Book of the Damned Part 2

"Okay, I got a pretty good look at his tattoo," Charlie started. "It's something like this." She handed Angela a piece of paper with a drawing of the tattoo.

"The douche clan. Got it." Angela muttered as she and Dean opened the file box. "Well, this is everything the Men of Letters had on occult families, so there should be something in here."

"Sam, got anything?" Charlie asked curiously.

"Maybe," Sam muttered. "Uh, yeah, it's all in an obscure Sumerian dialect. Actually found a rough match for it in this book."

"Great." Charlie nodded.

"More juice, dada." Grace held out her empty sippy cup.

"Just a minute, Peanut," Sam replied before looking back at Charlie. "I thought so, too. But I've been translating, but none of the translated words make any sense. It's all just gibberish. I mean, maybe it's in a different dialect?"

"No, no, no. You're right, but I-I-I think… I think this is in code." Charlie replied.

"An entire book of unreadable text that's also in code. Great." Sam rolled his eyes as he took Grace's cup and went to get her more juice.

"And you call yourself nerds." Dean shook his head. "Come on. You got this."

"He's right. Let's get out Alan Turing on. Decrypt this bitch." Charlie smiled.

Sam noticed Angela staring at the book and pursed his lips. "You know what, Charlie? Why, uh… Um, why don't we stick to my notes for a bit?" he suggested, giving Grace her sippy cup. "This book is literally making my eyes hurt."

Sam grabbed the book and put it into the warded lock-box.

~/~\~

"Okay, even the Bletchley Circle couldn't crack this thing," Charlie started. "I've tried every cryptographic algorithm there is. Good egg."

"Well, maybe that's not such a bad thing." Angela shrugged as she looked through the files. "Those people following you… Hmm? All kinds of wrong. Talking multi-generational, centuries-old wrong. The Styne family. Men of Letters' files have them dated back to the early 1800s. They used spells to create disease, to destabilize markets. Hell, they even helped the Nazis before they came into power, and they profited from all of it."

"So, they're like the supernatural Du Ponts?" Charlie tilted her head curiously.

"Basically." Angela nodded. "All the spells they used came from a book of 'unspeakable evil' which they lost nearly a hundred years ago."

"Okay, so they're bad." Sam shrugged. "So, what. We faced worse."

"Sammy's right." Dean agreed. "We've taken on much bigger fish, kiddo."

"Guys, read the file," Angela stressed, obviously frustrated. "The way the book works, is when you use it, there is a negative reaction. I'm talking biblical negative. Dark magic always comes with a price. We know that. We've been down that road before."

"Well, let's at least translate it, see what it says," Charlie replied with a small shrug.

"You guys don't understand." Angela shook her head. "The book's been calling out to me ever since I laid eyes on it, okay? Calling out to the mark. I can hear it like it's alive." She explained. "It wants me to use it, but not for good. Look, I wanted it to be the answer too, okay? I really did. But we have to get rid of that. Burn it, bury it, I don't give a damn. We'll just have to find another way to fix the mark."

"Like what?" Sam demanded.

"I don't know." Angela snapped.

"So, you're giving up?" Charlie questioned.

"No, I'm not giving up," Angela replied firmly. "Charlie, I don't have a death wish. Okay, even if I did, I can't die, not with this thing on my arm. What I can do is fight it as long as I can until…"

"Until what?" Dean narrowed his eyes. "Tell us. Until what, Angie? Until we watch you become a demon again? Until then?" he pressed. "We can't do that kiddo, we won't."

"Well, then you'll just have to lock me up. Bind me to the bunker, like you did last time." Angela retorted.

"That doesn't solve anything." Charlie shook her head.

"Look, just let us translate the book, okay, baby?" Sam pleaded. "If there's a cure, we'll do it and deal with the consequences later. I can't lose you, baby."

"Really?" Angela raised her brows.

"Yeah, really," Sam replied obviously.

"You change your mind on that, 'cause that's not what you said last time." Angela scoffed, knowing it was a low blow.

"Oh, come on, Angie," Sam sighed heavily. "You know I didn't mean that."

"This is my cross to bear, Sam!" Angela yelled. "Mine! And that book is not the answer! Now we got to destroy it before it falls into the wrong hands, and that includes me! I'm gonna go to the store."

"Angie, look…" Sam attempted to stop her.

"We'll figure out another way." Angela interrupted, her voice softening. "And Sammy, I'll get my vacation. But not today. Not like this."

Angela kissed Sam on the cheek before walking out of the cabin, leaving them behind.

"Guys, maybe she's right." Charlie looked up at the brothers.

