Dean leapt back from the blazing doorway, pulling Sam with him.
Shit. It looked like the situation might already be beyond their help.
'Jacob!' he yelled out, without knowing if there was any chance of his voice being heard over the crackle of the fire.
The flames dropped back a little and Dean glimpsed a huddle of frightened kids in the room beyond. It looked like they had a clear route to the window, which the flames hadn't reached yet, but they were seemingly too paralysed by fear to try to move. Instead, they were staring in horror at the back of the room, where the flames were concentrated, licking up high and bright around a crouching figure.
'Jacob!' Dean yelled again. The kid showed no sign of having heard, but the fire around the door flickered and dropped even lower. Dean shared a glance with Sam, then led the way through the gap in the flames.
Inside the room, Dean took a second to size up the scene, noting the strange pattern of the fire. It sure as hell wasn't natural: judging by the ferocity of the flames flanking the walls, the whole room should have been ablaze by now. Instead, the fire was sticking to certain areas. Rather than rushing towards the open window, where the breeze should have fanned the flames, it seemed almost to shrink away, letting in the oxygen it should have consumed. Whatever kind of parasite was possessing Jacob, it was clear it was working to keep him alive. Dean wasn't sure it felt the same way about anyone else, though.
Sam touched his arm, nodding back towards the doorway, and Dean saw that the flames had sprung back up behind them. Not a good sign.
Dean looked at the group of kids huddling together in the middle of the room, and recognised the boy they'd spoken to at the community centre the previous day. Mitch, he recalled. Judging by the way the kid's eyes widened in panic at the sight of him, Mitch remembered him too. Too bad he didn't listen, Dean thought, and turned his attention to Jacob.
Jacob was crouched at the back of the room, fists balled up against his face. Although the fire was burning fiercely around him, there was no sign that he felt the flames.
Dean started towards the boy. Behind him, he heard Sam talking quickly and urgently to the other kids, marshalling them to move. At a sudden outburst of screaming, Dean glanced back and saw that as soon as they had started to head for the window, flames had sprung up from previously clear floor. OK, so that plan was out.
'Jacob,' Dean said cautiously, raising his voice a little to be heard through the shirt across his mouth. 'Can you hear me? You've gotta help us out, here. We need to get everyone out.'
Jacob didn't respond, or even give any sign that he was aware of Dean's presence. Dean grimaced and crouched down beside the kid. He pulled the shirt away from his face so he could talk more clearly, trying to ignore the heat beating against his skin.
Now that he was closer, he could hear Jacob murmuring, moaning under his breath, 'Nonononononononono...'
'Jacob,' Dean said more firmly. 'Jacob, c'mon, buddy, I need you to listen to me. Look at me, Jacob. It's me.'
The kid stopped murmuring, breathing hard, and slowly raised his head to meet Dean's gaze.
'That's it,' Dean encouraged. 'Jacob, we need your help. Remember how you controlled the fire yesterday? I need you to control it again now - you need to clear the doorway so we can get these kids outta here.'
Jacob's eyes filled with tears. 'I can't,' he wailed. 'It's too big, I told them to leave me alone and they wouldn't stop and now it's too big! I'm gonna get in so much trouble!'
'You can,' Dean said. 'No one's gonna care what happened, Jacob, just so long as we get this thing under control. Just how you did it yesterday, remember?'
Jacob heaved a deep breath, and the fire died back a little. Dean could still feel the flickering heat close by his face, but when he risked a glance over his shoulder he saw that the flames by the window were no longer actively threatening the huddled kids. He started to let himself think that Jacob actually could control this.
Then Dean felt the splash of water hitting him, and heard Sam say 'Christo.'
Jacob screamed and shied back against the wall, his eyes flashing red, like burning coals. The flames roared up higher.
Dean threw one arm up to shield his face and stumbled back, feeling Sam's hand close around his arm and drag him clear. He was aware of the kids behind him screaming hysterically, but most of his focus was on Jacob.
'I'd say we're pretty definitely dealing with a demon here,' Sam was saying.
'You think?' Dean said, unable to bite back his sarcasm, and shook Sam's hand off. Damn. He'd hoped... well, that was how it went. Now they had to focus on how to help the kid.
Jacob had stilled a little, no longer writhing in agony, but the glow in his eyes was still more than could be accounted for by reflection from the flames.
