I'm on a roll! Two chapters in one night! I'm trying to get through the bits that I had previously posted as fast as I can!
ENJOY!
Living with Isabel was so damned easy. The first two days had been amazing, and Sam already found himself falling for her. Which is why when he got up the third morning to make sure she didn't burn breakfast, he was concerned to find her sitting on the porch swing, a mournful cloud hanging over her, her knees tucked under her chin. "Isabel, what's wrong?"
She looked like she could cry. "The lady, who lives across the street, the one...who's been gone for the last week, Tanya, she came home last night. She came over here when I got the paper."
Sam sat down next to her. "Is she okay?"
Isabel shook her head and tears filled her big blue eyes, "Her son, Will, he's...God damnit! He's only eleven!" She put her face in her hands, "He's never been healthy, but this time, he's not going to make it. They found a tumor in his brain. They can't do any surgery for it and he's not strong enough to handle radiation or chemo. He's going to die!" Sam could only think to comfort her, and pulled her to his chest. She sobbed heartily, burying her face in the black T-shirt he'd worn to bed.
A half hour later it seemed, she calmed, pulling back and wiping at her eyes. "Better?" Sam asked softly, wiping a tear from her face.
She just shook her head again, "Not really. I have to call Jesse. He and Will, they're big pals." She cracked a sad smile, "They play video games online with each other. He's going to be devastated." She looked back up at Sam, and he saw the hopeless terrified girl she spoke about in her blue eyes, "How am I supposed to tell him that?"
Sam shrugged, "I don't know. I think you should just tell him the truth. It will hurt less in the long run."
She sighed and stood, sniffing a bit, "You're right, you're right. I'll...be in my room. Um...go ahead and eat, I'm not real hungry anymore."
Sam followed her to her room, and sat outside the door, feeling like a freak for listening in on her conversation. He heard a voice mumble a greeting on the other end of the phone, "Hey, Adam, is...is Jesse awake yet?...Yeah, Tanya and Will got back last night...that's why I need to talk to Jesse...thank you...Yeah, I know...I love you too, you big lug." There was a pause for a while, "Jesse? Bud, can you sit for me?...Just sit please...I need to tell you what really happened while Will was on his trip."
She went on to tell the little boy that his friend had a brain tumor and was going to die. Sam was amazed that she kept her composure, even when he could hear the kid break down. "Oh, Jesse, don't say things like that. He won't be in pain anymore...Yeah, you can come visit him any time mom will let you...No, Jesse, you can't do that. Mom would kill all three of us." She giggled a little, but the sound caught in her throat, "Adam, please don't encourage him. You've gotten in enough trouble this year for all of us. I've got to go...Take care of him...Tell Mom and Daniel I said hi...I love you boys, be safe." She clicked her phone shut and Sam heard her walk to the door.
In large steps, Sam hustled down the stairs and into the kitchen, and was almost done buttering a bagel when she showed her face. "How'd it go."
She sighed, but she looked better than she had earlier, "As good as things like that can go. My brothers want to come and visit now, but Mom would never allow that. Jesse has...emotional issues so she doesn't let him leave the house if he's too upset." She looked at the floor, "And he was definitely upset just then. Adam had to take the phone from him."
She fed Ion before speaking again, "Thank you."
"For what?" Sam asked, chowing down on his bagel.
Isabel gave him a little half smile, "Holding me while I was crying. My family...they never did that for me."
Sam could understand how she felt. There had been very few hugs growing up with John and Dean Winchester. "Mine wouldn't have either." He said, understanding that this was the first time either of them had really talked about their childhoods. "My Mom died in a fire when I was a baby and it kind of drove my Dad over the edge."
Isabel was looking at him with newfound respect in her eyes. "Come here." She said, and freaked Sam out by putting a hand down her nightshirt. "I want you to see this."
