Chapter 12

Angela was sitting on top of the Impala again looking at the stars. After she went to her room, she waited until their three guests left before coming back out. She needed time to think some more about the job ahead. She wasn't a teacher, that much she knew and yet by the pestering of a fifteen year old boy she was a substitute but undercover as a bodyguard. Being a bodyguard wasn't a new experience since she did that once for a dignitary who was actually a vamp and was going to be assassinated by renegade hunters.

She leaned against the windshield and studied the stars thinking about how she got into this mess or rather how she got all three of them into this mess. It was typical of her. She did admit though that thing with Gordon Walker wasn't her doing and the guy was an irrational/rational cold blooded killer. Hell the guy wanted to kill her after getting a nice glimpse of her teeth, after they sank into his arm. She remembered the instant the warm red liquid touched her tongue and it was brought pleasure but it was quickly supplanted by the feeling of revulsion and she released him, but the damage had been done.

"You always find a means to blame yourself for things that may be beyond your control. Tis a strange thing and yet I understand why the lady favors you."

Angela looked over at the sound of wings to find a strange being standing beside the Impala. It had the body of a man and the head and wings of a hawk or eagle. Having seen quite a few strange things in her lifetime, she didn't jump in surprise but rather raised a brow. She replied, "I have caused a great deal to be set in motion."

"And yet we all have played a part in that," the strange being replied. He gave a slight smile.

Angela continued to stare at the strange being and looked around to see if Sam or Dean had noticed the strange creature. If they couldn't see it and they spotted her talking to nothing, they might think her crazy. She wouldn't put it past a few tricksters that she knew to do that.

The creature seemed to read her thoughts and said, "Relax. They can't see me and as far as they are concerned, they only see you staring up at the stars."

"So you are one of those like the goddess." Angela said it more as a statement rather than a question. She crossed her arms and looked expectantly for an answer though she seriously doubted that it would be a straight one. Usually theses beings didn't. Certainly the goddess didn't. Heck she practically ran around in circles telling her that she had been made a champion. So she waited to see what the answer would be this time.

"I am an Apkallu, a sage charged with bringing wisdom to the chosen mortals. Most just call me Apkallu."

Angela gave a slight snort, "Well that makes sense since the texts never giver you a name in Sumerian." She looked away deciding whether or not her conduct would toe the line in terms of respect for the ancient beings. "So what are you here for? Certainly not for wisdom. That is only for humans."

"But you are half human." Apkallu studied the chosen daughter of the goddess. She was certainly a strange lot. Her respect was left to be desired as far as he could tell. Yet he could see that she had a sincere heart. The goddess' favor was certainly called into question.

"Still isn't the same," Angela replied. "And you still haven't answered my question about why you are here." She turned to give an expectant look and it showed that she was still annoyed about the task ahead.

Apkallu was taken aback for a moment. The goddess had warned him that she was not the kind to play with riddles unless it suited her. He maintained his composure however and replied, "The goddess knows that you agreed to protect the boy."

"Great I always knew she liked to spy on me."

"It is important you understand why he is important."

Angela nodded while replying in a sarcastic tone, "He is the direct descendant of Melchizedek the honored priest who basically started the whole thing that is called Communion."

"It is more than that," Apkallu replied, "Only those of Melchizedek can create the bread stone, the source of illumination. They also have access to the Plain of Shar-on."

Angela didn't look at Apkallu but instead stared straight ahead. So that was why these rogue Freemasons were after the kid. Only he had the knowledge for this… whatever it was? To Angela it sounded like another one of those destiny crap things that was shoveling the consequences upon the unlucky soul that would shoulder the burden. She looked at the sage and asked, "And the boy is targeted because of this bread stone? What the hell is that?"

"The bread stone is that which comes from gold. It is illumination in its purest form. With it comes healing and other things that are only known to the line of Melchizedek."

Angela looked at the sage with a stare that was hard to discern if she was spacing out or trying to intimidate the person talking to her. "So this is something like the fountain of youth?"

