Death in Appalachia, Chapter 27: Part 1:…This Way Comes
Authors: atana_blackfox & paintercrow
Summary: The Yellow-Eyed Demon Returns
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Sam/OMC, Dean/OFC
Warnings: Graphic scenes coming up--gore and original character deaths.
Disclaimer: We do not own the Supernatural or Ballad novel story elements.
Death in Appalachia, Chapter 27: Part 1...This Way Comes
Summary: The Yellow-Eyed Demon Returns
Warnings: Graphic scenes coming up--gore and original character deaths.
After the door closed, Sam enwrapped Jay from behind and slowly pulled him down on the mattress, spooning him. Jay looked tense and weary eyed. Sam kissed him gently on the back of his head and held him tightly as his back spasmed.
“You need your medication.”
“No.” Jay’s voice held an edge. “Have to be sure you have this down.”
Sam sighed and tried to snuggle Jay into relaxing. Sam knew Jay was a patient teacher but Zip just about drove him up a wall. He constantly interrupted Jay, second-guessing him, jumping ahead with realizations he made before Jay had a chance to explain them to him and Pascal. Sam stopped the lesson before Jay went nuclear.
Sam picked up the invisibility trick easily; according to Ben, he had been doing something similar for years to hide himself, Dad and Dean. All you had to do was keep one little part of your mind blank then kind of let it bleed out.
It didn’t help Jay’s mood that Zip had picked it up almost immediately. Pascal struggled with just understanding the concept. Sam suspected that it was due to the fact Pascal was born into a Comacine family while Zip said he had only been a Com for five years. The Comacines seemed pretty rigid in their thinking when it came to magic and that was holding Pascal back.
Jay was obviously achy and fretful, so Sam worked on stroking his back, cuddling, and trying to get him to calm down. After he stopped fussing, Sam was going to try again to get him to take his medication. If Jay still resisted then he would get Elizabeth to help. She was in the upstairs sun room, trying to give Jay some space. She couldn’t exactly force him to do anything but she was good at helping to persuade him. It was getting late; they both needed sleep.
Jay relaxed and finally took the painkillers, muscle relaxants and sleeping pills after Sam gave him a quick and dirty hand job. He rather enthusiastically offered a blow job in return, which was tempting as hell, but Sam just wanted him to sleep. They needed him too much; to help heal Vera and to teach him what he needed to know. He held Jay gently until he began to drift off, then slipped off to the bathroom to take care of the hard on he’d gotten listening to Jay whimpering as he came.
Sam grinned when Elizabeth’s curly head popped into view from the doorway at the opposite end of the hall. She smiled and gave him a thumbs up; clearly indicating that she knew what Sam had done. He noticed she looked flushed. Shutting the bathroom door behind him and starting the shower, Sam smirked at the thought of how this was affecting Ben.
He had just pulled off his shirt when the sound of a gunshot echoed through the house. Sam tried to pull the door open, but it was frozen shut. He began throwing his shoulder against it when he heard Elizabeth shouting at Jay to stop.
Oh, God, Jay had just taken sleeping pills. Panicking and running into a deadly situation was the last thing he needed to be doing.
“Jay!” he shouted, pounding harder on the door. “Jay, don’t go!”
* * *
No, he could not let this happen. His body was moving, pain lancing through his mind as he fought the dark and evil presence. Words rolled out of his mouth with an inflection he would never use. With a thought, he knew where everyone in the house was located. He was a medical telekinetic, not a remote viewer.
His body leaned over the hospital bed, mocking the pale face below him, taunts and threats dropped lightly off his tongue. Despite the nerve ending pain of trying to fight, Vera’s terror gave him waves of pleasure.
Damn it all, he was a Comacine! He reached out through his bond, fighting whatever had him, trying to make contact with other members of his Order, and hoping one of them could stop him from doing the unthinkable.
***
"Stupidity is a wonderful thing."
Vera really did not like this nurse; what the hell was he going on about this time? She was trying to pretend to be asleep, not wanting to be sedated into oblivion again. She couldn’t help but be restless and all these Comacines were psychics, too. She hated it, all she had to do was twitch and someone was putting something into her IV and somehow they were keeping her from using her abilities. Everything felt wrong, but Dean did not understand when she tried to explain. Flat on her back there was not much she could do.
Footsteps come closer and Vera gave up trying to pretend and opened her eyes. Glowing yellow eyes made her choke in fear. The nurse’s face was twisted into an expression that looked totally foreign to his face, even though she’d only seen him for a few hours.
"Hello Ashera.”
The scream of terror and warning that was clawing its way out of her chest came out as a whimper. "What do you want?" It knew her name, her real name that was more horrifying to her then its mere presence in her room.
