11
"How much longer do you think they're gonna be?" Sam asked Castiel, who was gazing out of the window.
"I cannot tell," Cas said. "Where they have gone to, I cannot see. This Alice Morgan's magic is a lot stronger than she has led the people of this town to believe."
"You think that's bad?"
"I cannot say—as I told you, I can't see there. She's hiding something—something of great power, I suspect."
"You think we should get over there?" Sam questioned anxiously. "You know how Rowena is, and if Alice has something that she could use—"
"I think we should remain here, to keep Paige and the child safe," Cas urged. "If Dean needs us, he will call."
McHugh entered the house.
"Car coming down the road," he said. Sam checked his pistol, and turned to Paige.
"Go into the bathroom, take James, you'll be safe there," he told her. Paige nodded, and gathered James up, locking the door behind them.
The car came to a stop, and Brenda Hopkins emerged from it.
"Brenda—what do you want?" McHugh called from the porch.
"I just wanna talk, that's all," she stammered. "I gotta tell you something."
She glanced over her shoulder. "But I don't want to tell it out here—he might hear me," she added nervously. "I don't think he'd be too happy if he knew I was out here talking to you guys."
"You can say what you've got to say right there," McHugh began, but Sam cut him short.
"I think she's trying to say Tabris could hear her, and she's right," he said. "What are you trying to say? Do you know where they took Duke?"
"Yes," Brenda stammered. "Please—if he knew I was out here," she said, but they understood.
"You better come in then," McHugh grudgingly admitted, and Brenda scampered inside quickly and they closed the door behind her.
She glanced around at the assorted sigils.
"Will these really keep them out of here?" she asked.
"They have so far," Sam replied. "Now tell us what you have to say. Tabris cannot get in here, nor can he hear you."
Brenda nodded, swallowing nervously.
"I-I'm thirsty—could I trouble you for some water?" she asked.
"I got it," McHugh answered, and went into the kitchen.
Brenda began to cry, huddling back against the door with her arms behind her. Sam put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, it's okay," he soothed. "I know this all has to be kind of scary for you guys."
"It is," Brenda exhaled, secretly palming her keys and scratching through the sigil painted on it. "But it's going to be better soon, right?" she smiled timorously.
McHugh returned with the water glass, and handed it to her.
"Thanks," Brenda smiled, sipping at it.
"Now what were you going to tell us?" Sam questioned.
"They have your friend Duke in an old canning factory," Brenda said. "It's the one where the Bolt-Gun Killer buried his victims."
"I know the place," McHugh stated.
There was a sudden bang from the back bedroom, and they all jumped. Brenda clutched the glass in her hand, and smashed it.
"We'll check it out," Cas stated, and he and McHugh headed down the hallway.
"Hey, you cut yourself," Sam said, concerned.
"No, it's just a scratch," Brenda gasped. "You got a Band-Aid?"
"Yeah, hold on, lemme get one," Sam began, heading to the bathroom.
He had just retrieved one when he saw Brenda step to a table, doodling something furiously in blood just as Cas and McHugh returned.
"No, don't!" Sam shouted as she slammed her hand onto the table, and Castiel vanished in a flash of light.
"What did you do?" he shouted at her just as the front door burst open and Tabris stepped through.
McHugh threw a punch, but Tabris caught his fist, and touched him on the forehead. McHugh collapsed and slid to the floor.
"Thank you, Brenda," Tabris answered.
Sam lifted his pistol to shoot, but was clobbered from behind by Kirk, and he dropped unconscious.
"Get the woman," Tabris instructed. Kirk kicked at the door, forcing it open, and caught hold of Paige, dragging her out.
"McHugh! Sam!" Paige screamed as the Rev and Kirk took hold of her, Jordan taking James in her arms. "What did you do to them?"
"They will recover. Bring Winchester along," Tabris instructed.
"What of the other angel?" Jordan asked.
"It will take him some time to return," Tabris said. "By then we should be well underway with our plans."
