Darkness Falling Pt 2b GEN
It took them half an hour to drive the single lane road to the meadow itself. Dean pulled the Impala off the road onto the soft shoulder and he and Sam leaned against the car’s side surveying the countryside. Without a word Dean sat off across the meadow wading through the knee high grass.
When they reached the small footbridge Sam pointed to the cave entrance at the top of the hill. He and Dean struggled up the path and Dean bent down at the cave mouth looking at the tracks in the red clay.
“Somebody was here. Two people and I’m willing to bet it was one or more of those kids that were killed.”
Sam followed his brother’s gesture and bent over the tracks. From the size he decided that one of the two people who had been in the cave must have been the lone girl killed so far. He nodded at the tiny print half obliterated by the wind.
“Look how small the shoe is. That one was the girl that got killed. The sheriff’s daughter.”
Dean stood up brushing his hands over his pant leg then bent to look inside the cave mouth. Sam handed him a flashlight. Dean played the beam around the inside of the cave slipping inside. Sam had to bend over to get through the entrance but both young men had no problems getting into the cave itself.
Dean found more tracks and the trail was easy to follow. He traced the two sets of foot prints to the side room and came to a halt.
“Look at this Sammy.”
Sam ran his hands over the broken boards then dropped down to look at the debris on the cave floor. Carefully he raked up a few scraps of the rough salt crystals on the dirt.
“Who ever boarded up this room salted the entrance too.”
Dean pushed one of the boards back and the splintered wood snapped off.
“Whatever they put in here they wanted it to stay. The kids probably destroyed the salt lines and let her out. Let’s take a look inside.”
Clambering over the bent and broken boards Dean carefully stepped inside the small side room. Sam followed him careful not to dislodge any of the railroad ties. He scooted after his brother.
The floor inside the small room was covered in ash, as if someone had tried to burn something large. Scraps of old cloth and several civil war era guns were also strewn about. If anything had been in the room it was long gone. Sam lifted one of the loose boards and a cloth wrapped bundle dropped to the floor. Bending down he gathered it up. The cloth dropped away revealing a small leather-bound book. Quickly he turned to Dean.
"Look, the Librium Arcana, Aunt Maggie mentioning that Dad was looking for this book. I did some research on it last night. It supposed to be the European equivalent to the Egyptian Book of the Dead. I remember when we came to Aunt Maggie's the last time before…Dad was still talking about it."
Dean took the book from Sam's outstretched hand.
"We should ask Aunt Maggie to look at it once we get rid of the witch."
"I don't think she'd come back here. Too many memories of being trapped. Our best bet is somewhere in town but there's no real way to know where she'll go next," Sam said.
Dean tucked the book into his pocket.
“That's not true. When we were at the high school I saw a poster about some kind of auditions for a spring musical, in the gym at seven pm tonight. It's just a little after five now. I think we should go back to the school and stake it out. With that many kids in one place she's sure to show."
"It's a place to start anyway.”
The John Adams High School gym was a cavernous building with highly waxed floors. Dean made his way through the outer lobby with it large plate glass window past the trophy cases, which held an amazing variety of silver and gold plated trophies bearing the names of various regional and state championships that the team had won. A flyer caught his attention and he leaned against the wall to make out the print in the dim lighting. Dean paused wishing that he had time to hang around; the Adams team was apparently very good, headed for SEC championship games the next week. Maybe he could talk Sammy into watching a couple of high school football games.
His Dad would have been more than agreeable; he and Dean shared a common love of football. And if the hunt was done and they had to hang around waiting to pick up another, John would have stayed, watched the games and ribbed Dean about losing any bets they made. Suddenly his heart seized in his chest and Dean winced. He whirled but it wasn’t the Bell witch. It was just him, missing Dad too much again.
He pushed off the wall and pulled a flashlight out of his pocket sweeping the beam over the floor. It was clean, polished to a high gleam. He moved quietly across the lobby and into the main doors of the gym itself. The bleachers had been opened for the auditions although it was just half past five when Dean let himself into the back door of the central gym. The lights were low and without the benefit of windows the room was a murky at best.
