Highway to Hell: Episode Three: "Burn in Hell"
Episode 3 : Burn in Hell
Chapter 6: The Ball Drops
Chapter Wordcount: 1227
It was almost a week later before Sam was able to work up enough courage to tell Dean.
Monte had passed out on the couch and Dean was outside on the small patio.
“Dean?”
“Huh?”
“I need to talk to you,” Sam whispered.
Dean eyed him warily as Sam stepped outside.
“Why do I not feel good about this?”
Sam sighed and Dean could feel the air thicken around him. He was quite fluent in Sam-ese. The little sighs the boy would give, grunts, huffs, he knew what each of them meant. And this had the hairs on the back of his neck prickling and he didn’t like it.
Not in the least.
“Sammy…”
Sam sat down in the patio chair and refused to meet Dean’s eyes.
“I had a nightmare the other night…”
“Like a naked in class nightmare…or like, you know, a nightmare.”
He looked at Dean with impossibly deep sea-green eyes, and his brother knew the answer.
“And?” he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to know.
Sam swallowed hard and said a silent prayer that Dean please not be armed.
“We were all in like…this abandoned church or something…and,” he sighed, “Dad was there.”
Dean stayed silent. Somehow he knew that wasn’t the end of it.
“And so was Monte.”
“I kinda gathered that when you said ‘all of us.’”
Sam again met his brother’s eyes.
“She was on the ceiling Dean,” he paused. “Like Mom…and Jess.”
The color had visibly drained from Dean’s face. “The demon was there?” he cringed when he heard his own voice crack.
“I…I dunno, exactly…I didn’t see it. But…you, you were screaming.”
Dean finally tore his gaze from Sam and looked out over the small pond behind the Inn, the surface glossed over with a thin sheet of ice.
Vaguely in the back of his mind he wondered if he walked out and broke through the ice and into the cold water if he would even be able to feel it.
At that particular moment he wasn’t so sure.
His chest was so tight it felt like he had just been tazered again and on the verge of death. He could hear his own heartbeat thrumming in his ears and try as he might he couldn’t pull a deep breath to save his soul.
“No,” he whispered. He was screaming it in his head but was unaware he had even said it out loud until Sam questioned him.
“What did you say?”
Dean stared at him, eyes cold as steel. “No. Nothing is going to happen. Not now. Not ever. I won’t let it.”
“Dean…”
“No!” he stormed off and into the suite, stopping by the couch where Monte was still sleeping soundly.
Sam watched Dean bend over and place the lightest of kisses on Monte’s forehead before he went stomping off to the bedroom and shutting the door.
Sam came back inside and closed the sliding glass door quietly before sighing and looking at Monte.
‘Why’ was all he could think. They had all given so much. Had so much taken away. Dean… Dean maybe most of all. Why couldn’t they just be happy?
Dean changed after that. But like normal, he buried what he felt. Monte questioned him one day, causing him to bury it even deeper.
He wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
He couldn’t.
Of course that didn’t stop him from lying awake at three o’clock in the morning, watching her sleep and wondering how he could protect her. He had never had the slightest desire to have a normal life, not until he was with her.
And it scared the crap out of him.
Why couldn’t things just leave them alone? Hadn’t their family been shredded enough? Hell, both their families; the Winchesters and the Lymans had been utterly destroyed by supernatural crap. Why couldn’t it just fuck off for once?
This ‘vacation’ had been amazing. Being able to actually breathe for once. No living off fast food and coffee. No fourteen hour long days of staring at nothing but the white lines of the road. No constantly watching over your shoulder. Dean didn’t think he’d ever be able to rib Sam again about wanting to be Joe Blow. Because truth be told, a part of Dean wanted that too.
He sighed while he continued to watch her sleep.
In his own Dean way he justified it to himself that as long as he was with her that he could protect her.
“Please just let me be able to protect her,” he whispered.
New Year’s Eve found them all sitting around waiting for the ball to drop.
That fact in itself had conjured many a joke from Dean. Monte and Sam had finally just started ignoring him.
Monte had actually crashed around eleven. Said she had no desire to see Dick Clark yet again.
Dean had of course tried to play twenty questions before Monte finally shut him up with a kiss and told him she was, quote, “fucking fine.”
The countdown was getting ready to begin when ‘Carry on My Wayward Son’ starting blaring from Dean’s phone, the vibration making the device skitter and dance across the table.
