Supernatural Fic: "Visiting Hours Are Over," Original Characters

[sailorhathor]

Authors: sailorhathor and Riguel
Fandom: Supernatural RPG The Second Coming
Rating: Adult
Date Written: April 2019
Word Count: Each post will include as close to 10,000 words of RP as we can get, although I'll break it up into stories.
Category: Drama, Horror, Romance
Summary: While visiting the farmer's market, Val and Skylar get to know each other, and Val's boyfriend, better. Dylan and Sacha are not quite prepared for what Steven has to tell them concerning the person who tried to come through his magick door.
Warnings: Language, adult themes

Played by Riguel: Sacha, Val
Played by Sailorhathor: Dylan, Skylar, all others

At times, the action may seem to backtrack when one player responds to the other. This is the nature of RP and a story written by two people. I inserted an extra line after each player finishes writing their part to try to help the reader keep it all straight.



“I don’t know Dylan as well as you do, of course, but I meant a good influence in the sense that before he met him, Sacha would not talk about his shifter side. He’s always been dead set on living as a normal human person and in denial about what he was. Also because he never met anyone like him or that knew supernatural beings or people with other abilities. When we were in touch, he would not want to hear about my shaman activities much because it reminded him of his other self.” Val paused and watched the signs on the motorway, with various names of cities and directions he didn’t know, except the one reading ‘Topeka’. “The fact he shifted in front of us earlier when we were searching Dylan’s room, this has never happened before. That’s what Dylan is doing to him and it’s great. Showing him he can be himself and he’s not scaring him because of that.”

Val winced at the situation that Skylar was describing when he experimented with hypnosis. “Shit, who does something like that?” he wondered out loud, referring both to the girl who tried it on him without knowing what to do and her friend who woke him up the way he did. “I never tried it myself and I don’t know how to do it, but there is a specialist at the wellbeing center I work at in Stockholm. We’re a bit friends and she seems to have good success. She always has many people coming for appointments. I know one of them tells me some things about her hypnosis therapy because he also comes for appointments with me for massages once a month.”

Val’s phone buzzed as he was just finished explaining. He checked what it was and smiled at the message. He started to text back.

*****

Sacha started laughing at Dylan’s way of explaining things he supposed might have happened. “Val is not a delicate flower and he’s not innocent. His looks are deceiving. If something happened, he may be the one who started it. Still, it was quick, either way.” Sacha knew his cousin’s love life was one big open book with men and women. He just hadn’t paid attention at the way Val and Skylar had interacted so far to notice anything. It wasn’t his place to comment and he supposed Skylar was an adult and able to handle the situation.

Sacha said goodbye to Dylan’s father and Marianne. The ride to the hospital was quick and as soon as they got close to Steven’s room, they were faced with Rain’s protective attitude for her brother. There was slight progress when she agreed to let them have five minutes to speak with him, but then Rain made a comment to Sacha about Dylan, which both of them didn’t appreciate.

“Listen, we don’t want drama or trouble. Dylan is just here to talk. He’s not the one with magic powers everyone should be worried about. The sooner this is sorted and we have our answers, the sooner we can stay out of each other’s lives.” Sacha was aware this wouldn’t be like that, though. Even if Dylan got answers and could get Kiera’s soul out of Kerry’s body, Dylan would still go after Steven if he planned to do something wrong to make his daughter come back. At this stage, however, it was better to let Rain think they were only there for Dylan’s sister. “Dylan is not going to hurt him,” he added, to make it clear Rain didn’t have to worry about that, and truthfully, Sacha wouldn’t let Dylan do anything to Steven because he was fearing his reactions.

Skylar laughed a bit and said, "I knew you probably meant my brother was a good influence on Sacha because he was getting him to open up and be more comfortable with who he is, but it was more fun to pretend I thought you were referring to Dylan's past as a party animal." He giggled. "Really, it's wonderful that Dylan has helped your cousin so much in such a short period of time. All Sacha needed in the long run was a hunter who loves animals. I'm glad it's had a benefit for your relationship with him too."

"I shouldn't have let her try it on me, but I was a bit curious too. It was a disaster and I haven't tried hypnosis since. It's basically like forcing me into my dreams and keeping me there for as long as the hypnotherapist thinks I need to be there, or someone kicks me in the nuts," Skylar laughed. "No, thank you."

Skylar watched Val's reaction to his new text, being nosy. "Who is it you keep talking to? A boyfriend?"

*****

Dylan could not reply to what Sacha said about Skylar and Val getting together to make out because his father and Marianne came down the hall toward them at that moment. They would speak more in the car.

Once they were alone and on the way to the hospital, Dylan continued with, "Regardless of who started it, they were making lovey dovey eyes at each other while chatting in my room. I think they want to keep it to themselves for now, although they have no reason to hide it. I guess the fact that it was a sudden relationship embarrasses them." Dylan seemed to be done, but then added, "They're kinda cute together. I literally want to say 'Awwww.'"

*****

At the hospital, Rain sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, just breathing. "Alright. Let me prepare him."

After a couple of minutes waiting in the hall, Rain let them in.

Somehow, Steven did look smaller and weaker than he had before, with dark bags under his eyes. His daughter Amy had parked herself in his bed with an arm draped protectively across his chest and her head on his shoulder; she looked at Dylan and Sacha with a challenge in her eyes as they entered. Just go ahead and try something, that look said. Of course the pre-teen was protective of her father - she loved him and had just gotten him back from the jaws of death. Dylan tried to show her that he wouldn't harm her father in this condition by giving her a gentle smile. Amy returned nothing more than a face of stone.

"Hello Steven," he said. "Welcome back."

Bailey, sitting in a chair near the other side of the bed, begged Dylan to behave with her eyes. When the two clashed before, they had gotten into a fist fight.

"Hey." His voice was weak and hoarse, something that would probably improve with time. "Your eye has just about healed."

