CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

"Have you talked to Elena?" Jeremy asks, and his sister glances at him.

"Briefly​."

"And?"

"And she's pissed at me, Jeremy." Nyx tells him. "Just like I knew she would be."

"Because I'm here?"

"That's part of it."

"What else is there?" He asks.

"I've been tracking Stefan and giving the information to Damon. He and Ric have been checking out the locations that I give him and none of us were telling her." She explains.

"Why?"

"Because she was under the impression that it was Klaus' kills that we were tracking."

"And​ they're not?"

"No, Jeremy. They're not."

"How do you know?" He asks.

"Because I know, Jer. Drop it." She says, and he sighs as he looks out the window.

"Maybe we can tell them there's a gas leak." Sam says suddenly. "Might get them out of the house for a few hours."

The four of them are currently sitting in the Impala, outside of the house of the woman that Sam said the demon's gonna kill tonight.

"Yeah, and how many times has that actually worked for us?" Dean questions.

"Could always tell them the truth." Sam suggests.

The brothers look at each other as Nyx shakes her head. They both agree that that's​ a bad idea.

"I know, I know. I just— With what's coming for these people..."

"Sam, we only got one move, and you know it, alright?" Dean says. "We got to wait for that demon to show itself, and then we get it before it gets them." He goes back to watching the family through the window.

"Do these kills have anything to do with how Damon's girlfriend, Andie, died in some freak accident on your birthday?" Jeremy asks, and Nyx just looks at him for a second. "You​ seem to think that you have to deal with all of this on your own, but you don't, Nycole."

"I'm not dealing with any of it on my own." She argues.

"Yeah, and Damon feels guilty​ for what's going on?" He questions.

"Yeah, Jeremy, he does. He may not always admit it, but he does feel things." She says. "His younger brother gave himself over to Klaus in order to get a cure to save him. And in doing so, he lost Elena for good. Do you honestly think that he doesn't feel guilty for that?"

"Why are you defending​ him?"

"Because he's my friend, and his brother's going through hell right now because he made a decision to save someone else." She tells him. "The kills I'm tracking — they are all Stefan's. Stefan killed Andie to make Damon leave him alone. He didn't do it because he likes being with Klaus, searching the country for werewolves. He did it because if Klaus finds out the truth, he'll come for me and he'll kill all of us."

"So, why risk it by trying to find him?"

"Klaus is turning Stefan back into a ripper, and Stefan hates that part of himself​. He has spent over a hundred and forty years trying to fight off that part of him." She says. "What he does now, he has to live with for the rest of his life. Which is forever, in case you forgot. And forever is a long time for someone​ to hate them-self."

"Nyx—"

"You don't have to understand why I do what I do, Jeremy, and I don't expect you to. Just leave it alone." She tells him, and Dean looks at them in the rearview mirror. Jeremy turns away from his sister, and she looks out her own window.

"I wonder how Dad's doing." Sam says after it's been quiet for a while.

"I'd feel a lot better if we were there backing him up." Dean says.

"Me too​." Nyx agrees.

"I'd feel a lot better if he were here backing us up." Sam says, and she smirks.

The four of them sit there and continue to wait.

"This is weird." Sam speaks up again.

"What?" Dean asks as they look at him.

"After all these years, we're finally here. It doesn't seem real." He says.

"We just gotta keep our heads and do our job like always."

"Yeah, but this isn't like always."

"True." He agrees.

"Dean, uh..." Sam sighs. "I want to thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything. You've always had my back, you know? Even when I couldn't count on anyone, I could always count on you. And now... I don't know. I just wanted to let you know, just in case."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Are you kidding me?" Dean questions.

"What?"

"Don't​ say just in case something happens to you. I don't want to hear that freakin' speech, man. Nobody's dying tonight. Not us, not that family, nobody..." He says. "Except that demon. That evil son of a bitch isn't getting any older than tonight. You understand me?"

Sam just nods.

Again, the waiting continues. They just sit there, watching​ the family to make sure that they're gonna be safe. Nyx takes a deep breath, and Dean pulls his phone out of his pocket. "Dad's not answering." He tells them after a couple failed attempts at getting him on the phone.

"Maybe Meg was late." Sam says.

"I hope he kills her." Nyx says.

"Maybe cell reception's bad."

"Yeah, well..." Dean looks back out his window.

"Wait." Sam says, and they both look over at him. "Listen." He turns up the volume on the radio.

They can faintly hear the host, but it's mostly just static and a loud buzzing sound. The wind suddenly picks up outside and everything starts blowing around. The lights inside the house they're watching start to flicker.

"It's coming." Sam says, and they quickly get out of the car.

"Jeremy, stay outside!" Nyx orders.

The other three run up to the house and go in through the front door. It's completely dark now, and they don't hear anything.

