Chapter 21— It's The End Of The World As We Know It

"Well, you know what, at least you tried," Sam says, breaking the silence that had settled over the den. He was sitting at the table while Dean was on the couch with a sleeping Addison. He could tell that his older brother was worried about their feather friend. Sam also knew that Dean was worried about Addison despite her repeatedly telling them that she was fine.

"Yeah, fat lot of good it did. Why did he even come, right," Dean replies, slamming his book shut. "Well, Samuel's journals are pointless. I mean, I'm sorry, but, uh, Jebediah Campbell has squat to tell me about how to stop Cas from cracking Purgatory."

"Well actually, it's not about the journal we have, it's about the one we don't," Bobby announces, entering the room with a large envelope.

"Meaning what," Sam asks.

"Well, that's the bad news. Our pal Cas didn't stop in last night just to mend fences."

Dean rubs a hand over his face. "What did he do?"

"Stole something."

"What?"

"The journal of one Moishe Campbell."

"Moishe," Sam repeats.

"Of the New York Campbells."

"Well, uh, so we gotta get it back, right?"

Bobby hands Sam the envelope. "Or just read the copy I'd already made. Hi, glad to meet you. Bobby Singer. Paranoid bastard."

A few hours later, Addison yawns as she shuffles back into the living room. She sits back down on the couch and catches the worried look on Dean's face as reenters the room with a couple of mugs of coffee. "I'm fine," she insists.

"I think I zeroed in on something," Bobby says.

"What do you got," Dean asks, walking over to Bobby. The older hunter hands him a piece of paper. "'Went to talk to Howard Phillips about the events of March 10th.'"

"That's March 10th, 1937," Bobby clarifies.

"All right, so who's this Phillips guy?"

"Phillips ain't his last name. It's Lovecraft."

Sam blinks. "Wait, H.P. Lovercraft? Let me see that."

Dean hands him the paper. "Am I supposed to know who that is?"

Dean receives two disbelieving looks. "He's a horror writer," Addison explains. He stares at her.

"At the Mountains of Madness. The Call of Cthulhu," Bobby continues.

Dean nods. "Yeah. No, I was too busy having sex with women."

Bobby rolls his eyes. "Anyhow, there's one notion that comes up over and over again in his stories. Namely, opening doors to other dimensions and letting scary shit through."

Dean stares. "You don't say."

"Wait, so you're saying you think Lovecraft knows something about Purgatory," Sam asks.

"All I know is Moishe paid him a visit."

Dean's phone starts ringing. He pulls it out and frowns at the screen. "Ben," he asks. "What? What are they? Did you see their eyes? Teeth? This is important, Ben. I need to know. Okay. Where are you now? Can you get to your mom's closet? I left a shotgun in there. Okay, Ben, listen to me. Go to your window and jump. Any bones you break won't compare to what they're gonna do to you, Ben. You gotta jump. I'm coming right now. I'm gonna get you and your mom, I promise. You with me, Ben? Ben." Dean tenses. "Crowley, let them go, now. Or I swear. I'm going to kill you. I'm telling you. Last chance to let them go easy."

Dean lowers his phone. "Dean," Addison asks, exchanging a look with Sam.

"He said Lisa and Ben keep breathing as long as we sit on our thumbs," Dean replies after a moment.

Sam sighs. "You think Cas knows about this?"

"We gotta assume he does."

"So, what are we gonna do?"

"I'll tell you what we're not gonna do. Sit here. I'm going after them."

"I'm going with."

"No, Sam. You, Bobby, and Ads stay on the Lovecraft thing, okay? Cas is already way ahead of us."

"You gotta be nuts if you think I'll let you do this alone. Bobby and Ads can take care of the case."

Bobby stands up. "No, guys—"

"Bobby, this is a big ball, okay," Dean interrupts. "We can't drop it now."

"Look, I'll handle the Lovecraft thing, while you guys go save the day," Addison says.

Dean shakes his head. "No, you've been sick. You're not going alone."

"I'm fine, Dean. I don't need—"

"Addison!"

