Chapter 25
Brooklyn
Cas, Dean, Sam, and I sat in the library of the Bunker, all of us sitting at one of the tables while the projector sat up next to us. The smell of popcorn filled the room as a giant bowl sat in Cas and my's arms. The black and white home movie started to play as the projector clicked next to us.
A women pops on screen, seeming to address a nervous priest, "Simon, we're filming."
"Um, hello, world," He says nervously as he rubs his hands together.
"So this new ritual we're going to see, this new type of exorcism, how does it work?" The women asked at the man starts to walk, Simon.
"I don't know. It's my first time."
The women walks past a mirror, causing Sam and Dean to sit forward. Sam quickly speaks up, pointing at the screen, "Wait, is that Abaddon?"
"Abaddon?" I asked confused, looking at them as I shoved some popcorn into my mouth.
"A witch; it's got to be the chick she possessed," Sam says as he watches the screen intensely. "And a bitch to kill," Dean mumbled behind me, causing my eyes to go back to the screen.
The faint sound of a woman whimpering is head as the camera moves to another priest, "My name is Father Thompson." Suddenly the women stops whimpering and instead starts to let out blood curdling screams and grunts.
"Hurry. We must do it now," Father Thompson says, grabbing some supplied as the camera moves to a women hanging by some chains.
"Dead! They're all dead! Everyone you ever loved..." The women yells as she thrashes against her restraints but fails.
Sam points towards the screen, "Hey, those chains look exactly like the ones in our dungeon."
Cas looks behind at Sam a bit surprised, "In you're what?"
No one answers Cas, but Dean smiles and nods as he comments. "Demon on a leash – cool." His hand reaches forward, grabbing a handful of popcorn before sitting back in his seat.
The woman's grunt and screams continue as Father Thompson and Simon starts to chant uncoherent words. As they speak, the women thrashes and yells, only seeming to grow quiet when the final word is spoke, "Lustra!"
Silence fills the room for a moment as it goes white with a flash before returning to normal. The body of the women falls from the chains, laying on the ground with her chest ripped open and her heart missing. My hands stop from throwing the popcorn into my mouth and set the bowl aside, releasing this isn't the movie to enjoy and eat popcorn.
The women, Abaddon, or Abaddon's meat suit, moves over to the women, "She's dead. Where's the demon?"
Father Thomson quickly moves towards the camera, "Stop filming. Stop, now!" Then the screen goes black and the projector stops it's clicking, falling still and it turns off.
"Well, that was weird... With three exclamation points."
Sam shook his head, everyone in disbelief of what they just saw, "That wasn't a normal exorcism. They changed the words."
Cas turns in his seat to face us, "I believe "lustra" is Latin for wash or cleanse."
Dean gestures to the black screen as he looks at everyone, "Oh, yeah, 'cause that was the most freaky thing was the vocabulary. What about the bloody high five or the chest burster?" He looks at Sam who is looking over the file that was found at the bottom of the box. "Anything else on the film, like director's commentary, sequel, maybe?"
"Yeah, listen to this. The older priest, Max Thompson, bit the dust in '58, but the younger one is still alive and still in St. Louis."
"Think this kind of weird is worth the drive?" Dean asks, seeming a bit cautious of this one.
I scuffed, "Oh no, defiantly not," I say sarcastically as I shack my head.
Dean sighs and throws his hands up, "All right. Let's roll." We all stand up, causing Cas to do the same, but Dean stops him as he points at him, "Not you."
"Sam is more damaged than I am," Cas tries to object.
"Yeah, well, you know, even banged up, Sammy comes through," Dean says, gesturing over to his little brother. His eyes move to me as I give him a stern look, his mind seeming to read mine.
Cas speaks up again, but quieter, "Dean, I just want to help."
Dean sighs and looks at the angel, "Just stay here and – and get better." Without another word, Sam, Dean, and I grab out things and headed out, leaving Cas to stay here and get better.
We drove to Father Simon's church in St. Louis, finding ourselves sitting in his pews with him talking to us from another.
"Father Thompson had some unorthodox ideas, which is why the Men of Letters were interested," Father Simon's explained.
"Unorthodox how?" I asked, curiously while Sam seemed to have his own question. "What exactly do you mean, "saved"?"
