Disclaimer: Supernatural does not belong to me. Only the plot, and some characters, like Lily, are mine.
Summary: From the moment God created the Earth, it was known that Sam and Dean Winchester were similar enough to Michael and Lucifer to be their vessels. Their sister, Lily, was not a vessel, but she shared a profound bond with one archangel. She loved her family, and would do anything for them. But she wasn't strong to endure the way they fought with one another, so she ran away, just like an archangel had, a long time before. Slightly AU.
English is not my native language, for which I apologize in advantage for any mistake I might have.
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Chapter 2
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It was greatly evident that Sam and Dean couldn't stand to be close to the other for much longer.
Lily knew that feeling, having traveled with them- and with their father, back when he was alive and joined them on hunts- for nearly her whole life, and being familiar with how exasperated one could get after being stuck with a person for weeks to no end.
In their case, however, it had been months with no end.
Or maybe even a year? She wasn't sure how long they had been traveling together.
The only thing she was sure of was that she was going to end up insane if they kept having pointless, stupid discussions for every single little thing the other did.
Their latest discussion had been because Dean had used Sam's computer without his permission, which had ended with the computer acquiring a virus from one of the porn sites the older man visited.
And while Like could understand Sam's exasperation, she was starting to grow irritated by their never-ending discussions.
It didn't help at all that Dean wouldn't make things easier, he loved annoying his little brother further.
Lily was exhausted.
Not of them, never of them, but a small part of her wished that they could be together without them having the need to fight one another all the time.
She had been just about to tell one of them- she didn't care which- to simply move and crash with her on her motel room for the remaining time together, when she realized that it would only make them discuss about who would stay with her.
There was always a fight with them, no matter what the topic was, there always was a discussion.
She could see Sam wanting to move into her motel room for the sake of being away from Dean, but she could also see Dean wanting to be with her after years of not being roommates.
They would definitely end up having a discussion about Lily and who would be her roommate.
Things like that she couldn't deal with- she had run away from things like that in the first place.
She had been drowning herself on her books, (seeking a way to ignore their fights more than seeking a way of discovering what was going around campus, if she was honest about it), desperately seeking anything remotely alike to the way their current case was going, but there was nothing.
Crawford Hall's history was completely clean: meaning, there had not been any incidents like that before, neither had anyone ever died on the university.
Sam and Dean were happy to move on and accept that it meant that the professor had actually killed himself and that there was no case for them to work at.
Their sister, in difference of them, was reluctant to let the situation be tagged down as something normal.
She didn't dare voice her thoughts to them, however, not when she had no proof to validate her thoughts. Sam and Dean could understand many things, but they also needed, from time to time, evidence to validate the things they couldn't understand.
She couldn't understand what was happening, either, but she was more liberal with her thoughts; she could understand things even if she didn't have any proof of the situation at hand. She had faith, something that her brothers lacked from time to time. There was something going around campus, she was almost completely sure of it, there was something inside of her telling her that it was true.
But as time went by, and she realized that there was no way to prove that the professor's death had been caused by supernatural occurrence, part of her wondered if she wanted to see things that weren't there just for the sake of being with her brothers for a longer while.
She felt pathetic and stupid.
She'd been about to tell her brothers to forget it and move on, as they always did when realizing there was no case at hand, when she received a text message that read: (Aliens?), followed by an attached photograph that she refused to open, for she recognized the number that had sent her the message, and she didn't know what to make of the whole situation.
Her fingers faltered over the keyboard, but at last she came out with a perfect reply: (I'm not Scully, genius.) but desisted against sending it.
Firstly, she wanted to keep things cordial between her ex-fiancé and herself. It would be childish of her to answer in that way, specially when he texted her after years of having lost complete contact with her.
Secondly, he would never understand what she was talking about, for he had never been interested in the same tv-show series that she'd loved.
But most of all, he had texted her after years of not doing so. They had parted on good ways, but it had hurt them too much to keep in contact, which had eventually made them disconnect as much as possible for one another.
Lily stared at the message for a long time.
He had texted her.
Granted, the young hunter had never formed a coherent thought on aliens. She believed in the possibility of there being extraterrestrial beings,- for how arrogant could it be for the human race to think they were alone in a vast and unexplored universe?- but she had never seen one, nor had she heard of an actual alien sighting that was not faked.
So she refused to believe that, if they existed, they would bother with Earth and all the shitty things going on there.
She was about to delete the message when she realized something: Caleb hardly believed in the monsters she fought (monsters that he had seen with his own two eyes, he never really believed in them, he just pushed them away from his mind and concentrated on more normal things), he certainly would never believe in aliens.
He could, she hoped, distinguish a fake photograph from the real supernatural stuff that plagued the world.
Why would he send her something like that?
At last, her curiosity overcame her bewilderment, and she found herself clicking on the attached photograph.
The reason for Caleb's sudden message became strikingly obvious then. His job was compromised, or so he thought.
The photo was from the open field by the entrance of Crawford Hall, close to where the professor had fallen to his death. The grass had been cut in circular patterns, leaving a design that she had seen before, on the multiple conspiracy theories blogs around the internet, though none of them had ever been made so close to where Lily was.
That photo was different, though, because it looked real.
As she inspected the photo more closely, she could make out several different patterns within the bigger ones; a chain that could only be made by an actual engine.
She leaned back on the bed's headboard and sighed deeply.
It took her a moment to process that Caleb was honestly worried about a photograph about "aliens", though then she had to take another moment to process the fact that the photo looked too real to be fake, and that, judging by the lack of brand-marks on it, it had been taken by Caleb himself.
But she was in campus- something that he didn't know- and she had been there, just the day before, and there had been nothing on the place where the picture showed.
So whatever had made those marks- she refused to believe that it had been made by actual aliens- had done it that same day, which meant that it was close.
Lily weighed her chances, fingers trailing over the keyboard again, until she had written something else (Aliens aren't real, Caleb.) though she hesitated before sending the message.
She didn't want to sound rude, but there was no other way to answer to that text.
At last, she made her mind, deciding to delete the message and simply never answer him.
