Fic: The Road To Heaven Bestrewed With Amaranth (7/??)
Title: The Road To Heaven Bestrewed With Amaranth (7/??)
Rating: overall R for language, violence, blood and sexual themes;
Genre: romance, adventure, time travel;
Pairing/Characters: Dean/Castiel (pre-slash), Sam, OFC;
Spoilers: The fic starts from the middle of season 6 and alternates the end of it, but also has spoilers for 7x1;
Word Count: WIP (4600 this part);
Beta: eridanie;
Chapter Disclaimer: This chapter is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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Masterpost
Chapter 7
A Song of a Banshee. Part 2
March 2011;
Even though Prairie du Chien was technically a city it was still a very peaceful place. The two brothers had stopped in a motel which reminded them more of a forest camping site. The room had the quality of a hunting cabin from the outside to the inside. It even had a small fireplace, with a fake bear skin in front of it and a deer head above it (although it was difficult to tell if it was fake without climbing onto a chair to examine it). Sam went for some groceries, leaving the older brother in the room with his laptop.
But researching wasn't really something the hunter could do right now, he was tired from a whole day of driving. Looking at the bear pelt, in the back of his mind thinking how nice it would be to bring a hot chick in here, and have sex with her on the bear skin, but most likely he wouldn't have time for it.
Dean sighed and opened the small fridge in the corner of the room to extract a cold beer. When he closed the door of the fridge he spotted Castiel standing in the middle of the room right next to the fake bear skin staring at it with an expression, which Dean thought seemed to be hiding some kind of emotion, but it was impossible to read.
Dean had given up on freaking out at the angel's appearances without warning long ago. If he still lectured Castiel on it from time to time, it was simply because the angel had behaved like a total jerk lately, concerned with nothing but his 'heavenly business.' Dean remembered a time, about two years ago, when Castiel would visit them simply because he had wanted to, because he had been to tired of searching for an absent father, or simply had wanted company. It had often happened in those moments when Sam wasn't around. The hunter and the angel had shared a beer, staring at the TV screen and not saying a single word: their friendship had never needed words. It was simply pleasant to be near each-other sometimes, knowing that both of them were throat deep in shit and still making time for each other. But that time was long since gone. Now apparently Castiel was a big boss up in heaven, and gifted the Winchesters with his holy presence only when he had important business.
Right now was probably one of these business visits as well. Dean waited a second, watching the angel continue sending the fake fur some kind of non-verbal message. Dean had no idea what Castiel was thinking about, but it was probably not what Dean had been thinking when he had looked at the same fur several moments ago. As far as the hunter knew Castiel still had his virginity intact, maybe that was why he looked grumpier with every passing week. The guy really needed a good lay.
Dean shook his head, trying to banish the totally inappropriate thoughts about the angel having sex. For some reason it was an unpleasant thought and Dean decided that he would try not to put "Castiel" and "sex" in the same thought from now on.
"Do you want a beer?" Dean asked.
Castiel finally tore his gaze from the skin and looked at the hunter. "Yes, I'll accept that offer. Than you." He replied. Dean reached into the fridge for the second time and extracted the second bottle and offering it to the angel. Castiel took the bottle from Dean's hand and moved to sit on one of the chairs around the wooden table. Dean followed his friend's example taking a seat on the opposite side.
"I don't understand," Castiel started, "what is the point of making a rug look like a dangerous animal?"
For a moment it was the same old Castiel Dean used to know, used to fight alongside. Half fallen angel who was still kicking demon asses and carried knowledge of billions of years, but at the same time couldn't understand simple human things like fake bear pelts or why a brand of toilet paper was called 'angel soft' because "angels weren't corporeal in their true form, and so had no texture that humans were capable of sensing."
Dean looked at Castiel and noticed how wary he was. It looked like the angel had aged in the past two years, it seemed as though there were more wrinkles under his eyes, of course Dean knew that Castiel couldn't actually age and Jimmy had been only four years older than Dean when Castiel had possessed him (which right now made this difference only one year) but everything the angel had experienced seemed to be imprinted on his vessel's face like the years had actually mattered. Dean found himself longing to reach for the angel and smooth the wariness from his features with the tip of his fingers, but didn't because that would be too inappropriate.
"Well, it makes it look cozy, you know…" Dean replied to the angel's question.
"Do you find it cozy?" Castiel asked.
"Well, it could be." Dean grinned remembering his short fantasy about the rug, but before Castiel could ask in what way it could be cozy, he added. "Discussing fake animal pelts wasn't the real reason you came, was it?"
Castiel took a long sip from his beer and shivered slightly, like he wanted to say something important but didn't know how.
"Come on man, spill it." Dean encouraged.
"This girl, your daughter. She is hiding something." Castiel started.
"Of course she is, like who her mom is for example, and which shirt will be my favorite in ten years."
"No, I don't mean that," Castiel disagreed. "I mean something bigger."
"Like she isn't my daughter and simply trying to manipulate me?" Dean inquired.
"Not that either. I do believe that she is your daughter, and the information about the Logos that she gave us was extremely useful. I talked to some of my generals, Balthazar included, and they all think that the Logos could actually exist."
"So what's the problem then? I mean, I know everything lately seems kinda sketchy, and I don't exactly trust her with everything yet either, but she is a nice girl. At least try to give her a chance."
