Disclaimer: I don't own the show...And all that jazz...
"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it."
When my legs finally gave out, I was at least ten miles away from Uncle Bobby's. I tumbled to the ground, my body hitting the pavement with a mixture of pain and un-admitted defeat. I was out of shape, not to mention the two beers I had snuck just over two hours ago weren't exactly helping the situation. I wasn't drunk, but I most certainly wasn't sober.
Yeah, I got the whole 'drinking' could be misconstrued as a way of acting out, sorta like Adam's smoking habit, but it's not like I did it obsessively. Just when I couldn't think of any other way of taking my mind off a situation. Lots of kids at Lexington's did it.
Here I was, in the middle of nowhere, my body, mind and soul completely and utterly drained. I couldn't do this much longer. Everything, it was just too much, my entire world felt like a frigging snow globe. Shake it up and see what happens.
"Uragh!" I yelled, punching the pavement with a hand.
"Uragh!" I screamed, pounding the ground until my one of my palms was bloody.
I rolled onto my back, breathing deeply. In, out, in, out, breathing until I could think clearly again.
"Do you think this is funny?" I yelled up at the sky. "Are you getting off on watching me screw up again and again?"
But there was no answer, obviously. I hadn't been expecting one.
"Why me?" I asked.
"Why now?" I whispered. "I didn't ask for this, I don't want this."
A calm sensation filled my chest and I knew I was no longer alone. Greaaaat, 'cause I definitely wanted company right about now.
"Because the final seals are beginning to break, we've passed the halfway mark. In order to preserve what we must, call upon our full forces." Dean's angel Castiel stood over me, staring down at me in a completely emotionless way. Dang, that dude was intense.
"I'm not a force, I'm just a hunter. A normal, everyday, not-so-special hunter." Maybe if I said it enough I'd believe it myself.
"Many humans," Castiel hesitated as he spoke "Have difficulty accepting the task God has set before them."
I pushed myself up onto my elbows so I could look at the angel more effectively. "There is not a task set before me."
I was just supposed to help people, to guide and protect those who were in need. What was so special about that? Plenty of people had that responsibility; Mediums, psychics, certain angels… And me, a Guardian. But even though I had grown up knowing I was a Guardian, I still wasn't 100% sure what that meant.
"I assure you. You are… Special." Castiel tried to persuade me.
"Special? Does special mean watching people hopelessly die? To fail epically at helping others? To have no free will?" I asked, forcing myself to my feet. My legs swayed dangerously underneath me; they felt like rubber.
"Your obedience is not a curse. It's a gift." He seemed so sure of it.
"Blindly, uncontrollably following people is a gift? Do you know how many people I've hurt because of my 'gift'?"
"Your obedience allows you to follow the word of God. You have no reason to be emotionally indifferent."
"Sometimes," I told him, taking a deep breath to steady myself "A little bit of doubt is a good thing. It allows you to see the world in new light, to experience new things and most importantly, renew your faith on your own terms."
The angel stood unresponsive, his trench coat swaying in the wind.
A bright light suddenly illuminated the otherwise deserted road. I turned, my eye come into contact with a vehicle. I twisted to look at Castiel once again but, this time, he was gone. I couldn't see the color of the vehicle; its lights were shining right at me.
"Miss," I heard a voice asked. Turning around, I came face to face with the last person I wanted to see, especially in my current situation. I think I would rather have faced Cody and Dean right now. A cop; craaaaap life was not fair. "may I ask what are you doing out here at this hour?"
"I'm-" I didn't know exactly what to say. "I'm just going for a run…"
He didn't look like he believed me. "At three in the morning?"
I shrugged, trying to act nonchalant "I have trouble sleeping."
"Could you come over to the car Miss?" He asked, but I wasn't stupid. Sure, it may have seemed like a request, but I knew it wasn't.
I could always run… See how far I could get before I was either gunned down or tackled, considering my legs and head weren't being very cooperative. Okay, gunned down was over dramatic; but, with my luck it would happen.
I walked, or more like stumbled, over to the police cruiser, causing the officer to raise his eyebrows in suspicion. But of what, I had no idea.
"Miss, have you been drinking?" He asked me, bringing up his flashlight and shining it in my eyes.
"What?" I asked, flinching away from the bring light. "No."
"Would you mind taking a breathalyzer test then?"
"Uhhh… I'd prefer not to." I admitted, stepping back slightly.
"If you haven't been drinking, then the test shouldn't be a problem."
I huffed slightly but accepted the breathalyzer that was offered to me. I brought it to me lips before breathing out slightly. The numbers hadn't even appeared on their stupid digital screen before I realized my stupidity.
I had consumed alcohol, two full beers two hours ago. I had been having trouble sleeping so I went down stairs, drank the beers and then went back to bed. What sucked most about what was happening right now was that because I was barely five feet tall and only about 93 pounds, the alcohol hadn't flushed out of my system yet. Or as Sam would say: it hadn't metabolized.
And, judging by the look on the officer's face, my blood alcohol content was high enough for him to take me into custody. Oh this was going to be fun… If Cody didn't kill me first, Dean would.
Of course the situation only escalated when I reflexively stepped back, falling to the ground in my poor attempt to create distance between me and the police officer.
And that's how I ended up locked in an interrogation room, in a police station, at three thirty in the morning with a frigging bandage on my hand. He, Officer Jorgenson had cleaned my hand. He cleaned it and clucked like a mother hen. Adults, strange!
Why did I have to get stopped by the one cop that actually had an IQ? Ok, so that wasn't exactly fair. Riley's brother Luke was a cop, and he was about as smart as they came. Like most families the 'gift' was passed down mother to daughter. So Luke had decided to become a cop, it was his way of helping people. On the weekends Riley and I would visit him in Boston, usually staying for dinner so that we could spend time with his wife and Riley's niece and nephew.
