Winchester and Cain
Chapter 14 – Nightmare
Valkyrie's P.O.V
Someone was shaking me awake from my much needed sleep, "Steph. Steph." I stirred and sat up, looking at Dean in confusion.
"Dean, do you have any idea what time it is?" I glared at him in the dark, noting the sky outside, it couldn't have even been dawn.
"I know, I'm sorry. But It's Sam..." Dean trailed off and I clicked my fingers, Sam was on the other side of the room packing our things away, I stretched and stood up, immediately alert.
"What's happening?" I asked.
"We have to go. Right now." Sam replied, throwing me my jacket as he walked out the door with his bag slung on his shoulder.
Dean and I exchanged a glance, "Just... why?" I sighed sadly, casting a miserable glance at my bed as I shrugged on my jacket.
"Beats me." Dean shrugged.
T
We found Sam waiting impatiently by the car outside, he rushed us into the car and told Dean to start driving straight to Michigan. As we were driving Sam was talking on the phone to the local police department, his fake badge in his lap, "McReedy. Detective McReedy. Badge number 158, I've got a signal 480 in progress. I need the registered owner of a two door Sedan, Michigan license plate M – F – 6 – 0 – 3 – 7..." There was a pause and I tilted my head as I heard a muffled reply over the phone, "Yeah, ok. Just hurry." Sam lowered the phone from his ear, but he didn't turn off the device.
"Sammy, relax. I'm sure it's just a nightmare." Dean reassured his brother, giving him a sideways glance in the dark.
"Yeah, right." Sam scoffed.
I leant forward in my seat, propping my elbows on either side of the back of Sam's chair, "So, in this dream. What happens exactly? The guy drives home drunk, parks his car in the garage and dies?"
Sam shrugged, "More or less."
"I still think it's just a nightmare." Dean muttered, "Y'know – a normal, everyday, naked-in-class nightmare. This license plate? It won't check out, you'll see." I knew what he was doing: he was trying to convince his brother and I as much as he was trying to convince himself.
"It felt different, guys. Real. Like when I dreamt about our old house. And Jessica." Sam argued, shaking his head stubbornly.
"Yeah, but at least that made some sense. Your dreams about our old house, your girlfriend. This guy in your dream, have you ever seen him before?" The older Winchester challenged.
"No." Sam said quietly and shook his head.
"No. Exactly," Dean repeated firmly, "Why would you have premonitions about some random dude in Michigan?" His tone was getting louder with frustration at the situation.
"Dean." I cautioned softly.
Sam sighed in defeat, "I don't know." A muffled voice suddenly sounded from Sam's lap and he picked the phone back up to his ear, "Yes, I'm here." He answered into the earpiece, shaking away the remnants of his previous tone as he adopted his formal persona. He glared at his brother as he listened to the phone, fumbling for a notepad and pen as he nodded at whatever the person was saying to him, "Jim Miller. Saginaw, Michigan. You have a street address?" There was a pause and Sam scribbled something else down, "Got it. Thanks." He shut off the phone and gave Dean and I a smug glance, "It checks out, how far are we?"
Dean grunted, "From Saginaw? Couple of hours."
I took my elbows off of the back of Sam's seat and leant back in my own, "Good. Glad I didn't get pulled out of bed for nothing." I muttered, casting a lazy glance at the dark lonely road, lit up only by the car's headlights.
T
When we eventually cruised to a slow stop outside an average looking house in the middle of a suburban street. Well, it would've been normal if it hadn't have been for the mass of emergency vehicles parked outside, their bright lights flashing and lighting up the dark street. A small crowd of neighbours stood a short distance away from the house, watching on as the paramedics came out with a zipped up body bag on a stretcher. We all turned to each other, Dean and I mirrored looks of concern and disbelief, whilst Sam looked upset and almost a little guilty. "Well," I said, breaking the silence with a quiet voice, "Guess you were right, Sam."
"Yeah. Doesn't make me feel any better, though." The younger Winchester muttered in response.
Dean sighed an opened his door, "Come on, let's go check it out." He stepped out of the car without waiting for a reply, Sam and I followed after him in grim silence. The three of us approached the onlookers quietly, "What happened?" Dean asked a woman standing on the furthest reaches of the crowd, she jumped at our unexpected appearance but turned to us and offered a sad smile.
"Suicide. Unbelievable." The woman explained.
"Did you know them?" I asked, eyeing the paramedics as they carefully wheeled the stretcher up onto the pavement to load into the open ambulance.
"Saw him every Sunday at St. Augustines. He always seemed so... normal," The woman heaved a long, regretful sigh, "I guess you never know what's going on behind closed doors."
"Guess not." Dean murmured in agreement, staring straight ahead at something in the distance.
"How did, ah, how are they saying it happened?" Sam asked.
The woman shrugged, "I heard they found him in the garage, locked inside his car with the engine running."
"Do you know about what time they found him?" The younger Winchester pressed.
"Oh, it just happened about an hour or two ago. His poor family. I can't even imagine what they're going through." The woman replied, tears shining in her eyes.
The door to the house suddenly opened and three figures appeared on the doorstep, I saw a woman crying, her wails of despair piercing through the mournful silence, the woman leant against a middle aged man, turning her face away from the crowd and crying onto his shoulder. Behind them I made out another figure, lingering in the shadows with a distraught expression on his face. I stared at the broken family, wondering if my parents had noticed the subtle differences between the reflection and I. I don't know why, but I was pretty convinced Alice had noticed that there were two versions of me, to anyone else it sounder preposterous – a fantasy I had fabricated in the hopes of one day returning home.
I was suddenly jolted out of my daydream by someone gently shaking my arm, I turned to see Dean, he nodded his head and I followed the gesture to see he was signalling to his brother. Sam was leaning against Dean's car with an intense grimace on his features. Dean and I exchanged a concerned look and approached him, sitting next to him on the car.
"Sam, we got here as fast as we could." I tried to comfort the younger Winchester, but he shook his head.