Addison throws up her hands. "Fine. You win. But how in the hell are you gonna find Lisa and Ben?"

Addison sighs as she looks around the uber Lovecraft fan's basement apartment. She and Bobby had left before the boys could summon Balthazar. She was worried about them going up against Crowley. Dean's emotions were high and that could lead to mistakes being made. "You know, uh, horror, lowbrow, put us in the ghetto, fine, but H.P. Lovecraft, this guy is literature. I mean, he should be taught in schools. He's up there with Dickens and Dean R. Koontz. Seriously," the fan tells them, gesturing to his wall of art.

"Well, that's definitely the angle we're taking our piece," Bobby tells him.

"Oh, okay. Okay. Sorry. Please."

The fan motions for them to sit on the futon. "So, we heard that you have a extensive collection of Lovecraft's private letters," Addison says.

"Yeah. World's largest."

"Wow, you must be catnip to the ladies," Bobby comments.

"I'm in a long term online relationship, so..."

Addison nods. "Well, we'd like to talk to you about Lovecraft's last years, specifically anything that might have happened around March 10th, 1937."

"Okay. Are you working on this with the other guy?"

"Other guy," Bobby asks, exchanging a look with Addison.

"Yeah. Uh, you know, trench coat, looks like Columbo, talks like Rain Man?"

"Right. We're competitors." The fan stares at them. "Rival magazines."

The fan laughs. "Okay. Okay, well, I'll tell you what I told him. Howard had a dinner party on March 10th."

"Party," Addison repeats. The fan nods. "How many people were there?"

"Well, six. If by friends you mean co-worshippers in a black magic cult. They were getting together that night to perform a ritual. Something big."

"Define big," Bobby says.

"Not much, just opening a door into another dimension."

"Why would they do that?"

"To see what's out there. Maybe it's friendly."

"It's never friendly." Addison clears her throat as the fan frowns. "I mean, I imagine. So did it work? The spell?"

"Well, uh, there was no mention of Cthulhu in the morning papers, so..." The fan stands up and walks over to a bookcase. "Actually, I do happen to have several letters detailing the dinner. Worst thing that was reported was a hangover. So it's...I've got them right here. Some - It's actually pretty interesting." The fan pulls out a expandable folder and searches through it. "Um, and they were...they were right - they were right here."

"Well, it's not like an invisible guy could just pop in and steal them, right," Bobby says, standing up with Addison.

"Right. Right."

"Oh, uh, we'll leave you to it and you call me if you find them, huh?"

They start towards the stairs. "Okay. Hey...Thanks. Thanks again for dropping by, huh?"

"Lovecraft tried to jimmy a damn dimensional door. Idijit," Bobby says, leaning against his car in a pharmacy parking lot. Addison had convinced him to stop so she could get some medicine, through she had been in the pharmacy for nearly half an hour.

"So, what happened," Sam asks.

"Well, nothing much. Except I dug. And every guest invited to the hoedown, dead or disappeared inside a year."

"Wow. Um...so where you guys off to now?"

"Have a chat with one of the guests."

"Wait. Didn't you just say everyone there died?"

"Yeah, everybody Lovecraft invited died. Seems the maid had a nine year old boy. He was there."

"So he'd be, what, eighty-four years old now? Well, where is he?"

"Same place he's been ever since the big night: locked in a mental ward."

"I see. Um, how's Ads?"

"Seems to be fine."

"Well, keep me posted, huh?"

"Okay. Stay in touch. How's things going there? You got a lead on Lisa and Ben?"

"Well, we're making a few inquiries. Slow going."

"How's Dean?"

Sam humorlessly chuckles. "About how you'd expect."

Inside the pharmacy bathroom, Addison lets out a relived breath. "Thank God, you picked up the fucking phone," she hisses. "I've been trying to get in touch with you for the past few days. Where the hell have you been?"

"Hello to you too," Sarah amusedly replies. "You need to get on a plane to France right now and join me these fabulous nude beaches."