“Who the hell would be calling now?”
The phone was actually closer to Sam than it was Dean, so he reached over and looked at the I.D.
“Out of Area.”
Dean’s brow scrunched as Sam flipped it open, grabbing the remote and lowering the volume on the T.V.
“Hello?” he asked hesitantly.
“Sam?”
Sam shot upright like the chair had bit him. Only then did he stop to wonder why he even stood up in the first place.
“Dad?” he asked, his voice cracking against his will.
Sam snapped the phone shut.
“What did he say?!” Dean was standing now too.
“He found it,” Sam whispered.
“What?!”
Sam’s eyes darted back and forth across the carpet.
“The demon…it’s back in Lawrence…or well, Stull he said…where the hell’s that?”
Dean’s eyes grew wide. “Stull?” he asked breathless.
“Yea, what?”
“You don’t know about Stull?”
“What?!”
“It’s a gateway to hell Sammy!”
Sam didn’t know what to say to that. But he pulled out his laptop and quickly brought up Google, typing in ‘Stull Kansas.’
“So what else did he say?”
“Uh…nothing, he uh, just told us to get there as fast as we could. That we should meet him at Missouri’s, he’ll be there.”
“That’s it?! Sammy, talk to me!”
“Yea! That’s it…he hung up on me.”
Dean was pacing now, scrubbing his face with his hand.
The countdown had started, and the TV droned on in the background.
Ten…
Sam clicked the link that seemed the most likely to reveal some information.
Nine…
He sped read through the first couple paragraphs.
Eight…
Gateway to hell, rumors of the gate opening on Halloween, when the Devil himself visits…
Seven…
Legend says there was a tree on the property where condemned witches met their end…
Six…
A witch that was the Devil’s lover, as well as their son are said to be buried there…
Five…
He scrolled down the page.
Four…
Church ruins are said to stand over the gateway…
Three…
There was a photograph of the church.
“Oh no…”
“What?!” Dean didn’t like the tone that had been said in.
Two…
“That’s the church…from my dream…with Monte…”
One…
The ball fell crashing to the ground.
Previous: Chapter Five | Next: Chapter Seven
Highway to Hell Master Post
Chapter 6: The Ball Drops
Chapter Wordcount: 1227
It was almost a week later before Sam was able to work up enough courage to tell Dean.
Monte had passed out on the couch and Dean was outside on the small patio.
“Dean?”
“Huh?”
“I need to talk to you,” Sam whispered.
Dean eyed him warily as Sam stepped outside.
“Why do I not feel good about this?”
Sam sighed and Dean could feel the air thicken around him. He was quite fluent in Sam-ese. The little sighs the boy would give, grunts, huffs, he knew what each of them meant. And this had the hairs on the back of his neck prickling and he didn’t like it.
Not in the least.
“Sammy…”
Sam sat down in the patio chair and refused to meet Dean’s eyes.
“I had a nightmare the other night…”
“Like a naked in class nightmare…or like, you know, a nightmare.”
He looked at Dean with impossibly deep sea-green eyes, and his brother knew the answer.
“And?” he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to know.
Sam swallowed hard and said a silent prayer that Dean please not be armed.
“We were all in like…this abandoned church or something…and,” he sighed, “Dad was there.”
Dean stayed silent. Somehow he knew that wasn’t the end of it.
“And so was Monte.”
“I kinda gathered that when you said ‘all of us.’”
Sam again met his brother’s eyes.
“She was on the ceiling Dean,” he paused. “Like Mom…and Jess.”
The color had visibly drained from Dean’s face. “The demon was there?” he cringed when he heard his own voice crack.
“I…I dunno, exactly…I didn’t see it. But…you, you were screaming.”
Dean finally tore his gaze from Sam and looked out over the small pond behind the Inn, the surface glossed over with a thin sheet of ice.
Vaguely in the back of his mind he wondered if he walked out and broke through the ice and into the cold water if he would even be able to feel it.
At that particular moment he wasn’t so sure.
His chest was so tight it felt like he had just been tazered again and on the verge of death. He could hear his own heartbeat thrumming in his ears and try as he might he couldn’t pull a deep breath to save his soul.
“No,” he whispered. He was screaming it in his head but was unaware he had even said it out loud until Sam questioned him.
“What did you say?”
