Dean unlocked the hotel room door and walked in. Cas stood up from the small round table that he had been sitting at waiting for them. Dean dumped his duffle bag on the table with a thud and proceeded to the fridge to get a beer. Sam walked in next and the new guy... what was his name? Dane? Dylan? Who cared?
"Who is this?" Cas asked, turning to Dean who raised his eyebrow but said nothing.
"This is Dante." Sam filled in and Cas turned to stare.
"I have heard all about you Dante. You are quite famous in Heaven. You amaze us that even though you have your fathers blood you try your best to help humanity and not to succumb to your demonic nature."
Dante threw himself onto Dean's bed and Dean scowled. "Thanks." Dante replied.
"Wait! Did you say demonic nature?" Dean asked Cas, who nodded. Dean growled and turned to Sam. "See this is why I say no to working with strangers. You seem to have a talent for picking up demons Sammy."
"How was I supposed to know?" Sam asked.
"How are you ever supposed to know? You should take a long, hard look at your previous history."
"Enough." Cas snapped and both Dean and Sam shut their mouths. Dean knew all too well that if he so desired, Cas could shut it for them and Dean had had just about enough of angels messing with his anatomy.
Dante glanced up at Dean, who was leaning against the counter in the small kitchenette and took a swig of the beer. "I'll take one of those." Dante said and Dean took another swig, regarding him indifferently.
"Liquor store is about a half mile down the road." Dean replied. With a sigh Sam walked to the fridge and retrieved a bottle.
"Dean..." He whispered and Dean settled his gaze on Sam.
"Sam." He answered.
"Do you think you could try to be civilised?"
"What? To your demonic new best friend? No thanks." He turned to gaze into space and took another drink. Sam shook his head and handed the cold bottle to Dante. Cas had started to talk and he seemed to have no problem with the new guy. Was Dean the only one who didn't miss the fact that thisguy was a demon? Even Cas didn't care. That was odd to say the least.
"What do we know?" Cas asked and Dean shrugged.
"We had a look at the body of the last girl who died and just like all the others she has no visible wounds on the body."
"The toxocology report says there are no foreign trace elements in her body. There is no marks or abrasions, no bruising. Nothing to indicate that she was anything other than a completely healthy teenage girl." Sam concluded.
"So where does that leave us? Is there any sign of similiarities bewteen any of the victims?" Cas asked and Dean sighed.
"Other than the fact that they were all young and healthy and shouldn't be lying in the downstairs refridgerator of the hospital? No. They range in age from sixteen to fifty. Male and female. Blondes, brunettes, red heads... nothing at all in common."
"I have a thought." Dante, who until that moment had been silent. The other three turned to look at him. Dean scowled.
"Perhaps the only thing in common is that they've had their souls taken."
"Their souls taken? Is that even possible?" Dean asked.
Sam looked thoughtful for a moment and then nodded. "I think I read something once in dad's journel." He rummaged in his own duffle and extracted the worn, leatherbound, brown book. It was very sad looking now. Many times Dean had thought about re-writing it or even typing it out. But that would never work.
It had pictures and foot notes in it, not to mention it was all written in John's hand. Call him sentimental, but Dean could not bring himself to rid the world of the last possession of their father.
"Here." Sam opened the book to a page and began to read. "The necromancer. This creature is a woman whose sole goal is to bring about the birth of the collect."
"What the hell is a collect?" Dean asked and Sam read on.
"The collect is a demonic creature that devours the souls of all innocent and just souls in the world. It thrives on chaos and destruction. It torments the world and forces the wills of those souls left on Earth into fits of jealousy and rage at one another."
"Great." Dean snorted. "Why is it never an easy job?"
"Ah, but that just makes it fun." Dante said and Dean snorted.
"Fun is winning a game of pool against a drunk bikie in a bar that has the IQ of a teabag."
"So you don't like to work out?"
"Maybe if its one on one." Dean replied. Dante winked at him as if to say 'bring it on' and Dean set down his beer bottle and made to move closer to Dante. Dante was staring at Dean, grinning as if to say 'alright, come on then.'
Seeing the start of a confrontation Sam stepped in front of Dean and placed a hand on his chest. "Dean, just chill, Ok? You don't need to do this, just leave it alone."
"Awe, just when it was getting fun." Dante chuckled. "So you're the dog on the leash," pointing at Dean. "And you're the master." He said to Sam.
"Sonofabitch!" Snarled Dean and tried to lunge around Sam, but Sam and Cas both grabbed hold of him and held him back.
"it's been fun." Dante said as he stood, "but I gotta run, see you bright and early in the morning." As he walked past Dean he grinned and shoved his hands in his pockets, winking. Then he left the hotel room.
Dean was still seething. He shoved Sam away from him and went to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Sam sighed and shook his head, then noticed Cas giving him a weary look. "What?"
