Missed Chapter 29 (Part 5 of 5)?

Free Supernatural Fanfiction – Chapter Summary:

Family dinners, demon attacks, and birthday scrapbooks—Analina balances chaos and love in post-wedding fallout.

Rating: PG-13
Contains:  Supernatural violence, mild blood, and emotional intensity

CHAPTER THIRTY:  
Family Matters

THANKFULLY, THE DAY after the wedding was quiet compared to the last few. It was just my parents for dinner, which gave us time to relax. We invited Bobby to join us as well—he planned to leave for South Dakota the following day.

We went through all the wedding things—cards, presents, decorations. My mother wanted to save everything, which was fine with me. It couldn’t come with us. We also looked through some of the pictures they’d taken. My cousins planned to send me their copies electronically, and we’d keep the printouts at my parents’ house. We might take a few for the road as mementos. Unfortunately, the Impala’s main job was to hold our arsenal—not photo albums.

Still, it was nice to visit quietly and not worry about anything.

I wasn’t sure how long we’d be able to stay. It all depended on whether we could locate Death, which was proving harder than we’d thought. He was keeping a low profile.

Bobby continued looking while we visited. After he left, he planned to call us if he found anything. He told us to enjoy the short vacation—because we might not get another one. He was always the optimist.

Sam pitched in to help Bobby throughout our stay, scanning the internet for possible signs. Nothing screamed Death yet.

The quietness ended with my Aunt Cheryl’s dinner the next day.

WE STILL HAD QUITE A FEW OUT-OF-TOWN FAMILY MEMBERS visiting for the wedding. They were also invited to dinner that Sunday. The weather was still warm, so dinner was served outside on Aunt Cheryl’s back porch—which could fit everyone at two large tables.

I sat next to Dean, and Sam next to him.

It was strange how much my life had changed. I never dreamed I’d find someone, let alone get married. Dean was now a permanent part of my life. Even Sam had wormed his way in—he’d become a good friend, and I looked up to him (literally and figuratively) as a brother.

With the wedding over, I suddenly found myself answering more questions. Some I’d already answered at the wedding.

Now it was like everyone was asking us everything—and keeping what we did a secret was harder than ever. We had no distractions to bail us out. We were sitting ducks.

After some small chit-chat, the questions started.

“So how did you meet again? I don’t think I got the full story,” my aunt asked.

“Well, uh, actually, we met because I was eavesdropping on their conversation,” I said honestly. “They were working on a case, and I was just… listening. Then they noticed me looking at them, so we started talking about the case. So, um… yeah. I met both of them because I was nosey.”

“But you weren’t working for whoever you’re working for now, right?” my uncle asked.

“Who do you work for?” my cousin added.

“No, I ended up working with them very soon after,” I answered the first question. I glanced at Dean.

“We can’t give you any specifics about our job. It’s classified,” Dean answered the second question. He wore his FBI expression—the one he uses on cases to shut down further questioning.

“But you’re happy with the new job? I know it was a sudden move,” my other aunt asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “We get to help a lot of people—sometimes they don’t even realize it. It has its moments like other jobs, but it can be very rewarding.”

“And what about your old job at the bank?” my uncle asked.

“I don’t think they were pleased that I left so abruptly, but I was sort of thrown into the… case, so…” I shrugged. “I explained as much as I could, and they got word from my new… employer about the urgency and secrecy of my new position.”

I didn’t think I could answer much more without blatantly lying.

“How’s the benefits?” my cousin asked.

“Well, I haven’t had to pay for my contacts or prescriptions so far,” I said. I withheld that it was because an angel had cured me and I didn’t need them anymore. “That one hospital visit was taken care of—”

“What hospital visit?”

Oops. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned that.

I cringed inwardly. “Oh, uh. Nothing that bad. Just a few stitches when I fell.”

Under a hellhound that punctured me, I finished silently.

I felt Dean slide his eyes over at me. I didn’t dare look at him.

Since it was my mistake, I tried to reassure everyone it wasn’t a big deal. They wanted to know where the stitches were, so I told them my stomach, on the side. I wasn’t about to show them the scar.

