Chapter 10

Back to Church

Sam and Dean grabbed two duffle bags out of the back of the car and then slammed the car door shut. They then began making their way up the long path to the church, keeping an eye out the whole way to make sure there were no demons lurking around. Once they reached the door and were sure no one was around they gave each other a quick nod and went inside.

Jacob was sitting in one of the front pews reading a newspaper and he looked up when he heard the door open. He smiled when he saw Sam and Dean.

"Ah! My reporters are back! Come on in, gentlemen! Did you have more questions for me?" Jacob asked as he folded up his paper and rose to his feet.

Sam smiled politely back at him while Dean began scanning the church for any potential entrances that would need to be guarded. Sam decided to plunge ahead.

"Hi, Jacob. Actually, we really need to talk to you… about something important."

"Oh?" Jacob frowned thoughtfully at Sam's words. "Well, then maybe we should talk in my office. It's right this way."

Sam and Dean exchanged another look and Dean gave a quick nod. They followed Jacob to the door on the left-hand side of the church and entered the room behind him.

The door led to a large room that the brothers could see was being used as an office and living area by Jacob. There was a desk with two chairs in front of it, a small cot, and dinette area. There was another door that was open and they could see a small bathroom behind it. Jacob sat behind the desk and motioned for the brothers to sit in the other two chairs.

"So what do you need to talk to me about?" Jacob asked as Sam and Dean sat down.

Sam and Dean glanced at each other again. Dean was giving Sam a look of "Not-a-good-idea." Sam hesitated a moment before ignoring Dean and plunging ahead.

"Well… first thing is that Dean and I aren't actually reporters. We're not writing about churches."

Jacob frowned and looked carefully at each brother.

"You're not, eh?"

"No, sir… although we are brothers… but… we're actually here for a different reason…"

"Sam…" Dean said warningly as he looked sternly at Sam.

"And what reason is that, young man?"

"You're in danger," Sam said quickly.

Dean rolled his eyes in frustration. Jacob looked at Sam, startled.

"Danger? What do you mean?"

"Sam, he's not going to believe us," Dean snapped in annoyance.

"I won't believe what?" Jacob asked.

Sam sighed. "Look… I know it may sound hard to believe… but you have to trust us. Dean and I are Hunters and our job is to protect people from… well… monsters."

There was a pause. Jacob looked puzzled as he looked first at Sam and then Dean, and then back to Sam.

"Monsters?"

"Demons, monsters, things that go bump in the night. Sam, I said this was going to be a waste of time!"

Sam pressed ahead, ignoring Dean.

"Jacob, I know it sounds crazy, but you have to believe us. We're here because we were told that there are going to be some demons coming after you. Tonight."

Jacob sat up a little straighter, a look of concern coming over his face.

"You're telling me that some demons are going to be coming after me?" he said slowly.

Sam nodded. Dean sat quietly, gauging the old man's reaction. Jacob was quiet as he tried to sort out what Sam was saying.

"Demons," he finally said.

Dean nodded. "Demons."

Jacob leaned back in his chair, continuing to frown.

"Boys, I think you had better explain yourself a little further."

Sam quickly jumped in.

"It's… a long story. But basically there're these things called seals and these seals are what is holding Lucifer in Hell."

"Lucifer?" Jacob said, cocking his head to one side.

"The Devil. The one and only," Dean chimed in.

"Yeah, well, the demons are trying to free Lucifer from Hell and they have to break 66 seals to do it. Once they do, Lucifer will rise."

"The Apocalypse," Jacob said slowly.

Dean nodded. "Great. You already know about that so we can skip on ahead."

"You and this church is one of the seals," Sam said. "We're here to protect you and make sure the seal doesn't break."

Jacob looked at Sam incredulously. "I'm one of these seals?"

Sam and Dean nodded.

"And how do you know this?"

Dean couldn't help but flinch. Sam answered quickly so he wouldn't have to.

"There's an angel, his name is Castiel. He's helping us to save the seals. He was the one to tell us about you."

Jacob looked around. "So… where is he?"

Sam looked startled. "What?"

"You said you had an angel helping you. So where is he? Wouldn't he be better at protecting me and the church against demons than just you two?"

Dean tensed and felt a pang of guilt shoot through him.

"He's busy," Dean said quickly and more harshly than he wanted.

Sam quickly jumped in. "There are other seals and he has to protect them too. He sent us because he knew we could keep you safe. But first, we need to know if you will trust us."

Jacob looked down for a minute, obviously thinking hard. He tapped his fingers on the desk as he thought. Sam and Dean looked at each other, each holding their breath. Finally, Jacob spoke.

"Boys, that is the damn near craziest story I think I have ever heard in my entire life!"

Sam opened his mouth, but Jacob held up a hand to silence him.

"However, I'm not fool enough to think that there aren't things out there that I don't know about. And I've been preaching the Lord's words for 30 years now and it even says there is evil out there. So if you're telling me that there's demons out after me, then I guess I have to just trust that you're telling me the truth."

Sam and Dean looked at him startled.

"So… you believe us? Just like that?" Dean asked.

Jacob shrugged. "What choice do I have? If you boys have your minds made up to help me you're going to. And I know that I can't protect myself on my own. Besides, I'm an old man and if you boys had some mischief in mind you could have already done it. But you're offering to help so I'll take it."

Sam let out a relieved sigh. Dean nodded.

"Alright then. I guess we should get moving and get this place secure before sunset."

Dean stood up and Sam and Jacob quickly followed. They began walking towards the door.

"I already was scoping out the church. We're going to lay salt lines anywhere someone could come in. That'll keep the demons out, or at least slow them down. We'll also put down some devil traps that'll catch any that might make it in," Dean said as he opened the door and began walking out. "I think if we can just hold them off for the night we'll be OK-"

Suddenly, Dean heard a loud thump and Sam let out a grunt of pain. He turned to see Sam collapse to the floor and a man standing on one side of the door holding a baseball bat. He had dark hair and his eyes quickly turned black as he looked up at Dean and smiled.

"Hello, Dean," the man sneered.

Before Dean could respond he felt something hit him in the back of the head and he collapsed to the floor. Before he passed out he saw Jacob's terrified face as the old man was grabbed by two others. The scene quickly faded into nothing.

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Oooh! I hope you're enjoying the story so far! I just wanted to say that I am soooooooo incredibly excited to write these next couple chapters! I've had them written for months in my head and I can't wait to share them with you! Just be warned, there's definitely going to be some unpleasantness for Dean first!