Death in the Mountains

Disclaimer – I don’t own either the Supernatural characters or the Sharyn McCrumb Ballad novel characters.

Sassy, SSJ & Nev, thanks for your reviews! The story will be completed no matter how many hits I get. I’m having too much fun! Nev, as for geology, the karst topography of Eastern Tennessee will become a major plot point!

OK, for all of you who like Griffin, I have a confession to make. He is based on my room mate’s familiar/cat. I rescued him from a yard sale where they were giving away kittens. They had the kittens in a filthy cardboard box out in the hot summer sun in Tennessee. The people giving him away swore to me he was six weeks old but I knew he was younger. I snatched him up and took him straight to the vet, where they informed me he was only 3-4 weeks old! I took him home and hand-raised him. He is now a gigantic monster even though he is not full grown. Oh, and after I spent MONTHS hand-raising him and paid hundreds of dollars in vet bills, he decides he wants to be my room mate’s cat! The poor little guy had kennel cough. Yesh.

I ask that everyone PLEASE SPAY OR NEUTER YOUR PETS!!!!! My best friend does a lot of animal rescue and the stories I hear are pitiful. Please don’t allow your pets to bring animals into the world that will be neglected and destroyed.

OK, I’ll get off my soap box and on with the story……..

~*~

“No Dean, don’t wake him!” Vera whispered furiously. “I told you, there is a presence here, and it’s communicating with him!” Her quiet reassurances didn’t satisfy Dean.

“I know there's a ghost in here," Dean growled loudly, "my scanner is going off the freaking map. Sam's stuck in another nightmare. What makes you so sure it's not hurting him?”

Sam had gone to bed early and Dean found him groaning in his sleep. He couldn't understand why Starlight hadn't come to get him this time. He, Vera and Jay were all standing huddled around the bed while Star, Griffin and Shade were curled up around Sam’s sleeping form. Sam was tossing slightly in his sleep, muttering now and then, but nothing was understandable other than a word or two.

“You think what I did to your cabin was a lot? I did all of that in about a half hour with only ten minutes planning. The entire coven has been building wards around the farm for months now. Nothing other than benevolent spirits can enter. Beelzebub himself couldn’t bother a blade of grass out in the pasture.” Vera hissed back.

“You sound pretty damned sure of yourself for someone who was saying that they weren’t strong enough to be a Guardian Friday night!” Dean snarled.

“Then you’ll also remember that Nora Bonesteel said that I know what I’m doing and I’m one of the best trainers out there. Sam's familiar isn't trying to wake him. Griffin and Shade are in here too. Look at them! There is a reason that we have familiars and you’re looking at it right now! They’re grounding and comforting him. Just wait! I’m not even sure we could wake him. He might be trancing.”

“Why are they so mad?” Starlight asked from where she was curled on Sam’s pillow, practically on top of his head. Dean was upsetting her far more than Sam was. Shade snorted.

“Dean doesn’t seem to understand every psychic dream your human has isn’t a nightmare or attack of some sort. I’m beginning to worry more about Dean hurting you than Sam. Dean needs training just as badly as Sam does right now in my opinion. Griffin, get over there and calm your human down. I can take care of little Starlight.” Griffin made a little meep of acknowledgement before getting up from cuddling against Sam’s hip and walked to Dean. He smacked at Dean’s hand and trilled at him until he picked him up.

“What does that mean?” Dean asked anxiously, looking down at Griffin.

“It means that Griffin is more worried about you than Sam.” Jay said crankily.

There was a sudden wave of blistering heat that flashed through the room before it was gone. Sam started screaming. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry…I should’ve told you…Oh God, Jessica…I should have stayed with you...I should have stayed and died with you…”

“Shit!” Dean yelled and tried to throw himself onto his brother with Griffin still in his arms. Vera grabbed his arm in a surprisingly strong grip to keep him from lunging onto the bed.

“Wait!” Vera hissed again. Shade jumped onto Sam’s chest, Star was still perched on the pillow at his head.

“Jess?” Sam’s voice was confused, but not tortured. Dean stopped himself from dropping his familiar and ripping his arm from Vera’s grip. He had never heard Sam use that tone when speaking of Jessica in his sleep. Vera released his arm. A moment later Dean felt an unseen hand gently stroke his lips once, as if to silence him. Griffin made a chittering sound and squirmed from his grip to run back to Sam. Shade began purring deep in her chest.

