[Rainbowfox Ari]

Evan smirked a bit, and looked back at Dean. "See? I fuckin' told you. Angels. Jerks and liars, the lot of them. Well.. maybe not all of them, but most of them." Sam reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, which quickly shut him up without having to resort to shouting at him. Apparently he listened to Sam quite a bit more than Dean.

"Fine. We'll get to McKinney's house, then we'll have a nice long chat." Dean said, walking past the angel to open the Impala. "Get in. Back seat. You too, Fido."

The demon not-quite-snarled at the older Winchester. "Stop. Calling. Me. That!" He snapped, sliding into the back seat with some help from Sam not to whack his head on the door-frame. "Wait... what? You want me to sit with an angel? Are you out of your fucking minds?!"

Dean snap-pointed at Evan. "Shut your mouth. We're taking you to McKinney. Then we'll talk. Not before. Then. Shut up."

[Gallagher]

"Well, this should be... fun," he muttered as he watched the interactions between the three. There was something distinctly disturbing about the way they treated the demon, and how it treated them in return. Nevertheless, he pulled out his cellphone as he made his way back to the car and slid into the spot beside the demon.

[Rainbowfox Ari]

Evan crossed his arms and leaned back as they started off, sighing and looking out the window opposite to the angel. Since Sam told him not to talk, he wasn't going to actually talk. Dean? Pssh. Who fucking cares. But Sam? Sam, he actually fucking respected. So quite he was going to remain. Didn't mean it had to be polite quiet, though.

Dean wasn't going to be quiet, starting to converse with Sam about these killings. "So from what we know... what? Grannies are cackling and wearing capes, or what's going on?"

"Not quite that overt. People are going missing, and turning up dead with pentagrams etched into their chests, and some strange pendants around their necks. If it's not work of witches, it's one of Crowley's."

[Gallagher]

Riding in the notorious Impala was... about how he'd expected it to be. It was a well taken care of vehicle, all things considered. The angel paid little mind to the other passengers as he flipped his phone on. "There's a rogue demon in the area," he said, no hint of the waver he'd had before then lingering in his voice. "It's been making witches, then taking their souls for itself. I'm sure red-eyes isn't a fan."

[Rainbowfox Ari]

Sam snickered despite himself, and lifted a hand to his mouth to stifle an outright laugh. "Right, so... I don't think we can be entirely sure whether or not to pin this on him - or some rogue that's gone all Warlock Rambo." he said, trying to keep the amusement out of his voice and failing.

"Regardless, whatever twisted bastard is doing this, they've got to be stopped. We're not having another incident in this town so soon after the last one." Dean grumbled, not seeing amusement at all. "There's nothing more annoying than a fully-fledged coven, and we're going to cut them down before it comes to that."

Evan rolled his eyes. "Really? You're going to kill all the witches and the demon, and you're supposed to be the good guys. Seriously, I can't understand how anyone tolerates you - ever."

[Gallagher]

As he tapped away at the screen of his device with one hand, he brushed the fingers of his other against the door at his side. A small pulse of his energy was enough to satisfy him of the lack of other spells on the vehicle.

"Hunters don't consider the long-term ramifications of their actions as long as they survive and can convince themselves that they've saved a life in the process," the angel remarked, shoving his phone back into his pocket as he cast a glance towards the demon. "Not that you're any better. Only idiots and inexperienced fools," and at that, he looked towards the pair in the front of the car, "discuss matters so freely where anyone, or anything, might overhear. There are far more ways to spy on others than there are to stop it from happening. I would have thought basic precautions wouldn't have flown right over your heads. More lives would be saved if you captured the demon and renegotiated all involved contracts with red-eyes."

[Rainbowfox Ari]

Dean snorted. "With Crowley, 'renegotiating' rarely works." he said sharply, turning onto a small street, and glancing at the house numbers. "McKinney's in this neighborhood. We'll have any and all other discussions inside." After that little snappish statement, he pulled into a small, white-painted house on the unassuming street, with a nice little white-paved driveway and a tiny garden on a pretty porch. Not the place you'd think to check for Hunters.

Sam emerged from the vehicle, and led the demon out by the hand, Dean moving around to the other side to grab the angel. "Right." Dean continued from where he left off. "You two are going to behave, or I swear I will pop a cap in both your asses, you understand?"

"... yessir." Evan said in a small voice.

Sam was already marching up the steps to a door that had a holly wreath fixed onto it, complete with a little bird sculpted out of wood, and some holiday lights. He knocked on the door, and stepped back for a moment when someone answered.

It wasn't an old man, but it was a middle-aged gentleman. He wore an ugly holiday sweater - this one with a reindeer and a tinsel-covered tree - and jeans with boots. It wasn't super-cold outside yet, but it was getting there. Enough for there to be sweaters at least.

"Ah yes, you must be the Winchesters." he said in a jovial way, motioning them all toward the door. "Come to see me about a sick demon. This way, this way. Come inside."

[Gallagher]

"You're awfully cute," the angel informed Dean as he pulled himself out of the car. He wasn't about to be rushed, no matter how snippy the guy was.

The house they'd been brought to was... nice. It didn't much suit his tastes, but it wasn't surprising that such a place belonged to the hunter they were, apparently, looking for. Then again, it was unlikely that the brothers, or perhaps even the demon, could feel the wardings the way that he could.

As for the hunter himself... well, he certainly had a good taste in sweaters.