“I'm more interested in talking about you." Vera could only stare in terror as the possessed nurse's hand gently brushed the hair off her forehead. "I want to tell you a few truths before I kill you. You deserve to know you are a masterpiece." He pulled out Billy Ray's gun and smiled, deep and dark. "Not too dramatic, but it will have to do. This isn’t my usual M.O., I would rather play with your intestines and set you on fire, but blowing your brains out all over your precious covenstead won’t be too much of a disappointment. These Comacines," the damned thing leaned over a little, so she could see it smirk “are the ones that came here to kill you. They're keeping you alive to keep Jay, Sam and Dean under control."
"No! Why would I believe anything you have to say?" Vera frantically tried to call out to one of the Comacines, wondering why they knew when she needed to blow her nose but could not feel her emotional reaction to being threatened by a demon. It was a relief to hear Shade scratching at the closed door; maybe someone would finally realize something was wrong.
"The truth is so much more fun. Your death will cause a war to break out. Sam and Jay are right in the middle of the crossfire. Jay has almost had enough; Sam is barely holding it together. They'll both break."
"No! I’ve worked too hard. They’re stronger than you think." Damn it, no! Where were the Comacines? This thing might succeed in killing her, but she was a priestess, her power went beyond her physical body. Vera vowed that she would stay on this side and not go to the Western Shore. She’d watch over Jay and Sam for as long as they needed her and she wouldn’t leave Dean alone. She knew enough magic; she could keep herself here if she wanted to.
"Having some troubles calling out?" The demon chuckled, "You haven't realized it yet, but I'm in charge now. I have plans. Not only am I starting a war, but also I am making a child tonight. Dean will make a very good son."
Vera snarled up at him, she might be about to die, but not here, not in her home. As soon as the demon killed her, she’d be free to act; this thing wouldn’t get past her to any of them. "He'll boot your ass out; he’ll resist you possessing him."
The demon chuckled again, "Haven't you been listening Vera? I’m not possessing Dean, he going to be my son. Ah well, enough talk." He pressed the barrel of the gun flush against the middle of her forehead and kissed her cheek. "Say hello to Ravenmocker for me. Because he bent the rules and teleported you from that cave, I can play in his sandbox. I just love taking Principalities pets away from them.”
* * *
Ginger smiled at how excited Zip was after he came down to the library after playing cards with Pascal, Sam and Jay. When she was assigned as his bodyguard, she was dreading the thought of being saddled with a young Mike Jensen. Nothing to worry about there, Zip was too happy making friends close to his own age to start getting arrogant.
She shook her head as she watched Zip examine the books. After the poor kid had been struck by lightning a few nights ago LaShonda scanned him to see if he was all right. She had been surprised to find that Zip was a lot younger then they thought, probably 16, not 19. It had something to do with bone formation and teeth eruptions; she did not bother to try to understand.
A rattling, scratching noise startled her and she walked out into the hallway. Almost directly across the hall was Vera's room. The door was closed and her black cat was clawing at it frantically. They all had been warned to let the animals have full access to the Kestersons and Winchesters at all times.
“Billy Ray?” she called out, walking to Vera's door. Ginger could feel that something was wrong; Zip felt it too and was soon making his way across the furniture crowded library towards her. As she opened the door Shade streaked past her and into the room.
***
Zip tagged along behind Ginger; maybe if something was wrong with Vera he could help. He was still almost giddy that he had psychic ability just like most other Comacines.
As soon as Ginger opened the door, terror seized him. Suddenly Ginger flew up to the ceiling, the breath seemingly crushed out of her, her blue eyes bulging as her stomach ripped open, sending her intestines spilling out onto the floor beneath her, showering Zip with blood.
Next thing Zip heard was Shade’s snarl and then what sounded like bones breaking. He looked up to see Billy Ray’s eyes glowing yellow for a moment before fading to a rich blue, totally unlike his natural brown eye color. Ginger crashed to the floor, entangling him in her entrails. Zip screamed in emotional agony as he watched Billy Ray jerk the gun he was holding up under his chin and pull the trigger.
A black cloud billowed out of Billy Ray’s body and hurled itself at Zip, who instinctively became ‘invisible’ and spiked out a surge of energy. The cloud stopped and Zip could hear a bone shaking snarl as it dove behind him, then suddenly reversed course and streamed down the hallway.
He didn’t even have the breath to scream as somebody grabbed him from behind.
***
Billy Ray was relieved when he heard Ginger calling to him from the hallway. The thing controlling his body turned away from Vera, taking the gun away from her face. He watched in agony as Ginger flew up against the ceiling, the thing in him exulting at the sight of her blood. He would never forget the look of pain and horror on Zip’s face and he desperately wished he could shield him from this.
Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his chest and that black cat he disliked so much flew into a wall, her body crushed and flattened by the force of the blow, and Billy Ray suddenly found himself in control for a split second.