But then the door to her motel room swung open unexpectedly, which sent her into a small panic, for she had been immerse on her own thoughts and on the message, and her fingers accidentally hit send to the message, instead of deleting it.
"Hey, we're here-" Dean announced unnecessarily, she could see them very clearly, entering her room without bothering to announce themselves beforehand. They were carrying bags that, judging by the smell, contained their dinner. "Crap." He noticed the agitated look on her face, and grimaced awkwardly, "Sorry, should've knocked. Do you need ten more minutes?"
She scowled at him, not understanding what he meant. Slowly, her scowl died and she found herself tilting her head to the side, too confused to do something else.
"What are you talking about?"
She looked at Sam in confusion, but her younger brother blushed and looked away, clearing his throat uncomfortably.
It clicked right away; she realized how she must've looked, under the comforters and clutching her cellphone so tight that her fingers went white, her face red, her breathing a little labored.
She found herself groaning and rolling her eyes. "Guys, I'm not masturbating. Just enter the damn room."
Sam froze even more upon hearing those words. "God, I wish I hadn't just pictured that."
"Then what are you doing?" Dean inquired, moving towards the small round table and starting to unpack the food they brought. "You look like your cellphone just gave you an orgasm-"
"Or like you want to poop." Sam contributed.
Lily shook her head at them, though her shoulders were a little less tense, her breathing getting more normal with each passing moment.
Their presence, albeit unexpected and loud, eased her nerves.
Even when they drove her crazy with their antics, they also comforted her with their mere presence.
Sam and Dean could see that there was something bothering Lily, but they weren't sure she was comfortable with sharing her thoughts.
After all, they couldn't very well demand her to confide in them after being separated form years. It wouldn't be fair of them.
So they decided to talk about the case instead.
"There's a new outtake on the case," Dean informed her, moving one hand to beckon her closer.
She obliged, moving to unwrap the food her brothers had gotten her, needing to do something with her hands to stop the tremble on them. Before her brothers could comment about her obvious anxiety, she stuffed her mouth with food, making it that way so she wouldn't be able to answer any of their questions.
"You won't believe what just happened," Sam cleared his throat, continuing saying what his older brother had started. "So get this, this frat boy claims he was abducted."
Lily forced herself to swallow, to be able to ask: "And? He ought to go to the real police, there's nothing we can do for him."
The boys shared a look, then Dean raised an eyebrow at her and said: "Apparently, E.T just kidnapped the frat boy," And at her bewildered look, he continued: "Look, we know how insane it sounds, but we figured we ought to check it out."
Sam explained their thoughts a little better, thinking that they needed to convince her to accompany them. "The timing between the professor's death and this guy's abduction is too far close to be a coincidence."
It didn't have to be exactly aliens, it could be another supernatural creature causing chaos all around campus.
Maybe that kid had been abducted by something, but not knowing what it was, he had quickly jumped into the conclusion that it was an alien.
Feeling more at ease now, the green-eyed young woman found herself shrugging while making a gesture with her mouth that only aggravated her whole shrug. She swallowed another mouthful of food, and sighed as she leaned back against the table, crossing her arms over her chest as she glanced back at her cellphone, which was still upon the bed.
While she thought about how strange the whole thing was- including the fact that her ex had texted her about aliens, and out of nowhere a guy had been abducted in campus- her brothers stared at her, to then share a small look.
Sam and Dean knew that unknown topics had a way of agitating her to no end. She never liked finding new creatures (and while they knew aliens weren't real, it could be cataloged as something new for them)- she hated not knowing how to deal with a dangerous thing; it made her feel like an amateur.
It made her feel useless, which was how John had made her feel for most of her life; needless to say, she loathed that feeling.
"Fine. We should talk to the guy," She said at last, not noticing the way her brothers had been staring at her. "We should hear what he has to say about the whole abduction thing."
Dean clapped his hands together, "Great! Let's hit the bar."
At his suggestion, both Sam and Lily turned his way, question clearly written in their whole expressions.
At last, Lily was the one to acknowledge their confusion, raising her eyebrows in bewilderment as she said: "I said let's talk to the abducted guy, not let's get wasted."
The blond man had been thinking about those purple shots he'd tried on his first night on campus, but disguised it with an affronted look.
"What? They're college boys! They ought to be there." Dean hesitated, tilting his head to the side, looking doubtful. "Right?"
Lily knew her older brother enough to be aware that when he suggested they checked out a bar, what he mostly planned to do was drink.
However, he could have a point there, though she wouldn't know better.
She was completely lost when it came to college students and their antics.
Since she never applied for college, she had no idea how they lived or what they did on their weekends. All she knew about college was what her ex had told her about his workplace, and the things she had seen in porn, which wasn't really a reliable source.
"Don't look at me," She raised her eyebrows when Dean stared at her. "I wouldn't know."
Dean had one-night stands with some women that were in college, but it seemed that he never really cared much about them and the things they did after their sex sessions ended.
Lily never bothered with college boys for one-night stands, she went straight for the older, more successful men.
Sam was the only one that could answer that rhetorical question. Out of them, he was the only one that ever wanted to achieve something other than hunting. He was the only one to have finished high school and applied for college.
Lily and Dean turned towards him at the same time, echoing together a: "Sammy?"
Sam pursed his lips, but ended up nodding, though another heavy sigh left his mouth. "Yeah," He said at last, watching them and knowing that both would be happy with his answer since both loved to get drunk. "It's Friday. Most will definitely be at a bar."
Dean tried to hide a smirk at that, still thinking about those shots he had tried and that had been quite delicious and addicting.
Something crossed his mind, and he turned towards his sister, who gave him another curious look, recognizing the look on his face.
"What?" She questioned, amusement on her voice.
"Just so you know," Dean cleared his throat, fighting against a smile, "We do not believe in aliens."
Lily found herself unable not to direct him a fond look. "I know you don't, love."
Back when they were little- Dean being around eight years old, Lily being six and little Sam being four- they had encountered a hunter that was obsessed with extraterrestrial beings after his little brother had been kidnapped by a strange purple creature.