"No, there's a way to fix it. There has to be." Sam shook his head.

~/~\~

"What did Angie mean?" Charlie asked suddenly. "When she said you changed your mind?"

"You're explaining that one, man," Dean muttered.

"So," Sam shifted slightly on the couch. "A while back, we had a chance to, um… close the Gates of Hell. And in order to do that, I would've had to die. And, I was okay with that, and I am okay with that, but Dean and Angie were not. And Angie, um, she…"

"She saved you." Charlie finished.

"Yeah," Sam murmured. "She saved me."

"And let me guess, in doing so, she did something you didn't want, and that pissed you off. And you said something that hurt her?" Charlie quirked a brow.

"Spot on," Dean muttered.

"Yeah," Sam nodded. "That sounds about right."

"You know, I haven't been a hunter for very long, but it feels like this is the life. Mostly ends in Sophie's choices, death, or tears." Charlie noted. "Usually, all of the above, huh? How did this become my life? I mean, I was gonna own my own start-up, marry ScarJo, invent something cool. Now I'm just… I'm just happy to be alive."

"You know, when Dean came to get me at school, I-I told myself… one last job, you know? One more job. And then when—when I, um… When I lost Jess, I again, told myself one more job." Sam explained. "And then we met Angie, and… this is my life. I love it. But I can't do it without my wife. I don't want to do it without my wife. And if she's gone, then I don't…"

"I got it. I-I do." Charlie sympathized.

~/~\~

Angela walked into the Gas n' Sip, and the door rang as she did so.

"Afternoon, ma'am." Jacob greeted with a thick southern drawl.

"Howdy." Angela grabbed some snacks and put them on the counter. "There we go."

"That'll be it for you?" Jacob asked.

"Uh, yeah, that's it." Angela nodded.

"Okay, then, that'll be $15.75," Jacob replied.

Angela took out a twenty and handed it to Jacob, frowning slightly when she noticed the familiar tattoo on his wrist.

"You heading home or you just passing through?" Jacob asked, bringing Angela back to reality.

"Just passing through," Angela answered.

Jacob put the money in the cash register. Angela looked at the store mirror and saw the dead clerk behind the counter next to Jacob.

"Must get awful lonely out here by yourself," Angela commented.

"Oh, I get by." Jacob shrugged.

"Don't move," Angela commanded as she took out her gun and pointed it at Jacob. "Hands where I can see them."

"Don't you want your change, darlin'?" Jacob threw the change in her face and another man with him grabbed Angela from behind. "Now… who might you be?" Jacob pointed his knife at Angela before he noticed the mark on her arm. "Well, hello there. Where'd a back-road nothing like you get their hands on something like that?"

"What's it to you, Mr. Styne?" Angela drawled.

"My friends call me Jacob." He replied.

"Well, I ain't your friend." Angela sassed.

"Those wouldn't happen to be treats for a redheaded little gal, now would they?" Jacob nodded to the snacks. "Y'all hid the book, didn't you? Lead-lined little number, I'm betting."

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about." Angela glared.

"You don't?" Jacob tilted his head. "See that? That man back there, well he said the same thing as all the others at truck stops and gas stations up and down the way. Nobody had seen that redheaded girl. And then a woman bearing the mark comes in here, to me. Well, there coincidence, and then there's just providence. See, 'The Book of the Damned,' it wants to be found." He explained. "It wants to come home. Let me guess. You want to use it to get that gift off your arm, don't you? Power is wasted on the weak. Now the book… can remove that mark. But you mess around with that, you're gonna do far more harm than good. So, why don't you do the right thing here, girl, and tell me where that book is."

"Yeah, sure, I'll tell you," Angela replied before mumbling something.

"One more time. I didn't hear you, darlin'." Jacob leaned in closer.

"I said…" Angela trailed off before headbutting Jacob and knocking the man holding him off.

Angela dived to the ground to grab her gun, pointing it up at the man coming at her. She shot as she pushed herself along the floor away from the man, but the man just followed. The man finally fell after Angela emptied the clip into him. Angela reloaded and stood up, groaning when she saw that Jacob was gone and her cell phone was broken.

~/~\~

Charlie was stoking the fire as Angela came in the door, clearly frantic.

"What's going on?" Charlie frowned deeply.

"The Styne's, they found me. Those douches are all jacked up, too." Angela replied.

"What are you talking about?" Sam's brows furrowed.

Angela threw a cup of liquid into the fire. "I emptied a full clip into one of them before the son of a bitch went down. Charlie, take Grace and hide. Quickly."

Charlie nodded and picked up Grace, quickly leaving to hide in one of the cabin's bedrooms.

