I didn't want to waste any time. I didn't want to think about anything that had happened. I didn't want to talk about it. Dean saw this, he left it alone. Sam left it alone as well. We continued on as if it were the same. But it wasn't the same, and it never would be. I had a long talk with Dean before, about choosing my father. He said he would have done the same. He understood. It was okay, nothing was my fault. Sam gave the same little speech. Give and take a few choice words about their father that I finally had the chance to learn about. My side of both conversation was full of anger and new found resentment. Dean told me that wasn't good, to let it go. Sam said the same. But all I had wanted to do then was go work this case. They didn't argue, we got in the car and left.
Sam was looking at the news article still.
"She just inexplicably killed her husband... Then herself." Sam said with a sigh. Dean glanced over.
"So does this have anything to do with Amara or are we just after some demonic possession?" He asked. Sam shook his head.
"There's more." Sam said.
"Like what?" I asked. He looked back at me.
"Witness accounts from the night before report a fog rolling in. The victims wife was on duty and when she came home..."
"She was insane." Dean nodded. I sat back.
"What...Is Amara's fog?" I asked.
"I wish I knew, kid." Dean said.
"There's a few others who were affected.." Sam read down more.
"What is it?" I asked, leaning forward and looking over his shoulder.
"Amara's fog. A stronger version." Sam explained. I bit my lip.
"That's not good." I muttered.
"Nothing to do with Amara is good." Dean sighed as Sam closed his laptop and we continued on our way.
Sam and Dean and I drove into this town that looked like nothing had happened at all. People were still outside though, going about their days. I couldn't shake the fact that Amara's fog had been there.I still felt it in the air. I decided to stop looking out the window.
"The fog made these people go insane..." Dean muttered.
"At least it was at night. A large percentage of the town was inside."
"Why would Amara do this?" I asked. Dean and Sam were both silent. They didn't know. Why would they? I doubt even God knew.
"We'll go talk to the police, ask what they saw." Dean said.
"I think they're brushing it off as a... Crazy event." Sam shook his head. Dean sighed and sped up, heading straight towards the police station. I leaned against the window, looking anywhere but out at the destruction Amara had caused, no matter how minor. Just because they couldn't see it, didn't mean it wasn't there.
We parked.
"Alright." Dean passed around our badges and I dropped mine in my pocket. We got out the car and walked into the police station, Dean and I letting Sam talk to the woman at the desk, who was apparently filling in for sheriff.
"Normal night... Home early... Never knew..." Her voice faded in and out as I let my eyes wander around the room. I probably should have been paying attention. But I only snapped back to reality when Dean spoke up.
"We've been tracking this fog, people claim to have seen it before things like this happen. We wanted to know if that were true or not." He said. I looked forward.
"Well...This fog did roll in last night, out of nowhere. I didn't think much of it though. It was very thick." She nodded to herself.
"Why would a wife get excited and go home early on her anniversary to kill her husband then herself. How would she not show any signs?" I said, probably to loud because the sheriff looked at me now.
"Well, honey, sometimes people can snap. No other reason." She said with a solemn tone.
"People snap because of triggers. And to be an officer she would have went through multiple psychiatric tests that assured her mental stability.Right?" I asked, Dean placed a hand on my shoulder, stopping me.
We walked out of the station.
"So we're just leaving?" Sam asked. Dean nodded.
"There's nothing we can do here. The fog passed." He said before looking over at me. "I know you're mad." He said when I wouldn't speak or look at him. I uncrossed my arms.
"It'snot fair. That woman was being controlled by something no one understands and they're just brushing it off like she was some kind of lunatic." I kicked a rock.
"I know. But we can't fix that." Dean said. "We can't save everyone." He put a hand on my head. He was right. I couldn't save everyone. But I could try my best. It also could have been possible that my new found anger and drive to fight Amara was stemming from the unresolved feelings I had against my father but that was all something I could save for the therapist I was never going to go to.
"Let's head back, then. We'll catch up to her eventually." Sam said as we walked down the street to where the car was.
