Chapter 16: Target and Practice
Ilchester was not a large town. To call it a town would be a stretch, honestly. Aside from the convent, a small college, and about thirty homes dotted across the densely forested Maryland hills there was nothing else in the area. As the Impala carrying the two men and an angel drove through the dense trees and undergrowth it seemed odd to think that anything malevolent-let alone the breaking of the final seal-would occur in such a seemingly normal and somewhat idyllic location. Though given hell's penchant for corrupting the innocent and destroying good, they probably picked this place just for that reason… Dean mused as he pulled the car up to the small brick building that was a post office, town hall, and rec center all in one. By the looks of it the structure was quite new.
"Remind me again why we didn't just drive to the X on the map?" Dean huffed as he stretched, stiff from the lengthy drive.
"Because we don't know what it is, and last time we showed up somewhere unannounced I nearly had my head blown off with buckshot." Sam retorted, "Besides, it makes sense to find out what the hell the place is before we show up so we can have a decent cover."
"Fair enough." Dean admitted. "So, what exactly are we going to ask when we get in there?" He said as he glanced at the building.
"I guess we could tell them the truth-albeit with a bit of sugar coating…" Sam shrugged.
"How exactly do you sugar coat 'somewhere in your town the gates of hell might open up'?" Dean raised an eyebrow as he grabbed his attaché case from the floor.
"Tactfully." Sam replied. "Not that you'd know what that is…" He smirked, knowing he was pressing one of Dean's buttons.
"Hey, I'm plenty tactful."
Sam raised an eyebrow, "Really? What about Sawyersville?"
"You know that was almost a year ago." Dean huffed. "Though I guess breaking into a funeral home during a service wasn't a great call…"
"You think?" Sam smiled.
"Oh shut up." Dean rolled his eyes and opened the door as the two men departed, followed closely by Cas stepping out of the rear passenger door.
The three walked up the short concrete sidewalk and into the door in the center of the brick building. Upon entering they were standing in a corridor with a door to the post office on their left, the rec center on the right, and a door in front of them labeled "Town Hall" in stenciled black letters on the clear plate glass. Sam pushed open the door and the three entered into a small office. The linoleum had changed from blue to green across the threshold, but otherwise it looked no different from the corridor they had stood in. If anything it seemed slightly smaller, with only standing room in front of a counter where a woman frantically typing was seated.
"Hello," Dean paused glancing at the silver name plaque on the countertop, "Mary Ann, the three of us are agents with the CIA and we'd like to get some information if you could help us."
The frazzled woman looked up from her keyboard, "Oh, hello. Sorry I didn't greet you when you came in-we've had a real mess on our hands, it's been a terrible week. I guess you're here about what happened at the convent."
Sam and Dean exchanged a quick glance with each other before glancing at Cas, then back at the receptionist. "Yes." Sam replied, "If you could help us with our investigation we would greatly appreciate it."
"Of course." She nodded, "I told Todd to call the feds, good to see he listened for once." She stood up and started rustling through a filing cabinet, "Most of the preliminary case notes should be in here." She pulled out a manila folder. "The meeting room is down the hall-third door on the left-you can read through them there. Sheriff Walker should be back from his lunch in about a half-hour, when he gets back I'll send him your way."
"Thank you." Cas replied, nodding as he followed the two brothers into the small paneled room.
As soon as the door was shut to the meeting room Dean turned to Sam, "What was that about? We aren't here for a case."
"No, but in a town this small for them to have a busy week it has to be something big. Even if it isn't for us, worst thing that happens is we look over it and act like we're going to file a report." Sam replied, as he flipped open the folder and started spreading out the files, "But this looks like our kind of thing." He pointed at the typed header of a police report.
"Eight bodies found in St. Mary's Convent…" Dean muttered, looking down further as he skimmed the report. "Shit. This does look like us."
Cas paled almost imperceptibly as he read the report, drawing an immediate look from Dean, "What's up? I know you don't do a lot of cases, but don't tell me this is freaking you out-it just looks like a possession."
"Dean I believe you should look at the fifth paragraph more closely." Cas muttered, transfixed on the words typed in thick black ink.
