Part 20 - Karma's a Bitch Only If You Are
Cas helped Emery with the materials she need but then as Emery had asked, Cas disappeared. When Emery had refused to further involve Dean, Sam and Cas, she knew it would be hard for her to handle Ghazer on her own. However, they were more important to her and she couldn't put them in danger. So taking on Ghazer on her own was the only option. Now she was running out of patience. She wanted to finish that sick monster once and for all. She had a hunch about where she would find him and so that was where she was headed.
The closer she was getting to Mrs. Arnold's house, the more and more Emery was enveloped by an icy feeling. Chills were running down her spine as she was driving towards her old neighbor's house and that was how she knew that her hunch was in fact correct. She would find Ghazer there. The thought of Mrs. Arnold shook something inside her. Another good person gone because of her. And another reason why she had to end Ghazer no matter what.
Up until this point, she hadn't realized how much she had started to rely on the Winchesters. She had lived almost her entire life on her own, relying on no one but herself, but ever since she had met the boys, they were always there for her. Even though she didn't want to admit it, she had started to love the feeling. She loved knowing that no matter what, they always had her back. Now she was heading on perhaps the most dangerous path in her life and they weren't there with her. A lone tear escaped her left eye as she pulled over. She wiped it off, trying her damnest to steel her resolve. She couldn't fall weak. Not now. Sam and Dean weren't there because she didn't want them there. Remember? Now she had to just go on and finish it off, once and for all.
Emery closed her eyes for a few moments, trying to gather all the courage she had, remembering all the people she had lost because of that evil monster. She also remembered Cas's hopeful gaze when he had come to drop off everything she needed. She knew that he wanted to help her further but she wouldn't allow it. In the end, she saw the smiling faces of Sam and Dean, and she almost smiled herself. This was not just about revenge. Killing Ghazer would not bring back the people she loved... her baby brother Adrian, her loving mother, the kind neighbor who always looked after her. This was about making sure that that evil monster would not hurt anyone else. She owed that to herself... and Dean and Sam. When she finally opened her eyes, Emery was filled with more determination than she thought she had. Every single emotional crack in her was filled with just one thought – Ghazer had to die today, no matter what the price, she would pay it.
Opening the door, Emery stepped out of her old Honda. In this strange situation, her old car was the only comfort to her. Now she had to leave it behind as well and walk towards the house. Determinedly, she closed the door and started walking towards the eerie house. The night was dark with no stars or the moon in the sky. Even then, she could clearly see the house. She didn't want to think what was awaiting her inside, she just had to do what she was there to do. There wasn't any other option. She touched the entrance door and realized that it was unlocked. Just when she was about to enter, she noticed a couple of signs that she realized were sigils to ward off angels. Of course, what was she expecting? Someone as cunning as Ghazer would have thought of doing something to keep Cas away. She shook her head. Ghazer didn't realize that if the Winchesters and Cas were there, nothing would stop them from entering. Then she remembered that they weren't there. She had to go on by herself.
As soon as she stepped inside the house, Emery heard an evil laughter as the door closed behind her. Emery recognized that laughter; she hadn't forgotten it ever since she had first heard it. It wasn't something you forgot easily, especially when you knew it was coming from the one thing responsible for taking everyone you loved away from you. No, you never forget that laughter or that voice.
"I knew you would come, love," the voice came a second after the laughter stopped. "But I thought you would resist longer. This is almost too easy."
Emery knew that Ghazer was shrewd; she would have to convince him otherwise he would be too careful. He had to come close to her for her plan to work. And who knew how many followers he had with him. She had to sell her story in a way that the sonofabitch would buy it. As cunning as Ghazer was, she also knew that he was very confident that he would succeed. She just had to use that against him.
"Ghazer, I have lost everyone I ever loved. Everyone," Emery's voice was lost, broken. "And you are right. I do love Sam and Dean. So here I am. I surrender. I will do whatever you want me to do. Just please don't hurt them, I will do anything you ask me to. Just let them go. Please," Something in Emery's voice must have convinced Ghazer because a second later he materialized in front of her, proud as always.