I hadn't even been able to pick the lock on the freakin' door before he had come back in and instructed me to call someone to come pick me up…
So who had I decided to call?
Well, this had been my thought process:
Adam would chew me out before tattling.
Sam, would give me a lengthy lecture on the evils of alcohol before telling Dean and, more out of guilt then anything, Cody.
Cody would just kill me before telling Dean who would resurrect me and then kill me again.
Dean… Well, Dean was Dean. Enough said.
Needless to say, the only logical option I could think of was calling Bobby. Maybe, just maybe, I might be able to convince him to keep my little early morning expedition between the two of us. Yeah, I wasn't stupid enough to expect not to be punished, but whatever Bobby came up with I would gladly take over anything Dean and/or Cody could come up with.
"Miss," an officer said, sticking his head through the now open door. "Your ride is here."
I nodded in understanding before exciting the room, coming face to face with an annoyed Uncle Bobby. He nodded his head to indicate for me to follow him. Uncle Bobby waited until we were in an abandoned hall way before turning around to confront me.
"What in the hell were you thinking Girl?" He asked me, arms raised and an incredulous look on his face.
"Uncle Bobby, I'm sorry-"
"Darn tootin' you're sorry! And…"
"I'm sorry." Addy tried puppy dog eyes. "I just listened to a half hour lecture on freakin' teen alcoholism."
"Here." Bobby shoved a fistful of pamphlets at Addy. Teen alcohol abuse, abstinence, STDS, inhalant abuse, and about ten more. "You realize your little stunt could cause me to lose my contract with the county."
"I'm sorry." Addy hadn't realized that and felt eight million times worse. "I know, it was stupid, it was immature and I shouldn't have done it."
"You idjit, what did ya think was gunna happen? The way you've been acting lately, I'm surprise it didn't land you in a police station sooner."
"Please Uncle Bobby, I know what I did was stupid, but I promise you what I did won't happen again."
"Yeah," He said, nodding his head. "You're right it won't!"
"Just please, please don't tell Cody. He already hates me enough as it is."
"Your brother doesn't hate ya."
"Please." I begged again.
"Alright." He sighed before walking out the exit door.
"Really? You mean it?" I asked, not believing he was actually agreeing. "You won't tell Cody?"
"I don't need to tell him." He told me as he kept walking. "He already knows."
"Hi Addy." My brother said. He was leaning against his truck, arms crossed a nonchalant pose, and a livid expression on his face. "Fancy seeing you here."
I turned to look at my uncle, but he just shrugged. "What did ya expect? It wasn't like I couldn't tell him."
"Let's go Addy," Cody said, gesturing at the truck, an indication that I should get in.
"What about you?" I asked Uncle Bobby.
"I borrowed the Impala." He told me. "Now your brother and you can have a nice long chat without any interruptions."
Oh joy.
"Dean's going to kill you for taking his car." I whispered.
"I doubt that. After all, I helped him rebuild the damn thing." Uncle Bobby muttered as he got into the car and left, leaving just Cody and me in the parking lot.
"What the hell were you thinking?" He asked me, shaking his head slightly. I wrinkled the pamphlets as fisted my hands nervously.
"I just wanted some air." I muttered.
"And you had to do that when you were drunk?"
"I'm not drunk Cody, I had a couple of beers. I don't see the big deal."
"You're fifteen!" He snapped at me. "That's kinda the issue I'm having. You're being self destructive, it may have worked before, but I'm done with your crap. You hear me? Done."
"I don't know what to say." I whispered.
"How about you tell me what the hell you were thinking? I know you think running is the only way to freakin' handle your issues, but that doesn't mean you can just take off and get arrested." He told me, running a hand through his hair.
"I was thinking I needed some space," I told him before whispering "I was thinking I needed to get away from you." I was glad I had the colored papers to hide the bandage; it meant one less thing she had to explain.
"I'm sick of your attitude Addy. You drinking at this age, it's unacceptable."
"Really? Because right now I'm recalling a particular incident in Memphis where you not only got drunk, but I'm pretty sure you were stoned. But then again, I was only six at the time and, hey, you were only supposed to be babysitting me. But who knows, I might not be remembering it correctly."
"This isn't about me; it's about you. It's about the here and the now." Cody paused. "Get in the fucking truck!" He yelled before grabbing my arm and throwing me into the vehicle himself.
I sighed deeply, not even bothering to buckle my seat belt as he started up the truck and pulled away. We were about three miles away before Cody noticed that I hadn't put on my seat belt.
Being an older brother, simply telling me to strap in was too much. No, instead of doing it the easy way Cody had to slam on the truck's breaks, causing my head to slam forward and hit the dash board.
"What the hell was that for?" I asked though gritted teeth, clutching my bloody nose as I debated every possible way to killing my brother.
"I was going to tell you to put on your seatbelt, but I've come to realize that the best way to get my point across with you is by demonstration." He explained to me, handing me a napkin. "And watch your language."
"Screw you!" I told him, using the last of the napkin to wipe away the blood as I exited the truck, slamming the door shut behind me.
"Addy, get your ass back in the truck!" Cody yelled at me.
"I repeat," I said, sighing deeply "Screw you."
"I'm getting sick of your attitude problems Adeline," He told me, his voice stern "Get in the truck, now."
"You can't tell me what to do."
"Like hell I can't!" He was passed angry now; he was in full out parental mode. "Get in the truck now Addy, that's an order."
And I instantly couldn't walk forward anymore. As much as I loved the fact that my mother's necklace made it so that I didn't have to follow orders unless someone explicitly said that's an order/I order you too, or any other byword thereof, it still sucked when I couldn't control what my body did.