Castiel was silent for a moment, considering the hunter's words. "I will try." He nodded "I just… I just worry about you, Dean." He added.
Oh… Castiel was worrying about him. That was touching, and not even in a sarcastic way, but for real. Dean felt a small wave of warmth rushing over him. "Thanks man." Dean smiled.
"Dean…" Castiel continued. "If we are able to find the Logos, I can stop Raphael and his army."
"I know Cas," Dean nodded. "But there are also urgent things happening here on Earth."
"You don't understand Dean."
"Ok, so enlighten me!" Dean said flinging his arms up.
"If Raphael wins…" Castiel paused, averting his gaze. "If he wins, the first thing he will do is open Lucifer's Cage again. The Apocalypse will come all over again."
"Ok, I've heard this story too many times Cas. There's nothing new you could add?" Dean groaned angrily.
"Dean, I'm sorry, I just couldn't. Everything you gave up to protect this world and now… I can't ask you for more, I'm just trying to protect you, to stop Raphael so you wouldn't have to."
A light shiver ran through Dean's spine. Dean had no idea what made the angel come to him with a look like a kicked puppy, telling him that all he wanted was to protect Dean. Before this Dean had been sure that the angel didn't want Dean in his life anymore and that was why he had been avoiding him all this time, and all that time the hunter had spent with Lisa and Ben, trying to forget about his past, he had failed miserably.
"Cas…" Dean sighed. "You should have come earlier. You should have said something! We are together in this, and if I or Sam can help." Dean mumbled.
"You are helping." Castiel cut him off.
"Yeah, every time you need something you come down and order us around like we are your own soldiers, without even explaining."
"Isn't that what you're doing with me?" The angel replied.
"Don't even start!" Dean felt like the blood in his veins was boiling with anger. He knew that Castiel's words had a little truth in them and he tried to calm down. "We are both full of crap, all right? Let's just try to behave like adults, instead of trying to find out who's right and who's wrong."
"I'm sorry…" Castiel apologized.
"It's ok, man…" Dean nodded clapping the angel on his shoulder. "We'll finish up here and we'll dig deeper into the search for the damn book, I promise, and if the shit hits the fan, I'll be here, ok?"
Castiel looked at Dean like with those huge blue eyes in that overly emotive way of his that made Dean's heart swell. "Thank you Dean." Castiel said. "And if you need my help, I am also here. Anytime." And with that the angel was gone, leaving a half-empty bottle of beer on the table.
***The morgue worker looked like an actor from one of the TV shows Dean used to watch with Lisa. He wasn't the hot heartbreaker type, more like a very minor role, a poor shmuck who didn't really like his job, half bald and in his late thirties. His baldness and grim features made him appear ready for retirement thirty years early. He gave the two brothers a look like he cared neither for their presence in the morgue nor for the fact that the dead bodies of teenagers were starting to pop up like mushrooms after a rain all around the city. Dean was sure that he would have let them in even if they didn't have their badges.
"David Harrison, sixteen years old, Prairie du Chein High School student, has been found in the area of Bloody Run County Park in Iowa." He announced with no enthusiasm as he pulled the body out of the shelf. "All the blood in his body was replaced with water." he added without surprise like it was something he had seen every day.
"Do you have any logical explanation for how that could have happened?" Sam inquired.
The Morgue worker sized the younger Winchester up from head to toe before shrugging his shoulders: "A ghost?" he proposed.
"What, is it often that ghosts kidnap people around there?" Dean asked in amusement.
"Well, The Bloody Run is famous for its spookiness. They even have their own ghost cave, you know." The doctor replied.
"And do you believe in it?" Sam asked.
"Listen, my working schedule ended four hours ago when I finished with my night shift. The guy who supposed to come after me is on a vacation for the past six days. I'm tired, I want to go home. I have no idea what happened with this kid or how this was possible, so if you excuse me…" He smiled awkwardly and started to head out of the room.
"Umm, excuse me Dr.…" Sam glanced over the nametag of the morgue worker. "Dr. Crunch, one more question."
"All right," Nodded Crunch with this an expression on his face that said that every second spent at work was giving him an extra headache. Dean noted that the name of the doctor suited him well.
"You said that the other worker hasn't been showing for the last six days, isn't that the time when the disappearances started?"
"Well…" The worker actually took a moment to think about the idea and then nodded. "Yeah, he took time off exactly at the time the kids started to go missing."
"Do you know if there is any connection between him and the victims?" Sam asked.
"Now that I think about it, yes." Mister Crunch agreed. "His son works as a janitor in the school where the missing boys were going."
"Is his son ok?" Dean inquired.
The morgue worker rubbed his head and bit his lip, it looked like he only now started to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. "I'm not sure how to answer that," he admitted. "I have never been close to Gary, or his son. The guy is as okay as he can be for a kid with a pervasive developmental disorder and genetic defects."
"Pervasive developmental disorder?" Dean asked again.
"Autism" Sam explained quickly, then turned his attention back to doctor Crunch.
"Were they connected in any other way?"
"Well, you see Daniel is a very… unusual guy, especially in the eyes of kids like David" Crunch nodded towards the dead body. "I can imagine kids picking on him for that, but I really have no idea how this could be connected."