“Oh!” Star cried out. “She is so pretty! Who is she, Shade? I have never seen anyone like her!” Star’s eyes began to reflect light from a source that the humans couldn’t see. She was so excited that she forgot her usually deferential tone to the alpha.

“She is a good Soul who has Passed the Veil.” Shade purred with satisfaction. “I’m glad that you and Griffin have the chance to see this. Such Souls do not come back often.”

Dean was confused by how the familiars were acting.

“What are they doing?” He whispered. “What are they looking at; why are they purring?”

“They’re seeing whatever spirit is here,” Vera whispered back. Jay rolled his eyes. Vera pointed to Starlight, whose eyes were glowing. She was purring loudly now, her ears were flattening rhythmically, as if she were being petted. Suddenly the light faded from Starlight’s eyes. She snuggled back down against the top of Sam’s head and abruptly dropped off to sleep. Sam settled back down himself and seemed to drop off into a deep and relaxed slumber.

“Should we wake him up now?” Dean asked. Vera shrugged.

“I don’t think so. He is sleeping well; he might be upset if you woke him from a good sleep. If it is important, he’ll remember. Starlight and Shade aren’t waking him up,” Vera whispered back. “Let’s go out to the hall to talk.”

“In a situation where you are not sure what to do, watch your and Sam’s familiars. They often have good instincts and can see things that most psychics can’t without trancing. That is why we say that familiars are gifts from the Gods.” Vera said quietly. “They give us love and support, and can complement our abilities.” Shade sauntered out of Sam and Dean’s room, purring loudly and wagging her stubby tail in self-satisfaction.

“And they can also be the biggest pains in the ass on the face of the planet. Prima Donna.” Vera said as she bent and swept Shade up with a smile. “Let’s all go back to bed. Let me know if Sam starts acting odd again.” She nodded at Dean and Jay and went back to her bedroom.

~*~


It seemed like Dean had just fallen off to sleep when he was awakened by Griffin pawing at his face. The moonlight slanted through the open window, the night air warm and still. Crickets were chirping.

Dean looked over to check Sam and Star, but they were both still deeply sleeping. He rolled over to touch his brother’s arm lightly just to reassure himself Sam was fine. Sammy felt strange, as if he was healing from within. It was like a psychologically dislocated joint was gradually shifting back into place. Dean eased himself away from Sam. The last thing he wanted to do was disturb that!

Griffin pawed his face again and jumped to the floor, trilling at him. Dean wondered if his food bowl was empty. Griffin ran to the doorway and trilled again, this time louder.

“Okay, okay, this better be good fur-ball, its freaking two o'clock in the morning,” Dean whispered harshly. Griffin gave him a long stare. Dean pulled his jeans on over his boxers.

He followed his familiar downstairs and as he reached the bottom of the stairs he could hear a conversation in the altar room. Griffin pawed his leg and looked up at him before silently walking towards the conversation. Dean slipped quietly down the corridor and into the bathroom with Griffin.

“You should have known better.” Vera’s voice was authoritative and sharp with disapproval.

“But Aunt Vera! He…” Jay whined.

“You know good and well you are not talking to your aunt right now,” Vera commanded. Dean peeked around the broken bathroom door, the altar room door was open part way. Jay’s back was to him and he could see him hang his head.

“Yes, Lady Ashera,” came the sullen reply.

Dean narrowed his eyes in thought. Someone had left a message to an Ashera on Vera’s voice mail. She was Ashera? Nora said that Vera was a priestess, was Ashera the religious name she had taken? Dean remembered guiltily that no one had told her of Mike’s death yet.

“Pyrite, you know that is a line we do not cross. We do not become sexually involved with even the most casual of students! I don’t care if he initiated the kiss, you should not have let it happen.”

“But he was so scared. I was afraid if I rejected him he’d start repressing again.” Dean could hear pacing but didn't see Vera.

“That is why you never should have tried training Sam in the first place. He is far too powerful for anyone but the most experienced and strongest of us to train. You should never have included Starlight. She is far too young and too weak to try to ground him. She should have been left with Shade or Dean.” Dean heard the pacing stop. “If you thought he needed a ground, you should have included Dean.” There were a few moments of silence.

