Lost And Found ✔︎

89- House of Codex

He puts on headphones and passed me a pair before we listen to the tape.

"Please lets come to order. Men of Letters meeting minutes - May 16, 1956. On the matter of Cuthbert Sinclair expulsion. This is hardly your first offense, Cuthbert. You've been cited for disciplinary infractions seven times in the course of your tenure. This... enchanted vault of yours, this.... Werther box. A warding so potent it achieves a theoretical rate of... in your own words, 98% lethality."

"Extreme measures were warranted. The Coven's desperate to get the codex back. The Werther box works." Another one adds.

"All too well, I'd say. Working in secret, embarking on this project without oversight... you left two fellow Men of Letters vulnerable to your most potent magics. Fletcher and Martinez were members in good standing. Fletcher chanced upon the box and died in two hours. Martinez heroically tried to shut it down. We found him dead on the floor beside the box, his wrists cut."

"I already apologized for that accident. I refuse to do so again. Why are you all so small-minded? Hmm? We were brought here to do great things. To take risks, to bring the fight to the monsters of this world. And yet, to a man, you choose instead to molder in these stacks. You are not men. You are NOT men. You're librarians, nothing more."

"Before we rule on what is to be done with you, I'm prepared to give you a chance to secure our leniency. Tell us how to shut it down. The box is still in St. Louis with the codex. It's still a danger."

"Let me tell you what you can do with your leniency, Markham. You know, I saw the writing on the wall. I knew you cowards would shut this project down, which is why I built it the way I did. There is only one way to silence the Werther for good. Let's just say Martinez was on the right track. I doubt you lot have the guts, but you're welcome to die trying."

"Markham, would you have us keep trying?" A different asks.

"The box is to be interred and guarded where it stands, in perpetuity. Bury it."

Sam shuts off the tape in the Men of Letters Library. He grabs a book off the shelf and flips to the page with the address for the Men of Letters headquarters in St. Louis. He writes the address on a notepad.

***

"Suzie. You live alone?" I ask.

"Just me and Gus."

"Gus? [Suzie raises up her gun. Sam enters the kitchen through the back door. Then the kettle begins to whistle and Suzie heads for the kitchen followed by Dean. Sam is now hiding in the hall outside the kitchen. Suzie turns off the kettle. Dean signals Sam to go and Sam begins picking the lock on the basement door.] So, all alone in this big house, huh? Must get lonely, even with, uh, Gus." Dean admits.

"Yeah, well I'm used to alone." She offers me and Dean a cup of tea.

"No, no. I'm fine, thanks."

"Been alone here since.... uh, '80? After my family died, my Aunt Pauline moved in. She took care of me, raised me for a few years. Then, well...." She trailed off.

"So, uh, what-what happened? To your aunt?" I ask.

"Well.... I told her not to go in the basement. No one goes in the basement."

"What's in the basement, Suzie? Ma'am you okay?

Suzie pulls a gun on Dean.

"Oh! Whoa! Suzie!"

"My social skills may be rusty, but I'm no idiot. Doorbell hasn't rung in months, and two visitors in one hour? One breaking in, and the other asking all sorts of questions about...." She reminds.

"I told you, I was from the neighborhood watch. I-" Dean tries.

"Yeah, yeah, neighborhood watch. Right. Boy, you seen this house? There's only one thing in here worth getting at, and it sure as hell ain't me. You came for the box." She accused.

***

"Here it is. There's some kind of inscription." Sam noticed.

"It's some kind of cursive, but the light source has dimmed. I know what I've said about your kind, but...oh, the man who came up with this? The craftsmanship of the box, the sadism of the spellwork...it's all so... deliciously baroque."

"Alright, come on."

"Illumnia... Arcam confutare..." she reads off.

"To silence the box..." I read.

"Mmm. Sitim restinguere..."

"Slake its thirst."

"Sanguine nostrum..."

"With...the blood of our own."

"That's it? The blood of its own...What?"

"The blood of our own. Men of Letters blood. Legacy blood. My blood." Sam concluded.

***

"How do you know this will work?

"I don't." He cuts his wrist with the knife and lets the blood drip into a bowl. The tumblers in the Werther box begin to turn.

"It's working."

***

"Slow down."

"Right, okay. [The tumblers in the Werther box stop.] No, no, no."

"It wants more, Sam. It wants it all." Rowena reminds.

"The codex... path to the cure. It's in there. If it wants more, it'll get more." Sam cuts his other wrist with the knife. The tumblers begin turning again.

"Yeah. [Sam seems to collapse.] Hey No. [Dean slaps Sam.] No. Hey! Hey!" Dean stops.

"Get away from me! [He raises his knife. Dean take the knife from him.] No, don't! Don't! It's the only way. It needs legacy blood. Enough to take a life." Dean begins wrapping Sam's wounds.

"Yeah, well... it doesn't have to come from just one legacy, does it? It needs more blood, it can have mine." Dean reminds and he takes the knife and cuts his wrist. He drips his blood in the bowl and the tumblers turn and the box opens.

"Oh, well." She turns to green smoke and disappears. Dean turns the knob and opens the box. He removes the codex and closes the box.