I whipped around, shoving past Cody before getting into the truck and slamming the door shut.
"Strap on your fuckin' seat belt." Cody snapped at me, waiting until I had buckled the two pieces of metal together before putting the truck into drive.
The rest of the drive to Uncle Bobby's was completely silent. Cody shut the truck off and turned around to look at me, the intent of starting a conversation obvious on his face.
"No." I told him, shaking my head before I got out of the truck. Why the hell would I want to talk to him after everything that had happened? I didn't even want to see him, but he wouldn't leave me alone.
"You need to talk to me Addy." He told me, following me out of the truck.
"I don't need to do anything." I told him, not even bothering to look around.
"You can't keep acting like this!" He yelled following me as I walked away.
"Shhh!" I hissed "You're going to wake everyone up."
"I don't freakin' care, they can all wake up. It doesn't matter. I'm sick of you ignoring me when I'm trying to talk to you."
I whipped my body around so fiercely my hair escaped its elastic and my necklace flew out from under my shirt.
"Uragh!" I fumed, untangling the band from my hair. I took a deep breath, using the time it took me to put my hair back up to calm down; through some miracle I managed to keep my voice kind of calm and not yell. "Look, I'm not ignoring you, ok? I just don't know what to say."
Cody walked slowly over to me. He reached out his hand and fingered my necklace, his lips pursing themselves into a straight line.
"What happened to your necklace?" He asked, looking up to meet my eyes.
I stepped back, letting the pendant fall against my skin as I shook my head at my brother's question. "Nothing."
"Nothing?" He asked me, scoffing slightly. "Nothing happened? Do you have any idea how important this necklace is? Whatever the hell happened, I need to know."
"It's my necklace."
"That doesn't mean you know anything about it."
"Because you won't tell me anything!" I yelled at him, going from zero to angry in nothing flat.
"Watch your tone!" He warned. He took a deep breath, breathing slightly before speaking in a much softer voice "Please, I don't want to make you tell me, but I need to know. What happened to your necklace?"
"I have no idea." I admitted, so angry I couldn't figure out my own emotions. I wasn't just angry at Cody; I was angry at the whole world, Cody was just the best target. "I got hit by that car and the necklace that Riley gave me and the necklace that mom gave me just combined. Riley said something about how when the magic from her necklace was released it combined with the magic from mom's but… It's not like mom's necklace had any real magic on it, just the spell that gives me some free will. But even I know that's not enough magic for a protection spell and a charm to combine."
Cody looked away and I knew he wasn't telling me something.
"Whatever it is you're not telling me, you need to." I told Cody as I sighed deeply and tried to keep my cool. I had every right to be angry, every right to ignore him, but, as was the usual case with siblings, no matter what they did, you couldn't bring yourself to completely hate them. It was the reason that, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, down, I knew that someday, most likely, I would forgive Canley for everything that happened between us.
"I can't." Cody told me, shaking his head. "I have to keep you safe."
"And this is how you keep me safe?" I asked him, waiting for his clarifying nod before taking another beep breath. When I spoke again, it was in a deadly calm voice. "Fine, don't tell me. But I am going to figure it out eventually and if it's not from you, then I think that's something we'll both regret."
"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" He looked angry.
"Everyone has their limits Cody, and I'm quickly approaching mine." I warned my brother.
I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't handle being around him. I turned to leave, making it all of two feet before Cody grabbed my arm with the pretence of turning me around.
"Don't touch me!" I screamed, twisting out of his grasp before hugging myself comfortingly. I stepped away from my brother and, maybe for the first time since we saw each other, he realized more had happened in the last year then he knew.
"Are you scared?" He asked, taking my silences as confirmation. I didn't scare easily, but my memories were possibly the most frightening thing out there. "What the hell happened to you?"
"Maybe if you picked up your phone every once and a while you'd know." I told him, my body shaking in anger. "Considering how many times I called you when I needed your help."
"What are you talking about?" He asked confusion on his face. He had no reason to be confused, what I had told him had been fairly obvious. I needed his help, he wasn't there. That's all there was to it. "You never called me."
"I called you so many times, begging, pleading, for your help. And you never once answered, called me back or came to help."
"You never called me."
"Yes I did!"I clenched my fists "Look, I understand why you ignored the calls for the first couple of weeks in some sick proverbial way of teaching me how to stand on my own. But I figured that after the doctors calling you to tell you I was in the hospital that you'd call back. I just guess that after everything you hate me for what I've put you through. I don't exactly blame you but-"
"What are you talking about?" He stared at me, hurt in his eyes. Why was he hurt? He was the one that hurt me. "I could never hate you. You're my baby sister."
"Then why didn't you call me back?" I yelled again "Or answer any of my e-mails or my freakin' letters. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure that implies hatred."
"Addy, I never got any calls or letters from you. I figured you were angry at me because you never called me back when I called you… It got to the point that I had to contact your frigging house-mother to make sure you were alive and functioning. I know you were angry at me, but you could at least have done me the decency of returning one of the hundreds of voice mails or e-mails I left you."
"You never called. You never e-mailed…" I told him shaking my head. He hadn't, he had never once given me any indication that he cared. He had left me at school and that was it. "I didn't get your calls because you never called me."
"Yes I did." It was his turn to be defensive. "I called you every single day I could, to check in on you, to make sure you were alright…But you never answered."
"Addy," He looked me in the eyes, an indication to me that he was 100% serious "I swear to you, I promise you, I never got any calls or e-mails from you."
"You're not lying." I whispered knowing that whenever my brother lied, he wouldn't look me in the eyes.
"But-but, this doesn't make any sense." I told Cody. If he wasn't lying, and I wasn't lying… "Then why the heck wouldn't we have been able to contact each other?"
