Chapter 11

The rest of the week passed by quicker than Dean thought it would. It was Friday, and he had been seeing Mama Edeline every day the past week. They had worked on strengthening his mental muscles and seeing how far he could push himself using his telekinesis and controlling fire. It seemed his limit with moving an object was about twenty feet. Any further, all he could do was make an object waver and maybe shift an inch or so. He had gotten confident with creating fire and controlling it, making small or large balls of it. Dean didn't have any problem with hitting his target since it wasn't much different than shooting a gun or throwing a knife. All in all, he was happy with the progress he was making.

Sam started working with Missouri the next day after his episode where he got trapped in a vision. Missouri made sure Sam was comfortable with mediation and could do it easily to calm his mind when he needed to. She only worked for a short time with telekinesis since he had been using that ability the most. Precognition was not something they could practice since Sam couldn't control when and if he had a vision. All she could do was give him suggestions on how to open up to the vision if he had another one in hopes it would not be as painful and he could see more. Missouri had been focusing on astral projection for the past couple of days and thought by Friday he would be able to go farther than to another room. She knew he had the basics down, but thought he was holding back because of what happened on Monday.

Each day when Dean came home, Sam and him would get together and talk about what they had accomplished or did that morning. They kept each other informed of the progress each was making. A couple days later, Dean came home mentally exhausted and he could see Sam was tired too, so he made him go upstairs to take a nap before dinner. Missouri agreed with Dean, that they needed to take care of themselves and let their minds rest, so they'd be ready for the next day. Missouri and Mama Edeline decided the brother should take the weekend off to recharge. They didn't want either of them to overdo it.

spn

Dean stopped the Impala and turned it off before getting out and heading up the steps to the front door. He knocked twice and waited. He heard Mama Edeline behind the door and pushed from the wall he was leaning against getting ready to walk in.

"Good morning, child," Mama Edeline greeted him. She stood in the doorway but didn't move to let him in.

"Morning," Dean replied and frowned for a moment when she didn't move to let him in.

"I thought we would try something different today," she said. "I want you to unlock my door with your powers so you can come in. And no damaging it either." She closed the door and locked it back before Dean could do anything but let his mouth hang open for a moment.

Dean stood there a moment and frowned at the door as his mind processed what she wanted him to do. He looked at the lock and knew he could pick it in a minute, but that was not what she wanted. He worked it out in his head. He could move objects, so why couldn't he make them do what he wanted. He stared at the lock on his side and knew there was a knob on the back that would open it. He pressed his hand over the lock and willed it to turn. After a minute when it didn't unlock, he huffed in anger, thinking this should be easy and couldn't understand why it didn't happen.

He paced the length of the porch and pushed his anger down knowing that wouldn't help, but only distract him. He shook his body and tried to center himself as he stepped back to the door to try again. Dean knew he could do it, he had to believe in himself. He was strong and this was a piece of cake. He pressed his hand to the lock once again and pictured the other side of it. With a strong push, Dean felt the cold metal against his skin and the knob started to turn. With one final burst, the door unlocked, and Dean stepped back smiling to himself. He had done it. With practice he should be able to do it faster and on different locks. This was something he planned on practicing until he could do it within seconds.

"I see you got it opened," Mama Edeline commented as Dean stepped into the living room. She patted Elias's head as he looked at Dean with his tongue hanging out panting.

"Yeah, took a bit, but I did," he replied happily.

"You practice, practice is good. The more you do, the easier it will become."

"I plan on it. This is something that will come in handy."

"I know you can move objects easily now. Have you tried to move yourself?"

"Myself?" Dean questioned. "I'm not sure I understand."

"Move yourself from one place to another."

Dean leaned back against the couch as he mulled that over. He never thought of doing something like that but was it possible.

"You have to concentrate extremely hard and picture where you want to go and will yourself to go there," she said watching Dean through Elias's eyes. She could see the doubt and uncertainty on his face. "I can see you're unsure Dean. Give it a try. You might not succeed the first or second time, but I think you have it in you."

Dean glanced her way to see she was staring to the side and wondered how she could see him. He looked to Elias who wasn't taking his eyes off him and thought it felt a little creepy.

"Alright," Dean responded.

"Center yourself, gather your power, don't hesitate child, believe in yourself," she encouraged him. "Try moving to the other end of the couch. That's a short distance for your first attempt."

Dean decided to stand this time and closed his eyes as he drew in some slow breaths trying to relax. He reached out for his power and touched it as he gave in to it. He could feel it surge through him and tried to see a few feet from him. He tried picturing himself getting lighter and lighter, so he could fade away and move to another spot nearby. His brow creased as he focused hard for several minutes until he quickly pulled in a breath and opened his eyes. He snorted when he saw nothing had happened and he was still in the same spot.

"Don't be discouraged child, you have to remember you are only half demon, so your powers are not as strong as a true demon. Working on strengthening your mind will help you to do more."

"I know, I know, but do you think I can actually do that?"

"I think you can do whatever you set your mind to child."

spn

"Are you ready to start Sam?" Missouri asked him once Dean had left and the kitchen was cleaned from their breakfast.

"Yes, are we going to work on astral projection again?" Sam inquired.

"I thought we would," she replied leading them to her study where they did his training. Missouri went to her cabinet and took out incense and a yellow candle. She lit both before sitting down across from Sam. Missouri looked up into his face and anxious eyes. "Sam, I am sensing an uneasiness within you today. Is there something you want to talk about?"

Sam looked down at his clenched hands and made himself let them relax as he bit his lower lip. She was right, there was something bothering him, but he was embarrassed to talk about it. It was silly really, and he should just shake it off and not think about it.

"Sam, honey, are you scared that if you go too far you can't find your way back?" Missouri questioned.