"Not fast enough. It doesn't make any sense, guys. I mean, why would I even have these premonitions if there wasn't a chance I could stop them from happening?" He asked in a hopeless tone.
I stayed silent, unsure how to respond.
"So what do you think killed him?" Sam asked, changing the subject with a sigh of dejection.
Dean shrugged, "Maybe the guy just killed himself? Maybe there's nothing supernatural going on at all."
His brother shook his head, "I'm telling you, I watched it happen. He was murdered by something, guys. I watched it ttrap him in the garage."
"Well, what was it? A, uh, spirit, poltergeist, what?" I pressed.
"I don't know what it was," Sam snapped, suddenly sounding stressed, "I don't know why I'm having these dreams, and I don't know what's happening to me."
Dean and I stared at Sam for a long, overdrawn moment, completely taken aback and alarmed at his sudden loss of composure.
The younger Winchester frowned at us, "What?"
"Nothing. We're just a little concerned for you, Sam." I shrugged innocently, my voice gentler than before.
"Well, don't look at me like that!" He glared, his voice raising and making me want to wince, but my pride refused to show anything on face and maintained my strong masquerade.
"I'm not looking at you like anything, Sam." I replied firmly, keeping my voice even.
"Though I gotta say," Dean piped up, "You do look like crap."
Sam rolled his eyes, "Nice. Thanks."
Dean jumped off the bonnet of his beloved car and moved to his customary driver side, "Come on, let's just pick this up in the morning. We'll check out the house and talk to the family."
I scoffed and gave him a doubtful look, "Dean, you saw them," I pointed to the distraught family crying on the porch, "They're devastated. They're not going to want to talk to us."
"Yeah, you're right. But I think I know who they will talk to." Dean replied.
Sam and I exchanged a confused frown, "Who?" We asked simultaneously.
Dean merely smirked in response.
T
We looked ridiculous.
Dean had forced me to abandon my trousers, my tunic and my beloved jacket and step into another black dress – this one longer than my FBI dress, it came down and stopped at my knees and was black and simple, tight just enough to show my figure. I fiddled with the simple silver cross that Dean had given to me that morning and exchanged a look with Sam.
The boys had gone all out. They had dressed like priests in black suits, Sam had his hair slicked back neatly and a nervous expression on his features. Dean, however, had retained his usual boyish charm and confidence as he knocked on the door of the house.
Sam sighed deeply as we waited, "This has gotta be a new low for us."
Dean stole a smirk at us before resuming his solemn pose as someone opened the door, he peered suspiciously at us. Dean cleared his throat, "Good afternoon. I'm Father Simmons, this is Father Frehley and Sister Stanley. We're new junior priests over at St. Augustines, may we come in?" He asked politely, the man nodded and stepped aside to let us in. "Thanks." Dean smiled as he entered.
"We're very sorry for your loss." I added.
"It's in difficult times like these when the Lord's guidance is most needed." Sam added.
The man held up his hand, silencing us, "Look, you wanna pitch your whole 'Lord has a plan' thing? Fine. Just don't pitch it to me. My brother's dead." He said coldly.
"Roger!" A sharp voice made us all turn, "Please, have some manners." I recognised the owner of the voice as the woman crying on the doorstep – Mrs. Miller... or Ms. Miller now.
"Excuse me." Roger said, moving out the room.
Ms. Miller approached us with a warm, but tired smile on her face, "I'm sorry about my brother in law. He's – he's just so upset about Jim's death," The widow explained apologetically, "Would you like some coffee?"
"That would be great." Dean smiled.
T
Ms. Miller led us into the lounge, away from the mourners who were busy stacking an obscene amount of cooked casseroles on any space available. Once we were all seated she sighed and tied her hair up, with her hair out of her face I could really see how she wasn't coping, her eyes were laden with bags and dark marks. "It was wonderful of you three to stop by. The support of the church means so much to us right now."
"Of course." I gave the woman a warm smile.
"After all," Dean piped up, "We are all God's children."
Ms. Miller frowned and moved off the couch to another room, when she left Dean immediately leaned forward in his chair and took a few of the cocktail sausages that had been laid out neatly on a pristine white plate, I rolled my eyes whilst he chewed contentedly, Sam shook his and scoffed.
Dean frowned, "What?"
"Just... tone it down a little bit, Father." Sam replied sarcastically, I snickered a little but cleared my throat when Ms. Miller returned.
"So, uh, Ms. Miller, did your husband have a history of depression?" I asked, desperately trying to stay in the role of 'faith-healer', or, whatever.
Ms. Miller's eyes widened and she shook her head, "Nothing like that," She suddenly started welling up, "We had our ups and downs liked everyone but we were happy," Her voice broke and her shoulders started shaking uncontrollably, "I just don't understand... how Jim could do something like this." She wailed and sobbed, I cast an alarmed glance at Dean and ever so slightly shook my head – I could not deal with a crying widow, and the boys knew it.
Sam got up and sat on the sofa next to Ms. Miller, "I'm so sorry you had to find him like that." He consoled.
Ms. Miller sniffed and gestured to the room behind her, "Actually, our son Max, he was the one who found him."
"Do you mind if I go talk to him?" Sam asked.
"Oh, thank you Father." The widow sighed gratefully, Sam nodded and got up from the sofa and headed towards the room where Max was, closing the door behind him.
"Ms. Miller," I broke the silence and leant forward in my chair, "You have a lovely home. How long have you lived here?"
"We moved in about five years ago." Ms. Miller replied, her eyes still teary.
"The only problem with these old houses is the condition, I bet you have all kind of set-backs." Dean added.
The older woman frowned, "Like what?"
"Well," I exchanged a glance with Dean, "You know, weird leaks, electrical shortages, odd unsettling noises at night." I listed, Dean nodded along with me, "That kind of thing."
"No, nothing like that." Ms. Miller shook her head, "It's been perfect."
"Huh. May I use your restroom?" Dean asked.
"Oh sure, it's just up the stairs." The lady nodded. Dean rose from his seat, taking yet another cocktail sausage as he did so, I edged a polite smile at Ms. Miller as Dean left the room. "You have a lovely accent, Sister Stanley, where is it from?" The widow asked.