"I have no idea. I mean, unless someone was…" He trailed off, a look of comprehension crossing his face. "Crap."
"What?" I asked, not following his train of thought.
"Who do we know that can easily prevent two people from being able to contact each other, even when they're using fake names registered under their phone?" Cody asked and I instantly knew what had happened.
"Angels." I whispered "But why would they not want us to contact each other?"
And when Cody looked away, blatantly refusing the meet my eyes, I realized he knew why.
"Please tell me." I asked, knowing that Cody wasn't going to, no matter what I said.
"I can't Adds." He told me, his eyes begging understanding.
But I didn't give him any.
"Whatever Cody." I told him and, for the second time in less than 24-hours, I left him standing there.
O~O~O~O~O~O
The headache and dry mouth she woke to made Addy realize one thing; maybe drinking hadn't been the best idea.
"Uragh." she moaned as she felt around on the night stand for her watch.
"Two thirty!" She fumed, quickly strapping on her watch before getting dressed. Addy haphazardly ran a brush through her hair in a desperate attempt to tame it before giving up completely and shoving it into a bun. Slipping on her shoes she hopped over to her backpack, grabbing and swallowing two Advil before making her way down stairs. Through some miracle no one had come downstairs during the late night yelling match.
No one was in the living room, or the kitchen for that matter. Addy made her way outside, only making it about five feet out the door before her brother looked up from the hood of the truck.
Cody sighed deeply as he rubbed the oil off his hands with a dirty grey cloth. "Glad to see you're up." He told her, his voice calm but eyes filled with mixed emotions. "We need to talk. Get something to eat; we'll talk when I'm done here."
"I get it Cody-" Addy began, only to be cut off by Cody.
"I don't think you do Addy. I may not know what you've been through, but that doesn't excuse your attitude. I've talked with the Winchesters. The crap you've been pulling; we're going to talk about it." Cody was sick of it. He had raised her better than this; he had taught her to respect her elders and their decisions. And here Addy was, ignoring everything she knew, everything she had been taught. And Cody was done with it.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked pretty much knowing what he was going to say; but, hoping he wouldn't.
"It means that there are going to repercussions for your actions. That, and don't expect me or the Winchester's to take anymore of your crap." He told her.
"What crap?" Addy snapped.
"Watch your tone with me young lady!" Cody warned her, narrowing his eyes in warning. "You will treat me and everyone else here, with respect. Do you understand?"
"Yes." Addy whispered.
"Yes what?"
"Yes Sir." She said, even more quietly this time.
"Good." Cody said with a nod before sticking his head back under the hood.
Addy stood there for a minute longer before following the sound of gunshots to a partially cleared area in the yard. Sam and Dean stood by an agitated Adam, who was attempting to shoot the center of bull's-eye target. Which was weird, because Addy had seen Adam hit the center of a target plenty of times.
Adam knew he was out of it. But honestly, he just didn't care anymore. Dean was pushing him and pushing him and pushing him, and he couldn't take it. Who the hell cared if he couldn't hit the bull's eye with every single round? Why didn't it matter if he had trouble pronouncing Latin? It is a god-damn dead language. Because really, who cared?
'Oh yeah' Adam thought to himself as he focused on the target 'Sam and Dean do… Dicks.'
All Adam really wanted to do was go to back to school, be with his girl friend, Anne, and hang out with his friends. Too bad a stupid ghoul had made that impossible. You know, considering it had killed his mom and everything. To make matters worse, he had called his dad with some stupid idea that he could fix everything and, well, that had completely back fired on him.
Because instead of getting his dad, he had gotten two wildly over protective older brothers and a completely new life.
In the period of a couple of months he had lost both parents, his chance at becoming a doctor, his home, his sense of normalcy and, his privacy. Because how much privacy could one person have living in motel room after motel room, after abandoned house, day after day, week after week …
Yeah, yeah, he lost all those things and gained two brothers. Which was something that Adam kept reminding himself of, but it didn't always stop the depression. The waves of depression which were consuming him alive. He could put on a happy face most of the time; but, there were days. Days where getting up in the morning took everything he had. Days where all he could think about was sleep. The sleep where you never have to wake up.
Addy was petrified of what was going to happen to Adam if he didn't talk to someone soon.
She sat on the hood of an abandoned car, nodding in greeting as the Winchesters looked over to acknowledge her presence. Sam and Dean raised their hands and waved slightly before turning back to the target; Adam nodded.
"Again." Dean told Adam.
Adam, sighed, readjusted himself into a ready position before raising his gun and firing, missing the target by five feet. Like he cared, he just wanted Dean to get off his back.
"Come on Adam!" Dean yelled at his baby brother as Adam glared down at the gun. "I've seen you fire a flipping' gun before; I know you don't suck this badly."
"Sorry Dean." Adam said, clipping the safety on. "I'm just a little out of it today." Ok, that was a lie. He wasn't out of it; he just didn't wanna be here.
"You're a hunter now; you can't afford to have off days." Dean snapped "Do it again and this time actually hit the stupid target."
Adam was tired, he needed a break, he needed some time to himself… But Dean, being Dean, was pushing Adam to his limit. He was going to break soon, and his brothers didn't even realize it.
Adam rubbed his eye lids exhaustedly before firing the gun once again. This time he missed target completely, the bullet ricocheted off a car and buzzed passed Addy's left ear. That had been close, way too close.
"Um," She said, watching as her cousins turned around to look at her "that was kinda really close to hitting me."
"Ok," Sam said, taking the gun out of his brother's hand "You're done for today."
"Oh, God! Addy," Adam stammered. Yeah, he had wanted to stop, but he hadn't want to hit her. "I'm so sorry!"
