by Jamie Davis
“Not exactly, but I can localize it to one row of units. That should get us close enough.” Jaz hopped out as he pulled up next to the fence around the storage facility, grabbing her katana and slipping it over her shoulder. She settled the sword so the hilt popped up over her shoulder. He knew she was also armed with a pistol and her Bowie knife.
He got out. He had no weapon, and for the first time, he felt like he needed one. Too late to worry about that now. He knew he needed some training before he was ready to carry even a pistol into this situation. He’d lend Jaz what assistance she needed as best he could.
The two of them climbed up on the roof and then over onto the top of the brick and wrought iron fence surrounding the lot filled with storage sheds. Jumping to the ground, they took a moment to get their bearings. The storage sheds were arranged in rows with about twenty units on each side of the row.
“By my count, they should be somewhere in the sixth row down,” Jaz said. “Let’s hurry up, but try to be quiet.”
Dean followed her as she jogged in the direction specified. She stopped at a corner and peered around it as Dean caught up to her. She pulled back and turned to look at him.
“There’s a minivan parked in front of one of the units. There’s light spilling out from inside. It has to be them.” Jaz glanced around for a moment and then pointed up. “Boost me onto the roof. I’ll get the jump on them from above when Jill brings Jo out.”
Dean nodded and cupped his hands together, interlacing his fingers to form a step for Jaz to put her foot in. She stepped into his hand and she straightened up as he stood and lifted upwards. She reached up and pulled herself onto the roof, disappearing from view. Dean looked up for a few seconds until he realized she wasn’t coming back. He inched forward towards the corner of the end unit and looked down the row.
He saw the minivan and the light from the open unit door about fifty feet down the row from where he stood. He didn’t see any movement, but Jaz was right. This had to be the right place. He looked upward to the roofline but could see no sign of his companion. Jaz was staying out of sight.
Dean continued peering around the corner at the scene until he thought that Jaz had to have made it to her position above the unit, then he stepped around the corner. He flattened himself against the doorway of the first unit and slid along its length to the wall with the next one. Stopping, he looked to see if anyone was moving around the open unit. Seeing no one there, he stepped around the walls separating the units and back into the slight cover and shadows of the door alcoves.
He continued moving up, unit by unit until he was only one away. He could hear voices now and stopped to listen to them. The first voice he heard was Jo’s and his heart leapt in relief. She was still alive.
“You know my parents will never give you what you want, right?”
“It’s not up to you, my dear. They’re your parents, of course they’ll do whatever it takes to get you back.”
Dean started at the sound of Sam’s voice. Was Sam in on this, too, or were they wrong and the Demon was Sam all along. He wished he could see Jaz right then. Had she heard and recognized the voice as well? If Sam was here, was Jill here, too?
Jo started speaking again. Dean listened to try and gauge if she was hurt or not. “They want the other two idols from you so they can seal them away safely again and prevent you from ever entering this world again. That is more important than my life. They know this.”
“I’m counting on it actually,” Sam replied. “They will likely come up with some rescue plan to save you and not realize that merely having the idol nearby will strengthen me. I don’t have to have it in my possession right away. Close is good enough.”
Dean saw a shadow on the pavement that showed a person coming out of the storage unit. He flattened back into the shadows. Sam stepped out into the open doorway of the storage unit, turned and looked right at him.
“Hello, Mr. Flynn. So good of you to come and bring the object of my desire close enough to enable my final transformation.”
Sam stretched a hand upward towards the roof and swatted at something as if at a bug. Dean heard a grunt of pain from the roof and was shocked to see Jaz flung from the roof top to bounce onto the roof of the van, rolling from there to the ground. She groaned and struggled to rise. The huntress let out a brief yelp of pain as she put weight on one leg. Dean saw it buckle under her and realized she must have broken it in the fall.
