The Monster at the End of the Book
Many weeks had passed by. Same thing everyday; trying to keep seals from being broken and failing at doing so. At least some lives were saved in the process. Dean and Sam had grown closer, realizing each day why they need to stick together. Some alternate universe set up by the angel, Zachariah, will do that to you. Dealing with sirens, Alastair, and more importantly, Genna's return. Her disappearance really did a number on Adonia. She didn't go crazy like last time, she just became distant, but responsive when necessary.
Genna came back after a couple of weeks, all in one piece. They thought she became an angel and would never be seen again. Turned out she destroyed her grace, for herself and to make sure no one else got a hold of it. Yes, she would have been a free angel, but she didn't want that part of her anymore. She gave it all up for reasons and she wasn't about to take it all back. Not only that, but she figured getting rid of her angelic abilities would take away her death sentence. Destroying her grace caused some memory loss. She remembered everything up until the hypnosis done by Pamela and everything after getting her grace back, but everything in between was blank.
Unfortunately, Pamela died trying to help the hunters again. It was a tragic loss and Dean feels Sam is to blame for his secrets, but they don't speak of it. Adonia and Genna were finally acting as they used to amongst each other, best friends. Dean and Genna's relationship never developed since she didn't remember that night. Dean thought it would be best not to remind her to dodge any awkwardness between them. But he remembered her words from that night and that is what stuck with him the most. As for Adonia and Sam, they were slowly becoming friends again, but it seemed that any time Ruby was seen or mentioned, the link grew thinner and thinner.
The hunters showed up at a comic book store in search for a potential case to take on. They showed up in their usual FBI attire with suits and sophisticated black dressed that complimented the girls very well. Behind the counter is a heavy set man with black rimmed glasses. Adonia walked around the store with an emf while they spoke to the man.
"Uh...can I help you," the man asked, confused.
"I sure hope so. Agents DeYoung, Shaw, Phillips, and Gowan. Just need to ask you a few questions." Dean chose band members of Styx this time around.
"Notice anything strange in the building, last couple of days," Genna asked. Her hair was pulled back in a half-ponytail with her bangs brushed off of her face.
"Like what?"
"Well, some other tenants reported flickering lights," Dean explained with a deeper voice for a more authoritized feel.
"I don't think so. Why?"
"What about noises? Any skittering in the walls? Kind of like rats," Sam added on.
"And the FBI is investigating a rodent problem," the man asked skeptically.
"What about cold spots? Feel any sudden drops in temperature," Adonia asked, joining the group with no luck of a signal. The man started grinning.
"I knew it! You guys are LARPing, aren't you?"
"Excuse me," Adonia asked.
"You're fans."
"Fans of what," Sam asked.
"What is 'LARPing'," Dean asked right after.
"Like you don't know," the four looked confused, "Live-Action Role-Play! And pretty hardcore, too."
"I'm sorry. I have no idea what you're talking about," Adonia said genuinely.
"You're asking questions like the building's haunted. Like those guys from the books. What are they called? Uh...'Supernatural'. Two guys, two chicks, use fake IDs with rock aliases, hunt down ghosts, demons, vampires. What are their names? Uh... Steve and Dirk? Uh, Ginny and Amber?"
"Sam and Dean," Sam asked.
"Genna and Adonia," Genna asked quickly after Sam.
"That's it!"
"You're saying this is a book," Dean asked trying to understand.
"Books. It was a series. Didn't sell a lot of copies, though. Kind of had more of an underground cult following." he goes over to a table labeled 'Bargain Bin'. The hunters follow him.
"Let's see," he says looking through, "Um... Ah. Yeah." He handed Dean a book.
"That's the first one, I think." They looked at the cover with mixed emotions, disgust, amazement, and confusion. They all looked like over-done models from Fabio to Tyra Banks.
"'Supernatural' by Carver Edlund," he flipped over the book and read the description out loud, "Along a lonely california highway, a mysterious woman in white lures men to their deaths." Adonia took it from him.
"Let me see that." Sam turned to the man.
"We're gonna need all the copies of 'Supernatural' you've got."
The hunters went back to the motel to look at all the books of the "Supernatural" series.
