Gimme Shelter – chpt 9.
By: sifi.
OOooOO
By the time Imdugud was capping the bottle of white school glue the first couple of gently coated pieces of the scorched paper were flexible enough to slowly flatten. One by one, with each of them added to the puzzle a form finally became visible.
Sam sat back and sighed, "The symbol is a tulpa. Unlike the other one, the one in Texas?" he refreshed Dean's memory then pointed to a pretzelized kind of serpentine ring, "Well this one is used to manifest a very particular kind of thoughtform, called an Egregor," he explained. "It's capable of carrying out some pretty complicated instructions, the 'if, but, and; and Or kind..." noting Dean's questioning expression he clarified, "The same kind that runs most computer programs."
"Why is that not good?" Dean asked, his mind on several other issues at the moment so his concentration was less than usual.
"It gives the thoughtform a LOT of autonomy, and the capacity for judgment."
Dean scowled, "Pretend I don't have a clue what you're..."
"Watch Dean, IF he picks up a girl, follow them AND IF they have sex THEN wait till she's alone AND he can't be implicated, AND kill her." He rattled quickly, giving an example that made the older man swallow hard but acknowledge that he got the point.
"Aww come on... you don't really think..." he protested weakly.
"Well, according to this..." he tapped the computer screen, "these kinds of thoughtforms were frequently used as assassins so it makes sense Dean."
"You used similar creatures often enough my king." Imdugud nodded then looked between the brothers' curious expressions, "Or so it was rumored." He cleared his throat and continued, "And that they found the child's remains mummified most certainly confirms that it was left alive too long and has become a wraith."
"I HATE those things!" Dean scowled rubbing his arms, "They're creepy as hell!"
Even Sam nodded. He wasn't keen on anything that just sucked the life force out of people. "Yeah but on a positive note at least we know that the concentrations of energy needed to bring a thoughtform into existence can pretty much only be found in nexuses or vortices."
"And they're drawn back to the energy they came from," Dean groaned scrubbing his face and pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Yeeeah." Sam nodded watching curiously.
It took several long seconds then Dean hung his head and drew a deep breath. Several more seconds later it gushed out of him.
"Great..." he frowned sarcastically just before he smacked the younger man on the knee, "Pull up a map Sammy," he motioned to the computer as Sam set to work, "now all we have to do is follow the eventual trail of flash dried mummies and hope this thing can be coaxed back into its happy little alternaverse or get it set up in the middle of an electrical field and fry it's dusty butt."
"This evening I will follow the scent of your stalker and your..." he stopped and corrected himself again, "Laura."
"Where did you lose Lilith's trail?" Dean asked suddenly.
"What're you thinking?" Sam asked having wondered the same thing just then. Sometimes it was as if that connection they'd had ever since the Turnbull case, and all the way through the war against Nergal was still there. At odd moments it seemed either man would almost swear he could feel what the other one was. Maybe it's some kind of residual effect from the Asag's venom. They thought.
Dean eyed the scowling demi-god, "Relax, she's a slippery bitch, it's not your fault."
"Near Yellowstone Park. She's using geomagnetic energies to camouflage herself from me... just as she always has," he sneered then spat toward the door, "The coward!"
"Is she leaving a trail of bodies?" he asked absently.
"Not that I've been able to determine... I wish she would though... it would make it that much easier to track her..." he snarled.
"What's up Dean?" Sam asked.
"Thoughtforms aren't the only things that live in vortices Sammy. There's things in there you don't know about," he muttered, one hand caressing his trigger finger, the same one that had been broken in his 13th year. Still his voice and his gaze were both very far away, facts that didn't sit well with the younger hunter. "Things that might want Lilith to think they're gonna help her."
A knock on the door a moment later startled the group as they were refining their strategies for tonight.
"Mr. Carson?" a girl about Lucy's age handed him an envelope.
"When did you get this?" Sam asked looking past her out into the parking lot.
"Early this afternoon," she shrugged, "It was in your mailbox when I came on shift. I think Jenny took it in."
"Is she still here?"
"Yeah... she's..."
"Take me to her," he ordered handing the envelope to Dean who followed with Imdugud right behind.
"Well whoever the hell she is, she's not entirely stupid." Dean snarled a few minutes later upon returning to their room after learning she'd apparently paid a high school student that no one knew, to deliver it.
Angrily he slit the envelope and spilled the contents out onto the table, a letter and another picture. He passed the letter off to Sam and turned over the photo. A second later he was sliding numbly into the chair with a hand over his mouth.
"Dean?" Sam took the photo and hissed, their stalker finally revealed.
Whoever she was, she had shoulder length auburn hair, a little redder but a similar cut to Laura's. She wore her make-up similar to how Laura did hers, and apparently didn't mind having a little 'keeping-up-with-the-emissary' work done, or doing some herself.