I was uncomfortable with the wound talk—which I had explained to my parents after the fact. They weren’t pleased. I had to promise someone would tell them if anything like that happened again.

To which Dean replied, “Nothing like that will happen to her again. You have my word on that.”

Noticing my awkwardness, my mom asked, “You never did say—was it love at first sight?”

That got everyone’s attention off the injury.

“Well, actually, when we first met there was a lot going on,” I said truthfully. “And love is a strong word. I wouldn’t say I knew I loved him until a little later.”

“When did you know? What changed?” she prompted.

I needed to remember to thank her later for redirecting the conversation.

“It probably happened fairly soon after we met, but I didn’t really know it until later. I think it was the funeral when I started to realize there was something going on.”

“What about you? Was it the same?” my aunt asked Dean.

“I think I finally admitted it to myself after she had her… fall. Seeing her get hurt, well… I just couldn’t handle it.”

He stopped before saying anything else that might not be smart for them to hear.

They also asked about Sam and Dean’s family—or lack thereof—in a sensitive way. Sam and Dean explained that their mother died in a house fire when they were young, and their father died in a car accident not that long ago. It was as close to the truth as they could get.

Thankfully, my family didn’t linger on that.

FINALLY, THE THIRD DEGREE STARTED TO SUBSIDE and dinner was ready. We had steaks, which pleased Dean immensely. He was in his glory with all the wonderful home-cooked food. He got a few looks for his overzealousness, but he wasn’t the only one. A few other family members savored the steaks like there was no tomorrow.

Sean, the cousin who took one set of pictures at the wedding, arrived late. He’d worked earlier and stopped to pick up copies of the photos. While he ate, we looked through them. He got some great shots—especially of everyone eating at the reception, which I kind of expected. I knew he’d focus on the casual moments while Joella handled the more professional ones.

The evening slowly grew darker and cooler. We debated whether to head inside when I felt a group of demons nearby.

I looked over and met Dean’s eyes. He felt them too.

He whispered something to Sam, who casually got up and went into the house.

It didn’t feel like they were coming directly toward us, but they were in the neighborhood. If they got closer, we had to be ready.

Dean rested his hand on mine. He leaned over and whispered, “Sam’s going to the car to check things out.”

His hand stayed on mine.

This was what they always worried about—demons attacking my family. I didn’t want that fear to become reality. With no trouble at the wedding, I thought we were safe.

“Should we get everyone inside?” I whispered.

Thankfully, no one was paying attention to us. My mother was telling a funny story that had everyone’s attention.

Dean glanced around. “That might be a good idea.”

The backyard was too exposed. There were bushes and trees—perfect hiding spots. Now we had to get everyone inside without raising alarm.

I stood. “Why don’t we all go inside? It’s starting to get a little chilly.”

They mumbled agreement, but not everyone moved.

Of course, I thought. When does my family ever make things easy for me?

Sam reappeared, dropping a bag by the door—supplies. He shook his head, indicating he hadn’t seen anything out front.

Dean and I walked over to him.

“Did you notice anything?” Dean asked.

I still felt the demons. They were in the area, but not moving aggressively.

“No,” Sam said. “What should we do?”

Dean rubbed his face, thinking. We had no way to tell if they were coming here. If we left, would they follow us—or stay and attack my family? We didn’t want to leave them unprotected, but we could be the reason they showed up.

“I don’t think they’re targeting us,” I said. “Or they would’ve appeared by now… or at least come closer.”

“Yeah, but it feels like a nice group,” Dean replied. “A random possession doesn’t need that many.”

“Do you think they’re trying to locate us? Did Cas protect this house too?”

Cas. Maybe he could help.

“Not that I know of,” Dean answered.

By now, some of my family had migrated into the living room, visible from the back porch. The rest were still chatting and clearing the tables.

“Should we go after them or stay here?” Sam asked.

“Let me try calling Cas. Maybe he can tell us what’s going on,” I suggested.

Poor Cas. It seemed like we only ever called him when something went wrong.

Sam and Dean nodded. I stepped around to the side of the house in case he showed up—I didn’t want to freak out my family.

