Roads Untraveled ~ Sam Winchester

Chapter Sixty-Three - Werther Box

After a wasted trip to Tulsa to find Dean had already taken care of the Vamp nest - much to Sam's annoyance that he went in alone - the trio headed back to the Bunker.
As soon as Dean had passed out, Sam and Elizabeth hit the books to see if they could find anything on the codex.
After looking through the records, Sam had tracked down a sound reel of meeting minutes from nineteen fifty-six.
They were talking about something called a Werther Box - a magic safe that killed anyone who didn't know how to properly open it. They had opted to 'bury it' in St. Louis.
"I suppose we have our answer, then." Elizabeth shrugged.
Sam removed his headphones with a nod, getting up from his seat to get a particular book of records from the shelf a few feet behind him.
He noted down the only address listed in St Louis and phoned Rowena.
"I'm over three hundred years old. Beauty sleep isn't an option." She answered.
"I've been looking into the, uh, thing we discussed. So I got a lead, but it's guarded by a violent enchantment. I need a spell to... Break the spell."
"The Cabirian invocation. Easy to obtain. Good all-purpose disenchantment." The Witch replied.
"Great. Thanks." Sam frowned.
"But, it's not recommended for amateurs. In inexperienced hands, the invocation has a way of... Fizzling out. I... Could come. You might need me." Rowena replied in a sultry voice.
"I'll take my chances." Sam nodded. "Thanks."
He hung up the phone, slipping it back into his pocket.
"Off to St. Louis we go, then." Elizabeth cocked an eyebrow, leaning her head on the table in the library.
"Off to St. Louis we go." Sam sighed.

The address they were led to was a big white house in the suburbs. It looked a little run down, but not really any more than any other house with an owner who didn't much care for gardening.
The porch, on the other hand, was a different story. The rolls of months-worth of newspapers littered about the place gave the impression that the house was abandoned. So, whilst Elizabeth kept watch, Sam pulled out his lock-picking equipment.
Just as he was about to put the tools in the lock, the barrel of a gun came through the letter box.
"Woah!" He exclaimed, pulling Elizabeth's attention.
"Bad idea." A woman's voice came from the other side of the door.
"I can explain." Sam told her.
"Yeah, don't bother. You have three choices. Get arrested, get your bits blown off or get back." The woman called through the wood.
"Yeah, alright. I think we'll get back. Sorry." Sam panted as his heart raced in his chest.

Getting back into Elizabeth's car, they both sighed.
"Well, that was a bust..." She commented.
"Yeah, no kidding." Sam scoffed.
And then Dean appeared at Sam's open window.
"Hey, guys." He smiled. "How's the case?"
"What are you doing here?" Sam asked.
"Well, it looks like I, uh, I'm here to save your sack." The older brother chuckled. "You're welcome, Vampy Pants."
"Much appreciated..." She replied in a bored tone, slamming her forehead on her steering wheel in annoyance.
"Look, you guys were right, okay? I shouldn't have gone off solo on that Vamp hunt like I did, it was stupid." Dean told them.
"And..?" Sam pressed.
"And selfish. It was a douche move. But if you're doing this case without me to teach me a lesson, you don't have to, okay?" Dean replied.
There was a moment of silence before Dean opened Sam's door and shoved his seat forward to climb in the back.
"How'd you find us?" Sam asked once his seat was back in position.
"Ah!" Dean exclaimed, sounding impressed with himself as he dug into the inside pocket of his jacket. He pulled out a piece of paper. "I took an etching off your notepad. And I decided to take a crack at the St. Louis suicide house."
'The what?' Elizabeth mouthed to Sam after lifting her head from the steering wheel.
"So... You know about it?" Sam replied, shrugging to the Vampire when Dean wasn't looking.
"Got the basics from Google. Family moves into a long-vacant house, one week later, three of 'em are dead by their own hands. Whole family wiped out except for the daughter, which the house is still under her name - I'm figuring she's the one who nearly unmanned you back there." Dean smirked. "But see, here's what I don't get. You know, a cold case is one thing, but this is sub-zero. There's nothing even in our wheelhouse. Unless you guys know something I don't."
Sam and Elizabeth glanced to each other.
"Yeah, uh, that long-vacant home? It used to be a Men of Letters chapter house. Remember Magnus?" Sam asked.
"You mean the dickwad ex-Man of Letters that tried to make a zoo exhibit out of me? Yeah." Dean nodded.
"I'm gunna need some context on that when we've got a minute." Elizabeth smirked.
"Before he was expelled, he built Werther - a magical box with a deadly alarm system." Sam explained.
"Basically, the toughest supernatural safe you could possibly imagine. Ninety-eight per cent death rate." Elizabeth elaborated.
"Werther is buried somewhere in that house." Sam pointed to the building. "It was supposed to have been guarded, but I'm guessing that plan went out the window when Abaddon massacred the entire membership in fifty-eight."
"And the house stayed in limbo until some lucky family bought it." Dean continued.
"Werther's a time bomb. It needs to be defused. Not only is this 'in our wheelhouse', it's our responsibility." The younger brother said.
"Our responsibility?" Dean frowned.
"Yeah, we're Men - and Woman - of Letters. It's our legacy."
"Well, hey, if you say this is a case, I'm in." Dean clapped his hands together. "If you two will have me."
"Right then." Elizabeth sighed. "Shall we, boys?"