"I think that's all we wanted to know, we can pick up from there." Sam smiled
"So, witchcraft maybe?" Sam turned to his brother when the morgue worker left them alone with the corpse. "It would make sense. A group of teenagers started to pick on the poor guy, dad decided to deal with it in non-standard ways."
"But my EMF detector screams 'a ghost' over here" Dean pointed out on the small device he was checking the body with. "Maybe this Mr. Crunch is trying to wind us up?"
"Well, there is only one way to find out" Sam nodded knowingly.
***Gary Oakford was living in a typical suburb in the northern part of Prairie du Chein. There was nothing suspicious or outstanding about his house or his lifestyle. There also wasn't anything suspicious about the man himself. He was born and lived all his life here in the west border of Minnesota, raising his child all alone. He was one of those typical guys who had never stood out in the crowd because everything about him was so average, so similar to millions and millions of other people around the world: not a genius, but not stupid, not rich, but could afford a vacation from time to time, not ugly, but far from someone who could get on the cover of Men's Health. But there were rumors about a woman who had changed his life. People were describing her as the most beautiful woman they had ever seen, gorgeous and kind. They had no idea why she'd pick a guy like Gary, but she had. A year later she had given birth to a child and suddenly disappeared. Gary believed that something bad had happened to her, those around him simply thought that she'd realized her mistake, or that she'd thought she couldn't handle the responsibility of a disabled child and simply ran away.
"So, all the missing children were going to the school where Daniel works?" Inquired Dean who was sitting in front of the man in a small living room.
"Yes, yes they were" Nodded Gary.
"Were there any incidents between the kids and your son?"
Gary gave the two agents a confused look then shook his head. "I don't understand, are you blaming my son for this? That's absurd, Daniel never even leaves the house on his own. I'm the one who drives him to and from school every day."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Oakford, we don't have any suspects yet, it's just standard procedure questioning, we have to cover every possibility." Sam tried to calm the guy down.
"Well yeah, my son isn't exactly normal, you see… he is very shy and smart. A year ago they decided to open an Archeology experimental class, and as my son had always had a lot of passion in the topic he decided to join the program. It was difficult to find a way to make it work, but we did. He got a job as a janitor in the school as I wasn't able to drive him for only one class. Daniel is a really good guy, he just has a lot of trouble communicating with others, and his appearance also plays a role. I know he is strong enough to hold his own, but he never does, he just allows the kids to do whatever they want to him."
"Whatever they want?" Dean inquired.
"Well, once they took his phone and locked him in a maintenance closet. Daniel was in there half the day because the only way to leave was for him was to break the lock and he didn't want to damage school property."
"And no-one from the school faculty did anything about it? I mean stealing a phone isn't exactly a prank, it's straight forward robbery." Sam asked.
"They could have done something about it, but they don't have any proof. Plus one of the kids responsible was the principal's own son, who in turn is good friends with the sheriff. I think you can imagine how that works."
"Yeah, pretty much," Dean started. "Seems like this whole situation could make you a little angry, you know, make you want some justice?"
This time Gary look at Dean with annoyance. "I know what game you're playing here, agents." He said. "I also have a degree in criminology. I know that I have no alibi, and the motive to do something to those kids, since my vacation coincidentally matched up with the time of the first disappearance, but let me tell you something. When I first heard that the kids who bullied my son went missing I felt mixed feelings. Part of me was happy that God had brought them to justice, I'm not going to lie. But another part of me knew how wrong that was. They are only kids and of course they pull stupid things on each other, I know this from my own school days, and a stolen phone wasn't worth their lives. I immediately regretted my own thoughts, and I still do."
"I understand Mr. Oakford" Sam nodded. "We really don't blame you for anything."
"Oh… Mr. Oakford?" Dean smiled. "May I use your bathroom?"
Gary simply nodded and pointed Dean toward the direction of the bathroom. Dean excused himself and wandered from the room, finding himself in a small corridor. On one side was the bathroom and on the other side there were three doors leading to different rooms. One of them was ajar and Dean looked into it noticing a guy sitting in front of his desk and writing something. Dean realized what Gary had likely meant by his appearance causing him problems, the kid was simply humongous. His shoulders weren't muscular but they were way wider than even Dean had, and if he were to stand up Dean was sure he would dwarf even Sam. Dean quickly checked his EMF (since the dead boy had definitely had spirit contact the moment before his death), but the device was silent. If there was anything ghost related in the house, like if the father decided to bind a spirit with some sort of a spell, the EMF would have pick it up even if the ritual wasn't performed in the house, the traces would still stick to things like clothes.
Dean checked the master and guest bedrooms, but there wasn't anything. Hiding his EMF detector again, Dean returned to the living room.
***Talking to the kids and the principal of the Prairie du Chain High School didn't have any better results. The principal was (of course) sure that the disappearances weren't connected to the school in any way and the fact that all the missing or dead kids were going to the same school was a simple coincidence. Two guys who were with David the day of his disappearance, Steve and Chris, hadn't seen anything either. According to their story they had simply gone for a camping trip to a neighboring state, and dared each other into wandering into a spooky looking forest. They didn't hear or see anything weird before their friend disappeared.
With empty hands and more questions than answers the two brothers returned to the motel room to do some research on any cases with people drowning in the river around the Bloody run, but they still came up with nothing.
