Disclaimer: This story has the typical violence you'll see in the show along with all the angst. I try not to get too off character or too violent, but I'm giving it a mature rating just to be on the safe side.
I of course own nothing and get nothing but the satisfaction of writing the story and hopefully making it enjoyable for others as well. Comments are always welcome, good or bad. Thank you and I hope you enjoy it.
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Carl instructed Sam to park in the driveway behind the two cars already there. Carl took the gun and slid it into the back of his belt and covered it with his shirt. He then took out his phone and made his next check-in letting whoever was on the line know they had just arrived at Sarah's house. Sam thought about attacking him and trying to take him down or get the gun, but there was no way he would have enough time to get the people inside to believe him and still make it back to save Dean and Sarah.
Instead, they climbed out of the car and went up to the door. "No funny stuff Sam. Just act like you're here to find out about Sarah and keep cool. Get to the safe, get the book and we'll get back to Phillip's house. No trouble, understand?" Carl kept a steady gaze on Sam waiting for his response. Once Sam nodded, Carl jerked his head towards the door, "let's go then."
Sam went up to the door and knocked lightly. After a moment it was opened by a man wearing a suit. Sam recognized him immediately. "Agent Ayotte, nice to see you again," Sam swallowed hared trying to appear relaxed. "Special Agent, actually, but that's ok. How are you doing Sam? And this isn't Dean." Ayotte glances behind Sam to the larger man. Sam coughs lightly, "no, this is a friend of ours, Carl. Dean is back at the motel still." Carl nods his head at the introduction, but says nothing. Sam looks back at Ayotte, "may we come in? We're extremely worried about Sarah and hoping to talk to Mr. Blake and offer our support."
Ayotte turns slightly and they can see Mr. Blake slouched on the couch in the main room. He looks old and tired, not the snooty rich jerk that Sam remembered him to be. Ayotte backs away from the door so Sam and Carl can come in. Mr. Blake sees them and scowls. "What do you want?" he glares as Sam, "I don't think we need art dealers hanging around." Sam coughed lightly, "I'm sorry Mr. Blake; we were worried about Sarah and wanted to know if there was anything we could do to help."
Mr. Blake just sighed and sunk deeper into the couch, "we've heard nothing. No calls, no ransom demands, nothing. These wonderful FBI agents can tell me nothing and have no leads to speak of." Sam moved to the other side of the couch were he could see down the hallway and Carl followed him. Once there, they turned their attention back to Mr. Blake. Ayotte remained near the door watching everyone. Sam shifted nervously, after a short while Sam asked, "would you mind if I used the restroom, please?" Mr. Blake looked up briefly and gestured with his hand, "it's down that hallway at the very end," then turned his gaze back to the phone sitting on the small coffee table in front of him.
Sam nodded and headed down towards it, remembering the picture he'd seen with the scratch on the wall. Carl was watching him out of the corner of his eye while making small talk with Mr. Blake and Ayotte. Sam went to the picture and carefully removed it from the wall. The safe was there. He quickly entered the combination and opened the door slowly. There were papers, small boxes, and the leather-bound book. He reached in and picked up the book, hiding it in his jacket.
Sam quietly closed the safe, replaced the picture, and then went into the bathroom. Carl glanced down the hallway nervously as Sam closed the door lightly. Once inside, Sam knew Carl would be getting really nervous if the door was closed for too long. Looking through the drawers he grabbed one of Sarah's eyeliners, "sorry Sarah," he whispered as he flipped to the back of the book, tearing out a blank page. He jotted down "Carl is one of the kidnappers, HELP! 228 Marigold Lane." Then he quickly began glancing through the pages at the different incantations and rituals. He flushed the toilet and turned on the water as if he were washing his hands as he continued flipping through the book. Most of them were simple spells for love, revenge, and power. One in particular attracted his attention and was marked with a thin piece of cloth; to summon and control a shadow beast. His first thought was of the shadow demons that Meg had attacked them with, but the symbols were different.
Sam quickly put the book back under his arm, hidden in his jacket, folded the piece of paper with the help note, and turned off the water. As he left the bathroom he could see that Carl was nervous and stared at him as he left the room and started walking down the hallway. Coughing lightly, "We'll leave and get out of your way, please let us know if something does come up or we can help in any way," Carl spoke directly to Ayotte as he moved towards the door, glancing back to make sure Sam was following him. Sam only hesitated a moment as he passed Mr. Blake, but said nothing and just followed Carl to the door. Carl held the door for Sam watching his every move. Sam cursed, knowing he couldn't drop the note now because Carl would see it. Sam walked out the door nodding to Ayotte as he left. "Should have written it on the damn mirror," Sam silently scolded himself.