'Dean,' Sam said firmly, drawing his attention. 'Dean, man... we have to do the exorcism.'
'Sam, we can't,' Dean replied, meeting his brother's eyes. 'Look at the kid, he's covered in flames! Even if the healing from before was permanent, if we exorcise him now he'll die for sure.'
Sam started to speak, then pulled the shirt impatiently away from his mouth. 'And if we don't, all of these other kids are going to die, Dean!' he said urgently. 'We're out of options.'
'Look, Sam, just give it a little more time!' Dean argued. 'I was getting through to him before you started with the goddamn holy water. We've gotta give him one last chance to stop this.'
'More time?' Sam's voice was incredulous. 'Dean, we're out of time. This whole place is a freaking inferno. And even if we could stop this, what about the next time?'
'It's not the normal kind of possession, Sam. It's just a parasite, he can control this, I know he can,' Dean insisted. 'The thing saw what you were doing as a threat and took over, and if we try to exorcise the goddamn thing now, we're just gonna make things worse! We need to calm the kid the fuck down and get it under control, that's all.'
'Dean...' Sam shook his head, trailing off.
'Shut up and deal with these kids,' Dean said roughly, and stepped forward to crouch in front of Jacob again. The flames died down a little, letting him closer.
'Jacob,' he said, low and urgent. He steeled himself, then reached through the flames and took hold of Jacob's face, turning the kid to look at him.
'Jacob,' he said again, and saw the kid's eyes focus on him, their fiery glow receding back to blue. Mercifully, the flames around him receded a little, drawing away from Dean's skin.
'It hurt,' Jacob whispered, his voice shaking.
'I know it did,' Dead said soothingly. 'I know, and I'm sorry, and we're gonna try and make sure it doesn't need to happen again, OK? But you need to focus for me, Jacob. I need you to help me, and I need you to do it now.'
He could see the kid trying, shoulders shaking with the effort, and the flames died back a little more before shooting up again.
'I can't... it's so strong,' Jacob said.
'Keep trying,' Dean said urgently. 'Just... see if you can keep it away from the window, at least. Let the other kids get out.'
Jacob set his teeth, straining with effort, and the flames drew back from the window, dancing up around Dean instead. He flinched as some of them came close enough to lick at his skin, but didn't back away.
'Sam! Get them out!' Dean shouted. He saw Sam open his mouth to protest. 'Now, Sammy!'
Sam nodded once, face tight, and turned to the kids, marshalling them towards the window.
'C'mon, Jacob,' Dean said encouragingly, turning back to him. He could see the kid's control slipping, though, and more and more of the fire seemed to be getting drawn back their way instead of dying away. He reached out to Jacob, grabbing his shoulder as if he could take some of the strain for him. Then he felt the burn of hot metal against his leg.
'Gotta be worth a try,' he muttered to himself, and drew the knife.
Jacob's eyes went to it, wide and scared, and the fire rushed towards Dean.
'Wait, Jacob,' Dean said desperately. 'I'm not gonna hurt you. I think this might help you.' He held it out, hilt first.
Jacob hesitated for a second before putting out his hand to take it. Dean felt a moment of panic as the kid's fingers closed around it. He was banking on iron having the same effect on this parasite as it did on so many other magical creatures, but there was every chance it would be useless. Or worse, that it would produce the same reaction as the holy water had.
It was a risk, but at this point, he was about out of ideas.
Jacob grasped the hilt of the knife and slowly lifted it. Dean heaved a quiet sigh of relief when the kid didn't scream; at least he hadn't made everything worse.
'What - what am I supposed to do?' Jacob asked tremulously.
The hell if I know, Dean thought privately. 'Just - focus on it,' he said aloud. 'Draw the fire back towards it, see if you can control it.'
In theory, the iron ought to help to neutralise the parasite's abilities, if the thing did react like most other magical creatures. Maybe that would tip the balance enough for Jacob to gain control. Maybe if Jacob thought it was a sure thing that the knife would help him, he'd manage it.
It was an awful lot of maybes for one plan, but still not bad for one he'd more or less invented on the spot, Dean figured.
Jacob tightened his fingers around the knife, face wrinkled in concentration. For a long, long, moment, it seemed like nothing was happening. The fire still raged around them, separated from Dean by only a few inches.
Then, slowly, the heat began to ease.
