Chapter 3: Voodoo Child:

Phaedra's age: 19

Phaedra's P.O.V.:

Getting to sleep was hard to do. I stared at the ceiling for hours before finally falling out from sheer boredom at 1am. It's been a few months since our encounter with Aphrodite. I woke up around 5 am. My stomach was growling, and I was already awake so I figured I could put myself to good use. I got up and made sure no one was up. Cas wasn't around or at least not near the kitchen. I rummaged through their cabinets and the retro looking fridges to scavenge. Man, these people need some food. I could whip them up some great dishes, given the right ingredients. I decided to make pancakes, and Sam came in groggy with his hair disheveled.

"Wow, you didn't have to cook you know. This isn't that kind of house." He told me slathering his hotcakes in butter and drenching them with a half empty bottle of syrup. At first, I was a bit confused from his question then I realized it.

"Oh, no. I don't mind cooking, really. It relaxes me. And I get to test my cooking skills on you guys. Well, minus Cas."

"Oh my God, this is really good. I 've had a lot of pancakes but damn. How did you make these so good?" Said Sam through a mouthful of pancake. I chuckled.

"A good cook never reveals their secrets." I said.

"It is the ass-crack of dawn, whatever food I'm smelling has to be good or I'm breaking something." Dean said unsteadily plodding into the kitchen.

"It's good. Sam approves and it's not my best work, but I think you'll be left drooling." I said with a wide smile on my face.

"it ain't even in my mouth yet, oh. Oh, my gawd! How is this even possible?" Said Dean with a mouthful of fluffy pancake.

"a great cook never reveals their secrets" I laughed as I made myself a helpful of my famous pancakes. We finished eating and the sun came up. There was nothing for us to do momentarily. Sam and I had our faces in books and Dean played around with some of the artifacts.

"uggh. Can you guys speak or something? It's like the both of you are The Brain. How many books can you read anyway?" Dean confessed.

"If we're The Brain, then that makes you Pinky. It wouldn't kill you to read." I said with a heavy dose of sass.

"No way, Pinky is an idiot. And I read!" Dean got defensive.

"What? Road signs, texts, and local strip bar pamphlets?" Sam joined in getting a kick out of verbally poking his brother. Simultaneously Sam and I turned pages.

"Nice rebuttal." I stated, we gave exchanged a high five, our heads still fully immersed in ancient literature.

"See that's what I'm talking about. This is virgin- nerd behavior. It's unhealthy. It's socially awkward." Dean said getting annoyed at mine and Sam's instant connection. Just then we heard a crash coming from the kitchen area, everyone was on high alert. I managed to shove a bookmark into the book I was reading and put it down in my seat. Sam and Dean went ahead of me, their guns drawn. I had my knife in hand, the one Dean gave me, but I felt underprepared. Bringing a knife to a gunfight, so cliché.

I rounded the corner as I heard Dean exclaim Cas' name. the Winchester brothers put away their weapons, now that the possible danger was extinguished. I still held my knife firm in my hand, the grip seeming to slip from sweat. I was nervous. I took a deep breath and put my knife away. Dean and Sam talked to Cas. He was battered up. I've never seen him like that before, but Dean seemed to act like Cas was sticking his hand in the cookie jar again. Dean was annoyed and I could tell he was slightly worried. So, Dean's default is to scold. That much I knew even from my short time living here.

I got distracted from a kind of singing, almost like a siren's call. I turned around to see what it was and there was a skull with black markings painted on it sitting on top of the metal table. I walked over to it and touched it, as I did Cas noticed it. He yelled at me to "Stop! Phaedra!" but it was too late. The four of us were sucked into another place. It was different, though something was familiar to me, the mugginess of summertime. I woke up in a large bed, Apollo's searing sunshine brushing my face. I had a nightgown on, but it felt more like a sheer drape, very see through.

A woman came in, "Madam! Ye must hurry nah. Ye can't sleep the day away." She was dressed in a period dress with rips in it. She was skinny and full of zest. She looked even more svelte than I. Her hands were rough and calloused over. She practically pushed me out of bed, landing ungracefully to the hardwood floors. She undressed me and I pushed her away from me and covered my nakedness.

"Woah! Lady? What is wrong with you? And where am I?" I asked her. She shyed away from me for a minute before she spoke.

"you've never struck me befah nah. Missus, did ya hit ya head nah? Don'tya know this is the mayor's house. Ya father's home?" she walked up to me confused and concerned for my well-being. She examined my head, looking and feeling for welts. Mayor? What's with everything? Where are Sam, Dean, and Cas? Did I fall asleep and step into the set of Interview with a Vampire?