"Yes." Dylan did not take the obvious bait. He had promised to behave. "You were told what happened to you?"

Steven nodded briefly. "I was attacked by a demon. Bailey told me. I know you have plans to go after her, but I would prefer you leave her to me."

"You won't be in any shape to find this demon for several days yet. Whoever she is, she's dangerous. We need to know what she's up to."

"Well... whatever you feel you need to do, just leave some for me." He spoke slowly as well; the demon had just barely failed in killing him.

"We'll try. That's not why I came here, though." Dylan took out his phone and showed Steven a picture of the antler. "Did Bailey tell you about this?"

Steven tried not to show it, but this reminder of the incident Bailey and Amy had told him about scared him. His eyes went a little wider. "Yes."

"Do you know who that was at the door?"

He swallowed hard, his eyes going to Amy. "Sweet Pea, would you go get a candy bar out of the vending machine and wait out in the hall until Daddy says it's okay for you to come back in? Daddy needs to have a serious, adult talk with everyone."

"Awww." Amy climbed out of the bed carefully and smoothed out her clothes.

"We'll have our talk about it when I get better, I promise." He offered no other explanation to his daughter at the time, and watched her head out of the room with a pouty look for everyone. "I love you."

"I love you too, Daddy."

Once he could be sure she was out of earshot, Steven said, "The person at the door was Kiera's mother."

For a moment, Dylan felt quite confused. "Your wife Dahlia was at the door?"

Steven shook his head. "No. Dahlia was not her mother."

"Dylan a party animal? I can totally see that, but I guess he’s more calm now. Sacha is not very extrovert nor a party guy. He’s never been. Probably they wouldn’t have clicked 10 years ago, but now seems to be perfect timing for both of them. I imagine what Sacha would have put in a profile for meeting other guys. Looking for a quiet guy who likes strange things and supernatural beings, with preference for bottoming. Must like cats at the end of the ad in bold underlined font," he joked. "What do you think Dylan would have put in an online dating app profile?" Val’s tone was not mocking. It was just humor, and he thought Skylar would be happy to play along and invent a funny ad on his brother’s behalf.

"Now you mention it, maybe hypnosis is not the right thing for you since it might trap you in unnecessary visions. Not the nicest place to be."

Val was typing on his phone. He wasn’t sure Skylar had noticed because the other man had kept his eyes on the road, but then he heard the question. He didn’t want to lie or avoid the subject. "Yes. Actually I had told Henrik I was going to visit a Native American shaman today. He was asking if I had the meeting already." Val sent his text and then put his phone away. "He’s my boyfriend." Val thought he might need to be a tad more specific to be on the safe side and let Skylar know all was cool. "My open-minded, non-exclusive boyfriend, just so you know. I told him about you briefly already."

*****

"Val is not easily embarrassed, don’t worry," Sacha said. He wouldn’t give too many details about his cousin’s personal life, but he knew he was not into traditional relationships, so hooking up with Skylar, in the end, was probably nothing he should have been surprised about.

Once they were in the room, Sacha stayed right behind Dylan and let him talk. He scanned around and saw Rain and Bailey staring at him, ready to step in if he was attempting anything. It was exaggerated, he thought. Dylan wasn’t mean and he wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t attack him, not even verbally for now. Sacha just hoped that Steven wouldn’t yet be in the mood to push his buttons so he wouldn’t have to get Dylan out of the room before things escalated.

He said hi to Amy when they entered. She didn’t say anything back. Steven looked tired, but he didn’t seem fazed about what had happened to him. He seemed to be quiet about the whole ordeal for the moment, but for sure plotting his revenge against the female demon, from what he heard him reply to Dylan. Sacha had already forgotten about that. So there was something else Dylan wanted to take care of now.

The atmosphere in the room changed when Amy left. Steven had some more surprises for them apparently, when he confirmed that Kiera’s mother wasn’t the same woman as Amy’s. At that point, Sacha wasn’t very sure what the link was between the antlers and Kiera’s mother. Somehow he thought there would probably be something bad behind the topic, but maybe it was better they knew, and Steven was at least talking to Dylan, so getting information was all they could achieve at this point. They would ponder how bad all this was later.

"Dylan has calmed down over the years, yes. Especially once he settled down with Renae."

Skylar listened to Val's joke and repeated, "'Preference for bottoming'? Ew ew ew, I know my brother has sex but I didn't want to be able to picture it! Oh God, bleeeeh!" He pretended he was trying not to throw up. "Yeah, Dylan's ad would say, 'Male seeking other people to be friends with and never have sex ever ever ever'!" Putting the window down, Skylar faked throwing up one more time before dissolving into giggles. "I hope you're guessing the positions Sacha likes and don't know because he told you."

Val made the comment about hypnosis maybe not being the best thing for him, which Skylar agreed with. "Or get trapped in a nightmare of what happened with my biological parents. And then get kicked in the nuts." He smiled, glancing over at Val. "Maybe if I really trusted the hypnotist and they knew how to do it right, I'd try it again, but as things stand now, no."

Grinning, happy and amused, Skylar asked, "What does Henrik look like? Can I see a picture? Would he appreciate a selfie of the two of us all cuddled up together?"

*****

Amy was clearly in family protection mode and was in no mood to be friendly today.

Once Steven had given them some information, Dylan realized from the looks on their faces that not even Rain or Bailey knew that Dahlia was not Kiera's mother. "Stevie, you cheated and got another woman pregnant?" his sister cried.

"It was not cheating!" he tried to yell, but his voice cut out and could barely be heard. Within seconds, everyone could see he was trying not to cry.

Dylan hadn't expected tears, but this did concern his child, a child who had been packed into a car and murdered by a woman who was not her mother. Suddenly, what Dahlia had done made a lot more sense, even if it was horrible. "What happened?" he asked.

