Winchester and Cain
Chapter 12 – Faith
Valkyrie's P.O.V
I sighed gratefully when Dean finally parked the car, we all jumped out and stretched, glad to be stretching our legs after a long car journey. Dean was the first to move: going to the trunk and rifling through it, he brought out two tasers and threw them at Sam and I, we caught them just as Dean was brandishing a third. "What do you have these amped up to?" Sam frowned as he looked down at the device.
"A hundred thousand volts." Dean said in a tone full of nonchalance.
"Shit." I muttered, looking nervously at the object I had in my hands.
"Yeah, I want this Rawhead extra frickin' crispy. And remember – you only get one shot with these things so make it count." Dean bought out his handgun and checked the chamber, then went to put it away, but decided against it.
"You guys ready?" I asked, shivering a little at the cold night air.
"Yep. Let's go gank this mother." Dean nodded determinedly.
"Sweet, because I'm frickin' tired, and all I want to do right now is sleep." I replied, yawning as I did so.
The abandoned household was empty upstairs after a thorough check from the three of us, all we found was some ratty furniture and dusty tables and cabinets. I didn't want to think about the state of the kitchen. Sam lead Dean and I down the steps of the basement, they were armed with their guns and torches, whilst I had a gun in my right and a flame flickering excitedly in my hand. Once we reached the bottom of the steps in silence we heard a noise: a slight shift of someone's feet scuffing the floor – or possibly even moving their weight from one foot to the other. Nevertheless it was a noise, and the three of us weren't taking any chances with this monster. The three of us moved stealthily towards the cupboard and surrounded it, Sam and I looked up at Dean for guidance, "On three," Dean whispered, holding up three fingers, "One, two, three."
On three I let the flame go out in my palm and snapped my hand out, the air briefly shimmered and the cabinet door blasted open, Sam and Dean's torch beams instantly caught the faces of a young boy and girl crouching inside. Their small hands were covering their ears and their innocent eyes were wide with fright. "Is it still here?" Sam asked the children in a soft voice.
I holstered my gun and knelt down to the children, holding my hands out with a warm smile, "Here. Take my hands and I'll get you outta here, my friends here will stay here and take down the monster." I told them, the children nodded and grabbed my hands. "Be careful." I told the boy's as I herded the children away, they let go of my hands and grabbed eachothers' when we reached the stairs. "Alright let's go, let's go." I whispered to them as they scampered up the stairs, I was almost halfway up when something grabbed my ankle and pulled me back down, the children screamed in fear and sprinted up to the top of the stairs. I sprawled down the cold stone steps and landed on the hard concrete floor with a groan as my head smacked into the ground.
"Steph!" I heard Dean call out, I slowly raised up onto all fours and pushed myself back onto my feet, I grimaced when I put weight on my left foot and collapsed again. This time I didn't get back up – the room wouldn't stop spinning and black spots danced over my eyes.
Someone rushed over to me and knelt down beside me, "Steph what is it?" It was Sam.
"My ankle," I cringed out how pathetic I sounded, "And the room keeps spinning. I think I hit my head."
There was a loud crash on the other side of the room as Sam picked me up bridle style, his huge hand carefully supporting my head, "Sam, get her and the kids outta here!" Dean yelled.
"Dean no," I mumbled weakly, my ears were buzzing now, "Come with us."
"We have to stop this thing, Sam. Get her to the car!" Dean argued, ignoring my complaints. Sam sighed and turned away, I groaned as I realised we were leaving Dean down there all alone. Sam half-ran out to the car and laid me carefully on the floor next to where the children were.
"I'm gonna go help him, ok, Steph?" Sam asked, brushing a few loose strands from my face.
"That's fine, go get him." I managed, scrunching my eyes as I moved my head back against the car, I could tell the young boy and girl were staring at me, but I was too tired to care: my head felt like it weighed a ton, and my heartbeat was beating away far too loudly for my liking. I held out for another ten seconds before succumbing to the welcome darkness.
I awoke to the sound of a loud humming, I opened my eyes and quickly shut them when I was met with a pure bright light. I groaned and turned my head on the lumpy, uncomfortable pillow my head was on, opening my eyes a fraction and easing myself into the far-too-bright light. When my eyes were accustomed to it I blinked fully and groggily sat up, frowning at the annoying beeping machine next to me and the humming coming from the fluorescent lights above me. This could only be one place: hospital. I twisted around and got out of the bed, ignoring the searing pain in my left foot as I moved to the door. Suddenly I was yanked back by something, I cursed and narrowed my eyes at the IV pulling stubbornly at my right arm. I reached down to yank it out just as the door behind me opened, "Woah, honey! Don't pull that out just yet." The nurse scolded me, "What are you doing out of bed?" She frowned.
"Where am I?" I asked.
"You're in Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital, you were bought in with a severe head wound sustained from a heavy blow sustained at the side of your forehead, and you badly twisted your left ankle." The nurse explained.
"Oh right, yeah." I murmured, remembering the Rawhead we were hunting and my tumble on the basement stairs, "Where are my clothes?" I asked, frowning at the hospital gown that hung off me like a curtain.
"Well, our staff took them away for cleaning and have them stored away safely for your discharge." The nurse answered, she gently took my arm and I instinctively moved away and out of her hold, she held her hands up in alarm. "Woah, woah, it's ok! You just need to get back into bed." The nurse explained.
I frowned, "But I'm fine now. I just need to find my friends, then I'll be even better."
"No, no. Your doctor has ordered that you stay and rest until he deems you're better." The nurse shook her head.
I sighed, "Look," I read her name tag on her slacks, "Sally. I don't know you, and as you can probably tell from my accent, I'm not from here. So whatever you say to me, it won't comfort me. Now, let me go find my friends."
"I'm sorry miss, but I must ask you to get back into bed." Sally argued.
"Not until I find my friends." I shook my head and crossed my arms.
"Fine, if you're going to be stubborn." Sally frowned and tapped the pager on her belt.
I stared at Sally for a few seconds before fiddling with the IV strapped in my arm, I hummed to myself quietly as I worked my fingers under one side of the tape, preparing to rip it out at once. Just as I was about to free myself from the medical drips, two more nurses and a doctor burst into the room, I jumped and backed up to the wall, shooting daggers at the two females who were cornering me. "Miss, I must insist that you get back into bed, all this is unnecessarily damage to your health." The doctor sighed.
I shook my head, "I don't want to stay in bed, I need to find some people."
The doctor sighed and pulled out a syringe, "Keep her still." He told the two nurses on hand whilst he checked the needle.
"I'm not going to let you anywhere near me with that." I glared at the syringe in the doctor's hand.
"We don't need your arm for this, miss." The doctor chuckled and pushed it carefully into the clear bag hanging on a stand near the bed, he pushed it and I couldn't help but scoff: this guy was a moron – that wouldn't do anything to me. I noticed the tube hanging from the bag and followed it until it led straight into my arm.
Shit.
My eyelids drooped and I collapsed weakly into the two nurses awaiting arms, "That should be enough." The doctor muttered as my eyes closed and I fell into the dark once more.
Sam's P.O.V
I stifled a yawn as I waited for the middle-aged receptionist to stop tapping away on her computer, Dean and Stephanie had been taken away by hospital staff as soon as I arrived into the car park. "Sir, I'm so sorry to ask. There doesn't seem to be any insurance on either files." The receptionist jerked me from my thoughts and I stared at her for a moment.
"Right. Uh, ok." I knew Dean wouldn't have any insurance, and it stood to reason that Stephanie wouldn't either: she wasn't even from this reality, after all. I pulled out my wallet and picked out one of the colourful card inside it and handed it to the woman.
"Okay, Mr. Burkovitz." She said, glancing at the card. Once she gave it back to me I made my way over to the two officers stood by the wall, chatting amongst themselves.
"Look," The older cop glanced at me sympathetically, "We can finish this up later. I imagine you must be very concerned for your two friends right now."