"This is freakin' insane. How's this guy know all this stuff," Dean asked out loud.
"You got me," Sam answered, staring at the internet.
"Everything is in here. I mean everything. From the racist truck to...to me having sex. I'm full-frontal in here. How come we haven't heard of them before?" He got up and walked over to the table where Sam was sitting.
"They're pretty obscure. I mean, almost zero circulation. Uh, started in '05. The publisher put out a couple dozen before going bankrupt. And, uh, the last one, 'No Rest For The Wicked'," he turned the laptop towards Dean, displaying a web site listing the books.
"Ends with you going to hell."
"Although for fans, they sure do complain a lot. Listen to this – Simpatico says 'the demon story line is trite, cliche'd, and overall craptastic.' Yeah, well, fuck you, Simpatico. We lived it," Dean said looking through the forum.
"Yeah. Well, keep on reading. It gets better."
"There are 'Sam girls' and 'Dean girls' and- What's a 'slash fan'?" Genna and Adonia laughed.
"As in Sam slash Dean, together," Genna explained.
"Like together, together," Dean asked with a concerned look.
"Yeah," she answered,
"They do know we're brothers, right?"
"Doesn't matter to them," Adonia replied.
Oh, come on. That's...that's just sick," Dean said, shoving the laptop out of his view. Adonia scanned over the list and started grabbing books to look through them. She put one of the books down and looked at Genna wide eyed. She handed Genna one of the books with a page open. She pointed out a paragraph for her to read and Genna became wide eyed as well. The brothers were talking amongst themselves.
"We got to find this Carver Edlund," Dean said, ignoring them.
"Ah, that might not be so easy."
"Why not," Adonia asked quickly. She cleared her throat.
"Why not," she asked again in a more calm fashion. Sam raised his eyebrow to her.
"No tax records, no known address. Looks like 'Carver Edlund' is a pen name."
"Somebody's gotta know who he is," Adonia said, putting the book in her bag quickly.
They went to see the publisher of the books. She was roughly around their age, short black hair with a blonde stripe for bangs.
"So, you published the 'Supernatural' books," Sam asked.
"Yep. Yeah. Gosh. These books... You know, they never really got the attention they deserved. All anybody wants to read anymore is that romance crap. You know, octor Sexy, M.D.'," she scoffed, "Please."
"Right. Well, we're hoping that our article can...shine a light on an underappreciated series."
"Yeah, yeah, because, you know, if we got a little bit of good press then m-maybe we could start publishing again," she said eagerly.
"Oh no, no, no god, no. I mean, why - why would you want to do that? You know, it's, uh, such a complete series, what with Dean going to hell and all," Adonia mentioned.
"My god! That was one of my favorite ones, because Dean was so... strong...and sad and brave. And Sam...I mean, the best parts are when they'd cry. You know, like in- in 'Heart', when Sam had to kill Madison, the first woman since Jessica he really loved. And in 'All Hell Breaks Loose', when Sam died and Adonia stayed with his body for protection when Dean left to make a deal with that demon. When she confessed to-"
"Yeah! We get it," Adonia interrupted and laughed awkwardly, "Uh, sorry. That wasn't a favorite of mine." Dean and Sam gave her a skeptical look and the publisher turned away.
"Gosh...if only real men were so open and in- in touch with their feelings."
"Real men," Dean asked, insulted.
"I mean, no offense. How often do you cry like that, hmm?"
"Well, right now, I'm crying on the inside," he mumbled.
"Lady, this whole thing is funny."
"How do I know you four are legit, hmm?"
"Oh, trust me. We, uh...we're legit."
"Well, I don't want any smart-ass article making fun of my boys...and girls," she added as if she forgot about them.
"No, no. We're- uh...actually big fans," Sam protested.
"Hmm. You've read the books?"
"Cover to cover," Genna testified.
"What's the year and model of the car?"
"1967 Chevy Impala," Dean said proudly.
"What's May 2nd?"
"That's my...uh...Sam's birthday."
"How many tattoos does Adonia have and where?"
"She has two. One on her back of a raven and birdcage. The other is above her hip bone to the right of the devil's trap symbol," Adonia answered without skipping a beat. Dean mouthed to Sam,
"Tattoos?" Sam shrugged.
