THE SEAL OF SILENT HILL - Now revised and edition for your continued reading pleasure

Part 1 - Dean

Sam and Dean had been doing their best to say 'how high' every time the angels said 'jump'. This was the end of the world they were talking about; a little deference was allowable if it meant they kept one of the 66 seals from breaking.

It was easier to respect and trust Castiel than Uriel, however. At least Castiel tried to be courteous, explained things on occasion, and treated them like more than just the lowest forms of life on Earth.

Dean was glad Uriel would not be joining them this time.

They were headed to some middle of nowhere town by Toluca Lake—and not the Hollywood Toluca Lake with all the famous people living around it, either. This Toluca Lake wasn't even on the map, not any Dean or Sam could find. All Castiel had told them was how to get there.

"And Cas is going to meet us?" asked Sam. He was staring anxiously at the map they did have that seemed to have a lot of empty space at the location they were headed.

Dean had been following the speed limit for the last twenty miles since they had hit small town after small town. Local fuzz had a tendency to stop cars they didn't know. "That's what he said. What, you thought he'd hang in the backseat the whole way?" Dean smirked.

Sam shot him a look.

"Aw, lighten up, Sammy," Dean reached across and smacked Sam's thigh, "We're s'pposed to lie low til he comes anyway, just get a feel for this place. No seal protecting yet. You remember Cas said he wasn't sure about this one, all vague and hard to get a feel for. Wasn't even sure what the seal was. He was gonna check into some more of the lore before joining us, that's all. We'll just pull into the first motel we see in one of the towns around Toluca Lake and camp out til Cas comes."

"I guess," Sam shrugged, at last giving up on the map since it wasn't really any use, and stuffing it back into the glove box, "We're almost there, right? What towns are there?"

"I've seen a few signs. Looks like Paleville's closest. We'll stop there. Couple miles yet." Dean turned the radio up a few notches as he drove. He had one of his Styx tapes in.

Welcome to the grand illusion
Come on in and see what's happening
Pay the price, get your tickets for the show

Dean was thinking that it would be nice to have a quiet night, order some pizza or get some burgers and just stay in, him and his brother, like how it used to be when there weren't lies and empty time between them.

So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because you never win the game
Just remember that its a grand illusion
And deep inside we're all the same.
We're all the same...

Halfway into the song, the tape started fritzing, cutting out like a scratch on a CD. Only this was a cassette, and if a tape was going haywire then it meant a lot worse than just a smudge or scratch.

Dean frantically pressed buttons for a moment, hoping it was a fluke and that the song would kick back in. But when that did nothing but cause a few telling squeals, he cursed and hit EJECT. "Shit, don't tell me you ate the tape, baby, I love this one," he muttered.

"Eyes on the road, Dean," Sam scolded, pulling out the tape for Dean and reeling in string after string of ruined ribbon.

"Sonuvabitch," Dean growled, "Last time she ate a tape was when we were in grade school for chrissake. It's coz you had to mess with it while I was gone and put in that damn adaptor thing for your iPod."

"Dean," Sam rolled his eyes, always playing along whenever they talked about Dean's time in Hell as simply 'being gone', "The car is 40 years old. It needs a new stereo. The adaptor didn't do anything. Just turn on the radio for a change."

A frustrated huff passed Dean's lips. "In Bumfuck, Nowhere I'm sure I'll find loads of selection," he spat, watching spitefully as Sam tossed the destroyed tape into the back, "Forget it. There's the turn for Paleville," Dean noted and got ready to take the exit.

"Wait, Dean," Sam brought a hand up to the dashboard, "There's a detour." And in fact there were several signs steering them away from the exit and from Paleville.

"Great. Damn road construction," Dean muttered, following the detour to the neighboring town, "Guess we're staying in Silent Hill tonight instead."

Half a mile passed the dimly lit sign 'Welcome to Silent Hill' there was a figure in the middle of the road. Sam called out. Dean swerved. And the world slipped into darkness that later lightened only as bright as ash.

tbc...

A/N: I started this on Livejournal as a bunny from a friend. If you're a "Silent Hill" movie fan there will be some surprises as I'm staying closer to the games. Thanks for reading! And please, please leave a review to comment.

Crim