"No, no, it's ok." I managed a half-convincing smile at them, "We were just taking a shortcut through the neighbourhood. And, um, the windows were rolled down, we heard some screaming when we were driving past so we stopped, ran in." I stumbled a little as I lied to the officers.
"And you found the kids in the basement?" The second cop asked.
"Yeah." I nodded.
"Well, thank God you did." The first cop sighed in relief, clapping me on the shoulder, I smiled at them grimly and then spotted a doctor approaching.
"Excuse me." I said to the officers and they smiled.
"Sure. Thanks for your help. And all the best for your friends, we hope they pull through." The police officers smiled.
"Hey, Doc," I said as I caught up to the man, "My friends who got admitted a few hours ago, are they-."
"The guy's resting fine, although the girl had to be restrained and sedated upon waking, apparently she didn't take too well from her surroundings." The doctor answered.
"Right," I nodded slowly, making a mental note to check in on Steph in a bit, "And what about
the guy?"
The doctor sighed heavily, "The electrocution triggered a heart attack – pretty massive, I'm afraid. His heart... it's damaged."
My insides went cold, "How damaged?"
"We've done all we can. We can try and keep him comfortable at this point. But, I'd give him a couple weeks, at most, maybe a month." The doctor answered.
"No, no," I chuckled and shook my head in disbelief, "There's, there's... gotta be something you can do – some kind of treatment."
The doctor stopped walking and turned to me, "We can't work miracles. I really am sorry." He said in a sombre tone.
I entered Dean's room with a small smile in greeting, my brother looked a little paler than usual with dark circles under his eyes. He was propped up on pillows watching a small television set, "Have you ever actually watched daytime TV?" Dean asked me, keeping his eyes on the screen, his voice was very weak and strained, "It's terrible."
"I talked to your doctor." I sighed.
"That fabric softener teddy bear? Oh, I'm gonna hunt that little bitch down." Dean frowned.
"Dean." I sagged, he glanced up at me and sighed.
"All right," He turned off the TV resignedly, "Well, looks like you're gonna leave town without me."
I paused, absorbing what he'd just said, "What are you talking about? I'm not gonna leave you here." I frowned.
"Hey, you better take care of that car. Or, I swear, I'll haunt your ass." Dean's tone stayed serious, but a feeble smirked played on his features.
"I don't think that's funny." My frown deepened.
"Oh, come on, it's a little funny." Dean's smirk turned into a mischievous grin and I looked down at the floor as tears began welling up, Dean sighed loudly, "Look, Sammy, what can I say? Man, it's a dangerous gig. I drew the short straw. That's it – end of story."
"Don't talk like that, alright? We still have options." I argued.
"What options? Yeah, the burial or cremation. And I know it's not easy, but I'm gonna die. And neither you or Steph can stop it," Dean shrugged, "Speaking of, where is she?" He asked, changing the topic.
I sighed and rubbed my temples, "Uh, she suffered a severe head injury due to a heavy blow, I think it was when she fell down the stairs, and she twisted her ankle. The nurses and a doctor had to restrain and sedate her earlier when she woke up. Something about not being happy about where she was." I explained tiredly.
Dean chuckled, "That's my girl." He said affectionately. I stared at Dean for a moment before walking to the door.
"I'll see you later, I'm gonna go check on her." I told him, then shut the door. "Can't stop it?" I echoed my brother's words and scoffed, "Watch me."
A nurse directed me to Stephanie's room and I walked in to find her sleeping quietly, she looked so content when she was asleep, as if nothing haunted her at all. Although I had caught her looking deeply troubled and worried about something once or twice, I didn't want to ask her about it. It seemed too nosy to ask her about certain things, especially as she was faced with never seeing her dearest ones ever again, and having a prophecy of her ultimately destroying the world at such a young age must be terrifying on such a young person. I crept to the end of her bed and slipped out the chart from it's folder and glanced over it, no one knew her name and she didn't have any emergency contacts listed. To this world she was just an anonymous girl, a nobody. I glanced at her injuries and sighed, slipping the chart back and looked at her again. Her dark eyes cracked open a little and she frowned, "Sam?" She asked groggily.
"Hey Steph." I smiled at her.
She sat up slowly and pulled a face, "What happened?"
"Some hospital staff had to sedate you earlier, I came in to see how you're doing." I answered, sitting on the edge of her bed gingerly, "How do you feel?"
"Like shit." She laughed and stretched, "But I'm all good now, I think I'm ready to leave now."
"Really?" I raised an eyebrow, "Right now?"
"Yep," She nodded, "Right now, let's go." She went to get out of bed but I pushed her shoulder back down gently.
"Not just yet, Steph. Just stay here and rest a little more. You'd be no good to anyone if you made your injury worse." I told her.
"Please," She scoffed, "I've come back from far worse in shorter time. I think I can handle a 'severe head wound' and a 'badly twisted left ankle'."
"Steph..." I frowned and gave her a warning look.
The seventeen year old sighed, "Fine, I'll stay here for a bit." She rolled her eyes and I smiled.
"Good, you need it."
"Sure, whatever you say, Sammy," She sniggered, "Where's Dean? Surely he should be here showering me with attention."
I paused, "Steph... After I took you outside, I went back to find Dean had been electrocuted, it triggered a pretty bad heart attack... it's not looking good."
It was awful, watching the smile disappear from the girl's face, "How bad is it?" She asked in a monotonous tone.
"Uh," I ran a hand through my hair frustratedly, "Apparently he's looking at a month at most."
Stephanie closed her eyes and sighed heavily, "Shit." She murmured, "Is there nothing we can do?" She asked, opening her eyes. They were bright and shining with tears.
"Nothing the doctors can." I shook my head sadly, tears started to fall from the girl's eyes at that point.
"There must be something." She shook her head in disbelief.
"I know, and I'm gonna find it." I nodded, "All I want you to do is get better, and then I'll come pick you up when you get discharged, ok?" Steph bit her lip and nodded, "Hey," I pulled her into a gentle hug, "He's going to be fine." I assured her.
I had spent the past few days holed up a shabby motel room pouring over anything that could be used to help Dean, I wasn't going to let him die on me so easily. I rubbed my eyes from the vast amounts of reading I'd been doing and pulled out my mobile and pressed a few numbers into it and pressed dial. "Come on, pick up." I muttered as the phone kept ringing, it stopped and my heart fluttered with hope.
"This is John Winchester. I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son, Dean. 866-907-3235. He can help." The voicemail played and I almost threw the phone at the wall in frustration.
"Hey, Dad, it's Sam." I spoke into the speaker in a shaky voice, "Uh... you probably won't even get this, but, uh..." My eyes suddenly filled with hot tears, "It's Dean. He's sick, and uh... the doctors say there's nothing they can do. Um... but, uh, they don't know the things we know, right? So, don't worry, cause I'm uh..." I took a deep breath before continuing, "I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get him better. Alright... just wanted you to know." I hung up and tossed the phone on my bed and held my head in my hands, I looked up and blinked the tears away, then laughed: you'd think a father would drop everything to try and help his dying son, but...
There was a knock on the door and I looked up, my brother was leaning heavily with his arm around Stephanie's neck, he looked even worse than he did at the hospital. "What the hell are you two doing here?" I asked in surprise, but unable to keep the smile off my face: I was so happy to see them both – even if they looked like hell.
"I grabbed Steph and checked us out." Dean answered weakly.
"What? Are you crazy? People are gonna notice if you and Steph just up and vanish." I scolded, getting up and walking over.
"Well firstly, Stephanie didn't even have her name submitted: she was anonymous, and secondly I'm not gonna die in a hospital where the nurses aren't even hot." Dean replied, he tried to move forward and dragged Stephanie with him, I saw the seventeen year old grimace when she moved so I took Dean from her.
"Thanks." She muttered, shutting the door as I helped my brother to a chair.
"You know, this whole 'I laugh in the face of death' thing? It's crap. I can see right through it." I told him.
"Yeah, whatever, dude." Dean shrugged.
"Are you ok, Sam?" Stephanie asked, "Have you even sept? You look worse than we do."
