Heaven and Hell Knows (5th book of Winchester Girl)

I Thought We We're Friends

Mary's POV
I was right now investigating a murder with Reece and Evelyn. Kara, Ricky, Crystal, Sam, and Dean were at the morgue. "So... you were the one who found the bodies?" I asked. "There was blood everywhere... and... other stuff... I think Alice was already dead." The roommate said. "But Russell wasn't?" Evelyn asked. "I think he was, mostly, except... he was still sort of... chewing a little." The roommate said. "Oh. Uh-huh." Reece said slightly disturbed. "How do two people even do that--Eat each other to death?" The roommate asked. "That's a really good question. Now, the last few days, did you notice her acting erratically?" I asked. "How do you mean?" The roommate asked. "I mean, did she seem... unusually hostile, aggressive?" Reece asked. "No way. Alice never drank, never even swore. She was a nice girl. And I'm talking, like, a nice girl--Like she still had her promise ring, if you know what I mean." The roommate said. "She was a virgin?" Evelyn asked shocked. "No premarital. I used to wonder how she did it. I mean, you know, didn't do it. It was her first date in months. She was so excited." The roommate said. "Apparently, they were both pretty excited." Reece said. We left and got food and walked in the motel where the others were after the morgue. "How'd it go?" Sam asked. "Um... No EMF, no sulfur. Ghost possession and demonic possession are both probably out." I said putting the food on the table. "Hmm. That's where I was puttin' my money." Ricky said. "Nope." Evelyn said as Reece drank her milkshake, we found out Reece needed sugar or she'd get highly ill. "Well, then what, then? Oh, girls! At the coroner's-- you didn't see these bodies. I mean, these two started eating a- and they just... kept going. I mean, their stomachs were full. Like - like... Thanksgiving-dinner full. Talk about co-dependent." Crystal said. "Well... I mean, we got our feelers out. Not much more we can do tonight. All right. I'm just gonna go through some files. You can go ahead and get going." Kara said. "Sorry?" Crystal asked. "Go ahead. Unleash the kraken. See you tomorrow morning." I said to Crystal. "Where am I going?" Crystal asked. "Crystal, it's Valentine's Day. You said it was your favorite holiday, remember? I mean, what did you call it-- Uh, unattached drifter Christmas?" Kara asked. "Oh, yeah. Well... be that as it may...I don't know. Guess I'm not feeling it this year." Crystal said. "So you're not into bars full of lonely women?" Sam asked. "Nah, I guess not. Ahh. What?" Crystal asked. "That's when a dog doesn't eat-- That's when you know something's really wrong." Dean said. "Remarkably patronizing concern duly noted. Nothing's wrong. We gonna work or what?" Crystal asked. It was the next day and these two men shot and the lady than shot herself. We were at the hospital and Sam and Kara kept moving awkwardly. "You okay?" Ricky asked them worried. "Yeah, we're fine." Sam said. "Agents, you just can't stay away." Dr. Corman said, Ricky told me the name. "Heard you tagged another double suicide." Dean said. "Well, I just finished closing them up." Dr. Corman said. "Dr. Corman, these are our partners." Ricky said. "Well, I've finished my prelims. I pulled the organ sets and sent off the tox samples." Dr. Corman said. "Great. You mind if we take a look at the bodies?" I asked. "Not at all. But like I said -their... Good-and-plenties are already tupperwared." Dr. Corman said. "Super." Kara said. "Leave the keys with Marty up front. And please, refrigerate after opening." Dr. Corman said we nodded. We were now in the morgue looking at the organs. "Hey. Be my Valentine?" Reece asked Evelyn with one of the hearts. "Not that type of witch, Red." Evelyn said. