A Very Supernatural Journey Chapter 6
A birthday story written for Enkidu07 in appreciation for the work she and OnyxMoonbeam do and for the community they have built.
Co-written by Woman of Letters, mainegirlwrites, theymp, and wynefred
Previous Chapters: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
This chapter written by mainegirlwrites
Chapter 6: Rising Tides
Rachelle felt her eyes droop. The soft snore of Dean Winchester on the motel bed behind her was lulling her to sleep. Sam sat across from her at a small table, the pine cone inspired lamp casting a small circle of light around them. Sam's fingers pattered gently on his laptop, the sound as soothing as raindrops on a window.
He stopped for a moment and cleared his throat. Rachelle's eyes flew open.
"Why don't you go lie down? I might be at this for awhile," Sam offered gently. Rachelle glanced drearily at her watch - which, if it was working properly, read 3 a.m. She nodded in agreement, and unsteadily rose from her chair and headed towards the empty bed.
"Oh, what the hell,"she told herself, and glancing back at Sam who was already bent over his computer again, slid gently onto the bed next to Dean. He was still fully clothed in his good FBI clothes, jacket open, tie askew. She melded herself into the crook of his arm, her head nestling on his firm shoulder. He mumbled in his sleep and draped his arm loosely around her waist. He smelled like leather and gun powder.
"If this is a dream, don't wake me...," she thought before sleep overcame her.
XXX
Rachelle leaned over the pond, its smooth surface reflecting perfectly. In the water, she saw an idyllic blue sky with puffy clouds. She gazed at her own reflection. She looked peaceful, happy. She smiled. But to her shock and surprise, out of the water suddenly burst a smooth, green hand with webbed fingers and claws. It grasped Rachelle's dangling necklace, pulling her down closer to the water. She couldn't scream. She could feel her fingers dig into the dirt of the pond's bank in her attempt to stay on land. Terror rose within her.
"Let me have it," a voice said. "I need it."
Rachelle sat upright in bed, a scream on the verge of her lips, her hand grasping her necklace.
"Well, gooood morning, sunshine!" Dean said, turning to pour her a cup of coffee. Rachelle gulped, attempting to wipe away the dream, but Sam's eyes were on her, studying her.
"You okay?"
"Sure, sure," Rachelle replied quickly. "Did you find anything online last night?"
Dean walked over to her with her coffee. "Are you kidding? Let's just say Sammy has a special relationship with that computer..."
"Not as special as your relationship with certain magazines...," Sam shot back. The brothers realized they were in the presence of a young lady and stopped themselves, wide grins spread across their faces.
"Anyway, here's what I found." Sam spun his laptop towards Rachelle. "I think we are dealing with a bagiennik, Rachelle. It's a water demon. Complete with acid-spraying glands between its eyes."
Rachelle squinted and peered at the picture. It showed a creature in a humanoid form, crouched and snarling. Its skin looked green and scaly, with webbed and clawed fingers and toes. Its eyes were wide and milky, its wide mouth fanged and gruesome-looking.
"Ugh," Rachelle responded. She shivered, still shaking off the dream. There was no doubt in her mind that it had been the bagiennik in her dream, clutching her necklace.
"Ah, just your standard creature from the Black Lagoon," Dean shrugged, heading for the shower. "Sammy, find out how to kill it." The door closed behind him and the sound of the shower started.
"Hey," Sam touched Rachelle's shoulder, steering her towards the end of the bed. "Are you okay?"
Rachelle looked at him, internally battling whether to tell him about the dream. She nodded abruptly.
"Okay," Sam replied, unconvinced. He snapped his laptop shut. "Let's head to the university. I need you to hook us up with someone to analyze our samples."
XXX
"Next time, call me, please!" Meredith admonished her friend. "I was so worried - you were gone all night!" Rachelle smiled at her friend.
"I'm so sorry, Mer," Rachelle replied. I was just snuggling with Dean Winchester so I was a little preoccupied...
"Well, all classes have been canceled for the whole week. Do you want to go out to lunch with Amy and Shawna?"
"Classes canceled - really?"
"Yeah, the campus is pretty much on lockdown," Meredith shrugged. "I guess it's for the best, until they figure out who's killing all these people."