In the picture she was leaning close to Laura who sat in her bra, bound and gagged and smeared with blood, the look in her eyes was one both men were familiar with, it spoke volumes as it told them, 'I can handle it,'. The stalker however, was completely naked on top. She had one hand proudly cupping one of her bruised and recently augmented breasts while the other cupped Laura's, an obvious attempt at comparison. On her belly was the recently carved pentacle.
"What's it say Sam?" Dean asked softly.
"Pray for her peace and salvation my loves for the lamb has lost her way and at the hour of the sabbath's start she shall be returned to the bosom of the shepherd. When the time for grief has passed I shall be there to give you comfort, hope, and love, and to stand beside the Brother Kings as wife, mother, and lover to both. With love, Mary. Soon to be in God's eyes Mrs. Sam and Dean Winchester." Sam finished and with a disgusted grimace tossed the letter onto the table where Dean and Imdugud each took turns reading it.
Sam grabbed the picture and shook it, "Y'know I may only know mom through pictures, but THAT, that's no Mary Winchester I know."
"Okay to give comfort and love... beside the brother kings... wife, mother and lover to both... am I the only one who's finding this more than just a little creepy as shit!" the elder hunter stormed.
"Nope." Sam shook his head.
"Uh uh." Imdugud did too.
"Good," Dean nodded nearly breathless, "Glad I'm not the only one."
"So now what?"
"We have one day to find her, about 30 hours. The Sabbath begins at sundown tomorrow night." Dean grumbled.
"The question is what's she gonna do with her until then?" Sam asked and though none of them wanted to know for sure, they all had a pretty fair idea.
"Holy shit!... Dean!" Sam slapped him on the shoulder, his gaze on the TV screen that showed the news headline, 'Couple discovered Mummified in their home!' and the location listed as Hannibal Missouri.
"That was fast." Imdugud noted.
"Where's the nearest vortex or nexus?" Dean asked as he and Sam pored over the map.
"Looks like it might be headed for Sedona, there's a cluster of 'em there, well four. It went south from here, if it wanted Oregon why not head directly west then north y'know?" Sam noted.
"Anything in between?" Dean asked as his little brother shook his head, "Alright Sedona it is."
"My king," Imdugud started, "your mate..."
His eyes pierced deep into his ancient ally's, "If I get my hands on this psycho, whatever I do to her I will not only be good at, but I will most likely enjoy, and I've got enough dirt on my soul right now."
Though he could feel Sam's curious gaze on him, he didn't look at his little brother, Oh yeah by the way Sammy, I forgot to... well neglected to mention that while I was dead for those four minutes to ME it was actually 40 years, in Hell. And guess what? I found out I have a real knack for tearing other peoples souls apart. How did I come to that conclusion you ask? Heh... Well you know I held out for about 30 years before I finally couldn't take getting sliced, gutted and carved anymore and finally got off the rack myself. The deal was I could...as long as I put other souls on. See, I just couldn't take it anymore, but once I started... it's a lot easier than you'd think really. And guess what, I have a talent for it! And between you and me? I LIKED IT! He thought wiping away a disobedient set of tears that went AWOL down his cheeks.
To his surprise it was the demi-god who nodded as if he'd heard every thought, "It is the nature of a God to test his chosen. Often those tests are vicious and cruel."
Dean nodded, "So I'm trusting you to find them. Save my girl and keep her safe while Sam and I take care of this wraith problem."
"What shall I do with her once I have found them?" he asked.
Dean glanced from Sam's openly curious face to their ally's and sneered, "If she goes peacefully, call 911 and handle it. If she doesn't... give her to the swarm."
"Dean!" Sam gasped.
"It's the choice she made when she took what's mine." He tossed over his shoulder.
"What about Laura?" the younger hunter asked.
"She'll understand," Dean nodded, "She always does."
OOooOO
In the darkness ahead of him, Sam kept his gaze on the Impala's tail lights, though his thoughts were on Dean. He didn't know whether to be angry with him for keeping the fact that he actually did die AGAIN to himself, or to believe that he really hadn't remembered until the dream.
Five more minutes! If he'd shown up five minutes later we could have finished the conversation and Dean would have spilled whatever he's still sitting on. He shook his head, "I mean what?" he asked the empty air beside him, "Is it about the baby? I can't believe this is how..." he stopped himself trying to ignore the raging agony his body still felt whenever he remembered what she'd done. Everywhere she'd touched him, his skin seemed to erupt in what he'd swear were burning wheals, but aside from the scars there was nothing to see. Just one more way for Dean to think what a 'girl' I am... except he hasn't. Probably cause it's not funny. Thanks for 'getting' it Dean... it helps.
