To the Death

After a long three-hour drive, Kacey pulled into the familiar cemetery, where the Lawson mausoleum was located and got out. The smell of moss and decaying leaves was extremely strong, as she took in her surroundings, wrinkling her nose.

The entire cemetery was littered with broken tombstones, long forgotten by family or groundkeepers. The epitaphs had been worn away by time and the weather, leaving the stones blank as if holding a secret about the grave it marked.

Although overgrown and neglected, the depressed feelings that had accumulated over the years were still thick in the air around her, and it was overwhelming. Kacey soon found the mausoleum, and retrieved the key from her bag, opening the wooden door with a shove.

The mausoleum was dark and cold as Kacey made her way inside, the beam from her flashlight was her only source of light, and she wasn't planning on hanging around. Right at the back positioned on a stone slab was a wooden chest, it was nothing special but it was the content of the chest that Kacey was interested in, and so with a swift kick to its rusty lock she opened it.

Inside laid a dagger and a small book, which Kacey carefully removed, placing them in her bag before leaving. She climbed back in her truck, and headed over to Ethan's house to pick him up, so that she could get her plan underway. Kacey had loads of time to think on her way over to Ethan’s, although she should have shut her mind off and focused on the task at hand. She pulled into the driveway, climbing out and heading inside where Ethan was waiting.

"Hey, you ready to do this?" Ethan asked with a sad look on his face.

"This is the only way… thank you for agreeing to be there," Kacey replied giving him a small smile.

"I would never let you do this on your own, let's go shall we."

"I just need to check in with Dean so that he doesn't get suspicious."

Ethan nodded, as he began taking everything out to Kacey's truck, pulling out her phone, she scrolled through her contacts until she came across Deans name, and pressed the call button… if she was going to go through with her plan, then she wanted to talk to Dean one last time. The phone rang for a minute, before Dean answered and Kacey couldn't help but smile.

'Hey, how's things going your end?' Dean asked.

"Everything is nearly set, how are things going with you?"

'We're about two hours away from Lawrence, but Sam and the others wanted to stop for food.'

"Pie?" Kacey asked already knowing the answer.

'Of course there's going to be pie gorgeous, so do you miss me?' Dean replied with a chuckle.

"You know I do, you're my superman," Kacey joked although she meant it.

'And don't you forget it.'

Kacey smiled, but she felt the tears beginning to form in her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I've got other things I need to do so I better go, be careful out there Dean and watch out for Sam… we still don't know what's going to happen or what we'll come up against."

'I'm always careful, just make sure you're there when we get back.'

"Where else would I be?" Kacey inquired.

'I don't know but just stay safe, and I'll see you when we get back.'

"Yeah, bye Dean," Kacey mumbled as she hung up fighting the urge to tell him that she loved him.

Tears streamed down her face as she joined Ethan who pulled her into a hug, and Kacey let her emotions go.

***

Dean stared down at his phone as Kacey hung up, the blank screen gradually faded to black and Dean put it back in his pocket. He looked up as Sam climbed into the passenger seat, handing Dean a paper bag and frowning at his brother’s expression.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah dude, Kacey just rang… she was checking in," Dean said trying to keep his voice normal.

"How's she doing?" Sam asked.

"Good by the sounds of it, she said she has everything nearly set, so I'm guessing things are going smoothly," Dean replied.

"Then what's with the face dude?"

"I don't know man, being here with you and dad is great, this is the family business after all… I just can't help but feel guilty about leaving her behind on her own," Dean explained.

"I'm not happy about this arrangement either Dean and you know that. I would much rather be with Kacey, helping her but the way I see it is if us being here helps people, then we're in the right place and I'm all for it."

"I know," Dean stated opening his dinner and tucking in.

"Dean, you love her don't you?" Sam said making Dean choke on his burger.

"Don't be stupid Sammy, I just care about her is all."

"If you say so," Sam replied shaking his head and finishing his food.

***

Everything was ready, Kacey sat in the clearing with Ethan going over a few things and then in a few hours it would be show time. Everyone probably thought that Kacey was okay with dying, but the truth was, she wasn't ready to check out of life and it made things hard.

She had so much good in her life, with Ethan, Bobby, Sam, Dean, the ability to help and she had to give all that up for the greater good. Lives depended on this sacrifice and if it was written in stone, so shall it be.

"So my blood is key here right?" Kacey asked Ethan.

"That's right," Ethan replied, "Kacey, are you sure that this is the only way?"

"I'm certain Ethan, I've looked through every book I can think of… this is it, and there's no way around it."

"You should tell Dean, he deserves to know the truth," Ethan added.

"I left him an explanation on a disk, which I gave to Sam… If he knew what I was doing he would try and stop me."

"That's what I was hoping, your dad should be here trying to get you out of this, and instead his off in Lawrence with the knowledge that you're going to die."

Kacey didn't want to listen to anymore, especially when it was about her dad and so with a sigh she walked off over to the truck.

***
Ethan watched as Kacey climbed into her truck, before pulling out his phone and dialing Dean's number. Kacey may have given up but Ethan hadn't… he couldn't, Kacey was like a daughter to him.

"Dean, it's Ethan."

'Oh yeah… hey man, what's up?'

"It's Kacey."

***

'It's Kacey,' Ethan said making Dean stop the car and focus on the phone.

"What's wrong with Kacey?" Dean asked causing Sam to look over at him.

'Nothing yet, but if you don't get back here quickly she's going to do something stupid and I can't stop her.'

"Ethan, what are you talking about?"

'Kacey's going to sacrifice herself, in order to stop this battle, and maybe not right away but it will eventually kill her.'

Dean froze unable to process what Ethan had just told him, jumping when someone knocked on the window and opened the door.