Chapter 15

Driving into Ennis and locating the street where the spell had located Lilith was easy. Sam parked the Impala in a parking spot at a nearby public park and approached his target on foot. He walked slowly, letting his gaze traverse the neighborhood looking for any signs of guards or other trouble. From the way things had gone down in Indiana, he knew Lilith didn't usually travel alone. His one possible advantage was that she was here looking for him, and might not be expecting him to be looking for her.

The street was quiet, the epitome of perfect suburbia. Full grown, lush trees, manicured lawns and bushes, brightly painted two story wooden homes -- an innocent façade which hid evil incarnate.

Sam stopped next to a tall hedge as he reached his destination and stared through the set of bay windows facing the street of the house before him. Inside, in a deeper room of the house, he could just make out a lavish dining room, the large table laden with cakes, cookies, and other sweets. A young girl in a blue dress with a large bow sat in a chair with her back toward him.

This was it. The girl would be Lilith's latest meat puppet. All the same signs they'd seen back in Indiana. Like humans, demons tended to be creatures of habit. This meant that Lilith was really here. All the horror would finally come to an end -- now.

Taking one last look around, Sam quietly made his way to the house's front door. He picked the lock and slipped inside, demon killing knife at the ready. He closed the door behind him, senses primed for anything unusual, making sure to be as silent as humanly possible.

He shifted the knife to his left hand and held it in an overhand grip as his right reached for the partially open door in front of him. Moving forward quickly as it swung wide, he found the closet off the foyer empty except for hangers and coats.

Sam stepped deeper into the house.

An open doorway let him peer into the living room. It contained a large marble and white colored fireplace. Books in white shelves filled up the wall to either side. There was no one in sight. An opening to the right, across from the bay windows he'd peeked through earlier, led into the dining room.

He spotted Lilith still sitting in the same chair at the table. Sam switched the blade back to his right hand, his palms moist, and silently crept toward her.

Soon this would be over. Soon it would be done. Lilith would pay for taking his brother away from him. Dean would be avenged.

His blood made thumping sounds in his ears as his pulse quickened the closer he came. He tried not to think about the life of the young girl he was about to sacrifice. For the amount of evil he would bring to an end, that would never be, it would be worth it. If not, he would pay the price when he died, along with that of all the other innocents whose blood stained his hands.

Sam tensed, gearing to plunge the knife into the small body before him and end everything when the girl suddenly turned toward him, tears staining her face. "Please, I want to go home."

What the hell?

Someone hit his arm from behind while crashing into his back. Sam cried out in pain as his wrist was twisted back forcing him to drop his only weapon. A second man came from out of nowhere and shoved him hard against the wall, his forearm pinning him by the neck and making it hard to breathe.

Sam struggled to get free from him, fear and adrenaline rushing through his veins, but it wasn't enough to overcome demon enhanced strength.

His captor brought his face up close, a sneer on his lips. "Lilith sends her regrets. She couldn't make it."

Cold goose bumps rushed to cover Sam from head to toe at the words. The bitch wasn't here. She'd somehow figured out how they tracked her down the last time and assumed they would do it again. This was a trap. A trap for him and he'd walked right into it like a total amateur.

The demon killing knife glinted at him, taunting him, having fallen to the floor too far from him to be of any use.

The demon shoved him back against the wall again, putting more pressure against Sam's neck, as if he knew what he was thinking. Sam struggled to get some air, his lungs already complaining. Ruby's warning that he wasn't ready echoed over and over in his head as from down a long tunnel.

He'd failed…again. He'd thrown away his only shot for vengeance. Would he never get anything right? At least there was no one here to see this final failure. Maybe his death would be quick. Maybe he would see Dean soon…

The sound of metal and a grunt of pain flickered from his right even as black peppered the edges of his consciousness.

"What?"

The pressure eased from Sam's neck and he half fell forward as he found himself suddenly free. He glanced to his right only to spot a familiar black jacket and petite figure. Ruby! She'd come after him.

One of the two demons who'd attacked him lay bleeding on the floor, dead.

She threw a look over her shoulder at him, keeping the second demon at bay. "Take the girl and run."

His brain balked at the command, but only for a moment. Ruby was a demon, Ruby had the knife. He had nothing. There was zilch he could do. He pushed away from the wall straight toward the cowering girl. He scooped her up in his arms and rushed out the way he'd come.

