Chapter 7
"I hate these stupid meetings."
Andrea Willis had a tendency to be blunt. Especially when she was doing something she hated.
The slender 5ft. 2in. blonde continued her trudge down the dark spiral staircase of the abandoned warehouse, despite the fact that she also continued her complaints.
"Everybody already knows that there are hunters in town, and they also already know that they've been taken care of, so why are the elders calling a stupid meeting?" She turned her chocolate brown eyes on her dark complexioned companion.
The man beside her, easily 6 ft. tall and every bit his 245 pounds, rolled his eyes in her direction. "Andrea, it's just protocol, that's all. These dudes are dangerous business, and we need to make sure that our charge is protected at all costs."
"Yeah, whatever," she muttered, as she fussed with the folds of her scarlet robe, another stupid protocol, in her opinion. "Protocol my foot. This is a huge waste of time."
Her companion simply rolled his eyes again and heaved a long-suffering sigh.
Their seemingly endless journey down the ancient staircase ended abruptly on a cement floor that was decorated in every cultic symbol you could think of. The hallway was long and dark, with as many doors as there were symbols.
Without hesitation the two robe-clad figures walked down the hallway and stopped in front of the thirteenth door on the left. The larger of the two rapped a rhythm on the steel door, which was then promptly opened from the inside. The heavy door opened with a scraping screech, not that different from the angry cries of the creature that their order protected. Ironic, Andrea thought, how it felt like she was walking into its gaping jaws every time she entered this room…
"Welcome, junior members Andrea Willis, and Shane Barklay to the Hall of Protectors." A voice called out in the darkened room. "We are honored to join you." The two new additions chorused in unison. They then moved quietly to take a seat at the back of the circular room. Tall and short candles were placed in sequence around the circumference of the area, giving off enough light to just make out the eleven other members that were seated in a semi circle around a black table. At the table sat three figures, facing the rest, each clad in the same scarlet robes. In the center of the table were arranged three candles, one in front of each elder.
"Let the meeting commence!" said the center elder.
"Aye!" chorused the rest. Andrea rolled her eyes.
"On the subject of the hunters…" the center elder's words were interrupted by hissing sounds around the room at the mention of their arch enemies. "…our junior member, Willis, has deduced that these two are indeed trying to destroy The Creature…" again, the hissing sounds erupted from the eleven. "…and has also devised, and set into motion a plan of counter measure."
Andrea smirked at the jealous glances she received from the other members. Junior members usually didn't receive this much attention, after all, especially from the elders.
When the left elder motioned for Andrea to step forward, she didn't hesitate. She was not one to be shy.
She made her way to the front of the group quickly, and at the prompting of the elders she unfolded her devilishly genius plan for dispatching the two young hunters. To her surprise, the elder board became increasingly agitated as she went on. Finally, the elder to her right interrupted.
"Miss Willis! Are we to assume then, that you have indeed made contact, and further arrangements with a creature of Asian legend, known as the Hundun?" He asked incredulously.
"That is correct." She stated flatly. She had a feeling that this was about to go south…
"Are you mad, woman?" his crackly voice took on an edge of anger, "have you not sense enough to research a creature before you make contact with it? Hundun are renowned for turning their actions onto their summoners!"
Andrea felt heat rise in her cheeks as the elders continued their scrutiny of her plan. "You say you have arranged for the creature to 'twist their reality', and that when it is finished doing so, it is to kill them? What then if it decides to turn your plan against us? How are we to know if what we are seeing is truth?" The elders were now standing, and the twelve other members were murmuring amongst themselves.
"I have no reason to believe that your speculations will occur…"she began in her own defense, and the elders stiffened at her tone of defiance. "…nor do you have any proof that you're assumptions about the Hundun are correct. I have everything under control."
Andrea made sure to emphasize her feelings that the elder board was outdated, and its members paranoid.
The elders on the right and left both began to speak in outrage, but were silenced by a motion from their companion in the center. Stooped with age, the older man craned his neck in order to look her in the face, his dark eyes sparking from under the heavy hood of the robe. The junior member didn't flinch, narrowing her eyes at him, daring him to say something against her.