Jacob's grip grew firmer, more confident, and now Dean could see the flames surging back towards him, thinning and diminishing as they came, until they were absorbed into the metal. The knife began to glow red hot, but it didn't seem to be hurting Jacob. Instead, an intent smile began to grow on his face.
'That's it,' Dean encouraged, keeping his voice low to avoid disrupting the kid's concentration. 'That's good, Jacob, keep it up.'
The flames were melting away, vanishing into the knife; the smoke was slowly thinning and clearing, and the heat was growing more bearable by the second.
Dean glanced around and saw that the room was almost free of the fire now. The door was clear. The kids were gone; Sam was standing beside the window, watching Jacob intently. He met Dean's gaze and nodded minutely, then crossed the room to join them.
The last of the fire vanished, and Jacob looked up at them both, face shining. 'I did it! I told it to go into the knife, and it did!'
'You did good, kiddo,' Dean said. He squeezed the kid's shoulder, then winced as he became aware of the new burns blossoming on his hands.
Jacob frowned, his face falling. 'You're - you're hurt.'
'Nah, it's nothing,' Dean assured him confidently. 'I'm fine.'
Jacob grabbed his hands and looked at them. 'You're hurt. I'm sorry, I didn't want to hurt you, I didn't mean... You shouldn't be hurt.'
Dean tried not to wince as Jacob's fingers pressed against the burns. They flared with heat for a moment, then the sensation was gone.
'Whoa,' he said, staring down at his hands. The burns were... not completely gone, but were like the reddened patches he'd found on his hands that morning. Almost healed.
'Neat party trick,' he observed, swallowing hard. 'Thanks, kiddo.'
Sam reached down and pulled Dean to his feet. 'I think it's time to go,' he observed quietly.
'Yeah,' Dean agreed, and held his own hand out to Jacob. 'C'mon, let's get out of here.'
Jacob let Dean pull him up, and looked down at the knife he was still clutching. 'What should I do with this?'
'It's yours, man,' Dean told him. 'You keep it safe - you never know when you might need it again.'
'Probably best not to walk out of here like that, though,' Sam said wryly. 'We can rig you something up for now.' He reached for the shirt still dangling from his neck.
'I've got a better idea,' Dean said. He leant down and unfastened the sheath he was wearing around his leg. 'Here, put this on. That way you can keep it on you, where no one will see.' He showed Jacob how to fasten it, and grinned when the kid sheathed the knife and straightened out his pants so it didn't show.
'OK, let's get outta here,' Dean said, clapping Jacob on the shoulder.
The school was still deserted for the moment, although Dean suspected it would soon be crawling with firefighters trying to figure out what the hell had happened to the fire they'd been trying to put out. He smirked slightly at the thought.
The daylight seemed unnaturally bright as Sam opened the same door they'd entered through and they stepped outside. Dean blinked a little, looking around. There were still crowds of people standing there, with parents fussing over their kids.
'Jacob!'
Jacob shrank back. 'Rebecca. She's gonna be so mad, I'm gonna be in so much trouble...'
Before Dean could offer any reassurance, Jacob's stepmother pushed her way through the crowd to reach them. 'Jacob! Oh, thank god.'
Seemingly oblivious in her relief to the fact that Jacob had gone rigid with fear, Rebecca pulled him into his arms and hugged him. 'Thank goodness you're OK - when they said you were still inside, I was so worried -'
After a moment, Rebecca seemed to recollect herself, and released him, biting her lip nervously. But then Jacob gave her a tremulous smile, and she slowly smiled back, relaxing.
Dean smiled a little himself. Hell, it was a start.
~*~
Sam took a deep breath, grateful to be back out in - relatively - fresh air. Smoke still hung heavy in the air, but nothing like as bad as it had been in that classroom.
He looked around and winced at the sight of a firefighter heading purposefully in their direction. Here we go...
Dean didn't appear to have noticed, still watching Jacob with Rebecca. Sam elbowed him sharply in the ribs, cutting his eyes meaningfully towards the approaching firefighter. Fortunately Dean took his point immediately, though he did shoot Sam a glare for elbowing him. Sam merely rolled his eyes in response and led the way into the crowd, winding their way through and out of sight. Once they were sure no one could be following them, they made their way to the Impala and made good their escape.
'Dude, I need a shower,' Dean said ruefully.
'Yup,' Sam said, wrinkling his nose. 'You're rank, man.'