"Oh, I umm, I was born and raised in a town near Dublin. I moved here a while ago and St., uh, Augustines." The lie came easily, and Ms. Miller nodded.
"Dublin sounds lovely, I've always wanted to visit it. Jim and I always planned on going there but we just never..." She trailed off and tried to stifle a sob.
"I'm, uh, I'm gonna go get a, uh, a drink." I smiled awkwardly and stood up from my chair quickly.
T
I found the stairs and walked up them quickly, finding the boys on the empty landing, Dean held a device in his hand, and I quickly recognised it as an infer-red thermal scanner – this one wasn't homemade. "Did you guys find anything?" I asked as I approached them.
"Nope." Sam shook his head whilst Dean shrugged hopelessly.
I sighed, "Great, just great. Let's get out of here, I swear I'm gonna hit someone if I stay in this dress any longer."
T
Dean was sat on one of the motel beds cleaning his weapons whilst I was pacing the room. Bored. Sam had opted to go out and research to find out everything and anything, leaving Dean and I alone, with Dean with his weapons and me with nothing. I sighed irritably and shrugged out of my beloved jacket and threw it onto the nearest bed. I sighed again and sat on the bed and crossed my legs. Then I uncrossed them. And crossed them again. And again. And ag-
"Steph." Dean said without looking up.
"Sorry." I replied sulkily.
The door opened and Sam entered, I sighed gratefully at his appearance, "Oh thank God. Did you find anything?"
"A whole lotta nothing. Nothing bad has happened in the Miller house since it was built." Sam replied.
"What about the land?" Dean asked.
Sam sat on the bed next to me, "No grave yards, battle fields, tribal lands or any other kind of atrocity on or near the property."
"Hey man, I told you, I searched the house up and down. No cold spots, sulphur scent. Nada." The older Winchester replied.
"Huh. And the family said everything was normal?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, Ms. Miller said it was all fine." I shrugged.
"Well, if there was a demon or a poltergeist in there, don't you think somebody would have noticed something? I used the infer-red thermal scanner, guys, and there was nothing." Dean said.
"So what, you think Jim Miller killed himself and my dream was just some sorta... freakish coincidence?" Sam frowned.
Dean yawned, "I dunno. I'm pretty sure there's nothing supernatural about that house."
Sam rubbed his temples with one of his huge, spade-like hands, "Yeah. Well, maybe it has nothing to do with the house," He paused and took a deep breath, and held his head in his hands, "Maybe it's just – it's just... Gosh," He kneaded his forehead with his knuckles, I glanced at Dean and frowned slightly, "... Maybe it's connected to Jim in some other way?" He finished in a pained voice.
"What's wrong with you?" Dean asked.
Sam suddenly cried out and fell to the floor, clutching his head with his eyes screwed shut, "My head." He managed.
I exchanged an alarmed glance with Dean and knelt on the floor beside Sam, putting a tentative hand on his broad shoulder, "Sam? Hey, Sammy?" I called to him.
Dean was beside me, both his hands grasping his brother's arms, a stony look of determination oni his features, "Sam? What's going on? Talk to me."
Sam set his eyes on Dean, but his green eyes were cloudy and unfocused. I shook his shoulder carefully and glanced warily at Dean, "What's wrong with him?" I whispered, scared Sam could hear us.
"I don't know." Dean replied.
Sam gasped and Dean and I jumped, "It's happening again," He panted, "Something's gonna kill Roger Miller."
T
We were in the exact same positions as we were the night before last: Dean was driving, I was in the back seat and Sam was in the passenger speaking in urgent, professional tones to the local police department. "Roger Miller... Ah, no no, just the address please... Ok, thanks." Sam shut the phone off and turned to Dean, "450 West Grove, Apartment 1120." He said.
Dean nodded, "You ok?" He asked.
"Yeah." Sam nodded.
"If you're gonna hurl, I'll pull the car over you know, 'cause the upholstery..." Dean trailed off and in the dark I swear I saw him wince at the thought of his beloved car being ruined.
"I'm fine." Sam replied.
Dean shrugged, "Alright."
Sam glanced at his brother, then his gaze flickered to me in the rear-view mirror and he sighed heavily. I frowned at his movements, "Sam?"
"Guys... I'm scared," The younger Winchester confessed, "It's as if these nightmares weren't bad enough, now I'm seeing things when I'm awake? And these... visions, or whatever, they're getting more intense. And painful." An unsettling quiet shrouded the car, for a long moment no one said or did anything.
"Come on, man, you'll be alright. It'll be fine." Dean assured his brother, but it sounded strained.
"What is it about the Millers? Why am I connected to them, why am I watching them die? Why the hell is this happening to me?" Sam asked, frustration giving a harsh bite to his words.
"I don't know Sam but we'll figure it out." I put a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, but the gesture seemed stale.
"Yeah, we've faced the unexplainable every day. This is just another thing." Dean added quickly.
Sam shook his head in irritation, "No. It's never been us, It's never been in the family like this," He argued, the turned his whole body so he could face us, "Tell me the truth, both of you: don't tell me this doesn't freak you out." He said seriously.
I held Sam's gaze for a long, agonizing minute before dropping my eyes and staring at the ring on my finger, my left hand spun it round my finger nervously, but it was the only clue I gave away about what I was thinking.
I was freaked out, this was... huge... but it didn't come as a complete shock to me. After all, my history with the supernatural wasn't exactly a clean record – nothing had been since I was eleven to be honest. I was mostly upset that of all the people that this had to happen to it had to happen to Sam. I was in love with Dean, but I had formed a deep attachment with his brother – Sam looked out for me and we always had a good laugh with one another, he was probably one of the nicest guys I had ever met and didn't deserve anything bad to happen to him.
Dean, however, stared straight ahead and ignored his brother and I, "This doesn't freak me out." He said plainly, his jaw clenched determinedly. Sam stared at Dean for a long moment, a hollow silence descended upon the car.
