**Two Days Later**:
Dean sighed, as he walked the grounds of the monastery alone, he needed to clear his head for a bit after the non-stop training they've done over the last couple of days. He stopped walking and stared at the massive, old, yet still incredible and imposing looking building, the longer he stared at it the more uncomfortable he became; he wasn't sure what the feeling was exactly, but it was almost like guilt, but that was impossible! He had never been here before to have done anything that would make him guilty. Truthfully though, being in or near any church or holy place made him extremely uncomfortable and on edge because of what he is and he knew Zander felt the same, but this time the feeling was stronger...different.
The other thing that was bothering him; something he hadn't told any of the others about, was how much stronger he felt here. Like his powers had become supercharged since he got here and that not only confused the hell out of him, but it also worried him. He didn't believe in fate, but there was a reason they had met and befriended Father O'Conner and it all came down to being here. He sighed again, as he ran his hands over his face, his life was complicated enough, he didn't need to add this crap to it!
"Dean?" Zander's voice spoke from behind him.
"Yeah?" Dean replied sighing again.
"Are you alright, brother?" Zander questioned, as he stood beside him.
"Uh, let me get back to you on that." Dean answered smiling, looking at him.
"What?" Zander asked confused.
"Never mind." Dean replied laughing, before they both looked at the monastery. "Zander, can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Okay, um...this is going to sound weird, but do you feel like you're somehow, I don't know...connected to..."
"Here?" Zander said, cutting Dean off.
"You feel it too, don't you?"
"I do, I have since we arrived." Zander answered sighing.
"How? I don't get it, Zander, neither of us have ever been here before; hell, we didn't even know it existed until Father O'Conner told us about it!"
"I don't know, Dean, but I do know that we're connected to this place somehow and by being here your powers have become stronger." Zander replied, hearing those words shocked Dean and he looked at him.
"How did you know? I haven't told anyone." Dean asked.
"I can feel it." Zander answered.
"Do you think the answers to all our questions are in the history of this place?" Dean questioned, as both men stared at the monastery.
"I do."
"I was afraid you were going to say that." Dean replied sighing.
"Afraid he was going to say what?" Paige's voice spoke from behind them, they both turned to face her.
"How long have you been standing there?" Dean asked.
"Just got here, I was bored out of my damn mind, so I came to see what my two favorite blood-suckers were up to!" She said smiling, hearing the nickname Dean and Zander looked at each other smiling, before they looked back at her, still smiling.
"Really, kid?" Dean asked.
"What? You'd prefer my two favorite dead/undead friends? Or how about my two favorite..."
"No more, please!" Dean begged, as Zander agreed, both smiling. "Your nicknames need serious work, kid!" He added, as they all laughed.
"Oh, and you think yours are any better?" She questioned smiling. "Kid is very original, Ambrose." She teased, as they laughed again.
"What's so funny?" Seth asked, as him and Roman joined them.
"We were just telling Paige that..." Zander began, but trailed off when he was suddenly overcome with an intense pain in his head.
He squeezed his eyes shut and grabbed his head with both hands, as he swayed on his feet. Dean went to grab him before he could fall, but was stopped when suddenly he felt the pain too. Dean closed his eyes and grabbed his head, before they both fell to their knees groaning in pain. The others rushed to them scared and knelt beside them, but none of them knew what was going on or what to do to help them. The pain intensified and along with it came images; they were coming so quick and changed so fast that neither man could make anything out, except for one thing...the monastery! Then just as suddenly as it came, the pain and visions suddenly stopped, leaving both men exhausted and confused.
"What. The. Hell. Was. That?" Dean asked, purposely dragging out each word, as they got to their feet with the others help.
"Are you two alright?" Roman asked concerned, both men nodded.
"What the hell happened?" Seth questioned.
"I...I don't know." Zander replied, as he looked at Dean. "You...you saw it too, didn't you?" He asked, Dean nodded.
"Saw what?" Paige demanded.
"I don't know what it was exactly, everything was moving so fast and it was all out of focus, but we both saw the monastery." Dean answered. "It...it was the only thing that was clear and in focus the entire time."
"You mean you both were looking at it just now?" Seth asked confused.
"No, Seth." Dean replied sighing. "We saw it in the past."
"Okay, let's go back inside, you two need to sit down. You can tell us everything once you're resting." Roman said gently.
They walked back into the monastery in silence; Roman supported Dean, while Seth supported Zander. Once inside they went to the kitchen, Father O'Conner was in there alone, making everyone coffee. He turned to greet them smiling, until he noticed their faces and the way they were acting, his smile quickly disappeared.
"Where are the girls?" Roman questioned, as Dean and Zander sat down at the table and Paige quickly got two coffees off the counter and gave them to the two Vamps.
"In their room playing. Did...did something happen? Are you two alright?"
"We're fine." Dean answered sighing, as Zander agreed.
"You don't look fine though." Father O'Conner stated, as everyone sat at the table across from the two Vamps. "What's going on?"
"Ever since we got here, Zander and I have felt really...weird; like somehow we're connected to here, I don't know how to explain it to you guys, neither of us can figure it out. That's...that's not all though." Dean explained sighing.
"There's more?" Roman asked shocked, as he reached out with both hands and took Dean and Zander's hands in his, as Dean nodded, before he pulled his hands away.
