The Supernatural World of Vladimir and Viktor, Chapter 53
"Eufrendus," Castiel said. "You have become slow and feeble. You missed your victim. He is safe with his friends outdoors. I thought acquiring human victims through demonic tricks was beneath your dignity. It's sad."
"Sarcasm from the angel Castiel?," the archdemon taunted back. "So, more has changed than just your making a mess of Heaven and earth recently. I see you are still banned from Heaven."
Castiel stood tall, with a tiny sliver of human pride slipping into his demeanor. "The angel rules were overridden. You would be astonished by all the places I can go now. I could show you."
The invisible Sam was still standing nearby. He had been fishing for salt pellets in his pocket, wondering if he had enough to make a circle on the floor or maybe he should etch a sigil on the wall for protection. Of course he dropped a couple on the floor.
That brought Eufrendus' attention back to him.
"Ah!" the archdemon said. "I haven't forgotten you."
He snapped his fingers and the flamethrowers' tank blew up, engulfing Sam in flames.
Castiel was quick, and in an instant he and Sam were with the others outside, without the flames, and without the flame throwing equipment, and without all of Sam's clothes but his shoes and undershorts.
Jill was amused. But she carefully pulled off her sweatshirt and tossed it to Sam. Given his height, Sam deemed it best to tie the sweatshirt around his waist.
"Oh, Sammy," she said, "you were burned." Jill forgot her own wound in the moment and began looking over Sam's arms and such for other injuries.
Castiel broke through the reverie and ordered Sam, Jill, and Andros to listen.
"I am going back. Do not look towards the house. Go down into the forest beyond the greenhouse and lie there. Do...NOT...look back!"
"You sure you don't want me to come, too?" Sam asked. He was used to the angel being a bit awkward when he was first isolated in a human body.
"No," asserted Castiel. "This type of situation is exactly what God created me for. Keep in mind, it was my battalion that was sent to protect the holy family."
He marched towards the house with angel blade in hand, only to stop when Daniel suddenly appeared in his path.
Castiel stopped just briefly enough order the elf to follow the others into the forest and to do exactly what they said. Then he continued, leaving the shaken Daniel to run to catch up with the others.
From the forest's edge, the foursome glanced back in time to see Castiel in his trench coat step over the line of salt that ringed the house.
"Thank you Amazing Bob," Sam muttered, remembering that the God from another universe had granted the angel the gift of crossing any barrier. That included salt which would stop most other spiritual beings.
Then they saw his figure lie supine just inside the ring.
"What's he doing?" Daniel asked, but nobody had an answer.
So the elf asked, "So, when do we stop watching?"
They assumed Castiel had entered the house when the blackened shape of a man holding an angel blade and two huge wings formed on the door and over the windows on either side of it and the wood on the inside of that pattern crumbled as black ash onto the ground. Without his physical vessel to impede him, the angel was transforming into his true form as he passed through the shell of the house.
It was deathly quit for a minute.
The confused elf asked again, "When are we supposed to not watch the house?"
There was a rumble from deep in the ground, and cracks formed at its surface. Light was beaming from cracks in the house as it tipped slightly and finally two windows, frames and all, blew out into the yard.
"Now!" shouted Andros, "I'd say right now!"
He and Daniel turned away from the house and charged into the forest. Sam and Jill were ahead of them. They ran until they reached the creek, the deepest part of the forest, and laid down to wait.
They felt the ground shifting. They heard thunderous cracks of lightning. They heard wood creaking and screeching and crashing. Then came a loud crash and bits of wood and glass rained down on them through the trees.
"I'm guessing that was the greenhouse blowing apart," offered Jill. "I'm glad it didn't have the old plate glass, or we'd be shredded now."
"Maybe we should leave," suggested Daniel. "I have my staff. And Castiel doesn't need our help, right? We could go to Jill's car."
"I don't feel right about leaving," said Sam. "Take the other two with you. I think I should be nearby."
