Disclaimer: Neither Supernatural or Sam belong to me. Just wishing.
Author's Note: I'm back from my vacation! I want to apologize in advance for the one bit of Latin I put in this chapter. I got it from an English to Latin translator, so I have no doubt that it's probably wrong. Sorry!
The Red Caress
Chapter 7
Tonight was the night. In just a few hours time Sam would be a married man. He had never been more nervous.
Friday morning, after he and Rae had finished breakfast, he had dropped her back off at her apartment and hadn't seen her since. He had however, anxiously called her twice a day, morning and night, to check on her and catch her up with his progress concerning the ritual. He knew he was going overboard with everything, he could hear the exasperation in Rae's voice, but he just couldn't help himself. He'd had a few loose ends to tie up, a few more herbs to buy, and a little more research to complete during this time, but now everything was set and perfect. There would be no mistakes tonight.
He looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. He had put on his only suit, the one he wore when impersonating an FBI agent, and judged himself with a critical eye. It technically didn't matter what he wore to the ritual, but he knew this was the only marriage either he or Rae would ever have, so he felt it was only appropriate that he dress up for the occasion. Feeling self conscious, he turned away from his image and checked his watch yet again. It was finally time for him to pick Rae up from her apartment. Glancing around the room one last time to make sure he didn't forget anything, he patted his pocket to check that the rings were still where he left them, and then grabbed his keys and left the room.
Climbing into the Impala, he paused for a moment. Closing his eyes, he started to speak. "Hey Dean. I know you can't hear me, but I just wanted you to tell you that I miss you. I know, you're saying enough with the chick flick moment already, but until you're here to tell me to shut up yourself, I get to be as girly as I want. I wanted to tell you that I'm getting you back, tonight. I know you're going to be pissed at me for doing this, but it's the only way. God, I feel stupid talking to myself, so I'm shutting up now and I'll talk to you in person later. Bye." With that he started the car and drove.
Pulling up to Rae's place, he was about to turn off the engine and head inside, when a flash of red caught his attention. It was Rae. She had obviously been waiting for him just inside the lobby doors, and had run out to meet him when she saw the Impala. True to his instructions, Instead of the poufy black coat she had been wearing when he last saw her, she now had on a dark red, form fitting pea coat that went to her knees. Making it safely to the car, she quickly jumped in, bringing a flurry of snow with her.
"Oh God it's cold! My feet are numb, I bet I have frostbite already." she said, lifting up a red heeled foot attached to a long white leg to emphasize her point. Sam's eyes were drawn up that leg, peeking out of the large slit in her coat, and he quickly cleared his throat before looking away. Rae continued on, oblivious to Sam's discomfort. "I can't believe I'm wearing these heels, it's ten degrees out! But it's my wedding, what else was I going to wear?" She continued to nervously chatter as Sam pulled the car onto the road and headed for their final destination.
Interrupting her, Sam said, "Rae, there's still time for you to back out, you don't have to go through with it if you aren't sure." He was giving her one last chance to run away screaming from the crazy guy who claimed he could bring back the dead.
She seemed to have read his thoughts when she answered, "I'll admit that I still think there's a high probability that we're both crazy. But if worst comes to worst, and we don't get our dead siblings out of Hell, well…I needed to lose my virginity some time. Right? And doing it with the hottest guy I've ever met? At least I can use that as my excuse, temporary insanity by cause of my raging hormones. And hopefully you're not a serial killer either and I'll live and take this secret bout of insanity to my grave." She looked straight ahead as she said all of this, but Sam could see the dark blush that had bloomed on her cheeks. "But mostly, I just need to know that I did everything I could, and I didn't let any opportunity pass by because I was scared. That would be something I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for.", she added seriously.
"Alright then. Uh, we've still got about forty minutes until we get to the park, in case you need to go over anything again, or have a few last questions." he said, changing the subject in the hopes of leaving the awkwardness of the moment behind.
