Cas transports us instantly to a mall in what seems to be Southern California. I can tell it's California because everybody here seems to be wearing short shorts, and it's like 60 degrees (Fahrenheit) out. The fact that it's mid June should mean that it's at least 80 degrees. But, nope. This is southern California. 60-70 degrees all day everyday. "Why are we in California?" I ask Cas.
Then, my soul seeing ability kicks in and it gives me one hell of a headache. I haven't been around this many people since I got the ability, and seeing the huge swirl of colors hurts my head to the point where I think it may explode. "Skylar, are you okay?" Cas asks me.
I shake my head and put my hands to my forehead, trying to take in everything. "My head," I say. Everything around me is swirling.
Cas crouches down next to me. "I know, it can be a bit of a headache going into crowded places. Focus on one person and you'll feel better," he says.
"Who do you usually focus on?" I ask him. I think I know what the answer is going to be-I just want to use this as a little social experiment. I want to see if everything I've heard is true.
"Dean," Cas says, which is exactly what I predicted. It's a little cliché at times-how much Cas loves Dean. I was just really happy when Carver Edlund published the books with Cas in them (there was like a three year waiting period before he did) because it meant that there was another ship besides Wincest. I never shipped that in the beginning, but I was happy to finally have a decent ship that didn't involve Sam and Dean having sex with each other.
I focused all of my energy onto Cas, and it worked rather well, surprisingly. All the other colors just sort of melted away. I'm not describing what a lot of people would call 'the point where I realized I was in love with Cas' because I'm not in love with Cas.
Everybody who may think that will happen, get that sick idea out of your head. In this entire story, I am not going to fall in love with Cas or Dean or Sam. Just get that idea out of your head, because it's not going to happen. I will end up loving these men, but I will not be in love with them. Also, remember the fact that I'm eleven at this point in the story. Those men are in their thirties (well, Cas is as old as the earth itself, but you get the gist). No romance is going to happen for quite a while in this story, if it even does.
Sorry for my rampage. I just don't want to lead anyone to thinking something is going to happen when it definitely isn't. I promise that I will never lie to you when I'm writing this story. I may leave out certain truths to manipulate you, but I will never lie. I promise that.
Anyway, back to the story that I was telling you about. Cas and I walk down the halls of the giant mall. "Why are we in California?" I ask him when we pass the Wet Seal, which is right next to the giant Disney Store.
"It's far away from Kansas. You are safer here than you would have been if we were there," Cas says. I suppose that makes sense.
"Why Southern California? Ventura, of all places?" I ask. I know that it's Ventura because I can see it on many of the signs. I haven't heard very much about this city in southern California, but what I had heard wasn't very good.
"It's a large enough city with a large enough population. Seems inconspicuous that an eleven year old girl is walking with a man wearing a trench coat. It's easy to blend in," Cas says.
"Who are you, Sherlock Holmes?" I ask. Just the way that he speaks reminds me of Sherlock Holmes, that's all.
"Who is Sherlock Holmes?" he asks me, confused.
I'm not very surprised that Cas hasn't heard of Sherlock Holmes. He's not that famous, at least not in America. "He's this detective who lives in England. He's very famous for faking his death and then coming back. Caused a huge riot when he did," I say.
"I've never heard of him. Is he in a work of fiction?" Cas asks me.
I shake my head. "He's as real as you and I," I say. To prove my point, I go up to a completely random stranger that has a nice enough soul and ask them who Sherlock Holmes is.
"Um, isn't he that detective guy who lives in England who faked his own death?" the person asks me. I don't remember much about the person except for the fact that they are able to know what I am talking about.
Cas and I walk past the many, many stores. I can't find a single one that I like. All of these stores were way too girly for my taste. A pair of jeans and a t-shirt was what I like to wear now. Anything more girly than that is just beyond my taste.
Walking near the food court on the second floor of the giant building, I think that there's nothing I want. But, then, next to the glitzy Forever 21 store, there is a miracle. A Hot Topic store is standing right there, all gaunt and dark looking compared to the other lit up store fronts. Most people would be lured into everywhere but there, but not me. The inside is what attracted me to it, not the outside. The products were what I loved the most.
