Chapter 4

Evie watched as Chuck took the stage. He gave the crowd a nervous smile as he sat down in the chair next to the microphone.

"Hi, everyone," he said. "It's nice to see all of you here. Hope you're having a good time. I… uh…"

He shot a nervous glance towards the back of the room before flashing another big smile at the audience.

"I suppose all of you are waiting to hear the new chapter, huh?"

A roar of approval came from the audience along with clapping. Chuck smiled nervously while a woman walked onto the stage and handed him a small paperback book. Chuck held the book for the audience to seen. Although small, Evie could make out the artwork of cover displaying a wooden cross that appeared to mark a gravesite. Chuck then settled himself in the chair and opened the book. The audience fell silent, tense with anticipation to hear the story.

"It was an unusually hot September day in Pontiac, Illinois. The sun baked the ground with its early morning rays. The air hung heavy and still, not even the sound of birds or wind disturbed it.

"In a small clearing there was a simple wooden cross marking a grave. The grave was older, having been made several months earlier. The grass was overgrown and wild, showing that no one had visited the spot for some time.

"Suddenly, beneath the earth covering the grave came a noise. Muffled yells. A bang. And then suddenly a pair of hands broke through the dirt, reaching towards the sky. They then clung to the surrounding ground and pulled. Then a head, shoulders, and upper torso burst through. The man let out a desperate gasp for air as he managed to pull himself the rest of the way out of the ground. He collapsed weakly onto his back and closed his eyes.

"He was alive. Dean Winchester was alive."

Evie listened with awe as Chuck read. Others in the crowd whooped and cheered as Dean's fate was finally revealed. She forced herself to ignore the nagging thoughts plaguing her about the story. That it seemed unusually familiar, although it wasn't one of the stories she had written herself.

And then came the pain.

Evie gasped and doubled over, the pain shooting through her head like a searing flame. She grasped her head with both hands and squeezed her eyes shut.

No! No! NO! Not now! This can't be happening now! I'm not dreaming! There haven't been any dreams! I'm awake! I'M AWAKE!

Becky heard Evie's gasp of pain and shot her a look of concern.

"Evie?" Becky put her hand on Evie's shoulder. "Oh my God. Are you OK?"

"Yeah," Evie managed to ground out. "It… it's just a migraine… I'll just… be right back…"

Evie got up and managed to slip down the aisle and out the door in the back. She staggered down the hallway, the pain so severe that she couldn't really focus on where she was going.

What is going on! There was no dream! No dream! This is only supposed to happen with the dreams! Not now!

She continued walking, eyes shut tightly as she felt along the wall in order to guide herself. She wasn't sure she was going the right way, but to open her eyes would hurt too much.

And then the pain just stopped.

Evie stopped and blinked a few times while slowly straightening up. She frowned with confusion and blinked a few times, as if the action might bring the pain back.

"What the…?" she murmured to herself.

"You're not supposed to be back here."

Evie looked up, startled. She realized it was the girl she had been talking to early, the one who had been complaining about her stories. The girl walked towards Evie, her arms folded across her chest.

Evie looked around and saw that she had wandered into the back area of the hotel where she guessed was staff only.

"Oh. Sorry. My head hurt… I got turned around…"

Something was wrong. Every fiber of instinct was screaming at Evie that something wasn't right. There was something about the way the girl was looking at her. It was different than it was before. Evie felt her stomach knot and she slowly began backing up.

"I… I think I'll be heading back…" Evie said nervously. "Mr. Edlund is doing his reading…"

The girl smiled and Evie felt her stomach drop. The smile was cold and malevolent and made every hair on Evie's head stand on end.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere, Evie."

Before Evie could say another word she felt herself get yanked off her feet and slammed against the wall. She was at least three feet off the floor and it felt like some force had her completely pinned there and had a vice-like grip around her throat. Her eyes widened with terror as the girl came towards her and Evie saw that her eyes had turned jet-black.

Oh my God! Oh my God! What is going on! This isn't real! This can't be real! This can't be really happening!

The girl stood in front of Evie, her eyes narrowing.

"I know exactly who and what you are, Evie," the girl hissed. "I'm here to make sure it doesn't happen!"

Evie wanted to ask the girl what she was talking about. She wanted to scream for help. But the oxygen was rapidly being depleted from her lungs and the grip around her throat wouldn't allow her to breathe.

I'm going to die! I'm going to die and no one will know!

Then came the most welcome sound Evie had ever heard.

"Drop her!"

Evie saw Eddie and Zach appear with Zach pointing a gun at the girl. The girl, however, looked at the gun and laughed.

"Well if it isn't the Winchesters, here to save the day!"

"Drop her now!" Eddie ordered firmly.

The girl smirked and arched an eyebrow at them. "Or what? You'll shoot me? Yes, that'd be a genius idea to fire a weapon where there's a large group of people just down the hall. What do you think they'll say when they find you've shot an innocent girl?"

Eddie and Zach scowled furiously at her, but Zach slowly lowered the weapon.

