Roads Untraveled ~ Sam Winchester

Chapter Sixty-Five - Not How We Planned

"When this is over, should I... Should I leave Claire alone?" Cas asked on the road.
"What? No, man. She's family." Sam shook his head from the driver's seat. "Well, I mean, she's not exactly family, but she's close enough."
"I think it depends on the outcome of tonight. If we make it out with her mother alive, things might get a little complicated." Elizabeth sighed in the backseat, resting her chin on her arms, folded out over the front bench seat. "But if things don't go best case scenario, then I agree with Sam."
"You two have history. Simple as that." The Winchester nodded matter-of-factly.
"So... You don't think she's better off on her own." Cas clarified.
"Cas, she just turned eighteen." Sam replied.
"You were alone when you left for college at that age, weren't you?" The Angel asked.
"Yeah, but that's different." Sam shrugged.
"How, Sam?"
"Look, here's all I know – going it alone, that's no way to live. You being there for her, even if she thinks she doesn't want you to be there for her, that's good – for both of you." He told him.
"Maybe, in the end..." Castiel mumbled.
"You two'll figure it out, Pigeon. No matter what happens." Elizabeth smiled, resting a hand on his shoulder.

It wasn't long after that they pulled up outside the farmhouse.
"It looks abandoned." Cas commented.
"Wouldn't you want it to look that way if you were holding some creepy Human feed-fest somewhere?" Elizabeth cocked an eyebrow as she looked the place over.
"Only one way to find out." Sam sighed.
After gearing up with a variety of items, they decided that Elizabeth and Sam would scope out the house whilst Cas took care of the barn.

The pair entered through the kitchen, guns and Angel blades raised and at the ready.
The interior was... Rustic... To say the least, but it didn't look as abandoned as it first appeared.
Sam's phone buzzed as they entered the living area. He looked at it, seeing Dean's name come up.
"Sam!" Elizabeth yelled, shoving him out the way as a metal bar came down and hit her hard in the head.
She fell to the floor, giving the man wielding it time to take a second shot at the Winchester.
When she got up, the man continued to hit her, growing evermore confused as to why she wasn't going down as easily.
Instead, he waved out his hand, throwing her across the room with force like she'd never felt before - such force, it blacked her out.

When Elizabeth woke up, she was hogtied with chains forged in Heaven and a pair of Angel cuffs.
"You've got to be kidding me..." She mumbled.
She looked up, seeing they were back in the kitchen. Sam was cuffed to a chair and still unconscious.
"Sam!" She hissed. "Sam, wake up!"
He inhaled deeply as his head lolled. He looked up at her, wincing at the colossal headache the metal bar gifted him.
"Are you okay?" She whispered.
"Yeah... Fine." He groaned. "How the Hell did he get you?"
"No idea. Guy's got some serious Angel juice." She huffed, struggling with her chains. "I've never felt anything like it before. Though, I should be flattered – these are Heaven-forged chains and Angel cuffs."
"Good, I'm glad you're satisfied with the quality of your kidnapping." Sam all but rolled his eyes.
"As am I." A deep-voice, middle aged African-English man walked in, adjusting the cufflinks on his suit. "Hello, Eden."
"How the Hell do you know who I am?" Elizabeth sneered.
The man simply laughed.
"You must be Holloway." Sam stated.
"For the last fifty years or so, yes." The man replied, leaning against the kitchen counter top to Sam's left. "Before that, I was a Jenkins. And before that, Miller. My real name is Tamiel. I'm a Grigori – a Watcher Angel."
"Since when do Angels feed on Humans?" Sam asked.
"Since the dawn of man." Tamiel shrugged. "Hence how I know who and what Eden is."
"Please. Enlighten us." Elizabeth glared.
"You say that like you don't know!" He laughed.
"Let's say for argument's sake, I don't."
The man looked at her with a frown, clearly intrigued.
"You, my dear, are a sickening perversion of my kind." Tamiel told them. "An Angel – of sorts – grown from a Human infant."
The pair's eyes widened.
"She's an Angel?" Sam gasped.
"I said a perversion of one. Made from pure dark energy." The Grigori chuckled.
"A Demon?" Elizabeth frowned.
"Not that perverse." Tamiel cocked his head. "Alas, that's all I know – or, at least, all I'm sure of."
"What aren't you sure of?" Sam asked.
"Where said dark energy came from. There were whispers, of course, between the Archangels and the Grigori. But whoever took gossip and Chinese whispers as gospel?"
"Have you read the Bible?" Elizabeth cocked a brow.
"Touché." Tamiel laughed. "I like you, for an abomination. You have spark."
"Feeling isn't mutual." The Vampire glowered. "So... What is it exactly that you feed on?"
"Human souls." Tamiel shrugged as he began to circle the Winchester. "They're little slices of Heaven that are, if properly kept, delicious meals that can last for years – decades even."
"You're not an Angel." Sam shook his head. "You're a monster."
"I prefer to think of myself as a gourmand. I make Heaven a place on Earth. Keeps me alive and hidden from the rest of the failures that call themselves Angels." Tamiel chuckled.
"Oh, they are failures?" Sam retorted. "Yeah, 'cause you're living so large in your own li-"
He was interrupted when Tamiel pulled out a beautiful silver sword, swiping into Sam's face, so close that it almost sliced right through.
Elizabeth shrieked, struggling with her bonds.
"There were hundreds of us." The Grigori's voice turned dangerous. "But now... Each of our names inscribed on our swords. A brotherhood of perfectly crafted, engineered beings... Sent to protect you pathetic, bottom-feeding disasters."
"So you decided to feed on them instead?" Elizabeth scoffed. "Rather large turn of events, don't you think?"
Tamiel chuckled darkly.
"That reminds me. I believe it's time for me to take my leave. I shall see you both soon, I'm sure." He smiled, walking away.
Just as he closed the door, Sam was able to pick the lock on his cuffs, freeing himself from the chair.
"It's about time." Elizabeth rolled her eyes.
"I had to pick my moment." Sam countered, moving over to her.
After picking the lock on the Angel cuffs and unchaining her from them, the pair were about to exit when they heard movement outside.
Sam grabbed Elizabeth's hand and took her into the living area, armed with the metal pipe Tamiel had used to knock him out.
He was about to swing when Dean and Castiel appeared from round the corner.
Dean instantly lowered his gun as Sam lowered the pipe.
"That the Hell happened?" The older brother asked.
"Listen, Holloway is a-"
"Grigori." Both brothers said together.
"Grigori?" Cas frowned.
"Yes." Sam frowned.
"No... They were some of the first Angels on Earth, it was an elite unit that went bad. But they're extinct, they were destroyed." The Angel said.
"No, some survived." Sam shook his head. "And they've been hunting Humans, making them create Heavens in their minds and then feeding off them."
"Where is this abomination?" Cas growled.
"Hey! I thought I was your abomination." Elizabeth pouted.
"Not the time, Elizabeth." The Angel grumbled.
"I don't know, we looked everywhere. He must've left." Sam replied.
"We didn't check the barn..." The Vampire realised.