AN: I know, I know, it's been a while since I last updated. Unfortunately one of my beta readers has said that she doesn't have the time to beta my stories anymore. Therefore I decided to just update and hope that my grammar is good enough for my readers out there. If anyone wants to beta, let me know. XD Anyway, really sorry for the long wait. If I'm motivated enough, Chapter 7 might come along soon enough. As always, read and review and enjoy!


Chapter 6

Dean spoke with Bobby for a few more minutes before hanging up, promising the older hunter that they would call again once things settled down. After hanging up, he turned his gaze to where Sam and Ethan should be standing. He couldn't see either of them but he could guess where they were from the sound of their voices. The feeling of being blind was starting to make him nauseous. The darkness reminded him much of that moment when he was dead - before he was brought to hell. Neither place was something he wanted to reminisce. He pushed aside his dark thoughts as he focused on the problem at hand.

"Whatever's happening here, it's happening to the rest of the world too. He was watching TV when the lights went out and like us, he couldn't get any single light to turn on." He explained. The three fell silent as they listened to the on-going chaos in the bar. It was fading away as more and more people left, but they could still hear the panic outside.

"So I was right in saying that all forms of light have disappeared or been taken away. But I can't believe that this is happening at an international scale." Ethan mused.

"This better not mean that we failed. Again." Dean said.

"Oh don't sound so pessimistic mate. This might not be the signs of a seal breaking but something else entirely."

"We'll figure it out once the lights come back." Sam said.

"If it's going to come back." Ethan pointed out. Despite the meaning of his words, his tone sounded casual and light. Dean widened his eyes and turned his head sharply at where he guessed Ethan was. He wasn't as calm as the Englishman.

"You think this is going to be permanent? How are we supposed to be able to see anything in this darkness? Even the demons won't be able to do anything when they can't even see their hands or the front of their noses."

"True. But it's also possible that they've found the means to see even in this darkness. Why else would they bring the world in a permanent darkness?"

"I don't know, because they felt like it? How the hell would I know what demons are thinking? And what's with telling me not to be pessimistic when you're doing it?"

"I'm not being pessimistic. I'm being realistic."

"Guys, that's enough arguing. We need to figure out what to do next. We can't just stand here the rest of the night." Sam told them. Ethan shrugged even though no one could see it.

"Well, I'm at a loss. I don't even know what caused this darkness in the first place." Before any of them could say another word, the lights came on as suddenly as they disappeared. Everyone blinked in surprise as their eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. People who were on ground picked themselves up and the rest of the patrons who were still inside the bar quickly left in a mess of upturned chairs and tables and scattered pieces of glass and plates of ruined meals. Eventually only the three hunters and Marge remained. Ethan turned his gaze to the brunette bartender who was standing up from the ground and brushing the dirt off her clothes in distaste.

"Are you all right, Marge?"

"I'm fine. But someone's going to answer for all of this! My bar's a mess!"

"Not to worry my dear. I will pay for all the damages. Now if you'll excuse us..." Ethan gestured for Sam and Dean to follow him. The two brothers moved across the mess and went out of the bar together with Ethan. Upon seeing that his car was still in tact, the Englishman gave a sigh of relief. For the first few minutes Ethan drove all throughout the city and all three hunters inspected the mess left behind by the darkness. There were plenty of car crashes on the road. There were cars against other cars, cars against buildings or other forms of structure and, unfortunately, cars against passers-by. In some restaurants and stores, people were cleaning up the mess left by their customers. People were returning the furniture to their original positions, mops were used to cleaned up the spills and other objects that were found scattered all over the ground were being picked up. The rest were simply recovering from the shock of having the lights go out.

"It looks like apart from the common problems, nothing eventful happened during that time of darkness." Ethan commented.

"But what was that all about?" Sam asked.

"Can't you figure out what's going on Ethan? Maybe your buddy knows something about all this." Dean said. Ethan grimaced at the term but said nothing about it. He knew who Dean was referring to.

"Unfortunately, I don't have the means to contact Lucas. He doesn't like using modern technology that much. He's usually the one who comes to me when he has something to say." Ethan replied.

"So do you do if you have something you need to tell him right away?" Sam asked.

"Well it hasn't come to that, so I haven't really thought of it...Now that you've mentioned it, I never did have the opportunity to seek his help. It was always him who comes to me with some news." Ethan said with a sheepish chuckle. Sam and Dean stared at each other, unsure how to react to Ethan's answer. Neither of the brothers got the chance to do so, as Ethan caught sight of something in front of him and immediately stepped on the brake. With a screech, the car skidded to a halt, forcing everyone to suddenly fall forward in their seats.

"What the hell Ethan? Why did you suddenly stop?" Dean cried angrily as he pushed himself off the back of the passenger's chair. Sam got up as well and was about to ask Ethan the same question - only in a friendlier tone - when he stared ahead and took a sharp intake of breath. Just across the street was the New Scotland Yard building. And right by the front door was the bloody, mutilated body of a woman, tacked to the wall by a short dagger. Ethan caught Sam's stunned gaze and nodded to him.

"That, as you can see, is why I stopped. It's the body of the most recent woman who was taken by our so-called Jack the Ripper. Looks like our killer used this opportunity to throw the body away without being seen by anyone." Ethan said. Dean took notice of the body as well and narrowed his eyes.

