CHAPTER 28
"Who are you and what are you doing here?"
Krissy screamed as she came to her feet and spun to face the unknown threat. The question had come from a tall, dark haired man wearing a rumpled tan overcoat.
She tried to remember if she was sitting at one of the library tables with a handgun holstered just under the edge. She slowly moved around the table, running her hand under the edge, while keeping her eyes on the intruder.
"I belong here. Who are you?" she asked. Her voice betrayed her fear with its shakiness. She was halfway down the side of the table when Sam, followed closely by Dean, ran into the room. Both men had their guns drawn and held in front of them. Sam reached her first and immediately pulled her behind him to shield her from the threat.
"Cas," Dean said as he reached their side steps behind his brother. "Damnit, what the hell are you doing here," he asked as he lowered his gun to his side. Krissy noticed that, even though he seemed to know the other man, he kept the gun in his hand rather than tucking it in the waistband of his jeans where he normally carried it.
Sam, too, lowered his gun. But when Krissy tried to step around him, he motioned for her to stay in place behind him. She decided, given the unknown situation, obedience was the better option at the moment.
Cas studied the two men for a moment before stating, "the girl does not belong here. She does not have a part in what is happening."
"The girl has a name, asshole" Krissy stated, her voice sharp at his works.
"Krissy," Dean growled, warning her to keep silent. He wasn't quite sure why Castiel had shown up out of the blue, but his gut was telling him to proceed with caution. The only thing was, he didn't know if his gut was warning him about Castiel himself or if it was about the news he was sure the angel was there to deliver. Regardless, his voice was deadly serious when he stated, "she lives here, and she belongs here with us, regardless of what might be happening. While we're at it, care to share what that might be?"
Krissy still wasn't sure who Castiel was, but it was obvious the Winchesters knew him. She hadn't missed Dean's statement about her belonging there, but she pushed that to the back of her mind to study later. She was more concerned about what the men were discussing.
"Demons are stirring again," Cas said in his usual emotionless voice. "I have not yet learned their intentions, but they have been sighted in the area."
"Why now?" Sam asked as he moved to lay his gun within easy reach on the table. "And why here? The battle for Hell is over, Crowley is still king. Besides, that wouldn't involve us."
"Not to mention, how did you find out?" Dean asked. He'd watched out of the corner of his eye as Sam had put his weapon down, but he was not quite ready to do the same. He felt sure Cas wouldn't betray them, but he'd learned the hard way to never take anything for granted. "And you haven't answered my question about where you've been."
Cas narrowed his eyes. He really couldn't blame Dean for his distrust, especially given what had happened with Naomi and the angel tablet. "A trusted source got word to me. There is a small group of low level demons who are attempting to seek revenge for deaths among their numbers. My source requested that I warn you in case they decide to come after you as part of their plan. Given that demonic activity has increased in the area, that seems likely."
Dean grunted. "Just who is your 'trusted source'?" Dean questioned. "And why should I trust them?"
Castiel shook his head. "I am not at liberty to reveal that. You will have to trust me."
Krissy took the opportunity to step around Sam and stand beside him. He sent her an admonishing look, but otherwise didn't call her on it. "You're just going to trust this asshole?" She gestured in Castiel's direction. "Who is he? How did he get into the bunker without you noticing? I mean, you can hear the door open from a mile away. What did he do, just appear out of thin air?"
"I am not blocked by the wards, so I can appear wherever I wish in the bunker," Castiel responded.
"What?!?" Krissy turned to look at the Winchesters. "I thought you said nothing could get in here without your permission or your knowledge."
"There are a few exceptions to that. Cas is one of them," Sam said. He glanced over at Dean and knew, from the suspicious look on his face, that his brother still wasn't convinced that Castiel didn't have malicious intentions for being there. His eyes met Dean's, and he tilted his head in Krissy's direction. "Let's take this to another room." His meaning was clear to everyone.