"All right, we have three missing kids over six days. All of them were going to the same school and were sort of… bullies." Sam was trying to make a sense of it by reciting the facts. "All of them were connected to a guy named Daniel, but the two dead guys were definitely killed by a ghost and there weren't any traces of ghosts in the Oakford house." No, the evidences didn't make any sense in Dean's opinion. "I don't think Daniel and his father are connected to it actually." Sam admitted.
"So, we are back to square one." Dean sighed. "What now?"
"I don't know" the younger brother admitted. With that he moved his laptop closer, returning to his research. "Maybe this will help us out…" He sighed turning the screen so Dean could read.
"Another body of a missing child had been found in the Limery Ridge Natural Area" Dean read the start of the police report, "that's pretty close to our motel."
"I think we should go." Sam said standing up from the table.
***"I've never seen anything like this before," admitted the police officer who was leading the two brothers to the crime scene.
"What do you mean?" Inquired Dean.
"Well, see for yourself." The officer sighed and pointed to a rock accumulation, which was surrounded with yellow tape. Several other police officers were fussing around it taking pictures of the scene. An ambulance was staying nearby and a teenage girl with long blond hair was sitting in it, crying. On one side of her stood a doctor and on the other - a police officer who was asking the girl questions.
When Dean took a closer look to the pile of rocks he could finally see what the police officer meant: here, half stuck into a rock was hanging the body of one of the missing boys.
"It looks like the kid actually melted into the rock." The officer said. "I have no idea how it could have happened."
"Do you mind if we take a closer look?" Sam asked.
"Sure, suite yourself, agents," the officer nodded.
When Dean stepped closer to the guy the EMF detector signaled in his pocket with loud beeps. The older Winchester reached into his pocket and turned it off.
"Well, that would explain," Sam pointed out as he heard the signal. "Poor thing."
The head of the dead boy was halfway sunk into the rock and his face was twisted with pain and fear. It wasn't a pleasant thing to see, and even Dean who saw a lot of awful stuff in his life twitched in empathy because the death likely wasn't fast.
"Excuse me, officer." Sam called. "There were witnesses this time, weren't there?" He asked when the officer turned his attention to the younger Winchester.
"Yes," The officer replied. "The girlfriend of the dead guy insists that she saw how it happened four days ago. Since then she had been coming here every day to look for Alex for herself and today she found this." The officer explained.
"Can we talk to her?" Sam asked.
"Of course, but I don't think it will tell you anything."
"Why do you say that?"
"You see…" The officer rubbed his forehead looking away. "It often happens that the death of a close one can lead to… psychological issues."
"What kind of issues?" Dean inquired.
"The girl insisted that a ghost did it to her boyfriend."
Sam approached the girl flashing the other officers who were talking to her his FBI badge and gestured for them to give him some privacy.
"Mind telling us what happened?" he asked when the officer left them.
The girl looked at the younger Winchester and then turned her head away. "You won't believe me," she whispered. "No one does."
"Just try us." Dean pulled one of the best smiles he had in his arsenal.
The girl gave him a disbelieving look but actually started to talk. "It was a woman, she was dressed in white." She started, "four days ago me and Alex were walking around the park late at night. It was nearly empty, it was very romantic. But then we heard this song."
"A song?" Asked Sam
"Yeah," The girl nodded. "This woman was sitting over this pond," she pointed to the direction of a small pond in the middle of the park, "she was washing something in it and singing. It was a really quiet melody and so sad." The girl shivered at the memory. "Alex decided to approach her and suddenly both of them disappeared. Just vanished."
"Anything else you noticed about the woman?" Sam inquired.
"No, it was dark." The girl shook her head. "But I swear I'm telling the truth! Anyway, there is no way I'm returning to school after this!" She groaned.
"Why is that?" Sam inquired.
"It's this stupid collection from a museum they brought us to study for history class. This all started with it. The guys were making jokes about it being damned with an ancient curse. All that crap was giving me goosebumps from the beginning and then this!"
Sam and Dean exchanged looks.
"All right, thank you for your time miss. And I'm really sorry about your boyfriend." Sam said to her.
The girl didn't reply, tugging the blanket further over her shoulders.
***"So, at least now we have something" Sam started when they finally returned to their room. "Six days ago the national museum Of History in Washington, the one who is sponsoring the experimental Archeology class, sent a rare collection of ancient artifacts to the school for students to study. Right now the collection is in the archive of the Prairie du Chein High School's History department. It's locked most of the time and only students under the watchful eye of the instructors are allowed to work with it."
"So, it's not the first time we've had to sneak into school late at night." Dean said.
"Well, it's not that easy." Sam shook his head. "We don't have a clue what to look for. Of course we could simply salt and burn every single item, but it could be problematic. Plus the security in there is pretty good. I'm sure I will be able to hack into the system and turn everything off but someone would notice it, so we would have no more than several minutes to grab what we had come for and disappear without a trace."
"So, what's the plan then?" Dean asked. "We can't pretend something else when the teachers and janitors already saw us as FBI agents."
Sam looked at his brother and sighed. "If we only had someone who could… I dunno pretend to be a student? Who could sneak in there and check everything before we act?"
Dean didn't immediately understand what his brother meant but when the realization suddenly hit him his response was vehement. "No!" He replied. "No frigging way in hell we are dragging Mary into this!"