John had been reluctant to help him hunt down the creature, but had accepted after a lot of pressure was put on him from the other hunter. Dean and Lily liked that hunter, though, for he had amazing stories (fake ones, now that she came to think about it) about the universe and about extraterrestrial beings; and he had an amazing collection of junk that had been dozed with "extraterrestrial power".
Obviously, at the end it turned out that his little brother had been kidnapped by a lustful god, and not by an alien- and the junk he had found and believed to be extraterrestrial artifacts was actually godly weaponry from Olympus.
Little four-years-old Sam had been heartbroken to know that the purple creatures that the hunter had so graphically described weren't really extraterrestrial beings, but John had been triumphant after realizing he had been right about the whole matter. Lily and Dean never really felt sad towards the whole thing, for they had seen their first god and it had been as horrible and bloody as they imagined, (actually, it had been way too bloody for their young minds to fully comprehend) but after that moment they sort of never really believed in extraterrestrial beings.
At the endearment, Dean blushed heavily, embarrassment crossing through his eyes, which only made Lily's fondness grow.
He had the tendency of not knowing how to react after receiving any kind of love, even if it came from an endearment from his sister.
They never had a childhood, they never had anything- they only had each other, and those endearments made him think of his mother.
Of their mother.
But then he had to remind himself that his mother would never get to laugh at his lame jokes in the way that Lily did, and that he would never hear any other woman call him an endearment with the amount of love and fondness that Lily always directed at him.
He never really showed it, but he had always been immensely glad for Lily's existence.
She had been the only one to show him love back when they were younger. Sam didn't count, for since he was younger than them by years, they had to protect him and care for him- ever since their father had ordered them to look after Sammy that night of the fire, it had been their duty.
They had to make sure to show him love, not to expect any from him.
Dean found himself crossing the distance between them and leaving a soft kiss against her forehead, which made her smile, her whole self filling with the undeniable and overwhelming love that he silently offered her.
Sam gave them a curious look, wondering what had made Dean react in that way. But he pushed those thoughts away; remembering that his older siblings had always been that way to each other. It was nice to see that, after years apart, they still loved each other that much.
Lily's eyes trailed over Dean's figure, who moved to ruffle Sam's hair before entering the bathroom. "What was that for?" Sam couldn't help but ask.
The young woman smiled at her little brother before approaching him and leaving a soft kiss upon his forehead, just like her older brother had just done for her.
"I have no idea, Sammy boy," The lie came out of her mouth as easy as breathing, as though she had been used to saying those words to him before.
Sam wouldn't comprehend the struggle they had been through together, how difficult it had been to care for him when they had been as young as he was, when they had the same needs as he. He could claim that he understood it perfectly well, but those things could only be truly understood by the people that went through it.
That's why he found himself, from time to time, annoyed with Dean's and Lily's never-ending attempts at protecting him.
It was frustrating for him, for he believed he was a young man capable of looking after himself on his own. He didn't realize- or perhaps he simply couldn't understand- that it had always been Dean's and Lily's duty to look after him and protect him, no matter how old he was.
It was their duty, and no one could take that away from them.
"C'mon, love," Lily guided him towards the door, stopping briefly to get her jacket and to glance back at the closed bathroom door. "Dean will meet us at the car."
...
Turns out that finding that abducted boy was quite simple.
He wasn't exactly hiding. They found him- a guy named Curtis- getting heavily drunk on the nearest bar in campus' area, close to where he had been supposedly abducted.
After some convincing from their part, the three Winchesters listened as the young man talked about his experience.
Curtis didn't want to talk about it at first, turning down their excuses of being reporters of a local newspaper, but after Dean offered to buy him more shots, he accepted.
He seemed a little too happy with the prospect of getting drunk.
Lily wasn't sure what she had been expecting- truthfully, she still couldn't believe she had accepted to sit in a bar and listen to a boy's insane tales about aliens- but it certainly wasn't what she saw on Curtis' eyes.
The young boy looked beyond frightened. Traumatized, even.
Usually, people that claimed to have been abducted never showed any kind of fear whatsoever. The videos she had seen about abducted people nearly always portrayed people that looked a little too excited to be sincere about their tales.
Curtis was not the case.
"-they did tests on me," Curtis was saying weakly. In front of him, he had about five or six different shots, and he took one of them, swallowing it all in a fraction of a second. "And they, um, they..." He looked like he didn't want to talk about it. "They probed me."
It took them a millisecond to process his words.
Sam looked away, fighting against the smile that threatened to blow his cover. He scratched his hair, trying to choke down the laughter that kept threatening to emerge from his throat.
At his side, Lily had to look down to keep herself from laughing. She didn't believe that boy for one second- he had probably been high or drunk, or even both to have seen all that- but the faces her brothers were making were too hilarious for her to handle the situation with the maturity that her job required.
Dean gave him a startled look. "They probed you?" He sounded like he needed to be sure he had heard correctly.
"Yeah, they probed me," Curtis' voice broke. "Again, and again, and again-" He slammed his hand on one of the untouched shots, and drew the glass to his mouth shakily, drowning the liquor in one second. Sam and Dean shared a look with one another, while Lily didn't dare to look up in fear of not being able to stop her laughter from coming. "And again, and again, and again, and then one more time."
Dean muttered an uncomfortable, "Yikes," while looking extremely startled at disgusted by the whole ordeal.
"And that's not even the worst of it."
Lily couldn't stop the mocking comment that came out of her mouth. "What? E.T made you his bitch?" She giggled a little, to then abruptly stop at the look that she received.
"It seems that E.T found his home on Curtis' ass-" Dean also received Curtis' glare, which made him swallow his words.
Lily was biting her lip to keep herself from laughing again.
Sam was trying very hard to remain serious.
Dean simply couldn't wrap his mind around the things the young abducted boy said.
"They-" Curtis finally decided to answer. "They made me...slow dance."
The three of them tried to process those words, but nothing reasonable came out of their thoughts. Dean kept trying to picture the whole ordeal, while Sam simply couldn't picture anything remotely close to that.
Lily scowled at him, sincerely confused. "Since when is slow-dancing worse than being probed?"