"So you can talk about it without me, right?" Krissy commented. "Assholes," she said under her breath as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Sam grasped her arm and pulled her close to his side so he could lean down and speak softly into her ear. "You've been warned before about calling either of us that. I suggest you knock it off, unless you want Cas to see you getting your ass swatted." Although his voice was quiet, it held a definite note of warning. He released her arm and allowed her to take a step away from him. "Besides," he continued, ignoring the looks from Cas and Dean, "you still have lines to complete." He pointed at the legal pad and pen resting on the table. "I believe you were told you weren't to leave the table until you were finished with them. That hasn't changed."
Krissy huffed and moved to grab the tablet and from the table, making sure to keep her backside out of Sam's striking range, and went to another table away from where the three men were standing. She managed to suppress a wince from the impact of hardwood on her still sore ass as she plopped down onto a chair facing them. She ignored the look Sam sent her direction and began writing.
Sam watched her for a moment, waiting to see if she made any further protest, before turning to the other men and inclining his head toward the doorway. Krissy looked up from her writing to watch them leave. She suspected they were moving their discussion into the kitchen. When she thought they had had enough time to make it there, she rose from her chair and made her way quietly through the corridors until she reached the kitchen. The closed door told her everything she needed to know.
Krissy positioned herself beside the doorframe where she could not be seen if the door opened. She grinned when she realized the door was slightly ajar, allowing her to hear what was being said inside the room. She was listening so intently to the conversation that she did not notice Sam's approach until he pushed the door open and grabbed her arm.
Krissy squeaked with surprise and struggled to loosen Sam's grip on her arm as he pulled her away from the doorway and into the corridor. She yelped as a hard swat landed against her backside. Sam hadn't held anything back with the slap. The swat alone would have set her backside on fire, but it had been delivered to already tender flesh.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded as he turned her around to face him.
"Um . . ." Krissy hesitated, trying to come up with a plausible explanation that wouldn't land her in even deeper trouble. "Coming to get a glass of water?" Her statement came out as more of a question than a statement.
Sam had to fight back the urge to turn her to the side and deliver another swat. "Try again, and it had better be the truth this time."
Krissy swallowed hard and nodded. "I wanted to hear what was being said," she said in a soft voice.
"Say it loud enough that I can hear it."
"I wanted to hear what was being said," she repeated, her voice slightly stronger.
Sam glared at her as he crossed his arms over his chest. "If we had wanted you to be part of the conversation, we would have included you in it. We have our reasons for having this discussion in private. You will be told what you need to know." He paused to give her a moment to squirm under his hard gaze. "Now, where are you supposed to be?"
"In the library, writing lines," Krissy said as she studied her feet.
Sam nodded, even though Krissy wasn't looking at him. He reached out and grasped her arm and pulled her against his side so that she was bent over his hip and under his arm. Krissy yelled as half a dozen hard swats fell on her upper thighs and sit spots. "That was a warning," Sam said as he set her back on her feet. "The next time I catch you eavesdropping, I will wear you out. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, sir," Krissy responded as she wiped tears from her cheeks. Her ass was on fire, and she was regretting her decision to eavesdrop on the men's conversation.
"You'd better," Sam said sternly. "I believe you have some place you're supposed to be."
"Yes, sir," Krissy responded again as she turned and headed back toward the library and the hard wooden chair that awaited her. She briefly considered stopping in her bedroom for a pillow, but she knew that neither Sam nor Dean would approve and she was in no mood or condition to deal with the potential consequences.
Sam watched as she went. He really hadn't wanted to be that hard on her. However, if she didn't obey him or Dean on the little things, she might be willing to disobey them on the big ones. And, with demons apparently making a comeback, disobedience could be a matter of life and death.
"Everything okay?" Dean asked as Sam returned to the kitchen. The sound of the swats and the accompanying cries had easily carried into the kitchen. Cas had raised an eyebrow at the sound, but he hadn't said anything until that moment.
"Who is the child, and why is she here?" Cas repeated his question from earlier after Sam grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and resumed his seat.
"Her name's Krissy Chambers. She's a hunter's kid who'd been left on her own for too long. Her mom died when she was a baby, and her dad was killed by a vampire a couple of years ago," Dean said as he came to his feet. He moved to the refrigerator to grab a couple of beers for himself and another one for Sam. He had a feeling they were going to need them. "We took her in because she was going to end up getting herself killed trying to hunt vampires."