"You never told me what the other side effects of the bloodline are. I need to know now. Everything has gone to shit. And…you were right about Cas."

"One, I'm always right. It's the perk of being two thousand years old. And other than sensing angels and demons, you don't have any side effects, Addie. You're a hundred percent human, sweetie."

Addison closes her eyes. "Sarah, please tell me that my blood, my dad's blood, your blood, can't be used to open anymore doors."

"Addison, what exactly are you asking me?"

"Can our blood be used to open a door to Purgatory?"

"You sure you're not with that other reporter? In the coat? Liar, that one, not who he says," Westborough says, looking between Bobby and Addison. They were sitting in the common room of the local psychiatric hospital. Many of the other patients and doctors paid them no attention.

"No, sir. Uh, we're not affiliated with his paper. We just have a couple of questions about a dinner party you were at in 1937," Bobby tells him.

"Everyone's so fascinated. Wanna know about my night at the home of the great H.P. Lovecraft?"

Addison lightly smiles. "If you don't mind."

"Well, you know the story. They did their spell and they all said it failed." Westborough glances over his shoulder, then leans in. "Do you believe in monsters?"

Bobby nods. "Yup."

"You know, you go saying that, they'll lock you in here rest of your life."

"Whatever you saw, you tell us and we're buy it straight."

Westborough pauses and takes another look around the room. "The spell worked. A door opened and something came through. But it was invisible, so no one knew. Except me."

"How did you know," Addison asks.

"Because it took my mother. It went into her. She wasn't the same. She even smelled different. And then she disappeared. And surprise, surprise, one by one, they all start dying."

"I'm sorry about your mom," Bobby tells him.

"You're the first person ever said that. Hey, you wanna see a picture?" They nod and Westborough pulls out an old photograph. He hands it to Bobby and the hunters stare at the familiar woman.

"I'll be damned."

Addison clears her throat as they pull up to the remote cabin. "Maybe I should take the lead on this. I mean, you guys apparently didn't end...whatever on good terms," she says. Bobby stares at her. "Oh, come on! Why else would she say 'hey, next time you see Bobby Singer, give him a kick in the balls from me.'"

Bobby shakes his head and they climb out of his car. They walk up to the door, where a protective symbol was painted on. Bobby knocks on the door and a moment later, Dr. Visyak answers. "Bobby?"

"Ellie," Bobby replies. "It's been a while."

Dr. Visyak looks around Bobby and notices Addison, who awkwardly smiles. She sighs. "Come in." They enter the cabin and Dr. Visyak motions for them to sit on the couch while going to a liquor cabinet. Bobby sits on the couch while Addison takes a seat in an armchair. "So how did you find me?"

"Well, we weren't together long, Ellie, but I know a thing or two about you. I know your safe houses. And let me tell you, this one ain't all that safe."

"So did you come here just to, um, chat," Dr. Visyak asks, handing Addison a glass of whiskey. She sits down next to Bobby and hands him one as well.

"I know what you are, Ellie." He pulls out the photo given to them by Westborough and hands it to her. "You're not exactly from Milwaukee, are you?"

"Not exactly."

"And not that I'd have minded, but you kind of fibbed about your age too."

"Just slightly...Nine hundred years."

"So what's your game then?"

Dr. Visyak raises an eyebrow. "Game?"

"Yeah. Why are you here? Eve came through and raised all kinds of hell quickly. You've been here how long? What's with the slow burn?"

"Well, you know, we're not all alike."

Addison raises an eyebrow. "Monsters?"

Dr. Visyak nods. "Okay, if it makes you feel better calling me that, fine."

"You're from fucking Purgatory. You never thought to mention that the whole time you slept with me," Bobby asks.

Dr. Visyak scoffs. "I am what I am, Bobby. And I happen to be a friend."

"You wanna explain that to me?"

"I didn't ask those idiots to crack the door. I just happened to be the thing that fell through. And let me tell you something, you're lucky it was me."

"So, you're saying you're on our side," Addison reasons.

"I'm on my side. I happen to like it here. I don't wanna see this place turned into some bloody wasteland."