"The car was 15 feet away from the freakin piece of cardboard you were aiming for." Dean yelled at his brother. "How the hell did you miss it by so much?"
"Its fine Dean," Addy tried to tell him, knowing how badly Adam already felt "No harm, now foul."
"Three inches over and you would have been hit." Dean snapped back.
Addy shrugged "I've been almost shot more times than I can count. One more isn't that big of a deal."
"God Addy," Adam whispered again "I'm so sorry. I didn't-I wasn't…"
"It's fine." Addy told him, doing her best to make him realize she meant it.
"You do realize that what you just said is rather disconcerting, right?" Sam told her.
"What? The fact that I've been shot at quite a bit?"
Sam nodded.
"What the hell do you do during your free time?" Dean asked
"Apparently getting shot at." Adam told his brother, feeling better now that the attention wasn't focused on him.
"Oh shut up." Addy said, shaking her head slightly. "Like you've never been shot at."
"Actually, I haven't." Adam said with a nod.
"Don't worry, I can change that. Give me the gun Sam." Addy said with small, slightly menacing smile. Addy was kidding; Adam knew that… Dean and Sam didn't…
"Um…No." Sam said, shaking his head.
"Empty threat." Cody yelled from under the hood of his truck. He was standing far enough away that Addy assumed he wouldn't be able to hear the conversation that was transpiring.
"What?" Dean asked Cody.
Cody looked up "It's an empty threat. She hasn't used a gun since she was like eight."
"You haven't?" Dean asked her.
Addy rolled her eyes at Dean's question. No, she hadn't; Addy was nine the last time she used one. For reasons that she found logical, it still annoyed Cody, even though he had been the person whom she had accidentally shot.
"Nope." Cody yelled back. "Pretty stupid, I know. Especially because certain creatures, like werewolves, need something silver to the heart to get rid of them. No one's stupid enough to let a werewolf get close enough so they can freakin' stab it."
"Addy is." Adam muttered
For a second Addy actually thought her brother might not have heard Adam. But when Cody threw down the wrench he was holding, she knew she had no such luck.
"What did you say?" Cody asked, walking over to them as he spoke.
"Nothing." Addy insisted, glaring at Adam. "He didn't say anything."
"I wasn't talking to you, Addy." Cody snapped at her before turning to face Adam "What did you say, Kid?"
Adam stepped back, unsure of what to do about my older brother's aggressiveness. But Addy knew one thing; she wasn't going to let Cody talk to Adam like that, he hadn't done anything wrong.
"Stop it Cody!" Addy warned, stepping protectively in front of Adam. Cody saw the look on her face, the determination in her features, and he realized she wasn't going to let him say or do anything to Adam. "He's not the one you're angry at."
Cody opened his mouth to respond, his eyes looking down to meet my own. When their eyes made contact, something changed. For the first time, Cody saw the look in his sister's eyes, the power and wisdom they held, and a look of defeat crossed his face.
"Oh God Addy." He whispered "Please tell me… I have to keep you safe, it's my job to keep you safe."
"No, it's not." Cody looked taken aback by her answer "It's your job to teach me how to take care of myself. For me to do that, you need to tell me why I'm being hunted."
"You have no idea what's going on Addy, I'm doing this to ensure that you have a chance at a normal life. So you can go to school, so you can-"
"Don't you get it?" Addy asked "I never, never had the chance of having a normal life; I never wanted a normal life. I may not be happy right now, but that's only because of all the lies
"You don't understand right now, you might someday, but not right now."
"That's the thing Cody, I do understand." She told him "I understand what it's like to know that you're responsible for keeping someone alive, that sometimes it's better for that person if you just don't say anything. But I also understand that, at some point, you can't help that person anymore and you need to let them help themselves."
"And how do you know that?" Cody asked.
I looked up to meet my brother's stern gaze. "Because that's what you always taught me."
"I can't tell you Addy."
"I can't do this anymore. I'm sick of the lying, the secrets, and your misguided attempts at sheltering me… Whatever you've been trying to protect me from, it's already set into motion and I'm a part of it now."
"No, you're not. Not until you get the knife." He whispered, he hadn't meant for her to hear it. But she had.
"Oh, you mean this knife?" Addy asked, pulling it out and showing it to her brother. He made to touch it, but she didn't give him the chance to before she shoved it back into its sheath.
The knife had a mind of its own, a distinct personality Addy herself didn't even understand. It knew she was its rightful owner, and it wouldn't take too kindly to someone touching it that wasn't supposed to, especially considering what had happened the last time someone had taken it from her.
"When did you get that?" He asked her, desperately.
"Last year."
"How, how did you…" He trailed off "The only way you can get the knife is if you've been using your powers."
"I can't control the fact that I can see ghosts." Addy defended.
"That's not what I mean and you know it." He snapped at her.
"You're right." Addy sighed, running a hand through her bangs "I lied to you Cody; I guess I technically did use my powers."
"What happened?" He asked her. He did his best not to show any emotions, but she knew better, he was worried.
Addy swallowed slightly, trying to think of the best way to express what had happened. But instead of coming up with some satisfactory answer, she could only think of one thing to say. "I brought my best friend back from the dead."
"Come again?" Dean asked and Addy just sighed.
"I told you that I'd healed people before." She explained, crossing her arms defensively.
"Somehow I think you healing someone and you bringing someone back from the dead are a tab bit different." Dean snapped.
"I'm sorry; I just didn't see what the big deal was." Addy admitted.
"The big deal? Let me tell you something Kid-"Dean fumed.
"Dean," Cody said, interrupting him before he could really get started. "Now isn't the time."
