AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi all! I'm sorry, again, that it's been so long...I've had a lot of difficulties for the past few months. In December I got a virus (not the flu) and was sick for about 2 weeks, and it took me longer to recover. This year, I had a fibromyalgia flare that included 2 migraines and lasted for over a week, and then a bout of gastritis that landed me in urgent care getting IV fluids for dehydration. Life with chronic illnesses isn't easy! Plus I've had a lot of trouble concentrating on reading and writing, so that's been hard, which leads to negative feelings about my writing abilities, and then I get depressed. It's a vicious cycle, but I'm trying to break out of it.

MariaKata, AshtynnAlba, tamilyn313, EmilyAnnMcGarrett-Winchester, Franki3Winchester, WandaMarie, Ponygirlrunner25, Lexie Lou, Auphepet, FanClaire, Thank You for leaving comments, and to those of you who sent PMs checking on me, Thank You, it was very sweet of you!

I have done so much research on this chapter, I've looked up seances and light work and auras and the afterlife. I even wrote a prayer and ran it through google translate so that it's in Latin! When you do that you're supposed to run it back the other way to make sure that it does translate properly, but I couldn't get it to sound quite right translating it back from Latin to English, so I just left it. The translation is provided at the end of the chapter.

Tamilyn313, Happy Birthday, and Thank You for all the ideas you've shared with me and the times you've allowed me to bounce things off your head! Hope you enjoy!

I hope this chapter is up to snuff, I'm excited about it but I'm also still feeling uncertain about my writing abilities, so hopefully it was worth the wait!

EDITED TO ADD: In response to Lexie Lou's question about messaging me, this site has a private messaging feature, but you do have to have an account. I've actually become friends with some people I've PM'ed with on here, so if you'd like to chat with me, drop me a PM! I may not answer right away but I will reply!

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

I came out of the bathroom in Uncle Bobby's house and walked down the hall to the dining room. The rug on the floor absorbed my footsteps.

I was about to enter the room when I heard a voice, "-really on edge about this." It was Daddy.

"So am I, but we'll all be right there with her in case something goes wrong." Uncle Sam responded in an assuring tone.

"No, I'm really fucking nervous about this." Daddy's voice was agitated. "What if something-what if she- I can't go through that again, that fear when I came out of those memories of her as a baby and she just- wasn't- here. I-I almost lost my shit, Sam. There's got to be a way I can go with her-"

Uncle Sam interrupted him. "There isn't, we've looked and looked. Like Missouri said, you can't control everything-"

I heard the door open behind me and Grandpa John came in from outside, carrying a small wooden box. "You about ready?" He smiled at me.

"Yeah." I said, going into the dining room. Grandpa John came in after me.

Uncle Bobby and Imani came in from the kitchen, and Uncle Bobby started to light candles all around the room.

The table had been moved to the middle of the room, and a circular pattern had been taped onto the rug beneath the table. There were also symbols painted on the table and candles placed in the middle.

Imani set a small bowl on the table and placed what looked like dried flowers and herbs in it. She lit them with a long match and let the edge start burning, and then blew the flames out. Smoke began to curl up into the air.

Grandpa John had set the box on the sideboard and removed some bottles. He came over, holding up a bottle. "We need to anoint everyone." He anointed Daddy first, drawing a sigil on his forehead with the oil and saying a short Latin prayer, and then Daddy anointed Uncle Sam, and then Uncle Sam anointed Imani, and she anointed me. Grandpa John anointed Uncle Bobby last of all.

Imani lit up a smudge stick. "Did you take a cleansing bath with the herbs that I gave you?" She asked me.

"Yes, and I said the prayer over her that you gave me." Uncle Sam replied.

She smiled at him. "Good." She passed the smudge stick around herself and then passed it to Uncle Sam. Everyone smudged themselves, and then Uncle Bobby took the smudge stick and walked around the room with it.

Daddy leaned down and hugged me. "I want you to be careful tonight, Charlie."

I put my arms around him. "I will be, Daddy. It'll be okay."

I felt him stiffen, and then he pulled back and chuckled, but it didn't sound happy. "That's what I used to say to my Dad before we'd leave on a hunt, when I was just starting out." He got an uncomfortable look on his face. "If there was any way I could do this with you, I would." He let me go and took my chin in his hand, tilting my head back to look me in the eyes. "I love you, and I don't want to lose you, Charlie."

I smiled at him. "I love you too, Daddy. You won't lose me."

He let go and smoothed his hand over my head, sighing heavily.

"All right...are we ready?" Imani asked.

"Looks like it." Grandpa John said.

Everyone walked over to the table and sat down. I sat between Imani and Daddy.