[Rainbowfox Ari]

Oh, the house was heavily warded. Not enough to hurt, but definitely enough to discourage anything from coming in that the Hunter didn't touch first - all of which explained why the man clasped the hand of each and every person coming into the room. He led them into a sitting room that might have been out of Better Homes and Gardens, sitting them all down, and retreating for a moment. He returned with a tray full of drinks. Coffee for the two brothers, a tall glass of chocolate milk for the demon, and large glass with ice and strawberry-lime soda. He set the drinks down, seated himself in the large chair beside the couch, kicked back with his feet on an ottoman, and smiled.

"So. A sick demon, witches all over, and now you bring me an angel? It truly is nearing Christmas after all." He leaned forward after a moment, and crossed his fingers. "Now then. Have a nice drink and we'll discuss what's been going on. I know the demon in question. He was one of my patients... before things turned sour."

"Sour how?" Sam asked, sipping the coffee... which had just the right amount of milk and cream in it that he liked... Strange.

The man - obviously Aston - shrugged, and crossed his arms, leaning back again. "He went berserk. Started killing off small animals, turning them into skeletons overnight, studying up on the ladies and young girls in town, stalking them. I didn't realize he was... changing them. Not until it was too late."

[Gallagher]

The angel was all too happy to sit back and enjoy the drink that the especially gifted hunter had brought. Judging from the look on Sam's face, he was a bit surprised by the perfectly coordinated refreshments.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, making his gaze fall from that random spot on the wall as he pulled it out and flipped it on. It was just a text, and one that he had no issues returning, even with his current company.

[Rainbowfox Ari]

"If I had to put a name to it, I'd say the boy was lonely." Aston said, rubbing just under his bottom lip in a thoughtful manner. "There are precious-few of his kind in this town as it is, and before he came to me... well, he wasn't here for physical issues, let's just put it that way. I'm afraid that he's probably had a psychotic break. Brought on by something which I cannot begin to fathom. He was showing remarkable progress."

Dean leaned forward, and put his fingers together in a diamond-shape, leveling his gaze at Aston. "You're telling me you were acting as a shrink? For a demon?" he asked, brow quirking. "I've heard of some dumb ideas, but that takes the cake."

"It's not too far off some of the studies out there. I grew intrigued with those studies a couple of years ago, and went to ask... certain parties for willing participants. It didn't turn out well for me."

The younger Winchester made a dismissive motion. "Whatever the case, this demon is turning out record numbers of witches, and he's doing it with a method we don't understand. Not to mention all of those witches are now - apparently - loyal to him. Have you seen anything like that while living here?"

Aston shook his head. "Not so much, no. When my parents were still alive - before they were killed by Banshees - Dad used to mention that a lot of older ladies in the town seemed to be close to the dark arts. But no mention of demons, or slaves, or masters, or any of that. Mostly, this is just a peaceful, quiet town. Until recently. I would bet my sweater that this demon has no knowledge of the demonic hierarchy, though. He didn't seem to be interested when I mentioned the King of Hell... or any other authority figure to be honest."

[Gallagher]

"So if there haven't been too many incidents around here," the angel spoke up, only sparing the briefest of glances up from his phone, "where were you when you got that curse?"

[Rainbowfox Ari]

Aston paused mid-reach, and looked at the angel. "Ah yes. I knew you'd pick that up." he said quietly. "This curse was cast on me by Crawley. Trying to negotiate for willing patients. He... didn't take too kindly to such ideas." Rubbing the back of his neck, he smirked. "I don't imagine that has much to do with the situation at hand."

Evan sipped his milk, and looked pensive. "The situation has nothing to do with me, so why am I even here?" he asked, looking up across his mug.

"I don't care." Dean said, grumbling. "You're staying here. Castiel noticed something off, and that spells 'dangerous' for us. So you're staying here. You and that angel."

[Gallagher]

It was then that the angel looked at the demon and its trapped soul properly for the first time since he'd been 'invited' on their little trip. Castiel wasn't one of his brothers that he ever knew well. Castiel had been young, and he himself had been... occupied with things more important than the children. Still, like the Winchesters, Castiel had become more well known than his creation would have ever suggested.

"There's nothing wrong, other than the obvious," the angel concluded as his attention turned right back to his phone.

[Rainbowfox Ari]

There was a soft scratch next to them, and Aston rose from his chair. "How rude of me. I've left Bruiser outside in the cold." He chuckled, and crossed to the sliding glass door, letting in this huge Doberman-Alsatian mix, who padded over to the couch, and lay down on the rug beside it. Afterward, he flopped back into the chair again, after closing the door. "What remains right now, is to find out if my patient can be saved... and to do something about this young one." he gestured to Evan.

For his part, Evan had gone very pale, and seemed to be having a hard time breathing all of a sudden. He put his hand up to his chest, then reached out to grip the nearest thing - the angel's shoulder - to keep his balance as a wave of sheer dizziness hit the hell out of him. "S-Sam..."

Sam looked up from his coffee, and instantly set it down, moving over to Evan, and looked a bit... lost for action. "It's happening again. See, this is what we're talking about!"

[Gallagher]

For the most part, he'd been unbothered by the change in the vessel's pallor and the tremble beneath all of that heaving and huffing. But when there was weight against his shoulder, and the taller of the brothers came over as well, he shoved his phone back into his pocket. The screen glowed faintly through the denim.

Of course. Neither of them could see the heaviness, the blackness, trying to rip itself out of the vessel's body. Or how it was focused solely on the handsome canine that had been let back inside. "Get him away from the dog and all—" He waved a hand at Evan. "—that will stop."