She checked her phone as she climbed out of the shower and winced; she had twelve missed calls and three increasingly panicky messages from Dean, and one from Bobby. She listened to them as she sat in her Mercedes outside the motel, aching all over, and swore quietly when Dean explained that all the hunters in the area were dying, and that Bobby was worried that something was up. She swore even louder when Deans' third message cut off halfway through. She was willing to put money on it that whatever had happened to her had happened to Sam and Dean too. She felt a rush of fear for the Winchesters, and she quickly scrolled down to Deans' number in her contacts and put her mobile to her ear with a shaking hand. Please, please let them be alright, let them be okay.
She nearly shrieked with relief when she heard Deans' deep voice on the other end of the phone.
"Dean, thank God, thank God," she said over and over, feeling the relief ease the aching knot of tension that had formed in her chest when she had heard Deans' messages.
"Where the hell have you been, Miriana? I've been trying to ring you all day!" he sounded very angry, angry and worried.
"I had a bad Migraine, so I took a few pills and they knocked me right out. I've been conked out on my bed all day. Well, until Seth's vengeful ghost appeared out of nowhere and tried to kill me," she was amazed at how matter of fact her voice was, considering she had almost died an hour ago.
"Are you alright?" she could hear the concern in Deans' voice.
"Yes I'm fine...now," she replied, "What's the big panic? Why did you sound so worried in your messages?"
"Something was happening to hunters, to us as well. Victims we couldn't save from our past kept trying to rip our hearts out of chests. Twenty hunters are dead. We were worried you were one of them," Dean sighed, a rush of static over the phone.
"Well, I almost was. I take it you were behind them disappearing in a brilliant flash of blue light?"
"Yeah Bobby had a spell to get rid of them. But it's much bigger than some pissed off spirits on steroids. Did you see a brand on Seth's hand?" Dean asked. He sounded as weary as she felt: Miriana suspected he'd had a difficult night too.
"Yeah, actually. I recognized it from somewhere, but I was too busy getting my heart torn out of my chest."
"Bobby found out this thing with the spirits is called the rising of the witness," Dean explained, "That somebody raised those spirits from the afterlife on purpose. He also reckons it's a sign of-"
"The apocalypse," Miriana finished, as she remembered in a sudden flash what the brand was. She'd heard of the rising of the witnesses, read about it in the most arcane books in her aunts library in her house in Maine. But she never thought it would actually happen. This is worrying, she thought to herself.
"Yeah. How did you know that?" Dean asked.
"I read a lot, Dean," Miriana replied wryly.
"Oh yeah, I forgot you're a nerd," Dean said, "But this is really bad, huh? We've never had a problem like this before. I mean this is the actual apocalypse, you know? Four horsemen and the whole shebang."
"Yes, I am aware what the apocalypse is Dean. Like I said, I read a lot. But it's a coincidence, don't you think," she'd suddenly had a startling thought, "I mean, you get pulled out of hell, angels are walking amongst us and signs of the apocalypse have started popping up all over the place."
There was a moment of long silence on the other end of the phone, and then Dean said,
"Well, Castiel showed up. And...Look I'd rather tell you in person, you know I hate phone conversations. We're at Bobby's."
"I'm one state over. I'll be there as soon as I can," she paused for a few seconds, trying to get the words right in her head, "Look I'm really glad you're okay, Dean. I mean...you're like...you know?" she couldn't get the words right. Miriana was excellent when it came to facts and knowledge, but she wasn't good at telling people how she really felt.
"Yeah...I know," he said quietly.
"See you soon." She flipped the phone shut and leaned back against the seat, rubbing her temples. It seemed Seth's attack had brought her migraine back, albeit not as bad as before.
The apocalypse. The actual apocalypse, with the fire raining from the sky and hell surging up and destroying the world. She'd never thought she would actually have to face it, never thought it would happen. It was just something demons rambled about when they were trying to scare hunters, just a distant nightmare, a vague threat that never really seemed real. But there was no denying that the rising of the witnesses was a sign of the apocalypse. After all, for what other reason would the angels walk amongst humans?
Her stomach rumbled loudly and obnoxiously, reminding her of how much she was craving a burger. She checked her watch; it read just twelve fifteen. She knew it was late, but she hoped the late diner she had seen down the road stayed open really late. She climbed awkwardly out of the car, her shoulders and ribs aching. She stretched, trying to ease the pain in her muscles, then locked her car and walked down the road to the diner. It was still open, it's light spilling out onto the pavement and was surprisingly busy, considering the late time. She waited in the queue and bought a double cheeseburger to go, then left the diner, holding the cardboard container in one hand. She sat in her car and ate it, feeling rather like a loser who had nowhere else to go; which was sort of the truth. Even though she was hungry, she chewed the burger without tasting it, still turning over the events of the night in her head. She was sick of thinking about things, sick of worrying. She wished she could just return to a simple hunter's life before her own life had been turned upside down; find the evil thing, kill it and have a celebratory beer. Oh my God, I sound so much like Dean.
She threw the empty container in one of the bins by the entrance to motel (she hated having rubbish in her car), and checked out at the reception. She was just dropping her bags in the boot of her car when she heard a faint rustling sound behind her, almost like beating wings. She sensed someone behind her; she closed her hand around the pistol she had left in her bag and spun around, fully expecting to see a demon behind her, but she lowered her gun immediately when she saw who it was.
Castiel was stood in the halo of orange light from the streetlamp by her car, his dark hair ruffled, still wearing the trench coat and suit underneath. Her knees felt slightly weak, as they had done the last time she had seen him, and her heart began to pound out a jagged rhythm in her chest, so loudly she felt sure he must be able to hear it. She dropped the pistol into the trunk behind her, then folded her arms to hide her shaking hands.