Imani looked over at me. "While we are in the Veil, you must not speak to any being except Hazel, and only if you are responding to her." She told me.

"How come?" I asked.

She explained, "You want to minimize your contact with spirit. We don't want them to notice you if at all possible, but they may be attracted to your energy. If you engage with them they may be tempted to follow you out or attach themselves to you."

"This is important, Charlie." Daddy said sternly. "Make sure you do exactly as Imani says."

Imani continued, "And you must remain calm. Any excess of emotion will send ripples of energy out into the ether and it will act as a beacon."

"Okay." I agreed. "Uh-what's it like?" I was feeling more nervous now.

"It's quiet, and calm. Sometimes people see what they want to see, it can look like a tall stairway going into the clouds, or a train station, or a river that needs to be crossed to the other side. I will be with you the whole time, and I will guide you in what to say and do." Imani said. "And I have everything memorized." She turned and placed her hands on the table. "Shall we begin?"

We all set our hands on the table, with fingertips touching the person next to us. I had to close my eyes, and then Imani and Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby all began to chant something together.

The smell of the burning herbs on the table got stronger, and I felt like I was breaking out in a sweat.

"Breathe slowly, Charlie, nice and steady," Imani murmured. "I'm right here with you."

I slowed my breathing down, and noticed that I felt light-headed. At the same time it felt like my body was moving, like how it feels when you're sitting on the subway and the train begins to move backwards.

I started to say something but I noticed that it had become quiet. I opened my eyes. "Hey, why did everyone stop-"

There was a wall of fog in front of me. It felt like being in a huge room with very high ceilings, and the light was dim. I could see what looked like shadows of people walking around in it. We were standing far away from them, and none of them looked at us, it was like they were all in their own little worlds.

I could feel Imani next to me. I looked at her-she looked the same, but it was as if I could see through her. She had light all around her, like someone had drawn her outline and filled it with a soft, shimmering light.

I looked down at my hands- I was outlined in light too! I looked back at her. "How come we have light around us?"

"Everyone has an energy field around them, called an aura- in the ether, you can see people's auras." Imani's aura was yellow surrounded by a bright purple, and around her head it was white.

"That's kinda cool!" My aura was bright purple with white around it. I held my hand up in front of me and wiggled my fingers, watching the light shimmer.

Imani put her hands up with the palms facing out and started to chant something.

Suddenly the air nearby began to shimmer and swirl, and I gasped and stepped toward Imani.

An outline of a body started to show through the shimmering, and then it became more solid as the swirling went away. It was a tall, thin angel with long blonde hair and flowing white robes with huge wings. It had an aura too, a bright white light that almost was a little too hard to look at.

"Hello, Charlotte Anne." The angel said, but it was Castiel's voice!

"Who are you?" Imani spoke sharply, pulling me behind her. A clear bubble appeared around us.

"It's Castiel!" I told her. "Y'know, my guardian angel!"

"Yes, it is me." The angel spoke in Castiel's gravelly voice. "I cannot show you my true form, so I have chosen this form that many humans are familiar with."

"Where have you been? I asked you for help!" I said hotly. Daddy had told me to pray to Castiel and ask him to guide me and help me, but I hadn't gotten any answer.

He frowned. "My apologies for not responding to you right away, I arrived at Robert Singer's home as quickly as I could. I spoke to the Winchesters, and your father asked me to follow you here and assist in returning you to safety. Actually, his exact words were: 'You get your feathery ass in there and you fucking bring her back safe!'"

Imani chuckled. "Sounds like Dean Winchester, all right."

The angel turned to her. "My name is Castiel, I am an angel of the Lord." He bowed.

"My name is Imani." She held her hands up in front of her, pressed together, and bowed. The bubble around us disappeared.

"All right, let's get this moving. We don't want to be here any longer than we need to be." Imani said something in Latin, and then there was a swirling in front of us, that coalesced into an old woman.

She stared at Castiel. "Are you- are you my guardian angel?"

He replied, "Hazel Marie Morris, I am an angel of the Lord. No, I am not yours, but I am here to assist you. I have taken the form of the angel in the picture that was over your bed when you were a child."

She nodded. "You look exactly like it!" She smiled, and then noticed me. "Little girl! You're the one-I thought you were my Mallory when I first saw you-you have such a bright energy, I knew you could help me! Please, little girl, I need help, I don't know-" There were ripples of energy coming off of her and I could feel the agitation in them.

"Be calm, my daughter, we are all here to assist you." Castiel said. "This is Charlotte Anne, and Imani."

Hazel said to me, " I'm sorry if I've bothered you. I'm just so confused-my mind hasn't been working right, and I-I think I'm stuck-"

"It's okay." I told her.

