The End | {BOOK 5}

65| Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

"Billie, where the hell is he?!" I yelled at her.

"The Empty."

"What?" Cass asked.

"Jack was a bomb designed to annihilate cosmic forces," Billie explained. "Chuck and Amos are gone. The Empty was the only player on the board who could possibly absorb the impact."

"So it's done," the angel stated.

"It's done."

Sam, Dean and I all absorbed the information that the bomb in Jack went off.

"Is he dead?" Cass pressed.

"Maybe," Death shrugged.

"You  said this was a suicide mission," Dean glared at her.

"No, I said taking out Chuck and Amos would be fatal," she corrected.

"It's a chain reaction," Cass realized.

"Mm-hm. The Empty? It's different. Not as strong as Chuck or Amos, but... vast. But if Jack survives, and if the Empty survives? It's gonna be pissed."

"Okay, so the Empty is pissed," Sam swallowed. "What does that mean?"

"The Empty is strong," Billie stated. "It's got beef with me, especially after what I just did."

"Oh, well, poor you," I bit out sarcastically.

"Good thing it can't reach me here."

"Yeah, the Empty can't come to earth," Sam nodded. "Not without being summoned."

"Wait, what about Jack?" Dean asked. "If he's alive?"

"You have to bring him back," Cass said.

"Not until I get what I came for," Death looked at Sam. "Yeah, Sam. You took something that belongs to me. God's book."

"You were always gonna betray us," Sam told her. "Once you defeated God, you were gonna take power. That means everyone who got a free pass, or a second chance, everyone who was resurrected or came from another world, you were gonna kill them all. Dean, Ellie and me, too. That's the order you want restored. That's always been your endgame."

"Ya got me."

"You lied to everyone," Cass added. "Even the Empty. You promised it peace and quiet, but you never meant it."

"Even if I give you the book, what's to stop you from stabbing us all in the back, killing us all?"

"Nothing. But you don't have a choice. This isn't a negotiation. If he's alive, he won't last long. So if you want Jack, you'll give it to me now."

After Sam retrieved the book and handed it over, Billie took the time to read the new ending before she made good on her promise and brought back Jack. However, she insisted that she have him, because he was still useful. Before she could take him away, Dean managed to injure her with her own Scythe. She vanished, leaving Jack and God's book behind.

⁘

Charlie's girlfriend, Stevie, had vanished. Like, one second she was making breakfast and the next she was gone. Charlie didn't see, hear, or smell anything weird. We assumed it was Billie taking out anybody that crossed over from the Apocalypse World or was ever resurrected. No one was safe. Sam realized that meant Eileen could be one who disappeared.

Jack, Cass and I sat tense and silent in the backseat as Dean sped down the dark road in the rain. Sam was sitting shotgun texting Eileen. After a few moments, he looked over at Dean with concern. Dean looked from Sam's face to the phone in his hand and floored it. We finally skidded to a stop behind Eileen's car. Sam had thrown himself out the door before the Impala was even parked. We all followed him slowly.

Sam picked up Eileen's phone where it was sitting next to her purse and car keys on the sidewalk. When he checked the cracked screen- which had a picture of him in the Bunker as the background- there were two missed messages sent from him. When he opened the lock screen and messages, the partial message she hadn't sent was still waiting as a draft. As Sam looked up from the screen, Dean and I glanced around the area.

There was no one in sight. Eileen had vanished just like everyone else was.

"Sammy?" Dean asked tentatively.

"No," the younger Winchester shook his head. "I can't... Um... If I let myself go, then I'll lose my mind. I can't right now."

Behind him, we looked on, waiting for him to call the next shot.

"Alright," Sam swallowed. "We have to get everybody to safety. Anyone who might be on Billie's list."

"Where might that be?" Cass asked.

"We need a location, somewhere central to everyone. We need somewhere secure, contained. We get 'em in, and we put up every last bit of warding we've ever used."

"Alright, you do that," Dean nodded.

"What?" I asked, turning to face him. "What are you going to do?"

"I started this. I'm gonna end it."

"Dean..."

"Sam's plan? Getting everybody safe? That's good, okay, but it won't last forever," he said. "Now, we couldn't make Chuck pay, but Billie? She left her blade. Her I can kill."

"I don't..." I tried to protest.

"We don't have a choice, Ellie."

"I'll go with you, Dean," Cass volunteered.

"Alright."

"Be careful," Sam said.

Dean smiled sadly, hugging Sam who had broken down to tears. After pulling away and giving me a kiss goodbye, Dean and Cass got back in the Impala to head back to the Bunker, leaving Sam, Jack and I standing there watching them go.

⁘

Donna had found an abandoned silo that she thought would work for a location to get everybody safe. She and Bobby were getting an APB out to everybody they knew. I was driving while Sam sat shotgun working on finding spells that would help us ward against Billie and Jack sat in the back of Eileen's car. When we arrived, Donna was outside the silo shepherding refugees inside.

"Hiya, kid," Donna greeted Jack.

"Hey," he said, then turned to look at Sam and I. "I'll help set up the warding."

"I'll come with you," I told him, leaving Sam to have a moment with Donna.

We made our way inside where Bobby and his crew were setting up. We grabbed buckets of black paint and started helping cover the walls in warding. A little while later, Sam had performed the spell to boost the warding.

"So, now what do we do?" Charlie asked.

"We wait," Sam replied.

One of the youngest girls vanished in a puff of dust. The girl next to her, her sister, screamed. Sam, Bobby and I looked over, startled.

"Sam?" Bobby asked.

"Dana, where's your sister?" the girls' father asked the remaining girl.

"I don't know!" Dana cried.

"It's not working," I stated.

"Ah, Lily," the mom sobbed for the vanished daughter.

"Lily! Lily!" the dad yelled.

"Dad!" Dana cried again.

As Dana ran to her parents, all three of them disappeared in a puff of dust. Panic spread as more and more of the people we'd gathered began to disappear. Some tried to run for the door, others hugged each other.

"Guys, what do we do?!" Charlie looked at Sam and I.

She'd vanished before we could even respond. We stood there, stunned. Bobby turned to us, speechless. We watched as he, too, vanished into dust. Pretty soon it was only me, Sam, Jack and Donna left in the silo.

"Sam?! Ellie!" Donna cried.

Before our eyes, Donna disappeared as well.