"Miriana," he said, his deep voice once again completely devoid of any emotion, "How are you?"
She turned around and slammed the trunk with a loud bang that echoed around the car park of the motel, just so she had an excuse to look away from his face. She turned back to face him and leaned against her car.
"Not too bad, considering I nearly died an hour ago. But you know, it's a regular occurrence for someone like me. I suppose you knew about the rising of the witnesses?" she was surprised how much venom was in her voice. She didn't really mean for it to be there.
"We we made aware of it, yes," Castiel replied quietly.
"Well thanks for the help," she snapped, "Or were you all too busy preening your feathers?" the venom still hadn't left her voice, but he didn't react to her words, or at least if he did, it didn't show in his face.
"We had other problems to deal with. Larger concerns."
Miriana gave a short, bitter laugh, "Of course you did. You know, considering you went to all that trouble to pull Dean from hell, you guys don't seem all that bothered about keeping him alive. I mean, I'm completely insignificant, I understand that. But surely Dean is important?"
Something flashed across his eyes very briefly when she spoke, but it faded almost as quickly as it had appeared. He took a small step towards her.
"You are important," he said, an edge in his voice she didn't recognise. She shook her head and looked down at the pavement.
"I don't think so," she said in a small voice, "I never have been."
An awkward silence fell between them then, and Miriana had to make a conscious effort not to look at his face, afraid of what she might feel if she did. She sighed loudly.
"Look, I don't think that you just dropped in to check up on me. What is it you want? I take it has something to do with the apocalypse?" it was the only thing she could think to say to break the silence that always seemed to fall between them.
"You know that the rising of the witnesses is a sign of the apocalypse. It is one of the sixty six seals," Castiel explained. Miriana frowned, vaguely remembering the words written in Seth's diary and some distant memory of reading about it an ancient, dusty tome of biblical lore.
"I recognise that from somewhere. It's not good though, is it?" Miriana didn't really need to hear his answer, but it had to bad. In her experience, most things were.
"No. The seals are like locks on a door, and they are being opened by Lilith."
"A door to what?" Miriana asked, although she didn't really want to hear the answer.
"To Lucifer," Castiel replied. Miriana stood up a little straighter and shook her head. This was definitely new levels of craziness. Angels she had to deal with, but the devil didn't exist.
"There's no such thing," she said faintly, "It's just a myth." But she had to admit she didn't sound convinced.
"You didn't believe in angels, and yet here I stand before you," he said; she couldn't argue with that. She rolled her eyes, and slumped back against the car.
"Fair enough. But still, the devil?" Miriana realized with a sudden flash that this must have been what Seth was trying to warn her about before his death. She'd read it in his diary; this must have been what the demons were so determined to keep quiet.
"Lucifer has been trapped in the deepest, darkest corner of hell for thousands of years. I should know, I fought with my brothers and sisters to put him there. Now Lilith is trying to break him free."
"Thousands of years ago? How old are you, then?" Miriana asked, shocked at the possibility that he could be ancient, hundreds or even thousands of years old.
"Around two thousand years old," he replied, and Miriana thought she could detect the very slightest hint of sadness in his voice. Or perhaps it was just her imagination. She supposed it made sense that he was so old. After all, she had been struck by the ancient intelligence she saw in his eyes the first time she had seen him.
Miriana snorted, "Bloody hell, you must have to use some seriously powerful anti ageing cream, huh? And you must get tons of grey hairs."
He completely ignored her comments and continued speaking as if she hadn't said anything, "Lucifer cannot be allowed to escape. If he does, Hell will rise with him. He will destroy this world if gets free," Castiel locked eyes with her, and she didn't doubt for a second the truth in what he said.
"That's why you're here," she half whispered between her lips, "To stop the devil." He nodded. Miriana exhaled loudly and scrubbed at her forehead with the tips of her fingers, shifting from one foot to another.
"Why are you telling me this? I mean, why you specifically. The Winchesters could tell me all this, seeming as how you're perched on Dean's shoulder. Why have you come fluttering down from heaven just to fill me in."
He paused for a long second, as if he were trying to get the words right in his head. He looked away from her face and cast his eyes downward at the ground.
"I don't really know," he replied. He raised his head, "I just felt I should."
The awkward silence from before returned, and his gaze felt like a physical weight.
"I should leave," he said very quietly, almost whispering.
"Before you do," Miriana said, holding out her hand, as if she could keep him there, "I just wanted to say...thank you."
He tilted his head to the side, "Why?" he asked.
Miriana took a deep breath before she continued, "For...you know, saving Dean. I mean, I know it was your...orders, or whatever, but you brought him back. He means a lot to me, so you know...thanks." Stop saying you know, you freak. I'm pretty sure he doesn't know, she thought to herself.
Miriana felt incredibly stupid and embarrassed, and the feeling wasn't helped by the fact that he was scrutinizing her with an odd expression on his face.
"You're welcome," he finally said, after a long moment.
"I really should leave now," he stated calmly.
"Right. Big angel business to do, huh? You should claim for overtime," she said.
She thought she saw the barest hint of a smile playing around his lips, before he vanished like he had last time. Miriana leaned heavily against the boot of her car, trying to ignore the dull ache that had returned in her head. She really should see a doctor about these headaches, but she never really had the time. She straightened up and stumbled to the drivers' door, pulled it open and threw herself into the leather seats. She hadn't wanted him to leave. She felt much better when he was around, far safer. She shouldn't trust him, as Miriana rarely ever trusted anyone, especially not someone she had met only twice and who was incredibly enigmatic and hard to understand. She started the car with a quiet purr, and as she pulled onto the road, she thought with a sense of faint trepidation, Dean's going to kill me.