The wind picked up with the storm and the tops of the trees on the hill above them began snapping off and dropping around them.
"Grab the staff, Sam!" the elf demanded.
With four hands grasping the magical staff they were transported to where Jill's car sat. Each found themselves in one of each of the seats.
Clara's huckster truck was in front of Jill's car and a police car with flashing lights sat behind them. The police officer sitting on the hood of his car practically fell off of it when it dawned on him that there were people in what was a moment before an empty vehicle.
The officer regained his composure and walked up to knock on the driver's window. Jill rolled down the car window and waited for the officer to start the conversation.
"Uh, ma'am, I see this vehicle has Tennessee plates. Is this your car?" the officer asked.
"Yes, officer. I'm from Memphis. Would you like to see my license?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Jill passed to the officer her driver's license and FBI identification.
"Let me check this in my car. Everyone stay in the car, please, ma'am."
As the officer verified Jill's FBI id, the others observed the landscape. The field was dark, the once lit up house was dark. as was the whole neighborhood around it. There were no specks of light flying around anywhere.
"Where are the bad fairies?" someone asked.
"I don't know," said Daniel the elf. He tried to see up and down the road they sat beside. He dearly wanted to get out of the car to see for sure, but could he pop out into the darkness and be back before the officer came back? He lifted his staff to tap it on the floor to leave.
It seemed Jill was reading his gestures and she knew what the subtle motion meant.
"Don't disappear on us," she told him. "Wait until the officer lets us get out."
The officer returned, saying, "Jill Collins. FBI huh? Do you have business in this area?
"Yes, I'm an agent and so are the two men in the back seat. And the huckster truck belongs to Clara Marshall. She is under investigation and we found her vehicle here. Do you know where Ms. Marshall is?"
"Uh, no ma'am. I just now identified her as owner of the vehicle."
"May we get out of the car? We've investigated all we can from inside here."
"Oh! Oh, yes, ma'am."
The four piled out of the car. Daniel searched along the road and around for signs of the rogue fairies. Sam and Andros looked out over the field, not sure exactly what they were supposed to see.
Sam was zipping up a pair of jeans he had put on in the car and wore Jill's sweatshirt normally.
"Where did you get those jeans?" Andros asked Sam.
"In the back seat of the car."
Andros looked aside at Sam and said, '"Why would a pair of your jeans be in the back seat of Jill's...nevermind."
Jill followed the officer, who identified himself as Officer Ned Sumner, to his police car.
"We know where Ms. Marshall is," Officer Sumner offered, after checking on reports from the police headquarters.
Jill's eyebrows lifted as she leaned in to hear better.
"Yeah, they determined that she died of electrocution just a little while ago. So did about twelve other people. All at that house in the distance there. They think a storm came through and brought down power lines and somehow the current ran all through the house. The bodies have serious electrical burns. Some hideous ones, going by the pictures."
"Say," the officer added. "What were you investigating her for?"
"I shouldn't say if your department doesn't know yet." said Jill. She paused to consider it and continued slyly.
"Well, you can be trusted to be quiet until the news comes," Jill continued. "Do know about three young girls living at her house?"
"Sure, her three daughters!" replied Officer Sumner.
"Her daughters all died in 1986. They had no children. Those girls are not related to her. Do you know what that means?" Jill left the officer to his imagination.
"Oh," he said finally. "Oh! Child trafficking?"
Jill nodded slowly, then turned her head when she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Daniel.
"Jill, look! Isn't Clara Marshall's house in that direction?" asked Daniel as he pointed to a swirling glow in the darkness to the east.
Officer Sumner checked his cell phone and exclaimed, "It is the Marshall place. An explosion! And it looks like it was hit by a tornado!"
The officer held his cell up for Jill to see with Daniel peering over her shoulder.
"So let's check this out!" exclaimed Jill. "After you, Officer Sumner."
The squad car circled around to head towards the light, as the others piled back into Jill's vehicle to follow it to the Marshall house. Or what remained of it.