Even though Vinnie let me share her bed, I didn't sleep well that night. The more I thought about the fact that I couldn't reach Sam or Dean, the more worried I got. It had been two whole days since they'd gone on that hunt. They'd thought it was The Trickster and he was always bad news. I hoped nothing horrible had happened to them. I hoped that when I went out to the woodshed that afternoon that I'd find the two of them and not Bree. I didn't regret calling her. She'd be able to spend the time trying to find them and calling the people who could help find them when I couldn't, but Gabby was way out of her league, even if she was telekinetic. So I lay on Vinnie's bed and stared at the ceiling, scared and worried for all of us. Since I couldn't sleep, I worked on the plan.

The next morning went just like normal. We did the breakfast rites and Gabby showed up, looking pleased and drinking her coffee. After breakfast, Vinnie sent the rest of the group off to their various chores, including the food run, and we attended Gabby in her den. Gabby told me that she wanted me to practice more and that I should show her how far I'd come after dinner. She told Vinnie that she didn't need to watch me any more and that she wanted Vinnie to go back to her normal work. Vinnie agreed, and we bowed and left the den.

"What does that mean, go back to your normal work?" I whispered to her in the hallway.

"It's just administrative stuff," Vinnie explained as we climbed the stairs. "Well, mostly. I have to walk the farm and make sure everyone is doing what they're supposed to be doing, which also lets them talk to me privately about any problems they are seeing. When I'm done with that, I go back to Gabby's den and use a laptop to find old books and papers on her, ordering and collecting them for her personal library. Then she goes through and marks the stuff she wants in her book."

"Her book?" I asked, sitting down on Vinnie's bed while she dug in a drawer on her desk.

"She's seen how successful all the big religions are. She's trying to emulate them so she can get more power. She's spreading the word through the Lithanian-American community to gather an initial following. Her next step is to make a book with her story in it and the words to say to worship her and the history of her followers. Anything she can get her hands on." Vinnie pulled out another notebook and turned around. "You should get downstairs and outside to practice. You don't want to piss her off."

I stood, nodding. "No, I don't. Especially not now. See you this afternoon at the woodshed?"

Vinnie shrugged. "If I'm not still working. Sometimes she keeps me all the way until dinner, and I haven't worked on this since you got here, so she might keep me the whole day."

So I headed down to the fire pit without her and started practicing. It took me a second to figure out what I was doing, but pretty soon I had it down again, and I lost myself in the ebb and flow of fire to and from my furnace, streams and fireballs, swords, knives, and cats. It was like I was breathing fire. I didn't even notice the time passing, the sun passing the peak of the sky, the clouds gathering in the west. Hours passed and I forgot about everything, Dean, Sam, Bree, Vinnie. I was simply the flame.

When Vinnie called my name, I came to myself with an almost painful snap. My eyes refocused and I realized I was standing in the fire pit, on top of the wood, engulfed by flames, naked. I blinked. When had my clothes burned off me? When had I decided to stand in the middle of the flames? My body was singing with pleasure, my brain felt fuzzy from the effort, from my furnace being open for so long. I pulled the fire into me and closed my furnace with a snap.

I stepped out of the fire pit and Vinnie handed me new clothes. "What the hell were you doing?" she demanded. "Do you realize that you had half the acolytes watching you? Were you showing off for them? If I hadn't dispersed them when I did..."

I flushed and started getting dressed. "Sorry," I said. "I don't know what happened. I just, I don't know."

"If Gabija hadn't sent me out here to check on you, your rescue mission would have been over. How the hell was anyone supposed to get to the woodshed if you've got them all here watching you?" Vinnie asked.

"Are they here?" I asked excitedly, tying on my apron.

"If by they, you mean Bree," Vinnie said. She handed me my old shoes. I guessed she was out of extra traditional ones since mine had burned up. "She's in the woodshed."

