THIRTY-TWO

“What’s taking him so long?” Dean asked.

Dean and Julia were hidden behind a car, waiting for the four-story brick building to blow.

Without warning, the windows blew out, and hot mercury-colored glass shot in all directions.

There was a rumble, and then another blast as more fire exploded from the windows and roof of the building. Its seven-story smoke stack started to sway. There were a series of smaller percussions which rattled windows in the surrounding buildings. Then everything was silent for a moment.

A sizzling noise came from within the damaged structure, like a thousand tons of bacon frying. A blast like a mini atom bomb shot up into the air, crumbling the fifty-foot walls and sending flaming debris a hundred yards in all directions.

Dean looked at the destroyed shell of foundation.

“Sam?” he said in a small voice.

Then, against the light of the burning inferno, a silhouette appeared. Sam? The figure gradually revealed itself to be Eisheth. She strode up to them, dragging Sam’s body behind her.

Dean leveled his shotgun at her.

“He’s not dead, don’t worry. I’m as upset as you are. His body is so magnificent. I told him I can’t wait until I get to explore it all over.”

“Put him down,” Dean commanded.

Eisheth dropped Sam face first onto the gravel.

“What would you like to do now? I did my job. I stopped all those holier-than-thou hunters from killing the vessels.”

“You killed my father!” Julia shouted.

Eisheth regarded Dean with a smirk.

“Really, this whiney little mouse is attractive to you? Okay, listen sweetheart, I had a job to do. I had to stop all you blood-filled air suckers from thinking you are doing God’s work. If you only knew. From my perspective, God created a hot, dry, dusty, famine-filled world for you. Why would you ever want to help his cause?”

“Hey, Sigourney, can you stop playing Gate Keeper for a moment, and let’s get this over with,” Dean shouted over the roar of the fire.

“Just one more thing, then I’ll get out of your hair. I need the last pages of the scroll. My job is to protect those names, and I’m not letting anyone else get any crazy ideas about killing off the vessels, especially now I’ve met my husband’s. I’m talking to you, mouse.”

Julia stepped out from behind the car and leveled her gun at Eisheth. A lightning quick unseen force pulled Julia toward Eisheth. She flew through the air and landed unconscious at Eisheth’s feet. The demon knelt down and picked her up by the hair, examining her face.

“Nice face, but a little petite, don’t you think? Oh, and by the way, thanks for this. It’s like a token from my homeland. Makes me nostalgic for all those sacrifices people used to do.”

Eisheth held the demon knife at Julia’s throat.

“I know. She’s definitely not like me, but she will bleed regardless. I’m going to have so much fun with this knife. Do you know what I’m going to be able to do with it?” Eisheth dropped Julia and began ranting and gesticulating with the knife like it was a piece of chalk held by a professor. “I can kill off all Lucifer’s precious little demons. I’ll be able to slaughter each and every one. Then he’ll have to listen to me.”

Dean had to think fast.

“What’s your plan?” he said. “You reckon killing demons is going to make your absent husband take you more seriously? You can boil little bunnies Glenn Close-style all you want, Lucifer has bigger fish to fry. You’re just a distraction to him. Second fiddle. He’s Tiger Woods and you’re just another cocktail waitress to text message.”

“Are those the last words your true love is going to hear you say?” Eisheth spat. “Fine with me.”

Grabbing her hair, Eisheth lifted Julia’s body off the ground. She pushed her neck back and held the knife to her throat again.

“What if we could make you a deal?” Dean asked, eyeing the glinting blade as she pressed it to Julia’s skin.

“What could you possibly have that I would have the slightest bit of interest in?”

“We can take you to Lucifer. Now. You won’t have to wait.”

That made Eisheth pause.

“It seems like you haven’t had a face-to-face with your hubby in a long time. Maybe now is the time to try to get into couples therapy?”

“I don’t like the way you talk.”