"Did ya fahget my name too child? Babet Leblanc, the one who raised ya since ya mama died." I was taking a long time to answer her question. Oh Gods, I felt my stomach tense up, the way it did when I was horribly stage-frightened. I'm clearly in some other place and some other time. So, unfortunately, when in Rome.

"My apologies, Babet, I did not sleep properly." Bleh! Who talks like that? It almost came out like a British accent, which would blow my cover. So, the mayor is my dad, this poor lady- Babet has been taking care of me long enough to say she has raised me, and now she is dressing me in Victorian style clothing? Awesome Phaedra, way to go.

Babet straightened me up, taking care not to rip or step on the dress. It was quite beautiful, more stunning than I had ever worn or seen in real life. The color of the dress was a soft blue that complimented my fair complexion. It was embroidered with black designs. Oddly enough, it made me want to twirl around like a kid. Babet fixed my hair, braided it and put it neatly in a bun. She gave me satiny gloves that stopped at just past my elbow. She tightened the back of the dress where the laces were, and it was rough to breathe. She helped me into a pair of baby blue heels, the fit perfectly but I was not the most lady-like person. It would take my full focus to walk in these sore excuses for shoes. She stared at me for a long moment, admiring her work and my natural beauty.

"Ah! I fergot. Stay there." Babet quickly went into another room and came back, holding a blue flower in her hand. She placed it strategically in my hair.

"Fit fer the fairytales." She said. "Now, go. Ya father has been waitin' on ya."

"Thank you, Babet." I said smiling at her genuinely. For the first time in a long time I felt pretty. Babet led me downstairs to the dining hall. Dinner was prepared in lavish ways I could only dream of. A whole roasted pig was in its center with a cliché apple in its mouth. Wow all of this beauty prepping for hours made me forget that I was famished. There were doors at the end of the dining hall, expensive looking, heavy, and stained beautifully a cherry oak. I opened the door and walked inside. I was nervous to see who my "father" was. My heart was beating a million miles a minute. I swallowed to bring back saliva to my dry mouth, so that I didn't choke on my words as I spoke. I let out a tiny breath and bit the bullet.

"Father? You requested my company?" I asked standing straighter than normal. The man turned around in his chair. My mouth fell open. It was Sam, in traditional garb of the era. Was it really him or a distant ancestor? Mayor huh? Not too bad Sam. Sam got up, "Yes I wanted to speak with you." He moved stiffly as if he didn't want to break his clothes. He looked around to see if anyone was around and closed the doors. He turned around, "Phaedra?" he asked in a whispery tone.

I let go of my breath, relieved it was the Sam I knew. "Why are you here? Why am I here? Where are we?" I panicked for a few seconds. Sam spoke, "I think it had something to do with that skull Cas brought back. And from these papers on my desk, we're in New Orleans and it's 1866." I processed his words thinking of a strategy to try and get us back to our own time.

"Woah, right after the civil war. This is crazy! It's kinda cool though being in the past. But I don't want to stay here. Wait, if we're here, then are Dean and Cas here too?" I was thinking out loud hoping for Sam to have an answer. Babet banged on the office door and made me jump.

"Sir, company is here. Ya must come eat Missus." She warned. I looked at Sam worried with a lump forming in my stomach. Don't puke! I can't get stage fright now?! Why did I have to suck in acting class? Sam saw the fear in me and put a reassuring hand on my shoulder, "It's okay we can get through this." I took a deep breath and straightened out my dress. Sam opened the door. "You can bring them in now." Said Sam exerting his rich-man voice. We quickly sat down at the table. Sam was at the head of it, a subtle sign of power. "Ah thank you Miss!" said an unfamiliar voice from the front door. A snazzy looking man with a top hat and a cane came in, he tipped his hat to Sam. "Hello Monsieur Mayor Beaumont. Ah! The lovely-Margaux! I haven't seen you since you were in swaddling clothes. My you are such a beautiful young lady." He said casually approaching me and kissing my hand. I'm freaking out! Who are you? My name is Margaux? Stop touching me. The man sat down laughing. He sat across from me and next to Sam. "Oh. Come now! Be civil. I brought you the traveling merchants you summoned for, Monsieur." He said tucking the satin napkin into his shirt.

I almost choked on my glass of water, in came Dean and Cas dressed a tad better than beggars. Dean sat next to the strange man and Cas sat next to me. Sam smiled awkwardly, "remind me of your name again?" he asked taking a mouthful of roast pork.

