Yaay, new chapter! I'm sure some of you guys are like, 'when the hell are the boys coming back into the story?' well, dear readers... I've kept you waiting long enough. The boys make their grand re-entrance in this chapter. Enjoy!
It was well past noon when Nadia woke up the next day; exhaustion still hung uncharacteristically to the huntress, weighing and slowing her down. When she finally found herself in the kitchen her sister sat at the table nursing a mug of hot tea. As Emily looked up, they traded weak smiles and the younger shot up to offer Nadia a drink. The smell of raspberry tea lingered enticingly in the air, Nadia would have to be insane to turn it down. But as they both settled at the table, their moment of silent peace ended abruptly.
"So, the living dead is finally awake…" Emily groused lovingly, "Seriously; did you sleep well?"
Nadia was shocked to the point of jerking backwards at how sincere and concerned her little sister appeared. After a moment of having to remember what the hell was being asked of her and thinking over the answer, Nadia scoffed and tugged at the bag of tea leaves in her mug.
"All caught up from the night before… still feel like shit. But, as we've learned over the years… that's what scorching beverages are for." déjà vu was beginning to show signs of its presence, but Nadia covered her suspicion with her usual sarcasm. In taking the bait, Emily raised her mug, mumbling a quick 'cheers' and returning to the newspaper flung all over the kitchen table in a disturbingly unorganized and messy manner. Emily didn't seem bothered by it, neither did she seem to notice her sister wincing at the sight; it just irked the older Coltier.
Then the rumble came, and Nadia's head shot up as she remembered the vision. The front door flew open as their guardian stepped outside and the events of her premonition began to come into existence. Turning her head slightly to better hear the conversation floating towards the back of the house, she revisited the vision with a bit more clarity.
"Good to see you boys again, alive and well I see… very good. Sam, how have you been doing; with your abilities, I mean?"
"Same as usual."
"Hmm, and I trust you're keeping him out of trouble?"
"As best as I can, ma'am… but you know Sammy's a geeky trouble magnet." Laughing to herself, she could almost see Missouri giving the young man a reprimanding glare, and clearly heard her thoughts as she mentally threatened to fetch the wooden spoon and give him a good wallop upside the head.
"Boys, come on inside and settle down. There's someone I'd like you to meet, she's going to help you with your powers, Sam." she heard the three sets of footsteps enter the house, door closing and one of their new guests clearing his throat in uncertainty. The apprehension she'd felt in the vision was present and escalating rapidly, and still without reason. "We're lucky to have her here, I honestly didn't think she would come… she even brought her little sister along with her."
Nadia looked up just in time to see Emily scoff and mouth, 'Little sister, HA, little' with her signature sarcastic eye roll; the one she could never help but laugh at. She hadn't even noticed that the three had arrived in the kitchen until Missouri caught their attention by clearing her throat expectantly.
"Boys, these young ladies are the last of a very long line of demon hunters; Nadia and Emily Coltier. Girls," she began, "this is Sam and Dean Winchester." Having felt the heaviness of the young men's eyes on her, she kept her gaze downward; on her mug. As if she couldn't resist it, her reaction to their names was the same as in her vision: the color vanished from her face, her head shot up, and her eyes widened. Less than one beat later, she had retained her cool and calm composure as she turned her attention to the brothers.
"Have we met before?" Sam asked politely as he stared curiously at Nadia, "I swear I've met the both of you somewhere…" She could easily see that Dean didn't share his brother's sentiments; he just stared at her, hoping to catch her on a more social than business level.
"Uh," the words became stuck mercilessly in her throat as she glanced at them in a mild state of panic, "I've heard about the Winchester men, but I can't honestly say I've ever met any of you…" She fibbed quickly, clumsily; thrusting her hand forward to authenticate her sincere deception. Feeling her sister's questioning glower, she let Emily hear one screaming and fierce mental order: Just GO with it! "I'm Nadia…"
She knew it was invasion of privacy and pretty much unfair, but she couldn't help but take a peak at their thoughts.
