Hey, everyone! Here's chapter twelve! Thanks again to my wonderful beta tenaciousmetoo, without whom this story would probably suck big time. Enjoy!

Chapter Twelve - Revelations

"GO!" Sam shouted, shoving Ellie towards the basement door. "NOW!"

The cloaked figure lunged through the front door as Ellie clambered onto the staircase. Sam quickly cocked his shotgun and pulled the trigger, sending a shot of rock salt into the figure's chest. It stumbled, wheezing and clutching awkwardly at its chest, as two more figures burst into the hallway and rushed forward. Sam kicked one in the chest and smacked the other in the face with the butt of his shotgun. Only slightly stunned, one of the freaks reared back and punched Sam across the jaw, causing Sam's lip to split open and fill his mouth with blood as he fell backwards into the wall. The other half of the duo dove at Sam, ready to knock him to the ground; but Sam stepped swiftly out of the way, allowing the figure to trip and run headfirst into the wall. Then, before the first one could hit him again, Sam grabbed him by the arm and flipped him over onto his back, knocking the wind out of him and dazing him at the same time.

Unfortunately, the shadowed form that he'd shot with the rock salt was becoming more and more lucid. It reached out for Sam as it straightened up to its full height and took a step forward. Before it could get too close, Sam leaped over the cloaked being lying on the floor, scrambling through the basement doorway under the stairs. He reached back and pulled the door shut as a pair of yellow eyes appeared in the crack between the door and the doorframe. Sam's fingers fumbled clumsily with the lock, but he managed to secure it before the hooded psychopath on the other side could succeed in ripping the door off its hinges.

"Now what?" Sam breathed as he jogged down the staircase to join Ellie at the bottom. The yellow-eyed freaks were pounding on the door, obviously trying to knock it down. They didn't have much time.

"Over here," Ellie whispered, running around the corner. Sam followed her to the other side of the basement where an antique cupboard sat against a wall. It appeared to be as old as the house itself. Ellie shoved the key that had unlocked the basement door into a similar looking lock on one of the cupboard's drawers. The drawer popped open, and Ellie reached within it, her fingers groping for something along the top panel. There was a clicking sound as she pulled some sort of hidden lever. Sam's jaw dropped open as the solid wall behind the cupboard suddenly spun, revealing a hidden passage behind it.

Ellie dove inside. "In here! Hurry!"

There was a loud banging noise as the intruders finally broke the basement door open. Sam hurriedly jumped inside the passage, and Ellie pulled the invisible lever again so that the wall swung shut, this time with the cupboard on the inside of the passage and a blank wall on the other. They stood quietly, listening to the crashing sounds of angry footsteps on the stairs.

"They're not down here!"

"That's impossible. There's only one way out of here, and we just came through it. That little bitch is playing with us again."

"What should we do? We can't go back without her. Boss'll kill us."

"Search the house. They can't have gotten too far. One of us would've seen them. Station a man at the door. I don't want anyone or anything coming in or out of this basement without my knowledge. And find Luke. He may know what she's up to."

"Yes sir."

The footsteps retreated back up the stairs, and a few seconds later there was a loud crash just above the ceiling of the passage, followed by the sound of breaking glass.

"What the--" Sam began, staring up the packed dirt ceiling in confusion.

"My mom's china cabinet. I think they just turned it over," Ellie answered, biting her lip and fumbling in another drawer of the antique cabinet as more crashes echoed above them. She retrieved a match and lit two lanterns that were hanging on the wall to their left. She then handed one of the lanterns to Sam and kept the other for herself.

"What is this place?" Sam asked, holding his lantern out to better examine the passage. The ceiling, walls, and floor were all made of packed dirt, supported by a few beams of wood that had definitely seen better days. The corridor stretched farther than he could see by the meager beams of light emitting from the lanterns.

"It's part of the Underground Railroad," Ellie answered, slowly moving forward through the passage. "The original owners of the house used to hide slaves down here while their owners searched the house. As you can see, the wall is seamless. There's no way you would ever expect a hidden passage to be behind it, unless you already knew it was there. Plus, with the cupboard on this side, there's no way for them to open it."

"So is there another way out?" Sam asked, ducking to avoid a sagging beam.

