Author's Note: Hello, my dear readers. I hope you are all doing well.
There's some discussion of computer tech and hacking in this chapter. To paraphrase a certain spaceship doctor, I work in the legal field, not the tech field. So, I apologize up front for anything that is glaringly wrong.
As always, if you like what I've written, please leave a comment or send me a message. I love hearing from my readers.
CHAPTER 29
Krissy kept pace with Sam as they jogged along the dirt road behind the bunker. She knew he shortened his stride so she could keep up with him, and she appreciated it. They were nearing the halfway point of their run, a clearing in the woods where they would take a short break before turning back to the bunker.
"Sam," she said, hoping to draw his attention. She was breathing heavily, but not so heavily that she couldn't carry on a conversation.
"What is it?" Sam asked as he glanced down at her. They really hadn't spoken since he'd approved the lines she'd written the evening before. She hadn't finished them until after dinner, and she had gone straight to her room as soon as he'd released her.
"Can we really trust what Castiel told us about those demons? Dean didn't seem too sure about him."
Sam signed and came to a stop. He turned to look at the teenager who stood in front of him. "Our relationship with Cas is . . . ." He paused for a moment, trying to find the right words. "Complicated," he continued. "He has helped us a number of times, including times when one or both of us wouldn't have survived without his intervention. However, he often has his own agenda – even during the times he helped us. So, yeah, we're being a bit cautious about what he told us, especially since he just showed up out of the blue."
Krissy nodded her understanding as she took a drink from the water bottle she had carried with her. "So, what are you and Dean going to do about it?"
"We haven't decided yet," Sam admitted. "We're going to try to gather some more information and decide what to do from there." He studied her for a moment as he took a drink from his own water bottle. "Did your dad teach you anything about demons? You seemed a little bit surprised last night by the ideas of demons and angels."
"No," Krissy replied. "He never hunted demons. He stuck mostly to vampires, werewolves, vetala," she gave a little snort, "that kind of thing."
Sam nodded. "Okay, we'll start your training on demon lore this afternoon." He grinned slightly at Krissy's groan. "We aren't expecting you to join the hunt. In fact, Dean and I want you to stay as far from any demon activity as possible, despite the fact that you have that anti-possession tattoo on your shoulder. But, you still need to know what we're up against."
"Grrreeaatt," she responded sarcastically, drawing out the word, "just what I always wanted." She started running to catch up with Sam, who had already put a bit of distance between them with his long stride.
XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX
Krissy didn't bother to try to suppress a groan as Sam dropped a stack of books on the library table. Dust rose from them at the impact, and she waved her hand in the air in an attempt to disperse it.
Sam grinned at her reaction. The stack of books was intimidating. He had delivered them that way for a reason -- to send a message that demon hunting, and demons in general, was serious business. He took a seat and studied Krissy for a moment before he shoved the stack of books in her direction. "You can start with these."
"Start?" Krissy questioned. "Every other creature you've had me study was a chapter in a single book, not," she tilted her head to get an idea of how many books were in the stack, "half a dozen books."
"Demons are a lot more dangerous and a lot more complicated than anything you've studied so far," Sam countered. "Dean and I have been fighting them for pretty much our entire lives, and there's still a lot we don't know." He'd watched her face as he'd spoken so he could gauge her reaction. She didn't seem ready to protest too much, so he continued. "I'm not asking you to read each of these books in their entirety. There's just a chapter or two in each one. I'm even going to mark them for you."
Krissy rolled eyes at him as he pulled the top book from the stack and began flipping through the pages. When he found what he was looking for, he grabbed a nearby legal pad and ripped off the top page. He tore the sheet of paper in half and placed one of the pieces in the book to mark the beginning of where she needed to start reading. A few minutes and more pages than Krissy liked, Sam stuck the second half into the book and closed it. He did the same thing with the other books.
He had just pulled the last book over when his phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID. There was a smile on his face when he answered. "Hey, Charlie, what's up?" He listened for a moment before responding. "I'm in the middle of something with Krissy right now. Plus, I need to track down Dean so he can hear what you have to report. Can I call you back in about 10 to 15 minutes?"
"You could have taken her call," Krissy commented when he disconnected the call. "I could have waited." And maybe found out what Charlie was calling about, she thought bitterly, especially since it wasn't likely they were going to tell her anything.
"I need to get Dean on the line, too. I don't know where he is, so it might take me a little while to find him. Besides," he said as he opened the book and began flipping pages, "we need to get you started on learning about demons so you know what to watch out for and how to protect yourself."