Sighing, Father Simon answered, "A demon is a human soul, twisted and corrupted by its time in Hell. Father Thompson believed that you could wash that taint away and restore their humanity."
"So, what, they just stay in whatever schmuck they're possessing and – and get a ticket upstairs?" Dean asked, realizing how unfair this really was. And, in all honesty, I agree,
Shrugging, the priest said, "I wish I knew."
Sam seemed excited, putting his hand on the pew in front of him, "Okay, but this – this ritual... Can cure a demon?"
"I suppose, if it worked, but that night, something went terribly wrong. The Demon escaped into the world, and that poor old woman... It was horrible. I know father Thompson kept trying. There were other possessions, experiments, but I couldn't face that – not again. And then, a few months later... He was dead."
"How did that happen?" I asked, finding myself more curious of this Father Thompson's death then the actual "cure".
"Something tore him apart," Father Simon said, looking at each of us.
Sam started to speak, finding himself coughing in-between words, "Did he keep any, uh..." Cough, "Did he keep records or –" Cough, "Uh..." Sam clears his throat. "Do you have a-a bathroom, maybe?" He asked, already standing up.
Father Simon pointed to the back of the church, cuing Sam to rush out of the pew and rush towards the back, past a door. My eyes watch Sam worriedly, almost temped to go back and make sure he's okay, but it wasn't my place.
Noticing how sick this man was, Father Simon asked us, "Is he all right?"
"Uh, no, padre. He's...pretty damn far from all right. That's why we're here," Dean said, standing up which cued me and Father Simon's to stand.
"I don't understand."
Dean sighed, seeming to look to me as if needing my permission to tell this man everything. "Well, short story is, uh, Sammy there is gonna take whatever shredded your friend and every other black-eyed bitch out there, and he's gonna get rid of them for good."
"He is? In his condition?" Father Simon said, pointing to the back where Sam disappeared with a raised eyebrow.
"Father Simon, over the past couple of months, I've seen him do things that I didn't even think was possible," I said grabbing the priest attention. "I mean, sure, he's miserable and he's hurting, but you know what? There's not a doubt in my mind that he's gonna cross that finish line – not one. So, will you help us?"
Soaking my words in, Father Simon nodded, "I'll get Father Thompson's things for you."
"Thank you," Dean said, watching Father Simon leave. His eyes then moved to me, "You know I should be thanking you for standing up for my little brother."
"He's family," I said with a shrug before working my way to where Father Simon was coming out from. A box sat in his hand, a small smile crossing his face as he handed me the box.
"Good luck," He said to me, making me nod and mouth a "Thank you" before turning back around. Dean was retrieving Sam from the bathroom, meeting me by the door where he opened it for me before disappearing outside.
Since we got the answers we needed, we headed back to the Bunker to find Cas long gone. Though it worried me that we really may have scared him off for good, something in my gut was telling me that he wouldn't leave us high and dry.
We found a tape recorder in the mess of files, Dean already pulling the stuff out and looking through it. Sam joined us after grabbing some water and popping some medicine in to hopefully subside the pain some.
"Hey, listen to this," Dean said, grabbing Sam's and I's attention as we sat around the recording and files. "So it turns out that, uh, Father Thompson recorded all of his demon-cure tests. This one here, this was the last one – two days before he died."
Dean pushed the play button on the recording, all of us leaning in to answer. The first person I recognized to be Father Thompson's voice.
"The date is August 3, 1958. This is trial 19, hour 1. My subject is Peter Kent. Mr. Kent is the father of two young sons, and three weeks ago, he was possessed by a demon. I'm going to ask you a question now. When you crawled into Mr. Kent and ate his children, how did it feel?"
Peter, or Peter's demon trapped in him, spoke with a laugh, "Orgasmic," before snarling and groaning.
"The first dose has been administered," Father Thompson said.
Dean quickly spoke up, looking to his brother who had the file already in front of him, "Do we know what padre was dosing number-one dad up with?"
"Uh, yeah, his own purified blood," Sam said, looking up at Dean and me.
My eyebrows pulled together, "Purified how?"
"Before he started, Father Thompson went to confession," Sam said, looking at all of us before Father Thompson started to speak again.
