"Hello this is Sam Winchester-,"
"Hey Sam, it's me Monica. It would be nice if you-,"
"Please leave a message after the beep,"
Monica sighed and set the phone back on the table.
"Called us back because Dean would like to hear from you," she muttered and flopped back on the bed. She was in Dean's motel room where he was studiously looking at a map pinned to the cork board. It had been a week since Sam had left and all Dean and Monica had managed to do was find an archangel and introduce Castiel to the dark world of strip clubs.
"You look beat. Another nightmare?," Dean asked, snapping her out of her stupor. She had been pushing herself to see more behind her visions and she was finally getting somewhere.
"I think I was overreacting. My vision of Sam killing you...something about it doesn't feel right," she said, looking up at the mottled paint on the ceiling.
"Well that's obvious. Why would Sammy do that?," Dean said casually. She knew he liked to pretend that his brother's absence didn't bother him but Monica knew he also tried to call Sam every night.
"You wouldn't understand, it feels real and looks real. But that doesn't mean it's not. When I look at the vision I feel this weight behind my eyes, like my body's telling me to open them...when they're already open," she said. Dean nodded but he was silent; he normally went silent when something about her powers confused him.
"Seen anything new?," he asked. She breathed and closed her eyes; every time she closed her eyes she saw Sam and Dean hugging. But she didn't want to get Dean's hope up.
"Nope, have you tried Sam again?," she asked. He rolled his eyes and turned to face her.
"Monica I don't think calling him every other minute is gonna make him pick up. If there's one thing I know about Sam is that he's stubborn," he said. She nodded before sitting up. Suddenly there was a ringing sound. Monica looked wide eyed at her phone and quickly picked up.
"Hello," she said. There was a pause before someone spoke.
"Hey Monica, can you put Dean on the phone?," he said. Monica's heart skipped a beat before she nodded.
"Um...yeah, how are you though? Are you okay? I mean... are you well?," she stuttered before mentally face palming herself for her embarrassment.
"Yeah I'm good," Sam said, chuckling from the other side. She smiled and handed the phone to Dean.
"It's Sam," she said before grabbing her coat and exiting the room. She wanted to give Dean some space.
Across the hall, she unlocked the door to her own room and walked inside. Only when she closed the door her room was gone.
~~~
"What the hell?!," she muttered as she looked around. What should've been her room in front of her was a large and dense forest. Monica swallowed and stepped forward. The panic that had fired up inside her had now resided into a spark of curiosity. This was probably another weird dream she had grown used to. Her shoes crushed twigs and leaves as she wandered through the foliage.
"Hello, is anybody here?," she asked, her voice bouncing off the trees into the gloom. A swirling mist lay low to the ground, giving the whole forest a ethereal look.
Monica shivered in her coat although it was neither warm or cold. She looked around her and saw that behind her was more forest. The way she had came had gone.
"Okay, if this is some sick joke you can give it up now!," she said her voice shrill in the silence. Her breathing was shallow and quick and she forced her hands to stop shaking. Taking a deep breath she set off in a brisk walk through the forest, hoping she'd find some help. After a while Monica looked at her watch to tell the time. Both the hour hand and the minute hand had disappeared.
Monica tried not to panic and started thinking of a way out of here. How do you escape from somewhere you don't know you came to? She was about to take a step forward when a voice spoke. It was sharp and clear, cutting through the dead silence.
"Monica," the voice called to her from all directions. She looked around, her heart beating rapidly, but no one was there. Suddenly a branch snapped, sending Monica into a frenzied sprint. She crashed through bushes and leaped over logs.Without warning a figure stepped forward and she went crashing to the floor. Hands went to her shoulders as she tried to fight of whatever it was.
"Stop fighting," the voice said. Monica went still as she was lifted to her feet. Standing in front of her was a woman. She had curly black hair that cascaded down to the bottom of her back, a light grey dress with a gathered waist and a black lace veil covering her face. Monica swallowed, breathing heavily, and looked her up and down.
"Who are you, how do you know my name and where am I?," she asked. The woman chuckled softly and stepped back to reveal a table with two chairs. She might've been smiling but Monica couldn't see her face behind the veil.
"So many questions. Sit with me," the woman said, her voice soft and accented. It sounded familiar but Monica couldn't place where she'd heard it before.
"You must have a lot of questions, about why I brought you here," the woman said. Monica nodded and looked at the table. It had suddenly been laid with food and drink. The woman seemed to look at her expectantly so Monica placed a small cake on her plate and poured herself someone the silvery liquid available.
"So tell me what you want with me," Monica said, getting straight to the point. The woman said nothing, only seemingly looking in her direction.
"Fine, I'll have some food first," she said taking a bite into the cake. It was dry and sickly sweet and Monica thought that her teeth would probably fall out right there and then. But she wanted answers so she ate the cake before moving onto the drink.
