An Even Newer Testament (8/?)
“Nah, just have some friends in town. Wanted to see them before they had to leave.” She glanced suspiciously at the other three people at the table before taking their orders. His cover story was only moderately convincing, but it worked well enough.
Cas and Dean sat on one side of the table while Sam and Peter sat on the other. Sam began their conversation as soon as the waitress walked away. “So, what do you know about this thing exactly?”
“Well, I don’t know what it is, but it’s responsible for the grave robberies. I know it’s not human because of how fast it moves, but honestly I didn’t know angel existed yesterday so I can’t even begin to guess about what this thing is.”
“It’s a ghoul,” Dean replied. “Feeds off the flesh of the dead. It can take human form and honestly we thought it was you.”
“What? Why?”
“We got an anonymous tip. Obviously it was wrong. Anyway, the only way to kill it is decapitation so that gun you have tucked into your belt would have been completely useless.”
“Oh,” he said shifting uncomfortably. He didn’t realize his weapon was so obvious.
“It isn’t obvious,” Castiel responded to the man’s thoughts. “These men are just highly observant.”
“I…” The man was speechless. “You can…“ He pointed at his own head and Castiel nodded. “Wow, ok. I have a lot to learn.”
“Well, don’t feel bad about the whole angel thing," Dean said as he picked up his mug of coffee. "I was a hunter for almost thirty years before I knew they existed.”
“Hunter?”
“Yeah, it’s kind of what we’re called.”
“Oh.” The man was taking it all surprisingly well, but Dean understood where he was coming from. He was a fighter and he’d make a damn good hunter if he committed to it and worked on that whole screaming thing. But it was a commitment. It was an all consuming lifestyle that was nearly impossible to escape from.
When Dean’s phone started to ring they all stopped what they were doing and stared at him. He fished it out of his pocket and looked at the screen. “It’s Mrs. Robertson.” He opened it up and put it to his ear. “Hello?”
“It’s Max.”
“Hey Max, what’s up?”
Pete mouthed “who’s Max” at Sam.
“I’ll explain in a minute,” he said as he turned his attention back to his brother.
Dean listened to Max on the other end of the line. “So, I just woke up from another dream and I think it’s important.”
“Ok, what’d you dream?”
“You had this box thing with red lights on it.”
“The EMF?”
“I don’t know, maybe? Anyway, you gave it to this fat old mailman and he walked around with it, but he gets attacked by this thing so… maybe you shouldn’t do that?”
“Huh… interesting. What’d this thing look like.”
“It was really ugly and it’s what made me wake up. It looked like a dead person… like a zombie or something. I don’t want to think about it. I haven’t even eaten breakfast yet and just thinking about it is killing my appetite.”
“Sounds like a ghoul. Do you remember anything else? Where he was or anything?”
“No that’s it. Sorry man.”
“No, thanks kid. You’ve been a big help.” He hung up and pulled out his EMF meter. “Pete, I’ve got some bad news for you.”
“What?”
“You are about to have a very bad day,” he said as he handed the EMF to Pete.
-
Mailman Pete went on his rounds that day with Dean’s EMF meter in hand and the Impala rolling slowly down the street behind him. Sam and Dean were on alert for the attack and were ready to shout for Castiel the moment the ghoul made its appearance. Once they’d explained the situation, Pete readily volunteered for the job. He was clearly nervous, but he guaranteed that he was in this for the long haul.
For several hours the brothers uneventfully tracked the mailman. However, the EMF suddenly started going crazy when he approached a modest beige house near the end of the block. Though they couldn’t hear it from back in the car, they could see the lights flashing and watched as Pete turned around to check out their position. He held up the EMF and shrugged his shoulders. Sam and Dean hopped from the car and were at his side in an instant.
They looked around and saw nothing suspicious. “Well, you didn’t get attacked, so that’s a good thing,” Dean said bluntly. “Guess this free will thing’s going pretty well so far. The vision didn't take.”
Sam took the EMF from Pete and started to scan the area. The meter shot up as he scanned the house in front of them. “Ok, let’s check this out.”
“What should I do?” Pete said.
“Uh, well,” Dean rubbed the back of his neck. “You can either help us or continue with your job. Your choice.”
Pete glanced at his basket of mail. “I could get fired if I abandon this.”
“Guess that decides that then, doesn’t it?”
Pete obviously didn’t want to abandon them, but he did have a day job to balance. He was committed to helping the hunters, but he promised he'd listen to them. Pete gave the brothers a nod. “Good luck guys. I hope we can meet up tonight and resolve this whole ordeal.”
“Yeah, I hope we can too,” Sam said.
-
When Castiel arrived the three of them approached the house. Having Cas with them made more sense than approaching the suburban home with machetes drawn, but they were still concerned that the angel would scare the creature off. They hoped they made the right choice and charged on into the hunt.
“Cas, do you sense anything,” Dean asked.
“No. Not yet.”
As they approached the front door a black haired woman not much older than Dean stumbled out with a box of junk in her hands. The three men paused and watched her shut the door behind her with her foot, still not noticing them standing on her pathway. When she turned around and finally saw them she stopped and made a startled noise.
