She Talks to Angels | {BOOK 2}

68|Darkness

I barely registered the drive back to Bobby's house. Dark tendrils of depression oozed from the edges of my mind, wrapping like the tentacles of an octopus until they consumed my every thought. My chest was tight and body numb as I stared at the gun and container of bullets on the front seat between Sam and Dean. It would be so easy to reach forward, grab them both, load the chamber, stick the cold metal against the roof of my mouth and just-

"Eleanor!"

I jumped on my seat, looking over at the man crouching outside the open back door. Honey-emerald eyes stared into mine, sparkling with worry. Glancing around, I realized we'd gotten to our destination, Sam and the Colt nowhere to be seen.

"Talk to me, Ellie Bear. What's going on with you?"

"Nothing, Dean," I shook my head, clearing away any remnant of the dark thoughts that had been consuming me just moments before. "Let's head inside."

"Ellie-"

"Not now, Dean, okay?!" I snapped.

I climbed from the car, pushing past him, and fighting the tendrils that threatened to take over my mind once more. Inside, Jo, Ellen, Sam and Castiel were all sitting around drinking. Ellen and Cass looked like they were having a shot competition while the others all held beer bottles. Cass downed five shots in a row without missing a beat.

"I think I'm starting to feel something," he said.

Jo giggled and Ellen just gawked. My brow furrowed, my brain telling my body to cry, but no tears coming as a response. I closed my eyes, taking some deep breaths to try and keep the darkness at bay as the door opened behind me and Dean came inside.

"Ellie," he began quietly.

I ignored him, opening my eyes and walking over to the table Cass and Ellen sat at, grabbing a beer from a nearly empty six-pack. Plopping down in a chair and tuning out the conversations around me, I sipped from the bottle in my hand.

"Ellie, please," Dean's quiet whisper broke through the darkness in my head, his warm hand on my thigh drawing me out. "Talk to me."

I looked over at him, the urge to cry coming back full force, even though my body couldn't seem to create the tears to comply. I couldn't even force a fake smile on my face as I stared into the worried green eyes of my childhood best friend.

"Everybody get in here!" Bobby called. "It's time for the lineup! Usual suspects in the corner!"

Sam and Ellen were the first to head into the room.

"Oh come on, Bobby, nobody wants their picture taken," Ellen protested.

"Hear, hear," Sam agreed.

"Shut up. You're drinking my beer."

Cass and Jo entered next as Bobby was finishing fiddling with a camera on a tripod before wheeling his chair back.

"Anyway, I'm going to need something to remember your sorry asses by."

Everyone was in position then, facing the camera, smiling... Well, everyone else was smiling. I was biting down hard on my tongue to try and keep the non-existent tears at bay.

"Ha!" Ellen laughed. "Always good to have an optimist around."

"Bobby's right," Castiel piped up. "Tomorrow we hunt the Devil. This is our last night on Earth."

The smiles all disappeared as the camera flashed, taking the picture.

⁘

Naturally, the town was deserted when we arrived and we couldn't get a signal on our phones. Dean told Ellen, Jo and Cass to stay behind and look around while we checked out the local PD. Sam went in ahead of Dean and I.

"Ellie," Dean grabbed my arm to hold me back before I could follow Sam. "Would you please tell me what's going on with you?"

"Nothing. 'M fine, Dean. I swear."

"Bull. I know you, Ellie. And I know how you were feeling in that room before Cass got us out to go after Sam. Please, just talk to me."

Dean's eyes shown with unshed tears as he stared at me.

"I'm fine, Dean. We gotta go."

Shaking out of his grip, I headed into the building Sam had gone in. Predictably, the place was just as deserted as the rest of the town.

"Let's get out of here. There's nothing here," Sam said, coming into the room with me.

He headed toward the door, and I paused before trailing after him. Taking out the silver switch blade in my pocket, I cut a line horizontally at the base of my hand, just above my wrist. It wasn't deep enough to do any real damage, but just deep enough that a red line appeared where the blade broke into the skin. And then I slipped the blade back away, pulling my sleeve down to hide the cut so Dean wouldn't find out.

When we got back to Jo and Ellen, Cass was nowhere to be seen.

"Station's empty," Dean informed them.

"So's everything else," Jo replied.

"Have you seen Cass?" Ellen asked.

"What? He was with you," Sam said.

"Nope. He went after the reapers."

"Reapers?" Dean repeated.

"He saw reapers?" I asked. "Where?"

Dean looked at me, and I honestly didn't blame him. It was the most lively I'd sounded since before we tracked down Crowley.

"Well, kind of everywhere," Jo answered.

⁘

"Hello, my dear."

I whipped around at the voice, eyes widening in surprise. I was no longer on the street with everybody, instead finding myself in an extravagant chamber. A man, who I could only assume was Lucifer in a temporary vessel until he could claim Sam, stood in front of a four poster bed with white silk sheets. Glancing around the chamber proved that everything except the clothes of the man himself was also white. Though, as an archangel, there was a pair of fluffy white wings on his back. His face looked like it had been burned, like the vessel he was currently occupying wasn't faring well.

My eyes finally looked down at myself, and my heart dropped in my chest. Like the rest of the room, I was also wearing all white, reminding me too much of the future world Dean and I were sent to.

"People like to associate darkness and black with me, but if I'm being honest, white is a lot more enticing," Lucifer said.

I swallowed, unable to find my voice.

"Oh. Time for a meeting."