Chronicles of Absolution: Sandman

Chapter 1

Then

… She had been on the hunt for two days after having caught wind of mysterious deaths. She had been assigned to this town and she would see it through. She watched and waited. That was the hard part… and the boring for some: the waiting. Yet the good hunters know that the patience in waiting always paid off. Maybe not the way you wanted it but it did pay off.

She waited until something caught her eye. Looking harder, she spotted her prey. With a grim smile, she stood up and looked down from her perch. Then with a swift movement, she leapt off the building and plummeted down to the ground where she landed with a graceful bow. Slowly she stood up and looked at her prey…

… Suddenly she was hit from behind. She fell forward and she lost her grip on her blade. She watched as it slid away through the puddles of water. The creatures couldn't touch it so that wasn't a worry. Suddenly she felt what seemed to be a pipe come down on her back. She grunted in pain as it hit hard. She had little recovery time for the others grabbed for her. They held her up and the creature she had stalked came up to her. With a single finger, the creature ran it down the side of her neck.

The hunter bucked in response. She hated it when they did that. She hated the feelings that came with it… and the memories. She growled in anger and tried to bite the offending finger. The result was a hard backhand across the face. She glared at the creature, her normal tawny eyes glowed, becoming bright orbs in the night. The creature merely laughed as he brought up a blade. The hunter recognized the glint of the metal. She struggled to free herself. Suddenly the blade came at her, towards where her heart was…

… Suddenly Sam saw flying black coat and was nearly pushed out of the way. He saw a flash of silver and right where he had been standing was another vampire with something sticking out of its chest. The vampire writhed on the ground as if burning from the blade until it was still. The trench coat walked over and pulled it out to reveal a knife of some sort. The trench coat turned to show its face to Sam.

Sam was stunned. It was her! His other dreams he was not in it. It was like a distorted lens but here now he was physically in front of her. He called out again, "Hey, are you real?"

The woman looked at him with a stern glance but something trickled in her eyes. Suddenly the rain stopped to give Sam a better look at her. She was shorter than he was but complemented his height. Athletic build with olive toned skin with dark brown hair and peering in the darkness, he could make out the tawny eyes. She looked at him holding the strange blade before she walked over, "Yes. I had to be pulled into dream walking again. Bloody dream king."

… "This will force you out of this realm and back to your body. They should also be able to keep you out until the job is finished."

Sam watched as she drew a series of symbols on his forearm. "What are you talking about?"

"There are forces that many hunters don't know about that are old and near forgotten. The one who pulled you here is trying to kill you and your brother." The woman finished scribbling her sigils on his forearm. "Now I'm going to send you back. Once back I suggest you and your brother leave but if you stay… be careful."

… As he walked forward to look at his dead double, the eyes opened and they were the familiar inky black. The double sat up and looked blankly at Dean, "You can't escape me Dean! This is what you're gonna become." He then snapped his fingers.

The scene shifted and the car was being packed. Dean lied deliberately to Sam about what he saw. "Nothing. I was looking for you the whole time. "I've been doing some thinking and the thing is… I don't wanna die. I don't wanna go to hell."

Sam agreed, "Yeah. We'll find a way to save you. I know Angie's been working on that."

The scene shifted again. Sam was in an empty warehouse. She was there too and it was like watching the scene in slow motion as the cold Sam stabbed Bobby. She couldn't say anything though she tried. He was shocked that he actually killed Bobby and that he did it right in front of her. He looked at her like he couldn't believe what he had done…

… Angela started pacing as she glanced at the scene. Sam looked so lost and then that last bit about tearing down her shield… "When did you become a shrink?"

Morpheus bristled slightly but he could understand the snarky attitude. It was a defense mechanism. "You know that in my domain I can see your thoughts and feelings. They can't hide here."

Angela crossed her arms and stared off into the void. Of course she knew that. "I know that," she replied softly. "I hate the fact that I could see what Dean saw and he couldn't see me. How or why I am not sure and I don't think I care to know…"

… She had been asleep but not asleep. She dreamed. She saw the town, peaceful and normal but there was a dark shadow that lingered over it. The people were acting normally but the shadow was over them like a cloud. She saw the eagle flying but it was lost in the darkness. It was flying in circles as if it was searching for a way out, but it couldn't. When it found its way to the edge, something stopped it; like it was tethered or something…

… The warrior brothers were sitting side by side in the car and they were driving off to some destination. The only that stretched before them was a two lane highway. The brothers were laughing and joking with each other. The younger one would occasional look towards the back at her. Natalia though knew that he wasn't looking at her. So she looked around the backseat.

