December 4th - December 8th, 2008

Sam had found a new case about a man whose cause of death was ten stab wounds. However, none of them ever pierced through the shirt he had been wearing.

We watched from the sidewalk as Jeb Dexter, a sort of famous edgy magician, did some tricks for an audience in front of a camera.

"This— This isn't a trick, okay? I— I— I don't do tricks. This is a demonstration..." Jeb said as he waved a deck of cards around. "About demons and angels, love and lust..."

"What a douche bag." Dean scoffed under his breath.

"All that stuff mixed up in my head," Jeb said.

"Dean, that's Jeb Dexter," I said.

Dean raised an eyebrow at me. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

Sam shrugged. "He's famous, kind of."

"For what? Douchebaggery?" Dean whispered.

"But whatever happens... no matter how messed up it gets, don't touch me, okay? For your own safety." Jeb took a deep breath and then exhaled. He started shaking as if he was having a seizure, and the crowd started going wild. Then he threw the deck of cards at the window behind him. "Go back to Hell, demon!"

When the cards finally settled, it was revealed that there was an ace of diamonds on the glass.

He dragged his hand over it to show that it was on the inside. "Is this your card?"

A girl nodded excitedly, and the crowd clapped like crazy, and he bowed.

"You've got to be kidding me. A fake demon possession?" Dean asked as he started to continue down the sidewalk. "I can't believe people actually fall for that crap."

"It's not all crap," Sam said as we followed after Dean.

"What part of that was not a steaming pile of BS?" Dean asked.

Sam nodded. "Okay, that was crap, but that's not all magicians." He shrugged. "It takes skill."

Dean nodded. "Oh, right, right, I forgot. You were actually into this stuff, weren't you?" He laughed. "I mean, you had— you had, like a deck of cards and a wand."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Dude, I was thirteen. It was a phase."

"Just... it bugs me. Ya know, playing at demons and— and magic when the real thing will kill you bloody," Dean said.

"Like a guy who drops dead of ten stab wounds... without a single tear in his shirt?" Sam asked.

Dean nodded. "That's what I'm talking about." He looked down at me. "We'll be back. Here..." He handed me some money. "Go watch a couple shows, and we'll call when we're done." Then he and Sam continued walking into the building.

I waited a couple of minutes and then walked in to buy some tickets.

I got through three and a half shows, including three older magicians named Jay, Vernon, and Charlie. Just as Jeb's show started, Dean gave me a call, and I met them outside of the hotel as we headed for the Impala.

"How'd it go?" I asked.

"Well, the assistant said the guy had a lot of enemies," Dean said.

"Did she narrow it down to anyone?" I asked.

Sam shook his head. "I guess he was stealing from the other magicians, stage effects, close-up techniques, pretty much anything he could get his hands on."

I nodded. "Not surprising someone killed him then."

Dean nodded. "Yeah, I guess these guys take this stuff pretty seriously."

"She also found this..." Sam handed me a card. "In his stuff."

I flipped the card around. It was a tarot card with a picture of a man with ten swords sticking out of his back. "Pretty on the nose, isn't it?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah, I'd say." He handed Sam the keys. "Look, I'm gonna see if I can find some of the other magicians. You guys head back to the motel, and I'll meet you there."

When we got back, I hopped in the shower. Once I finished, I stepped out and heard a familiar female voice on the other side of the door. So, I got dressed, and I listened quietly.

"What are you doing here, Ruby?" Sam asked.

"I should be asking you the same thing," Ruby said.

"I'm working a job. Maddison's taking a shower, so make it quick," Sam said.

"The whole world's about to be engulfed in Hellfire, and you're in Magictown, USA?" Ruby asked.

Sam laughed. "You got something against magic?"

"That would almost be funny if thirty-four seals hadn't been broken already. Thirty-four, Sam," Ruby snapped, "That's over halfway. The angels are losing this war. Every day is one day closer, and if someone doesn't do something soon—"

"And that someone is me?" Sam asked.

"Who else would it be?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know where these seals are. I don't know, squat. So why don't you tell me where you'd like me to start?" Sam asked.

"Well, you can quit dicking around here, for one. Bigger fish, Sam. And if the seals are being broken, you might want to go after the one doing the breaking," Ruby said.

"Lilith?" Sam asked.

"Cut the head off the snake. You're the only one who can stop her, Sam. So step up and kill the little bitch," Ruby said.

"Oh, I'm game, believe me. It's not the psychic thing I got a problem with," Sam said.

"Yeah, I know what you got a problem with, but tough. It's the only way," Ruby said.

"No," Sam said.