Sam looked up quickly and Missouri knew she was right by his expression and the haunted look in his eyes.

"Honey, that won't happen. You can go where you want and all you have to do is follow the thread back to your body. You will never lose touch with your body unless something happens to it. That's why you have to be careful when astral projecting that your body is safe. There will always be a connection Sam, your spirit to your body, so don't fret about that."

"Alright, I'll try," Sam huffed as he sat up in the chair and stared into the flame of the candle. He let his power take over and separated his mind from his body. Sam moved from the study to the kitchen and back getting the feel of it and getting comfortable doing it.

"I know you're doing it Sam. I can sense when you leave. Why don't you try to go a little farther this time? Go outside the house. It'll be okay. All you have to do is think of someone or some place and you can go there."

Sam looked at her and then at his body that was slumped in his chair. He closed his eyes for a moment and pictured his brother in his mind. Sam thought that was a safe distance to try for the first time. He willed himself to locate Dean and when he opened his eyes, he was standing in the living room at Mama Edeline's home. Dean was on the couch and Mama Edeline was in her recliner. Elias woofed softly and looked at him as he cocked his head.

"Hello young man," Mama Edeline said. "Seems you've learned a new ability."

"Sammy?" Dean asked as he looked around but didn't see anyone in the room with them. "I don't see him."

"I'm here Dean, can't you see me?" Sam asked looking to Elias who was staring at him and to Dean who was looking around the room trying to find him.

"I don't think he's mastered manifesting himself yet child. His spirit is here but can't be seen or heard."

"Good work Sammy, wherever you are," Dean spoke as he let his eyes wander around the room in hopes of seeing Sam. "Maybe next time I can see you, but this works too. It might come in handy when we work a case bro. Hey, I'm learning to open locks. We can talk about it when I get home today. Might better get back to your body Sammy."

"Yeah, you're right, I'll see you at home," Sam said.

"He is leaving now," Mama Edeline told Dean.

Sam closed his eyes and looked around until he saw a thin gold thread leading off from him and began to follow it back to Missouri's and settled into his body. It took him a few minutes for his mind to adjust back to being in his body. He pulled in some deep breaths and slowly opened his eyes to see Missouri studying him with a small smile on her face.

"You saw your brother; how did it feel?" she asked.

"Yeah, I saw Dean and Mama Edeline, but they couldn't see or hear me. Elias knew I was there, and Mama Edeline did too."

"Any pain or headache or strange feelings?"

"No, just a spacey feeling is all."

"That's your body adjusting to being joined with your spirit again. It will pass and the more you practice, that feeling will go away. Sam, I'd like you to try reading an object again."

"I don't know, I mean, Dean's not here to help me if something goes wrong," Sam rushed as a chill creeped up his spine.

"Do you trust me Sam?"

"Of course."

"This is one of my memories. It's not anything that's painful or threatening." Missouri took a small rag doll from her pocket and laid it on the table.

Sam looked at the doll and could tell it was old and had been handmade. There were buttons for the eyes, yarn for the hair, a stitched smiling mouth, and a blue dress with a once white apron. He could tell it had been repaired numerous times and seemed fragile.

"Will you try it Sam? There are only good memories attached to this doll. My Momma made it for me when I was five." Missouri watched Sam's hesitation and knew he was leery. "It's okay if you don't want to honey. We can try it when Dean is here."

"No, I need to do this. I need to know I can do this without depending on Dean," Sam insisted. "I trust you." Sam slowly reached across the table and pulled the doll to him. He picked it up and held it gingerly in his hand and he cleared his mind and tried to pick up a memory from it. It took a few minutes before Sam saw a vision taking shape. It was of a small girl sitting on a swing on a spring day. She was singing to the doll that looked new, as she pushed the swing with her foot.

"Sam, what do you see?" Missouri's soft voice asked in his mind.

"I see you, I think," he whispered. "You're swinging on a swing and singing to your doll."

"Yes, can you let me see?"

Sam felt a warm hand clasp his free hand and he allowed her to link with him to see what he was seeing. He smiled when the child stopped swinging and skipped across the yard toward a house where a woman was waiting for her. Young Missouri hugged her, whom Sam figured was her mother, and watched them go into the house. He blinked quickly and laid the doll down as the image faded and looked over at Missouri to see tears in her eyes.

"Thank you, Sam. That was such a fond memory."

"That was you and your mother, wasn't it?"

"It was. That was just after she gave me the doll. We didn't have money for a store bought one, so she made this one for me."

"It was a nice memory and I felt nothing like I did with the other one."

"Good, now you can see the difference of the two visions, one is gentle and happy while the other was difficult to see and tragic. If you can remember how you came back from this one, it might help you to control the bad ones and not get caught up in it. If you want to practice again when Dean is here this weekend it might be a good idea. Just remember what you are seeing has happened and can't be changed since it is in the past. I know it's hard to say stay calm, but in time it will get easier."

"Yeah, I'm getting that. Maybe I'll try something else that might be a little more…difficult when Dean is here."

"That is fine. Only do what you are comfortable doing Sam. Take your time with it, go at your own pace. There is no rush here."

"I will."

"Why don't you do some meditation to clear and calm your mind? Work on linking with your powers so it comes as second nature and you don't have to think about it."

"Okay," Sam nodded closing his eyes and centering himself. He breathed in the woodsy incense smell and focused on letting go and finding a calmness in himself.

Missouri got up and left Sam alone to train himself, knowing he needed to see he could do it on his own. She headed to the kitchen to fix a glass of tea and relax before deciding on lunch. She was pleased with how quickly Sam was learning about his new abilities and how to control and use them.

A/N: The brothers continue their training and are learning more about themselves. Hope you are liking Mama Edeline. Thanks for taking this journey with me. I do like reviews. NC