Chapter 37

Dean kept smirking at her. She didn't look back at him and wouldn't justify whatever he was so obviously proud of by acknowledging his little secret. Although that wasn't meeting Dean's need to point out his small victory and after several more moments of increasing awkward silence, he spoke. "Told you so."

There was something perfectly cocky about his tone and the grin on his face. You could hear his grin in his voice, a trait she found both annoying and endearing. Her eyes narrowed as she turned to look back at Dean. "What did you tell me again?"

"That you were keeping something from me."

She gave a snort of a laugh before a strange look passed over her face. "Yeah… yeah I suppose you're right."

The self-assured smirk on his face faded when he looked at her. Something was off. Maybe he hadn't won the way he thought he had. "What does—"

"You suppose your brother's done playing camp counselor?"

"Hey, we're not done here. And no. Just wait until he gets us. What, you can't spend time with me?"

"It's weird. I need to do something real."

"All this is kinda weird and uncomfortable Mae."

"Yes, it certainly is."

"So... you wanna make out for a while?"

Mae scoffed. "I do not."

"It'll be like old times."

She laughed. "Seriously, no. We aren't exactly alone."

The suggestion had been made in jest but if she were interested in that, even if it were only to occupy their time, he wouldn't have said no. "I could lock the door."

She shook her head. "No. It's a bad idea. Maybe when we know for sure that it's us and not some spell. For now, let's just... move forward. We should have talked years ago about a lot of things. That's not something we can change but I'll pinky swear to be bestest friends." her tone was saturated with sarcasm as it descended into sing-song. "C'mon Dean, unless we're gonna braid each other's hair, can we be hunters?"

Dean wanted to play, wanted to keep things light and fun. He still wasn't sure what was holding her back. It wasn't like he was asking for a lot, just a little...faith, he supposed. "Yeah, let's be hunters."

He let her off the hook, something she was just a little thankful for then. The worst part of it was the way he looked at her; his eyes were so raw, jaw clenched tightly, lips turned in a frown and brow furrowed grimly. It was the sort of look that made her want to soften her resolve, even though she didn't know how.

"I need to get something from my car," She said after clearing her throat.

"What?"

There wasn't a point in deceiving him at all, so she didn't even try. "Book of shadows."

"You are a witch."

It could have been a joke, or it could have been a serious accusation. "Burn me later."

They stood at simultaneously and he followed her towards the door. "I just don't like where this is all headed."

"Ah, I can't wait to find out what you like next episode."

"I like pie." He joked

"Okay sugar, you handle all matters pie related and I'll do witch stuff. That should cover all our bases, yeah?"

Annoyance was only half the reason that led him to follow her out to the parking lot. Letter her go off on her own wasn't an option, even if it merited another fight or resistance from her. He had no intention of letting her out of his sight now, not when she practically had a bull's-eye tacked to her back. Because he wasn't interested in having another one of those gender difference arguments he stood watchfully in the doorway as she rummaged through the back of her car. It wasn't because she was a woman that he was concerned. But because she was a woman, he did let his eyes wander languorously up her long legs to her tight butt. She did have a great body, hunter or not, witch or not.

Sam had done his job well and their young man was a little calmer. He knocked on the adjoining door, letting his brother and the redhead know it was safe to come back. However, shoot both Mae and Dean a warning glance. He thought the look that passed over her face was almost sheepish, but he couldn't tell why exactly. He briefly wondered if he had interrupted something intimate between the pair, but Dean didn't flash the sort of grin he would have expected from him.

The woman didn't say anything as she took a seat at the table next to him and plopped down a huge leather-bound book. His eyes grew wide and he first offered her the questioning glance before looking at his brother. Dean's expression still offered no further clarity. They couldn't be that stupid, could they?

"What's that?"

Mae looked back up from her book to Sam. "Spells mostly. Maybe we can figure out how to undo all this."

"Why do you have a giant spell book?

"I get around Sam. Your dad has that journal. I'm just extremely diligent in writing everything sown."

Peering over to her book, he nodded approvingly. From what he very briefly saw he realized it was quite detailed and perhaps even more helpful than dad's journal. He figured some of the information was the same but there must have been more.

"So, this whole thing isn't a sex spell exactly."

