AJ Winchester is sleep deprived. It seems she gets no more than a few hours of sleep a few. While working on a case with her cousins, Sam and Dean, she can easily cover it up with excuses about working the case but it's not so easy when they're at the bunker. And Sam and Dean notice it.
I've this reoccurring nightmare. How I know it is a nightmare? Because I was too young to remember my mother when she died so how could I remember the night she died? Have I told anyone about it? Nope. My step dad never knew about it. My step mum didn't know. I didn't want to share with it with my half-brother so why would I tell my cousins? But they are more resourceful than my step parents and brother. For starters, they have an angel on their side.
"Something is wrong with AJ;" Sam said "She isn't sleeping properly,"
"And how do you know that?" I ask my younger brother.
"Have you seen those bags under her eyes?" He asks. I nod.
"I've heard her moving around, actively doing something, when I walk past on my way to bed. And this is at midnight," He says.
"Think we should put Cas on guard dog duty?" I ask.
"Put me on what?" Castiel asks, appearing in the dining room/ libaray seating area.
"We're worried about AJ, Cas," Sam explained "Could you watch her tonight,"
"Why would I watch her?" He asks.
"Have you seen her bags Cas?" I ask him.
"From what I have heard most teenagers stay up late and end up with bags under their eyes," He tells us.
"Well it seems AJ has been getting less than two hours sleep at the least. That's eight hours less than the required amount of sleep," Sam tells him "We just want to make sure she is okay,"
"I will watch her tonight,"
There's a bright light; A tall Burnette women stands in front of a cot with a sleeping infant inside. I know straight away who the woman is and who the sleeping infant is. The women is my mother and I am the infant
"She must be killed," A voice emits from the light.
"You will have to get through me first," My mother yells.
"Her mother's love is not strong enough to save her this time. We spared her once before, we shall not spare her again," The voice tells her. The light shines brighter and my mother falls to the ground. She is still conscious. With her final breath she calls out to someone.
"Gabriel, take care of our daughter," And with that she dies. It's not I love you, it's protect our daughter. She's talking about a man who I've never met once. He didn't even care enough to send a birthday check. What I see next though changes that. Another light appears but fades to the shape of a human. This man has a sandy brown mop of hair and golden eyes. He bends down to my mother.
"I'm sorry Jane," He whispers. He stands up and faces the light
"Raphael, leave this house and never come back," He says "Leave my daughter alone. There is already going to be enough suffering in her life,"
"You know the consequences Gabriel," The light, Raphael, tells him. Gabriel's golden eyes turn a bright blue and he holds out his hand. The light known as Raphael disappears leaving a sleeping infant in a cot and the father alone. Gabriel turns around and bends down. He strokes my head.
"I'm sorry," The infant wriggles in the blankets. He places his hand on her chest and a bright light shines.
I sit upright – breathing heavily. Then I realise there is a face staring at me. I grab one of my teddy bears and throw it at them. It bounces off harmlessly. Then I recognize the face. It was Castiel.
"Hasn't anyone told you it's creepy to watch people sleeping?" I ask, sighing.
"Yes,"
"Then why are you staring at me?" I ask. There is silence.
"Did Sam and Dean put you up to this?" Cas nods. I roll my eyes.
"What do you want Cas?" I ask.
"I could sense a lot of tension with you. Would you like to talk about it?" He asks.
"No,"
"I find that talking about it helps,"
"No,"
"Sam and Dean are worried about you," IT stopped me in my tracks. No one that I had known had ever said that before. Bruce and Abby weren't my real parents so they had no obligation to make sure that I knew that they were there for me. Steve was always with his friends, not bothering with his older half-sister who changed her last name for him.
"They are?" I ask.
"They are. They have noticed you are not getting enough sleep. They want to know what is happening," He tells me "Why not try it out on me?" I nod.
"I have this nightmare. I used to get it every night when I was younger but now I get it basically once a week. And it's the same thing over and over again. A bright light kills my mother. Using her last breath she calls out to Gabriel or something telling him to look after their daughter. A dude shows up and the light disappears. The dude turns around to the cot that holds a sleeping infant and strokes its hair. He then places his hand on the chest and I wake up with a pain in my chest," I tell him. "And I know that that infant is me," Cas frowns.
"May I look at your chest?" He asks. It is now my turn to be confused.
"From what you have described to me, you might have some enchocian runes on your chest. I will look at your chest to see what they are and if they are what is causing the nightmare," Cas explain. I nod. He places his hand on my chest and there's a bright light. He takes his hand away. He frowns again.
"You have a seal…"
"A what?" I ask
"A seal. Only archangels can put them on a human. However they can only put on those under the age of eighteen," Cas told me "Gabriel sealed something inside you so that you wouldn't be found. Your seal can only be broken in three ways. The first is if you reach the age of eighteen, the second is having the archangel who put it on you break it and the third is if you learn about the supernatural before your eighteenth birthday,"
"So it's broken now?" I ask "I know about the supernatural and I'm only 14,"
"It will slowly degraded releasing whatever Gabriel sealed inside," Cas told me "We just have to worry about what he sealed inside you,"
"Why don't we ask him?" I ask.
"That's the problem he died almost five years ago now. We cannot ask him,"
"Would any other angel's know?" Cas shakes his head.
"The only person who would know is the person Gabriel called after he placed the seal,"
"And where are they?" I ask.
"I'm here. But I don't remember what Gabriel said next. He must have erased that memory," Cas told me.
"So I'm a half angel aren't I?" I ask the question at the tip of my tongue.
"Yes you are," Cas replies "Do you want to tell Sam and Dean or shall I?"
"I will," I say "They've got to face the music as much as I do,"
"Our family just keeps getting weirder doesn't it?" Sam replied after I told them what I was.
"Our family is not that weird… is it?" I say
"Oh our family is extremely weird," Dean said "You've got the Campbell's who are hunters then you have the Winchester's who are Men of Letters and then we have the angels who are well… angels,"
"Our family is defiantly messed up," I mutter "So who's hungry?"
"I'll make pancakes," Dean says.
So this is what AJ sees at night. Obviously this is one of her nightmares (the other being the day her family died).
