Here's the second and final part :) hope you like it as much as you liked the first!
Reviews are like medals. It won't hurt to give me some :) Doesn't matter what type, please leave me some. I really appreciate constructive criticism too!
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or anything or anyone related to it; I do own the plot of my story and everything that comes with it :)
Happy reading!
Part-II.
I wondered about the nights when my little sister had to stay awake to care for me.
Did I ever make her as worried as Sam for his brother?
.
.
.
For the first time, the night didn't feel as lonely as it had for the past three hundred years. When the morning light came I knew it was best that I stayed out of view. I could take a ghostly nap since there was hardly anything else to do.
I waited till they woke up. Dean slowly opened his mesmerizing hazel eyes and immediately turned to look at his brother. Satisfied to find the colossal gentle being snoring softly, he smacked his lips and reached up to rub his sleepy eyes.
I was irrevocably falling for them. It made me happy and sad at the same time. I couldn't even touch them without causing them to get goose bumps. There was nothing I could do.
My eyesight began to get clouded over and I took it as a cue to make another disappearing act.
.
.
.
I waited and waited. I had done more than a hundred years' waiting but it was never this despairing. Nothing could bring me peace as I impatiently waited for them to return. I flitted around the room, hovering over their simple belongings and looking at them in acute interest. I passed a transparent hand through the clothes they had left in a corner of the bathroom to be washed later. I'd have gladly done it but I was not very strong and couldn't go very far from the room. The laundry place was at the other end of the motel.
I resorted to making their tousled slept-in beds, and got their coffee mugs and breakfast mess cleaned up. They seemed to have been on an urgent task as they left early morning. I was happy to pick up after them. It gave me a sense of importance, a feeling of belongingness which I had so earnestly craved for all this time.
Sometimes I gently floated above the spot where my bed had been and let myself float down on it. Funnily though, the bed that had replaced mine was the one Dean slept in. I tried to make myself as tangible as I could as I passed my hand over the pillows and sheets. I breathed in his faint scent and felt my tears returning.
Why did I have to stay around this place for so long with the worst kind of loneliness imaginable only to fall hopelessly in love with a man I couldn't even placate from his nightly horrors? Sometimes my tears could actually take on a physical form. I levitated off the bed, not wanting to dampen the pillows with my tears and arouse suspicion. They had been gone a long time and it was already dark.
They should be coming back any moment, I tried to calm myself down as I waited impatiently for some more time. It was a sweet feeling of pain… how silly I sounded, I observed laughing giddily as I hugged myself and danced around the four corners of the room. I let go off my inhibitions and got the curtains swaying in a strong breeze. Some of the furniture also shifted out of their places and the lights flickered softly, in spite of their switches being turned off.
I waltzed around in unexplainable ecstasy with the painting of my sister and me in my hand. She would have been very happy too. How I wished I could share my happiness with her!
.
.
.
I didn't have to wait long. I had just about calmed down when they returned. It was time for another invisible act; with my new-found treasure trove of bliss and delight, it was difficult to contain myself. I had to wait till they were settled back in from their hard day's work before I could try talking to them. It laughed quietly as they stared in amazement at the made beds and cleared dishes. Boys.
Was this how a newlywed bride felt on the morning after the wedding? I had no idea to know but I was sure this was close to the exquisite feeling.
.
.
.
I waited till they had showered and eaten their meal. Dean was looking quite pleased with their job as was Sam. They were relaxing with some beer and going over the events of the day. I followed their conversation and was fascinated as well as intrigued. If it was any way to apologize for all the times I had been sad and upset all this time, I was grateful that my long journey of loneliness was rewarded with such an unexpected reason for contentment.
They were going on about some difficult case they had some time back. Soon the conversation took a lighter tone and they were sharing amusing anecdotes and laughing heartily. It was like music to my ears.
I felt it was time to try to talk to them again. I slowly made myself visible and tangible before them.