"Please it is more elegant than that." Apkallu gave a slight scoff at the simplicity of something so grand. "That is a childish notion. The House of Gold is hardly that."

"The House of Gold? Another reference to the bread stone? Or Melchizedek?"

"It's been associated with both," Apkallu explained. Despite his misgivings when he was given the orders to explain to the Malachi, he found that she was taking it well. Little did he know that she had been through this herself when she made that fateful choice when she was younger and thus beginning on this journey of hers.

"I see," Angela replied. In her mind it was another bout of destiny crap. It seemed like she was to be strung along again regarding a cosmic force. At least the job was supernatural to an extent granted that the boys may not understand everything they were getting involved in. Heck even she wasn't sure where this fit in. Then again it was like the sage said, only the line of Melchizedek knows where it does. Yet it does make sense with illumination and knowledge was often equated to enlightenment. Thing was she didn't get why her. "So why did I just agree to stay involved?"

"It is your nature from my understanding," Apkallu replied wondering if the question was rhetorical or born of sarcasm.

"Or it could be as the Seer would put it that it is the nature of the world for certain beings to meet at certain points… or was it souls he was referring to?" Angela postured in mock thought. It was true that it was in her nature to help those that needed it. When it came to things tied up with destiny and she knew about it, it was more like taking a depressant or something. "So really why should I know more about the boy and his eventual role?"

"He is coming of age to receive his knowledge. He is not ready but it is close. The brotherhood knows this as well. You need to be prepared to protect him. You and your friends," Apkallu explained.

"And why the Winchesters? They have enough problems and I may have just added to it by joining them," Angela replied. "And why aren't they here listening to this? Shouldn't they have some clue as to what they are getting into?"

"Rules have been bent to tell you this much. You do have the choice to tell them but be aware that such revelations always have consequences that are not always foreseen," Apkallu replied. He gave a slight shuffle of his wings and looked around. He could sense that there was stirring in one of the rooms. He had to go now. He had spoken his piece. He turned to look at Angela and said, "You have been chosen as the boy's guide. When the time comes, you will know, almost as if by instinct."

Angela had been looking at nothing in particular as she thought about what to do. When she heard the last part, she raised her head to ask, "How…?" She saw that the Apkallu was gone. She thought she detected the faint rustle of wings and it reminded her of a few other times she had heard that same sound. Then her thoughts turned sour at the abrupt departure and everything that had occurred over the last twelve or so hours.

Feeling frustrated, she put her hand into her jacket pocket and came into something hard and round. She pulled it out and found that it was the apple she had tucked in there for no reason at all except for the thought that she might be hungry later when she went out stargazing. She looked at it and felt the hardness in her hand and that led to a thought about stones. What followed next was a debate over what to do now and the persistent question of why she was doing this. It frustrated her enough that when she looked at the apple again, she threw it like she would a baseball, intent on trying to make it splat on the wall. She misfired though and it headed towards the door of the Winchester's room where Sam was just coming out.

Sam glanced at his brother while he was cleaning his gun again before slipping out to go for a walk. Well a short walk to talk to Angela. She hadn't been in a good mood since those three came in and he wanted to make sure she was okay. He had opened the door when he saw something flying at him. It was instinct for him to catch it. It hit his open palm with a smack and he looked at it. It was then he heard a slight sound and looked up to see Angela looking like she had broke an expensive piece of china. He said in a joking voice, "Um usually people throw tomatoes at a bad performance."

Angela didn't reply at first but was feeling mortified that she had almost hit Sam. She had thrown that apple with the same force she had thrown her cell phone and she killed the guy. If Sam hadn't caught it, the apple would have caused serious injury. For the moment, she felt as if her lungs had constricted like when she had been buried alive at West Point. She managed to choke out, "You okay?"

Sam frowned, "I could ask you the same thing. You look like you've seen a ghost." He walked up to hand her back the apple and was confused by her recoil from it. "It's just an apple."

"An apple that could have killed you."