“Hello ma’am, I’m-“
“Dean Winchester,” she finished. She shuffled the box around in her arms to get a better view. “And let’s see, that makes you his angel,” she said as she gestured to Castiel. “And his brother?” She looked at Sam.
“Uh… yeah. How do you know all of this shit?” Dean crossed his arms and stared at the woman.
She sighed and set her box down on the ground. “I’m Sue,” she said as she extended her hand to Dean. When he didn’t return the gesture she retracted her hand. “Former hunter. I believe Bobby sent you here to work on the case I’d been building?”
“Yeah, about that. The mailman? Human. Why’d you think he was the ghoul?”
“Well, he was in the graveyard every night. It made sense.”
“Ok, got it. You were wrong, just so you know,” Dean said smirking. He really didn’t like this woman. “How do you know so much shit about me?”
“Are… are you kidding?” She looked at Sam and Cas who were staring at her with similar frustrated expressions. “You aren’t kidding. You’re famous, Dean.”
“Right, famous. I’m afraid you’re going to have to get a bit more detailed.”
The woman sighed again and looked around her front yard. “Ok, come inside. I try to keep this stuff a secret from the neighbors.”
They recognized the unmistakable outline of a Devil’s Trap peeking out from under the rugs at the front entrance and spotted the salt lines across the window sills, but for the most part it looked like a typical suburban home. When they entered the living room they saw a small toddler playing with a set of blocks in the corner and various toys thrown about. Upon seeing Castiel the child began to giggle and point at him.
Sue picked up the kid and set her in a small playpen. “Sorry about that. Kids tend to see things we don’t, but she’s never seen an angel before. Plenty of ghosts though…” She gestured at the couch. “Please, have a seat. Can I get you guys anything to drink?”
“Uh, no,” Dean said as he planted himself on the couch. “Just get on with it already. I’m tired of everyone knowing more about me than I do.” Sam and Castiel took a seat on either side of Dean and they all stared at Sue expectantly.
She sat on the chair on the opposite side of the coffee table and exhaled. “Ok, I use to be a hunter. But now I’m just a support player. Kind of like Bobby, you know? Anyway, I dropped out because of Molly over there.” She motioned towards the playpen where the kid was still laughing and reaching out between the bars at the angel. “I tend to hear a lot of chatter and that hasn’t slowed down any now that the number of hunters has hit an all-time low. Actually, it’s picked up. There are less people to gossip about, I guess, so the people that are left get a lot more attention.”
“So what gossip have you heard about me?”
“That you, your brother, and your angel turned destiny on its head. You broke fate. When I heard you were taking my case I was thrilled! You have no idea how much I admire you and appreciate what you did. The world would have ended if it weren’t for you. I was pregnant with Molly during the apocalypse. She would have never been born if the three of you didn’t do what you did. And millions, if not billions of people would have been dead.”
The three of them stared at her with a mix of astonishment and embarrassment. Dean felt bad at being so snappy with her since she seemed like a fan of theirs, but he was still uncomfortable with the idea of being the center of the latest hunter gossip. “So… what else have people been gossiping about? Anything else about me?”
Sam groaned. “Dean…”
“What? I’m curious!”
Sue laughed. “Yeah… some stuff…” She glanced at Castiel.
Dean raised his eyebrows. “Wait, what are you looking at him for?”
“Well,” she said as she let he gaze drift back over to Dean. “There’s a rumor that the two of you are lovers. But that’s ridiculous right?” When Dean’s face flushed she knew she was right. “It’s true? No way!”
“Why do you guys spend so much time gossiping? Don’t you have shit to do? Like make sure the guy we’re about to decapitate is actually a ghoul and not just some innocent by stander?”
“I can assure you the gossip is entirely relevant to the work we’re doing. We need to know who’s an ally and who isn’t.” She looked at the angel. “So I guess we can count you as an ally.”
“I am their ally,” Castiel said firmly as he nodded his head towards the Winchesters.
“Right. Well, I’ll try my best to stay on the Winchester’s good side then. I’d hate to find myself at the wrong end of an angel’s wrath.” She laughed nervously. “If you guys don’t mind, I do have a full day of work ahead of me.” She stood up from her seat. “If I can be of any help, just let me know.”
The three men stood from the couch and began walking towards the door. Castiel paused and walked over to the playpen. They all stopped in the middle of the room to watch the pending interaction. Cas bent down to be at eye level with the gurgling child who was still reaching out from the bars to touch him. He put his hand out cautiously and the girl grabbed onto his fingers. He tilted his head at the child. “Interesting…”
“What’s so interesting about Molly,” Sue asked as she stepped forward. There was a hint of nervousness in her voice.
“This soul was never meant to walk the earth. But here she is, vibrant and alive.” He turned to look at the mother. “Your daughter is a precious gift, Susan Wills.”
She looked like she was going to cry at his words, but instead she took a deep breath. “I-I know. Thank you. For everything.”
He stood up from beside the playpen and the child released his hand. They all headed for the door again when Dean paused. “Wait a minute. Our EMF went off like crazy in front of your house. What the hell was causing that?”
Sue smiled. “I’ve picked up a lot in my years as a hunter. Magical objects, stray spirits, whatever. Honestly, I’m surprised your EMF didn’t explode.”
Dean nodded. “Right. We’ll be leaving then.”
The trio finally made it out the door.