"Who did Genna have a secret crush on when she was younger?" Genna thought about it for a moment. When she realized the reference, her cheeks turned red.
"John Winchester..." The boys coughed slightly at the same time. She elbowed the both of them, standing in between them.
"Okay. Okay. What do you want to know," the publisher asked, thoroughly impressed.
"What's Carver Edlund's real name," Adonia asked.
"Oh, no. No. I'm sorry, I can't."
"We just want to talk to him. You know, get the 'Supernatural' story in his own words."
"He's very private. It's like Salinger."
"Please. Like I said, we are...um...big, big fans," Sam pulled down his shirt and revealed his devil's trap tattoo. The others sighed and did the same. Dean's was in the same spot and Genna's matched Adonia's. The woman licked her lips.
"Awesome," she said with a laugh, "You know what? I got one too." She pulled up her skirt and showed them her ass.
"Whoa. You are a fan," Dean said awkwardly.
"His name's Chuck Shirley. And he's a genius, so don't piss him off."
They pulled up to an older house. Sam and Dean exchanged a look before Dean pushed the doorbell. A shorter man in a dirty white shirt, boxers, and a striped robe opened the door. It looked like he hasn't shaved in weeks.
"You Chuck Shirley?"
"The Chuck Shirley who wrote the 'Supernatural' books," Adonia asked after Dean.
"Maybe. Why?"
"I'm Dean. This is Sam, Addie, and Genna. The Dean, Sam, Addie, and Genna you've been writing about."
"Look, uh... I appreciate your enthusiasm. Really, I do. It's, uh, it's always nice to hear from the fans. But, uh, for your own good, I strongly suggest you get a life." He attempts to shut the door, but Dean pushed his hand against it.
"See, here's the thing. We have a life. You've been using it to write your books." Dean then pushed through the door and everyone walked into the low lit, messy house.
"Now, wait a minute. Now, this isn't funny."
"Damn straight, it's not funny."
"Look, we just want to know how you're doing it," Genna said kindly.
"I'm not doing anything."
"Are you a hunter," Dean asked.
"What? No. I'm a writer."
"Then how do you know so much about demons? And Tulpas, and changelings?"
"Is this some kind of 'Misery' thing? Ah, it is, isn't it? It's a 'Misery' thing!"
"No, it's not a 'Misery' thing. Believe me, we are not fans!"
"Well, then, what do you want?"
"I'm Sam. That's Dean, Adonia, and Genna."
"Those are fictional characters. I made them up! They're not real!"
The hunters took Chuck outside and Dean opened the trunk to show their chest of weapons.
"Are those real guns," Chuck asked.
"Yup. This is real rock salt, these are real fake ids," Dean said.
"Well, I got to hand it to you guys. You really are my number one fans. That's...that's awesome. So, I-I think I've got some posters in the house," he said nervously. He started backing up towards the house.
"Chuck, stop," Dean demanded.
"Please wait. Please, don't hurt me."
"How much do you know? Do you know about the angels? Or Lilith breaking the seals," Sam asked.
"Wait a minute. How do you know about that?"
"The question is how do you," Dean questioned, getting frustrated.
"Because I wrote it?"
"You kept writing," Adonia asked.
"Yeah, even after the publisher went bankrupt, but those books never came out. Okay, wait a minute. This is some kind of joke, right? Did that- Did Phil put you up to this?"
"Well, nice to meet you. I'm Dean Winchester, this is my brother, Sam, and these are out friends, Adonia Salvatore and Genavieve Belacqua"
"The last names were never in the books. I never told any about that. I never even wrote that down."
They went back into Chuck's house. He went into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of whiskey. When he turned around, the hunters were just standing there.
"Oh! Oh, you're still there."
"Yeah," Genna said matter-of-factly.
"You're not a hallucination."
"Nope."
"Well, there's only one explanation. Obviously I'm a god."
"You're not a god," Adonia said with a slight laugh.
"How else do you explain it? I write things and then they come to life. Yeah, no, I'm definitely a god. A cruel, cruel, capricious god. The things I put
you through - the physical beatings alone."