“You’re a smart chick. Despite those 2,000 birthday candles on your cake, I know you get it.” Dean smirked.

“Someone broke the seals?” Eisheth asked.

Dean looked at Sam. Seemed everyone thought it was impossible.

“Someone broke the seals. Lilith did, to be exact, and she’s gone.”

Eisheth’s eyes glowed brightly, the thought of her husband unfettered, free of his favorite wife, was the consolation and redemption she had been waiting for.

Dean needed to rope her in quick.

“Lucifer is walking around just like you and me. But there’s a catch— it’s fifty-six years in the future. But we have a way to get you there.”

“How?”

“All things come to those who wait. You need to do something for us first.”

“I don’t do favors.”

Dean looked at her steadily. “You’ll do this one. Just let Julia go.”

Eisheth looked down at Julia’s limp body.

“Fine,” she said, dropping her to the ground. “What do I have to do?”

“First things first, we have a couple of stops.”

“Where’d you say you found me?” Leanne Keeny asked.

“Wandering around St. Louis. You don’t remember anything?” Dean shot her a sideways glance as he negotiated the country dirt road.

“I thought I went to New York. I got a job, I think. It was my first day. That’s the last thing I remember.”

“You’re a lucky girl. Is this it?” Dean turned the car up a long driveway leading to a white clapboard farmhouse. “Nice place. I’m sure your parents will be happy to see you.”

“They weren’t expecting me until Christmas.”

“Leanne, do me a favor. Stay here on the farm. Raise a family. You don’t need to go to New York to have a good life.”

She shrugged. “Guess you’re right. Besides, New York was awfully expensive.”

“There you go. Smart girl.”

Leanne flashed him a big smile as she got out of the car. She shut the door and leaned in through the open window.

“So,” she hesitated, “maybe you and me could go get a float sometime.”

“Sorry sweetheart, I’m not the settling-down type.” Dean winked, put the car into reverse and peeled off down the driveway.

Leanne Keeny took a long look at her parents’ farmhouse and then ran inside.

Hours later, Dean pulled into the Twin Pines Motel in Waubay. He parked the car. Julia appeared in the doorway of a cabin. Dean couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“Where’s Sam?” he asked as he shut the car door.

“He’s in a cabin. Sleeping, of all things. Are you sure about all this?”

Dean shrugged. “I’m never sure about anything. But we had to take the risk. Besides, she had a knife to your throat.”

“Thank you for saving my life.” Julia looked up into Dean’s eyes.

He put his arms around her waist and gently pushed her into the cabin, closing the door behind him with his foot.

Dean gently slid onto the bed, pulling Julia with him.

“I’m so sorry for everything,” Julia said as she smoothed her hands over Dean’s chest. “Everything I believed in, everyone I’ve ever known... is gone.”

Dean gazed into her eyes for a moment. It was true that Julia’s life was forever changed. She had lost her father, all of the hunters who were her friends; she had lost her way of life. Dean thought about how hard it would be to go back to living a normal existence. Would there always be an itching to be on the road? Dean didn’t know any other life. But Julia, she was different.

“You’re free, Julia. You’re now free to do what you want.”

Julia pulled back to look at him. “What I want is to be with you.”

“That can’t happen. You know that.”

Julia nodded sadly and laid her head on Dean’s shoulder.

In the early dawn, Dean woke up. As quietly as possible, he crept out of bed, gathered his clothing up off the floor, lingered a moment at the door, then left.

He walked into the other cabin, where Sam was apparently still sleeping.

“You awake? We need to do this.”

Sam sat up in bed. He was already dressed. He nodded and followed Dean out into the parking lot. They walked west into a field by the motel. Dean took the last couple of pages of the War Scroll from inside his leather jacket. Holding them up by one corner, he lit his Zippo and the flame caught the parchment. In a matter of seconds the pages had curled up like black tongues licking up the fire.

As the last bit of the War Scroll disappeared into ash, there was a bright flash of light.