Dean turned to look at his younger cousin, giving Cody a look that implied he was insane. Dean wanted to chew me out; he wanted to scold Addy, to take control, to establish her boundaries... But Cody was her brother.
As much as that annoyed him, Dean knew he should step back... Should being the operative word, because he wasn't. Instead he turned to look at Cody, nostrils flaring and eyes filled with anger.
"Then when is the time?" He asked "Because now seems like the perfect opportunity, considering how much your sister seems to love lying!"
"Dean." Cody warned "Not. Now."
For a second Addy thought Dean was going to full out tackle her brother to the ground and, judging by the way he tensed up, Cody thought so too. They were both about to lose it. Dean because he wanted to resume his position as alpha dog in the pack; and that I was now a part of his pack. Cody because he wanted Dean to back off and realize that he was in charge of me now.
It was frightening, it was amusing and it was going to, sooner rather than later, push both men over the edge.
"Fine!" Dean yelled, punching the hood of a random car. "Fuckin' fine! Do whatever the hell you want. It's not like it's my business anyway."
Dean swore again before stalking off, but Addy knew he wasn't going too far. Regardless of what he had said, Dean did think she was his business and he wanted to hear whatever Cody was going to say next.
"Addy," Cody said calmingly as he stepped closer to her. Addy stepped away, not wanting him to come closer to her after the argument they just had. Though he was visibly hurt, Cody did his best not to show it before he sighed deeply and continued. "What happened?"
"What do you mean?" Addy asked, knowing exactly what he meant, but she had no desire to relive that horrible memory.
"You said you brought you best friend back from the dead. What happened?" Cody asked her delicately.
"Riley got stabbed. I healed her, that's about all there is to it." Addy ran my hand through her hair, biting my lips as Cody shook his head.
"Addy," Cody rubbed the bridge of his nose as he spoke "Please."
"Fine!" She snapped, taking a deep breath before I recalled one of my worst memories.
July 2008
"Uragh!" I fumed, absentmindedly punching the 1967 Ford Thunderbird in my anger. "How long does it frekin' take to say goodbye to your boyfriend?"
"Hey!" Jase yelled "Hey,hey,hey,hey! Don't take your anger out on my car! It's a classic!"
"This car isn't a classic. Now, a 1967 Chevy Impala, that's a classic." I smiled, crossing my arms in smugness.
"You're biased." Jase defended "The only reason you're saying that is because you grew up with the Impala that your uncle had."
"Oh come on! You saw that car plenty of times too! Your dad was one of Uncle John's main contacts."
"Still, this car's a classic." He said, looking fondly at the cherry red car. It was his pride, it was his joy, and it was his home on wheels. Jase was a hunter, born and bred. Over the years his father had reluctantly allowed him to handles his own basic hunts and since then he had traveled around the country dealing with whatever he could, whenever he could. Over the past four months I had been at school, Jase had shown up on more than one occasion to deal with a supernatural problem and had reluctantly accepted Riley and my help.
It was because of this, he was currently in Boston.
"I think I'm gunna throw up." I said, faking gagging noises.
"It's ok Baby," Jase patted his car affectionately "She just doesn't understand our love."
"Your love, I can understand. Riley and Brice's... Seriously, we told Ri to meet us out side in five minutes...That was twenty minutes ago. I'm not sure I want to know what they're doing."
"She just wants to say goodbye and make sure Brice knows she cares about him, considering we are about to face down a shapeshifter. Besides, it's not like you've been in a relationship before so you wouldn't really understand."
"Ok, first of all, she doesn't need to say goodbye, she's going to see him again in a couple of hours. It's just a shapeshifter, no way in hell am I going to let anything happen to Riley, or you for that matter. Ever. Second, I have been in a relationship before. I'm even in one right now."
"Oh yeah." Jase said "What's his name? Brian?"
"Ryan." I corrected, rolling my eyes.
"I think I should meet this kid." He said, in a voice that implied I really didn't have a choice.
"Jase," I tried to consul, but he didn't give me the chance before interrupting me.
"What? Can you really blame me?" He asked "The last guy you dated was an ass hat."
"Jase!" I protested.
He stared at me, not really sure he understood what I had said. "Are you defending him? Addy, the first time I met the douche I walked in on him slapping you across the face."
"It's not like I was going to let him get away with it." I snapped back, only succeeding and making Jase angry.
"He broke your arm!"
"And you broke his!" I pointed out "Then you dislocated his shoulder...Then you cracked his ribs and broke his nose!"
"I didn't break his arm." He sighed.
"Ok, so you fractured it...They're the same thing!"
"What do you want me to say? That I'm 'sorry' I defended you? That I didn't let the douche bag hit you again?" He fumed before taking a deep breath to calm himself down. "Look Half-pint, I care about you, I really do, and I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. So if you're not going to trust me enough to let me know when someone's hurting you, then I'm not going to trust you enough to believe you when you say your fine."
Crap...That was Jase for you, stubborn, hardheaded and very protective of people he cared about. He wasn't going to let anyone hurt me while he was around, least of all myself. Yes, I had been dating someone who was abusive. He had occasionally insulted me, something I had brushed off whenever he apologized and insisted he wouldn't do again. But the particular incident Jase was referring to was an exception. My ex had lost it and, in a blind rage, he had broken my arm and slapped me right before Jase walked in.
Jase had looked from me, to my boyfriend before he had lost it completely. Needless to say, after that incident my boyfriend became my ex-boyfriend and Jase had given me a three hour long lecture about taking care of yourself before he had made it clear to me that no one, no one should ever be allowed to hit me like that again.
"Let's go get that sonofabitch!" Riley exclaimed, running up behind me and jumping onto my back.
I stumbled forward, laughing as I regained my balance. "Hey Ri, nice of you to join us."