"Let's go in there," I tell Cas. He is confused why I would want to, but he lets me go in anyway. We head into the darkly lit store and into the crowd of people in there.
I look around, while Cas just kind of stands in the corner, not sure what to do. He's not very good around people-like a lot of people in this store, actually. I head over to the Harry Potter merchandise section, which is to the right of the entrance, and close to the window. I look through a set of pajama pants, finding the Gryffindor ones that seem to be my size.
"Are you really a Gryffindor or are you just trying to be like Harry Potter?" a girl to my left asks me, testing me. She is tall, about five foot seven inches, I'd say. Her very long hair is brown, but I can see natural highlights of honey blonde carefully woven in. Her eyes are green, and she wears big round brown glasses that have the Coach logo on the sides. She wears a Doctor Who quote t-shirt and a pair of blue Hollister jeans with a pair of black converse. Her soul is colorful and light. A lot of light blue and sweet lavender purple in it. I'd say she is about fifteen, maybe older.
At first, I'm a little freaked out. Taking a good look at her soul helps me calm down. "Believe me, I'm really a Gryffindor. I'm not trying at all to be like Harry Potter. He's not exactly perfect," I say.
The girl likes my response. "Finally, someone who agrees with me. What led you to think that?" she asks, curiosity brimming in her soul.
I don't see any harm in telling her why. She seems a lot like me, so why not? "I've read a lot of fan fiction that's from someone else's perspective. It gives me a very interesting view on the real jerk he is," I say.
The girl smiles, amused. Before she can respond, another girl comes up to her. "Kaelyn, what do you think of these shades?"
The girl that comes up to her is about five foot four. She has light red/strawberry blonde hair of medium length. I can't see her eyes (because of the sunglasses) She wears a tanktop with the cover of a certain book series on it. You would never believe it, but it's a Supernatural cover. How ironic, I think. The shirt has Dean and Sam on the front, although Sam has blonde hair for some reason. She wears a pair of ripped denim shorts and black combat boots. Her soul is multiple shades of green and I can see a lot of insanity in it. She seems at least a year younger than the other girl.
"You're not actually buying those, are you?" the girl, apparently called Kaelyn says, disapproval in her voice. I can't agree with her more. The sunglasses look terrible on the other girl, and they're way too flashy. Very impractical. "She reads Harry Potter fan fiction where Harry is a douche," she says before Maya can respond, gesturing towards me. I can see something strange peaking in her soul. I don't know if it's curiosity or hope, or a mixture between the two. Also, there is much amusement.
Maya looks slightly offended, but even she thinks they are terrible. When she hears about the fan fiction thing, she is amused, just like her friend. "Which ones have you read?" she asks. I can see the same strange tinge of hope in her soul, which makes me wonder.
"There's this one that I like called Serpentes et Dracones. Harry has a twin sister who is just amazing and bad ass. Also, she has this adorable romance with Draco Malfoy, and I think that they're just perfect for each other," I end up rambling on and I don't notice the giant grin on Kaelyn's face. Maya has a smaller smile, but they're both really happy by what I'm saying.
Kaelyn almost looks like she was just given a compliment. "You really like it?" she asks me, trying to control the excitement in her voice.
"Yeah. I think it's amazing," I say, shrugging. "Why?" I ask.
Kaelyn and Maya look at each other, exchanging smiles. "I'm actually the author of that," Kaelyn says. She seems very excited, but also a little bit anxious. She pulls on her left earlobe, which I assume is a nervous habit. Her ears are really tiny, I realize while looking at them behind the curtain of hair.
My eyes nearly pop out of my head. "Really? You write that?" I ask.
Kaelyn shrugs, getting a little humble all of a sudden. "Yeah, it's kind of something I became obsessed with a couple months ago," she says.
"Please tell me you're going to give Dractoria a happy ending. They deserve it more than anyone," I half beg.
"She was going to kill both of them off before Victoria could save herself, therefore erasing the majority of her life," Maya says.
My eyes widen. "No, please don't do that. They need a happy ending," I beg the girl who I barely know. They must think I'm some crazy little kid, but they're still nice to me. It's good to know that there are people in the world who are nice to people like me.