This was a story Steven wanted to get off his chest. He swallowed back the emotion constricting his throat. "I don't know how much you know of Norse mythology. When I set upon my quest to win the favor of Odin and gain more power, I was contacted by the ghost of an ancient Viking, who took me on his horse to Asgard where the Norns live with the Tree of Life and the Well of Fate. I know that all sounds insane, but I don't care if you believe me." When he said that, he was looking right at Dylan. "I know my sister believes. There, the Norns told me I had won the favor of Odin and would be given a drink from the Well of Fate if I would trade it for the sight in my right eye. I did and I drank. The intake of power was so overwhelming that I lost consciousness for one day."

Dylan traded looks with Bailey. Everything she had deduced about Steven and how he got the crescent moon in his eye had been correct. Her psychometric abilities never ceased to amaze him.

"When I awakened, someone was taking care of me. I was weak and unused to having only one working eye. I couldn't even lift my arms or walk for the first few days. She put me in a cot and kept me warm with blankets, fed me and such. On the third day, she told me her name was Verdandi."

Dylan's mouth went dry. He wet his lips with his tongue. This was not going to be easy, not at all. Val's comment about the Horned God had almost been prophecy. "The attendant to the Tree of Life?"

"Yes."

"... One of the Norse Goddesses of Fate."

"Yes."

"Nifty." Dylan spotted an empty seat and sat in it. "Let me guess. She thought you were just dreamy."

"I guess you could put it that way. Verdandi, she was beautiful, but I was married. At that time, Dahlia and I were still getting along well. I didn't want to cheat." Again, Steven swallowed back his urge to cry. "But goddesses can't fully understand such concepts as marriage and faithfulness. They don't live in our world. On the third day, she told me she found me fascinating and wanted to bear me a child. I said no. It didn't matter. I kept saying no, but I was helpless and she was strong. I begged her to stop. Verdandi stripped off my clothes, and then she forced herself on me. She raped me."

Val laughed wholeheartedly at Skylar's dramatic display of disgust and the imaginary dating ad for Dylan. "No, he never told me about that. I wouldn't ask and he would never say anything like that. But I know my cousin and I have a pretty good intuition of what he might be into," he said while he was still cracking up.

Skylar mentioned something about a nightmare and his biological parents. Val didn't want to bring up bad feelings since they were laughing and joking just a moment ago, but he thought he might ask him what happened exactly another time.

"Yes, I think Henrik would like that. We could do that next time we end up in bed or in each other's arms." Val scrolled down his photo albums on his phone and pulled up a picture of his boyfriend. He put it on full screen and turned his phone to Skylar. "Be careful, you're driving," Val said. "That's him." The picture was a close-up portrait of a 30-something tanned man with very short black hair, light stubble and grey-green eyes. His skin had a dark shade contrasting well against the white background of crumpled bedsheets. He had the peculiar and handsome looks of a guy coming from mixed origins.

*****

Of all the things that Sacha had expected Steven to talk about, what he heard him tell Dylan sounded like the scenario of an elaborate dark fantasy movie. Sacha wasn't familiar with the actual characters Steven referred to from Nordic mythology. He knew Odin, of course, and thought he had already vaguely heard of Asgard, but the other persons or references Steven was naming didn't ring any bells. Dylan was listening carefully and seemed to know what Steven was talking about, so Sacha didn't interrupt Steven's speech. Sacha looked around, and Bailey and Rain were also staring at Steven and sometimes exchanging glances. They were all suspended to his lips and tale.

It was clear where Steven was going as the story unfolded. He wanted to explain he didn't cheat or didn't want to cheat on his wife. Sacha thought he'd confess he didn't resist the goddess or got tricked or mystified by some spell, but eventually, the hard cold truth that came out of Steven's mouth made Sacha's eyes widen in shock. Sure, he had heard about men getting raped, but still, a man being raped by a woman wasn't the most common concept of such a despicable act, and especially associated with Steven, who they all considered so far all powerful and dangerous, it sounded rather strange. Yet, as he was telling his story, the guy seemed on the verge of breaking down and crying in front of them - out of anger or shame, or maybe both, it wasn't clear.

With a smirk, Skylar reached over and squeezed the back of Val's neck, not hard, but gently. "You kinky little thing you."

"I gather that Henrik is not the jealous type? Would it actually turn him on to see us all messy haired and satisfied?" He took a quick look at the picture. "Whooo-hoo, he's hot! Looks like a male model. What does he do for a living?"

Up ahead on the left side, the farmer's market came into view.

****

Wincing, Dylan nodded. "Rape is quite common in mythology, but it's usually a male god attacking a female human. The gods always seemed to think they had the right to do whatever they wanted. I'm sorry your daughter was conceived that way."

"Verdandi wanted to be sure she was pregnant before I went home, so it happened multiple times. I was too weak to fight her off, even to just get up and leave." Steven laughed bitterly. "No one would help me. Finally, I got my strength back, and she acted like I should feel honored that she chose me. Said when the baby was born, she would bring it to me to raise, because a baby with such varied heritage needed as normal an upbringing as possible. Half goddess, one-fourth human, one-fourth reaper. That is my little girl." At this point, he began to cry silently, just sniffling sometimes. "I had no idea that the heritage I gave her would leave her vulnerable to dying in a car crash. I thought she would be invincible. I love her very much, but it is true that her presence destroyed my marriage."

Dylan nodded again. "Many women can't deal with their husbands fathering a baby with another woman, even if it wasn't your fault."

"Another woman?!" Rain cried. "She's a frickin' goddess! Stevie, I don't understand. We visited, we saw Dahlia pregnant. Was it all a ruse?"

After a moment of silence, he nodded his head. "Dahlia was humiliated by the whole thing, and didn't want anyone in the family to know. She swore me to secrecy, then went to a costume shop and bought a pregnancy form..."