Sitting next to her was the eagle. The eagle was looking pretty comfortable as it playfully pecked at the younger brother's hair and occasionally the older brother as well. This continued as the car traveled down the highway…

… She stood in the middle of the flames looking up. She didn't even feel the heat as the flames licked at her coat. The lips kept moving and finally a voice came out, "Why? Why did you leave me?"

She backed away until she saw him. His yellow eyes never failed to incite anger. She started forward when all of a sudden, Mary, dead and pale was standing next to him. Her eyes were narrowed with hatred. "You did this to me! You were supposed to protect me!"

Yellow Eyes smiled and said, "You can't save them all no matter what you try."

… She, from all appearances, looked innocent but when the human male brought her in, there was a look that could only be described as single-minded focus. From a quick inspection of the eyes, Morpheus could tell that he was far under the being's control. She possessed strength but it could easily crumble and that was what he was doing to her and he was powerless to stop it.

He had been minding his own business in his realm, influencing the images that mortals conjured in their minds and allowed them to play them out. The Greeks called him the god of dreams. Some called him the Dream King while his sister was the Queen. He was often said to be the one that created nightmares and the like while his sister or wife created the dreams. It was true that he did have some fun with the nightmares since some of the things that mortals had fears of were about as funny as the idea of a man eating rabbit. So it was partially true but then what god didn't have fun?

The Lady would never at the expense of a mortal.

Morpheus resisted making movements to indicate he heard something. It was his sister reminding him again. He could only hope that whatever plan she had in mind would work. The binding spell was a powerful one and Morpheus concluded that one of the higher ups in the demon hierarchy had brought it out and given it to this being. He had been lured in by a prospective dreamer and ensnared and now his power was used to greatly advance the effects of the mug wort concoction that they came up with…

… "Tell me about it. Damn that god is good." Austin rubbed his forehead.

"Morpheus?"

"I've heard stories about his strength and I'm betting your demon does too. He hit us hard by playing on our worse fears and things we normally would keep hidden." Austin then looked at Sam with a frown. Something didn't make sense. "I'm surprised you weren't affected."

… Morpheus, the god of dreams, looked at Angela with a bemused smile. He had always liked that she was straight to the point and never wasted a moment on something like panicking. If she ever did do that, she did it when he wasn't around. She was always the one that was focused. He teased her slightly, "Well… you know how I can exist."

"I am me. If there is one thing that little bratty child of an angel can't do is kill or imitate me. No one but the god of dreams knows the power he wields."

… "It's feedback," Morpheus replied. He could don the mysterious cloak thing but he felt it was better to do the straightforward thing. It was out of respect for her and she appreciated it more than most beings knew.

"Feedback?" Angela frowned at that. She was familiar with the concept but she was failing to grasp how it applied to her. "There aren't any bonds that could do that. Cas is topside and Gabe is gone. Kess is doing… whatever he is doing. So…?"

… "And you have me convinced. So… what gives for this visit?"

Morpheus looked at Angela with a look of curiosity as he replied, "Well… you."

"Me?" Angela raised her brow at that. "Why? And a better question is how is it that you are able to reach me here in hell? The lines are pretty…"

"Even the damned must sleep," Morpheus offered…

Now

It was a quiet night, a normal night. He was going about his job with his usual cheerfulness. There were people that needed to be eased to sleep and find their dreams. It was a job that he and others like him did with good cheer since they knew that sentient beings dreamed in order to resolve issues that they may have come across during the day, find a place to unwind, or seek sanctuary from reality. Whatever the case, he and his kind were the ones that lulled people to sleep in order for them to pass into the realm that belonged to the god of dreams.

He just finished lulling little Henry to sleep, knowing that he would be probably dreaming he was a cowboy or some equally exciting adventure that could only be accomplished in the land of dreams. He lingered, smiling at the boy who was starting to smile in his sleep. Time to move onto the next household and the next set of children.

He chose to work with the children because they were young and innocent. Their dreams were mostly innocent. Even if they had bad dreams or nightmares, they were fairly innocent and the god of dreams did what he could to make sure they weren't that affected by them. It wasn't a perfect system, but it worked pretty well and the rules about dreams were clear.

