Katie and Maggie at the Party
Within ten minutes, all seven of their invited guests had arrived. Most of them had been co-workers of one of the girls at some point, and Janine and Gloria were Vince and Andy's wives. The single ones were Marcia, Stephanie and Ted.
When they had all fixed themselves a plate of munchies and poured themselves drinks they found places to sit, on chairs or on the floor around the coffee table, and waited anxiously for the girls to spill their secret.
All of them were venturing possibilities of where the girls had been for the last three months. Marcia thought they were working in secret for the CIA. Stephanie wondered if one of them had fallen in love with a prince of a small country where they didn't have phones or internet service. Ted thought they might have been working on a top secret government project, and Andy asked them if they'd been in jail, which Vince thought actually made the most sense.
Katie laughed and said, "All of you are as cold as Alaska, and if you quiet down we will tell you the truth."
"But you're not going to believe us anyway," said Maggie, grinning.
"No, you aren't," said Katie, "because a it's totally unbelievable story."
"But true," said Maggie.
"Yes, all true."
All the guests began talking at once again, some promising to believe whatever it was, others being more skeptical.
When it got quiet again, Katie said, "We were going to swear you to secrecy, but then we decided that it was okay for you to tell anyone you wanted because no one was going to believe you anyway."
This got the guests looking at each other with "what the hell is she going to say' kind of faces.
Katie took a deep breath and then said, "We both fell in love."
Everyone thought that was a good thing and cheers and clapping ensued along with questions of who they were in love with.
"Okay," said Katie, "here goes. They are brothers, VERY handsome…"
"Gorgeous," interrupted Maggie.
"Yes, awesomely gorgeous," said Katie, "and just terrific and wonderful!"
Again they got cheers and good remarks, until Marcia asked, "So why wouldn't we believe that? I can believe that!"
"Well," said Katie, "it's who they are that you aren't going to believe."
"Do we know them?" asked Stephanie.
"Are they famous or something?" asked Janine.
Choruses of "Who are they?" and "Come on, tell us," rang out until Katie quieted them again.
"Their names are Sam and Dean Winchester," said Katie. This statement was followed by a moment of total silence.
"You mean like the guys on Supernatural?" asked Andy.
"Yes and no," answered Katie. "They aren't LIKE the guys from Supernatural. They ARE the guys from Supernatural."
"Those guys are married," Marcia, who was another Supernatural addict.
"I didn't say Jared and Jensen," said Katie, "I said Sam and Dean." Again, there was a moment of total silence.
"So you found two guys actually named Sam and Dean Winchester?" said Vince with a sly grin.
"Not exactly," said Katie. "We found the actual Sam and Dean Winchester." Again there was a moment of silence, followed by all sorts of comments and laughter that indicated how ridiculous they all thought that statement was.
Katie and Maggie just sat there smiling, waiting for them all to get quiet again. When they did, Maggie said, "We told you that you wouldn't believe us."
"Of course we don't believe you, that's absurd," said Stephanie.
"Yeah, absurd," said Marcia, her voice dripping with disdain. "They aren't even real people."
"Not on this world," said Katie calmly. Again, there was a moment of silence while they all digested that statement.
"Oh, come on," said Andy. "You aren't seriously suggesting that you two went to some other world where Sam and Dean Winchester are real people and that they fell in love with you?"
"I'm not suggesting that," said Katie. "I'm flat out saying it." This made everyone laugh, and again Katie just sat quietly, waiting for them to get quiet again.
"That's crazy," said Ted.
"Maybe they've been in a psych ward," said Marcia, in a whispering, conspiratorial voice.
"Come on, Katie, tell us the truth now," said Vince.
"That is the truth, and we can prove it." That got them quiet again.
"Prove it how?" Asked Marcia.
"Well, if you'll just be quiet, I will tell you how it happened."
"Oh this ought to be good" said Marcia.
"Totally," said Stephanie.
"Go for it," said Ted.
Katie told them about the ride in their parent's car, and how they had wished to be with Sam and Dean, and how they all of a sudden were. And she told them how Sam and Dean had reacted. How they had spent over a week in motels with them, and how they had fallen in love and that now they all lived in the Bat Cave.
"You should be a writer, Katie," said Ted, "You really have a great imagination."
"Like I said, we can prove this."
Again they all looked around at each other and then Marcia said, "Okay, prove it."
Katie said, "The car is outside. We'll show you how we go to the other world in it."
No one was still believing Katie, but they thought it was a great idea to go out and watch them 'prove' what they were saying. When they got to the car, Katie said, "Okay, Maggie, you go."
Maggie got in the car, wished herself to the boy's world, and disappeared. This caused a lot of astonished noises, and surprised stares. When she came back, everyone wanted to know how she did that, and were they learning magic tricks.
"Okay," said Katie. "Who's brave."
"Me," said Marcia, raising her hand. "I wanna go see Sam and Dean."
