[ CHAPTER ELEVEN ]
' SWEET DREAMS '
It had been awfully silent since they had returned to their motel room, to the point where even Dean was finding it unbearable, filling the tense silence with corny jokes and sarcastic comments.
Though to no avail, Lux had yet to say a word; it had been three very difficult days for all of them.
The first night staying in the motel room, Lux had locked herself in the bathroom. They had eventually bust the door down to find Lux sat in the bath, the water long past the warm temperature it had once been.
Lux had seemed unaffected from the icy water, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs, her head leaning against her knees as she stared at the mouldy wall tiles.
Without any hesitation, Dean had gently lifted Lux from the bathtub, wrapping a towel around her shoulder as she laid limply in his grasp.
She hadn't fought Dean as he gently towel dried her, before pulling a large t-shirt over her head, all while making sure the towel was covering her body before he removed it.
Tying back her wet, dripping locks with an elastic band, Dean eased Lux into one of the double beds, with Sam tucking the thick covers around her as Dean carefully untangled Lux's grip from around his neck.
It was evident that Lux was deteriorating before their eyes, the sarcastic, rather feisty blonde that they had met was a shell of her former self.
More than the average person, Dean and Sam could sympathize deeply with Lux. They knew more than anyone how it felt to lose family, to lose someone who was once cherished.
Their parents, Pastor Jim, Jo, Ellen, Ash, Charlie, Kevin- their own list of their lost ones was endless.
The second day at the motel was somehow even worse than the first. Lux hadn't moved from the cocoon of blankets Sam had tucked her in the night prior. She simply laid there, her gaze blank as she stared at the walls, fat tears endlessly streaming down her cheeks.
No matter what Dean or Sam said, the blonde wouldn't respond, only shrinking further into the covers till the hideous plaid fabric covered her face.
Withholding the sigh that threatened to slip from his lips, Dean's emerald eyes flickered back to the motel window. Peering out, her eyes were glazed over and trained on the pavement.
She looked so frail, so broken.
Grief affected everyone differently.
It was strange to think so much could happen in the space of a single day, how quick a life could change. Dean couldn't help but think back to the night; he and Sam had been too late, bursting into her apartment only to find her mother dead and Lux's best friend possessed.
Dean could vividly recall lifting Lux into the Impala as Sam took care of the corpses; her mother and the demon possessed best friend.
Something had smited the demon and worryingly enough, it hadn't been Cas.
The angel had sheepishly and rather shamefully admitted he had been waiting for his trench coat to be washed and dry cleaned in a laundrette located in New Mexico.
Lux's slender fingers had forcefully clung to his flannel over-shirt, anchoring herself to Dean.
"Dean."
Jumping, the oldest Winchester spun around, his mossy eyes landing on the trench coat clad angel.
His hunting instincts practically yelled at him for allowing the angel to sneak- no, teleport up- on him.
"Geez Cas, give a man a warning next time." Dean huffed, his eyes darting towards the motel room where Lux was still laid in her bed, her petite figure shielded by the thick duvet.
Pushing himself off the bonnet of the Impala, Dean shoved his hands in his pockets. "Any idea on what the hell smited that demon?"
The angel of the Lord nodded, an understanding wisdom in his cerulean eyes that no other angel possessed. "Uh, yes. The child."
Dean blinked. "The child?"
"That is what I said." Castiel retorted sarcastically, causing Dean to roll his eyes.
When had the angel become so sassy? Obviously, Cas was hanging out with Sam way too much. All Castiel needed was Sam's resting bitch face.
And don't forget the puppy dog eyes.
"What? But, how? How the hell does an unborn baby smite a demon?!"
The newly sassy Cas rolled his eyes, placing his hands on his hips. "Dean, I'm not sure if I informed you, but this is God's child."
Scoffing in belief, Dean shook his head. "But this is a baby, Cas. An unborn baby. God's child or not, this is crazy. I mean, if this kid can smite a demon and heal Lux without being fully developed, what happens when it is fully grown and popped out?!"
