Saving Grace

Good God, Y'all -- The Red Horseman

~*****~

"So, now you're saying that there are no demons, and that war is a guy." Austin mentions.

"You believed crazy before," Dean comments.

The door rattles with a series of knocks. "Open up! Let me in!" A man shouts desperately. "It's Roger! It's me!" Austin peers through the hole and pops the door open. He runs in, panting loudly. "I saw them-- the demons. They know we're trying to leave. They said they're gonna pick us off one by one."

"Wait, wait, wait. What?" I say loudly.

"I thought you said there were no demons," Austin snapped.

"There's not! Where did you go?" I snap at Roger.

"I thought someone should go out and see what's going on!" Roger shouts back.

"You watch your tone when you speak to her," Dean snapped right back. "Where did you see the demons, and what did they say exactly?"

"We just sit here, we're gonna be dead." Austin says.

"No, we're not!" Dean says firmly.

"They're gonna kill us-- unless we kill them first," Roger explains.

"Okay, hold on. Hold on." Dean says quickly.

"No, man, we got people to protect," Austin retorts. "All right, the able-bodied go, hunt some demons."

"Slow your roll, Austin," I say firmly. "This is not a demon thing!"

I glance at Roger, and furrow my brows as he winks at me, and adjusts his ring. "Look at their eyes!" He shouts. "They're demons!"

There's an instant panic. "Go, go, go--" Dean shouts at Ellen and I. I bolt from the room with Ellen hot on my tail.

~*****~

"Dean, I'm positive, it's Roger, he's War." I explain urgently.

Dean nods as he tosses me a gun. "I know, pretty damn convenient that we have black eyes as soon as he shows up. First things first, we need to get Sam."

"And Jo!" Ellen butts in.

"And Rufus," I sigh. "This is gonna be a son of a bitch." I mention irritably as we approach the house. "The bastards probably lined the windows with pipe bombs, you know that, right?"

Ellen snorts. "Salty old fart is always too damn cautious."

"Is there such a thing?" I ask as I jostle the window with a wooden board and set it off. Ellen rounds into the house without being seen.

Dean pulls Rufus out the window as he peers out to check who got caught in it. "Easy, Rufus--" I snap irritably as I wrestle him to the ground, my legs pinning his arms to the floor. "We are not demons! C'mon, think, man! Those omens, what the hell does it mean!"

"You go to hell!" Rufus snaps and bucks me off. Dean leaps onto him and pins him down again.

"Rufus! The polluted water, the shooting star, the red mustang-- It's War!" I shout at him. "I'm telling you, it's War!"

"You're damn right it is," Rufus growls as he sucker punches Dean. They go for the gun. I groan loudly and grasp them both by the jackets and sling them backwards. I pick up the gun and aim it at Rufus.

"Now listen, you salty son of a bitch!" I say angrily. "The Horseman of War!"

"Horseman?" Rufus echoes.