Chapter Twenty-Seven

Candi shivered against the building, watching the rain pour from the heavens.

"Candice."

Candi jumped, but relaxed when she saw Mr. Jenkins. "Hey," she said, taking a deep breath.

Mr. Jenkins was under a black umbrella. He ducked under the roof and shook it out. "Are you all right?" he asked. "I could tell at the gas station that something was up."

"Yeah. Yeah, everything's fine." She paused, then wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders. "What are you doing here? In the rain?"

Mr. Jenkin's lowered his eyes almost bashfully, then looked up at Candi apologetically. "I thought you were in trouble, Candice. I followed you."

Candi let his words sink in. "Oh." She considered the fact that she really had been in trouble, and how Sam may very well have been kidnapping her. She supposed she should be grateful for Mr. Jenkins. She smiled at him. "Thank you for your concern. Things were a little… crazy. But it's okay now."

"Good. Good." Mr. Jenkin's looked away from her, out to the sea. "I saw that man pull you out of the water."

Candi followed his gaze. The ocean was a deep gray, pulsing and rushing in the wind and rain. "Gabriel," she said. "Yeah. I fell. He saved me."

"He tends to do that, doesn't he?" Mr. Jenkins still wouldn't look at her. He began to twist the umbrella handle. "Too bad he wasn't around for your father."

Candi's eyes snapped to Mr. Jenkin's face. "What?"

Now, Mr. Jenkins faced her. His eyes didn't look as calm as they usually were. They were wider, a little panicked. "You haven't been home for over 24 hours, Candi. You must remember by now."

Candi frowned. She felt something like cold, thin fingers creeping up her back. She shivered violently. "About my dad's death?"

Mr. Jenkins smiled, but it wasn't the smile Candi was used to seeing. This one lacked his usual warmth. "You know you weren't crazy, then. What you saw was real."

The rain seemed to grow even louder, drowning out her sense of reality. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I haven't been entirely honest with you, Candice."

Candi waited, feeling her senses heighten.

Mr. Jenkins shook his umbrella again. He looked agitated. "Willy isn't doing well. He isn't doing well at all."

In one fluid motion, he swung the umbrella. It smacked Candi hard on the face. She fell to the side, hitting her head against the solid wall of the building. Black spots danced in front of her vision, but she wasn't out yet. She rolled to the side, kicking her blanket off herself. She scrambled to her feet.

She heard something that sounded like a gasp. "I'm so sorry!" Mr. Jenkins swung the umbrella again. This time, she ducked, blocking its blow with her arm. She kicked, aiming for between his legs, but only managed to scrape his knee.

He sucked in a breath through gritted teeth, then pounced on her. They tumbled to the rocky ground. Candi screamed, kicking and hitting. She must have caused some sort of damage, because he cried out and rolled away from her.

She quickly jumped to her feet and took off running. But the rocks were slippery from the rain and she slipped, scraping her hands. She screamed as she felt his hands grab her jacket. He hoisted her up to her feet and grabbed her hair in one hand, pulling it painfully back. She heard him chanting the word "sorry" over and over again, as if that would somehow void his actions.

Tears sprung to her eyes with the pain. She screamed again. "Let me go!"

"I'm sorry, Candice. This is the only way Willy will get better."

He was dragging her towards the sea. She felt the cold water at her ankles. He dragged her further, and soon it was up to her waist.

"Don't do this!" she choked. "Mr. Jenkins, please."

"Candice, don't make this any harder for me." He finally stopped. The water was at her chest. The current was strong enough to sweep her off her feet and carry her away if Mr. Jenkins didn't have such a firm grip on her.

"Myrtle!" he shouted into the wind. "I—I have your sacrifice!"

Several endless seconds passed. Candi didn't waste any of them holding still. She struggled, trying to kick, trying to bite him. It was hard to move when he had her head yanked back so far.

Then, she felt something brush her legs. She screamed, then whimpered. "Please…" she moaned.

In front of them, something broke the surface. It was the creature from Candi's nightmares.

The creature had small strands of hair laying limply against its skull. Its skin was a pale green stretched tight. The large black eyes were fixed on Candi.

It opened its mouth, and a loud, shrill scream ensued, making Candi desperately wish she could cover her ears.

Apparently the urge was too strong for Mr. Jenkins, who let her go for that very purpose. Candi felt herself fall into the water. She kicked, suddenly unable to place her feet on the ocean floor. She broke the surface, gasping and treading water. Mr. Jenkins was directly behind her, his eyes wide, frightened. Candi desperately looked around for the creature. Her breathing was loud in her ears.

Something melded itself to Candi's body, wrapping webbed arms around her chest and a snake-like tail around her legs. A buzz sounded in her head, then a voice. You're ours now, Candice Lockwood.

Sam jogged down to the beach, scanning the shore for Candi. He spotted the building, but didn't see her there. Then, he looked towards sea.

Two figures were out in the water – a male and female.

Sam's heart rate picked up when he saw the female was Candi. He reached into his jacket and pulled out what he knew he would need before he could leave Camden. A bronze dagger.

Sam ran to the water, holding the dagger tightly. He heard Candi scream. He waded further out as fast as he could, catching the male as he retreated backwards.

The man looked surprised to see Sam, but behind that, he looked scared. Sam looked around at the churning water. "Where's Candi?" he asked.

The man could barely get a word out. "She… she… I … well. I…"

In one movement, Sam had the blade pressed against the man's throat. "Where's Candi?" he demanded.

The man pointed at the water. "Out there. God. She's out there."

Sam wasn't going to let this man get away with harming Candi. He smacked the hilt against the man's head, knocking him out. He pushed him up against a large rock jutting out of the water and left him there, hoping he wouldn't fall off and drown.