"This is trial 19, hour 2. When you ate his children, how did it feel?"
Through a snarl and light scream, Peter replied with, "Stringy," before screaming out in pain again.
"The second dose, has been administered Hour 4. When you ate his children –" Father Thompson started but the demon interrupted him. "Kiss my ass!" He yelled but the Father continued, "How did it feel?"
"Soft," The demon said before letting out another yell.
With every scream of pain, I wondered what would happen next? How long would this carry on?
"The sixth dose has been administered," Father Thompson said.
The demon's voice came through as a painful plead, "Stop. Please." Dean and I looked up at each other, never hearing a demon beg before, while Sam just intensely stared at the machine before us.
"How did it feel?" Father Thompson asked again. This time, the demon only yelled out, "Stop!" as he breathed heavily.
There was a few moments when there was nothing but the sound of shuffling before Father Thompson's voice came back on. "Hour 8, the subject is prepped." The sounds of the demon yelling in pain in the background was clear as day, even through Thompson's voice as he chanted the same words as before, ending it once again with, "Lustra!"
Heavy breathing, that's all we heard for a minute as the three of us sat in the edge of our seats. Then, Father Thompson's voice popped through, "When you ate his children, how did it feel?"
The demon's voice came through in pain and regret, making my eyes go wide, "They were screaming...and I laughed. Why did I laugh? I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. God, I was a monster."
"But now you are a man again. And you have been saved."
Sam quickly pointed to the tape recorder, "Did he just... Cure a demon?"
"Maybe," Dean said, sitting back in his chair in disbelief. Sam let out a long breath as he rubbed his face. Dean quickly turned to his brother, pointing to the recording, "Could we take this hoodoo on a test drive?"
Flipping through some papers, Sam pulled out a couple, "Um, I mean, I have the exorcism right here. All we need is the blood, consecrated ground, and a demon. So, what? We summon a demon, trap it –"
Dean cut him off, "Or – or we use one that we've already tagged. Do we still have dad's old army field surgeon's kit?"
Sam and I looked at each other questionably, Sam being the one to respond, "It's in the trunk. Why?"
"Yeah, I think it's time we put humpty dumpty back together again," Dean said, standing up and leaving the room. Both Sam and I raced to follow, realizing that if we weren't ready when Dean was, he'd leave our asses here.
Well, Sam's; he knows what will happen tonight if he leaves me here. Nothing.
Dean, Sam, and I made a pit stop at a grave site, grabbing a body before heading to an abandon building. As Dean uncovered the body, the first thing I noticed was that it was headless, making my eyes scrunch up in confusion.
Sam uncovered a white sheet, revealing the familiar red head that was in the video. Now it was starting to make sense, sort of.
Setting the head on top of the headless body, Sam started to sew it back together.
"So you really think this will work?" Sam asked his brother.
"Dude, we got needles. We got thread. We've seen "Young Frankenstein" about a thousand times. Yeah, we're golden," Dean said, making me look at him.
A sigh left my lips, "I still have no idea what we're even doing? Are we bringing her back to life or-" Before I can finish, Abaddon opens her eyes, causing Sam to stand up straight. A yelp leaves my lips and I jump back, causing Dean's hand to go to my back and relax me a bit."
Not what I was expecting.
Abaddon cracks her neck and sighs in relief, "Morning, sunshines. I see you brought me some fresh meat," She says, smirking at me.
Usually, I expect Dean to make a remark towards her comment, but instead he ignores it and smiles. "It worked. You owe me a beer," He said, turning to his brother with a pointing finger.
"And I owe you both so, so much. I can't wait to tear out those pretty green eyes," She says, eyeing the brothers.
Sam chuckles lightly, "Good luck with that." He walks over to a box, opening it to reveal two hands. That's when I'm quick to drop my mouth and turn back towards the women. Sure enough, her hands are missing.
How did I miss that?
"We figured kitty didn't need her claws," Dean said with a proud smile as Sam returns next to us.
"Then I'll stump you to death. It'll be swell," Abaddon says with a smile. She slams her foot on the ground, but nothing happens. She realizes this and her smile drops.
Sam eyed her, "Yeah, that's not gonna happen, either. The bullet, remember?"
