Chapter Five
Annie felt outside of herself as she made her way down the aisle. Jack smiled at her from the altar and her heart warmed. Her nerves calmed. Everything was going to be fine. Her whole future lay right there in those sweet brown eyes.
Dean's arm tightened around hers and Annie made the mistake of looking at him. Her heart skipped and began a quick thrumming in her chest. I can't do this. Oh God. Her mouth went dry and she almost stopped. She almost stopped. Then Dean was leaning in, his eyes dark and unreadable. Annie was shaking as his lips pressed against her cheek and her mind flashed to his mouth on her neck and his hands on her, everywhere.
"Dean...I can't," She stammered quietly.
Dean pulled back, eyes shining fiercely, then he closed them and she felt a shudder go through him. He cleared his throat and gave her a small smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Sure you can. Can't let the happy, pompous babies-in-waiting down now can ya?" He winked at her but his voice was thick and choked over the words. When he hugged her again, Annie felt him trembling. "Besides, I haven't eaten all day and when this damn thing's over I'm making a beeline for the buffet table before I hightail it out of here.
Annie's eyes shone with tears. He's right, she reminded herself. Of course he's right. This is what I want. Love, a home, children, a future. Jack stepped up and Dean stepped back. Again, Annie felt a sort of weightless, confused panic. Then Jack took her hand and she was anchored again. She watched as Dean took his seat next to Jack's parents and then she turned to face Father Bamber.
The young priest smiled at Annie, then Jack and began the ceremony. When he got to the exchanging of the vows, Annie felt the entire church go very cold. She looked back in surprise wondering if the heater had somehow gotten busted all of sudden.
A woman stood at the back of the church. She wore a long nightgown with a high ruffled collar. Her hair was red and curled in soft waves on her shoulders. She smiled at Annie then began to walk down the aisle towards her. Her face radiated love and her eyes held Annie's and she...glided.
Nobody else seemed to be able to see her, Anne thought distantly, held spellbound by the woman.
"Do you Annie Winchester, take Jack Kennedy..."
The woman stroked Annie's hair and cheek while Annie stood, unable to move, her whole body suffused with warmth. The woman's green eyes warmed as she cupped Annie's chin. "Not him," she said softly, then leaned in and kissed her cheek.
Everyone sat calmly, watching and waiting. No one gave any indication that anything out of the ordinary was happening. No strange woman in her pajama's standing between the bride and groom.
Annie had seen ghosts before. In a family of ghost hunters and demon ass-kickers, the novelty and fear never really wore off but you became accustomed to seeing things other people couldn't or didn't believe in. This woman didn't frighten Annie even though she knew she was a spirit of some kind and nobody else could see her.
She smiled at Annie and then walked over to the row of white prayer candles over a large arrangement of white lilies.
Father Bamber was calling Annie's name. Annie jerked slightly, forcing her attention back to the priest and realized he was waiting for her 'I do.' She blinked, disoriented. What was she saying 'I do' to again? Loving, honoring, cherishing, no obeying-thank you very much. Right. She opened her mouth to reply, to bind herself to this man she loved, to walk through the door to happiness instead of the constant death and doom she had grown up with.
Then Annie saw the flames.
She stared at the flowers that were now ablaze with a second of incredulous fascination. The woman was gone.
The church came alive as people began to scream and push towards the exit.
Jack grabbed Annie and held her close as Father Bamber shouted himself hoarse to be heard above the panicked crowd to tell them about the alternate exits available and to try and keep calm.
Her eyes burned from the heat and spreading smoke as the priest led her and Jack towards the closest exit. Her heel caught in the fabric of her train and Jack quickly grabbed her around the waist to keep her upright and then gathered the train up in his hands.
The switch from intense heat to the cool night stole her breath and bit at her cheeks.
"Are you okay?" Jack asked, his blinking to get accustomed to the lack of light as he tried to check her for any injury.