T
We found Roger hurrying towards a block of flats carrying a brown bag of shopping, Dean pulled up and slowed next to him, Sam opened the window and leant out of it, "Hey, Roger!" Sam called.
Roger glanced at us, but kept walking, "What are you people, missionaries? Leave me alone." He dismissed.
"No, wait. Please!" Sam called, but Roger hurried away. I sighed and Dean tssked and floored the accelerator, the car raced forward and jumped the pavement to park. As soon as the car halted Sam jumped out and started running towards the flat block, "Hey. Roger. We're trying to help!" Sam shouted, Dean and I exchanged a glance before getting out the car and jogging to catch up with Sam. The younger Winchester ran up to the entrance of the apartment block just as Roger was closing the door, "Please! Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!" Sam tapped on the glass of the door, but Roger rolled his eyes at us.
"I don't want your help." He shook his head and walked away.
"But we're not priests, you gotta listen to us!" Sam protested.
"Roger, you're in danger!" I called to the man's retreating form, but he didn't turn.
"Son of a bitch," Dean swore and looked around, "Come on, come on, there's gotta be another way in there." He muttered.
"Round the back. Come on." I nodded my head in the direction of the back of the building and jogged away. The back entrance was sealed off by a fence, the three of us halted for only a moment as I looked around. Satisfied that there were no bystanders, I snapped my right palm and the gate burst off it's hinges and clattered to the ground as we shot past it. The fire escape was a four floor metal stair case and a ladder. We all jumped up the first three and pelted up the stairs two at a time. Once we were on the third floor we heard the sound of something slamming shut and a loud, unmistakable squelching noise. Sam froze but Dean and I kept going. When we reached the final floor I gasped when I saw the window was drenched in a bright red, I peered below and saw a head laying in the flower bed. Roger's head.
"Oh, that's gross." I blanched and shivered. Footsteps sounded behind us and we turned to see Sam joining us, we stood there in silence until Dean pulled a two white cloths and threw them to Sam and I.
"Start wiping down your fingerprints, we don't want the cops to know we were here," I took one side and left Sam to do the other. "Come on!" Dean shook his brother out of his trance before using his own cloth to prise open the window carefully, "I'm gonna take a look inside." He said, I touched Sam's arm gently before continuing wiping down my side.
T
"I'm telling you. There was nothing in there. No signs either, just like the Miller's house." Dean explained to us, we were driving back from the apartment block on our way to the town centre.
"I saw something, in the vision. Like," Sam's brow furrowed as he concentrated, "A dark shape. Something was... something was stalking Roger."
I leant forward in my chair, "Well whatever it was, are you sure it's not connected to their house?" I asked.
"No, it's connected to the family themselves. So what do you think, Dean, like a vengeful spirit?" Sam replied.
Dean shrugged, "Well yeah, there's been a few that have been known to latch onto families, follow them for years."
"Angiak, err, Banshees." Sam listed.
"So what, you think Roger and Jim Miller got involved in something heavy, something curse worthy?" I guessed.
"Yeah. And now that something is out for revenge. And the men in their family are dying." Sam nodded and then tilted his head, "Hey, you think Max is in danger?" He suddenly asked.
Dean sighed, "Let's figure it out before he is."
"Well, I know one thing I have in common with these people." Sam said nonchalantly.
Dean looked away from the windscreen and glanced at his brother, "Oh yeah? What's that?"
"Both our families are cursed." Sam answered.
There was a break in the conversation where Dean's eyes flickered up to me in the rear view mirror for a split second, "Our family's not cursed!" Dean protested with a scoff, although it sounded a little forced, "We just... had our dark spots."
"Our spots are... pretty dark." Sam retorted.
"You're... dark." Dean faltered. I rolled my eyes and slumped in the back seat resignedly.
T
The next morning we visited the Miller House feigning as priests, Max let us in politely, "My Mum's resting, she's pretty wrecked." He explained as we entered the house.
"Of course." I smiled.
"All these people kept coming with, like, casseroles? I finally had to tell them to go away. You know, 'cause nothing says I'm sorry like a tuna casserole." Max scoffed and Sam smiled absent-mindedly, the boy gestured to the lounge and we all took seats.
"How're you holding up?" Sam asked gently.
Max shrugged, much to my surprise, "Ok."
"I understand your Dad and your Uncle were close, Max." I leant forward and clasped my hands.
Max shrugged again, "Yeah, I guess. I mean, they were brothers. They used to hang out all the time when I was little."
Sam frowned, "But not lately much?" He inquired.
The boy shook his head, "No, it's not that. It's just... we used to be neighbours when I was a kid - and we lived across town in this house. Uncle Roger lived next door, so he was over all the time." He explained.
"Right. So how was it in that house when you were a kid." Sam asked.
"It was fine. Why?" Max replied.
"All good memories? Do you remember anything unusual? Something involving your Father and your Uncle maybe?" Dean piped up.
Max shook his head, "What do you... Why do you ask?"
"Just a question." I shrugged innocently.
Max was quiet for a few seconds, "No, there was nothing. We were totally normal. Happy?"
Dean nodded slowly, "Good. That's good. Well, you must be exhausted. We should take off."
I nodded in agreement, and Sam glanced at us, "Right," He turned back to Max, "Thanks."
T
Our next stop was the neighbourhood where the Miller's used to live, we had switched our 'priest' look for our usual attire and were stood in the middle of the garden path of a house, talking to the resident. "Have you lived in the neighbourhood for very long?" I asked.
"Yeah, almost twenty years now. It's nice and quiet," He studied Dean and I, and noted how close we were stood next to eachother, "Are you two looking to buy?" He asked.
"No, no. Nothing like that," I chuckled, "We were actually wondering if you might recall a family that used to live right there, across the street."
"They're called the Millers? They may have had a little boy called Max." Dean added.
The man took off his hat, "Yeah, I remember. The brother had the place next door. So, uh, what's this about – is that poor kid ok?" He asked.
