Seven - Elvinsboro, North Carolina
Once the group of five had all that they thought they would need, they left the bunker in Kansas for the little town of Elvinsboro, North Carolina.
The drive was nowhere near short, being almost a full day's worth of driving, and that was excluding any stops that were needed along the way. But the group of five managed it just fine. At night, the human women slept while Meg and Castiel would drive, as the angel and demon didn't need sleep.
The driver rotation was currently Meg in the driver's seat, with Jo passed out in the front passenger. Charlie was squished between Cas and Jessica in the backseat.
As morning started to bloom, Jo woke up with crusty eyes. Gross. She rubbed the goop out from them, noticing how fast the car was moving. She glared over at the speedometer; Meg was flooring the gas. Any cop who gave a damn would surely pull them over.
"We're still two hours out from Elvinsboro," Meg reported, eyes glued to the road. "Don't worry, I'll make sure we stop somewhere so you don't starve. Can't work a job when your stomach wants to eat itself."
As if she would know that feeling.
Jo sat up in the seat, feeling how stiff her neck was. Her arm held a red mark, too, from being propped against the car window. How was I even comfortable? She cracked her neck, which only made the pain worse.
"If we're up against demons, can you sense them?" Jo asked.
"I'm not a radar," Meg snorted. "That's more of a witch's power than a demon's. If others are close by, sure, but I couldn't tell you when we're two hours out of town."
Jo shrugged. "Just thought I'd ask."
Meg tapped her thumb against the steering wheel. "You seem to be civil this morning, or is it because you're not awake yet?"
Jo looked out the window. "I think you and I can agree as much as we hate each other, we need to play nice to save Sam and Dean."
"So once this treaty is null and void, we can go back to fighting like cats and dogs? I wouldn't have it any other way, G.I. Jane. I won't give you a head-start if you don't give me one."
Jo was almost tempted to smile. Almost. I can't be talking to a demon without threatening her life like this. What is happening to me? "Why did Cas bring you back?"
Meg looked into the mirror above her. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"
"He seems to be in his own world." As Jo looked over her shoulder, Cas seemed to be...in some sort of buffer mode. He had a thousand-yard-stare of concentration.
"He's probably trying his extra Spidey-sense to find the knuckleheads. Not that it'll get him anywhere since it hasn't worked before." The demon huffed. "I don't get why he's so persistent."
"You wouldn't know what it's like to have people to care about," Jo said curtly. "All you know is hatred for hunters and mankind. You terrorize people for fun."
"Aw, how sweet. You get me," Meg said in a faux sweet tone.
The rest of the two hour drive involved Castiel with his continuous fixed stare into space, Jessica and Charlie sleeping, and Meg and Jo with the rise and fall of conversation/arguing up front.
Once the car rolled into Elvinsboro, Jo felt a weird vibe crawl through her skin. This felt familiar, like the last time she had rolled into a small town. There weren't any people upon initial arrival. It looked...deserted.
The last town that looked deserted like this, Meg had put Hellhounds on Jo, Sam, Dean, and Ellen Harvelle, Jo's mother. A dull anger settled into Jo's belly. If I have the chance to put her down, I'll do it. She's not gonna screw me over again, and I'll be damned if I let her screw everyone else over.
"It feels...empty," Castiel said, snapping out of his concentration. Meg rolled the car to a stop, and Cas nudged Charlie and Jessica awake from the back.
The five piled out, flipping open the trunk. They armed with respected weapons, Meg only wanted a blade (she refused salt and holy water).
Jo's head was on a swivel, ponytail hair smacking her face and tickling her nose. The group wandered the empty street, taking note of how void it was of people.
"Someone fancy a drink?" Meg asked casually, nodding towards a closed bar.
"Really?" Charlie deadpanned, handgun out in front of her.
"Hey, it's five o'clock somewhere."
"If we get a lead, then maybe."
"That's not a no."
As the group began to come up empty, Jo started to feel deflated. Maybe Jessica's dream was just that and nothing more. She wanted it to be something, hell, she'd even take this being a trap. It'd be a telling sign that they were on the right track. Everyone being ambushed by demons early on was one.
But she didn't need an ambush to be a sign of progress, because what her eyes fell on, she almost couldn't believe.
"Is that...?" The question fell off of Jo's lips. She was the first to see it, the black '67 Chevrolet Impala.