Seeing her pull a locket up relieved Sam more than it should have. She took the chain off of her neck and handed it to him. The locket held two pictures. One of a boy about six years old holding onto a cherubic looking blond toddler. The other was a family portrait set a few years later, Isabel looked about six or seven and the boy could have been a poster boy for the average ten year old, baseball cap and all.
The parents were astonishing. Her handsome blond father had a gruffness to him that reminded Sam of his own father, but the way he was holding Isabel spoke volumes. She was sitting on his knee, her head laid back against his chest with his arms wrapped around her, both looking at the camera. Her father had been the father John had never been, loving. Her mother was startling to look at, she was very tall, red haired, whip thin, and exceedingly beautiful. She didn't seem real.
But it was her eyes that really threw Sam. They were the same blue that Isabel's were, but the shape was different. She had the same eyes as Castiel. It was enough to make Sam decide that whoever Isabel's mother was, she was the one who had lined her daughter's house with salt. "That's really cool." Sam said, swallowing to clear his dry throat.
Isabel nodded, "It's my most treasured possession these days. My father was dead less than two months after that last picture. I was five. Tall for my age, but five. Daniel had just turned ten."
Sam couldn't imagine that. Which was worse, to never know a parent, or to be just old enough to remember stray things, without a clear picture in your head of them? "How did your father die?" Sam asked softly, lowering himself onto the tile to fix a leak under the sink they'd noticed the night before.
Isabel pursed her lips, "My mother would never tell me the details and the case file was sealed, but I was told that he was killed by a serial killer."
Oh yeah, her mother was definitely a hunter, Sam decided. "A serial killer?" Sam asked, using a wrench to tighten a loose nut.
She hopped up onto the counter next to the sink, "Yeah, it was twenty years ago, but I still remember walking into the house with my mother and finding what was left of him. I don't buy the story. There's no way one man could do all of that. The front of the house looked like someone had stuck a bomb in my father's chest and set it off. The blood..." She trailed off and when Sam looked up at her, her eyes were looking out the window at one of the houses down the street glassily.
"I'm sorry." He said, "I didn't mean to bring up those memories."
She looked at him, and for a second he thought she was going to start crying again, "Don't be." She grinned, "It's easy to talk to you. I don't mind." She chuckled darkly, "I should have been put into therapy, but my mother thought I didn't see anything. Enough doom and gloom. I have to go to work tomorrow, so let's go find you a job!" She jumped off the counter. "You've got fifteen minutes before we're leaving. Hop to it!"
Sam shook his head, knowing from the day before, when she had insisted they go out to breakfast before getting his car, that the girl was naturally pretty and as a result didn't normally wear makeup. The girl had gotten ready in ten minutes. And left him. She'd been idling down the street when he had run out the door, hair wet, laughing her ass off.
He ran up the stairs after her. Luckily, he had his own clothes and didn't have to wear the clothes Isabel said belonged to her brother. Smugly, Sam was back down the stairs in five minutes, leaning against the garage door. Isabel giggled when she saw him, "Come on, Shaggy." She said, thrusting coffee into his hand.
"Shaggy?" He asked, an eyebrow arched. She smiled slyly. He nodded with a shrug, "Okay, Daphne."
She looked at him aghast, picking up her car keys, "Daphne? Why not Velma?"
"You're blond." Sam said, like it made perfect sense.
She just looked at him, "Sam...Daphne's hair is red. Fred is the only character with blond hair, and I am not a guy."
Sam shrugged, folding himself into her little Ford, "How do I know that for certain? I just met you two days ago."
Isabel plopped into her seat, swinging her bag into the back of the car. She started the engine, and put her hands on the wheel before looking at Sam, "Well, maybe one day, you'll get a first hand look."
The small smile on her face was teasing, but Sam choked on his coffee. "What?"
Isabel laughed hysterically at the look on his face. "I was just kidding!"
Sam sighed as she started driving, "Good, that's good. I mean not that... I'm not saying..."
