Chapter Thirty-Seven- Birds Flew Backwards
Hello, seeing as I'm snowed in this weekend I thought I'd update! Firstly, thank you to every one of you who reviewed last chapter, your comments make this story :D. Secondly, this chapter is a tad short based purely on the fact I can't find the transcript for this episode anywhere :S. Anyway, sadly there is no Castiel in this chapter, but I do promise that he'll be making a lot of appearances as Kate's plotline develops. There's a bit of foreshadowing in this chapter, so hopefully you will all enjoy it. I would really appreciate any reviews for this chapter and I can't wait to hear what you think . Six days till Christmas!
Kate was dreaming…again. A long, dark hallway surrounded her, she felt small and insignificant. The walls stretched like marble towers in front of her, the heavy, ornate ceiling grinding to a point in the distance. The marble columns were dusty granite, it was cold. Scriptures slithered around the pillars like serpents; she edged nearer for a closer look. Wings, knives, flames, they were strangely beautiful to her. They had been carved so carefully and lovingly into the rock that she couldn't help but stare. Shadows danced on the walls, the only light being a bright heavenly glow at the end of the corridor, which smoothed and faded as it crept slowly towards her. She ran her hands over the figures, cold rock burning against tired skin. She could feel the history, the people. Her fingers lingered on the wings of an angel, she thought of Castiel. She wished he could be here with her.
A loud jolt like a gunshot shattered the silence, the intensity causing her legs to shake with force. She turned her head slowly behind her, nothing. She left the scriptures, allowing her eyes to adjust to the shock and darkness as she felt her way around her. Footsteps echoed in the hallway, rushed and vigilant. Kate began to panic. She turned to her left and contemplated a path in darkness, to her right, the light. She was lured more strongly by the soft light in the distance, but she didn't know why the path was lit, and what was causing it. The footsteps could be coming from that direction, and then she would be caught, and trapped.
She heard a voice in the distance, calling her towards him. Castiel and he sounded just as worried as she did. She sprinted down the path towards him; his shadow was opaque in the light. "Cas!" she cried gratefully, smiling to herself as she felt the heat of the light warming her skin. She stopped short as she came close to him, skidding on the cold stones beneath her boots. Her hair swung in front of her eyes, blocking the angel from her view. Hands clasped around her arms tightly, the fingers carving into leather and skin. She was pulled backwards violently, nearly collapsing against the figures behind her with the force. She shook and twisted in their grip, desperately trying to break free. She started to kick, but felt nauseous as her feet left the ground; she was more vulnerable than ever.
"Cas! Help me please! Don't let them take me!" she screamed. The angel turned around and smirked gently. Her eyes adjusted to the light, and noticed the shadow was substantially taller than Castiel, and was sporting a bright red haircut. "No, no, no! Don't do this to me!" she cried with anger, her elbow riding into the stomach of the figure on her left.
"Don't struggle sweetheart, you're just gonna make the pain worse," whispered a harsh, malicious voice in her ear. She tilted her head slightly to the left to see the face of her attacker, Sable flashed a wicked grin. He loosened his grip; she swung her arm and slammed her fist into his throat. She turned to her right to see the familiar glossy blonde locks of Arielle. She cried out as Kate clawed at her neck, breaking the contact between her and the angel. Kate slammed her against the wall, her arm firmly pushing against her neck; she felt the crush of cartilage beneath her sleeve. She felt hands in her back, and turned just as swiftly and silently to meet Sable's expression with her fist. They enclosed on her as they recovered, she was trapped in between.
