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Free Supernatural Fanfiction – Chapter Summary:

After the wedding, Dean and Analina reunite with Sam on a snowy case—where an unexpected connection hints at something not quite human.

Rating: PG-13
Contains:  for mild tension and supernatural themes

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT:  
Not Quite Human

SURPRISINGLY, DEAN AGREED TO WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT DAY to leave for New York. The way he acted during the ceremony, I thought we’d be on the road right after dessert. (Dean never skipped dessert in his life.)

But he seemed to be relying on the idea that Sam was on a date for most—if not all—of the night. I never pegged Sam as a one-night stand, but the possibility kept us from driving into the middle of the night. Whether it happened or not, I was thankful. Especially since it started to snow again that evening.

DESPITE DEAN’S SUDDEN CHANGE OF HEART, we woke up bright and early the next morning to meet up with Sam. I wasn’t fully awake as we piled our bags into the Impala and left. The frigid car did nothing to help. I buried deeper into my coat as we drove most of the way in silence, listening to Dean’s cassette tapes.

He kept the volume low so I could nap if I wanted.

About halfway there, we stopped for brunch, and Dean made another call to Sam. He hadn’t called him when he first got up, which surprised me.

“So she just handed the providences over to you?” Dean paused, then deliberately corrected himself: “Provenances?”

He sipped his coffee. “And?… You didn’t have to con her or do any… special favors or anything like that?”

Dean laughed. “You know, when this whole thing is done, we could stick around for a little bit… so you could take her out again. It’s obvious you’re into her—even I can tell over the phone.”

Apparently, Sam had enough of the conversation at this point and said he’d meet us back at the motel where he was staying.

We paid for our food and left the diner.

Dean was convinced Sam liked this Sera girl. Sera was an amateur painter who worked at her mother’s auction house—Arkwright’s Auctions—where the Telescas’ belongings were sent.

That was all I knew about her.

“You know, you should be nicer to him,” I said as we continued our journey north.

He scoffed. “Why’s that?”

“Well, I never saw him tease you about us,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, well…” Dean glanced around, looking for the correct street to turn off. “He just knows I can beat his ass.”

He made the turn. “And for your information, he did tease me. You just weren’t around.”

“Really?” I was a little surprised. “What did he say?”

He didn’t answer right away. I saw in his eyes that he was trying to think of something—rather than looking for the motel, which was right in front of us.

“Stuff,” he replied, pulling into the motel lot.

“Stuff?” I repeated.

“Yeah.” He looked over at me and turned off the car. “It’s a brother thing.”

I felt my eyebrows shoot up, but I chose not to reply. I had a feeling he was lying—or at least exaggerating.

Dean was out of the car before I could even pull on the handle.

Inside, we found Sam on his laptop.

“Hey, guys,” Sam greeted. “Looks like this should be an easy case after all.”

He tossed some papers across the table. Dean picked them up. I peeked over his arm while taking off my coat.

It was a picture of an old family painting. The people looked… unsettling.

“Portrait of Isaiah Merchant’s family. Painted 1910,” Dean read.

Sam pushed their father’s journal over to us. “Now compare the names of the owners with Dad’s journal.”

We looked between the two.

Dean read again, “First purchased in 1912—Peter Simms. Peter Simms murdered 1912. Same thing in 1945. Oh, same thing in 1970.”

“Then stored,” Sam continued, “until it was donated to a charity auction last month. Where the Telescas bought it. So what do you think—haunted? Or cursed?”

Dean tossed the paper back to Sam. “Either way, it’s toast.”

THE PAINTING REMAINED AT ARKWRIGHT’S AUCTION HOUSE, where Sera worked. After hours, Sam and Dean broke in to salt and burn the painting.

I stayed behind at the motel and drank hot chocolate. I was completely fine with that. I talked to my parents, who planned to head home the next day from the wedding.

Sam and Dean came back a little while later, saying the mission was accomplished.

The next morning, Sam and I went down to the lobby to grab some free donuts for breakfast. Dean was in the shower.

We came back into the room to Dean rushing around.

“We got a problem. I can’t find my wallet,” he said, rifling through his duffel bag.

I groaned silently. I didn’t panic—most of the items in the wallet were fake IDs and credit cards.

“How is that my problem?” Sam said, placing the tray of coffee on the table.

Dean stopped looking and stood up straight. “’Cause I think I dropped it in the auction house last night.”

That made my heart stop for a split second. The scene of the crime. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No. It’s got my prints, my ID—well, my fake ID, anyway. We gotta get it before someone else finds it.”

Dean grabbed his coat. “Come on.”

As he passed by us, he reached over and grabbed a donut, stuffing half into his mouth. He shrugged on his coat and went out the door.

Sam and I just looked at each other, stunned. We quickly grabbed a donut and raced to catch up with Dean.

I HADN’T BEEN INSIDE ARKWRIGHT’S AUCTION YET. It was early morning, but people were already walking through the items on display. I noticed an auction scheduled for the afternoon on a sign coming in. The place had several large rooms, all fully furnished with paintings, vases, furniture, and other knick-knacks.