Maybe there was something to the witch and her magic, that little cat gave him something invaluable - a chance to stop this. He jerked the gun up under his chin. When he was Found; he swore to protect his Order, to protect all Hunters and Guardians who needed his aid. He might not like Vera Kesterson, but he was sworn to protect her and all those like her.
He suddenly saw a longhaired Native American man standing behind Zip and knew he was not alone. Not that it mattered, but he was glad someone was here to help him across. It wasn’t a difficult decision at all as he pulled the trigger.
***
Mike almost dropped his cell when he heard the gunshot. He whirled and ran through the library from the back porch, his first instinct to go to his patient and skidded to a stop when he saw Zip standing there covered in blood with a black cloud swirling around him. The cloud dove at him then rocketed down the hallway.
He grabbed Zip from behind and spun around in front of him. "Zip?" Mike said desperately. Once he touched him, he realized Zip was still alive, but psychically 'invisible'. "Come on!"
Zip stood there staring vacantly, obviously in shock. He blinked slowly seeing Mike.
"Come on Zip, we have to move!" Mike urged, looking over his shoulder regretfully towards Vera's bedroom before turning back to him. "Come on!" Mike had to push Zip back through the library to get him to move.
Zip reacted predictably to being manhandled. "Stop! It's still out there. Get off me!"
"Zip, we have to move, come on! We can't do anything for any of them!" He motioned back to the blood-filled hallway.
"No!" Zip suddenly planted his feet and resisted. "Vera is still alive. I can feel her."
"I can too, but I'm not putting you in danger to look after her! Now move!" As much as he wanted to go to Vera, his first priority had to be a child of his Order.
Mike pushed Zip through the library and out to the back porch. Shock made Zip stop resisting.
"Stay back here and hide. Anybody and I do mean anybody that comes out here looking for you shoot them unless they are one of us. I'm going back in." Mike handed him his cell phone, "Rad's number is on speed dial, get her to send help!" he ordered before he ran back inside.
***
She could do this; she had to do this. Vera had managed to send her mind and soul out from her body before, but it had always been under very controlled and carefully planned circumstances. Now there was too much at stake, she had to be able to do this without preparation; there were too many lives she needed to protect.
Remembering calming Sam at the sheriff’s station, remembering the demons and the circle she reached deep into the earth…
Abruptly she found herself floating ten feet above her body but she didn’t waste time gazing in wonder, she had a fight to pick. She briefly noticed Ravenmocker’s look of surprise and she flashed past him and the two souls he was comforting. In the spirit plane everything looked so different, both shadowed and more intense, physical forms distorted by the energy fields around them.
If she wanted to live, she had to be quick. Her body was weakened enough by her injuries, going astral took far too much out of even a healthy body.
Vera let her fury carry her, snarling at the contamination the thing left behind. It wasn’t bothering to try to hide. Skittering out into the main hall, she finally saw it.
Yellow and reptilian, a sickly fan of flesh around its head; the thing was disgusting even as unclean spirits went. It wasn’t a warrior; not really, it was a scavenger, trying to provoke pain and suffering and madness so it could feed off of it.
It had tendrils enwrapping a young man she vaguely remembered, with a spike driven into him, like a barbed penis injecting something. She didn’t know what it was doing but she screamed in fury that it dared to invade her covenstead, her home.
Then she finally saw through her fury enough to see Dean’s flickering life force in its hands; green pulsing with blue white, steadily waning. Out of nowhere, she had a weapon in her hands, forged out of her faith and will and connection to the land, an echo of the sword she wielded when she slashed her hand to the bone in the cave where they had found Sam.
The demon turned to her in surprise, his grasp of the young man killing Dean loosening, which in turn led to the young man dropping Dean.
“You’re a tough little witch priestess, I have to give you that.” It grinned, yellowish teeth clacking together. “But you can’t last for long; you’re going to die if you try to fight me.”
She snarled, “My physical death won’t slow me down, and it’s a sacrifice I am willing to make. Are you really willing to face me here, on this ground when I am ready to die and use the power of my death energy to destroy you?”
There was a clamor on the front porch, both a psychic and physical disturbance. Vera recognized the auras of the people outside the door. One was Emma, praise the Gods! The other one she could not quite make out, but she had shared magic with this person and by the pattern of his energy, it was someone she had trained.
That was enough to give her hope she might actually make it out of this alive.
***
Zip punched the speed dial number for Mistress Tudor. Shock made his movements slow and habit made him follow orders. He heard the thick, British-Indian accent of the Head of his Order say, "Michael, what sort of havoc are your little Yankee friends causing now?"
He blinked in confusion at her familiar tone. After a moment, he heard her saying, "Michael? What is wrong?"
"Mistress Tudor, its Zip Valdez. Another demon attacked," he said in a rush.
