Chapter 16
Sitting in the car with his eyes glancing between his fingers and the window, Sam thought over his last night. He had had that dream yet again last night. It was annoying because he was seriously starting to get annoyed by those dreams.
Fidgeting with his fingers, it took him more than a couple of minutes to realise that he was beginning to irritate his big brother.
Finally having had enough of his kid brother and Sam's fidgeting. Enough was now enough. "Heard you again last night?" He voiced as he yet again made his way towards Sam's school. He was really beginning to get worried about his little brother especially after waking up to Sam's screaming.
It was something that he had been noticing ever since they had become witches, every night Sam ended up having a nightmare causing him to wake up screaming and it was getting to the point that the girls weren't even getting up because it was now a part of life. Still they weren't the ones that needed to share a room with the kid.
Sam rolled his eyes at his brother, scoffing with one of his bitch faces coming across him. "I'm sorry if my nightmares are a problem for you." He retorted.
It wasn't like it was his fault but after seeing so much death was it really a wonder that he was having nightmares about Kat dying especially since his sisters and Dean had become witches. He was terrified of them dying.
Gritting his teeth, Dean turned to glance at his brother, the sun coming through the window. "Hey I'm more concerned about you; your teacher called said you feel asleep." He responded and it had surprised him. Ever since they were kids Sam had always been compassionate about school, had always bit Dean's head off whenever he acted out in school yet now he was falling asleep in class.
Sam bit his lip to keep himself from yelling, not only had his teacher called his house but she had also spoken to Dean about his problems.
Turning back to his brother he gave him a dark glare. "She said she wouldn't do that?"
Dean scoffed at his brother, wondering what was going on with the kid, because seriously why was he bent so out of shape over something so stupid. "Yeah, well, she lied and I'm concerned." He bit out to the kid. It was one thing for him to be worried about Sam but it was another thing for his teachers to be calling up the house in wonder.
Sam looked down on himself, fiddling his fingers with the hems of his green hoodie. Why did he think he could trust an adult? He wondered. "Why did she tell you? Why not Prue?" He then asked his brother in curiosity. Miss Maxwell had told him that she'd tell his oldest sister, before he had talked her out of it or at least he thought he had.
Dean nodded his head, bouncing it along with the rock music despite its lower tone, his fingers lightly dancing along the steering wheel.
When he received an impatient huff he decided to relent to his brother's question. "I answered the phone, Prue doesn't know yet but if I don't start getting answers from you…" He threatened knowing that Prue would be a lot more intimidating to the youngest Halliwell then he had been.
"You're threatening me?" Sam rebutted with bitch face number 5 on the go.
Dean turned to glare back at his brother with a bitch face all of his own. "No, I'm promising you; no chick flicks, no lies." Dean replied to the younger, his tone very much backing up his words. "I'm your brother Sam." He continued when Sam didn't replay to anything that he had to say. It was so unlike his brother not to tell him things, especially things that could hurt him.
Sam gave a huff, as he decided what to say to the older boy. He didn't want to say that he had nightmares about Kat dying. He also didn't want to worry the older Halliwell.
"I know you're my brother but there are some things I need to keep for myself." He then said after a moment of thinking. It was the truth. He did need to keep this one to himself at least until he figured out what was going on and why he was thinking this way. Was it too much to ask for?
Dean nodded his head, more than a little angry that Sam was hiding something from him but also knowing that there was nothing that he could do about that unless Sam wanted his help. Right now he really wished that he had gotten Phoebe's powers if only so he could see what was happening to his baby brother.
"I don't like secrets, not when you're concerned." Dean told the brunette.
"And I don't like being the only one that isn't a witch, but what can we do." Sam rebutted to his older brother with another bitch face.
Dean looked away from the kid shaking his head, before turning back to look at Sam straight in the eyes. "You know someday, you're gonna give up your secrets." Dean told his brother with a tone of irritation, wishing that he knew what was going on with his kid brother and hoping that he would be able to fix it, at least for his brother.
Now that he had discovered that his sisters and he were witches, he had to be careful and he also had to make sure that his little brother was just as careful meaning that they couldn't have any secrets between them. Right now however his brother was deciding to be secretive and that could possibly make things ten times worse than they were now.
* *P *D * P*S * P* *
Prue was at work, looking through her books, and her laptop as she did research. She was onto something with this latest exhibit and it was going to be excellent for her career. Inwardly she just really wanted to impress her boss, and get Hannah off of her back.
Prue was so far invested in her work that she didn't see the dark shadow move to cover her vision.