Taking a deep breath Dean pushed the doors open and stepped inside the gym. His footsteps echoed hollowly in the huge room, nothing, not so much as a mote of dust stirred in the quiet still air. He ran his hand along the side of the bleachers looking over the mechanism that ran them out on metal tracks then slid them back against the wall when they weren’t needed. Ducking he looked into the alley between the last rung of bleachers and the wall. There was a hallway that ran the entire length of the gym. It had a dark, almost cave-like feeling to it and would make a perfect hiding place especially since the ‘Do Not Enter’ signs and warning lights would discourage anyone from getting behind there and snooping around.
Ducking under the metal pulley and track that retracted the bleachers to the wall Dean flashed the beam of the flashlight under the bleachers themselves. Nothing but dust and garbage that the custodian had missed cleaning up after the last event. He was one third of the way down the wall when a hissing noise filled the air. The room grew colder around him and Dean paused fishing an EMF detector out of his pocket. He didn’t really need it a few moments later when the yellow warning lights on the wall above the bleachers began flashing and the motors of the pulley system hummed into life. The first step of the bleachers began retracting into the higher ones and the entire thing began sliding back against the wall.
Turning Dean hurried toward the side of the bleachers he had entered but a dark figure sprang up blocking the path. He skidded to a halt as the second row of bleachers snapped shut. The witch reached into the alley, hands outstretched and Dean turned. His arm caught on the pulley and he jerked it free running for the far end of the bleachers. The witch followed him into the darkness.
He could hear her movements behind him; claws skittering over the wood and metal of the bleachers and surprisingly light footfalls clicking on the highly polished floors. He risked a backward glance and was immediately sorry, she was closer than he thought and for a moment he didn’t think that he would make it to the end in time.
The third step of bleachers snapped closed and Dean had to turn sideways as the middle track of the pulley system ground around the flywheels in the center of the bleachers. He gasped as a siren began to sound. With a desperate grunt he surged forward. Clearing the flywheels he skittered under the center beam of the bleachers and pushed forward.
The fourth step of the bleachers snapped closed and the edge of the beam caught on his jacket jerking him to a halt. Quickly Dean snagged his jacket free and slid sideways along the wall of the gym toward the entrance on the far wall. The witch was no longer behind him and Dean was sure that she was waiting on the other side but he had no where else to go.
With one last burst of energy he swept past the pulleys and metal track just as the last step of the bleachers collapsed in onto themselves and burst out of the alley into the small space between the bleachers and the gym exit doors. The bleachers ground to a halt, just inches behind him and Dean bent over at the waist breath coming in harsh pants. Chest heaving he jerked upright at the sound of footsteps on the gym floor.
Whirling Dean tugged his .45 out of the waistband of his jeans and swung around. Sam stood hands held aloft waiting for his brother to register the fact that he had a gun pointed at him. With a growl Dean dropped the gun and motioned his younger brother forward.
“So,” Sammy began, “I see that you found something.”
“Actually she found me. She’s here alright and she just tried to kill me.”
Dean tucked the gun away then motioned to the bleachers.
“A few more inches and I would have been a large messy smear on the wall.”
“Where do you suppose she went?” Sam said huffing out a breath. He glanced at the closed bleachers then waved Dean forward.
“Don’t know, but it’s too light outside for her to have gone far. She’s still in here somewhere and we’d better get her before the kids start showing up for auditions.”
“Let’s start searching the lockers and equipment rooms. They’re small and dark enough that she could get away without being seen.” Sam sighed, “How are we going to get rid of her? I mean, her remains weren’t in the cave so I’m going with re-animation on this one.”
Dean grinned pulling a phosphorus flare out of his jeans pocket.
“Last time I checked witches still burn real good.”