"Thanks, Vinnie," I said. "Come on." I half-ran to the woodshed with Vinnie on my heels. Bree was inside sitting on a stack of wood. I flung myself into her arms.

"Foolish, foolish child," Bree whispered to me as she hugged me back. When I finally let her go, she took my chin in her hand and turned my head from side to side. "Bruised badly," she whispered. "The goddess has a lot to answer for."

"It's nothing," I objected. "I'm fine. She does this all the time."

"I saw the child in the flames. Very impressive," Bree said, but she sounded worried.

"Thanks," I replied. "Where are Dean and Sam? Did you reach them? Are they here?"

Bree's face turned compassionate, which scared the crap out of me. "Darling child, your father and uncle have been missing for days. The angel, too. No one has seen them."

"Fuck!" I shrieked, now more worried about them than I was about me. "Is someone looking for them?"

"Bobby knows and is doing what he can. They will probably turn up. Bobby was worried about the child, too, especially since she didn't call when they went missing and he couldn't reach her by phone," Bree chided.

"I kinda left before I knew they were missing," I admitted, shamefaced.

Bree brushed my hair back from my forehead. "Does the child have a plan?" she asked.

"We need to get my ring out of a locked room. I can't pick the lock and I can't sneak into the room. Once we get the ring out of the room, we can go." I glanced at Vinnie then. She was standing back by the woodshed door, looking uncomfortable. "We have to sneak Vinnie away too. I think we can do that." I looked into Bree's eyes. "Can you get the ring out of the room?"

Bree took a breath. "I can, if Vinnie can tell me where in the room it is. Is there a window to the room? That would make it easier."

"There is," I said. "I can see it from outside the house. Vinnie?"

Pale-faced, Vinnie stepped forward. "There's a huge red jewelry box in the room. It's got everything in it, every piece of jewelry anyone has ever brought with them. It's in there."

"Where in the room is that?" Bree asked.

Vinnie shrugged. "I don't know. I've only been in there once and when I was in there, it was on a dresser to the right of the door into the room, but she might have moved it now. I haven't been in there in a month."

Bree looked thoughtful. "Then I will need to see into the room," she said. "And for that, I will need to see in the window."

"The roof goes almost right up to the window. Can you get onto the roof?" I asked.

Bree smiled. "I can. It is a simple matter."

Vinnie and I looked at each other. "You should go about ten minutes after the dinner bell rings. Everyone goes to dinner, even Gabija, and the place will be empty."

"Sometimes she doesn't go to dinner," I pointed out.

"She will today," Vinnie said. "Since she wants to see your improvement after dinner."

"How will you get away?" Bree asked.

"We can just sneak out once we have the ring," I said.

"It's not that easy," Vinnie said. "Sneaking into the den is one thing, but someone does a walk around the farm twice an hour after bedtime, and Gabija... She might just show up. She's shown up in my room in the middle of the night before, just to make sure I was there. If she shows up, she'll kill Bree, and we'll wish she killed us." Her eyes were filled with tears and she turned her back on us. I looked at Bree and thought.

"I have Benedryl," I said. "I can crush it up and put it in her coffee. It makes it so I can barely control my powers and it knocks me out hard. If it works the same on her..."

"What if it doesn't?" Vinnie demanded, turning back around.

"If it doesn't, then we'll have to take the chance at sneaking out."

"Can you do both?" Bree asked.

I shook my head. "The only chance we have to give it to her is at dinner. It'll take a little time for it to take effect. We have to choose, sneak out or knock her out." I looked at Vinnie. "Which one?"

Vinnie swallowed and I could practically read her painful memories in the look on her face as she thought. "Knock her out," she whispered. "If it works, that's great. If it doesn't, we can try sneaking."

Bree handed me a cell phone. "My number is programmed in there. Keep it on silent. Text me or call me when you are ready for me to bring my car to the house. I will have the ring. I promise."