"We're still in one piece," Genna noted.
"I killed your father. I burned your mother alive. And then you had to go through the whole horrific deal again with your parents," he said directing towards Adonia.
"Chuck..." Sam tried to get him to stop rambling.
"All for what? All for the sake of literary symmetry. I toyed with your lives, your emotions, for...entertainment."
"You didn't toy with us, Chuck, okay? You didn't create us," Dean said, walking away from the wall he was leaning on.
"Did you really have to live through the bugs?"
"Yeah," Genna said looking at the others, who could vividly remember the incident.
"What about the ghost ship?"
"Yes, that too," Adonia said with a sigh, thinking of Bella.
"I am so sorry. I mean, horror is one thing, but to be forced to live bad writing... if I would have known it was real, I would have done another pass."
"Chuck, you're not a god," Adonia shouted.
"We think you're probably just psychic," Sam said.
"No. If I were psychic, you think I'd be writing? Writing is hard."
"Exactly, that's why it's Sam and Dean that think you're psychic. Us, on the other hand, thing it's something stronger than that. I mean, I'm an empath, but I've heard of a psychic that has seen the lives of other people so vividly for years," Adonia argued. Genna nodded her head in agreement.
"Are you working on anything right now," Genna asked.
"Holy crap," Chuck said in realization.
"What," Sam asked. He picked up some paper.
"The, uh, latest book? It's, uh, it's kind of weird."
"'Weird', how," Adonia asked with an eyebrow raised.
"It's very Vonnegut."
"'Slaughterhouse-Five' Vonnegut or 'Cat's Cradle' Vonnegut," Dean asked intently.
"What," Sam asked surprised.
"What," Dean asked defensively. Sam raised his eyebrows, impressed by Dean's choice of words.
"It's, uh, 'Kilgore Trout' Vonnegut. I wrote myself into it. I wrote myself, at my house... confronted by my characters."
To give Chuck some time to process everything, the hunters went to a nearby laundry mat, which seemed like a rare occasion. The washers and dryers lined each wall symmetrically and tables acted as a median between them. Dean sat on the table towards the end while Sam washed and dried his clothes. Chuck gave Dean his latest pages which narrated everything they did. Adonia and Genna were on the other end doing their clothes. Luckily, Chuck only wrote Sam and Dean's perspective in these pages.
"We gotta get rid of those books," Adonia said, angrily folding her dark clothes. Genna stood on the opposite side of the table, helping her while her clothes were drying.
"Addie, I doubt they'll read any of them. We don't have time." Adonia put down the shirt in her hand and slightly leaned over the table.
"Yeah, but all of my thoughts and feelings are in there," she whispered, "any anger I've felt, every time I've cried, these roller coaster feelings I have about Sam. I'm freaking out, Gen." Genna laughed.
"Relax. Besides, it wouldn't be the worse thing in the world if after these past couple of years, Sam finally knew. I mean, there's taking it slow and then there's you two." Adonia threw her shirt at Genna.
"Shut up."
Later, Chuck called the hunters back. He paced around holding a few more sheets of paper. He never said anything, just paced.
"So...you wrote another chapter," Adonia asked, breaking the silence.
"This was all so much easier before you were real."
"We can take it. Just spit it out," Dean said with lack of patience as usual.
"You especially are not gonna like this, or you," he said looking at Adonia. A lump grew in her throat.
"It's Lilith," he said after a sigh, "she's coming for Sam."
"Coming to kill him," Adonia asked, becoming concerned.
"When," Sam asked, stepping towards Chuck.
"Tonight."
"She's gonna show up? Here," Dean asked in disbelief. Chuck sat down and put his glasses on.
"Uh...let's see," he picked up the pages, "'Lilith patted the bed seductively. Unable to deny his desire, Sam succumbed, and they sank into the throes of fiery demonic passion.'" Sam laughed.
"You're kidding me, right," Sam asked.
"You think this is funny," Genna asked skeptically.
"You don't? I mean, come on. 'Fiery demonic passion'?"
"It's just the first draft," Chuck mentioned.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait. Lilith's a little girl," Adonia said with disgust.