"Ya know, this would all be so much easier if you'd just admit to yourself that you like it. That feeling that it gives you," Ruby said.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Sam said.

"Oh, I don't, huh?" Ruby asked. "Fine." I heard the door open. "It's simple. Lucifer rises, the apocalypse starts. You think that you have demons on your hands now? People are gonna die, Sam. Oceans of people. So you just let me know when you're ready." Then the door slammed.

I waited a moment and then opened the door. "Did you leave?"

"What? Oh no... I think someone down the hall slammed their door," Sam said nervously.

I nodded and sat down on one of the beds.

"How's the shower? Do we actually have hot water here?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I wouldn't say hot, more like luke-warm."

Sam sighed and went back to researching.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do with what I heard because I honestly didn't know what I did hear. All I knew was that Ruby still wanted Sam to kill Lilith with his powers, but there was more to it. I didn't know if I wanted to let Sam be honest about it himself or if I should just let Dean know that something weird was going on. I wasn't sure if I wanted to be the reason a fight broke out.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Sam answered his phone, "Hey." (...) "Yeah, I'm on my way." He hung up and then stood up. "Dean called, wants me back there. I'm sure we will be back in less than an hour.

I nodded. "Okay."

Then he threw his suit jacket back on and left.

I waited a few minutes and then walked over to the window to check if the Impala was still there, but it was just pulling away.

"All right, Sam. Let's see if I can figure out what you've been hiding," I said and then walked over to his duffel bag. "Ugh, I feel gross doing this."

I picked it up and unzipped it, sifting through his things carefully so he wouldn't suspect something was out of place. If it were Dean's bag, it wouldn't be a big deal 'cause he just throws his stuff in there. Sam, on the other hand, usually has his bag neat and everything folded.

I was relieved to just find the normal stuff in his bag... deodorant, clothes, toothbrush... the usual. Except when I when to pick up the bag off of the bed and it slipped out of my hands, there was a strange thud that I couldn't relate to anything I had found in the bag. So, I unzipped it again, dug in further, and lifted up the plastic sheet that laid at the bottom, which revealed a flask. I wouldn't have thought anything of it, even the fact that it was under the plastic just could've been from moving the bag around, but there was something dark and dried up under the lip of the lid, which was strange.

Out of curiosity, I unscrewed the cap and was instantly hit by an iron smell. I walked over to the lamp so I could see what was in it better, but it honestly didn't help much because what was inside was a thick dark liquid.

"What the hell?" I grabbed a tissue and folded it up. I put it on top of the opening and turned it just to collect some of the liquid. When I pulled the tissue back, it revealed what I was worried about, the liquid was blood.

"What have you gotten yourself into, Sam?" I asked and then repacked his bag how I had found it.

Like Sam called it, he and Dean returned less than an hour later, but I was even more confused about what I was going to do. I had been going back and forth with myself a hundred times as I laid in one of the beds staring at the ceiling.

I was sure Dean should know what was going on, but I also didn't want to betray Sam's trust. I mean, I was snooping through his stuff after all. In some ways, I felt like he deserved it because he was obviously still lying to us about something. Something that involved Ruby. Even if Dean had thanked her for taking care of Sam and she had helped us recently, I still didn't trust her, especially now that Sam wasn't even honest about her little visit.

I guess I was just going to give him a little time and let him have the opportunity, to be honest with us. I wasn't sure how much time I was going to let him have, though.

Dean grabbed my foot and shook it. "Hey, kid. Did you hear me?"

I sat up, not realizing that either of them had been talking. "What?"

Dean furrowed his brow. "I've been talking to you since I walked in. You didn't hear any of it?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh, no, sorry."

"You feeling all right?" Dean asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I was just daydreaming." I quickly looked at Sam, who looked a little nervous. "What were you saying? I'm sorry."

Dean shrugged. "Forget it. Clearly, it wasn't that important." He smirked but tried to hide it so I would think that he was really upset.

"Oh, come on. Don't be a brat," I said.

"Oh, I'm the brat?" Dean asked and then sat down on the other bed.

I stood up and sat next to him. "Tell me..." I begged.

Dean shrugged and just ignored me.

"Please..." I whipped out the best puppy dog eyes I had in my arsenal.

"Oh, no." Dean grabbed his chest and covered his eyes dramatically. "Okay, okay. I'll tell you, just put those things away."

I laughed and elbowed him, and then he finally stopped with his over dramatics.

"This guy, I think his name was—" He thought for a second.

"Jay," Sam said.

Dean nodded. "Jay... he did this trick he called the executioner. He stood on a platform in a straitjacket with a noose around his neck. He had sixty seconds to get out of it, or the platform would release."