"Stevie! My God!"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"Steven, what does the antler have to do with all this? Why do you think Verdandi is the one coming after you?" Dylan asked.

He sighed. "Because gods and goddesses take part in the Wild Hunt. They each need a steed to ride."

Now Dylan understood. "And Verdandi rides a magickal elk."

"Yes."

"Why is she coming for you?"

"That one should be easy." Steven got a tissue and wiped at his face, moving slowly, his hand shaking. "She knows something has happened to her daughter."

Being called kinky in that cute way made Val chuckle a little more.

He nodded to answer Skylar, but he only realized a moment later that he was watching the road and not him, so he actually replied. “Yes, I think... He’d like that.” He was pretty sure Henrik would find it arousing. He would usually like to hear about other people Val was sleeping with, but normally these were one night stands, and for some reason, Skylar didn’t fit that definition, Val thought.

Val smiled at Skylar’s comment when he saw the picture. “Actually, he’s the one taking pictures of models. He’s a photographer, and I think he did some modeling himself too but a long time ago, when he was young. Now he mainly does wedding or press photography, he works for newspaper and news agencies in the country. And sometimes he does pictures for some aspiring models, but that doesn’t pay the bills.”

A text message came in again.

“I told him I was going to get peaches for the shaman at the market. He wants me to take pictures of the fruit stalls at the market,” Val said as he shook his head. “I’m going to look like a tourist.”

****

Sacha was a bit lost in the middle of all the references to mythological facts, but it didn’t escape him that even Steven’s sister seemed totally shocked by the news and the fact that his former wife faked a pregnancy to make people believe she had a second child.

Dylan didn’t dwell too much on the more melodramatic side of the story. He kept his focus and asked about the antler. And of course the explanation was that it belonged to the magical elk of a goddess. By now, Sacha had too many questions. He finally spoke up to ask something to help him follow the whole story. “What’s the Wild Hunt?” he asked, a bit out of the blue.

"Wow, sounds like an exciting job. He must make a decent living. How did the two of you meet? You don't exactly have the types of careers that would cross naturally," Skylar chuckled. "Oh! Wait. Henrik came to you for a massage."

Once he'd heard about Henrik's request, Skylar chuckled. "You are a tourist, so there's no problem." He patted Val's thigh as he pulled the car into a spot. "Grab a bag and let's get our shopping on!"

Skylar had canvas shopping bags folded up in his center console. Handing one to Val, he jumped out of the car and gestured to the fruit and vegetable stalls with a flourish. "Your photographic subjects, m'lord."

*****

Sacha's question was a surprise, but both Dylan and Steven were right on the ball. The two men began explaining at the same time. They realized they were both talking and stopped.

"You go ahead," Steven said.

Dylan turned in his chair and addressed Sacha directly. "A Wild Hunt is a procession of ghosts out on a hunt for game. In this case, it would be a big group of Vikings accompanied by Valkyries and Norse gods and goddesses. It's not something most people would even be aware was happening." He turned his attention back to Steven. "How do you think Verdandi will react when she finds out what happened to Kiera?"

Steven paused, afraid to say it out loud. "She'll be furious."

"A pissed off goddess is not a good thing."

Another pause, and then Steven said, "So you have to let me resurrect my daughter."

Dylan gave him a tight-lipped smile. "I think we have other options."

The tension in the room increased tenfold. "What?"

His smile never wavered. "I think you need to tell me how to shut your magick door. Close it permanently through ritual. Verdandi can't cross through to our world the way you'd take a plane; if she can't come through your door, she'll be significantly delayed. That will give us time to discuss how you're going to resurrect your daughter and what you did to Kerry."

Instantly angry, Steven tried to get up, forgetting his current condition. "You - " His head swam and he flopped back on his pillow.

"You are in no condition to refuse my offer, Steven. I'm doing the dangerous work because you can't." Dylan stood up. "When I get to your hotel room, I'm going to call you, and you're going to tell me how to close the door. Then we're going to have our talk. If you doublecross me, I will open the door and invite - " He stopped. Dylan wanted to get his information, but did he want to get it by threatening this man with the being who traumatized him? Would Kerry want him to do that? Dylan looked down, collecting himself so he wouldn't give in to anger. "...Don't doublecross me," he finally finished.

Steven worked his jaw, trying to figure out what to say. "Fine," he spat. "But I need to make sure you don't doublecross me either."

The closet door behind Sacha opened and Fiona's hands clamped down on his arms, holding him just above the elbows. Her grip was strong.

"He does alright, like a regular job, nothing like a celebrity photographer or renowned artist, but he does what he likes, so that’s really good." Val let Skylar come up with his assumption of how they met. "No, we met at a birthday party of a former roommate of mine. Turned out he was her cousin and attended the party too."

Val took a bag and followed Skylar, who seemed to know the area and where the entrance of the market was. "He’s a photographer, so he’s always interested in taking pictures of things. But what I will snap with my phone camera won’t be as nice as when he takes photographs himself."

“Do we need to bring some fruits or veggies back to the bunker as well?" Val asked while he looked around to see what products were sold and spot any stall that looked to him more interesting than the others. He hadn’t taken his phone out to take any pictures and already felt like people were looking at him. Maybe some of the farmers there knew Skylar and wondered who was with him. "You come here often?"

****

Sacha didn’t understand anything of what Steven and Dylan said as they began to talk at the same time. Dylan started over and gave him a brief explanation of what a Wild Hunt was, which wasn’t at all what Sacha expected and still didn’t make much sense after the explanation. "But what are they hunting and... Where are they hunting?" he asked, hoping the answer wasn’t wild animals such as bobcats and lynxs. "You say people wouldn’t be aware of it happening? I think it would get noticed if people riding elks would parade down main street in Lebanon."

He looked at his boyfriend, a little puzzled. "How do you know all these things about Nordic gods, by the way?"

