The River

Chapter 14 - Premonitions

I was back in the game and it felt good. It had been weeks of endless hunting and I was unstoppable. It was like all of those weeks resting on Bobby's couch had fueled an energy in me that I didn't know I had.

The way I hunted was nearly animalistic and Dean never had to worry about protecting me because I was a force to be reckoned with. I handled various weapons with graceful ease and when I didn't have one available, my fists worked just as well.

No leads on Azazel had surfaced yet but I was treating the hunting we were doing like a boot camp, preparing for the big upcoming battle. I knew it was important for all of us to be our very best or we didn't stand a chance.

We were sitting around Bobby's living room. Sam and Bobby were at the laptop, studying weather patterns that would insinuate demonic omens. They had searched through last week's weather over the entire United States and were now expanding their search globally in a desperate attempt to find anything.

Dean and I were sitting on the couch, filling empty shotgun shells with salt and pressing it down until it made a compact rock-salt bullet. I had just finished forming another round when a choked gasp made the room freeze.

Sam screamed as he grasped at his head. His face contorted in agony as he fell to his knees. A trickle of blood started to fall from his nose and into his mouth as his anguished cries continued to echo through the room.

"Sammy!" Dean shouted and scrambled across the room to get to him. He grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him viciously.

"Sam!" He shrieked again. He looked around the room at Bobby and I but neither of us knew what to do. We had witnessed Sam have visions before but never this severe.

Sam's screams slowly stopped and he blinked rapidly as he looked around the room in a frenzied state. Dean was holding him up by the collar of his shirt. "Sammy?"

Sam jumped to his feet, grabbing a few weapons and their dad's journal, throwing it into a duffle bag. "Dean, we have to go, now!" He shouted, grabbing Dean by the arm and forcefully yanking him towards the door.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... wait a damn minute," Dean protested.

Sam whipped around and was screaming in Dean's face. "We have to hurry! We have to stop it!"

I finally felt my muscles thaw from their frozen state and jumped up to follow them out the door. Sam's panicked eyes stopped me as I got closer to the pair. I had never seen Sam like this before.

"No!" He shouted at me. "River, you need to stay here."

"What -," I started but Sam's shouting cut me off. "You need to stay here, River!"

I couldn't help but feel hurt at Sam's words. Sam had included me in everything from day one. He was an older brother to me and whatever was going on, I wanted to be there to help.

"Do I look like a ditchable prom date to you?" I demanded, my pain translating into anger as always.

Dean glanced at me and I caught his concerned expression from the corner of my eye.

"Hold on, Sammy, let's talk about it," Dean pleaded but Sam shook his head and pulled him through the door.

"Dean, come on! There's no time!"

I tried to follow them through the door but Sam spun around and pushed me back inside. "Stay here," he shouted as he slammed the door in my face. I heard the Impala roar to life and the tires squeal as it tore out of Bobby's junkyard.

I spun on my heels to face Bobby, who was still sitting at the desk in front of the laptop. His eyes were wide with shock as he tried to digest what had just happened. It was so quick that it felt like a blur.

"What the fuck?" I shouted.

Bobby still didn't move an inch until I walked back to him and slammed the laptop shut. "Come on," I insisted, gesturing for him to follow me.

"Where?"

"We have to follow them, Bobby!" I cried. "Something's wrong. Really wrong." I hurried across the room and fetched the keys to my truck from the kitchen table.

Bobby finally got up and grabbed my arm to stop me. "No," he said.

"What do you mean, no?" I demanded. I pulled my arm out of his grasp and started to the door but he stepped in front of me to block the exit.

"You're right," he said as he grabbed me by the shoulders and gave me a slight shake, trying to shake sense back into me I figured. "Something is wrong and if Sam insists that we need to stay here, then we need to trust him."

I knew he was right but the pit in my stomach was making me break out in a cold sweat. I knew that Dean and Sam were gone into battle and I was left behind unable to fight alongside them.

✡️✡️✡️

Days had passed and I felt like I was going to lose my mind. Bobby tried to keep a level head and get back to work but I could tell he was barely holding it together, just like me.

I spent most of the days calling their cell phones over and over again, only reaching their voicemails. I was out in the yard pacing back and forth, dragging on another cigarette as I tried Dean's phone again.

This is Dean, you know what to do.

I waited for the noisy beep signaling that my message was being recorded before I spoke through gritted teeth.

"So help me God, Dean Winchester. You better hope and pray that you're dead before I get my hands on you because if you're not, I'm going to fucking kill you myself. You and Sam both. I promise."

I was so angry that the words spat through my mouth like venom. I snapped the cell phone shut and sat on the ground against a nearby rusty car. I pulled my knees to my chest and sobbed as I lit another cigarette.

I could feel it in my bones that the battle we were waiting for was here. I was sick to my stomach as I imagined all the possibilities of what Sam and Dean were doing right now. I urged in between my sobs, only spitting up bile. I hadn't been able to eat since they left so my stomach had nothing to give.

Deep down I knew that Dean wasn't answering his phone for a reason but I wasn't thinking logically. All I wanted was to hear his voice so I would know he was okay. Maybe then the sickening pit in my stomach would allow me to relax.

I felt my heart lurch to my throat as I heard Bobby scream from inside the house. Within seconds I was to my feet and inside. I came to a halt when I saw Bobby raised and pinned against the wall. His feet weren't touching the ground and I could tell the invisible force was holding him up by his neck. He was struggling to breathe.

My eyes burned holes in the back of the stranger who was standing in front of him with his hand in the air. Although he wasn't physically touching Bobby, he was using a supernatural force to strangle him.

I began to charge at the man when he turned around and glared at me with a demonic smile playing on his lips.

I gasped and froze into place when my eyes met his...

His yellow-colored eyes.