They continued their staring contest for a few more moments, and then the elder raised a hand, indicating that he was about to speak. "The plan will continue as it has been determined. However, be it known that it is without the better judgment of this board, and that the danger to The Creature, as well as to this assembly, is beyond tolerable levels. Taking this into account, I present this statement: If the plan succeeds in accordance to the wishes of this assembly, then the junior member will be allowed to continue service…"
Andrea knew what was coming next, and for all intents and purposes, she felt confident that it would not come to pass. Unfortunately, there was also a knot of uncertainty that decided to take up residence in her gut at the moment. And as the last of the elder's terms resounded in the chamber, she almost felt like she had indeed been swallowed whole by an overbearing creature of massive proportions…
"…but if not, and the safety of the assembly or our charge is compromised, the junior member will be punished accordingly and succinctly banished." He looked again at the young woman, and she felt a shiver run down her spine as she realized that he was completely blind.
His final words turned the knot in her stomach to ice.
"That is…assuming she survives the Hundun's trickery."
Dean Winchester had never been so cold in his entire life. Or at least, not that he could remember.
It had been two hours since their inexplicable entrapment in the elevator…which had now turned into a solid steel swimming pool.
Dean had spent his time trying his best to find a way out of the metal box, but had thus far been unsuccessful. He had also done his best to keep his brother alert and talking…especially since the younger man had become steadily paler in the last half hour.
"S-s-so, you m-mean to t-t-tell me that th-there's a b-b-beach with three hot b-babes around h-h-here?" The eldest hunter stuttered as his body tried to retain some kind of warmth.
Sam gave a half grin, "four." He had shoved himself as far into the corner of the elevator as he could in an attempt to minimize the contact with the now freezing water. His side, along with everything below the water line, had long since numbed, and the sharp pain had eased to a dull throb. That was the only advantage of their situation that Sam had been able to think of.
Dean, who had been trying to find even a crack in the ceiling to exploit, decided to give it a rest and swam over to his brother. He immediately noticed that Sam's lips were beginning to look blue against his pale skin and that he was shivering uncontrollably…which was also something that could be said of Dean.
"C-c'mon S-S-Sam, t-t-talk to me." He said as he huddled against his tall sibling, careful to avoid his injured side.
"D-d-dude…personal s-s-space…" Sam said weakly with another half grin; a small attempt to preserve some kind of light-heartedness. In their line of work, light-heartedness was hard to come by, and both brothers did their best to keep it somewhat alive on a day to day basis…although Dean was usually the best at it, a by-product of being a big brother.
"You w-want p-p-personal space, or warmth?" Dean grinned, "Cuz, y-you know, the ch-chicks t-tell me I'm h-h-hot…" He grinned, and then smiled fully in satisfaction at the small huff of mildly disgusted laughter that escaped Sam's blue lips. "Y-y-yeah, sure d-dude…whatever lets y-you s-s-sleep at night." Sam retorted.
"Ok-k-kay g-geek boy, s-s-so what d-d-do you think w-w-we're dealing with?" Dean asked. He had to keep Sam's mind moving. As Sam thought about the possibilities, he allowed Dean to huddle closer, and both boys attempted to rub some feeling back into their hands. It was so cold now that they could see their breath as puffs of white steam. Dean didn't miss the fact that Sam's puffs were much smaller than his own.
Sam could feel his eyelids getting heavier as he thought…
'Demon? No, they can't create illusions…Thought-form? No, they can only create the illusion of themselves…'
"Sam?"
'Rakshasa? Nope, nothing to do with illusions…Jeez, I'm tired…'
"Sammy?"
"I'm thinkin' D-d-dean." He stated. His tone didn't hold any bite at all, but sounded rather tired. How long had it been anyway?
The thought caused Sam to recall an important fact, "I c-c-called B-bobby."
Dean looked up at his brother. "What?"
"I c-called Bobby…earlier. T-t-told him to c-c-come lookin' for us if I d-d-didn't call him b-b-back by m-morning."
Dean snorted, "Well, s-s-sorry to tell you d-d-dude, but morning c-c-came and w-went a while ago."
Sam blinked momentarily before dropping his eyes to look at his brother. "What are you t-t-talking about? It c-c-can't be more th-than s-s-seven or eight in the m-m-morning." He was sure he hadn't lost count that badly…it had been around five a.m. when he'd entered the building, surely he hadn't been here for more that two hours?
"D-d-dude, I p-p-passed a w-window on the w-w-way here…j-j-judging by the s-s-sunlight c-c-coming from it, it w-w-was like, n-n-noon. An' that w-was at least th-three hours ago." Dean's teeth chattered audibly as he spoke. It had seemed a little odd to him that Sam had taken so long to just now be getting to the sixth floor, though.
Sam's eyebrows knit in concentration, confusion clouding his hazel eyes. No, that can't be right. "I'm p-p-positive D-dean…"
"M-me t-t-too."
If that were true…then where was Bobby?