"It leads to one of the barns and opens into one of the horse's stalls. The slaves would sometimes escape out that way and flee to the next station on the Railroad while their owners were busy searching and arguing with the owners of the house."

"Wow," Sam murmured, enraptured by the fact that he was reliving history. "This is amazing."

The passage suddenly widened and Sam noticed that wooden bunk beds had been built into the passage walls. "We'll wait here a little while," Ellie said, sinking onto one of the lower bunks. "Hopefully they'll leave soon."

There was another deafening crash just above them that caused a shower of dirt to fall from the ceiling and dust Sam's hair. Ellie winced. "I think that was Phil's thirty-seven inch plasma screen."

Sam grinned in spite of himself. "So that means you're pretty much dead no matter what, aren't you?"

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Meanwhile, Dean and Lillian were still making their way through the woods, stopping every so often to listen for distant voices or sounds. It was unusually peaceful, just like it had been the night before when Dean and Sam had hidden near the crime scene. There were no birds chirping in the distance or leaves rustling in the wind, no buzzing of insects or chattering of squirrels. The only sound came from the crackling of twigs beneath their feet.

Holding his crossbow with one hand, Dean massaged his chest awkwardly with the other. His persistent heartburn was flaring up again, but this time, at least, the pain had lessened considerably.

"You wouldn't happen to have some Rolaids or Tums or something on hand, would ya?" he asked, glancing sideways at Lillian.

Lillian raised an eyebrow. "No. Why?"

"I've been having killer heartburn. I think it's all of the Southern-fried home cooking I've been eating since I got here. Is it commonplace in Kentucky to lace mashed potatoes with acid or something?"

Lillian paused. "Hold on. This started after you got here?"

"Yeah. I think it first happened last night when Ellie made me a plate of leftovers."

Lillian snorted, causing Dean to glance sharply at her. She covered her mouth hastily, trying to contain her giggles. "Sorry."

"What's so funny?"

"It's just..." Lillian bit her lip, seemingly evaluating Dean as if to make sure he was up to hearing what she had to say.

"Just what? Spit it out!"

Lillian sighed. "Your chest...it feels tight, right? There's a burning sensation, maybe?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah. So?"

"It's hard to swallow and sometimes you feel like your heart is racing?"

"Yeah. So?" Dean asked, starting to get annoyed.

Lillian clapped him on the shoulder good-naturedly. "Dean, honey, is it possible that all of these attacks of 'heartburn' have occurred when Ellie was around?"

Dean was dumbfounded. "Um...maybe...I don't really remember..."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Face it, sweetie, you don't have heartburn. What you do have is a little crush on Ellie. But don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

"You're crazy," Dean muttered. "Ellie's just a kid."

"Aw, Deano, you know what they say: you can't help who you fall in love with."

"Yeah, well, I don't fall in love ever. So let's just drop it."

"Oh please. Everyone falls in love whether they want to or not."

"I don't. I don't do flowery bullshit."

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a way with words?" Lillian asked sarcastically.

"I'm just--" He stopped suddenly and stretched his arm out to the side, barring Lillian from walking any further. When she opened her mouth to protest, Dean clapped a hand over her mouth and held a finger to his lips. Distant voices were floating through a particularly dense area of brush just ahead of them to the left. Dean knelt down, and Lillian followed, her eyes wide with both curiosity and fear. Together, they slowly crawled on their hands and knees towards the voices. As they got closer, they could see beyond the branches into a small clearing with a few felled trees. Two silhouettes in long, black hooded cloaks stood beside a weathered stone wall with a large hole that seemed to be some sort of opening into a cave.

"I don't understand why we had to stay here with the stupid girl. I mean, it's not as if she's going anywhere, and we're not allowed to fucking touch her until sunset. It would have been one thing if we'd been allowed to play with her, but this is just ridiculous."

"I know what you mean. Hunting is much more fun than babysitting. But Evan would be pissed if we left her here alone. What if one of those damn brothers figured out where we were keeping her and tried to play hero? We'd be dead. Worse than dead."

"Yeah, I guess. I still don't see why we have to leave her in there all alone though. She's a blond, and you know what blonds do to me..."

"Forget it. She has to remain pure for the ceremony or it won't work. Once we're finished with her, you can bang her fifteen ways until Sunday for all I care but, until then, you're just going to have to look and not touch."