"Err, I've been scouring the internet for the last three days. Calling every contact in Dad's journal." I replied.
"For what?" Dean frowned.
"For a way to help you. One of Dad's friends, Joshua, he called me back. Told me about a guy in Nebraska – a specialist." I answered.
Dean sighed heavily, "You're not gonna let me die in peace, are you?"
"Dean..." I trailed off and looked at Stephanie for help.
"We're not gonna let you die. So, I agree with your brother, we're going." She looked at Dean seriously.
It took us a three hour drive along some back roads until Sam finally drove up along a gravel path leading to a large white marquee tent that was set up in the middle of a field. Crowds of people were making their way towards the entrance of the tent, there shoes churning up the muddy ground. I noticed a fair few people on walking frames and wheelchairs, some people were even being supported by other. Once the car stopped Sam leapt out and ran over to Dean's side to help him, I opened my own door and leaned heavily against the roof of the car to help me out. Once I was out safely I glanced at the boys, Dean was still in his seat looking around. I noticed his eyes narrow at something and I turned and followed his gaze until I found what he was looking at. A large sign next to the entrance of the tent was decorated in bold, black lettering:
The Church of Roy LeGrange. Faith Healer. Witness The Miracle.
"'Witness the miracle'?" I echoed, glancing back at Sam and raising an eyebrow.
Dean sighed heavily and grimaced as he began to get out of the car, my heart lurched a little as I watched the pain in his eyes. Sam reached towards him, "I've got you."
"I got it." Dean snapped, shoving Sam away as he stood up, "Man, you are a lying bastard. I thought you said we were going to see a doctor."
"I believe I said a specialist. Look, Dean, this guy's meant to be the real deal." Sam reasoned.
Dean rolled his eyes, "I cannot believe you bought me here to see some guy who heals people out of a tent." He huffed.
As the words left his mouth an elderly woman passing by turned to him, "Reverend LeGrange is a great man." She announced imperiously.
I took Dean's arm in mine, "Yeah, that's nice." I replied, then led Dean away from her, I could feel her glaring daggers into my back as we limped away.
"I have a right to protest," A man was having a heated conversation with an officer a few feet a way from the tent, "This man is a fraud, and he's milking all these people out of their hard-earned money." He remonstrated angrily, pointing to Dean and I as we watched.
The officer sighed and shook his head, "Sir, this is a place of worship. Let's go," He pushed him away from the crowd, "Move it."
"I take it he's not part of the flock." Dean murmured.
"What? The idiots who are being milked of their hard-earned money? Nah." I smirked back at Dean as Sam caught up with us.
"But, guys, when people see something they can't explain, there's controversy." Sam piped up.
"Come on, Sam," Dean rolled his eyes contemptuously, "A faith healer?"
"Maybe it's time to have a little faith, guys." Sam shrugged.
"You know what I've got faith in?" Dean asked, "Reality. Knowing what's really going on."
"How can either of you be skeptics?" Sam frowned, "With the things we see everyday?"
"Yeah, that's the thing, Sam. We see them, we know they're real." I pointed out.
"But if you know evil's out there, how can you not believe good's out there, too?" The younger Winchester challenged.
"Because I've seen what evil does to good people." Dean answered in a grim tone.
"Maybe God works in mysterious ways." A voice piped up behind us, we turned to come face to face with a young woman with shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes.
"Maybe he does, but then again I'm fairly certain that Gods don't really care." I shrugged, remembering The Faceless Ones: the terrible dark Gods who I had encountered on multiple occasions.
"I'm sorry?" The girl choked out, her eyes widening to an impressive size.
"Gods, they don't care what we do. I can t-." Dean cut me off by putting his hand over my mouth.
"Ok that's enough," He said, smiling at the lady, "Sorry about her, she's just hard work." My eyes narrowed up at him and I saw his smile grow wider at my reaction.
"Yeah, I'm sure." The woman murmured, eyeing me carefully as she nodded to Dean.
Dean held out his other hand to the girl, "I'm Dean, this is Stephanie and that's my brother Sam." He greeted, nodding his head in indication to Sam and I.
"Layla," The girl shook Dean's hand in return, "So, if neither you or Stephanie are believers, then why are you here?" She asked as Dean let go of me.
"Well, apparently my brother here believes enough for the three of us." Dean smirked a little as he answered.
Layla frowned at the two of us and opened her mouth to reply, but an older woman approached and put her arm around Layla's shoulders, she had the same blonde hair and blue eyes as Layla did, "Come on, Layla. It's about to start." The woman said, shooting us a polite smile and leading Layla away.
Dean turned to me, "You're 'fairly certain that Gods don't care'? Tell me Steph, how in the hell would you know that?" He asked.
"Oh come on, guys," I rolled my eyes, "If I've been fighting monsters since I was eleven, don't you think I've come across Gods by now?"
Sam and Dean exchanged a look, "No." Sam shook his head.
I scoffed, "Well, the stories of how I fought and killed Gods are probably best for another day. Come on, I want to get a seat."
The marquee tent may have looked large outside, but inside it was less than spacious: rows of tattered wooden chairs were set out on every possible space before a small raised stage, on top of the stage was a lectern with candles stood proudly upon it. People were either coughing standing up or coughing in chairs, someone brushed passed me and I flinched out of their way. "Yeah, peace, love and trust all over." Dean murmured from beside me, I turned to see him tilting his head in the direction of a security camera which was in the far corner. I edged a smile at the older Winchester's comment and followed him as he went to sit down, but Sam put an arm around his brother and led him down the aisle towards the front, I frowned and limped after them with slow, dreaded steps.
"Come on, let's sit over here." Sam was saying to his brother.
Dean looked at Sam in horror, "Don't! What are you doing? Let's just get Steph and sit over there."
"We're sitting up front." Sam shook his head firmly.
"But Sam," I groaned, "Why do we have to sit at the front?"
"Hurry up." Sam dodged my question, not even pausing to look back at me.
"Oh, come on, Sam!" Dean snapped harshly at his brother.
The three of us stopped in the aisle, I leant against one of the chairs to take the weight off my foot, "You alright?" Sam asked, I opened my mouth to reply, and then rolled my eyes when I saw he wasn't even addressing me.
"This is ridiculous!" Dean growled, shaking out of his brother's grip and batting his arm away, "Get off me, dude, I'm good."
Sam pointed to three empty chairs three rows from the front, Layla and her friend – presumably her mother. "Perfect." Sam smiled at us.
I huffed and pushed off of the chair, "Yeah, friggin' perfect. Sat behind the pretty blonde." I rolled my eyes as I limped away.
"Nice going, Sam." I heard Dean say to his brother as I reached the aisle, I sat on the furthest chair in and crossed my arms in a sulk.
The brothers moved towards my aisle, Dean went to sit ext to me but Sam brushed passed him and got in first, "You take the aisle." Sam said as he slid in next to me.
Dean went to complain, but he shushed by the surrounding crowd as everyone directed their attention to the main stage, where a middle-aged woman was helping an equally aged man with dark shades on up to the lectern. The lights on the marquee seemed to the dim and the audience fell into a hushed, baited silence as the man cleared his throat, "Each morning, my wife: Sue-Ann, reads me the news. Never seems good, does it?"
Sam, Dean and I looked around uncomfortably as the entire audience chorused is a murmur of agreement.
"Seems like there's always someone committing some immoral, unspeakable act," The man continued, I glanced behind the man and noticed a table filled with various religious items, "But," I snapped back to the man, "I say to you folks: God is watching."
"Yes he is." An elderly lady behind us whispered as she clung on to a silver cross around her neck.
"God rewards the good, and He punishes the corrupt. It is the Lord who does the healing here friends, the Lord who guides me in choosing who to heal by helping me see into people's hearts." The man paused as the crowd murmured in excitement again.
Dean leaned over to us, "Yeah, and into their wallets." He whispered, Sam shook his head at Dean and I smirked a little.
The man tilted his head, "You think so, young man?"