"You should have sent her to someone else. This bunker is not the place for a child," Cas commented.
"About that," Dean said. He sat back in his chair and took a drink of his beer before setting the bottle on the table and crossing his arms over his chest. "You still haven't answered any of my questions. I want details."
"I do not have details," Cas responded, his voice taking on a harder edge that showed his first sign of emotion. "As I have already told you, demon activity has increased in the area. I'm surprised you have not already seen it."
"Yeah, well, the apocalypse is over. We're not looking to get involved in another one," Sam commented drily.
"I do not believe an apocalypse is brewing, or least not one that will involve you. My source indicated that a demon by the name of Eisheth began a push to seek revenge for the deaths of their fellow demons over the years – against everyone who brought about those deaths," Cas stated.
"And we've killed more than our share of demons," Dean said as he drained the remaining liquid from his beer bottle.
"So why now?" Sam asked.
"I do not know."
"Who is your source? How do they know what's happening?" Dean asked, his voice betraying his impatience.
"My source asked not to be identified. It could place them in danger if it became known that they had talked to me about this. But, they wanted to warn you, as you are on Eisheth's list of people to be killed. As of the last time I spoke with my source, she had only a small number of followers. Some of whom are already in the area."
The brothers shared a look before turning their gazes back to Cas. During that silent exchange, they decided to trust the angel, but they would not let their guard down. "So, how are we going to play this with Krissy?" Dean asked. He immediately pointed a finger at Cas and warned, "and don't tell me we need to send her away. She stays here."
Cas shrugged. "That is your decision to make. Still, she does not have a part to play in this, and she would be safer elsewhere."
"Maybe," Dean responded, "but she still stays."
Sam cleared his throat to stop the argument that he knew was brewing between his brother and the angel. "We're going to need to let her know what's going on and up her training. Even if she doesn't want to actively hunt, she still needs to know how to defend herself."
Dean nodded his agreement, then suddenly went pale as the realization of what could have happened at the ballgame the night before hit. It was probably a good thing for the teenager that he'd already busted her before he'd learned about what was happening. On second thought, he told himself, if he'd known demon activity was happening within a hundred miles of them he would never have let her leave the bunker, much less let her go to a crowded football game with a bunch of other kids.
Sam could tell the direction Dean's thoughts had taken. "Come on," he said as he came to his feet. "We can't change what's already happened. But, we do need to talk to her about this and how we're going to handle things moving forward."
Cas rose to his feet as well. "I need to return. I will let you know if I hear anything more."
"Cas . . ." Dean started to say something, but the angel's wings appeared and he teleported away before he could say anything further. "Damn it."
"Do you think we can trust him?" Sam asked. "After all, he really didn't tell us where he's been or what he's been doing all this time, much less who this supposed trusted source is."
Dean sighed heavily. "Do we really have a choice?"
Sam was silent for a moment before he spoke. "No, I guess we don't."
XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX
Krissy stared at her phone, wondering if she'd just made a mistake sending that text. But she wasn't sure what was going on, and she wasn't sure if she was mad that Sam and Dean had excluded her from their conversation with Castiel or if she was afraid of what might be happening. Maybe she was a little bit of both. The thought occurred to her as soon as she'd hit send on the text that she might be overreacting, and she should have waited until she'd talked to the Winchesters. She quickly sent another message telling the recipient to disregard her previous text.
Krissy picked up her pen and went back to writing lines. She'd tried to work on them when Sam had sent her back to the library, but her thoughts kept getting in the way. Now, she was hoping they would serve as a distraction. She'd only gotten a few more written before Dean, followed closely by Sam entered the room and sat down at her table. She gave Sam a slight smile of thanks when he handed her a bottle of water.
Sam nodded before he reached over and pulled the tablet to his side of the table. "You didn't get much done," he commented.
The ringing of Dean's phone sounded before she could reply, and she had to bite back a groan. She had a bad feeling about who was calling.
"Hey, Jody," Dean said in greeting as he answered the phone. "Now's not really a good time. Could I call you back in a bit?"