The sound of a man clearing his throat cut through the witch as she looked up with curious green eyes to find a well-dressed man old enough to be her father, if she had one. "I was told that you might be able to help me." The man spoke with an unwavering voice as if he was so sure that she could help. She watched as the man took a ring off of his finger and step closer to her desk. "I'd like to have this… appraised." The man in the grey suit asked.
Prue glanced down on the ring with a small bout of curiosity before looking back up at the aged man with a shrug. "Well you would be better going off to the houses appraisers." She advised.
The man nodded his head at Prue's suggestion, while the witch moved to check the ring out with a small amount of fascination. "I've been there he would need a week. And I just, well I wouldn't feel right without it. It's a family heirloom."
A strange feeling of déjà vu came across the green eyed woman as she looked at the ring. It was strange but she somehow felt like it belonged. She felt familiarity as she looked at the ring. It was so much like…"I feel like I um…" Prue stuttered out with uncertainty. "I think I've seen a ring similar to this before. The setting quite old at least seventeenth century. The stones look like chrysolite." She continued giving a few guesses about the ring and what she had learned as she stood up and moved over to look into her books.
"Keep in mind this is just an educated guess." The witch spoke as she grabbed one of the books on the Egyptians and their stones. She knew she'd seen a similar ring to this in her past and she had done a lot of research to get where she was now.
The man gave a soft but cocky smile as he moved to sit down across from the woman. She looked so different and yet so familiar. "Please, guess away." He voiced as he relaxed himself.
Prue listened, unable to tear her eyes away from the book as she searched for the information that she needed. "If I'm not mistaken it is a stone that the Egyptian believed would protect them against spells, curses, evil spirits." She voiced out as she looked over the crisp pages of her book, reading a brief out to the man before her. "This wouldn't be a wedding band, by any chance, would it?" Prue then asked as she looked back to the ring, taking a closer look.
The man looked to the young brunette witch, impressed by her knowledge and her words. "You tell me?" He asked, pointing a finger to Prue.
Prue nodded her head, taking a more clinical look. The green stones reminded her of Dean's eyes when he was just a little kid back before Sammy was born, back when Dean was allowed to cry. As much as she loved John Winchester, the man had changed when Mom died. He was back to being a solider, a marine and treated his boys in a similar way. Dean got used to it, but Sam never did. Prue could still hear the argument Grams and John had when Sam was seven and he was crying about being bullied. John told him to man up but Grams seemed to be under the impression that Sammy was a sensitive boy and nothing like Dean in personality.
Shaking her head a little, she tried to stop thinking about John, Grams and the boys and start doing her job. "The stones are set in twos, a symbol of duality. Man woman… again, for protection." She spoke with a slight drawl as her brain overrun her trying to place the ring and the man who was starting to look very familiar to her.
"And what does all this tell you?" He asked.
Prue frowned and slowly moved to look up at the man. "Where did you get this ring? What did you say your name was?" Prue voiced hesitantly, not sure she wanted to know what she had asked.
The man raised an eyebrow at the witch. "I think you know what my name is… Prudence." He said.
The greying haired man looked straight into Prue's moss green eyes and seeing the realization come across the woman's face.
Standing up, Prue threw the ring towards the man, rage coming across her face for the man even daring to come here. She just hoped he hadn't been near Phoebe or Piper yet. "Get out and stay away from us." She demanded, putting a hand to her hip.
The man gave out a sigh, hoping that Prue could have looked past the past, as he grabbed his ring from the table and put it on his finger. "I'm staying at the Beaumark. What do you say you and your sisters join me for dinner? Let's say, tomorrow night bring your brothers, we can talk." He suggested to the witch as he straightened out his suit, seeming to be unravelled by Prue's anger.
Prue had always been a very angry young woman, even as a child she had a temper.
"After how you abandoned us, how dare you." Prue yelled out and she was truly pissed. He left them and now after all this time, twenty years he thinks he can come back into their lives like nothing happened. How dare he?
The man smirked as the temper. "Fiery temper I like that. It reminds me of someone I know." He told the witch, knowing it would push her buttons. Prue was the one sister that never ever wanted to be like him, no she wanted to be her mother or her Grams but not him.
Growling at the man who had destroyed her family, Prue gave him a stern look. "I am nothing like you. I would never leave my responsibilities and my family." She ridiculed him. It was something that she was desperate not to be like. Prue never wanted to that man, and as long as she stuck by her family, then she never would become him.
"I can see we've got some issues to work through." He responded to Prue's rage.