"So it's gotta be, I mean she's breaking the seals to set him free. The easy thing to believe would be that she's gonna raise the kid to wage war against him for the throne, but if that was the case, why break the seals." He sighed, "The fact is, it's more like she's going to give birth, tear the soul out of it and make it a vessel for him. I mean if that's the case then he doesn't even have to break out of hell once the seals are broken. He's got a ready-made conduit." He shook his head knowing in his guts that that was how she would set him free.
"Damnit Dean, why didn't you just tell me?" he shook his head overwhelmed by the burden of sorrow that the situation existed at all, and gratitude for a brother who still did everything he could to keep him from any kind of harm.
"When they made you man, they sure as hell broke the mold." He chuckled and sniffed, and what was that whole, "...whatever I do to her I'll probably enjoy it" thing? And "Give her to the swarm."? Dean whatever it is dude... you gotta let it out. Sighing deeply he was glad that they were in separate cars, and although he didn't know it, he was comforted by the warm hand of the angel sitting beside him.
OOooOO
A funny thing happened while I was being electrocuted... Laura thought while fighting the vibrating shivers that raced her nervous system, from her hands where the jumper cables were clamped, all the way down to her feet still sitting in and now kinda boiling in a basin of salt water.
"Boy that's a stubborn one you got in you. I just don't wanna come out!" the pretender huffed and removed one of the cable clamps.
The emissary took a moment to unclench her teeth really glad that the fruitloop had removed the duct tape, better to let that pesky ole demon out right? I don't know if it's cause everything else hurts like a sonofabitch right now too... but the cramping's actually not so bad right now...wow...relief, what a concept, and all I had to do was get fried.
Behind her the self taught hunter began to move in a clockwise circle along the outer rim of the pentagram on the floor while spewing butchered Latin. Laura rolled her eyes and thought, widdershins dippy... counterclockwise...
OOooOO
FBI Headquarters; Behavioral Analysis Unit; Quantico, Va.
"This is 26 year old Mary Jane Watson of Laughlin Nevada." Special Agent J. J. Jareau, a vivacious blonde, recently returned to work after the birth of her first child, introduced the team to the latest victim. The first shot was of the woman as she'd been in life, brunette with brown eyes and a contagious smile.
A snort from Morgan, an ex-Chicago Cop with a football player's physique and a passion for taking down the 'bad guys' had all eyes on him in a heartbeat, "Sorry," he blushed, "Mary Jane Watson?" he asked J.J., "For real?"
With a wry and faintly sad smile she nodded, "Yeah for real."
Across the table Dr. Spencer Reid, twenty seven years old with an I.Q. on the edge of 190 points shook his head casting glances at the faces over the room, "I don't..."
"Aw come on Reid... even you gotta know this one?" Morgan smiled but the young doctor shook his head, at a loss.
"Peter Parker's secret crush?" Morgan shook his head already knowing the younger man wouldn't get the association.
"It's a reference to the Comic Spider Man." Agent David Rossi, one of the team's most experienced analysts spared the young man any further awkwardness, stepping in so SSA Hotchner aka "Hotch", the team leader could pretend he didn't find enjoyment in time spent with his colleagues.
"Oh," Spencer nodded.
Shaking her head J. J. continued, "This is how she was found, early this morning by her husband just coming home from the third shift," she moved on to the next slide which showed the woman's mummified remains.
"A month ago they took a spiritual sabbatical to Sedona Arizona."
"He found her like that this morning?" Spencer asked.
"Yes."
"And she was alive last night?"
"Yes." J. J. nodded.
Reid motioned to the screen, "That state of mummification would indicate at the very least a decade under ground." He mused.
"You would think so. So did the county coroner initially," J. J. nodded.
"You said they both went on a spiritual sabbatical to Sedona... do we know if they were going for the vortex or the ley lines?" he asked.
"The vortex." She nodded.
Looking around the table Spencer took a moment to fill his second family in on what he knew, "The Sedona vortex is said to be a portal for demonic and other malicious entities to enter our world. Native American tribes from the Apache to the Sioux gave the area wide berth... it was said the evil there would turn brother against brother and tear apart the tribe." He shrugged, "It's kind of become a sort of a test for self proclaimed spiritualists... like if you can resist the evil there then you're on a higher spiritual plane than the next guy." He looked around, "Uh... or girl."
"Okay so bad juju," Morgan nodded.
"Well technically 'juju' is a term that originated in the..." he stopped, instantly recognizing the look on J. J.'s face, "Sorry."
Still, she smiled easily at the young man before motioning to the newer slide on the wall, "This is Cecile Mathers. She was discovered in her motel room just outside of Las Vegas, the night before last by a pizza guy delivering her order," she advanced the slide, "also mummified." She continued on to the next slide, "Steve Bucholz, self proclaimed 'spirit guide' for the Sedona Center for Spiritual Harmony, he was found in the same condition as the others yesterday morning after failing to show up at work."
