Harvelle Supernatural
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural
Chapter 11: Another Family Secrete
Skylar's POV
"So where shall we go?" Ellen asked, driving down the open highway. "California, Texas, Louisiana, Nevada, Florida, or how about Canada?"
"I was thinking of Hawaii," Jo suggested,
"I would too if we only had the money." Ella sighed. "So Sky, where do ya want to go?"
I was reading Sam's text message on his whereabouts. It is the middle of June, practically a month since I last saw him. For once a week he called, saying he was alive and all. But now…he just texts me. I worried he had fallen back to alcoholism. After Ruby appearing out of nowhere, bragging how she got out of hell, it just made things complicated. Sam was starting to move on. Stopping his crusade in finding a way to save Dean in a desperate behavior. Now . . . I don't know anymore.
"Skylar Jane, don't make me take that phone away from you," Ellen called.
I snapped out of my daze, "What?"
"Where do ya want to go?" mom repeated.
"I don't care," I said.
Jo reclined her chair back, though the chair wouldn't move. She jerked a couple of times on the lever to go back, but it just wouldn't budge.
"I wouldn't do that," I said.
Jo yanked on the lever, and suddenly the chair automatically reclined back. She gasped at the sudden force banging her head on the headrest. I chuckled, shaking my head from the show. Lately, I've been having strange moments of knowing something terrible is going to happen. Call them spidy senses if you will. For example, I can tell if a guy pours GHB in drinks when somebody is driving fast on the road and such.
"Damn it, why couldn't we take my car," Jo complained.
"Does your muscle car can hold three people and four pieces of luggage?" I asked.
Jo opens her mouth then shut it and added a middle finger. I chuckled shaking my head at her childish behavior. No matter the situation, we tease each other to a point its ridicules. I'll be expecting a frozen bra tonight or later on this week.
"You two behave and pick a place we can go," Ellen muttered.
"Maybe Florida, we never actually went to a theme park or aquarium before," I suggested.
"Florida it is," Ellen chirped.
Jo sat up typing the coordinates to Orlando Florida. It would be nice to be out of the Wild West and go somewhere different for once. I think we ever been to a place like a theme park before. Sure we went to a few carnivals, fairs, and concerts, but never a theme park. With nothing else said, we all went to a comfortable silence.
Suddenly I had that gut feeling again and sitting up straight. I looked around seeing if there were any signs of trouble. A road sign said the speed limit is 80 miles per hour. I looked at the dashboard to find Mom driving at 65 miles per hour. That is when the road shakes.
"Mom off the road," I yelled.
"What?" Ellen said confused.
"Mom, get off the road," I yelled, leaning over and turning the wheel, so we were in the rest lane.
Not a moment too soon a trucker zoomed past us going 90 miles per hour. A blast of wind shoved the car forward; luckily it didn't top us over. We panted clenching our seats in what just happened. First of all, we were on a trucker's route. Second, a trucker zoomed by almost pulverizing us. And third, Ellen and Jo looked at me as if I've gone insane.
"Skylar Jane, what is going on?" Ellen demanded.
Guess the cat's out of the bag, I thought.
.o0o.
Mom hardly said a word as she drove to Illinois. At first, we thought we were going to Chicago, but when she drives past the five exits to the Windy City, did I realize we weren't getting a deep dish pizza.
I told mom what has been happening to me since Dean Winchester soul was dragged to hell. How I felt a jab, followed by being covered by scratches like being attacked by a dog. Or in this case, hellhound. Ellen ordered me to tell her everything that has happened since May 2. I told her about her about answering my phone before it rings, determining if a drink has drugs, moments when bad things happen.
"So, does this mean you're psychic?" Jo asked.
"I don't know," I answered.
"Well, you can be useful on hunts now," Jo said.
"Jo, I told you before, and I tell you again, I don't want to be a hunter," I said.
"Girls, enough." Ellen scolded "This is serious."