The three of us frowned, "What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, in my life I've never seen a child treated like that, I mean – I'd hear Mr. Miller yelling and throwing things clear across the street, he was a mean drunk. He used to beat the tar outta Max. He got, uh bruises, cuts, grazes... broke his arm two times that I know of." The man explained, he sighed and put his hat on again.
"And this was going on regularly?" Sam's frown deepened.
"Practically every day," The man nodded, "In fact that thug brother of his was just as likely to take a swing at the boy – but the worst part was the stepmother. She'd just stand there, checked it out, not even lifting a finger to protect him," He sighed again, "Hell, I must've called the police seven or eight times. Never did any good, though."
"What do you mean, step-mother?" Dean asked.
"Yeah. I think his real mother died. Some sort of... accident. Uh, car accident I think." He nodded.
"Huh." I said, glancing at Dean.
"Are you ok there?" The man suddenly asked, I frowned and saw he was looking at someone else. Sam had his hand held to his forehead and his features were fixed in a pained grimace.
"Uh, yeah." Sam nodded, but he winced in doing so.
Dean and I exchanged a glance, he held an arm out to his brother and looked back at the man, "Look, thank you for your time." He said.
"Yeah, thank you." Sam added in a pained voice. I gave him a parting smile and went on Sam's other side to help support him. "God." Sam choked out painfully. He dropped a little and almost took Dean and I with him.
"Shit." I exclaimed, casting a worried look at Dean.
"Come on, let's get him to the car." Dean said, taking the majority of Sam's weight from me.
T
Sam came to a few minutes after we had put him in the car, "Max is doing it. Everything I've been seeing." He said once he woke.
"And you're sure about this?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, I saw him." Sam nodded.
"How's he doing it all, Sam?" I piped up.
"I don't know. Like, telekinesis I guess." Sam answered.
"So he's psychic – a spoon bender?" Dean said.
Sam nodded, "I didn't even realise it but this whole time he was there. He was outside the garage when his Dad died, he was in the apartment when his Uncle died. These visions, this whole time... I wasn't connecting to the Millers – I was connecting to Max! The thing is: I don't get why, guys. I guess... because we're so alike?" He explained.
I frowned, "Sam that's crazy, what are you talking about?"
"Yeah, the dude's nothing like you." Dean added.
"We both have psychic abilities," Sam argued, "We both..." He trailed off.
"Both what? Sam, this Max guy is a monster, he's already killed two people, now he's gunning for a third." Dean interrupted sternly.
"Well, with what he went through. The beatings, to want revenge on those people? I'm sorry, I hate to say it, but it's not that insane." Sam defended.
"Yeah, but it doesn't justify murdering your entire family!" Dean finally shouted.
"Dean..." I cautioned quietly.
Dean scoffed and pulled the car over, I recognised it to be the Miller house, "He's no different from anything else we've hunted, alright? We gotta end him."
Sam and I looked at him in disbelief, "We're not going to kill Max." I said.
"Oh yeah, Steph? Then what: hand him over to the cops and say "Lock him up, Officer; he kills with the power of his mind"?" He raised a doubtful eyebrow at me.
I narrowed my eyes at him, "Oh and I suppose killing him is the best way to handle this, right?" I shot back, my tone drenched with sarcasm.
"It's a solution," Dean shrugged, "And it's the best we have to deal with the situation."
"Steph," Sam cut me off before our argument could escalate, "Forget it, Dean. It's not happening." He said quietly.
Dean exhaled and turned off the engine, his anger dying as the engine faded, "Sam..."
"Dean. He's a person. We can talk to him," Sam urged, his older brother looked away with his jaw clenched, "Hey, promise me you'll follow my lead with this one."
Dean stayed quiet for a long time, "Alright, fine. But I'm not letting him hurt anybody else." He opened the glove compartment and pulled something out, I knew exactly what it was when he clicked it open.
T
We wasted no time in bursting through the front door to the Miller House, we found Max in the kitchen stood with his step-mother, the atmosphere felt heavy and weighed down with tension. Ms. Miller and Max looked shocked at our sudden entrance, "Fathers? Sister?" Ms. Miller frowned at us.
"What are you doing here?" Max demanded.
Dean suddenly smiled wryly, "Uhhh, sorry to interrupt."
"Max, can we, uh, can we talk to you outside for just one second?" Sam asked politely, gesturing to the door.
Max narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "About what?"
"It's – it's private," I smiled thinly, "I wouldn't want to bother your mother with it." I switched my gaze to Ms. Miller, "We won't be long at all, I promise."
Max glanced at his step-mother, then he turned back to me, "Ok." He agreed, although his tone sounded reluctant. I nodded in thanks and turned back to the door, catching eyes with the boys as I did so, Dean reached for the door and grasped the handle, pulling it open. He turned and gave Max a friendly, convincing smile. I felt the air shift wildly and the door was suddenly yanked from Dean's grip and slammed shut, the wooden blinds covering the windows all snapped shut as we turned back to Max.
"You're not priests!" Max exclaimed, backing away, I shared an alarmed glance with Dean and he shrugged and pulled his gun out. Before he could do anything with it, Max used his power to pull it away, it slid across the floor and found Max's grip, he flipped the safety off and trained it on the three of us.
"Max, what's happening?" Ms. Miller cried, staring at us with wide eyes.
"Shut up." Max snapped without looking round.
"What are you doing?" She said, running a hand through her light hair. I flinched when the air shifted again, expecting an attack. Instead, Ms. Miller flung backwards, her head connected with the side of the kitchen island and she slumped to the floor, unconscious.
"I said shut up!" Max shouted, I noticed his hands shaking.
"Max calm down." Sam said quickly, he must have noticed too.
"Who are you people?" Max asked.
"We just wanna talk." Sam answered innocently.
Max scoffed, "Yeah right, that's why you bought this!" He waved the gun in the air, the three of us instinctively ducked out of the way.
Sam held his hands up cautiously, as if he was approaching a wild animal, "That was a mistake, alright?" I glanced at Dean and, despite everything, raised a smug, I told you so eyebrow, "So was lying about who we were. But no more lying, Max, ok? Just please, hear us out." Sam continued.
"About what?" Max asked.