I grabbed my bag out of the Impala and secured it on my back. We planned to stay the night here, and if things went as they usually did, I would be in the motel room, probably with Sam, watching old movies or cartoons while Dean went off and did who knows what. But,instead of saying anything that had to do with going to a motel and booking a room for the three of us, Dean wrapped an arm around both Sam's and my shoulders and pulled us towards him.
"I say we get some grub!" He smirked.
"I say we get some sleep." I yawned.
"I say nothing puts you to sleep like a good old-fashioned burger." Dean ruffled my hair and I swatted his hand away.
"I say we get actual food and not processed garbage." Sam pushed Dean away. Dean frowned, and knelt down so he was my height.
"Look at this face Sam. You want to tell her no?" Dean said, nudging me so I would give Sam my kicked puppy face. Sam just rolled his eyes,making me and Dean laugh, until I saw something out of the corner of my eye.
It was purple, and black, there was lightning inside it. I stared at it for a few moments, grabbing Dean by the jacket and pointing. He looked, Sam looked. Dean cursed under his breath.
"Shit...Shit shit shit." He stood and started backing up. Someone was sucked into the fog. Then another person. Then another.
"Dean?"Sam and I both looked to him.
"Run. RUN!" Dean yelled at the top of his lungs as everyone panicked,screaming and running from the fog. Sam started running, Dean grabbed me by the hand and sprinted, pulling me behind him. I watched parents pulling children to their feet, mothers carrying children, men helping old women. I looked back to see someone get pulled back,their veins turning black and them screaming until they stopped moving.
"Dean!" I gripped his hand tighter, him and Sam started running faster.
"GET INSIDE! GET TO THE POLICE STATION!" Dean shouted, people listened.A kid tripped and fell. Dean stopped.
"Sam, Nellwyn. Go." He said, letting go of me and helping the kid up,they couldn't have been more that 6.
"Dean I'm not-" Sam started.
"GO."Dean demanded. Sam and I took off, and I looked back, seeing Dean carrying the kid a little ways behind us.
Sam all but pushed me into the police station, holding out just long enough for Dean to get in before slamming the door. The fog hit and rocked the building. People screamed and children cried. It was just like my dream. I fell back and pushed myself away from the door that Sam and Dean were trying to hold closed. I saw the fog seeping through the vents and cracks of the building. I scrambled up and jumped over the front desk, pulling drawers out of their holes and cabinets off their hinges. My strength enhanced while my brain raced with fear and the need for survival. I found tape and started taping up vents, any crack I saw near the doors, the windows. I ran to the front where Sam and Dean were and taped the bottom of it and every other part I saw fog seeping through. Dean found something heavy and pushed it against the door. Everything was quiet. Dean and Sam breathed out. Dean patted my shoulder.
"Nice thinking." he said. Sam nodded in agreement.
"I'll double tape everything and see if there are any other spaces in other rooms." Sam said, holding his hand out. I gave him the tape and the three of us looked out at the small sea of people who were scared,confused, and looking to us for answers.
Dean did most of the explaining.
"Whatever you do, stay away from the fog." He was finishing as Sam came back over to where I was standing, nearby Dean.
"When will it pass?" Someone called out.
"We don't know." Sam said. "But everyone has to stay inside here until it does." He added as murmuring started among the people. I watched Dean whisper to the sheriff for a few moments, something about supplies was all I could hear. I wandered away from Sam to go find somewhere to sit. I felt someone tug on my pant leg. I looked over and a little girl was here looking up at me.
"Hi."I said, turning to her.
"Are we gonna be okay?" She asked. I offered her a smile.
"Yeah. We are." I promised. She sniffled. A familiar face flashed through my mind and I melted, "Hey don't cry." I knelt down in front of her. "Here. But you need to promise you'll give this back after,it's very important to me." I said, pulling my bag off my back.The girl's eyes lit up as she watched me pull my bear from my bag.This was the only moment I was glad I hadn't had the chance to toss it into my room. I handed it to her and she clutched it tightly. "My bear can protect anyone from anything." I stood up again.
"It protects you?" She asked. I nodded.
"Yeah. It's the strongest bear in the world." I patted her head and she smiled, going back to find her mom.
