PIECES OF EIGHT
-Fit the Eighth-
Somewhere else, Mexico
"Thanks Bobby, we owe you one!" Sam said, before he was ending the call, wiping the exhaustion off his face with a sigh. Shielding his eyes against the scorching sun he walked over to Dean who was still wearing his cowboy hat as he was gassing up the Impala at this godforsaken mexican autoservicio.
"What did he say?"
"Bobby thinks he figured it out." Sam said, leaning against the warm car.
"Okay, what is it then?"
"He thinks it's a Pandora's box!"
"Pandora's box?
"No! Not THE box! A box."
"Well, actually it's a ball" Dean said feeling smug with that hat.
"Bobby believes that there are several of these containers all over the world.
It's said that Pandora was created by the gods, each adding a special gift. Another name for her is Anesidora: she who sends up gifts."
"So this Magic 8 Ball is some kind of gift?" he asked suprised.
"I don't know Dean. If it is a Pandora's Box, it still doesn't explain the connection to the number 8" Sam kept wondering.
"So how come there suddenly is more then one box, ball..whatever? Why haven't we heard about this before – and why is there nothing in Dad's journal?"
"Wait! You are right! We have been looking at this the wrong way" Sam suddenly dived into the Impala retrieving the journal from its mysterious depths, flicking frantically though the pages.
"Aha!" Sam announced while Dean put the fuel pistol back on the hook. As Dean turned around to go inside the little gas mart to pay, he was followed by a Sam-Puppy that kept reading the journal.
"Dad also wrote that he found evidence that Pandora's Box was split into several units, one container for each evil."
The gas mart bell rattled as Dean held the door open for Sam.
"Dare I ask what the evil is?" Dean said while looking at some snacks for the journey.
"It's Greed, Vanity, Slander, Envy, Pining …oh and Hope." Sam said following him past the drinks coolers.
"Why do I have the feeling the one we stumbled upon is Greed?" Grinning triumphantly, whilst plucking a cold six-pack from the cooler.
"Could be" Sam mumbled making a step towards Dean who was making a step towards him, so they collided.
"Watch it!" Dean sneered squeezing past Sam to get over to the man at the counter to pay.
"That's 888 Pesos, Senores" the gas mart guy said and Dean looked at Sam who looked up from the journal like he could read his brother's thoughts. And actually this time, he could.
The door bell rattled again as they left the gas mart.
"So you are positive we can't ask it anything before we get rid of it?"
"Yes Dean. Very positive! Stop nagging!"
"What happens if we smash it?"
"I don't want to know!"
"Can we not burn it?"
"Don't you think this would release whatever is in this thing?"
"Well, we already know what's in there, right? It's Greed!"
"Yeah and look what it has done to all these people! Who knows what it does when it's released!"
Dean stopped and Sam noticed it not straight away, though when he did, he also stopped trotting back to Dean.
"What is it now?" he asked concerned.
"I am just wondering why we can't ask it anything. What if we don't ask anything that brings us any fortune?"
"No!" Sam sighed, getting annoyed.
"Are you not a little bit curious?"
"No!" Sam said a little more assertive.
"But…"
"Come on!" he growled, pulling Dean with him.
"What do you think would have happened if it had killed an eighth person?"
"Maybe that's what it's trying to do all along– 8 deaths and it's free or something."
"Where do you think the other boxes, balls, containers…whatever they are….are?" Dean asked, before he opened the hated crunchy door.
Sam let out another deep sigh. "Do I look like I have all the answers for you?"
Dean looked at him, pondering a little then smiling obscurely "No" he uttered, diving into the driver seat while Sam got in as frowning shotgun again.
On the way to a very remote mexcian cemetery that wasn't even on any map known to man, but which was mentioned in the ever so useful journal, the Winchester boys had acquired a little handmade wooden box, decorated with vibrant patterns and images of the Dia de los Muertos which they thought matched the occasion.
They had filled the box with a mix of Goofer dust, salt, peppers and sulphur. Then they put the Magic 8 Ball inside.
After consulting Bobby one more time, they had decided to burry the Pandora's ball-in-a-box Hoodoo-style on holy ground, then walk away from it without looking back.
"At least that way no one can ask it anything anymore" Dean said, throwing the shovel on his shoulder. There was subtle disappointment lurking in his words.
"I just wished we could have saved the others as well" Sam said as they marched through the darkness back to the car.
"Well, I am not saying they all got what they deserved, but you gotta admit it's a little ironic. They all received good fortune just to pay the ultimate price for it"
"Yeah, and you were close to becoming the next in line"
"Dude, how many times need I remind you that I already am in line?"
"Please don't! I told you I won't let that happen"
"You know, Hope could be very interesting after all, don't you think?"
"Not if it is also cursed." Sam reminded.
"How could Hope possibly be cursed?" Dean said as he threw the shovel in the Impala's trunk.
"You only need to look at us, Dean! If there is anything between mankind and the end of the world, it's us, and that kind of Hope is pretty screwed up"
"Sammy the philosopher. Gotta love you coz you are my brother!"
"Yeah-yeah, whatever"
"No, I mean it. You always have... interesting ideas, you know. Keeps me grounded"
"If you think so"
"And you got me that awesome hat too!"
"Yeah, I did!" Sam laughed "Though you look pretty stupid with it" he joked.
"I do not!" Dean said pretending to be deeply hurt.
"No, you do not" Sam chuckled, feeling like he was talking to a child that needed encouragement after it fell of its bike.
"Sam?"
"Yup?"
"There is one more thing I need to know"
"Now what?"
"Back at the motel in Tucson, when you had your…dream…are you sure you didn't have a vision then?"
"Look, I told you I am through with them! No more visions!"
"It's just…like you knew that we had to go to that Rodeo, that's all. It's just kinda weird how it led us to the 8 Ball eventually"
"Yeah, well the whole damn case was kinda weird!" Sam said raising his eyebrows.
"It definitely was. Look, if you say it wasn't a vision, then I believe you!" Dean assured.
"Thank you" Sam said derisively.
Dean grinned nonetheless having a thought.
"I guess it was just plain luck after all"
As the Impala roared through the night, back into the USA, the radio was playing a song by Styx.
…Pieces of eight
The search for the money tree
Don't cash your freedoms in for gold
Pieces of eight
Can't buy you everything
Don't let it turn your heart to stone…
-The End-
Thank you for staying til the end - please let me know what you thought, even if you think it was rubbish - I wanna know ;D