5

Our ancestors. Sam was still trying to wrap his head around this fact. Both sets of ancestors, in the same place, at the same time. What were the odds? He tried not to stare at Isaac as the other Hunter took up a position next to them at the railing to watch Amos pretending not to be bait below.

Isaac's eyes flicked toward Sam, as if he, too, was trying not to stare.

"You treat with angels and can give a man new blood. The future must be a very interesting place." Was there a hint of envy in Isaac's tone?

Sam bit his lip. "It's really not like that—we're different. My brother and I—Heaven and Hell have kind of had it out for both of us since we were little kids."

"Did you come here to escape them?"

"No. We actually came because there is something that we can't fix, and we think someone who died before we were even born could help."

Isaac took a moment to follow this logic, then nodded. "Your ancestors. The Men of Letters."

"He wasn't a Man of Letters. At least, not as far as I know." Sam paused, realizing that he didn't know much about Samuel Colt at all. Colt had been a metal worker, not a Hunter. He had had knowledge of spellwork and demons far beyond what any Hunter knew.

Was Samuel Colt a Man of Letters?

Huh. Sam blinked, surprised that he had never thought to ask that question before. It made perfect sense, once he lined up the facts.

"The thing is, we didn't land where we expected to. I'm not sure why we're here."

"You know that spell never really worked right anyway, Sam." Sam could not see his brother, but Dean sounded green. He swallowed audibly.

"What do you mean, 'never really worked?'"

"Well, Henry was trying to get to Dad, wasn't he? He missed by nearly ten years."

"We're more than ten years off here, Dean. And Henry did come to us."

"I'm just saying, there doesn't have to be a reason why we landed here."

"I think there is." Sam planned to stay until he figured it out.

"Mrgh!" Dean leaned closer to the rail and let out a ragged breath. If Sam knew his brother, it was only sheer determination not to embarrass himself in front of Isaac that kept Dean from barfing.

"Are you ok? You know you could go wait with Anne-"

"There!" Isaac suddenly straightened, pointing to a movement from the deck below. A figure emerged from the trapdoor that led to the main passenger cabin, where the majority of the Pilgrims shared one large, cramped room. They were lucky Anne and Thomas had the money for a private cabin. Small as it was, Sam was glad they hadn't stepped out that door into the middle of the public cabin below decks.

The man who emerged had the slightly wilted look that came with age, but he moved with a spring in his step that belied that assessment. He paused and lifted his nose in the air, sniffing.

Across the deck, Amos froze. For one long moment, the vampire stared at the boy, and Sam's heart was in his throat. He's an angel, he reminded himself. He'll be fine. Then the vampire sprang, launching himself into the air, teeth bared.

And landed on his stomach, the entire deck rattling with the force of his belly flop as Amos vanished in a flurry of feathers.

"Angel. Hmph." Isaaac snorted.

"Uh-oh." Dean's tone sounded choked. He grabbed his stomach and staggered to the railing, then heaved over the edge. Directly onto the vampire's head.

"Gah!" The startled cry rang out from below.

Isaac barked a short laugh. "You're timing is as good as Mr. Ludlow's Parliament Fart." Then he leapt over the railing to the lower deck, sword held high. The vampire scrambled backwards, away from the Hunter.

Parliament Fart? That had not been in any of his history books. Sam rushed down the stairs to intercept, blocking his exit. He had a clear shot at the neck and raised his machete, but a pair of hands shoved him hard in the side, throwing him off balance.

"No! Grandfather!"

In this darkness and with the distraction of watching his brother lose his lunch, Sam had not seen the girl arrive. She rushed at Isaac next, whose sword was already in motion. He could not stop his swing; there was too much momentum. For one terrible moment, Sam saw the knowledge that he might kill an innocent written on Isaac's face. The girl screamed.

There was another explosion of feathers, and suddenly Amos stood between them, his eyes glowing with angel grace. His hand caught the sword before it could strike, and he reached out the other arm to shelter the girl as if tucking her up under a wing.

Isaac stared, then slowly pulled his sword back. "Thank you."

Amos ignored Isaac, his full attention on the girl. "Are you alright?"

Hannah took a deep breath, and shook her head. "No! I am not alright! Mr. Campbell tried to kill my grandfather!"

"He's not your grandfather anymore," Sam said.

"It is not his fault! He is cursed!"

"He has killed two people already and you know that." Isaac's tone was stern. "And we will stop him before he kills again."

Hannah wilted under Isaac's stern glare. "Isn't there a way to help him?"