Prue scoffed at the man. "Oh, we've got the whole subscription." She told him. When did her life become a TV reality series anyway? The abandoner, the dead Mom and the magic powers. It was one thing after another in this story. First Grams dies, then Phoebe leaves, Phoebe comes back, they get powers and now this. A lifetime drama.
"Now get out before I have you thrown out." Prue demanded, glaring at the man because enough was enough.
"Is that anyway to talk to your father?" Victor Bennett, Prue's estranged father asked the witch with a slightly cocky tone to his voice before he stepped away from the desk and walked out of Prue's office.
Prue watched on as Victor left with a stern look in her face, her moss green eyes flashing with hidden rage. Inwardly however she was terrified. What if Victor went to Piper with his claims or Phoebe, cause would fall for his charms in a minute. She always had been a daddy's girl. What if he was after the Book and their powers because it was pretty coincidental.
Watching the man go, Prue knew that she needed to tell her sisters before Victor went to them. Today was going to be a really long day.
* *P *D * P*S * P* *
In order to tell her sisters about what had happened, Prue had decided to take them both out to lunch which also consisted of an uninvited guest going by the name of Dean Halliwell, because apparently Dean's boss wanted him out of the way with this inspector guy in.
Throughout the story Dean was silent and ate his burger leaving his sisters to the talk. It was their father afterall although he knew that if he ever had the chance to see his Dad again he would be overjoyed although the difference was his Dad died.
"I wonder why he went to you first. I mean, why not Phoebe or me?" Piper asked as she looked between her three siblings with curiosity in her brown eyes as she wondered about her father. She didn't understand why he would have visited Prue before seeing Phoebe or her. I mean they were at least nicer.
Prue turned to give her sister a pointed look of frustration because seriously she hadn't asked for this. She didn't even want to think about Victor let alone anything else. "Piper, it's not like I won the lotto."
Phoebe looked between her sisters not really caring that her Dad had went to see Prue first as long as she got to see him too. Dad was the reason why Phoebe had moved away to New York in the first place. After Grams died, she had decided that she wanted to find her father and so left for New York. In truth, she hadn't found him by the time she felt the need to move back home with her family. However her father still irked her and she wanted to know him.
Breaking through their argument, Phoebe looked to Prue with piercing deep brown eyes. "What was he like? Did he ask about us?" She asked with a slight hint of desperation.
"Was he bald?" Dean inquired.
Prue turned to give Dean a glare of irritation. "Dean no." She told the idiot before turning to look at her baby sister. "And actually, no." She told her and watched as Phoebe's eyes dropped.
It was that, that despite their relationship broke Prue's heart. Her little sister was going through such unhappiness and it was all because of a man that could not be bothered with her. He never even asked about her after twenty years nor Piper, and it drove her nuts. "Think about it Phoebe he abandoned us, he was a no show for twenty years and what suddenly here he is? Why now?" She questioned her sister, her mind going straight to the fact that he came back just after they got their powers.
Piper looked between her sisters, trying to be Switzerland while between the two. "Maybe he just wants to be a part of our lives." She suggested to her sisters with curiosity.
Dean glanced between Piper and Phoebe with concern moving across his features. Phoebe was way too invested in her father while Piper was going to be forever called Switzerland.
Prue however seemed to be forgetful of her sisters' feelings as she butt in. "After all this time, don't get your hopes up." She reminded the girls, causing her to side glance the evil glare that her brother directed towards her and she was really glad Sam couldn't make it to lunch.
"Well there's only one way to find out. Why wait until dinner, let's go see him now." Phoebe replied thinking only of seeing her father.
Prue moved to glare at Phoebe, ignoring Dean as she did. "Will you be rational? Don't you find it suspicious just as we find out-" Prue was cut off from the rest of her rant when a waitress walked over to the table with a smile while Prue gritted her teeth.
"Let me get that for you." She asked as she took the lunch plates on the table.
As soon as the waitress had left Prue began another bite out of emotion. "Just when we find out we're witches, he turns up but when Mom dies he's nowhere to be found." She snarled.
It had been Grams that had cared for them after Grams had died, not Victor Bennett the man who was supposed to love them and care for them. Hell John Winchester had been more of a father to her sisters and her than what Victor was.
Dean rolled his eyes knowing that he had to say something to his sister if only to protect Phoebe and Piper from the anger going through his sister right now. Prue was only putting her own grievances on everyone else and he guessed it was because she felt betrayed by her father.
"Not like my Dad was there either." He spat out.