"No, I think we need to talk now," Jody said. Concern was evident in her voice. "I just got a text from Krissy asking if she could come live with me, then a second one telling me to ignore the first one I'd received. What's going on?"
Dean gave Krissy a hard look, and she flushed as she looked away. Guilt and worry were written all over her face. "Everything's fine. There's just been a bit of a misunderstanding. We just sat down to talk about it."
"A misunderstanding about what?" Jody demanded. She wasn't going to let him off easily. Whatever was going on was serious enough for Krissy to want to leave the bunker, and she wanted to know what it was.
Dean shared a look with Sam, who nodded at him to go on. "We need to tell her anyway, so she can keep an eye out in case they show up there, too."
"Keep an eye out for what?" Jody questioned. She had overheard Sam's statement. "I want to know what's going on, and I want to know now," she ordered in her no-nonsense sheriff's voice.
Dean sighed and rubbed his free hand over his face. Dean pinned Krissy to her chair with a scathing glare and made an effort to keep the frustration he was feeling with her out of his voice. "Cas showed up at the bunker today spouting something about an increase in demon activity and some lower level demons wanting revenge for the deaths of some of their own. Apparently, we're on the hit list. He also made comments about Krissy not belonging here and not being a part of what is coming."
"And?" Jody asked. She knew that wasn't the whole story.
Sam took the phone from Dean. "We sent Krissy out of the room so we could have a frank discussion with Cas about what's happening." He, too, gave Krissy a look. "Apparently, she got it in her head that we're going to be sending her away." Her wide-eyed reaction told him he'd just hit the nail on the head.
"And are you?" Jody held her breath as she waited for his response. She imagined Krissy was doing the same.
"No," Sam's single word response held enough force behind it to make it obvious that he meant it. "Like Dean said, we'd just sat down to talk to Krissy about what Cas had told us and make plans for how we're going to handle this when you called."
"And how are you going to handle it? You can send her here if it would be safer."
Sam eyed Krissy for a moment before rising to his feet and walking away from the table. "We don't know yet how we're going to handle it. We've known about it for less than twenty minutes. Right now, we're planning to keep Krissy here and keep a close watch on her. Once we know more about what's going on, we'll re-evaluate. We might send her to you then, depending on what we discover."
"You know I'm here if you need any help," Jody said. "Now, let me talk to Krissy for a minute."
"Hold on, I walked away from the table. Let me get the phone back to her."
A moment later Sam handed the phone to Krissy. "Jody wants to talk to you." He resumed his seat at the time and didn't bother to hide his snort of amusement when Krissy sent him a glare and got up from her seat and walked away. Turnabout's fair play, he supposed.
"Hi, Jody," Krissy said into the phone as soon as she was out of earshot.
"You okay, sweetie?" Jody asked. "What's going on?"
"I don't know what's going on. Some asshole just appeared out of nowhere and started talking about demons and how I don't belong here."
Jody briefly considered admonishing Krissy about her choice of language, but quickly changed her mind. She did sigh, though. "So you decided you were just going to leave, before you talked to the Winchesters about what's going on."
"How am I supposed to know what's going on? They won't talk to me," Krissy stated, her voice taking on a clear whine.
"Did you happen to think that they didn't know what was going on either?" Jody sighed. "Krissy, you know that you are welcome here whenever you want to come – whether it's just a visit or for something longer. But, you need to give Dean and Sam a chance to tell you what's happening and decide together what you are all going to do." She used the mom voice that she hadn't quite lost after Owen's death. It was the one that said she meant business, but it wasn't quite as serious as her sheriff's voice.
"Yes, ma'am," Krissy responded quietly. She knew she wasn't going to win the argument and decided it was better to make a strategic retreat rather than fight a losing battle.
"Call me after your discussion with Sam and Dean. We can talk more about what's going on then," Jody directed.
"Okay, I'll talk to you later." Krissy disconnected the call and made her way back to the table where Sam and Dean were sitting.
"I still say we can't trust him completely," Dean was arguing as she took her seat.