"Did he do it?" I asked.

Dean nodded excitedly. "Yeah, a white curtain came up in front of him, and we saw him struggling, and then finally, with only like three seconds left, he got out of it."

I laughed. "I thought you didn't like this stuff."

Dean nodded. "I don't, but that was friggin' amazing!"

I laughed. "Hate to burst your bubble, but—"

"Then don't," Dean interrupted.

"He probably had people behind that curtain helping him," I said.

Dean sighed. "Always the pessimist."

"Not true." I smirked.

Sam shook his head. "I don't know if it was really that simple. We could see his silhouette struggling and swinging around but no other shadows. However he did it, it was not humanly possible."

A couple hours of research later, Sam spoke up, "Looks like this guy Jay was a pretty big deal in the '70s."

"Which in magician land means what, exactly?" Dean asked.

"Big enough to play Radio City Music Hall," Sam said.

"What got him stuck in their 'where are they now' file?" Dean asked.

Sam shrugged. "He got old."

Dean nodded. "Okay, so maybe incredible Jay is using real magic to stage a comeback."

Sam shrugged. "It's possible. Some kind of spell that works a death transference."

"How does the tarot card mix into it?" Dean asked.

Sam shook his head. "I don't know."

Dean sighed. "Man... hope I die before I get old. Whole thing seems brutal, don't it?"

"You think we will?" Sam asked.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Die before we get old," Sam said.

"There's only one of us here who hasn't already," Dean said.

"You know what I mean, Dean. I mean, do you think we'll still be chasing demons when we're sixty?" Sam asked.

Dean shook his head. "No, I think we'll be dead... for good. What? You want to end up like... like Travis? Huh? Or Gordon, maybe?"

I shrugged. "What about Bobby?"

"Oh, yeah, there's a poster child for growing old gracefully," Dean said sarcastically.

Sam shrugged. "Maybe we'll be different, Dean."

"What kind of Kool-Aid you drinking, man? Sammy, it ends bloody or sad. That's just the life," Dean said.

"What if we could win?" Sam asked.

"Win?" Dean asked.

Sam shrugged. "If there was a way, we could just... put an end to all of it."

"Is there something going on you're not telling me?" Dean asked.

I watched him to see if his expression changed, and a flash of nervousness crossed his face.

Sam shook his head. "No."

"Sammy," Dean said, catching the slight change too.

Sam shook his head. "No. Look, I'm just saying— I just wish there was a way we could... go after the source. That's all. Cut the head off the snake."

Dean nodded. "Well, the problem with the snake is that it has a thousand heads. Evil bitches just keep piling out of the Volkswagen."

Sam sighed. "Yeah. Guess you're right."

"Why don't you go see if you can track down Jay? I'll see what I can dig up on this tarot card," Dean said.

Sam and I met Dean in the lobby of the hotel, where the magic shows had been going on, after having no luck with tracking down Jay.

"Hey," Sam said as we walked up to Dean.

Dean sighed. "Maid found Jeb hanging from the ceiling fan. Police think it was a suicide." He pulled out a card and showed us it was a tarot of a man hanging. "I beg to differ. Pulled a little sleight of hand myself."

"On Dexter's body?" Sam asked.

Dean nodded. "Yeah, so I'm thinking if this spell is a death transference, then these cards work like black-magic targets."

"Any connection between the victims?" Sam asked.

Dean nodded. "Jeb was a total douche bag to Jay yesterday."

"What about the first vic? Uh, Vance?" Sam asked.

Dean nodded. "Asked around. Apparently, Vance was heckling Jay at the bar the day he was killed."

Sam nodded. "Okay, so Jay sneaks a card into Vance's pocket, does the table of death—"

Dean nodded. "And Vance takes ten swords to the chest."

"Then Jay slips a noose and Jeb doesn't. Hell of a trick," Sam said.

"Yeah, I think it's time we had a little chat with Jay. Any luck tailing him?" Dean asked.

Sam shook his head. "He slipped us."

Dean gave us a strange look. "He's a sixty-year-old."

Sam shrugged. "He's a magician."

Just as he was saying that, Jay walked through the lobby entrance. "Hey, guys." I pointed.

Dean nodded for us to follow after him quietly.

We followed Jay to his room, and we looked around to make sure no one was looking. Then Dean kicked the door in.

"Up against the wall!" Dean yelled as he and Sam pulled out their guns.

Jay put his hands up, looking terrified. "God, who are you? What do you want?"

"Now!" Dean shouted.