"Ah... what happened to that anger? Didn't you say you would never work for me?" Ghazer laughed cockily.
"Please. I am here. And I am ready to work for you. Just don't hurt them," Emery begged.
"And why would I not do that? In order for you to become the most dangerous weapon, you have to lose everyone you love. Everyone. And now that includes Sam and Dean," Ghazer was watching her closely.
"But a follower who comes willingly is a lot more powerful than the one who's forced. Surely, you must have read that in the scriptures," Emery was trying her best to distract Ghazer, only then her plan would work. She only had one chance. She couldn't fail. The lines that appeared on Ghazer's confused forehead told her that she was very close to getting that one chance.
"Where did you read that? I have read the scriptures hundreds of times, did everything that was there. You are lying," Ghazer didn't sound so confident anymore. When you work so hard to get something, even as evil as it was, you simply can't stand the idea of losing. Until you verify that the threat that has just risen is false, you really don't trust anyone, even yourself.
"I am not lying, Ghazer. Why else would I be here? So you can have me and kill Sam and Dean at the same time? The only reason I am here is to make this deal, Ghazer." Emery was convincing as Ghazer seemed even more confused now. He turned around and headed towards a huge desk that was just a couple feet behind them. Emery hadn't even noticed the desk until Ghazer turned. It was just as dark inside as it was outside, which in this case was in Emery's favor. Seeing an opportunity, Emery grabbed the stake that she was hiding under her shirt in the small of her back and lunged forward. However, in a second, Ghazer turned around and gripped her wrist tight. He twisted her wrist to force her to drop the stake. Emery held on to it fighting his hold, but he was far stronger. Ghazer twister her wrist more until Emery almost screamed in pain and the stake dropped from her hand, hitting the floor with a thud. It was as quiet as it was dark, but she noticed a couple of silhouettes in the dark.
"Are we needed here?" She heard a voice coming from exactly where she had noticed the silhouettes.
"No, I have this under control. Go back to guarding the house," Ghazer responded proudly. Emery noticed the silhouettes disappear. Ghazer had put all his followers into guarding the house. He smiled maliciously and twisted Emery's wrist again. The pain was too much to bear but she wouldn't give that b*stard the satisfaction of hearing her scream.
"I knew you were playing me," Ghazer said in a sing-song voice with a smile. "How did you forget that I've been watching you your entire life, love?! You're not the one to go down without a fight, and that's why you're my ideal pet." Then the smile vanished from his face and all that was left was a nasty intent. "You will pay for this." Ghazer let go of her wrist and tied her hands in the back around a column, completely immobilizing her.
"You can hurt me all you want. But you'll never break me," Emery's voice was filled with anger and venom.
"Oh, I know. I know that you have an uncanny ability of bearing physical pain. But you forget again, honey. I know you too well," Ghazer winked while giving Emery a proud smile and continued. "Let me show you something. Oh, I am going to enjoy every second of it!" Ghazer excitedly clapped his hands before waving them in the air. A second later a screen appeared. Emery had a bad feeling about it. Almost instantly she recognized what it was but she didn't want to believe it. However, she didn't have that option when a man appeared on the screen. Impeccably dressed, he seemed to have been shocked by something. Emery had a pretty good idea what it was even though the screen only showed Greg Collins, the first person that Emery had saved and Ghazer had killed. A second later a hand was digging into Collins' chest and Emery closed her eyes. Then the screams started, but with her hands tied, she couldn't close her ears. Her nails were digging into the flesh of her palm as she tried to hold on to her sanity. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. "Oh, come on, love, be a sport! Open your eyes! There's gonna be a lot more of it!" Then the screams stopped. Emery reluctantly opened her eyes and saw the blank screen. A second later, another man appeared on it. Johnny Gonsalvez.
