Death in Appalachia, Chapter 6: Blood Calls to Blood
Author: atana_blackfox
(paintercrow starts co-authoring later in the story)
Summary: Family ties mean more then even Sam and Dean realized.
Rating/Warning: Mature (NC-17), Warnings for story overall. Swearing (most chapters). Rape and torture chapters have separate warnings. Character deaths (Ballad novels/OCs). Sex--both hetero and homosexual.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Supernatural or Ballad novel story elements.
Death in Appalachia, Chapter 6: Blood Calls to Blood
Summary: Family ties mean more then even Sam and Dean realized.
"Do you think anything strange happened back there?" Sam asked as they were driving back to the KOA.
"Dude! What part of that wasn’t strange! I’ve said from the beginning that we’ve fallen through a black hole and into the friggin’ Twilight Zone! Jay is her nephew! Shit!" Dean was agitated enough not to turn on the radio, much to Sam’s relief. No mullet rock.
"I mean when we walked into her office."
"Sammy, the entire time we were in her office it was strange. It was like we fell out of the space time continuum and into another dimension. I’m not sure that she’s even human."
"It’s Sam. And yes, she's human, and she's scared shitless."
"How do you know?"
"Because when I was picking glass out of her hair and touching her I could feel what she was feeling."
"Can you tell why?"
"No, it’s not like I can read her mind, I can just feel what she’s feeling. What I was saying is that didn’t her office feel strange? Kind of like it was sound proofed or muffled or something. I kept seeing things in there, too. Symbols and little animals, they looked like 'Day-Glo', but I could only see them out of the corner of my eye. I wished that I could have stayed longer to look at them. Some of the symbols looked like the ones she put around the cabin. I want to take a look at them when we get back. She also did this thing where she kind of wrapped herself into some kind of blanket to keep from feeling other people and to keep other people from feeling her." Sam seemed very thoughtful, but he had a brighter expression on his face.
"Sammy, what about all this other shit? What the hell is an eclect neo-whatever anyways? Why didn’t she let Roscoe back there arrest us? Why wouldn’t she go to the hospital? If her hand gets infected, she might not be able to use it."
Sam smacked him on the back of the head.
"It’s Sam. Vera might be scared, but she knows a lot. I think she was telling us the truth."
Dean glanced at his brother as he drove. Sammy was acting more like himself than he had in weeks, but there was an added dimension, like there was a deepening of his character. Dean began to worry that he might be losing his brother in another way. Would he be sucked into some weird world of psychics that he could never understand?
* * *
After Sam and Dean had left, Vera sat back down at her desk and put her face in her hands, feeling the rough bandages across her palm against her cheek. Her body shook with silent sobs, but no tears came.
Jay, her only brother's only child, had been expelled from college because he had helped these two brothers steal Cherokee artifacts from the UTC archaeology lab. There were other ways that they could have gotten to those artifacts that would not have implicated Jay. She knew. She had been anthropology major at that school when she was an undergraduate. Why hadn’t Jay called her? Vera knew the answer; he wanted his Aunt Vera to be proud of him.
Their psychic abilities were a secret between them since he was a child. Lisa, Jay's mother and Vera's sister-in-law, was a born-again Christian that detested Vera as a 'satan-worshiper.' She was the only one he confided in that he was bisexual. Vera did not have children and never would. Jay was one of the most precious people in the world to her. She had managed to keep him out of jail thanks to the fact that she was an alumnus, but what about the rest of his future?
Her coven mates were gone and she missed them terribly. The pleasure trips they had taken had turned into family emergencies. She was physically tired from trying to keep up with all the farm work on her own. There were demons roaming the area that she did not know how to stop. The Hunters that had responded to her call were only half-trained at best and she had to do emergency training with the strongest psychic she had ever seen before he went insane or hurt someone.
Sam was strong enough to get through her shields just by touching her. Now she was going to have to 'out' herself as a Pagan and magician to one of the most respected Christian Seers alive and face the fall out.
And every Goddess-be-damned personal tarot reading she had done for the past three months had the Wheel of Fortune card pop up. The card of fate, and something that could not be changed. Karma. But the general reading she had been doing all indicated a time of extreme danger and mutual dependence on others. The signs from the oracles seemed to be contradictory, something was fated for her, but the situation around her was fluid and dangerous. She was in more danger she had ever been in her life.
Vera took a deep breath. She was a priestess of the Old Gods and honor bound to do whatever it took to both help Sam and to destroy the creature that was killing in her backyard. No matter how high the personal cost.
* * *
The rest of Sam and Dean's day was quiet. Sam poked around the outside of the cabin and seemed to have a good time doing it. He made complex sketches of all the symbols and found a few that Dean had missed. It was like seeing Vera had been a major revelation for him. It had given him hope and now he was playing with his abilities like a kid with a new toy. He was enthusiastic about their trip to see Nora the next day.
Dean hung back and watched. One part of him was glad that Sammy was feeling better and another part of him was filled with a hollow ache. Everyone had left him, he really had no friends or close relationships with anyone other than Sammy, and he might lose him as well. Dad had died just a few months before but he had put off his own grieving, first for revenge and now because Sammy was sick. Now they knew about Hunt families and he was sure Sammy would settle with one of them eventually.
As they got ready for bed that evening Sam began to feel Dean’s rather complex emotions. He frowned. He could feel emotions but not the thoughts nor the reasons behind them. Sam reached out and took Dean's arm. Dean could feel Sam's concern for him. It irritated him, he did not want his pity.
"What is it Sammy?"
"I know you’re upset. I can feel it. It hurts me too."
"Shit, can’t I have a private thought? What’s next, a Jamaican accent?"
"No, not right now, not until I get trained. And even then, maybe never," Sam gave him an odd smile. "Blood calls to blood."
Dean realized that Sam was uncertain of the future, too. He was also afraid things would change too much between them. Was that why Sam was touching his arm? To let him feel his emotions?
Dean let lose a tirade on how unfair the situation was. About Dad leaving and then dying. About how lonely he was on the road. How it was unfair that he stayed with Dad and did not have a life outside of hunting. How Sam had got to go off to college and party. How he had spent so much of his life caring for him, back from the very day Mom died. Throughout it all, Sam never let go of his grip on Dean's arm and Dean did not try to pull away. Sam was angry about some of the things he said, but let them pass. Right now he needed Dean and knew he had to let him talk.
When Dean was through and gasping from purging himself of long suppressed emotions, Sammy let go of Dean's arm. Sam pulled Dean into bed with him, checking to be sure a roll of paper towels was on the small bed side table between the two beds. He had spent so much time crying over the past several days Dean kept them close by in case he had another crying fit. He was pretty sure Dean would need them next.
There was nothing sexual about the two of them curling up together on one bed. They had shared a bed on and off ever since Sam could remember. But, it had been over 10 years now. It was more about closeness and the natural need of all humans to touch and be touched. It was also about letting Dean feel Sam the same way Sam could feel Dean. Sam did not want Dean to feel left out or not be able to understand what he was experiencing. It was also about sharing grief and pain, fears and hopes of the future.
Before long they were both crying, but it was a release, not a trauma. It did not quiet all of their fears nor remove their grief, but neither of them felt as stressed as they had before. After they had both calmed down Dean stood up to move to his own bed. Sam reached out and took his arm in a loose grip.
"Dean, you can touch me any time you need to. I don’t want this to come between us. There is too much going on. We have to stay together."
"Even when you’re feeling not so fresh?"
Sam rolled his eyes and threw his pillow at him.
"Jerk!"
* * *
Deputy LeDonne was not happy about the two drifters. He decided to spend some of his own time checking up on them. He had lived in Wake County for about 12 years now, but he loved this small town as much as he had been born here. He had been estranged from his family for years now, but Wake County had made him welcome.
He had been hiking the Appalachian Trail after finishing up an eight year stint in the army as an MP. He stopped off at the Rice’s KOA and stayed in Wake County. Spencer had given him a job as a cop. He might be 'new', but he respected the 'old' community.
LeDonne was usually dispatched on calls when there were problems between the old families, no one could accuse him of favoring one over the other due to centuries long conflicts. He admired and respected Dr. Kesterson, and would not let anything happen to her.
* * *
Both the brothers and Vera got to the library about an hour early the next day. Dean and Sam got quite a shock. They did not know what type of car she drove, but they did not expect it to be a 1999 Ford F-250 Crew Cab.
"What are you two doing here early?" Vera asked as she got out of the truck. She still looked the way she had in her office the day before. Today she was dressed in work boots, shorts and a tank top. She might be older than them, but Dean still had to admire her appearance. She had the muscle definition that came from actually doing hard manual labor, not working out in the gym.