“Pyrite, I am suspending you from your teaching duties. You will not dishonor this coven again.”

“But Au – Lady Ashera, you can’t teach him yet, and he needs it! I can talk to him, it should be okay…”

“No.” There was a hint of steel in Vera’s voice. Dean could see Jay’s head snap up and it looked like he was bracing himself for something.

“I’m worried about you. You’ve been too tired for too long! Let me help.” Jay pleaded.

“No more psychic training, Pyrite, but there is plenty of work to be done. You want to teach, show Sam and Dean the farm routine. They will have to pull their weight; no one is idle here. That’s another rule of the farm.” Dean could hear Vera pacing again.

“We need to get those Goddess-be-damned demons out there, but the farm is your priority right now. You will not be responsible for chasing after those things." The pacing stopped. "Understood?”

Dean saw Jay shifting his weight slightly, like he wanted to say something more but he nodded instead.

“Go to bed.” Vera dismissed him.

“Good night Lady Ashera,” Jay said curtly before leaving the room.

Dean ducked back behind the door and waited for Jay to climb the stairs. Then he slipped out into the hallway, Griffin at his heels. The door to the altar room was open. Vera's back was to Dean. He paused at the doorway, glad Dad had taught him how to move silently. She put both of her hands on the main altar in the center of the room, careful to keep the weight off her injured left hand.

“Lord and Lady,” Vera said as she raised her head. “When I became Your priestess I swore that I would do Your Work, but I never expected this. I thought that I would be a scholar and a teacher. I never thought that You would Call on me to fight; I never thought to be a Guardian. Now in the middle of my life you have given me this, and put this burden on my family as well. Please give me the strength and guidance that I need to fulfill my duties. Thank you for my coven, I know that they will support me and help me to carry this burden. Thank you for Nora and Rattler who have accepted me and are my mentors in this.” Her shoulders flexed as she looked back down and laughed. “Not too sure about Sam and Dean yet, but at least they’ll keep things interesting.” Dean could hear the smile in her voice and couldn’t help but smile himself. Apparently she thought her Gods had a sense of humor and that he and Sammy were examples of it. Ashera looked up again. “I pray that I am worthy to bear this Honor you have given me. As always, thank you for this chance to Serve You.”

Griffin slipped out from between Dean’s feet and padded into the ritual room where he jumped up on the altar that Ashera was leaning on. She made no response at first except to stroke Griffin’s head.

“I didn’t realize you were there Dean.” She said tiredly. Dean walked into the room and laid his hand on her back between her shoulder blades.

“I thought you were supposed to be a psychic,” he tried to joke. “Are you going to be okay?” She made a waving motion with her hand that Dean remembered from the day he threw the picture at her in her office.

“I’ll be okay. I always am in the end,” she said with a smile as she raised her head and looked at Dean. Dean searched her face for a moment.

“Do you ever admit that you’re not okay?” he asked.

“Do you?” she countered, still smiling. Dean paused for a moment.

“You should be in bed, sleeping. Come on.”

~*~

A new Warrior was being called, one that would be both a Hunter and a Guardian for this land. The old Guardians were weak, the new Guardians untested and alone; a stripling boy and a fearful, barren woman. The two Hunters here were little better. One was a clueless psychic that would keep them sated for a long while. The elder of the two Hunters was the only one of all of them worth fighting. They could pick them off, one by one, and gain a foothold here and then spread. They would begin with the Warrior to be called. He could be dangerous to them if he joined with the others, but right now the fool did not believe. Next would be the stripling, without him the new Guardian line would be destroyed. After that, it didn’t matter in what order they took them out. It would be easy, as long as they waited and were patient.

Nora Bonesteel closed her eyes, both on her vision and her tears. The young ones could not know, they could not be allowed to try to stop this, for all of their sakes. What the demons did not know was their attempt to kill this new Warrior would lead to the best chance for their destruction.

In the meantime she had finished Kayla’s sweater. She began picking out colors for Sammy. Those poor boys didn’t have much in the way of clothes and a few good sweaters would help this winter.

