Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.
Approaching the dilapidated building, the woman's long chestnut ringlets swayed in the light breeze as she glanced around with large eyes surveying her surroundings before pushing on the door with the peeling brown paint. Inside, the room was dimly lit, but it did not take long for her eyes to adjust. She paused briefly and inhaled deeply, nostrils expanding to absorb the entirety of the scent—someone was with her. Eyes narrowed, the woman took in the room inch by inch, examining every nook, cranny, and crevice. When the man finally revealed himself from the shadows, she took in a breath of relief.
"Roscoe," she said, a smile creeping up on her lips. "You scared me."
"My apologies," Roscoe purred. His eyes gleamed with excitement, "I wanted to thank you again for sending the hunters my way last night. Everything seems to be in motion, just as you predicted."
"I would hope so. My family have been gifted seers for several generations. I don't make incorrectpredictions. Anyway, the Winchesters were easy enough to bait. They wanted information, so I sent them straight to the source." The woman chuckled shrilly, the sound emitting from her mouth resembling nails going down a chalkboard. She suddenly turned very serious, "Is everything set for tomorrow night?"
Roscoe clasped his hands behind his back and rocked slightly on his heels, "I believe so. The only piece we need in place is Addie."
"That won't be difficult; she can't stay away. Have you noticed how rapidly her powers have been fading? It's delectable, I can practically taste it now," the woman licked her ruby lips. "I'll be so happy to finally be rid of her. I'm so tired of sharing even an ounce of power with that little shit."
"She can harness power without the Source?" Roscoe interjected, looking quizzically at the woman. "I thought the magic could only be channeled through the Source."
"Oh, Roscoe," the woman sighted, rolling her eyes irritably, "don't you know anything? Don't answer that—I already know what you're going to say. She may not have her Source—I stole that from her mother when I cut out her heart to devour her magic—but she still has a connection with the Tree. As do I," the woman dreamily fingered at a gold chain around her neck, hidden beneath her shirt, "without her Source though, the power isn't what it could be. Removing her heart will sever her connection with the Tree and then her power will be rerouted to me through both Sources! It's a beautiful thing, really."
"And then you'll give me some real magic, right?"
The woman smirked, "Wasn't that our deal?" She glanced down at her watch and calculated the hours she had to endure before she could be rid of everyone who was no longer of use to her once she devoured Addie's magic. Roscoe would be one of the first to go.
"I have to go," the woman announced, "my shift at the bar is starting soon. Keep an eye on Addie tonight, got it? Make sure she's ready for tomorrow—she has a bake off to win."
Sam trotted quickly behind Dean. He had no idea where his brother was going and he had a feeling Dean didn't know either.
"Dean, stop," Sam said. "Talk to me; what's going on?"
No answer.
"Dean!" Sam raised his voice. "Stop! We need to talk! What the hell is going on with you? What was that back there?"
Dean stopped abruptly and spun around to face Sam, his face red, "What do you mean 'what was that?' Sam, that was me doing our job, or have you forgotten why we came here? We didn't drive all the way down to the damned swamp to help some witch bitch bake a pie! We came here to find the monster and kill it, like we always do!"
"Yeah, okay, but we also help people who need it. Look, can we cut the bullshit? You're on edge all the time, you barely sleep, you get angry at the smallest things, and you almost shot an innocent woman—"
"She's a witch, Sam. She's far from innocent," Dean said darkly, casting side glances at the people who were walking by them hurriedly, looking slightly concerned.
"So what? She's a witch. She didn't kill us! She didn't make any moves to hurt us. But that's not the point, Dean. You're not yourself. Ever since Cain put the Mark on you, you've been unhinged. This isn't you, Dean."
Never one for expressing his emotions or wearing his heart on his sleeve, Dean felt something unclamp from his heart for a brief moment, allowing raw feeling to course through his body. It was an odd feeling—a mixture of fear, regret, and anger.
He knew Sam was worried about him. He was worried about himself and the type of rage the Mark made him feel constantly. Dean felt as if he were trapped in a room with no windows or doors, completely empty and black, and no matter how much he tried to get out, the room only became more confining.
Dean inhaled deeply and unclenched his fists, dissipating the whiteness of his knuckles, "Sammy, I don't know what's going on with me," he murmured, lowering his head.
Sam put a hand on Dean's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze, "Come on, let's get something to eat and then maybe we can make a game plan from there. We don't have much time, the bake off is tomorrow."
Addie hadn't moved from the spot on the floor she had fallen to when Dean had her at gun point. She couldn't will her body to move, let alone muster up the strength to stand up. The whole situation had escalated quite rapidly and her brain hadn't yet recovered from the shock.
