The Stronghold 3: Mikachi

Damn Those Devil's Traps

I hit my head on every single step on the way down, my cries slowly getting fainter as pain overcame me. I knew that Dean had broken down the door and that Sam was safe, that Nova was yelling in panic and that someone had caught me just before I fell over the banister as the staircase turned a corner. 

"Thanks," I said shakily, turning around and balancing myself against the banister instead of over it. My eyebrows shot up as I saw who had caught me.

"I am Castiel," the person said in a grating voice you wouldn't expect from such an angelic face. 

"I know," I said in surprise. The person - or should I say, angel - tilted their head in confusion. 

"How do you know who I am?" Castiel said just as a smaller, younger version of them bounded up the stairs.

"Cas!" they called in exasperation. Dmitri rounded the staircase and tugged on the angel's trenchcoat-clad arm. "Stop doing that!"

"Doing what?" Castiel frowned.

"Running off, you-" Dmitri broke off and stared at me for a second before regaining his senses. "Hello, sir."

"Dmitri," I nodded.

"How do you know this clumsy human, brother?" Castiel asked, addressing Dmitri.

"He's my Drama teacher," Dmitri replied.

"Oh." Castiel turned to me and tilted his head again. "He isn't very safe."

"Yeah, well, I had a bit of an out-of-body experience," I said breezily then I remembered why I'd fallen in the first place. In a second I bolted back up the stairs, and dived through the doorway, skidding across the floor and accidentally sliding directly under the bed. I shot out the other side and saw Sam and Dean stood talking to one another, looking older and more grizzled. Sam's hair was longer and he didn't look as baby-boy innocent any more. Dean had lost the tiny bit of tubbiness under his chin and was visibly stronger. In the matter of two minutes they had gone from season 1 fetuses to season 4 Hunters. Nova, however, remained the same. Nobody seemed fazed by the sudden transformation apart from me. 

"Shaade, are you okay?" Sam asked in concern.

"Are you okay?" I responded.

"Yeah, it was only a crazy angel," Sam shrugged. 

"Only?" I echoed. "Only?! You're- wait, no. Dean!" The Hunter turned around. "Have you met Castiel yet?"

"Of course," Dean said with a frown. "Raised me from hell and all."

"I am really confused," I said weakly, but then my eyes lit up as Castiel entered the room. "Now my singing can be recognised! If you think that Dean is bi clap your hands." I clapped my hands, all the while watching Castiel. The angel looked momentarily confused then clapped his hands too. 

"Fan-bloody-tastic!" I yelled, punching the air and doing a somersault to stand up. Dmitri had his head in his hands and Castiel looked incredibly confused while Dean looked murderous and Sam had a similar reaction to Dmitri's. Nova, however, just stared at me for a while.

"You're dead," she said suddenly. I frowned slightly in confusion then felt something stab through my chest. As I looked down a bit of black blood trickled from my mouth and I realised that there was a devil's trap above my head that was glowing blue. A peculiar blade was sticking out of my chest and I felt a mixture of confusion and horror at the pain that was spreading through me. My thoughts were in a muddle and I couldn't get a grip on reality. The world began to spin and I screamed as my demon was torn from my chest, exiting through my mouth to stand beside me. My mortal vessel was dying because of the blade but I clung to my conscience despite my brain and body falling apart. I needed something to focus on and the first thing my slowly dulling eyes alighted on was Sam's panicked face. His eyes seemed to drive the blade deeper into my heart and so I shifted my gaze to Dean, who was also looking immensely worried and it was clear he was slowly freaking out. Nova was completely calm as I slid my eyes to look at her and her eyes glowed a bright, bright blue. A shred of anger remained and I growled at her but there was a frightened squeak from elsewhere in the room. As I hunted the source of the noise I spotted Dmitri with his fingers spread apart slightly over his eyes, peeking out in terror. Castiel didn't look fazed but at the sight of his brother's fear a frown appeared on his face. Nobody, however, did anything.

I tried to speak, to beg for help, but blood welled up in my throat and choked me. Tears dripped from my eyes but some sort of magic kept people away from me. To my shock, however, a hand gripped the blade in my back and yanked it from my chest. I shrieked and fell to my knees but a pair of deathly-cold hands kept me upright. My head lolled backwards but one hand shifted to my neck and supported me. Where the hands came into contact with my skin there was a burning sensation but I wasn't going to concentrate on that. What I was concentrating on was the fact that I appeared to be dying in the middle of a devil's trap that had been made by someone I thought I could trust.

"Shaade!" A voice finally got through the magical bubble to reach my ears and it burst the surrounding atmosphere of being cut-off from the world. I could hear every sound because my senses were incredibly heightened. Colours burnt my retinas and the slightest noise made my ears bleed. I was a self-destructing bomb with nothing to help me keep together. 

Outside of the overwhelming pain I was aware of a fight going on. Nova was battling furiously with am and Dean while Castiel was trying to stop Dmitri from getting hurt. The devil's trap's power was reaching out and affecting everybody in the room and I saw Dmitri fall, his eyes completely white. Another surge of emotion was put back into me and I became determined to fight against the power, even if it was just to kick Nova's ass before she died. Unfortunately for me Dean had sourced an angel blade from somewhere and Nova died within seconds of it being plunged into her. 

After that I didn't see any more; the power had gotten too strong. My body gave up. For the final time I passed away into the darkness beyond, dying for real. For once.