"What do you mean?" Dean asked as he sat more attentively at the edge of one of the beds, feeling a bit more hopeful. Maybe things were better than he thought.

"Sam, it's a sex spell if it uses that energy, no matter what the point is." Mae pointed out.

"Well…okay maybe but… if you're a kid—"

"Right but we're not really debating what someone thought it meant. I mean, if someone doesn't understand either the reason behind sex magic or how it's done, things get screwed up. Point in case."

"Which side of this are you on Mae?"

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "What side do you think I'm on Sam?"

Her eyes pinned him with a cold, stony stare that truly did make him uncomfortable. The woman had that strange ability to make almost any man question whatever he had just asked her or said to her. "No, I… I just… you know a lot about this."

"Because I'd be better at this if I didn't?"

There was an odd silence before Dean cleared his throat. "She might just be a good witch and it doesn't matter one way or the other. So, you wanna take your nerd off somewhere else?"

Mae hid her laugh behind the hand she pressed to her mouth. Sam wasn't quite as amused, judging from his frown but that made it even more entertaining. It was hardly the time to get giggly over anything, let alone Dean chastising them for bickering.

Sam knew Dean was right and while he didn't doubt Mae, he simply wasn't used to working with her yet. They hadn't had a chance to develop any sort of rhythm or understanding yet. All they really had was a youth full of training, techniques, and a foundational understanding that they should trust each other. Sometimes, it could be hard to remember that she was indeed a hunter and not just a childhood friend or worse, Dean's girlfriend. He supposed it was easier to remember her as the girl who took care of him and his brother, helped him with his homework and made things a little easier when she was around.

But that wasn't who she was now, she was tougher and certainly more than capable when it came to the job. It wasn't worth it to argue with her over such a pointless issue.

"Listen, I'm not trying to be pedantic here, but genuine spells are designed with a purpose. Whatever you do, whatever you put into them means something and is supposed to illicit a desired response. So, the sex part means something important to the spell if it was written in and not just tacked on to get two people to bone."

"Pedantic." Dean repeated sarcastically, drawing a pair of frowns from the other two hunters.

"Anyway, it looks like the spell was designed to prime the uh, participants for… possession."

Again, Mae hid a chuckle. "Participants? Wow, you make it sound so voluntary."

"It's supposed to be. I guess the reason it didn't work the right way is because Grant here and his girlfriend weren't anywhere close to a high priest or priestess. And there are missing parts, the real binding parts."

Mae couldn't hold her tongue or the acid that followed. "So, this spell, when used 100% spot on makes two people demonic spirit hosts. Best case scenario, we'd have two uber old and powerful beings wandering around as teen idiots."

"Hey." The objection was not a committed one, particularly when the three glanced back at the young man who again fidgeted awkwardly as he sat on the edge of the bed. He'd been largely ignored as they sorted out what he had shared with Sam. There wasn't much to be done, Grant could hardly say what the three strangers had been discussing since the other man and the woman came back into the room as they had their discussion in close and hushed tones. The woman seemed more hostile than either man did but was more subdued now. Then something occurred to him.

"How do I know you won't do something… like—like kill me?"

Mae shrugged. "I guess you don't kiddo. But if we kill you, it'll be prettier than what those demons will do to you. You're still not off the hook with these demons and what happened to your girl. Besides, it doesn't really seem like your personal security is on the top of your priorities."

"Lady-"

"Do I look like a cartoon dog? You can call me Mae."

"Fine, Mae. I didn't mean to start this, it just happened. I was only tryin'-"

"Did you hear me ask if I wanted to know if you did this on purpose? It is very clear that you set all this into motion with one simple intention and were a big enough idiot to know what to do but not know what it would do. I'm just saying that whatever we're planning to do to you shouldn't be your biggest concern. I don't mean to harp on you for being an idiot because, lord knows you can't help that, but I genuinely don't give a damn if you meant to or not. I care about stopping this."

The young man was quiet for some time. But Dean beamed with pride. He thought she was great, perfect. He didn't worry about her being tough enough for the job anymore, despite those soft looks and their deep conversations. She was just the right amount of hardened fighter.

When the boy spoke again, his voice trembled a bit. "I just thought it would be fun. I never expected anything to happen, certainly not this. I never thought anyone would get hurt by this."