"Addie!" Apollo yelled, rubbing his body against her arms. "Hey! Snap out of it!"
"That was so scary," Addie murmured, burying her head in her hands and allowing tears to freely fall. "Fuck!" she screamed. In the sink, a water glass shattered, sending shards of glass all over the stainless-steel bowl and the counter top. Apollo's fur stood on end, but he made no comment.
She sat that way for several moments more and when she finally removed her hands from her face, her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. Apollo rubbed his whiskers against her leg, attempting to comfort her. Getting to her feet, Addie made her way shakily into the kitchen, noticing the shattered glass in the sink and on the counter. The bowl of apples that sat on the counter had a new glistening quality to it that Addie quickly learned was attributed to the tiny shards of glass scattered about within. She pricked her finger on one and dropped beads of blood on the apples.
"Damn," she said. "Well, that's it. I'm done." Addie popped open the trash can and dumped the apples in, watching the perfectly sliced fruit tumble to the bottom of the bin.
"You're done?" Apollo asked, "You can't make it again?"
"I don't want to make it again! Not after…that! No, I give up. I'm done. Fuck the bake off, fuck those hunters, which, thanks for the heads up there, Apollo…you know, you could've warned me that they wanted my head on a silver platter."
Addie disappeared down the hallway into her bedroom, grabbing her hairbrush and wrenching it through her hair.
"Nope, I'm done. My baking days are over. And while I'm on a roll, my fortune telling days are over too," she said from the bedroom. "From now on it's school and school only. School is safe, it won't get me blown to pieces, at least I hope it won't." Addie threw on a light scarf to go with her new outfit and laced up her sneakers. She wasn't interested in looking overly fancy tonight. In fact, she wanted to blend in as much as possible. She made a mental note to ask Roscoe if she could move her table away from the main thoroughfare.
Grabbing her bag, Addie flipped the switch for the front porch light, "Don't wait up," she said, slamming the door behind her.
-O-
"What do you mean 'you quit?'" Roscoe asked, his eyes wide. "Addie, you can't quit!"
"Look, Roscoe, I really appreciate all that you've done for me the past few years. Really, I do, but something's come up and I can't work for you anymore. I'll finish out the next week, so I can give some of my regulars a heads up, but after that, I'm out. Rosie can have my clients." Addie dragged her table further away from the front door as planned, explaining to Roscoe as she went.
"I know it's none of my business, but what brought this on?"
Addie thought better than to tell him the whole story, "I need to focus on school and working at night and then going to school in the morning is getting a little overwhelming. I'm not getting enough sleep."
"I can let you leave earlier," Roscoe offered.
"Thanks, but no thanks," Addie said, "besides, the best paying customers don't come early in the night, we both know that."
"I'll be sorry to see you leave," Roscoe said. "You've been such a good employee; you really have that magic touch that the clients love. You'll be at the bake-off tomorrow though, right?"
"Actually no," Addie said, arranging her tablecloth and crystal ball. "I wasn't able to make anything for it, so I'm not registering. Honestly, Roscoe, that obsession was such a waste of time. If the police can't figure out what happened to my mom, what makes me think I'll be any better? I'll leave the baking to the people who are good at it."
"I can tell by your face that there's no changing your mind either," Roscoe said. "And I respect that, Addie." Roscoe dug into the pocket of his suit and produced a rather tattered looking piece of paper. He held it out for Addie who looked at him with curious eyes.
"What's this?"
"I was going to give this to you a while ago, but I know how much you like to do things on your own. This is an old family recipe for pear tart—it was my grandmother's recipe. It always got the highest reviews. Look it over, you don't have to try it, but at least think about it."
Addie took the piece of paper and skimmed over the ingredient list. It seemed simple enough to make, but did she want to risk baking the pie and then having to face the wrath of those hunters? They were definitely going to be at the bake-off and Addie didn't want to be within 100 feet of those guys.
"Thanks, Roscoe, I'll think about it," Addie said, pocketing the recipe. Her mind was already spinning though. Maybe one more attempt wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.
A/N: Thank you to everyone for the continued support with this story! Please remember to leave a review, even if it's one word!
Kathy – right? Dean can be such a hothead sometimes. Although I will admit that I enjoy the development his character goes through on the show! He's very complex and interesting! Granted, they all are haha! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Guest – Thank you! I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far!
Anon – Thank you! I'm glad you feel Sam and Dean are true to character! Thanks for your kind words about Addie too! She's been a fun character to write! Enjoy!
BlueBloodsSVUOrder – Thank you for the review! As requested, here is your update! I hope you like it!
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