There was shocked silence for a moment, "What? Report, what is the status of the situation?" He heard her calling for her assistant Geoffrey.
Zip's training took over; he reported the situation, as he knew it. "Ginger and Billy Ray are both dead. Dr. Jensen went to check on Vera. I heard a scream but everything is quiet now."
"Why do you have Michael's phone?"
"Dr. Jensen gave me his phone and told me to call you to send help. He said to shoot anyone that may be possessed." Zip suddenly realized that he was covered in Ginger's blood. "I have to go," he said abruptly hanging up.
* * *
Unable to open the door, Sam looked around desperately for another way out of the bathroom. He noticed one of the panels on the wall seemed loose and he tore desperately at it when he felt Dean's terror. He stumbled backwards as the plywood panel popped off the wall and he found himself staring at exposed plumbing. Angling his head to try to see if there was anyway down to the first floor he was surprised to see a crumbling staircase. It looked like it was a servant’s stairs leading from the first floor to the attic. A large portion of it had been cut out to make room for the bathroom plumbing, but it looked like he might be able to use it to get out. Sam carefully put his weight on the first step he could reach, squeezing his lanky frame between the pipes.
Every step that held under his weight made his heart leap until finally he made his way down to the last step. He blindly groped around the walls and realized he was in a corner. Two walls were brick but the other felt like sheet rock. With a snarl of victory, he began punching and kicking his way through the wall.
* * *
Zip dropped the cell phone and gun and dashed into the large half bathroom off the kitchen. It had been recently added and like most of the old farmhouse had not been finished. The rough sheet rock walls might look shabby, but the plumbing worked and that was all that mattered to Zip. He grabbed a towel, drenched it with cold water from the toilet and began scrubbing the blood from his face and arms.
He froze when he heard what sounded like a demented rat behind the wall. A large fist punched through the drywall and then an eye peered out at Zip. He screamed flailing backwards toward the door.
“Zip! It's Sam.” The tall Hunter ripped the drywall apart with almost frightening ease and clambered into the room.
Zip fumbled for the gun and realized in horror that he’d dropped it. His first thought was that Dr. Jensen was going to be furious with him unless a possessed Sam killed him first.
“Dude, what happened?” Sam asked cautiously, standing there half-naked covered in spider webs and dust.
Zip was relieved when he scanned Sam and realized he was safe. The horror of what happened was beginning to dawn on him. "They're dead."
“Who Zip? Who died?” Sam felt his heart racing.
“Ginger and Billy Ray ...” his voice trailed off into a strangled sob.
“What killed Ginger and Billy Ray?”
"Can't you feel it?” Zip looked at him accusingly, “It's another demon! Billy Ray was possessed, his eyes were yellow and he killed Ginger and then himself!” Zip saw the room unfocus around him as he reached out with his newfound ability, using the link that connected all Comacines to each other. The link he had never been able to use before.
“Now I can’t feel Pascal!” he wailed.
Sam felt as if he had been slugged in the stomach and the bathroom door began to rattle. “Sorry, that's me. I think Ben was knocked out or something because the tag just now seems to be starting to work again.” He grabbed his neck feeling the echo of his brother's pain. “It’s after Dean!” he said jerking opening the door. “Zip, stay here!”
Zip was shaking as Sam slammed the door behind him and he wondered why everyone wanted him to hide.
***
Emma looked in her rear view mirror, annoyed. There was an SUV in front of her and another car following her; must be more of these damned secret societies. She could sense the wards on the farm were down, and saw broken fences and tire tracks had made deep furrows in the mud. As she got closer to the house, she started having a feeling of foreboding; something was very, very wrong. Didn’t these idiots realize how unclean forces could be attracted to a vulnerable priest and priestess? They were like tasty little happy meals. It was the main danger in becoming a spiritual warrior. Vera had explained that clearly enough before she Initiated her.
By the time she reached the house she could see flickering lights and all but tumbled out of the car. This was bad, very bad; it felt like something much bigger and more evil then anything she’d ever faced before. The coven’s pool of built up magical energy had been wiped out.
Her temper flared as she recognized one of the men getting out of the SUV. Will Woodfin. She’d met him years ago at a party in Asheville. As soon as he found out she was a student and good friend of Vera’s he’d literally ran from her. Bastard. What was he doing here?
She didn’t have time to shout at him the way she wanted to. Vera had Initiated him as a priest and that was all that mattered, in that at least he was God and Goddess sent. Between the two of them they could call upon the power of both God and Goddess, light and dark, feminine and masculine, the powers of earth, fire, water and air.
“Will!” she screeched and he wheeled around to look at her, hope and relief lighting up his eyes as he reached for her. They had just grasped hands and began to merge their energy when the front door open and hell itself seemed to spill out onto the doorstep.