Jay backed up with his hands up.

"We know what you've been up to," Sam said.

"You been working some real bad mojo to jump-start your act," Dean said.

"What?" Jay shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Look, we know you put a spell on those tarot cards," Sam said.

"Messing with real magic?" Dean asked.

"'Real magic'?" Jay furrowed his brow. "Come on, there's no such thing as real magic."

"Oh, is that so?" Dean asked.

Jay nodded. "Yeah, believe me. I've been around this stuff my whole life. It's all just— It's— It's illusions. It's tricks. It— It's all fake."

"Jeb Dexter strung up... was that just an illusion?" Dean asked.

"What? Something happened to Jeb?" Jay asked, completely shocked.

Sam nodded. "He was found hanged in his room. Right after you slipped the noose last night."

"Guys, you can probably lower your guns. I think he's telling the truth," I said.

Jay nodded. "Please listen to her. I don't know what you're talking about. Please... just let me go."

"That's what they do, Maddison. They lie. They're slippery bastards," Dean said, still pointing his gun at him.

"If he was really into magic, wouldn't we be on our backs by now?" I asked.

Sam and Dean looked at each other, lowered their guns, and then grabbed Jay, bringing him over to a chair. Dean quickly went through some of Jay's props while Sam guarded him at the chair. Then he finally pulled out a rope and tied Jay to the chair.

They questioned him for a little bit, but they only got him to tell us a couple names of his friends.

Dean sighed and nodded for us to step away from him and talk privately. "What do you want to do?"

"All right, so, if it's not him, who is it?" Sam asked.

Dean shrugged. "Even if Jay's not working the magic, he's still getting the reward. His shows are selling out."

Sam nodded. "All right. So, then, whoever it is, they're obviously in Jay's corner."

"All right, so we got Vernon and Charlie on the list. Anyone else?" Dean asked.

"Uh... we could always ask him," Sam said, causing us to look over at Jay, but he had slipped his ties, and he was gone.

Dean shrugged. "Guess we should have seen that one coming."

Sam lightly smacked Dean in the chest. "Come on. He couldn't have gotten that far."

We walked down the hallway back toward the lobby, but there was no sign of Jay anywhere.

"No way he could outrun us," Sam said as we walked into the lobby.

Dean shrugged. "Maybe he vanished. I mean, he really is good."

"Or he found a back door," Sam said as two police officers ran through the front door of the lobby.

"That's them!" Jay yelled from behind us. "Those are the nut jobs that just broke into my room!" he yelled as he pointed at us.

We had spent a few hours at the police department being questioned, but after a while, we were escorted out when we were told that the charges had been dropped.

So, we headed back to the hotel to see why Jay would do that. Luckily when we got there, he was standing in the lobby as if he was waiting for us.

"Jay. Thanks for dropping the charges," Sam said as we walked up to him.

"You mind telling us why you did it?" Dean asked.

Jay looked anxious and upset. "We have to talk." He turned, and we followed him into the bar, and we sat at a table.

The waitress walked over and set a glass of whiskey in front of Jay as if she already knew what he would've wanted.

Jay sighed sadly. "I performed the table of death, and Charlie was found with ten stab wounds. Just like Vance. I was just a kid when we first met. All I knew was how to cheat at cards. Charlie got me out of more scrapes than I can count. Hell, I would have been dead by the age of twenty if it hadn't been for him..." He sighed. "He was more than my friend. He was my brother."

Sam nodded. "I'm sorry, Jay."

"Look, I should have listened to you guys when you told me that my show was killing people," Jay said.

"Well, you weren't the one pulling the trigger," Dean said.

Jay nodded. "Yeah, but someone did, and I want to find out who did this to Charlie, so I'll do whatever you guys say. Just tell me what to do."

"Jay, whoever's doing this... they like you. They're probably close to you. Did Charlie and Vernon get along?" Sam asked.

Jay shook his head. "No. No, it's not Vernon."

"He's the only one that makes sense," Dean said.

"Charlie and Vernon were your family, Jay," Sam said.

Dean nodded. "And now, Charlie's gone."

Jay nodded. "Yeah, but... they butted heads sometimes, but Vernon could never do something like this."

"See, the thing about real magic is it's a whole lot like crack. People do surprising things once they get a taste of it," Dean said.

"You better be damn sure about this. Vernon's all I got left," Jay said.

The three of us snuck up to Vernon's room while Jay distracted him down in the theatre.

"Wow. It's like a... magic museum," Sam said in awe as he opened the door.

"You must be in heaven. This guy doesn't travel light," Dean said, looking around at all the old memorabilia and props Vernon had in his room.