"Forgive me for intruding…" I started but didn't get far before both of them jumped back and some really harsh words emitted forth Dean's lips.
"Son of a bitch! What the hell?" Dean yelled out reaching for his gun and pointing it at me. I was appalled. What was wrong with today's world?
Sam gave a startled grunt before recovering and grabbing the jar I had seen him handle before. He opened it quickly and threw a handful of the white grains at me.
It all happened so fast that I didn't get any chance to ask anything. As the white substance fell on me I felt a strange sensation and the next thing I knew I was across the room, slightly dazed.
They were searching around the room, taking each step with utmost caution. I tried to get up from my crumpled position but I fell back as a spell of dizziness hit me. A weak moan escaped as I tried my best to sit up.
"Dean, over here… I heard Sam say as slow careful footsteps came towards me and stopped a short distance away. I looked up and saw their concerned yet careful faces. It wasn't long before Sam softened and kneeled down beside me, just out of reach.
"Sam, what are you doing? She's a ghost for heaven's sake!" Dean hissed at his brother.
"She looks hurt Dean, I gotta see." Sam's reply was calm yet cautious.
"So you gotta do a freakin' Florence Nightingale? You gotta be kidding me!"
Who or what is Florence Nightingale? There was so much I wanted to ask; so much I wanted to tell. I sadly realized that perhaps I was not going to get any opportunity for that.
"Dean… you got my back, right? If she gets violent or attacks me, just do what you gotta do okay?"
Dean frowned as he muttered something in agreement.
Thank goodness for small mercies. I smiled as Sam turned back to me.
"Are you alright? What's your name?" I had heard his soft voice before but it was nothing like hearing him speak to me directly.
His eyes were the same green as his brother's but they had an immeasurable amount of tenderness in them. I don't know how to start describing the incredible depth of kindness in his eyes. One might say I was seeing too much and reading too deep into them. Well I was willing to sound like a lovelorn dove.
"I am Annabelle. Thank you for asking… I feel a little tired."
It felt odd to hear my voice in a conversation. I think I sounded different than the time when I was still… in flesh and blood. I was too filled with elation to really care about how I sounded. Although I was worried that I was not looking my best. I ran a hand over my braids to make sure they were in place.
Dean gave a small smile but he didn't lower the gun.
"She's got the sweets for you little brother." Dean laughed in an amused manner. It seemed to elicit a slight blush on Sam's smooth, blemish-free face. I quickly realized that I was giving the wrong impression.
"I beg your pardon if I have made you feel ostracized. I have taken a liking to you also." I tried to appease him, hoping to soothe the disappointment which he had hidden behind a brave face.
Sam laughed this time. He seemed to derive great delight from seeing his brother turn a shade of crimson.
Dean muttered something under his breath and told his brother to shut up. Sam was shaking slightly at the shoulders as he seemed to waver between smiling and keeping himself calm.
I longed to reach and touch Dean's fine-looking features and in my yearning I had floated up to their level and was going towards the young man who could make me feel inexpressible joy just by being his own self. The brothers backed away a good distance as Dean reaffirmed the grip on his gun.
"Look Lady Ghosty, if you get any closer I'm going to pump you full of iron shots… trust me it ain't pleasant at all." Dean warned me, his voice in a low growl.
I stopped and frowned. I resented to be called like that. It irked me so much that one of the lights exploded and the flying bits flew dangerously close to Dean's face. Sam reacted just in time as he pushed his brother away and took the shrapnel on his jaw. The older brother screamed and cast a look so hateful at me that I cringed, feeling like a criminal. Without blinking, he shot me.
I had never felt such intense pain. I am sure I must have screamed like a banshee because the looks on their faces said so. Then everything went black.
.
.
.
I was floating in a black void. Time seemed to stand still… no, it was more like time did not exist at all, did not matter. As I strained to look for light, any pin prick of brightness, I began to sense something calling me. It was more like a strong pull and I tried to fight it. It really scared me when I realized I was at the mercy of it as my struggles proved futile. I saw a round disc of light which grew wider and wider as I got pulled closer and closer to it. In a few moments it grew as wide as the entire space around me and it completely obliterated the darkness which had surrounded me.