The crowd fell silent and turned to the three of us, "Sorry." Dean bit his lip.
"No, no. Don't be. Just watch what you say around a blind man – we've got real sharp ears." The man smiled good-naturedly, but I found it a little unnerving that he hears us, around us the crowd laughed appreciatively, "What's your name, son?" The speaker asked Dean when the crowd died down.
The older Winchester cleared his throat, "Dean." He said hesitantly.
"Dean," The man nodded to himself, "I want – I want you to come up here with me."
The crowd clapped apart from the three of us – and, strangely, Layla and her friend in front of us. Sue-Ann moved to the centre stage and held her hand out to Dean with a warm smile on her face, but Dean shook his head, "No, it's ok."
Beside me, Sam frowned and looked at his brother, "What are you doing?!" He asked in a hushed tone.
"You've come to be healed, haven't ya?" The man called, a frown creasing his face around his dark shades.
Dean hesitated again, "Well, yeah, but..." He paused again as the audience chorused with encouraging noises and claps, "... Maybe you should just pick someone else." He suggested.
"Oh, no," The speaker shook his head, "I didn't pick you, Dean, the Lord did."
"Come on!" A voice from the crowd sounded.
"Get up there." Sam smiled encouragingly to his older brother, I raised an eyebrow as Dean reluctantly stood and moved towards the stage.
"Will this really help him?" I asked Sam.
The younger brother shrugged, "It's the best we've found so far."
We both turned our attention back to the main stage, where Dean was stood next to the healer awkwardly, "Look, no disrespect, but... ahh, I'm not a believer." I heard him say as the crowd fell silent.
The man smiled at Dean, "You will be, son. You will be," Then he turned to the crowd and raised his arms, "Pray with me, friends."
Everyone raised their arms and joined their hands, a man to my right tried to grasp mine but I snatched it away and glared at him, then turned back to the main stage. Roy placed one of his hands on Dean's shoulder and the other on the side of his head, I stiffened when Dean fell to his knees and glanced up at Sam, but he sat frozen with his eyes on the stage. When Dean suddenly slumped to the floor Sam and I jumped up and ran to the stage, "Dean!" We called, the crowd clapped excitedly as we jumped up onto the stage, I ignored the pain in my ankle as I crouched next to Dean's limp form.
"Dean? Dean, can you hear me?" I begged as I stroked his cheek, his eyes burst open and he gasped for breath, making me jump back in shock.
"Say something!" Sam looked at his brother with wide eyes, but Dean's attention was focused on something behind us.
Even though Dean said that he was fine, Sam insisted that he drive us to the hospital for Dean to be checked up. I made sure to avoid as many nurses as possible as we waited for Dean's tests to come back. "So, you really feel ok?" Sam asked his brother for the umpteenth time.
Dean had a troubled look about him since seeing the healer, but he made a good show of rolling his eyes at his brother, "I feel fine, Sam." He sighed heavily.
We looked up as a doctor entered holding a wad of paper, "Well, according to all your tests there's nothing wrong with your heart. No sign there ever was – not that a man your age should be having heart trouble. But," The doctor took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "It's strange it does happen."
I tilted my head and frowned, "What do you mean, strange?" I asked.
"Well, just yesterday, a young guy like you; twenty-seven, athletic. Out of nowhere, heart attack." The doctor explained.
Dean was silent for a moment before he nodded slowly, "Thanks, Doc."
The doctor shrugged as he opened the door to leave, "No problem."
After the door shut Dean broke into a little smile with a slight frown, "That's odd." He announced.
"Maybe it's a coincidence," I shrugged, "I mean, people's hearts give out all the time. It's uncommon for someone so young to suffer from it, but it's not unusual."
Dean made a face and rubbed the back of his head, "I don't know. Stuff like that just doesn't happen without it having an unnatural cause."
Sam pinched the bridge of his nose, "Look, Dean," He sighed exasperatedly, "Do we really have to look this one in the mouth? Why can't you just be thankful that the guy saved your life and move on?" He asked and I nodded.
"Because I can't shake this feeling, that's why." Dean snapped.
"What feeling?" I asked as Sam and I frowned at him.
"When I was healed, I just..." He paused, "I felt wrong. I felt cold... and for a second... I saw someone."
"Who?" I pressed.
"This, uh, this old man – and I'm telling you, guys, it was a spirit." Dean sighed when he finished.
"But if there was something there, Dean, I think I would've seen it, too. And Steph would've done her, uh, air-reading thing. I mean, I've been seeing an awful lot of things lately." Sam objected.
"Well, excuse me, the psychic wonder and the sorcerer," Dean raised his eyebrows at us, "But you're just gonna need a little faith on this one. I've been hunting long enough to trust a feeling like this."
To my surprise, Sam nodded beside me, "Yeah, alright," He said, sighing in defeat, "What do you wanna do?" He asked.
"I want you to check out the heart attack guy, me and Steph'll visit the reverend." Dean answered.
Dean and I were sat awkwardly on one of Roy's sofas whilst he sat opposite us in an armchair. His wife stood and filled our glasses with water whilst she eyed us curiously, "I feel great. Just trying to, you know, make sense of what happened." Dean grinned at the reverend.
"A miracle is what happened," Sue-Ann said softly, "And well, miracles come so often around Roy."
"When did they start? The miracles." I asked politely.
Roy shrugged cheerfully, "Woke up one morning, stone blind. The doctors figured out I had cancer and told me I had maybe a month. So, uh, we prayed for a miracle. I was weak, but I told my lovely wife to just keep on praying. Then I went into a coma, the doctors said I wouldn't wake up – but I did, and the cancer was gone," The man leaned forward in his chair and took off his sunglasses, revealing his plain white eyes, I tried to keep the look of horror off my face as he leaned closer to us, "If it wasn't for these eyes, no one would believe I'd ever had it." He whispered to us, if his eyes could see I imagine there would've been a childlike gleam in them.
"And suddenly you could heal people." Dean finished the story.
Roy sat back in his chair, "I discovered it afterwards, yes. God's blessed me in many ways."
"And his flock just swelled overnight – and this is just the beginning." Sue-Ann added, the excited gleam was definitely noticeable in her eyes.
"Can I ask you one last question?" Dean asked.
"Of course you can." Roy smiled warmly.
Dean glanced at me before speaking, "Why? Why me? Out of all the sick people, why save me?" He breathed.
My eyes widened, "Dean!" I protested.
"No, no, it's alright," The reverend put his hands out, "Like I said before – the Lord guides me. I looked into your heart, and you just stood out from all the rest."
"What did you see in my heart?" Dean inquired, avoiding my blazing look.
"Apart from all the great affection you have for this lovely young lady?" The reverend smiled and I couldn't help but break out into a small grin, "A young man with an important purpose. A job to do. And it isn't finished." The reverend's tone turned serious and I caught Dean's surprised gaze.
When we were leaving Dean had his arm wrapped around my waist and my head was resting against him contentedly, to our surprise we met with Layla and her mother. "Dean, Stephanie, hey." Layla greeted with a friendly smile, although she wouldn't meet my eyes.
"Hey." Dean smiled back.
"How are you feeling?" She asked.
"I feel good. Cured, I guess." Dean nodded.
"What are you doing here?" I asked her.
"Ah you know, my Mum, she wanted to talk to the reverend." Layla gestured to her Mum. The house door opened and we turned to Sue-Ann coming out onto the porch.
"Layla." Sue-Ann looked at the young blonde in shock.
"Yes, I'm here again." Layla nodded.
"Well, I'm sorry, but Roy is resting. He won't be seeing anyone else right now." Sue-Ann shrugged with a thin smile on her face.
Layla's mother stepped forward, "Sue-Ann, please. This is our sixth time, he's got to see us." She said with a pleading look in her tired eyes.
"Roy is well aware of Layla's situation. And he very much wants to help just as son as the Lord allows. Have Faith, Mrs. Rourke." Sue-Ann said in a stiff tone, then she turned and went inside without waiting for a reply. Layla's mother stood there with her gaze transfixed on the door, then she turned and glared at Dean and I.
