Chapter 11Hunting Interlude
Hello again. Thanks so much for your interest in the story so far. Here is the next chapter. I actually might have gotten a little carried away here...couldn't help myself, though ;) Enjoy!
Motel on Colony 10
Sam sat in the small room he had rented for himself on Colony 10. It was late, but he still managed to grab hold of some records concerning the incident that took place about 50 years back, when a group of Drazi had decided to send a message to the Centauri that the planet was theirs. They set fire to the west side of the town – incidentally, the side of the town where the Centauri had most of their quarters. It was night and the fire spread quickly. Before the flames could be extinguished, the town was reduced to half its size and a lot of people were dead.
There was no doubt in Sam's mind that the vengeful spirit terrorizing the warehouse was connected to that burning. As far as he could tell, there had been no other incidents of such violence there. Also, in one of the accounts Harper had been so kind to provide Sam with, the witness described seeing a young Centauri lady of high standing appearing suddenly in the warehouse. Others said they heard a woman crying.
After further research, Sam thought he could tell who the spirit was. As far as he knew, only one young female Centauri of high status had died in the fire. She was the Lady Anira, the daughter of the colony's imperial tax collector. It was said the tax collector was actually the intended target of the Drazi's attack. If so, they had failed miserably. Apart from the tax collector's eldest child, the rest of the family escaped intact. The youngest daughter was actually still alive and living on the colony. Sam intended to pay her a visit first thing next morning to talk more about Anira. He needed to find out why she might have become a restless spirit instead of simply moving on.
There had been no record of any hauntings prior to the building of the warehouse, which led Sam to believe that was actually what had disturbed Anira. His suspicions had to be right and the place must hold weapons, which would of course enrage a ghost dead by violent means. Sam could not say he really blamed her. But he knew she had to be stopped. There was only a matter of time before she started hurting innocent people. And also, stopping her was the only way Harper would answer his questions. The sooner he saw this hunt through, the sooner he could go back to focusing on Dean.
Sam wondered what was keeping Anira tied to life. It could not have been her body. That had burned in the fire. It had to be something of hers, then. A possession that one of her friends or relatives had kept.
Apart from Anira's sister, the rest of the family was either dead or back on Centauri Prime. Sam did not have to worry about those back on Centauri Prime having something of Anira's. Her spirit would have stayed with the object and she would have been haunting Centauri Prime and not Colony 10. No, whatever object kept Anira tied to life, it had to be on Colony 10, most likely with her sister – or maybe with one of her friends.
But from what Sam could read from accounts of Anira, she did not have a lot of friends. Her sister the next day would be able to throw more light on this, but apparently, Anira had been quite secluded, especially for a Centauri of high standing. There had been, apparently, at some point rumours that Anira was the mistress of an important member of the military, but nothing was confirmed. Again, Sam was going to have to check with the sister.
This was actually the part Sam hated most – talking to relatives, coming back to stir old wounds because the death of their loved ones had been so unjust they could not let it go. Sam wondered how he would have felt if someone came to him to talk about Dean years after he had lost him, then shook his head vehemently to dismiss such thoughts. Dean was not lost forever to him. He knew where he was and he was going to get him out – the very next evening, if he could.
Sam eyed the small bed in the corner of the motel room. He yawned widely, feeling suddenly tired. He had not been sleeping too well ever since he had left Mars. Some rest would do him good. And perhaps Dean might be able to reach him again. Or perhaps he was going to have another nightmare of Dean's time in Hell. And that thought was enough to put Sam off sleeping.
Sighing tiredly, Sam turned his attention back to his research. He knew the dangers of going into a hunt when he was not firing on all cylinders. But he could not bring himself to rest just yet. Most likely, he was in for yet another sleepless night.
Home of Lady Drusella
First thing next morning, Sam called on the Lady Drusella – Lady Anira's younger sister. She lived in a large villa on the outskirts of the town. She lived alone and did not see too many people. She agreed to see Sam, though, when he let her know he was there to talk about the fire from fifty years ago.
"Will the Interstellar Alliance force the Drazis to offer compensations to the families?" was the first thing she asked Sam. "The Drazi government never gave us anything, you know. They said they since they obviously did not condone the acts of a few terrorists, that meant they were not accountable for that night."
"I can't promise anything," Sam said truthfully. "But I'd like to hear your side of the story. You're one of the few surviving victims, so whatever you have to tell, I am sure it would help."
Lady Drusella looked at Sam sceptically. Sam returned the look. He noticed that she was dressed in dark clothes, her hair covered by a veil. She looked old and Sam suspected she had aged prematurely. Everything about the room they were in was sober. There were none of the lavish ornaments Sam expected to see in Centauri homes.