The Coltier demon hunters? I've never heard of them before, and how are they going to be able to help with my 'gifts'…the faint Castilian accent's pretty cool, though.
Finally somebody knows how to help geek-boy, over here. Chicks with Spanish accents, huh? That's hot. She smiled sweetly, trying her best to stifle the laugh Dean's thoughts were eliciting from her. They both shook her hand, clarifying who was Sam and who was Dean; Emily grinned warmly and waved, underneath the table she kicked at her sister's shin.
Nadia snapped her head towards her with a murderous look, "…my kid sister, Emily." The tension and level of awkwardness present in the room was more than enough to entertain the older huntress, unfortunately for her, she knew it was up to her to end it. "So… which one of you guys has the shinning?" not that she didn't already know, but their reaction was just amusing; Sam blushed crimson from slight embarrassment, and Dean's smile brightened at the Jack Nicholson reference.
"That would be Sammy, here. No offence or anything, but how exactly do you plan on helping my brother?" his words and tone implied doubt, but going on how fidgety Dean had suddenly become, he knew he was truly concerned for the well being of his brother.
"None taken," quickly stealing a glance at the taller man, she picked up on a couple of his more obvious abilities, "when the dormant powers in a person first awaken… well, it's painful and quite draining. Sam here looks like he's been having visions and random kicks of telekinesis for about a year now, right?"
The young psychic blanched, nodding slowly. "Yea…"
"Then you really are lucky I'm here… you're getting dangerously close to a level of excruciating pain from your gifts. Not at all a smart thing to do; in fact, had you waited a week, perhaps a month more… they would have killed you." This time both men paled; wide, fear-driven eyes bore into her, urging her to continue and yet not. "When your powers start popping up out of no-where, you should seek help right away. Not having control over them is quite deadly."
Regardless of having this task suddenly thrown at her, without anyone asking Nadia if she even wanted to help, she instantly became determined to do everything she could to help the young man before it was too late. The fear that exuded from both young men felt like an earthquake to Nadia; but the most touching emotion that had erupted and body slammed her was Dean's unfathomable amount of gratefulness towards her. She didn't need to wickedly invade his mind to hear his sudden change in thoughts.
She's saving Sammy's life…how the hell could I ever repay her for this? She'll never know how much this means to me.
"When do we start?" she felt Sam kick his fear away from himself and a disquieting feeling of calm settled in as he spoke. His brother silently demanded that she did something quick.
"Lesson number one: Anticipating a vision, being able to tell when one is about to sucker punch you… vital first step towards preventing pain and eventual death… you'll feel something similar to your stomach being tugged downward. When you feel that, don't brace yourself… relax." She insisted sternly, urgently repeating the first tip Missouri had ever given her 15 years ago; not really noticing her childhood instructor stood leaning in the doorway, beaming at the fine job she'd done training the girl years ago; an enormous amount of pride gushed from the old reader. "Relax and be patient with it. The more you fight it and freak out over it… the more energy it sucks up, the greater the pain. Sounds simple, yes, in theory… but to actually be able to follow through with it? Yea, it's going to take a lot of practice."
"How long are we talking… for him to be able to have a vision and not be doubling over?" he asked hesitantly; Dean had become so nervous for his brother's well being that he had gone from fidgeting to rocking back and forth on his heels.
"A month… 5 weeks tops." She surmised evenly, Dean wasn't as unruffled when she answered him.
"WHAT…A MONTH? But you said this stuff might kill him in a month." Dean argued, voicing the petrified nervousness in his brother. Nadia, however, remained complacent, without emotion.
"Yes… if you had waited that long before coming here. But you didn't, he's here now… he just took his first step towards accepting his powers for Christ sake." Jeezy Creezy, these boys are more dramatic than a bunch of girls in a chick-flick! "Now calm down, Sam's not leaving any of us any time soon."
Nadia's eyes flickered from her sister to Missouri to the direction of the parlor room; without missing a beat, Missouri takes the hint, "Emily, baby girl, would you mind helping this old poop pick up some groceries?"