Prue's head shot towards her big brother with an irritated look. She didn't understand why her brother was so pro Victor anyway. "He still came by, Dean." She rebutted.
Phoebe shrugged her shoulders a little. "He sent us birthday cards." She replied.
Prue scoffed at her sister's response. "Selective memory?" She questioned Phoebe. With a soft sigh she gave the youngest brunette a sympathetic look. "Grams always told us he was a threat to us and there's no reason to think that that's changed." She told the two girls.
Dean returned Prue's words with a scoff of his own. "Yeah and Grams also got engaged like seven times." He chuckled out.
It was true. Grams was forever getting engaged when they were kids and it was so much so that by the time she died, the woman despised all men bar Sam and him. She was forever getting involved with all kinds of guys even though she hated them.
Piper gave out a small sigh of her own. "Prue it's not that I don't see your point but you knew him, we didn't. Why can't we have a chance to know him now?" She explained with a hidden desperation. She wanted to see her father, if only once. She wanted to spend time with him, wanted to know what he was like, what he looked like and how he was. She wanted her father.
Prue turned to look at Piper, her green eyes darkening as she thought about the man. She could not let him walk right back into their lives. "Because we really don't know why he's here and until we do we can't trust him." She simply answered.
Watching his sisters, Dean knew he couldn't let this continue not when Piper and Phoebe were hurting. "Well no offence Prue but I would love the chance to see my Dad again. So would Sam." He told the witch before he got up, threw down a twenty and walked away from his sisters. After today he really needed a drink. God, he wished he could.
The girls watched as their brother walked away contemplating his words as well as their own. Either way their lives were about to change. Again.
* *P *D * P*S * P* *
Sam was walking around the school grounds, rubbing his head when a slight pain flinched through him. He jumped as Kat suddenly jumped onto his back, turning round to face her, he was surprised to see that in the hour they'd been apart that she had changed clothes. Sam then frowned as he looked Kat up and down, closing his eyes for a second to rid himself of the sudden pain shooting through his head.
Kat was wearing that same black ACDC shirt, from his dreams, the same short denim skirt, the white tights and black shoes.
Quickly glancing towards Kat's ears he stretched to see beyond the curly blonde hair to see she was wearing her mother's golden earrings. Oh my god, my dream. He jerked no way could this be real, he wasn't a witch like Mom, his sisters and his brother.
That weird pain again in his head, his sense of sound being cut off by a loud buzzing in his left ear. He shook his head in irritation as he tried to listen to Kat and see if it really was his dream. This was really, really starting to freak him out. Sam tried to shake himself, trying to stop himself from falling into the same zone as his nightmares.
As if by magic his head suddenly cleared, leaving him wondering as he continued to ignore Kat as she began to criticise Mr. Raymond, one of the Biology teachers, of whom Kat hated with a passion.
Before he could fully put this down to a coincidence, Tommy Lockland, pushed into Kat, causing her to fall into him, forcing the two to the ground. HE winced as grit scraped across his palms and huffed when Kat fell on top of him.
Looking up he noticed with accuracy that his bang was hanging from his shoulder, and Kat's things across the black paved ground of the road.
"Real funny you bunch of jerks!" Kat yelled out in enragement as she stood up and then moved to pull Sam up with her. He jerkily thanked her, as she blew him off. She was more than used to helping the smaller boy get back to his feet when those jerks were around.
Kat moved to pick up her things, all of her thoughts on her things as he muttered about the jerks while Sam stood routed to the ground, his legs shaking and his mind blank. This was his dream, it had to be the only thing missing was the… red Cadillac. That single thought caused the boy's head to shoot to the left. The Cadillac or was it a Camaro, not definitely a Cadillac and definitely in red drove forward, the driver not even paying much attention as it steamed forward.
"Kat?" He whispered, unable to make his voice louder, tears began to fill his eyes and people must have thought he looked completely crazy but Kat was going to die. No. No, Kat was not going to die, not this time.
Jerking himself away from the panic, Sam began running, "KAT!" He screamed causing everyone to look up including Kat and the driver as he pushed Kat away from the car with as much force as the fifteen year old could muster.
The car jerked, the driver trying to stop the collision with the two teens as it crashed into another car, but not before hitting Sam.
Sam seized as pain shot out throughout the left side of his body, the car having caused to push him further to the side of the road and on top of Kat who was gasping in panic. Looking her over with a dizzying pace, Sam noted that Kat was fine. Kat was alive and he'd saved her. He had a vision of the future and he'd managed to save his best friend. Kat was alive.