"An alien made me slow dance," Curtis stressed, as though that was the most reasonable answer he could come out with. Immediately after those words left his mouth, he drank another shot. "Do you have any idea what it was like?"
"I would, but I have never slow danced, so-" Lily shrugged at him. "I take it it was not heavenly nor romantic."
Curtis took another shot. "I slow danced with an alien." He kept repeating that, as though he couldn't believe it either. "Oh, God." He hid his face between his hands for a small moment, to then shakily look at the three of them.
"Okay." Lily stressed that word, trying to make him realize how insane he sounded. "What happened next, Curtis?" A mock gasp left her mouth, and she widened her eyes at him, a wicked smirk covering her mouth, "They invited you to prom?"
Either he missed her sarcasm, or he decided to ignore it.
"No, no, they...they dropped me back here after that."
"And how do you feel?" Sam inquired, for which Curtis shot him a look that was meant to show how horrible he felt.
"How would you feel?" He snapped, looking down at his multiple glass shots.
Sam rose his eyebrows at him, but didn't answer to his rhetorical question.
Curtis saw that as an opportunity to drink more, fingers shaking as he grabbed another shot.
"You should go easy on those-" Dean advised, wincing. He remembered the horrible hangover he had after drinking a couple of those with his casual fling from campus, a young woman named Starla, or something like that.
"Shut up," Curtis groaned, and took yet another shot.
"All right, we're done here," Lily rose from the table, rolling her eyes deeply. The younger boy's eyes shot upwards to meet hers, and she had to remind herself not to laugh again, for it could offend him greatly. "Curtis, take care of yourself, and thank you."
Curtis nodded solemnly, not looking forwards to being abducted ever again on his life, then took another purple shot.
Lily shared a look with her brothers, a mutual understatement passing through the three of them, and then they walked together towards the exit of the bar, Sam's shoulders twitching with silent laughter.
Once they were out of the bar, the three of them walked towards the car.
It took them about a minute to realize they were out of earshot and that they could finally react properly to all that happened.
Lily started to laugh.
Then Sam finally exploded, his careful facade of seriousness evaporating. "What the hell was that?" His laughter was unexpected, and it was so contagious that Dean was unable to keep himself from following his example and chuckling.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, this is just so-" Lily held a hand to her mouth, trying to control herself. "Ridiculous."
"Obviously fake," Dean agreed with her, the traces of his amusement dying away as he unlocked the Impala's doors and allowed them to enter the car.
Once the three of them were inside,- with Sam on the backseat and Lily happily sitting shotgun- the green-eyed woman remembered something. She wasn't sure how she had forgotten, but it could be due to the fact that Curtis' tale was completely and overwhelmingly mind-blowing.
"I forgot," She said, which made Dean raise his eyebrows, not surprised with that statement. "My ex sent me a picture of the entrance of Crawford Hall. There are marks of extraterrestrial spaceships on the grounds."
Dean shared a look with Sam, and then the younger man leaned towards them, so his head was literally in the middle of them, and the older man simply looked to the side to meet both their gazes.
"And now you decide to tell us?"
She gave them an affronted look. "I didn't know a boy had claimed to have been abducted! And, come on, guys, aliens aren't real. It's probably fake too."
Sam sighed. "Yeah, but we still have to check it out."
Dean agreed. "Could be something else."
Lily sighed and leaned back on the seat, rolling her eyes. "Fine, fine. But if we get abducted and they force me to slow dance, you both will never hear the end of it."
"If an alien makes you slow dance," Dean smirked, driving away with his usual terrific speed. "We'll want to hear every single little detail about it."
She rolled her eyes again, though she was unable to hide an amused smile.
"Dude, wait." Sam slapped Dean's shoulder, moving so his head was between them again.
The green-eyed woman moved her hand so she was grabbing into Sam's hair, and started scratching at him and petting his head, which made Dean snort.
"What makes you think that some E.T will want to dance with Lily? Maybe they only go after dudes like Curtis."
Sam's voice had a teasing edge at the end, and Dean ended up shuddering at the thought.
Lily scoffed dramatically. "Uh, no?" She stopped petting her brother and turned to him, waving a hand through her face in what was meant to be seen as a showing-off gesture. "I'm devastatingly attractive, aliens would kill for a dance with me."
She sounded matter-of-fact as she said so, and ended up turning back to stare at the road as she waved a hand through her own hair, smiling when she heard her younger brother snort.
"Sure, Lily. Keep telling yourself that."
Dean glanced back at him. "Are you calling her ugly?"
"Wow, dude watch the road! The road!" Sam frantically pointed out. To make his point more reasonable, he gestured to the cars that honked at them for invading their lane for a moment.
Dean obliged, but grunted back a: "Answer me, Sam."
The poor younger boy was honestly startled by the fierceness on him.
"Dude, it was a joke, why do you-"
"She looks like me," Dean stressed, scowling, "You call her ugly- you call me ugly."
Sam finally understood what was going through his mind. He rolled his eyes and watched as their sister seemed to realize that small fact just then, a snort escaping her mouth.
The two of them had always been confused for twins. He was taller- obviously, Lily was only 5'3, and he was around six feet tall. But they had the same nose, the same smile, the same blonde hair- though Dean's had gotten a little darker than hers through the years- and the exact same shade of green eyes.
When he was young, Sam had been jealous of them for looking so alike. The only thing he had that reassembled them physically were his eyes, which were also green, but they changed shades depending on his surroundings. He had wanted, back when he was little and lonely, to have something that would make him more like them.
Now that he was older, he was embarrassed of having thought things like that in the past.
Lily patted Dean's arm affectionately. "Don't worry, he's just calling us ugly because he has better hair than us."
Sam groaned and sat back against the comfortable seat, rolling his eyes so profusely he was concerned they'd stay that way forever. "You both are idiots."
"We know," Dean and Lily shared a private smirk, then discretely fist-bumped one another.
Since it was still clear outside and the sun wouldn't go down in at least another hour or two, they decided to check the place Lily told them about- the place that had been supposedly scorched by engine marks.