The first voice let out an irritated sigh. "Christ, what the hell is taking them so long anyway?"

"I don't know. Maybe Ellie is pulling her shit again. Or maybe her little friends are putting up a fight to protect her."

"What a bunch of morons. I--"

An echoing sob suddenly reverberated from inside the cave, interrupting their conversation. The second figure threw his arms in the air. "Stupid little witch. If she thinks I'm loosening the ropes, she can fucking forget it."

"Maybe I can get her to keep quiet!"

"You're not touching her, dumbass."

And with that they disappeared into the cave, their voices booming against the rocky walls until they faded away completely. Dean and Lillian slowly climbed to their feet and backed away from the clearing, moving further and further back into the woods.

Finally, after moving about thirty yards away, Dean pulled Lillian behind a tree and whispered, "Okay, I think it's safe to talk now."

"What are we going to do?" Lillian asked, anxiously chewing on her thumbnail.

"I don't know, just give me a second," Dean said, bending at the waist and resting his palms on his knees in an effort to clear his head.

Lillian rubbed her temples, looking exhausted. "This sucks, this totally sucks."

"Welcome to my world." He bit his lip, pondering his choices before finally coming to a decision.

"I think we should go back for Ellie and Sam. It sounds like they might be in trouble."

"But what about Jenna?"

"Whatever they want her for isn't going to take place until after sunset. She should be safe until then."

"But that guy sounds like he's gonna--"

"I know, I know. But the other one said that she has to remain 'pure' for whatever the hell this ceremony is about. They're not going to do anything to her that might jeopardize that. Besides, it sounds like more of them are due back at any time. We could easily take out the guards, but what would happen if the others got back before we found Jenna? We'd be in deep shit."

Before either of them could say anything else, it started to rain. Dean winced as the frigid drops landed on his eyelashes and ran down his face, causing goosebumps to rise on his skin. He shivered and pulled his leather jacket closer around him, doing his best to maintain any warmth that he could.

Lillian, whose clothes were already nearly soaked through, rolled her eyes. "Great. This is freaking perfect."

"C'mon," Dean said, offering her his arm. "We have to go back. And be careful, the ground's going to be slick."

Sure enough, the ground, already saturated with the driving rains from that morning, was quickly becoming a muddy slip 'n slide. Lillian grabbed Dean's wrist and together, they slowly made their way backwards, jumping over deep puddles and particularly slimy areas of mud.

"Hey, Dean?" Lillian asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah?"

"I really am sorry about this morning."

"Don't worry about it."

"No, I'm serious. The way that you are with Sam and Ellie...you're obviously not a murderer."

Dean couldn't help but crack a smile. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

There was another long pause before she said, "So, what really happened in St. Louis? I mean, why do the cops think that you're a murderer? And dead?"

Dean opened his mouth to answer her but then he stopped, his thoughts whirling. Lillian stared up at him in concern and tugged on his arm. "Dean? Dean, are you okay?"

But Dean didn't respond. Everything suddenly made sense. It was as if he'd just completed a complicated jigsaw puzzle and was finally seeing the bigger picture.

And the bigger picture was like a punch in the gut: surprising, painful, and breathtaking all at once.

His grasp on Lillian's arm tightened, and he tugged her in the opposite direction.

"What are you doing?" she cried, keeping her voice low as she tried to loosen his grip on her wrist.

"I want to check the crime scene again. I have an idea."

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"...And that's why Dean and I are banned from stepping foot in a Chuck E. Cheese ever again."

Ellie threw her head back with silent laughter and Sam chuckled, taking care to keep his voice low. The yellow-eyed army was still in the house, making quite a commotion as they searched every room for him and Ellie. Sam was sure that, when they finished, Ellie's family wouldn't have a single intact possession left. Nor, perhaps, even a house...

It had been at least an hour since they'd hidden in the passage, maybe more, and they'd taken to amusing themselves with "Twenty Questions" in order to keep from dwelling on such subjects as what might have happened to Dean and Lillian and what condition Jenna might be in if they ever found her.

"Okay, your turn," Ellie whispered, wiping away tears of mirth with her sleeve.

Sam leaned back on his palms and carefully considered what his next question should be. They'd kept it light thus far: Sam asking Ellie questions about her childhood with Jess and Ellie asking Sam about his misadventures with Dean, but now he was itching to delve deeper, to ask her something more personal.