"Just be careful." Was all Cas said. Cas then cocked his head to one side and sighed. "Gotta go, big trouble in heaven." With a swish that sounded strangely like beating wings Cas was gone.
The next morning Dean was sitting in his car, hands clenching the wheel so tight that his knuckles were turning white. Sam was standing beside the car, arms folded waiting for Cas to get there. Cas had told them he had important news that they needed to know before they went anywhere.
Dean glanced in the review mirror and had to bite his tongue from saying something smart. Dante was laying across the backseat, arms folded over his chest, eyes closed and appeared to be sleeping. Dean turned his attention back to the windscreen and growled under his breath.
One of these days he might just kick Sam's butt. He loved the kid to death but honestly? He was far too nice a guy for his own good. He believed that everyone deserved a chance, Dean knew otherwise. Demons only deserved to die, no matter what. There was no good in them. They might try to suppress their nature but at the end of the day it would eventually rule them.
"Where is he?" Dean burst out and Dante slowly opened his eyes.
"I don't know." Sam said with a shrug. "Maybe he got delayed."
"We've waited for forty minutes, I'm giving him another five then I'm outta here."
"He told us to wait."
"For an hour? We have important things to do, you know, like kill us a demon." He glanced over his shoulder at Dante and said "no offense." Dante closed his eyes again and simply waved Dean off. "Hey, Daniel..." Dean said to Dante. Dante opened one eye to look at him. "Do you know what this broad would look like?"
He closed his eye again and smiled "a woman." He replied.
"No what I mean is have you seen one?"
"A woman? Yes. Many."
"Ah, ha. Smart ass. I mean have you seen a necromancer?" Dean spat.
"Possibly."
"Don't be a dick." Dean hissed and suddenly Bobby was in the car with them.
"Do you two really need to bicker like this? You sound like a damned married couple, I can just feel the love... ijiots."
"So Danny, seen any necromancers?"
"Well actually, to be honest, yeah a few times... Queen."
Dean felt his lip twitch, but he would not smile. "So what are we looking for? And don't say a woman or I will hit you with the butt of my gun."
"Try it. I would hit you with both of mine, which would hurt twice as much."
"Just get to the point, princess." Bobby snapped.
Dante sat up and rested his head on his fist, elbow resting on the door of the car and the other arm resting across the back of the seat. "Well they are women, usually wearing a cloak and a pot around their waist."
Dean spun around to face him. "A pot? Someone is sure to notice some crazy chick with a big assed pot around her waist."
"That's why they usually operate at night, dumbass."
"Bitch." Dean hissed under his breath.
Sam bent down to listen in and frowned. "Why would she carry around a pot?"
"That's what she uses to hold the souls."
The boys all remained silent for a time. Something didn't fit. "What about during the day? Where would she go? What would she do? Would she sleep? Would she work? Pretend to be human? What?"
"Well, that would depend on the necromancer. What kind she was like."
"Where would she keep her base of operation?" Dean asked.
"Again that would depend on the necromancer. Usually it would be dark, secluded. Somewhere she could work in peace."
Dean sighed. He had no idea where to start. "Any ideas sunshine?"
"Why don't you do some of the work for now, beautiful?" Dante taunted.
"But you seem so up in it, sweetheart." Dean threw back.
Sam cut in at that moment. "I could go to the library and try to look up any old warehouses in the area that all the killings occured?"
Dean nodded. "Ok, I'll do my thing at the local realty and see if there are any old houses or cabins in the woods that have been sold recently or if they have just been moved into."
"Sounds like we have a plan." Bobby said. "I'm going to go call around and see if anyone has heard of one of these... Necromancers? Before."
"What about you Daisy? What are you gonna do?" Dean asked.
Dante was halfway out the door when he turned back and said "I'm going to the local diner."
"You're gonna go eat? Now? We have work to do!" Dean snarled.
Dante clicked his fingers at Dean and winked, then he grabbed his guitar bag out of the back, slung it over his shoulder and turned to walk away. Dean aimed his gun at the guys back and put his finger on the trigger.
Dante grabbed the gun off his waist with his right hand and aimed it over his shoulder, pointing it at Dean.
"How the..." Dean whispered.
At that moment Cas appeared in the backseat and Dean jumped a mile out of skin. He held his chest and said "I told you to stop doing that."
"Sorry, big news. She has almost all the souls she needs to make the collect."
"Looks like junior's gonna miss out on this anyway." Bobby said to Dean and he couldn't help but laugh. That was poetic justice right there.
"Well, when you gotta eat, you gotta eat." Dean said.
"We don't even know how to kill her." Sam said and Dean nodded.
"Ok, new plan, Bobby and I will look for anywhere that she might use as a base and Sam and Cas get working on any way to kill this bitch."
Sam agreed and got out the car with Cas to go to the library.