CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

"It found us. It's here." John says as he looks away from the window.

"The demon?" Sam asks, and Caroline, Jeremy, and Tyler all stand up.

"Sam, lines of salt in front of every window, every door." He orders.

"Already did it."

"Check it, okay." He says, and Nyx then grabs Dean's hand. He looks down at her, and she wants to tell him that something's not right with John, but she can't without​ him hearing her too.

"Dean, you got the gun?" John asks, and his son looks at him.

"Yeah." He nods.

"Give it to me."

"Sam tried to shoot the demon." Nyx says, and he looks at her. "It vanished."

"I won't miss." He says and then looks back at Dean. "Now, the gun. Hurry."

She squeezes Dean's hand as he pulls the gun out, and he looks down at her again, studying her face. Her jaw tightens as she looks at him, and he looks at the gun before turning to face his dad.

"Son, please." John says.

Dean starts backing up and he puts his arm in front of Nycole so she will​ too.

"Give me the gun. What are you doing, Dean?" He questions.

"You'd be furious." Dean says.

"What?"

"That I wasted a bullet."

Nyx looks at Caroline. "Grab Jeremy and Tyler, and run. Now." She whispers, and the blonde looks over at her. "Caroline, I need you to trust me. Please. Go."

"He wouldn't be proud of me. He'd tear me a new one." Dean continues and then raises the gun.

"Go!" Nyx yells, and then Caroline and the two boys disappear.

"You're not my dad." He says as she looks back at John.

"Dean, it's me." John — the demon — says.

"I know my dad better than anyone, and you ain't him."

"What the hell has gotten into you?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Dean? What the hell is going on?" Sam asks as he walks back into the room.

"Your brother's lost his mind." The demon says.

"He's not Dad." Dean tells Sam.

"What?" Sam questions.

"I think he's possessed. I think he's been possessed since we rescued him."

"Don't listen to him." The demon says.

"Dean, how do you know?" Sam questions.

"He's different." Dean says.

"Dean's right, Sam." Nyx tells him.

"We don't have time for this." The demon says. "Sam, if you want to kill this demon, you've got to trust me."

Sam looks from the demon to Nyx and his brother. He's not sure what to do.

"Sam?" The demon says.

"No." Sam says. "No." He moves closer to Nyx and Dean.

The demon nods as he looks at them. Nyx lets go of Dean's hand and turns a little so she can see both of the boys.

"Fine." The demon says. "You're all so sure. Go ahead. Kill me." He looks down.

"Dean, it's not him. What do we do?" Nyx whispers.

Dean just stands there with the gun raised. Possessed or not, his dad's still in there somewhere.

"I thought so." The demon looks back up, and his eyes are that same yellow color that they were in the nursery.

Sam flies away from them, and he hits the wall with a thud. Then Dean flies backward, and the gun falls out of his hand. He hits the wall opposite Sam.

"Now, what should I do with you?" The demon asks as he slowly walks toward Nycole. "I was thinking maybe the ceiling." He says before looking above them.

"Don't touch her!" Dean yells as the demon looks back at her.

"Go ahead. Kill me." She says through clenched teeth. "Make the target on your back that much bigger."

"You are a fiery little one, aren't you? I like that about you." The demon says as he brushes hair out of her face. She punches him and then goes for the gun, but she flies across the floor before she can get to it.

"Nycole!" Dean yells.

The demon picks up the gun and looks at it. "What a pain in the ass this thing's been." He says.

"It's you, isn't it?" Sam asks. "We've been looking​ for you for a long time."

"Well, you found me."

"But the holy water?"

"You think something like that works on something like me?" He questions.

"I'm gonna kill you." Sam says as he tries to get off the wall where he's stuck.

"Oh, that would be a neat trick. In fact, here." He says as he sets the gun down on a table. "Make the gun float to you there, psychic boy."

"You really are a son of a bitch, you know that?" Nyx says​ as she pushes herself up off the floor.

He looks at her. "I'd kill you just to watch your boyfriend suffer, but I think Klaus might have other plans when he learns that you're still alive." He says, and she can't mask the fear on her face fast enough for them not to notice it.

"What do you know about Klaus?" She questions.

"I know the doppelganger was supposed to die in the sacrifice." He says. "But you're alive, and now he can't make hybrids."

"What difference does it make to you?"

"Oh, I don't care about his hybrids." He says with a smile. "I don't care about you either. Or your friends outside."

She suddenly flies through the air and hits the wall on the opposite side of the window that Dean's next to. The demon turns and looks at her with a smug expression on his face.

"Though I am a little interested​ to see this new species. It's​ not very often that one occurs." He says and then looks at each of them. "This is fun. I could've killed you boys a hundred times today, but this... This is worth the wait."

"Go to hell." Nyx says as he looks out the window between her and Dean.

"Your dad—" He looks at Dean. "He's in here​ with me, trapped inside his own meat suit. He says hi, by the way... He's gonna tear you apart. He's gonna taste the iron in your blood."

"Let him go, or I swear to God—"

"What?" He cuts Dean off. "What are you and God gonna do? You see, as far as I'm concerned, this is justice​."

"Get away from him!" Nyx yells as he walks over to Dean. He doesn't even acknowledge the fact that she spoke.

"You know that little exorcism of yours? That was my daughter." He says.

"Who, Meg?" Dean asks.

"The one in the alley? That was my boy." He says. "You understand?"