"No, I think at this point it's best if I don't ask anything else. In this situation, the less I know the better, I'm thinking." she said. Sam had no reply to that, so neither of them said anything else for the rest of the drive.
Eventually, the number of buildings along the road thinned out, passing cars grew scarce and the trees grew in thicker patches, they were nearing the park. Another ten minutes, and Sam turned onto a dirt road, driving them deep into the woods. There was no light except for that of the headlights, the twin beams giving off an eerie glow. The branches overhead grew in a thick cover, blocking the night sky from view. They were surrounded on all sides. Sam continued to steer them slowly along the twisted, winding road. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Sam spotted another set of lights in the distance.
Rae sat up straighter in her seat, clutching the red bag she had been carrying tightly between her hands and craning her neck to get a better view of what awaited them. Taking the last curve, they finally saw the old green truck that was parked outside the cross roads, the dimly lit cabin revealing a man huddled in the driver's seat. Sam parked the Impala beside the truck, but left the engine running.
Turning in his seat to face Rae, Sam spoke. "I think it would be best if you waited in the car for a little while. I need to talk to Father Luke and set up a few more things for the ritual, and you aren't really dressed for the weather anyway." Rae nodded her agreement. "Alright, I'll come get you when we're ready to start." he said before reaching into the backseat, grabbing his backpack, and getting out. When he started towards the truck, its own door opened to reveal the father. He was grey haired and thin, with warm brown eyes and an infectious smile.
"Well hello there Sam, I never expected to be getting a call from you." he said, speaking amiably enough, and giving Sam a firm handshake. Sam saw that under his heavy brown parka he was in his full priest's uniform, just as he had specified. "That your young lady in the car?" he asked, squinting through the dark to try and catch a glimpse of her.
"Yeah, that's Rae. I really wanted to thank you for doing this for us on such short notice. I know this is an unusual request, but we just couldn't wait." Sam said.
"Not at all. You aren't the first couple to need a hasty wedding, and you won't be the last. You're a good man to take responsibility for your actions. Although the choice of location is an odd pick. But to each his own." he added, giving Sam a wink as he said this.
Sam stared at him for a moment, not understanding what he was saying. Then it finally hit him, Father Luke thought that he had gotten Rae pregnant, and that was the reason for all the secrecy and rushing. Sam could feel himself flushing in embarrassment, and was about to correct him when he realized that letting the father come to his own conclusions about the marriage was better than him finding out the truth.
"Right. Uh, well here's the ceremony that we'd like you to use. You've probably never seen it before, it's mostly just used for hunters.", he lied. "I just have a few things I need to get ready before we can begin, and you can look that over. It's all in Latin, so mostly you just have to go over pronunciation, alright?" he asked.
"Oh, sure. But where's Dean? From what I remember you two never went anywhere without each other. I'd have thought he'd want to be here for this." he asked, taking another look at the Impala to be sure he hadn't missed him.
"He should be showing up later on. He'll miss the wedding, unfortunately. He's a little tied up at the moment." he answered, and not untruthfully. He turned away before Father Luke could try and read any untruth on his face, and started pulling supplies out of his bag. Moving to the center of the crossroads, Sam opened a drawstring bag containing pure salt that had been soaked and then dried in holy water. After pouring out a circle six feet wide in the dead center of the roads, he tossed the empty sack back into his bag. Next came the thermos containing fresh lamb's blood. Dabbing his fingers into its warmth, Sam drew four symbols outside the circle in each of the four directions. The bright redness of the designs stood out in sharp contrast to the freshly fallen snow. Sam caught Father Luke frowning at him, but thankfully he didn't say anything to stop him.
Sealing the thermos, Sam put it back only to pull out four white candles. Spacing them equally between the symbols, he lit them. Placing three glass vials of liquid in the middle of the circle he moved on. "One down, two to go." Sam sighed. He could feel the cold seeping in through his jacket, and he was already losing feeling in his hands. Moving more quickly, he sketched out another two circles, east and west, next to the first. These were smaller, and made of a mixture of dirt from both Dean and Ruth's graves. Completing them, Sam stood. It was time. Glancing above him, he looked through the small clearing in the branches. The full moon hung heavily in the starry sky, glowing brightly. Walking back to the car, he opened Rae's door. "Are you ready?" he asked.