To be Continued...
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Rating: overall R for language, violence, blood and sexual themes;
Genre: romance, adventure, time travel;
Pairing/Characters: Dean/Castiel (pre-slash), Sam, OFC;
Spoilers: The fic starts from the middle of season 6 and alternates the end of it, but also has spoilers for 7x1;
Word Count: WIP (4600 this part);
Beta: eridanie;
Chapter Disclaimer: This chapter is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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Next>>
Masterpost
Chapter 7
A Song of a Banshee. Part 2
March 2011;
Even though Prairie du Chien was technically a city it was still a very peaceful place. The two brothers had stopped in a motel which reminded them more of a forest camping site. The room had the quality of a hunting cabin from the outside to the inside. It even had a small fireplace, with a fake bear skin in front of it and a deer head above it (although it was difficult to tell if it was fake without climbing onto a chair to examine it). Sam went for some groceries, leaving the older brother in the room with his laptop.
But researching wasn't really something the hunter could do right now, he was tired from a whole day of driving. Looking at the bear pelt, in the back of his mind thinking how nice it would be to bring a hot chick in here, and have sex with her on the bear skin, but most likely he wouldn't have time for it.
Dean sighed and opened the small fridge in the corner of the room to extract a cold beer. When he closed the door of the fridge he spotted Castiel standing in the middle of the room right next to the fake bear skin staring at it with an expression, which Dean thought seemed to be hiding some kind of emotion, but it was impossible to read.
Dean had given up on freaking out at the angel's appearances without warning long ago. If he still lectured Castiel on it from time to time, it was simply because the angel had behaved like a total jerk lately, concerned with nothing but his 'heavenly business.' Dean remembered a time, about two years ago, when Castiel would visit them simply because he had wanted to, because he had been to tired of searching for an absent father, or simply had wanted company. It had often happened in those moments when Sam wasn't around. The hunter and the angel had shared a beer, staring at the TV screen and not saying a single word: their friendship had never needed words. It was simply pleasant to be near each-other sometimes, knowing that both of them were throat deep in shit and still making time for each other. But that time was long since gone. Now apparently Castiel was a big boss up in heaven, and gifted the Winchesters with his holy presence only when he had important business.
Right now was probably one of these business visits as well. Dean waited a second, watching the angel continue sending the fake fur some kind of non-verbal message. Dean had no idea what Castiel was thinking about, but it was probably not what Dean had been thinking when he had looked at the same fur several moments ago. As far as the hunter knew Castiel still had his virginity intact, maybe that was why he looked grumpier with every passing week. The guy really needed a good lay.
Dean shook his head, trying to banish the totally inappropriate thoughts about the angel having sex. For some reason it was an unpleasant thought and Dean decided that he would try not to put "Castiel" and "sex" in the same thought from now on.
"Do you want a beer?" Dean asked.
Castiel finally tore his gaze from the skin and looked at the hunter. "Yes, I'll accept that offer. Than you." He replied. Dean reached into the fridge for the second time and extracted the second bottle and offering it to the angel. Castiel took the bottle from Dean's hand and moved to sit on one of the chairs around the wooden table. Dean followed his friend's example taking a seat on the opposite side.
"I don't understand," Castiel started, "what is the point of making a rug look like a dangerous animal?"
For a moment it was the same old Castiel Dean used to know, used to fight alongside. Half fallen angel who was still kicking demon asses and carried knowledge of billions of years, but at the same time couldn't understand simple human things like fake bear pelts or why a brand of toilet paper was called 'angel soft' because "angels weren't corporeal in their true form, and so had no texture that humans were capable of sensing."
Dean looked at Castiel and noticed how wary he was. It looked like the angel had aged in the past two years, it seemed as though there were more wrinkles under his eyes, of course Dean knew that Castiel couldn't actually age and Jimmy had been only four years older than Dean when Castiel had possessed him (which right now made this difference only one year) but everything the angel had experienced seemed to be imprinted on his vessel's face like the years had actually mattered. Dean found himself longing to reach for the angel and smooth the wariness from his features with the tip of his fingers, but didn't because that would be too inappropriate.
"Well, it makes it look cozy, you know…" Dean replied to the angel's question.
"Do you find it cozy?" Castiel asked.
"Well, it could be." Dean grinned remembering his short fantasy about the rug, but before Castiel could ask in what way it could be cozy, he added. "Discussing fake animal pelts wasn't the real reason you came, was it?"
Castiel took a long sip from his beer and shivered slightly, like he wanted to say something important but didn't know how.
"Come on man, spill it." Dean encouraged.
"This girl, your daughter. She is hiding something." Castiel started.
"Of course she is, like who her mom is for example, and which shirt will be my favorite in ten years."
"No, I don't mean that," Castiel disagreed. "I mean something bigger."
"Like she isn't my daughter and simply trying to manipulate me?" Dean inquired.
"Not that either. I do believe that she is your daughter, and the information about the Logos that she gave us was extremely useful. I talked to some of my generals, Balthazar included, and they all think that the Logos could actually exist."
"So what's the problem then? I mean, I know everything lately seems kinda sketchy, and I don't exactly trust her with everything yet either, but she is a nice girl. At least try to give her a chance."