I heard Sam talking to the family still outside, offering to help clean up. I felt Dean nearby—he hadn’t moved.

I took a breath and called for Cas. I didn’t get a response right away, but it felt like he was nearby. I didn’t sense him near the demons. I sent a message: We feel demons. Not sure what’s happening.

I started back around to tell Dean I hadn’t had much luck when I felt the demons move.

They were heading in our direction.

I rounded the corner, wide-eyed, and nearly collided with Dean.

“They’re—”

“Yeah, I know,” he said. He ushered me in front of him. “Get everyone in one room and protect it.”

My heart sped up. We couldn’t keep this a secret anymore. First, we had to keep everyone alive. We’d deal with the aftermath later.

I hurried through the rooms. “I need everyone in the living room now!” I yelled.

They looked at me, puzzled.

“I’ll explain later. Just do it… please. Stay in the living room no matter what you hear.”

“What’s going on?” my mother asked. She knew it was job-related.

“We’re possibly being attacked,” I said vaguely, giving her a look that said this isn’t something everyone will understand.

Dean ushered the rest of the family inside while Sam started spraying devil’s traps at the entrances.

“What are you doing?” my aunt nearly screamed when she saw the spray paint on her floor.

“Saving your life,” Dean answered. “Everyone, just stay in this room.”

I felt the coldness seep in and looked out the window. About half a dozen demons appeared in the backyard.

Dean peered over my shoulder and swore.

“Alright, let’s do this,” he said.

He headed outside with Sam and me on his heels.

“The two on the left and the second one from the right are still alive,” I said quickly to Sam, who held the Ruby knife. He nodded.

We went into action.

I stayed close to the door to block entry. It was harder to stop them—they had full run of the yard. Whenever I tried to exorcise one, it left the body before I could finish and returned once I was distracted with another.

They knew how to last longer when they weren’t trapped.

I finally managed to exorcise one. I heard screams from inside and looked through the window. I didn’t see anything in the living room—it must be in the hallway on the other side of the house.

I glanced over to let one of the guys know I was going back in, but they were busy.

I went inside and sensed one moving through the house in the opposite direction from me.

As I turned the corner, I saw my cousin. I was about to tell him to get back into the room when he turned around—and I realized it wasn’t really him.

He was possessed.

With my initial shock, he managed to shove me back against the wall.

“You weren’t expecting this, were you?” the demon sneered, flashing black eyes. He pulled out a knife hidden behind his back.

“Get out of him,” I commanded, raising my protective shield and stepping away from the wall.

He smiled and held up the knife. “Uh, uh, uh.”

I started to pull the demon away from the soul, but he raised the knife and slammed it into his stomach.

“You exorcise me, and he’s dead,” the demon said, tossing the knife aside. Blood poured from the wound, but the demon didn’t flinch.

I was stunned.

I heard someone run in. A bright light flashed, and I turned my head.

Cas had appeared—and took care of the demon.

My cousin’s body collapsed to the floor. Blood was everywhere.

In a second, Dean was at my side. Cas bent down and touched my cousin’s head. Within seconds, the wound healed.

It took my cousin a moment to wake up. I felt around—no more demons in the house.

“Thanks, Cas,” I said weakly. Apparently, my instincts weren’t as sharp when my family was involved.

My cousin looked around, confused. Dean helped him up.

“What happened?” he asked. “Why is there blood all over me?”

He started to panic. He didn’t notice any wounds and looked at Dean, then me, for answers. Cas stood off to the side.

“Um, w-we’ll explain,” I said. “But let’s get everyone together first.”

Sam came in as Dean led my cousin to the living room. “Everyone else seems to be okay. Well, under the circumstances.”

I nodded. What the hell were we going to tell them?

THIS WAS A COMPLETE MESS. I could hear my family freaking out in the other room. I rubbed my face, trying to figure out what to do. What would be best for them?

If they knew what we did, they’d understand why I was gone so much. But ignorance was bliss. They sounded really upset—not that I could blame them.

Was it better to keep the lie?

“Um, Cas? Is there any way to make them forget what just happened?” I asked. “Didn’t you say before that’s something angels can do?”