"Sammy here is acting like a kid on a sugar high to get up to see Nora. I finally got tired of him so we came down to see if you’re ready to go yet."
Vera approached them so she could talk a bit more privately. Sam slapped him on the back of the head again.
"It’s Sam!"
"Sam, quit hitting your brother and get into my office and stay there until we’re ready to leave. I have a few things to do before we go. Nice attempt at shielding, but don’t think you have it down just because you’ve seen me do it."
Before Sam could say anything, Dean’s natural defensiveness of his brother popped up.
"Who gave you the authority to start giving orders?"
Sam rolled his eyes. Shit, were they ever going to stop fighting?
"When Sam became my responsibility to train. Both of you get used to it. Sam could become a burned out, blithering idiot. Right now you two are more of a burden than an asset. I’d appreciate it if y’all gave me as little hassle as possible until we get whatever is out there." She started to turn away, but then turned back and looked Dean square in the eye.
"Oh, and Dean, just one thing. If you ever try to hurt me again, I’ll have your balls to hang off my rear view mirror."
"Thanks for the warning Loreena."
Vera glared at him but walked off.
Dean gritted his teeth on all the other things he wanted to say. As much as he did not want to admit it, she had the upper hand. For now.
Once they got in her office, Dean closed the blinds and began going through her desk.
"Dean, what are you doing? She could walk in any second!"
"Keep a look out for her. Think of it as practice. You can feel her, right?"
"No Dean, I can’t! Most of the time it’s like she’s not there!"
"We know almost nothing about her. I’ll be through in just a few seconds."
"I told you I trust her!"
"Sammy, how do you know that she didn’t do something to make you trust her? You’re new to all this. I’m not going to trust her until Nora says so."
"What about what Ravenmocker told you?"
"For all I know she sent him."
They found a recent photo of Jay on her desk along with a few others, but there was nothing but work-related papers in her desk.
Sam kept giving Dean dirty looks but spent the rest of the time trying to see and touch the symbols he could almost sense.
When Vera walked in, she looked both annoyed and amused. She shut the door behind her.
"Lesson number one. When dealing with people who use any type of magic, we can tell when our wards, or magical alarms, have been tampered with. Some can have magical or psychic traps. Sam will learn how to do this later on. By the way, did you find anything that interested you in my desk?"
Sam turned red. "Sorry," he said.
"Don’t be. Except not knowing about the wards, going through my desk was a good idea. You really don’t know me. As Hunters, you have to be careful to stay alive. Just because someone looks human that doesn’t mean they are, but you already know that."
Dean frowned. This woman annoyed the hell out of him. Then she did something else unexpected. She gave him the keys to her truck.
"I thought you said you were driving?" Dean asked. He went through her desk and she is not pissed, and now she was giving him her keys. Were these people ever going to stop confusing him?
"I was, but my hand is killing me. You can drive my truck. There is no way in hell I’m rattling around like a pea in a pod in the back of your Impala for 10 miles up a dirt road."
* * *
The mood in the truck was one of overall annoyance. Vera insisted on riding shotgun, so they had to put up with Sam bitching about the back seat. Vera seemed totally unconcerned by this. She had put on sunglasses from the time they got into the truck and leaned back in her seat.
Dean strongly suspected that she had fallen asleep. Sam reached over the back seat to touch Vera.
"Don’t touch me," Vera said flatly.
"But it’s the only way I can feel you!"
"Yes, it’s called privacy. I’m going to have to teach you psychic etiquette before we do anything else."
"What, there’s a Miss Manners for psychics?" Sam laughed.
"Yes, there is. Now stop it." Vera seemed to settle back into a light doze. The truck was quiet for a few moments before Vera turned in her seat and smacked Sam's hand. "I said stop touching me!"
"I wasn’t touching you. I was just feeling that blanket thing you have around you," Sam said innocently.
"That’s my aura and shields. That’s the same as touching me."
Dean glanced at them. Vera looked furious and Sam was trying not to laugh. He could tell he was not through annoying her.
"I was just trying to see what I can do!" Sam protested. He sounded like a whiney kid. Dean rolled his eyes.
"Well, don’t! You can hurt people," she snapped and turned around in her seat.
"Would you two freaks shut up?" Dean was tired of both of them.
"Jerk," Sam retorted.
"Bitch," Dean threw right back.
"As touched as I am by this display of brotherly affection, could both of y’all shut up?" Vera asked wearily.
"Darlin’," Dean began in a very bad attempt of the local accent, "you don’t wear sarcasm well. You should stop trying."
Vera just grunted in annoyance. She settled back down and seemed to be snoozing again.
Sam put his hand on the back of Dean’s neck. Dean had the sudden sense that Sam was about to do something amazingly stupid. He started to slow down the truck and tell Sam not to do whatever it was, but he did not have the chance.
He saw Sam's hand quickly dart out to touch Vera's neck. All at once Dean began to feel fear, loneliness, a desperate exhaustion and terror, as well as an almost deep concern for his and Sam's welfare. Dean was stunned at the depth of her feelings for them already.
Unfortunately, something inside of Vera snapped at that moment. It was like she was having a flashback.
"How dare you!" She screamed. Dean hit the brakes and caught Vera before she launched herself over the back seat at Sam. Dean killed the engine and threw the keys onto the floor. He grabbed her arms and pinned her against the passenger side door. Sam was horrified. He had felt a psychic lash poised to strike him for a split-second before Vera tried coming over the back seat at him. It was like she was on the verge of burning out his brain before she switched to a physical attack.
"Dean!" Sam yelled desperately. "Don’t grab her by the throat!" Sam realized that if he did she would lash out at him and he could be worse than dead. "Open your door!"
The front door of a crew cab had to be opened before the back doors could. Dean opened it quickly while trying to keep Vera from bolting after Sam. After it was open Sam ran up the road to Nora’s, stopping about 50 feet ahead of the truck.
Vera stopped struggling a few moments after Sam left the truck. She hung her head and was gasping for air when Dean shook her.
Vera felt like Sam had rather clumsily turned her whole brain inside out and she was suffering from a severe attack of vertigo. The world tilted around her. Dammit, he was too strong and she was too tired. Normally she would have been able to stop him. She had almost struck back reflexively. If she had done so, she could have killed him. He was too powerful, too sensitive and too open right now. She suddenly realized that Dean was shaking her and calling her name.
"What?" She asked in a daze. She did not want to open her eyes or move her head.
"Look at me," Dean demanded. Were all psychics as high strung as Vera and Sammy? He knew Sammy had done something wrong and Vera was hurt somehow.
"No," Vera mumbled. "I'll be sick. Just let me lie back." She pleaded. After a moment's hesitation Dean helped her lean back in her seat. She kept her eyes closed and head down the entire time. He cursed softly when he saw that her left hand was bleeding under the bandages.
When Dean got out of the truck Vera assumed it was to get Sam. She was trying to get her shields to work right again when she felt her door being opened. Someone was pulling her out of the truck.
"No," she said again, a bit more clearly than she had before.
"Sorry sweetheart," She heard Dean say. "But we’re not going anywhere until I’m sure you’re okay. We’re gonna do it outside the truck if you think you’re gonna puke."
She staggered a few steps before she felt her stomach turn itself inside out as well as her mind. Dean had to help her stand and was glad he had a strong stomach. He made a mental note to keep a supply of barf bags handy for Sammy. Psychics seemed to get sick on a regular basis.
Sam cautiously approached the two of them. He was relieved to feel that Vera was no longer on the verge of attacking him again.
"Come help me," Dean asked. "And don’t try getting into her brain again."
"Don’t worry about that," Sam muttered as he helped her to stay upright. Dean was forcing Vera’s head up.
"Open your eyes now," Dean ordered. Vera kept her eyes tightly shut shook her head slightly which caused her to dry heave.
"Come on, just for a second and you can close them again."
Vera opened her eyes for a split second but slammed them shut again. Dean saw that they were dialated but equal. He was releved. He was afraid she’d gotten a concussion.
"Light hurts?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. Just let me lie down for the rest of the trip. I’ll be okay. This happens sometimes."
Sam looked at Dean and nodded. They helped her in the back seat of the truck before continuing on to Nora’s.
* * *
Rattler and Nora were both sitting on the porch, waiting for Sam, Dean and Vera to arrive. Nora was knitting as usual, but Rattler was just sitting there, glancing nervously down the road. They could already see the truck coming up the mountain.
"Do you really think you need me here, Nora? I was a' thinkin' 'bout doing some 'sang gathering." Nora did not immediately answer.