Sam followed Dean as they headed away from the aisles of items. I was going to follow them—but I felt something.

It was like an angel. But very weak.

I turned around and noticed a very tall, young woman talking to a customer about a piece. Her dark hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, and she had light caramel skin.

Her eyes were a soft brown, but when she turned her head a certain way, I swore they had a ring of blue around them.

Was this Sera?

She looked up, and I felt startled. I was definitely staring. I couldn’t hide that.

She excused herself from the gentleman she was speaking with and came over to me.

“Hi, I’m Sera,” she said politely. “May I help you with something?”

I glanced quickly at her name tag on her black suit. It read: Seraphina Arkwright.

The angel feeling was coming from her. But she couldn’t be an angel. She felt human. Sort of. I’d never experienced anything quite like it.

I stumbled through a greeting. “Hi, uh, no. Umm… I’m actually waiting for my husband and brother-in-law. They’re…” I glanced behind me but couldn’t see where they went. “Somewhere around here looking.”

That wasn’t too far from the truth.

“Oh, are they collectors? Buyers?” she asked.

“I think you know my brother-in-law, Sam?” I said instead. I wasn’t exactly sure what Sam had told her about himself.

“Sam Winchester?” she asked, smiling.

“That’s him.”

I kept trying to figure out what she was. She wasn’t exactly an angel nor a human.

I pushed my energy out more to see what I could get.

Once my energy collided with hers, I saw her jump a little. I froze and pulled back quickly.

Most people—or beings—couldn’t tell when I did that. Or rather, they never reacted to it like that if they did.

Her hand flitted to her collar and she cleared her throat. I knew she felt what I did.

I looked around. No one was in earshot. I had to know what was going on—especially if Sam really did like her.

I ended up being direct and whispered, “What are you?”

Her eyes widened for a moment before she collected herself. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You know what I mean,” I said gently. I took a step back so she wouldn’t feel threatened.

“I have the ability to sense things. It’s like you’re an angel… but you’re not. You’re not really… human either.”

She looked around again, scanning the room. “I’m not sure who you are, but… I’m not…” She sighed. “Look, I’ve done a great job hiding myself all this time. Please don’t ruin it.”

I could only stare.

She looked around again, then leaned in. “I’m a Nephilim.”

“Nephilim? Like… half angel, half human?” That would explain what I felt.

“Yeah, well… sort of. Both my parents are human. Apparently, we have a recessive Nephilim gene in our family,” she admitted.

“Wow,” I said. “That has to be pretty cool.”

“No, it’s not. Angels have been killing off Nephilim for ages. No one can find out about me.”

Boy, would she be dating the wrong person, I thought.

“Don’t worry. I won’t say anything.”

“Thank you.” Her body relaxed. Then she tensed again. “Does Sam…?”

“Oh, no. Sam wouldn’t know unless you said something,” I assured her.

“Good,” she sighed.

“You like Sam?” I asked. I figured if I was going blunt, I might as well go all the way.

She blushed a little. “He seems like a nice guy, but I don’t really know him. We only had dinner last night. He didn’t really… talk about himself all that much.”

I nodded. “Yeah, he can be a little shy. He’s had a rough life, and he doesn’t like to burden people with that. I imagine that’s why he was a little quiet.”

“Of course,” I added with a smile, “my husband—his older brother—probably gave him a hard time about going out to dinner with you last night.”

We talked a little more, and I realized I should probably check if they’d found Dean’s wallet.

I mentioned I should start looking for them, since they’d been wandering the auction house for a while.

As we turned a corner, I heard Sam getting clearly frustrated with Dean.

“How do you lose your wallet, Dean?”

I came into view first and saw Dean throwing his hands in the air, peering into a vase on the floor.

Sera followed me and said, “Hi, guys!”

They both spun around and tried to look innocent and relaxed.

“Sera! Hey!” Sam greeted her.

Dean perked up—but I didn’t think it was the name that did it. He felt something, too.

He glanced at me, and I minutely shook my head. He didn’t say anything.

I came over to his side as Sam introduced Dean to Sera.

“What are you doing here?” she asked Sam.

“Ah, we… we’re leaving town and, you know, we came to say goodbye.”

Dean gave me a wink and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. He moved over and stood by Sam.

“What are you talking about, Sam? We’re sticking around for at least another day or two.”

Sam looked over at Dean, confused.

Dean pulled a twenty out of his wallet and handed it to Sam. “Oh, Sam. By the way, I’m going to go ahead and give you that twenty dollars I owe you.”

Sam took the bill as realization dawned on his face.

He was set up. Dean pretended to lose his wallet so we’d have to come back here, and Sam would have to see Sera again.

Sam snatched the money and glared at Dean for a moment.

“Well, I’ll leave you two crazy kids alone. I have to show my wife something… somewhere.”

Dean grabbed my hand and pulled me away from them.

I glanced back and noticed they were still watching us.

“That wasn’t awkward at all,” I said to Dean.

We rounded a corner and slowed our walking.

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