Their adversary laughed out loud when he saw her struggling to rise and walked over toward her. She reached for her pistol but Sam, moving inhumanly fast, was on top of her in an instant and Dean heard the snap of her arm and her grunt of pain when the demon-possessed man twisted the gun from her hand.
“Nice of you to join us Ms. Errington.” Sam dragged the broken but still struggling Jaz around the van into the pool of light spilling from the storage room.
Dean saw he was pulling her by her good arm, keeping it from reaching for another weapon while the other arm dangled uselessly at her side. He could see the tears welling in her eyes from the pain in her arm and leg but she did not cry out.
Sam reached over and pulled the katana from her back and tossed it into the storage room where Dean heard it clatter on the floor. The demon-possessed man turned to Dean and gestured to him.
“Come over here, Mr. Flynn and keep your hands where I can see them. One wrong move and I’ll snap this woman’s neck.”
Dean felt his feet move against his will and he stepped out from the shadows and walked into the light, seeing inside the storage unit for the first time. He took in the grim scene in a glance and knew that he was in something that was way over his head. There was a table set up in the center of the open space with the two stolen summoning idols sitting on it. He saw Jill’s body stretched out on the bed frame in the back of the unit, and Jo tied to the chair in front of it. Her eyes were wide with fear and worry. She didn’t know what to do and was looking to him to come up with a solution. He could not do anything about it, his feet were now rooted to the floor by the demon lord’s will.
He was struggling with his helplessness and trying to come up with some sort of answer when he heard a crash of glass and then the sound of a car alarm coming from behind him. He looked back and wondered what it was.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Flynn,” Sam said with a laugh. “That is just my minion bringing me the other idol from your vehicle.”
“Aren’t you afraid the alarm will bring police or other help?” Dean asked.
“No one pays any attention to things like that in this out of the way neighborhood,” Sam said. “If the police show up, I’ll kill them like I’m going to kill you. The more sacrifices and blood involved in my ultimate summoning, the greater my power on this earth will be.”
A few moments later a scaled humanoid demon stepped around Dean and walked over to Sam holding the third and final summoning idol. Sam nodded with a feral grin and directed the creature to set the idol down on the table in the storage unit forming a triangle with the other two matching idols. There was a flash of green light when the idol was set in place and the jade eyes in each one glowed a pulsing, sickening green.
Dean had to try something, anything to get someone out of this. This was approaching the moment of no return. He had to at least free Jo from this mad demon’s plans.
“Let Jo go free, Sam,” Dean said. “You have the Hunter and you have me. You don’t need her as well.”
“No I suppose not,” Sam said, looking at Jo where she sat tied up. “But, I don’t have my wife anymore and I will still need something to satisfy my more carnal appetites. I think I’ll keep her around after I sacrifice you two. It will be enjoyable to see the look in your dying eyes to know that she’ll suffer far more than you will.”
Dean felt anger rising inside him. He was trapped by this demon lord and he realized in this moment that two of the people he had come to care about more than anything in the world were in imminent danger of death or worse. He watched
as Sam dragged Jaz over to the table with the glowing idols. Their pulsing green light intensified as the possessed man neared it with his intended sacrifice.
The struggling paramedic could not even lift a finger or take a step to help and his failure to rush over to help Jaz weighed down on him more than anything he’d ever felt before. He didn’t know what to do other than offer a prayer for help to whoever might be listening. Demons were real. This evil was real.
He knew the gods existed, too, but where were they? Ashley the angel, had once told him of the struggle for control of the earth. Humans were given free will in the earliest days of that struggle in order that they might determine the fate of the world around them. What good was free will if the gods were not willing to intervene in those instances when the other side stepped in with their own direct hand?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. His fist clenched, and in that moment of defiance, Dean felt his right foot slide forward on the pavement. He looked down and saw his foot lift and take another step. He pushed against the will of the demon holding him still and found that he could push back against it.