"No, uh, this time she's a- 'Comely dental hygienist from Bloomington, Indiana.'" Adonia kept her mouth shut.
"Great. Perfect. So what happens after the...'fiery demonic' whatever," Dean asked.
"I don't know, it hasn't come to me yet."
"Dean, look, there's nothing to worry about. Lilith and me? In bed," Sam questioned defensively. Dean gave him a look, somewhat angry because he knows Sam is a bit of a pushover when it comes to demons.
"How does this whole psychic thing of yours work," Dean asked.
"You mean my process?"
"Yes, your process."
"Well, it usually starts with a headache. A really bad headache. Aspirin is useless, so... I drink. Until I fall asleep. The first time it happened, I thought it was just a crazy dream. It flowed. It just, it kept flowing. Still does. I-I can't stop it, really."
"You can't seriously believe-" Sam started to say.
"Humor me," Dean interrupted Sam's attitude. He stood in front of Chuck.
"Look, why don't we, we just-" Chuck handed Dean the manuscript, "...take a look at these and see what's what."
"You..."
"...knew you were gonna ask for that. Yeah," Chuck said with his head down.
"Dean, come on," Sam said as they drove off in the Impala. Sam held the manuscript in his hand.
"'The minivan accident wasn't that bad, but Dean was still seeing stars. He scratched absently at the pink-Flower band-Aids on his face.'"
"So," Dean asked with a smirk on his face.
"So, I've seen you gushing blood. You'd use duct tape and bar rags before you'd put on a pink-Flower band-Aid."
"What's your point?"
"My point is this, all of this, is-is totally implausible, it's nuts."
"He's been right about everything so far. You think he's just gonna ground out at first now," Adonia pointed out from the backseat. Sam scoffed and continued reading.
"'Dean slid behind the wheel of his beloved Impala and drove off, the plastic tarp on the rear window flapping like the wings of a crow.'"
"The tarp," Genna questioned.
"Yeah. On the rear window. And he drive it like that."
"Well, he might be wrong about the details, but doesn't mean he's wrong about the end result," Adonia argued.
"So we're just gonna run," Genna asked.
"We are a long way from ready for a face-to-face death match with Lilith," Dean pleaded. They come up to a road blocked off by cop cars and stop.
"What seems to be the problem," Dean asked from his window.
"Bridge is out ahead," the deputy in brown uniform answered.
"We're just trying to get out of town."
"Yeah. 'fraid not."
"Is there a detour," Adonia asked kindly, popping up front.
"Nope," he said bluntly. She frowned and sat back down.
"There's not a side road that takes us to the highway," Sam asked from the passenger seat.
"To get to the highway, you have to cross that river. To cross the river, you have to take that bridge," the deputy had an attitude problem.
"How deep's the river," Dean snapped back.
"Sorry. Afraid you all are gonna have to spend the night in town."
The hunters sat in a cramped diner. The brothers took up most of the table while the girls sat at the diner stools in front of them. Adonia endulged the strongest coffee they had while Genna enjoyed a glass of orange juice.
"I miss having my own car," Adonia said, looking over the menu propped up in front of her.
"Why's that?" Genna asked, fiddling with her straw wrapper.
"If I want to go somewhere, I could go. Anytime I wanted. Now I just feel like a teenager being driven around everywhere and I have to ask dad permission to use the car. Not only that but I have to give a good reason. We've known Dean for years, but Sam's the only one that can just take the car? That's not fair."
"You know, you may feel like a teenager, but now you're starting to sound like one," Genna joked. They laughed.
"What do you want the car for anyways?" Adonia looked back to see what the brothers were doing. They were busy in their own conversation.
"I need to talk to Chuck." Genna sighed.
"Is this about you and Sam?"
"Yes, it's about me and Sam. Chuck knows everything. I just want to pick at his brain." Genna rolled her eyes.
"You know what, I'm done being nice about this, but enough's enough. This whole thing between you and Sam is both pathetic and annoying. You're in your mid-twenties, not high school. We risk our lives everyday and depend on each other for protection. Having you two butt heads over who likes who is getting really old," Genna put her hand on Adonia's right wrist, "listen, I love both of you. I really do, but you need to talk to him, not Chuck. Either setlle things or move on, but something's gotta give." Adonia stared down at her coffee cup.
