Missed Chapter 19?

Free Supernatural Fanfiction – Chapter Summary:

A forgotten story reveals a soul-deep bond, reshaping prophecy and purpose as Analina and Dean confront destiny—and each other.

Rating: PG-13
Contains:  Emotional intimacy, supernatural lore, and thematic depth

CHAPTER TWENTY:  
Anam Cara

WE DROVE A LITTLE MORE THE NEXT DAY and stopped at another motel. Nothing was actually mentioned about me going home, but it seemed the idea had been temporarily dropped. I felt better than before—albeit tired from not sleeping well.

We weren’t in the motel room long when Cas appeared.

Cas looked between the three of us. His gaze landed on Dean last and lingered.

Dean looked over and noticed the look. “What’s with the poop face?”

Cas stared for a moment. “Are you still under the insane idea of taking her home?”

Dean glanced from him to me. “How did… Were you spying on us?”

“No,” he looked away, slightly uncomfortable.

“He stopped by just after you two left last night… and left before the demons came,” I added.

“There were demons?” Cas asked just as Dean said, “What?”

“You left her to deal with demons alone?” Dean accused, standing to face Cas.

“No, of course not,” Cas retorted. “I wouldn’t have left her weak as she was if I thought she was in danger.”

“Wait. Do you know why she was so weak against the demons? Was it because of her injury?” Sam asked, jumping in before Dean could argue more.

“I have a theory,” Cas said. “Well, now I have a theory—not so much at that time. It might also have something to do with the prophecy…”

“And?” Dean asked.

“And I think we might be dealing with something called an anam cara… between you and Analina,” he told Dean.

Anam cara? I knew those words. My mind raced through what I knew about it and what was happening. It made sense, but it couldn’t be true. I thought I made it up.

“Wait, you mean there is such a thing?” I asked Cas.

Cas blinked. “Yes, but how did you know about it?”

“Well, I thought I made it up—sort of. The concept of it, anyway,” I added. “In a story I was writing. I never finished it.”

“What are you two talking about?” Dean asked, frustrated. “What is A-an…”

“Anam cara,” Cas repeated.

Before Cas could explain, I jumped in. This wouldn’t be easy to hear, and I could probably explain it with less bluntness and avoid a blowout.

“It literally translates as ‘soul friend.’ It’s old Scottish Gaelic for anam-charaid,” I started to tell Dean.

“Soul friend?” Sam asked. “You mean like soul mate?”

Leave it to Sam to pick up on it that quickly, I thought. Dean did a double take.

“Yes, sort of—but not in the way people think of it now.”

“So we’re… soul mates?” Dean asked in a pitch slightly higher than normal.

“Technically, I guess. But it’s nothing weird or anything,” I added hastily.

“Of course not,” Dean muttered.

I started to explain the concept of anam cara from my story. It was about a warrior group—originating from Scotland—that hunted demons. They were selected by angels to receive training, and then they would hunt demons for a minimum of three years. Once the warriors met their anam cara, they were no longer required to hunt. They also didn’t age during this time. I doubted that part was true in real life, but we were only focusing on the anam cara.

When the warriors were selected, they received a warrior’s mark on their forearm. Once they met their anam cara, that mark disappeared, and they received a new mark unique to the couple—usually located behind the ear. Both members of the anam cara pair received it.

Cas said I was close with this description, but the mark shouldn’t be visible to the human eye. Instead, it should be located on the soul. Another form, more similar to the common idea of soul mates, had a mark on the heart. The anam cara was more special—according to Cas—which coincided with my story.

“Each warrior has only one soul mate, which is considered a special gift for their services. All warriors find their soul mate, but it might take a long time… All soul mates descend from the original warrior clan—Carmichael. Soul mates are always just one warrior and a descendant of the Carmichael clan. Through clan alliances and migrations, virtually all clans (and countries) contain those with Warrior Blood.” Dean read my notes from what I still had left in my inbox. I had sent some things via email for safekeeping. I sat across from him, semi-uncomfortable. No one had read anything from my story yet.