She shook her head at him, "Sam, you're going to be better off not trying to explain yourself. You might hurt my fragile self esteem. Now, what sounds better to you, a mechanic, librarian, or shelver at the Easy-Mart? I'll warn you now, the manager at the Easy-Mart is a douche."
"Nice to know...um...I guess the librarian?" He mumbled.
"Sounds good to me! They keep the city records there for the police. My aunt runs it, but her assistant quit, so she needs the help."
"Your aunt?" Sam asked as she pulled out of her garage.
Isabel nodded, "She's my dad's big sister. Her name is Alice Hastings, and she likes a man who brings her food. Her husband used to bring donuts to the library every morning when they lived together, but now she lives over the library. If you're lucky, she'll like you and you can work whatever hours you want."
"You know a lot about her work." Sam commented.
"I'm a teacher, the library is my summer job." She explained, pulling into the library parking lot. She put her car in park, "You're lucky, a small suburb like this, the school is right next to the library. I'll check in on you, but I'm sure you'll be fine."
"You're assuming I get the job." Sam said, working his way out of her car.
She chortled at him, "Sam, this is a work suburb. Most people who live here, don't work here, they drive the half hour into the city. People tend to move out after college. We're kind of a rarity. Plus, she is my aunt. As long as I vouch for you, she'll hire you."
"You're pretty confident." Sam said, smiling.
Isabel shut the door of her car and started to walk towards the brick building, "I am. She loves me, it's my mother she hates."
"Good to know." He said, holding the door open for her.
"Aunt Alice! You here?" She yelled, and Sam just looked at her, astounded that she was making such noise in a library.
"Yeah, definitely Daphne." Sam mumbled under his breath, but apparently loud enough for Isabel to hear judging by the glare she gave him.
"Belle!" A grey haired woman ran out from between the shelves. She flung her arms around Isabel, "You're home! When you called the other day, you said you were staying with her another week!"
"No, Aunt Alice, that was two weeks ago. Check your calendar." Isabel said patiently, used to the older woman's eccentricities.
Alice Hastings whipped out the leather book she kept with her at all times, flipping over the exorcism taped to the back of the front cover. She scanned the most recent pages with a critical stare, "Oh, yes, that was two weeks ago...I'm sorry dear. What can I do for you today? That cookbook you ordered isn't in yet, but I did get in the most lovely pastry book..." She noticed Sam and stopped, stepping closer to her niece, "Belle, who's this?"
"Aunt Alice, this is Sam Wesson. He's looking for a job." She smiled at him, "I was thinking he would be a good fit for helping you out."
The woman put her glasses on and examined Sam. She might have been fifty and grey, but she hadn't lost her appreciation for a good looking man, "Well, he's handsome, Belle, but where did you find him? I've never seen him before around here."
Sam expected Isabel to lie, but she didn't. "I picked him up after his car broke down."
A female voice responded, in a mocking English accent, "Isabel, that's dangerous!"
Isabel looked a little disgruntled, "Macy, I'm not a child!"
A girl about Isabel's age that looked like a younger, prettier, version of Alice came down the stairs, "I know!" She looked Sam up and down and he felt increasingly uncomfortable. She didn't look like the kind of person who put much stock in what was in a man's head, just about the size of what was in his pants.
Isabel glared, edging herself in front of Sam, "I didn't know you were home, Macy."
"I had to visit sometime. Unless you've forgotten, she's my mother, not yours." She met Isabel's glare, running a hand through her own brown hair.
"Girls, don't fight. Please, I'm interviewing Sam here. Why don't you two go have some girl time on another floor." Alice said, waving the cousins away, taking Sam by the arm, "Come, let's check your eyes. You can't be working in my library if you can't see."
"Sure." Sam said, watching the girls go upstairs before following Alice to the basement.
"Those girls, they were fighting before they were even born. I'd hate to think that I'm the reason they hate each other. Ronnie and I never got along, and we were pregnant with the girls at the same time. I think the dissension trickled down in utero. I love Isabel though, like she was my own. I spent more time with her than I did my own Macy. Of course that's because her bastard father took her away and raised her in England." The woman talked more than Isabel did.