"Yeah, since coming here my powers feel stronger, like somehow being here has supercharged them or something." Dean explained sighing again, before he took a drink of his coffee.
"What happened outside?" Seth asked.
"I suddenly got this intense pain in my head, it was only pain at first, until Dean got it too. Then along with the pain, came visions."
"Visions?" Roman asked confused. "Of what?"
"The past, I think." Dean answered.
"You think?" Father O'Conner repeated, all of them confused.
"Yeah, everything was going by in one giant, unfocused blur, but there was one thing that stayed clear and in focus throughout." Dean answered.
"What was it?" Paige asked, unsure if she really wanted to know.
"The monastery." Dean and Zander replied together.
"This...this monastery?" Father O'Conner asked in disbelief, looking between the two Vamps, Dean nodded. "May...maybe you two just thought it was?" He added, as he stood and went to the counter, turning his back to them.
"Father, we both saw it." Zander said gently.
"No! I...I refuse to believe or accept that this holy place was tainted in any way by your kind! I can't accept it, I won't!" Father O'Conner said angrily, as he turned to face them, shock and hurt on each of their faces at his words; especially Dean and Zander's.
"Our kind?" Dean repeated, hurt by what he heard, Zander put a hand on Dean's arm to try and calm him. "What happened to your belief that Zander and I aren't like the rest of our family, huh?" He asked angrily, as he stood knocking over his chair. "I guess it was a damn lie when you told us we were friends!"
"Dean, I didn't..."
"If you're so worried about our kind tainting your precious monastery, maybe we should just leave!" Dean said, before he stormed out of the room.
"I...I'm sorry, that's not what I meant." Father O'Conner apologized sadly.
"Yes, it is." Zander stated quietly. "I read your thoughts."
"Please, let me explain, you...you're misunderstanding me!" Father O'Conner begged, he hadn't meant to hurt the two men he considered friends.
"I'm going to go check on Dean." Zander said, as he stood and left the room too.
"I'm sure you three are angry at me as well?" Father O'Conner asked sadly.
"No, but we are shocked." Roman answered. "We thought you were friends with them?"
"I' am...or I was, until I opened my big mouth."
"Okay, let's not panic yet." Paige spoke up. "Why don't you tell us what you meant and maybe we can help you?"
"I...I don't think you can, I was incredibly cruel." Father O'Conner replied.
"Dean's gone!" Zander said upset, as he rushed back inside.
"Gone?" Roman said, as they all stood. "Are you sure?"
"His bike is gone too." Zander replied.
"Where would he go?" Seth questioned.
"I don't know, I'll try sensing him." Zander said worried.
"This is all my fault, let me help!" Father O'Conner begged.
"No, you've done enough helping!" Zander said angrily, before he left the room again.
"It'll be okay, Father." Roman said gently. "We'll talk to them and make them understand."
"If anything happens to Dean, I'll never forgive myself." Father O'Conner replied sadly, as he sat back down, Roman squeezed his shoulder gently, before they left the room.
**Meanwhile With Dean**:
After his fight with Father O'Conner, Dean left the monastery, he was angry, but hurt more than anything by the Priest's words. He couldn't really blame him though, his kind was evil and he had only known Dean and his family for a few days. In that time though, Dean and Zander had proven...or thought they had proven that they were nothing like their kind! Dean had even gone so far as to let himself believe they were friends, how wrong he was!
Needing to clear his head before he said or did something out of hurt and anger that he'd regret, he got onto his bike and left. He wasn't going to go far, he just needed time to cool off, he had only been gone 10 minutes when he felt his body tense up and recognized the feeling, Zander was trying to sense where he was. Sighing, as he realized that in his rush to leave he had forgotten to tell anyone where he was going and knowing they'd be worried, he pulled his bike off the road. He turned it off and sighing again, he closed his eyes, he took a deep breath and cleared his mind, as he tried to mindlink with Zander. After a few seconds, he was shocked and very happy to realize that it had actually worked and he let Zander know he was okay and that he'd be back in a little while. When he was finished, he started his bike and began driving again, as he did his mind tried replaying the fight, but he refused to let it! Instead, he began to think about what the monastery had to do with them and his powers; maybe it was the last piece of this incredibly complex puzzle, that would help them finally stop Vassago?
Problem was, there wasn't anything written anywhere about the monastery, its past or the people who had lived there. And the church heads seemed to want to keep its secrets buried deep in the past, so deep, to the point of denying its very existence. Of course, the thing about secrets though, is that they never stay buried for long, no matter how much you want them to! And if there was something to find all he needed to do was dig around until he found that one person who knew everything. He knew the church and anyone closely related to it, would keep their secrets until the end of time, but that didn't mean others would! Someone had to know something, so he decided to drive to the closest town and do some digging there.
It wouldn't be easy though; he knew that like the church, small towns had their own secrets, ones that some people were willing to die and kill for. He wasn't worried though, he had a gift of making people let their guard and tell him what he needs to know; it helped of course, that even if they didn't want to tell him, he could just take a little trip into their subconscious and discover everything he needed without them knowing. He thought about telling the others what he was doing, but was worried that they'd try and talk him out of it, afraid of what might happen if he went digging too deep. He had to do this though, had to find out everything he could, even if that meant making people tell him; something he hated doing and rarely did! The monastery was the key to stopping Vassago, now he just needed to find the lock it fit into!
TBC...