Roads Untraveled ~ Sam Winchester

Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Nine - Plans B and C

The next day was reasonably the same. The ghosts kept coming from all angles this time, not just at the warding's weakest point.
The Hunters were doing everything in their power to keep them at bay, but there were simply not enough of them to control all the spirits.
"Alright, so what's new? Any word from the outside?" Dean asked as he, Sam, Eden, Willow, Castiel and Rowena walked through the graveyard where Jack had died, as the Witch had come up with a plan.
"The ghosts are still at it, trying to break down the barrier." Sam explained, looking briefly down to his phone for any messages before putting it back in his tan jacket pocket. "I left some Hunters at the gym to keep the peace, the rest are set up around the perimeter in case-"
"In case the spell breaks and the ghosts come bustin' out." Dean finished for him, looking back to Rowena. "This better work."
"It will work." The Witch retorted, holding her head up high as they continued to walk. "The 'Rafforza l'incantesimo' is a powerful transubstantiation spell. It can turn a gossamer into concrete. Like I said, get me close to the epicentre, find me a nice, ghost-free space... I'll patch those crumbling walls right up and we'll all be home in time for high tea."

They passed the cavernous pit to Hell on their way through, souls still vacating the space in their dozens. Sam and Dean brought them to a stop a couple of dozen feet from the crypt they'd hidden in a couple of days previous.
"Great. A nice, protected space." Cas uttered, shaking his head.
"It's the best we've got that's close enough to the pit." Eden pointed out as they began walking again.
As soon as they entered the small building, the brothers immediately got to work. They pushed iron bars through the door handles, just as they had done before, and traced lines of rock salt at every possible entrance.
Rowena took off her grey cardigan, fully revealing her ankle length, baby pink satin gown as Castiel placed her bags down on the floor in the centre of the room.
In the bags were the Book of the Damned, a copper bowl and various ingredients.
Eden, Willow, Belphegor and Castiel watched as she began to pour the right amounts of each into the bowl before being interrupted by loud banging on the doors.
"That was fast..." Eden commented. "I would've thought they'd be too busy focusing on the warding to come at us."
"Just means we need to get this spell up and running a whole lot faster." Dean replied.
Rowena stood up and raised the bowl out in front of her with both hands, taking a deep breath before reciting a lengthy spell.
Her eyes glowed a bright lavender as the spell enacted. Sam got a text from one of the Hunters and so took out his phone.
"Looks like it's working." He announced as Rowena's chants continued.
The Witch's eyes flickered for a moment. She shook her head, breathily trying to keep the spell going.
She looked terrified and in pain. Her hands shook as she yelled one last chant.
The bowl's contents exploded with the purple glow, snapping in two as Rowena fell to the floor.
Eden and Willow rushed over to help her up, steadying her.
"Rowena?" Dean's eyes were wide with shock and worry.
"We're all going to die." The teary Witch whimpered. "Drink."
"Of course." Sam panted, rushing to her side. "Dean."
The older brother nodded, kneeling by one of the bags to grab a metal decanter filled with water.
"A real drink!" Rowena protested, sighing heavily as Eden and Willow sat her on the floor to lean against one of the crypt pillars.
"Right..." Sam looked to Dean, silently beckoning for the flask he knew he had on him.
Dean sighed, rolling his eyes as he took the flask from the inside pocket of his dulled brown jacket, handing it to Sam, who passed it on to Rowena.
"Well then, now that we're waiting for the Witch's hooch to kick in, can we finally admit the obvious?" Belphegor shrugged.
"That you're as useless as ever and need to be put down?" Eden glared.
"Uh... No. That she failed." The Demon replied. "So, if we're keeping score, that's one for the Demon and none for the Witch."
"The enchantment couldn't work. No magic could!" Rowena argued. "The spell put me into a... A communion with the wall. I could feel how weak it is - how close to collapse. And I could feel why... I could feel them... All of them."
"All of them. 'Them' Who?" Sam shook his head, confused.
"The spirits! Their anger and their hatred, writhing and raging. They're pressed up against those walls, breaking them down. There are too many and they're too wild and desperate and angry." Rowena sobbed, taking a deep breath before she continued. "Together they are too strong. Those walls will fall and there's no magic on Earth that can stop it."
"How long do we have?" Castiel asked, taking a few steps forward.
"Hours, if we're lucky."
"Then we get out there." Dean said as he and Sam rose to their feet. "We take out as many as we can until those walls fall. Rowena, mix up some of those crystals you got."
The Witch let out a breathy, disbelieving chuckle.
"It wouldn't matter." Her voice was shaky. "Those things? It'd be like tossing mouse traps at the Great Plague. I am telling you, it's over! Perhaps if I'd have got here sooner, there would've been any number of spells I could've tried to close the gate to Hell before it got to this point. But now, it's too late. The cat's out the bloody bag..."
Belphegor's brows raised, motioning that he was rolling his proverbial eyes as he sighed and headed for the crypt doors.
"Where the Hell are you going?" Dean demanded, only to be ignored. "Hey!"
"I got him." Castiel grumbled, following the Demon out.
"We're not just gunna give up!" The older brother called after the Demon, turning down to Rowena. "That's not who we are! Let's go out there, let's take care of 'em!"
Sam held out a hand, stopping his brother's outburst before kneeling beside Rowena.
"Rowena, hey. You okay? Do you need anything?" He asked, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"A moment..." She whimpered, turning away from him.
"Of course. Sure." He uttered, putting his hand down.