Silence filled the church.
Rain began to fall again outside, tapping softly against the stained-glass windows.
Dean didn't lower the Colt.
Ben kept the shotgun aimed directly at the stranger.
Malach remained perfectly still.
His expression never changed.
"I wouldn't do that."
Dean's finger rested on the trigger.
"Funny. That's usually my line."
A faint smile crossed Malach's face.
"I know."
Dean narrowed his eyes.
"How?"
Malach looked around the empty church.
His silver eyes lingered on the broken candles.
The black-tipped feather still lay beside the altar.
"Because I watched your family long before you were born."
Ben frowned.
"That's not creepy at all."
Dean stepped forward.
"You knew Sam?"
Malach nodded once.
"I knew Samuel Winchester."
A pause.
"I knew Dean Winchester."
Another pause.
"I even knew John."
Dean's grip tightened around the Colt.
"Then answer me one thing."
Malach waited.
"What are you?"
The stranger looked toward the ceiling.
For a moment, sadness crossed his face.
"Once..."
He spoke quietly.
"...I was a guardian."
The air inside the church suddenly became heavy.
**"Before Heaven."
"Before Hell."
"Before demons."
"There were gates."**
Ben exchanged a confused glance with Dean.
Malach continued.
"Someone had to keep them closed."
Dean lowered the Colt slightly.
Not because he trusted him.
Because he was listening.
"Then what happened?"
Malach's eyes darkened.
"Creation changed."
He looked at the feather.
"New kingdoms were born."
"Heaven."
"Hell."
"Purgatory."
"And the old gates were forgotten."
A low rumble echoed beneath the church floor.
Ben instinctively looked down.
"...Did you guys feel that?"
The wooden pews vibrated.
Dust drifted from the ceiling.
Malach's expression hardened.
"It's already beginning."
Dean looked at him sharply.
"What's beginning?"
Malach met his gaze.
"The First Gate is waking up."
The church trembled again.
This time, much harder.
The stained-glass windows cracked.
Ben tightened his grip on the shotgun.
"Dean..."
Dean looked around.
"Everybody out. Now."
The three of them ran toward the entrance.
Just as they reached the doors—
The stone floor behind the altar exploded upward.
A deafening roar shook the entire church.
Ancient black chains burst through the ground, whipping wildly through the air as if alive.
One wrapped itself around the altar.
Another crashed through a row of pews.
A third shot toward the ceiling.
Malach stopped in his tracks.
His face had gone pale.
"Impossible..."
Dean looked back.
"What?"
Malach whispered only one word.
"Broken."
The largest chain snapped with an earsplitting crack.
A pulse of dark energy erupted from the hole beneath the altar.
Every window in the church shattered at once.
Dean shielded his face from the flying glass.
Outside...
The sky changed.
Dark clouds spiraled together into a massive circle above the church.
Ben stared upward.
"...That's definitely not weather."
Dean looked at Malach.
"Tell me that's not the First Gate opening."
Malach's answer came after a long silence.
"...No."
Dean frowned.
"Then what is it?"
Malach slowly looked into the sky.
For the first time...
Fear appeared in his silver eyes.
"Someone opened it before us."
The wind howled across the empty fields.
Far above...
Something enormous moved behind the clouds.
Watching.
Waiting.
Smiling.