'You're not exactly smelling of roses yourself, bitch.'
'Yeah, well, at least I wasn't the one sticking my hands into the goddamn fire,' Sam said, almost managing to keep his voice even. 'Which I guess means you're getting the first shower.'
'Hey, whatever works,' Dean said off-handedly, getting out of the car and fishing the motel key out of his pocket.
Despite some pointed remarks about payback and people who used all the water that time in Wisconsin Rapids, Dean was pretty quick showering. Sam took his time, luxuriating in the warm water, trying to relax and stop replaying the memory of Dean's burnt hands, the screaming kids, the acrid taste of the smoke on his tongue. God, he hated fire.
The thought of being in Jacob's shoes, living with the fear of fire every day, was too awful to contemplate.
Finally the water began to run cold, and he reluctantly turned off the shower. When he emerged from the bathroom, Dean was lying on the bed, flicking idly through the crappy range of channels available on the motel TV.
'Just let me get dressed and we can go get started,' Sam said, hunting through his duffle for some clean clothes.
'With what?' Dean asked, most of his attention still clearly on the TV.
Sam shot him a look. 'This isn't over, Dean. We still have to exorcise the demon.'
That got Dean's attention, all right. 'We tried going down that route, Sam, or have you forgotten already?'
'No, we didn't,' Sam said, keeping his tone even with an effort. 'We managed the crisis, Dean, that was all. Just because it was too risky to do it while the kid was on fire, doesn't mean we shouldn't do it at all.'
'Yeah, Sam,' Dean said. 'We managed the crisis. Jacob managed the crisis. Despite us nearly fucking it up by sprinkling him with holy water.'
'Dean, that's just the point. He did react to the holy water, and to the name of god. Which means he's possessed by a demon. Since when did we just leave demons to walk around inside people?' Sam's control was slipping now; he could hear his voice growing louder and more unsteady as he spoke.
'It's not a demon,' Dean objected. 'It's a parasite. A parasite which Jacob can control, did control, even when he was half-mad with panic.'
'It's a parasitic demon,' Sam insisted. 'We can't just leave it possessing the kid!' God, he could still remember that feeling. There was no way they could abandon the kid to that.
'What's the alternative, Sam?' Dean demanded. 'Drive it out of him and let him die of his wounds? I'm not doing that, Sammy. Not this time.'
'We don't know that's what would happen, Dean,' Sam argued. 'The lore said the demon heals people, right? I mean, it even healed you. The healing might be permanent, even if the demon's banished.'
'Might be, Sam,' Dean said emphatically. 'Might be's not enough, not when we're talking about the life of some twelve-year-old kid.'
'Exactly my point!' Sam said. 'He's twelve years old, man. We can't just condemn him to this kind of life when there's something we can do about it.'
'I'm not sayin' it's ideal,' Dean said, meeting his eyes. 'But he got it under control back there, didn't he? He can do this, Sam, I know he can. And when the alternative's death...'
'For all we know the alternative could be a normal life,' Sam said, and cursed the way his voice cracked. 'He could be normal, Dean.'
Sam held his brother's eyes a moment more, then bowed his head. 'I don't like this any more than you do, Dean, but we have to at least try.' He looked back up at his brother, forcing himself to meet his gaze. 'I say we try the exorcism, see what kind of effect it has. If there's any sign that... that it's not going to work how we want, we'll stop. But we can't just walk away.'
'No,' Dean said. 'This isn't our decision to make. I say we let Jacob choose. It's his life on the line, here.'
Sam shook his head. 'Dean... God, man, that's not something we can lay on a twelve-year-old kid!'
'But we can lay a fucking exorcism on him?' Dean asked sarcastically. 'Sam, I get that you want to spare him all of this, and I do too. I don't like laying this kind of choice on him either. Hell, I don't like any of the shit that's been happening to him. But he's the only one that can make this choice. He's a kid, but he's not stupid.'
Sam absorbed that silently. Dean had a point; it would be better for Jacob to agree to the exorcism, rather than them just... tying him up against his will. But it still went seriously against the grain to force a kid to make that kind of choice. Not to mention the risk of him refusing.
'I don't like it,' he said quietly.
'Well, that makes two of us,' Dean shot back. 'But what other option have we got, Sam?'