When Cas didn't respond, Dean sighed, his calloused fingers curling in his cropped, ivory locks. "I mean we thought Jesse- the anti-Christ was powerful, but this kid..."
Castiel cut Dean off, his brows furrowed in annoyance. "Dean, I don't think you understand."
The human scoffed. "Of course I don't freakin' understand! It seems you are the only one who does. So, enlighten me, Cas, what don't I understand!"
From the corner of his eye, Dean noticed Lux shift in the window.
Crossing his arms, Cas silently turned his back to Dean. "Why are you so mad?" The angel huffed.
Deeply breathing out through his nose, Dean watched as Cas turned to face him. "I'm- I'm not mad, just tell me."
The angel nodded. "You and Sam do not understand how powerful this child is, how powerful Lux is-"
"This child will protect her mother unconditionally, and that what you saw the other day? That was nothing. All this baby understands is that it loves her mother and when she is in danger she needs to protect Lux. Think about it, Dean, a baby who is almost as powerful as God. This child could destroy the universe protecting Lux, which is why we need to keep her away from any danger that may provoke her."
...
Twisting her body to the side and clutching the motel sheets with a sheer force that turned her fingertips white, Lux blatantly ignored Sam's worried gaze, disregarding it completely as she closed her eyes.
She understood that Sam and Dean were worried about her, and as sweet as that was; she couldn't stand it.
She couldn't stand the sympathetic glances and the pitying gestures. They were suffocating her, and it made her feel physically sick.
They didn't know her, and they certainly hadn't known her mother; so why did they care? To them, Carol Marie Everdeen was just another name to another dead woman.
But out of all members of 'Team Free Will', Sam had to be the worse for coddling her. On her first night, Sam had awkwardly sat at the end of her bed, telling her that he understood everything she was going through.
He had told her that him, Dean and Cas had all lost many people; but he had also told her about his dead girlfriend Jessica and how he had witnessed her actual death
As cruel as it was, Lux couldn't have cared less.
She didn't want to hear his problems, nor did she want his sympathy. She just wanted to be left alone.
Castiel however, was the complete opposite of Sam. He didn't send her any empathetic glances, nor did he offer his condolences every ten minutes, something she was grateful for.
But this didn't mean the angel treated her like a normal, ordinary person. Most of the time his intense gaze flickered down to her stomach, like he was more concerned about the life in her stomach rather than Lux herself.
Loosening her grip on the sheets, a frown marred her pretty features.
Sam and Dean had been nothing but nice to her since they had found her, Cas too, and there she was; throwing it all back in their faces.
With her eyes still closed, Lux allowed a hand to travel down to her stomach, resting beneath the thin material of one of Dean's shirts he had lent her.
As she began to drift into a state of darkness, Lux monetarily prayed for one peaceful sleep. One night of sleep where she wouldn't see the image of her mother; maggots and bugs surrounding her in what seemed to be the grave Sam had dug.
Lux would also dream of the demon torturing her mother, opening the door of the closet as her mother's corpse fell repeatedly before her.
The worse part of her nightmares was that Lux would dream from the demon's perspective, seeing her mother cry- like she was the one inflicting pain on her.
Lux honestly just wanted to sleep once without waking up whimpering, or waking up to Dean gently shaking her shoulders, the emerald eyed man telling her that she had been screaming.
Truthfully, she was afraid to go to sleep.
Forcefully clamping her eyes closed, Lux swallowed, a fluttering, newly familiar feeling occurring in her stomach as her hand rubbed the hardened bump.
The fluttering sensation was strange and had only begun when she had first woken up crying from a nightmare on her first night staying at the motel.
She didn't know if she should have been alarmed, but the feeling in her stomach, it was... Nice.
It felt like her daughter was telling her "It's going to be okay.", but she could have been wrong. Maybe she should have told Castiel already, but the feeling wasn't alarming.
As the pad of her thumb stroked the bump, Lux reluctantly allowed herself to drift into unconsciousness.