You wake up, your body cramped and uncomfortable. Opening your eyes, you see that it's early morning, the sun just barely reaching over the horizon.
Grumbling, you sit up straight in the backseat and stretch. Dean looks at you in the rearview mirror.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty."
"Yeah, morning. Where are we?" You rub your eyes. You're not intentionally trying to be rude to Dean, but you're also not a morning person.
"No clue. Sam was supposed to be keeping track but," he motions your attention to Sam who's snoring softly in the passenger seat, his head resting against the window, "he sucks at his job."
You shrug. "He hardly sleeps. Was always too busy looking for you."
"Thank you, by the way. For helping him and not allowing him to go crazy."
"I think he was already there when we met," you say, recalling how Sam first had reacted to you. "The loneliness just overpowered the crazy."
"Either way, thank you." Dean says again as he follows behind Bobby's truck, merging from the highway onto the exit road.
"Yeah, of course. I have to ask, why did you lie to him about hell?"
Dean's face hardens. "What?"
"You remember hell. Why did you tell Sam otherwise?"
He turns to make sure Sam is asleep before answering carefully and quietly, "I did things. Things I'm not ready to talk about."
You nod in understanding. You can't begin to imagine what hell must have been like. You can only hope that Dean tells Sam soon.
This family is prone to keeping secrets, you note. One day it might be their downfall.
You decide to leave the conversation at that, and Dean seems to be appreciative, turning the radio up just a little bit louder.
Soon after, the car pulls in front of a small suburban house. Bobby gets out of his truck and waves you guys to get out.
Dean nudges Sam who jumps awake, slightly frenzied until realization kicks in and he calms down.
"We're here," Dean announces before getting out of the car.
You give Sam a small smile before opening the door and stepping out yourself. He quickly follows and Bobby leads the three of you to the front door.
Without even having to knock, the door is opened by a woman with wavy hair that's so dark brown, it appears black. She also has beautiful green eyes that you can't help but to stare into for a moment.
"Bobby," she's laughing as she pulls the man into a hug, lifting him off of his feet.
You see Bobby make a face and Sam must catch it too, because he's making eye contact with you, trying not to laugh.
She puts him down and he finally speaks, "You're a sight for sore eyes."
They share a smile before Pamela turns to the brothers, "Well, these the boys?"
Bobby turns and says, "Sam, Dean, Pamela Barnes, best goddamn psychic in the state."
They both awkwardly introduce themselves before she turns to you. "And who might this be?"
"I'm just a friend. Nice to meet you." You introduce yourself with a polite smile.
Pamela mimics your smile and turns her attention back to Dean. "Dean Winchester. Out of the fire and back in the pan, huh? Makes you a rare individual."
Dean nods, "If you say so."
She tilts her head to the open door and steps aside, making room. "Come on in."
"So you hear anything?" Bobby asks as the four of you enter Pamela's house.
"Well...I ouija'd my way through a dozen spirits," she starts as she closes the door behind you, "no one seems to know who broke your boy out. Or why."
"So what's next?" he asks her.
"A seance, I think. See if we can see who did the deed."
"You're not gonna summon the damn thing here?"
This warrants a laugh from Pamela, "Nah. I just want to get a sneak peak at it. Like a crystal ball without the crystal."
She starts heading to another room and Dean looks at Bobby with a shrug. "I'm game."
The old man sighs as you all follow her. She's already setting up a cloth on a table when you enter the room.
She bends down to grab something out of a drawer, and a tramp stamp saying "Jesse Forever" becomes visible. Dean grabs yours and Sam's attention to look at it.
"Who's Jesse?"
Pamela laughs as she turns to look at the three of you, but specifically Dean. "Well, it wasn't forever."
Dean sucks his teeth, "His loss."
She stands up holding three candles and approaches Dean. "Might be your gain."
He watches her walk away for a second before huddling with you and Sam. "I'm so in," he whispers.
Sam chuckles, "Yeah, she's gonna eat you alive."
"I just got out of jail. Bring it."
This causes you to snort and Dean shoots you a self-satisfied grin.
Pamela must have overheard the conversation because she walks past Sam and adds, "You're invited too, grumpy."
Dean quickly raises a finger to Sam's face, "You were not invited."
Sam raises his hands and backs away, "Hey, man. She's all yours."
You both chuckle as Dean walks away to watch Pamela set up the seance. The two of you chit-chat until she calls you over to the table.
The candles are now all lit and she motions for all of you to take a seat.
Once everyone's seated, she starts, "Right. Take each other's hands."
You take Bobby and Sam's hands into your own.
Pamela reaches her hand to Dean's thigh, "And I need to touch something our mystery monster touched."
Dean jumps. "Woah! Well, he didn't touch me there."
She giggles, "My mistake."
An uncomfortable look finds its way to Dean's face, and Sam raises his eyebrows at you with a smile.
Dean starts removing his plaid button-up and rolls up the sleeve of his t-shirt, revealing a handprint that seems to be branded into his bicep.
"Holy shit," you mumble.
He also clearly didn't show the mark to Sam because he looks at you and Bobby with the same look of fear and confusion you assume is on your face.
Pamela reaches out and places her hand directly on top of the branded handprint. She closes her eyes and begins to speak.
"I invoke, conjure, and command you appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure, and command you appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure, and command you appear unto me before this circle."
As she continues chanting, the tv in the corner of the room switches on.
"Castiel? No. Sorry, Castiel, I don't scare easy."
Dean's eyes are open now and he repeats the name, "Castiel?"
Pamela turns her head to him, eyes still closed. "Its name. It's whispering to me, warning me to turn back. I conjure and command you, show me your face."
She keeps repeating this phrase and the table starts shaking. At this point, everyone else's eyes are open and you all shoot each other questioning and scared glances.
"Maybe we should stop," Bobby suggests, fear coating his voice.
"I almost got it." Pamela assures. "I command you. Show me your face. Show me your face, now!"
Just then, the flames of the candles soar higher and brighter than before and she starts yelling out in pain. Her eyes are open now and bright, white light emits from them as she screams. Blood starts pooling from her eyes and she falls limp against the table. The flames from the candles finally go back to normal.
"Call 911!" Bobby shouts.
He cradles Pamela in his arms and you and Dean rush over to them. Sam leaves the table and rushes to the phone.
She opens her eyes in Bobby's arms with a sob and you have to choke back a gasp. Her eyes have completely burned out of her skull.
"I can't see. I can't see." She sobs as you, Dean, and Bobby share worried glances. "Oh, God."
Oh God, indeed, you think to yourself, fear roiling in your stomach.