CHAPTER 25
Ghosts
The battered pickup flew down the interstate. Sam had at least recovered the power of speech and enough thought process to glance at Ruby again. "What the hell was that?"
Ruby went straight to the point. "Lilith, she broke a seal."
"What's a seal?" Sam's gaze flickered from the road ahead to meet Ruby's gaze for just a moment.
"There are hundreds of seals... Every time a seal is broken it brings her that much closer to freeing Lucifer from his cage."
Sam couldn't see a connection between the two things, so he asked the obvious. "So Lilith broke this seal and now Henderson's ghost is gunning for me?"
"Not just Henderson's ghost, and you aren't the only one they're coming for."
Instant panic filled Sam at the exact moment he comprehended what she was saying. "Dean and Bobby?"
"For starters—the seal defines you, and them as Witnesses..."
"Witnesses? To what?" Sam asked.
"A hunter's failure to save them from whatever supernatural crisis they were victims to."
"And we failed to save Henderson from Lilith."
Ruby smirked, "And he grabs the brass ring..." as always proud of how quick her Sammy grasped these kinds of situations, "and the body count of hunters dead because of these witnesses is mounting pretty quick."
It wouldn't take a genius to know that this is why he'd been summoned. Sam pushed the accelerator to the floor. At his new speed he could reach Singer Salvage in half an hour—as long as the pickup didn't break down.
After firing salt rounds into the ghost in front of him and then into the pair of young female ghosts confronting Bobby, Dean was on Bobby's heels as they descended the stairs to the panic room he hadn't known about until yesterday. As salt coated iron doors slammed shut behind them, Dean expressed what was on both their minds.
"What the freakin' hell is going on?"
Bobby glared at Dean. "Do I look like I know more'n you do?"
Dean reached for his back pocket, finding it empty. "Damn. I left my phone in my jacket upstairs."
"That's why I got one down here. A land line." Bobby pointed to an old style rotary phone on the small desk. "Ya wouldn't have a digital signal in here anyway."
"It's not gonna be any help... I have Sam's phone number—and Jo's for that matter—on speed dial on my cell phone. Don't know either one of them off the top of my head."
"Damn idjit," Bobby shook his head. "that's why I write everything down. Pen and paper instead them damn new-fangled laptops and computers. Yeah they are helpful for research, but the important stuff son... write it the hell down."
Bobby pulled his wallet from his back pocket and withdrew a piece of paper with a list of phone numbers on it, and handed it to Dean. "See if you can reach your brother."
Dean stared at the list of numbers. "Damn Bobby, have we really had this many phone numbers?"
"As often as you boys change phones there's days I wished I owned stock in one of those cellular service providers. That's just the active numbers in the last two years. Jo and Ellen's numbers are on the back, in case you want to check in with them."
It was as if fate was taunting them, as the sound of Dean's cell phone ringing drifted to the basement. The melody of the ring-tone was annoying.
Bobby glanced at Dean, "Sam?"
"Yeah" Dean released a relieved sigh, For the moment at least his brother was still alive.
Sam was frustrated, finally out of the bad service area, He'd had several missed calls, mostly from his brother and two from his wife. He had a signal at last only to find that his brother's phone simply rang again and again. He tried the number two more times. Each time it ended at voice mail. Dread filled him.
He glanced down at his phone, this time pressing the button for his wife. Two rings and her voice was on the other end. "Sam?"
He cast a look at Ruby that demanded her silence, before answering Jo. "Yeah, you guys okay?"
"So far. So you talked to Dean?"
"Not yet, his phone keeps going ringing and then goes to voice mail. Sorry I didn't answer your calls, I was in that dead service area."
"I was getting so worried. Something is killing hunters..."
"Somebody has been resurrecting ghosts..."
"How do you know..."
"One came after me in the bathroom of a gas station."
"Oh my god, are you okay?"
"I'm just fine."
"Why you Sammy?"
"Baby, I'm a hunter... and a Winchester...if things are coming after hunters then I suppose Dean and I would top the list."
"Be careful Sam."
"I will baby, I have far too much to live for. I promise I'm not going anywhere but home to you."
"Sam... I love you."
"Love you too. Could you try and reach Bobby? I'm kinda speeding here and need to pay attention. Tell him I should be there in about 20 minutes. "
As he closed the flip phone, Ruby murmured just loud enough to be heard. "Excuse me while I puke."
Sam didn't acknowledge her disdainful remark, instead gluing his eyes to the dark road ahead of him.
He didn't expect the ringing of his phone. And when he flipped it open to answer it the number was unfamiliar.
"Hello?"
"Sammy?"
"Dean...where the hell are you? Your phone just rings and rings."
"My phone is inaccessible at the moment. You okay?"
"For the moment yes. Was in a bit of a jam at that Gas-n-Go just outside Vermillion. I'm about fifteen minutes from Bobby's. Again I ask...where the hell are you?"
"On a land-line in the panic room in Bobby's basement."
The admiration in Sam's voice was unmistakable. "Bobby has an honest to God panic room?"
"That's what I just said."
"That's seriously awesome." Sam exclaimed unaware that he was on speaker phone until Bobby spoke.
"Okay enough about the awesomeness of my panic room. If it wasn't awesome it wouldn't be much good would it?"
Seriousness overtook Sam again. "Sorry Bobby. I assume since you guys are stowed away in your basement you've got some issues of a ghostly nature too."
"You might say that."
"Do you know your ghosts?"
"Sort of..." Dean said. "One of the ghosts is Meg's original vessel. "
"I don't remember these little girls though... never saw them before, not in person anyways." Bobby interjected, "They look like the little girls in some photos from from at least 20 years or so ago, they went missing and were never found."
Sam threw in his tormentor. "I just got a blast from our recent past."
"Who?" Bobby asked.
"FBI special agent Hendrickson."
"No way!" Dean exclaimed.
"Yes, way." Sam declared. "and in no uncertain terms the dude's not happy. Apparently Lilith took great pains to torture everyone we left behind in that police station. He said she tortured that secretary for 45 minutes."
"Son of a bitch." Dean allowed a moment of regret before returning to his own predicament. She'd been such a sweet young woman.
"How did you get away son?" Bobby asked.
"I had some unexpected help."
"From who?"
"I don't think you want to know."
It was all Sam had to say for Dean to know the answer. "It's Ruby isn't it?"
"Yeah, she saved my ass-again-and she knows what is going on."
"Does she know how to stop it... whatever it is?"
Sam cast a glance toward Ruby who gave a negative nod.
"No, but she knows who's behind it. It's Lilith's doing...she broke a seal. The ghosts are witnesses."
"Seals? Witnesses? What the hell are you talking about Sammy?" Dean was practically shouting over the phone.
"Hang on," Bobby interrupted. "Dean, this has a familiar ring to it. Sam-we'll call you back in five minutes. I think I have the book with some answers in it down here."
The five minutes were almost up when Bobby shouted triumphantly, "Here it is."
'What have you got Bobby?"
"Breaking of seals, and the rising of the witnesses. It's a sign, Dean."
"A sign of what?"
"The end times, the bloody apocalypse. "
"Is there anything we can do stop the killings?"
"Maybe, there's a ritual, if we can gather all the necessary ingredients."
"What do we need?"
Bobby scanned the list of what they would need. "Well damn. Couldn't expect this to be easy now could we? Why can't we ever get lucky?"
"What?' Missing ingredients?"
"No but what we need is on the other side of that door."
They both stared at the iron door in ominous silence. They had no choice but wait for Sam's arrival.