He left the house to head to where his ride was waiting. Suzy was the most reliable mount that he had and it certainly lent to the stories told about his kind. It was the kind of thing that humans would never believe existed. A world that was sort of kept hidden. The sort of was because there were those that had their eyes opened to that world. And the stories that were told…

Suzy was waiting around the corner. She was probably waiting for the carrot snack he picked up from the kitchen. They would never miss it. Most humans didn't. He put his hand in his pocket to finger the carrot grinning. There was a benefit to being tiny. He could make normal things be small as he needed. Since he had room, he actually had two carrots in his pocket. He grinned as he rounded the corner. What he saw had him stop dead in his tracks.

Suzy was braying in fear but she wasn't moving. She couldn't move since there was an arm around her neck and it wasn't a friendly embrace. She had been made full size and her feet were prancing in agitation but she didn't move from her spot. He grew to full size to confront the person that was holding onto his Suzy. When he got a good look, he stopped and felt a chill down his spine.

"I knew I would be able to find you," the woman holding onto Suzy's neck said with a smile. "At least one being is pretty easy to find."

He didn't know what to do. He saw the woman tighten her arm around Suzy's neck. He held his hands out, "Please. Don't hurt Suzy."

"I'm not going to do that. I know what it's like to love a creature so much."

"Then why…"

"I needed leverage."

He swallowed slightly. The woman knew how much Suzy meant to him. Others like him were partial to their mounts. They were like pair bonds of other beings, paired for life and it was a tragic loss if something happened to one or the other, or both. He stammered, "I'll do what you want. Just don't hurt Suzy."

"I won't hurt her," the woman said with a smile. "I am a mother. I understand."

"I know you are," he said after swallowing. He felt a little braver and added, "I know who you are."

The woman smiled as she released Suzy and took a couple of steps forward. She looked at him with a knowing smile. "I am surprised that you think you know what you know."

"It isn't hard to recognize the one who created the monsters. Eve, Mother of All."

It was a bold statement declaring his knowledge. In this situation though, it was better to not pull punches. There was a reason that she was here and he wasn't liking it. He didn't want to have anything to do with hurting people. That was not him or his kind, and yet he sensed that there was more to this than a simple riling him up thing.

Eve looked at her quarry with a smile. She cocked her head as she studied him. It had been a long time since she saw one when they first came into existence. They weren't even hers really. They were someone else's and history showed a few things that humans ended up forgetting. Well, she didn't forget. "It's good that you know me," she said. "Do the others remember me?"

"I can't speak for them."

"Yes you can. You are the daddy of your kind." Eve walked forward with a slight frown on her face like something was puzzling her. "And yet you choose to work with children. It is… rather endearing to me." She smiled as she lifted a hand and placed it on his shoulder. She ran it along his clothing, assessing him. "I care about my children and you care about children even if they are not your own."

He trembled a little at her touch. He held himself steady as he looked at her. Suzy was clear of her clutches. That was a relief. She could get away if she needed to and he would be happy. He looked at Eve. "Please, what are you doing here? You were locked away in that place for eternity."

Eve smiled, "I have been set free by some enterprising children of mine." She pulled back and looked at her quarry. "And they told me some very interesting news. Tell me… do you know about the dragon slayer that really isn't a slayer?"

He shook his head. That wasn't his thing. He didn't concern himself with things that had nothing to do with the job. It would only become a concern if it involved any of the others. "I don't know what you are talking about. I only work the gateway through the veil."

"Of course. You and the others lull these humans and my children to sleep and open the gate. You're telling me that you've never had a conversation with anyone?"

"We are not in the business of talking to our charges."

"One of them killed my children with a marking of the dragon slayers and they weren't recognized as such."

He looked at Eve as she got angry at him. It looked like she was going to get physical. He watched as she turned away in anger. There didn't seem to be anyone else around. Suzy was free and clear. They could make a run for it. He watched Eve until she turned away from him and he took the chance. He only hoped that they could get a head start.

He started to get away while changing size and said, "Suzy, let's roll."

Suzy was smart and able to take a hint. She followed his lead and they went to their travel size and started taking off. He urged Suzy to move. He could come back later and finish the job. Sleep could wait. Something was very wrong if Eve, the Mother of All, was looking for him or one of the others. Who was she talking about and why would she be interested if he talked to someone like that? It was absurd and definitely trouble to them.

Suzy made a turn and all of a sudden it was like she came to a sudden stop and flipped forward. He was flung forward. He grew into larger size and landed hard on the ground, on his back. He heard Suzy moan in pain he struggled to get to his feet. He was on his hands and knees, looking around until he saw Suzy lying on her side.

