Twenty-three Years Later – Present Day
Anna Murphy groaned right back at her class. "Yes, you will read two chapters by tomorrow. And I expect you guys to know the material this time." The end bell rang. "Goodbye!"
Anna had to chuckle as the classroom emptied of her students. They protested the assignments, but they all did them anyways. I got lucky with students who actually want to learn.
As she made her way out of the building and to her car, Anna felt something was a little off. Like the sun wasn't shining just right. But she shook off the feeling and got in her car for the drive home.
As she made her way through town, the feeling that something wasn't quite right came back to haunt her. I've had this feeling ever since Uncle Jim was killed. I need to get past this grief, Anna thought as tears began to cloud her eyes.
After turning onto the one-car lane to her farm, the feeling began to get stronger. Someone is at the farm. When she parked the car, Anna reached into her glove box and pulled out a pistol and a dagger. She placed the gun in her right coat pocket and dagger in her left pocket. Everything looked normal, but something was gnawing in the back of her mind.
Anna pulled her bag out of the back seat and made her way to the farmhouse. She stood on the porch for a moment, one hand reaching for the door handle. Snap out of this, lady! It's just an overactive imagination! Anna grabbed knob and twisted, opening the door. She walked into her kitchen, which looked as it did every other day of the week, every other week of the year. See, silly, no ghosts!
She made her way upstairs to her bedroom to change into "work" clothes, because she had chores to do. When she walked into her room, she let out a strangled scream of surprise.
"Hello, Annie." John Winchester lifted his head. He was sitting on the edge of her bed with bandages covering parts of his face and body.
"What in the name of God have you gotten yourself into this time, John Winchester?" Anna jumped when she heard a voice behind her.
"The same thing we did." Dean winced as he leaned on the doorjamb.
Anna stood there for a moment, looking back and forth between John and his sons. They all looked like they had been to hell and back.
"Did you get that son-of-a-bitch that killed Uncle Jim?" Anna got a bit snarly.
"Yeah, we got her." Sam walked gingerly into the room and sat on the bed beside his father.
"Did you get the one that killed Mary and Jess?" Anna asked, gentler this time.
The look that John had in his eyes when his eyes made contact with hers said it all. The grief, anger, frustration, and fear that passed over his face had Anna nearly in tears. She moved closer to her long-time friend and stroked her hand against the side of his face as tears slid down his face. "I will get it before the year is out," John growled.
"In the meantime, you three look like you need rest, some home cooking, and my special care."
Sam chuckled. "Just don't try to tickle me. It hurts too much."
Anna looked at him. "I'm surprised you remember that."
"Remember what?" Dean was confused.
"The first time I met you guys I was tickling Sam in just a few minutes."
"I remember they were both climbing all over you in a matter of minutes." John added as he smiled from the sweet memory.
"If nostalgia time is over, would you three gentlemen please vacate my room so I may change?" Anna batted her eyelashes at the men.
"Chores?" Dean winced as he pulled away from the doorframe that was holding him up.
"Yep. I have a few animals that get a bit ornery if they aren't fed on a regular basis." Anna shoed the men out of the room, shut the door and leaned back onto it. Oh God, they look so bad. Especially John. He looks defeated.
A few hours later, the Winchester men were breathing sighs of satisfaction from the huge meal that Anna had just fed them. "I forgot how good your baked chicken was, Annie." John remarked as he started to get up from the table.
"Sit. You need to let that food digest a bit before you get up." Anna started to gather up plates and cutlery.
"No dessert?" Dean looked disappointed.
"Nope, not tonight but maybe tomorrow. It'll be Saturday and I'll have time to bake a cake."
Anna and John both laughed at the looks on his sons' faces.
"Can you make that chocolate one?" Dean was practically salivating already.
"No, how about a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting?" Sam put in his own request.
Anna looked over at John. "Do you have any requests?"
John chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, the burnt sugar cake that your grandma used to make."
"Hm. Which one should I make? Eenie, miney, mo." Anna laughed as she made her way to her pantry to check for ingredients. After she opened the door and turned on the light, Anna stopped and turned back toward the men.
"Annie, what's the matter?" Sam was already out of his chair and walking toward Anna.
Anna out up her hand to stop Sam from advancing. "Now I know why I felt so off today. It just felt wrong today." Anna was muttering to herself.
"What was wrong today?" John was worried, since Annie had shown psychic abilities since her teen years.
"I felt weird when I was leaving the school, like the sun wasn't shining the right way. It just felt off. And I just remembered why." Anna walked back to the table.
"What was the reason?" Dean asked.
Anna turned to him. "You know what we were doing twenty-three years ago tonight?"
Dean's eyebrows came together as he searched his memory for this 'event' from when he was six. His face opened up as he remembered that night. "I gave you that athame you used to kill the crone."
"That was tonight?" John was searching for that particular memory.
Anna walked over to a cupboard and pulled a velvet bag from the shelf. "I've kept that athame safe since then." She pulled on the cords so the bag opened and she pulled the athame free.
"What's the significance of this?" Sam was getting more confused.
"What do you feel?" John was beginning to catch onto to Anna's intent, and was hoping that he was wrong.
"I don't think I killed that crone twenty-three years ago."
"Why do you say that Annie?" Dean asked, a little less confused than Sam, but still not completely up to speed.
"I feel her in my head again!" Anna shouted to no one in particular. "Get out of here, you BITCH, and leave me alone!"
John was up and out of his chair in an instant, coming round the table to shake Anna. "Annie, do NOT let her get control of you."
Anna looked up at John, the tears in her eyes starting to spill down her cheeks. "She is screaming in my head." Anna said, softly.
"I hear her." Sam was concentrating on the psychic connection between Anna and the crone. "She's screaming about how Annie ruined her plans the last time." His eyes fluttered shut, and after a few moments, they opened suddenly. "She's outside on the porch."
"I know Annie has every kind of protection on this house, so she can't get in." John had an arm around the woman and was holding her upright.
"But something was wrong with that the last time." Dean pointed out. "She came back. Maybe Annie needs to be in an unprotected area for the kill to take."
John nodded. "It's possible. Open the door so I can take Annie outside."
Dean went to open the door as John maneuvered Anna toward the portal.
"Don't forget this, Dad." Sam held out the athame.
"Thanks." John took the dagger from his son and pressed it into Anna's hand.
"She's getting louder in my head." Anna whispered to John as they went through the doorway.
John leaned Anna against him, and then held her head against his face. "You can do this Annie. You have our faith and love behind you," he whispered into her ear as she became aware of her surroundings.
Anna moved away from him, and walked down the steps of the porch. "Come here you BITCH!" She screamed into the dark.
The crone came walking through the yard form the direction of the barn. She was whispering odd sounds and cackling as she stopped a few feet from Anna. The woman and the crone looked at each other. The men knew there was a battle raging that only one them could hear.
"What's going on Sammy?" John didn't take his eyes of Anna.
"They are screaming at each other. The crone is pissed at Annie for spoiling her plans, and Annie just wants her gone for good."
The crone started to move closer to Anna, and the men tensed up. Anna shifted her arm up so that she could stab the athame into the crone, and tried to drive the blade home, but the crone dodged and Anna had to rebalance quickly before she fell. After another attempt to stab the crone, Anna got the blade inserted into the crone's chest. The crone turned to dust before their eyes.
Anna swooned as the men reached her and slowed her contact with the ground.
"Annie, talk to me," John shook her slightly to get a response.
"I could use some water." Anna opened her eyes and saw the three men surrounding her. "And one of you should salt her ashes. Then she can never come back."