"Aww, Addy!" She said, hugging me so tightly I was actually having issues breathing "You missed me didn't cha?"
"Terribly." I said sarcastically as Riley released me.
"It's ok! We're going to be living with each other for the whooooooole summer!" She pointed out "Considering my mom decided it was ok for you to live here until school starts up again. But don't worry, we're totally rooming together again next year!"
"Glad to hear you two are so close." Jase said with a laugh "Now if you don't mind, we have a shapeshifter to kill."
The ten minute ride to our destination was quite. All three of us knew what we were doing, all three of us were ready...But that didn't mean things couldn't go south.
"Alright," Jase said, rummaging through his trunk. "I'm assuming you know how to handle a gun Riley."
"Yeah," Ri said, rolling her eyes. "I'm a witch, not an idiot."
"Good to know." Jase couldn't help but laugh as he handed Riley a gun undoubtedly filled with silver bullets. "Half-pint, you want a gun or a knife?"
"A knife." I answered, shaking my head slightly. I didn't use guns. And, considering he had been there periodically throughout my childhood, Jase knew that too.
"One of these days the slowness of a knife is going to get you killed." Riley told me, accepting the gun Jase offered her.
"Yeah, yeah." I sighed, grabbing a silver knife from Jase before he shut the trunk.
We stared down at the open pot hole, each of us thinking the exact same thing.
"Do we have to do this?" Riley asked, just as eager as I was to explore the wonderful sewers.
"It's killed five people so far." I reminded her.
"And a surprise attack's the best way to do it?" She asked
"Yep." Jase ensured her.
"Fine." She sighed, following Jase down the ladder.
I followed suit, dragging the metal cover back over the hole before dropping to the floor.
"Riley." I said, deterred by the darkness that consumed the tunnels.
"Erif." She said raising her hand. A small fire ball erupted, enough to show us where we were going, but not enough to alert the shifter we were in the tunnels.
We navigated ourselves through the tunnels, ever cautious as we followed the trail of dis-guarded skin and teeth to the shifter's layer.
"Stay here." Jase told me, as he walked stealthily forward, slowly pushing open a door, ever cautious of what may lay on the other side.
"Jase!" I hissed, angry at the older boy for pulling rank. It was stupid, him going into a random room in a shapeshifter's layer by himself.
There was no response from the other side of a door...Which was a good and a bad thing if you thought about it.
I turned to face the open corridor, keeping guard to ensure nothing took us by surprise.
"Riley." I said, a weird feeling sprouting in my stomach. "Put the fire out."
She complied and, just to be safe, I grabbed her shirt and pulled her protectively behind me.
"Addy, what's going on?" Jase asked, emerging from behind the door as a flash of silver lashed out towards me. I stepped back, doing me best to get out of the range of the knife. The blade cut against my skin, drawing blood as I stumbled backwards onto Riley.
"Shifter!" I yelled and Jase instantly drew his gun, firing it at the now retreating form.
"Damn it!" Jase swore as a clicking sound sounded, indicating that he had emptied his clip. I got to my feet, ignoring my bleeding arm as I ran after the shapeshifter. "No, Addy! Stop it! Damn it!"
But I didn't stop. Five people, five innocent people were dead because of this thing. There was no way in hell I'd let that number become six. Ignoring Jase's yelling I ran down the tunnel. It was just one shapeshifter; I'd taken out plenty of shifters in my lifetime. How hard could it be?
I scurried up the ladder, instantly preparing myself for an attack. I dodged the first fist that came after me, barely managing to bring out my own knife as I ducked under the shapeshifter's attack.
"Addy!" I heard Riley call from the pot hole. It was a distraction not meant for myself. The shifter's attention faltered for a moment, but that's all I needed. I brought up Jase's knife, sinking it deeply into the creatures flesh, stabbing it in the heart.
It fell to the ground, obviously dead.
"Stupid shifters." I muttered, trying to wipe the blood off on my pants. My hand slipped and ended up dropping the knife, it bounced, landing fifteen feet away. I didn't bother to retrieve it.
"Thanks Ri." I told my friend with a smile "You're the bomb."
"I know I am!" She said, walking over to examine the body. "I think it's dead…"
"That's what usually happens when you stab them in the heart." I pointed out. "Where's Jase?"
"He stayed behind to check something out, said something was weird and he was going to look into it but it wouldn't take a while and he'd be up in a couple of minutes."
"Did he say what it was?"
"Nope."
"There's Jase for you." I muttered, turning around just in time to see a figure drop off the roof of a nearby building. No human could have made that fall and been alright.
"Riley! Look out!" I screamed, running toward my friend.
But it was too late. By the time I reached her, the figure had already picked up the knife I had dropped and stabbed it into her back.
"Riley!" I yelled as she fell to the ground. I caught her, doing my best to stifle the blood flow with my hands. "Riley! Oh, God. Riley."
I heard a gunshot and watched as the shadowed figure fell to the ground, obviously dead.
"Addy," Jase yelled, running over to me. "What happened?"
"She was-it's just…" I didn't know what to say. "What was that?"
"Another shifter, there were two of them. Mates by the look of their nest." He answered, obviously kicking himself for not saying anything.
"Ri, you're going to be ok." I told my best friend "We're going to get you to a hospital and you're going to be fine!"
She didn't answer. Her blood continued to flow and I took off my jacket, pressing it against the wound.
"No Ri!" I yelled slapping her cheek slightly as her eyes began to droop shut. "Don't you dare close your eyes on me!"
She didn't respond and I began to shake her.
"No! No, no, no, no!" I screamed. I needed her to wake up, she had to be alright, she couldn't be…No, that wasn't even an option. "I need you Ri! I need you! You saved me, I don't know what I'd do…I don't know how…"
Jase grabbed my hand and slowly tried to pull me away from my friend.