Once they got back in the car and Carl moved to the other side, Sam tossed the note backwards slightly towards Ayotte's car hoping the wind didn't pick up and blow it away. They both got into the car and Carl glanced at his watch, "let's get back on the road to Phillip's house. And give me the book," he snapped as he pulled his gun back out. Sam started the engine, and then passed the book to Carl. As he pulled out of the driveway he glanced over and watched as Carl flipped through the pages. He found the same entry that Sam had, with the cloth marker, and began reading over it. Sam's brows crinkled slightly as he curiously asked, "you can read Latin?" Carl just hummed an "mmmm hmmmm," and kept reading.
Carl made is 15-minute check-in call and let the person on the line know he was only about five minutes away. Sam's palms were starting to sweat as he tried to think about how to get out of this. He feared that if he didn't come up with something, they were all dead. "How many times did a kidnapper actually let their hostages go without a fight?" he thought despairingly to himself.
Carl suddenly looked up at him, "did you read any of this while you were in the bathroom?" The urgent tone caught Sam off-guard and he almost jumped, "a little, I just flipped through the pages to try to see what was so important." The intensity of Carl's stare caused a knot to form in Sam's stomach. Carl continued to stare at him, "did you read the one with the marker? Do you know what it does and what it takes?" Sam wasn't sure if he should tell the truth, but what more could really happen? Sam glanced at him and then back to the road, "I read enough to know that they're going to try to summon something pretty horrible," he spoke more venomently that he had intended, but he was getting to the point where he didn't really care. He needed to find a way to save his brother and Sarah and time was running out.
Carl just nodded and returned to reading the book. As they pulled up to the gate, Carl just waved at the camera once it turned towards them a little and the gates started opening. Sam started formulating a plan, as soon as they were heading back down the stairs he would try to take down Carl. He knew that Dean and Sarah were just a little ways down and around the corner from the entrance. If he could get Carl down and get to Dean, they might be able to get Sarah and get back out to the car. Carl's voice made Sam jump back into focus and what he said startled him so much he almost drove off the driveway and into a nearby tree, "They're going to kill Sarah."
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"What?" Sam almost screamed as he glared at Carl and hit the breaks. Carl almost looked startled, "don't stop you idiot, they'll suspect something! Keep driving," he snarled. Sam blinked a moment before continuing to the house. "Look, I'm sorry about what's happened to you and your friends; believe me. Typically we don't really care about these idiot rich people who think Satan is really going to give them everything they want if they burn incense and sit on their knees for hours on end. What we do care about is when women go missing without a trace or clues or anything for eight months in a row." Carl took a deep breath and pointed to a spot in the back of the house, "park there and keep your mouth shut."
Sam's jaw must have been on his chest and his face must have been something funny to see. Carl just looked at him and burst into laughter as Sam parked the car. Carl coughed a bit and regained his composure as he stepped out of the car with his gun drawn and the book under his arm. "Come on," he jerked his head towards the house and kept the gun pointed at Sam. Sam's mind was reeling, was Carl a cop of some sort or was he just playing around with him?
As they entered the house, Phillip was waiting in the den area right outside of the kitchen. "Did you get it?" he barked at Carl. "Yes sir," Carl handed him the book. Phillip quickly began flipping through it to the marked page and began reading. Realizing that Carl and Sam were still standing there, he growled, "Take him down to a room by himself. We'll decide what to do in a minute; I need to speak with Damien." Sam stiffened, "you said you were going to let us go," the words were hollow and he knew the answer before Phillip ever responded, "of course we did. Now go Carl." Carl pushed the gun into the back of Sam forcing him to move towards the hallway.
They started down the stairs and Carl made sure the door closed behind him, "keep your mouth shut and give me a minute," Carl whispered as they reached the end of the stairs. Sam hesitated and glanced back at him. "Ande doesn't know about me and isn't going to expect anything, but you've got to keep quiet and wait for me. I know you're itching to do something, anything, to get yourself and your friends out of here. Just wait for me. You'll know when, okay?" Carl looked steadily at Sam waiting for an answer; Sam nodded and clenched his jaw. "Good, lets go," Carl pointed down the hallway and Sam started walking again.
As they entered the area that opened up slightly, Ande was still sitting in the same seat, but no longer had the ice pack. When Carl and Sam came in to walk through the room, he stood up. "Let me take him to his room," he huffed and headed towards Sam.