"I have a few things to do...then, sure, lunch sounds great!" Rachelle attempted to sound enthusiastic, but she was torn between an attempt at normalcy...and well, hanging out with the Winchesters and aiding them with their hunt.
"I'll call you later," Rachelle assured her friend, as she headed out the door. Rachelle practically ran across the deserted campus to the building that housed Dr. Jackson's office. She was hoping to catch up with Kathy, Dr. Jackson's secretary, to see if she was alright. Then she wanted to head over to the chemistry lab to possibly find an intern to look at the Winchester's samples. Unfortunately, a police officer stood guard at the bottom of the wide stone stairs of the building, the yellow caution tape flapping in the breeze.
Of course, she admonished herself. It's not like I could walk right in. Rachelle kept walking, praying she didn't look suspicious. She almost tripped over Kathy, Dr. Jackson's secretary, who was laying a small bouquet of flowers on the steps.
"Kathy!" Rachelle and the secretary hugged. "I'm so sorry, Kathy. Poor Dr. Jackson - "
Kathy wiped a tear away and attempted to look stoic. She was, after all, Battleaxe Kathy. She smiled weakly. "Thank you," she whispered hoarsely. "But I guess one good thing has come out of this."
"Really?"
"I have a date with a cute FBI agent," Kathy smiled and slowly pulled a business card out of her purse. "And what a cutie!" The business card read "Agent Brody."
Rachelle felt a slow slither of jealousy twist in her stomach. "Ha, that's great," Rachelle feigned. She knew Dean was probably only putting the moves on Kathy to get the information he needed from her, and most likely did not have any intention of ever calling the middle-aged secretary. But it must have taken some serious moves on Dean's part to break Kathy's armor-like exterior. Rachelle could almost see it in her mind - Dean pushing aside some papers on the secretary's desk to perch on it, Kathy frowning and attempting to keep the papers in order. He would have, of course, sympathized with the trauma of finding Dr. Jackson. But then Rachelle was sure he would have leaned in close to Kathy, winking and complimenting her on - hm, what could he have complimented her on?- as much as Rachelle adored Kathy, she was a Plain Jane who dressed like a JC Penny model. Maybe the hint of a date loosened her lips for any information Dean had needed.
Kathy rolled her eyes and smirked. "Did I mention he was sooo cute?"
XXX
Sam clicked off his cell phone and looked at his brother. They were in the Impala, on their way to meet Rachelle at the campus chemistry lab.
"Bobby's looking into it," he said. "'Cause I just can't find anything on how to kill the damn thing."
Dean nodded in response.
"So...about Rachelle," Sam began.
"What about her?"
"I think there is something that she's not telling us," Sam replied. "She woke up from a nightmare this morning, I'm pretty sure. And it had to do with the ring. She was clutching it as if her life depended on it."
"Hm."
"She's pretty vulnerable, Dean. She's lost friends...and she's displaced. So..."
"So, what, Dr. Phil? You tellin' me to stay away from her?"
"Yeah, yeah, I guess I am."
Dean didn't reply, instead he only turned the Impala extra sharply into the parking lot, tossing Sam into the passenger door without warning. Sam mumbled some choice expletives but didn't comment out loud to his brother. Rachelle was sitting on a nearby bench, looking off into the distance. Her long blonde hair wound around one shoulder, and her hand stroked her necklace. The sound of Dean and Sam slamming the Impala's doors roused her from her musings, and she approached them with a smile. Out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw Dean straighten his tie and grin at her.
"Whatcha got?" Dean greeted her. Rachelle told them she had found a chemistry intern who had been allowed to stay at the lab to finish up some of his research. He was willing to take a look at the samples for the FBI. Sam handed the vials to Dean, explaining he wanted to take a look around. Dean nodded and entered the building with Rachelle.
Sam turned and walked past several buildings to the edge of the campus. He briefly studied a trail map display, then followed one of the trails to the edge of a river. It was a wide, fast-flowing river, probably about forty feet across. Rocky outcroppings produced some areas of white water, but shallow, quiet pools were present along the edges. Sam scanned them, trained eyes looking for anything out of place. The young Winchester felt eyes upon him, and the hairs on the back of his neck prickled. With a practiced hand, he eased his handgun out of the back of his pants. Sam crept down closer to the edge of the river, searching for whatever it was that had activated his hunter's instincts.