"Do you understand that you have passed on?" Castiel asked her.

Tears filled her eyes. "I know there was a fire-and I couldn't breathe-I couldn't get to my babies-"

I could feel the sadness and anxiety coming off of her in waves, and it made me remember when I had dreamed of her being caught in the fire.

Imani put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed. "Steady, Charlie." She said quietly." She spoke to Hazel. "Your earthly body has expired, and your soul needs to move on."

"We are here to help you cross over." Castiel explained to her.

He held his hands up over her head, and chanted in a guttural sounding language. Hazel shimmered and shifted and it was like time moved backwards and she became younger, with long brown hair and a dress that outlined a slim figure.

Imani said something in Latin, and the fog parted. There was a wide, long bridge coming out of it, and we could see people walking around us more clearly. There were also people walking on the other side.

A man wearing a soldier's uniform was walking slowly across. With him was an older woman with short white hair carrying a baby in one arm and holding the hand of a little girl wearing a dress, with long curly hair.

Hazel became excited. "That's my husband! And my mother, and my daughter, and my little sister!"

She looked at Castiel. "May I go to them?"

The angel nodded.

The group got to the end of the bridge, a few feet away from us. "Frederick!" Hazel exclaimed, running toward them. The man opened his arms and they hugged, then they kissed for a long moment, like people do in the movies. He let her go and stepped back.

She turned to the woman. "Mother, it's so good to see you again! And my baby girl Sharon!" The women embraced each other, and then Hazel took the baby into her arms. The baby gurgled happily and kicked her feet. Hearing her call her daughter "baby girl" made me think of Daddy, since that's what he called me, and I felt a pang of missing him.

The little girl threw her arms around Hazel's waist, and Hazel hugged her with one arm. "Oh, Sissy, I missed you!" Hazel said happily.

She turned towards us. There were tears running down her cheeks. "Thank you for helping me." Her voice was grateful.

"You are welcome." Castiel bowed.

"You're welcome." I chimed in.

"Since you came to Charlotte Anne for help, she must be the one to say the final prayer." Castiel intoned. He looked at me, his wings waving gently. "Are you ready?" He asked.

I nodded, and took a deep breath. Then I spoke. "Receperint paradiso ad animam; Dona ea in terra ad ostium lumen et gaudium; Nos commendo animam meam ad eam commendatur creator; Vade pacifice in réquiem aeternam."

Hazel became more see-through and the light around her changed and became fainter.

"Go in peace." Imani said.

"Pax vobiscum." Castiel added.

The group turned, and began to walk back across the bridge. The fog rolled and thinned as they walked, and began to cover them over.

"All right, let's finish this," Imani said with relief.

Just then a voice called out. "Charlotte? Lottie, is that you?"

It felt like my heart stopped. "Mom?" I called. I felt excited to hear her voice, but also disbelief and sadness.

"Yes, it's me, sweetie!" She responded brightly. "Where are you?"

"I'm here, Mommy!" I stepped toward the end of the bridge, and something caught my shoulder.

Imani exclaimed, "No, Charlie, you cannot go over the bridge!"

I looked up at Imani. "But- that's my mom! Can't I say hi to her?"

Imani shook her head. "No, you cannot. She's already crossed over, and you cannot bring her forth without paying a price."

"What do you mean? What price?" I was confused.

"When one interacts with the spirit realm, you need to give an offering, that's why the herbs and other things are mixed together. If you try to talk to spirit or call them forth without an offering, then they will-take something from you."

"Lottie, I've missed you!" My mom said. Her voice sounded closer. "Why can't I see you? Where are you?"

I took another step closer to the bridge, drawn by her voice. "I'm right here, Mommy! I miss you too!"

It felt like someone wrapped their arms around me-I looked down, and there were bands of light surrounding me. "No, Charlotte Anne. You must not continue this. We have to go." Castiel's gravelly voice said.

"Please let me just see her, just for a second!" I burst into tears, fighting against being held.

"No, Charlie." Imani said. She raised her hands up and said something in Latin, and then Castiel said something in that same guttural language.

"Please!" I cried out, as the fog got heavier and thicker. "Mommy, don't go! Where are you!" I called.

"Charlie, don't do that!" Imani said. "You don't want her to follow you!"

"I-I want-" I was going to say 'I want my mommy', but it felt like the words just got caught in my throat, and suddenly I couldn't talk anymore. I opened and closed my mouth.

The fog was getting dark now, and I felt a sense of motion, like we were moving on an escalator. A wave of dizziness swept over me, and I got hot all over, and then I felt cold.

Everything went dark. "Castiel? Imani?" I called out. "Where are you?"