~*~

Sam, curled on his side, woke to a bright bedroom Sunday morning. Dean was already up and gone. He turned his face into his pillow and caught just the slightest scent of Jessica. He closed his eyes for a moment. Sam vaguely remembered his dreams from the night before. He knew that she had come to him, but he didn’t understand all of what she said. One thing he did understand was that she was someplace good now and she was even happy.

Sam closed his eyes again and sighed deeply. Somehow he sensed that Jessica’s death had somehow saved both him and Dean from something horrible. He turned onto his back and opened his eyes, seeing sunlight and the shadow patterns of trees on the ceiling from the east-facing windows.

“I still miss you Jess,” he said aloud, not bothering to whisper. People in this house understood which gave him a lot of comfort. “I’ll always remember you. Thank you for…for everything. I know you said you’re not watching me, but if there is anyone who is, please tell her for me.” Sam still grieved for her, but the pain was lessening and the burden of guilt was lifting.

Sam folded his hands behind his head, watching the waving shadows of the trees outside the windows dance on the ceiling for a few minutes longer. With a deep breath, he realized that he needed to get up to help with the chores. He wondered why no one had awakened him. As he stood up he remembered the dream about Rattler. Sam frowned. Something about a legacy. He shook his head. He’d ask Nora Bonesteel about it later. He didn’t want to bother Vera with it right now.

~*~

Sam was quiet and withdrawn throughout breakfast. Dean kept a nervous eye on him, but no one dared to ask him about his dreams. Dean kept dropping bits of egg and bacon under the table for Griffin whenever Vera wasn't looking. Jay was trying not to laugh. As usual Sam ate very little. Vera seemed tired and distracted.

After the dishes were washed, Vera sent Jay and Sam out to harvest vegetables out of the garden while she and Dean talked about Sam's situation.

“It was probably very personal,” Vera murmured as she and Dean went to the library for privacy. “It’s not often that such souls return, even in a dream.” Vera seated herself at her desk. Shade perched on the window seat cushion primly, like a queen surveying her court. Vera motioned for Dean to pull up a chair, but he chose to pace instead.

“Tell me something,” Dean asked, frustrated. “How the hell am I supposed to take care of Sammy when half the time I can’t tell a bad psychic attack from a good one?”

As if in answer to his question, Griffin ambled into the library and sat directly in a sunlit square of carpet and proceeded to wash his face.

“Dean,” Vera began in a firm tone that suddenly reminded him of Nora Bonesteel. He stopped pacing to stare at her. “I know the situation with your brother is upsetting you and yes, he needs training, but we have a bigger problem. The basic truth of the matter is that this situation is too dangerous for Sam to help with hunting the demons. It's going to be up to the two of us to resolve it. We need to keep him and Jay safe until we get the damned things and then our full focus will be on training the two of you. Despite the fiasco that his session with Jay turned into, Sam did manage to get an idea of the basics. Let’s try to focus on one thing at a time right now.” Dean took a deep breath and scrubbed his face with his hands.

“Okay, what do you know?” Dean asked as he dropped into an armchair twisting to hang a knee over the arm. Vera sighed and shook her head.

“Not as much as I would like. Because the good ‘ole boy network up here is so quiet about it, I’m not even sure how many people these Goddess-be-damned things have killed. Ten at least that I know of and they seem to be getting smarter. I know there are bodies that the sheriff’s department hasn’t recovered yet. I felt the deaths, but I don’t dare ‘find’ the bodies because I can’t draw too much attention to myself. I've been able to scry the demons out a few times, but they move too fast for me to really pin down. The more tired I get the less stable my abilities are. Even if I did find them, what could I do on my own?” Vera brought her right fist crashing down onto her desk in an uncharacteristic physical display of anger. Dean started.

“I tried to get information from the local police, but then that Deputy LeDonne started snooping around treating me like a suspect. I can’t very well do anybody any good in jail or under constant surveillance. He’s backed off, but from what I have seen and heard you and Sam are his new favorite hobby. We’re going to have to be very careful.” Dean felt a lot of his own anger draining away when he realized how much Vera did care about the situation. He was glad they were finding some common ground.

“What about Old Rattler and Nora Bonesteel?” He asked. “They have to know how to deal with the local police.” Vera sighed and closed her eyes for a moment.