Looking up, she began to relay a negative answer, but she caught the determined look in the Reader's eyes, and hesitantly got up sighing. "You kids don't have too much fun… we'll be back later."
The three remaining hunters sat in silence until they were all sure that both Missouri and Emily were, in fact, gone. Nadia calmly regarded the brothers, Sam was growing increasingly uncomfortable under the scrutinizing gaze of the young woman, and Dean… well, once he had finally gotten over his little freak out from moments ago, he was back to being Dean: undressing the girl with his eyes.
The quiet peace didn't last long when an alarmed look consumed Sam's features, his fearful emotions catching the girl's attention while his hands flew to his head, pressing harshly in hopes of alleviating the pain. His brother was still at his side, so he had grasped his kid brother's shoulders in a matter of nano-seconds.
"Don't do that," Nadia reprimanded, earning a glare from the older Winchester, "don't coddle him like that. Letting him know you're there is one thing, be he'll become dependant on that simple contact if you keep reacting like that."
Unmoving, he kept his disapproving glower aimed at the huntress. Walking over to them, she smacked his hands away; turned to the younger psychic and gently brushed a chunk of hair from his eyes. "If you let dependencies take hold… that'll definitely kill him, especially when he gets slammed by one of these and you're no-where around." Before he had time to give a reaction, her eyes seemed to involuntarily snap shut, groaning she began to sink to the floor as the images ripping through Sam's mind shot through her own.
Goddamn the pain… goddamnit all to hell! I'm getting pretty tired of these sucker punch visions! Her mind screamed venomously. But the anger and frustration gave way to fear and shock as she realized what both she and Sam were witnessing.
There were screams, young women screaming; anguished screams, the kind you hear when someone watches a person very close to them die. Flashes of images flickered like the apparitions they'd seen in their years of hunting; the Aztec witchdoctor, a girl crouched and sobbing at the base of a bathtub, pounded by water with a death grip on the fallen shower curtain covering her naked body; herself and Dean sitting closely talking bitterly about their lives, a girl in a Chicago Cubs jersey—otherwise naked—clinging to Dean in terror. Someone rocking a dead body while they're own was racked with sobs of misery. Expressions of uncertainty, hate fueled glares, and smoking antique guns accompanied by the echoes of multiple gunshots. A man and a woman could be heard screaming at the top of their lungs at each other: 'Just what in the hell are you teaching him?' 'Goddamnit, I can't do this anymore!' More crying, muffled by a shirt… murmurs of pregnancy, the cries of a newborn; a man begging his wife to hold on a little while longer… children laughing. The soothing feeling of well earned peace; but one thing remained with Nadia as her senses began to return to her…
A little girl smiled, strawberry blond hair blew gently in the breeze, and sea blue eyes glittered upward, 'Hi there, Mary… I'm your aunt; it's time to go home.'
She was almost sure it had been her voice, or maybe it wasn't… she wasn't certain. Blinking away the last fading shreds of confusion, she found herself inches away from two highly concerned Winchester brothers.
"Doh… shit, what the hell!" she cried as she rolled away from the brothers and out of Dean's protective grasp. "Sammy, you should know by now that coming-to with someone an inch from your face is a very unsettling thing… it startles the shit out of people like us!"
He chortled silently, knowing what she said was true… in his case for as much as he knew. He wasn't really sure about the rest of the world's population of psychics. Dean however, rolled his eyes and motioned for her to let him give her a once over… make sure she wasn't hurt in any way.
"You were fine one minute and bitching at me… the next you passed out and landed weird on your left arm." She glared at him indignantly, had he not even tried to catch me? "The damage shouldn't be that bad, I was able to catch you before your arm had a chance to break."
Her gaze softened, with her right hand she latched onto the wrist inspecting her other arm; giving it a squeeze of gratitude before letting go again. His eyes still conveyed the feeling of annoyance, unsure of whether or not he'd taken her gesture the right way or not, she listened carefully to the man's 'inner-monologue'.