She was moaning in pain. It sounded like one of her legs might be broken and it broke his heart. He looked up when he heard rustling. There was Eve, walking towards him with a patronizing look. Like he should have known better than to run away. His jaw dropped slightly.

"Now you really shouldn't have done that. I haven't finished talking with you."

He remained on the ground, looking up at her. "I don't know what you want or talking about. There is no reason for us to talk to dreamers."

"Don't give me that. Your kind have the ability to speak to the more sensitive dreamers." Eve walked up with a narrowed look. She stood there looking down at him. She was like a mother who caught her child doing something wrong and was giving them the opportunity to fess up to the crime. The problem was that it didn't look particularly friendly. "Don't tell me you haven't spoken to any of them?"

"The ability is to soothe reluctant dreamers so they could pass through to the land of dreams," he admitted, "Just because we can, doesn't mean that we do it whenever we want. There are rules…"

"Rules. Of course there are rules."

He watched as Eve snapped that and started pacing in front of him. He watched her and spared a glance at Suzy. She hadn't moved since she fell. She was breathing but she was in pain. His expression saddened and turned it to look at Eve. "Please. I don't know who or what you are talking about. I have no interest in what mortals do in their dreams. I just help them…"

"I know. You help them pass the gate." Eve turned a sharp eye towards him. Her eyes narrowed, disappointed that she was unable to get what she wanted. She scoffed at him. "You are the one in charge!"

"As I said, we can hold conversations to ease the transition for the more reluctant dreamers," he said as he slowly clambered over to Suzy. He put his hands over her body to feel for broken bones and anything out of the ordinary. It was also to ease her pain. He looked down and swallowed, angry that his Suzy was hurt and blurted, "The only way to talk to a dreamer is to dream walk yourself or speak to the one that rules the dream realm. Either choice will give you the answers that you want. Now please, just leave us alone."

He looked at Suzy as she laid there and then at Eve. He wasn't feeling particularly brave, but he was angry at the turn of events. He watched as she paced in front of him. There was no way for him to get out of there. Suzy was down and he wasn't going to call another one of his kind to help. He would not put them in danger.

Eve groused before looking at her target. She narrowed her eyes as she processed what he said. She studied him as he tended to his beast that smelled. As she did, an idea came to her. She approached slowly as an almost predatory grin came over her face. This was going to be some fun and she was going to get to the bottom of the mystery that had her intrigued. She got up close and mused, "And maybe you can do something for me after all."

The tone of Eve's voice drew his attention from his ministering to Suzy. She was in bad shape. He would have to put her out of her misery since she was dying. If he didn't do something it would be a slow and painful death. It would be a hard blow and he wasn't sure about building rapport with a new mount. When he heard Eve's voice, he looked up. He saw the look on her face and immediately a bad feeling overcame him. He slowly stood up and backed up, "There is nothing I can do for you."

"Oh yes you can," Eve replied with a grin. She stepped closer to close the distance between them. "You can do something for me."

"And why would I want to help you?"

Eve chuckled at the retort and the glare he was giving her. Finally he was getting a spine and biting back. She smiled in a cruel and sweet fashion, "Because you have no choice. Not unless you want me to hunt down another one of you."

It was a tough situation. He knew that she was capable of doing violent things. And she definitely was pretty powerful. She could destroy him and the others if she wanted. He gritted his teeth and gestured, "You leave the others alone."

"Then what are you going to do? Try to put me to sleep?" Eve snickered at the thought. "Cause I would just love that." She stepped closer and put her hands on him seductively. "You open the gate and…"

"And what? You'll torture the dreamers? I don't think so."

Eve narrowed her eyes at him. "You're refusing? You know the consequences."

"I know. And I can send out a signal. You won't be able to catch any of the others."

Eve looked at him with a speculative look. She smirked at that. "Clever." She turned like she was going to walk away. She wasn't going to let him get away so easily thought. "But that is not going to stop me. Apart from a bastard capturing and killing my children, I want to know about this rogue dragon slayer. I want to talk to anyone. Even the damned must sleep."

"I won't open the gate for you to go through."

"No," Eve replied after taking a look at him. She smirked again. "Maybe not for me to go through. But for the other side to come through here."

He never saw it coming when he was shoved back and her eyes flashed. He realized she was doing something and it was going to lead to horrible consequences. He only had time to shout out before he was consumed by a light and then it was dark.

A/N: And we are off on a new episode and it looks like Eve, Mother of All is involved. Stay tuned for next time on Sandman...