PIECES OF EIGHT
-Fit the Seventh-
Somewhere, MX
Chewing a beef jerky and both hands full with brown paper bags from his Mexican supply run, he kicked the motel room door with his foot and it slammed shut with a bang and a click.
Sam sat at the small table, surrounded by a ton of books he had gotten from the library back in the US.
As Dean dropped the shopping on his bed, he noticed that Sam was scribbling something frantically on a notepad.
Dean's head curiously tilted to one side and tearing off some more jerky he came closer, looking over Sam's shoulder.
"Whatcha doing?" he asked making uncomfortable chewing sounds into Sam's right ear. "Numerology" Sam mumbled shooing Dean away like a fly buzzing round his head, before continuing with his strange scribbles.
Dean laughed derisively.
"Ok Good Will Hunting." He shook his head, as he hated Maths.
"Why are you doing it?" he asked and dropping down on the free chair next to the window picking up the old Magic 8 Ball that lay amongst those books.
"Because I think this all has to do with numbers Dean. The number 8 to be precise!" Sam mumbled into his fist which he used to support his head.
"Huh" Dean said tentatively turning the ball over to see if he could find anything unusual on it, maybe as a faint attempt to contribute something to Sam's research.
"I was looking through Dad's journal but didn't find much reference to the number 8. The octagonal shape was used by the Knights Templar for building their churches and during rites. Another entry described the number 8 as the symbol for Power and Sacrifice and when turned on its side it becomes the symbol for Infinity."
"I knew that one" Dean threw in, only half with it. The 8 Ball was fascinating him.
"However, one word caught my attention as it was written within the pages without any further explanation"
He pointed it out to Dean who felt compelled to pronounce it, his full lips pouting and relaxing as they couldn't find the right approach.
"Tsensisensei?"
"Don't try to pronounce it, it has some German origins and was only used once in the 15 hundreds to describe the eighth power of a number."
"Those bloody Germans again! Seriously!" Then he had another thought "Ok, what's an eighth power?"
"Okay, lets take the number 8 and multiply it by itself 8 times…you with me?"
"No, not really, but continue!" still turning the bauble in his hands. It felt warm.
"Ok, Zenzizenzizenzic brings me back to numerology. Basically, once you get the digit sum of the eighth power of the number 8 it turns out it's – get that - 8 again!" Sam was watching Dean for a surprised reaction, but Dean just looked as ignorant and skeptical as usual.
Sam suddenly threw the pen down and turned the notepad towards Dean.
"Ok, your name's digit sum number is 67! So is the year of your car. Do you think that's a coincidence?"
"I don't know. Could be? Those numbers mean anything?"
"As a matter of fact they do" Sam said and opened up the laptop.
"According to several websites, this number in numerology means you are "Bossy and stubborn, you are one with no doubt, you like order and – get this – work those long hours to complete a project." Sam said with a cynical intonation.
"Ha!" Dean laughed "Good one! Wait, I am not bossy!"
"Also, you repress your emotions and could become isolated form others."
"Of course! Doing what we do day in day out!"
"But my favorite bit is "you want the perfect family with yourself at its centre""
"Hm" Dean said still pondering over the 8 Ball in his hands.
"Okay, so how is that going to help us with this thing?"
"Well" Sam said "I am glad you ask. There is nothing on a cursed 8 Ball per se, but we both have come across the odd cursed or hunted objects. So I looked into the history of this toy and that's where it gets really interesting."
"Ok, hit me Will"
"The first 8 Ball was patented by a man named Abe Bookman in 1946, however I have it on good authority that a prototype was created a few years earlier in 1944…now, we have 2008, so that was 64 years ago.."
"Ah! 2008! Another 8!"
"Yes, but that's not the only one! 8 x 8 is 64 right?"
"If you say so" God he really hated maths.
"Ok, now I also calculated the digit sum of Abe Bookman which coincidently is 8 for Abe and …"
"8 for Bookman!" Dean guessed pointing at Sam.
"Yup." Sam said smashing his hands together.
"Nicely done Sammy-boy!" Dean applauded then he had another thought.
"So how is that exactly helping us with this thing? I mean it has a big 8 written on it so it's quite an obvious theory…" holding the ball close to his eye, trying to see the die that should be floating around in the dark liquid.
Sam sighed, folding his arms behind his head leaning back in his chair.
"I know! I haven't quite figured out that one yet. There is various lore and myths either making the number 8 a lucky or an unlucky number. A triple 8 is even associated with Jesus.." Sam pulled an uninspired face "…so at the moment your guess is as good as mine."
"Hm, maybe we should ask this thing?"
Sam frowned in a questioning way. Certainly an interesting theory he must admit.
"But we don't know what this thing does or how it is connected to those deaths. If it is possessed and we ask it we could be next. So far we have tracked down 7 deaths..."
"I have a lot of things I'd like to ask, you know" Dean said, still staring with fascination at the black ball in his hands. It felt like it was calling to him, through the warmth of his palms it felt like they connected.
"Maybe it can read peoples minds" Dean suggested, the curiosity creeping up his spine like a cat stalking a mouse.
"Gimme that!" Sam said, yanking the 8 Ball from Dean's hand, stuffing it into his camouflage rucksack.
"No ones gonna ask it anything until we are sure what it is."
"Okay, okay. But then we should ask it if little Sammy here will go darkside one day and lead a demon army. Bet it knows the answer to that one!"
"Ha ha! Very funny Dean."
"I wasn't joking"