Part 14 - The Curious Case of Symbols
"Took you long enough!" Dean's voice was sarcastic and a bit bitter when Sam entered the bat cave. Sam had gone grocery shopping just a little while ago, no way that long to require a sour welcome. He didn't mind it though, knowing where Dean's bitterness was coming from. In fact, neither had heard from Emery ever since saying hasta la vista a few weeks ago. And as more and more time was passing, Dean was getting more and more agitated.
"Someone's in a jolly good mood," Sam teased.
"Bite me."
Shaking his head, Sam threw a little box towards Dean which he caught. "You're welcome," Sam said before setting the rest of the bags on the table.
Dean knew what he was holding the second he caught it. Pie! Sam knew his big brother way too well. If anything could improve his mood, this would be it. Dean grabbed a spoon and dug right in when Sam's cell phone rang.
"Hello," Sam answered. "Garth, finally, man, we must have left you a hundred messages, where have you been?" Upon hearing Garth's name, Dean forgot his pie and jumped next to Sam to try to overhear the conversation. Dean forgot all about the second love of his life (the first one being baby, of course) the minute he thought that there might be some news related to Emery; that revealed a lot about his feelings towards her.
A few moments later, Sam hung up with a very serious expression. It had been a few weeks since they had parted with Emery and ever since then, they were keeping an eye out for any deaths that matched the criteria, which was rather specific - a body found in a circle with various seemingly unrelated symbols from ancient to modern cultures. They had Garth on the job as well and after weeks, he finally called with some information.
"What did Garth say? Does he have anything for us?"
"Well, there were two similar deaths in Albuquerque a couple of weeks ago and earlier this week there was another one in Boston. The police are keeping it under wraps thinking it's the doing of some serial killer."
"Oh yeah, I bet it is," Dean's voice was laced with sarcasm.
"But Dean, what if it is? I mean we've been following this thing for weeks and still don't know what we're hunting. What if it's not supernatural at all?"
"You think so? Sammy, we gotta trust our instincts, man. I don't know about you, but mine says it's definitely our thing."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." A few moments of silence passed. "I think it's time to contact Emery."
Dean's face lit up at that and he replied without missing a beat, "Yeah!" The excited response got him a suspicious look from Sam and so he quickly changed his excitement to nonchalance. "Yeah, whatever you say," Dean casually added.
"Really?" Sam chuckled. "Would you like to make the call?" Sam's voice was teasing.
"Shut up. Just do it."
Sam smiled and dialed Emery's number. She picked up just after a couple rings. "Hi Emery, it's Sam... Yep, we got news." After taking a couple minutes to bring Emery up to speed, he hung up.
"So..."
"So?" Sam asked as if he had no idea what Dean wanted to know.
"So... uh... I guess we are going to Boston now."
"I guess we are."
"So... uh... is... uh..."
"Yes, Dean, Emery will meet us there."
"I didn't ask about her," Dean replied shrugging.
"Yeah, whatever, man." Sam shook his head. His big brother was stubborn.
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After checking in at a motel in downtown Boston, Sam and Dean were waiting outside for Emery. Sam was smiling at how anxiously Dean was waiting for her. He thought of making a teasing comment but decided not to. Dean had always had a way with the ladies but this time it seemed serious. Sam knew his big brother. Dean believed in having fun, even urged on Sam every now and then. However, when it came to relationships, it never really worked out. He was never the one to open up to anyone. Besides, he had always believed that in their business, attachments are too costly. He had learned it the hard way with Lisa and Ben.
As a beat up Honda Accord turned the corner, the boys realized the girl they had been restlessly waiting for had arrived. Emery parked right in front of the Impala. Stepping out of her car, she smiled and said, "Hey, there, stranger." Sam hugged her. Emery stepped back and made eye contact with Dean. They were both overcome by the same awkwardness that was there when they were saying their goodbyes. Hugging would be too awkward so Emery just said with a nervous laugh, "Hey, Dean, didn't think it was possible but it's actually nice to see you again." She laughed nervously, hoping Dean didn't catch on to the fact that she had actually been really looking forward to seeing him again.
"Yeah, I missed arguing with you too," Dean replied with a lopsided smile.
Sam couldn't help but smile at the way Dean and Emery were reacting to each other, like some teenagers overwhelmed in the presence of their most secret crush. It was rather adorable.
"So... got some bad news," Sam offered once the greetings were out of the way.
"Please don't say there has been another death," Emery responded apprehensively. Sam didn't say anything but his regretful expression answered her question. "Damn."
"Garth called earlier and sent these pictures." Sam handed the envelope over to Emery. Upon opening it, Emery realized that there were shots of the two people who died as well as photos of the symbol circles they were found in. Emery noticed one thing right away and panicked.
"This one says 'First,'" Emery said showing them the photo she was talking about, "And this one," she added showing them the other photo, "'Second.'"
"Yeah, we also think that someone else is going to die here. The circle the first vic in your town was found in said 'First' and the second one said 'Last' and then there were no similar deaths there. Same was true with both the vics in Albuquerque. Here, though, the first vic gets 'First' and the second one gets 'Second.' At least one more person's life is in danger here," Dean explained the pattern that he and Sam had worked out.
"But this thing killed two people in my town, two people in Albuquerque, then why more than two here?" Emery knew that this thing was not random. All these murders were pretty much identical, same reason of death, same circles, and same symbols. There was definitely a pattern here, but what?!
"That answer to this question would make it easier to sure that we gank this thing before it hurts anyone else."
"But how, Dean? We spent days trying to connect the victims but couldn't find any links," Emery's voice came out frustrated, which mirrored Dean and Sam's feelings. There was nothing more troubling for hunters than knowing that whatever they are hunting is going to hurt someone else if they don't stop it in time. It's like someone's life is depending on them and weight of the failure would hang over them forever.