Rowena and Alice were over in by the fireplace, both of them gazing at an unassuming little gray cup while Dwight and Dean helped load the boxes the pair had packed into his truck.
"Is that what I think it is?" Rowena asked.
"Depends on what you think it is," Alice murmured.
"I think that it's the Crucible of Eldritch," Rowena said. "It's one of the most powerful talisman casters in existence. However did ye come by it?"
"Some people don't know the value of what they have," Alice remarked. "The woman I bought it from thought it was a Russian loving cup or something because of the writing."
"Would ye be interested in sellin' it?"
"No. Not for any price," Alice said sharply, but relented. "But it could be rented for a price."
"I think ye an' I could get on famously," Rowena smiled, and linked her arm through Alice's.
Dwight glanced back at the house.
"You think this is gonna work?" he asked Dean. "All of this hocus-pocus mumbo-jumbo?"
"You've seen angels and dead people resurrected, and you're gonna doubt if witchcraft is real?" Dean retorted. "It's all real, Dwight—monsters in the closet, vampires, tooth fairies, imaginary friends—all of it real, much of it very deadly."
He turned back to look at the house, seeing Rowena and Alice talking together.
"They're getting awfully chummy," he remarked.
"So Rowena's the real thing, huh?"
"Oh yeah," Dean said. "She's one of the most powerful—and deadliest—witches on the planet."
"So why is she helping you?"
"She owes us one," Dean muttered.
Rowena and Alice emerged from the house, and Alice shut the door behind her.
"All set, ladies?" Dean asked.
"Indeed we are," Rowena answered. "We'll fix yer wee problems in nothin' flat," she told Dwight, patting his cheek. "An' get yer would-be angel friend back in the process."
Cas suddenly appeared, and Alice stepped back. Rowena patted her arm.
"Nothin' ta be alarmed about, it's just an angel," she said, and Alice stared at Cas with wide eyes.
"Cas, why aren't you at the house with Sam?" Dean demanded.
"We were ambushed. A woman came to the house, claimed to have knowledge of where they took Duke. Once inside, she damaged a sigil and banished me. By the time I returned, they were gone and your friend McHugh was unconscious."
"Was he badly hurt?" Dwight asked. "And how did she do that?"
"No, he is safe. Dean, they took Sam, Paige and the baby," Cas informed him, and Dean's face reddened in fury.
"Who was it that came to the house?" Dwight interrogated Cas.
"McHugh called the woman Brenda," Cas stated.
"Brenda Hopkins—one of the Rev's followers," Dwight told Dean. "But how did she know to do all of that?"
"Tabris must've told her," Dean snapped. "C'mon, let's get back there; see if we can find out anything else."
Castiel stood still, listening.
"What are they saying?" Dean asked.
"What's who saying?" Alice stage-whispered.
"It's Tabris—he's asking other Principalities to join with him at a site not far from here tonight," Cas spoke. "He's asking for their help in breaking down your barrier you erected," he directed to Alice. "It will not stand up to their combined might."
"Then we'll just have to push back," Rowena said firmly. "So I suggest we get this show on the road, boyos."
In a run-down warehouse, Paige cradled James closely to her, walking nearer to where Duke was seated, his head down.
"Duke?" she said softly, sitting down next to him. "Hey, Duke," she soothed, her hand on his face, lifting his head up as he opened his eyes to gaze at her. "Are you all right?"
"Yes," he breathed, his expression puzzled. "But—who are you?"
"He doesn't remember you," Jordan told her, approaching them. "So your favorite little weapon of playing on Duke's sympathies is gone. He belongs to us now."
Paige looked back at Duke, seeing no trace of recognition in his eyes, only a dispassionate gaze meeting hers, as though she were a stranger on the bus.
"What did they do to you?" she asked, tears spilling over. James sensed his mother's discomfort, and began to wail.
"We did nothing at all—Duke has seen the light, and chosen the right path," the Rev toned. "Get them ready," he told Jordan. "We leave at sunset."