Sacha was ready to step in and tell Dylan to cut it off when he started to threaten Steven. A sigh of relief escaped him when he noticed that his boyfriend stopped himself. Things seemed to get civil again, till the zombie bodyguard of Steven showed up out of nowhere. Sacha realized she had just stepped out from behind them. He gave her a stunned look and then looked at Steven, with the same bewildered expression. "You keep her in the closet? Really?"

"What did Henrik think of you being a shaman?"

"Only if you want to contribute to the community food pot out of niceness. I'm taking most of my produce home with me." Skylar approached the first stall, which had fruit and fresh flowers. "I usually come here once a week. Look at all the pretty flowers. Send him this one." He lightly touched a daffodil and pretended he was going to eat it, opening his mouth wide just underneath it, posing.

****

Dylan tried to keep his answers concise. "They're hunting ghost animals in the forest, and the whole procession is invisible to humans. It's all just a big show; you can't really kill a dead animal. Just something for them to do."

Sacha asked him how he knew all these things, to which Dylan replied, "It's my job to know."

Rolling his eyes, Steven said to Sacha, "Fiona was hiding there for just such an occasion."

No matter how Sacha may struggle, he could not escape Fiona's grasp.

Dylan angrily whipped something out of his pocket and held it up. It was a little glass bottle. "If you don't call off your draug, Steven, she'll wind up with a bunch of scars! Do you want her pretty face scarred?"

"At first, he thought I was some kind of weirdo or new age mythomaniac. Maybe he’s right and I am weird, but then he decided he likes weirdos like me," Val chuckled. "Seriously, he was a bit skeptical. He had heard of shamans, but he didn’t think it was something that still existed, and certainly not in a city. He came with me to Lapland last year. He said it was more what he pictured, you know? A shaman in a small rural village... Just that I was 50 years too young for the job, he thought. The problem is that after moving to Stockholm with my parents and going to university there, even if I didn’t finish, I liked living in the city. I know it seems anachronic, but that’s what I like for now. I go back home to Finland several times per year. My village has a shaman from another village who visits regularly and can take care of things routinely for them, and when I go back there, it’s special and everyone is happy to see me and I’m excited to see them. By now, Henrik’s quite used to what I do, besides therapeutic massages."

He laughed when he saw Skylar goofing around with the flowers. "Oh, yes, way to go to make a good impression..." He anyway took a snap with his phone and showed it to Skylar. "You sure you want me to send him this?"

****

Sacha’s first hint had been correct. They were hunting animals, however, not real alive animals. This seemed to be okay enough for now to keep him quiet and not worry about his lynx.

And sure, it was Dylan’s job to know, but somehow, up to now, Sacha had still been picturing Dylan’s hunter job as a profession where he had to know how to use various weapons, whether traditional like guns and knives or more special like the demon trap. He hadn’t really thought that he would need to know about all the various legends and myths and gods and goddesses around.

Steven didn’t seem very patient with his question and certainly not amused about his remark regarding Fiona. He tried to move out of her grip but didn’t manage. He reasoned that she wouldn’t do anything to him at this point and Steven was probably just trying to show off and make him and Dylan aware that he had someone out there ready to enforce his ideas and agenda, even if he was still too weak to do anything himself. Yet, panic quickly crept into him. It was too late when he realized that he wasn’t the one scared and feeling threatened. It was his lynx who tried to get rid of Fiona’s steel grip. The shift took him by surprise, a desperate move from a trapped wild animal. The lynx’s will and instinct overtook him and in a few seconds, he had shifted. This was the first time he did so while still wearing clothes. The animal let out a few loud growls and bounced out of Fiona’s hands and arms, catching her by surprise. Sacha’s jacket, shoes and trousers had fallen on the floor during the shift. His shirt was still on the animal, although it was hanging loosely off his feline form since it was way too big for the animal size. For some reason, one of Sacha’s socks had stayed on his back paw. The lynx didn’t seem to notice. He flattened his ears and backed up in the corner of the hospital room, as far away from Fiona and Steven’s bed as possible, hissing.

"I like weirdos like you too," Skylar said, and winked. "What about you? Do you like weirdos?"

"Sure, send him that picture! He should find out as soon as possible that he's dealing with another weirdo here." Skylar put an apple on his head. "Send him this one too." Pointing to the fruit, he laughed.

"Now you do something funny." He held up his phone. "We'll bombard Henrik with so many pictures that he'll be sick of us."

****

Fiona had been told little about Sacha's ability because Steven considered it of little consequence. Sure, Sacha could hurt them as a lynx, but it seemed like the kind of thing he could easily overcome. Steven was always much more worried about magickal skill in his enemies. The underestimation allowed his hostage to escape.

Suddenly, she realized the arms in her grasp were shrinking. Sacha sunk down and disappeared into his shirt; it startled Fiona so much that she screamed and had no chance to recover before her hostage was a large wild cat wriggling inside his shirt on the floor. The cat started to back up, so she reached for it.

At this point, Dylan revealed what was in the bottle. He took the cork out of the top and flung it in two directions without letting go of it; this made the clear water inside fly out and splash over Fiona in two thin lines. First, he splashed it up and down and then side to side, making the sign of the cross.

Fiona felt the pain and looked down. Where the water had landed on her, her skin was sizzling and smoking.

"Gaaaaaah!" Fiona screamed in pain. She shrank into herself and away from Dylan.

Everything happened so fast! Steven saw something written across the top of the bottle, near the cork, in permanent marker.

HO Y WATER

Except, one of the letters had been nearly rubbed off by use. He didn't need to know what that missing letter was to work it out.

HOLY WATER

"Practically every zombie or revenant in any mythology can be repelled by blessed water, Stevie," Dylan reminded him with a laugh. "You should know that."

Steven tried to yell, but his voice came out without much volume because of the hoarseness. "You will pay for this and for trapping my daughter in my trunk! Once I'm better - "

"You are not in a position to make threats!" Dylan saw Fiona beginning to recover, and splashed her with the holy water again. "If you want my help, you have to behave!"