Sam felt his heart break for the girl, but there was no good answer for her. The vampire cure only worked if the vampire had not eaten, and there were two dead already. "I'm sorry. If he has already killed, then it's too late. All we can do is stop him before he kills again."

o0o

Dean wasn't sure how he ended up flat on his back in the bed across from Thomas. It had something to do with his little brother suddenly getting very bossy, the lingering taste of bile in his mouth, and the fact that the world felt like one giant roller-coaster.

However, Dean was pretty sure he knew exactly why Amos was suddenly very, very excited. The cupid ushered Hannah to the cabin and introduced her to Thomas in a tone of hushed awe, then stepped back to watch. Dean was not surprised when Thomas's jaw dropped at the sight of Hannah, and he immediately tried to sit up, only to be pushed firmly back into his bed by his big sister. Dean was even less surprised when Hannah blushed and smiled at the sight of Thomas, then rushed to help get him some water. They both fumbled with the cup, then stammered through polite greetings. Their eyes never left each other.

Love at first sight.

Meant to be.

Dean had known since he first saw Sammy's puppy-dog eyes staring at him out of that girl's face. It was in the genes. The reason Dean had spent his entire life trying desperately to say 'no' to the most persuasive pair of eyes on the planet was all Hannah's fault. It had come from her. Three hundred years ago.

Amos heaved a deep, contented sigh and wiped a tear from his eye.

"Alright, who would like to explain what happened?" Anne's voice broke the moment. She crossed her arms, looking from Dean to Amos, waiting expectantly.

"Are you alright?" Thomas had a hold of Hannah's hand, and looked like he never wanted to let go. "You're trembling. Are you hurt?"

Hannah shook her head. "No. This crewman saved me." She gestured to Amos.

"He saved you from the monster?"

Hannah's eyes grew even wider. "Monster? No! He would never—I mean—it was the other crewman, Mr. Campbell, who almost killed me!"

Anne and Thomas both looked alarmed.

"He was aiming for the vampire. Your grandfather," Dean said.

Hannah's sad eyes turned to him. "A vampire? Vampire's are not real."

"Oh, they are very real, and they are very dangerous." Dean knew better than to pull his punches when it came to this speech. Sometimes, being gentle could put more people in danger. Especially since this girl had already proven she was ready to jump between said vampire and a swinging sword.

Anne narrowed her eyes at Hannah. "Why don't you tell us what has happened to your grandfather?"

Hannah bit her lip, twisting her skirt in her hands. "Grandfather was—we booked passage aboard this ship in order to get away from an—evil—woman." Hannah shuddered as she said the world. "She deals with the dark arts, and serves demons."

Dean frowned, locking eyes with Anne. "Sounds like a witch."

"Yes! A witch," Hannah said.

"Why would a witch care about a vampire?" Anne asked.

"There was no vampire when we boarded." Hannah's expression darkened. "The curse is new. Now that land is in sight, the witch was worried that my grandfather would get away-"

"Hold on! Back up." Dean made a re-winding motion with his hand. "Why did this witch care about you or your grandfather?"

Hannah's eyes flicked from Dean, to Anne, to Thomas, who gave her an encouraging nod. The girl reached into her pocket and brought out a small amulet. It was bronze in color, shaped like the head of some pagan god, with horns and a strange, swirling symbol on its forehead.

Dean blinked and leaned closer. He had seen that amulet before. He had that amulet in his pocket.

"Whoa."

"That is a very old charm," Thomas said, staring with wide eyes. "I can't place the culture it is from, but it may even be older than the pyramids. Oh, if we were back in England and I had the Men of Letter's library-"

"Well, we're not and you don't," Anne said. "But we don't really need to know what it is. We only need to know that the witch wants it. Therefore, she should not have it."

"Yes!" Hannah closed her fist over the amulet again. "That is what my grandfather said! So we boarded the ship to get away from her, but she followed us. When we were at sea, she merely tried talking to my grandfather. She tried to bribe him, she argued with him, but he would not budge. So then she cursed him."

"She made him a vampire," Dean supplied. "Which means she has another vampire working with her."

Now Anne shook her head. "No! That Hunter, Isaac Campbell, he was right about one thing. A vampire has to feed often. We have been at sea for too long. If a vampire had started the journey with us, it would have killed before now. It could be a witch's curse."

Thomas beamed. "Which means that we could save him!"

"Or the vampire working with the witch has enough self-control to eat just a little, enough to survive but not enough to kill." Dean grimaced and reached for his pocket. His cell phone was useless, but they had thought of that before they made this trip. Dean pulled out a walkie-talkie and pressed the call button.

Sam needed to know what he was facing.