"So you killed H.P. Lovecraft," Bobby says.

"Please. That guy couldn't even write 'hello.' I have spent seventy-five years trying to keep Purgatory closed. Why do you think I gave Dean and Addison the sword? To stop Eve. Hell, you guys were supposed to kill the damn dragons."

"Look, this all comes down to one angel. He wants Purgatory and he's looking for you."

Dr. Visyak nods, standing up. "Well, thanks for the heads up."

"I know him, El. He's gonna figure it out one way or another. Now, the only way we can stop him is to get ahead of him. So I need to know how you open the door."

"No. No, Bobby. It's too dangerous for anyone to know."

"If we found you, he ain't far behind. At least let me take you somewhere, protect you."

Dr. Visyak smiles. "No. Thanks. I have a couple other places lined up. Don't worry." She places a hand on his chest. "Bobby...you're just a man. I'm better off protecting myself."

Addison clenches her phone as she paces behind the gas station. Bobby had stopped to fill up the gas tank for his and she had bolted out of the car as fast as she could. "Hey, sweetheart," Patrick greets. "When are you going—"

"You need to get to Sarah's house and lock yourself up. Now," Addison quickly tells him, looking around.

"Addison, what is going on?"

"The short version is that Castiel and Crowley are going to be looking for you or me or Sarah because they need our blood to open the fucking door to fucking Purgatory. Sarah's hold up in her beach rental in France. And her place in Rochester is angel and demon proof. So, go there. You'll be safe."

"I'll head right there. What about you?"

"I'll be fine. I'm with the boys and Bobby. They won't let anything hurt me."

"I know they will. Promise me that the moment you get a chance you'll come visit. I've got something to tell you."

Addison leans against the brick wall. She softly smiles. "Yeah, I promise, Daddy."

"Where is she," Dean asks as they walk down an alley. Addison shoves her hands in her jacket pockets and takes a deep breath. She was nervous, terrified, and a million different other emotions that were racing through her.

"She said to meet her here. I'll try her again," Bobby replies, taking out his phone. He dials Dr. Visyak's cell phone and a ringing echoes in the alley. They look around, then follow the ringing down a side alley. They come upon Dr. Visyak behind a dumpster. Bobby kneels down in front of her. "Elle?"

"Hey," Dr. Visyak weakly says. "I guess I could have used your help after all."

"Just be still."

"What happened," Sam asks.

"They took me. I got away," Dr. Visyak explain. She pulls open her trench coat to reveal a blood stained shirt.

"Oh, Ellie," Bobby says. "What have they done to you?"

"Everything. The demon I could have handled, you know? But when the angel stepped in...I told him, Bobby. They have enough to crack Purgatory wide open."

"Tell me. I need to know."

"They need virgin blood. That's a milk run for them. And they need the blood of a Purgatory native. Well, they've got plenty of that now."

"Have they opened it yet," Dean questions.

Dr. Visyak shakes her head. "Tomorrow. The moon and the eclipse. They also need the blood of the creator. That's the tricky part. I don't know where they're going to find that. I'm sorry, Bobby."

"No, it's okay," Bobby tells her.

"I'm sorry, really. Sorry."

"Tell us where they are." Dr. Visyak falls silent. "Elle?"

Wings flutter and they turn around to see Castiel. Addison takes a step back. "I'm sorry this had to happen. Crowley got carried away," the angel says.

"Yeah, I bet it was all Crowley, you son of a bitch," Bobby angrily says, moving toward Castiel. Dean and Sam hold him back.

"You don't even see it, do you? How totally off the rails you are," Dean says.

"Enough," Castiel angrily snaps. "I don't care what you think. I tried to make you understand. You won't listen. So let me make this simple. Please go home and let me stop Raphael. I won't ask again."

"Well, good, because I think you already know the answer."

"I wish it hadn't come to this. Well, rest assured, when this is all over, I will save Sam, but only if you stand down."

