Chapter 5

Part 2

Elysium falls was a sight that was second to none.

A massive half-moon that encircled the view before them. It towered so high above them that it almost hid the sky from their view. The sound it made was loud, even from the distance they were standing, but also strangely soothing. Like a mother's lullaby.

He stopped staring at the waterfall when he realised that Alice was watching him. He turned to where he thought she was and found her again smiling. Her hazel browns were glowing brighter than usual.

"Come on, we are not done yet" she said, gesturing towards him.

Then she turned and walked towards the lake that flowed from the waterfall. Actually it was more like a sea, even with small waves created by the falls. She didn't stop or hesitate as she stepped from stepping stone to stepping stone, until she reached one that was large enough to form a little island several feet from the bank. She gently eased her way around it and sat down, smoothening the skirt of her dress.

The way the rock was made, it seemed to form two continuous seats, like thrones. To sit and watch the waterfall with comfort and convenience.

She turned towards him and smiled: "Come on scaredy cat" she said.

Sam looked down at the water. It was light blue like blue eyes but also clear like glass. He could see right to the bottom; which in itself looked quite clean. He could see fish of varied sizes and colours swimming about.

Sam turned towards the stepping stones that jutted out from out of the water. Tops of little mountains of the seabed that peeked out. They were well rounded but they also looked slippery.

He hesitated.

He then knelt down and undid his laces. Removed his shoes and then rolled up his trouser legs. Leaving his shoes on the bank, he slowly put one foot into the water. Strange enough there was no current, and the water itself was soothingly chilly. Fish swam past completely oblivious to the strange thing with them. Some even brushed against his skin, sending sensations up to his head. He then stepped completely into the water, and again felt Alice staring at him.

He looked up at her and she was smiling still.

"Silly Mr. White Rabbit, you could have used the rocks and avoided getting your feet wet."

"Well, Mistress Alice, I rather get my feet wet than walk back to the hotel dripping wet!"

"You are such a girl" she said and laughed again, throwing her head back as she did.

Sam stopped in the middle of the sea and watched her laugh.

Sam was sitting next to her, on the wet and slimy rock. But he didn't mind. He wouldn't have cared any form of discomfort at that moment. He could feel nothing but her.

She then turned to him and edged closer; brushing up against him. She was so close that Sam could smell the sweet fragrance of hair and body. It was not perfume or shampoo, it was natural. Like the trees and flowers he had walked through. He liked it.

"Don't tell anyone" she said, and then looked around her as if expecting someone to be watching. It made him look too. But then there was no one any where remotely close; or at least close enough to hear her whisper; the sound of which felt like wind.

"For all its comforts, the hotel makes me feel like I am in a posh sanitarium" she said and he smiled. He agreed.

"This place on the other hand. Feels…it feels like home" she said staring at him. She then pushed a few strands of her hair away from her face and behind her ear; looking shyly away. Then she turned away from him completely and back towards the waterfall. The smile was gone but her face still glowed and her eyes still were filled with that same joy. "I feel like I am in the embrace of my mom and dad" she continued.

Strange enough he understood what she meant. The warm rays of the sun and the gentle vapour of the waterfall, created a strange sensation of warmth and humidity that felt like love.

And in that embrace they sat, next to each other, staring at the falling water.

"Sam," Alice suddenly said, breaking the silence.

"I know you feel like this place would drive you mad, if you stayed long enough. Sometimes, it may even make you feel like you are living in a prison," she said and he turned to find her looking at him. There was no smile on her face. Instead, the expression on her face was serious.

"The reason is that 'this is a prison', Sam" she said, and he found his heart stop for a second.

'What was she trying to say?'

"But it is not a prison made by someone else. It is a prison made by the people who come here. It is the prison of their own making. At one time it was meant to be something better. A haven! But then over the years it absorbed the feelings of the people who resided between its walls and morphed so many times that it became a prison. Because that is what they wanted" she continued.

There were so many questions that were running through his mind, so many things that troubled him about what she said. Yet he kept his silence and listened to her every word with interest.

"You have to understand that the people who come here. They do not come here looking for heaven, they come here looking for security and safety. They have seen so much, done so much that they want to get away from all that. So a little piece of heaven is created for them and they lose themselves in it."

"As much as you may want to associate with them, they do not want to associate with you. Not because they do not like you or because they are antisocial. But because they are afraid. So afraid they cling on to the thing they know best and discard everything else. Unfortunately, this place caters just for that. We gotten so used to giving them what they want that they forget what they were supposed to give."

"Instead of giving them security, safety, and a piece of heaven, they get a hole to hide in and while away their time." She said and again turned away towards the waterfall.

She didn't say anything after that. She just stared at the waterfall in silence.

So Sam followed suite; not at the waterfall but into the distance away from it.

He wanted so much to ask her something but in the end he decided against it. There was no way he could tell if she even knew that demons were also here, or if she even believed in them. He didn't want to unnecessarily scare her if she didn't.

Sam was also curious as to her own reasons for being here. Curious about her own demons. But then she never asked about his and, maybe just like the other guests, she didn't want anyone to know hers. So he let it slide.

It was already night when they finally left Elysium Falls.

When they reached the forest night had already taken over the world. But still there was beauty in the forest.

Alice had taken him to a place where they could lie down and just stare at the stars through the canopy. They had laid next to each other staring at the sky, silently. He had to admit that since waking up in this world this was the best time he had spent; maybe even the best time he had spent with anyone since he remembered.

They had walked together, shoulder to shoulder, back to the hotel. He felt sad to part her company at the elevator, but then it was time to get back to his own world; his own part of heaven.

The strange thing was, for all the feelings that filled him when he was with her, they only increased the love he felt for Jess. Alice never found a place in his heart, and when he stepped out of the elevator, it was as if he had already forgotten her; left only with the effects of her company.

Jess was about to say something but she never got the chance, because the minute he was within reach of her he hugged her. Then he kissed her and took her to their room, much to the surprise and confusion of everyone.

The truth was Alice was right.

Everything about everything he had seen was about isolation. It was not about creating a perfect world to live in, it was about creating a perfect world to hide in. And that was what was wrong with it. It tried too hard. To his jaded heart that meant it was wrong; in every possible way. He wanted to fight it because he could never accept it.

Strange that, of all the people, Dean was the one who was able to accept it.

Jess didn't protest when he took her away from everyone, or when he led her to their bed. She didn't even need to be told what was to come next; which was fortunate, because he didn't have the time to explain himself. He wanted to act before his mind had the time to get around the stupor that Alice had left him in.

Death…pain…blood…and destruction.

The images were real; the feelings poignant.

He heard the screams that shattered the air; piercing it like a knife.

He heard Dean scream his name and then he felt something tormenting, something warm flowing down across his skin, and then something liberatingly peaceful.

However, as when the morphine wears thin the pain grows, so did he find himself waking in the middle of the night screaming in pain. The feelings Alice had created having waned.

Sweat covered his body and his heart beat hard against his chest.

Nevertheless, it was when he opened his eyes that he saw real terror.

For filling his sight was the burnt corpse of Jess, staring down at him with dead eyes.