“I could wipe their memories,” he said slowly.

“We’re going to have to do some cleanup first,” I said, glancing down at the blood—and remembering the devil’s trap painted on the floors. Looking down the hall toward the living room, I saw Dean. He looked like he could use some help.

“I-I’ll…” I paused. “I’ll try to keep everyone busy and in one place while you clean things up. Then we can wipe their minds?”

“How are you going to keep them busy?” Sam asked.

“Um… I’ll just tell them the truth, I guess. I mean, that’ll take a while to explain and answer questions.”

“You’re going to tell them the truth?” Sam looked shocked.

“Well, they won’t remember it later, right? And maybe if they take it well… Okay, they’re not going to take it well. I’m not stupid,” I sighed. “Just… just start cleaning, please.”

I started toward the living room before I lost my nerve.

Dean met me just outside. He’d managed to keep everyone together.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m going to keep them busy while you guys clean things up. Then Cas will wipe their minds.”

“What?”

“Yeah, well… I’m open to other options,” I replied.

He didn’t offer one.

“What are you going to say?” he asked.

I shrugged. “The truth.”

He looked into the room. “Good luck with that.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

I started to walk in. He stopped me.

“Do you need any help?” he asked, voice trailing off.

“Um… let’s see what I can do first. I think Sam and Cas are going to need help hiding all the evidence before the memory wipe.”

He nodded and headed down the hall.

I entered the living room and was greeted by a flood of mixed questions. Most of them boiled down to: What the hell just happened?

I tried to get everyone seated.

“Okay, I’m going to try to explain what happened,” I began. My stomach dropped. “This is sort of what my job is… and I guess it kind of followed me home.”

Not the best opener.

I had to wait until they calmed down again before continuing.

“Those people weren’t really people. They were demons. And that’s sort of what we do. We hunt things like demons and other monsters.” I twisted my hands. “That’s why we couldn’t really talk about things.”

Another round of questions erupted. I answered them as best I could.

“No, aliens aren’t real.”

“Yes, vampires are one of them.”

“There are more monsters than you’d think.”

“No, the government technically doesn’t know we’re doing this.”

“Yes, we keep it secret to avoid mass hysteria.”

“No, I don’t think they were targeting anyone here. They just happened to be in the area.”

And so on.

Eventually, Sam, Dean, and Cas reached the spot where the devil’s trap had been painted. I introduced Cas as an angel.

He got the same reaction I had when I first learned he was one.

The trench coat threw everyone off.

I didn’t think they were calmer about everything, but they began to at least believe these things were real. The panic in their faces was enough for me to know that wiping their memories of this evening—or at least the attack—was the right call.

After what felt like forever, everything was cleaned up and back in order. I pulled Cas aside and told him not to worry about my parents, but everyone else would need to be done.

“Analina, are you sure?” Cas asked. “I can’t undo it once it’s done.”

I looked back at my family. “Yeah. I think it’s better they don’t really know everything. Are you able to let them keep the memories of this evening prior to the attack?”

“Yes. I can do that. I’ll put them to sleep, and when they wake up, they shouldn’t remember anything.”

I nodded and pointed to my parents to come over.

“We’re going to have Cas wipe their memories of the attack,” I explained. “Everything that happened before that, they should remember. Since you already know what we do, you’re safe.”

Sam took them into the kitchen while I explained that Cas was going to help everyone with what happened. That everything would be clearer afterward. I told them they’d fall asleep for a few minutes, but everything should be fine.

Not a complete lie, depending on how you look at it.

Cas moved quickly, touching each person’s head. They drifted off to sleep.

“They’ll be out for about fifteen minutes or so,” he said.

I nodded, taking one last look at them before heading into the kitchen.

“Are they going to be alright?” my dad asked.

“They’ll be fine. They’ll wake up without knowing what happened,” Cas assured him. He turned to Dean. “You’re sure this wasn’t a direct attack?”

“I don’t think so, Cas. It didn’t feel like it. I know I’m not as sensitive about these things as Analina is, but they didn’t seem to even know we were here until she tried calling for you.”

“Thanks, Cas,” I said. “You’ve done a lot for us—especially this week.”

