Down the Rabbit Hole

Ascension Part 1

The rain was coming down in floods, drenching the Chicago streets. A lone figure braved the weather and headed across the park, passing a children's playground, the swings creaking eerily in the wind. The figure crossed the street, heading toward an apartment block. They paused under a street lamp to glance up at the building, and the light above them began to flicker. When they reached the building they pulled back their hood to reveal long dirty blonde hair. The woman headed for the stairs and climbed until she reached the fourth floor. She headed down a poorly lit corridor until she reached apartment number 479, she knocked at the door. A few moments later the door was answered by another woman. She was wearing jeans and a tank top, her brown hair was cut sharply at her shoulders. She stood aside to let the woman in.
"It's horrible out there." The blonde said as she took off her coat and hung it in the hall before walking into the living room.
"Yes. It's very atmospheric." The brunette replied. The blonde rolled her eyes.
"Oh yeah, just what we need Caz, more atmosphere. If they find out what we're doing..."
"I know, I know." Caz replied. "I just have a few more items to get in the morning, then tomorrow night, we do it. You nervous, Beth?"
"No. Not at all. We're just messing with some powerful crap." Beth hesitated. "Are you sure?"
"It'll be worth it in the end." Caz reassured her. Beth looked at her doubtfully but nodded.

Lacey blew the loose strands of hair out of her face, to little effect. The three of them were trudging across an Arizona wasteland. A few months ago an old abandoned mining town had been re-discovered and since then I had been milling with archaeologists. Unfortunately the towns previous residents weren't too happy about this and had been making themselves known to the newcomers.
"I can't believe you made us walk from the road." Sam grumbled to Dean.
"No way am I driving my baby across this." Dean told him. "Anyway, Lacey said she wouldn't teleport us either, there's plenty of blame to go around." Lacey stopped and glared at him.
"That's not exactly what I said. I told you, random spot in the desert, nothing to focus on, I can't guarantee I'd get us to the right place." They crested a sandbank and found themselves looking out over the tow, down below them.
"Well, you wanted a Nancy Drew mystery." Dean joked. Lacey smiled at him.
"So, what's the plan?" Sam asked.
We get the people out, then see if we can find the bodies."
"How do we get them out?" Lacey smirked at Sam.
"Like this." Lacey's eyes rolled to the back of her head and the ground below them began to shake. Sand and rocks began to dislodge themselves from the hillside. As the shaking got worse they could see people running for cover down below. Lacey clenched her fist and a sinkhole began to open up.
"That should do it." Dean said, laying a hand on her shoulder. Lacey's eyes returned to normal and the ground stopped shaking. Once the dust had settled the archaeologists began to head for their vehicles. Clearly deciding it was too dangerous to stick around. As they watched the last van leave the town Lacey took hold of their arms and ported them into the middle of main street.
"Where do we start?" Lacey asked. Sam pulled some papers out of his bag.
"According to the eye witness accounts there's been three sightings, all of the same spirits. I checked the town records, based on their descriptions it looks like it was the mine owner Ernest Manford and two of his foremen Harry Simkins and Stanley Harrington." Sam explained.
"Any idea where they're buried?" Dean asked.
"There's no record of their deaths. This whole town was abandoned in 1805. That's where the records stop."
"Why was it abandoned?" Lacey asked.
"The mine dried up. Nothing left for the people here, so they left." Sam shrugged.
"Well, I know what my money's on then." Dean muttered, Sam raised an eyebrow. "The mine sounds like the place to be."
"Let's go." Lacey nodded in agreement.
They headed towards the sinkhole and Lacey used her telekinesis to lower them down.
"Well... at least it's cooler down here....cooler and creepier." Lacey shuddered. As their eyes adjusted to the dim light they found they were in one of the old mining tunnels. Sam took out his EMF meter and turned it on. It buzzed to life instantly.
"Well, looks like we've found the right place. Any chance of a little light?" Dean asked. Lacey closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment. Suddenly each one of the lanterns along the walls sprang to life, flames flickering inside them. She turned to Dean and grinned.
"I know, right. Very Hocus Pocus." Dean chuckled and nudged her in the direction Sam was heading.
"Any ideas?" Lacey asked as they caught up with Sam.
"If they were trapped down here their bodies shouldn't be buried or anything. They should be fairly easy to spot." They continued down the tunnel. As they rounded a bend the temperature began to drop. They soon found themselves in a large open chamber. With a flicker the spirits appeared in front of them. They were dressed in western garb and held bayonets in their hands. They readied their rifles and formed a barrier, protecting their bones.
"You salt, I'll burn." Lacey told them, before she teleported behind the spirits, grabbing their attentions. They advanced on her, firing their bayonets. Lacey raised her hand and the bullets stopped mid air, before falling to the ground. Sam managed to salt the bodies before one of the spirits attacked him, throwing him across the room, into the wall. Dean ran towards Sam and the spirits rounded on him. Lacey concentrated and an invisible wall appeared between them. With a flick of her wrist the bodies went up in flames. As the spirits went up in smoke Lacey dropped the barrier.
"You know, we're gonna start getting lazy in out old age if you keep making it this easy for us." Dean joked. Lacey laughed.
"Ok, well I'll only come on every other salt and burn. That should keep you on your toes."
"Fair enough." Sam nodded as he got to his feet. They headed back down the tunnel and Lacey floated them back up to ground level.
"Ugh. You know it's bad when you'd rather be in the creepy underground tunnels." She complained as the heat hit them.
"We'll find some place to crash for the night, get cleaned up." Dean suggested as they headed back to the Impala.