"You've got to be kidding me."

"What? You're the only one who can have a family?" The demon asks. "You destroyed my children. How would you feel if I killed your family?"

"You bastard." Nyx says through gritted teeth.

"Oh, that's right." He says. "I forgot. I did. Still, two wrongs don't make a right. But..." He then looks at Nycole. "Maybe I should show you how it feels to lose your children."

"You son of a bitch." Dean's jaw tightens as he tries to push himself​ off the wall, but he can't.

"I want to know why." Sam says. "Why did you do it?" He asks, quickly taking the attention away from Nycole.

"You mean why did I kill Mommy and pretty, little Jess?" The demon asks as he turns to face Sam.

"Yeah."

Nyx looks out the open door and sees Caroline, Tyler, and Jeremy all standing there. She shakes her head, and they quickly look at each other. They have no idea what to do to help, this is too far out of their knowledge-base.

"You know, he never told you this," The demon continues, and Nyx looks back to see that he's looking at Dean again. "But Sam was gonna ask her to marry him. Been shopping for a ring and everything." He says as he backs up toward Sam. "You want to know why?" He asks him as he turns to face him. "Because they got in the way."

"In the way of what?" Sam questions.

"My plans for you, Sammy. You...and all the children like you."

"Listen, you mind just getting this over with, 'cause I really can't stand the monologue." Dean says.

"Funny, but that's all part of your M.O., isn't it?" He asks as he turns back to look at him. "Mask all that nasty pain, mask the truth."

"Oh, yeah? What's​ that?"

"You know, you fight, and you fight for this family, but the truth is they don't need you. Not like you need them." He says, now right in front of​ Dean. "Sam, he's clearly John's favorite. Even when they fight, it's more concern than he's ever shown you." He looks over at Nyx and then back at Dean. "And Nycole — she's clearly​ using you, she doesn't need you. What she needed was a distraction​ and you've supplied that well. Now, she's just stuck with you because your problems have threatened her family and then she got pregnant with your kids. Poor little girl."

"I bet you're real proud of your kids too, huh?" He asks. "Oh, wait, I forgot. I wasted 'em."

He takes a step away from Dean and looks down. When he looks back up at him, Dean starts groaning in pain.

"Dean!" Sam yells.

"Leave him alone!" Nyx yells as blood starts to run down Dean's chest. "Stop it!"

"Dad!" Dean yells. "Dad, don't​ you let it kill me."

His pain gets worse, and Sam yells his name again.

"No!" Nyx yells, tears in her eyes. "Stop it!"

Jeremy, Caroline, and Tyler start to run back in, but they fly backward and then the door slams shut.

"Leave him alone!" She yells as tears run down her face.

"Dad, please." Dean begs.

"Dean!" Sam yells.

Dean looks at Nyx, he has blood running down from his mouth and tears in his eyes. His head falls and his body relaxes.

"No!" She yells, trying as hard as she can to get to him, but she's still stuck.

"Stop it." John says suddenly​.

Nyx and Sam are both released from the invisible force that was keeping them on the wall, and they both start moving quickly. Sam runs for the gun, and Nyx goes straight to Dean.

"Hey. Hey, look at me." She says as she lifts her boyfriend's head, but he doesn't open his eyes; he doesn't move at all.

"You kill me, you kill Daddy." The demon says, and Nyx turns her head to look at him.

Sam has the gun pointed at him.

"I know." Sam says and then shoots his dad in the leg.

He goes down and then Dean starts to fall. Nycole barely manages to catch him, but really all she does is stop him from slamming into the hard floor.

"Dean. Dean." She says, and he finally looks up at her. "God, you've lost a lot of blood."

"Where's my dad?" Dean asks.

"He's right here." Sam says.

"Come on." She says as helps him sit up and lean against the wall.

"Sammy!" John yells. "He's still alive. I can feel him. You shoot me. Shoot me in the heart, son." He says as Dean and Nyx look at them. "Do it, now!"

"Sam, don't you do it." Dean's voice is strained as he speaks. "Don't you do it."

"You've gotta hurry. I can't hold it much longer." John says. "Shoot me, son! Shoot me! Son, I'm begging you. We can end this here and now."

"Sam, no." Dean says.

"Sammy. You do this." John says.

John screams then and black smoke shoots out of his mouth, just like Meg's back at Bobby's place. Then it disappears into the floorboards.

"We have to get them out of here." Nyx says quickly and then she and Sam get the other two to the car.

Sam and John are in the front seat of the Impala, and Nyx is sitting in the back with Dean. She gets Dean's phone from his pocket as Sam starts driving, and she quickly calls Caroline. She holds the phone to her ear with one hand as she takes Dean's hand in her other.

"Dean?" Caroline's voice comes through the phone.

"Where are you?" Nyx asks her.

"We got thrown pretty far into the woods." She tells her. "Nyx, where are you guys?"

"We're not at the house anymore. I wanted to find you, but Dean and John need a hospital." She says. "Are you guys okay?"

John starts saying something about how Sam should've killed the demon, and Nyx opts to ignore him. She looks at Dean — he's in really bad shape.

"We're fine." Caroline says. "We'll find you at the hospital, okay?"

"Okay."

"And Nycole—"

Nyx looks out the window on the other side of Dean and she sees bright headlights coming right at them. "Sam, look out!" She yells, but it's too late. The truck hits them, and the phone flies out of her hand.