In the Light

Chapter Forty-Six: Tablet

There was a sharp knock on the door. Ruby looked at Sam, raising her eyebrows. She grabbed the gun off the table and cocked it. She walked toward the door, holding the gun, pointed at the ceiling, next to her head. She went to the door. Sam stayed behind her, holding his gun behind his back. Dean and Mary stayed where they were, on edge.

It wasn't Castiel. He had gone for a food run and, besides, he could just pop right in.

Ruby looked at the others, Dean nodded. She opened the door a little and peeked out. She didn't see anything, so she opened it all the way. She put the gun in her waistband and stepped outside, but she tripped. She stumbled a little before standing upright and glaring at what tripped her.

It was a rock, no, a tablet, like the ones with the Ten Commandments written on them. It was about as wide and long as a piece of paper, but a lot thicker. Sam picked it up, but almost dropped it because of the weight. Ruby stepped forward, looking over her shoulder. "Let's go inside." She put her hand on Sam's shoulder and pushed him a little.

Sam carefully put the rock on the table for everyone to see. It had what looked similar to cuneiform etched deep into it. "What the hell?" Dean muttered. "I've never seen anything like this. Why would someone leave this here? It's obviously meant for us."

"Maybe Castiel will know. I'll call him." Mary picked up the phone and dialed.  "Hey, Castiel.  Are you almost done at the store?  No, just forget the pie and drive back to the hotel. Don't forget to pay.  Yeah, okay, bye."

Ten minutes later, Cas opened the door and dropped the groceries just inside and quickly closed the door behind him.  "A demon has been here.  What happened?"  He walked toward the table and looked down at the tablet.  "This - this is the word of God.  How did you get this?" He looked at each of them.

Ruby couldn't tell how Castiel felt about all of this.  His expression was a mixture of confusion, protectiveness, and what looked like anger.  "You said a demon was here?  My guess is that one dropped it off outside the door and left it for us.  Someone knocked on the door and when I looked, I didn't see anyone and the tablet was on the ground.  Cas, could you explain what's going on?"

"It's the word of God, written down by Metatron.  Only a prophet can read it.  I'm guessing one will be drawn here, so we should stay put and wait for him or her."

Sam looked confused.  "Back up.  Metatron?  You're saying a transformer wrote that?"

"Megatron," Dean spoke up.  "The transformer is Megatron."

"What?" Sam asked.

"Metatron.  He's an angel; the scribe of God.  I'll go outside and stay hidden to wait for the prophet."  He disappeared. 

"Wait.  If this is the word of God... Cas says he knows God; that he's talked to him before.  Right?  Why can't he just ask him.  And why would God keep this a secret?"  Ruby's head was spinning with fear and confusion.

"Don't worry about that now." Sam knew she was about to get bad again even if she didn't. He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed.

• • •

Ruby fell asleep on the couch. She hadn't been sleeping well for the past few weeks. Everyone else was doing research or something. She woke up when Sam lifted off the couch abruptly. She flailed for a second, but Sam held her tightly. He let her down then.

She looked back at the couch where Cas had just dropped a tiny Asian kid. "This is the prophet," he said.

"And why is he passed out on our couch?" Dean crossed his arms.

"He was trying to fight to get in the room. This was easier. He didn't know what he was doing. He was drawn to the tablet."

"Who is he?" Ruby asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Kevin Tran. He's in advanced placement."

"What?"

They were interrupted by the boy, who had just woken up, screaming "WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" He started hyperventilating.

He pushed himself into the back of the couch, his hands on his head. Ruby knelt in front of him and grabbed his hands. "Hey, Kevin. Calm down. We're not going to hurt you. Do I look like someone who would hurt you?" He shook his head timidly. Ruby turned around and looked at the others. "Get out," she said bluntly. Having everyone stare at Kevin was not helping things.

Kevin looked down at his hands while everyone left. Ruby sat down next to him. "Kevin, do you know how you got here?"

"No. I was supposed to take the SAT today. I woke up in my room on the floor. It was the middle of the day and there was glass everywhere. I got in my car, but that's the last thing I remember." He looked up at Ruby. He was scared.

"Okay, I know that seems weird. Well, things are about to get weirder." She went to the table and picked up the tablet. She carefully gave it to Kevin.

"I feel weird." He clutched it to his chest.

"Okay, so here goes. That tablet contains the word of God and you're a prophet, so you can read it. Give it a try."

"What? I can't-" he looked down at the words. "Demons. Hell. How can I...? This has to be a dream." Ruby sighed. This was good.

"This isn't a dream. This is very real. You've just entered into a completely different world. One with demons, angels, ghosts, and vampires. This is your life now."

That's when the lights blew out and the windows broke and angels appeared.