She mentioned how alike it looked to those Internet photographs about corn fields with strange marks, and it only made them more incredulous of the whole situation.
After driving for about five minutes, they found themselves at Crawford Hall.
Sam and Dean were the first to exit the car, while Lily waited a couple more of minutes to follow them. She had been looking around as they walked, frightened to see Caleb between the gigantic mass of people watching the scorch marks, but there were too many people around, and she didn't know if he still looked the same.
Not to mention, half the people there had already seen her before. At the professor's memorial, where she had disguised herself as a nun. She did not want to have to play dress-up again, no matter how much she liked playing like that, she was too tried to attempt at it again.
But, she thought, maybe people wouldn't recognize her.
And even if someone recognized her, after seeing that she had normal clothes on and all that, they would instantly think that they were confusing her with someone else.
There was no harm.
The only thing holding her back was the prospect of running into Caleb there, but even that was weakened by her immense curiosity.
She wanted to see how the thing on the photograph looked in person.
Sighing deeply, she gathered her courage and decided to exit the car.
She was just closing the door when she heard her brothers talking in the distance.
"What the hell-" Dean was saying.
"I'm telling you, Dean, this marks were made by some sort of jet engine."
"You mean some saucer-shaped jet engine?"
"What else could it be?"
"What the hell?" Dean repeated.
"I don't know."
"Seriously, dude, what the hell?"
Lily had been hesitantly trying to make way between the mass of students and personal gathered around the gardens- accidentally bumping into a few of them- where she knew the scorch marks would be at.
At last, she finally found herself at the side of her brothers, and then when she looked down at the grass, her breath died on her throat.
It looked more impressing in person, and way more real than it had on the photo she received.
Looking more directly at it, she realized that what Sam had said was true- it could've only been made by a jet engine.
It had too many patterns; little circular designs inside of bigger circular patterns and complicated designs. It couldn't have been made by any other kind of thing, and certainly it couldn't have been faked.
"What-" She forced herself to sound collected, but she detected a small hint of uncertainty on her voice. "What is happening in this place? Angry ghosts, sexed-up aliens-" She trailed off, searching her brothers' eyes, but the two of them looked equally lost.
Sam finally shook his head, "We got to keep digging on."
"What?" Dean looked at him. "Where could we possibly get information- real information- about aliens."
"There's got to be some kind of connection," Sam said to himself, to then look at them. "The timing alone is too far close to one another."
"What could the connection possibly be?" Dean pointed out, annoyed at how lost he felt.
That case was unlike any other insane case he had ever worked on. There was nothing remotely alike to the things happening on his father's journal. There was nothing remotely close to what could be tying a ghost and an alien together.
"We should-" Lily frowned, then shook her head. "Maybe the connection is not between the alien and the ghost, but between the victims."
"We should talk to Curtis' classmates," Sam agreed after a small pause of consideration. "Hear what they have to say about the whole abduction thing."
"And we should hope that nothing else happens in the meantime," Lily added, which made her brothers curious. At their looks, she continued. "I mean, a sexed-up aliens and an angry ghosts? What's next, the Hulk appearing and teaching cooking classes?"
She could've hit herself after saying that. Whatever was causing those strange sightings around campus could be listening to them, for all she knew. And then she had to go around giving it new ideas. It could come back to bite her in the ass.
Her brothers didn't seen to think the same things as her, for they simply shrugged and decided to head back to the motel. They were tired and mentally exhausted, having to comprehend all those new things in a small moment, and wanted nothing more than to drink and sleep for a while.
Lily, on the other hand, was running on adrenaline.
She wanted to keep digging around, see what else she could find, even when it seemed almost impossible for her to find something related to those things.
"You guys go ahead," She told them. "I'll stick around for a while, see if I can find anything on the case."
"You mean, see if you can find your ex?" Dean gave her a knowing look.
Lily felt like throwing up. "No."
The least she wanted was to see him. It frustrated her that her brothers were so oblivious to how uncomfortable she actually felt when it came to him.
Dean simply shrugged.
Sam watched her carefully. "But you will talk to him, right? Thank him for telling you about this-" He gestured to the ground beneath their feet, "-thing?"
"Eventually, I guess," She lied carefully, knowing that her brothers could detect her deceiving tone in an instant. "Just not today."
There was nothing to thank him for. He had sent a picture, she had answered. He hadn't contacted her in years, and he only did it because he feared his job could be in jeopardy.
"I'm just going to stick around for a little while," Lily added and looked around distractedly. "See if something else happens, talk to possible witnesses; that sort of stuff."
Dean nodded. "Call us when you're done and we'll come pick you up."
She had left her car back at the motel, having chosen to ride with her brothers instead of driving, which meant she'd have to walk back to her motel. It wasn't too far, but it was almost sundown, and walking alone at night in a college campus didn't sound like the safest option she could take. She did get scared, even when she knew she could deal with whatever could try to attack her. However, the thought of making her brothers pick her up when she was done made her feel like a burden.
She shook her head at them. "There's no need, I'll walk."
Sam scowled at her. "You sure?"
Lily nodded.
...
It was almost midnight when she decided to make her way back home. She had briefly spoken to a few of Curtis' classmates, but none of them ever seemed to believe the insane tale he told about his abduction, which was to be expected.
Needless to say, she had nothing on the case, and her frustration only seemed to grow with each passing moment.
What could be causing those things?
She refused to believe an actual alien had abducted a stupid college kid.
But she also refused to think that Arthur Cox had committed suicide.
Her thoughts made the whole situation harder; she was trying to find a connection between a ghost and an alien, something that was, quite literally, impossible. She had a horrible headache and as she kept walking, a bolt of pain coursed through her recently injured stomach.
I want to go back home. The thought was abrupt and not what she had expected to think about the night after a new look on her most recent case came. With a startle, she realized that part of her had begun to consider that apartment her home, even when it was supposed to be only a shelter for her.
The thing was- she had not expected to think that, not when she had a case. Usually in those moments, all that could plague her mind were thoughts about said case, not a vulnerable thought about home.