Huh, she's not fond of chick-flick moments either… a lot better at divulging her feelings than Sammy here; I knew he was a chick. Had it not been for the faint sting of discomfort in her wrist she would have laughed, instead she released a barely audible hiss at the contact of Dean's calloused hand on her left wrist.
"Looks sprained, the most you'll have to show for it might be a bruise. You'll live another day." He kidded tenderly, "So… what did you guys see?"
Sam's gaze rushed to his brother as he panicked, wondering whether or not he should tell him; in his hesitation, Nadia's soothing voice broke into his silent conflict. It's okay to be scared, Sammy… just don't bury it. Go ahead, tell him… I'll help; I saw exactly what you saw.
He looked confused as he brought his attention to the girl sitting in front of his brother, leaning her back against the wall with a slightly smug expression on her face. "I… I dunno, there was a lot of shifting images… mostly sounds, voices… emotions."
"Care to elaborate on any of those?" Nadia exhaled noisily, a terse look slipped over her face before she explained.
"There were a variety of images, most of them bad. A lot of screams, loud arguments, crying… fear and agony had an overwhelming presence through out most of it. There was a little blond girl named Mary, her aunt was telling her it was time to go home…"
"She looked a bit like Jessica…" Sam added, looking exceptionally haunted; Nadia couldn't help but feel sad upon the mention of this 'Jessica' person… then she saw the emotion again. The one she saw in Sarah earlier… the one she couldn't relate to: love. She felt her heart deflate and sink to the astounding depths of her soul.
"There was also a gun… an antique Colt revolver, with a pentagram carved into the handle." She noted distantly, pretending to be lost in thought, "For a minute I thought it might be the Colt… but I—that's just hunter-lore… isn't it?" carefully she watched the brothers reaction; she'd seen their secret weapon, she knew it's story, not only was she a legit huntress… she was a major player like themselves.
"The Colt, huh?" Sam asked cautiously. Dean shifted nervously where he sat on the floor near the girl, Sounds to me like Sammy didn't see the Colt in his vision…wonder what else she saw…
"The people in your visions… were they being attacked by anything we can kill? Any leads as to where it's going to play out, or who needs our help?" Both gifted hunters looked dumbstruck for a second as they thought over the questions.
"You came up a couple of times; a girl was scared and clinging to you, and then you and Nadia were sitting together talking about something… pretty much all the familiar things I could spot in it. As for attackers… didn't see any, the people being attacked… I couldn't see their faces… and the places all seemed pretty random, they could have been anywhere." Sam admitted as he ran through the mental list feeling utterly useless for not being able to give his brother more to go on. Dean simply nodded and turned his attention to Nadia, waiting for her to give some sort of explanation.
"I…" she huffed discouraged by the fact that too much of the vision was more than familiar to her, "Before I say anything… you guys gotta understand something; my family is messed up…"
She could see that they were unsurprised, considering their line of work; but she had to make them understand without spilling her family's entire history. "In comparison to most demon hunting families… the Coltier line is really fucked up," she scoffed as the surmised version came to her, "Our name isn't that well known in hunting circles… not much is known about us… my parents were the first in the history of the Coltier hunters to live past the age of 30." She felt her eyes burn as the impending tears threatened to fall, "The first to even get to see their children celebrate their third birthday… and because they were able to go against tradition, Emily and I are cursed."
Breaking the brother's silence as she explained herself, Sam decided to press the issue a little bit. "Cursed how, was it the Demon?" he regretted asking, though, when he saw the deflated grimace claim her already weakening features.
"For years… I didn't know how they were able to evade him, didn't know how they were able to figure it out… but they did. Around the time I was born, they figured out I had abilities, they'd just found out that the whispered legend of a demon who stole gifted infants and killed their mothers was true. So they got pregnant again, immediately… and somehow It didn't catch on to us for a few years. But when It did… ooh was that bastard angry; instead of taking just my mother… he took them both." She'd never told that story to anyone before, never knew just how depressing it would be to reminisce over it.
TBC...
Bit of a cliff-er there... but not really since I'm adding two other chapters along with this one. Hope you enjoyed!