"Mom, what's going on?" I asked her.
"Something your father and I feared," Mom said.
Something she and dad feared? I thought. Now I am scared.
.o0o.
Ellen ranged the doorbell having a smile on her face. When the door open, a woman in her thirties answered the door. She had curly dark brown hair, tan skin, and vibrant blue eyes. She dressed in a rocker and bohemian with a pair of ripped jeans, a rock band tank, beaded belt, and a shell necklace. The woman laughed as she hugged Mom.
"Ellen!" she said.
"Pamela, nice to see ya again." Ellen chuckled as she hugged the woman. They pulled apart facing Jo and me.
Pamela crossed her arms, "So, are these your girls?"
"Jo, Skylar, this here is Pamela Barnes." Ellen introduced us. "A good friend and best psychic in the state."
"Hi," I said.
"Hey," Jo greeted.
Pamela smiled, "Mmm, mmm, mmm. You girls look a lot like your daddy."
Jo smiled at the compliment. "Thanks."
"And I assume this is no friendly visit. Skylar Jane, you been holding secrets you don't understand." Pamela noted.
"Yeah," I said sheepishly.
Pamela nodded, "Come on in."
We entered the house finding it normal than expected of a psychic. Usually, when thinking of psychics, there are this entire gypsy and voodoo accessories to capture poor unfortunate souls or those who believe in this stuff. I would have thought psychics were mere cons, doing cold reads on an individual and asked the right question. But after meeting Sam who once had visions of people's untimely death, there must be gifted people . . . Without the demon's blood of course.
"Have you heard anything?" Ellen asked.
"Well, I Ouija-ed my way through a dozen spirits. No one seems to know how your girl got that vision or why." Pamela answered shutting the door.
"So, what's next?" mom asked. "A séance?"
"First let see what I can figure out with Skylar first," Pamela said. "Like a crystal ball without the crystal."
Ellen nodded wanting to figure this out as much as I do. The last thing we need is discovering I had somehow consumed demon blood. Because I made sure I drank one type of drink and went to parties, it's the same beverage, and no one else served it but me.
Anyway, Pamela brought us to a small room that looked like a study with bookshelves, a fireplace, and an artist portrait of a woman above the mantle. A room crossed between two eras of the Victorian floor planning with a splash of modernism and gothic. Center of the room was a table. It made me think that is where she does her séances and such with her clients. She gestured me to sit down at by the table, and she sat down next to me while Ellen and Jo took their seats.
"So, when did the scratches happen?" Pamela asked.
"Um, midnight on May 3rd or 2nd, I'm not sure," I answered. "Supposedly the same time Dean Winchester, a friend of ours died."
"And where were they located?" She asked.
"Nearly my entire body," I answered. "And they look like claw marks, except they vanished."
Pamela nodded, "Anything else?"
"Just this weird instinct," I said. "As I know, something is going to happen, but I don't know what it is."
"Yeah, she can answer her cellphone before it rings," Jo added.
Pamela nodded, "May I see your hands."
I hesitated, yet lend Pamela my hands so she could read them. She traced her black painted nails on the imprints reading what my future or life bestows. Her expression was difficult to understand, keeping a poker face. After what felt like forever she stood up and looked into my eyes.
"You have stream eyes," She noted.
"Um . . . thanks." I mumbled.
"Pam," Ellen spoke catching the psychic's attention. "What did you think?"
"Well, I can conclude she hasn't drunk demon blood," Pamela assured. "But I think little Miss Skylar Jane is gifted."
"Gifted?" Jo repeated.
"Yes, gifted like me," Pamela said. "But to be sure, I like to run some test."
