Heart of a Hunter

35. Unseen Shadows

Blair's POV:

I felt like the world was folding in on itself, everything I thought I knew dissolving into the darkness around me. I gripped Sam's arm tightly, trying to ground myself in reality, but the sight of Dean—or whatever that was—staring back at us with those glowing golden eyes sent a chill down my spine.

That wasn't Dean. It looked like him, moved like him, even sounded like him, but the energy coming off of him was wrong. So wrong.

"Sam..." I whispered, my voice trembling. "That's not him."

Sam didn't move, didn't blink. He stood frozen beside me, his whole body tense. I could feel the fear rolling off him, the confusion. His gun was raised, but I wasn't sure what good it would do against whatever had taken Dean's place.

The figure smiled, but it was cold, lifeless. "Blair," it said smoothly, tilting its head in that familiar way Dean always did when he was amused, only now it felt sickening. "We've been looking for you."

I clenched my fists, a surge of anger rising in my chest. This was the Arcani. This was what they wanted—for me to feel afraid, for me to fall apart. But I wasn't going to give them that satisfaction. Not anymore. Whatever power they thought I had, whatever they wanted to use me for, I'd fight it. I had to.

Sam stepped in front of me, his voice low and threatening. "Get the hell away from her."

The not-Dean raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. "Why would I do that? She's exactly what we've been searching for. You, Sam... you've just been keeping her warm for us."

My breath caught in my throat. The Arcani knew everything. They had been watching us, waiting for their moment. And now, they had control over Dean. My blood ran cold.

"Let him go," I spat, stepping out from behind Sam. I felt the darkness inside me stir, a strange energy coiling in my chest, threatening to break free. I tried to push it down, tried to keep it under control, but it pulsed through me, hot and electric. "Let. Him. Go."

Not-Dean's smile widened. "Ah, there it is. I can feel it. You're waking up, Blair. Finally."

The pressure inside me built, the weight of everything—the loss of my family, the seal, the Arcani—pushing me to the edge. I didn't know what I was doing, didn't know how to control the power inside me, but I could feel it, like a storm ready to explode. And I knew, deep down, that if I didn't do something, I'd lose more than just Dean.

I'd lose Sam.

A sudden flash of memory hit me—those nightmares, the visions I'd been having since all of this began. In every one, I saw myself standing in a field of destruction, Sam and Dean lying motionless at my feet. My heart had shattered every time I saw it, but now I realized what it meant. It was a warning. I was the cause of that destruction. If I didn't learn to control this power, I'd destroy everything I loved.

Not-Dean took a step closer, his glowing eyes locking onto mine. "Come with me, Blair. The Arcani will teach you to control the power inside you. You can be more than you ever imagined. You were never meant to fight this."

I shook my head, backing away as the power surged again. "No. I'm not going with you. You're not taking me."

The figure chuckled, the sound low and eerie. "You don't have a choice."

And then, in the blink of an eye, something snapped inside me. The darkness I'd been trying to suppress all this time broke free. A wave of power erupted from my chest, a force so strong that it knocked Sam back a step, and not-Dean staggered, his smile finally slipping.

I wasn't sure what I had done, but for a split second, everything felt different—clearer. My mind was buzzing, my skin alive with energy, and I felt... strong. But it wasn't just me. The power was twisting inside me, tugging at something deeper. Something hidden.

Then, as the power pulsed again, I saw it.

It wasn't just Dean. There were more. More figures stepping out from the shadows, their faces twisted, their eyes glowing that same eerie gold. They were waiting. Watching. And they were all wearing my face.

Panic gripped me, but there was something else, too—a strange, dark familiarity. These... things. These twisted versions of me—they weren't just illusions. They were real, and they were connected to the power I had just unleashed. They were part of me.

The realization hit me like a sledgehammer. The Arcani hadn't just been searching for me. They had been creating me. All those times I thought I'd seen something in the corner of my vision, those fleeting glimpses of another me... they weren't hallucinations. They were fragments, pieces of myself, of what I could become. And now, those pieces were standing right in front of me, staring at me with eyes that glowed like fire.

I backed up again, my heart hammering in my chest. "What... what is this? What are they?"

Not-Dean's smile returned, more wicked than before. "They're your future, Blair. The versions of you that you can become if you let the Arcani guide you. Embrace the power. You're not just the key—you're the door."

The door.

I had been the key to the seal all along. But it wasn't just a seal on some ancient magic or prophecy. It was a seal on me. The Arcani had bound me, splintered parts of myself, keeping the power contained. And now, they were trying to break that seal. To release all of me.

I could feel the fragments tugging at my soul, pulling me apart. And in that moment, I understood why the Arcani wanted me so badly. If I embraced the darkness, if I became all those versions of myself standing before me, I would be unstoppable. I would become a weapon. The seal wouldn't just open—it would break the world.

But as I looked at Sam, his face pale with worry, something inside me snapped. I wasn't going to let that happen. I wasn't going to lose myself to the Arcani. Not now. Not ever.

"No," I growled, the power inside me shifting, twisting, as I pushed back against the darkness. "I'm not your weapon."

I raised my hand, and for the first time, I didn't try to fight the power. I controlled it. A burst of energy shot from my palm, slamming into not-Dean with enough force to send him flying back. The glow in his eyes flickered and then faded, his body crumpling to the ground.

I stood there, panting, my heart racing as the last of the dark energy fizzled out. The twisted versions of myself flickered too, their forms dissolving like smoke in the wind. And then, everything was still.

Sam stared at me, his eyes wide with shock. "Blair..."

I took a shaky breath, my body trembling from the effort. "I'm still here," I whispered, more to myself than to him. "I'm still me."

For now.

But the battle was far from over. The Arcani weren't going to stop coming. And as I looked down at the fallen figure of Dean—still unconscious, but alive—I knew the hardest part was yet to come.

Because the next time, I wasn't sure I'd be able to pull myself back.