Dean stared at him, eyes cold as steel. “No. Nothing is going to happen. Not now. Not ever. I won’t let it.”
“Dean…”
“No!” he stormed off and into the suite, stopping by the couch where Monte was still sleeping soundly.
Sam watched Dean bend over and place the lightest of kisses on Monte’s forehead before he went stomping off to the bedroom and shutting the door.
Sam came back inside and closed the sliding glass door quietly before sighing and looking at Monte.
‘Why’ was all he could think. They had all given so much. Had so much taken away. Dean… Dean maybe most of all. Why couldn’t they just be happy?
Dean changed after that. But like normal, he buried what he felt. Monte questioned him one day, causing him to bury it even deeper.
He wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
He couldn’t.
Of course that didn’t stop him from lying awake at three o’clock in the morning, watching her sleep and wondering how he could protect her. He had never had the slightest desire to have a normal life, not until he was with her.
And it scared the crap out of him.
Why couldn’t things just leave them alone? Hadn’t their family been shredded enough? Hell, both their families; the Winchesters and the Lymans had been utterly destroyed by supernatural crap. Why couldn’t it just fuck off for once?
This ‘vacation’ had been amazing. Being able to actually breathe for once. No living off fast food and coffee. No fourteen hour long days of staring at nothing but the white lines of the road. No constantly watching over your shoulder. Dean didn’t think he’d ever be able to rib Sam again about wanting to be Joe Blow. Because truth be told, a part of Dean wanted that too.
He sighed while he continued to watch her sleep.
In his own Dean way he justified it to himself that as long as he was with her that he could protect her.
“Please just let me be able to protect her,” he whispered.
New Year’s Eve found them all sitting around waiting for the ball to drop.
That fact in itself had conjured many a joke from Dean. Monte and Sam had finally just started ignoring him.
Monte had actually crashed around eleven. Said she had no desire to see Dick Clark yet again.
Dean had of course tried to play twenty questions before Monte finally shut him up with a kiss and told him she was, quote, “fucking fine.”
The countdown was getting ready to begin when ‘Carry on My Wayward Son’ starting blaring from Dean’s phone, the vibration making the device skitter and dance across the table.
“Who the hell would be calling now?”
The phone was actually closer to Sam than it was Dean, so he reached over and looked at the I.D.
“Out of Area.”
Dean’s brow scrunched as Sam flipped it open, grabbing the remote and lowering the volume on the T.V.
“Hello?” he asked hesitantly.
“Sam?”
Sam shot upright like the chair had bit him. Only then did he stop to wonder why he even stood up in the first place.
“Dad?” he asked, his voice cracking against his will.
Sam snapped the phone shut.
“What did he say?!” Dean was standing now too.
“He found it,” Sam whispered.
“What?!”
Sam’s eyes darted back and forth across the carpet.
“The demon…it’s back in Lawrence…or well, Stull he said…where the hell’s that?”
Dean’s eyes grew wide. “Stull?” he asked breathless.
“Yea, what?”
“You don’t know about Stull?”
“What?!”
“It’s a gateway to hell Sammy!”
Sam didn’t know what to say to that. But he pulled out his laptop and quickly brought up Google, typing in ‘Stull Kansas.’
“So what else did he say?”
“Uh…nothing, he uh, just told us to get there as fast as we could. That we should meet him at Missouri’s, he’ll be there.”
“That’s it?! Sammy, talk to me!”
“Yea! That’s it…he hung up on me.”
Dean was pacing now, scrubbing his face with his hand.
The countdown had started, and the TV droned on in the background.
Ten…
Sam clicked the link that seemed the most likely to reveal some information.
Nine…
He sped read through the first couple paragraphs.
Eight…
Gateway to hell, rumors of the gate opening on Halloween, when the Devil himself visits…
Seven…
Legend says there was a tree on the property where condemned witches met their end…
Six…
A witch that was the Devil’s lover, as well as their son are said to be buried there…
Five…
He scrolled down the page.
Four…
Church ruins are said to stand over the gateway…
Three…
There was a photograph of the church.
“Oh no…”
“What?!” Dean didn’t like the tone that had been said in.
Two…
“That’s the church…from my dream…with Monte…”
One…
The ball fell crashing to the ground.
Previous: Chapter Five | Next: Chapter Seven
Highway to Hell Master Post