Sam gave a look as he held it. "Okaaay. So why is that?"

Angela snapped out of her shock at the stupidity of the question and gave a look that would have made lead melt. "Vampire strength, Sam. Remember when I bent the tire iron to fix it?" She then turned away and defiantly stared up at the stars with her arms crossed. After a few moments she relaxed a little and added, "That's how I killed a man except it was with my cell phone."

So that was why there was blood on it. Sam realized the implication and moved to the other side to the other side of the Impala. Like the night before, he humored her and took off his shoes and sat on the hood. "I can see why you looked like you had broken your mother's favorite china." He idly held the apple for lack of anything better to do. "What made you so angry that you had to throw a perfectly good apple?"

"It's not like I intended it to be an apple. It was the handiest thing in my pocket," Angela replied not looking at Sam but at the sky. "Sometimes I find the strangest of things in my pocket like a stick of chewing gum and a rubber band." She shrugged her shoulders as she placed her hands behind her head. She tried to ignore the familiar pangs of hunger that were creeping up. To try and quell the inner workings of her stomach, she casually threw one arm over her stomach while propping her head on the other. After a lengthy pause she said, "I'm just pissed at our guests and what they want us to do."

Sam had been patient. He could sense that she had something more to say and he could tell that if he said something she would effectively clam up. Dean did that often enough when he tried to get him to talk about their father. At least Angela was a bit nicer about it. He said, "I'm sorry that it fell to you."

"I would have taken it anyway. I'm pretty much a sucker for little lost puppies and the kid practically begged me on the phone," Angela countered. She then looked at Sam and shook her finger in a mock scolding gesture and said, "But don't you try it on me. It may work with your brother but not me."

Sam couldn't help but laugh. "I guess I'll have to find other means of persuading you if we want you to do something."

"Asking nicely would do," Angela replied, feeling better. She was about to say something when she was handed an apple slice. She looked over at Sam who was slicing up her projectile and giving over the slice. She took it and slowly began chewing it. "Thanks."

"I figured you intended to eat it… before you decided it was your choice of weapon," Sam replied teasing her slightly. He took a small sliver and munched on it, trying to save most of it because of her appetite. "Anyway I wanted to let you know that Dean and I will be hanging around town, checking out the local lodge. Maybe go in as prospects."

"That could work but you both need to watch your backs. People talk."

Sam understood completely by what she meant in that statement. There was the possibility that the goons that escaped could have talked and they did know their faces. "Any other ideas?"

"Janitor work comes to mind but other than that," Angela shrugged her shoulders as she accepted another slice. "Either way, I'm stuck as the kid's guardian. This ancient lineage stuff drives me crazy."

"Another job?"

"Another lifetime," Angela replied. She wondered if she should mention her strange visitor and what he had said. He did warn her though and the thought that they think her insane crossed her mind. She chewed on her slice wishing that she had some peanut butter for it. "It's no problem though. I was just upset by everything else."

"Hey are you two going to sit there and indulge in a chick flick moment or are you coming in for some pie?" Dean called from the door to his and Sam's room.

"As long as you didn't have your way with it while we were gone," Angela called as she snapped off a bite of another slice. "That beauty took me the better part of making the casserole to get it to look like that. I'll kick your ass if I find you raped her."

Sam was lucky that she was focused on Dean for the moment while he blushed at her innuendos to the pie that Dean had been eyeballing like drooling lecher since she made it. He could handle it from Dean but when she did it, it was like he got caught with his pants down or something similar. He got the feeling that she knew this and did it on purpose. Having managed to get the blushing under control he said, "He's been a drooling lecher since you made it."

"I heard that Sam," Dean answered as he strolled up bringing the pie out to the car along with a few plates and some forks. He grinned at Angela, "You are a woman after my own heart Angie."

