Supernatural in its entirety copyright Kripke Enterprises / Warner Bros. Entertainment / The CW
A/N1: I began watching Supernatural on a Netflix suggestion during the long pandemic hours at home in 2021. I didn't think I'd like it, honestly. It seemed campy, its only purpose to highlight sexy men and sexier women. I won't deny that my first impressions have held, but the show has a certain charm and a sense of humor that has made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion. It cannot resist poking fun at itself! When the first episode referenced The X-Files, my obsession in the nineties, I decided that I would give it a try, and then the references kept sneaking in ("You ever been struck by lightning? It ain't fun."). Then I noticed how often the Winchesters came through Colorado, my current home, and how often they also visited South Dakota, my childhood home. It was like a personal tap on the shoulder.
Season four, in particular, piqued my interest with its introduction of angels, and that is how this What If came to be. It takes place between S04 E15, "Death Takes a Holiday" and S4 E16, "On the Head of a Pin." I meant it to be its own #MonsterOfTheWeek #Casefic episode, but I think it branched into a pitch for an animated film that would probably be called Supernatural: THE MOVIE.
I wasn't going to write another fanfic, especially since I'm so terrible at completing those I start. Also, I haven't finished watching the TV series (at the time of writing this, I am in the midst of S10). But then I started hearing about angels in my music. Like, all the time. Then I got a fortune in a fortune cookie. Angels are among us. I couldn't ignore the idea any longer.
Of course, what is a Supernatural fanfic without a playlist? You can listen to mine at tinyurl dot com /amongustunes.
I want to mention some friends, fellow fans, and reviewers for welcoming me into the #SPNFamily, their glorious encouragement, their kind but honest critique, helping me work through the rough spots (many, many times), providing valuable research-type information, a title for a collection of oneshots, a forgotten name for a demon, or just joining me in a geek-out session: allurasgrace, background-chan, CeciandJack, Darwin, happyperson42, IHeartSPN, JaniceC678, Kharybdis, mag1c0, Melia, MiMiMargot, Momochan77, Moonlight Willows, ncsupnatfan, ooooooo, rachelc, St4r Hunter, Topkicker26, Tirjasdyn, trendykitty, Xxtoushirou, YaoiLovinKitsune, and Zevon Price.
Special thanks go to my mother, Sylvia Wensing, and my friend, skorp, for the amazing beta work they did on this project. Every suggestion made my writing stronger, and for that, I can't thank either of them enough. (Love you, Mama!)
I also want to thank Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, Robert Wisdom, Katherine Boecher, Jim Beaver, Traci Dinwiddie, Julie McNiven, Genevieve Padalecki, Christopher Heyerdahl, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lindsey McKeon, Alona Tal, and Rob Benedict for unknowingly letting me borrow against their work. Creator Eric Kripke and the show's various producers, including The X-Files veterans Kim Manners (1951 – 2009) and John Shiban, for bringing us this universe to play in. And all the marvelous SPN directors and screenwriters and crew who made us love, made us hate, made us laugh, and made us cry. It's my first time writing this type of story, one based on real actors rather than video game characters or cartoons. Kinda mystery, kinda grown-up. It's all new to me, but I hope you have as much fun with it as I did.
4/8/2021—8/9/2022
Lastly, I want to thank the amazing people at Wattpad for their acceptance of Among Us: A Supernatural Novel to the #Wattys2022 Shortlist!
10/19/2022
the road so far . . .
(This section is for friends and family who aren't fans ... everyone else can skip to the next section!)
Dean and Sam Winchester were trained by their father, John, to hunt all things supernatural after their mother was mysteriously killed in a fire in Sam's nursery. However, at twenty-two years old, Sam wants a normal life. He leaves his father and brother to attend law school at Stanford while they continue the Family Business. Then, John goes missing. Dean calls on Sam to help him find their father.
Together, the brothers continue hunting in John's wake. They come up against some awful truths amid all the monsters: A yellow-eyed demon killed their mother because she interrupted him feeding six-month-old Sam his blood. The demon later takes John's life and soul in a deal that saves Dean from a reaper. The demon blood within Sam grants him prophetic visions, but he isn't the only child so cursed.
Azazel, the yellow-eyed demon, abducts Sam and four others of "his children." He leaves them in a ghost town to fight in a battle royal. Azazel explains that he needs one of them, neither human nor demon and therefore stronger than either, to lead the armies of Hell during the upcoming Apocalypse. Sam, refusing to shoulder this fate, chooses not to fight. He is killed by another of the psychics.
Unable to accept the loss of his little brother, who, at four years old, he carried out of the nursery fire, Dean makes a deal with a crossroads demon: He gets his brother back at the cost of his own soul and one last year of life.
Meanwhile, Azazel's plan works up to a point. The psychic who took Sam's life opens a Hell Gate, releasing a horde of demons on Earth. With the help of John's spirit, Dean kills Azazel. Sam's psychic abilities go dormant in the process.
With Azazel gone, Hell's army sails rudderless until Lilith steps into Sam's intended place. She is the first demon created by Lucifer, the fallen archangel. She sends her hellhounds to collect on the deal the crossroads demon made with Dean. The hounds kill him and take his soul to Hell. Four months pass.
For those four months, Alastair, the Grand Torturer of Hell, rips apart Dean's soul. At the end of each day, he offers Dean a deal: Alastair will take Dean off the rack if Dean puts another soul on it in his place. However, time runs differently in Hell. After thirty years of telling Alastair no, Dean finally agrees. At that moment, though the brothers don't know it, he fulfills a prophecy. He becomes the "righteous man" who sheds blood in Hell. This is the breaking of the first seal.
After that, Lilith begins breaking the remaining sixty-five seals that keep Lucifer locked in his Cage. Another demon, Ruby, teams up with Sam to defeat her. Ruby says he is the only one who can prevent the Apocalypse and save the world. She feeds him her blood, a highly addictive substance, which reawakens and strengthens his latent psychic abilities.
Meanwhile, a host of angels lay siege to Hell to rescue Dean. Though they are too late to prevent the breaking of the first seal, the seraph Castiel grips Dean's tortured soul tight and raises him from perdition, hoping that Dean, restored to his body and life, will be able to stop Sam from using his demonic powers.
Until this point, no hunter on Earth knew that angels were real.
. . . now
A/N2: My friends! To my faithful readers, please accept my apologies for returning this story to FanFic dot net and flooding your inboxes with alerts. None of these chapters are actually new, though they are freshly edited. I had to agree to keep the story exclusively on Wattpad until the Wattys winners were announced yesterday. Since I wasn't one of them, I'm moving it back (devil grin). I'm also preparing it for self-publishing. To my new readers, if there are any, I hope you will take this speed trip through Aya's adventures with me.
Wishing you all the best,
Anne