"You know those young 'uns need both of us today. Both of the brothers have nigh killed that poor girl in the past two days, and they’ll not have ceased their squabbling until after they leave. You’re not leaving just because a few tears have been shed. I’ll take her in hand as soon as she gets here and leave the boys to you. I do have to say that I’m proud of the job Dean did back there. Keeping two fussing folks with the Sight calm after bumping heads with no lessons is quite an accomplishment."
Rattler nodded in agreement.
* * *
When the truck pulled up to Nora’s mailbox Dean was relieved. Sam should have known better. Hell, he knew better. Nora and Rattler met them at the gate.
Sam was surprised to see how elderly Nora Bonesteel and Rattler were. He expected them to be younger. Rattler had a serious expression on his face as he took him by the arm. Sam had the feeling that he had really screwed up.
"Dean, come help me get her up to the house. She’s sick and exhausted and needs a bit of tending to. Sam, you go with Rattler and you mind yourself," Nora said with a stern look to Sam.
Dean and Nora got Vera settled on a bed in one of the guest rooms quickly.
"You know where the kitchen is, Dean, get yourself something to drink while we take care of these two," Nora said when they were done.
Once again, Dean was relieved that he did not have to explain everything. While he was in the kitchen he heard Nora talking to Vera in the guest bedroom and saw Rattler with Sam in the garden through the kitchen window. Dean was torn. He had the opportunity to eavesdrop on both conversations. He decided to listen to Nora and Vera. There was a good chance that Sam would tell him what Rattler said. He eased himself out into the living room and to the couch. It was close enough to hear what was being said through the half open door.
"Now child," Dean heard Nora saying. "It doesn’t matter if the cat is white or black, a calico or a tabby all that matters is that it catches mice. You could have saved yourself a whole world of worry if you would have just came up here and spoken with me. You’ve tired yourself out trying to tend too many things all at once. I’m going to bring you in something to drink and then you should sleep a spell. We will talk later on this evening."
Vera’s response sounded like something between a sob and a laugh.
After Nora had brought a drink to Vera she came back into the living room to sit down with Dean.
"Seems that you have been busy since your last visit," Nora said placidly as she picked up her knitting. Dean groaned.
"It seems like ten years since I was up here the first time. Are Sammy and Vera going to be okay?"
"If Sammy starts respecting his gift and Vera quits trying to take on too much they should be fine. Son, you did a good job back there. It was a very dangerous situation. Between Sammy being so open and powerful and Vera being exhausted, they could have either killed or damaged each other back there. It is a good thing that Vera is so well trained. She could have blown little Sammy’s mind out with a single strike and if he had retaliated you could have had two bodies back there."
Dean felt a cold sweat prickle his back. He knew things had gotten out of hand, but it was that dangerous? He stared at Nora.
"What really happened back there?" Dean was not sure he wanted to know, but knew he must.
"Your brother forced his way into her mind and showed you what was there. It was like he had ripped her clothes off all at once. Most folks consider that an attack. She was tired and half asleep. She started to strike back but stopped herself." Dean was appalled.
"Why did he do that? Why is Vera so tired?" He was desperate to know the answer to both questions.
"Son, that is for them to tell you, not me. There are some other things that we need to talk about right now."
Dean just nodded.
"Folks with the Sight either tend to be hermits or need other folks to keep their feet on the ground. Rattler and I tend to keep to ourselves. We are both the last of our families. In families where the Sight runs strong there are folks born not only with the Sight, but folks who can help keep them grounded. You certainly have a talent for keeping Sighted folks safe. Like Rattler said, no matter how much your brother may fuss you are the leader of your Hunt group, however small it may be right now."
"Right now?" Dean asked quickly. Nora nodded.
"If you continue Hunting, there will be other folks who will join you." Nora stopped to look directly at him. "You may visit other groups and other Guardians, but you and your brother have too much talent to let yourselves be swallowed up by another group. You and Sammy are the beginning of a new line of Hunters, the founders of a new family. Blood may call to blood and there are Hunting and Guardian families that go back for nigh on a thousand years, but new blood is needed. You are a natural leader, for all of your cheek. That and you can keep more than one psychic, as you call them grounded all without any lessons."
Dean swallowed. For all of his cockiness, he never thought of himself as a leader. That was Dad’s job. This was getting scary.
"Vera said something close to what you are saying," Dean said slowly. "About psychics either being alone or needing people that can keep them grounded."
Nora Bonesteel nodded. "Like I said, she is well trained."
Dean’s mind seemed to be running away from him, bringing realizations almost faster than he could keep up with them. "Who trained Vera? She has a job in Hamelin. Who is keeping her grounded? We haven’t seen anyone around her. She just said that she has lived here for less than a year."
"Child," Nora said, "That’s another thing that you will have to ask her. These are not my things to tell."
"She said she trains people yesterday. Does she mean psychically? Who does she train?"
Nora Bonesteel was silent. Dean had the feeling that this was something else he would have to ask Vera and hope he got an answer. Vera was not very good at opening up. More fucking mysteries.
* * *
Rattler had taken Sam around the side of the house and past the vegetable garden and down a slight hill.
"Where are we going?" Sam asked.
"We’re almost there, boy," Rattler answered tersely.
Sam noticed that they were approaching what looked like a small graveyard. There were only about twenty gravestones. Some of them were no more than splinters of rock and others were so worn that the names and dates could barely be read. There were some shallow depressions that showed graves that had no headstone.
"Sammy," Rattler said softly, "this is the Bonesteel family graveyard. There are 'bout eight generations of Nora's family that have been enclosed in clay here. Her family's had the Sight for generations. They have protected these mountains for hundreds of years, along with my kin. We’ve used the Sight to protect, but it can be used to harm. It’s no lap baby's toy. You gotta learn that son, and learn it fast. The Sight can kill just as soon as keep folks alive as it. Do you understand?"
Sam hung his head in shame. He had been treating it like a toy. He had hurt Vera and she had almost killed him. Rattler’s quiet rebuke had more of an effect than being bitched out.
"Do you understand, son?" Rattler asked him again. Sam nodded his head.
"Let’s go sit on the porch a spell. We need to talk."
* * *
The afternoon was informative for both of the Winchester brothers, but not necessarily fun. Both of them received information about Hunting, their respective abilities and responsibilities. Both of then were a bit overwhelmed.
Sam was not happy with the fact that both Nora and Rattler told him that as far Hunting was concerned Dean was in charge.
Dean was also told in no uncertain terms that he was responsible for the safety of any of the people Hunting with them. Dean realized being in charge was a burden, not a power trip. Then things got really interesting just before dinner.
Vera woke up.
She groaned when she saw the position of the sun through the floor to ceiling windows in Nora Bonesteel’s living room.
"I was planning on being back long before now! I have things I need to take care of."
"Young lady, you sit down right there," Nora pointed to a chair next to the couch. "We are nowhere near through here tonight. You have been avoiding this for far too long because of your fears. I know you are tired and have too much on you, but there are folks offering help and you won’t take it." She didn’t sound unkind, but there was a note of steel in her voice. "You have responsibilities beyond what you are seeing right now and it is time you took them up."
Vera eyes widened.
"Uhhh, why don’t Sammy and I go look at the garden," Dean said nervously. Sam was already half out of his seat. Nora did not bother to shield much and this was not going to be good.
"You two stay put," Nora snapped. "This affects all of you. You men folk all want to run off the moment you think things are going to be unpleasant. Y’all have your own fears to face up to. All three of you are in this together."
"In what together?" Vera asked cautiously.
"There is an unclean spirit here. You know it and need to take care of it."
Vera shook her head despairingly and raised her hands palm up.
"I know there is but I can’t pinpoint it. I can’t take it alone. I’m not a Guardian or a Hunter!" There were tears in her eyes. "I’m not a strong psychic; I just teach the ones I come across who need it!"
Dean was surprised. She wasn’t a strong psychic? What about everything she had done to her office and their cabin?
There was a long silence in the room. The silence seemed to swell with growing realizations on Dean, Sam and Vera’s part. Nora Bonesteel just looked calmly at Vera. Sam and Dean kept looking between Nora, Vera and Rattler. Vera looked at Nora with growing horror.
"No," Vera whispered. She managed to put a whole world of denial, grief and panic into that one word.
"You know, child. You can feel it in your bones. Why did you come back here if you didn’t?" Nora said gently.
Dean watched all of this like a hawk ready to strike.
"But we came here to retire. It was only by chance that we found the farm and could come here early. It was a fluke that the library job came open." Vera was actually trembling when she said this, her voice broken and tears spilling over. "I only train people. That’s all I do. I’m already 44. How can I start being a Guardian now?"
Sam and Dean looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Vera was 44?