"Now," Sam began. "From what I've heard, your home was one of the first to be taken by the flames. But most of your family survived, am I right?"
Drusella's face tightened.
"If you could call that surviving," she commented. "I wouldn't."
"I'm sorry," Sam corrected quickly. "I wanted to say, most of your family – including you – managed to get out. How did that happen?"
Drusella sighed. She had a faraway look in her eyes.
"My father and my brother were not even at the house when it happened," she informed Sam. "My brother was at some kind of feast and my father had been called the day before on Centauri Prime on urgent business. My mother and my father's second wife both had rooms on the ground floor. It was easy for them to get out."
Sam waited patiently for Drusella to say more.
"And you?" he prompted eventually. "How did you get out? You were not, I take it, on the ground floor?"
Drusella hesitated. Then, she shook her head.
"No," she admitted quietly. "No I was on the second floor with Anira. Me and Anira shared a room, actually."
Sam leaned forward, looking Drusella in the eye.
"So," he began, "If you were both on the second floor…how did you escape?"
There was a bitter smile on Drusella's lips.
"That is not what you want to ask," she accused Sam. "What you really want to know is how I escape when Anira did not. Is that not so?"
"I wasn't accusing you of anything," Sam said quickly. "And I'm sure you did everything in your power to help her."
Drusella huffed a bitter laugh that sounded more like a sob.
"She told me to go ahead," she said in a small voice.
Sam frowned, confused.
"What do you mean?" he asked. "Who did?"
Drusella sighed. She was no longer looking at Sam and seemed to be somewhere far away.
"We made it out of our room, you know," she announced, still staring slightly into space. "And Anira…she must have realised we wouldn't both be able to navigate our way through the burning house. She pushed me ahead, told me to go on and don't look back." Drusella paused, biting her lips. When she spoke again, her voice was trembling slightly. "She said she'd be right behind me…Told me: Don't you worry, Sella, I'll be right behind you every step of the way, only don't look back, promise?. And I trusted her enough not to look back."
Sam did not know what to say to that. He knew from experience that there was not anything to be said that could have made this even remotely better. Suddenly, it all made sense to him. The way Drusella lived alone and isolated, so unlike the Centauri of her status, the way she kept herself almost in mourning, without any bright objects around her, even the reason she was still on the colony while the rest of her family had relocated on Centauri Prime after the incident – it was clear Drusella was bound by guilt and loss and had been so for the last fifty years. Nothing Sam could have told her would have made her let go of the guilt.
Sam cleared his throat. There was one thing he could say – one thing he had been told plenty of times himself on various occasions.
"I'm sure she had no regrets about her decision," he said. "I think, to her, getting you out was much more important than saving herself. I know this doesn't change what happened, but it tells me a lot about your sister."
Drusella turned her head away and wiped her eyes. Sam pretended not to notice.
"She should not have even been there, on the night of the fire," she stated bitterly. "She was supposed to go to that celebration, with my brother. My parents actually insisted that she go there. It would have been the perfect opportunity to officially announce her relationship with a very important member of the army."
So had not been someone's mistress, as the rumours had it, but actually someone's betrothed. Or, at least, she would have been, had she gone to that event. Of course, if she had attended that event she would have most likely be alive now and not haunting a warehouse stashed with illegal weapons.
"So why didn't she go?" Sam wanted to know.
Drusella hesitated. She suddenly looked like she would have rather be dead than admit to what have happened.
"Because I was worried," she said in the end. "I had a feeling something bad was going to happen to her and begged her not to go. She did not really believe me, I think. She stayed only to humour me. It was my fault, though. If I hadn't asked her to stay…"
Sam inwardly cursed Harper for making him face a story that had so many parallels to his own life. He and Drusella had more in common than he was comfortable admitting.
"I know this isn't going to help," he said, "But you have to stop blaming yourself. You weren't the one who set the fire, were you?"
Drusella scoffed.
"Many times my family believed I was a Seer," she informed Sam. "And that is true, I have had many premonitions. Just not when they were most needed."
Drusella drew a deep breath, trying hard to compose herself. When she looked back at Sam, her eyes were clear.
"But you are not here to listen to my sob stories," she said firmly. "You have a job to do, am I right?"
The way Drusella looked at him, it made Sam think that she was not referring to Sam's false reason of getting the account about the fire for the official records of the Interstellar Alliance. That was fine with Sam. His next questions would have pretty much blown his cover anyway.
