Roads Untraveled ~ Sam Winchester

Chapter Fifty-Five - The Key to Oz

They pulled up outside of an old, picturesque, wooden house and knocked on the door.
The man who answered looked to be only in his late seventies.
"Hello?" He greeted.
"Clive Dillon?" Charlie asked.
The man's expression faltered for a second before turning into a frown.
"No... My name is-"
"Michael Carter, right." Sam nodded. "But, it was Clive Dillon, wasn't it? Back in the Men of Letters? Back in Oz?"
"You seem to be confused. There's no Clive Dillon here." The man smiled. "And Oz? That's just a fairytale."
"See, most people would probably think of the shortened version of Australia before going straight to the Wizard." Elizabeth shrugged. "I know I did. So, that's definitely a little telling, don't you think?"
The man's smile fell.
"If it's just a fairytale, then you've never seen this before." Charlie frowned, holding up the piece of broken key.
The man gulped.
"I think you'd better come in." He said, opening the door wider for them to pass.

Sam got another call from Dean as the girls sat down on Mr Dillon's couch.
'Dark Charlie' had hotwired Baby.
"The six keys of Oz were forged from Oz steel." Mr Dillon was explaining as the Winchester walked back into the living room. "They can only be repaired in that magical realm."
"So there's no going back?" Charlie asked. "I can't put my darkness away?"
"I'm sorry." Mr Dillon gave a sympathetic smile.
"What happened to you in Oz?" Sam spoke up, slipping his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.
"It's in my report." Dillon stated.
"Your report said you were kidnapped." Sam retorted. "By whom?"
"Bad people." The man shrugged, looking down solemnly... Or was it shame?
"I know that look." Charlie said. "You're lying. And lying is-"
"Bad." The man finished, pulling his head into his hands. "Yes, I know. What happened to you, my dear, happened to me."
"What?" Charlie exclaimed.
"A coven of Witches grabbed me." Dillon explained. "They used the inner key on me, I unleashed my inner darkness. He was awful. He killed all the Witches and went into a tantrum – was power-hungry, crazy. He became the Wizard of Oz."
Everyone's eyes widened.
"Now, there's a plot twist I didn't see coming." Elizabeth commented, sipping from her flask.
"Frank's daughter; Dorothy, runs the Emerald City now." Charlie said. "The Wizard - 'dark you', he is right by her side. If she's in trouble-"
"Well, without the key to Oz, there's no way we can get back to the Wizard." Dillon replied, getting out of his chair to move into the adjoining study. "But, there may well be a way to summon him here."
He walked over to the large mahogany desk at the end of the room, pulling out a revolver from the drawer.
"If I am mortally wounded, he'll have to come back here to save us both." The man said, walking back over to the trio.
"Wait, wait, wait. There has to be another way." Charlie protested.
"What he has done is my fault." Dillon shrugged. "After all, he is me and I am him, so... Maybe it's time that both of us answer for our sins. It's the good thing to do, right?" He smiled.
"Would you... Like some assistance?" Elizabeth offered hesitantly. "I was a field nurse back in the day, I know where to-"
"No, no. I won't put that on you. But I appreciate your offer, thank you." The man replied, turning the gun on himself just as headlights passed over the room through the window. Moments later, the sound of the Impala's V8 also came within hearing range.
'Dark Charlie' was here.
Clive fired, instantly falling to the floor.
Elizabeth ran, falling to her knees beside him, clutching the wound to try and control the bleeding. Charlie sat on his other side, holding his shoulder.
The room began to shake and the sound of cracking glass came from the mirror behind Charlie. It began to glow an intense green, making everyone shield their eyes.
And then it shattered. But the glass didn't fall to the floor. It stayed in a static state in mid-air as a cloaked figure with a set of unusual looking keys on a rope belt climbed through the frame. As soon as he was passed through, the glass reassembled on the mirror again.
He wore some sort of wooden mask with a nose that resembled the tip of an elf's shoe.
He lowered his hood and removed the mask, revealing a young man – a young man with a matching scar on his left cheek to Clive Dillon's.
"What have you done, you fool?" He sneered.
Sam raised his gun to the man, but the newcomer raised his hand, sending the gun flying towards him and a glowing green band of light bound Sam's wrists.
The man shoved his hand forward, sending Sam falling back into the corner of the room with a grunt as his ankles were bound with the same glowing light.
"Put your hand where mine is." Elizabeth told Charlie, who nodded and did as asked.
Elizabeth Vamp sped at the man, but was instantly thrown in the same direction as Sam, her hands and feet also tied down.
"Did you really think that was gunna work?" Sam whispered.
"Crap, I thought I could be faster than him." Elizabeth groaned. "Sue me for trying."
"You had but one task – stay alive." The man addressed his older self. "And you couldn't even manage that."
Charlie let out a whimper of pain, clutching her lip.
When she looked over at her friends, it was bleeding like she'd been punched in the face.
"Dean and 'dark Charlie' are outside." Elizabeth mumbled. "They must be fighting."
Another groan came from the girl as she lurched forward, clutching her midsection. More and more hits coming after that.
"Stop this, please." Sam addressed the Wizard. "Let me help my friend."
"Your friend wanted to be a hero." The Wizard smirked. "And you know what happens to heroes? They die."
Elizabeth noticed that, behind the man, Clive was motioning for Charlie to take the gun laying on the floor a foot or so beside him. The girl shook her head frantically.
The Wizard put out his hand and Sam began to choke.
Elizabeth's eyes widened.
"Stop it." She demanded. "I said stop it, stop it now!"
She hissed, bearing her fangs, which took the Wizard off guard for a second. But then he simply continued strangling Sam.
"This one's different. I like that." He smiled.
"Oh, you have no idea." Elizabeth sneered as the sound of Charlie's arm snapping filled the room.
With tears streaming down her face, Charlie leaned over and picked up the gun, pointing it at Clive.
"I'm sorry." She whimpered.
"I forgive you." Clive replied. "We both do."
Charlie looked away as she fired the gun. Sam and Elizabeth's bonds instantly vanished and the Winchester took a deep gasp for air.
Elizabeth slid over to him, cupping his face as the Wizard fell to the floor.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
Sam nodded, pointing a finger over to Charlie.
"You take care of this Charlie, I'll take care of the other one." She said, Vamp speeding outside. "Dean! Stop!"
He wasn't listening. He was on top of 'dark Charlie', punching the ever-loving crap out of her.
"Dean!" Sam yelled as he came down the porch stairs with Charlie cradled in his arms.
The older brother stopped and turned around, seeing what he'd done.
He moved out of the way as Sam very carefully set Charlie down next to her dark version.
"You did it, didn't you?" 'Dark Charlie' asked. "You killed the Wizard." Charlie nodded. "I knew it. The magic was in you all the time... Celeste."
Charlie smiled to her dark self as Sam took the Wizard's keys from his pocket, placing the inner key in Charlie's hand.
As he moved back, the key began to glow and so did 'dark Charlie'. She began to float up in the air, hovered over her original self and then slowly lowered back down, making the girl whole again.
Sam and Elizabeth moved over to her, kneeling down on either side.
"Charlie." Sam mumbled, cupping her hair.
"You're okay. You're gunna be okay." Elizabeth told her.
Sam lifted her into a seated position, taking her in his arms.
Charlie broke down right there and then, sobbing against his bicep.
Elizabeth placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, stroking her gently with her thumb.
The Vampire glanced up at Dean, looking more ashamed of himself than anyone had ever seen him as he looked over the cuts and bruises on his knuckles.