"I appreciate the honesty. But it's easier said than done. You have it easy. Dean isn't exactly the mooshy-gooshy type. You guys have had your on and off thing and you can move on with no problem. Your relationships were always easier than mine." Genna laughed.
"Easy? Yeah, my mortal relationships." Adonia cocked her head to the side with a confused look.
"Mortal? You mean to tell me you were dating when you were an angel? Isn't that against some rule up there?" Genna leaned in and whispered,
"This stays between us. Part of the reason why I fell was because I fell in love with another angel. It is frowned upon and that kind of gave me another reason to fall. I was sick of the rules, especially ones that wouldn't allow us to pursue something as harmless and innocent as falling in love."
"Gen, I didn't know you were such a romantic," Adonia nudged with a laugh, "so he was the guy? Did he love you? Did he fall as well? Gen, please tell me he fell and you just haven't found each other yet," Adonia got excited.
"Shut up a second," she said with a laugh, but it merged to a frown.
"He didn't fall and I don't know if he loved me. He was so obedient although deep down he knew that not everything we did was the right thing to do. But I told him that I would fall for love and he let me."
"And he didn't... What a bastard," Adonia spoke a little too loudly. She quickly waved her in hand in apology to those that turned to them. The brothers ignored them and continued talking.
"I'm sorry, Gen. Maybe one day he'll realize he made a mistake. I mean, it's not like angels have an expiration date. I'm sure he'll fall one day and when he does, he'll find you. I think an angel giving up her powers and place in the world for someone is the sweetest thing I've ever heard of. He can't forget something like that."
"Here you go, ladies," the friendly blonde waitress set down their food. Genna ordered a pulled pork sandwich and Adonia chose fish and chips. They thanked the waitress.
"Come on, lets go eat with them," Genna agreed and they grabbed their plates.
"Oh my god. This is delicious. Tofu is amazing," Dean said biting into his burger.
"You ordered a tofu burger," Adonia questioned with a slight laugh. Sam smiled.
"He's trying to do the opposite of what Chuck writes. His manuscript says bacon cheeseburger, Dean order a tofu burger." The girls laughed.
"I am so sorry. I gave you the bacon cheeseburger by mistake," the waitress grabbed the burger and left. Dean looked at them in shock with his mouth full.
The hunters pull up to the Toreador Motel and grabbed a room.
"Dude, this place charges by the hour," Sam pointed out.
"Yeah, well, the book says Lilith finds you at the Red Motel. Hence, the uh, hooker inn. It's opposite day, remember?" Genna and Adonia take out some hex bags, places items in them, and whispers a few words over them. They hand them to Dean and he places them around the room.
"What are you doing," Sam asked.
"Couple of hex bags ought to Lilith-Proof the room."
"So, what? I'm supposed to just hole up here all night?"
"That's exactly what you're gonna do, okay? And no research. I don't care what you do - Use the magic fingers or, watch Casa Erotica on Pay-Per-View." Genna and Adonia give Dean a disgusted look. He reached into Sam's bag and pulled out his laptop, smiling.
"Oh, dude, come on."
"Just call it a little insurance."
"What are you gonna do?"
"Well, the pages say that I spend all day riding around in the Impala. So I'm gonna go park her. Behave yourself, would you? No homework. Watch some porn." The girls rolled their eyes.
"What about you two?"
"I'm going to go fetch your laptop, find a plug somewhere, and let the internet keep me entertained. Later," Genna said and left.
"And what about you? I thought you read all the books you had." Adonia laughed.
"I'm not a bookworm. Sometimes the books are just more appealing than reality," there was a silence, "I think I'm just going to meet up with Gen. No point in being alone with Lilith in town." Sam nodded as Adonia walked towards the door, but she stopped.
"Actually, I need to tell you something." She turned back to him.
"I'm tired, Sam. I'm tired of this act. I thought if I toughened up, things wouldn't get to me anymore. But the truth is, ever since I came back, the longer I stayed, the weaker I became. I've become immature about everything. I let my emotions get in the way and I don't want them to anymore."