"Come on, Charlie, come with me." Imani said somewhere next to me. "Focus on my voice. Keep going. Come on, keep moving forward."

I felt the sensation of being lifted and carried and then laid down. I heard Daddy's voice, "Is she okay? Why is she crying, did something happen? If she got hurt, I'm gonna kick that angel's ass-"

I opened my eyes. I was laying on the floor in Uncle Bobby's dining room, my head pillowed on Daddy's thighs. He noticed my eyes were open. "Charlie!" He practically shouted. "Charlie, are you okay? What happened?"

"M'cold," I whined, realizing that I felt chilled to the bone, and I was shaking.

"Got some blankets." Grandpa John came over and knelt down next to Daddy, spreading them on the floor. Daddy lifted me up and laid me down on them, and then he wrapped me up tightly in them and picked me up. He carried me over to a chair and sat down, holding me in his lap. Grandpa John wrapped another blanket around me and Daddy, and Daddy rubbed my arms and shoulders. I couldn't seem to stop shivering.

"Wh-where's I-Imani, and C-castiel?" I asked.

"Sam's helping Imani in the kitchen." Daddy told me. "I don't know where feather-brain is."

Imani came into the room, a blanket draped over her shoulders, carrying a mug. Uncle Sam came behind her, carrying another mug. He brought it over and handed it to me. Steam drifted up from the cup.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's an herbal concoction, to help bring your spirit and body together and bind you to the earth. It will also warm you up." Imani explained.

"Why am I so cold?" A chill shook through me, and I shivered. Daddy put his hand on mine to steady the mug.

"When one's soul leaves the body, it becomes chilled upon re-entry, because of the travel in the ether." Imani took a sip of her mug. "You did it, Charlie! You helped guide a lost soul through the Veil to her eternal rest!" She smiled at me.

"It felt like a dream." I said. It seemed like it had happened years ago and I could barely remember it. I took a sip of the drink- it tasted like an herbal tea that my mom used to drink-and then I remembered my mom, what had happened right before we left.

I started to cry. "My mom-she was there-how could she be there? I-I just wanted-I wanted to talk to her for a second, or-" The tears started pouring down my face. "I just w-wanted to s-say g-good-b-bye!"

Daddy looked up at Imani. "What the hell? I thought you said you were in the Veil, not in the afterlife!"

"We were in the Veil, which leads to the afterlife." Imani's voice was calm. "I was with her the whole time, Dean, and I would not have let her cross over. Castiel was there too, and he prevented her from moving."

"Well that's just great." Daddy said sarcastically. "My kid goes into the Veil to help someone and ends up wanting to cross over to see her dead mother. Never again, you hear me?"

I started crying harder. "I-I c-couldn't move or t-talk, I j-just w-wanted-"

"Castiel was holding you and took away your voice momentarily so you would not stir up more energy and call anything forth." Imani told me.

"Call anything forth?" Daddy sounded outraged.

Uncle Sam spoke up, his voice calm and firm. "Dean, can we not do this right now? We can discuss that later. Charlie and Imani just came out of an intense experience and they need our support and care. Let's just make sure they're warm and comfortable, huh?"

Daddy huffed a sigh. "All right." He hugged my shoulders. "I just want you to be okay, baby girl." He said.

That reminded me of the joy that Hazel had felt when she saw her family, and I started crying harder.

"What is it, Charlie?" Imani asked gently.

"She-she was so happy when they came to get her, could you feel it?"

She smiled at me. "Yes, I did, and it was a wonderful thing, to be able to witness that, wasn't it? We helped reunite a family."

"Yeah." I sniffled.

Grandpa John brought over a tissue and I took it and wiped my eyes. "Thanks."

I leaned on Daddy's chest, suddenly feeling exhausted. "M'tired," I mumbled.

He stroked my hair. "Just rest, then. I'll be here with you."

I closed my eyes and listened to the voices of the grownups around me talking quietly.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The translation of the Latin Prayer is: "Welcome this soul to paradise; Grant her an entrance into the land of light and joy; We commend her and entrust her soul to the Creator; Go now in peace to your eternal rest." And yes, I wrote it and translated it into Latin.

I tried to present the idea of the Veil and the afterlife as noncommittally as possible, because I know there are many different religions in the world and they all have different ideas about the afterlife. Interestingly, after I came up with the idea about there being a bridge that the characters walk over to cross into the afterlife, I watched the kid's movie Coco. (If you haven't seen it, you should, it's an adorable story with a great message and music!) In the movie, it shows the afterlife just like I had envisioned it, as a bridge that people walk over. So maybe that idea is embedded in our consciousnesses? I don't know...at any rate, I hope that everyone could envision what I was trying to convey in the chapter and I hope you liked it!