My eyes scrunch in confusion, "Bullet?"
Dean is quick to explain, "Little miss here is a witch. We shot her in the head with a witch crest bullet, stopping her powers. As long as that bullet stays in her head and her hands stay in that box, she can't hurt us.
Wow, they really did think of everything.
Leaning down to Abaddon, Dean says, "So you sit there like a good little bitch. We're gonna consecrate the ground, and you're gonna get to fessing up."
"Oh, I know this tune. Father Max Thompson, born October 12, 1910. Died August 5, 1958. Who do you think ripped him apart? Word got back to home office that Maxie was messing with things, so we made an example. It wasn't my most artful kill, but it was effective. And bonus – before he died, he told me all about Josie Sands. I found her, and I rode her into the Men of Letters." She lets out a laugh, "And what I did to them, that was art."
Sam stares at Abaddon, seeming slightly hopeful, "So you know what Max was doing?"
"Fella screamed the basics... but it'll never work," She said with a shrug and a smirk.
Dean responds to Abaddon's comment as Sam's phone rings, "You keep telling yourself that." Sam takes a step to the side, answering it with one word that can make your skin crawl, "Crowley."
A groan leaves Dean and I's lips as Abaddon's face drops. Dean shakes his head as he looks at the red haired witch, "Stay." Sam starts to head outside with Dean and I following.
The second our feet hit the outside air, we headed to the side of the abandon building. "How'd you get this number?" Sam asked as he put the phone on speaker.
"Ah, first things first – what are you wearing?" Crowley said, his smirk heard through the phone.
I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Dean shook his head, waving his hand at the phone as he looked at Sam. "Oh, okay, hanging up now. Hang up."
"Fine. This isn't a social call," Crowley said, stopping any actions we had planned. "I was wondering. You lads been reading the papers, say, Denver Times from yesterday? No? Well, you should. It's side-splitting."
I quickly pulled out my phone, checking the Denver Times as Crowley continued to talk. "What the hell – I'm sexting you an address. Check it out. Then we'll talk. Cheerio."
"Wait, what? Crowley?" Sam asked, but there was no answer.
Grabbing Sam and Dean's attention, I quickly said, "Here it is. Vic's name is Tommy Collins."
Dean looked at the ground then at Sam, "Tommy. Why do I know that name?"
"Well, Tommy Collins, we saved him from a Wendigo like forever ago," Sam said, confused.
I looked between the two boys, "Okay, and, what, you think that Crowley killed him?"
Dean shrugged with a sigh, "Probable. That or some Demon-Wendigo team-up." There was a pause, no one knowing what else to say. Dean began leading the way back inside, "All right, well, we'll pour one out for Tommy later. As far as Crowley goes, screw him. We got everything we need to put him in a permanent time-out."
Though it seems to add to the stress, we put Tommy on the back burner for now and focus on ending this last trial. As Dean, Sam, and I head back inside, we quickly stop in our tracks at the sight before us.
Abaddon... gone.
"No. No! No! No! No! She's gone. Son of a bitch!" Dean yelled as he ran up to the empty chair. Sam ran over to the box that held her hands as I noticed something on the ground. My hand reaches down and picks it up, my mouth dropping when I realized it was a bullet with a witch marking on it.
"Dean, Dean!" I yelled, grabbing Dean's attention. He sees what's in my hand and his hands turn into fists.
"Her hands are gone too," Sam says, fast walking over to Dean and me. There's a short minute of silence, the anger soaking in before Sam's phone chimes in his pocket. Quickly pulling it out, he says, "It's a text message from Crowley. It's an address in Prosperity, Indiana. Dean, didn't we work a case there?"
Dean nods, "Yeah, yeah, the one with the witches and the baked goods. So what? He's going after somebody there now?"
"I don't know. We got to check it out," Sam says, slipping his phone back into his pocket.
Before another move is made, I eye Sam and comment, "You know it's a trap."
Sam holds out his arms to the side, "Of course it's a trap. But a trap means demons, and we could use one right now."
Sam had a point, so despite anything else we were thinking, this was what we had to do.
I've already got the next chapter half-written and all planned. I'm not sure if I'll end the 1st book in the next chapter or do another one, ending it with series. Let me know what you think!