"Save Sam from what?" Castiel vanishes and reappears behind Sam. He places a hand on Sam's head. Sam doubles over in pain. "Sam," Dean shouts. "Sam!"

Feeling the hair on the back of her neck stand up, Addison turns around. She starts backing up when she sees Castiel. "Please, don't do this," she quietly begs. Dean and Bobby turn their attention to her. "Cas, I can help you find another way to stop Raphael. I can talk to Sarah—"

Castiel wraps a hand around Addison's throat and slams her against the brick wall. "Cas, let her go," Dean demands. He starts towards the angel, when Castiel pulls out an angel blade. "Cas—"

Castiel slices Addison's palm. She winces as he presses down on the wound, forcing the blood to drip into a small bowl he had pulled out from his trench coat. The angel vanishes with a flutter of wings, leaving the hunters standing in the alley.

"Still the same," Addison asks as she and Bobby enter the panic room. Her hand had been stitched and wrapped up by the older hunter. Sam had been unconscious ever since Castiel had broke his mind. Dean had been by his side ever since they got back to Bobby's house. And they were all worried about what would happen to him.

"I can't just sit here, Ads. I got to help him," Dean replies.

Addison sighs. "Dean."

"Dreamscape his noggin. Something."

"Cas broke the wall inside his head, Dean. And now all those memories are making they their way out. We don't know what's going on in there."

"I don't care! We have got to do something."

"And we will," Bobby tells him. "But right now, we got sixteen hours till they pop Purgatory. I'm down one man. I can't afford to be down two."

"Yeah, how's that going? We've got no line on Crowley. We got no line on Cas. Balthazar's MIA. All we've got is Sam going through whatever the fuck this is!"

"You know, this is exactly what Cas wants, for you to fall to pieces. Just try to think of what Sam would want."

"Find Cas. Find him now."

Bobby sighs and walks out of the panic room. Addison places a comforting hand on Dean's shoulder. "He's gonna be fine," she softly tells him. "We'll find a way to fix him." Dean shrugs off her hand and she sighs, leaving him alone.

Addison jumps when a flutter of wings sounds from behind her. She turns and finds Balthazar standing behind her. Bobby runs in from the kitchen and sees the angel smirking at Addison. "Dean's downstairs," she says. Balthazar moves around her and heads downstairs with Bobby right behind him. She lets out a deep breath and follows them.

"Look what the cat dragged in," Bobby announces, reaching the panic room.

"Well, at least you mudfish finally got the angel proofing right," Balthazar says, looking at the sigils painted on the walls. "How's Sleeping Beauty? You didn't steal any kisses, I trust?"

"What the fuck took you so long," Dean demands, walking out of the room.

"Honestly? I was having second thoughts."

"About?"

"About whether to help you. I was thinking maybe - maybe I should rip out your sticky bits instead."

"And what did you decide," Bobby asks.

"Well." Balthazar pulls out a piece of paper and hands it to Dean. "Cas and Crowley are there. There's where the show gets started."

Dean unfolds the paper to reveal a location in Kansas. He shows it to Bobby and Addison. "All right. Give us a minute to pack up, then zap us there."

"Oh, no, no, no. I don't think so."

"Balthazar."

"I'm betraying a friend here. A very powerful friend. We all are. So I think I've stuck my neck out far enough already. Good luck."

Balthazar disappears and the hunters are left standing there. Addison sighs. "All right, um, we should pack up."

"Ten minutes," Bobby tells Dean, then makes his way upstairs.

Addison walks over to Dean and shoots him a smile. "We're gonna find a way to fix him, Dean. I promise."

The Impala stops in front of an old mansion. They climb out of the Impala and look at the house in front of them. Addison takes a deep breath as nervousness builds inside. "I see a dozen mooks, probably more," Bobby says, lowering the binoculars.

"Demons," Dean asks.

"Angels."

"Lovely," Addison mutters.

"How the hell are we gonna take out that many angels," Dean questions.

"We don't. We'll ninja our way in," Bobby answers.

"Awesome, yeah. Till they hear your knee squeak."

"Shut up."

