Chapter 3 is now up. More notes at the end. Have a great Sunday!
Chapter 3
Helmi was not pleased to find the three of them returning panicked and disheveled, with the traces of their battle with the hiidet all over them. The car had a dent in the back where a hiissi had slammed itself while they were trying to escape.
"You," Helmi said pointing a threatening finger at Elias. "You're paying for damages."
Elias took a defensive stance.
"What? I wasn't even driving! I was in the backseat."
"You were in the car," Helmi pointed out. "Not to mention the fact that the hiidet were chasing you. Oh, and, technically, the warehouse they were in is yours too."
Apart from the damage to Helmi's car, there was also a pretty bad scratch on Dean's arm, which Helmi was currently taking care of.
"No, seriously, I can do it myself," Dean was protesting, eying the bottle of peroxide warily.
Helmi ignored him.
"You're glad I'm not taking you to get your rabies shots. Or tetanus shots. Who knows where that thing's been?"
She poured peroxide on the scratches, rolling her eyes when Dean hissed and swore.
"Now, now, Dean, that's not a nice thing to tell a lady."
Dean scoffed, watching Helmi as she was measuring a role of bandages.
"You know, when I was thinking of getting up close and personal with you, that's not exactly what I had in mind."
"Do you really think it's wise for you to start putting the moves on me while I have access to your open wound?" Helmi retorted prodding the scratches.
Dean flinched and tried to move his hand. Helmi held him in place rolling her eyes.
"Sit still, won't you? I swear, you're worse than a toddler."
Sam was trying hard not to fall on the floor laughing during the exchange. He could have offered to patch Dean up himself, but the injury was not that bad and it was fun to watch his brother squirm under Helmi's ministrations. Dean could be quite a source of entertainment at times. Of course, Sam was not going to tell him that. Not if he wanted to live.
Helmi had just finished bandaging the more serious scratches and was ready to put some band aids over the others when Dean grabbed her hand.
"What is that?" he asked, glaring at the band aids.
Helmi rolled her eyes.
"It covers your scratches," she explained patiently. "So you don't get dust and other nasty stuff in them which might lead to you getting gangrene and having your arm cut off."
"And it has teddy bears with big red hearts on them why exactly?" Dean insisted.
Sam disguised his peals of laughter as a bad coughing fit. Judging by Dean's glare, he was not very successful.
"Would you prefer the ones with the Little Mermaid?" Helmi asked sweetly.
Dean decided now would be a good time to shut up. He did glare in Sam's direction one more time, though.
"You even think about reaching for your phone, Sam, and I'm breaking it – and your fingers along with it," he warned darkly.
Sam decided it was time to talk business before they frightened off the natives with their unusual brand of brotherly love.
"So," he began. "Pekka's warehouse…the hiidet…"
"Hiidet are relatively harmless on their own," Elias said. "OK, they cause a lot of damage and like to play pranks on those who wonder in the woods, but otherwise they keep to themselves. They definitely don't venture into towns like that. And in a city as big as Tampere? Even on the outskirts is pretty much unheard of."
"So you're saying they're working for someone," Sam guessed. "But, if Luohi's dead, and, presumably, so is Piru, who's left?"
"Probably Lempo," Elias guessed.
Dean frowned. The name sounded familiar.
"We met him before?"
"We heard of him," Sam told him. "He was Luohi's silent partner while she was considering world domination. By all accounts he's worse than Piru and a master of chaos. If he's the one sending the hiidet after us…"
"Technically he sent the hiidet after Elias," Dean corrected. "He didn't know we would be there, did he?"
"Maybe, maybe not," Sam said. "I mean, he must know about Mielikki's three favors by now."
Dean scowled.
"That's what I was afraid of. You think favor number three is to take Lempo out?"
Sam shook his head uncertainly.
"I think she would have let me know by now if that was it. No, there's something here I must figure out for myself and the answer's in that warehouse." He paused and looked Dean up and down. "We have to go back there."
"Excuse me?" Helmi asked. "Didn't you say the place was swarming with hiidet? How do you intend to go around that?"
"You don't wanna know," Dean said quickly. "Only this time we're going alone. But I will need your car again. please."
Hemli raised her eyebrows.
"Of course you do," she muttered. "Only, do me a favor? This time: treat it as your own."
Den snorted.
"You don't play fair, Helmi, you know that?"
"You think I could ever get to where I am by playing fair? Now here are the ground rules. I've got a kid, in case you haven't noticed. So no bringing of hiidet bodies on the property. Two – you keep us informed. Every step of the way."
Dean was about to protest. He seemed to think better of it and simply shrugged.
"I suppose it's fair," he said at length. "It's your turf."
