Desperate or Crazy
Rowan had gone searching through the shelves of books for anything on the subject of mythology, monsters and snakes. Just as she was about to begin her research, her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and recognized Sam's number. They couldn't have gotten back so soon, right?
She answered it, not worried with the music playing everywhere throughout the place; it wasn't too loud. If he asked, she'd simply say I was her iPod.
"Hey Rowan." Sam said as she accepted the call.
"Are you back already?" she asked and he let out a small laugh.
"No, just calling to see how you're doing." He said and she nodded. In other words, checking in on her, making sure she was behaving like a good little girl. That annoyed her. "Is that music I hear?" he asked and she tried not to snap.
"Yes, that's my iPod. It doesn't need speakers." Rowan said and he didn't ask any more about it, which was good because that had been a stupid answer.
"Okay, if you need anything, just give me a call." He said and she was beginning to wonder if he was always like that, super friendly and helpful. Is that his way of flirting? It was sort of working. Sort of.
"Alright. Thanks for the call. Hear from you in an hour, I guess." She said and just as Sam began protesting, she hung up on him. That was a clear hint that she didn't appreciate having him check up on her like that.
With a smile, Rowan continued with her research. The books she had pulled out weren't very helpful. It was the same stories of Jormungand that Sam had told her. The other books said nothing.
She turned to the other shelves until she had searched everything.
There was nothing but the myths of the giant Serpent that Odin had tossed into the sea, which grew so big it enveloped the world and had its tail in its mouth.
The next best things were the rooms full of filing cabinets. It would take a while, but she had to. If she went back to him for answers, it would cost her; that much she knew. Dean had warned her and, whatever he had done, she was going to listen to the Winchesters.
Rowan grabbed some tape from the kitchen so she could mark the doors of the rooms she had already searched. There were too many corridors to mentally keep track of it all.
She opened one filing cabinet, reading the tags on each one. Rowan had to ignore a lot of things, even those as captivating as The Hope Diamond and Lizzie Borden. She had to focus and not waste her time reading through really interesting things she'd like to read.
Once the entire drawer had been checked, she began with the next drawer under. She ended up going through the entire filing cabinet, and then onto the next one.
She marked the drawers that contained really interesting reads, for later when she felt bored. She always found Lizzie Borden to be interesting. She so had to read the file!
Rowan searched an entire room of filing cabinets and had no luck of finding anything about Jormungand. She closed the door and marked it with tape, moving onto the next room. Rowan paused and looked down the corridor at all the doors of filing cabinets. If they were all like the first one she had searched, it was going to be a long day.
At least the brothers had liquor in the kitchen.
To search an entire room or filing cabinets, all its drawers and files, it took about an hour. And Rowan had spent about three hours. She hadn't even reached another corridor. Luckily, she had a break with the room of shelves, boxes all around. All she did was lift the lids to see objects. Cursed objects, apparently. What a lovely collection.
That room only took ten minutes.
Next was the training room with punching bags and so on. Not interesting.
Then, back to the slave pit of looking through filing cabinets. Wonderful. When that was done two hours later, Rowan had searching the entire corridor and had more waiting for her. She sighed and decided to take a break with a glass of whatever booze the Winchesters had in their kitchen. That sounded great.
Rowan walked into the kitchen and added up all the hours she had wasted, not finding anything useful. The man locked up would be more efficient, but she knew he was trouble. However, maybe if she paid attention and decided not to trust him at all, she'd be okay.
With her glass of whiskey, she walked the corridors, trying to find the right one. When she did, she marked it with an X. Of all the rooms she could search, this was the most important one. As she turned on the light, walking in, she could just imagine him smiling.
"Said you'd be back." he said and she grinned, taking a sip of her whiskey.
"Sadly, I'm just here to look for something. You think you're the only thing in this room?" she asked and began looking through the boxes on the shelves. More objects and files, but these seemed new, like cases the Winchesters had solved. It would be useful to read those, to better understand the brothers, but not at the moment.
"Cute. But I know you're here to speak to me." he said and she glanced at the door with a grin, searching through more boxes.
"Lonely much?" she asked and smiled as she approached the door, taking a sip of her whiskey.