"Each step you have taken has brought you closer to this. You became a priestess. You learned how to use the Sight. You studied under many different teachers. You became a teacher yourself and know how the world is changing. You understand the old ways because of your family. You understand the ways of the newcomers. The farm and your job brought you here as Rattler and I are getting too old to protect these mountains. It is your burden to pick up now. I am almost ninety. You may be 44 years old, but there is no reason that you can’t be a Guardian for another 44."
"No," Vera squeezed out the word through her tears. "I’m not strong enough. Guardians are the strongest of their generation. I can name a half dozen who are stronger than me. Even Sam is stronger than me. How can I give these people the protection they need?"
"You may not be one of the strongest of your generation," Nora said quietly. "But you are one of the best trained and most knowledable. You are stronger here than anyplace else in the world. You haven’t been here long enough yet to know it."
"What do you mean?" Dean interrupted. He had to understand this. Nora glanced at him. Vera hid her tearstained face in her hands.
"Blood calls to blood. The Kesterson family has lived in these mountains, fought and bled for these mountains, farmed the soil here and buried their dead in it for centuries. The very bones of the earth here have entwined with the blood of the Kesterson’s. Vera’s family has a strong strand of Cherokee blood. Her family has lived in this land for thousands of years. The blood of her kin gives her more power in these mountains than anywhere on earth. She may not be very strong outside of this land, but here she is very strong. Besides, you have something that almost all Guardians have in addition to the Sight. You have faith."
"What does that have to do with us?" Dean asked.
"With her range of knowledge and the strength that she can tap from this land, she is the best possible teacher for your brother. She can bring him into his full potential as no other teacher can. Since he is here, it is her responsibility to train him, same as it is your responsibility to help her with the unclean spirit. She is a Guardian and you are Hunters. You have a mutual responsibility to one another. All three of you need to acknowledge it and stop trying to kill and deceive one another."
Dean was about to speak when he felt Sam’s hand on his wrist.
"But there are two of you acting as Guardians now," Sam said slowly. "Why is Vera alone? You said that there are a lot of new people moving here. Why doesn’t she have anyone to help her?" Vera looked up at Sam and Dean.
"She has folks to help her, but some are away on their own troubles right now. There is someone else who wants to help her, but she won’t let him." Nora said with a sad nod. "Guardians and Hunters both are usually tempered by fire in the beginning. Like you two, she will have others coming to help her. She is to be the leader of the new Guardian group here same as you are the leader of the new Hunt group." Nora said with a nod to Dean.
"Jay," Sam said with sudden understanding. "That’s who wants to help, but she won’t let him."
"I can’t let him come up here right now." Vera said in a firm but cold voice. "I won’t expose him to this. He’s too young."
"Bullshit," Dean burst out. "Sammy’s only a few years older than him."
"And he has been with a Hunt group since before he could walk. Jay doesn’t have that experience," Vera snapped back. Her eyes may be red and her face tearstained, but her wits were sharp and her voice bitter.
"How else is he supposed to learn?" Dean responded.
"Learn what?" Vera asked scathingly.
"To be a Guardian. Nora says it runs in families."
"No!" Vera said with a note of panic in her voice.
Dean could tell that she had not thought of this. "Jay won’t be a Guardian. He won’t be trapped in this life! I have no children and he is my brother’s only child!" She stood up and began to pace restlessly.
"Child, if your nephew wants to be a Guardian he will be. You’d best train him. You and he are the beginning of a new Guardian family same as Sam and Dean are the beginnings of a new Hunt family. You know your nephew will embrace this with a glad heart."
As had happened in his last visit, Dean had the feeling that Nora almost said more but decided not to. He glanced at Sam. He had caught it as well. They exchanged a significant look.
"Why are you so tired?" Dean asked suddenly. "Where are the people who are supposed to help you? We know almost nothing about you." Vera laughed bitterly again. Dean saw the dark shadows under her eyes for the first time.
"Why do you care? You’ll finish up this 'job' and be gone again as soon as your brother is trained. You left Jay holding the bag in Chattanooga. You’re not very good at cleaning up the messes you make."
Dean stood up to confront her for the second time in two days.
"Are you anything but smoke and mirrors lady? I know what Sammy and I felt. You care for us and you’re worried about us." Vera turned to face him.
"How dare you," she growled in a voice barely above a whisper. "How dare you use what Sam took from me and showed to you?" Her head was pounding and her stomach was churning. She was incredibly angry and wanted to lash out. These people were getting painfully close to her.
Sam looked at Nora and Rattler. He could feel flashes of Vera’s emotions and he could always feel his brother. Vera was exhausted and desperate, Dean was furious and desperate himself to understand her. The situation was about to explode between the two of them again but they seemed unconcerned. Rattler was actually smiling.
For just a second he had a vision. A glimpse into the future. He was sitting on a large, screened in back porch with all of the people here, with Jay and some others he did not recognize. It was a warm evening, and the air was sweet. But what struck him most were the emotions of that vision.
He was happy. He was whole.
Then Sam realized he and Dean were not going to leave here and never come back.
This was going to be their Hunting base. This was going to become their home.
Nora smiled at him. Rattler winked.
Sam opened his mouth to try to diffuse the argument between the new Hunt and Guardian leaders but decided not to. They probably would not listen to him anyways.
Sam had just learned one of the most important lessons for a psychic.
People did not always want to know what you saw. Sometimes you just had to guide them to it.
Sam’s brow furrowed as he watched them. In some ways Vera and his brother were a lot alike. Both of them were very dedicated to their families. Vera was highly trained, Sam was sure that Dean would not rest until he had every bit of training he could get. Both were obviously leaders. Vera was a strong psychic but would not strike out against Dean, no matter how angry she got with him. Dean wouldn’t attack Vera because he was a fighter and she was not. It was a question of honor for both of them. He realized that this would probably be one of many arguments between these two. Sam decided to just settle back and let them go at it.
Dean could not understand what was wrong with this woman. All he wanted to know was who she really was. Why was she hiding so much from them?
"Hell!" Dean was yelling. Again. "We don’t know who you are, we don’t know what you know about this thing, and with all of your magic crap I’m not even sure what you really look like! What is so hard about letting us know anything about you?"
"To know, to will, to dare and to keep silent. Silence is power." Was all she said.
The more he pushed the less Vera wanted to tell him. She was exhausted and did not want to be having this conversation right now. The nap she took was mainly a reaction to Sam fucking with her mind and did not make her feel any better. She still had a headache and her stomach was still cramping. Vera was barely hanging on, and she still had work to do tonight. She just did not feel up to dealing with the situation or this brash, smart-assed pretty boy. She collapsed back into her chair and closed her eyes. This did not help, as Dean was now towering over her, and if anything he was getting louder. Why could he not understand that she was just too tired to try to explain? She was trying to tune Dean out. He was just noise now.
More noise and something hitting her shoulder. She tried to ignore it. Something grabbed her shoulder and shook her. Fuck ‘em. She was comfy and sleep was beginning to slide back over her. The hand on her shoulder dug its fingers in painfully, hard enough to bruise. She reluctantly opened her eyes.
"...you home," Dean was saying. Growling, actually. He seemed pretty pissed off and his face was set, like he had just made a decision.
"Could you not break my shoulder?" Vera wearily asked. At this point she did not really care what he was saying.
"Did you hear what I said?"
"Oh, was that you bellowing a few moments ago?" Vera asked as she closed her eyes again. The fingers on her shoulders pinched hard enough to make her yelp.
"Wake up!" Dean was yelling. He was not letting up on the pressure he was applying to her shoulder. Dean did not need to be a psychic to understand something was wrong with her. Was it from what Sammy had done earlier? It was taking him yelling at her and almost crushing her shoulder to get her to wake enough for him to talk to her.
"What?" Vera asked again.
Damn it, her eyes were not focusing. Dean wondered if he was going to spend the rest of his life caring for sick psychics?
"I’m taking you home. Sam and I’ll take care of whatever it is you need to do at your place. Tomorrow is Saturday. Do you have to be anyplace you have to be?"
"No," she said. Her voice was becoming slurred. "You’re hurting me. I don’t want you.
"Too bad sweetheart," Dean said in a sharp and sarcastic voice. "Your grounds are gone and Sammy fucked up your brain. Nora and Rattler insist I’m the Hunt leader and Sammy and I are the only Hunters up here right now. Hunters and Guardians are supposed to help each other, and you’re about to fall out of your chair. I’m pulling rank. I’m in charge, and tomorrow I’m getting some answers out of you."
"Supper’s been ready for a while," Nora spoke up. "Why don’t you put her back in the guestroom? The rest of us will have a bite of supper and we’ll see if we can get some soup and a bit of bread into Vera before you take her home."