"In your wildest dreams Dean Winchester," Angela replied. She served the pie, teasing Dean by giving the tiniest slice ever before trading it with the one she originally intended to give him. Once she was sure that Dean was in a good mood, she said, "I had a visitor and no it wasn't one of them but he mentioned some things…"

The fire dimly lit the main floor of the secret lodge. Liam was not sure why they were even using this lodge when the main one was large enough to house all members of all three degrees. A feeling of dread came over him and wondered if he had been found out by the Worshipful Master. After the two hunters left the coroner's office that day, he looked up the name Hardman and found that he was a teacher at the local high school. It didn't take long for him to find a number and call the teacher up.

Hardman though had been suspicious when he called and demanded to know who he was. Liam was hardly in a position to reveal anything. Yet he did and when he mentioned that he was a member of the brotherhood, Hardman clammed up and demanded to know what his intentions were. Liam tried reasoning with the man and stated that he wasn't his enemy. After listening to the man talk, Liam concluded that he was already aware of the treachery of the upper circles of this lodge. Liam then said, "You don't have to trust me and I know you have no reason to but I did overhear a plot on your life and I am telling you to give you a chance."

The response from Hardman was hardly encouraging to Liam but he was certain the man had at least taken his message into consideration. Earlier he had stopped by the main office of the lodge to take care of some bookkeeping, a made up on the spot excuse, but he was curious about the cubbyhole he found and was hoping that he might have a little more time to take a look. When he arrived though, the Master was there along with a few others discussing something that was obviously important. He recognized the two brothers with the Master and gave a respectful nod while he explained why he was there. Of course they didn't give him a second thought and they were going to let him go when the Master called him over. The reason was that the Master had wanted him to send out a notice to the brothers of the third degree for a special opening of the lodge that night. Liam kept his suspicions to himself and complied.

Now the brothers of the third degree were all gathered at the second lodge and Liam had no idea what was going on. He wondered if he had been found out since earlier in the week another brother came to him and told him that he didn't like what the Master was doing. Liam had been circumspect in his questioning just in case the brother was trying to trick him. Eventually Liam was able to reveal that he had been sent from the Grand Lodge to investigate. The brother revealed his name to be Luke Davenport and Liam began his investigation by asking questions. When he had finished and left, he noticed that someone was watching him. He hoped that no one had overheard. Now he wasn't so sure.

The Master began by opening the lodge. "Brother Tyler, the lodge of the Master Masons is about to be opened."

The Tyler nodded and replied, "I will station my post to observe the approach of cowans and eavesdroppers and suffer none to pass or repass."

Liam knew it was serious. Since it was the Masters Masons meeting, none that are not authorized could enter and none present may leave. Liam looked and observed that there was a candidate about to be inducted to the Master Masons degree. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe he was overdoing it a little but then again he couldn't be too careful.

The candidate was brought forth as the tradition dictated and was stood before the Master. Liam watched as the compass points were pressed on the candidate's breasts. Liam felt that surge he felt when he was elevated to Master Mason for he truly believed in the most valuable tenets of the brotherhood which were friendship, morality and brotherly love. He couldn't understand where things could have gone wrong with this lodge, well at least the upper echelons.

It was a lengthy ceremony in which the candidate was shown the Tubalcain, or the Master Mason's grip and how to enter the lodge as a Master Mason. Liam observed with the revered carefulness he reserved for when anytime the Master called to open the lodge. He took down the details and noted the candidate and noted that he had sworn the oath as a Master Mason not to reveal the secrets upon pain of death. The candidate was now being instructed on the folding of his apron.

"The square of the ephod is the perfect figure that symbolizes your service to the Great Architect," the Master spoke unto the candidate. "These four duties are ones that all masons must uphold. Your service is to country, neighbor, family and yourself."

The candidate was then presented with the working tools of Masonry and struck on the forehead and Hiram Abiff had. Liam felt like he was watching a play as the candidate re-enacted the death and rising of the Great Architect Hiram Abiff. The details of the ritual varied from lodge to lodge. Liam was lucky that his lodge left it an open coffin in the middle of the room. Once he saw the coffin actually buried and the candidate was a claustrophobic! Yet the candidate prevailed and he became a Master Mason.

