The Demons Bond

In Life or In Death

Dean grips the scroll in his hand as he waits for Auroras' response. "Let's do the ritual." Deans heart nearly falls out of his chest at her words. "Are you sure, Aurora? There's no guarantee we will survive and that you will still be human..." Dean looks away, not wanting to think about Aurora being anything other than herself. Aurora walks back to Dean and puts a gentle hand on his cheek before caressing it softly. "I'm sure, Dean. I know I'm marked for death, and the only thing I can do is try. If we fail and I die, at least I die trying to be with you." Dean smiles and stands up from the bed. He wraps his arms around Aurora and holds her close. "At least I'll die trying to be with you, too." There's a long moment of comfortable silence as they both accept their fate and the possibilities. Dean pulls back and lifts the scroll to his view as he reads the ingredients needed for the ritual. "We are going to need a lot of ingredients. We also need to find a place to hold the ritual filled with energy. The more energy we have, the stronger the ritual. This could also better our chances of a positive outcome."

Aurora thinks for a moment about possible locations to hold the ritual. "What about The Satanic Temple in Salem, Massachusetts??" Dean smiles wide. "That's a brilliant idea, sweetheart! Salem is full of dark energy and lost souls. It will be perfect to perform a strong ritual." Dean ponders for a moment before speaking again. "There's a full moon in five days. Performing the ritual at the temple on a full moon will guarantee a strong energy source." Aurora nods in understanding before leaving her room to grab her laptop. Once the laptop is retrieved, Aurora brings it back and hops on the bed to start looking for flights to Salem. Dean joins her on the bed, watching as the girl researches her flight. "I can book a flight for three days from now. I'm sure we can find the ingredients we need in Salem at their tourist witch shops." Dean nods, but a look of knowing appears across his face. Aurora looks at him curiously before speaking. "What is it, Dean? You look like you want to say something." Dean, let's out a long drawn out sigh as Aurora waits for an answer, feeling more and more worried as the seconds pass. Dean finally takes a deep breath and speaks. "Most of the ingredients are easily attainable. However, there is one thing that won't be so easy..." Aurora raises a brow in horror. "We don't have to kill someone, do we? I don't think I could kill a human being!" Dean looks away, trying not to look so conflicted. "It's something like that, but since this is a demonic ritual, it calls for demonic sacrifice." Aurora gasps as her eyes go wide. "You mean we have to kill a... demon? Are you even allowed to kill one of your own?" Dean looks back at Aurora with a stern expression. "Yes, I can if it threatens me or my mission... you."

Aurora jumps up from the bed in shock. "Are you saying I have to be a decoy? Like demon bait?? How would we even do that? Don't demons have to be assigned??" Dean stands up and walks over to Aurora. He takes her hands in his and lets out a gentle breath. "Not all demons are like me. I told you there are levels to demons and their status. We would just need to lure a grunt demon with your blood through a simple ritual that would be performed simultaneously with the bonding ritual." Aurora leans into Dean, wanting to feel his warmth for added comfort. "What is a grunt demon?" Dean kisses the top of Auroras head. "A grunt demon is the bottom of the food chain. The lowest of low when it comes to demons. They are the newest demons to the underworld and have no status. Grunt demons need to collect souls to raise their status, but they don't get assigned souls like I do. They have to find their own tasks with no help. A demon of my class is usually assigned a task that's pretty much guaranteed to be completed." Dean thinks for a moment with a puzzled look on his face. "I can't for the death of me figure out why you were assigned to me, Aurora." Dean pulls back and looks into Auroras eyes, and Aurora smiles. "Whatever the reason is doesn't matter. I'm just glad you did. Otherwise, we would have never met." Dean leans down and gently plants a peck on her lips before pulling back. "You're right. The reason doesn't matter, because we have each other."