"Get out of my house!" A male voice yells suddenly, and then Nyx hears glass shatter. She whirls around and sees that a guy just swung a baseball bat at Dean.

Sam grabs her and pushes her behind him as the man tries to hit Dean again, but Dean grabs the bat and manages to wrestle it away from him. Then he uses it to pin him against​ a wall.

"Mr. Holt, please." Sam says, and the man looks at them.

"We're trying to help you, okay." Dean tells him.

"Charlie, is everything okay down there?" A woman calls from upstairs.

"Monica, get the baby!" Charlie yells.

"Don't go in the nursery!" Sam yells and starts​ running for the stairs.

"You stay away from her!" Charlie yells as Sam and Nyx run up the steps.

They make it to the nursery and see a dark figure standing by the baby's crib. Nyx looks up and sees Monica on the ceiling.

"No." She mutters, looking back at the dark figure. Its eyes glow yellow, and Sam fires off a shot, but it disappears in the blink of an eye.

"Where the hell did it go?" Sam questions as Monica falls back to the floor.

"Hey." Nycole tries to help her up.

"My baby!" She yells.

"Get her out of here." Nyx tells Sam as she runs to the crib. "I got the baby."

Monica keeps yelling for Rosie — the baby — as Sam quickly pulls​ her out of the room. Nyx picks up the infant, and the crib suddenly goes up in flames under her arms. She backs away from it and then turns around and runs as she holds the baby to her chest.

"Nycole!" Dean's yelling​.

"Go!" She yells as the flames spread behind her. Glass shatters as they run out the front door.

"Get away from my family!" The man yells as they make it outside.

"No, Charlie, don't!" Monica yells. "They saved us." She tells her husband and then turns to Nyx.

The teenager hands the baby to Monica and then watches her quickly walk over to Charlie. He keeps them close to him as Nyx backs up toward the boys. Jeremy runs over and stands beside his sister. She looks up at him for a second, then offers him her best reassuring look.

"Thank you." Monica says, and they look back at the house. It's now engulfed in flames.

"It's still in there." Sam says suddenly.

"No. Sam, no." Dean grabs him before he can run in, and Nyx gets in front of him.

"Let me go! It's still in there!"

"Sam, the house is burning to the ground. It's suicide!" Nyx yells as Dean pushes him back.

"I don't care!" Sam yells as he looks at her.

"I do!" Dean argues.

They look back up at the window of the room that was the nursery. The figure's standing there and then it disappears.

—

"Come on, Dad. Answer your phone, damn it." Dean says as he paces back and forth in their motel room. "Something's wrong."

"What are we gonna do?" Nyx asks as she looks up at him. He looks at her and then his brother, who hasn't moved since he sat on the foot of the bed after they got back there.

"You hear me? Something happened." He tells Sam.

"If you two had just let me go in there, I could have ended all this." Sam says, and they both turn to face him.

"Sam, the only thing you would have ended was your life." Dean says.

"You don't know that."

"So, what? You're just willing to sacrifice yourself?" He questions.

"Yeah." He says as he stands up. "Yeah, you're damn right I am."

"That's not gonna happen. Not as long as I'm around." He tells his brother.

"What the hell are you talking about, Dean? We've been searching for this demon our whole lives. It's the only thing we've ever cared about." Sam argues.

"Sam, I want to waste it. I do, okay? But it's not worth dying over."

"What?"

"If hunting this demon means you getting yourself killed, then I hope we never find the damn thing." Dean says.

"That thing killed Jess. That thing killed Mom." Sam says.

"You said yourself once that no matter what we do, they're gone. And they're never coming back."

"But Nycole's still here. It could just as easily kill her next." He argues.

Dean looks at her and then turns back to his brother. "She knows the risk. It's her decision if she stays here or leaves us. I can't force her to do anything​."

"You're willing to let her stay in danger if it means keeping me alive?" He questions.

"I don't control her, Sam." He says. "Ask her what she wants."

Sam suddenly grabs Dean and pins him against the wall. He's angry at everything​ that Dean said, not just the part about Nyx. He looks like he wants to say something, but he doesn't know what to say or how to say it.

Jeremy takes a step toward them, but Nyx grabs his arm. This one isn't a fight that anyone can just break up.

"Sam, look..." Dean starts. "The four of us — that's all we have. And it's all I have. And I'm not willing to lose either one of you..." He tells him. "Sometimes I feel like I'm barely holding it together, man. Without you, Nyx, and Dad..."

"Dad." Sam says as he lets go of Dean, and walks away from him. "He should have called by now — try him again."

Dean puts his phone to his ear again, waiting for his dad to answer. A few seconds pass before the others hear anything from him.

"Where is he?" Dean asks suddenly, and they all look back at him.