In the Light

Chapter Fifteen: Cold Oak

They walked around for awhile. The town wasn't that big. At the center was a giant bell, like the Liberty Bell, but not as big. It was old and discolored; there was a tree in the center. It wasn't a big, healthy tree. It was big, but scraggly, and had long branches.

"Crap." Sam reached out and touched the tree etched on the surface. "I know where we are. We are literally in one of the top five most haunted towns in all of America. It's the real deal. Cold Oak, South Dakota."

Fittingly, a second later, they heard a shriek. A long shriek. They ran towards the sound. They found a small shack.

"Hey, hey, hey! Hold on. We're gonna get you out of there." The girl inside kept banging on the door.

Sam picked up a rock and knocked the padlock off the door; he opened it. A girl about the same height as Ruby, with mousy brown hair and tears running down her face stood there. Sam put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. Why don't you tell me your name?"

"A-Ava," the girl sobbed.

"Ava. My mom, Mary Winchester, was looking for you. She talked to you months ago. She said you had a vision of my death."

"Mary? I saw her two days ago. This can't be happening. Where are we? What's going on?" Her voice kept getting louder.

Ruby shushed her. While Sam was preoccupied with Ava, Ruby was checking the surroundings. She saw movement inside one of the buildings. She nudged Sam, and pointed to it. Sam pointed to her and then to Ava, indicating that Ruby should stay there while he went to see what was going on.

Once he was at the door, Ruby motioned at Ava to stay where she was. Ruby ran up to the building. Sam didn't hear her, so she whispered his name and he turned around. He still had the fire poker in his hand. He probably should have known she'd follow him. He turned back around and they walked in.

The door suddenly slammed behind them and a giant beam hit Sam on his back and knocked him down. Ruby backed up into the door. Sam swung the poker up, but missed the attacker. Sam looked at him. "Andy?" He looked confused.

"This is the weirdest acid trip I've ever had." Andy said incredulously. He swiveled on his heel and ran his hands through his hair.

Sam stood up, wincing, and said "I hate to break it to you, Andy. This isn't an acid trip although it seems like it. Demons brought us to Cold Oak, South Dakota."

Ava entered the room. "I've heard of that place. What is it, Sam?"

"Uh. A place so haunted that everyone left." Sam had an apologetic look on his face.

"Oh, my God!" Ava started hyperventilating.

Ruby hated girls like this. She knew it wasn't exactly Ava's fault. This was just how she dealt with her fear. Still, she rolled her eyes and said "Calm down. We need to get out of here. Stow your crap. Let's go."

Sam held in a laugh. Ruby wasn't very gentle about it like he would have been, but he liked it. She reminded him of Dean again. "She's right," he said seriously. "We need to go." He lead the way outside.

"How do you know Andy?" Ruby asked Sam as they walked.

"Dean and I stumbled on a case involving his brother. They were both telepathic. We didn't know anything like that existed. Andy's a good guy." Somehow, Ruby got the feeling that his brother wasn't such a good guy. Andy did seem pretty chill. She liked him.

A few minutes later, they found two other people. A blonde woman and a man in an army uniform. Ruby started jogging toward them. "Hey!" The man looked ready for a fight, but he didn't start one.

Sam stepped in front of Ruby. He had his arms lowered with his palms facing up. "I'm Sam." He lifted his hand and put it on his chest. "This is Ruby." He put his hand on her arm. "That's Andy and Ava." He pointed to them. "We were brought here, same as you. Long story short, the monsters under your bed are real. Demons brought us here and we're in one of the most haunted towns in the U.S."

"Damn. I'm a little surprised about the demons, but I guess I believe it. Considering my super strength, it's not that far off. I'm Jake, this is Lily. What's the plan?"

"Uh," Sam said, caught off guard by Jake's calmness. "We find anything that can be used as weapons then find a place to sleep. In the morning, we'll go into the woods and try to get out; it'll be easier in the daylight. We're miles from anywhere, but going out there is better than staying here"

"Sounds good to me." Jake walked down the stairs with Lily trailing behind him. They all started walking East. "So what are your stories?"

Ruby zoned out. She was too tired to talk. Soon, they had gone through the entire town. They found a rusty knife, a hammer, some loose boards, and another fire poker. They finally settled down in the least creepy house they could find. There wasn't any furniture, which was fine with Ruby. The chairs and beds in the other houses had been nasty.

Sam decided that someone needed to keep watch while the others slept. Of course, he volunteered. He sat on the floor with his legs out in front of him. Ruby laid her head on his lap. He pulled her hair back, away from her neck and stroked her hair until she fell asleep.