Eight bodies were found in the chapel of St. Mary's Convent, the priest-Francis Henderson-and seven of the sisters who lived at the convent-Roberta Martin, Margaret Kline, Loretta Pawlings, Susan White, Nell Zondervan, Theresa McNulty, and Carol Watkins-the sole survivor of the attack, Sister Georgina Yates-was found in a near catatonic state crouched in the confessional near the bodies. She was covered in blood and repeating the same phrase over and over-'yellow eye gate near'. It is unknown what this means. She has been moved into the care of Howard County Asylum until well.
"'Yellow eye gate near'?" Dean whispered as his blood ran cold, "That can't mean…"
"I believe that the demon who killed those people is one you are familiar with." Cas intoned gravely as Sam braced himself against the tabletop.
"That freak has fucked up my life enough. If he has something to do with this it means he's back for something big and we're stuck behind the eight-ball." Sam clenched his fists.
"Not for long. We need to check out that convent, then you're starting more of your psychic boy-wonder training." Dean commanded as he placed the papers back in the folder.
After a handful of copies were made courtesy of a Photostat machine, the three were off and arrived at the now closed convent. The large stone structure was surrounded by wooden barriers and a handful of paper signs stapled to posts driven into the ground declaring the site an active crime scene. The three stepped around these warnings and into the convent, with Cas flashing them across the threshold through the locked door. Inside was silent. If not for the large red pool of blood staining the floor in the middle of the rows of pews it would be quite beautiful with the mid-afternoon light filtering through the stained glass windows.
"There is something immensely wrong with this place." Cas stated as he looked around the building.
"I'd imagine it's hard to be right anywhere with that much blood present, well, apart from a slaughterhouse." Sam commented as he glanced at the red on the floor.
"Beyond that, there is a deeper level of disquiet I feel here. This is supposed to be a holy place, but I feel almost the opposite…" The angel commented.
"What, like, because of the demon slaughter?" Dean asked.
"Possibly…" The angel scrunched his face as he thought, "But it feels much more malevolent than a simple single act, it is almost as if this place has been primed."
"Wait, Sammy, pull out that map again." Dean tilted his head slightly as he thought, ideas clicking into place. Sam complied and handed Dean the paper, frowning slightly as he too thought. "Well, fuck."
"What?"
"Look-those coordinates, the ones for the final seal-take a look at the map." Dean flipped the map and pointed with his finger. "Right off of Beechwood Road-that X-that's here, St. Mary's Convent. This is where they're going to break the last seal."
"What? Why on earth would they choose a church to break the last seal at?"
"Because it is the symbol of corruption-the destruction of purity-this act, the murder-it was a primer for the final seal… The opening of the gates to the cage." Cas murmured, a look of horror dawning slowly on his face.
"I'm sorry, what cage?" Dean shook his head.
"The cage where Lucifer is imprisoned."
**SPN**
"So, let me make sure I'm understanding you… The demons are following a pattern as they break the seals, I get that, but you're telling me that the end goal isn't just to start the apocalypse, it's to literally free the actual devil from hell?!" The voice bellowed from the other end.
"Um, yeah…" Dean muttered as he held the phone six inches away from his ear.
"And you decided to wait all this time to call me?! You really are idjits!"
"Bobby, come on… we're working for the CIA now, we can't tell you all this stuff, a lot of it's classified-and given that I'm pretty sure our boss is some sort of HP Lovecraft style monster, I really don't want to get on his bad side." He retorted.
"Bull and shit." The older hunter gruffly replied. "I know neither of you boys have enough common sense to be intimidated by the stuff you should be, let alone the government."
"Alright, fine, we kinda forgot to call. A lot of shit's been hitting a lot of fans…" Dean replied.
"Well that's at least more believable." He huffed. "Since you and Sam both decided to come clean about everything I have a few things in mind." Bobby paused, "I want you boys to stop over, and bring your trench coat wearing beau-I have something that might help him too."
Dean reddened slightly, "Okay, I'll talk to Sam and Cas. We'll try to get there soon."
"Good. It's been a few months since I last saw you boys, and while I might be an invalid, that doesn't mean I don't get bored without company."
"Alright, talk to you soon." Dean concluded as Bobby harrumphed a goodbye.
**Author's Note**
Hello everyone! Sorry for the long gap between postings! This chapter has been a bit tough to write, I'm halfway between the start and the big set-piece ending parts, and the transitions are always a bit difficult for me. I promise more regular posts from now on! Thanks for continuing to read, and sorry for the wait!