I sighed and sat down, wondering where Sam and Dean had gotten off too.Probably looking for food or blankets or anything that could help us until the fog passed. I was extremely tired, my adrenaline was going down quickly and there was an annoying hissing in the back of my mind. I put a hand over my face and let out a small groan, plugging one of my ears to get the sound to stop. Until I realized the sound wasn't in my head. I looked around until I saw one of the vents, a portion of tape forced off by the intensity of the fog.
"Oh no..." I whispered, not wanting to cause a panic. No one was near there. And it was just a small opening. But, as I moved to fix it,more and more smoke started pushing through. I looked out at the people cluttered on the floor. "I need you all to move to the far wall!" I yelled, pointing towards the interrogation room that was empty. They all saw the opening and pushed through into the room.Dean and Sam came running down the hall.
"There's-"
"A leak." I stopped Sam, pointing.
"Here too!?" Dean looked around. I blinked.
"What?"
Dean started barking orders.
"EVERYONE IN THE INTERROGATION ROOM!" He yelled as everyone filed in. "Don't come out. For anything." I said to them before closing the door. I heard coughing and looked to see Sam struggling to close the leak,smoke blasting into his face. "Sam!" Dean yelled when the tape flew off the vent, drowning him in smoke. I saw the fog starting to pour in from the hall and I ran for the tape near where Sam had fallen, holding my breath.
"Dean!" I threw him the tape and he gave me a look before going to tape down the door to the interrogation room. I grabbed Sam by the arm, him coughing and wheezing as I pulled him from the vent. I tripped,breathed in and felt my lungs start to burn as I hit the ground.
"Nellwyn! Sam!" Dean shouted as I forced myself up, half carrying Sam. Dean grabbed Sam's arm and my arm, pulling us to where he was sitting,against the door. Sam's veins were black as night, he was coughing,dying.
"Sam..." I reached out, tried to heal him, only to be met with a searing pain inside me.
I pushed myself to sit on my knees on the side of Dean, going into a short coughing fit. Dean's face turned from Sam to me, I could see in the reflection on his eyes that a blackness was creeping through my veins a lot slower than it was for Sam.
"Nellwyn..." He breathed. I opened my mouth to speak but all I heard was coughing.Dean and I looked over and saw that the fog had gotten into the room.He cursed under his breath, shaking Sam.
"Come on, Sammy. Stay with me. Stay with me Sam. Please." He was begging as the light left Sam's eyes and his body started going limp. I felt tears stinging my eyes.
"Sam." I moved closer, only to fall onto my face in a coughing fit. I felt Dean tense as he looked to me.
"Not you too. Come on, kid." He lifted me with one had out of the fog that had pooled over the floor. He pulled me up until I was laying against him.
"Sam..." I muttered.
"Don't worry. We'll be fine. We'll all..." Dean stopped trying to convince himself.
"Am I gonna die? Dean?" I muttered, staring off into space. I saw Dean's eyes start to water as he looked between Sam and I. He looked up.
"AMARA! STOP THIS!" He screamed to no one. I felt my vision fade, the last thing I saw was the fog rising over Dean's head, his arm tightening around me as I felt my body go limp and my mind go blank.
I thought I was dead, I really did. But I wasn't. It was the bar. I was there again. Only this time Metatron wasn't there. It was someone else entirely. I looked at him, tall, slim, weak looking.Messy curly hair and a kind look in his eyes that was clouded over with regret.
"Who..."I felt a familiar air on him. He smiled at me.
"Call me Chuck." He said. "You're... Nellwyn." He nodded. I nodded back, hesitantly.
"Where's Metatron?" I asked, he looked angry for a moment, then sad. He shook his head.
"Don't worry about that. He's... We had a disagreement." He walked by me. I turned around to look at him.
"Chuck."I said. He didn't respond. I took in a breath. "God." I stepped towards him. He looked back, shocked.
"How do you..."
"You came back." I breathed. I opened my mouth to say something else,but words failed me.
"Not for what you might think." He said, turning away from me again.
I stared at his back.
"Hey."I called out. He ignored me. "You can't ignore me. You can't turn your back on me. You... You're supposed to help..." I stepped forward. He looked back at me with cold eyes.
