(1) The Devil's Hybrid (D. Winchester)

Chapter Twenty-Six

The walls of the funeral home are covered in glowing blue diagrams, mostly six-sided figures, some in circles and some in squares, all with lines through them and squiggles inside the triangles thus formed. Erika, Dean, and Sam cross the street to the building. Pedestrians go by, ignoring both Dean and the glowing blue diagrams.

"This looks like New Jack City. Can nobody can see this?" Dean asks.

"Maybe it's demon invisible ink. Only see it in the veil" Sam offers.

"Any idea what it's for?"

"It's Enochian warding" Erika answers. They both look to her. "Stops those with halos from getting in"

"And you just know what Enochian looks like?" Dean asks.

"Someone taught me, a long time ago" she answers. "Let's find a way in" she walks away, Dean and Sam share a look before following.

...................

A door is standing open, Sam enters first, Dean follows. Sam goes one way around the stairs, Dean the other. Sam shrugs: he saw nothing. Dean turns around.

.......................

In the open space in the middle of the room, there is a square with triangles on each side to form an eight-pointed star, with squiggles at each point. Lying in the figure are Tessa and an old man in a suit, presumably the first reaper. Sam and Dean come for a closer look. On the far side of the reaper trap is a man standing guard. He has not seen Sam and Dean. Erika appears at Dean's side. She smirks her vampire face emerging.

"I got him" she whispers takes a few steps forward and vanishes. She reappears behind the man and taps him on the shoulder; when the man turns around, Erika punches him in the face. When the man straightens up and takes a swing, Erika is gone. The man looks around: he and the reapers are the only ones visible. A hand taps the man's shoulder; this time it's Dean who punches him. Erika has reappeared on the man's other side and punches again. Sam knees the man in the chest. The man scrambles away. Dean kicks him. The man hides behind the coffin on the dais. Erika, Dean and Sam follow him up.

"You know, this ghost thing, it's, it's kind of rad" Dean teases. Another man comes out from behind a curtain, carrying a chain and making pained noises. The first man scrambles over the coffin and out of the way. The second man pulls the chain tight and hooks it to a candle stand.

"It's iron" The man, who must be a demon, lets go of the chain. His hands are smoking. Sam and Dean look around; the chain surrounds them. Erika looks around and purses her lips, she moves to remove the chain, she touches the chain and it burns her skin, she growls pulling her hand back.

"What the bloody hell?" she asks. The demon smirks .

"Vervain" he tells her, she growls back at him as a third demon comes into the room.

"Boys. Eris. Find the place okay?" he asks, the demon's eyes roll white: it's Alastair. Alastair's eyes return to human. He walks up to the chain. One of the demons hands him a shotgun and leaves. Alastair checks the shotgun, then aims at Dean and fires. Dean disintegrates. "Rock salt's not so much fun anymore, is it?" Erika and Sam glare at Alastair. Dean reappears.

"Alastair. You bastard"

"Well, go on. Why don't you try some of your mojo on me now, hotshot?" Erika and Dean glance at Sam. Sam fumes. "It's hard to get it up when you're not wearing your meat, huh?"

"Go to hell"

"Ah, if only I could" Alastair turns away, crossing the room. "But they just keep sending me back up to this arctic craphole"