Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.
"I… I see…something blue," Addie murmured gazing deeply into the crystal ball she was hunched over. Waves began crashing before her eyes. "Water!" She sat up abruptly and watched the young woman across from her with wide eyes.
"How did you…how did you know that?" the young woman shrieked, clasping her hand to her mouth.
"Wait! That's not all!" Addie began to wave her hands theatrically around the crystal ball, all the while keeping an eye on her customer. It was almost too easy. Put on a good show and the customer will tip generously. Put on a good show and be accurate, well, that was what paid her rent.
"A lake…hold on, I'm getting a name," Addie squinted her eyes shut and allowed her mind to wander, drifting between various pie recipes and tort review for the upcoming exam. A name began to form in her mind, Erie. "Lake Erie," she said confidently.
"That's…incredible," the young woman said, running her hands over her face in disbelief. "That's where I'm from! Well, Erie, Pennsylvania anyway. What else do you see?" The young woman leaned in closely and stared hard into the ball, as if she too could see what was within if she stared long and hard enough.
Addie raised an eyebrow, "Are you anticipating something?" she asked.
"W-what? No…uh, no."
"Okay…well, let's see what the crystal says," Addie watched the young woman for a moment and then smiled, placing her hands on the crystal ball and leaning her head back, eyes shut tightly once again. Her mind began drifting, first to pie recipes, then to various law definitions, then to fog.
The waves lapped gently against a sandy shoreline while sunbeams cast a bright glare on the surface of the water. Two young girls were digging earnestly in the sand, giggling, and intermittently throwing handfuls of sand at one another. One was pale with dark brown hair and eyes, the other was bronzed with golden waves and dark eyes. They couldn't have been older than eleven or twelve years old.
"Jessie," the dark haired one piped up to the blonde, "I dare you to run out to the cut off." Jessie, the blonde, stared at the dark-haired girl for a moment, then rolled her eyes.
"And why would I do that, Amber?" she asked.
"Because you're a chicken and you won't do it," Amber retorted, crossing her arms.
"The water's probably freezing," Jessie cried.
"You're such a baby," Amber sneered. "No wonder Josh doesn't like you."
"Fine!" Jessie yelled, turning very red and standing up. She made her way slowly to the water's edge, allowing the clear waves to lap over her feet. The tide pulled back and her toes were buried in the sand. She shivered and turned around to face her sister. Amber rolled her eyes and motioned for her to go.
Jessie sucked in a deep breath and dashed out into the water. When the water reached her waist, she stopped.
"I don't think that's the cut off," Amber yelled from the shore. She too, was now standing with her feet in the water, watching her sister expectantly. "Go on, you know how far to go out."
"Amber, I'm freezing! If I go out any further, I might cramp up!"
"Awww, baby want her binky?"
Jessie let out a loud cry of frustration and continued out until the water reached her shoulders. Her lips were slightly blue as she turned once again to face her sister. Her head still bobbing up and down from the small waves coming to shore. From the shoreline, Amber grinned with satisfaction.
"Okay, okay," she said, "you win! You can come back now."
Amber watched as Jessie began to slowly make her way back. Then, she saw her sister's eyes widen and watched her be pulled several feet back from the shoreline.
"Jessie, what are you doing?" Amber yelled, dashing out in to the water.
"I—I'm being pulled! Something's pulling me!" Jessie cried out. She screamed and was pulled another few feet away from the shoreline.
"Shit," Amber muttered. She looked all around and began screaming for help, but there was no one around. "Jessie! Jessie, listen to me, try to keep treading water!"
The young girl was thrashing around in the water, trying desperately to swim towards the shore, but going nowhere. Amber ran to their blanket and grabbed her cellphone. As she dialed 911, she watched her sister's head disappear under the waves.
"Holy shit," Addie breathed, as she was kicked from the vision and back to reality. She stared blankly at the young woman in front of her and immediately recognized the dark hair and pale complexion.
"Well? What did you see?" Amber asked her. Addie felt a pang of guilt mixed with disgust stir in her stomach.
"What happened to your sister?"
Amber's eyes filled with tears and she buried her face in her hands. When she reemerged, her mascara was running, her eyes were bloodshot, and her lipstick was smeared. She cleared her throat and let out a small, pathetic sob.
"She—well, she didn't make it," she choked out. "She was caught in a rip current and the rescue team came and was able to pull her out of the water. They gave her CPR for forever, but she was gone…and it was all my fault. But you want to know the worst part? I blamed it on her. I blamed the whole thing on my sister. I told the paramedics that she wanted to go swimming but I told her not to. I lied about everything and to this day, my parents have no idea it was my fault."
