Fellowship of the Nine 20/23
Chapter 20
Cole screamed and then he was silent. Lying at the bottom of the stairs with his neck twisted in an unnatural way. Shotgun in hand Sam jumped forward but it was way too late.
"You are going to pay." Anne snarled at us and then vanished before Sam could aim at her.
"Is he …?" Andrea stood just barely inside the salt circle craning her neck to get a better look at Cole but Sam was blocking the view. He bent down and examined Cole for a second and when he stood up and shook his head nobody was surprised. Sam hurried to get back in the circle.
I still had no idea how a simple line of salt, salt for crying out loud, should protect us but the way Sam relaxed the second he entered it told me that at least he thought it would do us some good.
Dean gestured for his brother to come closer but cramped up like this I heard every word he was telling him.
"We have to find that body. Now." Dean rummage around in the remains of the bag and came up with a device. It whined now and then along with flashing red lights but it was far from the alarming sound it had made earlier.
"What's that?" Eric let out a nervous laugh. "Some kind of ghost detector?"
Eric was joking but the look on Dean's face when he answered was serious. "You could say that."
Moving it around in a half-circle it spiked a little but never up to the level it had when Anne had appeared. At least that was what I put together about the situation myself. Not that Sam or Dean bothered to explain things to us.
"What are we going to do with Cole?" Andrea asked, eyes fixed on the motionless body on the floor only a few feet away from us. To be honest, I wasn't fond of the idea of having a dead person lying so close. Even if said person kinda deserved what had happened to him. But still, Cole had been our friend for years. It was hard to forget that. On the other hand, so had Anne.
Sharing one of those looks the brothers nodded like one and then Sam turned to me.
"Luis, help me." He said and I didn't like it one bit. "We'll put Cole in the shed. Then I'll get the second meter and have a look around outside." The last part was directed at his brother but I was still struggling with the thought of actually moving Cole.
Like Vincent before we wrapped Cole in a blanket, Sam was way too cool with that, while Dean stood guard with his shotgun. Sam had only halfheartedly protested when Dean had insisted to get up. I thought he knew it was a lost case to convince Dean to stay put on the couch so Sam settled for getting the job done as quickly as possible.
"Luis, get his feet." Sam ordered and propped up Cole's upper body. He laid his shotgun on Cole's chest and I tried to not think too much about it. It helped to pretend that Cole was just drunk or something.
Dean held the door open for us and murmured a "Be careful" at Sam when we passed him with our morbid burden.
Staggering through the snow I was more busy holding my balance and blinking against the wind than to think about what I was doing. I breathed in relief when we entered the shed, though.
"We put him over there." Sam nodded in the direction. Over there was right next to Vincent's body. We had started to stack bodies like the firewood stored in here. I let out a shallow laugh.
"Luis." Sam's big hand landed on my shoulder. "Everything will be alright."
"We're stuck in a goddamn horror movie." I remembered my conversation with Eric a million years ago. Andrea wasn't the ax waggling murderer but Anne was, kind of, and with Sam Eric hadn't been that far off either.
"I've some experience with situations like this." Sam admitted with an almost sheepish smile. "Everything's going to be fine. You're safe now."
I doubted that but I took the crowbar and other tools he said we'd probably need. Then I followed him to the car.
"That's why you've all those weapons?" I asked and didn't refer to just the one shotgun in his hand. He followed my line of sight to the trunk and nodded knowingly.
"We're here to help." He opened the hidden compartment and dug around the weapons as if it was daily business. It probably was, I had no idea who this guy was anymore.
Sam came up with more shotgun shells and a device similar to the one Dean was using. He flipped it on.
"Stay close."
"You think she's coming for us?" I looked around but Anne was nowhere to be seen.
"We think Cole hid her somewhere in the cabin." Sam led the way to the shore but the device stayed silent. He chuckled. "Dean wouldn't let me go out here alone if he thinks it's dangerous."
Those information must have been part of their silent conversation. And obviously I didn't count as backup for Sam.
"Doesn't look like he's dumped her in the lake after all." Satisfied Sam turned back to the cabin.
"They had this big makeover last year." I gestured at the building. "Maybe Cole …" I couldn't say it but Sam understood.
"That's what we think." Sam stomped his feet to get rid of the snow. I did the same just to gain some time. I didn't want to go back inside.
"It's weird, you know?" I brushed snow from my shoulder. "You think you know someone and turns out he has murdered his girlfriend."
Sam didn't say anything for a moment.
"We are still talking about Cole here, right?" He finally asked in a tired voice.
"What happened to Jess?" I looked him in the eye, demanding an answer. Since I overheard the conversation between Sam and Dean that question was burning in my mind. I had to ask.
"I didn't kill her, if that's what you're asking." He didn't sound angry.
"But you're looking for her killer."
Taken aback he stared at me.
"I heard you and Dean earlier." I reminded him. My feet were really interesting by then but I forced myself to look him in the eye.
"It was an accident, the fire. Keep it that way." Emotions flashed over his face and I didn't dare to ask farther. Sam reached for the door when a shot went off inside.
continue to chapter 21
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