"He's been on the road his whole life. Probably everything he owns is in this room," Sam said.

Dean nodded. "Let's get started."

We searched around Vernon's room for a bit but weren't finding anything out of the ordinary.

Dean sighed. "This is just a bunch of old-timey magic stuff... none of it magic."

Sam shrugged. "No herbs, no candles, and no tarot cards."

Dean walked over to one of the walls and stared at a poster. "I'll be damned."

"What?" Sam asked, and we walked over to him.

Dean pointed to the poster. "Look like anyone we know?"

Sam and I looked closer, but the poster must've been extremely old, and it had a picture of a young man with a birthmark over his eye. I remembered from Charlie's show that he had a very distinct birthmark over his right eyebrow, but he would be ancient if that was him in the picture.

"Is that Charlie?" I asked.

Dean nodded. "Looks like it."

"How old is this guy?" I asked.

Sam shook his head. "Not old enough to be in that picture."

We walked into the theatre where Vernon, Jay, and a young version of Charlie were standing on the stage together.

"We could be young again. The three of us," Charlie said.

Jay and Vernon started walking toward him as if whatever he had been telling them might've actually convinced them to go along with his craziness.

"Not so fast!" Dean shouted with his gun out. "I ain't Guttenberg, and this ain't Cocoon."

Vernon and Jay turned around and backed up next to Charlie with their hands up.

Dean gestured for them to leave Charlie's side, and they both did immediately. "Immortality. That's a neat trick."

Charlie shook his head. "It's not a trick. It's magic."

Suddenly, a noose dropped behind Dean, wrapped itself around his neck, and lifted him in the air. Sam shot at Charlie, but he barely flinched.

Charlie spat a bullet out of his mouth and into his hand. "Hey, bullet catch... been working on that." Then he disappeared and reappeared a little off stage.

"Get him!" Dean yelled as he struggled with the noose.

"Let him go... now!" Sam shouted at Charlie.

"Just leave me and my friends alone, all right? I will give it up... the spells, the hexes. This is the last time. I promise," Charlie said.

Sam swung the gun at him, but Charlie disappeared and reappeared behind him. Then Charlie pushed him onto the sword table, and it strapped him down. The rope holding up the swords slowly started to snap.

"Sam!" I shouted and ran to him and then turned to look at Charlie. "Please... let them go. You don't have to do this!"

Charlie shrugged and smiled at me.

I ran over to Jay. "Help me..."

He started to tear up.

"You said Charlie and Vernon were all you have left, well that's what my brothers are to me. Please don't let him take them from me," I begged.

Jay looked up at Dean, struggling with the noose, and over at Sam as the rope frayed a little more. He nodded and pulled out a dagger.

I backed up, scared that he had sided with Charlie, but instead of going after me, he stabbed himself. Charlie gasped, and I looked over at him. He was clutching his stomach that now was covered in blood. Jay pulled the knife out of his own stomach, but it wasn't covered in blood. Then he pulled a stack of tarot cards out of his pocket.

Charlie reached into his pocket and pulled out a tarot card. "Jay... you picked these strangers over me?"

Jay looked away sadly, and then Charlie dropped to the ground, dead, releasing Sam from the table and Dean from the noose.

I ran over to Dean, who was gasping and ripping the noose off of his neck.

"You okay?" Sam asked Dean as he joined us, and then the swords dropped on the table a moment later.

Dean nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm all right."

When we looked up, Jay and Vernon were both gone. So, we left before anyone would see us with the body.

The next day, we went back to the hotel to talk to Jay, and we found him in the bar, with several empty whiskey glasses.

"Hey, Jay. We wanted to thank you for what you did yesterday," Dean said.

"I killed my best friend yesterday, and you want to thank me?" Jay asked.

"Where's Vernon?" Sam asked.

"Oh, he's gone. He said he didn't want to speak to me again after what I did to Charlie," Jay said.

"Listen, Jay... you know Charlie was never gonna give up what he was doing. Ever. You did the right thing," Dean said.

"Are you sure about that?" Jay asked. "Ya know, Charlie was like my brother. And now he's dead... because I did the 'right thing.' He offered me a gift, and I just threw it back in his face. So, now I have to spend the rest of my life old and alone. What's so right about that?" He got up and started to walk away.

The bartender ran up and picked up the deck of cards he had left behind. "Jay... your cards."

Jay shook his head and waved her away. "Throw them away." Then he continued walking out of the bar.

Dean took a deep breath. "Well, I don't know about you, but... I could go for a beer."

Sam shook his head. "I'm gonna take a walk."