Vinnie and I left the woodshed, our arms loaded with wood, just in case someone saw us. It was a good thing we did, too, because I could see the acolytes gathered at the edge of the field, looking for me. Vinnie rolled her eyes and gave me a dirty look.

"Show off," she muttered.

"I wasn't showing off," I hissed at her. "I just lost myself."

"Well, if you end up having to show Gabija your powers, you're not going to be in trouble," she grudgingly admitted. "It was pretty impressive." We dumped the wood into the fire pit. "I've never come that far in that short of time, even with Gabija walking me through every step." I didn't know what to say to that, so I didn't say anything. "Is your furnace anywhere near empty?" she asked me. I could see her face flushing, despite how low the sun was in the sky.

I checked my furnace. "No," I said. "But I was pulling the fire I was setting back into me, so it wouldn't be, right?" Vinnie shrugged and I guessed that her furnace worked a little different than mine. "Don't worry about it," I told her. "It doesn't matter. Let's get back to the house. I have to crush up that Benedryl before dinner."

I had eight Benedryl in Vinnie's drawer and Vinnie helped me crush them. We'd just finished the last one when the dinner bell rang.

"How are you going to get it into her coffee?" Vinnie asked.

"Just delay the song a little when we get down there," I said. "Give me a chance to get into the dining room."

When we got downstairs, Vinnie went into the main room and instead of beginning the song, she chided the acolytes who had gone to watch me at the fire pit. I took the chance to slip from the foyer around the corner and into the dining room where I poured the Benedryl into Gabby's coffee and stirred it with my finger. I hoped it was enough to knock her for a loop. Then I slipped back out and into the foyer while all eyes were on Vinnie and their backs to me. When I finally joined the group. Vinnie stopped lecturing about the responsibilities and importance of being one of Gabby's followers and started the song. It had taken me less than a minute.

Gabby showed up after the song was over, praised us, and led us into the dining room. She lifted the coffee to her lips and everyone started eating. I heard a thunk from outside the room. Gabby lifted her head, listening, and I knew I had to do something since the noise was probably Bree getting my ring.

"My goddess," I said and the whole room paused until Gabby turned her attention to me. It occurred to me that I'd never heard anyone talking during dinner before. Even Vinnie was shaking her head. I had to, though. Our plans depended on it. I forged ahead. "I believe you will be pleased with the progress I have made, Holy Gabija," I said.

"I will?" Gabby asked, raising her coffee to her lips again. Her sculpted eyebrows rose. "And why is that."

I was walking dangerous ground, but it was too late to go back. I heard another thump from upstairs and rushed to cover it. "I communed with the fire, my goddess. I lost myself in it. I'm not even sure what I was doing, it all rolled together into a giant mass of bliss and fire. When the high priestess found me, I was naked in the middle of the fire pit with no memory of how I got there, and the pleasure..." Another thump upstairs. I wished Bree would hurry up. "Oh, my goddess, I cannot wait to do it again, in your honor."

Gabby looked pleased and took a long sip from her coffee cup. "I cannot wait to see what you have accomplished, priestess."

The table relaxed then. Since I heard no more thumps from upstairs, so I lapsed into silence, a fake-pleased look on my face. When I looked at Vinnie, though, she looked unhappy and scared. More so as Gabby took sip after sip. I caught her eye and looked pointedly at her almost full plate. She flushed and started eating. We couldn't act like anything was out of the ordinary, or Gabby would figure out something was up.

Twenty minutes later, dinner was finished. Gabby stood and wished us a blessed day. She closed her eyes to disappear and nothing happened. I looked at Vinnie and Vinnie met my wide eyes with her own. "High priestess, attend me," Gabby ordered without hesitation and walked from the room.

"Go," I mouthed at Vinnie. Vinnie nodded and hurried after her. The acolytes dispersed for their evening chores. Left to my own devices for the first time ever, I ducked into the bathroom to text Bree that the drugs were working on Gabby and we had to hurry. Bree told me to meet her outside.