It was silvery and cloudy, swirling around on it's own in her cup. She inhaled as she brought the cup to her lips. The woman looked she was couldn't wait for Monica to drink. As soon as the liquid touched her throat Monica felt like she was burning up. She tried to throw the cup but the woman had moved with lightening speed, pinning her to the chair and forcing her to drink. Her eyes watered as she silently screamed and writhed in agony. It was like her insides were melting slowly; she wanted to run, to break something, to rip the woman from her. But she couldn't, so she could only endure until the bottle had emptied. Finally the woman let her go and she fell to the floor, shuddering violently and retching. Her whole body was shaking as she looked at the woman.
"You're a monster, a filthy monster!," she shouted, her voice coarse and rough, jarring her raw throat. The woman shook her head and gently helped Monica back into a chair and moved hers to sit right in front of her. The woman gently pushed some of Monica's hair from her face, her hand gentle.
"We should've prepared you.What is ahead will be more difficult than you've ever known," the woman said. Monica paused, before slowly reaching to lift the veil. A gasp would've escaped her mouth if her throat didn't hurt as much. The woman had been pretty, Monica knew that. But know her face was terribly marred, her eyes sewn shut crudely and her skin cracked and dry.
"My appearance does not matter anymore, what does is you, Monica. You were a diamond in the rough, and to polish you I had to do what I did," she explained. Monica looked down at the empty bottle.
"What did that drink do to me?," she asked. There was a change inside her; everything was brighter and she felt like she was in tune with everything.
"It opened your inner eye; your visions were never clear until now.," she explained touching Monica's temple.
They weren't in the forest anymore, but in her vision of Sam and Dean. Monica looked around and realised she was standing next to Sam. Only in front of her was Dean, whilst Sam had Dean pinned to the ground.
"I don't understand. I thought....," Monica started.
"You were looking at the wrong perspective and that will only bring you woe," the woman said as they returned to the forest. Monica sat down and breathed.
"So I was wrong this whole time," she said, her voice defeated. Her heart wanted to use her powers so badly but her head told her she could never manage them; that she was too weak.
"You are not weak, Monica," the woman said. Monica turned to her and frowned.
"Who are you?," she asked. The woman smiled and took Monica's hands.
"I was three: the spinner, the cutter, the chooser; but now I am one, an eternal thread," she said. Monica thought for a minute before she realised who she was.
"The cutter...from Greek myth,..Lach..La...," Monica said, trying to remember the name.
"Lachesis, was the name given to three of us. As a way for humanity to understand what we are; we are made from the very fabric of time," she said.
"We? I'm...," Monica asked. Lachesis nodded.
"There are three of us; although we're not literal sisters, we are closer than the definition. We are connected through our powers. You, Monica, are powerful. More than I've ever known...But I sense that I don't have time to explain," she said as she got up. Monica got up and took Lachesis' hand.
"Wait you have to tell me-," she started before everything went black.
~~~
When she woke up Monica was back on her bed in her motel room, on planet Earth. Dean was rapidly knocking on her door. Monica rubbed her head and looked around at her room. Her clothes were still strewn on the floor and her bag was placed neatly next to her bed. But she knew something inside herself had changed for good. Getting up she went and opened the door just as Dean was about to knock it down. She smiled at his startled face and leaned against the door frame.
"So?," she said. Dean looked at her quizzically.
"What did you say to Zachariah?," she asked. He nodded finally understanding.
"I said no, he got angry, Cas got me out...are you okay?," he asked. She paused before smiling.
"I'm good...so when's Sam coming?," she asked as she turned to shove her clothes in a bag.
"How do you...Never mind, yeah he's uh...he said he wanted to try make it work," Dean said putting his hands into his pockets.
"Well it will. You're brothers after all," she said.
Monica waited by the Impala as another car came to meet them. They were parked under the bridge somewhere out of town. Folding her arms as the wind ruffled her hair, Monica looked into the distance. Suddenly there was a slight chill behind her as she felt someone standing behind her.
"What do I do now?," she asked. Somehow she knew the person behind her was Lachesis. There was no answer.
"How do I save them? How do I save everyone?," she asked again. Talking with her was like a guessing game; you had to ask the right questions to get an answer.
"Trust in him, faith in him is your only way," Lachesis whispered. Monica nodded, in thought.
"Trust in which one? They're brothers, there's two of them," she asked.
"Trust the one who will sacrifice, one burdened for eternity...Sam Winchester," she muttered. Monica frowned.
"But I don't want him to be-," she started turning to face her but there was no one there.
"Monica?,"Sam said. She turned to see him standing there and grinned.
"Hey, long time no see," she said, smiling. He laughed and looked behind her in confusion.
"Who were you talking to?," he asked. She blushed and chuckled nervously.
"Oh, no one...just thinking out loud. But it's good that you're back," she said pulling him into a hug. He paused before he hugged her back tightly, resting his head on her shoulder.
"Because I missed you," she whispered, more to herself than to him but he could hear.
"I missed you too," he whispered back, stroking her hair before he gently kissed her cheek.
"Trust him, Monica, for his sacrifice will save us ,"
a/n its been so long since I wrote this book, almost two years, wow!!