The dizziness began to get heavier as Sam began seeing white and black pock-a-dots across his vision alongside his fellow students. Their voices began to dim, and the pain began receding as his conscious mind moved in and out of unconsciousness. "Mom?" He whispered as he fell to the ground unconscious. The whole school watching the fifteen year old in amazement. No one having expected such a heroic side to little Sam Halliwell.
Things were definitely going to change.
* *P *D * P*S * P* *
As soon as he had finished lunch with his family Dean had found himself rushing towards the nearest bar. The place was called Underwood. It was a crap hole but they were cheap and not to spotty on IDs which is just what Dean needed right now and anyway he was going to be twenty one soon, well in two years but soon enough to get drunk.
Walking into the bar the teenager made a beeline for the bar which caused him to seriously consider the idea of another superpower and order a whiskey. His father's drink of choice and downed it. God he needed that after tonight.
"Rough day?" The barman, a guy in his mid-thirties with red hair spoke out as he poured Dean another drink.
Dean scoffed at the barman's words, he wished it was just a day. "More like rough week." He gritted out under his breath as he took a gulp of his drink. Checking his watch for a second, he sighed. It was Prue's day to pick Sammy up from school, something he was more than happy about. Dean wanted to get so legless tonight, that he wouldn't be able to walk much less drive the Impala.
The barman chuckled at the younger man's words. "Is it a girl?"
Dean shook his head. "My sister." He spoke with irritation clouding his features. He really was sick and tired of his sister. Prue was so angry over her father, but at least he was alive, not like his Dad. If he had a choice, no matter how Dad bad his Dad was.
The bartender gave him a confused look. It wasn't often that he heard people talking about their siblings when people went out to get wasted. But oh well, to each there own.
Dean watched as the bartender walked away from him, a smile coming across the guy's face as someone walked into the bar. Dean ignored the bar tender as he gulped down his drink. He groaned however when his phone began ringing. It was Sam's cell phone. He was just about to answer it when a voice distracted him.
"Dean?" Turning around Dean's eyes came face to face with the gorgeous brown eyes of Lisa Braeden, Johnny's customer.
The witch's mouth fell open as he looked to the woman seeing her wearing a slick black sleeveless shift dress. The dress went to just below her thigh and showing off mile long legs. Her long brown hair pulled into a ponytail making her look all kinds of hot. "Ms Braeden." He replied.
Ms Braeden gave a small chuckle to the blonde as she moved to the other side of the bar. God she was a barmaid. "Dean, honey, I told you call me Lisa." She responded as she grabbed the whiskey bottle and topped up his glass. "For the great car work." Lisa told him when she noticed Dean frowning at the refilled glass of whiskey.
Dean lifted up his glass, sending a cheers Lisa's way and then gulped it down. "So you're a bar tender." He clarified.
Lisa looked at him with sparkling eyes, as the red head moved to serve other customers. "At the moment yes, but once I get my degree all bets are off." She replied seductively and if Dean wasn't so sure that it was impossible for them to exist he would have thought Lisa was a siren. She certainly had a certain type of allure to her.
Dean licked his lips, his mind going places it shouldn't as he looked at Lisa. "What degree?"
He sounded like an idiot and he was more than aware of his idiocy but ignored it as Lisa smiled at him. "Dance and sports therapy." She replied and the witch was seriously surprised that Lisa knew what he had meant when he had spoken. He had thought that he had sounded like such a douche.
"Cool." He responded.
"You have no idea what sports therapy is do you?" Lisa asked with a joke like manner and Dean faked looking affronted by the woman's words.
Dean gave her an appreciative look causing Lisa to lift her eyebrows. "Let me guess you're a ballerina." He replied with a smirk when Lisa gave him a surprised look letting him know that she was indeed a ballerina, although he wouldn't tell her how he knew she was a ballerina, he had to keep some things secret after all.
"You must be psychic." She joked.
The words did nothing to stop the inebriated man from fearing as he raised an eyebrow. "My sister is, I however just have a good eye." Dean rebutted to the barmaid. It was true but by the way Lisa was laughing at his response, he betted that she thought he was joking when he said Phoebe was a psychic which was probably a good thing; witchy consequences and all that jazz.
Inwardly Dean knew that right now Prue would be on his back and yelling at him, but he really didn't care right now.
The male witch watched as Lisa worked with a flattering eye his cell conversation all but forgotten as he continued to watch the woman. Lisa Braeden surly was something and he would be lucky if he managed to get a date with the woman. In fact Dan was cute enough that he could get away with asking the gorgeous barmaid on a date.
Who knows this one might even last.