Anything But Normal

Part 13

September 5, 2005

Everything had gone off without a hitch. Sam and Jess had left the next day. Months had gone by, and Liz still kept in touch with Sam quite a bit. She'd often get calls in the middle of the night from him, asking if she'd gotten another dream. She'd told him that it was over for her.

The problem was, she wasn't sure if they were over for her. The previous night, Liz had just gotten off the phone with Jessica and went to sleep when she had a dream. It felt the same way the dream of Gavin had. Only she wasn't burning on a ceiling. When Liz had normal dreams, she usually couldn't remember them clearly. This was perfectly clear in her memory.

"Who are you?" Jessica had asked a dark figure standing in her bedroom. She was about to reach for the baseball bat that Sam kept on the side of the bed until the man waved his hand and bat flew out of her reach. "Oh my God."

"Not exactly the term I'd use, sweetheart." The man said. He had yellow eyes. Liz had never seen the demon, but somehow she knew it was him.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"Well, there's a long list for that. However, at the moment, I want you out of the way." Jessica stepped to the side, unblocking the door. The demon laughed. "That's not exactly what I meant, Jessica."

"How do you know my name?" she asked in a low, scared voice. Her breathing was uneven. She was scared to death.

"I like to keep tabs on the kids. Thing is, Jess, may I call you Jess? Sammy and Lizzie and everyone else uses it so often, I assume you don't mind. Thing is, Jess, your boyfriend isn't just some nice boy from Kansas. Far from it. He's meant for so much more than being a lawyer."

"What are you talking about? How do you know Sam and Liz?"

"I have plans for them. Sam is a soldier. His father raised him to be one, and I intend to make sure that he does what he was raised to do. It might not be exactly what his father wanted, but hey, I'm not interested in all the small details, just the big picture. I'm sure you wondering why on earth I'm talking to you about this, right? Well, you see Jess, you're getting in the way."

"Excuse me?"

"You're getting in the way. Sam loves you. It's great for you. I'm sure you'd like to be waiting for Sam to come home with little Johnny from Little League in the minivan with a fresh, homemade apple pie on the table. You see, that just doesn't work for me. I need Sam to be a soldier, and you're getting in the way. The only way to solve that problem, is for you to be gone."

"I'm not leaving Sam." Jessica said firmly. She was scared as hell, but she still loved her boyfriend.

"Oh, Jessica, I didn't give you that option. You will leave Sam. You will leave everyone you love on this earth. Where you're going, I couldn't tell you, but if I had to guess, it'll probably be upstairs."

"Go to Hell."

"Oh sweetheart, I've already been there. I wasn't a big fan. I've got fair skin, so I burn easily."

"Why do you want Sam?"

"Well, I don't think you'd understand. Let's just say, Sam doesn't tell you everything. Now, time to get this over with."

Liz could only hear Jessica scream before she woke up. She hadn't called Sam. Gavin was awake, and she thought that he would be suspicious of something. She figured that she'd call Sam tonight if she had another dream. Liz prayed it was just an odd nightmare. Liz really hoped that Sam's dreams would stop. She had a weird feeling about them.

Liz and Gavin were doing great. School had started though, and it was making Liz stressed. Working five nights a week at the bar, going to school full time, and hunting was starting to take its toll on her. She sighed as she lay down on the bed with her eyes closed. She was still in her work clothes; black miniskirt, black tank top, and knee high boots. So it wasn't the most dignified outfit. It beat the orange hot shorts and cleavage baring tank tops of Hooters. She'd heard the shower running and wondered if she should join Gavin. She decided that she was just too tired. She was about to kick off her shoes and get ready to sleep in really late tomorrow as it was her day off. She prayed that tonight her dreams would be free of demons.

Liz felt warm liquid drop onto her face. Had Gavin gotten out of the shower? "Gavin?" Liz called for him, opening her eyes to see him. She saw him. She wished she hadn't. There Gavin was, pinned to the ceiling, stomach slashed.

"GAVIN!" Liz willed herself to wake up, but this wasn't a dream. She couldn't move. She felt as if she was paralyzed. His body errupted in flames. She still couldn't move. Liz could feel someone carrying her, but all she could focus on was Gavin's burning body and the look of terror that had graced his gorgeous face.

Liz sat outside he apartment building wrapped in a blanket, watching the flames get put out. An officer was asking her questions. "How did you get out?"

"Someone...Someone pulled me out." Liz answered in a low voice. All she could think of was Gavin.

"Who?"

"I...I don't–"

"Me." a voice interrupted.

"Who are you?" the officer asked.

"I'm Henry Atwood, Liz's uncle." the man said, "Look my niece has answered plenty of your questions. I think she really just needs to get some rest."

"Yes, Mr. Atwood. I think I've gotten all of my questions answered anyway. Thank you for your time, and I'm very sorry for your loss." the officer walked away.

Liz didn't recognize the man as her uncle, but that didn't mean she didn't recognize him. He had aged a few years, but he hadn't changed much. "John."

"Hey, Liz."

"Thank you for saving me."

"Don't thank me. I was trying to save your boyfriend. You were never in immediate danger. I'm sorry about him, by the way."

"It was the demon, wasn't it? The one that killed my mother and your wife." It wasn't a question. She didn't have to ask.

"Come on, you can stay with me tonight. We'll talk in the morning."

When Liz woke up, she wished she could have crawled back under the covers. John handed her a coffee. "How did you sleep?"

"You have to ask?"

"I was trying to do the polite small talk thing."