Castiel was silent for a moment, considering the hunter's words. "I will try." He nodded "I just… I just worry about you, Dean." He added.
Oh… Castiel was worrying about him. That was touching, and not even in a sarcastic way, but for real. Dean felt a small wave of warmth rushing over him. "Thanks man." Dean smiled.
"Dean…" Castiel continued. "If we are able to find the Logos, I can stop Raphael and his army."
"I know Cas," Dean nodded. "But there are also urgent things happening here on Earth."
"You don't understand Dean."
"Ok, so enlighten me!" Dean said flinging his arms up.
"If Raphael wins…" Castiel paused, averting his gaze. "If he wins, the first thing he will do is open Lucifer's Cage again. The Apocalypse will come all over again."
"Ok, I've heard this story too many times Cas. There's nothing new you could add?" Dean groaned angrily.
"Dean, I'm sorry, I just couldn't. Everything you gave up to protect this world and now… I can't ask you for more, I'm just trying to protect you, to stop Raphael so you wouldn't have to."
A light shiver ran through Dean's spine. Dean had no idea what made the angel come to him with a look like a kicked puppy, telling him that all he wanted was to protect Dean. Before this Dean had been sure that the angel didn't want Dean in his life anymore and that was why he had been avoiding him all this time, and all that time the hunter had spent with Lisa and Ben, trying to forget about his past, he had failed miserably.
"Cas…" Dean sighed. "You should have come earlier. You should have said something! We are together in this, and if I or Sam can help." Dean mumbled.
"You are helping." Castiel cut him off.
"Yeah, every time you need something you come down and order us around like we are your own soldiers, without even explaining."
"Isn't that what you're doing with me?" The angel replied.
"Don't even start!" Dean felt like the blood in his veins was boiling with anger. He knew that Castiel's words had a little truth in them and he tried to calm down. "We are both full of crap, all right? Let's just try to behave like adults, instead of trying to find out who's right and who's wrong."
"I'm sorry…" Castiel apologized.
"It's ok, man…" Dean nodded clapping the angel on his shoulder. "We'll finish up here and we'll dig deeper into the search for the damn book, I promise, and if the shit hits the fan, I'll be here, ok?"
Castiel looked at Dean like with those huge blue eyes in that overly emotive way of his that made Dean's heart swell. "Thank you Dean." Castiel said. "And if you need my help, I am also here. Anytime." And with that the angel was gone, leaving a half-empty bottle of beer on the table.
***The morgue worker looked like an actor from one of the TV shows Dean used to watch with Lisa. He wasn't the hot heartbreaker type, more like a very minor role, a poor shmuck who didn't really like his job, half bald and in his late thirties. His baldness and grim features made him appear ready for retirement thirty years early. He gave the two brothers a look like he cared neither for their presence in the morgue nor for the fact that the dead bodies of teenagers were starting to pop up like mushrooms after a rain all around the city. Dean was sure that he would have let them in even if they didn't have their badges.
"David Harrison, sixteen years old, Prairie du Chein High School student, has been found in the area of Bloody Run County Park in Iowa." He announced with no enthusiasm as he pulled the body out of the shelf. "All the blood in his body was replaced with water." he added without surprise like it was something he had seen every day.
"Do you have any logical explanation for how that could have happened?" Sam inquired.
The Morgue worker sized the younger Winchester up from head to toe before shrugging his shoulders: "A ghost?" he proposed.
"What, is it often that ghosts kidnap people around there?" Dean asked in amusement.
"Well, The Bloody Run is famous for its spookiness. They even have their own ghost cave, you know." The doctor replied.
"And do you believe in it?" Sam asked.
"Listen, my working schedule ended four hours ago when I finished with my night shift. The guy who supposed to come after me is on a vacation for the past six days. I'm tired, I want to go home. I have no idea what happened with this kid or how this was possible, so if you excuse me…" He smiled awkwardly and started to head out of the room.
"Umm, excuse me Dr.…" Sam glanced over the nametag of the morgue worker. "Dr. Crunch, one more question."
"All right," Nodded Crunch with this an expression on his face that said that every second spent at work was giving him an extra headache. Dean noted that the name of the doctor suited him well.
"You said that the other worker hasn't been showing for the last six days, isn't that the time when the disappearances started?"
"Well…" The worker actually took a moment to think about the idea and then nodded. "Yeah, he took time off exactly at the time the kids started to go missing."
"Do you know if there is any connection between him and the victims?" Sam asked.
"Now that I think about it, yes." Mister Crunch agreed. "His son works as a janitor in the school where the missing boys were going."
"Is his son ok?" Dean inquired.
The morgue worker rubbed his head and bit his lip, it looked like he only now started to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. "I'm not sure how to answer that," he admitted. "I have never been close to Gary, or his son. The guy is as okay as he can be for a kid with a pervasive developmental disorder and genetic defects."
"Pervasive developmental disorder?" Dean asked again.
"Autism" Sam explained quickly, then turned his attention back to doctor Crunch.
"Were they connected in any other way?"
"Well, you see Daniel is a very… unusual guy, especially in the eyes of kids like David" Crunch nodded towards the dead body. "I can imagine kids picking on him for that, but I really have no idea how this could be connected."