When I was completely washed by the light I felt a change in the air around me. It was getting warmer and warmer till it got very hot and I let out an uncomfortable cry of pain. Soon I began to hear voices. They faded in and out, haunting my senses as they came and went. Finally the light began to wane and I found myself back in the room.
I felt a new jolt of happiness as I saw the brothers again. But it did not last long. I took a peek at Sam and instantly felt a sharp pierce of guilt. A side of his face was covered in dressing, just below his eye. I averted my eyes in shame. They were standing by the table on which some materials and a large lighted bowl of fire was placed. I tried to walk to them but found my feet planted on the ground. There were some strange writings on the floor arranged in a circle and I was right in the center of it. I looked at them, puzzled. The distant look in Dean's eyes made me feel hurt.
"Why can I not move? Please don't hurt me…" I said with a strong sense of remorse as I looked at Sam's face, "Forgive me, I did not mean to do that."
Sam shook his head slowly, as though trying to say it was okay. Dean's face softened the slightest bit when he heard me, but it soon went back to wearing that hateful face that broke my heart a second time.
"That's what happens when you linger around for too long. You don't mean to do some things but you end up doing them anyway because you have no control over yourself." Dean explained, "You nearly blinded my brother in one eye. I am sure you did not intend it. But that means you have to move on before worse things happen."
The room fell into still silence. What kind of worse things was he talking about?
"As a spirit, when you stay back for too long you change. Whether you want to or not, and no matter how much you may fight it, you will get worse as time passes. At first you will be lonely and pensive. Then as more time passes, you will get more and more frustrated… till one day you turn into one angry ghost. It is usually too late by then for a spirit to revert back to normalcy." Dean seemed to feel what I was thinking and he explained in a gentle tone which I really appreciated.
"We can help you, Annabelle. We can help you to move on."
Sam's voice was kind and considerate.
I looked at them and felt myself plummeting into a pit of agony. If I moved on, did it mean I would never see them again?
"What happens when we move on?" I asked.
Dean shifted unsurely as he seemed to ponder on the question. Sam took one glance at his brother and turned to me.
"Honestly, we don't know. But we believe it is better than turning into an angry vengeful ghost. We can't even talk to them like we are able to talk to you… they lose their senses and only exist as wrathful spirits hell bent on hurting the ones who happen to disturb them."
Would I turn into one of them too? I thought sadly. A single tear rolled down my cheek as something came to mind.
"Will I see you again, if I move on?" I asked without thinking.
A wave of surprise washed over them. They smiled together. I couldn't help but smile back. It was pure joy to see the kind look in their eyes.
"I don't know… why do you ask?" Sam enquired politely.
I began to blush as I got close to making my confession. It was the moment that would reveal everything. Better now or never. And I was sure it was never for my case.
I swallowed shyly before answering.
"I like you… Dean." I whispered as I felt my cheeks heat up. I wonder if that could really happen in ghosts like real people.
I kept my eyes on the floor as I waited for the words to sink in. the silence was starting to stifle me.
"Say something to her. Don't just stand there Dean." Sam reprimanded his older brother, "She probably hasn't been spoken to all these years. Be nice."
"Oh sure! Why don't I do the tango with her, huh Sam?" Dean retorted spitefully.
It would have been good if he had outright refused to answer me. It hurt to be talked about when I could hear every word.
I couldn't control myself as I made the lights flicker again. Only this time it was not soft. They clicked on and off in an annoying intensity making it look as if the building was in an earthquake and the furniture began to scrape along the floors. Don't ask about the windows, let alone the curtains. They flew open and the panes cracked and shattered. I knew I was doing it but I wasn't able to stop till the whole room was filled with broken glass and the furniture was in a mess.
"Dean! You can get through to her! Just try!" Sam's urgent voice brought me back to reality and after a few aftershocks and tremors, I calmed down.