"What do you mean?" Sam was lost. Then again, Adonia knew she didn't practice her speech, so it was just a jumbled mess.
"It means I miss the way things used to be. We used to be so close. I always went to you when I needed someone to talk to and vice versa. We depended on each other for support and freaked out if we thought the other was leaving. Maybe a little too dependent on each other. It's bad enough that the apocalypse is right around the corner. The last thing we need is one less of a friend."
"I know. I'm sorry too. Things haven't exactly been easy." Adonia exhaled heavily, but not loudly.
"Look, I've put it in the back of mind for so long, but I can't pretend that what happened on Christmas didn't happen. We haven't spoken about that kiss and I think it's time that we do. We've been bumpy ever since." Adonia looked into Sam's eyes, searching for what he was feeling.
"I haven't forgotten about it. With facing with Dean going to hell soon, it just hadn't crossed my mind."
"And that's exactly why I didn't want to say anything. It was really bad timing," she said with a laugh. They stood awkwardly in silence.
"So, what do we do," Sam asked sheepishly. Adonia stuck her hands in her back pockets and shrugged.
"Nothing. We just try to move on from this." Sam smiled slightly and nodded in disbelief.
"Sam, I want to be with you. I really do. More than anything. But with Ruby in the picture, in any way, the demon blood. I just can't do it. And I'm not going to make you choose between us. But when you do decide, I'll be ready." She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. He stood there, baffled, but let her walk out the door.
Adonia finally found Genna who tagged along with Dean. While Genna was with Dean, they parked the car, had it broken into, and Dean got hit by a minivan. As Dean sped to Chuck's house, the tarp was flapping on his back window like it was written. Chuck wasn't home, so they waited. Adonia had already looked Dean over for anything of concern, but he was fine. When Chuck came into the house, his hands were full of booze. He was startled to see them.
"Dean, ladies," he said nervously.
"I take it you knew we'd be here," Dean said in a stern tone.
"You look terrible," he said setting his stuff down.
"That's 'cause I just got hit by a minivan, Chuck."
"Oh..."
"That it? Every damn thing you write about me comes true; that's all you have to say to me is 'oh'?"
"Please don't yell at me." Dean stood in anger.
"Why do I get feeling there's something that you're not telling us?"
"What wouldn't I be telling you?"
"How you know what you know, for starters!"
"I don't know how I know, I just do!"
"That's not good enough," Dean grabbed Chuck by his jacket and pushed him against the wall.
"Dean," the girls shouted.
"How the hell are you doing this?"
"Dean, let him go!" Dean released Chuck and everyone turned to see Castiel.
"This man is to be protected," he said sternly.
"Why," Dean asked.
"He's a Prophet of the Lord."
"You...you're Castiel, aren't you?" Dean looked back at Chuck with a surprised expression.
"It's an honor to meet you, Chuck. I...admire your work," Castiel picked up one of the books.
"Whoa, whoa, what? This guy, a prophet? Come on, he's-he's...he's practically a Penthouse forum writer," he turned to Chuck, "did you know about this?" Chuck walked to his armchair and rushed to get his bottle of whiskey open.
"I, uh, I might have dreamt about it."
"And you didn't tell us?"
"Dean, calm down," Genna said.
"It was too preposterous. Not to mention arrogant. I mean, writing yourself into the story is one thing, but as a prophet? That's like M. Night-level douchiness."
"This is the guy who decides our fate," Dean asked Castiel more quietly.
"He isn't deciding anything. He's a mouthpiece, a conduit for the inspired word."
"The word? The word of god? What, like the new new testament?"
"One day, these books, they'll be known as the Winchester gospel."
"You've got to be kidding me," Dean and Chuck said in unison.
"I am not...kidding you," Cas replied awkwardly.
"If you could all please excuse me one minute," Chuck said nervously. He walked upstairs while watching everyone, hugging his nectar.
"Him? Really?"
"You should've seen Luke." The girls laughed at the semi-joke.
"Why'd he get tapped?"
"I don't know how prophets are chosen. The order comes from high up on the celestial chain of command."
"How high," Adonia asked.