She felt out of place for a moment- and though she didn't know if she was paranoid or not- part of her also felt like someone was watching her.
It was for that reason that she decided to walk faster, even when she was supposed to be able to defend herself. She didn't know who- or what- could be watching her; it was better to make a run for it until she knew what she was dealing with.
It was the smart thing to do.
When the presence behind her started to feel more close, she veered around and entered the first open shop she could see- which ended up being a small ice-cream shop.
It was partially empty, but the few people that were inside turned to glance at her when she entered, her breathing a little forced, her face flushed. The person behind the counter greeted her with a smile, and she forced herself to return the gesture.
Something about her face must've shown how shaken she actually felt, because the woman scowled and proceeded to give her a worried look. "Are you all right, miss?"
"I'm sorry," Lily said, moving closer to the counter, her limbs shaking. "I-"
She couldn't shake the feeling of being watched off her body. The presence she had felt had deliberately made itself known- whatever they were hunting down knew that it was being hunted down. She bit her lower lip worriedly.
"Is there a phone I could use?" Her phone was on her jacket pocket, but she wanted to have an excuse to stick inside the place for a little longer.
It was warm and cozy, and the ice cream she saw looked quite delicious. She felt stupid for being so scared, but eventually, she managed to push those feelings away, and found herself smiling at the polite woman behind the counter.
She was safe. Whatever had been following her wouldn't make its presence known in a shop filled with people. It was too risky, even for a monster.
"Of course, miss. It's right at the back."
Lily followed the woman's instruction.
She walked to the back of the store, where tables for two were aligned at, and just as she was about to approach the landline phone- wondering who the hell to call to pretend she had actually wanted to use the phone- she caught a glimpse of a familiar man, siting alone in one of those two-person tables, an ice cream cone on his hands.
Before she could open her mouth to greet him, he looked up and saw her.
"Hey," She offered him a real smile.
He easily returned the gesture, then beckoned her to come closer, looking friendly enough for her to be comfortable with the request.
She did, forgetting about the phone and her pretend mission. She walked tentatively, as though she did not know what to make of their encounter, and that alone made his eyes crinkle with amusement.
"Dropped out of the religious life so soon?" The janitor raised an eyebrow, pointing one finger at her normal clothes.
Lily could've hit herself. Somehow, through her surprise at seeing him again, and her fear of being followed, she had forgotten that out of everyone she talked to while dressed as a nun, the janitor would most certainly recognize her, for she had talked to him more than to the others.
"It's laundry day," It was such a lame excuse that she cringed inwardly after saying that.
The janitor gave her an amused smile, looking like he did not believe her for one second. "Huh. I didn't know nuns could be out of the church so late at night."
Lily contributed his look with her own amused little smirk. "We can't."
The janitor's smirk changed considerably. He looked up and down at her, as though trying to soak in as much about her as he could. There was an emotion on his peculiarly alluring eyes, one that was familiar with, but she dared not think much of that; she was supposed to be concentrated on her job, not on attractive guys giving her bedroom eyes. Though she hoped to have hidden it well, the intensity of his gaze made Lily's knees weak.
"Naughty nun." His low voice gave her chills; and this time she couldn't hide the blush that cornered her cheeks.
He was surprised when, despite of her initial surprise, she offered him a smirk that could rival his own.
"You have no idea," Lily answered, not missing a beat.
In that moment, she looked like a sinful goddess, with her delicate face flushed with delight, her green eyes portraying an unabashed amount of lust that made the janitor's throat feel dry, anticipation filling his veins, even though he knew that nothing could ever come of their playful words.
Part of him knew he was playing with fire- and that it was not right- but he wanted to burn, very badly.
"Perhaps you could show me some time just how naughty you are," He suggested, watching as she drew a chair out for herself and sat across from him.
"Perhaps I will," Lily's eyes were locked upon his own, the intensity of her gaze making the janitor more desperate to drown on the fire she offered him willingly.
He parted his lips, then made his mind about the matter. It would do them no good to continue that relentless teasing- he would only get his balls more blue than they already felt- and there were still things he wanted to discuss with her.
Before he could, however, it was the young blonde woman that sought another topic of conversation:
"Did you hear about the alien abduction?"
The janitor shrugged, a gesture that was meant to denote indifference, though his eyes were hiding a gleam of real interest on the matter.
"The abducted kid sounded pretty shaken about the whole ordeal."
"If you ask me, E.T's favorite dance partner was simply extremely stoned that night."
The janitor tilted his head to the side, watching her intently. "Is that what you think?"
Honestly, Lily did not know what to believe about the whole ordeal. She was only aware of the fact that part of her refused to accept the thought of aliens kidnapping college students.
He continued when it was clear she had nothing to say about the matter. "You know, not to scare you off or anything-" He said in a way that obviously denoted that he wanted to scare her off. "But it's not the first time something like that happens around here."
That statement gave Lily a small sense of impending doom. "What do you mean?"
There had been more strange things happening in campus?
If the janitor was speaking the truth, then it meant that Caleb had been hiding strange events from her- from the only hunter he knew. He had mentioned the alien thing, but what about the other things happening on campus?
Lily gritted her teeth in annoyance, though under that thick layer of annoyance and irritation, she could only feel worried. What was exactly happening on that place?
The janitor looked thrilled to receive her question- showing a little too much interest in the matter. His eyes brightened with mischief, and for the first time in the night, she saw him disregard his ice cream cone and fully concentrate on her.
"For years, this place has been plagued by strange events."
"Such as?"
"Strange, unusual encounters with beings that are not meant to exist." The janitor shrugged, making a gesture with his hand to demonstrate they had been a lot of cases like that.
"Could you be kind enough to elaborate?"
"A woman claimed her boyfriend, who had cheated on her with her own mother, was devoured by a murderous merman that lived in the local pool by Crawford Hall."
Lily processed that for a small moment, then frowned, her confusion being extremely obvious. She titled her head to the side, considering the thing she had just heard, then decided she had no idea what to make of it.
"A merman?"