Chapter 27, Part 2
Summary: The Yellow-Eyed Demon Returns
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Sam/OMC, Dean/OFC
Warnings: Graphic scenes coming up--gore and original character deaths.
Disclaimer: We do not own the Supernatural or Ballad novel story elements.
Death in Appalachia, Chapter 27: Part 1...This Way Comes
Summary: The Yellow-Eyed Demon Returns
Warnings: Graphic scenes coming up--gore and original character deaths.
After the door closed, Sam enwrapped Jay from behind and slowly pulled him down on the mattress, spooning him. Jay looked tense and weary eyed. Sam kissed him gently on the back of his head and held him tightly as his back spasmed.
“You need your medication.”
“No.” Jay’s voice held an edge. “Have to be sure you have this down.”
Sam sighed and tried to snuggle Jay into relaxing. Sam knew Jay was a patient teacher but Zip just about drove him up a wall. He constantly interrupted Jay, second-guessing him, jumping ahead with realizations he made before Jay had a chance to explain them to him and Pascal. Sam stopped the lesson before Jay went nuclear.
Sam picked up the invisibility trick easily; according to Ben, he had been doing something similar for years to hide himself, Dad and Dean. All you had to do was keep one little part of your mind blank then kind of let it bleed out.
It didn’t help Jay’s mood that Zip had picked it up almost immediately. Pascal struggled with just understanding the concept. Sam suspected that it was due to the fact Pascal was born into a Comacine family while Zip said he had only been a Com for five years. The Comacines seemed pretty rigid in their thinking when it came to magic and that was holding Pascal back.
Jay was obviously achy and fretful, so Sam worked on stroking his back, cuddling, and trying to get him to calm down. After he stopped fussing, Sam was going to try again to get him to take his medication. If Jay still resisted then he would get Elizabeth to help. She was in the upstairs sun room, trying to give Jay some space. She couldn’t exactly force him to do anything but she was good at helping to persuade him. It was getting late; they both needed sleep.
Jay relaxed and finally took the painkillers, muscle relaxants and sleeping pills after Sam gave him a quick and dirty hand job. He rather enthusiastically offered a blow job in return, which was tempting as hell, but Sam just wanted him to sleep. They needed him too much; to help heal Vera and to teach him what he needed to know. He held Jay gently until he began to drift off, then slipped off to the bathroom to take care of the hard on he’d gotten listening to Jay whimpering as he came.
Sam grinned when Elizabeth’s curly head popped into view from the doorway at the opposite end of the hall. She smiled and gave him a thumbs up; clearly indicating that she knew what Sam had done. He noticed she looked flushed. Shutting the bathroom door behind him and starting the shower, Sam smirked at the thought of how this was affecting Ben.
He had just pulled off his shirt when the sound of a gunshot echoed through the house. Sam tried to pull the door open, but it was frozen shut. He began throwing his shoulder against it when he heard Elizabeth shouting at Jay to stop.
Oh, God, Jay had just taken sleeping pills. Panicking and running into a deadly situation was the last thing he needed to be doing.
“Jay!” he shouted, pounding harder on the door. “Jay, don’t go!”
* * *
No, he could not let this happen. His body was moving, pain lancing through his mind as he fought the dark and evil presence. Words rolled out of his mouth with an inflection he would never use. With a thought, he knew where everyone in the house was located. He was a medical telekinetic, not a remote viewer.
His body leaned over the hospital bed, mocking the pale face below him, taunts and threats dropped lightly off his tongue. Despite the nerve ending pain of trying to fight, Vera’s terror gave him waves of pleasure.
Damn it all, he was a Comacine! He reached out through his bond, fighting whatever had him, trying to make contact with other members of his Order, and hoping one of them could stop him from doing the unthinkable.
***
"Stupidity is a wonderful thing."
Vera really did not like this nurse; what the hell was he going on about this time? She was trying to pretend to be asleep, not wanting to be sedated into oblivion again. She couldn’t help but be restless and all these Comacines were psychics, too. She hated it, all she had to do was twitch and someone was putting something into her IV and somehow they were keeping her from using her abilities. Everything felt wrong, but Dean did not understand when she tried to explain. Flat on her back there was not much she could do.
Footsteps come closer and Vera gave up trying to pretend and opened her eyes. Glowing yellow eyes made her choke in fear. The nurse’s face was twisted into an expression that looked totally foreign to his face, even though she’d only seen him for a few hours.
"Hello Ashera.”
The scream of terror and warning that was clawing its way out of her chest came out as a whimper. "What do you want?" It knew her name, her real name that was more horrifying to her then its mere presence in her room.