"Is there anything belonging to Drusella that survived the fire?" he wanted to know. "Perhaps something she gave to her future husband?"
Drusella scoffed.
"Him!" she said. "There was not a lot of love between my sister and him. The marriage was more one of convenience. Centauri marriages often are. I don't think my sister would have given him anything of hers, and even if she did, he wouldn't have kept it. He wasn't the sentimental type. He's moved on."
But you didn't, Sam thought. Which meant that it was quite possible Drusella that was keeping something of Anira's.
"What about you?" he prompted. "When you escaped, did you have something of Anira's with you?"
Drusella hesitated. She looked at Sam questioningly, as if wondering what Sam was going to demand next. Sam put his hand on Drusella's arm.
"Listen to me," he said earnestly. "You've got to tell me the truth. And you've got to give me whatever it is you have of hers. Because it's keeping her here. Because your sister can't rest because of it."
"My sister can't rest because her life was cut short before she could even live it," Drusella snapped. "Because she was collateral damage in a war we did not even care about."
"That's not what's keeping her here," Sam insisted. "What's keeping her here is whatever you've got of hers."
Drusella sighed. Her hand went unknowingly to the silver locket she was wearing round her neck. Sam followed the gesture. It was the ornament that Lady Drusella wore. It seemed out of place with her sombre attire. Sam's eyes narrowed.
"The locket," he said. "Is it hers?"
But Drusella shook her head.
"What's inside it is," she admitted. "You know most Centauri women shave their heads. Well, when Anira did, she gave me a lock of her hair. I gave her one of mine in return. We both wore them in round our necks. As a matter of fact, she was wearing it the night she…the night of the fire."
Sam did not say anything. He waited for Drusella to make the next move. It was clear for him she somehow knew why he was there – perhaps she really was a Seer as her family suspected. If so, she must know what Sam wanted from her.
Drusilla looked at Sam pleadingly, as if urging him to understand.
"It's all I have of her," she said. "All that is left of someone who was my dearest friend. And now you want to take it from me."
"I have to," Sam insisted. "And that…that's not all you have of Anira. You still remember everything about her, don't you? You don't need a lock of her hair to keep her memory alive."
Drusella fixed Sam with a steely gaze. Something in her eyes made Sam freeze. It felt like she was really seeing him – like she could read all his life and all the secrets he kept hidden even from Dean.
"Then why do you still have it with you?" she demanded.
Sam frowned in confusion.
"I'm sorry? Have what?"
"I told you I see sometimes," Drusella reminded Sam. "You carry something of your brother's…even after your brother threw it away."
Sam gaped at Drusella. No one knew he had recovered the amulet Dean had cast away years ago. He had been guarding it carefully and he was sure no one suspected he had it. Not Bobby or Castiel and certainly not Dean. And yet, Drusella had seen through him during their short conversation.
"That's different," he said firmly. "My brother's not dead. He's lost, but he's not dead. I can bring him back."
Drusella leaned against the couch she was sitting, looking suddenly exhausted.
"Aren't you the lucky one," she told him bitterly.
Sam did not answer. He had never considered himself or Dean lucky. He always thought their life was one curse after another. But now, looking at Drusella, he realised that he actually was. He was going to get Dean back soon. But Drusella had lost her sister and was now in the process of losing her all over again by handling the one thing that was left of Anira to Sam.
"I'm sorry," Sam insisted. "I wouldn't ask this of you, if I didn't have to. But your sister can't rest, and soon enough she'll start hurting innocent people. Trust me, you're doing her a favour by giving me the lock of her hair. You're saving her, just as she saved you."
Drusella did not move for a long time. Sam was about to repeat his request. She shook her head and took off her locket. She handed it to Sam.
"Take this as well," she told him. "I don't really need it anymore."
Sam nodded wordlessly. He got up to leave, suspecting Drusella wanted to see the back of him.
"You know," Drusella told him then. "I knew Anira had started to walk. I was waiting for her to come to me."
Sam shook his head regretfully.
"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way," he told her.
He was almost at the door, when Drusella called him back again.
"I see things about you too, Sam," she announced. "You're heading for a very dark place. And you're heading the wrong way."
Sam turned swiftly around.
"What do you mean?" he demanded hoarsely.
But Drusella shook her head. She was not going to say anything more. She probably did not know more.
Purgatory
Dean and Castiel were anxiously waiting for Benny. The vampire had left on what he claimed was an important mission of information gathering that would help all of them in the long run. By all of them, he also meant Sam, as Benny saw how worried Dean was by the fact that he might have to exchange his escape from Purgatory with Sam's life. Benny did not mention where he was going to gather this information. He did not even say why he had to go alone, only that it was important that he did.