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second. These hearts both have identical marks. Check this out. It looks like some kind of letter. Oh, no." I said seeing the hearts with markings. "What?" Kara asked looking. "I think it's Enochian." I said. "You mean like angel scratches? So you think it's like the tagging on our ribs?" Ricky said. "Guys, I don't know." I said. "Cas, it's Ricky. Yeah, room 31-c, basement level... St. James medical center." Ricky said and turned being face to face with Castiel and Marina. "We're here now." Castiel said still on the phone. "Yeah, I get that." Ricky said. "I'm gonna hang up now." Castiel said. "Smart, babe." Ricky said and they hung up. "You're right, Mae. These are angelic marks. I imagine you'll find similar marks on the other couples' hearts as well." Marina said. "So, what are they? I mean, what do they mean?" Sam asked. "It's a mark of union. This man and woman were intended to mate." Castiel said. "Okay, but who put them there?" Crystal asked the two angels. "Well, your people call them Cupid." Marina said having her arm around Sam's torso. "A what?" Kara asked. "What human myth has mistaken for Cupid is actually a lower order of angel. Technically it's a cherub, third-class." Castiel said having his arm around Ricky. "Cherub?" Evelyn asked. "Yeah, they're all over the world. There are dozens of them." Reece said. "You mean the little flying fat kid in diapers?" I asked. "They're not incontinent." Castiel said. "Okay, anyway. So, what you're saying?" Sam asked. "What we're saying is a Cupid has gone rogue and we have to stop him--before he kills again." Marina said. "Naturally." Kara said. "Of course we do." Dean said. We were now at a restaurant and the waitress got us food and we smiled at her. "So, what, you two just happen to know he likes the cosmos at this place?" Crystal asked. "This place is a nexus of human reproduction. It's exactly the kind of garden the Cupid will come to-- to pollinate." Castiel said. Dean put his cheeseburger back down. "Wait a minute. You're not hungry?" I asked. "No. What? I'm not hungry." Dean said. "Then you're not gonna finish that?" Castiel asked and started eating like Jimmy was back when Castiel left his body. "He's here." Marina said looking at thin air. "Where? I don't see anything." I said. "There." Reece pointed out. "You mean the same-side-of-the-booth couple over there?" Ricky asked. "Meet us in the back." Castiel said as they disappeared. "Tell your mates to be more inconspicuous." Kara said. "Why, that's what makes him more hot." Ricky said. We went into the back room. "Guys, where is he?" Crystal asked. "Cas and I have him tethered. Zoda kama mahrana. Manifest yourself." Marina said. "So, where is he?" Dean asked and Kara was pulled in a hug. "Oof!" She said struggling. "Here I am!" A naked man said. "Help!" Kara said. "Oh, help is on the way. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Hello, you!" Cupid said and hugged Castiel and Marina. "Ooh. Mmm." Marina said. "This is Cupid?" Ricky asked. "Yes." Castiel said. "Oh look." Cupid said and hugged me, well I'll be taken one hell of a cold shower after that. "And look at you, huh?" Cupid said and was about to hug Sam. "No." Sam said but Cupid hugged him anyways. "Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" Cupid said. "Is this a fight? Are we in a fight?" Dean asked. "This is... Their handshake." Marina said. "I don't like it." Kara said. "No one likes it." Castiel said. "Mmm. What can I do for you?" Cupid asked. "Why are you doing this?" Reece asked nicely to him. "Doing what?" Cupid asked. "Your targets-- the ones you've marked--They're slaughtering each other." Evelyn said. "What? They are?" Cupid asked sadly. "Listen, birthday suit, we know, okay? We know you been flittin' around, popping people with your poison arrow, making them murder each other!" Dean said. "What we don't know is why." Crystal said. "You think that I--Well, uh... I don't know what to say." Cupid said and started crying loudly. "Should... should somebody maybe... go talk to him?" Sam asked. "Yeah, that's a good idea. Give 'em hell, Cas and Marina." Ricky said. "Um... look. We didn't mean to, um... hurt your feelings." Castiel said and Cupid started hugging the two. "Love is more than a word to me, you know. I love love. I love it! And if that's wrong, I don't want to be right!" Cupid said. "Yes, yes. Of course. I, uh... I have no idea what you're saying." Marina said. "I was just on my appointed rounds. Whatever my targets do after that that's nothing to do with me. I- I