Emery shut her eyes tight again and all that came out of her mouth was, "No...no...no..." Tears were constantly rolling down her cheeks and she started struggling to untie herself when the screams started. There was no way she could untie her hands, when she realized that and the screams continued, she couldn't do anything but hit her head against the column. Her nails were cutting deeper into the flesh of her palms, which were now bleeding but she couldn't feel anything. The pain in her mind was so excruciating that she couldn't feel anything else. Ghazer continued his torture and one by one, everyone that Emery had at one point saved and Ghazer killed appeared on the screen, just seconds before the monster ripped their hearts out of them alive.
Emery was beginning to lose it. She was on the verge of insanity. She knew that she wouldn't be able to take it much more. "STOP IT! Please... please just stop it!" With her eyes still tightly closed, Emery screamed amidst the screams of a little boy Ghazer had killed.
"That's it, love? Can't stand to see anything else? But there's so much more to show you! Just imagine what will happen when I rip the hearts out of the boys you are so in love with! You will watch that live!" Ghazer clapped his hands in excitement. "Oh, it'll be spectacular! Now I just have to find them."
"Let us save you the trouble," the voice came from somewhere close to the door. Emery opened her eyes. It was too dark over there so she couldn't see anything, but she knew that voice, it lived in her heart. Ghazer snapped his fingers and the lights came on. The evil monster was shocked to see Dean there. Sam was right next to him and Cas soon followed.
"But how's this possible? I had put up all the sigils?" Ghazer said shocked.
"Oh, the sigils, well, you see, you didn't have any of those against humans," Sam replied. Sam and Dean had snuck in first and got rid of the sigils.
"Well, this is an unexpected turn of events." Then Ghazer barked some names but no one responded.
Dean walked up to Ghazer, looked in his eyes and said, "all dead."
Ghazer panicked. All of this was going against the plan. "Well, next time," Ghazer said snapping his fingers to disappear but nothing happened. He couldn't escape.
Sam slowly walked up to Ghazer saying, "You see, we replaced your sigils with some of our own. You're not going anymore."
Cas stepped towards Emery and untied her hands.
"Cas! You had promised?" Emery still couldn't believe that Sam and Dean were there. And it didn't take long to realize how.
"Yes, and I keep my promises but the gravity of the situation required not keeping this one," Cas replied sheepishly. Cas knew without a doubt that he did the right thing by bringing the boys here but he couldn't help flinching under Emery's disapproving look.
"Cas, Emery, maybe you two could continue your debate on the morality of keeping promises later?" Sam said sarcastically. "Could use your help here!" Cas appeared right behind Ghazer, locking his neck with his right arm around it.
"It's over. It's over, you sonofabitch." And Dean stabbed Ghazer in the heart with a stake.
Ghazer laughed nervously and said, "Really? Did you really think this piece of branch is going to kill me? ME?!" He laughed again, "You can capture me but you can never kill me." His arrogant smile suddenly turned into horrific choking.
Dean then looked at Emery, encouraging her to come forward and finish it. The tears on her face broke his heart. He wanted to take her in his arms and never let go, but before that, it was more important to end the reason behind all her tears. Emery came forward and pulled the stake out of Ghazer. She opened her left hand, the cuts still open, she stretched her fingers and blood came gushing out of the cuts. Rubbing the stake on her hand, she covered it with blood. With all the force she could muster, Emery stabbed Ghazer in the heart, "This is for every innocent you killed." The stake was made of a Baobab bark. A Baobab tree was considered holy and scriptures required the blood of the most tortured victim to end the evil monster.
"How... how did you find out?" Ghazer asked in between breadths, still choking.
"What? Did you think that no one will ever find out? Well, news flash, you don't threaten those who know your secrets. You see it kinda pisses them off." Then she stabbed him again and again, until he fell lifeless on the ground. And that was the moment Emery suddenly felt very weak, as if the anger, the force that was driving her so far just vanished. Dean gently touched her shoulder, bringing her back to reality, "Emery, we need to torch the body."
Emery nodded. "Set the house on fire." Sam, Dean, and Cas looked at Emery a little surprised.
