Chapter 4

"So Amber is it, what can you tell me about Mandy," Dean asked the lovely young woman, shooting her a winning smile. Knowing full well how to turn on the charm when needed.

"Well, she was an awesome person, through and through. She was the kind of person you wanted as a best friend, I still can't believe what happened," Amber answered in a downcast voice, full of pain, and something Sam picked up on, regret.

"Had she been acting strange, or odd lately," Sam asked the girl while he and Dean stood in the full brightness of the day outside of a high school that looked as if had been ripped right out of a John Huges film.

"No she was acting normal, right until she.." Her small voice trailed off a bit at this last statement as she looked away fidgeting nervously, as if she were uncomfortable answering the questions. Sam noted it, as well as obvious evasions, she was lying, and Sam knew it.

It was then he noted she had turn the notebook she was carrying over in her hand. Then Sam and Dean both saw it, a symbol drawn well on the cover. A satanic symbol used in black magic ceremonies to summon the servants of hell. It was then they both knew this girl knew a lot more than she was telling.

"You know it's a federal crime to hinder an official investigation, if I were you I'd come clean now before we find the truth on our own," Sam said in a slow determined voice. Staring the now wide eyed girl directly in the eyes.

She couldn't look back, she turned away, "I don't know what your talking about, and I'm late I have to go," she said quickly, trying to turn to leave.

"That's an interesting symbol there," Dean said, causing her to stop dead in her tracks, "where did you run across something like that?"

She now looked horrified,truly afraid. She seemed to be temporarily speechless, and then she tried for a hasty excuse, "Its nothing, just something I saw in an old book one time."

"What book, where did you see it," Sam asked approaching as he did, anxious for the answer.

"Where, I don't remember, look I really have to go," she said in haste and once again turned to leave.

"Have you been having nightmares, even while awake, have you been seeing things that aren't real," Dean called just before she rushed out of earshot.

Again this statement had made her stop dead in her tracks. She turned and they both saw the absolute horror wash over her, tears began to form in her eyes.

"How,.." she began in a terribly weak voice, "how did you know? I mean I haven't told anyone."

"Please Amber, you need to come clean right now about what you and your friends have been up to. Otherwise these visions will just get worse, please help us and we can find a way to make them stop," Sam said in a kind voice, he and Dean having again apporached the frightened young woman.

"You can't help, no one can," she said in a highly shaky voice.

"Believe us gorgeous, we know a thing or two about a thing or two," Dean said with a sly grin.

The girl wore a dour expression as she seemed to be having an internal debate as to whether or not to come clean. Ultimately she finally relented and adopted a look of surrender.

"About three months ago Mandy and I with the others ran across a book in Old man Simmons private collection. He had died a few months ago and his kids were having an estate sale so Mandy went to the open house with her parents. She saw the book in his things and she didn't know why, she couldn't explain it but for some reason the book seemed to be calling to her. She didn't know why, she couldn't even read it, it was in Latin and had all these weird symbols in it that looked liked these," she said holding up her notebook.

"She slipped away from the group and stole the book. She showed it to me and I don't know but it seemed to hold this mesmerizing quality. She researched the symbols on occult websites and found out they were used in black magic rituals. We didn't know what we were doing, thought it be a laugh to try and do a few of them. We printed out the instructions on building the alters, securing virgin blood, which I donated," she said holding out her palm, which bore the that scars of repeated cutting, "At first it was fun, making things levitate, appear and disappear. We went further and further. We didn't know what we were doing until it was to late. After the last time we knew we had done something horribly wrong. Things began going wrong, Juile tore her eyes out, and Mandy, well you know what she did. We started seeing things, horrible things. Things that weren't their. People had these ugly twisted faces. We went back and tried to reverse what we had done but it didn't work."

"Where's the book now," Sam asked.

"Back at the house, we were using an old condemned house on the south side of town," she said in a low voice.

"OK now listen carefully, go home, lock yourself in your room and don't come out for anything, hopefully this wont take to long to fix but until then you need to be away from people," Sam said in a firm tone, letting her see in his eyes how serious this was.

She simply nodded and turned and walked away quickly, tears still streaking down her face.

Once she was gone Dean turned to Sam, "Damn kids, never know what the hell their getting themselves into. Well looks like he know where the gate is and what," Dean began but was stopped short by a blinding pain. Dean doubled over, clutching his side as he felt painful waves of power flow through him.

Sam rushed to his side, "Dean, what's wrong," he asked placing a firm hand on his brothers back.

Dean couldn't answer, he began to see white flashes before his eyes. It felt as if his body were being invaded by some unseen force. This pain and intrusion angered Dean greatly, he held his hand out and with all his might tried to force whatever this was out of him.

At once a pulse of energy shot forth from his hand and sped off, finding its way across the street to a parked car. Which exploded at once on contact. Dean and Sam reared back and steeled themselves against the force of the explosion. They stared on as the smoldering wreckage burned hot in the midday sun.

"Dean what the hell was that," Sam asked.

"Must be some of that heavenly power Cas was telling me about, hurts like a son of a bitch," Dean said breathing hard still clutching his side, a look of stark pain written on his face, "I think we should get out of here," Dean said as they now noticed people emerging from the school to see the aftermath of the explosion.

Sam nodded and took Dean by the arm and steered him to their parked Impala.

Harry and Hermione landed firmly on the hard asphalt of a dark alley in the city of Gary, Indiana. Immediately he sensed the chill as he felt the translucent evil that soaked the town. He hated it and would enjoy destroying it shortly.