Carefully, he hunched down, and dipped a finger into the quiet water that lapped against the bank.
"Sam!"
"Jeez!" Sam stood up and turned, frowning at his grinning brother, standing on the rocky outcropping above him. "I could've shot you."
Rachelle appeared behind Dean, her eyes questioning. Sam held up his hand to show them what he had found.
"Pull my finger," Sam half-heartedly joked. It was covered with the same oily substance they had found in the pool.
XXX
Bobby sneezed, sending up a cloud of dust.
"Balls," he said aloud to no one. The book he had been examining was actually one he rarely looked at - hence, the dust. Sam and Dean had asked for information on a bagiennik, a rare type of water demon, and he thought there was some information about it in this book. And how to kill it. Bobby scanned the Latin text, translating easily, scribbling notes. When he reached the last paragraph, he paused, then read it again.
And again.
Then he quickly dialed the boys.
XXX
The boys had dropped Rachelle off to meet Meredith for lunch, and they were just sitting down to a meal themselves in their motel room when Bobby called. Dean put the call on speaker phone.
"Amethyst? Well, yeah, its purple," Dean answered him.
"There's an ancient legend," Bobby said. "Apparently some pirate stole a ring from these water demons, and its loss made their underwater world turn into a crapper. It's been this one demon's mission to recover the ring. And he's been trying to find it - for a very long time."
"Bobby, how long?"
"Three or four hundred years."
"Ouch," Dean replied. "I know I get pissed off when I lose something - this guy has got to be - "
The Winchesters looked at each other across the table, over their steaming hamburgers.
" - bonkers," Bobby finished for them.
"I was thinking desperate, but yeah, 'bonkers' fits, too," Sam agreed.
"So how do we know this demon is the actual one looking for the ring?" Dean asked.
"Make sense," Bobby replied. "All this stuff has been happening around Rachelle, and you said she's got that funky necklace with the ring on it that is somehow connected. You boys need to find out where she got it. And for all we know, every other bagiennik is dead - probably they all died shortly after the ring was taken - but this one is dead set determined to find that ring. It's been keeping him going for all this time."
"Like his own little 'precious'," Sam mused.
"Great," Dean leaned back in his chair, hands on his head. "So we got a Gollum-flavored water demon - a regular creature double feature."
XXX
Shawna, Amy and Meredith chatted and laughed over lunch, and Rachelle attempted to join in. She wanted to hurry through the meal and meet up with the Winchesters again. And see Dean.
Yeah, I really want to see Dean,she had to admit to herself. There had been no words between them concerning her sleeping next to him last night, and it seemed like they didn't need to be said. Rachelle sighed dramatically.
All three of her friends stopped and looked at her.
"Oh, Rachelle, here we are, just having a good time, and you must be so sad," Amy reached across the table and held her friend's hand. "We are all so sorry about Laura, and Dr. Jackson."
"Thanks," Rachelle replied, swallowing the lump of guilt in her throat. She had been unconsciously focusing so hard on other things that the emotions over losing her dear swimming partner had been pushed down and away. Now the thought of Laura's death struck her hard. Tears welled up and spilled over. The three girls pulled themselves close to Rachelle in solidarity.
They may be my friends from another universe, thought Rachelle, but they are still my friends.
The girls separated and began chatting again, hoping to raise Rachelle's spirits. As Rachelle sat back in her chair, she watched in stunned silence as their appearance changed. Though Rachelle could still see the shape of the girls' bodies, she could now see inside their bodies. Amy picked up her sandwich and Rachelle watched in abject horror as her teeth tore the bread and meat, her jawbone chewing, the food being swallowed and sent down to her stomach past her beating heart.
The three now semi-transparent girls laughed together at a joke, bony hands clapping and eyes rolling in skulls. Rachelle clasped her ring in her hand and squeezed her eyes shut. Shawna put her hand on Rachelle's shoulder.
"Hon, are you okay? You look like you've just seen a ghost!"