"And don't you forget it," Helmi muttered.
She left accompanied by Elias. Dean turned to Sam.
"Do you ever get the feeling we're a bad influence on people?" he asked pensively.
Sam's silence was answer enough.
xxxXXXxxxx
Sam and Dean had driven back to the warehouse. Surprisingly, all signs of their skirmish had been cleared and there did not seem to be any police waiting for them. There did not seem to be any signs of hiidet, either, whether outside or inside the warehouse. This did not look good.
"This doesn't smell like a trap at all," Dean commented.
The folder Sam had dropped when the hiidet had attacked was lying on the floor in pieces. Sam bent down and took one of the half-torn papers. He frowned at it.
"Dean, there's an address here. That information about Elias and his family, it must have been sent to someone. I hadn't noticed it before."
"Pekka's address, right?"
Sam shook his head.
"No, this was never meant for Pekka. The address is in the UK, anyway. And I recognize it. It's the headquarters of the British Men of Letters."
Dean scowled.
"I thought we were done with those douchebags once and for all."
Sam shrugged folding the paper and putting it into his pocket.
"They're done taking over America. They're still active here and there, although they're not what they were before. They lost some of their best operatives when they tried to take us down."
Dean muttered something that sounded suspiciously like serves them right. Sam scoffed amused. His face grew grave when he realized he needed to tell Dean the implications of their discovery.
"Dean, this isn't right."
Dean tilted his head, bemused by Sam's understatement.
"Sam we're on the other side of the ocean at the request of a deity whose been holding a favor over your head for two years – a favor which you still don't know what entails. We've got this dude who supposedly had no idea about the supernatural until two years ago suddenly becoming a hiidet magnet in the worst possible way – and also turning out to know said deity, possibly biblically by the look of that picture, and he was stalking his bandmate long before he knew Elias was a hunter's kid. Which part of this isn't wrong to you, Sam?"
Sam ran a hand through his hair.
"You don't understand. Think about it, Dean. That folder contained a report on Elias and his family. A Hunter's report. Now, I could be overthinking it and it could just be about the way Elias' family died. Or…"
Dean turned his back to Sam shaking his head.
"I don't like where you're going with this, Sam."
Sam made a helpless gesture with his hands.
"Dean you have to consider the possibility this is about Elias – that it always was about him. I mean, no one understands how much that sucks better than me – I've been there."
Dean did not really want to be reminded about the time Sam became target number one for hunters all across the U.S.
"I'll phone Ketch and ask what he knows," he decided, then snorted, shaking his head. "He's gonna love this. He always gets off on riling Elias up."
Sam chuckled, knowing full well that, when Ketch was involved, Elias was quite capable of giving as good as he got and more. He walked around the warehouse trying to make sense of the objects accumulated there. None of them seemed of particular importance, but he knew they had to be there for a reason. Unfortunately, the only person who could tell them the reason was dead.
"We need more insight into Pekka," Sam said. "And for whatever reason, Elias and Helmi have closed ranks."
Dean nodded. It happened sometimes. Every family had its dark spots they did not want to share with others – Dean knew that quite well, after all. Apostles of Shadow was very much like a family. But Helmi and Elias were not the only members.
"I wonder what I would get if I talked to the other bandmembers. The guitarist and the drummer. That would be…uhhh…"
"Tony and Johan," Sam reminded him. "And there's Reijo. Pekka's replacement. I don't know how well he knew Pekka, though."
"Well, I want to talk to them. Someone must have noticed something hinky and maybe they're willing to share."
They were outside the warehouse now. Sam turned to look at what lay beyond it – an empty field and, further ahead, the beginning of a forest.
"You do that," he told Dean. "I'll stay here. Try to make some sense of all the stuff we found inside."
He sensed Dean's narrowed gaze and tried to keep his face blank.
"You're not about to do something stupid, are you, Sam?"
"Like what?" Sam asked innocently.
"Like go explore the forests all on your lonesome."
Sam made a jerky movement with his head.
"Why would I do that?" he shot.
"Because you're an idiot," Dean replied bluntly.
Sam gave him an annoyed look, which Dean ignored.
"Because you think this will offer you the perfect opportunity for a private heart to heart with Mielikki."
"I told Mielikki we're in this together or not at all," Sam reminded Dean.
His brother gripped his elbow briefly, the hold slightly painful, something between affection and a warning for Sam not to put himself at risk on his own.
"See that you remember that," he said curtly.