Taking in a shuddering breath, she nodded. "Let's do this.", she replied, trying but failing to give him a reassuring smile.
"We need to leave our jackets here. Only ceremonial garb allowed from here out. Sorry." he apologized. She barely acknowledged him, simply standing up and stripping her coat off. Sam stared. She was wearing a crimson red silk dress. Tightly fitted across her chest, and revealing a large amount of cleavage, it had small straps to hold it up. Once past her hips it fell in loose folds down to her knees. Looking her over, Sam noticed that she had gotten her hair done. It was loosely curled and swept to the side, held in place by a gem studded clip. She looked lovely.
When she noticed him looking she spoke, "Like it? It's the most money I've ever spent on clothes in my life. More of an impulse buy, but I felt like a cheap dress would make it seem like I wasn't taking this seriously." She shivered as she said this, so Sam quickly threw his own coat in the car and ushered her into the circle.
"We're ready to start Father." Sam said, gesturing to the man to come closer. Father Luke was looking rather uncertainly at them. He made his way over to them, but slowly, as if he would rather not be here anymore.
"Are you sure you should be doing this Sam? If I didn't know you better I might get the wrong impression from all this." he said. Sam got the message; he knew very well that it looked like a satanic ritual.
"You don't need to worry Father, I know this looks very strange. I promise you that this is a marriage ritual, you aren't doing anything against your vows, I wouldn't do that to you." Sam stated.
The father didn't look totally convinced, but said, "I owe you this Sam, you saved my life and many of my parishioners, but this doesn't feel right." Nonetheless, he unfolded the paper the ritual was written on and began. He spoke the Latin in halting words, careful to not to stumble over their unfamiliar sounds. As the priest read, Sam picked up the first vial off the ground. Uncorking it, he poured the small amount of golden brown liquid onto his hand before carefully rubbing it between his palms. He turned back to Rae and started to smooth it down her arms, over her hands and between her fingers, making his way back up to her chest and neck before turning her around to reach her upper back. He could feel the goose bumps erupt on her arms at the contact but he didn't stop until his hands were dry. It left her skin with a golden glow, and she looked ethereal.
Next, it was Sam's turn. Unbuttoning his shirt and tossing it aside, he grabbed the second vial and handed it to Rae. No words were needed to explain, she understood what she needed to do. Opening her own vial, she started to spread the mixture in the same pattern as Sam had. She worked quickly, and her touch was light and timid. In the background Sam could hear Father Luke's chanting, and the wind picked up, howling hauntingly through the trees, sending Rae's hair flying in all directions.
Returning her glass to the ground, Rae looked to Sam for direction. He nodded his head to the last container, and she handed it to him. Inside was a thick black liquid. Unsealing it, Sam drained half before handing it off for Rae to do the same. It tasted like a mix between cloves and licorice, which was deceiving since Sam knew all the unsavory ingredients that had gone into making it. Rae took a careful sniff before swallowing in one gulp, but she seemed to appreciate the pleasant taste.
Snow had started to fall, and it was accumulating thickly around them. Looking at Rae, Sam was sure that if not for the mixture on her skin she would be starting to turn blue from cold. He waited a moment for Father Luke to get to the right point in the ritual before pulling out the two rings. "Cum quo orbis nos sumus reus." he spoke, while slipping the platinum signet ring onto her finger. The six clear diamond stones in the center were all triangular in shape, fitted together to form a circle. Handing Rae his own ring, she returned the gesture, whispering the binding words while slipping her ring's twin onto Sam's finger.
The wind was blowing faster now, the candles flickering and barely clinging to life. The father spoke louder, an invisible force urging him to hurry. As he spoke the last word, Sam tugged Rae to him and kissed her for the first time. Abruptly, the night went still. The deed was done.
Thoughts? Let me know...review!