"Yeah, right," she muttered under her breath. She scooted down in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest.
Sam ignored her until he was finished. "Go ahead, pick one and get started," he said as he rose to his feet. He reached over to grab a nearby pen and placed it on the legal pad that was still on the table. "You might want to take notes. There will be a quiz later."
"Can I be there, too, when you talk to Charlie?" Krissy asked as he started to move away from the table.
"That's probably not a good idea," he responded. He hoped she would leave it at that, but he wasn't going to hold his breath that she would.
"Why not. It involves my friend. I think that gives me the right to know what's going on." Krissy rose to her feet. If she was going to argue with him, she was going to do it standing to reduce some of the height advantage he had over her.
Sam sighed. He could use Dean's standard "because I said so" approach, but he knew that would just cause more problems. "Look, we don't know what Charlie is going to tell us. It could be upsetting. I promise Dean or I will tell you anything you need to know."
"Uh huh, sure you will." Krissy wanted to say more. But she knew it wasn't going to sway Sam, and she'd probably only end up in trouble. "Okay, Sam," she said as an idea came to her. "How about we make a bet. If I win, you let me be in on the phone call."
Sam eyed her suspiciously. "What's the bet, and what do I get if I win?"
Krissy was encouraged by the fact that Sam seemed interested in her proposal. "I get to ask a question about supernatural lore. If you can't answer it, I win. If you can answer it, you win, and I'll stop asking to be in on the call with Charlie."
He studied her for a moment before responding. "And you make my bed for a week."
Krissy signed. She knew she could win, given the question she had in mind, but she hated the idea of having to make Sam's bed if she lost. However, she figured this was her only chance to be in on that call. "Okay," she agreed somewhat reluctantly.
Sam suppressed a grin. He couldn't imagine a question she could ask that he wouldn't be able to answer. "Ask your question," he directed.
"If a female werewolf is in her wolf form when she mates with another werewolf, also in his wolf form, and gets pregnant, but she gives birth in her human form, would she give birth to a human baby or a werewolf pup?"
Sam stared at her for a moment. That was certainly not the question he expected her to ask.
"Well?" Krissy asked after a minute or two passed without a response. She had to fight to suppress a grin of triumph.
Sam shook his head in resignation. "You win. I don't know the answer to that. Go wait for us in the kitchen. We'll be there as soon as I track Dean down." He hesitated before he left the library. "You know," he said as he pinned Krissy with a look, "that question would make a great topic for a research paper." He turned and left the room before she could respond.
XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX
"You need to be elsewhere, kiddo," Dean said as he entered the kitchen and spotted Krissy sitting at the table playing with her phone.
"Sam said I could be here while you guys talk to Charlie about what she's found out," Krissy responded as she leaned back in her chair.
Dean turned and gave his brother a hard stare, silently asking what the hell was going on.
"I lost a bet," Sam responded as he shrugged his shoulders. The gesture clearly conveyed that he wasn't any happier about the situation than Dean, but he had to keep his word.
"Just what bet did you lose?" Dean asked curiously.
Krissy smirked. "I bet him I could ask a question that he couldn't answer. And, I was right."
Dean smacked Sam on the back as passed by and claimed a chair at the table. "Just what question was that?"
Sam glared at his brother as he opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water. He joined the others at the table as Krissy repeated her question for Dean.
"Huh," he grunted in response. "I guess none of those fancy books in the library covered the mating habits of werewolves."
"At least not the ones I've read," Sam commented dryly. He opened the water bottle and took a long drink before recapping it and setting it on the table. "Charlie called earlier to let me know that she's got some information on that tracer I pulled from that video Zoey sent to you," he explained as he put his cellphone in the middle of the table and hit redial.
"Hey, bitches! What's up?" Charlie asked as she answered the phone.
"That's what we'd like to know," Dean said. "What were you able to find out?"
"That tracker is sophisticated," Charlie stated, knowing from the impatient tone of his voice that Dean wasn't in the mood for small talk. "It could only have been developed by someone with a lot of experience with that kind of programming. I only know two or three people who could have done it, but it does have any of their signatures. I've put some feelers out to people I trust to see if they recognize it, but I wouldn't hold my breath."
"Signatures? People sign their tracers?" Dean asked, confused.
"Every programmer has their own style or signature that they include in their work. That way it can be identified as theirs," Sam explained. "Go on, Charlie. What else have you learned?"
"I was able to use the message that you forwarded to me off Krissy's phone to hack into Zoe's computer. Someone really needs to talk to her about Internet security. It took me all of thirty seconds to get into her system."