"What are you two still doing here?" She snapped, "You both got what you wanted."
"Mum, stop." Layla frowned at her mother.
"No, Layla, this is too much. We've been to every single service. And Roy keeps choosing these strangers over you – strangers who don't even believe," She spat, Layla flinched but I found myself opening my mouth to bite out a retort, but then Layla's mother began sobbing, "I just can't pray any harder." She cried.
"Layla, what's wrong?" Dean asked.
Layla hesitated, "I have this thing." She shrugged.
"It's a brain tumour," Her mother sniffed, "And it's inoperable. In six months, the doctor's say..." She trailed off and Layla put a hand on her shoulders.
I didn't feel angry at them anymore.
"I'm sorry." I said, giving Layla and her mother a sympathetic look.
"It's ok." The girl shrugged in response.
"No it isn't," Her mother argued, shaking her head aggressively as she turned to us, "Why do you deserve to live more than my daughter?" She looked at Dean, my right hand twitched a little – I was going to hit her. Layla's mother suddenly turned and stalked away, Layla herself took a deep, shaking breath before following.
"Come on," Dean said quietly, pulling me in closer to him, "Let's go."
Dean and I entered the motel room to find Sam, incessantly typing away at his laptop with a mass of papers piled next to him, the coffee on his other side was untouched. "What did you find out?" Dean asked as he shrugged off his well-worn leather jacket.
"I'm sorry." Sam muttered quietly.
"Sorry about what?" I frowned as I approached Sam and took the chair next to him whilst Dean sat on the nearest bed.
Sam pushed the laptop away and rubbed his eyes, "Marshall Hall died at 4.17." He explained.
Dean and I stared at the younger Winchester in shock, "The exact time I was healed." Dean whispered.
"Yeah. So I put together a list of everyone Roy's healed - six people over the past year. Then I cross-checked them with the local obits. Every time someone was healed, someone else died. And each time, the victims died of the same symptom LeGrange was healing at the time." Sam nodded, his voice meek.
"So what? Someone's healed of cancer, someone else dies of cancer?" I sighed: nothing was ever easy.
"Somehow. LeGrange... he's trading a life for another." Sam nodded stonily.
"Wait, wait, wait, just hold on," Dean held up a hand and we looked at him expectantly, "So, Marshall Hall died to save me?" He said, trying to get his head around it. I could see it then, the guilt dampening the light in his eyes as he realised just what the cost had been to save him.
Sam saw it too, "Dean, the guy probably would've died anyway – and someone else would've been healed." He shared the same guilty look on his face his brother did.
"Guys come on, none of us knew that would happen – we were just trying to save you, Dean." I tried to console the brothers.
Dean shook his head in disbelief, "You never should've bought me here."
"Dean, I was just trying to save your life." Sam protested, sounding even more upset than he did earlier.
"But, Sam, some guy is dead now because of me." Dean said coldly.
"I didn't know." Sam whispered, "I didn't know."
"The thing I don't understand is how is Roy doing it? How is he trading a life for a life?" I asked, trying to figure it all out – I didn't even know you could switch someone's life force with someone else's.
"Oh, he's not doing it." Dean scoffed incredulously, "Something else is doing it for him."
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"The old man I saw on stage." Dean answered.
"The one nobody else could see?" I asked.
"I didn't wanna believe it, but deep down I knew." Dean continued.
"Knew what? What are you talking about?" Sam frowned at his brother.
"There's only one thing that can give and take life like that." The older Winchester pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned, "We're dealing with a reaper."
"You really think it's the Grim Reaper? Like; angel of death, collect your soul – the whole deal?" Sam asked.
Dean shook his head, "No, no, no, not the reaper. A reaper. There's reaper lore in pretty much every culture on earth, it goes by one-hundred different names, it's possible there's more than one of them."
"The Dullahan." I muttered.
"The what?" Sam frowned at me.
I ran a hand through my long, dark hair, "The Dullahan, they're these headless horseman guys who, er, collect people for their death when they hear the cry of a banshee. Basically when you hear the cry, the Dullahan drive this coach called the Coach-A-Bowers. No matter how hard you fight them, they put you in the carriage and take you off to die." I explained.
"Sounds like you know them personally." Dean said in a joking tone, but his smile died down when he saw how serious I was, "Wait... you do?" He asked.
I nodded, "Uh-huh."
The boys exchanged a glance, "Wha- How? How do you know them, Steph. Pretty sure a seventeen year old shouldn't even be considered for the chop." Sam exclaimed.
I shrugged, "Story for another time, guys." I forced a smile on my face.
"Steph, you can't just drop something like that and then expect us to-."
"Dean," Sam cut his brother off in a warning tone, "If Steph wants to stop talking about it, then we'll stop. We'll talk about this later, ok? Right now we need to get back to the matter at hand."
I kept my eyes on a spot on the ratty carpet and refused to look up at Dean, I could feel his gaze boring into me and I couldn't bring myself to meet it. After a long moment he sighed heavily, "Ok... Sam, you said it yourself that the clock stopped when I was healed, right? Reapers stop time, and you can only see them when they're coming at you which is why I could see it and you couldn't." He explained, I breathed a little more evenly when I felt his lingering gaze move from me.
"Yeah, maybe." Sam muttered, I could hear the doubt seeping into his tone.
Dean heard it too, "There's nothing else it could be, Sam."
I finally looked up from the floor and at the boys, "The question is how is Roy controlling the damn thing?"
"That cross." Sam said quietly.
Dean and I frowned at him, "What?" The elder Winchester asked.
"There was this cross, I noticed it in the church and I knew I had seen it before," Sam started going through the papers next to his closed computer, when he found what he was looking for he held it out to his brother, "Here."
Dean frowned at the paper and I got up from next to Sam and sat next to Dean on the bed to see the picture, "A Tarot?" Dean asked sceptically.
"It makes sense. A Tarot dates back to the early Christian era, right? When some priests were still using magic? A few of them veered into the dark stuff – Necromancy and how to push death away, how to cause it?" Sam asked, I twisted the icy black ring on my finger self-consciously.
"So Roy's using dark Necromancy magic to what? Bind the reaper?" I asked, looking up at Sam.
Sam leaned back on his chair and pulled a face, "If he is he's riding a whirlwind. It's like putting a dog's leash on a great white."
"Ok, then we stop Roy." Dean shrugged.
I nodded in agreement, whilst Sam frowned, "How?"
Dean looked adamant, "You know how. Both of you."
"Wait, you guys aren't serious?" Sam frowned at Dean and I in turn, "We can't kill Roy."
"Why not?" I tilted my head, "Sam, the guy's playing God, he's deciding who gets to live and who gets to die. I'm pretty sure that's a monster in our books." I reasoned.
"No," Sam shook his head firmly, "We're not going to kill a human being, guys. If we do that we're no better than he is."
I opened my mouth to protest but Dean put a hand on my shoulder, "Ok, we can't kill Roy, we can't kill death. Any bright ideas, college boy?" He challenged.
"Ok, uh... If Roy's using some kind of black spell on the reaper, we gotta... figure out what it is. And how to break it." Sam stuttered
"Mmm." I murmured in agreement, but really I was trying to figure out how Roy had gotten his hands on necromancy magic – and if it could be a clue to helping me get back home.
I sighed happily when the car pulled up on the field a little way away from all the other cars in front of the great white marquee tent that facilitated Roy's miraculous service. We all got out the car and joined in with the crowd that were swarming the entrance to the tent, "If Roy's using a spell, there might be a spell book." Sam said, interrupting the silence.
"Well, see if you and Steph can find it," Dean nodded, looking at his watch, "Hurry up too, the service starts in fifteen minutes. I'll try to stall Roy."
I nodded, "Ok, sounds like a plan. We'll be taking the car then." I smirked when I saw Dean's jaw clench a little.
"Excuse me," The three of us turned to a man holding out a leaflet to us, "Roy LeGrange is a fraud. He's no healer."