was following my orders. Please brother and sister. Read my mind. Read my mind, you'll see." Cupid said and we saw the two look at Cupid. "He's telling the truth." Marina said. "Jiminy Christmas. Thank you." Cupid said. "Wait, wait, you said--You said you were just following orders?" I said. "Mm-hmm." Cupid hummed. "Whose orders?" Crystal asked. "Whose? Heaven, silly. Heaven." Cupid said. "Why does heaven care if Harry meets Sally?" Ricky asked confused. "Oh, mostly they don't. You know, certain bloodlines, certain destinies. Oh, like yours." Cupid said. "What?" We all asked. "Yeah, the union of John and Mary Winchester Emma and Eddie Jones--Very big deal upstairs, top priority arrangement. Mm." Cupid said. "Are you saying that you fixed-up our parents?" I asked. "Well, not me, but... yeah. Well, it wasn't easy, either. Ooh, they couldn't stand each other at first. But when we were done with them--Perfect couple." Cupid said. "Perfect?" Dean asked Cupid. "Yeah." Cupid replied happily. "They're dead!" Kara said. "I'm sorry, but... the orders were very clear. Four needed to be born. Your parents were just, uh...meant to be. A match made in heaven- heaven!" Cupid said, Dean went up to Cupid and decked him"Son of a bitch!" Dean said as Cupid disappeared. "Where is he? Where'd he go?!" Sam asked. "I believe Dean upset him." Marina said to Sam. "Upset him?!" Dean roared pissed off. "Dean. Enough!" Crystal said. "What?" Dean asked. "You just punched a Cupid!" Evelyn said. "I punched a dick!" Dean yelled. "Um... are we gonna talk about what's been up with you lately or not?" I asked. "Or not." Dean said. I was now at the morgue with Ricky and Dr. Corman. "You said you wanted to hear about any other weird ones." Dr. Corman said. "Okay." Ricky said. "Lester Finch. Pulled his records. Looks like this gentleman used to weigh 400 pounds or so, till he got a gastric bypass, which brought down his weight considerably. But then for some reason, last night, he decided to go on a twinkie binge." Dr. Corman said showing us the man. "So, he died from a twinkie binge?" I asked. "Well, after he blew out the band around his stomach, he filled it up till it burst. When he could no longer swallow, he started jamming the cakes down his gullet with a...with a toilet brush, like he was ramrodding a cannon." Dr. Corman said. "So, what do you make of it?" Ricky asked. "I'd say that it was a very peculiar thing to do..." Dr. Corman said. Afterwards Ricky and I were walking away. "Hey. So, uh, this guy was not marked by Cupid, but his death is definitely suspicious." I said in the phone. "Yeah, well, I just went through the police blotter, and counting him, that's eight suicides since Wednesday and 19 ODs-- That's way out of the seasonal batting average." Sam said back to me. "Yeah, if there's a pattern here, it ain't just love. It's a hell of a lot bigger than we thought." Ricky said. "Yeah, all right. We'll see you in 10." Kara said and I hung up. I looked up and saw a guy with a briefcase walking by and I could sense something from him. "Come on." I said dragging Ricky with me and we followed the bald man in the alleyway I used my telekinesis to slam him against the wall. "Ugh! Ugh!" The demon struggled and Ricky held the knife to his throat. "We know what you are, damn it." I said. "Aaah! Winchester." The demon said punching Ricky in the face and Ricky cut their arm and we got the briefcase we were now in the motel room with the others. "What the hell does a demon got to do with this, anyway?" Dean asked. "Believe me, I got no idea." I said and Ricky held a tissue to his spilt lip. "You okay?" Kara asked Ricky. