Chapter 4

Isobel's Spellbook

While Constantine and his friend Jerry were at the meeting in the bunker, Ruby stayed behind at a log cabin the two guys hung out in occasionally. It was up on a small hill, surrounded by forest, so the outdoors was quite beautiful, but the indoors was a different story. To the guys, it was just a place to store their hunting gear and drink lots of beers. The furniture was old, and the place was very dusty, but for a demon like Ruby, getting to be there instead of Hell made the cabin feel like a 5-star hotel.

She smoked a few cigarettes and ate some junk food while she waited. There was no way to be sure how long the meeting might take, but it was a couple hours later when Constantine returned by himself.

Ruby was in the living room, sipping on an ice-cold beer, when he entered through the front door. Glancing up at him while he removed his trench coat, she asked, "How did the meeting go?"

Hanging his jacket on a hook by the door, Constantine removed his tie, so he was only wearing his jeans, shoes, and a white dress shirt. "It went alright, I suppose. I tried to call Winchester again, but he didn't answer."

Taking another sip of her beer, Ruby said, "I wonder why. Any idea where his son is?"

Heading over to the couch where she was sitting, Constantine plopped down on a cushion beside her. "We detected demonic omens all across the northern plains and Midwest. Whatever they're up to, it's drawing in storm systems from the west, and making them stronger. This tells me Sam Winchester is somewhere between the middle of Montana, and the Great Lakes."

Ruby scoffed. "Great work narrowing it down. Now you can tell Winchester exactly where his son is."

Constantine chuckled. "So, did you double check the cabin for recording devices?"

Ruby nodded, but she barely paid attention to him. "Yep. I didn't find any, so those letter people must really trust you."

Constantine smirked. "Trust? Nah… They think they've got me under their control, so they have no reason to be suspicious."

Ruby set her beer down on the coffee table between her and the TV, but then she turned her head towards him and furrowed her brow. "What about the spell book? Do they have any leads?"

"Nope," Constantine said with a laugh. "They hit a dead end, which means we have a better chance of finding it for ourselves."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "If only I knew what Isobel did with the damn thing before I turned her in. I thought if I handed myself over to the hunters, and led them to our hideout, they would take the book and let me live. Unfortunately, they burned me at the stake too, just because the book was missing."

Putting a hand on her shoulder, Constantine said, "To be fair, you and that Isobel bitch were trying to summon a demon named Lilith… They couldn't take a chance of letting you bust her out of the pit, is my guess."

"I never wanted to summon anything," Ruby told him. "I just wanted to keep myself young and powerful with magic, because I was nineteen at the time. Oh well… That was many lifetimes ago."

Constantine pulled his hand away and chuckled. "Many lifetimes ago, but sometimes it feels like yesterday."

"Right," Ruby agreed. "So, how are we supposed to find the Book of the Damned?"

Pausing to take a pack of cigarettes out of a pocket on the front of his shirt, Constantine tapped it on his palm several times before answering with a question. "How many demons do we have to torture, just to screw in a light bulb?"

Confused by the nonsense she was hearing; Ruby raised an eyebrow at him. "What the hell?"

Taking a smoke out, Constantine pointed at her with it. "Exactly! We summon the bastards from Hell and make em squeal until they snitch. Sooner or later, we'll score us a whistleblower."

Folding her arms over her chest, Ruby gave him a dirty look. "Demons don't take kindly to snitches down in the pit. Do you know what happens to them down there?"

Taking out his lighter, Constantine put the cigarette in his mouth and lit it. After taking a puff, he said, "Horrible things, no doubt. That's why we make them fear us more."

Chuckling suddenly, Ruby smiled. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

Shrugging his shoulders, the man who held her salvation in his hands took another hit from his cigarette and said, "You've done a bloody good job holding up your end of the deal so far. Once we find the book, I'll fulfill my promise to you."

"You'll have to find another demon to supply their blood for you though," Ruby reminded him.

"That'll be easy," he told her. "Anyway, I'm gonna call Winchester again. All I got was his voicemail earlier."

Getting up off the sofa, Constantine took his cellphone out of his pants pocket and dialed John Winchester's number again.

After letting Jodi nap for a while at the hotel, John eventually returned the key to the room, and then he and the girl went back to the place where Luther's nest used to be. The two of them spoke very little as they dug the vampires' bodies out of the shallow graves John made for them after retrieving the truck. They also dug up the remains of the people who were killed by the vampires, including Dan Elkins and Ray McNulty.