Chapter 7: The Clinging, Fire Joins Fire
(paintercrow starts co-authoring later in the story)
Summary: Family ties mean more then even Sam and Dean realized.
Rating/Warning: Mature (NC-17), Warnings for story overall. Swearing (most chapters). Rape and torture chapters have separate warnings. Character deaths (Ballad novels/OCs). Sex--both hetero and homosexual.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Supernatural or Ballad novel story elements.
Death in Appalachia, Chapter 6: Blood Calls to Blood
Summary: Family ties mean more then even Sam and Dean realized.
"Do you think anything strange happened back there?" Sam asked as they were driving back to the KOA.
"Dude! What part of that wasn’t strange! I’ve said from the beginning that we’ve fallen through a black hole and into the friggin’ Twilight Zone! Jay is her nephew! Shit!" Dean was agitated enough not to turn on the radio, much to Sam’s relief. No mullet rock.
"I mean when we walked into her office."
"Sammy, the entire time we were in her office it was strange. It was like we fell out of the space time continuum and into another dimension. I’m not sure that she’s even human."
"It’s Sam. And yes, she's human, and she's scared shitless."
"How do you know?"
"Because when I was picking glass out of her hair and touching her I could feel what she was feeling."
"Can you tell why?"
"No, it’s not like I can read her mind, I can just feel what she’s feeling. What I was saying is that didn’t her office feel strange? Kind of like it was sound proofed or muffled or something. I kept seeing things in there, too. Symbols and little animals, they looked like 'Day-Glo', but I could only see them out of the corner of my eye. I wished that I could have stayed longer to look at them. Some of the symbols looked like the ones she put around the cabin. I want to take a look at them when we get back. She also did this thing where she kind of wrapped herself into some kind of blanket to keep from feeling other people and to keep other people from feeling her." Sam seemed very thoughtful, but he had a brighter expression on his face.
"Sammy, what about all this other shit? What the hell is an eclect neo-whatever anyways? Why didn’t she let Roscoe back there arrest us? Why wouldn’t she go to the hospital? If her hand gets infected, she might not be able to use it."
Sam smacked him on the back of the head.
"It’s Sam. Vera might be scared, but she knows a lot. I think she was telling us the truth."
Dean glanced at his brother as he drove. Sammy was acting more like himself than he had in weeks, but there was an added dimension, like there was a deepening of his character. Dean began to worry that he might be losing his brother in another way. Would he be sucked into some weird world of psychics that he could never understand?
* * *
After Sam and Dean had left, Vera sat back down at her desk and put her face in her hands, feeling the rough bandages across her palm against her cheek. Her body shook with silent sobs, but no tears came.
Jay, her only brother's only child, had been expelled from college because he had helped these two brothers steal Cherokee artifacts from the UTC archaeology lab. There were other ways that they could have gotten to those artifacts that would not have implicated Jay. She knew. She had been anthropology major at that school when she was an undergraduate. Why hadn’t Jay called her? Vera knew the answer; he wanted his Aunt Vera to be proud of him.
Their psychic abilities were a secret between them since he was a child. Lisa, Jay's mother and Vera's sister-in-law, was a born-again Christian that detested Vera as a 'satan-worshiper.' She was the only one he confided in that he was bisexual. Vera did not have children and never would. Jay was one of the most precious people in the world to her. She had managed to keep him out of jail thanks to the fact that she was an alumnus, but what about the rest of his future?
Her coven mates were gone and she missed them terribly. The pleasure trips they had taken had turned into family emergencies. She was physically tired from trying to keep up with all the farm work on her own. There were demons roaming the area that she did not know how to stop. The Hunters that had responded to her call were only half-trained at best and she had to do emergency training with the strongest psychic she had ever seen before he went insane or hurt someone.
Sam was strong enough to get through her shields just by touching her. Now she was going to have to 'out' herself as a Pagan and magician to one of the most respected Christian Seers alive and face the fall out.
And every Goddess-be-damned personal tarot reading she had done for the past three months had the Wheel of Fortune card pop up. The card of fate, and something that could not be changed. Karma. But the general reading she had been doing all indicated a time of extreme danger and mutual dependence on others. The signs from the oracles seemed to be contradictory, something was fated for her, but the situation around her was fluid and dangerous. She was in more danger she had ever been in her life.
Vera took a deep breath. She was a priestess of the Old Gods and honor bound to do whatever it took to both help Sam and to destroy the creature that was killing in her backyard. No matter how high the personal cost.
* * *
The rest of Sam and Dean's day was quiet. Sam poked around the outside of the cabin and seemed to have a good time doing it. He made complex sketches of all the symbols and found a few that Dean had missed. It was like seeing Vera had been a major revelation for him. It had given him hope and now he was playing with his abilities like a kid with a new toy. He was enthusiastic about their trip to see Nora the next day.
Dean hung back and watched. One part of him was glad that Sammy was feeling better and another part of him was filled with a hollow ache. Everyone had left him, he really had no friends or close relationships with anyone other than Sammy, and he might lose him as well. Dad had died just a few months before but he had put off his own grieving, first for revenge and now because Sammy was sick. Now they knew about Hunt families and he was sure Sammy would settle with one of them eventually.
As they got ready for bed that evening Sam began to feel Dean’s rather complex emotions. He frowned. He could feel emotions but not the thoughts nor the reasons behind them. Sam reached out and took Dean's arm. Dean could feel Sam's concern for him. It irritated him, he did not want his pity.
"What is it Sammy?"
"I know you’re upset. I can feel it. It hurts me too."
"Shit, can’t I have a private thought? What’s next, a Jamaican accent?"
"No, not right now, not until I get trained. And even then, maybe never," Sam gave him an odd smile. "Blood calls to blood."
Dean realized that Sam was uncertain of the future, too. He was also afraid things would change too much between them. Was that why Sam was touching his arm? To let him feel his emotions?
Dean let lose a tirade on how unfair the situation was. About Dad leaving and then dying. About how lonely he was on the road. How it was unfair that he stayed with Dad and did not have a life outside of hunting. How Sam had got to go off to college and party. How he had spent so much of his life caring for him, back from the very day Mom died. Throughout it all, Sam never let go of his grip on Dean's arm and Dean did not try to pull away. Sam was angry about some of the things he said, but let them pass. Right now he needed Dean and knew he had to let him talk.
When Dean was through and gasping from purging himself of long suppressed emotions, Sammy let go of Dean's arm. Sam pulled Dean into bed with him, checking to be sure a roll of paper towels was on the small bed side table between the two beds. He had spent so much time crying over the past several days Dean kept them close by in case he had another crying fit. He was pretty sure Dean would need them next.
There was nothing sexual about the two of them curling up together on one bed. They had shared a bed on and off ever since Sam could remember. But, it had been over 10 years now. It was more about closeness and the natural need of all humans to touch and be touched. It was also about letting Dean feel Sam the same way Sam could feel Dean. Sam did not want Dean to feel left out or not be able to understand what he was experiencing. It was also about sharing grief and pain, fears and hopes of the future.
Before long they were both crying, but it was a release, not a trauma. It did not quiet all of their fears nor remove their grief, but neither of them felt as stressed as they had before. After they had both calmed down Dean stood up to move to his own bed. Sam reached out and took his arm in a loose grip.
"Dean, you can touch me any time you need to. I don’t want this to come between us. There is too much going on. We have to stay together."
"Even when you’re feeling not so fresh?"
Sam rolled his eyes and threw his pillow at him.
"Jerk!"
* * *
Deputy LeDonne was not happy about the two drifters. He decided to spend some of his own time checking up on them. He had lived in Wake County for about 12 years now, but he loved this small town as much as he had been born here. He had been estranged from his family for years now, but Wake County had made him welcome.
He had been hiking the Appalachian Trail after finishing up an eight year stint in the army as an MP. He stopped off at the Rice’s KOA and stayed in Wake County. Spencer had given him a job as a cop. He might be 'new', but he respected the 'old' community.
LeDonne was usually dispatched on calls when there were problems between the old families, no one could accuse him of favoring one over the other due to centuries long conflicts. He admired and respected Dr. Kesterson, and would not let anything happen to her.
* * *
Both the brothers and Vera got to the library about an hour early the next day. Dean and Sam got quite a shock. They did not know what type of car she drove, but they did not expect it to be a 1999 Ford F-250 Crew Cab.
"What are you two doing here early?" Vera asked as she got out of the truck. She still looked the way she had in her office the day before. Today she was dressed in work boots, shorts and a tank top. She might be older than them, but Dean still had to admire her appearance. She had the muscle definition that came from actually doing hard manual labor, not working out in the gym.