Pulling his .45 again they headed off to the opposite side of the gym and into the locker rooms located here. They passed a small side hall that lead to the coach’s office and to a small private bathroom. Sam walked behind Dean almost back to back with him keeping an eye out behind them.
There was a noise like the brush of wings against a window pane and then suddenly out of nowhere the witch rose up. She swung at Sam sending him sprawling to the ground. With a grunt he rolled to his hands and knees scrabbling for purchase on the slick floors.
She hit him again in the small of his back driving Sam to the ground. The breath rushed out of his body and he rolled onto one side gasping for air.
With a smile the witch thrust her hand out striking him mid-chest too far away to actually reach his heart. He jerked upwards and away, bringing his legs up to kick at her. Her strong bony fingers dug into the muscles of his abdomen and Sam cried out.
“Get off him you bitch,” Dean hissed slamming a baseball bat across her shoulders.
The witch’s body lurched forward and she lost her grip on the younger Winchester. With a snarl she crept away eyes locked on Dean’s face. He wavered, cringing in pain and Sam’s hand twisted into the front of Dean’s shirt tugging him half around breaking the link between the two.
She rose up into the air a few feet off the ground and Sam pulled the flare out of his brother’s pocket. Dean staggered back a step giving Sam room to maneuver. Hauling himself to his feet Sam took a step forward and pulled the tab on the flare. Dean ducked his head and Sam covered his eyes with his other hand as he tossed the flare onto the witches’ body. Her clothes were old and riddled with dry-rot and the material caught in seconds. Screaming, the witch writhed in agony. In a matter of minutes she was completely consumed in flames.
They didn’t have time to pour salt onto the burning corpse before the fire alarm sounded. The sprinkles came one dousing her body but the phosphorus burned even more brightly in the water and both young men ran for the door knowing that the fire would likely go out long before the tile of the bathroom was ignited.
As Sam and Dean ran out into the gym itself a flash of light caught Dean’s eye. A woman was standing beside the bathroom door. She was beautiful, pale skin glowing softly in the amber light of the fire. If it wasn’t for her clothes, a plain dark colored dress that swept the floor he might have thought she was a teacher coming to check the gym. But she looked worn, tired and haggard in a way that seemed all too familiar.
She stood just far enough away that Dean understood she meant them no harm. Holding up a hand he motioned Sam to a halt. Uncertainly Dean walked toward her. She neither advanced nor retreated merely stood silent watching his approach.
Finally, when he was standing in front of her the witch spoke.
“I cannot ask for forgiveness. I am not worthy. I know what I have been, what I have done. I can only thank you for freeing me.”
Dean hurried out of the building just as the fire trucks were pulling into the parking lot. One of the firefighters jumped down, pulling out equipment. A second man saw Sam and Dean coming out of the building and flagged them down.
“Was anyone else inside?”
Sam shook his head.
“Not where we were anyway. I don’t know about the other locker rooms or equipment areas but this side is empty.”
“We’ll do a walk through anyway. Not too much smoke now. Looks like we got here early.”
They dodged around the fire engine and ducked past the two sheriffs’ patrol cars that pulled in behind them. Dean hurried past the cops before they could get a good look at his face although they seemed far more intent on the fire than the pedestrians. The Impala pulled out of the lot and Dean headed back to Maggie’s house. He glanced at the book resting on Sam’s lap.
“Do you think that there’s something in there that can help Dad?”
Sam shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ll have Aunt Maggie read it. She’s better at interpreting spells than we are. But if re-claiming his soul will do to Dad what it did to the witch I don't want to do it. Dad wouldn’t want to live like that.”
“It’s got to be better than an eternity in hell, Sammy.”
“No Dean, it’s not. Look I don’t want you to do something evil because you’re feeling guilty…”
“Hey, aren’t you always the one saying that I’ve got nothing to feel guilty about? Huh, that Dad made his choice? Well bullshit Sam…I feel guilty every minute of every day and I’m sick and tired of it. If I can get him out of hell, even if I have to put him down myself later, I’m going to do it.”
TBC