Kaelyn sighs a slight chuckle. "Don't worry. I talked myself out of it. It just made me so depressed when I realized that all of what they were doing was for nothing-that there was no point to what I was writing," she says.
"So what house are you in?" I ask the two girls.
"Slytherin," Maya says without hesitation. I look over at Kaelyn, who still hasn't answered.
"Well, I've taken so many quizzes. I've been sorted into Gryffindor almost as many times as I've been sorted into Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm really Gryffindor. I think I'd prefer to be a Slytherin if I had the choice," she explains.
I smirk. "Why Slytherin? Because Draco Malfoy is there?" I ask her, teasingly. I'm actually joking when I say that, but she takes it completely seriously.
Kaelyn looks down at the ground, which is enough of an answer for me combined with the slight blush appearing on her face. "She's completely in love with Draco Malfoy," Maya says with a smirk.
"Like you've never been in love with fictional characters before," Kaelyn retorts, but her face is red. I don't even think she's all that embarrassed at this point. I think it's just something that her face does on its own. She's more annoyed than anything else.
"Dean Winchester…" Maya says, looking up at the ceiling all dreamily. I nearly burst out into laughter. "What's so funny about being in love with Dean Winchester? It's the same exact thing as being in love with Draco Malfoy!" Maya snaps.
I shake my head, trying to keep myself from laughing. "Nothing. I just find it a little strange that you've never actually seen him-at least Draco Malfoy has an actor to play him," I say.
Kaelyn and Maya look at me very seriously. "You don't need to know what a character looks like to fall in love with them," Maya says.
"You fall in love with their words and their actions. You basically fall in love with their souls," Kaelyn says, completely serious. These girls are very intense about their fictional crushes. I think they're also trying to teach me something. I mean, I'm only eleven. I don't know everything, and I need to be taught some things.
If they could only see souls, then they might think a little differently. "How did you fall in love with Draco, then? I mean, no offense, he was portrayed as a complete dick in the books," I say. I honestly want to know. I don't really understand how she was able to turn such a terrible and evil character into this amazing, sarcastic, perfect person in her fan fiction.
"There was always that one thing about Draco that I saw. He was always misunderstood, in my opinion. I could see that he really could be a great person, if given the right guidance. I wanted to explain in my fan fiction why he was such a dick to Harry," Kaelyn explains.
I think she's some sort of philosopher or something, because she is acting like a complete genius. Maya doesn't buy it. "No, you just think he's really hot," she says.
Kaelyn turns to her friend. "That is a big reason, I'll admit," she says. "But I wasn't lying about the first part." She turns to me. "Sorry, I get a little bit obsessed."
"Don't we all?" I ask her. Kaelyn laughs a little, as does Maya.
"What's your name?" Kaelyn asks.
I consider lying to her, but then think against it. I would be able to tell if she was a demon or something like that. "Skylar," I say. I don't tell her my last name, and I don't plan on it.
"Coolest name ever. I wish I got a name better than Kaelyn. It's so girly, and there's this really annoying girl at my school who has the same name I do," she says. I actually really like the name, Kaelyn, so I don't see the problem. Although, Skylar is pretty awesome, I'll admit.
"At least you don't have to go to school with her next year," Maya points out.
"Why not?" I ask them.
"We're starting high school next year, and I'm going to this private school, where other Kaelyn is going to public. It's definitely an upside," Kaelyn explains.
Wait, if she's only starting high school, that means that she's only like thirteen or fourteen, not fifteen or sixteen like I thought she was. That also means that Maya is the same age. "I thought you were fifteen," I say.
Kaelyn shrugs. "I get that a lot. Most people think I look too old or act too old or something to be fourteen," she says.
"People think I'm younger than her whenever I'm around her. Then they hear me talk, and they realize that it's not the case," Maya says. I don't even want to know what that's supposed to mean, because I can see something in her soul that suggests certain things that I'd prefer not to think about.
Kaelyn puts her hand on her forehead and shakes her head slowly, ashamed of her friend. "This is what I have to deal with," she tells me. I laugh a little, even though I can tell she's being completely serious.