Rachelle ventured a peek out of one eye. All of the girls' flesh had been thankfully restored.
"Ya - yes, I'm okay. Just tired. I think I'm going to leave, if that's okay," Rachelle stuttered. She managed some quick good-byes and stumbled out of the cafe. She was more than pleased to see a black Impala waiting outside for her.
She pulled open the passenger door and collapsed in the back seat. Dean eyed her in the rear-view mirror.
"Get me a drink," Rachelle croaked.
The Winchesters exchanged surprised glances.
"Finer words have never been spoken," replied Dean with a shrug, pulling away from the curb.
XXX
"Blow again!"
Rachelle stifled a giggle, attempting to purse her lips around the straw. She was blowing into the bar's countertop breathalyzer for the fourth time, aspiring to convince a very drunk Dean Winchester that she was, indeed, not intoxicated. Sam had his arms crossed and his forehead was crinkled in his trademark worried state. Sam had only had a beer or two, but Rachelle and Dean had gone shot for shot over several hours.
And Rachelle was still stone sober.
Dean leaned against the bar, and even though his green eyes were red-rimmed and unfocused, Rachelle still thought they were gorgeous. He leaned close to her, the smell of Johnnie Walker mixing intoxicatingly with his essence of leather and gunpowder.
"Dean Winchester," she declared with a smile. "I believe you are very drunk."
Dean held up a wavering finger. "I - I have never, ever, been out-drunk by a girl," he slurred. He went to place a casual hand on the bar, but missed it and ended up falling to the floor.
"Okay, that's it," declared the bartender, glaring at the trio.
"Gotcha," Sam said, recovering his chuckling brother from the floor.
"Out-drunk? Did I say out-drunk?"
Rachelle could barely help Sam guide Dean to the door, she was laughing so hard. They poured Dean into the back seat of the Impala and Sam started the engine. He placed the car in drive, then reconsidering, put it back into park and turned to Rachelle.
"Rachelle, is there something you are not telling me?" His bluntness didn't necessary catch her off guard. She knew he had his suspicions - after all, he was a Winchester.
Rachelle blew out her cheeks. "Yes," she admitted. She told him about her dreams, the fog of death she had witnessed at the coroner's, and the appearance of her girlfriends at the cafe today.
"...and I have never, ever drank that much in my life," she ended. "I think it has to do with this," she held up her necklace.
"Well, if what we think is true, it could be a very powerful object," Sam and Dean had filled her in on what they had learned from Bobby earlier that night. "Amethyst also has powers of clarity - helping you see things you wouldn't normally see. Maybe even helping you stay clear - apparently. I think it's why you didn't get drunk tonight."
Rachelle nodded sullenly. Here she had just been having a roaring good time with Dean, and Sam had the hunt on his mind the whole time. She felt foolish.
"I guess I haven't been very helpful," she admitted. "I'm sorry."
Sam waved her off and put the Impala in drive. "I think you are going to be very helpful, Rachelle. With any luck, we are going to kill that demon and get you back to your own universe. And we won't be able to do those things without you and your necklace. Can you tell me where you got it?"
Rachelle gazed out the window, looking but not seeing. "My Great Aunt Flo...she was what you'd call eccentric, I guess. Hell of a lady. So much fun." Rachelle closed her eyes for a moment, missing her dear aunt and wishing she were here. "She said it was from a distant ancestor that was a pirate...kinda silly, I know..."
She turned as Sam clamped his gaping mouth shut. "I don't think your aunt was too far off the mark, Rachelle. That pirate ancestor of yours somehow stole that ring from this creature's world, and he wants it back."
Rachelle sucked in her breath sharply. Sam glanced at her and continued.
"I'll drop you off at home, but I'm going to stay up and keep watch outside your house. I think I have a plan for tomorrow - but you are going to need a good night of sleep."
Rachelle sat quietly while Sam drove. A sudden thought shook her to the core. Do I even want to go back to my own universe?
Dean snored abruptly in the back seat and Rachelle sighed and smiled to herself, shaking her head.
….because where else would I dream of taking advantage of a drunk Dean Winchester?
X X X
Read Chapter 7: Flushed Down the Rabbit Hole