Supernatural... But Better (Vol. I)

Epilogue

"Sam!" Dean shouted, running up to his brother and pulling him in for a hug. "Oh, thank God."

Sam held his hands out, stopping him. "Annabeth. We have to go get her," he declared, turning back towards the house, but the door slammed shut in his face.

Dean reached out, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Look, there's— there's nothing we can do now."

"No!" he shouted, grabbing the doorknob and putting all of his weight in the door to try to force it open. "No, we have to get in there! We have to save her! It'll kill her, Dean!"

He nodded. "I know. And she knows."

That made Sam pause. "What?"

"She told me, before she went in there. I didn't want to let her, because I knew it would kill her, but— she said she'd made her peace with death if it meant saving you," Dean explained sadly. "Said she couldn't live with herself if you died when she could've saved you."

Sam stared at him. "No," he said softly. "No. No. I'm not gonna let her die, either."

"You don't have a choice," his brother informed him. "If you go in there again, it'll kill the both of you, and that's not happening."

He turned back towards the house, his face contorted in pain. "But she's going to die."

"I know," Dean responded. "I know. And that was her choice. We've got to respect that."

Slowly, Sam let his brother pull him back from the door. "I never even got to say goodbye."

Dean cleared his throat, trying to hold back his feelings. "She— she knows. She knows you care about her. I do, too. You didn't have to say it. She knows."

Suddenly, a bright light flashed from inside the house, followed by a loud bang. It stunned both of the brothers, making their eyes burn and their ears ring.

As soon as they'd collected themselves, they shared a look. Immediately, they were running inside the house, trying to see if their friend had somehow made it out alive.

"Annabeth!" Sam called, rushing into the kitchen. "Annabeth!"

It was empty. Of people, at least. The furniture was broken, tossed to the side, and all the knives were still laying out on the ground. It was a complete mess, but... even so, it was still obvious that there was nobody there.

Sam turned to his brother. "What happened? Where is she?"

Dean looked around. "The poltergeist's gone. Whatever she did... it worked."

"But where is she?" Sam repeated, pushing past him to get towards the rest of the house. "Annabeth! Annabeth!"

Dean caught his brother's arm. "She's not here, Sam."

He paused, refusing to believe it. "But there— there should at least be a... a body."

"When have things ever worked out the way they should?" Dean asked sincerely. "Well, look on the bright side. Now we don't have to burn her remains. That's been done for us."

Sam pulled away from his brother. "How can you joke about something like this?"

"I'm not, Sam," he responded sharply. "What do you want me to say? You were going to die, and she saved your life because that's what she wanted to do. And now she's dead, and we have no idea what happened. And all I can think about is how much it must've hurt her. And how that son of a bitch managed to murder an entire family, and we were powerless to stop it. How we promised to protect her, and we couldn't even do that. So, yeah, Sam, I'm gonna try to focus on the good here. And the good thing is, we don't have a body. So we don't have to see her dead. Because I don't know about you, but that might've just about killed me. Especially since I was the one who let her come in here," he explained, gritting his teeth to keep from crying.

Sam put his hands in his pockets, tearing up. "You're right. I'm sorry. It just— it just hurts."

Dean took a deep breath. "I know, Sammy. It hurts me, too."

~   ~   ~
FOUR MONTHS LATER
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"Camden!"

I was walking along the beach, looking for my friend. The island was pretty small, so there weren't a lot of places she could be. I'd just come from the house, so that left the beach — and she didn't seem to be there — the woods, or the cliffs.

"Hey! What's up?"

I turned, finding her standing a little ways behind me, at the edge of the trees. "There you are. I've been trying to find you! Izzy stopped by, I said I'd go find you, but who knows if she actually stuck around," I informed her, walking over to where she was standing

She nodded, her face breaking into a wide, relaxed smile. "The danger's passed."

I tilted my head at her, confused. "Are— are you talking about the storm? I noticed the weather seemed nicer than it has been in a while."

Camden shook her head, slowly walking out to the edge of the sand. "I haven't told you much about this island, have I?"

"What is there to tell?"

She stopped right where the waves began, cautious not to get wet. "This island is sacred to Apollo. It has a name — Asfalís — though no one really uses it anymore. He created it specially for his Oracles, after it became less necessary to keep them available for the general public. That sort of life often made Oracles too prone to the whims of the future, making them insane, so he brought them here for his own, personal access. No one is allowed on this island unless invited. I, of course, am the current Oracle, so Apollo invited me, so I am allowed. I, in turn, invited you. Only a select few others are allowed, but most are forbidden. It is a powerful magic that keeps things this way, one that is all but unbreakable." She turned towards me then. "That 'storm' wasn't actually a storm. It was someone who was not allowed on Asfalís trying to gain access. Fortunately, they have been taken care of now."

I gave her an odd look. "Who was it? Why were they trying to gain access?"

Deliberating, she nodded. "An unfortunate creature of darkness. She was trying to get to you, as she was targeting those who had real potential to shape this world for the better. She got too many, but not you."

Shaking my head, I thought about that. "What power do I have over the world?"

Camden took a deep breath, beginning to lead me back towards the house. "Let me tell you a story. It is not necessarily a nice story, I warn you. It begins with two brothers, the eldest named Dean, and the youngest named Sam. Their lives were destined to be quite unusual, from the moment they were born...."

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END OF VOL. I
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