"I saw you do it. I saw you kill your Dad and your Uncle before it happened." Sam admitted. A silence settled around the room.
Oh, Sam
"What?" Max faltered.
"I'm having visions, Max. About you." Sam nodded.
Max barked a laugh, "You're crazy."
"So what, you weren't gonna launch a knife at your step-mom," Sam gestured to his right eye, "Right here? Is it that hard to believe Max, look what you can do. Max, I was drawn here alright? I think I'm here to help you." Sam nodded to himself, like some kind of self-fulfilment.
Max sniffed loudly, "No one can help me."
"Let me try. We'll just talk. You and me. We'll get Dean, Steph and Alice out of here." Sam reasoned.
"Wait, just hold on there, S-."
"Uh-uh. No way." Dean and I objected simultaneously.
Max frowned and the large, ornate chandelier above us began to shake, the crystals rattled and jingled prettily, "Nobody leaves this house!" Max shouted.
I glanced up at the chandelier, then at Max; if we said the wrong thing it could be disastrous. "And nobody has to, alright? They'll just... they'll just go upstairs."
"Sam we're not leaving you alone with him." Dean said automatically.
"Yes, you are," Sam said without taking his eyes off of Max, "Look, Max, you're in charge here, alright, we all know that. No one's going to do anything that you don't want to do but I'm talking five minutes here, man." His tone was reserved and calm.
"Sam, no. Come on." I shook my head and gave him a look.
Max glanced back to where his unconscious step-mother lay on the floor, "Five minutes?" He asked, Sam nodded and Max took a deep breath and looked at Dean and I, "Go." He ordered, the chandelier above us stopped shaking but I remained still, so did Dean.
"Guys." Sam tilted his head and widened his eyes, silently telling us to leave.
I stared at Max for a long moment before reluctantly forcing my legs to move, I touched Sam's arm lightly as I passed by him and tugged at Dean's coat to get him to move, the older Winchester snapped out of his trance and nodded stonily. With slow, purposeful steps he approached the unconscious Ms. Miller and picked her up, I followed them up the stairs with a parting curious glance at Max.
T
We found the Master bedroom of the house fairly quickly, where Dean lay Ms. Miller gently on the bed and went into the en-suite bathroom and I heard the sound of a tap running. He returned with a damp flannel and proceeded to clean the cut as best as he could, but it had already begun to swell and bruise horridly. Dean didn't say anything as he worked, and I wasn't in the mood for conversation anyway.
"Do you ever worry about it?" A voice jolted me out of my thoughts.
"Huh?" I tilted my head at Dean.
"Sam. Do you ever worry about what's going on with him – the, err, visions and stuff, I mean?" Dean asked.
I hesitated, and then sighed and sat on the bed next to Dean, gently took his hand and held it in mine, "Honestly? Both you and Sam scare me sometimes with all the things you do, and Sam's... premonitions are just another bump in the road, you know? But he and I get on so great at the moment that he's like my best friend," I paused and looked down at our hands and how they were intertwined so perfectly, my black Necromancy ring stood out against my creamy, traditionally Irish skin, "And with his, err, gifts at the moment, I know I'm more terrified than I'm letting on, and I don't see myself telling Sam how scared I am about it anytime soon," I squeezed Dean's hand comfortingly, "I know you're scared, too – even though you'd never admit it to Sam. But we can all be scared together – because guess what? Fear keeps you alive. It ensures you're still running. It keeps your reflexes in check and it keeps you in the now." Dean smiled and abandoned the cloth and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, bringing us in closer together.
"I... I think I'm in love with you." My head snapped up and I stared at Dean in a stunned silence.
My brain was in a frenzy, going in to overdrive as it began to over-complicate the situation, so my mouth took over for me, "I think I love you too." I replied quietly. A cocky grin curved his mouth and he leaned in, and I let him. We were millimetres away from eachother when suddenly Ms. Miller shot up and gasped, Dean and I jumped and stood up from the bed.
I immediately turned my attention to Ms. Miller, picking up the cloth and dabbing it at her forehead, "Hey, are you alright?" I asked her, really quite glad she hadn't started crying.
Ms. Miller nodded, although she seemed a little breathless and pale, "I'm ok. But, Max, where is he?" She asked.
"He's downstairs talking with Sam, everything's fine, don't worry." Dean assured her.
The woman nodded, "Ok."
The air shifted and I stiffened, gave Ms. Miller a small smile and turned around. The door creaked open to reveal the short figure of Max, leaving Dean and I with one, dreaded question: where was Sam? Sensing the threat that Max emitted, Dean moved purposefully towards him, the door behind Max slammed shut as Dean suddenly shot into the wall at the same time. My eyes narrowed as I gauged how much of a threat Max posed, whilst Ms. Miller gasped in shock, "Max!" She cried.
Max turned his attention to his mother, I stepped in between them and blocked his view of her, my hands rested on my hips as I looked him over with a cocked eyebrow. Max laughed, "Now come on, you saw me take out Dean there, what makes you think you can actually beat me?" He laughed again, his chin jutted out arrogantly.
I glanced at Dean, who shook his head at me, then I looked back at Max and tilted my head, "You make a fair point. But, to answer your question: do I think I can beat you? Huh, well we'll see, won't we sunshine?" I snapped my palm out and Max flung backwards off his feet, hitting the door with a satisfying crunch. I grinned sweetly at him as Max got to his feet, he was a little breathless, but otherwise fine.
Don't hesitate. Kill him.
"Well," Max said, "That was unexpected."
"Awww. If that surprised you, then you're gonna hate what's coming next." I felt the air shift and lunged forward with a jab to Max's throat to try and cut off his air supply and finish the fight quickly. I'll admit I was hoping he'd be one of these crappy novice people and a little slow on the mind-bending – I didn't expect myself to be shooting off my feet and colliding with the wall and collapsing next to Dean.
"Ow," I muttered under my breath, "I actually felt that one."
"Steph, please stay down." Dean begged.