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be all right." Ricky said. "Let's crack her open. What's the worst that could happen, right?" Evelyn said. "Haven't you heard of Pandora's box?" I asked her. My brothers opened it and a white light left it, "Whoa!" Ricky said. "What the hell was that?" Kara asked. "It's a human soul. It's starting to make sense." Castiel said and we turned seeing Castiel eating a White Castle burger and Marina drinking a can of Coke-A-Cola. "Now, what about that makes sense?" Sam asked. "And when did you start eating?" Dean said. "Exactly. Our hunger-- it's a clue, actually." Marina said. "For what?" Sam asked. "For what?" Kara asked. "This town is not suffering from some love-gone-wrong effect. It's suffering from hunger. Starvation, to be exact--Specifically... famine." Castiel said. "Famine? As- as in the horseman?" Reece asked. "Great. Th- th-that's freaking great." Dean said. "I thought famine meant starvation, like as in, you know, food." Evelyn pointed out. "Yes. Absolutely. But not just food. I mean, everyone seems to be starving for something--Sex, attention, drugs, love..." Marina said. "Well, that explains the puppy-lovers that Cupid shot up." Reece said. "Right. The cherub made them crave love, and then Famine came, and made them rabid for it." Castiel said. "Okay, but what about you two? I mean, since when do angels secretly hunger for White Castle and Coke?" I asked. "It's my vessel-- Jimmy. His, uh, appetite for red meat has been touched by Famine's effect." Castiel said. "Coke was Angela's favorite drink that she'd bing." Marina said drinking the pop. "So, Famine just rolls into town and everybody goes crazy?" Kara asked. "And then will come Famine riding on a black steed. He will ride into the land of plenty and great will be the Horseman's hunger, for he is hunger." Marina said sipping. "His hunger will seep out and poison the air." Castiel said. "Famine is hungry. He must devour the souls of his victims." Marina said. "So, that's what was in the briefcase--The twinkie dude's soul?" Ricky asked. "Lucifer and Icicle have sent their demons to care for Famine, to feed him, make certain he'll be ready." Castiel said. "Ready for what?" Evelyn asked. "To march across the land." Marina said. "Famine?" I asked as I was now sitting on the bed and watching as Castiel was putting his hands on Ricky. "Yes." Castiel said feeding Ricky some of the burger. "So, what, this whole town is just gonna eat, drink, and screw itself to death?" Crystal asked. "We should stop it." Marina said. "Yeah, that's a great idea. How?" Dean asked. "How did you stop the last horseman you met?" Castiel said. "War got his mojo from this ring. And after we cut it off, he just tucked tail and ran. And everybody that was affected, it was like they woke up out of a dream. You think Famine's got a class ring, too." Sam said. "We know he does." Marina said. "Well, okay. L- let's track him down and get to chopping." Kara said to them. "Yeah." Castiel said holding onto Ricky and sadly looking at his empty bag of burgers. "What are you, the Hamburglar?" I asked. "I've developed a taste for ground beef." Castiel said. "Cassie." Ricky said and Castiel kept touching Ricky. "Well, have you even tried to stop it?" Reece asked. "I'm an angel. I can stop anytime I want." Castiel said. LWhatever, let's roll." I said. "Actually Sam, Kara are needing to stay due to demon blood, so Reece, Evelyn, Marina, and I will stay." Dean said. "Okay, Crys, Cas, Ricky let's go." I said. We rode in Ricky's car with Crystal driving while Castiel and Ricky were about to have sex. "Can we not have sex in the back." I said and Castiel hissed at me. "I thought we were friends, Cas." I said. "Let's just go into the morgue." Crystal said. I nodded and we walked in and found a guy. "Hey, Marty. Is Dr. Corman around?" Crystal asked him. "You two haven't heard?" Marty said. "Heard what?" I asked. "Guy's been dry for the last 20 years, but this morning, he left work, went home, and drank himself to death." Marty said. "It's Famine." Crystal mumbled. "Pardon?" Marty asked. "Would you give us a minute, please?" I said. "Sure." Marty said. "Thanks." We both said we left and I looked at Crystal. "Crap! I really kind of liked this guy." I said to her. "They haven't harvested his soul yet. I can tell that being a demon" Crystal said. "Well, if we want to play follow the soul to get to Famine, our best shot starts with the doc, here." I said. "Ricky and Cas?" Crystal asked and we saw the car shaking. "You want to get them?" I asked. "No." Crystal said. We pounded on the car door. They both looked up and Castiel snapped making them dressed and he left we got in. "Sex in the Jaguar really?" I asked. "Oops." Ricky