Chapter 22. The Gig is Up
Dean sighed in relief as the first part of his plan succeeded. He had managed to skip lunch, and get out of the dining room without much of a fuss. No-one had really paid him any attention as he left which suited him fine because he didn't want anyone getting suspicious. So far he was pretty sure he hadn't given any reason for anyone to be suspicious of him anyway.
Now as he walked across the foyer towards the office he found himself praying that there was a phone in the office. As much as he had been hoping for a hunt this summer, he had never actually gone solo. He was used to having his father, brother or even Caleb backing him up.
Stopping to think for a minute he almost laughed at the irony. He had been bitterly disappointed to miss his fathers and Caleb's hunt but he ended up with one of his own right here at Camp Dread.
"They say you should be careful what you wish for," mumbled quietly to him self.
Coming to stand in front of the office door he reached out and tried to turn the handle to find out that this time it was locked this time. He took a second to look behind him to make sure that no-one was coming while he reached into the jeans pocket and brought out his small lock picking set. He had come prepared for an obstacle like this and was quite confident that he would have no problem breaking in. He was quiet skilled at picking any lock put in front of him. His father had made sure that both he and Sam had that particular skill because it definitely came in handy.
He worked on the lock for about ten seconds before he heard a click, indication that he had unlocked the door. He smiled a cocky smile as he replaced his lock pick back into his pocket and looked over his shoulder once more, being extra cautious.
He couldn't hear anyone coming so he turned back to the door and opened it slowly and quietly and then slipped through the door.
Once on the other side Dean closed the door quietly and then took a quick survey of the room. It looked like a normal office. There was a desk sitting in front of the front window, a worn out looking couch on the opposite wall and on the other wall stood a long, tall bookcase.
He walked over to the bookcase and saw that it was a little dusty and smelt kind of musty. He had no idea how long the books had been there. He couldn't remember whether Sam had told him how long ago this place had been restored. He pulled out a black leather book that had a bookmark in it and blew the dust off of it, accidentally breathing the dust particles in, causing him to have to smother a cough.
"Good one Dean!" he berated himself, once he had recovered.
Looking back down at the book he saw that it didn't have anything written on the front cover. Turning it so he could see the spine he saw that it was the same. He opened the book and flipped through a few pages and saw that the book wasn't written in English. He recognized some of the words as Latin. But if he was honest with himself he hadn't paid half as much attention to Pastor Jim's Latin lessons as his father would have liked. Latin and exorcisms and all that stuff, really were more Sam's deal. That was what made them a good team. Dean was great at the physical aspect and Sam at the research and language side. He now understood why his father was always on his back about learning it as well. It was quite possible that book had nothing really important in it but he wouldn't know because he could only pick out a few words here and there.
He thought that maybe he should take the book with him and show Sam because even though the kid didn't agree with what Dean thought was going on, reading a little Latin wasn't going to kill him. He was just going to have to humor his big brother. Maybe if it was something important it might open Sam's eyes a little.
His eyes moved over to the desk and saw that there was indeed a telephone. Granted, it looked like it had been there as long as the Orphanage but a phone was a phone. He stood and thought for a moment. He wasn't sure who he should ring. He didn't particularly want to interrupt his father and Caleb on their hunt and Pastor Jim was probably closer to them anyway
Having made his decision to call the Pastor he picked up the phone.
xxxxx
Jim Murphy parked his car behind John's massive black truck at the end of the driveway. The Pastor thought that it was slightly sad that, with the long driveway that he had, he couldn't even use it properly. His car had been relegated to the very end and that was only because Caleb's car wasn't here also.
He had just gotten back from town where he was visiting regular church goers and also doing his grocery shopping. He had found that having John Winchester, two growing teenage boys, plus the added stomach of Caleb Reaves for those last couple of days, he had been eaten out of house and home.
He got out of his car and walked past John's truck and then past Dean's shiny black Chevy Impala before he made it to the veranda steps.
Shopping bag in one hand and house keys in the other the Pastor started up the steps when he heard his phone ringing. He jumped up the remaining two steps and fumbled with the keys in order to get to the phone in time. He had an answering machine but since he was home he would rather answer it, especially in his line of work, someone could be in trouble. Which was normally the case, it didn't matter whether it was one of his parishioners or fellow hunters.
He finally managed to get the front door open and jogged to the kitchen and picked up the phone.
"Hello," Jim answered, placing his grocery's on the bench.
"Jim, it's John." Jim recognized the gruff reply immediately and could tell that his friend was anxious or distressed about something.
"John is everything okay?"
"Jim I need you to find out everything you can about the history of the Leota Orphanage and get back to me." Jim frowned. That name sounded familiar.
"Leota?"
"Yeah, we're heading there now but it should take us around four more hours. I need to know anything you can find."