Rain pushed her brother down when he tried to get out of bed. "Steven, don't be a fool. You can't even walk. We have to do things their way this time, or who knows what Verdandi will do!"

"Noooo!" Steven fumed angrily, knowing there was little he could do right now.

Keeping his eyes on Fiona, Dylan moved toward Lynxcha and gathered him up in his arms. His front paws went over Dylan's shoulder and his head into the crook of his neck, and Dylan held the rest of his body to his chest, supporting the cat's hind end with his forearm. Lynxcha would be hidden by Sacha's shirt as they made their way to the car. "You're going to let us out of here without further incident." Although he still held the bottle of holy water, Dylan realized it was quickly emptying, and Fiona was eager to hurt him as much as he'd hurt her. He backed toward the door.

At this point, Bailey knew her cousin needed help. He might make it out of the room unscathed, but it would be much easier if she helped him. "Steven, taking hostages? You've gone too far this time." She had brought a shoulder bag with books and other things in it to keep herself and the Dophims entertained for the day; now, she gathered up Sacha's clothes and shoes and put them in the bag. "My cousin needs my help with this. You take some time to calm down, or I'm not coming back."

The expression on his face became stricken. "Bailey..."

Fiona had recovered enough to lunge at the group. Now Bailey was the one to reveal that she was also a good hunter. The little bottle was withdrawn from her pocket and uncapped before the revenant could get her hands on anyone. Fiona, seeing it, recoiled and cowered into a corner, whimpering. Her face and arms had already been scarred in several places, and she apparently didn't want any more.

Amy couldn't take it anymore either; the noises she'd been hearing from the room were quite alarming. The tween flung the door open. "What's going on in here?!"

Dylan and Bailey took their chance to run out the door. "Look after your father!" Bailey called.

All the way down the hall, people kept staring at them as they passed, wondering what the man had in his arms. It seemed to be wriggling and meowing!

They made it to the car and piled in. Dylan held Lynxcha on his lap as he quickly drove his car out of the hospital parking garage and down the street. Once he felt they were far enough away, he pulled over into a grocery store parking lot to hold Lynxcha to him in a grateful hug. "I'm so glad we got you out of there safe," he said, kissing the cat's cheek.

Bailey held up the bag, making sure the lynx saw it, and then put it in the back seat. "Whenever you're ready, Sacha, your clothes are in here." She flopped back against her seat. "Phew! That was close." Opening her hand, she popped the top off the item that she had threatened Fiona with and took out a speckled white lozenge. It was a plastic tube of breath mints.

“I like weirdos too... But to me, you’re not a weirdo. You’re an adorable nerdy sleepwalker, with a vintage sense of style,” Val said with a big smile.

Val shook his head and laughed. “Okay... We’ll see what he says...” Val looked at the face of the person behind the fruit counter where Skylar picked the apple that he put on his head for another picture. “I’m pretty sure you’ll have to buy this apple now you put it on your head,” he chuckled.

“Something funny? Like...?” Val turned around and saw a large display of strawberries. He picked up two and held them in front of his eyes while he scrunched up his nose and made a pouty face. “Like this?”

****

Sacha didn’t follow the whole sequence of events that followed his shift. He was too busy trying to get away from Fiona while stumbling into his T-shirt. There was just a lot of noise and commotion around the animal. His lynx was pretty frightened, but he miraculously behaved when Dylan reached for him and picked him up. Being with Dylan was something familiar and safe and in the middle of the chaos and yelling, Sacha tried to control his animal side and let Dylan take him away without too much fuss besides a few growls and meows.

There would be time later on to be mortified about the sudden change. Everyone had witnessed it and the last thing he wanted was to have to shift back to his human form in front of everyone. At least Dylan was taking him away.

He didn’t notice Bailey followed them and went in the car with them. It was too much of a blur with his feline senses and human brain on alert. He picked up on Dylan’s heart rate beating way too fast when he was being carried around. A welcome silence enveloped him a few moments later. They were not moving anymore. Sacha noticed the car engine had stopped. Dylan hugged him tight and the big cat buried his furry face and nose against his shoulder while he started to purr. He heard some noise and someone else talking. Bailey had a bag with her in which she had gathered his clothes. He saw her putting them on the backseat. Sacha wiggled his way out of Dylan’s arms and jumped in between the two front seats towards the back.

He needed to shift back and get dressed. He didn’t want Dylan to get in trouble or be arrested for having a lynx in his car. He would have preferred Bailey not to be in the car with them, but he didn’t have any choice. The lynx growled at Dylan’s cousin from behind but then shifted back to Sacha’s human body. “Shit, Dylan, I’m so sorry for the mess in the hospital room. The lynx got scared of Fiona and...” Sacha looked down at himself and noticed his underwear was miraculously still on since his lynx's small tail had gotten in the way of the elastic waistband and prevented the boxer shorts to slide off the big cat’s hind legs when he first shifted.

With a little grin, Skylar leaned forward and said quietly, "'Nerdy' is another word for 'weirdo.'" He winked. "Really, I like the word weirdo. It means you're not boring. As a sexy, platinum blonde-haired shaman who talks to trees, you are far from boring, Val."

"I had every intention of doing so," he said, and paid the fruit vendor for the small basket of granny smith apples. "Thank you. Now I can wear the whole basket on my head if I want to." Putting the basket in his canvas bag, he grinned.

Val created some sort of sad strawberry creature with two strawberries and a facial expression, to which Skylar laughed and took his picture. "What's Henrik's phone number? I'm gonna text him this picture. The Sorrowful Strawberry Fiend, in the flesh."

"I will buy some strawberries for everybody so we can all have strawberry shortcake tonight. That is, whoever's actually home for dessert." Skylar bought a couple little baskets heaping over with strawberries and put them in his bag.