"I think that's all we wanted to know, we can pick up from there." Sam smiled
"So, witchcraft maybe?" Sam turned to his brother when the morgue worker left them alone with the corpse. "It would make sense. A group of teenagers started to pick on the poor guy, dad decided to deal with it in non-standard ways."
"But my EMF detector screams 'a ghost' over here" Dean pointed out on the small device he was checking the body with. "Maybe this Mr. Crunch is trying to wind us up?"
"Well, there is only one way to find out" Sam nodded knowingly.
***Gary Oakford was living in a typical suburb in the northern part of Prairie du Chein. There was nothing suspicious or outstanding about his house or his lifestyle. There also wasn't anything suspicious about the man himself. He was born and lived all his life here in the west border of Minnesota, raising his child all alone. He was one of those typical guys who had never stood out in the crowd because everything about him was so average, so similar to millions and millions of other people around the world: not a genius, but not stupid, not rich, but could afford a vacation from time to time, not ugly, but far from someone who could get on the cover of Men's Health. But there were rumors about a woman who had changed his life. People were describing her as the most beautiful woman they had ever seen, gorgeous and kind. They had no idea why she'd pick a guy like Gary, but she had. A year later she had given birth to a child and suddenly disappeared. Gary believed that something bad had happened to her, those around him simply thought that she'd realized her mistake, or that she'd thought she couldn't handle the responsibility of a disabled child and simply ran away.
"So, all the missing children were going to the school where Daniel works?" Inquired Dean who was sitting in front of the man in a small living room.
"Yes, yes they were" Nodded Gary.
"Were there any incidents between the kids and your son?"
Gary gave the two agents a confused look then shook his head. "I don't understand, are you blaming my son for this? That's absurd, Daniel never even leaves the house on his own. I'm the one who drives him to and from school every day."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Oakford, we don't have any suspects yet, it's just standard procedure questioning, we have to cover every possibility." Sam tried to calm the guy down.
"Well yeah, my son isn't exactly normal, you see… he is very shy and smart. A year ago they decided to open an Archeology experimental class, and as my son had always had a lot of passion in the topic he decided to join the program. It was difficult to find a way to make it work, but we did. He got a job as a janitor in the school as I wasn't able to drive him for only one class. Daniel is a really good guy, he just has a lot of trouble communicating with others, and his appearance also plays a role. I know he is strong enough to hold his own, but he never does, he just allows the kids to do whatever they want to him."
"Whatever they want?" Dean inquired.
"Well, once they took his phone and locked him in a maintenance closet. Daniel was in there half the day because the only way to leave was for him was to break the lock and he didn't want to damage school property."
"And no-one from the school faculty did anything about it? I mean stealing a phone isn't exactly a prank, it's straight forward robbery." Sam asked.
"They could have done something about it, but they don't have any proof. Plus one of the kids responsible was the principal's own son, who in turn is good friends with the sheriff. I think you can imagine how that works."
"Yeah, pretty much," Dean started. "Seems like this whole situation could make you a little angry, you know, make you want some justice?"
This time Gary look at Dean with annoyance. "I know what game you're playing here, agents." He said. "I also have a degree in criminology. I know that I have no alibi, and the motive to do something to those kids, since my vacation coincidentally matched up with the time of the first disappearance, but let me tell you something. When I first heard that the kids who bullied my son went missing I felt mixed feelings. Part of me was happy that God had brought them to justice, I'm not going to lie. But another part of me knew how wrong that was. They are only kids and of course they pull stupid things on each other, I know this from my own school days, and a stolen phone wasn't worth their lives. I immediately regretted my own thoughts, and I still do."
"I understand Mr. Oakford" Sam nodded. "We really don't blame you for anything."
"Oh… Mr. Oakford?" Dean smiled. "May I use your bathroom?"
Gary simply nodded and pointed Dean toward the direction of the bathroom. Dean excused himself and wandered from the room, finding himself in a small corridor. On one side was the bathroom and on the other side there were three doors leading to different rooms. One of them was ajar and Dean looked into it noticing a guy sitting in front of his desk and writing something. Dean realized what Gary had likely meant by his appearance causing him problems, the kid was simply humongous. His shoulders weren't muscular but they were way wider than even Dean had, and if he were to stand up Dean was sure he would dwarf even Sam. Dean quickly checked his EMF (since the dead boy had definitely had spirit contact the moment before his death), but the device was silent. If there was anything ghost related in the house, like if the father decided to bind a spirit with some sort of a spell, the EMF would have pick it up even if the ritual wasn't performed in the house, the traces would still stick to things like clothes.
Dean checked the master and guest bedrooms, but there wasn't anything. Hiding his EMF detector again, Dean returned to the living room.
***Talking to the kids and the principal of the Prairie du Chain High School didn't have any better results. The principal was (of course) sure that the disappearances weren't connected to the school in any way and the fact that all the missing or dead kids were going to the same school was a simple coincidence. Two guys who were with David the day of his disappearance, Steve and Chris, hadn't seen anything either. According to their story they had simply gone for a camping trip to a neighboring state, and dared each other into wandering into a spooky looking forest. They didn't hear or see anything weird before their friend disappeared.
With empty hands and more questions than answers the two brothers returned to the motel room to do some research on any cases with people drowning in the river around the Bloody run, but they still came up with nothing.