My parents gave me a weird look.

“He helped protect us at the wedding in case an attack happened there,” I explained.

Even though they knew about my life, I didn’t think they were prepared for just how real everything was. It had been abstract before tonight. My dad had been oppressed by a demon once, but he didn’t know how intense things were on a daily basis for us.

I should be grateful that something worse hadn’t come after us. How do you explain something like a vampire or a rugaru?

We sat down and talked while we waited for the rest of the family to wake up. Cas did a quick search of the surrounding neighborhoods and didn’t see any other impending problems.

Everyone woke up a little later. They didn’t remember anything about the demon attack. They were slightly confused about how they ended up inside, but seeing everyone around them, they brushed it off.

A wonderful cop-out, I thought.

I was tossing around ideas for what to say if I had to explain it. None of them were believable.

 MINI CHAPTER BONUS: The Pumpkin Patch

THAT MONDAY WAS MY BIRTHDAY. I hadn’t celebrated last year. My parents wanted to do something, and I figured we should keep it simple—something everyone would enjoy. Sam and Dean hardly had any time with family, so I decided we should all go out to a pumpkin patch for a nice fall outing, followed by dinner at a nearby restaurant.

I’d spent a good portion of the previous day putting together something special for the immediate family members who took part in the wedding. Dean helped. Well… kind of helped. I had him work more on Sam’s than anyone else’s. He wasn’t exactly into arts and crafts.

We all drove out to the pumpkin patch and met a few people there, including my best friend Katie. She wanted to spend time with me before I left. She’d taken off work for the wedding and for today, and I wasn’t sure how many more times I’d see her before we hit the road again.

The pumpkin patch obviously sold pumpkins, but it also had a farmer’s market, a bakery, a haystack maze, some barn animals, and a few things for little kids to play with. I didn’t think Sam or Dean had ever done anything like it before. Sure, it would’ve been cheaper to buy pumpkins from the grocery store—but it wouldn’t have the ambiance.

We did the haystack maze first. It wasn’t scary—just a maze. Sam almost reached the top, so if he’d jumped, he probably could’ve seen the way out.

We stopped to take pictures with some funny-looking scarecrows and then browsed the pumpkins. Dean wasn’t thrilled about the farmer’s market, but when I mentioned the bakery, he practically ran there. He found a new buddy in my dad—who’s addicted to sweets. I couldn’t even begin to tell you what they bought or how much they spent.

Sam seemed to enjoy the farmer’s market. I bought some apple cider and cinnamon sticks for movie nights later.

Once everyone was done, we drove to a local restaurant. While we waited for the food, Dean and I presented everyone with scrapbooks of the wedding. It was just a personal touch for each of them.

Sam and Katie got one since they were the best man and matron of honor. My parents got their own scrapbook, and we made one for each of the paparazzi cousins. We included a few pictures from the wedding—Joella had sent them to me after I specified the types I wanted. We added a few personal shots of ourselves, and I even found some older photos to include.

Sam’s scrapbook included a few older photos of him and Dean. They’d been given some old pictures when they helped the new owner of their childhood home—the one where their mother was killed—a few years ago. The owner had found a box of their photos in the basement and returned them after they helped her with a poltergeist.

Everyone loved the scrapbooks. Dean and I just wanted a nice way to thank them for all their help—and to give them a keepsake for later. Once we got all the photos back, Dean and I planned to make our own wedding album, which would probably stay stashed at my parents’ house.

We spent most of the time visiting. My family grew very fond of Sam and Dean—and they seemed to enjoy being around them. After what happened at my aunt’s, we were more cautious, but it seemed like the demons had just been a weird coincidence.

Dean didn’t believe in coincidences, but nothing else had happened.

That didn’t stop him from enjoying all the old photos and home movies my parents had accumulated over the years. Thankfully, the video filming stopped when I was still fairly young—but we watched the home movies. All of them.I could just see Dean stockpiling every embarrassing moment in his mind for later. It wasn’t fair that I didn’t have ammunition like that on him. But then I remembered what happened to his family—and I didn’t feel the need to gain information… as much.

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