THREE:
FRESH FROM THE PIT
SERAPHINA'S angel radio flickered to life again, at first all she heard was the static of several voices trying to talk over each other before one screeched out in her head, "Dean Winchester is saved."
It only took them four months, Seraphina thought distastefully. He's Michael's fucking vessel and it took them four months?
With Dean fresh from the pit, the first Seal having been broken when Dean said "yes" to Alastair and thus, everything was set into motion. The war was beginning to roll. She really needed to get a move on and get these humans ready for the up and coming fight with Hell. The brothers were going to need it. Humanity was going to need it.
Since Dean had broken the first seal, he was going to have to help ensure the others weren't broken. That was going to be Lilith's only mission from that moment forward, and Seraphina knew the angels were going to be coming to Earth to help fight. This was going to be tricky business, trying to hide from the angels while helping out the hunters.
She took a deep breath and entered the bar. Dean had just encountered Castiel, after he and Bobby summoned the creature that had raised him from perdition. She was going to be masquerading as a fellow hunter, in hopes of being able to help them stop Lilith without revealing her true identity.
Jumping from secret identity to secret identity was not as much of a challenge as she once thought it might be. She had masqueraded as a witch before, and now she was going to have to act like a hunter — which just dragged her closer to the fire. Being around the Winchester's was going to be a dangerous game, because either they were going to sense something off with her, or an angel was going to reveal her. But Seraphina was a powerful being, and she started protecting herself with a glamour, that way even if an angel met her gaze, they would not be able to tell she was Seraphina the Archangel and not Sera the Hunter.
In the end, however, she was going to have to take the risk. If she could help prevent Lucifer rising, then she would not have to pick a side at all. It was going to be tricky business stopping the seals, considering just about everyone was gunning on them to break, but it was an uphill battle she was ready to undergo.
"Whiskey on the rocks, if you please," Seraphina told the bartender, glancing around the bar, sliding a twenty across the tabletop. Money was something she could easily materialize, so she felt no loss with or without it.
She spotted Dean and Sam over at a table in the corner, drinking beers and glancing over pages in books. Angel lore, was all she could guess.
Bobby Singer entered the bar, ordered himself a beer before making his way over to the boys, a few books in hand. Seraphina kept eyes on them, while flicking through her phone, trying to not be so obvious; she knew if she wasn't careful, they'd catch on that someone was watching them. It wasn't the right moment to approach them, and she knew it.
Tobias took a seat next to her at the bar, not bothering to order. "Are you sure this is the right play?"
Seraphina's eyes flickered from the Winchester boys to the angel beside her. She took a sip of the whiskey, "Everyone thinks I'm dead — and I'd like to keep it that way. We need to stay under the radar."
"And flying right next to the Winchester's is the way to do that? Come on, Seraphina, you're smarter than that."
She rolled her eyes, "Helping them prevent the rise of Lucifer is the most ideal scenario. As long as I stay away from the angels, it'll be smooth sailing."
"But if they find you, they're going to pressure you to follow and fight for Michael."
Seraphina frowned, "Do I want Lucifer to rise? Of course not, but I can't pick sides. I love my brothers and it hurts that this is going on." She paused, looking down at her drink. "My family is going to bring war to Earth because of a sibling squabble."
"That's why it's ideal that you just stay away from the Winchester's. If they find you, the situation will just get worse."
"They've thought me dead for nearly a millennia. They haven't been down here to hear the chatter of Rahul, and now that they are, I highly doubt they'll believe a demon." Seraphina brought the glass to her lips and finished the whiskey in one gulp, "So, let's get a move on so Ella can kill the bastard and I can continue to fly undetected."
"You've been out of the loop for awhile—"
"Oh, Tobias, shut it. Either help me out, or get lost."
Tobias frowned, but decided not to open his mouth again.
"Just find the Witnesses," she told him, "That's a Seal they're gonna break."
It took only a day for Tobias to locate the Witnesses that had been raised. They were all related to untimely deaths (not to mention, supernatural ones), and associated with hunters, or hunters who could not save them.
Seraphina was not the biggest fan of traveling with a car, it was incredibly slow, but she had to appear as if she was a normal human. So she got into the driver's seat of the newly manifested Jeep Wrangler and started her journey.
It was dusk when she reached the house of a hunter that had been targeted. She pulled the car up to the side of the house and grabbed an iron knife, along with a shotgun, and got busy with breaking into the house. She wasn't surprised when she found Jed dead on his kitchen floor, killed quite brutally.
She heard them enter, and she was quick to turn, pointing her shotgun straight at them, finding that they did the same.
"Who the fuck are you?" Seraphina spoke first, knowing most hunters were rough-edged and did not trust all that easily. She had to embody the persona of a hunter, and she had met several over the years, and she tried to tie all their characteristics together.
"I was just about to ask you the same, sweetheart," said Dean, his chiseled features hard and blank, his gun aimed straight for her chest.
"I'm an old friend of Jed's," Seraphina said, narrowing her eyes at them, keeping her gun aimed at Dean.
"You're a hunter?"
"Surely looks that way, numbnuts," Seraphina said, lowering her weapon, heaving a sigh.
Sam followed her lead first, lowering his shotgun and sighing. "I'm Sam Winchester, and this is my brother Dean," Sam gave Dean a sideways glare, and Dean lowered his pistol.
"Sera Kenneth," said Seraphina, the name she had given Bobby all the years ago when they met on a demon case (the demon was one of Rahul's followers, but Bobby didn't need to know that at that point in time, or even at this point in time). She did not have a fully manifested backstory, but she was quick on her feet, and anything she said could be made real with just a snap of her fingers (props to her being an archangel).
Sam nodded, with a half-hearted smile, glancing over at Jed's body and frowning.
"This is the second friend's place I've been to, do either of you know what the Hell is going on?" Seraphina asked the brothers, glancing sadly down at Jed. She knew exactly what was going on, but she did not want to be the one with all the answers, because that could get suspicious real quick.
"Not quite sure, but I do know it's happening to hunters."
Seraphina nodded and began to make her exit, hearing Dean make a call to Bobby. She threw her shotgun into the trunk of her Jeep, and messed around with a few of the guns she had manifested just hours before.
"Yeah, we're at Jed's. It's not pretty. Met a Sera Kenneth, she was already in the house when we got here."
"Damn, haven't heard that name in a few years."
"You know her?"
"We stumbled upon the same demon case in Tennessee several years ago. She's a damn good hunter."
"Hmph,"
"I checked on Carl Bates and R.C. Adams. They've redecorated...in red."
"What the hell is going on here, Bobby?" Dean asked, approaching the Impala. "Why did a bunch of ghosts want to gank a bunch of off-duty hunters?"
"I don't know, but until we find out, you guys better get your asses to my place. Bring Sera, she could be of some help." Bobby told him.
"Alright, we're on our way," Dean told Bobby, flipping the phone shut. "Hey, Sera!"
Sera, hearing the entire conversation, turned around from where she was about to get back into her vehicle. She raised an eyebrow.
"Better play safe, rather then sorry. Follow us to Bobby Singer's place."
"You know Bobby Singer?" Seraphina asked them, already knowing their answer. She surely was not enjoying playing dumb.
Dean nodded, "At least until we figure this whole thing out."
Seraphina pursed her lips, before agreeing. "Alright, hotshot, I'll follow."