"Who wouldn't in this place." he admitted, which she found interesting. "Now, let's get down to business. Why have the Winchesters brought you here?" he asked and she let out a sharp laugh.
"I'm not opening this door to free you." Rowan said, taking a sip of her whiskey. It was strong, but it tasted really good.
"Opening the door wouldn't free me." he said and she glanced at the door suspiciously. "I'm chained to a chair. Opening the door would just allow each other to speak face to face rather than to a door." He added and paused for a brief moment. "Wouldn't you want to know who you're speaking with?" he asked and she remained silent. "I certainly would love to know who that lovely voice belongs to." He concluded and she smiled.
"And how do I know you're telling the truth?" she asked, swirling the whiskey in her glass.
"Why would I lie about being chained to a chair?" he asked and she nodded, but it wasn't good enough. "Why lie when the truth can be much more terrifying?" he added and that was an interesting response. Rowan looked down at the huge lock and wondered if this was a smart move.
"I don't trust you." Rowan said and heard a soft chuckle.
"Smart girl." He replied and she found the compliment to be strange. "The mistake is in underestimating me." he added and that was even stranger. Why would he tell her this?
Because he wants her to trust him with the case in which the Winchester brought her to their bunker. He wants her to divulge the information so he could answer her questions, so he could get something from her. That was the dangerous part.
She contemplated this, feeling it would be good to use him, but she wondered if opening the door was all he really wanted. So, why not ask him.
"What is it you really want?" she asked him and he chuckled.
"What makes you think you have what I really want?" he asked and she found that to be a great question. Could she take the liberties in thinking that all he really wanted was to open the door?
Rowan was silent and so was he, knowing that she was considering it.
"What do you know about Jormungand?" she asked and he remained silent for a brief moment.
"What?" he asked, as if genuinely stunned. She hadn't expected that.
"The Norse serpent." Rowan specified.
"I know that." He replied and then was silent for a few seconds. "Is that why the Winchesters brought you home?" he asked and this was the point of no return. However, that point may have passed the second she asked about Jormungand.
"Yes." She replied, imagining a victorious grin on his face.
"Fascinating." He said and she knew he'd probably stop talking until she opened the door. Now he had even more information to use as bait. "You must share the details." He added and she eyed the door. It really would be better to open the door so he couldn't bait her.
Rowan glanced around the room for the key. She couldn't imagine the brothers having the key out in the open. She could search their rooms for the key or find something to pick the lock.
She turned and walked out of the room, opting for the latter. She walked back to the kitchen, searching for utensils long and narrow enough to pick the lock. She found a few skewers in the drawers and decided to give that a shot.
When she walked back into the room a few minutes later, with a refill of whiskey, she began picking the lock.
"And here I thought I lost you." He said and she snorted, knowing damn well that was a lie.
She could feel quite a few things in the lock, but twisting here and there didn't unlock the damned thing. It was taking way too long and, apparently, he thought so too.
"Couldn't find the key?" he asked.
"Do you want me to open the door or not?" she asked and returned to the lock, feeling something different and with one twist, the lock opened. "See? Patience is a virtue." She concluded and he gave out a soft chuckle.
Rowan took the lock and placed it on the shelf next to the door. She took the door handles and hesitated for a second, but pulled them open. They were a little heavy, but they opened just enough to walk in.
There, in the center of the room, was the strangest sight she had seen. Naturally, the snake was still number one, but this came close.
There was a table in front of him, this smirking man, looking like a businessman, chained and handcuffed to a chair, all in the center of a giant ritualistic marking on the floor. She had never seen anything like it and the most unsettling thing was the way he was looking at her.
His eyes were dark, but it wasn't just the color. He looked cunning and something about him seemed sinister. Suddenly, she felt that tinkling at the back of her neck she had felt when she first walked into the bunker. All along, she was sensing him. Whatever he was, he wasn't normal. He was what she sensed was odd about the place.
"Hello, Darling." He said in that smooth rich voice, full of charm and pride. However, his voice washed over her, increasing her curiosity more than it should have. She seemed frozen in place, entranced by whatever she couldn't understand about him.