"Luke hits you, doesn't he?" The words spilled out of him before he could stop it. His stomach churned with self-hatred, and he avoided her gaze, not wanting to see the betrayal that probably lingered there...which is why he was surprised when she actually answered the question.

"Yes." He glanced up quickly to see her staring coolly back at him. "Is it my turn now?"

Sam nodded numbly, a blush coloring his cheeks. Ellie pursed her lips and tilted her head to the side. "When Jess died, it wasn't just because of some fire, was it?"

Sam's breath caught in his throat, but he didn't look away. "No. It wasn't..." He chose not to elaborate any further and instead jumped into his next question. "Do you have a thing for my brother?"

It was Ellie's turn to blush. "I have a boyfriend."

"Yeah, a boyfriend who beats you and is apparently in on a plan to kill you. But that doesn't answer my question--"

"Where did you and Dean go on your road trip the weekend that Jess died?" Ellie asked, purposely ignoring Sam's statement.

"Jericho, California. Why do you stay with Luke when he's one of the people who's out to get you?"

"Because, until you and Dean got here, he was my only form of protection from them. What were you doing in Jericho, California?"

"Looking into something for our dad. Why were you so quick to believe that Dean was innocent this morning when Lillian accused him of murdering those girls in St. Louis?"

"Because what Lillian described was evil, and I've seen evil for myself. Dean isn't it. You knew that Jenna and I were going to be in danger before you even arrived, didn't you? "

"I knew someone was in danger, but I didn't know the specifics." By now, they were both leaning forward on the edge of their bunks, spitting questions and answers out in rapid-fire response. "Who's Evan, and what did you do that pissed him off so badly?

"I don't know who Evan is, just that he's their leader. Dean said your mother died in a fire too. It seems awfully strange that two of the most important women in your life died in fires. They wouldn't happen to be connected, would they?"

"Why do these guys want to kill you and Jenna?"

"Did you know what was going to happen to Jess before she died?"

"Do you know who really killed your brother?"

They were both on their feet now, their eyes fiery as they stared each other down in utter silence, each determined not to answer the other's questions until they got answers of their own. Indeed, it took them several moments to realize just how silent it was; but, when they finally did, they both tilted their heads back to stare at the ceiling.

"It's quiet," Sam whispered in disbelief. "I can't hear them anymore."

"Do you think they left? Do you think they're really gone?" Ellie breathed, her face shining with a childlike hope.

"There's only one way to find out for sure," Sam murmured, grabbing his lantern. "C'mon. Get us out of here."

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"What exactly are we looking for again?" Lillian asked, when they finally arrived at the water-logged crime scene.

Dean shoved his bag into her arms. "There's a journal in there. Find it. I need to look at something."

"But what are you--"

"Just do it, Lillian," he hissed, dodging a piece of torn crime scene tape that was fluttering in the wind. He moved past the upturned flags, once marking the exact area where Josh's body was found, now scattered all over the place. Lillian followed him slowly, trying to simultaneously dodge puddles and dig through the contents of Dean's bag.

Dean studied the trees, his eyes studiously searching their trunks. The night before, his flashlight had caught something shiny in its beam when he'd shone it onto one of the trees behind the true location of Josh's shooting. It was harder to see now, in the driving rain, but he eventually found what he was looking for.

Embedded in the bark was a twisted piece of metal, its sides jagged and rough. Dean swallowed and ran his fingertip against it, wishing like hell that he'd been wrong.

"Did you find the journal?" he asked, his voice hoarse and strangled.

Lillian handed it to him, her gaze locked on the strange metal blob. "What the hell is that?"

Dean ignored her and flipped furiously through the pages of his father's journal, finally coming to rest on a well-worn page towards the back of the book that he could remember studying intently over the years. Sure enough, scribbled in the margins in his father's familiar handwriting were the words "oculus par luna."

"Shit," Dean muttered. "Oculus par luna. Shit, shit, shit."

Lillian was peering over his shoulder curiously. "Oculus par luna... What the hell does that mean?"

"It means that I'm an idiot. C'mon. We have to go. Now. Before Sam does something stupid."

"Wait...what? Sam? What does Sam have to do--"

But Dean had grabbed her arm again and was already hauling her back through the woods, this time not bothering to dodge the puddles of mud. "Just come on. I'll explain everything on the way."