"Don't." Liz said bluntly as she stared aimlessly out the window, "You're not good at it. Neither is Dean, actually. Sam is though. I think Stanford gave him practice."

"Liz, I need to ask you some questions." John said softly.

"Go for it." she said as she sat on the couch while he sat in the arm chair.

"There are usually signs, flickering lights, skipping radio,–"

"I know the signs, John. I didn't see anything. Everything electronic was fine. I didn't have anything on when I got into my apartment. I didn't even bother with the lights. I'm not sure if I'm stupid, or the demon's a genius." Liz said in an angry tone. She should've seen this coming.

"He isn't a genius. You cut me off. I was going to tell you that this demon isn't the usual flickering lights, skipping radio deal, though he does do that. His trail is a hell of a lot bigger than that. Crop failures, cow mutilations, missing persons. He leaves a major trail, but it's hard to pick up." John said sternly.

"The missing persons rate is normal for LA. This is the city. You can't even find farms for cows and crops."

"There are towns not far from the city. It's been happening a lot over there."

"How did you pick up on that? I mean, come on John. These signs, it's like a needle in a haystack. How did you pick up on them?" Liz asked, amazed at his talent.

"I'm good."

"Thanks for being so descriptive. So why isn't Dean with you?"

"He's on another hunt."

"It's the demon, John. He'd drop anything to get a chance at him." Liz looked John in the eye. "Oh my god, he doesn't know, does he?"

"No, he doesn't. I'm keeping him out of this. I can't be on a hunt and worry about him getting hurt too. You can't call him and try to tell him, Liz, alright?" John said in a firm voice.

"Alright." Liz agreed reluctantly. She felt that he should know. Dean would give anything to kill that demon. She knew that.

"Liz," John sighed, "I have to ask you about your boyfriend."

"Okay." Liz said quietly.

"Did he know about the supernatural?"

"No, nothing." she looked down at her coffee.

"Did he know about how your mother died?"

"Only that she died in a fire."

"Were you two getting closer?"

"What?" Liz's head shot up. What the hell did their sex life have to do with this?

"I mean, were the two of you getting closer? Like would he alter any decisions you might've had to make?" John said quickly, realizing how it may have sounded the first time.

"Yeah, I guess."

"He thought he was getting in the way." John muttered to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing. So this was completely unexpected?"

"Yes."

"So nothing strange has happened in the past few months?"

"No...well, there was something..."

"Liz, what was it?"

"Sam is dating my cousin Jess."

"Sam? As in my son?"

"Yeah, remember your kid that got into Stanford?"

"How is he?" John asked quietly.

"He's great. He's starting his law school interviews in a month or two. He's probably going to get a full ride to Stanford Law School."

"That's great." John smiled but quickly frowned again, "I'm sorry. This isn't about Sam."

"It's okay to be proud of your son. You should be. Anyway, when he was staying with me in LA one weekend, we both woke up at the same time from almost the same dream. He saw Jess on the ceiling, and I saw Gavin...When I saw him in reality last night...it was exactly like the dream Everything from his expression to his Rolling Stones t-shirt."

"So you're saying that you and Sam are getting visions of the future?" John questioned.

"No, well...yeah. I don't know!" Liz exclaimed in frustration.

"Did it ever happen to you before?"

"No."

"It could've just been a strange deja vu type of thing."

"I had that dream every night Sam was there."

"Liz, I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you that I know what's happening, but I can't."

"Is the demon still here?"

"No, he knows that I'm on his tail. He wouldn't be that stupid."

"Damn." she sighed.

"Liz, I have to ask you to do something, and I can't give you an explanation for why. You just have to do it. Will you do that?"

"You've saved my life a couple times now. I guess I owe you something."

"So you'll do it?"

"Yeah, I'll do it. Now tell me what exactly I'm doing for you. It is legal, right?"

"Yeah, it's legal." John smiled. She really did know his family.

"Good."

"Don't talk to Sam."

"What? Why not?" Liz asked surprisedly.

"That's the part I can't tell you."

"You know something about the dreams, don't you?"

"Liz, listen to me." John said sternly, "I'm not positive what's happening, but you and Sam will both be safer if you're far away from each other."

"Why?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?" she asked in a tone that was almost angry. Didn't she deserve to know about something that was happening to her?

"Have you ever wondered what your life would've been like if you'd never found out about demons and spirits?"

"A few times." Liz answered. Of course she'd thought about it. Almost everyday she wondered about that.

"Do you ever think that life would be better if you'd been left in the dark about it?"

"Yeah, sometimes."

"This time, you need to stay in the dark. It's the only way to protect you."

Liz sighed, "Alright. I won't talk to Sam."

"Thank you. Now, do you know where you're going to live?"

"No. My apartment burned down only nine hours ago, John. I haven't even thought about it. My friends mainly live in dorms at school. God, I don't even want to think about having to go back to school." Liz sighed for what must've been the fiftieth time that morning.

"I have a friend in Wisconsin who I called this morning. She said that she'd let you stay with her and work at her bar until you get enough money to get your own place again."

"Really?" Liz asked. It wasn't like she had a lot to stay in LA for. Maybe she needed a break from school.

"Yeah, she's got a daughter about your age too. I think you'd like it there. It's mainly hunters that hang out around there."

"Okay. I'll go."

A/N: Alright, I kinda tricked you. I said that we were bringing back someone, but in my defense I did say it might not be Dean. Dean will be back next chapter. You can start putting up your Welcome Back banners. ;) Holy crap that took forever to type. But I finally finished. Did you like it? Was it worth the wait? I hope so. Let me know what you think!