"They aren't there at the moment," said Katie, "but get in the car. If you don't exist on the other world, you will go there."
Marcia got in the car full of excitement, and disappeared along with Maggie. This made the others less derisive. Maggie and Marcia were gone about five minutes. When they came back, Marcia was wide-eyed and quiet. She got out of the car slowly, looked at the others and said, "It's true."
"What's true?" asked several of them. "Where did you go?"
"I went to another car, which just happened to be a black '67 Chevy Impala. The Impala was in a huge garage with several vintage cars in it. It has to be the garage at the Bat Cave."
"I wanna go," said Stephanie.
"Okay, anyone who wants to go can try, but it's possible not all of you can go." Said Katie.
So one by one they all tried to go through the portal, and as it turned out, they all could. Katie said that really surprised her, but she was glad they could all go. "Perhaps sometime we can have a party over there, and you can meet the boys."
"Okay this is still nuts," said Ted. "How is this even possible?"
"That's a question we spent weeks trying to find out," said Katie. "Let's go back upstairs, and we'll tell you more."
Now that everyone believed what the girls were telling them, they were all full of questions about Sam, Dean and the other side, which the girls happily answered for them. Several hours passed very quickly, and it was the wee hours of the morning when all the guests reluctantly left. They made Maggie and Katie promise to get messages to them more often, and all expressed a desire to visit them on the other side. All in all it had been a great evening for the girls.
Talking about the boys had been good for them, and helped stem the worry that had become their constant companion. They fell into their beds exhausted, and spent the last night they ever would in their apartment sleeping quite soundly.
Sam and Dean in Almara
On their way through the square to the magic shop the smells of something good cooking wafted its way to their nostrils, and reminded them that some food might be a good idea. "Wonder what that is?" said Dean.
"I'm not sure it's a good idea to know. Let's just get some," answered Sam.
Breakfast, whatever it was, turned out not to be half bad, and they set off again to the magic shop, where a different shopkeeper greeted them more warmly than the one had yesterday. This one was younger, and tinged a light blue.
"We would like to purchase two more Teleport spells to this town," said Sam with a smile.
"North, South, East, West or Center?" asked the boy."
"What?" asked Dean, a bit irritated. "You mean you can get them to different places in the town?"
"Sure," replied the boy, cheerily. "You can go to the edge of the wilderness in any direction, or to the town square."
"Well, wouldn't that have been just dandy to know yesterday?" said Dean testily.
Sam chuckled under his breath, and said, "Don't mind him too much, he's just not a morning person." He smiled at the boy. "Actually, I think we will take two for the North, and two for the center, just in case."
"Anything else for ya, then?" asked the boy pleasantly, as he got out the scrolls.
"Well, can you tell me something? Say a person wanted to go out about five miles into the wilderness. Is there any way to teleport to there?"
"No, can't teleport into the wilderness, sorry. Just the towns," he answered.
"Can't win 'em all I guess," said Sam. "Is there anything available for protection from magical spells?" he asked the boy.
"Sure, several things," he was told. "You can get a potion that you take when you're about ready to fight. That's the cheapest way to go. Or you can cast a spell that will last for about a ten miles walk. They's a bit expensive though. And you can get a protection from magic ring, but those are 600 g's and we just have one at the moment."
"How much are the spells?" asked Sam.
"Can't let them go for less than 20 g's apiece, my Da would tan my hide," He said.
Sam and Dean whispered together and decided it would take just about everything they had for the ring and they didn't know if Tarsa would be giving them any more.
"So how much for all of it?" he asked, "with two protection spells and the four teleports?"
"Let's see now, that's be about 60 g's," he answered.
"More honest than your father aren't you?" asked Sam. "We'll take them. And we'll throw in an extra 5 g's for yourself, if you can identify these things for us," and he took out the scrolls and potions they had taken from the robbers and laid them on the counter.
The boy's face brightened at the prospect of some money of his own. "Sure thing," he answered, opening the first scroll. "This one here is a Reveal Spell, these two are Underwater Breathing, and these two are Light spells." Then he looked at the potions, and said "These three yellow ones are See Illusion, the two green ones are Cure Poison, and the Two red ones are Fire Bombs. Ya throw those at yer enemies."
"How convenient," said Sam, and thanked the kid for his help.
They paid for their purchases and then Dean said, "One more thing, please. Where might we purchase some general goods like ropes and hammers?"
"Ah, sure," he said. "Just go east from the square about five buildings down on yer right, can't miss it."
"Thanks," said Sam, and they left the shop.
They found the general store easily enough, and they purchased 50 feet of rope, a sturdy hammer and some spikes. "As if these packs weren't already heavy enough," Dean complained, putting the hammer and spikes in his own pack, while Sam took the rope.
"Why not just cast Featherlight on yer packs, then?" asked the shopkeeper, another young elf with a light yellow skin.
The boys looked at each other in disbelief once again, and Dean said, "Of course, why didn't we think of that?"