"Damn it..." He cursed. Ethan drove once more and parked his car a block away. All three hunters got out of the car and rushed for the building. No one took notice of the body yet, since everyone was too busy cleaning up and trying to make sense of what happened, but the three knew that someone was going to see it and make a scene eventually. The Winchesters were the first ones to reach it, but before they could bring the corpse down, Ethan held up a hand to them.

"Wait! Don't touch it! Scotland Yard won't be so grateful if you disturbed the crime scene." Ethan said. Dean and Sam stared at him incredulously.

"You want us to leave this body hanging here like a house decoration for some cops? Have you completely lost your mind?" Dean cried.

"I know how you feel chaps, and I would like for you to bring it down as quickly as possible, but we're on Scotland Yard territory and I'm afraid that we have to abide by their rules else we get sent to prison for obstruction of justice. Stay there and prevent anyone else from noticing it. I will notify the inspectors inside." Dean grumbled but did as Ethan asked while the Englishman hurried inside.


Since it happened right at the front steps of Scotland Yard, the crime scene was instantly crowded with inspectors working to gather clues and evidences. Ethan, Sam and Dean were sent inside the station to wait. Will came walking towards them a few minutes later looking very weary and drained. He was rubbing his face with one hand while carrying a stack of papers with his other. The English hunter smiled at the inspector when he stopped to stand before the group.

"Well hello there dear William! Why, you look utterly spent! Maybe you should lie down on this couch and rest your heavy-lidded eyes for a while." Will narrowed his eyes at Ethan as he pushed the stack of papers into the other's hands roughly.

"That's the copy of the files you wanted. Make sure you're not seen with them. If you get caught, I'll deny having anything to do with it and arrest you for stealing information from Scotland Yard myself." While Ethan browsed through some of the pages, Will crashed onto one of the chairs with a heavy sigh. "Things are very hectic in this station, and this corpse isn't helping me at all. Tell me everything that happened."

"Unfortunately, we can't tell you much. I was driving along with Sam and Dean when we passed by this street and saw the corpse with a knife stabbed through it. We don't know who placed it there or when, but it was obviously somewhere within the time when everything became dark. It would certainly prevent anyone from seeing what he was doing."

"And what about this blackout? Do you know what caused it?"

"No, we don't. We only know that it's happening all over the world and it wasn't an electrical outage. All other electronic devices were still working the whole time it happened. I'm sorry that we can't be of much help, but we're still trying to find out what's going on ourselves." Will gave a defeated sigh as he nodded.

"I was afraid you were going to say that. Well I can't keep you lot here if you don't want to. You can go. I've gathered all that I can from what you know." Sam and Dean were about to get up from their seats but Ethan remained seated as he looked at the Inspector.

"You may have gathered everything from us, but we haven't gathered everything from your end. What of the package that the Strand received from Jack the Ripper? What have you found so far?" The Winchester brothers sat back on their seats while Will frowned.

"The letter was a challenge raised by this so-called Jack the Ripper. He claims that no one could stop him from coming back. And the package that was sent along with the letter contained an organ from our fourth victim. The DNA samples match so we're confident that this came from the actual killer - or someone who had access to the killer's possessions."

"Who sent the package?"

"No one knows who did it. One of the journalists just found it in the back door as he was going out. The box didn't have any mark on it and there were no fingerprints." Ethan nodded as he absorbed all that Will had told him.

"I'd like to have a look at the autopsy report on this new victim when you have it."

"I think I can manage that. I'll bring it to your place when I have the chance."

"Thanks." All three hunters stood up but Ethan grabbed Will's shoulder and pulled him back before he could leave. "Will, I'm not entirely sure of this, but don't get too careless out there. This could turn out bigger than what you and your men normally handle. Keep them from doing anything too drastic."

"I'll do my best...but not many believe in the supernatural like I do. Good luck mates. You're going to need it at this rate." He nodded to Sam and Dean before addressing the call of one of the inspectors who was looking for him. As he walked away, Ethan turned his gaze to the Winchesters and sighed, tucking the stack of papers under his arm.

"Well chaps, it's time for us to return home." The hunters returned to Ethan's car, which had been parked right where they left it. While Ethan drove them home, he pulled out his notebook from his pocket and tossed it behind him. Dean was the one who caught the notebook.

"Can you check if there are any news from our friends in the past?" Ethan said. Dean flipped through the pages and after a few seconds he reached the last page they wrote down on. Minutes passed, especially since it took Dean a while to read with the lights barely bright enough and with all the moving about the car did, but he eventually finished reading the new message and looked up from it with a frown.

"We've got news alright. But it's not good. He can't find anyone who can help us. The other Calwells don't have any experience in hunting and it looked like Calwell worked solo. They don't know where or how to look for any hunter in time for us to get to Jack the Ripper. Now what?"

"Looks like we've got no choice but to ask Mr. Holmes for his assistance." Ethan replied.

"What? Are you serious?"

"Of course. He is a great detective after all. Tracking down a killer wouldn't be too difficult for him, especially if we give him all the details he needs to catch the criminal. All we need to do is teach him how to fight against demons in the off-chance that they appear."

"And once he finds Jack the Ripper? What then? We're not supposed to stop him from killing his next victim. It'll be changing history." Sam said. Ethan frowned while evading cars on the road.

"Yes, it would..." He didn't say anything else after that. Ethan didn't know how to proceed with his suggestion as well. There were too many complications to worry about and too many questions that are still plaguing his mind. He drove the car while thinking to himself, trying to figure out a solution to all their problems. The Winchesters sat behind on the back seat, deep in their own thoughts as well.