Dean was winning this battle of wills over control of his body, but he still might lose the war. Jaz was now lying helpless in front of the table and the glowing idols. She was pinned to the ground, likely by the same unnatural force of will that now struggled to control him. She was glaring upward at Sam in angry defiance as the demon lord in human form reached down and pulled the Bowie knife from its sheath under her jacket. He held the knife up letting the blade catch the light and shifted his grip so that he could plunge it downward into his victim.
Dean had to stop this. This abomination of suffering and death could not be allowed to manifest on earth. A voice that was both his and something more rose up from within him and Dean shouted at Sam as he forced himself to take another step forward.
“Stop.”
The blade, raised up over Sam’s head, wavered as it started to come down, halting after only a few inches of movement. Sam whipped his head around to gaze at Dean, curious fury in his eyes.
“You will not interfere in this, human. You cannot stop me.”
“I said stop,” Dean said again in the voice that was both his and something more. “You will not harm that woman or anyone else further, Graadu.” Dean uttered the demon lord’s name, though he knew not where that knowledge had come from.
“How do you know my name, human?” Sam said. “That is hidden from this world.”
“I know your true name, Graadu,” Dean felt himself say. “That name gives me the power to command you, in both this world and beyond it. Stop what you are doing to these agents of good on this earth.” He took two more steps forward and felt the control of the rest of his body returning as well. He raised his arm and pointed at the demon-possessed man.
“You are an abomination that has no place in this world. You will return to the place from whence you came.”
Sam uttered a curse and snapped an order to the humanoid demon. It rushed at Dean, its clawed hands raised to strike him down. Dean should have been afraid, but his being felt a new confidence. He felt, what? Invincible in this moment. He swung to face the onrushing demon with a raised arm, palm outward. When his hand contacted the head of the scaled demon, there was a flash of white light and the creature crumpled to the ground, its form turning to ash and then crumbling to a pile on the pavement.
“What are you?” Dean heard Graadu utter the question as he turned back to face the demon lord, continuing his advance.
“I’ve been getting that question a lot lately,” Dean said. “I’m not sure who or what I am, but in this time and place, I am the one who is going to send you back from whence you came.”
Graadu swung the knife towards Dean as he stepped up next to him. With a backhanded blow, Dean swatted at the hand wielding the blade and the knife spun away to clatter on the floor. He reached up and gripped the possessed man’s head in his palms, staring into the depths of the man’s eyes. Dean felt like he was peering into Sam’s soul. Maybe he was. He said two words to end this once and for all.
“Be gone.”
Sam’s eyes rolled up in his head, his body spasmed at Deans words, then he collapsed to the floor at the paramedic’s feet.
Chapter 29
Dean stood for what seemed like an eternity looking at his hands and at the man crumpled on the floor of the storage unit at his feet. He didn’t know what he did, or how he did it, but somehow he knew it was over. He was still lost in thought when a voice broke through his introspection.
“A little help here?” Jaz said through gritted teeth.
He looked down, shaking himself back to the here and now. There was still work to be done.
“Jaz, I’m sorry. Let me take a look at that.”
She was cradling her broken arm, clutching it close to her body as she tried to sit up. He knelt down and helped her to a sitting position while he looked at the arm. Her forearm bones were clearly broken but she was able to move her fingers a little and he sensed a pulse in her wrist when he gently felt for one. Those were both good signs that is was a clean break and would likely heal well. He helped to straighten her legs, careful of the obvious break in the right one. That one was going to need some help sooner rather than later. He could see blood soaking her pants leg and he suspected it was a compound fracture with the bones breaking through the skin causing the bleeding. He didn’t have any gear here but Jaz always kept supplies in the SUV. He was going to need some help, and he needed to check on Jo and Jill at the back of the unit.
“Wait here while I go check on Jo.”
“I’m in no condition to be going anywhere, Dean,” Jaz said with a grim smile as she gritted her teeth against the pain.