"Hahahahaha! You're a funny man Beaumont. Don't you recall? It is I, Andre Magnier. Your old crewmate on the CSS Louisiana." Andre took a wealthy amount of food and put it on his plate. Dean and Cas started eating to diffuse the tension. It looked particularly hard for Cas to eat. Maybe he couldn't stomach human food? Andre continued to talk.

"As I was riding in, I came upon these two in a tiff. They said they were merchants and I have brought them upon your humble request."

"Thank you, Andre" replied Sam. We all continued to eat for a few minutes until Andre smiled at me and gulped down his wine.

"Say, Mademoiselle. Have you bared children yet?" said Andre blatantly. My cheeks were burning from embarrassment. I couldn't answer. Dean choked on his drink a bit from the raw question.

"What? Did I speak obscenely? Oh. My young merchant friend, I know, you have the eyes for Mademoiselle Margaux, no?" Andre taunted while snapping off a large piece of bread and devouring it.

"What? No. not at all.—" Dean was interrupted by Andre. Andre clapped his hands slowly. There was a moment of confusion for the rest of the table. Andre smiled wide revealing his unkept teeth.

"It's okay Dean, I just wanted to see your juvenile reactions. It never gets old when playing with humans. They never suspect to be in the presence of a God. Well, three of you are humans, don't think I didn't know about you Castiel." With a snap of his fingers, Andre made the table grip Sam, Dean, and Cas. It was powerful magic, the likes of which I have never seen.

"Mademoiselle Phaedra. I do advise you to run. The townspeople will be here soon. I informed them of a Witch and they want to vanquish it." My heart was beating out of my chest. Just then I saw a torch through the drapes of the window. They were here, they were beating on the front door. I grabbed Dean's ensnared wrists, touching the bewitched cedar. "Helios!" I said trying to counteract Andre's magic. The cedar glowed for a few seconds and I thought it was working but, Helios' fiery aura dissipated into nothing. The banging on the door got louder and louder. I tried again, and it failed. I went to Cas and Sam, trying the same thing, and nothing worked.

"Phaedra! Look at me." Yelled Dean. I was so scared. I can't face them by myself. this kind of fear has been built into witches for centuries. The next worst thing was the band of angels that killed my mother among countless other witches throughout the eons. I didn't know which was better, being chained to a steak and burned or getting skewered and charred by angels. My mind was frantic, I was panicking. I looked at Dean, my eyes welling up with tears.

"Run, Phae. That's your only chance. Just go. Go!" he pleaded. The door broke down and I ran, out the back, down the stairs stopping only because Babet was in front of me, just as panicked as I was. I heard them parading through the house. I took Babet's hand and dragged her with me. This slowed me down. We got outside, thankfully there wasn't anyone outside to grab us. I felt a resistance on my grip. Babet let go, I turned.

"I'm sorry Missus." was all I heard from her before blacking out. She hit me with something, a rock maybe. I felt myself being chained up. My body rested on something hard and cold, a steak. My head was lolling back and forth. I heard shoving and grunting, like the townspeople forced Dean, Sam, and Cas to the ground. They were probably still tied up. I gotta wake up, don't hurt them! They're my family! They're all I have!

I gasped myself awake. I tugged aimlessly at the chains.

"tug all you wish, spawn of Satan. The Lord keeps you entrapped!" one woman spat.

"Repent! Witch repent and commit your redemption!" shouted a man from the back of the crowd. I opened my eyes seeing my family in front of me. Dean my dad, Sam my best friend, and Cas my awkward uncle. The angry mob raised their pitchforks and torches in the air. Andre was next to me cheering them on. Andre dragged Babet next to me, she was upset and frantic. Andre handed her something that I couldn't quite make out.

Dean, Sam, and Cas looked shocked.

"No! You have the wrong person. Let her go." Said Dean.

"You don't have to do this, Andre" Sam pleaded.

"I cain't strike her. I raised her. I cain't" Babet begged Andre.

"If you want to be free of my grasp, you will do as told. This is the only way you can gain freedom." Andre ordered. "Do it!"

Sam looked away but Cas and Dean wouldn't avert their eyes. Dean looked like he was going to murder Andre.

The searing pain against my back rang through my body. Someone was screaming but it didn't sound like me. By the third strike of the Cat-o'-nine-tails I realized it was me who was making those sounds. By the fifth strike I almost blacked out and Babet couldn't wield the whip any longer. She was sobbing uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me Missus! Forgive me!" she cried. I felt nauseous and soon my stomach couldn't hold itself, I threw up from the pain. The townspeople guffawed in disgust. One man said, "The Lord is working to expel the Witch!"

