Scccrrrrrrrraaatchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
The sound was like a tornado, scraping the inside of my skull. Like when a loud song came on unexpectedly on my headphones and almost made me deaf for a minute.
Scccrrrrrrrraaatchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Again. It repeated. What was that ungodly noise?
Scccrrrrrrrraaatchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
It was familiar. Something that I had heard before. A noise that I had maybe even made.
Scccrrrrrrrraaatchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
It hit me.
The noise of pages in a book turning.
But not just that, magnified, a hundred, a thousand times until it was what I was hearing now, the horrible grinding, scraping, clutching sound. I had to focus in on it. Try to get it right.
Scritch.
Better. The sound was in reality so soft that it was almost unnoticeable. Someone was turning pages, reading a book. Probably Sam, waiting for me to wake up.
Oh, god. Sam.
My memories began flooding back to me.
I had been facing them in my dreams.
My parents were... Not gone. They had never existed in the first place. It made me feel better somehow, less missing them. Less lost without them. Knowing that their fate did not rest on my shoulders was a relief. I would miss them, but I had moved on. Now I knew what I was. I wouldn't belong with them anymore, even if they had existed in the first place.
Nephilim.
Over and over in my head. The word of the century. Who I was now.
No.
Who I always had been.
Nephilim.
The child of an angel. As much conformation and change as the word brought me, it also came with curiosity. Who were my real parents? What would I be capable of? No one knew. It was a huge, gaping abyss, a question staring me in the eye.
And horrifyingly, it didn't stop there. What would I do now? I had no family. Nowhere to go. Not a dollar to my name.
I remembered Castiel, poor Cas, comforting me, holding me close to try and stop the storm raging inside of me before anyone else could get hurt. After I had almost accidentally killed him no less. In my defense, that part wasn't really my fault.
I'd pushed all of my questions into his head.
He had silenced me, gently, while I sobbed, feeling the worn, starchy texture of his coat against my face, collecting my hot tears, just before they vaporized.
'Hush. We are your family now. Sam and Dean and I. We will keep you safe. We will help you find the truth. I swear it. Hush now, it will all be alright.' It had ended after several minutes, when he had asked me if I wanted rest.
I had begged for it.
But even after I had been sent to sleep, I couldn't rest. It was all pain, red hot, horrible pain, surging through my veins, every breath, every heartbeat, every thought, every moment, as my body rebuilt itself from the inside. My head had felt white hot, my brain changing, moving to the way it had been meant to be, the pathways connecting more efficiently, the thoughts able to flow faster, smoother, brighter. My memory sharpening. It was all unfolding, giving me a feeling of standing up and stretching after being asleep for an eternity.
Over what felt like the span of an age, the rest of me began to change too.
The fire moved through me.
To my heart, which was lighter, stronger.
My lungs, which felt like they were suddenly gasping for breath after having been underwater.
My bones and muscles, my flesh itself, felt like it was unraveled and woven anew, lighter, almost hollow, like birds bones.
My eyes, which had burned like I had gotten acid in them. Now they would see farther, more clearly, than even my contacts had previously allowed me to. I wouldn't need glasses anymore. Just like Spiderman.
My ears were the last thing that I had felt, and were still honing themselves. I could hear the slightest whispers, from ages away. Bobby had a very squeaky mouse living under his fridge.
Everything was different.
Everything.
As I laid on the bed, I took moment to enjoy the relative quiet before I bothered to actually get up. I took a deep breath, feeling light as a feather. It felt good. I felt, for the first time, that I was comfortable in my own skin.
I opened my eyes. The afternoon sunlight in the room was shining in through the window, making the white ceiling almost glow. Maybe my eyes were just adjusting. A breeze was floating in lazily. Downstairs, Dean was checking the phone book for a takeout place. Bobby was in the living room watching something on television and telling Dean which places not to call because he had been banned from them.
Sam was sitting at the desk in the corner, leafing through a large text that looked incredibly old. He started when he saw that I was awake.
"Lily! Uh, are you- are you okay?" I involuntarily flinched a little at the sound of his voice. It was too loud.
I nodded slowly in response. I didn't trust my voice to speak yet. Might accidentally blow up the block.
"I'm gonna go get Dean. We were supposed to tell Cas when you woke up. Is that, is it okay if we call him?"
I nodded again.
Sam all but fled the room and went downstairs, calling for Dean.
Bobby walked into the room with the two of them, his footsteps creaking as he went.
They called Cas, who appeared the first time he was beckoned, without any cursing involved.
I couldn't hear him as he appeared the way I was tracking the movement of the others. He teleported soundlessly. Instead, I could sense his power, feel the radiant energy as he zapped in.
They spoke for a minute about how long I was out. Three days exactly. Then if Cas had any new information. He didn't. Or at least nothing to share. I got the sense that Dean didn't believe that he hadn't found anything in all that time. I didn't either. Then he warned them that I was still fragile. Yeah... I didn't think that I could stand, actually.
And they were on their way up.
Sorry this one's a bit short! My study hall's almost over and I'm rushing to get this out. Ta!