Forest of the Angels

Spoopy house

Jess pattered shakily after Sam and Cas. The light headed feeling slinked back through her. It felt like an air bubble was growing inside her head, the pressure threatening to burst her brain open from the inside. The walls were closing in on her, she forced herself to stay conscious. Her hand reached out to the wall, her fingers danced in the cobwebs.

Cas turned around and grabbed her hand.

"You look terrible." He said with candour.

Jess nodded, nearly tripping as she reached a set of ominous stone steps. Mould was climbing across them. She stepped down, her feet sliding on a slimy substance. She felt Cas steady her as they clambered down.

The stairs were steep and a broken neck breakage waiting to happen. They edged further down the chipped steps until they reached a pitch black cellar. They could see almost nothing, except a candle flickering distantly by a door. A female demon prowled in front of the door in killer stilettos. Her heels cracked like whips on the floor.

For a cellar during a midwinter storm, it was sweltering. Jess tugged at her hoodie as she felt her neck starting to sweat.

"Can you blast the door open?" Jess whispered to Cas, but Cas merely shook his head, he was too weak from the time travel. They both turned to Sam, who nodded and crept across to the door.

The demon hadn't noticed, she was still lounging around without a care in the world. Silently, Sam grabbed her, holding her mouth closed with one hand and stabbing her stomach with the other. Jess covered her eyes as the body slumped to the ground.

~~~

Leonard poised with the sword, licking his lips in anticipation.

Ellie felt dread seep through her. Her heart thudded in her chest. She heard her blood rush in her ears. She closed her eyes, counting each pulse.

~~~

Sam rushed up two the door. He held his fingers up, giving the two a countdown.

Three

Leonard drew in a hissing breath as he pulled the sword back.

Two

Ellie's breath became shaky and uneven.

One

Sam booted the door in.

Cas raced in, his angel blade raised, but Leonard had already vanished.

Ellie raised her neck, wincing as she felt her joints crack.

"Aye up feathers." Ellie croaked, her throat dry. She shuffled to make her restraints easier to undo, but whimpered as it felt like a thousand knives were all stabbing her at once. Cas immediately placed a hand on her forehead. She felt a flow of warmth through her, similar to the sensation of sliding into a warm bath. Ellie could almost picture the satisfying water and scented bubble bath around her.

She felt Cas slip backwards, and he doubled over coughing. Jess went to help him as Sam slice open the ropes tying Ellie down.

"Sam." Ellie tried to catch his attention as he was focused on cutting her loose.

"Tell us when we get out of here." Sam interrupted firmly, but not rudely. He lifted the girl out of the chair. Despite her complaints, Sam proceeded to carry her out of the building, whilst Jess lightly tugged at Cas' sleeves to follow them. Halfway down the corridor, Ellie managed to kick her way out of Sam's grip. She whirled to face them, her hands outstretched to stop them.

"We need to go back." She demanded. "It's the only way we can beat them."

Sam frowned in concern. "How?"

"He's using the altar to open a rift with hellfire. That's how the angels got here. They kill the victims and their souls are trapped- they can't go to heaven, it's the wrong time zone. He uses their souls to gain power and take over heaven." Ellie explained at lightning speed.

"Who's 'he'?" Cas asked.

"He's my best buddy Leonard. He's some yellow-eyed bastard who's off his head on a piece of my soul." Ellie snapped. "Thanks for the rescue and all, but we need to destroy him before he can get more souls and become indestructible."

Sam visibly stiffened at the mention of yellow eyes. He immediately turned back to the altar.

They sprinted after him. When they caught up, they all approached it cautiously. Sam awkwardly nudged the ripped up demon away with his foot.

"Do we smash it?" Jess piped up.

Ellie shrugged. She snatched a bulky brass candlestick and raised it above her head. The candle shivered with the movement.

Sam raised his hand. "Maybe we should-"

Ellie crashed the candlestick on the altar. Deep black cracks spread out from the collision, before bursting open in a fiery blaze. An unearthly shriek wailed through the room. The four of them covered their ears, which did nothing to stop the deafening screech. Hellfire roared, spewing from the jagged crevices, before exploding outwards. Wings of flames swooped upwards, and they ducked to avoid the fire, before they vanished in a white hot blast.

"- wait" Sam finished. He threw Ellie a bitchfaces.

Ellie bit her lip. "I honestly thought it would take more than that." She dragged herself out. "We should leg it." She suggested, and the others nodded in agreement.

When they ran outside, Ellie drenched herself in the pouring rain, allowing the cool water to flow down her sweaty skin. She stretched her arms out wide like wings, feeling the relief in her muscles as she could move again. Sam stood by her, waiting for her to finish. He chuckled as Ellie span in the rain like an ecstatic child, jumping in the filthy puddles. A few seconds passed, then she jogged back over to the others.

"Okay. Where the fuck are Dean and Rachel?"

~~~

After several minutes of trudging through muck, Rachel yelped as a thought sprung into her head. She whacked Dean on the arm.

"Dean. We need to go back to the house." She started to pull his sleeve in the direction of the derelict building.

Dean raised an eyebrow at her, unconvinced. He yanked his arm out of her grip. "Why? We need to find Sam and the others." He retaliated.

"Dean, all the disappearances, they all link somehow to this house and the surrounding woods. That house is somehow involved." Rachel explained hurriedly, dragging Dean with all her might.

"But Ellie's at a different house, which is still in the woods." Dean argued. "It could be that one."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Dean. Have you ever just gone on a gut instinct before? I grew up here, I know this place, there is something in that house." Rachel finished with a yell.

Dean though for a second, then nodded, following Rachel.

~~~

The other four were gathered in the town square, waiting. The rain had died down, the thunder grumbled in the distance, and the lightning clawed at the horizon. They waited for half an hour in the drizzle.

"He said meet you here." Jess double checked. Sam nodded. For a second, his eyes flooded with panic for his brother.

"Five more minutes, they're probably sorting out injuries." Sam assured them, but he mainly said that for himself.

"Or..." Ellie sidled up in between them. They jumped, forgetting that she was there. She had spent a majority of her time making the most of not being tied to a chair. "They're not coming because they're at the house." She winked at the pair of them with an expectant smile.

They looked blankly at her for an explanation. Her smile dropped.

"Oh come on. All the disappearances focus around the house. Their journey back takes them right past the house. Leonard's vanished into thin air; he's got to be somewhere near the angels but not in town. One altar powered rift is too risky if it gets damaged, where better would a backup be than at the house?" Ellie huffed.

"Okay, house it is." Jess quipped.