It took only a few minutes of listening to the faint sounds of a bathroom in use and Sam's own fingers typing on the silver and black laptop before Dean came out with a sigh, wiping his hands on his jeans as he sat down on the bed and looked expectantly at his brother.
"Henrietta Michaels, eighty-nine, insists that 'something ain't right' with the little town of Davis, Oklahoma." Sam read out at his brother's prompt, clearing his throat as his eyes dotted across the screen quickly. "Five women dead just outside of Turner Falls in what looks to be a suicide pact amongst five that has residents fearful to even pass the entrance to the once-loved camping destination."
"Blah, blah, blah." Dean interrupted with a wave of his hand and roll of his eyes. "Get to the juicy part please."
Sam huffed but obliged, scrolling down the page to read the next paragraph. "Local pastor Jack Abel has urged the public not to worry that 'God is in control and there is nothing to fear' as he himself decides to take his family camping at Turner Falls, holding a small service in wake of the events of five women being found hanging off an old oak tree."
"There it is." Demon sighed out, cracking his neck. "Demons?"
"Well, the question is why?" Sam questioned with a raised brow.
"Maybe it's just a suicide?" Dean suggestion and Sam slowly shook his head.
"I don't know, man. But let's go check out the coroner, see if there's anything else missing."
Sam let out a tired breath of air but closed his laptop with a snap, moving to put on his suit and ignored the pull of the old looking bed.
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"Agent Michael." Dean introduced himself to the sheriff, showing off his badge before nodding over to his brother. "And this is my partner Agent Anthony, we're here to investigate the recent murders at Turner Falls."
The old man let out an exhausted sigh as he took off his hat and wiped his forehead. For a moment he looked resigned before he nodded over to the two chairs across from his desk. "Take a seat, gentlemen." And the Winchesters obliged.
"So, what do we need to know?"
"I know I ain't seen nothing like this in all my years." The man grumbled out as he sat back in his chair, opening his desk drawer to pull out a folder and handing it over to Dean. "Five girls, seniors in high school, white night gowns, side by side with a noose 'round them throats."
"I thought they were women?" Sam asked as he looked at the photos of the bodies with a frown.
"Well, technically they are." The man responded dryly with a shake of his head. "We didn't wanna alarm nobody, but word 'round here travels fast. 'M sure most everyone knows their names now."
"Who were they?"
"Marie, Martha, Anne, Kenzie, and Harriet." The sheriff listed off without even reading the names as if he had each letter tattooed onto his arms. "Good girls, never did anything wrong."
Dean let out a hum as he examined a wide shot of the circle of girls, their young faces looked forward with a hauntingly calm face, yet swollen face. No evidence of a fight and yet no stools nearby either. Just a seemingly eerie suicide pact amongst graduations with their whole lives ahead.
"What do you mean?" Sam looked over at the sheriff who crossed his arms and nodded to a photo on the wall next to him in the small wooden office.
A few girls stood in front of a building with their arms around each other, but grind on their faces and a sign held by the two girls on the end.
"They were part of the young women's Bible group here in Davis. Girls would do projects 'round the city, help fix people's houses after storms, they went on missions across Oklahoma after tornados." A wistful smile was on the sheriff's face as his eyes glazed over in happy memories that had now turned bittersweet. "Just about to be graduated in June and were supposed to be in college in August."
Sam stared at picture with narrowed eyes, noticing that there was a figure cut off from the photo frame and not apart of the main group of girls. "Looks like a big group."
"A group of good girls, 'bout twelve of 'em now. All devastated, no doubt."
"Who found them?" Dean asked, making eyes with his brother as they both seemed to find something suspicious of the group.
The sheriff hesitated nervously and both brothers picked up on the movement
"Sir?"
"Well, it was..." the man seemed to struggle before his shoulders seemed to drop. "Well, it wasn't just one..."
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Sam held up the photo of the young women's club before placing it back onto the motel room table with a hum. "So, a big camping trip with twenty plus girls to celebrate graduation and five end up dead."