"It ate the woman's mother and her cheating boyfriend." A wide grin started to form on the janitor's face, mirth written all over his features. "Of course, no one ever believed her. They're still missing, and she's currently stuck in the loony-bin, but otherwise, happy."
"Happy?" Lily was dumbstruck. "She saw a-" She stopped herself, it didn't make sense, so she pushed it away as madness from the woman. "All right, what else?"
The janitor shrugged again, this time looking less excited about their main topic of conversation. "I told you- strange things. It's probably just bullshit."
The young woman could not agree with him in that. Even if things sounded strange, there was a minimum possibility that it might be true. She had to hear what he had to say about the matter, it was the least she could do to try and understand what was happening in that place.
"I'm a sucker for those stories," Lily forced a grin into her face, swallowing her concerns. "Guilty pleasure of mine. A little secret I keep from the Church."
The janitor observed her for a moment, then decided to oblige to her silent request, and then he proceeded to tell her about the other things that had happened around campus.
"A man set fire to a forest filled with boy-scout children, harming most of them; the next day, he choked on a tree that had been growing inside his stomach. Another man was charged against fraud for the company he worked at, then the next day he was found on the hospital, claiming Wonder Woman had attacked him. A woman died at the hands of an overgrown butterfly-"
Lily's face must've denoted her skepticism, because he trailed off.
"I'm sorry," She said, once she noticed he had stopped because of her. "It's just that it sounds-" She struggled to find a word to describe the situation, but couldn't find one.
"I know," The janitor agreed. "Believe me, it's even hard for me to believe, and I live here."
"When did this all start?" Lily wondered, scowling as she tried to remember any capture that could cause all those strange event.
Perhaps it wasn't only one creature, it could also be a bunch of creatures causing that. Crawford Hall could be plagued by a pack of monsters, for all she knew. That thought alone made the young blonde woman more frustrated than she had ever felt, and more keen on finding out exactly what was happening there.
"Years ago. By the time I arrived here to work at Crawford Hall, the woman I told you about had already been admitted into the asylum for seeing a merman."
"And you have no idea when it started?"
He shook his head, looking sincere. "Like I told you, it had already started when I arrived here."
Lily considered his words for a minute. The more she knew, the less she understood about the case. Once it was clear that their topic of conversation had died away, she realized it would be better for her to leave.
It was already late, and her brain was starting to get slow from how exhausting that day had been.
She looked at the janitor, about to say goodbye, when she realized he was already staring at her. For a small couple of seconds, their eyes remained locked, then he was the first to look away, "What are you doing out here so late?"
It was not a question she was expecting, so it took her a short moment to rearrange her thoughts.
"I was walking back to the m- to the church," She corrected herself quickly, remembering who she was supposed to be, "But then, um, I didn't feel so safe walking alone through the street. I saw this place was open and decided to come in."
The janitor frowned. "Did something attack you?"
Lily didn't miss the way he said something instead of someone.
Pushing it aside, she shook her head. "It was just a bad feeling. Probably nothing, if I'm honest."
"I can walk you home if you want," The janitor offered kindly, looking sincere about his offer and his intentions. "If you're comfortable with it."
A warm smile appeared on Lily's face. Truthfully, after how she felt walking alone on the street, a little company would've been deeply appreciated. She couldn't accept, however, for two reasons: she was supposed to be a nun, and she couldn't let him see that she was staying at a motel, that would fuck the whole cover up; and if there was something out there targeting her, she didn't want it to target another innocent.
"Thank you for your kind offer, sir. But walking back to the Church in company of a man this late at night? It might not be the brightest idea."
"Sister-" He started.
"Lily," The young blonde woman corrected him, out of a knee-jerk reaction, to then remember her cover. She had introduced herself as Sister Grace, but it wouldn't harm anyone if she told the janitor her real name. She'd already almost blown her cover several times that night, a last one wouldn't do much trouble.
The janitor gave her a friendly smile, though there was a deep amount of amusement on his eyes. "Loki," He introduced himself. "My name is Loki."
Lily stood from the table after offering him one last polite smile. "I'll see you around, hopefully. Thank you, again."
He waved her goodbye, his eyes watching her retreating figure until she was out of the shop, and merging with the darkness of the night.
...
When she arrived at her motel room, she went straight towards the wall she had decorated to pinpoint the exact locations of campus where the incidents had happened. She had about a dozen new locations and stories now, but as she started to mark the places, she realized it all went back to Crawford Hall.
Every single one of the incidents- of the strange events that took place- had happened in- or close to- Crawford Hall.
It could only mean that the monster she was trying to hunt was there.
Lily felt a small speck of triumph after that realization. After days of being completely lost, she finally found a new perspective. She didn't know what was out the causing harm, but she knew where to start looking.
She patted her jacket, looking for her cellphone, having intended to send a text message to her brothers to let them know of her discovery, when she realized her cellphone was nowhere to be found. It was strange, because she was sure she had it on her pockets the whole night- it was there, she was sure of it.
But no matter how hard she looked though her pockets, she couldn't find it.
She thought back to the way she had felt as though being watched. A sickening feeling of disgust and concern overcame her senses. Did the monster take her phone?
Lily decided she couldn't take any risks. If it was a smart monster, it could use her cellphone to lure her brothers out and harm them. Wanting to be smarter than whatever had taken her phone- because she refused to even think about having lost it on her own- she moved towards the room's phone and dialed her brother's number.
It went straight to voicemail.
She called about four times before she decided it was better to leave it be.
Knowing her brothers, they were probably busy with other stuff and could not answer her.
At once, exhaustion took hold of her body, and she moved towards the bathroom to heal her almost-healed wound, and to get ready for bed. She was just changing into more comfortable clothes when she heard the motel room's door swing open.
Some other time, she would've stayed hidden until she heard who or what was inside her room, but she had grown irritated with the thought of being followed by a monster, and she reacted without thinking much about it.
There was one of her duffel bags on the bathroom, and the young hunter rummaged through it carefully until she found one of her guns. Brandishing it, she wasted no time. Storming out of the room, she pointed her gun at the intruders.
Only that they were not intruders.
It was her brothers.
