Chapter 51
"I hate to intrude…" Cassie said as a way of letting Sam and Amelia know she was there.
They both turned to where Cassie was standing at the kitchen door, and grinned sheepishly; and then they reluctantly let go of the other.
"We were just having some lunch. Did you eat?" Amelia asked as she pointed to the half-eaten sandwiches on the kitchen table.
"Is that what they call it these days?" Cassie replied as she stepped into the room. Sam thought she sounded just like, and had the same twinkle in her eye; Dean would have had in these circumstances.
Sam cleared his throat, before asking Cassie, "How'd your story go?"
"Fine. And I grabbed a bite on the way back, but I'd love a piece of pie; if there's any left?" Sam laughed to himself; Cassie was not only acting and sounding like Dean, now he found out she liked pie.
Amelia got the pie out of the refrigerator, while Cassie got plates out of the cupboard; and then they all sat down to finish their lunches. Sam asked if there had been any sign or word of Tim, the hunter they had avoided last week. Cassie said she had been able to determine he had just been passing through town.
Cassie updated them that law-enforcement hadn't reported any 'Amelia' sightings for a week; although there were hundreds of sites popping up in the blogosphere about her. She asked if Sam or Amelia knew anything about some strange reports out of race track in Chicago, an unexplained rock cave-in in Indiana, or a hotel that had suddenly gained the reputation as being a lover's paradise. The overly blank expressions on their faces told her all she needed to know; and she made a mental note to add those to her growing database.
Cassie had learned a great deal while researching the people of Sam's list, and supernatural phenomena, in general. Cassie had devoted almost every free minute she'd had in the last nine days to scouring the internet; and she'd even made a few trips to a local library with a nice selection of really old Mythology books. As she shared some tidbits, and asked Sam if they were true; he was impressed with all she had learned. With anyone else, Sam might have worried about them trying to 'go public'. But, Cassie knew better from her previous encounter with the vengeful spirit that killed her father and his friends. But, she also knew, if, or more likely, when, the rest of the world learned the truth; she would be ready to write the story of the century. She started when she remembered Amelia could read her mind.
Amelia heard Cassie's thoughts; and hoped she could tell her, someday, that the book would be a world-wide sensation. For now, she looked at their hostess, grinned and nodded her head slightly. "So, Cassie, when the time is right,…" She paused to make sure Cassie understood she was giving her two messages. "We'd like you to go to Lawrence, in preparation for the ritual."
"What?" Sam said surprised. They hadn't talked about that. He noticed the looks the women were sharing, and knew immediately, there was more to the conversation.
"Actually, I think you should come with us when we head to Kansas, tonight." Amelia added.
He and Amelia had discussed heading back to Lawrence, to meet with Missouri and Jody; and trying to contact Dean, to send his brother the basic details of the plan. But, Sam didn't remember anything about bringing Cassie with them. He trusted that Amelia knew what she was doing; but her face gave him no clues to her thinking.
Amelia smiled at him, and then turned to Cassie. "We want to try to send Dean a message, let him know the plan. There are two others waiting for us there; I'm thinking it might be good if you were there, too."
"Tonight?" Cassie asked stunned. "You're driving all the way to Lawrence and contacting Dean tonight? Do Missouri and Jody know you're coming?"
"We haven't called them yet." Sam joined the conversation; curious about what Cassie had just said. "Cassie, have you been in contact with Jody or Missouri?"
"Yes. You gave me their contact numbers. I called to make sure they got to Lawrence safely."
"Did they?" He asked. Amelia could see that their three comrades had spoken often.
"Yeah. Missouri is waiting for you at her place. She says it's quiet; nobody has ever tried to contact her. Jody went back to Sioux Falls. After you were spotted in Toledo, they forgot all about her, too." When neither Sam nor Amelia said anything, she added, "She can be back in a day; and plans on being there on the 12th."
X
Sam learned Cassie had been in near constant contact with both Missouri and Jody. She brought Sam and Amelia up to date on activities in Lawrence and Sioux Falls. Jody had had more trouble with the administrators of her city, over her sudden disappearance, than she had had with the FBI. But she'd come up with a plausible cover story, and everything was under control. They had both also obtained new cell phones, as a precaution; and Cassie gave him those numbers.
Amelia and Sam shared their decision that they should try to reach Dean somewhere other than Lawrence. It was going to be difficult enough to reach Dean without drawing a lot of unwanted attention; and they didn't want anybody or anything being drawn to the area of the ritual. The closest other weakened seal was in Bootback, Kansas; where Cas had opened a portal to steal the souls from Purgatory. The plant, that had been Crowley's base, was near Leavenworth, only 75 miles from Lawrence.