"Sammy here is acting like a kid on a sugar high to get up to see Nora. I finally got tired of him so we came down to see if you’re ready to go yet."
Vera approached them so she could talk a bit more privately. Sam slapped him on the back of the head again.
"It’s Sam!"
"Sam, quit hitting your brother and get into my office and stay there until we’re ready to leave. I have a few things to do before we go. Nice attempt at shielding, but don’t think you have it down just because you’ve seen me do it."
Before Sam could say anything, Dean’s natural defensiveness of his brother popped up.
"Who gave you the authority to start giving orders?"
Sam rolled his eyes. Shit, were they ever going to stop fighting?
"When Sam became my responsibility to train. Both of you get used to it. Sam could become a burned out, blithering idiot. Right now you two are more of a burden than an asset. I’d appreciate it if y’all gave me as little hassle as possible until we get whatever is out there." She started to turn away, but then turned back and looked Dean square in the eye.
"Oh, and Dean, just one thing. If you ever try to hurt me again, I’ll have your balls to hang off my rear view mirror."
"Thanks for the warning Loreena."
Vera glared at him but walked off.
Dean gritted his teeth on all the other things he wanted to say. As much as he did not want to admit it, she had the upper hand. For now.
Once they got in her office, Dean closed the blinds and began going through her desk.
"Dean, what are you doing? She could walk in any second!"
"Keep a look out for her. Think of it as practice. You can feel her, right?"
"No Dean, I can’t! Most of the time it’s like she’s not there!"
"We know almost nothing about her. I’ll be through in just a few seconds."
"I told you I trust her!"
"Sammy, how do you know that she didn’t do something to make you trust her? You’re new to all this. I’m not going to trust her until Nora says so."
"What about what Ravenmocker told you?"
"For all I know she sent him."
They found a recent photo of Jay on her desk along with a few others, but there was nothing but work-related papers in her desk.
Sam kept giving Dean dirty looks but spent the rest of the time trying to see and touch the symbols he could almost sense.
When Vera walked in, she looked both annoyed and amused. She shut the door behind her.
"Lesson number one. When dealing with people who use any type of magic, we can tell when our wards, or magical alarms, have been tampered with. Some can have magical or psychic traps. Sam will learn how to do this later on. By the way, did you find anything that interested you in my desk?"
Sam turned red. "Sorry," he said.
"Don’t be. Except not knowing about the wards, going through my desk was a good idea. You really don’t know me. As Hunters, you have to be careful to stay alive. Just because someone looks human that doesn’t mean they are, but you already know that."
Dean frowned. This woman annoyed the hell out of him. Then she did something else unexpected. She gave him the keys to her truck.
"I thought you said you were driving?" Dean asked. He went through her desk and she is not pissed, and now she was giving him her keys. Were these people ever going to stop confusing him?
"I was, but my hand is killing me. You can drive my truck. There is no way in hell I’m rattling around like a pea in a pod in the back of your Impala for 10 miles up a dirt road."
* * *
The mood in the truck was one of overall annoyance. Vera insisted on riding shotgun, so they had to put up with Sam bitching about the back seat. Vera seemed totally unconcerned by this. She had put on sunglasses from the time they got into the truck and leaned back in her seat.
Dean strongly suspected that she had fallen asleep. Sam reached over the back seat to touch Vera.
"Don’t touch me," Vera said flatly.
"But it’s the only way I can feel you!"
"Yes, it’s called privacy. I’m going to have to teach you psychic etiquette before we do anything else."
"What, there’s a Miss Manners for psychics?" Sam laughed.
"Yes, there is. Now stop it." Vera seemed to settle back into a light doze. The truck was quiet for a few moments before Vera turned in her seat and smacked Sam's hand. "I said stop touching me!"
"I wasn’t touching you. I was just feeling that blanket thing you have around you," Sam said innocently.
"That’s my aura and shields. That’s the same as touching me."
Dean glanced at them. Vera looked furious and Sam was trying not to laugh. He could tell he was not through annoying her.
"I was just trying to see what I can do!" Sam protested. He sounded like a whiney kid. Dean rolled his eyes.
"Well, don’t! You can hurt people," she snapped and turned around in her seat.
"Would you two freaks shut up?" Dean was tired of both of them.
"Jerk," Sam retorted.
"Bitch," Dean threw right back.
"As touched as I am by this display of brotherly affection, could both of y’all shut up?" Vera asked wearily.
"Darlin’," Dean began in a very bad attempt of the local accent, "you don’t wear sarcasm well. You should stop trying."
Vera just grunted in annoyance. She settled back down and seemed to be snoozing again.
Sam put his hand on the back of Dean’s neck. Dean had the sudden sense that Sam was about to do something amazingly stupid. He started to slow down the truck and tell Sam not to do whatever it was, but he did not have the chance.
He saw Sam's hand quickly dart out to touch Vera's neck. All at once Dean began to feel fear, loneliness, a desperate exhaustion and terror, as well as an almost deep concern for his and Sam's welfare. Dean was stunned at the depth of her feelings for them already.
Unfortunately, something inside of Vera snapped at that moment. It was like she was having a flashback.
"How dare you!" She screamed. Dean hit the brakes and caught Vera before she launched herself over the back seat at Sam. Dean killed the engine and threw the keys onto the floor. He grabbed her arms and pinned her against the passenger side door. Sam was horrified. He had felt a psychic lash poised to strike him for a split-second before Vera tried coming over the back seat at him. It was like she was on the verge of burning out his brain before she switched to a physical attack.
"Dean!" Sam yelled desperately. "Don’t grab her by the throat!" Sam realized that if he did she would lash out at him and he could be worse than dead. "Open your door!"
The front door of a crew cab had to be opened before the back doors could. Dean opened it quickly while trying to keep Vera from bolting after Sam. After it was open Sam ran up the road to Nora’s, stopping about 50 feet ahead of the truck.
Vera stopped struggling a few moments after Sam left the truck. She hung her head and was gasping for air when Dean shook her.
Vera felt like Sam had rather clumsily turned her whole brain inside out and she was suffering from a severe attack of vertigo. The world tilted around her. Dammit, he was too strong and she was too tired. Normally she would have been able to stop him. She had almost struck back reflexively. If she had done so, she could have killed him. He was too powerful, too sensitive and too open right now. She suddenly realized that Dean was shaking her and calling her name.
"What?" She asked in a daze. She did not want to open her eyes or move her head.
"Look at me," Dean demanded. Were all psychics as high strung as Vera and Sammy? He knew Sammy had done something wrong and Vera was hurt somehow.
"No," Vera mumbled. "I'll be sick. Just let me lie back." She pleaded. After a moment's hesitation Dean helped her lean back in her seat. She kept her eyes closed and head down the entire time. He cursed softly when he saw that her left hand was bleeding under the bandages.
When Dean got out of the truck Vera assumed it was to get Sam. She was trying to get her shields to work right again when she felt her door being opened. Someone was pulling her out of the truck.
"No," she said again, a bit more clearly than she had before.
"Sorry sweetheart," She heard Dean say. "But we’re not going anywhere until I’m sure you’re okay. We’re gonna do it outside the truck if you think you’re gonna puke."
She staggered a few steps before she felt her stomach turn itself inside out as well as her mind. Dean had to help her stand and was glad he had a strong stomach. He made a mental note to keep a supply of barf bags handy for Sammy. Psychics seemed to get sick on a regular basis.
Sam cautiously approached the two of them. He was relieved to feel that Vera was no longer on the verge of attacking him again.
"Come help me," Dean asked. "And don’t try getting into her brain again."
"Don’t worry about that," Sam muttered as he helped her to stay upright. Dean was forcing Vera’s head up.
"Open your eyes now," Dean ordered. Vera kept her eyes tightly shut shook her head slightly which caused her to dry heave.
"Come on, just for a second and you can close them again."
Vera opened her eyes for a split second but slammed them shut again. Dean saw that they were dialated but equal. He was releved. He was afraid she’d gotten a concussion.
"Light hurts?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. Just let me lie down for the rest of the trip. I’ll be okay. This happens sometimes."
Sam looked at Dean and nodded. They helped her in the back seat of the truck before continuing on to Nora’s.
* * *
Rattler and Nora were both sitting on the porch, waiting for Sam, Dean and Vera to arrive. Nora was knitting as usual, but Rattler was just sitting there, glancing nervously down the road. They could already see the truck coming up the mountain.
"Do you really think you need me here, Nora? I was a' thinkin' 'bout doing some 'sang gathering." Nora did not immediately answer.
