Chapter 2
Approaching Bobby's desk, the two brothers heard Bobby speaking on the phone.
"Yeah, Colin thanks for the update. Yeah, I'll call you if I hear anything from on our end." Bobby hangs up the phone and pours a fifth of whiskey. "So, you boys want to fill me in on what you did?"
"Well, Uncle Bobby, we were just cleaning up a nest of fangs. Nothing real special."
"Alright, I'm not sure who you were messing with, but you've just stirred up the hornet's nest. We have an increase in monster activity in Europe, freak electrical storms in the US and Canada, and mass disappearances in Mexico and Central America. Is there anything you can tell me about the vamps?"
"Well, some of them had a brand on the side of their neck. Like a cats eye inside of a triangle. We were actually we wondering if you could tell us anything about it."
Bobby took out a piece of paper and fished out a pen from his desk.
"It looked like this?" He held up the paper.
"Yeah, exactly like that," affirmed Dean.
"Ah schittt." Bobby closed his eyes for a minute.
"What is it Bobby?" asked Sam.
"That, you idjits, is the mark of the Triple Manifest."
"Triple Manifest? Never heard of it."
"Yes you have. The mark of the Triple Manifest is an ancient Gaelic rune that roughly means 'Controller of Death' or 'Master of Immortality', all depending on which translation you prefer. You might know of it as the mark of the Deathly Hallows."
"Wait, so those vamps were followers of...Castion?"
"Yes, the Dark Ages warlock from the late 1300s. He was the most feared wizard before Gellert Grindlewald and Tom Marvolo Riddle himself. He chose this symbol as his...calling card, if you will. He rose to power by making a deal with a demon. After his death, naturally, he became a demon as well as Master of Monsters on Earth."
"So what does this mean?" asked Dean.
"It means that we will need to start corresponding with our brothers and sisters worldwide. I'm not talking just the UK and Canada, but also Eastern Europe, Russia, Africa, and South America. It also wouldn't hurt to reach out to Abdullah and Madhi from the Middle East. It hasn't even been six hours since that happened and we are already having freak electrical storms in the UK and US, cattle mutations in the Deep South and Mexico, as well as mass disappearances and possessions worldwide. Of course, I got my feelers out, but at this point, that's just going to tell us stuff we already know. Go to my safehouse in Northern Wisconsin. I have some heavier weapons that might come in handy later. Be careful bringing those across state lines."
Blackness. The smell of rotting and burning flesh assaulted Riddle's senses. Somewhere in the background, Riddle could hear the sound of metal chains rattling, human screams, and what he could only describe as demonic laughter.
"Stop skulking like a quivering handmaiden, Riddle. Come here, we have much to discuss."
"Where is that man I was just walking with?"Riddle asked fearfully, approaching the edge of the darkness.
"Oh, the Reaper? I did away with him. Not to worry, he will not bother you anytime soon, not as long as I am with you. But that is neither here nor there."
"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, yet I do not know yours." said Riddle.
"Oh, my. Where are my manners. Crowley, former King of the Crossroads and current King of Hell, at your service."
"And what do you want with me, uhh, Crowley?"
"Oh, I just want to have a little chat with you about how you have been managing to cheat both death and fate for all these years when you should have been dead long ago."
"Why is everyone hung up on this immortality thing? Besides, that is a long story."
"Well, in case you haven't noticed, this is my domain, and we have nothing but time. Go ahead, start talking."
"Alright, to give you a full scope, I have to explain to you the story of the Peverell brothers and the actions of my filthy mother and father prior to my birth in the Yorkshire village of Little Hangleton."