The car didn't look damaged, but abandoned. And Jo knew for a fact that this car never received such treatment from its owner, or his brother in the event the owner wasn't around. If this car was abused by anyone other than Dean Winchester, he would give them hell to pay.
"That's their car," Charlie confirmed. They started to head for the black beauty. "Guys, this is huge."
At first glance, Jo knew the car hadn't been touched recently. She's been used, there's no dust. She put her hand to the hood of the car. But the engine isn't warm.
"Let's see what it can tell us," said Jessica, who was peeking into the windows.
Each of the girls took a door and pulled on the handles. All doors were unlocked. Jo and Jessica took the front seats while Charlie and Meg took the back. Castiel remained close by to keep a lookout.
There wasn't much to tell from what Jo was investigating. She opened the glove compartment, but that didn't turn up much. It didn't determine if the boys were here or if Baby was just dumped.
"Anything?" Jo asked after a few minutes.
"Except dirt and takeout boxes, nada," Charlie said. "And blood spots."
"Are you sure those aren't sauce drops?" asked Meg.
"Why don't you smell them and tell me?"
"Easy back there," said Jessica. She met Jo's brown eyes. "This seems like a dead end."
"What about the trunk?" asked Jo.
"Great. Yeah. Sure. If the keys were around. You see them anywhere?"
"No...Think they got stolen?"
"Or thrown away somewhere nearby."
Jo and Jessica backed out of their respective seats and searched the ground. All they found were footprints, but no Impala keys. Jo frowned. It made no sense.
"This seem funky to you guys?" asked Charlie, poking her head out of the Impala.
"All kinds of funky," Jo admitted.
"What does this mean, then?" Jessica inquired.
Jo saw Meg stiffen up. "It means this was a trap after all, gals," said the demon. "Clarence?"
"I sense them, too," said Castiel, pulling out a signature silver angel blade. "Don't let them pull us too far apart."
"What about the car?" asked Jessica.
"I say we hotwire it and hightail out of here," Meg suggested.
The demons emerged from the bar, ten in total. Two apiece for the group of five. Jo clutched the dagger close to her side, her pistol at the ready. They waited as the demons took their time reaching the group.
As two opposing teams, each side went to battle.
Two burly demons took Jo. She whipped out the pistol, firing salt bullets into the demons' faces. It burned them, sure, but it didn't kill them. As one got too close for comfort, she engaged him with her dagger. Castiel's blade struck through one's neck, killing them on impact. Jo turned her head to see Charlie's head crack one of the car windows. Jessica was currently playing a cat and mouse game, barely fending for herself. Meg, despite her size, was owning the two demons she faced.
Jo finished off her last demon and rushed to help Jessica. The two blondes teamed up to dismantle Jessica's two opponents. Charlie was through one, and Meg was finishing off her second kill.
Just as the second to last demon was killed, and the last one was on its way out, a bright light enveloped the fight scene. Jo ducked, shielding her eyes. When she uncovered them, Cas was nowhere to be found.
"Cas?" Jessica shouted desperately.
"Someone must've banished him," Charlie panted.
Jo's brown eyes immediately went to Meg, who gave her a severe look back.
"Guys!" Jessica crowed.
The other three women turned, and from the bar the demons just birthed from, came Sam and Dean Winchester.
Jo's heart leapt.
"Easy, Malibu," Meg snarled to Jessica.
"Really?" Jessica started to go for the Winchesters, but Jo grabbed her by the arm. "Jo?"
Something felt off for Jo Harvelle. It was almost too easy, finding the Impala, and now finding Sam and Dean. They looked unscathed. To Jessica, who was probably enthralled at seeing them both alive, she wouldn't make anything of it. The college girl would just see that the boys were okay, that this search was over, and that everyone could return to the bunker.
"Guys?" Charlie murmured.
"Something's wrong," said Meg, who was now walking behind Jo. "They know we're all dead. We would've gotten a greeting by now. A dumbstruck look. Something."
"You're waiting on a greeting?" Dean Winchester spoke. Jo noticed how much deeper his voice had become; it sounded like he had gone through a second puberty. He and Sam looked worse for wear, judging by the bags under their eyes. Their color looked pale compared to the women. "How's this for one?"
Dean Winchester chucked a knife, embedding it into Jo's shoulder.