They stared at her for a moment, taking in the fact that she looked a little agitated, and the fact that she had almost shoot them.
"Seriously?" Lily demanded, exasperated. She lowered the gun and secured its lock again. She was about to say more, but then recognized the look upon their faces. Dread filled her whole body, knowing immediately that something had happened.
Before she could ask, Sam answered. "There's been another attack." The look on his face was a message clear enough for her: the victim had not survived.
"Aliens?" Lily scowled.
Collectively, her brothers shook their heads.
"We don't know yet," Sam said at last. That was another way of saying they had no idea what had attacked someone recently, or how exactly they had died. "The man died this morning, apparently killed. The cops have not released the cause of death- which means it could be related to the things we hunt."
That was what hunters did most. Investigate possible occurrences that could be cases- they had to take risks of encountering normal things while seeking monsters.
"Let's go," Dean cut their small talk, exasperated, as he always got when he had zero idea what to make of a situation. "We're gonna hit the morgue."
The green-eyed woman didn't bother changing clothes, she simply moved towards her duffel bags and took a jacket out, covering her whole body with it, and then securing some weapons as well, just in case things did not go as planned.
Her brothers walked her to the parking lot, where they had parked the Impala, and Sam obediently went to sit by the backseat without needing to be told twice. Lily entered the car, and then Dean drove away in his usual, crazed way.
For most of the trip, they were in silence.
It was only when they were almost at the morgue when Sam decided to break the silence.
"What happened to you?"
Dean looked at him through the rear-view mirror, wondering if he meant him, but found that his eyes were glued to the back of Lily's head. The older Winchester patted Lily's knee to make her see that their little brother was talking to her.
"Mm?" She glanced back briefly. "What do you mean?"
"You've been very agitated today," Sam noticed, careful on his words, as though he did not want to offend her. "You almost shot us twice."
The young woman thought about lying, it was the easiest way out of the conversation, but somehow, for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to lie to her younger brother.
"I just have a lot on my mind today," She admitted at last. "I don't know what to make of this case and it's eating me away. Then there's the fact that I think something was following me earlier-" That captured their attentions greatly. "I couldn't see what it was, but I could feel it. It followed me as I walked back to the motel, and when the feeling grew too unbearable, I entered a crowded shop to hide."
Dean locked eyes with Sam through the mirror. Their sister had never been one to hide from a monster.
"What happened?"
She shrugged, looking away. "Nothing, really. I stayed there for a while, saw the janitor from Crawford Hall, and we talked for a little while. Apparently, things like this have been happening for a long time now."
Their brothers asked what she meant by that, and she told them the stories the janitor had told her. They were as confused as she had been after hearing about them, but a little more willing to believe them than she had been.
"I almost shot you guys because I thought the monster had gotten into my room." Lily said at last, feeling stupid for having thought in that way. She felt her siblings gaze upon her, and continued: "It's been a long day, and my mind was still plagued with the consuming feeling that the thing following me had."
"Consuming feeling?"
"Power," Lily explained carefully, trying to find words to explain the sensation. "So many power, like you two would never believe. It was-" She stopped herself. Overwhelming. Intimidating. Bone-shattering.
"What are we dealing with?" Dean frowned, a rhetorical question leaving his lips. "All the things happening, that power you felt-" He shared another look with Sam through the mirror, but his younger brother looked as lost as he was feeling.
"We just got to keep digging," Lily replied tiredly, a sigh leaving her mouth. She rested her head against the window, and closed her eyes. "Something will come up, eventually."
It had to. The thought of abandoning a case like that, just for not knowing what they were dealing with, was unacceptable. Their job was to protect people. They had to do their part, they could not- and would not- give up.
...
Instead of finding more clues on the newest victim, they could only find more doubts.
Sam had a small theory, but Dean was hesitant to believe him.
Lily didn't know what to make of the situation. As always, she was in the middle of them. She could say that Sam had a point, it certainly sounded and looked like an urban legend involving alligators and sewers, but Dean also had a good point. People had never proved the existence of monstrous alligators in sewers.
She didn't dare take any sides on their small argument- she knew that it would only make one of them frustrated at her. She did what she usually did, she stayed in the middle, not taking any sides.
"What? Well, Dean, it's a classic urban legend. A kid flushes a baby gator down the toilet, and it grows huge in the tunnels." Sam didn't look convinced, but that was as much as he could think of from the mauled remains of that man that was killed.
"But no one's ever really found one. I mean, they-they're not real."
"Well, neither's alien abduction, but something chomped on this guy."
Dean sighed tiredly. "This couldn't get any weirder."
"Maybe we should get some help-" Sam started.
Dean gave Sam a look, interrupting him before he could finish. "Lily was our back-up."
"Lily is right here, and trying not to feel offended," Lily pursed her lips, though she kept staring at the mauled body pieces in front of her. Part of her had known that they had contacted her because they thought she could be useful for the case, but a bigger part of her had hoped for it to be because they had missed her too much.
She could almost feel the regret coming from her older brother when he stood besides her.
"What's your opinion?" Dean questioned. There was nothing he hated more than when she stayed in the middle of their conversations, never taking sides nor talking about her own conclusions. It frustrated him to no end. It was one of those things that could grow old very quick.
She hadn't expected him to acknowledge his mistake, but the fact that he didn't only made her feel more offended, and a little bit sadder than usual.
Lily shrugged and stared instead at Sam, who was looking at them with a doubtful look on his eyes. "It looks like an alligator's scale, that much I cannot deny. But like you said-"
"Forget what we said." Dean rolled his eyes. "What do you think?"
Lily pursed her lips. Part of her wanted not to answer, but she was so exhausted that the words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself:
"Perhaps we could call Bobby. He's encountered many things through his life, maybe he knows what's happening here."
"Oh, I'm sure he has." Dean returned sarcastically. "Just your typical haunted campus, alien abduction, alligator-in-the-sewer gig."
Lily didn't like the thought of giving up on a case, but no matter how much research she did, she could not discover what was causing those things. Bobby could know, he had more experience than them.
A little help was well welcomed, considering how disastrous things were going for them in that case.