Dean drove them along the deserted highway until they started passing more inhabited areas.
"I thought we were stopping?" Sam said as he looked up from his research, a motel went by on their left.
"That one looked crappy, we'll stop at the next one." Sam frowned, normally it didn't matter where they stayed. A few miles further down the road Dean pulled into the Pine Crest Motel. It was getting late now and the sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon. Dean went and got them a room and the three of them headed straight up there.
"Who wants to shower first?" Sam asked as they settled into the room.
"You go first. I'm starving, Lace wanna come get something with me?"
"No, I think I'll just..." Lacey stopped as Dean raised an eyebrow at her. "Yeah, actually I am hungry. See you in a bit, Sam!" She called over her shoulder as Dean grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the door. Sam shrugged his shoulders and headed for the bathroom. He had long ago learned the best thing to do was just let them get on with whatever they were doing and not to ask any questions.

Lacey pulled the door shut behind her and allowed Dean to lead her down the stairs to the ground floor.
"What's the rush? You can't be that hungry." She laughed.
"You'll see." They rounded a corner and found themselves at the back of the building. The sun had completely set now, the building lights just starting to come on. They walked across the courtyard until they reached a white iron fence.
"A pool?" Lacey smiled at Dean. "So this is why we kept driving."
"Shall we?" Dean asked.
"I didn't bring a bathing suit."
"I'm sure we can make do."
"All right then." Lacey gripped Deans hand and phased them through the fence. "Are you sure there's no one around?" Lacey asked as she began to take off her shirt, piling her stuff on one of the lounge chairs.
"Gates locked, no overlooking windows, I think we should be fine." Dean said as he began undressing too. Once she had removed most of her clothes, Lacey stood on the edge of the pool. She looked almost ethereal in the moonlight, her pale pink almost sheer underwear highlighting her even paler skin that much more. She dipped a toe in the pool, the cool water a welcome change from the dry, baking heat they had experienced in the desert. She slowly walked down the steps, adjusting to the temperature change. Dean had stripped down to his boxers and followed her in. Lacey leant back, floating on the surface of the water, watching the stars above her. She floated over to the edge of the pool, leaning against the side next to Dean.
"So, this was an awesome idea." She told him, resting her chin on her arms.
"Good." Dean reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her towards him. He kissed her, slowly but forcefully. After a moment Lacey broke the kiss and looked up at him.
"I do love you, Dean Winchester." Dean leant his forehead against hers.
"Love you too."

Sam was sitting on one of the beds, watching TV when Dean and Lacey arrived back at the room. He looked up from the tv screen and frowned at them.
"Why are you wet?"
"We found the pool." Lacey told him.
"There's a pool? And you didn't tell me?" Sam looked hurt.
"It's closed." Lacey told him.
"Well that didn't stop you guys."
"Well we weren't exactly prepared for it so...." Lacey shrugged, a small blush creeping up her cheeks.
"Oh god. On second thoughts, I'm glad you didn't ask."
"We're not exhibitionists, Sam." Dean chided, jokingly. Lacey shook her head at the two of them.
"Well, on that note, I'm going to dry my hair." She headed to the bathroom and the whine of the hairdryer began to fill the room.

Thousands of miles away in Chicago Caz returned to her apartment to find Beth sitting on the edge of her sofa, nervously tapping her foot.
"Would you relax."
"Did you get everything?"
"Yes, I just got the last item. You ready?"
"Yeah I guess." Beth chewed on her lip. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"We've done all this work. Do you have any idea how difficult it was to get their DNA? The deals I had to make?"
"Okay, okay, I get it. We're doing this." Beth nodded. She helped Caz to carry their alter across to the middle of the floor. They sat down cross-legged, on opposite sides.
"Okay, here goes nothing." Caz began the ritual, placing all of the ingredients into the bowl in the centre. She picked up an athamae and made a small cut in the palm of her hand. She held out her hand and took Beths, doing the same to her. Beth winced at the sting of the metal. They held their hands above the bowl and let their blood drip down into it. Once this was done they held hands on either side of the bowl and Caz began the spell.
"Phryx blank ho-hum proni sumus ipsi et nullius virtutis largire tribus et quis illas." A shock wave went through the room and Beth began to feel cold. She was about to ask Caz if this was supposed to happen when her vision started to blur and she collapsed backwards, unconscious.