He got up and walked across the storage room to where Jo was duct taped to the desk chair. She was looking at him as he approached, tears welling in her eyes. He had been angry with her when she first left the apartment. That anger had softened to worry in the intervening hours and now he was filled with joy, glad she was found safe and alive.
He pulled out his penknife, flipping it open with his thumb and, being careful not to cut her, sliced away the duct tape binding her arms and legs. When she was free, Joanna jumped out of the chair and wrapped him in a huge hug.
“I’m sorry, Daddy.”
“That’s alright, Jo. Let’s get all this sorted out and take care of your mother. We can talk about what happened later,” Dean said.
The girl nodded as she released her grip.
“We need to get her to the hospital,” Dean said. “We also need to get some police here to close off the area. With Jill’s body here, this is a crime scene.” He had noticed right away that Jill was beyond his abilities to help.
“Will Sam be charged? He was possessed?” Jo asked looking over at the dead woman’s body stretched out on the bed frame.
Dean saw her lingering glance and redirected her attention away from the woman’s body. She didn’t need that image in her mind any more than she already had.
“See if you can find something to splint Mom’s arm and leg,” Dean asked her. “There’s a BLS bag in the back of your mother’s SUV. There might be a SAM splint in there.”
“Got it, Dad. I’ll be right back.”
“Here, take these and shut off the alarm.” Dean tossed her the keys for the truck.
Dean followed Jo to the front of the unit and watched her turn the corner towards the sound of the SUV’s car alarm. He knelt back down by Jaz and using his knife, carefully cut away her blood-soaked pants from her injured leg. It was as he feared, a serious compound fracture of the two bones in her lower leg. Reaching into his pocket, Dean dialed 911 and spoke to the dispatcher that answered, identifying himself and requesting the Station U ambulance and police to the address of the storage facility.
The alarm stopped with a final chirp and Dean knew that Jo would be back in a minute with the basic life support bag. It should have an IV fluid ba
g in it and the bandages and splints they were going to need to start treating this leg. A few moments later Jo returned and the two of them started to work treating Jaz’s injuries.
Jaz looked up at him as they worked on her. “Dean, what did you do to Sam? You shouldn’t have been able to do that. Was that what you did back at Heaven House?”
“Sort of. Once I was able to move against his compulsion to remain standing there to watch you die, I figured our only chance was to try and banish this demon like I did the one earlier today.”
“Your voice changed, too. Did you notice that?”
“It was weird. I felt like I wasn’t alone, that I could do almost anything in that moment. I stopped that scaled demon who rushed me without flinching. Then a name appeared in my mind and I knew it belonged to the demon lord inside Sam. I just had to compel the demon to leave. The rest sort of happened on auto pilot, as if something or someone else took over.”
Jaz laid her hand on top of his as he was wrapping her leg in the splint. He stopped working and looked at her.
“I’m glad you are whoever or whatever you are Dean Flynn. You saved me and the only family I have left. If I had lost you and Jo in this. I don’t know what I’d have done.” Tears welled in her eyes and he felt his own eyes misting up, too. He felt a rush from beside him and soon he and Jaz were clutched in a three way embrace with Joanna as she burst into tears hugging the two of them. He smiled and thought about the family he had found for himself in the last month or so.
The sound of sirens sounded in the distance and Jaz let go of the group embrace. The three of them settled back to sit on the floor of the storage unit.
“Jo, go over to the idols and cast a misdirection spell on them. Can you do that?” Jaz asked.
“Easy-peasy, Mom.” Jo stood up next to the table and placed the idols into a cardboard box there. She closed her eyes while she muttered a few words over the box of idols.
Something happened. What, Dean wasn’t sure. All he knew was that one minute the box was there and the next, it was not. Except, if her really forced his attention on it, it would fade back in for a moment. He knew that for anyone else who didn’t know about the box beforehand, it would simply not be worth noticing, for lack of a better way of putting it. They would see it, but it would be so unremarkable they would dismiss it as unimportant.