"That's suspicious." Dean nodded as he picked up a photo showcasing a close up of the neck on one of the girl's chest. "And yet none of them are suspects." His belief shone in his voice as he shook his head.
"Definitely weird." Sam agreed, before pointing at the cut off figure on the side of the photo. "Look at that Dean."
"Man, that really sucks." Dean chuckled, shaking his head in pity. "Must be the ugly duckling."
"Dean." Sam admonished, rolling his eyes at the way his brother held up his hands in defence. "Looks intentionally cropped out."
"Well, we'll just ask Pastor Abel tomorrow." The eldest brother quipped as he settled out of his day west and jumped on the bed. "Sheriff says the girls operate out his church on the way to the campsite."
Sam nodded, frowning as he stared at the cut off figure in the frame before hopping in the laptop, looking up the church and examined the website.
Grace Baptist Church read across the top of the webpage in Forrest green lettering, a waterfall stamped behind it as a logo and a cross separated the header from the menu. Reading through the site, Sam clicked the About page, scrolling through it quickly.
Grace Baptist Church was founded in 1955 by a retired World War Two chaplain after camping out in Turner Falls for two years after the war. He claimed that he needed to embrace God's creation and reconnect with what He created. After those two years, he met his wife Sandy and the two built the small chapel with their own hands, inviting all who wanted to reconnect with their saviour to the pews.
Through Grace our church has survived and through Grace we continue to thrive, reconnecting lost souls to their Father through the beautiful glory of His creation. In a time where man has overtaken land with man made structures of glass, cement, and metal, Grace Baptist Church encourages people to reconnect with God using the beauty of Turner Falls.
Sam couldn't help the cynical snort that left him as he scrolled passed a few paragraphs, thinking about all that they know about God so far. Must be hard to reconnect with someone who was never connected in the first place.
Today the church is under Pastor Jack Abel's care who happens to be the grandson of Chaplain Jeremiah Abel. Pastor Jack, his wife Margret, and their two daughters.
Immediately Sam looked over at the photo of smiling girls and he wondered if he was looking at the daughters - he must be. Two daughters of the pastor in a small town?
They would be prime members for the Bible group.
"Looking for your next girlfriend, Sammy?"
Sam scowled as he shut his laptop, pursing his lips at his brother as his concentration was broken. Not bothering with answering the tease, the youngest Winchester took to getting into his bed. As soon as his body hit the sheets, Dean turned off the lamp and the two hunters trailed into sleep.
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The church was old.
Dean couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the wooden building, examining the structure mildly impressed. "Husband and wife did this, eh?" He whistled lowly, hand moving over the wood railing of the stairs appreciatively.
It was a stereotypical old wooden church with a steeple on top that held a brass cross and a bell nestled inside comfortably. Two long windows housed up front and the roof slanted on either side, leave-less trees and bushes surrounded the place of worship in an almost familiar pattern, a dark gravel side walk circled the property.
Well maintained and kept, Dean mused as they open the front doors and examined the wooden pews with red cushions on top.
There was a clear nature motif around the building with an altar at the very front that had branches tied around it. Living vines suctioned to the roof giving almost an allusion of a forest with stained glass windows on the sides of the chapel depicting various nature scenes from the Bible.
"I don't think I recognize you two young men." A light voice interrupted their inspection and both brothers looked to the right side of the chancel area where a middle aged man in a clerical collar smiled welcomingly at them. Sam and Dean immediately met the man half way to the pews pulling out their IDs.
"Agent Michael, this is my partner Agent Anthony." Dean introduced with a nod, repeating the alias from before firmly as the man took in their badges. "We're here investigating the deaths of the five young girls. I assumed you're Pastor Jack Abel?"
The smile on the pastors face turned sad quickly at the mention of the young girls and the man exhaled softly as he shook his head. "The sweetest girls." His tongue clicked and his hands clasped behind him. "It's a shame..."