“I'm more interested in talking about you." Vera could only stare in terror as the possessed nurse's hand gently brushed the hair off her forehead. "I want to tell you a few truths before I kill you. You deserve to know you are a masterpiece." He pulled out Billy Ray's gun and smiled, deep and dark. "Not too dramatic, but it will have to do. This isn’t my usual M.O., I would rather play with your intestines and set you on fire, but blowing your brains out all over your precious covenstead won’t be too much of a disappointment. These Comacines," the damned thing leaned over a little, so she could see it smirk “are the ones that came here to kill you. They're keeping you alive to keep Jay, Sam and Dean under control."
"No! Why would I believe anything you have to say?" Vera frantically tried to call out to one of the Comacines, wondering why they knew when she needed to blow her nose but could not feel her emotional reaction to being threatened by a demon. It was a relief to hear Shade scratching at the closed door; maybe someone would finally realize something was wrong.
"The truth is so much more fun. Your death will cause a war to break out. Sam and Jay are right in the middle of the crossfire. Jay has almost had enough; Sam is barely holding it together. They'll both break."
"No! I’ve worked too hard. They’re stronger than you think." Damn it, no! Where were the Comacines? This thing might succeed in killing her, but she was a priestess, her power went beyond her physical body. Vera vowed that she would stay on this side and not go to the Western Shore. She’d watch over Jay and Sam for as long as they needed her and she wouldn’t leave Dean alone. She knew enough magic; she could keep herself here if she wanted to.
"Having some troubles calling out?" The demon chuckled, "You haven't realized it yet, but I'm in charge now. I have plans. Not only am I starting a war, but also I am making a child tonight. Dean will make a very good son."
Vera snarled up at him, she might be about to die, but not here, not in her home. As soon as the demon killed her, she’d be free to act; this thing wouldn’t get past her to any of them. "He'll boot your ass out; he’ll resist you possessing him."
The demon chuckled again, "Haven't you been listening Vera? I’m not possessing Dean, he going to be my son. Ah well, enough talk." He pressed the barrel of the gun flush against the middle of her forehead and kissed her cheek. "Say hello to Ravenmocker for me. Because he bent the rules and teleported you from that cave, I can play in his sandbox. I just love taking Principalities pets away from them.”
* * *
Ginger smiled at how excited Zip was after he came down to the library after playing cards with Pascal, Sam and Jay. When she was assigned as his bodyguard, she was dreading the thought of being saddled with a young Mike Jensen. Nothing to worry about there, Zip was too happy making friends close to his own age to start getting arrogant.
She shook her head as she watched Zip examine the books. After the poor kid had been struck by lightning a few nights ago LaShonda scanned him to see if he was all right. She had been surprised to find that Zip was a lot younger then they thought, probably 16, not 19. It had something to do with bone formation and teeth eruptions; she did not bother to try to understand.
A rattling, scratching noise startled her and she walked out into the hallway. Almost directly across the hall was Vera's room. The door was closed and her black cat was clawing at it frantically. They all had been warned to let the animals have full access to the Kestersons and Winchesters at all times.
“Billy Ray?” she called out, walking to Vera's door. Ginger could feel that something was wrong; Zip felt it too and was soon making his way across the furniture crowded library towards her. As she opened the door Shade streaked past her and into the room.
***
Zip tagged along behind Ginger; maybe if something was wrong with Vera he could help. He was still almost giddy that he had psychic ability just like most other Comacines.
As soon as Ginger opened the door, terror seized him. Suddenly Ginger flew up to the ceiling, the breath seemingly crushed out of her, her blue eyes bulging as her stomach ripped open, sending her intestines spilling out onto the floor beneath her, showering Zip with blood.
Next thing Zip heard was Shade’s snarl and then what sounded like bones breaking. He looked up to see Billy Ray’s eyes glowing yellow for a moment before fading to a rich blue, totally unlike his natural brown eye color. Ginger crashed to the floor, entangling him in her entrails. Zip screamed in emotional agony as he watched Billy Ray jerk the gun he was holding up under his chin and pull the trigger.
A black cloud billowed out of Billy Ray’s body and hurled itself at Zip, who instinctively became ‘invisible’ and spiked out a surge of energy. The cloud stopped and Zip could hear a bone shaking snarl as it dove behind him, then suddenly reversed course and streamed down the hallway.
He didn’t even have the breath to scream as somebody grabbed him from behind.
***
Billy Ray was relieved when he heard Ginger calling to him from the hallway. The thing controlling his body turned away from Vera, taking the gun away from her face. He watched in agony as Ginger flew up against the ceiling, the thing in him exulting at the sight of her blood. He would never forget the look of pain and horror on Zip’s face and he desperately wished he could shield him from this.
Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his chest and that black cat he disliked so much flew into a wall, her body crushed and flattened by the force of the blow, and Billy Ray suddenly found himself in control for a split second.
