They located the baby's grave without much hassle. It was off to side, under an elm tree. Dean got to work immediately, digging the grave with the ease of someone who was all too familiar with grave-digging.
The shovel hit wood. Dean knelt and brushed the dirt away. He took out a penknife and pried open the lid. It screeched in protest.
Sam shone his flashlight into it.
The skeleton of a baby lay forlornly in what used to be silk sheets, now rotted. There was an ugly hole in her skull.
Dean sat back.
"Huh, didn't expect that twist," he said.
Nathalie woke up slowly, stretching luxuriously. The sun's rays filtered through the curtains and bathed her in a cheerful yellow light.
She was happy, she thought in surprise. She remembered having a wonderful dream, but the details escaped her. Events of last night before she fell asleep came back, but the pain of Castiel's rejection no longer pained her.
Nathalie sat up, half fearful he had left. But no, Castiel was still there, sitting at the edge of the bed where he was last night.
For some reason, Nathalie blushed.
"Good morning," she said.
Castiel inclined his head. His gaze was pensive.
Nathalie looked away, feeling hurt. She could feel that something had changed between them, but she did not know what.
Screw it, she thought mutinously. She swung her legs off the bed, not caring if Castiel could see the full outline of her body under the filmy white negligee.
Castiel, in fact, could. He may have removed Nathalie's memories of her dream, but he still remembered. Every single curve, every single moan, every single caress.
He gulped. Maybe last night was a mistake. He should never have given in. Although he only projected his image into her dream, it was still him. He still felt everything they had done, even if he did not experience it physically.
But the attraction he felt between them was too strong, too new, and he had no defenses against it. He realized the longer he was in his human vessel, the more emotions he was developing. And ever since he found out the case Sam and Dean were investigating was one of the seals required to release Lucifer from his cage, he had stayed with them, extending his time on earth by days.
Uriel was right. Castiel could have saved the seal as soon as he found out it was Nathalie, but he found he wanted to stay with her. His feelings for her stopped him from moving on.
Castiel was troubled. Emotions were a gateway to doubt. Prior to his sojourn to earth, he had always known what to do. There was only black and white. There was only one path. But now Castiel found he could interpret an order in a variety of ways.
Nathalie raised her negligee. The hem went up but stopped short at her butt. Castiel looked up to see her eyeing him.
"You planning to watch?" she asked. His eyes were bluer than she remembered, almost crumbling her resolve. Her jaw set, she took off the wispy material and stood naked in front of him.
Castiel averted his eyes.
"My apologies," he said and vanished.
Nathalie sighed. She turned on the shower, oblivious to the drops of water washing away the salt line along the window.
Sam and Dean let themselves into the apartment, dirty and exhausted. They had burned the skeletal remains of the family just in case they were related to Nathalie. Upon entering, they knew something was wrong.
The apartment felt empty.
Dean looked around, pulling his gun out. Sam did the same.
"Cas?" Dean called out.
A gust of wind and Cas appeared. He looked troubled.
"What happened?" Dean asked harshly.
"Nathalie is gone," he replied.
Dean swore. "For fuck's sake, Cas. I thought you were supposed to be watching her. How'd you lose her?"
Castiel couldn't seem to meet his eyes. "She started to take a shower …" he explained lamely.
Dean couldn't help laughing. "And you bailed?"
He shook his head. "Cas, when a hot girl takes a shower in front of you, there are only two things you do: one, you get in the shower with her. Two, you …." Dean paused. "No, I was wrong, there's only that one thing."
"Yeah, not to break the Penthouse Forum here," Sam interrupted, "but Nathalie is still missing."
"I failed. I'm sorry," Castiel said.
Dean looked at him curiously. "Her naked scares you that much?"
Castiel chose not to respond. Sam gave Dean a warning look. Dean knew the look. Don't rub it in, it said. He sighed.
"OK, never mind. Do you know what happened?"
"I can only assume that the water from her shower washed away the salt line by her bathroom window, allowing a demon to enter," Castiel answered.
They walked to the bathroom. Sure enough, the salt line was broken, the window open, broken. On the ledge was some yellow dust – sulfur, and some blood. Dean brushed the offending dust away.
"So where now?" Dean asked, frustrated. Castiel looked away; the broken salt line seemed to mock him.
"Can you sense her? You did before," Dean persisted.
Castiel looked at Dean. "Only if she prays for me. But even if she did, I doubt I will be able to sense her."
Dean raised his eyebrows.
"The demon is sure to take precautions against me, now that he knows I am involved," Cas explained.
Dean glared at the angel. He was angry that he had allowed Nathalie to be taken, by trusting an angel to be in charge of her safety – an angel he was not even sure he fully trusted, if he admitted it to himself.
Sam intervened. "Well, we're not out of time yet. Tonight is when she is supposed to die?" he asked Cas.
Castiel nodded.
"The only lead we have now is Nathalie's mother. Maybe we can find out something from her," Sam said.
Nathalie regained consciousness slowly, groaning. Her head felt like it was on fire. She moved to touch her face and realized her hands were tied to her back. The thing that had grabbed her had tied her to a chair.
"Rise and shine, honey," came her mother's cheery voice.
Nathalie looked up in shock, wincing at the movement.
Her mother was standing in front of her, flanked by two big and strapping men. But wait, it wasn't her mother. Her eyes showed black for a second before settling again to her usual brown.
The demon in her mother's body smiled. Nathalie had never realized how menacing her mother could look; she had always been a sweet, diminutive plump woman that fluttered about the house, loved her, hugged her and kissed her boo boos. And harassed her about getting married.
"Don't worry. Mommy, or at least the one you think is your mother, is here inside," the demon said.
Nathalie frowned. "What do you want?" she asked.
"You dead of course. Silly girl," the demon replied.
She walked around the small bedroom. It looked abandoned; the wallpaper was peeling off the walls, stained with age and water. There was no furniture in the room, other than the chair Nathalie was in and a rocking chair to the side of the room.
There wasn't much light, the windows had been boarded up.
"Do you know how hard it was to find you?" the demon continued. "Even I was surprised, but luckily the spell is fool proof.
"Whatever soul we raise will go after the surviving member no matter how well the survivor is hidden," she added.
Cas, if you can hear me, please, I need you … Nathalie prayed desperately.
"I wouldn't bother if I were you," the demon chimed in. "Your angel boyfriend isn't going to come. I made sure of it." She smiled.
"You can't see it, but this place is angel-proof." She leaned over Nathalie. "All we have to do is wait now."