"Did you know them?" Sam questioned, already knowing the answer judging by the look on the man's face and the knowledge they had already gathered so far.
Jack scoffed, almost offended at the question. "Did I know them? They were practically my own. They were in the same class as my daughter."
Sam didn't miss the singular use of the word.
Dean hummed, nodding his head in a show of sympathy. "Sheriff says that they were part of some group that your church hosts."
"Oh yes, the young women's Bible group - also known as Ruth's Ladies, they-" All three men quickly turned to the right entrance of the chapel opened and an older woman entered, immidiately Jack waved to the woman before looking at the two men apologetically. "Give me a moment, gentlemen. It's only Miss Michaels."
"Only." The old woman scoffed, her face scrunched up in distaste. Dean's eyebrows jumped up, impressed with the woman's hearing. "Just because your the pastor now don't mean I ain't willin' to bend you over my knee, Jack-boy."
"Yes ma'am." Jack chuckled good naturedly, helping the woman into a pew before walking down the aisle and gesturing fro Sam and Dean to follow. "I'll send Margret out, Miss Michaels."
"Ain't no rush." Henryetta waved as she gestured to the front of the church. "Got some talkin' to do anyways."
Sam and Dean exchanged a glance as they took in the front sanctuary of the church while following the pastor through a door on the side of the church and behind the building. "Sorry, boys. Miss Michaels comes to see my wife on Tuesday mornin'. She'd be in the office buildin', I reckon."
"So your wife helps with the church?"
"Oh, yeah. She manages anythin' with numbers. The Lord blessed me with words, but I can't say I'm too good with anything else." Jack chuckled and Dean nodded in understanding. "She also is the mentor of Ruth's Ladies - leads Bible studies, drives the bus, cooks the meals."
The building was newer, probably built within the last two decades and they were greeted with heat and soft classical music as soon as they entered the building. It was a one story building, but Sam's eyes trailed over a door with a tornado symbol and sign listing off a few room's that hinted towards a basement.
"Margret! Miss Michaels is waitin' on ya!" Jack raised his voice to holler for his wife and after a few seconds the brother's we're greeted by hairspray-held curly blonde hair, a bright blue dress, and a small red-lipped grin.
The husband and wife shared a hug and kiss, before the pastor introduced his wife to the hunters.
"These fine young men are investigatin' the tragedies from this weekend."
"Oh, isn't it just." Margret's smile dropped and her lips quirked down. "Our poor girl is devastated 'bout it..."
Before Sam and Dean could question the woman any further, Margret Abel quickly excused herself with a small kiss on her husband's cheek to go sit with Henryetta and the brothers were guided into a dark-wooden office with plenty of memorabilia hanging on the walls for visual consumption.
Sam eyed a photo on the wall of Jack, Margret, and a young girl that he recognized from inside the photo the sheriff leant them.
He deserved a gold star for guessing the connection.
Other than the man being rather chatty, there wasn't much suspicion that came from the man's interview. Normal girls who get together Thursday and Sunday nights to study the Bible and do community service around the town. This past weekend was supposed to celebrate the senior girls but when the group woke up, they found a traumatic and gruesome sight.
"Well, thank you for your time." Dean said quickly, standing up and pulling out a small business card to give to the pastor. "Don't hesitate to call us if anything comes up."
"Now just one moment you two." Jack said firmly, tensing the hunters up in paranoia. "I don't see very many federal folks 'round here, but Margret and I would love to have you guys over for dinner tonight."
"Oh, we can't-" Sam began to turn down the offer but was stopped by a rough elbow in the gut and grinning Dean, who accepted the offer quickly.
"-can't wait." Dean supplied instead, telling the man bye and whispering harshly under his breath. "Free food and a chance to interview a witness? Ain't no way in hell I'm turning that down."
"You think with your stomach." Sam accused as they left the building and Dean sent a smirk up his way.
"At least I think."