I glanced at Dean, but I knew I'd be getting back up just out of principal: since when did Valkyrie Cain take a hit and stay down, for Christ's sake? I got to my feet with the same cocky smirk I donned for foes. Max raised his eyebrows at me, "Not gonna listen to your boyfriend?" He taunted.
My smirk grew wider, "Nah."
Max laughed and I clicked my fingers, catching a spark and forming flames in my palms, behind me Ms. Miller gave a small cry of shock and Max's eyes widened, which gave my more twisted parts endless joy at seeing the enemy cower.
That's right. Do it.
"Now, I've got a set of handcuffs in my pocket – are you sure you want to keep playing this game?" I asked him, Max narrowed his eyes and they flickered to where Dean lay, the arrogant smile formed on his lips again and Dean's pistol suddenly shot in the air and aimed it straight at me.
"Son of a bitch!" Dean cursed and was suddenly stood next to me, the gun's safety flicked off and I took a deep breath and cursed my bad luck: if he had it aimed at my heart my coat would absorb the shot and I'd be fine, but my head had no such protection against it.
"Seem's the tables have turned." Max's smile grew wider, showing teeth.
I gave the tiniest of nods, letting the flame's in my hands die out as I held my hands out in a small shrug to match my gesture. Suddenly reality hit me like a full-force train: my memories of my old reality really were set in stone, I'd never get the chance to research getting back there, I'd be leaving Dean and Sam – and I'd only just realised how I was starting to feel about the gorgeous older Winchester! My thoughts suddenly froze and my heart began to beat away violently in my chest when Dean stood in front of me.
"You wanna kill her? You gotta go through yours truly first." Dean said.
Another train hit me full-force: Dean, always trying to protect Sam and I, even when I felt he needed someone to do it for him, too. And here he was, doing it all over again, except this time I'd be ripping Dean away from Sam for good. Speaking of, where was the younger Winchester?
Max shrugged, unperturbed, "Ok."
My scream didn't drown out the sound of the gun shot. It didn't drown out the sound of blood splattering the walls, either. Or the sound of a dead-weight hitting the floor.
I didn't get much time to react to the events that had just occurred, because when I failed at blinking back the tears, the gun was suddenly pressed on the left side of my head. The shot fired and
.
T
Sam's P.O.V
I gasped as I returned to the bleary darkness of the cupboard Max had shut me in, holding my head and actually sighing as I recognised it to be a vision. The fading images of Dean and Stephanie's still-warm corpses faded away and I held onto my building rage, letting it boil over. "No. No!" I cried out in a panicked tone, just outside the cupboard, a shifting sound sounded, like something heavy was being shoved across the floor. I froze in shock and tried pushing the door open with a tentative hand, when it swung open I immediately looked around for the person who had freed me, when it came to me that no one was present but me, I ignored it. Instead, I sprinted towards the stairs and took them three at a time.
T
Valkyrie's P.O.V
I was very aware of a familiar headache forming at my temples as I gave a slight nod of agreement to Max as I stared down the barrel of the gun, with a silent parting, the flames in my hands died out as I raised my hands in a miniature shrug. Memories of my past life hit me like the bullet was soon going to, along with the depressing realisations that I would never see Skulduggery or my family ever again, all hopes that I kept alive for self-torture were snuffed out with just one bullet in the brain. The killing realisation was coupled with the disconsolate conclusion that literally two seconds after discovering I actually, really liked Dean Winchester — a lot, I would be dead, leaving our blossoming relationship ruined. All because of one lucky kid with daddy issues. Yep, that sounded about right.
Despite all these damming self-inner-peace discernments, they were all stolen by Dean stepping in front of me and shielding me from the gun. Dean, what are you doing? Quit stealing my parting moments! "You wanna kill her? You gotta go through yours truly first." He announced, I bet he had that cocky smirk of his on right now – not because he was taunting Max, but because he knew that in my last moments he was doing what he did best to me: he was driving me absolutely crazy. And I kinda loved him for it.
Max shrugged, unfazed at the situation, "Ok."
I prepared myself for the shot, and instead I almost screamed when the door burst open and Sam rushed in, he looked straight at Max, "No don't!Don't! Please. Please, Max, we can help you, alright? But this, what you're doing, it's not the solution. It's not gonna fix anything."
Max was taking in quick, shuddery breaths, he was practically dripping in sweat, beads rolled down his forehead and joined with his tears, he stared at Dean and I, anguished, and then he turned to Sam. Suddenly he relaxed, and his face cleared. I couldn't believe it: Sam had done it, he'd talked him out of finishing his psycho massacre -
"You're right." Max whispered, Sam smiled at him and I found myself beginning to smile in relief. The air shifted and the gun swung around. No way. A shot sounded and this time I did scream. Sam cried out when Max slumped to the floor dead.
"No! Oh, Max!" Ms. Miller sobbed. I felt strange, less than ten minutes ago I'd been prepared to kill him, and now he'd done it himself...
"Steph," Dean was suddenly pulling my into a tight hug, "Come on, don't look at it." He said.
I frowned and pulled myself away from him, "I'm fine." I said dully, and moved over to Ms. Miller, "Come on, let's get downstairs, I can call the police for you."
T
Sam, Dean and I were stood next to the couch whilst a policeman interviewed Ms. Miller. She was pale and her eyes were red and dull with shock, "Max attacked me. He threatened me with a gun." She said.
The policeman nodded as he took down notes, the he gestured to us, "And these three?"
"They're... family friends," Ms. Miller supplied, "I called them as soon as Max arrived, I was scared. They tried to stop him. They fought for the gun."
"And where did Max get the gun?" The officer asked.
Sam and I exchanged a worried look. Ms. Miller suddenly began crying and glanced up at the ceiling, "I don't know. He showed up with it and..." Her voice cracked.
"It's alright, Ms. Miller." The officer tried to comfort the distraught widow.
"I've lost everyone." The woman sobbed.
The officer gave her an awkward smile and turned to us, "We'll give you three a call if we have any further questions."
"Thanks, officer," Dean nodded and looked at Sam and I, "Come on."