"Cast the Witch to the watery depths!" Andre demanded. The townspeople wasted no time unhinging my shackles, lifting me up, taking me to the edge of the dock and throwing me in. the waters stung my wounds. I was too weak to fight the mob back. The water was cold and dark. In the murky depths I saw something shining, I was almost about to reach it when I ran out of breath. It sprang into my hands, I felt the Earth, quake beneath me, and my breath was better than ever. I felt invigorated, the gashes on my back healed up. It felt different from how Cas healed me. There was none of the sleepy feeling.

The next thing I remember is washing up on shore and taking a gasp full of air. My dress was soaked clean through. My hair came undone from its neatness in the current. My family looked relieved to see me. But once that blew over, they seemed apprehensive. Andre had a shocked look on his face. Babet kept thanking the ground. I trudged up the hill to the stake wear I was beaten.

"You forget Andre, or should I say Kalfu, that all rivers go back to the sea. You do know what this is right?" I boasted. In self defense Kalfu bared a blade ready to strike. I laughed in his face. "you're a God! Fight like one! C'mon don't you have any Voodoo tricks up your sleeve?" I egged him on, trying to take the attention off my family. When Kalfu wasn't looking I winked at them. The mob looked terrified.

"Idolator!" shouted one woman. I rose the trident in the air, the Mississippi behind me bent to my will. With it I created a wall of water between Dean, Cas, Sam and the deranged mob. The mob stricken with fear, ran with their tails tucked and back to their homes. It didn't matter that they thought I was some spawn or whore of Satan. I knew what I was, and I was far from any of that. My family knew that too. Kalfu took Babet hostage, using her as a shield, and pressed his blade against her jugular.

With a swish of the trident, a whip of water appeared from the wall, reached down and disarmed Kalfu. It was a tad of ironic justice that I used a whip, considering he was the one who gave those orders just minutes earlier. I opened the wall for a little bit freeing Babet.

"Free my friends. Take them back to their time!" I ordered wielding the trident in attack mode. "Now!" I insisted. He was not compliant. I drove the trident into his calf, drawing blood and weakening the deity. Kalfu snapped his fingers and they were gone. Hopefully to the right place. "Girl, we are one and the same." He panted. "The moon is our Empress." I gave him a confused expression. I didn't want to kill him, but something in me knew that I could do it if I wanted to.

Dean's P.O.V.:

I woke with a gasp. Cas and Sam were just getting up. I found a cast iron skillet and took the liberty upon myself to smash the Voodoo skull to smithereens. I rushed to Phae's side. Slapping her a little to wake her up.

"Phae, wake up. C'mon. Cas, she's not waking up. Shit, she's not breathing. Cas!" I lifted her up, resting her back on my thighs. Cas came quickly and touched her forehead with his fingers. We waited, nothing. Dumbfounded I looked up at him, "Wha- Why isn't it working?! It worked before." Suddenly she burst to life. I sighed relieved and covered my mouth. I helped her up from the floor and checked her back for blood, no gashes.

"Well, let's call it a day. Good job, kiddo." I complimented Phae as I poked my head in the fridge, grabbing a well-deserved beer. Everyone sort of tended to themselves. It was now nighttime. Phae took a shower and went to bed. I would have liked to see her eat something but, there's always tomorrow. I watched her for a little while, making sure she was okay medically. I downed several beers. I finally came out to the mapped table where Sam and Cas were researching something. Cas had his nose in a book and Sam was skimming an article online. I sat down, rubbing my aching knee, next to Cas. He gave me a look. Yeah, I know you don't have to fix everything Cas.

"Got another case?" I asked.

"Is Phaedra asleep?" Sam asked still fixed on reading his article.

"Out like a light, poor thing. Man, I wanted to nail that Andre dude. Or, Phae called him by a different name. Kahlua." I pondered.

"Kalfu. Not Kahlua the drink. You mean Kalfu He's the Voodoo God of the moon." Sam corrected me.

"Okay, Einstein. Why is that important?" I asked finishing my beer and setting it to the side of me.

"Phaedra single-handedly defeated a powerful God with Poseidon's Trident. That doesn't send up red flags Dean?" said Sam.

"Yeah, it was friggin' kickass! No wonder she gets it from me."

"No Dean. It is not kick-ass. She was able to wield a sacred Greek weapon. That means she ascended to Demi-Goddess status." Said Cas semi-annoyed with Dean's drunkenness.

"One more sacred Greek weapon and she's a Goddess. She was whipping that trident around like it was nothing. What do you think she is going to do with other weapons?" Sam brought this idea to my attention.

I sighed. "Don't remind me."

-End chapter 3.