All day Pamela ran some test on me. Some were cheap street games like three cups and a ball. I observed seeing where the ball goes, getting it right, and somehow knew if she was cheating. Next was the card game memory, as I complete the simple game in less than five minutes, not making mistakes or wrong pairings. Then a strange brain teaser of reading names of colors that were differently colored than its original shade. I was supposed to say the name of the color and not the word in general. Which somehow I passed. Then Pamela asked Jo to go upstairs and say something. As Jo did so, I heard nothing other than her footsteps. Pamela noted this and went to the kitchen asking what she is taking out of the fridge. Again I don't know.
When she came back, she seemed pleased. We all gathered around the table. "Well, I think Skylar is clairvoyant."
"Clairvoyant," I repeated.
"Yes, clairvoyant, but not just any clairvoyant," Pamela said. "You're claircognizance."
"Is that good or bad?" Ellen asked.
"Claircognizance is nothing dangerous," Pamela assured. "It's the clairvoyance of knowing. It is the ability to know something without a physical explanation why you know it. Although your version is short term."
"Short term? So it would pass?" I asked.
"No, when I mean short term, I mean your knowledge is what happening now. Say you walk down the street late at night. Unknowingly to you, a mugger is hiding in a dark alley and a crosswalk to the left. Your apartment is just two blocks away if you go straight. But all of the sudden you stop and take the crosswalk. Yeah, it's a longer route to your apartment, but your instincts prevented you from getting mugged. Like spidy-senses." Pamela tried to explain.
I comprehend what she was saying. If I'm Claircognizance, then how come I didn't sense Ruby and the other demons when I was with Sam? Was it because I wasn't open or was it the tequila. Either way, I worry this ability would put me in danger. I looked at my family finding them both concern. Although Jo held a natural look, eyes narrow meaning, she was jealous. As for Ellen, she seemed worried, afraid of my safety, but also that look of knowing the cause.
"If you like, we can do a séance?" Pamela offered. "See in who did the deed or its mere mutation."
"Yeah, let's do that," Ellen said.
Pamela nodded grabbing a black tablecloth with a pentagram and symbols on it. She then placed five candles center on the table assembling them into a star. Once that was done she sat down, taking a deep breath then exhaled.
"Right," Pamela said. "Take each other's hands." We did as she instructed. "And I need to touch something our mystery friend touched."
"I don't think it left a mark," I said.
"Well, guess I am touching your eyes," Pamela suggested.
"What!" I gasped.
"Kidding," Pamela snickered, as she placed her hand on my face, adding pressure to my temple.
I rolled my eyes at Ellen who gave an apologetic look. Mom squeezed my hand assuring me this will be all right. I took a deep breath and nodded. Here goes nothing. As we all held hands letting Pamela do her specialties.
"I invoke, conjure, and command you – appear to me before this circle," Pamela ordered to the spirit realm. "I invoke, conjured, and command you – appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure, and command you – appear to me before this circle. I invoke-"
Suddenly birds started appearing outside the window, and not just any birds, but owls. As Pamela continued her commands, the table began to shake.
"Athena?" Pamela said. "Athena, are you the one who has given Skylar clairvoyance?"
"Athena, as in the goddess of wisdom?" Jo asked.
"Yes, she's speaking to me," Pamela said, her eyes still closed. "Saying, Skylar, is not the only gifted person in this room?"
"What does she say?" Ellen demanded.
"That Skylar and Jo are her specials: her warrior and artist. That they inherited their abilities from their father."
Pamela interpreted. "Skylar being claircognizance and Joanna being clairaudience. Athena, are the girls in danger?" the psychic paused then respond, "Very where, I shall send the message."
And with that Pamela broke the circle breathing heavily, removing her hand from my face. She smiled, "Athena passed her message along, saying no harm shall come to the girls unless they seek it. You have nothing to fear if you keep a steady path."
"That's it?" Ellen asked.
Pamela nodded, "Now who's in a mood for a drink. I know I am."
The psychic got up heading to the kitchen. All eyes were on mom. Ellen knew about this for some reason. She knew it the moment I told her about my experience with Dean death.