Sam turned back to the sea. "Candi!" he yelled.

He saw a struggle only about fifteen feet away from him. He dove into the water. It was hard to see in the murky ocean that was being pelted by rain, but he surged forward and saw something in the water.

He broke the surface for a breath and to get his bearings, and something else did the same two seconds after.

It was Candi. She gasped, sucking in a deep breath, before a webbed hand covered her mouth and pulled her back under.

Sam wasted no time diving after them. He was only ten feet away. Five.

He grabbed the creature that had Candi in its grasp. He drove the bronze dagger into its side.

An earsplitting shriek cut the water, and it released Candi.

But the battle wasn't over yet.

The creature grabbed Sam, wrapping its fingers around his throat. We meet again, it said in his head.

Myrtle.

Sam struggled, trying to pry the cold fingers off his throat. Myrtle wrapped her tail around his legs, keeping him from kicking.

Sam tightened his grip on the dagger, then plunged it into the creature's back. It screamed again, nearly making Sam black out.

But he kept stabbing. He stabbed again and again until it let him go.

He desperately kicked his way to the surface, pulling in a deep breath as soon as he could. He looked around for Candi. She was making her way towards shore. He began to follow her, but Myrtle grabbed his waist and pulled him down again.

The first thing Sam felt was annoyance that this thing hadn't died yet. Then he felt pain as Myrtle bit his shoulder, her sharp teeth sinking into the flesh. He twisted, and finally was able to face her. He stabbed her again, in the neck. She let go of him.

He broke the surface once again, and so did she. Dark liquid spilled from her neck, but she still seemed very much alive. She opened her mouth wide, showing small, pointed teeth in a black mouth, and screamed at him.

In one more blow, Sam smote her head off with the dagger.

The screaming stopped. The head sunk into the water.

Panting, Sam swam to shore, making a stop to drag the man off the rock and pull him to safety.

Candi rushed for him. "Sam! Are you okay?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Sam said, dragging the man onto the rocky shore. "Who the hell is this?"

"Mr. Jenkins," Candi panted. She collapsed on the ground, but stayed upright. "He was my social worker."

"Who seemed to have made a deal with those mercreatures," Sam said.

Candi frowned at him. "I was nearly killed by a mermaid?"

"Yep." He spun the bronze dagger in his hand. "I did some research last night. You kill them by chopping off their heads with a bronze dagger."

"Wow." Candi shook her head. "That's crazy."

"Welcome to my life."

Mr. Jenkins started awake. He looked from Candi, to Sam, and back to Candi.

"Candi," he whispered. "You're still alive."

"No thanks to you, Mr. Jenkins," she spat. "I thought you were my friend!"

To Sam's surprise, the man's face grew tight, and he started crying. "It's Willy," he said. "He's going to die soon. Not only is he stuck in a wheelchair, but he was diagnosed with cancer."

Candi's angry face softened a bit. "How was killing me supposed to help your son?"

Mr. Jenkins sat up, swiping tears off his cheeks. The rain had slowed to a drizzle.

"Myrtle told me that if I kept an eye on you and painted memory blocking spells on your ceiling, she would heal him. But I guess they could never catch you on their own, so the deal changed. I had to bring you to her or Willy would die." He hid his face in his hands. "I'm so sorry, Candice."

Candi looked up at Sam. She wasn't ready to forgive him yet. Sam had more questions.

"What was the symbol you drew on Candi's ceiling?"

"And why couldn't I see it?" Candi asked.

Mr. Jenkins took a deep breath. "Those creatures… they excrete some kind of substance. It's invisible to the human eye, but has magical properties. I drew something that looks like this—" he moved some of the bigger rocks aside to get to the gravel-like sand beneath it. He dug his finger into it and carved out something that looked like a triangle with other shapes around it.

Sam peered at it. "Huh. They must use that substance to communicate. I think I felt it on a tool of theirs, and on the rocks by their caverns."

Candi's eyes lit up as something clicked. "You were at my house a few nights ago," she said. "My aunt knew you were in there, but she was too scared to check it out. You must have left without her seeing you. You really freaked her out!"

Mr. Jenkins ran a hand through his hair. "I'm so sorry, Candi. I wasn't thinking right. I just wanted to help Willy."

"Sam!"

Sam stood quickly, looking in the direction of Dean's voice.

Dean was running down the hill. He stopped with a wide grin on his face. "Cas is all right. He's better than all right. He's a full-fledged angel again!"

"That's great, Dean!" Sam eyed his brother warily. "And… you?"

Dean shrugged. "Cured. No demon left in me." He rolled up a sleeve. "The mark's still there, thought."

Sam exhaled in relief. He pulled Dean into a tight hug. "I knew we'd fix you."

Dean returned the hug, then pulled away and eyed Candi. She cowered slightly from his gaze. Dean scratched the back of his head. "So, uh… I hear I made a really bad impression."

Candi didn't answer. She got to her feet. Mr. Jenkins did the same.

Dean cleared his throat. "Candi, I can't ever expect you to trust me. But… I'm sorry. I really am. And… I'm glad you're okay."

"Where's Gabriel?" she demanded.

Dean shuffled his feet. "He's, uh, adjusting."

She raised her eyebrows. "Adjusting? To what?"

Dean glanced behind him, then turned back to her with a cautious smile. "I'll let him fill you in."

Sam followed Candi's gaze to the top of the hill. Gabriel was slowly making his way down. Candi instantly ran towards him.

Ignoring Mr. Jenkins, who continued to stand there awkwardly shuffling his feet, Sam turned to Dean. "What happened?" he asked.

"Well." Dean watched as Candi jumped into Gabriel's arms. "Long story short – Gabriel is no longer an archangel. Cas is."