"What do you want?" Zach demanded.

The girl smiled. "I'm just here to do a job, boys! Crowley sent me. He heard about how things went down in Carthage so he decided maybe he should do a little housekeeping himself."

She motioned towards Evie.

"She's the one you guys should be concerned about."

Eddie smirked. "Well, she's not exactly a demon like you, so I'm not too worried about her."

The demon rolled her eyes. "That's because you're an idiot, Dean. That's because you two have no idea what's in store for her! If you knew then you'd want her dead just as much as Crowley and the rest of us do!"

Evie's vision was beginning to fade and her ability to follow the conversation was diminishing.

I'm going to die. I'm going to die and I have absolutely no idea what I did or what is going on!

Then a voice cut through that Evie could plainly hear.

"No one will hear this," a deep voice said.

Suddenly, the grip on Evie disappeared and she fell into a heap on the floor. When she opened her eyes she first saw Zach and Eddie kneeling next to her, asking her if she was alright. She then looked over to where the demon had been.

The girl was lying on the floor, her dead eyes staring out at nothing. Standing over her was a man with dark hair wearing a suit and light tan trench coat. Evie's stomach plummeted when she saw him. She knew him. She knew him all too well and there was no denying it. She had seen the man in at least a dozen of her dreams.

And she knew that he was no man.

"Evie," Eddie said, giving her a gentle shake. "Are you alright?"

Evie looked back at the dead body and she began trembling with horror.

"Oh God," was all she could manage to whisper. "She's dead. She's really dead. You actually killed her!"

"She would have killed you if I hadn't," the man said as he walked over to them.

Evie stared at him fearfully.

"You… you're Castiel," she whispered.

Castiel hesitated a moment before nodding slowly.

Evie then looked at the two men kneeling next to her.

"You're names aren't Eddie and Zach, are they?" she asked quietly, her eyes wide with fear.

The men hesitated before finally nodding.

"I'm Sam," Sam said carefully. "And this is my brother Dean. We're here because we wanted to ask you some questions, but we're going to protect you."

Evie looked back and forth at Sam and Dean, her eyes filling with tears as she began shaking her head.

"This can't be real," she whimpered as the tears began to spill down her cheeks.

Castiel walked over, still looking out for anyone that might come down the hallway.

"This woman is not a prophet," he said firmly.

Dean frowned. "How do you know?"

"There was no archangel to protect her," Castiel replied. "All prophets are protected by an archangel."

Dean nodded thoughtfully. "Damn it. Well, there's something going on here if Crowley and his crew are interested in her."

Castiel nodded. "Agreed. We need to take her to another location. I'm sure there are more demons around here."

Sam gently put a hand on Evie's shoulder. "Look, Evie, I know this is all pretty confusing for you, but we need you to come with us so we can keep you safe, alright? Where's your room so you can get you things?"

Evie wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and struggled to find her voice.

"I… I'm on the third floor… room 305."

"Alright," Dean said as he helped her to her feet. "Cas, you take her to get her stuff. Sam and I will take care of the body."

Evie opened her mouth to protest. She had just witnessed this Castiel kill someone and whether she recognized him or not didn't matter. All of this was completely insane and she scared to death. The angel, however, didn't give her a chance to respond. Castiel grabbed her arm and began leading her down the hallway to the elevator.

As they rode the elevator up to the third floor Evie's mind was spinning widely. She was too in shock to know what to do or say. The practical part of her was telling herself that she was absolutely insane to be going anywhere with these strange men, one of whom she had seen murder someone just moments before.

And yet there was that other part of her that realized this explained everything. It explained the dreams anyway. And her gut instinct was telling her that despite this Castiel being the most terrifying person she had ever met (well, besides the possessed girl who had just tried to kill her) he would also be the one to protect her.

They finally reached her room. Evie opened the door and began rushing to throw her things into her suitcase and bags. She kept glancing up at Castiel who was at the door, watching out the peep hole. She had finally finished packing and was zipping her suitcase shut when he rushed over to her.

"They're coming," he said as one of the nearby bags.

"What? Who-?" was all she managed to get out before he touched her on the forehead.

And then they were standing outside next to a black 1967 Chevy Impala. Evie froze, her jaw dropping open.

"Did we… we just…" she stammered.

Castiel looked at her when suddenly Evie's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she began to fall. He easily caught her before she hit the ground. Frowning in confusion he managed to open the car down and lay her out in the back seat.

When Dean and Sam finally came out they found Castiel calmly standing next to the car.

"Cas, where's Evie?" Dean asked with concern.

"In the car," Castiel replied. "She lost consciousness after I brought her out here."

Sam looked puzzled, but Dean groaned.

"Cas, did you zap her out here without warning her first?"

Castiel frowned. "The demons had reached the room. We had to leave immediately."

Sam sighed and shook his head, making his way to the car. Dean also shook his head and gestured for Castiel to get in.

"Don't worry about it. Let's just get out of here."