On an interesting note, the Campbells (from their mother’s side) probably originated in Scotland. My family—the Seths—also did. It was part of the clan Shaw. The Seths, however, migrated from Scotland to Ireland before settling in America.

“Soul mates do not result from a supernatural occurrence. No one instantly falls in love. No one has weird or strange urges to do anything. To be honest, it’s not much different than meeting someone under normal conditions,” I added, trying to alleviate his anxieties. “The mark basically indicates that out of all the people on earth, that person complements you the best. Like having the ultimate best friend.”

We had a pause in the conversation. It was a lot to take in, and I knew that. I would be freaked out if I had just heard this. Actually, I was kind of freaked—and I had at least been exposed to the concept.

“What mark did your characters have for it?” Cas asked.

I got a piece of paper. I had drawn it before, but it wasn’t in the email. It was Celtic-looking and in the rough shape of a heart—not an easy pattern to draw. I held the paper up for Cas to see.

“It’s not the best, but similar to this.”

Cas looked at the drawing and then looked at Dean. “I can check, but I would have to touch your soul.”

“Touch my—Oh no! You are not giving me a soul-onoscopy,” Dean said, standing up. Touching a soul was painful for a person, but usually no permanent damage was done if the angel did it gently.

Cas turned toward me.

“You can’t even put me to sleep. How are you supposed to touch my soul?”

He sighed.

“Cas, are you sure? I mean, do you really think this is what the prophecy had in mind?” Sam asked.

“There was a prophecy in my story, but it wouldn’t exactly fit into this,” I said.

“What was your prophecy?” Sam asked.

“Well, I never fleshed it out, but it was that the two main characters of the story—one being a warrior—would have the power to take out scores of demons… higher-level demons.”

“Like Lucifer high?” Dean asked.

“I never planned on having him in the story, but close to it, I guess. The thing about them was that they were able to borrow each other’s abilities. The warrior, James, was obviously good at hunting demons, but the girl, Vanessa, had a special gift for distinguishing demons and speaking to higher-level angels—like a Dominion. Eventually, both could do what the other could naturally, but not to the full extent. They were actually very strong when they fought together.”

“So if this thing is real, Dean could learn how to tell when demons are coming and exorcise them in his mind? Like you?” Sam asked. Dean perked up at this.

“In theory,” I answered.

“And this is why you caught on quickly to hunting?”

I nodded with a slight shrug. I hadn’t thought about that part.

Sam blinked in surprise as the pieces started to fall together. Dean still looked stunned. Cas was… well, it was hard to distinguish his emotions sometimes, but I believed he was thinking hard about the prophecy.

“So wait. Remember when you first met us? You said that you couldn’t do the things you did until you met us—or him,” Sam nodded to Dean. “And then when you stayed at Bobby’s, you couldn’t feel Zachariah come or use your power on him. If this is true, that’s why it didn’t work. But you were able to stop that demon on the first night at the motel because Dean was near you.

“Then again last night. You weren’t strong because he wasn’t near you—plus you were wounded. You guys are really connected when it comes to this. So you’re basically safer being around him than anywhere else.”

Sam was smart and added things up fast. It made sense now. Maybe it wasn’t that I was as special—it was that we were special.

“So you share souls and powers,” Sam concluded with a non-comical laugh. Dean glanced over at Sam with a furrowed brow. “And the more you get to know each other—or bond, I guess—the stronger the powers get, even when you’re not near each other. And you guys do like each other. I see the way you look at each other and talk to one another.”

Dean and I just gawked at him.

“It’s true,” Sam continued. “I mean, I haven’t known you long yet, but Dean I definitely know. And this is much different than how he acts around other women. He also gets very protective about the people he cares about. That’s why he gave you a hard time when you started to hunt. He did the same with me. Then, when you got hurt, he—”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Dean interrupted. He ran his hand through his hair and stood up.

There was another pause. My head started to swim with this news.

“And how does your story end? Do they gank the demons or what?” Dean asked, turning toward me.