"Kid, what are you doing with the holy oil?" Dean questioned.

Angela looked out the window, noticing that the Stynes were now outside the cabin. "There is a cure for the mark in the book. But it comes at a price. We got to destroy it."

"Are you sure about this?" Sam asked concernedly.

"It's calling to me, Sam, okay? I can hear it." Angela explained. "It's calling to the mark. It wants me to take the book and run away with it. Burn it now."

The three hunters heard the Styne's outside. Angela and Dean both pulled out their guns.

"Sam, burn it now!" Angela demanded.

One of the Stynes crashed through the window, grabbing Angela, while another crashed through the other window and grabbed Dean. Sam took the lockbox with the book to the fireplace. Angela and Dean were fighting off the Stynes as Sam took the wrapped book out of the lockbox. Jacob broke down the front door of the cabin and sauntered in. Angela shot Jacob, who kept heading toward Sam at the fireplace. Sam quickly threw the wrapped book in the fire.

"You silly boy," Jacob chuckled darkly.

Angela kept shooting Jacob repeatedly as Jacob grabbed Sam's throat. Sam stabbed him until Jacob finally collapsed. The book was burning in the fireplace.

~/~\~

Castiel, Sam, and Dean were sitting at the map table in the war room. Grace sat on Sam's lap, holding her baby doll toy.

"I was foolish, selfish." Castiel shook his head. "Should've just killed him. Who knows what he'll do with that tablet."

"Well, you know what, Cas? You got your grace back." Sam shrugged. "You're back. You did the right thing."

"You did the right thing. The book needed to be destroyed. We will find another way, Sam." Castiel replied.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Charlie entered carrying to plastic bags. She headed down the stairs.

"We're back, bitches!" she exclaimed, a grin on her face. Her eyes widened when she saw Castiel. "Whoa! Is that who I think it is?"

"Charlie, Cas. Cas, Charlie." Dean introduced the two.

Charlie immediately hugged Castiel, taking him by surprise. "I thought you'd be shorter."

Charlie pulled away and put the bags on the table.

"I'm gonna get these to the fridge." Dean stood up and picked up the bags.

Sam stood up and followed Dean, Grace in his arms.

"Heard you got your mojo back," Charlie smirked.

"Yes, my—my grace, it's—it's been restored," Castiel confirmed.

"So, can't you just—you know… cure Angie?"

"Unfortunately, it's not that simple." Castiel shook his head.

"Oh. Never is, is it?" Charlie sighed heavily. "Do you think you could do anything about my carpal tunnel?" she asked.

Castiel place two fingers on Charlie's forehead.

"Is that it?" her brows furrowed.

"Your carpal tunnel and your bullet wound are now healed," Castiel replied. "You may want to continue wearing your wrist brace at night, though."

"Did we just become best friends?" Charlie's eyes lit up.

"Hey, look who decided to show," Angela commented as she walked in carrying pizza boxes. "So?" she looked up at Castiel. "You're back? 100-percent? How did that happen?"

As Angela set the food on the table, Sam and Dean entered the room.

"Mama!" Grace exclaimed from Sam's arms.

"Hi, sweet girl." Angela smiled softly.

"Um, it was Hannah," Castiel answered. "She managed to get the location of the remainder of my grace out of Metatron."

"Awesome." Angela nodded. "I told you we were due for a win. Good to have you back, Cas."

~/~\~

After putting Grace to bed, everyone sat at the table, eating and drinking. Angela was opening a beer bottle, laughing at something Dean said, and Sam was trying to smile, but looked uncomfortable.

~/~\~

Sam sat at a table in a fairly nice restaurant. "I don't trust you and… I never will. But I need help, and this is right in your wheelhouse." He opened the lockbox and 'The Book of the Damned' was in it.

~/~\~

"Sam, burn it now!" Angela yelled.

While Angela and Dean were fighting the Styne family members, Sam removed 'The Book of the Damned' from the lockbox and unwrapped it. Jacob broke through the door and Angela shot him. Sam put it back in the lockbox and grabbed another book off the table. He wrapped it in the cloth and threw that on the fire.

"You silly boy," Jacob chuckled as he grabbed Sam's throat. "My family will never stop looking for that book.

~/~\~

"I need the Mark of Cain off my wife. Something tells me you can crack this book and find that cure. The only question is… will you help me?" Sam asked.

"Shall we discuss terms?" Rowena smirked back at the hunter.

A/N: Hey, y'all, I hope you liked this chapter :) I'm so excited for the rest of this installment! Be sure to leave a review to let me know what you think! Your feedback is the most important thing :) Love you guys, xoxo.

~Emily