"Okay John … wait! I knew I knew that name. Leota. Isn't that where the boys went?" Jim asked suddenly as John's distress clicked with him.
"Yes. We've been on a bloody wild goose chase."
"Where are you now?"
"About an hour out of Fergus Fall's," John explained.
"Fergus Fall's? I thought you were going to Rose Creek?"
"We did and then we followed the trail here and thought we had hit a dead end until … look anyway we don't have a lot of time. There's no reason to think that the possessions aren't going to happen again if we follow the pattern. We need that information Jim, sooner rather than later."
"I'll get right on it now and I'll call you back with what I find out."
"Thanks Jim." Jim hung the phone back on the wall when he heard John hang up.
Only the Winchester boys could go to a simple school camp and end up having to deal with the supernatural, Jim thought as he rushed to his study. He felt sorry for them. Couldn't they even have a normal school outing without their father's chosen profession rearing its ugly head? It wasn't fair but as he often heard John tell Sam, life wasn't fair.
He threw open the door to the study and went straight to his computer. He hadn't had the piece of technology long and it was still bit foreign to him. He had decided to buy it when he had been told by mostly Sam that the internet could cut their research time in half, plus it was great for school. So as usual Jim had softened and thought, why not? After all Sam was right. The internet was a whole new world to him, full of amazing possibilities. And besides it was something for Sam to do when the boys did come to stay with him.
The youngest Winchester had been giving the Pastor some helpful hints that he had been learning at school but Jim still hadn't had to really use it for much yet and never in the type of rush he found himself in. But he couldn't fail at this. The boys needed him.
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"Damn it!" Dean cursed as he heard the silence from the phone in his hands. It was dead.
"So much for plan A," he muttered to himself, placing the ancient phone back down.
He sat down at the desk and began to rummage through the top drawer but didn't really find anything much of use. He gave a frustrated sigh and was about to stand up when he saw a piece of paper with writing on it sitting underneath the phone. He had been so focused on making the phone call that he had totally missed the piece of paper.
He pulled up the edge of the page and pulled it out from under the weight of the phone. On the page there were ten names in black ink.
"Joe Taylor, Isabel Collins, Jake …" he started off reading, recognizing all of the names on the list as the students and teachers that had been possessed. He scanned down the list. There were ten names all up and Dean became alarmed when he came to the last two names on the list.
Daniel McKinley and none other than his little brother Sam Winchester were scrawled in Mr. Graham's familiar handwriting.
/Damn/ he thought. They already had everyone picked out. Now Sammy and his friend were targets. Now, this was Dean's business because he's be damned if he'd let these psycho ghost's take his brother.
Dean started for the door when he heard footsteps coming his way. He froze and looked quickly around the room and saw that there was nowhere he could hide but under the desk and that was a stretch at the most. He quickly dived for underneath the desk and just made it under when he heard the door knob turning and the door opening.
"Did you leave the door unlocked last time you were in here?" Dean recognized the voice as Mr. Graham. He was in so much trouble.
"No I'm positive I locked it and you and me have been the only ones in here." He recognized the second voice as Mr. Joe Taylor.
Dean tried to stay as still as possible as he heard one the teachers walk over to the bookcase.
"Someone has been in here look … The ritual book is gone." Mr. Graham exclaimed.
"We don't need it, we have it written down at the cabin," Joe answered him nonchalantly.
"I know that you idiot but it still means that we have had an intruder."
Dean held his breath as he heard someone walk around to stand behind the desk. He turned his head slightly and saw a pair of legs clad in suit pants, indicating to him the Mr. Graham was standing right next to him.
Dean hated cramped spaces and really hoped that they would leave so he could climb out from under the desk and be able to breathe properly once more.
"We can not have anyone know what we are doing. It could be bad for all of us." Dean heard the slight anxious tone a second before the old teacher grabbed the back of the chair and slammed it all the way into the chair slot where Dean was currently hiding.
The chair slammed into him while the wheels ran over his fingers and Dean couldn't help the small grunt of pain at being beat up by the chair, clutching his left hand to his chest to try and handle the pain running through his fingers.
His breath was taken from him once again as the room fell into a deadly silence. The Gig was up. They had heard him.
Dean waited as the chair was swiveled back and Mr. Graham crouched down, his face coming into Dean's line of sight.
"Mr. Winchester," Graham stated, sighing.
Dean looked at the annoyed expression on his possessed teachers face and gave him a sheepish grin, "Hi" he greeted.
Graham did not look amused and Dean knew that he was in a little bit of trouble.
TBC ...
Let me know what you thought if you get the chance :-) Also i am gonna be really busy over the weekend so i doubt i'll get the chance to sit down at the computer and write another chapter so the earliest there will be another update is Monday ... that's what i'm aiming for. Have a good weekend :-)