In the Light

Chapter Two: Unnatural

Sister Elena decided not to mention the whole vision-y dream thing, this would probably be awkward enough without that.

"Uh, Father Dean," the way Sam said it sounded forced or unnatural "could you give us a minute?"

"Sure. Any food around here, Sis?"

"The kitchen is through those doors," Sister Elena pointed, taken aback by Father Dean's informal language. Turning to Father Sam, she said "This is a weird coincidence."

"Uh, yeah, so, listen. I'm sorry about what happened in college. I went through a lot of stuff, and well... I thought you'd... Well, I never thought you'd end up doing this." He gave a forced laugh. This was awkward, but she sensed there was more to it.

"Actually, it's kind of because of you that I ended up here. I realized that what we had been doing was wrong; it was hurting my family. So, I turned my life around and I ended up here. I'm much happier now."

"That's great." He smiled genuinely.

Father Dean came back in, his face stuffed with food. "We ready to roll? You're the one coming with us, right?" he asked.

"Yes. Just let me get my stuff," she said quickly.

"Oh, I got that," Father Sam said quickly, taking the bags from her.

A few minutes later, Sister Elena stood outside in front of an old black car. It was beautiful. She knew nothing about cars of course, but she knew it was a treasure. "Wow," she said as Father Dean put her stuff in the trunk. She thought she saw a glint of metal in Father Dean's hand, but quickly forgot about it. "Can I sit in the front with you guys?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah. You get car sick." Father Sam said. She grimaced, wishing he wouldn't have said that; it was so embarrassing. Interesting that Father Sam remembered though. Sister Elena had to keep forcing herself to say Father Sam instead of just Sam in her mind.

"Sammy? Crap." Father Dean cleared his throat. "Father Sam? Is there something you wanna tell me?" Father Dean asked. That was when it clicked for Sister Elena. Sam - Father Sam, she corrected herself - had told her, maybe once, that he had a brother named Dean.

"Oh!" she said, unable to control herself. "You're brothers."

"Sam?" Father Dean said curtly. "Come talk to me. Over there." He jerked his head to the side.

They walked off. Sister Elena got the feeling that Father Dean didn't want her to know they were brothers. She couldn't figure out why though. The two priests were fighting. Father Sam was trying to explain himself to his brother. He kept gesturing with his hands - pointing at Sister Elena and then himself. Father Dean suddenly seemed taller, like the older brother. He was whispering angrily. Then they both walked over to the car quietly.

"Let's go," Father Dean said. She detected a hint of anger.

The car ride was silent for a while. Then, Sister Elena asked about where they were going. It was quite until Father Dean prompted Father Sam to talk.

"There's a case," he said, "of possession. A demon of course. It's an elderly woman. We don't get that often. Her name is Agnes O'Henry. Her husband died years ago. When he died, she moved in with her family. She moved back in to her old house three weeks ago. Her daughter, Alice, went to visit her last week. It was so bad that she called us that day. She was showing the usual signs of possession - extreme strength, facial contortions -"

Sister Elena cut him off "What about reactions to holy objects?"

"Damn, you really know your stuff," Father Dean said, impressed. "And yeah, apparently she practically hissed at her daughters cross necklace."

"What's the deal with the cursing, Father Dean? I don't mind it, but it's pretty unusual for a priest."

"It's probably a bad habit, but, uh, it's not technically a sin, so I figured what the hell."

"Right," Sister Elena said slowly. "So what's the plan?"

"We go visit sweet little Regan," Father Dean said.

Sister Elena didn't understand that reference, but she let it go and instead asked "What if she is possessed? I'm sure Father Sam told you. I've seen possession, but never an exorcism."

"That's pretty dark, and no he didn't tell me," he leaned forward and glared at Father Sam before continuing, "We'll bring all the essentials with us - holy water, crucifix, the exorcism spell -"

"Prayer, you mean," Sister Elena interrupted.

"What? Yeah, exorcism prayer. We already have it memorized, but if something goes wrong, you'll need it. Father Sam has it. Read over a few times. You ever take Latin?"

"Thanks, Father Sam. Uh, yeah."

After a minute, Sister Elena asked "How much longer?"

"Forty-five minutes," Father Sam said quietly.