Sam and Dean pull over to eat some lunch and check the Internet for demon sightings. As Dean sits on the hood eating, Sam realizes that there have been no demon sightings in a month. He then stares at his hand in horror as it turns transparent. He calls to Dean and the car shakes. By the time Dean checks on his brother, Sam has disappeared.
Dean drives to Bobby's junkyard and tells his friend what happened. They figure that Azazel is responsible and Dean is ready to set out immediately. Bobby tells him to wait until they can pick up some trace as to Sam's location. Missouri Moseley calls Dean from outside her cabin and tells him that she's had a vision of Sam... ruling at Azazel's side over a literal Hell on earth. She asks Dean to bring her something personal from Sam so she can trace him, and Dean tells her that they're on their way.
Sam wakes up in an empty building with four people watching him, two men and two women. The younger man, Andy, introduces himself and explains that they found him unconscious on the ground. One of the women, Eva, figures that Sam has powers like they all do. When they woke up in the ghost town, they discovered that their powers had grown. Lily, the girl that John helped, is there and explains that she can kill with a touch. Andy is a telepath and the second man is Jake Talley: Sam met Jake's family in East St. Louis when Azazel targeted them.
Once they can get outside alone, Jake tells Sam that his sister Lynn wrote to tell him how the Winchesters saved her and her grandmother from Azazel. He thanks Sam for his help, even though he couldn't save Danny, Jake's younger brother. Jake admits that none of them have any idea how they got there and have found no one else living in the town.
When Dean and Bobby arrive at Missouri's cabin, they discover that demons have burned it to the ground. Dean digs desperately in the rubble and finds a charred corpse, and realizes that Missouri is dead.
Looking around, Sam finds a sign identifying the town as Goldcreek. The town was abandoned in 1972 when demons took it over, forcing the residents to flee. When Sam mentions Dean, Andy offers to telepathically contact him using something that Dean has touched. Sam gives him a gas station receipt and Andy prepares to send his message.
As Dean and Bobby wonder what to do next, Dean suddenly vomits and his eyes glow black as he receives Andy's telepathic images of Sam in Goldcreek. After recovering from the mental link, he tells Bobby what he saw. He also remembers the ghost town is mentioned in John's journal and decides to go and rescue Sam. Dean agrees with Bobby's warning that it might be a trap and rather than putting them both at risk, he tells Bobby to stay behind. Bobby refuses and they both get into the Impala and drive off.
Eva and Lily scout the town to find something to eat, while Sam, Andy, and Jake scavenge bags of salt. Sam and Andy use them to create a salt line securing the building where they've taken up residence. Jake picks up a huge pile of metal scrap for weapons and Sam tells the two men that they'll need to work as a team if they want to escape. They hear Eva scream and run to investigate. The woman is staring at Lily, crucified to the underside of an overturned bus. She tells them that they split up to find food and figures that Lily tried to escape... and someone stopped her permanently.
That night, the remaining four gather in the fortified building. When they doze off, Sam dreams of his childhood in Lawrence. He watches as Azazel feeds him demon blood and then sets Mary and the house on fire. When Sam tries to intervene, Azazel speaks directly to him and says that he can't change the past. The Demon explains that others went through the same ritual Sam had. The four remaining are the cream of the crop and that the last one standing will be the one to lead his demonic army.
When Sam wakes up in the morning, he tells the others what he experienced. Jake calls him a fool for telling them and admits that they already knew this. The soldier vows to do whatever he can to survive so he can protect his family. Sam offers his own life to prove his belief that they need to work together. Jake stares at him, surprised, and Sam says that he won't work with the demon that killed his mother. Andy and Eva drop their makeshift weapons and after a moment, Jake does as well.
After a tense day together, the four go to sleep. Jake and Eva wake Sam up and tell him that they dozed off as well and that Andy has disappeared. Sam and Eva search in one direction while Jake goes in the other. Once they're alone, Eva telekinetically pins Sam to a wall and admits that she killed Lily and Andy. She explains that she's been there from the first and killed everyone that Azazel sent for his test. Lily figures that Sam would kill her if their positions were reversed and starts to telekinetically slit his throat... and Jake comes up behind her and breaks her neck.
Jake gets Sam back to the building and then bandages his throat wound. He figures that his debt to Sam is paid for Sam saving his family, and wonders if they can leave Goldcreek. Sam is confident that they can, but Jake says he can't take that chance and that he's sorry but he has to kill Sam to save his family. As the soldier charges forward to kill him, Sam's body starts to glow with yellow energy.
Dean and Bobby drive into Goldcreek just as a wave of energy sweeps across the Impala. They keep going and find Sam standing in the middle of a blast crater and Jake lying unconscious on the ground. Sam faces Dean to tell him he's fine when a fist suddenly erupts from his chest. Jake, having recovered, used his super strength to punch Sam through the heart from behind and then leaps away. Bobby drives after Jake while Dean runs to Sam. The older hunter hits Jake but only succeeds in propelling him onto a nearby rooftop where he makes his escape. Meanwhile, Dean holds Sam's corpse in his arms, sobbing.
Written by Gadfly on May 22, 2016