"Oh if I go there will be trooouble, but if I stay it will double. So come on please let me know… should I stay or should I go!" We all whoop as Aatami delivers his solo.
"Nice. You should be on American Idol or something." I tell him, and he rolls his eyes.
"Whatever. How close are we?" He directs his question to Sam. Dean stayed behind because there weren't enough seats in the Impala. Sam seemed surprised that Dean was letting him drive the Impala with a bunch of kids in it, but we promised not to spill anything and Dean reluctantly let us go.
"We're actually just a few minutes away. We're in Marionville." Sam replies. I look out the passenger side window and watch the segmented fields separated by trees fly by. The terrain is a lot like Sioux Falls, but with more cows and less hills.
Soon enough, we reach a small, run down looking neighborhood. Sam turns onto Sims Street, and we park in front of the only house on it. The small white house is basically just a mobile home on foundation.
"Okay, so I am a paranormal investigator, and you two," he points at me and Aatami, "are my interns. Nydia and Tris, you're gonna have to stay in the car, because it would look pretty sketchy if I had four interns." We all nod and me and Aatami follow him out of the car.
We climb the wooden stairs to the small porch and put on stiff smiles when Ellen opens the door.
"Who are you?" She asks, scowling at us.
"I'm Sam Donovan, and these are my interns, Delilah and Aatami. We're paranormal investigators, and we would like to speak with you about your encounter with a supernatural being a few years back."
Her frown deepens, but she steps aside to let us in.
The inside of the trailer isn't any better-looking than the outside. We sit down on a brown sofa that looks like it hasn't been cleaned since 1998, and Ellen sits across from us on a mysteriously stained ottoman.
"So." She starts. "You wanna know about the djinn."
"Uh, yeah. We do." I respond.
"Okay. So I was just at Johnson's Shut-ins, and I was camping. It was fall, and it was pretty cold, so there wasn't anyone around me. I was in my tent, and I heard something, so I went outside to investigate. Out there in the forest, I saw a man. And he had these- these glowing blue tattoos. And- and he was drinking some poor animals blood.
Then he saw me, and I thought he was gonna kill me. I really did. But- but he just said, I don't really remember it all, but I have a pretty good memory, so here's what I think he said: 'oba kenak. oba gaylavenu ayta, caleya samang ha vanu ayta.' And then- and then it was like someone stabbed me. It hurt, but I didn't bleed. It didn't do any real damage, just the feeling of it. And then when I looked in the mirror later, I had the same tattoos that the man had. And they never stop growing. They're all over my body now. The last place they'll be is on my face. And then- when the tattoos get to my face, I think- I think I'll be one of them."
"What do you mean you'll be one of them?" I ask.
"I- I've had djinn-like cravings for months now. Red meat, stuff like that. I made a poultice that slows down the spread, but as far as I can tell, there's nothing that will stop it. I'm becoming a djinn. I've started cutting off family members and friends, getting ready for the transformation. I've been looking for someone that would be willing to put me down afterwards for a while, and I think you might be the one to do it." She says this to Sam.
"What?" Aatami cuts in. "No! No way! No one is going to put an innocent person down!"
"I won't be innocent by then, son." Ellen says softly. "I can feel it coming. It's faster now. It used to only grow once every few days, but now it's growing every couple hours. I'm going to transform, and it's going to be this week."
"We will find a cure, ma'am." Sam says. "You won't turn."
"I assure you, I will. I have spent years searching. There is not a cure."
"Well, all due respect, but we have much more abundant resources than you."
Ellen narrows her eyes. "You seem very close to this issue." She glances at each of us, and her eyes widen when she lands on me. "Oh. I see. You know, since I'm turning into a djinn, I can get glances of people's greatest desires. And your greatest desire, Delilah, is to cure your sister." Her eyes soften and she looks at her hands, which are covered in blue tattoos. I don't know how I didn't notice them before. "I'm very sorry, but your sister is doomed, just like me. I can give you the poultice to slow down her transformation, but you might want to start saying your goodbyes."
I stand up, glaring at Ellen. "No! I am going to save Tris! What do you know about supernatural creatures? You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time! I am not going to be reunited with my sister after months just to lose her to some dumbass djinn tattoo curse! So you can fuck off!"
I storm out of the trailer and slam into the Impala. Nydia and Tris both clearly want to ask me what happened, but something about my facial expression must tell them not to, because they stay quiet.
A few minutes later, Sam and Aatami emerge from the trailer. When they get in the car, Aatami hands a jar to Tris and says, "Just apply it once a day."
"What happened?" Nydia asks the road, clearly not sure if she's gonna get an answer.
"Not much." Sam lies. "She mostly just told us what we already knew, and gave us that poultice to slow down the spreading."
"Oh. Okay." Nydia says, but neither she nor Tris seem to believe what Sam told her.
We quickly leave Hurley behind us, and this time nobody sings along to the music on the radio.
A/N: I'm back! And I'm sorry. It's been a really busy week, and I've had a little bit of writer's block. I'll get back to my schedule, I promise.