She felt sharpening daggers in her head, stabbing and rattling tissue in her mind. She stood still and placed her hands on her head, the fingers grinding at skin as she tried to steady herself. She felt nauseous. The pain intensified, and she felt as if a hatchet had been wrenched into her skull. She dropped to her knees, crying and screaming in pain. She clasped her head in her hands and pulled her skull into her lap, her back nearly joining full circle. Her teeth felt as if they were about to shatter in her screams as she felt salvation, a burning glow beneath her skin that made her limbs feel heavy. She lifted her head, and stared at the angel standing proudly before her, her eyes confused and frightened. She started to jerk as if she was about to vomit, and felt a spark ignite within her bones. The ember erupted into a blaze, and her chest started to radiate. A pulse emanated from the girl, spreading out like a shock wave that decimated everything in its path. The pillars toppled, the scriptures prised from the marble as the ceiling exploded. Arielle and Sable collapsed to the ground, their eyes cold and empty like cadavers, their arms outstretched lifelessly.
Kate looked up, admiring the wreckage around her. She was frightened, and searched desperately for any sign of life around her. Her skin was glowing a soft blue, and the migraine had dissolved. Stood before her was Elijah, his smile caught between ecstasy and horror. He smiled and turned towards the light. She was alone.
X X X
Kate scrambled in the backseat as she woke up to rattling on the car window. Her shirt clung to her skin with sweat, and her breathing was shaken with fear. Her hands trembled in her lap and her breath shook with panting as she noticed the head appear by the window. She looked up, startled to find Dean staring at her anxiously, his fist knocking on the glass. She raised an eyebrow questioningly until he jabbed a finger towards a bag in the foot-well, she could hear music, and it was getting louder.
"Crap!" Kate barked as she realised it was coming from one of John's cell phones. They had kept them after he had died, just in case someone was in trouble, and hadn't received the message that he had been dead for nearly three years. She hated these jobs, it usually meant spending an excessive amount of time with someone from her dad's past, which only brought silent tension and recovered long forgotten memories. She reached for the phone and wound down the window, snapping back her wrist as Dean snatched the phone from her hand. She wound the window back up, choosing to hear from her brothers rather than half a conversation with one of John's companions. She swallowed the tears that were creeping in her throat threatening to surface. She missed him.
"We've got a job," snapped Dean as he climbed into the driver's seat and slammed the car door. Sam slid into the seat next to him with an unreadable expression, his hands resting lightly on the dashboard.
"Dean? What the job? What's going on?" asked Kate as the wheels rolled against gravel and the car retreated from the lakeside. Kate looked towards the water, light bouncing and sliding across the soft waves that lapped at the shoreline. She smiled and placed her hand on the window, she regretted missing this, but the painkillers she was taking knocked her unconscious for several hours. At least the pain was starting to fade, even if the scar tissue and black thread that poured from her stomach was a reminder of her ordeal.
"Someone in Michigan needs our help," barked Dean, his hands tensed on the steering wheel. The skin was stretched over his bones out of tension, and his knuckles were pale white. Sam glanced worryingly, he was expecting him to tear the leather from the plastic and toss it out of the car window. He decided to fixate his attention on the passing trees and dormant streetlights that dissolved into a green and silver blur as the car sped up, he felt nauseous.
"One of Dad's friends? Do I know him?" Kate asked casually, wondering who it would be this time. She had met more and more of John's 'friends' as time passed after his death, and she decided that it was mostly hit and miss. Some had been friendly, and had thanked her after they'd left. Some had been too 'friendly', and she had relished the moment they'd driven away and never looked back. Kate had realised in her daydream that her brother hadn't replied, and leaned forward placing a hand on his shoulder, he looked angry. "Dean? Is everything alright?" she inquired, her voice soft and soothing, she was opening that he would just spill what he was hiding.
"His son," Sam growled, still staring out of the window. Kate leaned back in her seat, lost for words. She scoured her memory for any mention of a third brother, there was none. Her stomach writhed with nausea, and she contemplated taking another painkiller, it would be mere minutes before it instigated a chain reaction. Her head toppled to the window, and she hoped that the marching rhythm of the engine vibrating the glass would drown out the voices in her head. She pictured her father, pictured him leaving, pictured him happy with another family, another life. The car was silent, and neither sibling would speak for the rest of the journey to Windom. Kate closed her eyes out of deceit, what was he hiding?
