One Miracle

Chapter Three

One Miracle

Chapter Three

It was around a few days later that Castiel started feeling worse. Things had been going smoothly, he and Sam were out in the town, asking around, seeing if any of the locals had heard anything of the case yet, while looking for any possible trace of the demon.

They were in an old 'Ma and Pa' store, Sam questioning the old couple who ran the store, an elderly woman with large, round glasses and a mess of grey hair tied back into a loose bun, and a rather large husband with glasses of the same style and a large beer belly that stuck out and looked rather strained against his suspenders. As Sam chatted with them, Cas looked around quietly, mind unable to keep from focusing on his odd... feelings. He didn't understand them. Oh how cruel it was being a simple, stupid human... Cas, even if he was an angel, was discovering strange, human feelings as of late, feeling the Winchesters were turning him into one of them more and more each and every second.

"Have you heard of any strange disappearances lately? Or any odd rumors going around?" Sam questioned the couple in a professional fashion. "No, none that I know of. This is a real quiet town, everyone knows everyone 'round these parts," the old woman replied, resting a shaky hand against her cheek, looking rather worried about the whole FBI investigation.

"No wait, there was Hickson's middle youngin' a while back," the older man interjected.

"Oh hush, that was months ago!" the woman scolded, slapping a hand on the man's arm.

The pain in Cas had started with a dull burning, which grew painful enough to have him hunched over, clutching his stomach with an uncomfortable frown etched across his face. Then, there was a stabbing pain from inside. As if a thousand needles were jammed up inside him, scraping against his insides, making him gasp. Cas clutched his stomach harder, until finally the pain became too great, and he fell, dropping to the ground with a dull thud. W-What's happening?! The angel was incredibly confused now, having no idea what was wrong. Why was his vessel doing this? Why did it hurt so much?!

"Cas!" Sam was by him in an instant, knelt down and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder, trying to get him to roll on his back and help him. "Cas what's wrong?! What's happening?" he questioned worriedly.

"Is he alright? Should we call the hospital?" the wife asked, looking down at Cas, clearly very concerned.

The awful sensations of pain seemed to fade after a few seconds, and Cas opened his eyes, swallowing while he tried to blink back the tears that had threatened to spill. A ghastly noise escaped his throat, one that sounded like near choking. I...I don't understand... My vessel...

Using Sam's hand to help him up, he stood, and pulled his trench coat tighter around himself, feeling uncomfortable and queasy. Sam stood up next to him quickly, every fiber in him rushing to get Cas out of there and to safety as a worried expression kept itself upon his face.

"Hey, are you okay? What happened? What was that?" Sam was full of many questions, but he chose to only ask Cas a few in a quiet voice, very concerned for the seraph.

Cas simply looked at him for a moment before looking away again, his mind still overwhelmed with thoughts. Was his vessel malfunctioning? What was going on? In return, Sam appeared very annoyed at Cas' lack of response.

"Is he alright? Do you still need me to call a doctor?" the wife asked again, reaching for the phone.

"Uh no, that won't be necessary, but thank you." Sam shook his head, wanting to get Cas out of there quickly to question him. "We'll come back later, thank you for your help and consideration." After giving his business card to the couple, Sam led Cas out of the store in a haste. "Okay, seriously Cas, what happened back there?" he asked, deep worry and frustration in his voice.