Disclaimer: You know… it occurred to me, that I didn't declaim the use of "Son of Light" describing Dean. That is fairly well used terminology to describe a character with notable heritage, but David Reed and Rebecca Dessertine used the term in "War of the Sons". It was not an intentional "borrowing" of their term but, I would be remiss if I didn't make the appropriate citation to them now. Sorry. Also, Supernatural is not mine, neither are druids (though I completely take advantage of what I do know of them to turn the dogma sideways) and The Voynich Manuscript is not mine and may have nothing to do with anything written here (but, who would know really since no one can figure out what it DOES say?)
A/N: I appreciate the alerts and favorite listing of my work! I am writing mostly to get the ideas out of my friggen head so I can sleep! I feel so warm and fuzzy finding notifications from you wonderful readers! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
Chapter 9
Andy was silent on the drive from Yale to Framington. Dean glanced at the rear-view mirror several times to see if he was still breathing. Tears flooded the young man's eyes and fell in rivers down his cheeks unchecked. He was definitely in shock. Dean looked at his brother briefly and Sam looked over his shoulder at the kid in the back seat.
"Andy," Sam called softly, "We really need you to answer some questions if we are going to get Kinna back for you."
Andy shook his head marginally but the far away gaze he affected still lingered. Andy sniffed and moved his leg slightly, shifting the weight of the box on his lap.
"What is so important about the manuscript? Andy, who or what were those things? Do you know?" Sam persisted.
Andy seemed to recover some of his wits. He focused his bloodshot eyes on Sam and he scoffed under his breath. "I don't know why she even trusted you two. She knows who you are; she knows we were told to watch for Hunters! You want to know?" Andy was screaming at the two brothers in the front seat. "Google it!" Andy gave a strangled cry and covered his face with his hands. A moment of labored and strangled sobs later, Andy continued with forced voice – pain evident in every syllable. "She… will… die… horribly." His voice hitched as he tried to catch his breath. He began muttering quietly to himself and held his head in his hands.
The two brothers drove on, occasionally looking at the grieving man in the back seat, but they no longer made any attempt to retrieve information from him. Hours later, they rolled up to the house in Framington. Andy didn't look like he even registered the fact. Sam got out of the car and went back to the passenger door to aid the young musician. Andy's movements were stilted and mechanical. He didn't resist Sam's attempt to guide him.
Dean also exited the Impala. The house was dark and there was no movement to be seen. He went to ring the bell while his brother aided Andy. By the time the two men reached the porch, the lights within were beginning to illuminate the entryway.
Ms. Locke answered the door in a soft pink robe. She took in the scene of a weeping Andy and two young Hunters with one swift sweep of her eyes and moved aside to admit the men entrance. She hurried then to Andy's other side and nodded to Sam. They guided him into the living room as more residents of the house emerged from their interrupted sleep. Morgen, the man with soft blonde hair with Healing gift went to Andy's side as he sat clutching the oaken box. When Locke was sure that Andy's care was safely in the hands of the young druid, she went to make some tea for Andy, herself and their "guests". Sam and Dean stood to the side as the people in the house scurried about the room. Ms. Locke handed each of the Hunters a mug steaming with tea. They looked at each other with equal expressions of perplexity and placed the mugs down in unison. They turned to leave as the people in the house concentrated on Andy. Ms. Locke blocked their way to the door.
"You will not leave, Hunters. Not before explaining what happened." Her hard expression like granite, her eyes like agates, stopped them in their tracks.
The boys went inside again and the others began to settle like birds roosting on ledges of counters, furniture, and floor; all eyes were on Andy and the Hunters. Dean shifted uncomfortably. Sam looked at Andy who continued to stare into space. The man sitting next to him had his head down and eyes closed with his arm draped across Andy's shoulders. Andy began to stir and grip the box more closely to him. The man next to him whispered to Andy and Andy seemed to turn toward his companion a touch. Dean straightened his shoulders to face the group. Sam figured maybe Dean wasn't the most sensitive person to explain the events in the library.
Just before Dean started to explain, Andy croaked a single word. "Wait."
Andy still had his friend's arm draped over him, but he looked up with red-rimmed, bloodshot and still visibly leaking eyes to gaze around the room. Dean stood still and waited for Andy to continue. Sam shot a look of compassion and empathy at the young man.