Sam preferred not to address that question. 'OK, you win. Let's do the research first: we can find Jacob once we've figured out exactly what we need to do.'
~*~
Dean glanced up as Sam shoved back his chair and stepped away from the laptop.
'I need a break,' Sam said. 'I'm going to call Joshua, I hung up on him pretty abruptly before. He's going to be wondering if we're OK.'
'Whatever,' Dean said, keeping his tone as casual as he could. He wasn't happy about it, but the damage was already done, and trying to argue with Sam was likely to lead them into territory he still didn't want to get into. The casual tone evidently didn't quite cut it, though, and Sam paused, frowning slightly. Dean grabbed the laptop and stared down at it, doing his best to ignore his brother's eyes on him, and after a moment Sam sighed and turned away, picking up his cellphone.
Dean tried to block out his brother's conversation and instead pulled up Sam's search history. There might be something they'd missed, and he could use the distraction. He looked through the sites Sam had consulted; it looked like Sam had done a pretty thorough job, as usual. There hadn't been many English results, though; most of the documents were in Russian.
Well, no harm in trying, at least.
He started running them through online translation programmes, scanning the text for anything meaningful in between the gobbledegook. The results he got were mostly garbage, but they did at least let him see what the documents were. Most of them didn't seem very useful anyway, and he clicked back to the search page.
Finally, though, he found something that at least appeared relevant: an obituary for the firefighter who had rescued Jacob.
Gavril had been right; he appeared to have died more or less immediately after the fire. The tributes - well, what Dean could make out of them after the translation system had done its worst - seemed heartfelt. The man had chosen to become a firefighter after surviving a fire at a young age, and had had a long and remarkable career, saving many lives.
One of his fellow firefighters noted the number of lucky escapes the guy had had, commenting that his luck had been bound to run out eventually.
Lucky escapes. Not much doubt about how the parasite had found Jacob.
Dean carefully read through the rest of the article, but there wasn't much else of use, although he registered in passing that the firefighter's luck had run out in more ways than one. His widow was quoted as saying he'd been diagnosed with cancer only a few weeks previously, and that while his death was sad, it was how he'd have wanted to go - saving a young life, in a blaze of glory.
He clicked through a few more translated pages, but couldn't really find any more useful information - at any rate, nothing that would give him ammunition in opposing the exorcism. He sighed. It had been a long shot anyway - the last time he'd beaten his brother when it came to research, Sammy had been about twelve.
Behind him, he heard Sam say, 'Are you sure? We really wouldn't want to put you to any trouble, Joshua, and -'
Dean turned around to stare at him.
'Well, we -' Sam cut off again, listening. He glanced across at Dean and then hastily away. 'That - well, if you're absolutely sure. Of course we'd appreciate your advice. How long will it take you to - OK. OK, we'll... we'll be expecting you then. OK. Bye.' He ended the call and stared at his cell, obviously hoping to put off looking back at Dean for as long as possible.
'Sammy,' Dean said, voice dangerous. 'Tell me that wasn't you giving Joshua the OK to come over here.'
Sam refused to meet his eye. 'He wouldn't take no for an answer, Dean. He thinks we're gonna have to do the exorcism in Church Slavonic, and since we're not exactly fluent... I'm sorry, man. I tried to convince him not to come, but he insisted.'
Dean stared at him, then stood abruptly, pacing across the room. 'Well, that's just great. We don't even know we're doing an exorcism yet, Sam! And now we have to deal with him, too?'
'I'm not happy about it either, Dean,' Sam said, his voice sharpening. 'I told you, I tried to talk him out of it. He wouldn't listen.'
'Which is half the reason I didn't want you calling him to start with,' Dean muttered. Joshua's readiness to invite himself onto their hunt wasn't exactly setting Dean's mind at ease about the old man's intentions. Hunters didn't jump in on each other's gigs without good reason. Like, say, wanting to check out whether someone had gone darkside.
He slumped down to sit on the bed. 'Well, damage is done now.'
Sam sighed and sat down beside him, close enough that their knees brushed. 'Did you find anything I missed?'
'I'm pretty sure I know where the parasite came from. It's got to be the firefighter who got Jacob out. Same story - survived a fire when he was a kid and then had a string of miraculous escapes after that. Sounds like he was a bit of a hero, by all accounts. Everyone who knew him talks about how many people he saved,' Dean said pointedly.