"Oh, what, now you got thin skin?"

"Guys," Addison says.

"No, both of you shut up," Bobby says. A soft boom echoes. "You hear that?"

They turn around. "What the hell is that," Dean asks. A puddle on the ground vibrates, creating rings. "Oh, T-Rex maybe?"

Addison glances to right and freezes. A large black cloud was billowing towards them. "Pretty sure that's worse than T-Rex," she says.

"Holy mother of..." Bobby trails off.

"Get to the car. Get to the car," Dean orders. They take off running towards the Impala. Dean pulls open the driver's side door and shoves Addison in before climbing in behind the wheel while Bobby dives into the backseat. Dean manages to start the Impala seconds before the cloud hits them. The Impala flips over, sending Addison crashing into Dean.

Dean wakes with a groan. He was on the ceiling of the Impala as were Addison and Bobby. "Ads? Bobby? Addison! Bobby!" A cut was on her forehead. Bobby grunts and opens his eyes. Dean places a hand on Addison's cheek. "Come on, Ads. Come on." She blinks up at him and he lets out a relived breath. "Come on. We got to go," Dean tells them, crawling out of the beaten up Impala.

Dean helps them out and they make their way to the house. They easily sneak in and find the basement. Crowley was standing in front of a sigil on the wall and chanting. A tall African-American woman stood next to him, watching. Dean raises the angel sword, then throws it at the woman, who catches it.

Crowley waves a hand and they go flying. Bobby tumbles down the stairs while Dean and Addison are tossed over the balcony and land on a metal table. "Bit busy, gentlemen, love. Be with you in a moment," the demon tells them. Crowley finishes the spell and nothing happens. "Mm hmm. Maybe I said it wrong."

"You said it perfectly," Castiel says, appearing in the room. He held a jar of blood. "But what you needed was this." He sets the blood down as the hunters push themselves up. Addison leans against Dean as Bobby joins them.

"I see." Crowley touches the blood on the wall and licks the blood off of his finger. "And we've been working with dog blood. Naturally."

"Enough of these games, Castiel," Raphael says. "Give us the blood."

"You...Game's over. His jar is empty. So, Castiel, how did your ritual go? Better than ours, I'll bet."

Castiel bows his head and closes his eyes. A bright light emits from him. The light fades away after a minute and they all stare at Castiel. "You can't imagine what it's like. They're all inside me. Millions upon millions of souls," Castiel tells them.

"Sounds sexy. Exit stage Crowley," the demon says, then vanishes.

"Now, what's the matter, Raphael? Somebody clip your wings?"

"Castiel, please," Raphael begs. "You let the demon go, but not your own brother?"

"The demon I have plans for. You, on the other hand..." Castiel snaps his fingers and Raphael explodes. He glances at the hunters. "So, you see...I saved you."

"You sure did, Cas. Thank you," Dean replies.

"You doubted me. Fought against me. But I was right all along."

"Okay, Cas, you were. We're sorry. Let's just defuse you, okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're full of nuke. It's not safe. So before the eclipse ends, let's get them souls back to where they belong."

"Oh, no. They belong with me."

"No, Cas, it's - it's scrambling your brain."

"No, I'm not finished yet. Raphael had many followers and I must...punish them all severely."

Dean takes a step forward. "Listen to me. Listen. I know there's a lot of bad water under the bridge. But we were family once. I'd have died for you. I almost did a few times. So if that means anything to you...Please. I've lost Lisa, I've lost Ben, and now I've lost Sam. Don't make me lose you too. You don't need this kind of juice anymore, Cas. Get rid of it before it kills us all."

"You're just saying that because I won, because you're afraid." Castiel moves closer to Dean. "You're not my family, Dean. I have no family." An angel blade goes through Castiel's chest. Sam was standing behind him. Sam backs up, panting. Castiel calmly reaches around and takes out the blade. "I'm glad you made it, Sam. But the angel blade won't work because I'm not an angel anymore. I'm your new god. A better one. So you will bow down and profess your love unto me, your lord, or I shall destroy you."