"Still, that's the best lead we got. So in order to make the most of the time, we gotta split. The first vic, Alaina Smith, was found in an abandoned factory so I'm gonna check out the place and then talk to her family," Sam laid out the plan.
"We got the second vic, Peter Croone. He was found in his basement, just a few blocks from here. The girlfriend's at her parents' house so the house is currently abandoned. Sammy, let's meet back here, okay?"
Sam nodded. "Dean, I need the keys." When Dean gave him a confused look, he added, "You guys can walk, it's just a few blocks over. I gotta go across the city!" Dean lovingly looked at the keys and threw them towards Sam with a conflicted look. That look clearly said, "Take care of my baby." Sam got in the car with a smile and drove away while Dean and Emery walked down the road that would take them to the second victim's house.
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Emery opened the door to the basement and hit the switches but the lights turn on. Cursing under her breath, she turned around to face Dean.
"Uh... Dean, why don't you go in first?" Emery tried to make her voice as calm as possible.
Dean raised his eyebrows. "You want me to go in first?" Dean asked suspiciously, crossing his arms.
"Just go in, will ya?"
"Not till you tell me what's going on," Dean won't budge.
Sighing, Emery said kind of embarrassed, "It's dark down there."
"And?" Dean hadn't put two and two together yet.
"The lights won't turn on," Emery said slightly raising her shoulders like it was no big deal.
"So?" Emery knew the exact moment when Dean realized what was going on. She tore her eyes away from him and looked down at the floor. "You are afraid of the dark?" Dean asked rather mockingly. He was sure he misread it.
"No! Of course not. It... It just makes me... uneasy," The so confident Emery was having trouble coming up with the correct words. She was shifting nervously from one foot to the other, still trying to find something fascinating on the floor. This was just the moment that he could take full advantage of to embarrass her, but he just couldn't. He kept staring at her while she strategically ignored his gaze. After a few moments, he stepped around her and went down the stairs without saying a word. Emery let out a sigh and followed him.
After canvassing the basement and finding only the circle with the symbols (no EMF or sulfur), Dean and Emery were heading back to the motel.
"I can't believe you're scared of the dark which is where we find most of the things we hunt," Dean's voice was surprisingly void of any sarcasm or mockery. It was a simple observation and Emery understood that.
So she gave an honest reply, "Well, I don't have a choice over what makes me uneasy. But I can choose not to let that get in the way of what I have to do."
This girl never ceased to amaze Dean. The minute he thought he had figured her out, she presented him with another anomaly. She was refreshingly different from all the other women he knew. And even though he won't admit it, even to himself, he was more than impressed.
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After parkinng the Impala in the motel parking lot, Sam was walking towards the room when he saw Dean walking in with a couple of bags.
Raising the bags in his hands, Dean said, "Dinner!" Then after a pause, he asked, "Anything?"
"I checked the place out top to bottom. No signs of sulfur, EMF... nothing. Talked to her family too. Nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened to her. I'm telling you, man, there's no link between the vics."
"But there's gotta be a link. There's gotta be a reason why these particular people are dead."
Sam sighed. Of course, Dean was right. There had to be a reason. But what was it? "Did you guys find anything?"
"If by anything, you mean something that might actually help us catch this evil thing, then no. The same circle and the same symbols."
Sam nodded and the boys walked to their motel room. Dean opened the door and saw Emery sitting on a table studying her journal.
"Well, seems like we're still on square one," Dean informed Emery, exasperatedly.
"Maybe not..." As Emery looked up from her journal, the boys instantly knew something was wrong. Her expression was as if she had seen a ghost. Well, the expression that non-hunters would have if they had seen a ghost.
"What is it, Emery?" Sam asked.
"I don't know how I missed it earlier. I don't know how I missed it." Emery got up from the table and started pacing back and forth in a room. She was acting as if a big secret was revealed to her and it was much worse than anything she had imagined.
"Emery! Emery, what is it?" Sam asked again.
"How could I have missed it? " Emery seemed to be in a stance, talking to herself, blaming herself over and over again.
Dean set the bags on the table and stepped closer to Emery. Grabbing her by the arms and holding her in place, he asked, "You need to calm yourself down." Emery looked into Dean's eyes and focused for a second. Something in his gaze gave her some courage to face what she knew she had to. "Now tell us, what did you find out?"
"I..." Emery began in a broken voice as Dean loosened his grip on her arms. "I was going through my journal, just to see if there might be something there that would help." She walked back to the table and picked up the journal. Opening to the first page, she said, "And I found this." The first page had an entry of her second hunt, after the ghost that had killed her brother. The boys saw the date on the first line and didn't understand what she was talking about. Then they read a single word on the second line and their eyes widened a bit.
"Albuquerque," Sam said the word.
Emery nodded and flipped the page to the second entry. The boys released a breadth reading the word on the second line. "Boston," This time Dean said the word out loud.
"There is a pattern, after all. Whatever this thing is, it's showing up everywhere I have hunted and... in the same exact order." Emery's face was losing all its color. If she had thought that an evil thing back in her hometown was personal, this was a whole new level of personal. She was blaming herself for the deaths of all the people that had died. And both the boys knew the weight of that.
Just to calm Emery down, Dean said, "Maybe it's just a coincidence." Coincidence? Yeah, right. He didn't himself believe that but what else could you say to lessen someone's pain?
"There are no coincidences in our business, Dean," Sam replied with a grave voice. After receiving a so-not-helping look from Dean, he added, "Yeah... yeah, maybe it is just a coincidence."
Emery looked at Dean and then Sam. And that look gave it away that she didn't believe that anymore than the boys did.
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Edited by -Mystery- - 12 years ago
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