"You know those young 'uns need both of us today. Both of the brothers have nigh killed that poor girl in the past two days, and they’ll not have ceased their squabbling until after they leave. You’re not leaving just because a few tears have been shed. I’ll take her in hand as soon as she gets here and leave the boys to you. I do have to say that I’m proud of the job Dean did back there. Keeping two fussing folks with the Sight calm after bumping heads with no lessons is quite an accomplishment."
Rattler nodded in agreement.
* * *
When the truck pulled up to Nora’s mailbox Dean was relieved. Sam should have known better. Hell, he knew better. Nora and Rattler met them at the gate.
Sam was surprised to see how elderly Nora Bonesteel and Rattler were. He expected them to be younger. Rattler had a serious expression on his face as he took him by the arm. Sam had the feeling that he had really screwed up.
"Dean, come help me get her up to the house. She’s sick and exhausted and needs a bit of tending to. Sam, you go with Rattler and you mind yourself," Nora said with a stern look to Sam.
Dean and Nora got Vera settled on a bed in one of the guest rooms quickly.
"You know where the kitchen is, Dean, get yourself something to drink while we take care of these two," Nora said when they were done.
Once again, Dean was relieved that he did not have to explain everything. While he was in the kitchen he heard Nora talking to Vera in the guest bedroom and saw Rattler with Sam in the garden through the kitchen window. Dean was torn. He had the opportunity to eavesdrop on both conversations. He decided to listen to Nora and Vera. There was a good chance that Sam would tell him what Rattler said. He eased himself out into the living room and to the couch. It was close enough to hear what was being said through the half open door.
"Now child," Dean heard Nora saying. "It doesn’t matter if the cat is white or black, a calico or a tabby all that matters is that it catches mice. You could have saved yourself a whole world of worry if you would have just came up here and spoken with me. You’ve tired yourself out trying to tend too many things all at once. I’m going to bring you in something to drink and then you should sleep a spell. We will talk later on this evening."
Vera’s response sounded like something between a sob and a laugh.
After Nora had brought a drink to Vera she came back into the living room to sit down with Dean.
"Seems that you have been busy since your last visit," Nora said placidly as she picked up her knitting. Dean groaned.
"It seems like ten years since I was up here the first time. Are Sammy and Vera going to be okay?"
"If Sammy starts respecting his gift and Vera quits trying to take on too much they should be fine. Son, you did a good job back there. It was a very dangerous situation. Between Sammy being so open and powerful and Vera being exhausted, they could have either killed or damaged each other back there. It is a good thing that Vera is so well trained. She could have blown little Sammy’s mind out with a single strike and if he had retaliated you could have had two bodies back there."
Dean felt a cold sweat prickle his back. He knew things had gotten out of hand, but it was that dangerous? He stared at Nora.
"What really happened back there?" Dean was not sure he wanted to know, but knew he must.
"Your brother forced his way into her mind and showed you what was there. It was like he had ripped her clothes off all at once. Most folks consider that an attack. She was tired and half asleep. She started to strike back but stopped herself." Dean was appalled.
"Why did he do that? Why is Vera so tired?" He was desperate to know the answer to both questions.
"Son, that is for them to tell you, not me. There are some other things that we need to talk about right now."
Dean just nodded.
"Folks with the Sight either tend to be hermits or need other folks to keep their feet on the ground. Rattler and I tend to keep to ourselves. We are both the last of our families. In families where the Sight runs strong there are folks born not only with the Sight, but folks who can help keep them grounded. You certainly have a talent for keeping Sighted folks safe. Like Rattler said, no matter how much your brother may fuss you are the leader of your Hunt group, however small it may be right now."
"Right now?" Dean asked quickly. Nora nodded.
"If you continue Hunting, there will be other folks who will join you." Nora stopped to look directly at him. "You may visit other groups and other Guardians, but you and your brother have too much talent to let yourselves be swallowed up by another group. You and Sammy are the beginning of a new line of Hunters, the founders of a new family. Blood may call to blood and there are Hunting and Guardian families that go back for nigh on a thousand years, but new blood is needed. You are a natural leader, for all of your cheek. That and you can keep more than one psychic, as you call them grounded all without any lessons."
Dean swallowed. For all of his cockiness, he never thought of himself as a leader. That was Dad’s job. This was getting scary.
"Vera said something close to what you are saying," Dean said slowly. "About psychics either being alone or needing people that can keep them grounded."
Nora Bonesteel nodded. "Like I said, she is well trained."
Dean’s mind seemed to be running away from him, bringing realizations almost faster than he could keep up with them. "Who trained Vera? She has a job in Hamelin. Who is keeping her grounded? We haven’t seen anyone around her. She just said that she has lived here for less than a year."
"Child," Nora said, "That’s another thing that you will have to ask her. These are not my things to tell."
"She said she trains people yesterday. Does she mean psychically? Who does she train?"
Nora Bonesteel was silent. Dean had the feeling that this was something else he would have to ask Vera and hope he got an answer. Vera was not very good at opening up. More fucking mysteries.
* * *
Rattler had taken Sam around the side of the house and past the vegetable garden and down a slight hill.
"Where are we going?" Sam asked.
"We’re almost there, boy," Rattler answered tersely.
Sam noticed that they were approaching what looked like a small graveyard. There were only about twenty gravestones. Some of them were no more than splinters of rock and others were so worn that the names and dates could barely be read. There were some shallow depressions that showed graves that had no headstone.
"Sammy," Rattler said softly, "this is the Bonesteel family graveyard. There are 'bout eight generations of Nora's family that have been enclosed in clay here. Her family's had the Sight for generations. They have protected these mountains for hundreds of years, along with my kin. We’ve used the Sight to protect, but it can be used to harm. It’s no lap baby's toy. You gotta learn that son, and learn it fast. The Sight can kill just as soon as keep folks alive as it. Do you understand?"
Sam hung his head in shame. He had been treating it like a toy. He had hurt Vera and she had almost killed him. Rattler’s quiet rebuke had more of an effect than being bitched out.
"Do you understand, son?" Rattler asked him again. Sam nodded his head.
"Let’s go sit on the porch a spell. We need to talk."
* * *
The afternoon was informative for both of the Winchester brothers, but not necessarily fun. Both of them received information about Hunting, their respective abilities and responsibilities. Both of then were a bit overwhelmed.
Sam was not happy with the fact that both Nora and Rattler told him that as far Hunting was concerned Dean was in charge.
Dean was also told in no uncertain terms that he was responsible for the safety of any of the people Hunting with them. Dean realized being in charge was a burden, not a power trip. Then things got really interesting just before dinner.
Vera woke up.
She groaned when she saw the position of the sun through the floor to ceiling windows in Nora Bonesteel’s living room.
"I was planning on being back long before now! I have things I need to take care of."
"Young lady, you sit down right there," Nora pointed to a chair next to the couch. "We are nowhere near through here tonight. You have been avoiding this for far too long because of your fears. I know you are tired and have too much on you, but there are folks offering help and you won’t take it." She didn’t sound unkind, but there was a note of steel in her voice. "You have responsibilities beyond what you are seeing right now and it is time you took them up."
Vera eyes widened.
"Uhhh, why don’t Sammy and I go look at the garden," Dean said nervously. Sam was already half out of his seat. Nora did not bother to shield much and this was not going to be good.
"You two stay put," Nora snapped. "This affects all of you. You men folk all want to run off the moment you think things are going to be unpleasant. Y’all have your own fears to face up to. All three of you are in this together."
"In what together?" Vera asked cautiously.
"There is an unclean spirit here. You know it and need to take care of it."
Vera shook her head despairingly and raised her hands palm up.
"I know there is but I can’t pinpoint it. I can’t take it alone. I’m not a Guardian or a Hunter!" There were tears in her eyes. "I’m not a strong psychic; I just teach the ones I come across who need it!"
Dean was surprised. She wasn’t a strong psychic? What about everything she had done to her office and their cabin?
There was a long silence in the room. The silence seemed to swell with growing realizations on Dean, Sam and Vera’s part. Nora Bonesteel just looked calmly at Vera. Sam and Dean kept looking between Nora, Vera and Rattler. Vera looked at Nora with growing horror.
"No," Vera whispered. She managed to put a whole world of denial, grief and panic into that one word.
"You know, child. You can feel it in your bones. Why did you come back here if you didn’t?" Nora said gently.
Dean watched all of this like a hawk ready to strike.
"But we came here to retire. It was only by chance that we found the farm and could come here early. It was a fluke that the library job came open." Vera was actually trembling when she said this, her voice broken and tears spilling over. "I only train people. That’s all I do. I’m already 44. How can I start being a Guardian now?"
Sam and Dean looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Vera was 44?