Sam sighed and said, "Guess it's back to the magic shop again then."
"I could cast them on yer packs if ya like 2 g's each, that's less than the spells would cost ya."
Dean glared at Sam and said "We really need to know more about this crap," he said, shaking his head at the ignorance that kept costing them time and effort. "Do it," he said to the kid, and gave him a 5g gem when he had completed the spells.
The kid looked quite happy with his tip and thanked them profusely. "By the way," asked Sam, "how long will they last?"
"Bout ten miles or so, normal walking pace," he answered.
"Awesome," said Dean, "Let's get this done. They left the shop and Sam handed Dean one of the Teleport North scrolls, and they both cast one. "Now that makes things a lot better when they found themselves at the edge of the wilderness. Then they each cast a Protection spell, and they were ready to set off. The lighter packs made the journey much better than it had been yesterday.
On the way there Sam spotted something they had missed the day before. "Dean, look," he said, pointing off to the left. "Isn't that one of the trees we are supposed to need?" he asked.
Dean looked over to where Sam was pointing. "That white one?" he asked. "I think you're right. Let's go check it out."
They walked over to the tree and checked the leaves, which were small, and the bark, which was white. "I think this is the one Katie named an Ash," said Sam.
Dean broke off a sturdy branch and said, "Okay then, we need to burn this to ash."
"Ash to ash," said Sam grinning, and Dean moaned.
They took the branch back to the road and set it on fire. Sam got out the small pouches the girls had made and found the one labelled '4 Green Ash' and placed a handful of the ashes in it.
"These pouches the girls made will really make things easier for us," said Sam. Dean nodded, and both of them let their thoughts drift to Maggie and Katie for a moment.
"Okay, let's keep going," said Dean.
They found their way back to the well without any incident. No bandits or monsters attacked them this time. "Well," said Dean, "I guess I'll go down the well. I'm lighter." They tied the rope around a tree and made a knot near the end for Dean to use to keep from slipping. He left his pack on the ground, but took one of the Underwater Breathing scrolls in case he needed it.
Sam lowered him down the well bit by bit until Dean yelled for him to stop. "Um, Sammy!" he yelled. "There's something moving in the water!"
"What is it?" Sam yelled back.
"How the hell should I know, but it's big and it has lots of teeth, and they're snapping at me."
Sam pulled Dean back up out of the well and said "We can try dropping one of these Fire Bomb potions in there."
Dean got one out of his pack and dropped it into the well. There was a small explosion at the bottom, and they tried lowering Dean back down again. "Is it gone?" asked Sam.
"Seems to be. Nothing's moving. Hang onto that rope, Dude," said Dean. He took out his flashlight and looked around the wall of the well. "Son-of-a-Bitch," he said. "Just like I feared. I'm gonna have to go into the water. Lower me farther, two tugs for stop, and one tug to pull me out fast, okay?"
"Yup," answered Sam, and began slowly lowering Dean farther down into the water until he felt two tugs. There was some bouncing around of the rope that didn't exactly feel like tugs at all, then finally two tugs. As soon as Dean's head cleared water he hollered, "Stop, I just need a breath. I found it, I'm having to dig it out of the wall. Okay, send me back down again."
After another couple minutes, Dean tugged twice, and Sam pulled him up again. "I got it," Dean said, "Bring me up."
When Dean was pulled up and had climbed out of the well, the boys examined their prize. They had retrieved their first crystal heart, an orange one, and they grinned at each other over their success. Once again Sam looked through the small pouches, and found one labeled '6 Orange Oak,' and placed the heart inside it. They untied the rope and wound it up, and Dean carried it since it was wet and he was already soaked. Then Sam took out the small glowing crystal and threw it hard onto the ground. The world around them shimmered and they found themselves once again back in the room with Tarsa.
Tarsa was there to greet them, smiling. "You must have been successful then, well done. Was it very difficult?" he asked.
"Not terribly," said Sam, but it would help so much if we knew more about the magic that's available."
"Ah yes," said Tarsa. "I wish we could offer you more knowledge of that, but we, ourselves are not very aware of what they do on the surface."
Dean spoke up then and said, "I could use a shower and a change of clothes."
"Of course," said Tarsa cheerfully. "We have recreated a human type area for you, with beds and a bathroom. If anything is lacking, please do let us know." Tarsa touched them, and all three of them were moved to a room that didn't look all that different from the hundreds of motel rooms the boys had stayed at.
"Not bad," said Dean, looking around and examining the bathroom. "You built this just for us?" he asked.
"One of our Juniors studied them on your world," he answered. And he created this just for you, yes. We will give you time to cleanse yourselves and change your clothing. What you like to eat and drink?" he asked.
They both thought hamburgers, french fries and beer would be just fine.
"Whenever you wish, get some sleep," Tarsa said. "When you wake up, we will speak of your next journey."
THANK YOU for reading. As usual, I would love to hear your comments.