"I'msupposed to help my creations." He said. I froze.
"I...Am part of your creation. Every person, every animal, every plant...Every monster." I said with a broken voice. "They're all here because of you. You can't just... Abandon us." I said. He didn't look at me. "People. Are. Dying." I snapped. He walked away from me. "Forget about me! I'm not worth it! People who don't deserve to die are..." He wasn't even looking. "CHUCK." I shouted. He finally looked back. "You're supposed to love us...Love, them. No matter what." I was crying. "You're not some savior or teacher or anything." I sobbed. "You're supposed to love... Because... You're... You're a Dad. Right?"
Something seemed to click in him. he was in front of me now, setting a hand on my shoulder.
"Nellwyn. I'm sorry." He said. "Creations like you rarely come around.But you have your story written. It's not over just yet." He promised. I had no words. "I see now why your soul brought you here. I'm going to give you something. But If I do, you won't remember anything that happened here."
"Why not?" I looked up at him in confusion.
"Because I need you to do this for me." He dropped something into my hand,closing my fingers around it. "I need you to be what I hoped you would be. What I know you'll be." Chuck...God, smiled warmly at me. "So go back to Sam and Dean. I have something to do" He grabbed a guitar and covered my eyes and I fell back into darkness before I could bombard him with my very long list of questions.
I woke up and took in a sharp breath of clean, fresh air. I pushed myself up and looked at Sam, who had pushed himself up at the same time as me. I smiled at him.
"We're alive!" I breathed out.
"Yeah."Sam breathed out a sort of laugh and we both looked to where we last saw Dean. He smiled and took one long stride to both of us, dragging us into a hug. I heard the door open and Dean let go and looked back.The little girl from before ran from the interrogation room where people were starting to wake up. She held my bear out to me.
"You were right! It saved me from the fog!" She smiled as I took it from her, carefully and curiously. Sam and Dean exchanged looks, then looked back at me as the little girl ran to her mother.
The bear started to glow, a song playing in the back of my head as I looked into it's eyes.
"If I had wings like Noah's dove I'd fly the river to the one I love. Well fare thee well, my honey, fare thee well..." A soft and powerful voice sang. I turned my bear over in my hands, pulling at what looked like a fresh stitch on it's back, the singing got louder. "Well I had a man who was long and tall, Who moved his body like a cannon ball. Well fare thee well, my honey, fare thee well...." I reached into my bear, felling through the stuffing and fluff until my fingers wrapped around something warm and solid. I pulled it out and a string attached to it came with it. It was a glowing necklace. Sam and Dean sucked in a breath.
"Is...That...?" Sam muttered.
"I thought..." Dean held out his hand and I gave him the necklace,holding my bear in my other arm. We looked outside and followed the path of which the glowing got brighter. I still heard the singing. I sang along.
"I remember one evening, in the pourin' rain... And in my heart was an achin' pain. Well fare thee well, my honey, fare thee well..." I muttered. I looked down at my bear as we walked down the streets through the sea of awakening people. It's eyes were glowing.
Sam and Dean and I were awestruck, looking around this once dead town. I smiled. They were alive. All of them. I looked down at my bear's glowing eyes and sighed.
"Muddy river runs muddy 'n' wild. Can't give a bloody for my unborn child.Fare thee well, my honey, fare thee well..." I sang a bit louder. Sam and Dean looked at me. Then at my bear, then at the necklace.Then we both looked straight ahead to where a man was standing.
"So show us a bird flyin' high above. Life ain't worth living without the one you love. Fare thee well, my honey, fare thee well..." He sang.I stared at him in curiosity as we sang the last line of this song I never knew together.
"Well fare thee well, my honey, fare thee well..." And just like that, everything seemed to stop.
"Chuck?"Dean stepped back.
"I thought you were..." Sam stopped, unable to find words.
"Who's Chuck?" I asked, I had heard that name before, but couldn't place where. Chuck had his hands behind his back, smiling a bit sadly.
"Hello. I believe... I have some explaining to do." He sighed and suddenly,we weren't in that town anymore.