Maybe there was something to the witch and her magic, that little cat gave him something invaluable - a chance to stop this. He jerked the gun up under his chin. When he was Found; he swore to protect his Order, to protect all Hunters and Guardians who needed his aid. He might not like Vera Kesterson, but he was sworn to protect her and all those like her.
He suddenly saw a longhaired Native American man standing behind Zip and knew he was not alone. Not that it mattered, but he was glad someone was here to help him across. It wasn’t a difficult decision at all as he pulled the trigger.
***
Mike almost dropped his cell when he heard the gunshot. He whirled and ran through the library from the back porch, his first instinct to go to his patient and skidded to a stop when he saw Zip standing there covered in blood with a black cloud swirling around him. The cloud dove at him then rocketed down the hallway.
He grabbed Zip from behind and spun around in front of him. "Zip?" Mike said desperately. Once he touched him, he realized Zip was still alive, but psychically 'invisible'. "Come on!"
Zip stood there staring vacantly, obviously in shock. He blinked slowly seeing Mike.
"Come on Zip, we have to move!" Mike urged, looking over his shoulder regretfully towards Vera's bedroom before turning back to him. "Come on!" Mike had to push Zip back through the library to get him to move.
Zip reacted predictably to being manhandled. "Stop! It's still out there. Get off me!"
"Zip, we have to move, come on! We can't do anything for any of them!" He motioned back to the blood-filled hallway.
"No!" Zip suddenly planted his feet and resisted. "Vera is still alive. I can feel her."
"I can too, but I'm not putting you in danger to look after her! Now move!" As much as he wanted to go to Vera, his first priority had to be a child of his Order.
Mike pushed Zip through the library and out to the back porch. Shock made Zip stop resisting.
"Stay back here and hide. Anybody and I do mean anybody that comes out here looking for you shoot them unless they are one of us. I'm going back in." Mike handed him his cell phone, "Rad's number is on speed dial, get her to send help!" he ordered before he ran back inside.
***
She could do this; she had to do this. Vera had managed to send her mind and soul out from her body before, but it had always been under very controlled and carefully planned circumstances. Now there was too much at stake, she had to be able to do this without preparation; there were too many lives she needed to protect.
Remembering calming Sam at the sheriff’s station, remembering the demons and the circle she reached deep into the earth…
Abruptly she found herself floating ten feet above her body but she didn’t waste time gazing in wonder, she had a fight to pick. She briefly noticed Ravenmocker’s look of surprise and she flashed past him and the two souls he was comforting. In the spirit plane everything looked so different, both shadowed and more intense, physical forms distorted by the energy fields around them.
If she wanted to live, she had to be quick. Her body was weakened enough by her injuries, going astral took far too much out of even a healthy body.
Vera let her fury carry her, snarling at the contamination the thing left behind. It wasn’t bothering to try to hide. Skittering out into the main hall, she finally saw it.
Yellow and reptilian, a sickly fan of flesh around its head; the thing was disgusting even as unclean spirits went. It wasn’t a warrior; not really, it was a scavenger, trying to provoke pain and suffering and madness so it could feed off of it.
It had tendrils enwrapping a young man she vaguely remembered, with a spike driven into him, like a barbed penis injecting something. She didn’t know what it was doing but she screamed in fury that it dared to invade her covenstead, her home.
Then she finally saw through her fury enough to see Dean’s flickering life force in its hands; green pulsing with blue white, steadily waning. Out of nowhere, she had a weapon in her hands, forged out of her faith and will and connection to the land, an echo of the sword she wielded when she slashed her hand to the bone in the cave where they had found Sam.
The demon turned to her in surprise, his grasp of the young man killing Dean loosening, which in turn led to the young man dropping Dean.
“You’re a tough little witch priestess, I have to give you that.” It grinned, yellowish teeth clacking together. “But you can’t last for long; you’re going to die if you try to fight me.”
She snarled, “My physical death won’t slow me down, and it’s a sacrifice I am willing to make. Are you really willing to face me here, on this ground when I am ready to die and use the power of my death energy to destroy you?”
There was a clamor on the front porch, both a psychic and physical disturbance. Vera recognized the auras of the people outside the door. One was Emma, praise the Gods! The other one she could not quite make out, but she had shared magic with this person and by the pattern of his energy, it was someone she had trained.
That was enough to give her hope she might actually make it out of this alive.
***
Zip punched the speed dial number for Mistress Tudor. Shock made his movements slow and habit made him follow orders. He heard the thick, British-Indian accent of the Head of his Order say, "Michael, what sort of havoc are your little Yankee friends causing now?"
He blinked in confusion at her familiar tone. After a moment, he heard her saying, "Michael? What is wrong?"
"Mistress Tudor, its Zip Valdez. Another demon attacked," he said in a rush.
