Summary: Fantasy AU. Marianne Vale has had her amethyst necklace for years but when it unlocks the door to a new world, she has no idea of the path of destiny laying in wait for her on the journey towards the one they call 'The Reaper'. Please R&R!

Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or its characters. I only own Marianne Vale.

A/N: Okay, this is my idea for a novel, however, I am using SPN as a practice ground for it so I can play around with ideas, so I really need as much support as possible to make this my best work since I want to send the non-SPN version to a publisher when I've taken the SPN elements out of it.

I hope you enjoy it!

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The Path of Destiny

Chapter One: New Beginnings

A new house, a new town, a new life.

Marianne stood outside the old house, which she'd bought with her parent's inheritance, and admiring it's stone walls and large structure. It was a grey, cold morning in Enfield, Hartford County, Connecticut, and drizzle was just starting to fall from the darkening clouds above the town. Pulling her plum coat around her, Marianne brushed a hand through her dark hair and blinked her big blue eyes tiredly, stepping up the stony steps and through the large wooden doors, her black heels clicking on the wooden floor of the entrance hall. The ivory walls were lined with small paintings and sketches in old frames, while there were small tables and bureaus with vases of flowers and ornaments on them. The light streamed in through the windows but the day looked so uninviting that Marianne was tempted to just close the curtains and block out the light.

She headed into the first sitting room, looking at the light blue panelled walls and the light blue furniture, finding herself falling in love with it immediately. There was a large white marble fireplace, along with lots of old furniture in the room. The view from the window was overlooking the driveway where her black 1967 Chevrolet Impala sat, a car she'd had from being sixteen years old. The mist was gathering around the house and Marianne began to feel a little nervous and closed off from the outside of the grounds of her house. She was twenty-two, and had just buried both her parents after they'd died in a car accident. Her life was taking a downturn and she decided to settle and have some time to herself.

The skirt of her black long sleeved dress swished around her legs as she exited and walked into the kitchen, the terracotta and cream colour scheme making her wince a little. She'd considered decorating when she'd first seen it, but it was a good size, which is what she'd liked about it. The whole house was beautiful, way too big for her on her own, but when she married...if she married...her husband would share the house with her. Then if they had children, there was plenty of room and space for them. She couldn't wait to check out the grounds. Large woodland sat behind the house which was hers, and her first job was to hire some staff. A couple of maids, and definitely a couple of gardeners.

She wondered what lay beyond the wall that surrounded the house itself, and she made a plan that day to make a trip through the large wooden gate and find out what was in the woods behind the house. Maybe she'd see some wildlife, perhaps some rare flowers or something. She'd go out if the rain stopped, but as it continued to fall, a little harder over the house, she had her doubts that it would. The appliances were more modern compared to the age of the house. The last family to live in it were there in the 1980s, and had decided to leave it in it's original state. So had Marianne, but of course, there needed to be more modern appliances in some of the rooms.

She decided to look around the upstairs, walking into her bedroom which was decorated in a light cream colour, finding the suitcases of her clothes there waiting for her. She left those for a moment, heading around the other rooms, including the three bathrooms and four other bedrooms. There was a library too, and she found herself quite in love with that. Heading back downstairs, she explored the green dining room, cream music room, lilac study and the blue conservatory. Then she found the vestibule, and headed out through the arches to find that darker clouds were coming. She approached the wooden gate, suddenly finding herself feeling guilty for not unpacking. The rain began to come down in larger drops, so she ran up the steps and back inside, locking the back door as the first flash of lightning filled the sky around her.

Her heels again clicked on the wooden floor as she locked all the doors that were exits to the house, deciding to leave them locked all the time until she needed to use them. She had a set of keys on her all the time, so it would be easy to open and lock them again. She took off her coat and carried it over her arm as she hurried up the stairs, placing it on the back of her bedroom door and turning to her suitcases. With a sigh, she began to unpack her things.

After a hot meal, Marianne took a warm bath, dressing herself in her long white long-sleeved nightgown and heading down the stairs in her pumps to go and watch some TV. She curled up with a cup of hot chocolate to watch the news, finding herself rubbing the amethyst on her necklace between her fingers, her thoughts trailing to her mother and father. She squeezed it tightly and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

"You're fine." She breathed, "You're just fine."

By nine-thirty she was exhausted, and after checking her answering machine for messages, of which there were none, she decided to head up to her room. She crossed the large hallway to the stairs, stopping as the air felt a little cold. Then she heard it.

"She's here..."

It was a whisper, and as soft as it was, it drifted through the hallway, sending a long, slow chill down Marianne's spine. It was a voice she assumed was feminine, since it was as delicate as the fluttering of a butterfly's wings. She stayed still, looking around with small movements of her head as she feared what could be lurking in the darkness of the house.

'Please...' She thought, 'I've just lost my parents, I don't need ghosts too...'

No more sound followed and Marianne felt at peace again, deciding to head up the stairs to the bedroom. She left the corridor light on and the bedroom door slightly ajar just in case. She read her book quietly, checking her cell phone for messages and finding none. Perfect. She'd not only lost her parents, but she'd just moved into a new home, a new town, and no-one even wanted to know if she was okay?

"It must be great to be loved." She whispered, shaking her head and turning out the light.

She settled against the pillows, sighing and pulling the covers around herself as she closed her eyes to sleep. She thought of the events over the past few weeks, realising that her life was on such a downhill spiral that something would come out of the blue suddenly to change the path of destiny she was walking.

As she slipped away into slumber, she could've sworn that same soft fluttery voice whispered to her again.

"Come to us, Marianne..."

-TBC-

Hope you enjoyed!

Thanks for reading so far!

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