"It does make sense," Castiel pointed out. "He is a vampire. He fits here better than we do. And, you know, him escaping now with us does not matter much. If he dies again, he still has to return to this place."
Dean cast the Angel an irritated look.
"Just like that?" he asked. "The fact that he helped us – helped you – means nothing in your book? What about redemption through good deeds? I thought you guys were big on that."
Castile sighed heavily.
"I do not make the rules, Dean," he explained patiently. "As I have told you many times. Not to mention the fact that during my last time in Heaven I have not exactly earned myself too many favours. I think my brethren are glad to see the back of me. I do not blame them, though. I did some unforgivable things, as I a sure you of all people can agree."
Dean snorted at that.
"You were trying to do the right thing," he conceded reluctantly. "Even if you were doing it in a dumb way. Don't get me wrong, I still don't like what you did to Sam, and you've done some other crappy things – but I don't think they made the person who hasn't."
Castiel looked at Dean curiously. When he had first met him, Dean would have never been so lenient.
"You have changed," Castiel remarked.
Dean shook his head at that.
"I'm stuck in Monsterland, Cas," he pointed out tiredly. "I've got no idea if I'll ever get out again or the sacrifices I'll have to make to do so. I don't have the energy to hold grudges on top of that."
They fell silent, waiting for Benny to return, hoping that, for once, he would bring good news.
Colony 10
Now that Sam had the lock of Anira's hair, he could have easily taken it to Harper and told him to finish the job. After all, he used to be a Hunter himself. He could surely have handled burning a haunted object. But Harper was also a sleazy piece of work. Sam thought it would have been an insult to Anira's memory, if he allowed Harper to handle matters. No, Anira deserved to be put to rest by someone who understood her sacrifice, someone who knew exactly what kind of person she had been.
Sam found an isolated place where he could do his job. He decided to burn the locket together with Anira's hair. Drusella certainly did not want it back and Sam thought it would be safer for everyone in the long run. He placed the locket on the ground, ready to set fire to it.
He expected the air to become colder. He was not surprised when he felt that undeniable shift that told him a spirit was nearby. Anira had sensed what Sam was about to do. Ghosts usually did and they tried to do everything possible to prevent Hunters from sending them away. Sam braced himself, hoping there would not be an attack this time.
Anira materialised herself in front of him. Sam was first struck by how young she had been. Certainly too young to sacrifice herself like she had done. She was wearing elegant clothes with a lot of jewellery. Something in her face told clearly that she used to enjoy life – which made the tragedy of her death even more dreadful.
Sam inspected Anira warily. She did not look about to start throwing him against things. But it did not hurt to be cautious.
"I have to do this," he said, pointing to the locket. "You know it's for your own good."
Anira said nothing, but looked at him mournfully. In the end she bowed her head once in acceptance.
"Right," Sam said quickly. "You understand then. Great. Thanks."
He decided to set fire to the locket before Anira had a chance to change her mind.
"I had to come back," Anira said then, "They are making death in that place. I did not want to let them."
Sam frowned.
"In the warehouse, you mean?" he wanted to know. "So they really have weapons there."
"Terrible weapons," Anira confirmed. "They should not be allowed to do that. I do not want another family to go through what we suffered."
"I understand," Sam said quickly. "But it's not your concern anymore. You just…you go to your rest now. Let others deal with it."
Anira did not say anything, but still regarded every move Sam made. Sam felt slightly uncomfortable under that stare.
"I met your sister," he announced out of the blue. "She's…" But here he stopped, because Drusella was not exactly fine. She was not happy and she most certainly was not living the life her sister would have wanted for her. "She's alive," he added, settling for the truth. "And maybe one day she'll understand why you had to save her, even at your expense."
Anira did not say anything this time, though a flash of emotion appeared briefly in her cold eyes at the mention of Drusella. It died away quickly. Now she looked only tired, as if the fifty years of not finding rest had suddenly taken a toll on her. Wordlessly, she indicated to Sam to finish the job.
Sam finally set fire to the locket. He watched Anira's image fade and disappear in front of his eyes. He thought she looked grateful at the last moment, but he could not really tell.
It was over. Anira was gone. Sam had done Harper's job and now the other was bound to give him the information he required. Sam wanted nothing than to have that information delivered to Delenn, so that he could focus on getting Dean out. The job with Anira had made him miss his brother even more keenly.
AN Right, I know the whole amulet thing has been done to death and beyond, but what's one more time, eh? At least I'll have Sam put it to good use ;)