“Damn it. That’s one of the problems. I am so tired I keep forgetting the obvious.” Her shoulders slumped. Taking a deep breath she opened her eyes again. “You’re right. I keep overlooking resources. We need to talk to them as soon as possible about it. I know Nora is good friends with Jane Arrowood, Sheriff Arrowood’s mother.” Vera pulled out a notebook and started making a list.

“That’s a start. What about the victims? Do you see any connections?”

Vera shook her head. “No. The victims are locals and tourists, males and females, ranging in age from adolescence to the elderly. The only real pattern that I see is most travel alone, like backpackers, or in pairs. Not necessarily couples, they can be friends or family members. One of the most difficult things about this is that all of the bodies have been found in caves.”

“How many caves can there be out there? Why don’t the cops just search all of them?’ Dean asked scornfully. “What are they afraid of, Bigfoot?”

Vera stared at him for a moment before shaking her head in disgust. She’d save the lecture on local wildlife for later, preferably after he'd been scared shitless by a raccoon or ‘possum. “The area is mainly made up of limestone, which means we have karst topography here. Do you know what that means?”

“No, why don’t you tell me, professor?”

Vera frowned. “Actually, my proper title is Dr. Kesterson. Limestone erodes very easily in water. As a result, in a limestone rich environment with a lot of rainfall, caves form very easily, as do sinkholes. There are literally thousands of little caves out there that are big enough to hide a body in that are not mapped. That can also make some of the terrain here very difficult to get over because of how steep some of the area is and how many small springs and streams there are out there. A good thunderstorm can wash out trails. That’s why if I started finding bodies in unmarked caves on other people’s property I’d immediately become a suspect. Hell, there are probably caves here on the farm that the last owner didn’t know about.”

“Thanks for the geology lesson, but how does that affect us? We'll be fighting them on the trails.” Dean was getting frustrated with her again. What the hell difference did geology make? Something was killing people out there and she seemed to think limestone was important. Vera grunted and slammed her fist down on her desk again.

“Damn it Dean, are you the one reading ‘The Art of War’?”

“What?” Dean asked, surprised at the change in topic. He didn’t think he had the book with him when she woke up.

“A copy is missing,” she said, pointing to the place on the shelf where he’d taken it from.

“Yeah, but why does that matter?”

“Have you read the Nine Changes yet?” Comprehension began to dawn on Dean.

“Terrain, it’s all about using terrain.”

“That’s right. There are only two of us that can go after this thing. I don’t want Jay training Sam, but he does need to shield him until this is over. We need every advantage we have. Do you understand now?”

“Yeah.” Dean began to understand something about Vera as well. She was very good at overall theory and knowledge, but when it came to practical application and ass whuppin’ she couldn’t get her head out of the clouds. He realized why Nora Bonesteel said they had to help each other. Dean was going to be training her just as much as she was going to be training him and Sammy.

“So these demons, are they succubi and incubi of some sort?”

“No,” Vera said with a shake of her head. “I wish they were. They’re pretty easy to deal with. A good Lesser Banishing Ritual along with a thorough house cleansing will usually do the trick. Besides, they almost never kill unless you get a nasty one. They just tire out a victim over a few weeks and then move on.”

Dean gave her a strange look. “You’ve dealt with them before?”

Vera shrugged. “They’re just a garden variety psychic nuisance. Anybody with any real occult training should be able to deal with one.”

“After this is all over we are gonna have to talk. You say all you do is train but then you talk about banishing demons like it's nothing more than your cat having a bad case of fleas.”

Vera actually gave him a smile while Shade yowled at him. “Remember, I’m a Priestess as well. Never forget that.”

Dean smiled in return. “I’m going to buy some cellphones for Nora and Rattler. We need to be able to stay in touch with them. I’ll ask Nora about the police when I drop off her phone. You,” Dean said, stabbing a finger at Vera for emphasis “rest. We’ve got each other’s backs until this is over.” There was mirth in Vera’s eyes.

“Can I go out to the garden?” She asked innocently. She would anyways as soon as he was gone, but he knew that Jay and Sam wouldn’t let her over tire herself.

“Sure, and if you behave I’ll even let you have an extra cookie.”

~*~

As Dean was on his way to the Impala, Jay called out to him to wait up while he jogged out to meet him.

