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The day had started so well. Dean’s gorgeous girlfriend Lilith had woken him up in his absolute favorite way, and then given him some leftover pie for breakfast. When he got to work, someone had brought in a 1968 Ford Mustang – it was no Impala, but man, any day Dean got to get his hands on a classic beauty like this, he loved it. He was just washing the grease off his hands when he got the phone call.
There was no way he could have predicted that Sam would call him. They hadn’t spoken in two years. Even worse was what he had to say. “Dean, I know we’re not on good terms right now, but I need you to trust me on this one. Go to YouTube, and look up a YouTuber called QueenDemonRapture.”
“Sammy…” Dean hesitated, not knowing what to say. The brokenness in his brother’s voice spoke to him, made him want to be the big brother again, but how? The fight they’d had, over Sam trying to tell Dean that Lilith was not trustworthy while he was shacking up with the whore of a girlfriend he’d saddled himself with, Sam may have started the fight but Dean’s the one who told Sam to get over the fact that he wasn’t the sole focus of Dean’s attention anymore and if he couldn’t handle that then he should fuck off to California and not come back. Sam would not forgive that easily.
Sam seemed to sense Dean’s conflicted feelings. “Look, just watch some of the videos. We can have the big chat after you know what we’re dealing with, okay?”
That sounded reasonable to Dean, so he said his goodbyes and hung up to search up this QueenDemonRapture. Almost immediately, he could guess why Sam had made this sound like such a big deal. The thumbnails were of Lilith. How had he not known about her YouTube channel? He didn’t recognize the background, which meant she wasn’t filming out of their home.
The first video he watched wasn’t so bad. He’d known Lilith had some out-there religious beliefs, but as long as she didn’t try to force them on him, he could deal with whatever. Hearing her admit to being a Satanist, and not the cool kind that he’d run with in high school that was all about indulging the ego and being an individual but the literal “hail Satan we want to raise Satan to destroy the Earth” kind, was something of a shock. This video was about how plans were progressing on that front.
The next couple videos were along the same lines – hail Satan, donate to this fundraiser to help us get materials and ritual texts, won’t it be great once our lord and master claims dominion over the Earth, that sort of thing. Then he encountered the video about what Lilith called “The Vessels.”
“As you all know, when the Master rises, we’ll attract attention of the Great Enemy. The two of them will need to take vessels to hold them here on Earth, and several of you have asked if there’s a plan or offered yourselves as vessels. To each and every one of you who’s volunteered, thank you, you’re all so sweet, but there’s a plan.” The giggle that Dean had loved now sounded malicious. “You see, my girl Ruby and I…”
Dean hit pause. Ruby. The same Ruby? The same bitch who had stolen his brother from him? Lilith not only knew Ruby, they were close enough for Lilith to call her “her girl”? He had a sick feeling in his stomach now. No wonder Sam had called him. No wonder Sam told him to watch some of this before the big conversation. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear any more, but a little voice told him to keep it going.
He pressed play. “Found these two guys, absolutely perfect. They’re gorgeous, they’re smart, they’re hard workers… and they were so, so easy to manipulate. They’re brothers.”
Him and Sam. She was bragging about how she had manipulated him and Sam. The sick feeling grew.
“Mom dead since they were little kids, Dad such an absentee fuckface that the older brother practically raised the younger one himself, never had any stability so they were all they had, so all Ruby and I had to do to isolate them completely was separate the two of them. The older brother loved the younger so much, but resented him too, because the younger brother could envision getting out of their circumstances and making a normal life for himself. And the younger brother hero-worshipped his older brother, but resented him too, because he felt trapped in their life by his brother’s need for him. So Ruby and I each took a brother, fanned the flames of resentment between them.” The malicious giggle now sounded downright cruel. “Then we just dripped some poison in the ear, absolute truth about how their brother’s girlfriend was trying to manipulate their brother into cutting them off, and the two of them had this huge blowout fight that meant younger brother crossed several state lines in getting out.”
The sick feeling boiled over, and Dean barely made it to the trash can in time to contain the fallout. Lilith was still talking, something about how the vessels had to be prepared and it was just a shame that there was no way to tell which vessel would end up being the chosen one and which would be the Enemy, but Dean wasn’t processing any more. He shut it down and called Sam.
“I’m so sorry,” Sam led off with. “You tried to warn me about Ruby, and as it turns out your source was valid, but I wouldn’t listen.”
“Yeah, well, your source was valid too, and I wouldn’t listen either.” Dean leaned his head back against the wall. “You think there’s anything to this plan of theirs? We gonna be compression suits for a couple of assholes to destroy each other and then the world?”
“It sounds like so much nonsense, I know, but I believe that they believe it, and now I know why Ruby’s been pushing me to go back to Kansas after we graduate. I kinda want to stay here, go to Stanford Law School – I’ve applied and interviewed, should hear back next month sometime – and I didn’t… of all places, I didn’t want to go back to Kansas and risk running into you.”
Dean flinched, but it was fair. “I’ve missed you, Sammy. If you do end up coming back to Kansas, you’re… you’re my brother. Can’t believe we let a couple of evil bitches make us forget that.”
“I’m going to Stanford if I get in. We have good reason to say we should pick a hemisphere and stay away from each other, Dean. I don’t really buy this crap about the end of the world and the rise of the devil, but just in case…” Sam let out a sigh as Dean felt his heart clench. Sam was right, it was true, but he just couldn’t accept that. “I missed you too much as it was to even want to think we should do that. What would you think about coming out to California? I’ve watched enough of the videos to think that there’s something special about Kansas, a reason they want us there, so it should be safer here.”
On the one hand, California was a horribly expensive place to live. On the other hand, Sam was there and wanted him to be there too. He’d get by. He always did. “How do we keep you safe from Ruby? Rely on cops, go with Dad’s paranoid training, hope she gives up now that their manipulation is undone and we’re back together and not gonna go along with their big plans?”
“Ruby, uh… Ruby won’t be a problem.” Sam cleared his throat. “My friend Brady heard enough of the videos to call in some favors from … um … he has connections. I’m not too clear on specifics and I don’t want to be, but Ruby’s dead.”
“Wait.” Dean burst into shocked laughter. “You have a friend who knows people who can put a hit on someone? You sure know how to pick them, Sammy.”
“Yeah, I know, I wasn’t expecting that from the Boy Scout I met first quarter in the introductory writing class, that’s for sure.” Sam cleared his throat again. “Anyway. Ruby’s no problem. What about Lilith? California’s probably the first place she’d look for you if you disappear, but…”
“But without Ruby and when she learns that we’re back together, she probably moves on and works on finding a new partner and new dumbasses to con into being the vessels.” Dean hoped, anyway. “I’m gonna go home and get packed up. Should take me a couple days to get to Palo Alto, but I’ll call every chance I get to let you know I’m still on my way. See you soon, little brother.”