And he left, trusting Sam that he would stay at the warehouse and not go into danger alone, driven by some misguided notion of keeping his brother safe. It made Sam even more guilty about what he was thinking of doing.
xxxXXXxxxx
There was no sign of Helmi or Elias at the venue, which gave Dean the opportunity to sneak backstage and chat with some of the technical crew, before moving on to the band. He only found Tony, the guitarist, checking his gear.
"Hey," Dean greeted. "Uhh, I don't know if you remember me, but I'm…"
"Elias' hired gun in matters of things that bump in the night," Tony stated bluntly. "I heard."
Dean snickered at the description.
"Actually, I think I need to be paid to become a hired gun, but I'll take it."
Tony grunted something unintelligible. Dean realized he would have to work harder to convince the other to warm up to him. He pointed to the guitar.
"Hey, that's some cool guitar you've got there. I've read somewhere it's a custom made model – just for you?"
Tony's eyes brightened and Dean grinned inwardly. Yup, he knew how to reach his type.
"Yeah, it's the only one I use, you know? It's like a part of me, can't really find another that gets me so much."
Dean nodded.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I've got this sweet ride, it belonged to my Dad. I left it at home, of course and it hasn't been the same. I mean, I can drive another car, but it ain't my baby. It drives my brother crazy sometimes."
Tony snorted, setting the guitar aside.
"I get you. You know I hardly let even the sound technicians handle it? Once I nearly came to blows with one, because he unpacked it while I wasn't there. Elias says I've got control issues."
Don't we all? Dean thought.
"Yeah, it's the same thing my brother says about me and my car. Hey, uhh…listen, I've got some questions and I was thinking maybe you can help?"
Tony tensed, but he seemed less unfriendly than before, now that they had established some common ground.
"I assume it's about Pekka. I don't know why he left, man. One day he was with us, doing interviews about our new album and signing autographs and the next he said he's leaving. Said he wanted something else in his life, which is understandable but it was sudden, you know?"
"You don't think it was building up?" Dean wanted to know. "Ever since that time in Gatlinburg? When Elias told you all that stuff about him."
Tony's quick shake of his head was too firm to be anything but the truth.
"Johan and I were the ones who got really mad," he admitted. "Pekka started telling us to see Elias' side. He said any of us would have hidden our past too, under such circumstances. I mean – who would have believed us? I'm not so sure I would have believed Elias at all, to tell you the truth but…uhhh…there was this little incident on a tour that I could suddenly see in a whole new light…"
Dean remembered Elias mentioning something about that when they had first met.
"Oh, yeah, your demonic possession. Do you remember anything about that?"
Tony shrugged.
"Not really. I know I woke up tied to a chair and there was this star-shaped thingy drawn on the floor…"
"A devil's trap," Dean explained. "It was to keep your demon contained."
Tony turned slightly green and Dean had to remember that not everyone took demonic possessions as casually as most of the people he usually hung out with.
"Anyway," Tony added, clearing his throat. "Elias said I got inadvertently involved in some weird cult thingy and that I'd been roofied, which I accepted because I couldn't remember anything since the concert we had that night till waking up in that chair. Well, actually I do have this vague recollection of mouthing off at Elias and Elias looking really upset about what I was saying. Can't remember what that was though – and when I asked Elias two years ago, he told me not to worry, it hadn't been me, after all."
Why had the demon mouthed off at Elias, though? Dean had to wonder if it had been a typical demon trying to rattle the person exorcizing him – perhaps with some unspoken resentment towards Elias the demon had got from his host's mind. Or maybe it had been something more sinister. Maybe the demon had known something about Elias. But, if so, Dean had no idea how to find out. After all, Tony couldn't remember and Elias was, apparently, not talking.
"Let's go back to Pekka," Dean said instead. "Was there really no indication beforehand that he was gonna bail on you?"
Tony grimaced. He suddenly looked worried.
"Elias doesn't know this…" he began cautiously.
Dean gave him his most disarming smile.
"Hey, he won't find out I got it from you if you don't want me to tell him."
Tony looked relieved.
"It could be nothing, really. Only, the day before Pekka decided to quit, we were at this photoshoot. And during one of the breaks I see Pekka talking to this woman. She was quite something, man."
Dean suspected he knew exactly what she was.
"Let me guess: tall, dark hair, walks around like she owns the world."
Tony nodded emphatically.
"That was her. Anyway, I wouldn't even have bothered – well, except to ask Pekka how he managed to bag something like her – but I noticed she and Pekka were arguing. Pekka did not look pleased. He kept shaking his head. I overheard him telling the woman that the deal had been for three favors and no more. The woman just looked at him and asked: So you think what I gave you in return was worth only three favors? I didn't hear more, because I think they caught me too close to them and left. But I did ask Pekka if he was in any trouble. He told me to mind my own business."