She tested his sight and quizzed him on filing system arrangements. She hired him, and set him to work right then. "I'm going to go make sure the girls haven't killed each other. One day, they're going to tear each other apart. You have half an hour to finish or I'm going to have to fire you. It would be a shame too, you seem like a nice boy."
Sam finished in twenty minutes and walked back up the wooden stairs. Macy and Isabel were locked in a heated argument, both girls nearly red faced. Alice was standing helplessly watching, shaking her head.
"Um...I'm done...Ms. Hastings." He said over the noise of the cat fight.
The old woman smiled apologetically at him, "Thank you, dear. And please, call me Aunt Alice. Most people do. Since Macy came, I'm going to close for the day." She looked at the girls, "You might want to take Isabel back to her house before you go home."
Sam winced, "Actually, I'm staying at her house."
Alice looked surprised, not disapproving, but rather wry, "Good for Isabel. She's had it a lot harder than the most of us." She looked at him critically, "I know who you are, Sam Winchester." Sam jumped away from her, pulling his gun out of the back of his jeans. Alice held out her hands, a calm smile on her face, "Put that away. Missouri and I are friends. She sends her regards."
"Missouri?" Sam said, moving the gun so it was hidden from the girls who were obliviously still fighting with each other.
Alice nodded, ushering him into the back room, "Yes, we write each other weekly, to share visions and batter recipes. Things like that."
"You're psychic?" Sam asked, wondering if she had demon proofed Isabel's house.
"Yes, I am psychic, but no, I am not the one who proofed her house. That was her mother." Alice said, "My brother and I came from a long line of Hunters just like you do. I just happen to be a psychic as well."
"Isabel's father was a Hunter? Does that mean..." Sam was interrupted by the woman.
"Yes, my brother was killed by a demon. Ronnie wouldn't let me hunt the thing down though. Ronnie is Isabel's mother, a real secretive bitch. We didn't ever get along, especially not after she married my brother. I'd have killed her if Joseph hadn't made sure she was human. Pray you never meet her." Alice said, her voice bitter.
"Is she a Hunter too?" Sam questioned.
"Not exactly. She's just aware and protective. I've had to grudgingly accept that her tubed salt is a good idea, but I'd never tell her that." Alice had the look in her eyes that said something was going to die.
"It is a good idea." Sam said, "I hadn't really thought about it either. Have you seen anything about me?"
Alice looked at Isabel through the open door, "I like you, Sam, I really do. You'll be good for her." She turned her sharp eyes back to him, "I'm going to tell you a few things right now, just so you're not caught off guard. She doesn't know anything of our world...at least not anymore. Your relationship with her will never be conventional so you'll be best off just letting things happen and not trying to control too much. Also, stay here. You're needed here for now. You'll know when it's time for you to go, and you won't go alone."
"Anything else I need to know?" Sam said, glad to see Macy stomp up the stairs.
Alice grinned, showing off a missing tooth, "Of course there is! If you hurt her, I will kill you. I don't care who you are."
Sam blanched, relieved when Isabel appeared in the door, "Ready to go, Shaggy? I want to take you to Nicky's for lunch."
Alice nodded her head and Sam put on a smile, glad to have the older Hunter around. He slung an arm around Isabel's shoulder, amazed by the ease of the contact when she rested her head on his shoulder.
"I'm ready, Daphne."
She glared at him. "Velma."
"Daphne."
"Velma..."
REVIEW!
-Jenn
God's Will By: Martina Mcbride
"I've been searchin', wonderin', thinkin'
Lost and lookin' all my life.
I've been wounded, jaded, loved and hated
I've wrestled wrong and right.
He was a boy without a father,
And his mother's miracle.
I've been readin', writin', prayin', fightin'
I guess I would be still,
Yeah, that was until I knew God's Will."