Then, Cas comes over and ruins everything. "Skylar, we need to leave. I don't think that Dean would be very happy with you being gone for too long," he says.
Before I can respond, Kaelyn and Maya go all fangirl on Cas's ass. "Nice Castiel cosplay. You even got it down with the voice and everything," Kaelyn says.
"You even look like Misha Collins a little," Maya adds.
"What is this… cosplay thing?" Cas asks, really confused.
"He's even acting like Cas. Impressive," Kaelyn says.
"Shows real dedication," Maya says, impressed.
While I'm happy that they've read the books, I'm not too pleased about the fact that they know who Cas is, and can recognize him. I mean, I'm surprised that Carver Edlund published more books after the death threats from Sam and Dean. The fact that Castiel can be recognized is slightly disturbing and annoying. It also means that I shouldn't go out in public with him.
"Cas, I haven't bought anything yet. I think Dean will be more pissed if you take me all this way and not get me anything," I say. I wish I could use names besides Dean and Cas, but I know Cas won't understand if I do.
"Dean and Cas? You're in on this, too?" Maya asks me.
"Yep, we're cosplaying," I say, although I don't believe myself. I try to make it sound convincing, but I fail at it miserably. I hope to god that Kaelyn and Maya don't pick up that.
Of course, I don't realize that Kaelyn is good at reading people, just like me. "Either you're really good at acting and this is some sort of big plan or whatever, or you're lying about the entire cosplaying thing. Personally, I like to think that the more ridiculous option is the truth," she says.
I'm not good at lying. I'll be the first to admit that. I just act all nervous and don't say anything. "Oh my god, seriously?" Kaelyn asks.
"No, not seriously," I say, although I'm terrible at lying and just give it away completely.
"Holy fuck," Maya says, barely believing it. I find it funny that they are able to make the conclusion that Cas is really the actual Cas. "I knew it," Maya says, eyes wide with amazement.
"My brother owes me a hundred bucks," Kaelyn says.
Cas is just kind of standing there, not sure what's going on. "You guys can't tell anyone. Please," I beg.
Kaelyn and Maya look like I just asked them to hold an exploding grenade, which I suppose it is. But, in the end, they agree. "Thank you so much," I say.
"Can I write a fanfiction about you? Please?" Kaelyn asks me.
"Why do you get to write the fanfiction?" Maya asks her.
Kaelyn uses her powers of logic to get the win. "You have a fanfiction, and you post once a month. I post at least twice a week for mine. Therefore, I get the rights," she reasons.
Also, I really like her fanfiction, so maybe it would be a good idea. "Kaelyn, you can write it, I guess. How will you get all the information?" I ask.
Kaelyn shrugs. "You can email me the main details, and then I can make up the rest," she says. Brilliant. Why didn't I think of that? Of course, there's another idea that I have.
At first I'm a little scared to ask it. Then, I tell myself that Victoria Potter would never be afraid to get what she wants. "What if I write it and then email it to you and you edit it and post it under your pen-name?" I suggest.
Instead of getting angry or upset, Kaelyn gets really excited. "That's a great idea! That way we can have all the details, but we still get my sort of writing style," she says.
"Perfect. What's your email?" I ask her. Kaelyn pulls out a pen from her faux dark grey leather satchel. I can see a blue notebook in her bag, as well as a book. She takes my wrist and writes down her email. "Do you also want to follow my blog on Tumblr?" she asks me. I nod, and she writes down her url. It's .com "Email me whenever you can. Of course, I completely understand if you don't have very much time with everything," she says.
"Believe me, life at the bunker is not that interesting. The only exciting part of the day is when I get to fight Dean, and he beats me every single time," I say. With that, I say goodbye and Cas and I buy a few things. I get a pair of pajama pants, a few tops, a really cool jacket, a pair of metallic colored combat boots, a couple pairs of jeans, and an exploding TARDIS bag, as well as a couple posters. I don't care if Dean gets angry about buying stuff I don't need or talking to people. I haven't seen a person even close to my age in three weeks, and I know it's going to be a long time before I do again.