"I'm not saying we should, but what if his information is correct? Do we want to completely ignore that possibility?" Sam asked as he glanced meaningfully in Krissy's direction. Dean only tightened his mouth and nodded in response.
"Okay, tell me what's happening," Krissy demanded as she looked between the two men. "Who is Castiel, and how can he just appear in the bunker without anyone knowing. And, what the hell was he talking about? Demons?"
"Cas is an angel," Dean stated in explanation.
"Holy fuck! An honest to god, halo and wings angel?" Krissy was incredulous.
"Watch your language," Sam chided. "Yes, Cas is an angel. I don't know about a halo, but he does have wings." He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "His angelic powers allow him to teleport. He can appear and disappear at will. He can appear here in the bunker because we have told him the location and have made an exception that will allow him to pass through the wards protecting the bunker."
Krissy sat back in her seat, trying to wrap her head around what she had just learned. "He was talking about demons. Are they real, too?"
"Yes," Sam said. He shared a look with Dean before continuing. "Demons are real. In fact, it was a demon who killed our mother. We've fought demons before, including Lucifer. We even have an alliance with a demon named Crowley, who calls himself the King of Hell."
"So, if angels and demons are real, does that mean that God is real, too?" Krissy's head was spinning. She had always thought that God and his angels and demons were myths.
"Oh, God is real, alright," Dean stated. "Although he prefers to be called Chuck." His voice was so deadpan that Krissy wasn't sure she could believe him.
"Chuck?"
"Yeah, Chuck. And he's an asshole." Dean wished he'd brought a bottle of beer into the library with him, and he briefly considered pouring himself a drink from the bottle of bourbon in the small liquor cabinet they kept in the library. He sighed instead and sat back in his seat. "Listen, Krissy, Sammy and I have been fighting demons almost our entire lives. Once our dad learned that it was a demon who killed our mom, finding and killing that sonuvabitch was all he could focus on. While he got the yellow-eyed bastard, it ultimately cost him his life. Over the last few years, we've fought against demons. When the occasion called for it, we've even fought at the side of demons. We've even got a . . . well, I'm not sure what you'd call him . . . maybe frenemy . . . in Hell who goes by the name of Crowley. He calls himself the King of Hell. I wouldn't trust him for a second, but he has helped us out on occasion."
"What Dean is trying to get at is that if this Eiseth is seeking revenge for the deaths of other demons, it's very possible that we're the ones they're after – at least for some of them. We've killed a good number of both lower level and higher level demons over the years," Sam said.
"And we won't hesitate to continue taking them out if they get in our way," Dean commented.
"That being said, though," Sam interrupted. He had a feeling he knew where Dean was heading, and he figured that his brother's no nonsense approach was not the best one to take with Krissy at the moment. "If demon activity is increasing in the area, we will need to take precautions. That means we stick close to the bunker, and I mean all of us. You may have to curtail going to the library or to ballgames with your friends."
"And given what happened last night, that's not such a bad idea in and of itself," Dean commented drily. He met the hard look Sam sent his way with one of his own, but he didn't interrupt again.
"Dean and I may go out hunting to see if we can find any demons to capture and interrogate so we can learn exactly what is happening. If we do, you will not be participating in those hunts. It is just too dangerous, even if you wanted to do it." Sam held up his hand to stop Krissy's interruption. "That's not negotiable. It's for your safety. If you can't live with that, we'll make arrangements for you to stay with Jody until this is over."
Krissy gaped at Sam's words. She would have expected something like that to have come from Dean rather than the more laid back Sam. She was so lost in her train of thought, that she missed what he said next. He snapped his fingers in front of her face to get her attention.
"Did you hear what I just said?" he asked. There was a note of disapproval in his voice.
Krissy shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. I was thinking about what you'd said."
Sam nodded. He could understand why she was distracted. "Starting tomorrow, you're going to be getting a crash course in demons. Until then, I want you to stay off your phone. No texting your friends, and no social media. You can tell them that you were grounded because of what happened Friday night. If demons truly are after me and Dean, they could use someone you trust to get to us through you. We want to prevent that if at all possible."
Krissy swallowed hard and nodded her understanding. "Yes, sir."