Losing Hope | {BOOK 4}

29| House of Frankenstein

I rushed into the cabin, throwing a cup of holy oil into the fire.

"What's going on?" Charlie asked me.

"The Stynes, they found me. These douches are all jacked up, too."

"What are you talking about?" Dean asked.

"I emptied a full clip into one of them before the son of a bitch went down."

"Ellie, what are you doing with the holy oil?" Sam asked next.

"There is a cure for the Mark in the book," I looked over at them. "But it comes at a price. We got to destroy it."

"Are you sure about this?" Dean locked eyes with me.

"It's calling to me, Dean, okay? I can hear it. It's calling to the Mark. It wants me to take the Book and run away with it. Burn it now."

There was a noise outside like a car door slamming and Charlie and I both took out our guns.

"Guys, burn it now," I barked.

One Styne crashed through the window, grabbing me, while another crashed through the other window and grabbed Charlie. While Charlie and I fought off the Stynes, Sam took the wrapped book out of the lockbox and handed it to Dean. Jacob came in next and Sam shot at him while Dean threw the book in the fire.

"You silly boy," Jacob told him.

He grabbed Dean by the throat, and Dean stabbed him until he collapsed, the Book burning in the fireplace.

⁘

I started to get suspicious after we burned the Book, because Dean kept disappearing for short periods of time before coming back. Sam had just disappeared all together, taking the kids with him. However, when I tried to confront Dean about it, he told me not to worry. Sam was apparently just keeping the kids safe and out of the way and he was going to check on them every once in a while. However, when I mentioned wanting to see them myself, he said it was probably not a good idea.

I had been doing more research on the Stynes, and found us a case. A victim's eyes were cut out, and the janitor walked in just as the killer jumped out the window- from the third story. So, Dean and I headed out first thing the next morning. It turned out, the killer was one of the Stynes.

"So, why would the Stynes be actually up to the eyeballs in murder?" Dean asked as we left. "What's the connection?"

"Well, when you take a few Stynes down, more pop up. I mean, how many are there? All I can say is, I'm glad we burned that damn Book. At least they can't get their mitts on that."

"Yeah," he nodded. "Uh, what about you? How you doing?"

"Oh, you mean the thing?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah," I nodded. "You know, some dark thoughts, creepy visions, violent urges. Same old, same old. I'm happy I got a murder to focus on, though."

Dean looked over at me, then focused back on the road. When we got back to the Bunker, Dean had left his phone unattended to raid the kitchen, and Sam called. When I picked up, he quickly assured me that the kids were fine and then hung up before I could ask anymore questions. When Dean came in, I asked him again about his visits to Sam and the kids, and he evaded me like Sam did.

He had me go pick up a pizza for dinner, and while I was there, the Styne who'd cut out the girl's eyes attacked me. After a short fight, I managed to get him into the Impala and back to the Bunker where we chained him up in the dungeon.

"Here's how this works," I began, glaring at the Styne while Dean watched off to the side. "You're strong. I'll give you that. But you can bleed and hurt just like the next guy, so I'm gonna ask questions, you're gonna give answers, or it's gonna get crazy real quick."

"Well, I hope you got some time," Styne replied. "I'm not the usual breed of cat."

"Neither are we. Did you kill that girl in Omaha?"

"Yeah," he nodded, glancing at the Mark. "So, it's true. You have the Mark of Cain. My sympathies. That's why you wanted the Book. To remove it."

"We wanted the Book because that's where your power comes from," Dean corrected him. "See, our family business is putting guys like you out of business."

"Oh. It's impressive. Let me tell you about my family business. You're in way over your heads. The family is vast... spread over the world. And that power that you mentioned doesn't come from the Book. It comes from intelligence and will. The Book facilitates. Stock market dive, recession, 9/11... any of them ring a bell? Arab spring. Didn't even break a sweat."

"Okay," Dean bobbed his head from side to side. "Why?"

"Well, you got to be in it to win it, guys," Styne smiled. "You see, chaos breeds fear. Fear breeds panic, and panic breeds desperation, and there's always profit to be made on desperation. You make a big enough mess, has to get cleaned up. And we've been in the fix-it business for a thousand years, and business has never been better."

Dean's phone started vibrating and he moved out to the hallway to answer it.

"Now, for the last 80 years, we haven't had the book. With the book, we're unstoppable."

"The girl you killed..." I asked, "why take her eyes?"

"That whole situation... unfortunate. We normally never leave a body when we harvest."

"When you what?"

"It's a family specialty... bioengineering. Surgical enhancement. And I'm not talking about nose jobs. See?"

Using the free hand that wasn't manacled to the ceiling, he pulled up his shirt to show off a large surgical scar running down his chest.

"Two hearts in here. Bunch of extra muscle, especially in the legs. Every man in the family's had a little something. Pretty much what you'd expect, though, given the family tree."

"The Stynes?" I quirked a brow.

"The real family tree," he corrected. "The name was altered out of necessity. You have chanced upon a lineage with a long and proud tradition... and some unwanted notoriety. One of Europe's oldest families. The house of... Frankenstein."