My eyes slowly opened as the birds sang softly near my window. I began to wipe the fatigue from my eyes as I sat up in bed. I had the weirdest dream last night. One where Dean entered the flat by a window and took Sam with him to find dad. It surely meant that I missed my dad and my brother after four years without seeing them. And Sam barely mentioning them nowadays didn't help. As the drowsiness of sleep faded, I became aware of my surroundings and noticed that the apartment was eerily quiet this morning. This silence could only indicate two things: either it was very early, or I slept in. By the window, I could see that the sun was already up. I then decided to check my alarm to finally know what time it was. It was 8 AM. At least, I didn't oversleep. Stretching my legs, I got up and made my way to the kitchen. Passing by the living room, I noticed that everything has been left untouched since yesterday. The coffee table was still covered in books and notebooks as well as various uncorked markers left haphazardly here and there. It was curious, since Sam was pretty much the tidy type, unlike Dean and I. I definitely won't miss the opportunity to remind him that for once I was not the one leaving a mess behind.
But weirder, when I arrived in the kitchen I saw various cups and plates left on the table and the sink. Sam and Jess would never leave such a mess behind them. But they were probably still drunk from last night. "Sam? Jess?" I finally called. The silence was deafening. I thought for a second that maybe one of them was in the bathroom. So I came to the bathroom door and knocked softly. "Sam? Jess? Are you in there?" But again, complete silence was the only answer I got. There wasn't even a water noise or the sound of someone brushing their teeth. There was only one room left, Sam and Jess's. Maybe they were the ones oversleeping? I finally came to their room's door. As I approached, I immediately noticed the absence of snoring noise. I then knocked on the door. I was once again met with utter silence. Frustration was slowly building in me. So I slowly opened the door and said "I'm coming inside! If I catch you doing something unsuitable for my innocent eyes, I won't be the most embarrassed!". But, once the door was opened, I only saw a neatly made bed and an empty room.
I let out a rather loud sigh as I closed the door behind me. Maybe they went to the grocery store, or the library? I refuse to think about anything worse. But they would never leave me without at least a little note somewhere. So, I made my way back to the kitchen to check the fridge to see if they left me a note. But there wasn't anything in the fridge door or anywhere else. My heartbeat increased with each passing second. Panic was overtaking me and the worst case scenarios ran in my mind. What if something happened to them? What if our old 'lifestyle' finally caught up to us? Anxiety was slowly overwhelming me. But I tried to reassure myself and immediately thought about the table next to the door. I practically ran like a maniac toward it, in hope of finding something. But my hopes were crushed when I didn't find a single note on the little notepad. My last option was the phone. Thankfully, the little red light was flickering, indicating that someone had left a message. I pushed the button and silently prayed. But when I played the voicemail, I noticed that there wasn't any message coming from Sam or Jess. I tried to call Jess and Sam right away. But I managed to get voicemail for both of them. "Sam, please! At least tell me you're okay. I'm anxious. Please call me back soon!" I was really having trouble breathing. I let myself slide down the wall behind me and ended up sitting on the cold wooden floor. The flood of scary thoughts came back to torment me.
I always knew what lurked in the dark. Dad had made sure of it since I was little. Hell, he practically handed me a dagger when I told him I was afraid of monsters under my bed. Thankfully, Dean and Sam always made me feel safe. Even if I was only their half-sister, Dean and Sam were always there with me and never ostracized me for not having the same mother. If anything happened to them, I didn't know what I would do. When Sam left for Stanford, he took me with him, leaving Dean and dad behind. They were always on my mind and I missed them everyday, especially Dean. He raised me more than dad ever did. I often had nightmares where something bad happened to them. What if it already happened and Sam was the next to die? What if…? My fear overwhelmed me and clouded my mind with the most horrific visions of my family's corpses.
My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the phone ringing. Without even thinking, I jumped and threw myself on the phone. "Raven?" His voice made my heart jump. "Sam?! Where are you? Are you okay? Where's Jess?" I blurted out in haste, almost out of breath. "Easy, Raven. Everything's okay. Jess is at the library. She probably forgot to tell you, sorry. She'll come back soon. I'm…" There was another male voice interrupting him. I recognized it right away. "Dean?! Oh my god, Dean! I'm so glad to hear your voice. I missed you so much." I practically screamed on the phone. I heard a bit of bickering when Dean took the phone."Happy to hear your voice too, sis. I miss you too." I could hear the smile in his voice. I never felt more relieved in my life. But suddenly, I realized that if these two were together, it meant that something bad happened. "What happened?", I asked anxiously. There was a bit of silence before Dean replied "Well, dad didn't come back from one of his hunts. So I came to your apartment last night to get Sam's ass in the car and try to find dad." So, I heard them last night. I thought that it was a dream.
"But, why didn't you take me with you?" I asked and I knew that hurt was evident in my voice when I heard him sigh. "Listen Raven, we didn't want you involved in this. You finally have a normal life and we couldn't take it away from you just like that. It's just another hunt involving what we think is a kind of ghost. It's basically milk run for us. Soon, I'll drive Sam back and you'll keep living your life as if nothing happened." "A normal life?! Are you kidding? I still sleep with a dagger under my pillow, just in case." I heard Dean taking a deep breath. He was probably looking for a witty comeback , as always. But before he could answer, I heard Sam. "Raven, we're really sorry. But we didn't know whether it was dangerous or not. We can't risk losing our baby sis. Dean and I are going to be careful and I promise we'll be back soon." "We? Dean will join us?" I asked, hopeful. There was a bit of silence before I heard Dean reply "Well, we'll see kiddo. It's up to Sammy." I heard Sam protesting at the nickname. "I just want to have my brothers with me." I said, my voice cracking a bit. "I know, sweetheart.", said Dean in a breath. "It's a matter of days, I promise. We'll find that bitch's corpse, salt and burn it. We'll be with you in no time." He said in a reassuring tone. I smiled a little, but it didn't reach my eyes. "What about dad?" I finally asked. "He can't be that far. Don't worry.", said Sam. "Also, I'm sorry I didn't leave a note. I didn't have the time.", he added. "It's okay, don't worry about it. Just promise me you'll both be careful and come back safe." "We promise.", they said in unison. "And please, update me whenever you can. I love you, goofs." I heard them laugh. "Okay. We love you too, sis. See you soon.", said Dean. And they hung up the phone.
I fell back on the floor, half relieved and half anxious. Trouble was definitely on the way, but at least, they were okay. I just had to wait for their next call. A sudden noise made me jump. To my relief, it was Jess. "Hey, Raven! Sorry I didn't tell you I was going to the library. But I figured that you would forgive me if I came back with your favorite pie.", she said while shaking a bag. I got up and hugged her. She hugged me back while laughing a little "Wow. I know you love pie but not at this point." She didn't know how happy I was to see her.
Timeskip
Fire, fire everywhere. Jess was on the ceiling, burning and bleeding. I couldn't do anything to help her. Dean had to grab both Sam and I before fire could attain us. Her face, her cries for help, it was replaying in my mind endlessly. I would never be able to forget it.
Dean sat me on the curb, in the midst of the chaos around us. "Raven, are you okay?", he asked with a concerned voice. I vaguely nodded my head, still in shock. I couldn't even cry. I threw a glance at Sam. He was devastated. He was crying hard while clinging to me as if he was afraid I would disappear. They finally both took me in their arms. I missed that. But it was sad to have to wait for such a tragedy to finally have my brothers with me. After a moment, Dean sighed and said " I guess you'll have to come with us, now." And in no time, I was on the backseat of the Impala while Dean was driving to our next destination.