"Each step you have taken has brought you closer to this. You became a priestess. You learned how to use the Sight. You studied under many different teachers. You became a teacher yourself and know how the world is changing. You understand the old ways because of your family. You understand the ways of the newcomers. The farm and your job brought you here as Rattler and I are getting too old to protect these mountains. It is your burden to pick up now. I am almost ninety. You may be 44 years old, but there is no reason that you can’t be a Guardian for another 44."
"No," Vera squeezed out the word through her tears. "I’m not strong enough. Guardians are the strongest of their generation. I can name a half dozen who are stronger than me. Even Sam is stronger than me. How can I give these people the protection they need?"
"You may not be one of the strongest of your generation," Nora said quietly. "But you are one of the best trained and most knowledable. You are stronger here than anyplace else in the world. You haven’t been here long enough yet to know it."
"What do you mean?" Dean interrupted. He had to understand this. Nora glanced at him. Vera hid her tearstained face in her hands.
"Blood calls to blood. The Kesterson family has lived in these mountains, fought and bled for these mountains, farmed the soil here and buried their dead in it for centuries. The very bones of the earth here have entwined with the blood of the Kesterson’s. Vera’s family has a strong strand of Cherokee blood. Her family has lived in this land for thousands of years. The blood of her kin gives her more power in these mountains than anywhere on earth. She may not be very strong outside of this land, but here she is very strong. Besides, you have something that almost all Guardians have in addition to the Sight. You have faith."
"What does that have to do with us?" Dean asked.
"With her range of knowledge and the strength that she can tap from this land, she is the best possible teacher for your brother. She can bring him into his full potential as no other teacher can. Since he is here, it is her responsibility to train him, same as it is your responsibility to help her with the unclean spirit. She is a Guardian and you are Hunters. You have a mutual responsibility to one another. All three of you need to acknowledge it and stop trying to kill and deceive one another."
Dean was about to speak when he felt Sam’s hand on his wrist.
"But there are two of you acting as Guardians now," Sam said slowly. "Why is Vera alone? You said that there are a lot of new people moving here. Why doesn’t she have anyone to help her?" Vera looked up at Sam and Dean.
"She has folks to help her, but some are away on their own troubles right now. There is someone else who wants to help her, but she won’t let him." Nora said with a sad nod. "Guardians and Hunters both are usually tempered by fire in the beginning. Like you two, she will have others coming to help her. She is to be the leader of the new Guardian group here same as you are the leader of the new Hunt group." Nora said with a nod to Dean.
"Jay," Sam said with sudden understanding. "That’s who wants to help, but she won’t let him."
"I can’t let him come up here right now." Vera said in a firm but cold voice. "I won’t expose him to this. He’s too young."
"Bullshit," Dean burst out. "Sammy’s only a few years older than him."
"And he has been with a Hunt group since before he could walk. Jay doesn’t have that experience," Vera snapped back. Her eyes may be red and her face tearstained, but her wits were sharp and her voice bitter.
"How else is he supposed to learn?" Dean responded.
"Learn what?" Vera asked scathingly.
"To be a Guardian. Nora says it runs in families."
"No!" Vera said with a note of panic in her voice.
Dean could tell that she had not thought of this. "Jay won’t be a Guardian. He won’t be trapped in this life! I have no children and he is my brother’s only child!" She stood up and began to pace restlessly.
"Child, if your nephew wants to be a Guardian he will be. You’d best train him. You and he are the beginning of a new Guardian family same as Sam and Dean are the beginnings of a new Hunt family. You know your nephew will embrace this with a glad heart."
As had happened in his last visit, Dean had the feeling that Nora almost said more but decided not to. He glanced at Sam. He had caught it as well. They exchanged a significant look.
"Why are you so tired?" Dean asked suddenly. "Where are the people who are supposed to help you? We know almost nothing about you." Vera laughed bitterly again. Dean saw the dark shadows under her eyes for the first time.
"Why do you care? You’ll finish up this 'job' and be gone again as soon as your brother is trained. You left Jay holding the bag in Chattanooga. You’re not very good at cleaning up the messes you make."
Dean stood up to confront her for the second time in two days.
"Are you anything but smoke and mirrors lady? I know what Sammy and I felt. You care for us and you’re worried about us." Vera turned to face him.
"How dare you," she growled in a voice barely above a whisper. "How dare you use what Sam took from me and showed to you?" Her head was pounding and her stomach was churning. She was incredibly angry and wanted to lash out. These people were getting painfully close to her.
Sam looked at Nora and Rattler. He could feel flashes of Vera’s emotions and he could always feel his brother. Vera was exhausted and desperate, Dean was furious and desperate himself to understand her. The situation was about to explode between the two of them again but they seemed unconcerned. Rattler was actually smiling.
For just a second he had a vision. A glimpse into the future. He was sitting on a large, screened in back porch with all of the people here, with Jay and some others he did not recognize. It was a warm evening, and the air was sweet. But what struck him most were the emotions of that vision.
He was happy. He was whole.
Then Sam realized he and Dean were not going to leave here and never come back.
This was going to be their Hunting base. This was going to become their home.
Nora smiled at him. Rattler winked.
Sam opened his mouth to try to diffuse the argument between the new Hunt and Guardian leaders but decided not to. They probably would not listen to him anyways.
Sam had just learned one of the most important lessons for a psychic.
People did not always want to know what you saw. Sometimes you just had to guide them to it.
Sam’s brow furrowed as he watched them. In some ways Vera and his brother were a lot alike. Both of them were very dedicated to their families. Vera was highly trained, Sam was sure that Dean would not rest until he had every bit of training he could get. Both were obviously leaders. Vera was a strong psychic but would not strike out against Dean, no matter how angry she got with him. Dean wouldn’t attack Vera because he was a fighter and she was not. It was a question of honor for both of them. He realized that this would probably be one of many arguments between these two. Sam decided to just settle back and let them go at it.
Dean could not understand what was wrong with this woman. All he wanted to know was who she really was. Why was she hiding so much from them?
"Hell!" Dean was yelling. Again. "We don’t know who you are, we don’t know what you know about this thing, and with all of your magic crap I’m not even sure what you really look like! What is so hard about letting us know anything about you?"
"To know, to will, to dare and to keep silent. Silence is power." Was all she said.
The more he pushed the less Vera wanted to tell him. She was exhausted and did not want to be having this conversation right now. The nap she took was mainly a reaction to Sam fucking with her mind and did not make her feel any better. She still had a headache and her stomach was still cramping. Vera was barely hanging on, and she still had work to do tonight. She just did not feel up to dealing with the situation or this brash, smart-assed pretty boy. She collapsed back into her chair and closed her eyes. This did not help, as Dean was now towering over her, and if anything he was getting louder. Why could he not understand that she was just too tired to try to explain? She was trying to tune Dean out. He was just noise now.
More noise and something hitting her shoulder. She tried to ignore it. Something grabbed her shoulder and shook her. Fuck ‘em. She was comfy and sleep was beginning to slide back over her. The hand on her shoulder dug its fingers in painfully, hard enough to bruise. She reluctantly opened her eyes.
"...you home," Dean was saying. Growling, actually. He seemed pretty pissed off and his face was set, like he had just made a decision.
"Could you not break my shoulder?" Vera wearily asked. At this point she did not really care what he was saying.
"Did you hear what I said?"
"Oh, was that you bellowing a few moments ago?" Vera asked as she closed her eyes again. The fingers on her shoulders pinched hard enough to make her yelp.
"Wake up!" Dean was yelling. He was not letting up on the pressure he was applying to her shoulder. Dean did not need to be a psychic to understand something was wrong with her. Was it from what Sammy had done earlier? It was taking him yelling at her and almost crushing her shoulder to get her to wake enough for him to talk to her.
"What?" Vera asked again.
Damn it, her eyes were not focusing. Dean wondered if he was going to spend the rest of his life caring for sick psychics?
"I’m taking you home. Sam and I’ll take care of whatever it is you need to do at your place. Tomorrow is Saturday. Do you have to be anyplace you have to be?"
"No," she said. Her voice was becoming slurred. "You’re hurting me. I don’t want you.
"Too bad sweetheart," Dean said in a sharp and sarcastic voice. "Your grounds are gone and Sammy fucked up your brain. Nora and Rattler insist I’m the Hunt leader and Sammy and I are the only Hunters up here right now. Hunters and Guardians are supposed to help each other, and you’re about to fall out of your chair. I’m pulling rank. I’m in charge, and tomorrow I’m getting some answers out of you."
"Supper’s been ready for a while," Nora spoke up. "Why don’t you put her back in the guestroom? The rest of us will have a bite of supper and we’ll see if we can get some soup and a bit of bread into Vera before you take her home."
Chapter 7: The Clinging, Fire Joins Fire