In the Light

Chapter Fifty: Trials

It was pitch black outside. Ruby guessed it was about 2 in the morning. She was laying in bed next to Sam waiting for the nausea to pass. There was a sharp knock on the door. Ruby quickly got up and opened it so Sam wouldn't wake up.

"Ruby," Kevin said, his eyes bloodshot. "I found something." He turned on his heel and walked into the kitchen. She followed, quietly closing the door behind her.

Kevin handed her his notebook where he's been writing down the translations. "I found something about how to close the gates of Hell. I haven't found the specifics yet, but it says something about three trials."

"Holy shit. If this weren't the literal word of God, I'd say it's just click bait. Holy shit," she repeated. She pulled out a chair, turned it around, and straddled it. "Keep going. We can wake up the others when you find something more concrete."

Then she actually looked at Kevin. He was exhausted. He had dark circles under his eyes and his kids drooped. Ruby could swear she a blood stain under his nose, like he'd had a nose bleed. "Actually, Kevin, you just go to sleep. We could all use some sleep. Come on." Ruby went over to the couch and fluffed a pillow. She found a blanket in a closet and draped it over him.

Ruby turned off the lights, but left the curtains over. Dull light from street lamps came into the room. She sat down in the chair across from Kevin, waiting for him to fall asleep. He fell asleep quickly, but it was a restless sleep. Ruby moved the chair closer and hummed quietly, hoping it would soothe him.

"You're gonna make a great mom," Dean said behind Ruby. She turned to look at him. "I see what you do. I see how hard you work. You think you're useless because you can't hunt, but we need you. I see how much you're struggling, but you're doing so good. You're helping yourself even though we both know that you just want to give up. And, on top of all that, you're taking care of us. You help us with research and make sure we have everything we need for hunts. You make sure we're sleeping and ask how we're doing. That's how I know you'll be a great mom."

By the end of it all, Ruby was crying, and not the pretty, movie star crying. She wiped her face on her sleeve. "Thanks, Dean. I really needed to hear that."

"I know. So. What were you talking with Kevin about?"

Ruby sniffed. "Oh, nothing. Just, closing the gates of Hell."

"What? Are you serious?"

"Yeah. We don't know the specifics yet."

"Holy shit."

"That's what I said."

• • •

"It's a spell," Kevin said. "It's just a few words of Enochian. It has to be said after you finish each of the trials. The trials are just like a series of tests. The first one is to kill a hound of Hell and bathe in it's blood."

"Is that a metaphor or...?"

"Not really," Kevin said.

"Oh, I read about this," Ruby said. "People make deals with demons in exchange for their soul. The Hell hounds are what come to collect them ten years later."

"Exactly," Mary said. "So now we just need to find someone who's contract is almost up. It shouldn't be that hard to find. We just look for someone who got lucky in impossible circumstances."

• • •

Ruby felt dead. They'd been doing research for hours. Well, she hadn't. She'd been absently clicking and searching, but not really paying attention. She put earbuds in, which she hardly ever did, and shut the world out.

She didn't eat when Sam offered food. She took an earbud out to hear what he was saying, said "No thanks," and put it back in. She just stayed on the couch with her laptop on her lap. Everyone else sat at the table and ate together. She felt lonely, but she didn't mind. It was a different type of lonely - isolation.

Eventually, Julissa found something. A family struck oil ten years ago in a place where it was impossible to get oil.

Castiel, Sam, and Ruby left an hour later. Cas offered to go because he can see hell hounds and kill them with his 'angel blade.' Everyone else stayed behind in case Kevin found out about the second trial or they found a different case. Besides, six people, excluding Kevin, was too many for a single case.