Liam waited as he knew what came next. All Master Masons, upon completion of the ritual of acceptance were given the most important secret of the Freemasons. Liam knew the history behind this quite well. It was a well known fact that there was such a thing as the Knights Templar and of course the brotherhood and the conspiracy buffs claimed the Templars were trying to create a new world order within the Freemasons and of course the anti-Masons spoke of Satanism. The truth was the brotherhood and the Templars were splinter groups of the oldest order known to history.

When Liam had been told, he had been floored by the secret. He then realized that there was a necessity for the different groups. It was a very old tactic of secret societies and for just anybody in general. The Templars focused on one thing to amuse the old men searching for eternal life, the Freemasons focused on enlightenment but they were more closely aligned with the original order, the Order of Melchizedek. Both focused on illumination but it was Melchizedek's order that contained the secrets of the House of Gold. The secrets of weightlessness were in the hands of the Masons even though the Templars had a hand in the building of the Notre Dame cathedrals in their heyday. Still the Templars and the Masons deferred to the Order of Melchizedek and offered safe havens for the line of Melchizedek.

That was why Liam was there. It had come to the attention that various brothers had been killed and the link was only because the line of Melchizedek was nearby. Liam was a soldier in most respects. He would do his duty and he was willing to die for it but he didn't want others to die if they helped him. His attention was drawn to the candidate who agreed to keep the secrets again reiterating his oath as a Master Mason. The Master nodded and said, "Let the brother received the light."

There was a general applause while the candidate was welcomed as a brother. The Master was generous as he allowed a few moments for the newest Master Mason to be welcomed. After a few moments had passed, the Master held up his hands for silence. It took a few moments but eventually the rest of the Master Masons quieted down. The Master then spoke, "Brothers, as you know we have been charged with one of the oldest of secrets; one that we swore to protect with our very lives if necessary."

There was a general murmur. Liam didn't make a sound but shifted to make it look like he did. He didn't know where this was going but he had a pretty good idea. He listened as the Master continued, "It is unfortunate that there are some brothers who cannot uphold the oath they have sworn."

At that moment, two of the brothers came in dragging a third who was tied up with handcuffs and hoodwinked. Liam frowned as he watched two other brothers pull open the panels on the floor to reveal a pit. Liam frowned slightly. He was starting to get a bad feeling as he watched the hapless brother being placed in the center of the pit that was lined with wood. Are they planning what I think they are planning?

"Let the brother face his accusers."

The hoodwinked brother was revealed and Liam was trying hard not to react. It was the contact that Davenport had mentioned in his interrogation. The brother's name was McKenna and he was with the Scottish Rite from back east. Liam watched as the brother stood tall and strong facing the Master. The Master asked, "Is it true that you have divulged the secrets of this lodge to persons outside our brotherhood?"

Liam didn't hear the response of the brother but he did catch the part of the oath that he dreaded. The Master then gave the word as the helper to the Master pulled out a silver knife. Symbolic slashes were made indicative of the first and second degree. McKenna didn't flinch at all. He stared defiantly as the third degree was prepared. The last thing McKenna said was, "You will receive judgment."

The flames roared to life. For the longest time no one could hear anything but the sound of burning, crackling flames. The smell of burnt flesh began to fill the room.

A/N: So it looks like it has been settled and more secrets have been spilled and another consequence has happened. Will our heroes be able to stop the rogue brothers from achieving their purpose? Find out next time on the Order of Melchizedek...

A/N2: For reference the Apkallu are actually sages or messengers that are supposed to bring wisdom to man. They are often portrayed as griffins but more commonly with fishwear. They are Sumerian in origin and play into the who concept behind the House of Gold and its secrets. Again this is from Secrets of the Lost Ark.

The execution that was written about is the literal consequence of spilling secrets as a Master Mason. Some embellishment was taken since the man had to pass through the first two degrees in order to become a Master Mason (3rd degree).