There was shocked silence for a moment, "What? Report, what is the status of the situation?" He heard her calling for her assistant Geoffrey.
Zip's training took over; he reported the situation, as he knew it. "Ginger and Billy Ray are both dead. Dr. Jensen went to check on Vera. I heard a scream but everything is quiet now."
"Why do you have Michael's phone?"
"Dr. Jensen gave me his phone and told me to call you to send help. He said to shoot anyone that may be possessed." Zip suddenly realized that he was covered in Ginger's blood. "I have to go," he said abruptly hanging up.
* * *
Unable to open the door, Sam looked around desperately for another way out of the bathroom. He noticed one of the panels on the wall seemed loose and he tore desperately at it when he felt Dean's terror. He stumbled backwards as the plywood panel popped off the wall and he found himself staring at exposed plumbing. Angling his head to try to see if there was anyway down to the first floor he was surprised to see a crumbling staircase. It looked like it was a servant’s stairs leading from the first floor to the attic. A large portion of it had been cut out to make room for the bathroom plumbing, but it looked like he might be able to use it to get out. Sam carefully put his weight on the first step he could reach, squeezing his lanky frame between the pipes.
Every step that held under his weight made his heart leap until finally he made his way down to the last step. He blindly groped around the walls and realized he was in a corner. Two walls were brick but the other felt like sheet rock. With a snarl of victory, he began punching and kicking his way through the wall.
* * *
Zip dropped the cell phone and gun and dashed into the large half bathroom off the kitchen. It had been recently added and like most of the old farmhouse had not been finished. The rough sheet rock walls might look shabby, but the plumbing worked and that was all that mattered to Zip. He grabbed a towel, drenched it with cold water from the toilet and began scrubbing the blood from his face and arms.
He froze when he heard what sounded like a demented rat behind the wall. A large fist punched through the drywall and then an eye peered out at Zip. He screamed flailing backwards toward the door.
“Zip! It's Sam.” The tall Hunter ripped the drywall apart with almost frightening ease and clambered into the room.
Zip fumbled for the gun and realized in horror that he’d dropped it. His first thought was that Dr. Jensen was going to be furious with him unless a possessed Sam killed him first.
“Dude, what happened?” Sam asked cautiously, standing there half-naked covered in spider webs and dust.
Zip was relieved when he scanned Sam and realized he was safe. The horror of what happened was beginning to dawn on him. "They're dead."
“Who Zip? Who died?” Sam felt his heart racing.
“Ginger and Billy Ray ...” his voice trailed off into a strangled sob.
“What killed Ginger and Billy Ray?”
"Can't you feel it?” Zip looked at him accusingly, “It's another demon! Billy Ray was possessed, his eyes were yellow and he killed Ginger and then himself!” Zip saw the room unfocus around him as he reached out with his newfound ability, using the link that connected all Comacines to each other. The link he had never been able to use before.
“Now I can’t feel Pascal!” he wailed.
Sam felt as if he had been slugged in the stomach and the bathroom door began to rattle. “Sorry, that's me. I think Ben was knocked out or something because the tag just now seems to be starting to work again.” He grabbed his neck feeling the echo of his brother's pain. “It’s after Dean!” he said jerking opening the door. “Zip, stay here!”
Zip was shaking as Sam slammed the door behind him and he wondered why everyone wanted him to hide.
***
Emma looked in her rear view mirror, annoyed. There was an SUV in front of her and another car following her; must be more of these damned secret societies. She could sense the wards on the farm were down, and saw broken fences and tire tracks had made deep furrows in the mud. As she got closer to the house, she started having a feeling of foreboding; something was very, very wrong. Didn’t these idiots realize how unclean forces could be attracted to a vulnerable priest and priestess? They were like tasty little happy meals. It was the main danger in becoming a spiritual warrior. Vera had explained that clearly enough before she Initiated her.
By the time she reached the house she could see flickering lights and all but tumbled out of the car. This was bad, very bad; it felt like something much bigger and more evil then anything she’d ever faced before. The coven’s pool of built up magical energy had been wiped out.
Her temper flared as she recognized one of the men getting out of the SUV. Will Woodfin. She’d met him years ago at a party in Asheville. As soon as he found out she was a student and good friend of Vera’s he’d literally ran from her. Bastard. What was he doing here?
She didn’t have time to shout at him the way she wanted to. Vera had Initiated him as a priest and that was all that mattered, in that at least he was God and Goddess sent. Between the two of them they could call upon the power of both God and Goddess, light and dark, feminine and masculine, the powers of earth, fire, water and air.
“Will!” she screeched and he wheeled around to look at her, hope and relief lighting up his eyes as he reached for her. They had just grasped hands and began to merge their energy when the front door open and hell itself seemed to spill out onto the doorstep.
Chapter 27, Part 2