T
We were walking down the garden path, where Dean's car was park on the side of the road. "If I'd just said something else. Gotten through to him somehow." Sam broke the silence forlornly.
"Ah, don't do that." Dean sighed.
"Do what?" Sam frowned.
"Torture yourself. It wouldn't have mattered what you said, Max was too far gone, Sammy." His older brother explained.
"When I think about how he looked at me, man – right before. I should've done something." Sam sighed heavily.
"Sam, we all risked our lives for him. I mean, yeah, maybe if we had gotten there, like, twenty years earlier..." I trailed off as we reached the car.
"Well, I'll tell you guys one thing. We're lucky we had Dad." Sam concluded.
Dean paused, and then a huge grin broke out on his face, "Well, I never thought I'd hear you say that."
Despite everything that had happened today, I felt the atmosphere lightening a little, the tension that had been building up over the past few days was beginning to fade away, Sam shrugged, a wry grin joining Dean's, "Well, it could have gone a whole other way after Mum. A little more tequila and a little less demon hunting... and we would have had Max's childhood. All things considered, we turned out ok. All thanks to him." He announced.
I turned back to the house and nodded, "All things considered." I echoed.
T
Dean and I were sat in the motel room whilst Sam packed up some stuff for the road tomorrow, I was holding parts of a dismantled gun whilst Dean polished them. Sam suddenly entered, "Guys, I've been thinking." He declared.
"Well, that's never a good thing." Dean smirked.
"I'm serious," Sam huffed, "I've been thinking; this demon, whatever it is... why would it kill Mum, and Jessica, and Max's mother, you know? What does it want?" He asked.
"I have no idea." Dean shrugged.
"Well, you think, maybe... it was after us? After Max and me?" Sam wondered.
"Why would you think that?" I asked the younger Winchester.
Sam shrugged, "I mean... what I'm trying to say, either telekinesis or premonitions, we both had abilities, you know? Maybe he was – he was after us for some reason."
Dean put down the gun piece he was polishing and exhaled deeply, "Sam. If it had wanted you, it would've just taken you, ok? This is not your fault, it's not all about you."
Sam frowned, "Then what is this all about?"
I tilted my head as I examined the room, the tension was beginning to curl and thrash, "It's about that damn thing that did this to our family. The thing that we're gonna fine – the thing that we're gonna kill. And that's all." Dean yelled, running a hand through his hair frustratedly.
"Actually there's uh... there's something else, too." Sam said quietly.
"Ah, jeez what?" Dean sighed.
"Dean." I chastised quietly.
"When Max left me in that closet, with that big cabinet against the door," Sam paused and took a little breath, "I moved it."
Dean and I exchanged a look and I looked at him in admiration, maybe I had picked the wrong Winchester... "Huh. You got a little more upper body strength than I gave you credit for." Dean smirked.
Sam scoffed, "No man, I moved it. Like, Max."
The smiles slipped from Dean and I's faces, "Oh." The simple word escaped my mouth before I could stop it.
A silence descended upon us as Sam's words sunk in. He moved a cabinet. With his mind. Like Max did.
"Right." Dean said softly, stroking his chin.
"Yeah." Sam nodded.
Dean picked up a spoon from a nearby coffee table and held it out to Sam, "Bend this." He challenged.
I rolled my eyes whilst Sam made a noise of frustration, "I can't just turn it on and off, Dean. Idiot."
"Well how'd you do it?" Dean raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know! I can't control it. I just... I saw you both die and it just came out of me, like a – like a punch. You know, like... a freak adrenaline thing." Sam struggled to explain.
Dean shrugged it off, "Yeah, well I'm sure it won't happen again."
Sam nodded in agreement, but he didn't look as confident, "Yeah, maybe. Look, aren't you two worried? Aren't you two worried I could turn into Max or something?"
I suddenly remembered me asking Skulduggery the exact same thing about Darquesse, I remembered the anxiety and the amount of stress it had caused me. Sam could go a whole different way unless Dean and I gave him the right answer. I opened my mouth to respond but Dean beat me to it.
"Nope. No way. You know why?" Dean suddenly looked deadly serious.
"No. Why?"
"'Cause you have one advantage Max didn't have." Dean said in a plain tone.
"Dad?" Sam guessed, "Because Dad's not here, Dean!" He stressed.
"No, no, no. Me," Dean dropped the serious act and broke out into a huge, cocky smirk, "As long as I'm around, nothing bad is gonna happen to you."
Sam rolled his big brown eyes, but a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Dean collected the gun pieces and fitted them together, then he threw the gun into the weapons bag and slung it over his shoulder, then he walked over to his younger brother, "Now then. I know what we need to do about your premonitions. I know where we have to go." He said.
I looked up, maybe Dean really did know something Sam and I didn't, "Where?" I asked before Sam could.
"Vegas." Dean's grin perked up whilst mine fell. Sam gave Dean the bitchiest glare and stalked out the room to the car, I rolled my eyes at Dean, but when I walked out the room I was smiling at his antics, "What? Come on, guys – we'd clean up!" Dean called to us, a laugh escaped from my lips and Sam smiled and shook his head, but there was something in his expression that hadn't been there before. An expression that I recognised, because I had it, too.
Fear.
Sam was scared of himself, and I was scared of myself too... I hadn't forgotten the headaches that kept randomly popping up throughout the past few weeks. And I knew what it meant, Darquesse was getting stronger, getting ready to overtake.
Author's Note: Another chapter out the way, team! I'm sorry this one was so overdue, but I have exams in, like, 19 days and I am freaking out. I've been revising and working and school, and writing is getting harder and harder to commit to. I love this story, so so much. And I really don't want to stop doing it, but GCSE's are apparently important and I need to get them, so I'm studying hard, making the parent's proud, etc... but, if I was honest, I'd rather just spend my days writing more chapters for this story. Thank you all so much for holding out on me and not making complaints, I love you all so much and you're all part of the reason I love writing so much! 10 reviews until the next chapter is to be expected – but please please please keep in mind that I am studying hard for exams!
Thank you all again!
Blue-Eyed AngelGirl