"Amen, brother." Dean nodded and took the leaflet.
"You keep up the good work." Sam added.
The man looked surprised—it seemed not many people wanted to listen to something other than the words of a miracle-worker, "Thank you." He said.
"No problem, take care." I smiled at him, then turned to Dean and held my hand out to him.
He raised an eyebrow, "What?"
"You know what, keys." I looked at him expectantly.
Dean nodded, "Oh right." His hand went into his pocket and bought out the keys to his beloved car, it was all I could do to keep my hands from shaking in excitement – I couldn't wait to drive the car. He went to drop them in my awaiting palm and then threw them at Sam, I made a noise of objection as Sam caught them and smiled. "What?" Dean asked.
"What about me? I want to drive the car!" I pretended to whine.
Dean chuckled, "Let you behind the wheel of my baby? You're kidding me." I couldn't believe it, he was actually chuckling.
I glared at him and took a grinning Sam's arm and stormed away, separating from Dean and heading back to the car, "I cannot believe he just did that." I growled when he was out of earshot.
Sam shrugged, "Guess he trusts me more." I frowned at him when I heard the amusement in his tone.
I huffed as I got into the passenger seat and crossed my arms as Sam got in beside me, "This is so unfair." I moaned as Sam started the car.
Sam and I were crouched around the corner of Roy's house, waiting for the healer to leave. After a few minutes we heard the door open and watched as Sue-Ann helped her husband down the steps of the porch and leave for the service. Once were sure they'd left I crept up to the window, shadows formed around my hand as I prepared to break through the window, my arm went back and just before I released it Sam grabbed it and shook his head. I frowned and let the shadows evaporate as I put my arm down by my side, I followed Sam around the front of the house and found him trying to pick-lock the front door. He got in and I sighed as we entered the hallway, "What's wrong, Steph?" He asked as I followed him into the living room.
"I just think smashing the window would've been much cooler than just hunkering down and picking the lock and entering. Kinda seems... mundane after all the work we do fighting monsters every other day." I shrugged as Sam walked over to the large bookcase that dominated the left side of the room.
"Well, it was pick the door or get done for damaging the reverend's house." Sam murmured in response as he stared at the bookcase, I walked across the room and joined him.
"What are you looking for?" I asked as I stood next to him.
"A book that indicates anything towards necromancy." He answered.
I searched the bookcase and frowned at the third shelf, the entire bookcase was lathered in a thick blanket of dust, but something was off about the third shelf, I nudged Sam and pointed to the shelf, "Look."
Sam turned his attention to the third shelf and stared at the rows of books, he frowned and moved his hand towards a book with the title Encyclopedia of British History on it. I looked at the dust and saw that it didn't have any in front of it – indicating this book had been moved across the bookcase. Sam flipped through the book and grunted when it revealed nothing, I looked up at the case and rolled my eyes as I saw another book behind it, I reached my hand in and pulled it out. It was smaller than the encyclopedia, and it was bound in a rough black leather and looked like it had been read more than a few times. I opened it and the first page was a handrawn illustration of a skeletal figure labelled reaper. In the next page was a wooden cross with intricate symbols carved around it. Sam tapped the page, "That was the same cross on display at the service on the stage Roy was on."
"Huh." I muttered, turning the next page to find several newspaper cut outs of articles about the people who have died recently, the first was a picture of Marshall Hall, who according to the article was an openly gay teacher. The second was a picture of a young woman who died of a brain tumour just yesterday, apparently she was an abortion rights advocate. The final clipping was a smaller clipping of the man who was handing out leaflets against Roy earlier today outside the tent, "I bet this guy's gonna be the next victim." I said, handing it to Sam.
"Right, let's go." Sam nodded, pocketing the article and we hurried out the room.
Sam was speeding back to the service whilst I held his phone to my ear, waiting for the dial tone to stop ringing, "Come on, Dean. Pick up." I muttered.
Finally, the ringing stopped, "What have you got?" Dean's voice sounded through the earpiece.
"Roy's choosing victims he sees as immoral. And I think I know who's next on his list. Remember that protester with the leaflets?" I asked.
"What the guy in the parking lot?" Dean replied.
"Yeah, Sam and I will find him. But you can't let Roy heal anyone." I warned.
"'Kay, I'll see you both later." Dean answered and I hung up the phone.
Sam and I were busy searching around the car park looking for the protester, but it was getting dark and Sam didn't have his torch handy and I couldn't summon a flame in such a public place. "Help!" A terrified cry made us jump and swivel towards the noise.
"Where'd it come from?" I looked up at Sam.
He shrugged hopelessly, "I don't know."
"We better find it quickly, before Roy finishes the process." I muttered, casting a wary glance up at the rapidly darkening sky. Inside the tent, you could hear people clapping and cheering, I glanced at Sam in alarm, "Why isn't Dean stopping it?" I hissed.
"I don't know!" Sam snapped, running a hand through his shaggy locks.
"Help! Help me, please!" The voice called again, the protester came into view, belting towards us and glancing behind him.
"Where is he?" Sam asked, grabbing the man's shoulder as he looked around wildly.
He raised a shaking arm, "Right there!" He pointed behind us and I frowned, seeing empty space in front of me.
"Fine, come on." Sam pulled at the protester's arm and dragged him away, "Steph, try and hold him off!" He called.
"How?" I frowned, staring at the space where the protester had pointed to.
"I don't know, think of something!" He shouted back.
I sighed and splayed my hands, reading the air for any signs that something was out there. Something shifted beside me and I flinched away, feeling my ring burn icy cold around my finger – the reaper was definitely close by. With my left hand still raised, I readied the shadows with my right and lashed at where the reaper supposedly was. If I hit it nothing happened. I cursed and ran back, giving myself a little more room to manoeuvre as I dodged past parked cars, my hand still raised and desperately reading the air for something, anything. Suddenly I felt movements to my right and I jerked my position away from it, looking for what was causing the unexpected disturbance. Sam's phone rang in my pocket and I answered it quickly, "I did it," Dean was saying in an excited tone, "I stopped Roy."
I muttered a curse as I saw crowds of people exiting the tent, obviously ruining any chances of finding the lone reaper, "Yeah, I see that. I'll go find Sam." I hung up and sprinted down the car park, looking for Sam and the protester.
"Steph!" I ran over to Sam where he was stood with the protester.
"Dean called, he stopped the service." I told him, handing Sam the phone. Sam nodded in thanks and I turned to the man, "It's ok, our friend stopped Roy." I smiled.
His reaction was not the one I was expecting, instead the protester screamed and pointed behind me, "No!" He cried in horror.
Sam looked at me in alarm, "It didn't work, it's still coming!" He said.
"Nothing I used against the reaper works! Phone Dean, I'll go find him." I told him, before he could reply I ran towards the tent, past the bustling crowd and bursting inside. Dean was standing with Sue-Ann on the stage, he was holding her shoulders and she was clutching onto a cross, I ducked down and hid behind some of the wooden benches in the seating area whilst I heard Sue-Ann struggling against Dean.
"Help! Help me!" She suddenly cried, at first I thought she was calling to me but I ducked back down when I heard the sound of footsteps rushing past, I looked up and watched as two officers grabbed Dean and haul him down the aisle, I stayed hidden as they past by. When Sue-Ann followed I jumped up and crept to the entrance of the tent, making sure to stay hidden from their view, "I just don't understand," I heard Sue-Ann sniff loudly, "After everything we've done for you. After Roy healed you. I'm just very, very disappointed, Dean." She gushed, it probably sounded very believable to the officers, but it just settled one thing for me: I was going to kill this bitch. "You can let him go, I'm not gonna press charges. The Lord will deal with him as he sees fit." I frowned at the last bit: surely even the officers would've heard the threat in Sue-Ann's words.
"We catch you round here again, son, we'll put the fear of God in you, understand." One of the officers said sternly to Dean.