"Stop it!" I yelled, struggling against Jase. "We have to help her! She needs our help!"
"She's gone Half-pint, she's gone." He soothed, still pulling me away. But he couldn't, if he pulled me away then I couldn't help her.
"No! She's not gone!" I told him, forcing myself out of his grip and towards my friend once again.
"No!" I yelled as Jase grabbed me around the waist and started off towards the street.
"I'm sorry Adds. Your yelling most definitely alerted some civilians. We can't risk staying around." He told me as I continued to fight him. I needed to help her. She'd be able to help me; she was always able to help me. So now I had to help her. I didn't know how, but I had to do something. "Now stop struggling. That's an order."
My body instantly relaxed and Jase continued carrying me towards the car.
"Why would you do that?" I asked him "Why would you order me like that?
"I'm sorry Half-pint, you know I hate to." He told me "But sometimes you don't leave me a choice."
I knew Jase wanted to keep me safe. He felt responsible because he was older, more experienced and therefore responsible for me. I knew why he did it, but as soon as he let go of me, I ran back to Riley anyway.
"Ri," I whimpered as I knelt down beside her. "I'm so sorry."
I reached out, touched her hand, and that's when everything changed.
I was standing in the middle of a cobble stone path surrounded by trees and benches. The whole appearance reminded me of Central Park in the fall. I looked up at a brightly colored, constellation filled sky that instantly made me realize that I was most definitely not in Central Park, as much as it looked like we were.
"What the hell?" I muttered, instantly turning around when I heard footsteps behind me.
"Addy?" Riley asked her face showing she was just as confused as I was. "Where are we?"
"I don't…I'm not sure." I whispered. I looked once more at the path set before us before turning around to face my friend once again.
She wasn't there and neither was the Central Park themed path. Instead masses of beautiful flowers and bamboo surrounded me.
"What the fu-"
"I see little Riley Evens is friends with a Guardian." A tall African American man appeared before me, smiling deeply as he looked me over. "But you aren't like any Guardian I've ever seen. For one thing, you are a girl. Girls aren't commonly born into this destiny."
"Ok," I said taking a deep breath "All I keep hearing about is me being this guardian thingy, what is a guardian?"
He let off a soft chuckle before speaking "You mean, who is a Guardian?"
"Sure." I said, shrugging my shoulders "Who is a Guardian?"
"You are." The man said in a tone that implied it was obvious
'Gee' I wanted to say 'Thanks Mister!'
"And what exactly does that mean?" I asked "People keep telling me I am one, but I don't know what that means."
"It means," He told me "That you guide the living, speak for the dead and guard all."
"…Ok…Which means?"
He smiled again "I'm Joshua." He told me, completely ignoring my question.
"Alright Joshua," I said, redirecting my focus. He obviously wasn't going to say anything. "Where are we?"
"Heaven." He answered simply.
"But if we were in heaven that would mean…" I hesitated "Am I dead?"
"You, no. Your friend, yes."
"Riley's dead?" I asked, my voice coming out in a whisper.
"I'm afraid so." Joshua told me, flashing me a sad look.
"But she can't be dead. I need her." I told him. "I don't know who you think you are, but you can't have her. Not yet anyway."
"I am an angel of the Lord Adeline." Joshua answered; I wasn't exactly surprised that he knew my name. Angel's were incredibly annoying, always sticking their noses into other people's businesses. "And I know, I don't want to take Riley away from you."
"Oh…Um…Ok."
"The reason you are here," He told me "Is because you are coming to a point in your life where you have a choice to make. You can either continue as you are, a lone hunter with no real purpose. Or you can chose to make a difference, to help people and by doing so embrace your destiny. "
"Which is?" I asked him, hoping for an answer.
"Something you yourself must discover." He responded "But either way, you can chose to ignore what I'm telling you, take your friend and go back to your life and not change. Or you can remember my warning and use it to guide yourself in times of trouble."
"I don't understand." I admitted.
"Just remember this; not many people are given the ability to give others second chances. Your friend will live because of you. And because of that, your life as you knew it is now over." He reached out, touched my forehead and a white light consumed me.
"Where the heck did you go?" Ri asked me as I turned around to look at her.
"The Wild Goose Pagoda…" I muttered "When the heck did you go to China?"
"When I was like nine, my mom took me there to do some family research. How the heck did you know?"
"No reason." I muttered, not really interested in sharing what the heck had just transpired.
"Yeah, ok." She said, shaking her head. "So how do we get out of here?"
"I'm not sure." I admitted "Maybe if I…"
I trailed off before lifting up a hand and gently pressing my palm against my best friend's forehead.
A flash of white light erupted and I was instantly slammed back into my body.
"Oh God." I moaned, everything freakin' hurt.
Riley sat up, gasping desperately for air. She grabbed her back, the place where just minutes before blood had been streaming out from.
"What the hell?" Ri demanded, looking around as she tried to remember what had just happened.
"Ri, you're ok." I whispered as my body was consumed in another wave of pain, exhaustion and darkness. I collapsed completely, knowing that everything was about to change. I had seen heaven, I had met an angel, and I had brought my friend back from the dead.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O
April 2009
"You're been to heaven?" Adam asked Addy incredulously.
"Yeah, to save my friend." She responded, nodding her head slightly.
She turned around to look at her brother. His face was pale, his body shook slightly.
"I guess this changes everything." He whispered, running his hand through his hair.
"Cody?" Addy asked, wondering what he was talking about.
"Not now Adds." He whispered before turning around. "This wasn't supposed to happen. You weren't supposing to…"
And, not for the first time, Cody walked away from her, leaving Addy wondering what the hell was going on. rundown