Aside from her earlier statement and assessment of the situation, Mae kept her mouth shut as the boys tried to get any remaining details from the young ban still in their motel room. She couldn't muster the level of sympathy Sam seemed able to express. Mae couldn't get there. Grant had not only put someone he claimed to love at needless risk, he got her killed. And for what? Sex? The whole thing annoyed her, not just staying silent but knowing that what had happened to the two teens was completely avoidable. She was perfectly aware that she also reacted to the parallel to her own life. Not the witch part but most certainly the young romance part and how it was rippling through her life now.

Sam was right; the boy required a lighter touch than she could apply. Mae knew it didn't do her any good to try to spend time alone with Dean again and she knew he wasn't going to let her be alone. That meant they were all back together in the boys' room as she leafed through her spell book. She knew she didn't have a spell that directly correlated to this one but perhaps they could put something together. They needed to figure something out.

Her full attention however was diverted from the pages. As she pretended to read and listen to her fellow hunters, she watched Dean. He was way too pretty to be a hunter, she thought. Although his features had aged well, and he looked far less baby faced than the young man she'd fallen in love with. He was, unfortunately, quite handsome and she didn't deny her attraction to him. Maybe if he were just a little less good-looking, all of this might have been avoidable.

That wasn't exactly true; her feelings for him went further that a pure physical attraction. She loved him, and it went beyond his looks. Hell, she'd been attracted to him even during his most gawky adolescent phase. There was something about Dean. He just got to her. All those old feelings were so easily aroused now. She used to know he was capable of that, she used to understand it more. Why now did it seem to surprise her?

Dean caught her staring, looking up to catch her gaze and she went wide-eyed. Her cheeks flashed crimson as she feared her fantasies and thoughts played over her face. If he took note of it, he didn't give her the smirk she anticipated. Instead, he looked at her questioningly, as if she had realized something. She had but not what Dean thought, and she looked back down at her book. There was no good reason to be so distracted by him.

He was more confused now. Mae had been watching him under the guise of reading and listening to them interrogate the young man. Then, when he looked at her, those stone blue eyes went wide. He assumed something had clicked for her, that she figured out that missing piece. But her eyes ducked back down to the pages on the book in her lap. Whatever was hidden in those wide eyes disappeared when she broke the gaze. Now, Dean had to wonder just what had been on her mind.

He was however impressed that she had managed to stay quiet so long. As calm as Sam had been as much detail as he'd managed to get the kid to reveal so far, Grant still had not reached the point very quickly and they still lacked all the information they needed. They needed to get all of the steps, all the ingredients, all the incantation he used that might not be in the translated texted. At this point, even his brother was beginning to lose his patience.

"So, you followed the spell exactly?" Sam asked, tapping at the book in front of him.

The young man shifted uncomfortably. "Well… not exactly. I mean… it wasn't real, so I figured it would be fine to cut corners." Mae and Sam exchanged skeptical glances at that. "Besides, there's some of that stuff that's hard to come by. But I followed the things I was supposed to follow the right way."

"You couldn't find some of that stuff? But you came across an ancient Babylonian summoning spell?" Sam said it first, but they were all thinking it.

"I already told you, I didn't know it was real. And I left out things I couldn't find or were gross."

"Such as?" Mae asked.

"Henbane, black poppy juice, something like verbena, cat placenta, copal, um aloeswood but I just used aloe vera-"

"Dude!" Her laugh brought the attention of both brothers, "Oh come on, this…" She shook her head as she shifted away from the table, no longer referencing her book. "This shouldn't have worked. Listen to the spell, listen to what it requires… the invocation might have been the only real part, but it just doesn't play for me. Besides, copal and verbena are both used to attracted benevolent spirits, not these ones."

"Really?"

Mae smirked at Dean's question. She suspected he knew just as well as she did those were protective herbs and resins. He was either playing dumb or testing her, either way it seemed sort of cute. "As, I guess, resident witch here, I can say yes. And cat placenta? The only spell I've heard of is a super old one where you rub the ashes of the placenta of a black cat into your eyes, so you can ID a spirit, which in his defense is gross and highly unsanitary."

As far as spells went, Dean had seen some interesting ones, but suspected Mae was indeed more schooled on them. He still shuddered at her description. "Okay, nasty. Does that work?"