"Yes sir, fear of God. Got it." Dean replied almost lazily, I heard the officers grunt and walk away, I slowly stood up and walked towards the exit, but there was someone else waiting for Dean. "Layla?" I made a quick decision and ducked next to the doorway and held my breath.
"Why would you do that, Dean?" I heard Layla sniff, "And it could have been my only chance."
"He's not a healer." Dean argued in a soft voice.
"He healed you." Layla snapped, surprising me with her sudden anger. I felt my heart actually twinge a little at the thought of losing Dean forever – I was thankful that Roy healed Dean, and I know how it was done was wrong... but I didn't know what I would do if Dean was suddenly taken from me. I'd miss the secret and playful smiles he sent me throughout the day, and the way whenever we were on a job he'd always insist he went through a doorway first in case something could jump out and kill me.
"I know it doesn't seem fair," Dean suddenly jolted me from my thoughts, "And I wish I could explain, but Roy is not the answer. I'm sorry."
I heard Layla take a deep, shuddering breath, "Goodbye, Dean." Her voice sounded drained, the alarming aggression that laced her tone earlier had vanished. Even though I couldn't see, she must have turned to leave and then changed her mind, because he voice sounded again, "I wish you luck. I really do." She said quietly.
"Same to you." Dean replied, his voice cracking a little, "You deserve it a lot more than me."
I decided to make my presence known, "Dean!" I called, running over and jumping into his arms, he seemed a little stiff but soon spun me around and met his lips with mine. I smiled when he beamed down at me, his green eyes brightening, my feet landed on the floor and my smile widened when I spotted Sam waiting for us. Dean took his hand in mine and we walked over to him, we passed Roy, Sue-Ann and Layla's mother on the way over, they were in the shadows with their heads bowed, talking in hushed tones amongst themselves.
"Private session tonight, no interruptions. I give you my word, I'll heal you daughter." The old man said to Mrs. Rourke, taking her shaking hand in his.
"Thank you, reverend," She breathed, "God bless you."
Dean and I kept walking, meeting Sam in silence and walking back to the car quickly, "We need to do something." Sam muttered.
I nodded grimly, whilst Dean had fallen into an uncharacteristic silence.
"So Roy really believes." Sam said, we were back in the motel room mulling over what had occurred.
"I don't think he has any idea what his wife's doing." Dean nodded.
"Well, Steph and I found this," Sam handed the book we found in the LeGrange's bookcase, "It was hidden in their living room. It's ancient, written by a priest who went dark side. There's a binding spell in here for trapping a reaper." He explained.
"Must be one hell of a spell." Dean commented.
"Yeah. It says you have to build a black alter with seriously dark stuff; bones, human blood... To cross a line like that – and a preachers' wife too..." I trailed off, running a hand through my long dark locks.
"Desperate," Dean nodded, "Her husband was dying, she didn't have anything to save him. She was using the binding spell to keep the reaper away from Roy."
"Cheating death, literally." Sam nodded.
"But guys, Roy's alive – so why is she still using the spell?" I frowned.
"She's still using the spell to force the reaper to kill people she thinks are immoral." Sam answered.
Dean scoffed, "May God save us from half the people who think they're doing God's work."
"We have to break that binding spell." I said, giving them a pointed look, "Where I'm from, necromancy was very dangerous, mainly because it was easy to access and very powerful. If it's the same over here, then more and more people are gonna get hurt. Power like that... it's intoxicating." I admitted, remembering a conversation I had with Skulduggery about Darquesse once.
Dean showed us what he was looking at in the book, "Sue-Ann had a Coptic cross like this. I found her in the church chanting with it, and when she dropped it, the reaper backed off." He explained.
"So do we have to find the cross or destroy the alter?" Sam asked.
"Maybe both. Whatever we do we better do it soon, or he's healing Layla tonight." Dean shrugged.
Dean slowly rolled the car carefully up the field before the large church marquee, the tent was already lit and there was a fairly large group of cars parked outside the tent. The car stopped and we sat there in silence for a moment, then Sam leant forward in his seat, "That's Layla's car." He said, pointing to the car on the far right.
"That means she's already here. We don't have much time." I commented.
"Yeah." Dean nodded sadly.
Sam exhaled and turned to his brother, "Dean..."
"You know if Roy picked Layla instead of me she'd be here right now, and if she's not healed tonight she's gonna die in a couple of months." Dean stated, cutting Sam off.
I leant forward in my seat and put my hand on his arm, "What's happening to her is horrible. But come on, what are you going to do? Let somebody else die to save her? You said it yourself Dean, you can't play God." I told him.
Dean didn't reply and got out the car, I caught Sam's eyes in the rear-view mirror and then followed Dean out the car, the three of us approached the tent quietly and peered inside. Roy was at the foot of the main stage speaking with a small group of the faithful, Layla and her mother were among them. "Sue-Ann isn't there." Dean murmured.
"Let's check out the house." Sam suggested, we backed away from the tent and back to the car.
The three of us were crouching behind the bushes that bordered the driveway that led up to Roy's house when Dean turned to us, "Go find Sue-Ann, Steph and I'll catch up."
Sam frowned, "What are you gonna do?" He asked.
"We're gonna go for a little jog." He smirked, a mischievous glint reflected in his eyes as he nodded to the two officers who handled Dean earlier, Sue-Ann must have requested them to stand guard in case someone tried to disrupt her ritual again. He dragged me away from Sam and out onto the middle of the driveway, "Hey!" He called to the officers.
The men looked at us.
"You gonna put that fear of God in me and my friend or what?" Dean taunted, grabbing my hand and pulling me away and sprinting back down the driveway. After a few seconds I found my legs and let go of his hand as we raced out onto the road and back towards the church service tent.
I was giddy with the last dregs of adrenaline from the run as Dean and I were crouched behind a caravan in the car park before the church tent, the officers were on the other side but I had one hand up reading the air in case the officers moved too close to us. We stayed completely still as they shone a torch beam around the caravan. "You seem either of 'em?" One of the officers said to his colleague.
"Nah." The other man shook his head in defeat.
Dean's hand found mine and he slowly pulled me up with him as he slowly rose up from behind the caravan. A dog inside the vehicle suddenly sprung to the back window and started barking at us, we jumped back a little and landed back on the cold ground, I struggled underneath Dean and he clamped a hand over my mouth and put a finger to his lips, behind us the dog inside the vehicle was working itself up into a frenzy, and the officers were shining their torch beam over the car. The white beam suddenly moved down as one of them men shone it underneath the car. This was it. I was sure we were going to get caught. But instead the officer merely sighed and got back up, he shined the torch into the car at the dog and scoffed, "Psycho mutt." He muttered.
The officers moved away, Dean and I lay on the cold floor for a minute longer before I pushed him off, I leant on the roof of the car next to the caravan, ignoring the dog as I sagged and put my forehead on the roof. "Never again." I managed, mumbling the word into the cold metal.
"Agreed. Come on, let's go see if they've started the ceremony." Dean nodded. I pushed myself off the car and we walked back through the car park towards the large whit church marquee. As we neared the tent the lights that had been put down to guide cars safely flickered and cut out, Dean stopped and looked around.
"Dean?" I asked, frowning as his gaze fixed on something in the distance, "Dean what is it?"
"Steph," Dean whispered, "Please tell me you see that." He pointed down the driveway.
I squinted and shook my head, "No. What are you talking about?"
"Reaper." He breathed, fear pooling into his eyes.
My insides turned cold, I grabbed his arm and sprinted towards the tent, half-pulling him, half-dragging him. When we reached the entrance I led him to a small clearing, "It's ok, it's ok. It's gonna be fine." I murmured, mostly to myself. "Ok, stay here. I'm gonna go stop it."
"You can't, Steph. It's coming to kill, not injure." Dean said hopelessly.