****

Feeling Lynxcha rumble against him as the big cat purred was the most welcome sensation at that moment, save for Sacha purring against him. Dylan rubbed Lynxcha's back and gave him another kiss on the cheek with a weary sigh. "You're safe now. It's okay."

Looking over at Bailey, Dylan couldn't help but laugh, seeing that her bottle of holy water was really a tube of breath mints. "Good bluff, Bailey. Nice."

He felt Lynxcha wriggle in his arms and opened them so the cat could jump into the back seat. Shortly after, Sacha began speaking to him. Dylan turned to say something and noticed his askew but still on underwear. He couldn't help but snicker. "See, what did I tell you? You can switch while still in your clothes. I never said you wouldn't wind up wearing some of them as a cat, though."

Bailey did not turn to look, knowing it would not be a welcome thing for her to do, but she did giggle at the memory of Lynxcha wearing the big shirt.

Dylan got beyond the humor of the situation so he could speak. "It's actually better that you transformed because it allowed you to escape. They were trying to hold you hostage, Sach. I was never going to let that happen."

"Now what?" Bailey asked.

"Now, you get Rain on the phone and make sure her brother is still on board with this. It would be in everyone's best interest if this goddess bitch did not get through the door, whether we're at odds with Steven or not."

Dylan turned to talk with Sacha a bit more while his cousin spoke with Rain. "Are you okay? Fiona didn't hurt you, did she?"

"I've still got to go to Finley House and close this door. Are you determined to go with me?"

Val put the two strawberries back into one of the packs that Skylar was purchasing. "Wait, I want to have that picture too. Whatsapp them to me and Henrik. I’ll give you my phone number and Henrik’s. He'll guess who you are if he sees we're both in the conversation."

Val gave both numbers to Skylar. When he was done, he looked at the fruit stall. There were no peaches sold there so they would have to go to another vendor to get some for him to take to his host later in the afternoon.

"I'll go and check the other stalls," he said. "I'd like to find honey."

****

"Yes, I can switch but... It's messy," Sacha said while rearranging his boxers and then putting his jeans back on as quickly as he could. "And it's fine because Bailey picked up all my clothes. Thanks for that, by the way."

Sacha hadn't even realized that the impromptu shift had been his best escape. "The lynx probably didn't do it on purpose, you know? But I guess it helped and it surprised Fiona." He finished dressing and passed his hand in his hair a few times to put it back in place. "What was it exactly that you used against her? Holy water? Maybe I should carry some with me too."

Sacha looked down at himself and shrugged. "No, she didn't do anything to me, or to the lynx."

He was finishing to put his shoes back on when he heard Dylan talk to him again. Bailey was on the phone with Rain and Dylan wanted to go to Steven's hotel room. "You sure you want to do this now? Maybe you should call Sam and Dean and get reinforcement. What if this goddess monster comes out in the room through the door while you're busy with it? But whatever happens, I'm not letting you go alone. I don't trust Steven. Maybe he sent Fiona to wait for you at the hotel." Sacha tied his shoe laces and then sat on the edge of the backseat. "How are you going to get inside his room? Do you have his key?"

Snickering, Skylar opened Whatsapp and put both Val and Henrik's numbers in his address book. "I'm sending you the picture of yourself. First, I text him the picture of the man who went crazy and started eating flowers because he has an apple-shaped tumor growing out of his head, right? And see how he reacts?"

There were vendors further down the row who sold peaches and jars of honey as well.

*****

"I can see that switching with your clothes on is a bit more complicated..." Dylan said with a laugh, "but it might prove useful in the future if you have to switch in a big hurry. Maybe we can practice, see if Lynxcha can find his own way out of your shirt next time."

Bailey said, "You're welcome," when he thanked her for thinking to get his clothes. "Fiona's got a strong grip for a petite woman, huh?"

Handing Sacha a comb, Dylan turned around and started the car. "Yup, holy water. We can bless it ourselves or get some from a church. You want a glass bottle, or are you happy to put yours in a soda bottle?"

"I think it's best if we close this door as soon as possible. But, for your sake, we'll stake it out a bit first. Bailey, did he give you the key card to his hotel room?"

"Yes."

"Okay then."

Dylan drove them to Finley House straight away. As they approached the parking lot, they could see a large crowd gathered on the side of the building, looking up at a broken window.

"I think a couple of Steven's windows face that side of the building," Bailey said, a slight tremble of dread in her voice.

"Ohhhh... I don't think this is good."

They hurried up to Steven's room. The door was open. A couple policemen and the building manager were standing in the room, looking around.

The curtain Steven had used to cover his magick door had been yanked down off the wall and now lay across the floor. The window behind the curtain was the broken window that everyone in the parking lot was looking at. There wasn't much glass left in the frame; something very big had jumped through it.

The strangest thing, at least to the police and hotel manager, was the wall perpendicular to the window. In chalk, it looked like someone had drawn a door that had been busted down by something large and strong. The runic symbol Steven used to "lock" the door had been cracked in half.

"What happened here?" Dylan asked. He sounded quite alarmed.

The hotel manager looked over and saw Sacha. "Hey, Sach. Did you see it? People say some crazy broad riding a deer came and jumped out the freakin' window."

"Okay, you try this and see what happens." Val shook his head and smiled. "He’s going to guess... Though I told him you were cute and smart. So he might not recognize you right away on that pic," he joked.

They moved on and walked to another stall where they found peaches. A couple of minutes after Skylar had sent the first picture, both their phones buzzed, signaling a reply had arrived. Val had just finished paying the vendor for the fruit. He put his wallet back in his pocket and reached for the other one to get his phone. Sure enough, Henrik had sent them both a reply. He laughed and waited for Skylar to check the answer on his own phone.

Vafan???

The reply was accompanied by a couple of confused face emoticons.