“Hey,” Jay began. “Look, Aunt Vera said I can’t train Sam anymore, but she’s not up to it yet. I don’t think she’s really thinking right. Could you talk to her? You’re the one…”

“Dude,” Dean cut him off quickly “I’m going with Vera on this one. She might be tired, but she’s on her game. Listen, I gotta go into town,” Dean paused a moment. He was going to tell the kid to go back and watch Sammy and Vera, but seeing Jay’s face crumple made him change his mind. He’d been expelled and thrown out of his parent’s house and chewed out by his aunt last night. Jay needed a break.

“Hey, why don’t you come with me? You can show me what stores are open on a Sunday where we can buy groceries and cellphones. If you think Sam and Vera will be okay alone together.” Dean was glad to see Jay’s face light up when he made the offer.

“Sure!” Jay said eagerly, trying unsuccessfully to hide his excitement. “I think they’ll be alright. Let me go tell them and I’ll be right back.” Dean tried not to smile. It looked like Jay thought he was pretty cool. Dean smirked. Well, it's about time someone realized that. He felt paws on his knees and looked down to see Griffin begging to be picked up. With an indulgent smile he swept his familiar into his arms and rubbed his head.

“Sorry Fur Ball, but you’re not sneaking into the car this time. It’s too hot today to leave you in there while we shop. I’ll see if I can find a harness for you.” He was beginning to see why familiars were so important to everyone.

“I’ll put up with a harness if I can stay with you,” Griffin cheeped at him through his purring. Dean just smiled more broadly. Even Sam would have been surprised by the look on Dean’s face. Dean quickly hid his smile and let Griffin jump out of his arms when he saw Jay running back out to the car.

“Okay Griffin, stay away from the tires. Let's roll Jay.”

~*~


They hadn't been on the main road for very long before Dean noticed blue lights flashing behind them.

“Holy fuckin’ shit,” Dean swore. “Jay, no matter what goes down, stay out of it and call your aunt as soon as possible, okay?” Jay stared at him.

“Damn it, do you understand?” Dean asked in a fury. He couldn’t just pack up and run this time.

“Yes,” Jay replied, frightened. Dean pulled over and stopped the car. He kept his hands low and handed Jay his cellphone and wallet. Moments later he saw Deputy LeDonne in his driver’s side mirror.

“Stay cool Jay, it’s gonna be okay.”

“Mr. Winchester, step out of the car.” Not much scared Dean, but the malice in that man’s voice sent a chill down his spine.

Dean slowly complied. “What’s the problem, Officer? Tail light out again?” Dean asked glibly. Fast as a snake striking LeDonne slammed a fist into his gut. Dean went down on his knees retching on the hard, hot pavement.

“Stop!” Jay screamed, scrambling to get out of the car.

“No,” Dean grunted at him. Jay had to stay out of trouble. He had to let Vera know what was going on.

“Jay, get back in the car. You’ve been in an awful lot of trouble recently son, and you don’t want to get into any more.” LeDonne began cuffing Dean, slapping the handcuffs on extra tight so they were cutting into his wrists.

“I don't think you realize Jay, the kind of company you are keeping,” LeDonne continued, his voice low and deadly. “Your friend here is a supposedly dead serial killer who likes to play with his victims. Now, if you know where his brother is, you'd best tell me. I'd hate to have to arrest you for obstructing justice.”

Dean desperately sent out a thought to Jay to keep his mouth shut, hoping he was a strong enough psychic to get the message. He saw Jay’s face go blank for a fraction of a second.

“N-no,” Jay stammered. “I haven’t seen him.” He looked scared shitless. Dean couldn’t help but think how Sammy could have handled the situation better at eight than Jay was doing at nineteen. He’d have to work on teaching him.

Where the hell did that thought come from?

LeDonne hauled Dean to his feet and threw him into the back of his cruiser, busting the side of Dean’s head against the roof as he did. "Fuck, who do I look like, Rodney King?" Dean swore. Damn, this bastard could kill him and dump his body in the woods without a thought.

“Justifiable force for resisting arrest,” LeDonne told him, echoing his thoughts, “Be thankful Jay Kesterson was with you, or I'd have left your body for the feral dogs to eat. But the families of the people you killed deserve more than that. You'll be extradited back to Missouri, lethal injection is better than you deserve. Good thing I stopped you before you added Jay there to your list. You’re not going to screw up that boy’s life, you sick pervert.”