I understood I was being an extra addition to this world and I needed to move on. I was being selfish by staying behind and not choosing to move on. I had disrupted the balance of the world long enough, it was time I set things right.
"It's okay, it's okay. I understand now." I said with tears of revelation threatening to spill over, "I'll move on, like you said. Help me, please."
"Annabelle… " Sam whispered my name sadly.
"I'm fine with moving on, really." I said truthfully. It felt like a weight being lifted off my chest. A weight I had carried for three hundred years.
.
.
.
Sam and Dean explained everything that I needed to know. That brought up a new question. I had no remains left, how was I going to… rest?
Dean asked if there was something that I really treasured left behind. Before I could answer, Sam went over and lifted my painting off the hook.
"Is this you?"
"Yes. With my sister."
Sam gave an understanding nod. "This is what is keeping you here."
Dean took it from him and took a few minutes before speaking again.
"It's such a masterpiece. Pity we'll have to burn it."
My heart clenched at the thought of my fondest memory going up in flames. I said it was okay; they had to do what was necessary to set me free.
My love for them grew a thousand fold at Sam's next actions.
"We can keep a picture of it. That way, it will still remain even if we burn the original." He offered tentatively.
I felt the smile spreading across my face like the way the morning sun would light up my room.
"I would like that. It's a wonderful idea. Thank you Sam." I said gleefully.
He smiled shyly as he took out a small contraption from his pocket. It was one of those small machines the people of today used to speak to other people. He carefully took out the aged canvas from the frame and set it on the table. He then brought the contraption in front of my painting and I heard a distinct, sharp click.
He held it in front of me and showed he the result. There was a small window on it with a miniature version of my painting. Amazing!
"Are you ready, Annabelle?" Dean asked, taking my name for the first time.
"Yes."
My painting was put into the bowl. They got a match to light it. Just before doing so, Dean apologized.
"What are you apologizing for?" I asked, puzzled.
"I shouldn't have been so rude. I hope you find peace." He said quietly.
"I hope so too, Dean."
"Good bye Annabelle." They said in unison.
Sam lit the match and put it into the bowl.
"Good bye Sam." I smiled at him gratefully before turning to Dean, "Good bye… my love."
As the flames grew, I started to feel a slight burn in my chest. They had told me that they didn't know if it was going to feel alright or unpleasant. It wasn't a joy ride, but it wasn't so bad. They had prepared me for whatever was coming, so I was ready.
I began to feel lighter and sensed my grasp on the living world start to dissipate. It was time to move on, finally.
I looked at them with a grateful heart. I wasn't sad or scared anymore. I would reach where I was supposed to be. And who knows, I may get to see my family again.
All of a sudden, Dean ran over to me and took my hand carefully. He looked as if he was afraid to break me. He reckoned for a split second before he took my hand to his lips and kissed it.
My first. So what if it was not on the lips?
He let go just in time as I felt myself phasing out of the living world. I caught a last glimpse of their heart-warming smiles. It had been a wonderful first after-life.
Now I was looking forward to my second.
.
.
.
I swam through a soundless, wall-less white space for sometime before I saw finally saw a door. It opened to a beautiful golden light and someone stood at the threshold. Intrigued as well as apprehensive, I swam for it harder till I found myself a few feet in front of it. I settled back on my feet. Taking it as a hint, I walked to the door slowly, keeping my eyes on the person standing at it.
At first I didn't recognize her. She was a beautiful woman and looked vaguely familiar.
Then she smiled.
And I instantly knew.
My little sister. All grown up.
I don't care if it doesn't turn out in any way I am hoping for it. It can't be bad.
All I know is I have two wonderful boys to look over and watch out for. They took care of me when I had no one. It would do them good to have a friend among the stars.
'
'
'
~FIN~
That wraps it up people! Ridiculously huge chocolate cookies and ice-lollipops to reviewers :D you know what you gotta do!
