Chapter 14 – I set a course for winds of fortune

Emilia poked her head inside Father Aaron's office, but he wasn't there. She finally saw him exiting the confessional, and hurried over to meet him.

"Emilia. Did you and Dean discover anything at Mr. Jameson's house?"

"Not much. Dean's still there, so hopefully he'll find something. Listen, I'm hoping you can help us with something. Do you know if the building committee was working on something special or new?"

"Well, I wasn't at their last meeting, so I don't know of any new, minor projects they've decided to tackle. But just last month, we decided it was time to arrange for repairs of the steeple. It's been on this building for about 100 years. It's actually much older than that – it came over from a church in Wales with some of the settlers of that time."

Emilia's thoughts were already racing, trying to think of anything that might help determine the significance of that. "OK, but the suicides didn't start until about a week ago – which was after their last meeting. If it is related to the steeple, wouldn't they have started last month?"

Father Aaron ran a hand across his eyes, sighed, and gestured for Emilia to follow him into his office. He picked up the phone on his desk and called a number he apparently had memorized. After just two short rings, someone on the other end picked up.

"Lydia. It's Father Aaron….yes, it is horrible about Mr. Jameson ... I will certainly keep you updated on the service information…I'm sure Mary and the kids would appreciate that…"

Father Aaron shared an amused look with Emilia.

"Lydia - " he said quickly, leaving Emilia with the impression that he was used to having to cut this woman off during phone conversations. "I need to know – what did you and the rest of the committee do during the last meeting?"

Lydia once again took over the conversation, leaving Father Aaron to only put in a few "uh-huhs" to keep her going. Now, however, she was saying things that definitely seemed interesting to the priest, as he kept giving Emilia pointed looks and smiles. Finally hanging up the phone, he turned his attention to her – which was a good thing, as Emilia was about to burst from curiosity.

"What?!"

"The committee continued their discussion on the steeple. But, for this meeting, they also went up into the attic, trying to find records or some other kind of history for it."

Emilia smiled. "Point me in the direction of the attic, then. I'm all about history, after all!"

Dean chatted with one of Jameson's neighbors about what a "horrible shame" it all was, with one eye on the police as they packed up evidence to take back to the lab. It was clear that the big guns were going to be leaving soon, and it was only a matter of minutes before it was just Dean, the crime scene tape and the poor uniformed officer that would have to guard the scene until he was relieved at the end of his shift.

Clearly the officer wasn't happy with the assignment. That made Dean's job that much easier. As the officer stared straight ahead from his station at the front of the house, Dean made his way surreptitiously around to the back. He found an "unlocked" window, and let himself in. Pulling out his homemade EMF detector, Dean was not surprised to see the needle jumping as soon as he entered the kitchen, which was obviously where the body had been. Even though they had suspected something more than suicide, it was nice to be proven right.

Despite the EMF telling him there was something supernatural about the kitchen, his eyes couldn't see anything strange. Dean decided to check out the rest of the house. He moved with the stealth that had been driven into him over the years of training. It felt weird being there without Sam.

He wondered if he'd get the chance to hunt with Sam again.

Shaking his head to bring his focus back to the dimly lit, quiet house, Dean slowly climbed the stairs – every sense on alert for danger. The first room seemed as normal as the kitchen. When he passed the bathroom next, he saw someone inside. Jumping back, clutching his chest to calm his pounding heart, Dean's mind raced through a variety of excuses as to why he was in the house.

Then he realized it was probably a good thing Sam wasn't with him – he'd never live down the shame of having been scared of his own reflection.

The chuckle died on Dean's lips as he continued to stare at himself. He could have sworn the reflection winked at him…

I know how dead you are inside. How worthless you feel. I know how you look into a mirror and hate what you see…

Then again, it's not much of a life worth saving…

You are nothing. You're as mindless and obedient as an attack dog…A good soldier and nothing else. Daddy's blunt little instrument.

Dean's mouth settled into a firm line, reminding himself of how he had destroyed the other Dean, how he had finally admitted to himself as well as to the other Dean that he had been there for Sammy when their father hadn't, that he didn't deserve the cards he had been dealt.

But that didn't change the fact that he had been right about something else that night too…he was his own worst nightmare…

Emilia had been through just about every box and shelf in the attic and hadn't found anything.

Not that I'm expecting a big neon sign pointing at what I'm looking for or anything…

Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair and wrinkled her nose again at the dusty smell that permeated the room. She took one last look around the attic, wishing for some kind of "ah-ha" moment. Divine intervention wouldn't be too much to hope for in a church, would it?

But, alas. It still looked like a bunch of boxes and miscellaneous storage items. In fact, there hadn't been any records or anything about the steeple up here – Emilia suspected that one of the building committee members took those items down at their last meeting. The death this morning had distracted her and Dean from their original purpose of speaking with the other committee members – they'd have to tackle that later.

Pulling out her cell phone, Emilia confirmed that Dean hadn't called yet. She decided to go back to the hotel to wait for him.

The TV was on, so it took a few seconds for Emilia to hear the other sound. Almost a whisper… Turning the volume down, Emilia uncurled her legs and stood up from her bed. Cocking her head, she tried to make out what the sound was but it was too quiet.

She tore open the bathroom door, but no one was in there. And now that she thought about it, maybe the sound was coming from the other direction.

She pulled open the door to the hotel and looked to both sides. No one was outside. Unsurprising, as the other people who had a hotel room in the middle of the day weren't really the type to want to loiter around outside.

She shut the door, confusion playing across her face. Deciding to chalk it up to paranoia, Emilia sat back down and turned the volume back up.

And that's when the noise started getting louder…

Congrats to beth9874 for knowing Malcolm Young is a singer - he's actually of AC/DC.