"Charlie," Dean admonished impatiently.
"Right, anyway I dug around and found her Internet search history. She's watched a lot of Ghostfacers videos on YouTube. She commented on more than a few of them." She paused for a moment before continuing. "She interacted a few times with someone going by the username Eisheth. That's e-i-s-h-e-t-h." She spelled the name, since she was far from sure she had pronounced it correctly. "After a while, they started exchanging messages. One of the messages from Eisheth contained spyware."
"Damnit," Sam cursed. He pushed away from the table and placed the room for a moment.
"What?" Charlie demanded, sending that something was wrong.
Dean gave a brief summary of what Cas had relayed to them. "Eisheth is the name of the demon who is supposedly after us."
"Shit."
There was something in Charlie's voice that caused the hairs on the back of Dean's neck to raise. "What?" he demanded.
"A week or so later, Eishet sent that video to Zoe. In the message it was attached to, Eisheth wondered whether that was Sam and Dean with the Ghostfacers crew. She specifically mentioned you two by name. There was also a suggestion that Zoe send the video to you, Krissy, and ask you to confirm it was them."
"How did Eishet connect Zoe to me? Or me to Sam and Dean for that matter?" Krissy asked. "Oh, God," she gasped when a thought suddenly hit her. "It's my fault. I've talked about my uncles, Sam and Dean, and that they investigate weird stuff for a living. I led that demon to you."
She pushed her chair back from the table and started to rise from her chair. She needed to get away from the Winchesters as soon as possible. She'd led a demon to them.
"Sit your ass back down, young lady," Dean ordered sternly. He ran his hands over his face in frustration. "You probably should have been more careful about what you shared, but this is not your fault. That bitch from Hell would have just found another way to track us down."
Sam came to stand behind Krissy and dropped a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Besides, you did exactly as you should with that video. By not watching it, you prevented Eisheth from confirming what she only suspects."
"Um," Charlie said tentatively. "I hate to interrupt, but there's something else."
Sam shared a quick look with Dean. At his brother's look, he picked up the phone and deactivated the speaker. Krissy didn't need to hear anything further. "Go on," he said as he held it to his ear.
"Am I off speaker?" Charlie wanted to confirm her suspicion before she continued.
"Yes."
"I tracked Eishet to a corporation called Ultionem Daemonium."
"Demon's Revenge," Sam easily translated the latin.
XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX
That evening, Krissy was sitting at her desk, reading the first chapter on demon lore. She was only half paying attention to the text. The other half of her attention was on the tv show streaming on her computer. She wasn't sure that Sam had been serious when he'd said there would be a quiz later, but she wasn't willing to take any chances. He'd previously surprised her with a test on the lore they'd covered, and he hadn't been happy when she had only been able to answer half his questions correctly.
She sighed heavily as she flipped the page of her notepad and wrote "D can possess people -- duh. No obvious signs. Watch for odd behavior. Eyes can change color. Most commonly black, but sometimes yellow or on rare occasion orange."
Something in the back of her mind told her that what she just wrote should mean something to her, but she couldn't quite figure out what it was. She sighed again and tossed her pen onto the desk. She stretched and turned her full attention to the show. Maybe if she got her mind off it, the answer would come to her.
A few minutes later, her phone dinged, signaling an incoming text. It was from Micah. Krissy started to open it, but she remembered her orders to limit her contact with her friends. As she pressed the button to turn off her phone, an image of a split second of black eyes played in her mind.
She pushed away from her desk and went in search of the Winchesters. She found Dean in the armory. She watched for a few minutes as he honed the edge on a knife that was big enough to be considered a small sword. He must have sensed her presence, because she was sure she hadn't made any sound to draw his attention. Regardless, he stopped what he was doing and looked up at her.
"Is there something you need?" he asked.
"I think there's something I need to tell you, and … um … Sam probably needs to hear it, too."
Dean studied her face for a moment before he laid the knife on the table and picked up his phone to send a quick text to his brother. "Have a seat," he instructed Krissy ashe nodded to the chair across from him.
Sam appeared in the doorway a few minutes later. "What's up?"
"Krissy has something she needs to tell us," Dean stated as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "Go on," he ordered. "Sam's here now, so say what you've got to say."
She nodded and swallowed hard. Her gaze briefly met those of both men before she focused on a spot on the opposite wall. "I … um … was reading about demons, and … well … I think Zoe may be possessed."
Author's note: So how would you answer Krissy's question? My thought is it would be a human baby as the fetus would have werewolf genetics and would change with the cycles of the moon, just like mom.