She was hidden in the bushes by the front porch and she handed me a gun and my ring. "I've got to get the car, child. Meet me at the end of the driveway in ten minutes, unless you want to go now." She looked me in the eyes and I knew she was asking if I trusted Vinnie, if I really wanted to bring her with us.

"Ten minutes," I whispered. Bree nodded and ran down the long driveway in the direction of her car. I watched her go and then hurried up the stairs and into the house, knocking gently on Gabby's den door.

Vinnie opened it. "How is she?" I asked. Vinnie stepped back and I saw Gabby stretched out on the fainting couch, her eyes closed and her breathing deep. "Wow," I said. "I've never seen her sleeping before."

"Me either," Vinnie said. "Is she going to be ok?"

I gave her a weird look. "Yeah," I said. "You can only kill her with special stake and I don't have it with me. Now come on." Vinnie looked at Gabby and then back at me, her face uncertain. "Vinnie!"

"Maybe this is a bad idea," Vinnie whispered.

"Vinnie, I can get you somewhere safe. I'm going to take you to Bobby's. He'll help you find your parents and he'll help you get somewhere safe. Come on. You can't stay here," I whispered back. "She's evil. If you keep on like this, she'll kill you, and she won't even mean to. Please, Vinnie. I can't leave you here."

Vinnie took a deep breath and nodded. "Ok," I said. "Take this." I handed her the gun.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" she asked me. "I don't even know what to do with this."

"Protect yourself. Come on." I grabbed her arm and pulled her after me out of Gabby's den. Gabby moaned sleepily and rolled over. I wondered how long the Benedryl could keep her goddess metabolism under. We ran out the front door and started jogging down the driveway. When we reached the end of the driveway, Bree wasn't there yet.

"Where is she?" Vinnie demanded.

"She said ten minutes. It hasn't been ten minutes, yet," I explained, pulling out my ring. Vinnie looked at it and her face went pale.

"No, oh no. I knew this was a bad idea," she said. Just then, I heard Gabby up the driveway hollering our names and the sound of tires on gravel from the other direction.

"What?" I demanded. "Why?"

Vinnie pointed at the ring around my neck. "That protects her from finding you," she said. "What prevents her from finding me?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're not the only one she's got tabs on. I don't have my own ring, Jessie! She'll find me in two seconds," Vinnie shook her head and turned to run back up the driveway where I saw Gabby groggily stumbling towards us.

"Shit!" I yelled as Bree's car pulled up across the driveway about twenty feet away.

Bree got out. "Jessie, come on!" she yelled. I turned away from Vinnie towards Bree.

"Vinnie!" I objected.

"Leave her, child!" Bree hollered at me.

"Stop her, priestess," Gabby yelled at Vinnie. Vinnie whirled, bringing the gun up and pointing it at me. I screamed and turned towards Bree as the gun went off. I felt the bullet as it passed my right arm. I threw the ring over my neck at the same time Bree slumped, her hands clasped over her stomach.

"No!" Vinnie screamed. "I didn't mean it!" I turned to see her staring with horror at the gun in her hand. Gabby fainted next to her. At the same time, my furnace filled as my connection to Gabby severed. My head started pounding, the fire demanding to be let out. I struggled to keep it in, running towards the car, but I couldn't. I pushed the flame towards the trees at the side of the road, falling to my knees next to Bree.

"Bree," I whimpered.

"Get me in the back seat," Bree groaned. I stood up and opened the back seat. She groaned but helped me as I tried to maneuver into the back seat. She screamed three times, but I got her there. I shut the door and climbed into the front seat. As I shut the door, I saw the rest of Gabby's acolytes pouring out of the front door of the house.

"Vinnie!" I yelled through the window. Vinnie looked up from where she was crouched over Gabby. "Survive. I'm coming back for you."

I put my foot on the gas and got the hell out of there.