"Kinna called for their help." Andy's voice was hoarse and his breathing uneven, but he was beginning to look more pulled together than he had since Dean returned to the Impala in New Haven. "The Seer enlisted them to aid her in retrieving this document." It was spoken precisely and seemed somehow like a ritual phrase to stir action in the group. Confusion swayed from face to face. Andy looked up at Ms. Locke. He pushed the box toward the house matron. Ms Locke looked carefully at the old wooden box, sigils painted on its finish, and what that could represent before her eyes widened and her face paled. Her hands shook as she gathered the box to her and sank to the floor with it. With reverence and awe, she lifted the lid. The other druids in the room had their focus completely on the matron and the box on the floor. Again, the hunters were baffled about the attention and the unraveling of this event.
The room was still and silent but for the breathing of the people around the room and the haggard and hitched sobs of the young musician. As she opened and looked at the contents of the box, Ms. Locke's gasp drew the undivided attention of the Winchester brothers. She quickly slapped the lid closed on the contents. She rose and pointed at the Winchesters as she gripped the box with her other hand. "You must come with me, gentlemen. The rest of you, please, find your beds. We will have more information in the morning. Morgen, will you look after Andy?" At the young man's nod, Ms. Locke looked meaningfully at Sam and Dean to follow her. They fell in line behind her as she moved to her room. She began to set up the call in the Circle. Ms. Locke was harshly muttering under her breath, but her eyes had lost the hard and unyielding look to them in favor of concern and fear.
She pointed with her free hand toward a kitchen chair commanding imperiously for Sam to bring a couple in to the room. She called the two heads of the Circles in Anglesea and in Salem, Oregon. It took a while to finally reach people to rouse the West Coast contingent, but Anglesea was assisting with calls and soon the faces of three Druids from Oregon were visible on the web conference.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Ms. Locke greeted the leaders of her order. Six faces in the screen focused concerned and aggravated expressions to the New England group. "We have a problem."
Ms. Locke efficiently ran through the events, asking the Hunters to clarify or supply pieces of information regarding the zombies and hooded men at the library. Sam paid close attention to the reactions of all the people on the screen. He noticed one woman from the British group fell to her chair and paled visibly at the discovery that the young woman had been taken and seemed to have lost all interest in further details. Sam noticed the other men and women were more insulted about the loss of a Seer.
"This is all well and good, Dumbledore," Dean finally snapped as the man in Anglesea was once again reiterating the need for the group to remain neutral until the confrontation between order and chaos. "But there is a young and probably freaked out kid being held by Death Eaters and you want to… what? Andy said she would die horribly if we don't get her back."
Sam knew Dean was annoyed at the disregard the others had for the safety of this young woman. The Hunters didn't have any real loyalty to her, but the same people or creatures who took her, may have taken the other women. Sam could tell his brother was losing what was left of his patience with the people on the computer screen.
The man in Anglesea looked through the webcam with his eyes narrowed to slits. The woman who had remained, more or less, catatonic suddenly looked up. Sam felt her pleading to them through the span of thousands of miles as she looked at the Hunters on her own screen. Her mouth was moving but neither Sam nor Dean was able to determine what she was saying.
"These… hunters… Why have they been brought into the affairs that do not concern them?" The man with narrowed eyes inquired. Immediately, the woman to his right cast her eyes away again.
Dean was about to retort when Ms. Locke straightened and said, "The Seer recruited them to her cause." She reached down and pulled the box into view. She reached in and lifted the whole ream of crisp white paper now covered in words the people gathered in person and electronically could make out. From under the crisp white sheets, Ms. Locke carefully pulled the yellowed vellum with green and blue drawings and undecipherable text. All eyes from far away enlarged and mouths gaped.
"That's not…" the man who had monopolized the conversation stuttered.
Ms. Locke nodded. "This is the writing of the Lost Seer Cian detailing the events of Chaos and Laws as he 'saw' it during the Dark Times." She held up the once blank pages of modern paper. "Kinna cast a spell to translate and scribe the document so we would have it."
"That's not druidic, Locke." The very flamboyant looking woman from Oregon whispered in awe.
Ms. Locke shook her head slowly. "It is from a Book of the Shadow."
The woman who had been nearly catatonic began weeping hysterically now. "No!" came her strangled gasp. Her hands went to her mouth and tears began to fall.
Dean looked from the screen to the woman standing with him. "What just happened?" He whispered to Locke.
"Kinna drew the attention of Necromancers." She reported.