****

"I think if we do that, I’ll need to invest in more shirts because he’s gonna shred them apart trying to get rid of them. Let’s say that since the lynx is smaller than me as a human, at least he’s not like the Hulk who’s bursting out of his clothes when he transforms."

"I don’t need a comb, it gets back in shape with just a few strokes of hand.”

Sacha was confused. "How can you bless water yourself? Isn’t it something that’s done by priests in churches only? Please Dylan, don’t tell me you’re a priest,” Sacha added quickly after his first question.

Sacha looked around carefully when they arrived at the hotel and walked out of the car and past the crowd that was still standing outside. People were talking and gesturing. Sacha recognized a few of the employees. They were too busy speaking with guests and some police officers. Once they were upstairs and in the room, they could see the damages done. It wouldn’t make any sense to the people investigating the scene. Because Sacha had heard it from Steven and Dylan, he could see the evidence of what must have happened and who might have crossed into the real world via the magic door. He however had to play dumb when the hotel manager recognized him and asked him if he saw anything. He was actually hoping that nobody would find it strange that he was there since it was his day off. What explanation would he give if they were asking him why he was around?

“No, I haven’t seen anything. I just arrived with some friends... We were just here to... Have a drink. We saw police cars and the broken window, so I just came upstairs to see what was going on,” he said.

Grinning bashfully, Skylar said, "You told him I was smart and cute?"

As they waited for a reply, they checked out other stalls, finding more things they wanted. Skylar got rather excited about finding some yellow squash. "I have a recipe for a chicken squash casserole that's so good," he raved. "Lots of ooey gooey cheese on top."

When Henrik's text came through, he seemed confused. "Vafan? Does that mean something to you?"

****

Dylan got a mental picture of Lynxcha getting angry, hissing and growling, and then turning green. The mental lynx became larger and larger, tearing apart Sacha's shirt. He began to giggle. "Dude, I'll buy you a pack of undershirts just to see Lynxcha rip his way out of one." He imitated the cat escaping from a shirt, pretending to tear through fabric and meowing in an irritated manner. "Meooow, meow, mrow!"

"Lynxcha?" said Bailey. "That's so cute!"

Laughing at his boyfriend's question, Dylan said, "No, I'm not a priest. Anyone can bless water, all it takes is intent and words. Maybe water blessed by a priest is more potent, I don't know, I've never compared them before."

"That would be a fun test, we should try it," Bailey commented.

****

Jim, putting his hands on his hips, replied, "Something crazy happened in here, that's what! Look at this." He pointed out the dusty elk tracks moving around the room. They were almost perfectly heart shaped, with the pointed part in the front, and showed the elk's path through Steven's room, through the door into Amy's room, and then back toward the magick door. Finally, the tracks moved toward the window and stopped.

"She was looking for him," Dylan mumbled to himself.

"I thought maybe it was a joke, some kind of performance art, but then people in the parking lot were telling me they saw the huge deer with the broad riding it come flying down to the pavement and go running off down Main Street. Last time people saw them, they were disappearing into the woods." The hotel manager looked at Sacha's friends. "Hey, I'm Jim Gafferty. I'm the manager. You look familiar..." Jim gestured toward Bailey. "Aren't you staying in this room with Mr. Dophim?"

Bailey jumped a little. "I was just visiting. He's in the hospital, but he's getting better. His sister has been taking care of his affairs and looking after his daughter, Amy."

"Really? That's good to hear." Jim gestured to the room. "Do you know what happened here?"

Bailey shook her head. "No. But I'll ask Steven if he knows anything."

"Okay. Tell him we're going to put a board over the window and if he wants to move to another room, we'll get one for him. This may be replaced by tomorrow, though."

"Alright. I'm sure he'll pay for the window if you want him to."

"Aw, the guy's in the hospital. I'm not going to make him pay for this."

Once they were done chatting with Jim, Dylan led them down the hall to an alcove near the elevators where there were a few chairs and a coffee table. He sat down. "I've got to warn Rain about this." He called her and waited for her to answer. "Rain? Verdandi is already here. She crashed through your brother's door about an hour ago. ... Okay. ... Okay. ... What else?" Dylan made motions like he needed to write something down, for which he needed pen and paper.

“It was early morning and I might have still been jetlagged a bit, but yeah, I did tell him that. He asked me if there were good looking guys around...” Val’s ghost white face showed a hint of pink on his cheeks as he replied.

Val would have liked to taste the recipe that Skylar was mentioning, but since it had chicken in it, he wouldn’t be able to. “I’ll have to believe you ‘cause I won’t taste it. Not eating meat, you know.”

Val laughed at Skylar’s reaction to the text that came through. “Yes, it means something to anyone speaking Swedish... It means ‘what the hell’.”

Val typed an answer back.

Switch to English pls

“Shall I make the introductions or you tell him who you are?”

Henrik texted back right away.

K. So wtf?

****

Between Dylan’s imitation of a cat trapped in a T-shirt and Bailey fawning over the cute nickname Dylan had found for his big cat, Sacha didn’t know how much more self-conscious he could get. Somehow that was worse than having to put his clothes on in the back of Dylan’s car. He knew they were not mocking him, but somehow the attention on him and his lynx was a little too much, though he also thought that if the lynx were around right now, he would of course love it. Clearly, his lynx and him didn’t have the same personality on that side.

***

Sacha went to grab a notepad and pen that were next an old style phone on a small console and gave them to Dylan.

He looked at Dylan’s face. His boyfriend was not goofing around anymore at that moment. He seemed quite serious and preoccupied. Sacha could see why, but at the same time, he had no clue what this goddess could do. Was she dangerous or was it just the weirdness of a woman riding an elk in town that worried him? She was going after Steven, which of course wasn’t good news for him, but they were not involved in this, were they? He’d have to wait for Dylan to be done talking with Rain to ask him a few questions.

TBC