Dean was liking the conversation less and less. he had no idea what Mielikki had given Pekka – fame, fortune, a cottage by the sea. But if she had shrunk back on their deal, claiming that it was worth more than three favors, what did that say about Sam? Would she keep him bound to her for as long as he lived? And how much of that did Sam guess anyway? Suddenly, he had the sneaking suspicion Sam had wanted him out of that warehouse for a reason. He was going to do something stupid.
"I've got to go," he told Tony tersely. "If Elias or Helmi ask about me, tell them I've just realized my brother's an idiot and I'm gonna beat some sense into him."
Tony didn't even blink.
"Ok, man, I'll tell them that. Word for word. Need help?"
Considering Tony was about half Sam's size, Dean had no idea what help he thought he could offer.
"You just keep doing what you're doing," he shot, already on his way out. "Oh, and if you see Pekka's mystery woman again, give me a call. She's next on my list."
xxxXXXxxxx
Sam had spent some time in the warehouse, almost as if to prove to himself that he had no intention of going against Dean's back, not if he found a better way in all the junk Pekka had gathered over the years. He knew, though, he was always going to end up outside the warehouse, heading towards the forest, where Dean certainly would not want him to go alone.
He got further endorsement when he found several photographs Pekka must have taken at some point from behind the warehouse. Photos of the forests. Sam could spot nothing unusual, but he was certain Pekka was not just admiring the scenery. He had been trying to tell something to the person who found this warehouse after his death. There was a clue in the forest, and Sam did not think they could afford to wait.
He walked with resolute steps, the din of the town getting fainter and further behind him. Sam hesitated when he reached the forest. A row of small hazel trees had been recently planted there. Hazel kept a lot of supernatural forest critters away – though not all, as the incident with the hiidet that morning attested. Still, Sam wondered who had planted the hazel trees – and what they had been trying to keep away from the town. He looked back towards the warehouse, his common sense urging him to call Dean and check things out together. But he did not want Dean to be there if Mielikki decided to call on him. He did not want Mielikki to have her attention drawn to Dean if it was not necessary. This was between her and Sam.
Sam passed the row of hazel trees. The forest did not seem too strange to him, but, then again, he had been in so many forests over the years that one more did not affect him much. The trees were different, and that was not surprising as Sam was on a different continent after all. There was something beneath the surface that was different too. He could not put his finger on it, though. Not yet.
He walked for a while without seeing anything except for a squirrel, probably scared to death to find the unexpected giant in its territory. Sam chuckled and shook his head.
At one point he encountered a tree with strange markings on it. He bent down to have a better look. He could not recognize the markings, but maybe there was something about them in the bunker library. He took out his phone and snapped several pictures, thinking of sending them to Cas to have them checked.
Something dropped on him from above, sending Sam sprawling on the ground. He twisted round so he could face his attacker, arms already searching for any vulnerable spots that would give him the upper hand.
It was not human, Sam saw that instantly. It was taller than Sam, but thinner, with bony limbs and long white hair. It moved with a speed that stunned Sam. He tried to kick at it and get it off him, but the thing held on, its hands already reaching out for Sam's throat. The touch was like ice, taking Sam's breath away quicker than the tightness of the hold itself. Sam got desperate, fighting with all his might to dislodge the creature. It could not end like this. He could not die in some godforsaken forest in Finland with Dean obliviously pursuing his own lines of investigation in town, having no idea that Sam was in danger.
The hands around his throat tightened as if his attacker had guessed Sam's fear and wanted to play with it. Sam fumbled around until he found a rock. He aimed it at the creature who spat in his face but held on.
Then, suddenly, just as Sam's vision had almost gone completely black he was released. He rolled on his side, coughing and gasping while above him his attacker was spluttering and muttering something incomprehensible. Sam put a hand to his abused throat. If Dean had found him like this, there was no reason for him to be grateful for the rescue. His brother would chew him inside out and it would be far more painful than death by slow suffocation on the forest floor.
His breath somewhat under control, Sam struggled to sit up. He lifted his head, an apology already on his lips – Dean could never resist Sam's apologies when he was down and vulnerable after all, it was probably a reflex by now, dating back to their childhood. He froze, though, because his rescuer was not Dean. In fact, it was someone who had very few reasons to rescue Sam in the first place – and someone Sam had thought dead two years before.
"Piru?" he gasped.
Stay tuned for more coming next Sunday.
-Lempo was mentioned a few times in Nightmare and Gamechanger. He was originally the god of love and fertility, then he became more of a demon-like figure, especially after the arrival of Christianity in Finland. He's supposed to be quite a nasty critter. I wonder how our boys will handle him.