"All right, we have three missing kids over six days. All of them were going to the same school and were sort of… bullies." Sam was trying to make a sense of it by reciting the facts. "All of them were connected to a guy named Daniel, but the two dead guys were definitely killed by a ghost and there weren't any traces of ghosts in the Oakford house." No, the evidences didn't make any sense in Dean's opinion. "I don't think Daniel and his father are connected to it actually." Sam admitted.
"So, we are back to square one." Dean sighed. "What now?"
"I don't know" the younger brother admitted. With that he moved his laptop closer, returning to his research. "Maybe this will help us out…" He sighed turning the screen so Dean could read.
"Another body of a missing child had been found in the Limery Ridge Natural Area" Dean read the start of the police report, "that's pretty close to our motel."
"I think we should go." Sam said standing up from the table.
***"I've never seen anything like this before," admitted the police officer who was leading the two brothers to the crime scene.
"What do you mean?" Inquired Dean.
"Well, see for yourself." The officer sighed and pointed to a rock accumulation, which was surrounded with yellow tape. Several other police officers were fussing around it taking pictures of the scene. An ambulance was staying nearby and a teenage girl with long blond hair was sitting in it, crying. On one side of her stood a doctor and on the other - a police officer who was asking the girl questions.
When Dean took a closer look to the pile of rocks he could finally see what the police officer meant: here, half stuck into a rock was hanging the body of one of the missing boys.
"It looks like the kid actually melted into the rock." The officer said. "I have no idea how it could have happened."
"Do you mind if we take a closer look?" Sam asked.
"Sure, suite yourself, agents," the officer nodded.
When Dean stepped closer to the guy the EMF detector signaled in his pocket with loud beeps. The older Winchester reached into his pocket and turned it off.
"Well, that would explain," Sam pointed out as he heard the signal. "Poor thing."
The head of the dead boy was halfway sunk into the rock and his face was twisted with pain and fear. It wasn't a pleasant thing to see, and even Dean who saw a lot of awful stuff in his life twitched in empathy because the death likely wasn't fast.
"Excuse me, officer." Sam called. "There were witnesses this time, weren't there?" He asked when the officer turned his attention to the younger Winchester.
"Yes," The officer replied. "The girlfriend of the dead guy insists that she saw how it happened four days ago. Since then she had been coming here every day to look for Alex for herself and today she found this." The officer explained.
"Can we talk to her?" Sam asked.
"Of course, but I don't think it will tell you anything."
"Why do you say that?"
"You see…" The officer rubbed his forehead looking away. "It often happens that the death of a close one can lead to… psychological issues."
"What kind of issues?" Dean inquired.
"The girl insisted that a ghost did it to her boyfriend."
Sam approached the girl flashing the other officers who were talking to her his FBI badge and gestured for them to give him some privacy.
"Mind telling us what happened?" he asked when the officer left them.
The girl looked at the younger Winchester and then turned her head away. "You won't believe me," she whispered. "No one does."
"Just try us." Dean pulled one of the best smiles he had in his arsenal.
The girl gave him a disbelieving look but actually started to talk. "It was a woman, she was dressed in white." She started, "four days ago me and Alex were walking around the park late at night. It was nearly empty, it was very romantic. But then we heard this song."
"A song?" Asked Sam
"Yeah," The girl nodded. "This woman was sitting over this pond," she pointed to the direction of a small pond in the middle of the park, "she was washing something in it and singing. It was a really quiet melody and so sad." The girl shivered at the memory. "Alex decided to approach her and suddenly both of them disappeared. Just vanished."
"Anything else you noticed about the woman?" Sam inquired.
"No, it was dark." The girl shook her head. "But I swear I'm telling the truth! Anyway, there is no way I'm returning to school after this!" She groaned.
"Why is that?" Sam inquired.
"It's this stupid collection from a museum they brought us to study for history class. This all started with it. The guys were making jokes about it being damned with an ancient curse. All that crap was giving me goosebumps from the beginning and then this!"
Sam and Dean exchanged looks.
"All right, thank you for your time miss. And I'm really sorry about your boyfriend." Sam said to her.
The girl didn't reply, tugging the blanket further over her shoulders.
***"So, at least now we have something" Sam started when they finally returned to their room. "Six days ago the national museum Of History in Washington, the one who is sponsoring the experimental Archeology class, sent a rare collection of ancient artifacts to the school for students to study. Right now the collection is in the archive of the Prairie du Chein High School's History department. It's locked most of the time and only students under the watchful eye of the instructors are allowed to work with it."
"So, it's not the first time we've had to sneak into school late at night." Dean said.
"Well, it's not that easy." Sam shook his head. "We don't have a clue what to look for. Of course we could simply salt and burn every single item, but it could be problematic. Plus the security in there is pretty good. I'm sure I will be able to hack into the system and turn everything off but someone would notice it, so we would have no more than several minutes to grab what we had come for and disappear without a trace."
"So, what's the plan then?" Dean asked. "We can't pretend something else when the teachers and janitors already saw us as FBI agents."
Sam looked at his brother and sighed. "If we only had someone who could… I dunno pretend to be a student? Who could sneak in there and check everything before we act?"
Dean didn't immediately understand what his brother meant but when the realization suddenly hit him his response was vehement. "No!" He replied. "No frigging way in hell we are dragging Mary into this!"
To be Continued...
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