Ellen sat down looking at Jo and me with pity. We were confused about what mom meant that dad is at fault. Another round of secrets. We sat down across from her asking what dad did. What did he do that had Jo and me acting like this? How I can know things were happening without even trying. Why can Jo sense a presence?
"Before Jo was born, your dad went on a hunt for a specific creature, an Arachne. Unlike most monsters, this one was clever. It knew how to hide when to hunt, and when to strike. It wasn't like other Arachne, from what your dad told me, this one knew how to act human. How to blend in like a wolf in sheep's clothing. Before the victims died, all their secrets were exposed in the gossip news. Your dad spent weeks searching for this thing. Nearly every time he got close to it, it managed to escape. One night down in Nashville, Bill got whiff and thought he could trap it. Again, it got away." Ellen said.
"Mom, what else happened?" I asked.
"The fail hunt got Bill angry to a point he drank at a bar. I don't know the precise details, but he said a woman came up to him offering aid. At first, your dad thought this woman was another hunter. But she exposed herself as a goddess."
"Athena?" Jo asked.
"She said her name is Athena. At first, your dad tried to kill her, but Athena had him pinned trying to assure him she meant no harm." Ellen said.
That's right. Even gods were considered monsters. Unlike my literature and myth professor saying the gods thrived on worship, and consumed ambrosia and nectar; the turn of the millennia and worship changed everything. After the birth of Christianity, the immortal beings survived on humans. Not by worship, but by cannibalism. If Athena came to dad, he would have thought she was eating people too.
"Athena knew the monster was killing people in the south-west. And it wasn't just any Arachne, but the first, Arachne. The goddess of spiders. Mother of all Arachnes. She offered aid to catch Arachne, saying to catch the creature that can see the worst truth in a person, let alone . . . Other things. So your dad took the offer getting all the help he needed. Sadly, Athena wasn't planning on going on the hunt, but given him aid." Ellen explained.
"Like what, a sword, Pegasus?" Jo asked.
"No, Athena gave him an ability of clairvoyance," Ellen said.
"Like see the future clairvoyance?" I asked.
"No, more like extra-sensory perception." Ellen clarified. "And thanks to Athena, your dad managed to kill Arachne. However, Athena never told Bill how long the ability would last. He had a hard time adjusting to his ability, able to know-sense things before they happened. A month later it all stopped, and we were expecting little Jo."
"And somehow we inherit that ability," Jo noted.
"Yes, why your senses are sharper, apparently hearing and Skylar is more open," Ellen said and got up. "That is why I never want you girls to be hunters. I feared one day some witch or demon would use you for their game.
Now that Jo is a hunter, it has come in use." Afterward, mom went to get a drink from Pamela.
Thinking about what mom just said about dad, clairvoyance, Athena, and Arachne, I chuckled. Ironic, that Jo and I inherited some of the goddess characteristics.
"What's so funny?" Jo asked.
"Don't you find it ironic that you inherit the warrior side and I got the artistic side of Athena?" I explained.
Jo paused comprehending what I just said and laughed as well. It explained practically everything. Maybe enhance the personality of our parents, yet it still correlates to what Athena represents. Jo being the hunter meant she inherits courage, law and justice, strength, and strategy. Meanwhile I, the average sister inherited wisdom, inspiration, civilization, and art. Now the question comes to which clairvoyance either of us got. I thought clairvoyance is clairvoyance, guess I am wrong.
Now that I think about it. It all started when coming back from Spring Break with the Winchesters. Sam and I went to the Pantheon. The statue of Athena. Dad went to Nashville and met Athena and killed Arachne. And Jo said she did a case in Nashville a while back when she went cross country. Guess the city of country music triggers our abilities.
So I thought of adding a twist. Jo is clairaudience having sharp hearing to hear the paranormal. Think about No Exit, how she could hear H.H. Holmes. And Skylar being claircognizance able to know things are going to happen in present moments.
Thanks for reading and please leave a review.
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