“I technically didn’t finish it, but yeah. It’s supposed to work out in the end. Not that every demon disappears, but the balance would be tipped in what would be our favor.”

Dean nodded. I then remembered that I killed off James’ best friend in the story. If that was equivalent to now, then Sam… No. I stopped myself. This was not really the same. It wasn’t foreshadowing. James was born over two hundred years ago in the story. The story and this had too many differences.

“This could be it. You guys could be the ones to stop Lucifer without ending the world,” Sam said with more amazement this time. He bought into everything. It seemed like we had a way out of things.

I was a little apprehensive about all of this. Dealing with demons was one thing, but the devil? Not to mention the possible relationship I could have with Dean. How many people could say they’d found their soul mate and actually, truly know it? I couldn’t imagine what he was thinking. I peeked over at him.

Dean looked like he was shutting down. He probably needed a little time alone to regroup his thoughts. I also wanted some time to process everything without scrutiny. We still had a few things to look into with the parallels between my story and our situation. If I had known how important the story was, I would have finished it—or at least written down more details. First things first, though. Let’s keep things together, I thought.

“Dean, why don’t you pick up some dinner, and I’ll dig around in my emails to see what else I had written up with this story and print it out? I could see if there’s anything that might help us. It might also jog my memory on some finer details since it’s been a while since I even thought about the story, let alone wrote anything. Sam and Cas can start by reading through this,” I waved my hand at the screen with the one email I had displayed.

After a brief discussion, it was agreed, and Dean left to get some food. I printed the email out for them and then looked for more information and the few chapters I’d written. I didn’t remember how much I’d saved or what background material I had. The story prep seemed more important than the actual story. It was hard to believe that what popped into my head had fit so well with what was really happening.

DEAN RETURNED WITH SOME TACOS, and we ate while looking over the remainder of the pages I printed. Sam seemed to be in good spirits about this. We had more information to work with and a better understanding of the prophecy. Cas decided to go and try to find anything else about the anam cara that we didn’t know. Bobby was also notified to look out for anything that might concern this situation. Dean was, well, quiet—which he covered by catching up on the reading material.

With a lull in the conversation, I stood up, grabbed my jacket, and headed toward the door. “I’m going for a short walk.”

“Wait, what?” Dean looked up from the papers. “Alone?”

“I’ll stay within the block. I should be fine.”

“You’re going to take a walk when we just had a breakthrough on the case? A breakthrough, I might add, that has something to do with your story and our souls? What if an angel or demon got wind of this already? You’re weaker when you’re alone.”

I turned the doorknob. “Well, you better hurry up then.”

I walked out the door quickly so that he’d be forced to catch up with me. I used this tactic a lot as a child. I knew whoever was watching me would have no choice but to come after me, so I’d make sure to walk or run ahead for them to follow. I was a few doors down from our room when I heard the door slam shut and footsteps rushing toward me. I dropped back down to a normal pace.

Dean fell into place beside me, and we walked in silence for a little while. Slowly, the cool air helped to clear my head—and I assumed Dean’s as well. I spotted a small sitting area outside a closed ice cream parlor and made my way toward it to sit.

“How are you doing?” I asked. I sat on top of the table rather than the bench.

“Oh, just peachy,” he said sarcastically. He leaned against the table instead of sitting. I just waited. He sighed and rubbed his face. “It’s a lot to take in.”

“Yeah, it’s a lot for me—and I sort of knew about it.”

“It doesn’t seem real.”

I knew how that felt. “Yeah, it was all just a story for me until today.”

He finally looked over at me. “I guess it surprised you, too.”

I gave him a small smile. “Just a bit.”

He returned my smile. “Well, you did say that you weren’t normal. I know that I never really lived a normal life, so I guess it makes sense.”

“Normal is overrated anyway,” I said.

He sat down beside me.

“Do you think this means we can stop Lucifer? That this is part of the prophecy?” I asked.

“The fact that we’re soul mates doesn’t freak you out, but the apocalypse does?”

I felt my mouth quirk up a little. “I guess I’m not that surprised by it. Well… not completely freaked out, anyway.”