said. We were watching and Castiel appeared again with burgers. "Are you serious?" I asked the angel. "These make me... very happy." Castiel said eating them. "How many is that?" Crystal asked. "I lost count. It's in the low hundreds. What I don't understand is... where is your hunger, Mae?" Castiel said. "Huh?" I asked. "Well Crystal is a demon so it doesn't effect her but slowly, everyone in this town is falling prey to Famine, but so far, you seem unaffected." Castiel said. "I don't know I just don't have anything I crave for." I said. "So... you're saying you're just well-adjusted?" Ricky asked. "God, no. I'm just well-fed." I said. "Look there." Crystal said pointing. We saw a man in a suit leave carrying a briefcase. We were now at the restaurant Famine was in, kinda ironic if you think of it. "Demons. You want to go over the plan again? Hey, happy meal. The plan?" I said to Castiel. "I take the knife, I go in, I cut off the ring hand of Famine, and I meet you back here in the parking lot." Castiel said. "Well, that sounds foolproof." Crystal said and Castiel disappeared we were waiting for a couple minute and it was long. "This is taking too long." Ricky said and the three of us got out of the car. "Cas! Cas." We said seeing him eating raw ground beef. "Doesn't that harm people?" Crystal asked. We nodded and a demon grabbed me, they dragged us to Famine. "Miss. Winchester, Mr. Harvelle, and Miss. Crystal." Famine said. "What did you do to him?" Ricky asked for his boyfriend. "You sicced your dog on me. I just threw him a steak." Famine said. "So this is your big trick? Huh? Making people cuckoo for cocoa puffs?" I said. "Doesn't take much-- hardly a push. Oh, America-- all-you-can-eat, all the time. Consume, consume. A swarm of locusts in stretch pants. And yet, you're all still starving because hunger doesn't just come from the body, it also comes from the soul." Famine said. "It's funny, it doesn't seem to be coming from mine." I said. "Yes. I noticed that. Have you wondered why that is? How you could even walk in my presence?" Famine said. "Well, I like to think it's because of my strength of character or the demigod in me." I said. "I disagree. Yes. I see. That's one deep, dark nothing you got there, Mary. Can't fill it, can you? Not with food or drink. Not even with love." Famine said. "Oh, you're so full of crap." I said. "Oh, you can smirk and joke and lie to your brothers, friends, lie to yourself, but not to me! I can see inside you, Mary. I can see how broken you are, how defeated. You can't win, and you know it. But you just keep fighting. Just... keep going through the motions. You're not hungry, Mary, because inside, you're already... dead." Famine said. "Let them go." I looked and saw blood on Sam and Kara's faces, damn it. "Sam and Kara..." Famine trailed off seeing them. "Guys, no!" The three of us screamed at the duo, and demons were after them. "Stop! No one lays a finger on these sweet children. Sam and Kara, I see you got the snack I sent you two." Famine said to them. "You sent?" Kara asked. "Don't worry. You're not like everyone else. You'll never die from drinking too much. You're the exception that proves the rule. Just the way...Satan wanted you to be. So... cut their throats. Have at them!" Famine said. "You guys no!" We yelled. I head butted a demon and he let go and I grabbed Famine's hand and used his own hand to cut off his own finger of the ring. "So what did we miss?" Dean asked as Marina got them in. "Kara sure has a mean right hook on her." Reece said. I was now at Ma and Pa's hearing Sam use his canary cry. "Let me out of here, please! Help!" Sam yelled. "That's not him in there. Not really." Athena said. "I know." I said. "Mae, Sam just has to get it out of his system. Then he'll be--" Alison said. "Listen, I just, uh... I just need to get some air." I said and walked out in the yard. I closed my eyes and used my powers. "You'll be fine." Pa said and I turned at him and cried he put me in his lap. "Mae, you'll be fine." Pa said. "The only reason I'm alive is so Lucifer has a body." I said. "No, you are not just alive for that." Pa said. I just rested my head on his shoulder.