Once outside, he saw the streets were still empty. There were no demons, no people, nothing. Either Lilith had felt ambushing him with just two demons would do the trick, or had wanted to minimize her loses as much as possible giving him way too much credit in the power department.

He was alive, free.

He'd escaped death once more, though he deserved no better, but only because Ruby had backed him up despite how he had treated her. Despite the fear he'd seen in her face, knowing his rash action was doomed and he most likely would take her down with him.

Sam stared down at the shaking girl in his arms, then the clear way around him. He should run and get her to the Impala. Drive away to safety.

He didn't move. Though she was a demon, no longer human, he couldn't just leave Ruby behind. Despite her better judgment, she'd ignored her own council and come to help him. Though at the moment she had the upper hand, something could still go wrong and she could be hurt or killed. Something always went wrong.

Sam hastily set the girl down on her feet. "Go! Run! There's a black car at the park. Get inside it and lock the doors as quick as you can!"

The little girl nodded, tears still glinting in her eyes and ran.

He watched her run for half second to make sure she was on her way then rushed back into the house.

Tearing into the living room, he spotted Ruby being lifted off the floor by the neck against a beam until her feet no longer touched the floor. The knife was back on the ground, totally out of her reach, and definitely too far for him to get to in time to help her.

"Ruby, you're in so much trouble." The demon pining her to the beam sounded quite happy. "When we get you down in the basement, the things we're going to do to you."

She'd risked her freedom, her life for him. She risked having to return to a fate as bad if not worse than Dean's. He owed her for this. For this and more…

Sam shook his head trying not to think about what he felt or could hear or anything else, instead concentrating on calming his breathing and clearing his mind. He focused on the demon before him, sensing for his flickering essence as he extended his arm forward.

He reached for the core of the demon, feeling its oily presence as he touched it with his mind. He would grab hold of it, pull it, get rid of it. He had to make this work. He was Ruby's only hope. His mind grabbed hold and pulled. The pain that flared in his head made his vision double. He held on. This thing must die.

He squeezed, his mind suddenly ringing with the words of the Latin exorcism he'd been using as a mantra of late -- Regna Terrae, cantata deo, psallite domino, qui vehitur per calus, caelos antiquos… His world narrowed, the words focusing his mind to a sharper point than before. Black smoke poured out of the large man's mouth, the body convulsing as if vomiting out vile poison. The pain twisted in Sam's head and he felt something trickle down his nose.

The demon released Ruby and fell to the floor, the black smoke totally enveloping the meat suit from view. Sam pushed his will forward, chanting the Latin words in his mind as if pounding nails into a coffin, ignoring the persistent and ever increasing pain.

He willed the demon gone.

The smoke suddenly shimmered with edges of gold. Then it burned to ashes before totally disappearing, leaving nothing of the demon behind except the faint stench of sulfur.

It was done.

The power lashed at him as he released it. His head felt as if it would explode with every heartbeat as he gasped for air. But Sam also found that he was flushed with a sense of utter satisfaction. He'd driven the demon out and gotten rid of it.

"Sam…"

He had to struggle for more air just to try and answer. "I'm okay."

Ruby's lip was bloody but she was standing on her own and looked otherwise fine. He realized that it pleased him to see it. All he'd done today -- this success and all the ones he now felt would follow, were all due to her.

"Thanks."

And there was something more. Something totally unexpected. Everything around him looked brighter, sharper. It seemed to mean more. It took him a minute, but he finally understood what was going on. For the first time in a long time he'd actually succeeded. He had a weapon he could use -- one that might not require for the innocents to die. He could make a difference.

Despite all the anguish and pain, there might finally be hope. Demon kind would soon rue the day they ever decided to mess with the Winchesters. Because now that he had the power he planned to make them all pay -- even if it took a lifetime.

They would pay.

Every…last…one…

The End

Notes: Thanks to Kaz as usual for providing an extra pair of eyes and checking the angst-o-meter.

The original timeline in my head got pushed around a little as I watched the episode for notes as the pizza boxes, beer, and whiskey bottles NEVER changed on that bloody dining room table. lol. That or Sam was anal about where those things had to go. Heh heh. (Had to update the story after it was totally posted as I came to realize not once was Dean's necklace mentioned or shown, so had to account for that. Doh! Couldn't believe I forgot about the darn thing! Eek!)

As always, thanks for reading!!!!