~IX~ – Halloween

Even I don't believe what I'm hearing from Castiel and Uriel. Obliterate the town? Have they lost their minds?

I stare, gaping at my brethren.

"So this is your plan, you're gonna smite the whole friggin' town?" snaps Dean. He looks to me. "Are you in on this?"

"N-no," I stammer. "I swear!"

"We're out of time," Castiel says. "This witch has to die, the seal must be saved."

"I agree, but this is not the way to do it."

Castiel looks at me, blue meeting brown. We exchange silent words. I'm questioning him just as much as he's questioning me.

"There are a thousand people here," Sam protests.

"One thousand two hundred fourteen," Uriel corrects him.

"And you're willing to kill them all?"

"This isn't the first time I've...purified a city."

I shudder. Uriel isn't wrong. He has done this before. The death toll was scarring to hear.

"Look, I understand this is regrettable," Castiel begins.

"Regrettable?" Dean exclaims.

"We have to hold the line. Too many seals have broken already."

"So you screw the pooch on some seals and this town has to pay the price?"

"It's the lives of one thousand against the lives of six billion. There's a bigger picture here."

"Right, cause you're bigger picture kind of guys."

"Lucifer cannot rise. He does and Hell rises with him. Is that something that you're willing to risk?"

"We'll stop this witch before she summons anyone," Sam says persistently. "Your seal won't be broken and no one has to die."

"We're wasting time with these mud monkeys," Uriel says in irritation.

"I'm sorry," says Castiel, "but we have our orders."

"Whose orders?" I stammer.

Castiel looks at me. "You know."

"Frankly, I don't. If I did, I would be on your side. But...this...I'm sorry. I'm not." I wave my hands. "I can't."

"You can't do this," Sam pleas. "You're angels. I mean aren't you supposed to—You're supposed to show mercy."

"Says who?" asks Uriel.

"We have no choice," Castiel repeats.

"Of course you have a choice," Dean says. "I mean, come on, what? You've never questioned a crap order, huh? What are you both, just a couple of hammers?"

"Look, even if you can't understand it, have faith. The plan is just."

"How can you even say that?" asks Sam.

"Because it comes from Heaven, that makes it just."

If I was a good angel, I would believe that. But even I don't believe the crap that Castiel is spewing right now. It's the reason why I was frowned upon when I took up my training, because I always questioned my orders when they sounded wrong. I still do, even now, even after I've been told countless times that Heaven's way is the right way.

"Oh, it must be nice, to be so sure of yourselves," says Dean.

"Tell me something, Dean, when your father gave you an order, didn't you obey?"

"Well, sorry, boys, looks like the plans have changed."

"You think you can stop us?" Uriel scoffs.

Dean is in Uriel's face, and I'm frightened for him. "No, but if you're gonna smite this whole town, then you're gonna have to smite us with it, because we are not leaving. See, you went to the trouble of busting me out of Hell. I figure I'm worth something to the man upstairs. So you wanna waste me, go ahead. See how he digs that."

"I will drag you out of here myself."

"Yeah, but you'll have to kill me, then we're back to the same problem. I mean, come on, you're gonna wipe out a whole town for one little witch. Sounds to me like you're compensating for something." Dean looks to Castiel. "We can do this. We will find that witch and we will stop the summoning."

"Castiel!" Uriel snaps. "I will not let these peop—"

"Enough!" Castiel barks. He looks to Dean. "I suggest you move quickly."

Uriel looks peeved by Castiel's claim. The Winchesters hurry out of the motel room, and I find myself scurrying after them before I can be ridiculed further by either of my brothers. I'm surprised they didn't try to kill the Winchesters. The Winchesters are needed. That's why they're still around.

The brothers are in their car, which is splattered in eggs. I wonder who they messed with to deserve that kind of thing. Chickens don't act like this. I'm a bit hesitant to get even closer. Do they believe I'm associated with Castiel and Uriel's thinking? They can't after I blatantly disagreed with my brothers in front of them.

Dean rolls down the window of the car and looks at me.

"Are you against me, too, now?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"Depends. Was that act back there just a ruse for you to try and gain our trust?" asks Sam.

"No," I tell him truthfully. "Uriel and Castiel are just two of many angels who follow Heaven's orders, word for word, with no straying from that path."

"And you?"

"I...am not like them."

Dean looks at me suspiciously, Sam's mind seems to be at work.

"If I were, I would have never found you, Sam," I continue. "I would have been following strict orders."