"Very," Genna answered. Castiel looked at her.
"Well, whatever. How do we get around this," Dean asked.
"Around what," Castiel asked.
"The Sam-Lilith love connection. How do we stop it from happening?"
"What the prophet has written can't be unwritten. As he has seen it, so it shall come to pass."
The three hunters drove back to the Toreador Motel, which at night when the neon was lit, it read "Red Motel". They entered the room in a panic.
"Come on. We're getting out of here," Dean said to his brother. He was standing in the middle of the room.
"What? Where?"
"Anywhere, okay? Out of this motel, out of this town. I don't care if we got to
swim, we are getting out." Adonia looked around, confused.
"Where are the hex bags?"
"I burned them."
"You what," Adonia asked in shock.
"Look, if Lilith is coming, which is a big 'if'-"
"No, no, no. It's more than an 'if'. Chuck is not a psychic. He's a prophet," Dean chimed in.
"What?"
"Cas showed up, and apparently Chuck is writing the gospel of us," Genna added.
"Okay," Sam said confused.
"Okay. Let's get the hell out of here," Dean said walking past him.
"No," Sam protested.
"Lilith is gonna slaughter you," Adonia said stepping in front of him.
"Maybe she will, maybe she won't."
"So what? You think you can take her?"
"Only one way to find out, Addie, and I say bring her on."
"Sam..."
"You think I'll do it, don't you? You think I'll go dark side."
"Yes! Okay? Yes. The way you've been acting lately? The things you've been doing," Sam looked at her, startled, "Oh, I know. How you ripped Alastair apart like it was nothing, like you were swatting a fly. Cas told us, okay?"
"What else did he tell you?"
"Nothing I don't already know. That you've been using your psychic abilities, and you've been getting stronger. We just don't know why, and we don't know how."
"It's not what you think," Sam said calmly, trying to sound reasonable.
"Then what is it, Sam? Because I'm at a total loss." Dean grabbed his bags and headed towards the door.
"Are you coming or not?" Sam looked down at Adonia and back at Dean.
"No." Adonia sighed. Genna gently grabbed her arm and lead her out of the room. Dean slammed down his bag in defeat, but left the room.
Dean spent some time outside to talk to Cas. He begged for a solution to avoid the love session between Sam and Lilith later. Castiel swore that he could not do anything. Some valuable information was passed down however. If Chuck is threatened in any way, an archangel will appear; Heaven's most deadly weapon. If a demon just so happens to be in the same room as Chuck, all wrath could break lose. Dean drove quickly to pick up Chuck. After picking up Chuck, they bursted into the motel room to find Lilith sitting on top of Sam with the knife in hand.
"I am the prophet, Chuck," he yelled awkwardly.
"You've got to be kidding me," Lilith said, getting off of Sam. She was a tall, skinny, blonde woman; a bit overdone. The walls began shaking. Sam looked around confused.
"This is no joke," Dean began to say. A white light beams through the windows.
"See, Chuck here's got an archangel on his shoulder. You've got about 10 seconds before this room is full of wrath and you're a piece of charcoal. You sure you want to tangle with that?" Lilith gave Sam a look, then poured out of her vessel's mouth. Everyone looked at the damaged and glanced over at the vessel to make sure she was okay.
Back on the road, Chuck safely at home.
"So, a deal, huh?" Genna sat up from the backseat. Sam just stared out the window.
"That's what she said."
"To call the whole thing off; Angels, seals, Lucifer rising, the whole nine?"
"That was the gist of it."
"Huh," Dean scoffed.
"What?"
"You didn't think once about taking it?"
"You kidding me? Dude, you spent all day trying to talk me off the Lilith track."
"I'm just saying..."
"She would have found some way to weasel out of it. And all it would have
cost us was our lives."
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
"Anyway, that's not the point." Adonia perked up. Not only because it had been raining and Dean's new back window wasn't working out so well, but to engage in the conversation.
"What's the point?"
"The point is, she's scared. I could see it. Lilith is running."
"Running from what?"
"Don't know. But she was telling the truth about one thing."
"What's that?"
"She's not gonna survive the apocalypse. I'll make sure of that."