Cassie volunteered to call Missouri and let her know the plan; but she also told Sam there was no way she could leave for Kansas tonight. She had to let her mom know she was leaving town and to make arrangements for someone to run the paper, in case something went wrong.
"Cassie. I'd like to assure you 'nothing will go wrong', but…there are just so many variables." Sam said. He thought this would be the perfect time to bring up getting Cassie's donation before they left for Kansas. "Cassie, we also wanted to ask you to share your fluid donation for the ritual, today."
Cassie had thought she understood what she had gotten herself into; that between the horrors she and her mother had faced seven years ago, and all she had learned from Sam and the internet in the last two weeks; she thought she knew how dangerous this could be. But, hearing Sam ask her to give a few drops of her blood, now; because she might not be here in five days….
Amelia gasped when she saw what Cassie was thinking. Trying to think of a way to reassure Cassie, it suddenly occurred to Amelia, she had never told Cassie her true identity. They had told her she had come from another dimension, as a partial explanation of her mind-reading abilities. Amelia decided she knew how she could reassure Cassie that she would live through the next few days. She also thought the young woman had earned the right to know, she had done so much to help them.
"Cassie, I'd like to tell you something to help ease your worries." Amelia looked at Sam before continuing. "Also, you deserve to know; I can do much more than read minds. I have seen the future, and you are there. After this, your life will always be intertwined with the supernatural, and the Winchesters."
Sam couldn't resist. "I thought you were supposed to be reassuring her?"
Amelia gave him a quick glare, even though she knew he was teasing them. She reached across the table; and just before she touched Cassie's hand, Amelia said. "Cassie, I have had too many names, over too many centuries; but I have most commonly been known as Mother Nature." Cassie felt Amelia's hand touch hers, and suddenly she was no longer fearful. She'd swear she could hear Amelia telling her how she would live a long and eventful life; except she couldn't see her lips moving.
Cassie had no idea how long she sat there; feeling at peace and hearing whispers of her future dance around in her head. When she looked up, she saw Sam had left the kitchen; and Amelia, no, wait, Mother Nature, was washing up the lunch dishes at her sink. Amelia took a dishtowel and started drying her hands, as she turned to face Cassie.
"I'm sorry to set that on you so suddenly, but we wanted you to understand; you are not now, nor will ever be, expendable to us. Taking your donation with us tonight is just something we both feel is necessary. We need to have all the tools at hand, in case we don't get back to Lawrence until just before the ritual." Amelia felt like she was lying, although every word was true. She had just left out the part about 'nobody will come after you if we already have your donation'.
"What? What do you mean 'back to Lawrence'? I thought you were going to someplace called Bootback?"
As if scripted, Sam walked through the door. "After we try to reach Dean through the weak seal in Bootback; we're heading back to Madison, Wisconsin. Four of the fluids are safely stored there; we should be there and back in two days. But, like we said, lots of variables."
Cassie looked at the two of them. She thought she had learned a lot about the supernatural things that were really out there; but Sam had been hunting them his whole life, and it turned out Amelia was one. If she had ever learned anything, it was to make sure you could trust the people with whom you were working. She remembered the devotion she had seen in them, when she walked into the room a couple of hours ago. She knew she trusted her ability to judge character; and she decided to trust her earlier assessment of Sam and Amelia.
"So, I think you said something about me needing to be purified?"
X
As Sam sat with Amelia in Cassie's bedroom, waiting for her to get out of the shower, he was glad she was the last. Because, it was just as awkward this sixth time, as it had been all the other times before. He had gone to their room and collected the cooler and Thermos; and Cassie had gone into the bathroom and started the water. She had been surprised that the purifying ritual was so simple. She had read about some pretty elaborate rituals during her research.
Sam watched as Cassie took one of his silver knives and made a small cut in the palm of her hand. She made a fist, squeezing, and held it over the small opening to the container; and he watched the blood drip freely into the Thermos. It occurred to him, obtaining the other fluids hadn't required the donors to injure or cause themselves pain. Was Cassie chosen to give blood, which could not be given as easily, and painlessly, as the other fluids; because she had more invested in saving Dean than the other donors?
If that was true, what was going to be his pain? He was the one to whom Dean meant the most. He looked at Amelia and saw her looking back at him, with sadness in her eyes. It was then that Sam understood what Amelia had been trying to tell him since, at least, Canton. He may not have to physically hurt himself, like Cassie had; no, his pain, while also self-inflicted, was going to be emotional. The act of collecting his fluid would not be the cause of the pain; hell, he had spent much of the last two days discovering the pleasure he could have with Amelia. But, as soon as they had collected his semen from her body, he would only have a matter of hours left with Amelia.