Sam sighed again. 'Dean, we're still dealing with a demon here. Maybe the fireman was resistant to it somehow, maybe it was lying dormant, but the way things have been going with Jacob... Exorcism's our only option. This thing's escalating too fast for us to hold off and hope that something else turns up.'
Dean looked across at his brother. Sam didn't look happy with the situation, but his eyes met Dean's unflinchingly. Sam really thought this had to be done. And even when Dean didn't agree, he trusted his brother enough to listen to him.
He stood. 'Let's go find Jacob, then.'
~*~
'Will it hurt?' Jacob asked, voice trembling as he looked from Dean to Sam.
'I can't lie to you, Jacob, it probably will hurt,' Sam said. 'The parasite probably won't want to leave you; it'll fight us. But if this works, then once it's gone it'll be gone - you won't have to worry about it any more.'
'Sam,' Dean said warningly.
'If it doesn't work how we want...' Sam swallowed. He hated to say this - god knew Jacob had enough to take on board with the demon angle - but the kid had to be told. '...If the parasite's healing isn't permanent, then... you wouldn't be able to live once it left your body. You'd die.'
'But we won't be letting that happen,' Dean interrupted. 'The second it looks like there's any damage to you, any damage at all, we'll stop. Right, Sam?'
'...Right,' Sam agreed, hesitating only for a moment.
Jacob swallowed hard. 'And if it works, then I'll be normal? I won't... won't be a freak any more?'
'Yes,' said Sam. 'You are normal, Jacob. We just need to get rid of this parasite.'
'I'll do it.' Jacob's eyes were wide with fear, but his face was determined.
'You sure?' Dean asked. His face was shuttered, expressionless, but Sam knew that tone of voice too well. 'You don't have to, Jacob. No one's gonna blame you if you don't want to take that risk.'
Jacob was very pale, but he met Dean's gaze. 'I do. I do have to. It almost... I almost killed Zach. And Mitch, even if he is a jerk. And I only realised this afternoon - I... my mom.' He swallowed hard again and looked down at the floor. 'It was me who killed her, wasn't it.' His voice wavered, but it was a statement, not a question.
Sam's heart sank. He'd been hoping Jacob wouldn't make that connection, even if it would encourage him to go through with the exorcism. He opened his mouth to answer, but Dean interrupted.
'No.' Dean's voice was certain and steady. Sam looked at him in surprise, half-suspecting Dean had just decided honesty wasn't the best policy after all. He knew how his brother looked when he was lying, though, and this wasn't it. But if the parasite had - Oh.
'No, Jacob,' Dean repeated firmly, 'it wasn't you who killed your mom. It can't have been - the parasite came from the firefighter who saved you; it was nowhere near you when the fire started. That fire was natural.'
Jacob stared up at him, and seemed to realise that Dean was telling the truth. His eyes filled with tears, and he looked back down again, blinking fast.
'The parasite hasn't killed anyone yet,' Dean said softly. 'No one's even been badly hurt, Jacob. So don't go blaming yourself for anything like that. And even if someone had been hurt - it wouldn't be your doing.'
Sam took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The scene was far too familiar for comfort.
'I still want to do it,' Jacob said after a moment. His voice was still shaky, but he looked a little better now that he'd been reassured in that respect.
'OK,' Dean said. 'But if you change your mind, you just let us know, OK? No one's gonna blame you.'
Sam wasn't so sure that was an option, but he said nothing. Time enough to cross that bridge if and when they came to it.
'OK,' he said. 'The ritual takes a little while, so we need to know that no one's going to worry about you at home. Is there a time when you can get away?'
Jacob thought for a moment. 'Tomorrow afternoon, I guess. Rebecca's taking Zach to the hospital for a check-up. She wanted me to go too, but...' He trailed off.
Sam recognised the implication: Rebecca wasn't exactly going to be surprised at Jacob refusing to take part in a family outing, even if the shock of the school fire had brought them a bit closer.
'OK then, tomorrow,' Sam said decisively. 'We'll meet you...' He paused, trying to think. Picking him up at the house was probably a bad idea.
'By the store,' Dean supplied. 'Where I met you the first time, remember?'
'Yeah,' Jacob said, and mustered a tremulous smile. 'OK. Tomorrow.'
''We'll see you then.' Sam gave the kid a reassuring smile. 'It'll be OK, Jacob.'