John set up a funeral pyre for the vampires' victims, while Jodi piled the carcasses of Luther's nestmates on the foundation of the shack, where they would eventually be salted and burned. Their work took up a big chunk of the day, but by late afternoon, they were finished setting things up. Luckily, the sun was still high in the sky, thanks to it being early summer, but this made things difficult for Jodi. She used an insane amount of sunscreen, but yet, she still got sunburns that were far worse than John received, even though he used no sunscreen at all.

Since he wanted to wait until nighttime to burn everything, John suggested they return to the truck to rest. When they got inside, he shut his door and said, "That should do it. Now we wait for nightfall. Less people will be driving by then."

"What do we do about the fire afterwards?" Jodi asked. "We don't want it to spread."

John nodded. "I found a stream nearby, so I'll figure out something. How are you doing?"

Jodi looked at the sunburns on her arms with disgust. "I'm gonna have to find another deer. I hate having to feed on them."

Glancing down at the sunburns, John asked, "So, why did you agree to become a vampire?"

Jodi tensed up, but when she glanced at him, she seemed confused. It was as if she never gave it any serious thought. "Well, I lost my mom a year before, and she… Lisa said I could live forever. I was feeling bad, so I went along with it and got turned into a monster."

John stared ahead through his windshield and coughed. "But you won't have to stay one forever. You've already changed a lot since you got turned."

Jodi nodded. "Should I wait for tonight to find a deer?"

"No, I'll find one and shoot it for you," John told her. "It's out of season, but it's necessary."

Jodi said nothing else, so John got back out of the truck and opened his tailgate and gun case. Deciding to use the crossbow, he got it out and started setting it up. While he was working, however, he heard the unmistakable sound of tires rolling over gravel, and the hum of an engine behind him.

Glancing back, John gasped when he saw a black car pulling up behind his truck. "Son of a bitch."

The moment the car came to a stop, an angry, gray-haired man in a black suit and tie got out with a Glock in one hand, and a badge in the other. "What the hell is going on out here?!"

Setting the crossbow back in the gun case, John held up his hands. "Mister, this isn't what it looks like."

Holding up his badge, the strange guy said, "Is that so? Looks like you're burning bodies to me!"

"I can explain that!" John told him. "Let me-"

Pointing his gun at John, the man said, "My name is Ted Palmer. I'm a U.S. federal marshal! I've been tracking you for a while, John Winchester. Or should I say… Agent McGillicutty?"

John sighed. "What do you want?"

"I'm here to take you in as a potential suspect," Ted told him. "I know a lot about you, John. I haven't found any bodies, but I believe you are responsible for the disappearance of my daughter."

"Your daughter?!" John cried. "You mean Lisa Palmer?"

Ted smiled. "That's right! You and that buddy of yours, Daniel Elkins. You killed her and her classmates from Smallville High! Then you burned them, didn't you?!"

"Look Mister, you don't understand," John tried to explain. "They were vampires!"

"You expect me to believe that?" Ted asked through gritted teeth. "You think a judge, or a jury will believe that? The moment you start talking about vampires, you'll be locked up in Belle Reeve the rest of your life!"

Lowering his hands, John glared back at him. "How about you just read me my rights, and we'll get this show on the road."

Reaching to his waist for a pair of handcuffs, Ted said, "With pleasure."

At that moment, Jodi launched herself out of the truck, causing Ted to glance in her direction, accidentally pointing his gun away from John, who pounced on him and blasted his fist into the marshal's jaw.

"Jodi, run!" John told her. "Get out of here!"

She did as she was told, and took off running through the woods, while John exchanged blows with the federal marshal. They were both well-trained, easily blocking each other's kicks and punches, but sometimes their hits connected. By the time John threw the last punch, Ted fell flat on his back, totally unconscious.

Clutching at his ribs, and spitting blood onto the ground, John groaned. "I'm sorry, but you left me no choice."

Glancing up and looking around, he called out for Jodi, but she didn't answer. Realizing he needed to find her quickly, he picked up the marshal's unconscious body, and set him back in the car he came out of. Then John cuffed him to the steering wheel and took his keys, before hurrying off into the woods to find Jodi.