"How should I know? I generally stay away from 'put this in your eyes' spells. But that's not the point. What this tells me is these two kids were just pawns. Whatever they did probably didn't matter because they were just… there. You know, tools. And if you don't get killed Grant, take a botany course so you learn the difference been aloe and aloeswood because seriously."

Sam smirked but had to hide it as he cleared his throat. It made sense, the pawn part, which was why he had so much time dissecting the spell. There were so many inconsistencies, so many uncontrolled circumstances that weren't easily explained by the odd spell. But if it wasn't the spell, what was it? "So why did it work?"

Mae shook her head. "Hell, if I know. All the stuff they did was pointless. Seems like the incantation and the sex were the real deal. I mean...maybe whoever was selling the spell originally was doing it just to get these demon spirits to manifest and it didn't matter who did it. I guess you were part right kid, this wasn't for real, at least not what you did."

"What about the paint?" Grant asked.

"What paint?" They all asked together.

"It was a… the guy I got it from sent along this… he called it magic ink and said that I had to paint the symbols with it. That was the part I followed exactly."

The hunters all exchanged a knowing look. "So, you painted all that stuff?" Dean asked

"Just on our hands and…" the young man blushed deeply, "all over our bodies. Afterwards, it just started showing up other places later. I think Angela did some of them. That's when I knew something was really wrong. And then Angie…"

He trailed off and Mae grimaced before she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay, okay. So that spell, you painted it all over the place. What color was it?" She finally asked.

"Black."

"Mmm... probably Lampblack ink." The three looked up at her, "What? It's commonly used in summoning spells. You burn benzoin, frankincense and myrrh until it becomes sooty then dissolve it in a hydrosol and thicken it with gum Arabica."

Dean shook his head. "And I thought you were the biggest nerd in the room Sammy."

The younger brother offered her a sympathetic grin and Mae winked at him.

"I guess. I still have some, and the figures."

"The figures?" Again, they questioned the young man in unison.

"Yeah, weird things. I… I didn't use them."

Sam sighed. "Well you wouldn't, they're meant to contain the spirits."

"I have the figurines at home."

Before she could stop herself, Mae rolled her eyes. It couldn't be easy, could it?

At least Dean managed to mirror her thoughts. "Well that's just peachy."

"Okay well one of us will go with you." Sam said, "not Mae," He and his brother finished together.

Mae was taken aback by the defiance in the boys' conclusion. "Nice. Maybe you could sound less like I'm your slow cousin mom and dad made you take to the market."

"You're one big target out there Maeby, aside from the kid right now. You're not leaving this room unless we have a damned good reason, or we've dealt with this." Dean stood, walking past her to grab his gun off the table Mae and Sam sat at.

"I know that, but you could try to sound a little less like you're grounding me."

Dean looked down at her as he tucked his weapon into the back of his pants. "Are you seriously trying to pick a fight?"

She was quiet, a bit thoughtful before she spoke again. "I was going to suggest that I stay here and create a page for our scrap book or our fun time in sex spell land. No, me and whoever stays will put together a fitting exorcism for these spirits. Whoever goes, gets loaded up with anti-spirit and anti-demon shit, and picks up anything that could possibly be important."

"Oh well… then great."

Her voice dropped as she stood. "Okay but we should talk. In the other room."

Dean didn't really know why exactly but he agreed with a curt nod and Sam followed suit as they stepped into Mae's adjoining motel room.

She didn't even wait for the boys to close the door partially before she started talking even as she moved to grab her bag of herbs and other equipment. "Okay so we're all in agreement here that we have bigger problems then these demons, right?"

Dean sighed, scrubbing his face. "I want to live in a world no one ever says that."

"Is it any consolation that no one else has probably ever said it?" She offered him a playful over the shoulder glance as she tossed off the question.

"It's not Mae, it's not."

"Well…. I don't have anything better for you. I do know that someone is behind this, someone who knows some serious witchery. I don't know if the three of us are really ready for this one."

"Yeah but why? Why do this?"

Sam always tended to search for the more in-depth reason and for once, Mae didn't think it was anything they needed to get into right then. "General chaos, serious jones for being the devil's bride? I don't know, does it really matter at this point?"

"Okay so," Dean started, "We can't get to the bottom of this before we deal with what's in front of us right now though. We take care of these demons and then we track back where he got this spell from and put a stop to that."