----------------------------------------------------

"See anything?"

"No. I think the coast is clear." Sam bent over and helped Ellie pull herself out of the tiny square trap door that had been partially hidden beneath some hay. Sure enough, the passage had ended beneath a horse stall in one of the barns, just as Ellie had said. Sam had chosen to climb out first, checking both the barn and the back yard for any signs of the yellow-eyed freaks. They seemed to have disappeared completely, leaving the doors to the house wide open and some of the windows broken.

"It's almost too quiet," Ellie whispered, glancing around worriedly as she dusted the dirt off of her clothes. "Are you sure they're gone?"

Sam nodded. "Go check for yourself," he said, gesturing to the half-open barn door.

He breathed in the sweet scent of rain, as Ellie crept to the door and peered out into the yard. The fog had subsided, and the temperature had risen, making the rain seem less foreboding and more like a simple spring shower. As soon as Ellie had backed safely away from the door and returned to the center of the barn, Sam set his shotgun on a nearby bale of straw and let out a sigh of relief.

"I think we're safe," he said with a grin. "I mean, at least for now."

Ellie nodded and leaned against a wooden post. "Yeah. Yeah, I think we are. Let's just hope that Dean and Lillian are safe too."

"Dean's very good at what we do," Sam said reassuringly, for his own benefit as much as Ellie's. "I'm sure they're fine."

Ellie smiled faintly, looking as if she didn't really believe him. "Right. Of course."

Sam began to pace back and forth across the barn, glancing surreptitiously at Ellie every few seconds. Finally he cleared his throat and said, "It wasn't an accident."

Ellie's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Jess. Her death wasn't an accident. You were right. She and my mom died the exact same way. Each time there was a fire, but that wasn't what really killed them. They were murdered. And I knew. I knew Jess was going to die...and I just left her there. Alone. I didn't want it to be true. I just wanted it to go away..."

Tears stung at his eyes, blinding him, as his throat closed up with emotion. "That's why I'm here. I have to save you...for Jess. I have to make it up to her--"

Suddenly, his foot caught in something hidden in a pile of hay and he pitched forward, his arms flailing as he tried to regain his balance. Ellie reached out to try to steady him, her hand brushing his, and the instant her skin came into contact with his, a burning sensation swept up his arm. He screamed and crashed onto the floor, hitting his head particularly hard. His vision went black and a roaring sound quickly filled his ears.

Suddenly, random images started flashing before him. They were moving past so quickly that Sam could hardly make sense of them, but he was able to recognize a few things here and there. The clearing in the woods...the hooded figures from his dreams standing around a campfire...a gun...Josh getting shot and falling to the ground...the Impala...a knife...

Suddenly, the images began to slow down. There was Jess standing with him in the clearing, looking sad...Jess and Ellie as teenagers sitting on the front porch with Josh, laughing...Luke, enraged, hitting Ellie and throwing her to the ground...Dean and he exploring the crime scene...Dean and Ellie kissing in the kitchen...

And then...Sam was once again standing in the woods beside Jess, watching Josh Wallace get shot. Only this time, unlike in his dream, he was able to see the killer's face...

Just as he opened his mouth to scream, he was snapped back to reality. He was still in the barn, lying on the cold, solid ground, his body aching all over from the impact. Ellie had rolled him over onto his back and was now standing over him, looking concerned.

"Sam? Sam, are you okay? You fell really--"

"It was you."

Something flickered in Ellie's eyes, and she took the smallest of steps backward. "What? Sam, are you--"

"It was you," Sam repeated, his voice barely a whisper as he got shakily to his feet. "The one the police are searching for...the one who cut our brake line...the one who shot Josh in the woods that night... All of it...was you."

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A/N: gasps Dun, dun, dun! The plot thickens! Raise your hand if you picked Ellie as either Josh's killer or the Impala abuser, and then pat yourself on the back for a job well done! In our next installment, the revelations continue when we finally find out exactly what our heroes are up against. And it's soooo not pretty. Dean will reveal what his revelation in the woods was all about, and a character from a past chapter will return with a big BANG! Plus, is Ellie good or evil? Possessed or using free will? You'll find out soon, so stay tuned!

If you enjoyed, please review! Thanks!