X X X
The car jerked to a stop outside a 'Cousin Oliver's Hilltop Café' in Windom, the wheels causing gravel to spit violently from beneath the tyres. Dean was still furious, and had been nothing more than cooperative when searching for Adam Milligan's file. Sam was now in possession of the papers out of fear that Dean would tear them to pieces if they were given to him. Kate was silent, she couldn't decide whether she was angry or confused, events were flying too fast now for her to comprehend; it was hard enough to snatch and grip onto a fading memory. She stepped out of the car absently, leaning against the window as Sam and Dean circled around the vehicle, everything they had known had been shaken off balance, and now they were suffering the effects.
"Dean, look best I can tell, Adam Milligan is real," breathed Sam holding a file of paper in his hand desperately. His expression was still unfathomable, Kate couldn't decipher whether he was upset, angry or happy. However, Sam's relationship with their father was nothing less than strained, and he didn't seem to have the connection that Kate and Dean did. For all she knew he could have expected this, or he may be too tired of pain to care. Dean ignored Sam's words and skirted to the trunk, opening the weapon box that lay menacingly in the open space. "Um, born September Twenty-Ninth, 1990 to Kate Milligan," Sam continued as the latch on the box clattered against metal and Kate sighed half-heartedly. "No father listed on the birth certificate, he's an eagle scout."
"Just because he exists doesn't mean he has anything to do with dad," Kate barked as the wind stirred in her hair. Her arms were folded in front of her chest defensively, and her legs were crossed out of agitation. She was tired; ever since Dean had sold his soul her life was spiralling into oblivion. Not one day had passed where they had been free from the chaos.
"Graduated from high school with honours and currently goes to the University of Wisconsin – biology major, pre-med," Sam continued ignoring his sister; she wasn't helping his pitch to Dean. Her brow furrowed, Sam's ignorance was only fuelling the fire that burned angrily within her chest. She swung her arms in the air out of frustration and stormed towards the doors of the diner, deciding to opt out of the conversation before it erupted into an argument. The glass door creaked as she pushed, the cooling air of the fans caressing her face as she stepped inside, her blood was boiling. Sam stared after before returning to the files for another attempt. "Dean, you listening?" he snapped, trying to gain his attention as he fumbled in the trunk with weaponry.
"This is a trap," said Dean coldly, his eyes hard with suspicion. He slammed the door of the trunk and pushed past Sam as the car rocked on its suspension, the metal in the truck rattling with menace. Sam rolled his eyes and followed after him into the diner, closing the folder in his hands and expecting a heated argument. Maybe today was the day they would be banned from a diner.
X X X
Kate eyed the waitresses that bustled in an out of the kitchen to a robotic rhythm cautiously, a trait she had picked up from her father. Never trust anyone. She slid into the seat by the window, the plush red sponge of the seat sticking to her skin, she rarely wore shorts, but the afternoon heat was getting to her. Dean sat next to her, ignoring the waitresses in thin and clinging blue material unusually. Sam sat opposite, choosing to be the diplomat and sit next to the expected Adam. He glanced at his siblings; they stared back with cold expressions. Kate rested her head on her arm impatiently as Dean fidgeted with a fork.
The bell above the door chimed carefully as Adam stepped into the diner. Kate was staring at the window, tired of her brother fighting with each waitress who approached with a menu outstretched. Sam sat patiently in his seat, choosing to remain quiet rather than provoke Dean further, who was fiddling with a flask of holy water beneath the table. Kate saw the silver glimmer in the sunlight as the flask was returned to his pocket, the glass of water on the table had been 'spiked'.
"Adam?" asked Sam, waving to get the man's attention. He sported a dusty blonde spiked haircut, and was dressed similar to the brothers in worn jeans and a neutral jacket. He was slimmer in build but just as tall, and his eyes matched the hazel of Dean's. Kate stared as he moved towards the table and slid into the seat next to Sam, he held the same glimmer of charisma in his eyes that her father did. Her throat constricted, and she reached for the glass of water that had been placed in front of her. It was going to be a long day.