"So, finding me wasn't an order from Heaven?" he questions.

"No."

"Ah, so you're a little winged badass, huh, by breaking the rules and going rogue?" Dean teases me.

I squint. "You could say that, yes."

"Well, Vera, if you're gonna hang with us, get in the damn car."

I oblige and find myself in the backseat. I notice Sam with the hex bag and its contents in his hand. Currently, he's fixated on the bone.

"Well, are you gonna figure out a way to find this witch, or are you just gonna sit there fingering your bone?" Dean asks him. He also starts the car. This time, I expect the loud noise.

"You know how much heat it would take to char a bone like this, Dean?" Sam asks his older brother.

"No."

"A lot, I mean, more than a fire or some kitchen oven."

"Okay, Betty Crocker, what does it mean?"

"It means we make a stop."

* * *

We make a stop at the high school, where the Winchesters had gone once before. We find the source behind the bone's look—a kiln. We also find some incriminating evidence in the teacher's desk as well. Nothing speaks witch like a locked desk full of charred, and not-charred, children's bones.

We're heading to the teacher's house now, and it's night. It's officially Halloween. Children are adorned in strange clothes, accompanied by adults.

Dean shuts off the car, and instead of taking the human way inside of the house, I poof myself inside. The lights are off, and it's dark. But I'm sensing the magic in this house. Someone's here.

A noise makes my head turn. I relax when it's Sam and Dean, armed with weapons at their sides. Dean frowns at me while Sam looks amused.

"Didn't think to bring us along?" Dean snaps.

I shrug. "Transportation by angel can be unsettling. It wasn't worth risking our suspect hearing you groaning and potentially vomiting on his carpet."

"Is he here, Vera?" asks Sam.

"Somewhere, yes." I use the magic I feel in the air to guide me. It leads me to a closed door. It's stronger. "Through here." I gently push open the door, padding down the steps mutely. I feel the brothers flank me.

We're shrouded in darkness. I hear a muffled noise. Turning, through the shadows, I see Tracy, strung up by rope, a rag around her mouth. The teacher, Don Harding, is at some sort of altar. It has to be part of the ritual. We steady ourselves as he goes to Tracy, running a sharp blade across her neck, not drawing blood. He raises the weapon, ready to stab Tracy—

But the Winchesters' weapons fire off three times. Don Harding's body drops, and we emerge from our cover. Tracy is hysterical. Dean goes to get her down while Sam and I hover near Don's body. He looks at me for confirmation. I shake my head.

"Thank you, he was gonna kill me!" Tracy breathes. "Ugh, that sick son of a bitch. I mean, did you see what he was doing? Did you hear him? How sloppy his incantation was?"

My head picks up at hearing the Winchesters' guns click. I still sense magic. I stare right at Tracy.

"My brother always was a little dim."

The Winchesters and I go flying off our feet as Tracy yells an incantation, throwing up her hand. I land on my feet, catlike. The brothers do not. I feel a subtle pain writhing in my stomach. I notice the Winchesters are writhing in the same pain.

I start to whimper when I feel the previous cuts from before start to burn on my skin.

"He was gonna make me the final sacrifice, his idea, but now, that honor goes to him. Our master's return? The spell work's a two man job you understand, so for six hundred years I had to deal with that pompous son of a bitch. Planning, preparing, unbearable."

I try to fight the pain off with some of my Grace, but Tracy's magic overrides my ability. The pain is forcing me to buckle to my knees. She goes to her brother, grabbing the knife and chalice he once held.

"The whole time I wanted to rip his face off."

Tracy digs the knife into Don's bullet wound, holding the chalice near it to allow the blood to dribble in.

"And you get him with a gun, uh, love that." She goes back to the altar. "You know, back in the day, this was the one day you kept your children inside. Well tonight you'll all see what Halloween really is."

Tracy begins another incantation, and I find Sam going to Don's body. He smears blood on his hand and wipes it on his face. I wrinkle my nose, and Dean looks as disgusted as I do.

"What are you doing?"

"Just follow my lead."

I have to go on a limb and trust that Sam Winchester knows what he's doing, and that what we're doing is not going to backfire and get us killed.

We pull back away from Don once we're smothered in blood. The ground cracks once Tracy is finished, and I cringe as black smoke pours from it, entering Don Harding's body. When I see the body start, I want to zap myself out of here, if not for the intense pain.

Samhain is rising. Another seal is broken.