I wasn’t either. Something deep down had always pushed me in this direction. It came naturally that I wasn’t “freaked out” by it. I was surprised that the anam cara actually existed, though.

“Are you freaked out about that part?” I asked.

He sighed. “Honestly, yeah. A little. I mean, soul mates.” He said the word like that was explanation enough.

I waited.

Dean turned to me. “It’s not that it’s a bad thing, but I never imagined… It’s not something I would picture myself dealing with.”

“Don’t worry. Just because we found out we’re soul mates doesn’t mean we’re getting married tomorrow,” I said. “If you really think about it, it’s something really nice. It’s about being with someone you can ultimately trust and who will always be there for you. Someone who won’t share your secrets with anyone else and who brings out the best things in you…”

“You’re turning this into a Hallmark moment, aren’t you?”

I smiled. “Sorry. I just meant that the soul mate part of it isn’t bad at all and shouldn’t be weird. It’s just a direct way of knowing that those things could—or will—happen with us. And if you think about it, it kind of already has.”

He looked up.

“I’ve told you things that I wouldn’t have said to anyone else. I mean, I talk to my family and friends, but not one person received all the information I’ve shared with you these past months.”

“The cone of silence thing?”

“Exactly.”

He smiled and thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, I get that. I think I told you things that even Sammy doesn’t know about… Well, things I haven’t told him, even though he probably figured them out.”

“Not too bad, right?”

He shook his head. “No, not too bad.”

He studied me for a moment and moved closer. “So no forced wedding or anything?”

I laughed. “No. I wouldn’t suggest proposing right now. But I’ll tell you what—if you ever feel like it in the distant future—emphasis on distant—I already got the ring for you.” I held up the diamond ring that I designed and wore every day.

He smiled and took my hand. “A woman who doesn’t cost me a thing? I can deal with that.”

“That’s anam cara for ya,” I grinned. “Well, sort of.”

He sighed. “As long as we’re in the cone of silence… the only reason I wanted to take you home was that I couldn’t stand it if you got hurt. It seems like everyone around me gets hurt or dies. I just didn’t want that to happen…”

“Well, first, I’m actually relieved that I’m not going home. I mean, I love my family and all, but I guess I had separation anxiety when you mentioned it.”

“The soul mate thing?”

“No, it doesn’t inflict emotions. It’s just a true, normal feeling,” I corrected. “Second, it was probably a good thing you threatened to do that.”

“Why?” he asked, puzzled.

“Because I was so upset that Cas showed up. When I told him what was going on, I think that led him to investigate this. He scanned me with his angel mojo or whatever it was. I bet that led him to all this. If that didn’t happen, we might still be in the dark about it.”

“Heh, interesting.” Putting my hand between his two hands, he continued, “Now that we’re settled… Lucifer is still a problem.”

“Yeah, that would be an impending problem.”

“So you don’t think this anam cara thing could stop him completely?”

“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “It’s Satan. And quite honestly, that kind of scares me. Demons we’ve had experience with, but I don’t think we’ll get any second chances with him.”

Dean nodded and looked out again. I was starting to get chilled just sitting there, and the turn in the conversation wasn’t helping. I leaned in closer to Dean, who was still radiating warmth.

“But if the prophecy is true, then we should be able to do something that would help kill this son of a bitch,” Dean said.

“Actually, I think you’re right about that. The question is—exactly how?” I conceded.

“Does this mean we have to do more research?” Dean asked with a sigh.

I smiled inwardly at his aversion to research. “Maybe. But two things first.”

I started to stand.

“What’s that?” he asked, looking at me at eye level now.

“First, I’m getting cold, so let’s start heading back.”

He smiled at that. He stood and draped his arm around me, pulling me closer to him. I could feel the heat through his jacket and sighed. We started walking.

“And the second?”

“The second thing is… you’re going to have to start learning how I can exorcise and sense demons and angels.”

Dean perked up at that. “You’re going to be my Yoda?”“Yep! It’s not easy being green, you know.”

Image by Copilot

Ready for Chapter 21?