"I take it you've been seeing her lately?" Addie asked. She had heard many stories like this before, and usually these people, these guilty people were drawn to psychics and mystics for the sake of putting an end to whatever suffering they were enduring from the ones they've killed.
"Yes! Yes, I see her all the time now," Amber cried, tears now unrestrainedly pouring down her face. "I just want to tell her I'm sorry and that I love her and it's my fault."
Addie resisted rolling her eyes. Typical. The one responsible wants to own up to the act years and years after it's happened and only after she's begun seeing her dead sister around every corner. She couldn't say that to a paying client though, so she put on her best concerned and sympathetic face.
"I understand, Amber," she said softly, making her voice as comforting as possible. "Would you like me to summon her?"
"You can do that?" Amber asked, her eyes wide.
"I can do all things," Addie said, in a slightly pained voice, reciting a line Roscoe had taught her early on. She used to say, "Uh, yeah, I guess," whenever a client asked her if she could do something, but Roscoe said to maintain the mystery and make the money, she needed to be more enigmatic. Still, saying she could do all things never sounded right to her. She can't do all things, hell, she can't even bake a pie worthy of the great annual bake-off…or pass her upcoming tort exam, she reminded herself.
Amber was watching her and Addie realized she had zone out. Whatever, it probably added to the mystery.
"Shall we call on your sister then?" Addie asked, moving the crystal ball to the side of the table.
"Roscoe's House of Mystique," Dean read aloud, holding up the piece of paper the bartender had given him and comparing the names. "Sounds like a low budget strip club if you ask me."
"Kinda," Sam replied. The two examined the storefront. The door was wide open and inside Sam and Dean could see paraphernalia for every type of magic on the face of the earth. "What kind of place is this?" Sam murmured.
"I have no idea, Sammy, but with all that hoodoo in there, I suspect our friend Roscoe might be up to something shady," Dean replied, pocketing the paper.
Inside the shop there was movement, Sam and Dean watched as a young girl with dark hair handed over a wad of cash and came out clutching a brown paper bag. As she approached Sam and Dean, they noticed her eyes were bloodshot and she was holding on to the paper bag as if her life depended on it.
"Weird," Dean muttered as the young woman brushed past them. "But we've done worse."
Sam and Dean entered the shop and wandered through the various aisles of talismans, charms, and spell books. The shelves were lined with occult lore for all kinds of magic and hoodoo. Sam chose one of the books, Witchcraft Through the Ages, and skimmed a few of the chapters. As he skimmed through the pages, stopping when it came a chapter entitled "The Rise of the Unlimited."
"Sam," Dean whispered, grinning from ear to ear and pulling Sam out of his reverie, "check this out." Sam glanced up from the book to find his brother holding a shrunken head. He rolled his eyes, slammed the book shut, and put it back on the shelf.
"Dude, put that down, that's disgusting."
"Can I help you gentlemen?" a smooth voice laced with a Jamaican accent interrupted the two brothers. Sam and Dean turned to find a middle-aged African American man standing behind them, his hands crossed neatly in front of him. "Are you looking for anything in particular?"
"No, no, just looking," Dean piped up, ungracefully putting the shrunken head back on the shelf and knocking over a few wooden statues.
"Ah, well if you need any help, I am more than happy to assist. I am familiar with all parts of the mystical realm," the man replied, smiling, his eyes twinkling.
"I'm sure you are," Dean muttered under his breath. Sam gave him a sharp look.
"I am Roscoe," the man offered. "I've spent my whole life collecting things related to witchcraft and the occult, and I can vouch for my collection and my knowledge."
"It's nice to meet you, sir," Sam offered. Dean was watching Roscoe suspiciously. "My brother and I…we're tourists, and we don't dabble in magic at all really, but we are interested in the lore."
"Ahhh!" Roscoe smiled broadly. "Can I interest you in a complementary telling? Some of my finest work out back, and I know they would be willing to answer any questions you have, even ones you don't believe there are answers for."
"We would love to take you up on that," Dean chimed in. "Do you take cash?"
A/N: Thank you to all who are reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoyed chapter 5!
Kathy – Thank you so much for sticking with the story and reviewing! I appreciate it! Hopefully you enjoy chapter 5!
Zan8901 – Yay! I'm glad you like it! Pie is soooo good! Addie will be meeting Sam and Dean very soon so keep checking back, and I hope you enjoy chapter 5! Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Olive – Here's your update! Thank you for reading and reviewing!