, but don't do this. I know you. You're not strong enough."
"We'll just have to see." I say.
"Why is this so important to you?"
"You know me. You know why. I'm not leaving Dean and Sam alone out there." She walks towards me. Picks up a knife, making me raise my gun again.
"I'm not gonna fight you. But this is your last chance." She holds out the knife to me, handle first. I put my gun down and take it. "Good luck. You're gonna need it."
I stab the hell version of me in the stomach. She falls to the ground and dies. Another bright light comes out of her and into me.
I wake up in a cold sweat, on a cot in the panic room. That was trippy. I notice a paper and a gun beside me. I check the paper. It's an address. Must be where Sam, Dean and Bobby are. Oh, and Alex.
DEAN POV
We get out of the car that got overturned by the freakin' demons and run into the building. Crowley is in the process of reciting something. I throw an angel blade at Raphael who has his back to us but he turns around and catches it. Him and Crowley stare at the four of us. Crowley throws us down the stairs that we're at the top of with his telekinetic powers.
"Bit busy gentlemen and lady... Alex. Be with you in a moment." Crowley says then continues the incantation. Nothing happens when he's done. "Mm-hmm, maybe I said it wrong."
"You said it perfectly. All you needed was this." Cas says as he appears behind us holding an empty jar of blood. The four of us finally stand up.
"I see." Crowley says, he walks over to a wall where there's blood. "And we've been working with..." He tastes it. "Dog blood. Naturally." Ew!
"Enough of these games, Castiel. Give us the blood." Raphael says.
"You. Game's over. His jar's empty. So, Castiel, how'd your ritual go? Better than ours, I'll bet." Crowley says. Cas closes his and a bright white light starts to emanate from him, filling the room, all of us close our eyes. As the light fades we open are eyes again.
"You can't imagine what it's like. They're all inside me. Millions upon millions of souls." Cas says.
"Sounds sexy. Exit stage Crowley." Crowley says then disappears. Alex and Raphael look scared.
"Now, what the matter, Raphael? Somebody clip your wings?"
"Castiel, please. You let the demon go, but not your own brother?"
"The demon I have plans for. You on the other hand." Cas snaps his fingers making Raphael explode. His angel-killing sword falls to the ground. "So, you see, I saved you."
"Sure thing, Cas. Thank you." I say. Please don't explode me!
"You doubted me, fought against me, but I was right all along. Except you, Alex. I haven't seen you since your fall."
"Well, that's a long story for another time. But you need to be defused right now." She says.
"What do you mean?"
"You're full of nuke. It's not safe, for anyone. So, before the eclipse ends, let's get those souls back to where they belong, okay?"
"Oh no, you were once my superior and much more than that, but no, these souls belong with me."
"No, Cas, it's scrambling your brain." I say.
"No, I'm not finished yet. Raphael had many followers, and I must punish them all severely."
"Listen to us, Cas. We know there's a lot of bad water under the bridge, but we were family once. I'd have died for you. I almost did a few times. So if that means anything to you... Please. Dean's lost Lisa and Ben, I lost Jess, and we're losing Ash. Don't make us lose you too. You don't need this kind of juice anymore. Get rid of it before it kills us all." Sam says.
"You're just saying that because I won. Because you're afraid." Ash comes up behind him, after grabbing the fallen angel-blade and stabs Cas in the back. Nothing happens. Cas just pulls the sword out. There's not even any blood on it. "I'm glad you made it Ash. But the angel blade won't work, because I'm not an angel anymore. I'm your new God. A better one. So you will bow down and profess you love unto me, your Lord. Or I shall destroy you."
*****This is the last chapter in this book! New book coming soon !!