"Just shut up for once, ok? I'm going in that tent, and I am going to save you." I bit out. Without waiting for a reply I took off and ran into the church, Roy was stood next to a kneeling Layla, a group of the faith were stood up with their hands clasped. I spied a figure stood behind the back makeshift door of the tent and ran across the stage to it, ignoring people's protests and gasps. I reached the door and flung it open, Sue-Ann was stood their chanting and clasping the cross in front of a table filled with religious items, there was even an old withered goblet filled with a suspicious red liquid. I wasted no time when I reached the woman, batting the cross out of her hands and kicking it across the floor. Sue-Ann cried out in surprise and glared daggers at me, surprising me with an offensive attack rather than running away. Her hand flashed and the back of it cracked against my cheek with such a force I staggered in surprise, I rubbed my burning cheek and turned back and gave the woman a cruel smile, I'd been waiting for this. Sue-Ann's eyes widened and the realisation came rushing into them: I was better than her, and she knew it. I rushed her, pushing her back and firing three quick jabs in succession, aiming at her gut twice and the third landing on her throat. She gagged and doubled over, I forced her back against the table and swept the contents off of it, glass smashed and trinkets snapped, the goblet spilled and dark crimson stained the floor.
Sue-Ann fell to her knees and looked down at the mess in despair, "What have you done?" She breathed.
I rolled my eyes and held my hand out, the cross flew in my grip and I studied it, "Oh no, what have you done, Sue-Ann?"
"I don't understand. How did you- Who are you?" She asked in a small, frightened voice.
"Me? I'm nobody, really. Just someone who tries to make the world a better place. What I don't understand is how you came by this." I held up the necklace for her to see.
Sue-Ann paled, "I found it online." She stuttered.
"Liar." I narrowed my eyes, "I'm fairly sure you didn't just pick this up from your local shop, because if I were to do this-," I dropped the necklace on the ground and crunched it with the heel of my boot, the pendant broke and black smoke was released, curling wildly in the air, "See, not I know what that cross was, and I know you know. I'm just innocently curious to how you came by it, that's all."
Sue-Ann regarded me with fearful eyes, "I-I... you wouldn't believe me if I told you."
I knelt down next to her, "I'm fairly certain I would. Now tell me."
The woman took a deep breath, "The cross didn't come from here, I got it from... elsewhere." She explained.
"Yeah, I got that part. I'm just wondering how you did it."
"There was a man, he said he was a travel agent of some sorts. When he heard about what I was trying to do he visited me and said he could get me there to get it." Sue-Ann answered.
"Who was he, did he give a name?" I asked, the anger being replaced by desperation.
"He didn't me it. He just sort of... did it. You wouldn't believe the world I visited – exactly like this one, but there was a – a world within it." Sue-Ann breathed, her eyes shining. I stayed quiet, waiting for her to continue, "You wouldn't believe what was in this world," She leaned in close to me, as if she had a secret to share, "There are people, some who look exactly like us, some who look completely strange, people who can do magic."
Something caught in my throat, "I know." I choked out. Sue-Ann frowned, and I blinked back the sudden tears forming in my eyes. I clicked my fingers and conjured a flame into my palm, the woman watched it in disbelief.
"You're one of them." She gasped.
"Yep. See why I need to know who put you there?"
"I see. I can tell you one thing about him." Sue-Ann admitted, she leaned in to me and pulled my hair back so she could whisper in my ear, "He doesn't want to be found." Something hard smacked into the side of my head and my head hit the floor. Sue-Ann dropped the goblet and it rolled to a stop in front of my blurred vision.
I blinked through the blur and lunged at Sue-Ann, my hands found her neck and I pinned her to the ground, squeezing her throat tightly, "I'm sorry, was I not clear earlier? Tell me who he was. What could he do?" I demanded, Sue-Ann feebly clawed at my hands in an effort to escape, but I was far too strong for her. Her eyes were rolling into the back of her head when someone shoved me off of her.
"Steph! What are you doing?" It was Sam, his hands wrapped around my waist and he hauled me up and away from Sue-Ann.
"Sam! She was gonna kill Dean!" I argued, pointing to the mess around the room.
"But you don't need to kill her!" He glared, sighing in relief when Sue-Ann coughed back into life. She rubbed her throat and glared daggers at me, but then she gasped as her eyes found something beyond my shoulder. "Oh my God." She breathed.
I frowned and tilted my head in confusion at her, "He's not your God." Sam corrected Sue-Ann in a cold voice. Sue-Ann suddenly stiffened and I narrowed my eyes, then she released a final breath and slipped to the ground, I stared down at her lifeless body in shock.
"Do you think it's still here?" I asked Sam, looking up at his towering figure.
"I don't know," Sam shrugged honestly, "Come on, let's get out of here." He put a hand on my shoulder and led me out the tent, I stole one last glance at the place where I was choking Sue-Ann to death, and then at the blood on the floor. It was all over my hands and arms too, I was literally dripping with it.
Dean pulled me into a tight hug when we met up at the car, "Are you ok?" He asked, I ignored the dried blood on my palms and nodded.
"Uh-huh."
"What about you? How are you doing?" Sam asked his brother.
Dean let me go and shook his head, "One hell of a week." He admitted.
"Yeah...," Sam nodded, trailing off and catching my eye, "Alright, come one. We should get going."
He said, clapping his hands together. Dean and I nodded in agreement and we all got into the car.
We'd been back in the motel room for two hours, we had all been sitting in silence the entire time, but Dean had seemed a little off. "What is it?" Sam asked, watching him in the dark.
"Nothing." Dean shrugged.
I caught Sam's eyes in the rear-view mirror and raised an eyebrow, I leant forward and rested my hand on his shoulder, "What is it, Dean?" I asked him gently.
"We did the right thing here, didn't we?" He asked.
"Of course we did." Sam assured him.
"It doesn't feel like it." Dean sighed heavily.
Sam sighed and opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by an unexpected knock at the door, "I'll get it." Sam said, getting up and opening the door.
"Hey." I turned to see Layla stood in the doorway.
"Hey, Layla. Come on in." Sam greeted, stepping aside and holding the door open to allow her through.
"How did you know we were here?" Dean asked, quickly rising from his set on the bed.
"Oh umm... Sam... called," Layla admitted, my eyes widened and swivelled to Sam, he caught my look and looked down at the floor sheepishly, "He said you... wanted to say goodbye?" Layla glanced at me and went a little red.
Sam grabbed my hand and dragged me to the door, "We're gonna... grab a soda." Sam explained to the two, I was wrestling out of his grip the entire time he was shoving me through the door.
"Why did you do that?" I demanded as soon as Sam shut the door.
"Dean's feeling guilty about stopping Layla from being healed, I called her and asked her to visit so he can move on." Sam explained.
I glared, "Move on from what?"
"Nothing! They didn't do anything, Dean's always been like this: he does something he regrets, he feels guilty for months, maybe even years afterwards. I'm just speeding up the process. It'll benefit all of us, trust me." Sam explained. I scoffed and crouched down to peep through the keyhole of the door, Layla and Dean were both standing up in the middle of the room, Layla looked close to tears. It suddenly hit me what they were probably talking about what they had chatted about last night outside the church: the sudden anger Layla had displayed, followed by the hurt and the anguish over the unfairness of everything. She was right, too: her current situation was completely and utterly unfair. She was one of the nicest girls ever and she was going to die in a few months, and she seemed completely at peace with her fate. I held my breath when Layla suddenly gently stroked Dean's cheek, he raised his hand and slowly pushed her hand down and I relaxed a little, the worried thoughts ebbing away when Layla turned towards the door. I scrambled up and leant against the wall casually next to Sam. Layla came out with the tears still in her eyes, I pretended not to notice and gave her a parting smile and followed Sam back into the room, we shut the door behind us just as Layla rounded the corner and disappeared from sight.
Author's Note: I'm sorry this took so long to upload, I've had mock weeks – which I still haven't finished. And Christmas is coming up and I've been busy working on the weekends so I've literally had no time to myself. But I'm back, guys, it's all good! Also I'm sorry if this chapter is particularly poor, I really hated episode 12 and 13 in this season, so heads up for the next chapter! I really want to update again before Christmas so I will try my best, the next chapter will be expected to be up when I get say, 98 reviews? Until next time, guys!