"Em, are you sure?" Sam asked, knowing how hard it must be for Emery. After all, this was the house of the one lady who had always been kind to her when she was little.
"Sam, this was basically Ghazer's den all these months. We don't know what all is in there. So the best move right now is to torch the house. Mrs. Arnold would have wanted it this way." Sam nodded empathetically and everyone scattered to gather the necessary materials.
Two hours later, Emery, Dean, Sam, and Cas were standing a few feet away watching the house burn to the ground. Relief still hadn't washed over Emery. She couldn't believe that it was all over. Everything she lost, everyone she lost, the worst hunt of her life... Was it really all over?
"We should get going now. The house is very secluded, which bought us all this time, but the authorities will be here soon, and it's best that we are not here when they show up," Sam said looking at Dean who was watching Emery. Emery hadn't said a word all this time. Dean really wanted to know what was going on in her mind so he could comfort her but he had a feeling that even though she was there, her mind was somewhere else.
Dean took a couple step towards Emery and said, "It's time to go, Emery." The boys turned to go towards the car but Emery didn't move.
"Emery?" Emery looked at Dean and then Sam and Cas who were standing just a few feet away.
"You're not coming with us, are you?" Sam asked, somehow already knowing the answer was negative. Emery sadly shook her head. Sam nodded, not understanding her reasons but still respecting them. He took the few steps towards her and hugged her tight. "Take care of yourself." Taking a step back, Sam smiled at her and then started walking towards the Impala. Cas came up to her saying, "You can call me for anything, anytime." Emery gave him a sad smile and a second later, Cas walked away, following Sam.
Dean was still disbelievingly staring at Emery. She knew that she owed him an explanation but she didn't know what to say. Even she couldn't understand her reasoning too well, but she knew that she had to be on her own, at least for now.
"I'm sorry, Dean. I'm sorry," Emery whispered while her eyes filled with tears. At that moment, Dean didn't know what made him angrier - that she wanted to leave him again or the tears in her eyes.
"Why? Why are you doing this?" This was a simple question and Dean wanted a simple response, but Emery didn't have a simple reply.
"I wish I could answer your question, Dean, but I don't have an answer right now. All I know right now is that I have to be by myself. I am still finding answers, Dean. I'm still trying to figure it all out. Please. I need to do this alone."
"I let you go last time and you were about to get yourself killed. I'm not letting you go again," Dean said stubbornly, crossing his arms.
Emery almost smiled at the stubborn man standing in front of her. She was getting so many feelings from his aura - love, worry, pain - making it harder for her to stick to her decision. Nothing hurt her more than causing him pain but that was exactly why she had to go away. Some pain now would save him from a lot more in the future.
From everything that had happened, Emery had understood one thing – bad things happened to those around her. After all, wasn't she the one who brought Ghazer in their lives? How would she ever forgive herself if something had happened to them? It was a hunter's dilemma. Even the hardest battle with a demon outside was easy compared to fighting with the demons inside. What Emery didn't realize was that you need the people you love to fight off the demons inside, even more than you need them to fight off the outside demons. Just standing there looking at Dean was making her resolve crumble. She knew that the longer she stayed, the easier she would make it for Dean to talk her into staying. After all, wasn't that what she wanted herself?
"Dean, I am leaving either way." She had to be stern now and leave before she changed her mind. It's hard leaving the people you love; it's harder when they are all you've got. Right that instant, panic and pain flashed in Dean's eyes, and Emery couldn't stop herself from reaching out to him. She threw her arms around him, holding him firmly close to her. Dean resisted her touch at first, he was angry with her, but he couldn't resist longer than a few seconds. In an instant, his arms wound around her and held her close. There was nothing more beautiful than the feeling of holding the woman he loved. And there was nothing more painful than the thought of losing her. When he felt Emery's tears on his chest, he realized one more thing - he couldn't hold on to her against her will. He would just lose her that way. As much as it hurt, he knew that he had to let her go. If that was what she wanted, he had to let her go.
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