"And the common thread here is that they were all recently in Sedona on sabbatical?" S.A. Emily Prentiss another wickedly sharp team member asked.
"Yes." Agent Jareau nodded and continued, "Other than a recent trip to the vortex there are no ties, no common employee links... the locals were thorough." J. J. frowned and forwarded the slide again, this time to a husband and wife, "These are Barb and Mark Schumacher from Hannibal Missouri. And lastly Lucy Perkins from Winchester Illinois." She pointed to the desiccated teen, "Her mother found her like this about two a.m. after she got home from a late shift at the hospital... Lucy Perkins, the first victim has never been to Arizona. The Schumacher's just returned from a two week tour of the Southwest. The vortex was one of their stops." Agent Jareau turned off the projector, "None of the bodies showed any signs of trauma or abuse and more intriguing, no signs of predation, not from insects or wildlife. There weren't even flies in the rooms."
"Were they exsanguinated?" Rossi asked frowning faintly.
"No sir, all of the bodies showed the proper volume of blood particulates... just no fluid."
"They're dehydrated like raisins," Spencer cocked his head to the side, "Did anyone test for embalming agents?"
"No traces."
"Higher levels of sodium?" Hotch asked.
"The Egyptians used to basically soak bodies in rock salt for 100 days..." Rossi added.
"I was going to say that," Spencer smiled.
"Sodium levels were all normal. There is no indication that any of these mummifications was done chemically."
"But no trauma to any of the corpses, no signs of an attacker at all... this really sounds more like something for the CSI's, or physical science guys than for us." Morgan half shrugged.
"Or for a geologic team if their singular commonality was a visit to the vortex, with the exception of the first victim," he shook his head "Lucy was obviously a victim of opportunity maybe even an accident, but definitely something that got the ball rolling." He looked around, "It's not likely that it's actually the location right? I mean hundreds of people go there every year without incident." Spencer added, "And I can't imagine a human body dehydrating to that degree in the time it takes to deliver a pizza. It's just not possible."
"Which means there's another factor that ties all these folks together somehow," Rossi nodded.
"No one would have tied these cases together except one of the officers in Illinois that was called for Lucy Perkins' case happened to see a news report about the couple from Hannibal. Then after Cecile Mathers the news affiliates picked up the story and ran with it. Maricopa County, Apache Junction, and Oak Creek Canyon offices have been swamped with calls from recent vacationers who are pretty terrified that they could be next. To help cool the panic local authorities have had surveyors of all kind out there looking for toxic ground seepage, taking air samples, analyzing minerals and salts in the area, and what they're asking from us, is some kind of assurance that there isn't a human being responsible for somehow causing this." She shook her head.
"We're not the X-Files... though it does present an interesting challenge," Spencer seemed to contemplate, "Dehydration is a time consuming process, but the level of cellular preservation in these victims is..." he shook his head, "Incredible. And yet no one would simply stand by and allow themselves to be dehydrated through mechanical means... there would have to be some outward signs of trauma." He glanced around the table all the signs of his piqued curiosity easily read.
"One of the reasons we are considering this case is this man," she handed out profile sheets to the team members, "Tommy CrowHawk. Over the past twenty seven years he's been arrested a dozen times for malicious mischief, vandalism and a couple of assault charges for trying to keep people out of the area. He claims he's a guardian of sorts..."
"Of the area?" Rossi asked.
"No sir," she shook her head, "In spite of his record, he claims he's a guardian of human life."
"With six bodies across the country all we're being asked for is a 'rule out'?" Hotch frowned.
"Yes sir," J. J. nodded and sighed, "The thing of it is that there ARE SIX bodies, and if there is something to be found..."
Hotch nodded, his countenance still stern as he turned to Reid, "Didn't you request a few extra days off for the week after next?"
"Yes," Spencer nodded and looked around, "Mom's birthday weekend."
Hotch cracked a rare and faint smile as Reid nodded, openly eager to go.
"I sure wouldn't mind snooping around Vegas," Morgan shrugged, throwing his two cents into the mix.
"Me either." Prentiss smiled.
Hotch and Rossi looked at each other for a quick nod before turning their eyes back to Morgan, "You've got point on this one," Hotch agreed, "We'll work whatever we can from here."
Moments later with the BAU room empty and the three agents on their way to the airstrip, Spencer began looking into methods of mummification.
OOooOO
A/N – Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the story our special guests from the show Criminal Minds: Dr. Spencer Reid, Special Agent Emily Prentiss, and Special Agent Derek Morgan. Other members of the FBI's BAU team include; SSA Aaron Hotchner, SSA David Rossi, Technical Agent Penelope Garcia, and of course the radiant Agent J. J. Jareau.
Tbc. (I was gonna break it down into two stories.... but it didn't really wanna get split up, so I didn't.)
Please R&R.
As always, many thanks!
Sifi.