"Yes, I'm..." Annie's voice trailed off and something niggled at the back of her mind. Something was missing. Oh God. She literally felt her heart stop in her chest for a split second before she turned away from Jack and began looking around frantically for the one person she hadn't seen struggling among the crowd to get out. "Dean! Oh my God! Where's Dean?" She shrieked desperately, digging her fingers into the Jack's arms.
"Annie, stay calm, okay? He's probably just in front of one of the other exits." Jack assured her leaning to kiss her forehead.
Before his lips could connect, Annie gathered her train and took off running around to the front of the church. Her lungs burned painfully and her heart hammered as she looked among the horrified groups for Dean. "Have you seen Dean?" She went from person to person, wanting to scream in fury and frustration when most of them stared back at her blankly. "Dean! He walked me down the aisle!"
Finally Mrs Thrace, an elderly cousin of Jack's mother nodded and told her, "Oh the handsome little fella? Why I thought his name was Sam, dear?"
"No, Sam couldn't--Never mind, have you seen him?"
"Why yes, I saw him run through the door behind the altar, you mean he hasn't come out yet? Oh my goodness!"
Annie's knees buckled. Oh my God. Not him, I beg you. Not Dean! She grabbed her goddamned train and bolted towards the front entrance, praying with all her might that the man she loved was still alive.
"For God's sake, where are you going?" Jack asked grabbing Annie and pulling her off the steps that led up to the heavy wooden doors.
Annie fought against his grip, violently. "He's still inside! Let me go! Let me go!" She screamed.
"No! Stop this! You are not going in there. The whole thing could come crashing down on you any second." Jack reminded her.
"Jack, please! Please, I can't leave him in there. I can't. What if he doesn't make it out? Jack, someone has to go in! What if he's trapped somewhere? For God's sake, let me fucking go!" Annie screamed, tears of fear and hopelessness sliding down her face.
"Take it easy. I'll go find him okay? He'll be fine. I'll go get him." Jack promised.
Annie stopped struggling for a second and his grip on her eased. "Are you out of your mind? No! I'm going!"
Then Jack was holding her again. "You cannot go anywhere in that dress, now stay put. I promise, I'll get him out." Annie hesitated and Jack gave her a soft smile. "I'll be careful, don't worry. He'll get out. I'll get him." He kissed her mouth deeply and Annie stood shaking against him. Not him, she heard the woman's voice in her head. The woman who had looked at her so lovingly and then set fire to the church. Who the hell was she?
"Where the hell is he going?" Father Bamber demanded a cell phone in his hand as he rushed towards Annie.
"Dean's still inside, Jack went to go pull him out."
"For God's sake, he should have waited for the fire department! They're on their way."
"We can't wait for them, Dean could be trapped in there or--" No, No! Annie would not even consider that he was already dead. He must have seen her, the woman and gone after her, damn him!
Father Bamber held her as they waited, safely away from the burning church.
Annie kept praying. Not him, nothimnothimnothimnothim. Over and over the plea stabbed through her heart.
When the windows started getting blown out, Annie's knees buckles and she fell on the church lawn, begging and crying.
The sounds of the fire trucks arriving sent murmurs of relief and hope through the crowd.
Then someone was coming through the smoke and flames at the mouth of the church.
Nothimnothimnothimnothim Annie pleaded as Jack's mother held on to her.
One person. One man came out coughing and tripping down the stairs.
Dean.
A.N:
Liz122474: Thankie! I'm glad you like my BSG stuff too! Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Zelinia: I definitely make sure my OFC are as realistic as I can make them in the context of the story. Sometimes, they make bad choices and you want to smack them yet they're still good, real people. Perfect characters are not in my repertoire.
Dean wouldn't stop the wedding, as much as he wants to! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Jj2629: Thankie for your lovely feedback! Hope you like this chapter too!
PadFootCc: Glad you're enjoying it! Hope you like this chapter.
Starrfireflyfan: Sam will definitely be in this story. It'll be the three of them as the main characters. As for whether Dean and Annie will finally get their crap together and start shtupping like bunnies, do you really wanna know? (laughs) Hope you enjoy this chapter!