"Is anything that comes out of your mouth the truth?"
"You wouldn't believe me, even if I answered that honestly."
•
As soon as you learn that the things that go bump in the night are real, the line between truth and fiction begins to blur.
That's t...
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Chapter 10
Ali couldn't remember any other time she had talked with one person for so long.
At least, not without lying.
With her head resting lightly on Sam's broad shoulder, his warm arm curled comfortably around her waist, they had passed the dark, quiet hours of the night by the lake simply talking. It was almost unbearably peaceful, the night wrapping around them both like a protective cloak, the gentle lap of the water against the pier below them. For a few, easy hours, it seemed alright to forget about the malevolent Kelpie lurking somewhere in the depths beneath.
Most of what they talked over was trivial, neither were willing to give up any deep, dark secrets at first, but as they exchanged stories of their hunts and conquests in the months they had been apart, the truth of Sam's newfound abilities seemed to spill out.
She could see when he looked down at her that a wariness crept into his hazel eyes, fearing she would draw away from him, but she stayed. A gentle smile and playful reassurance that psychic abilities were far from the worst thing she had encountered was enough to ease his worries. Still, his confession opened a doorway to deeper conversation, the asking of more genuine, searching questions.
"Did you ever imagine your life turning out like this?" Sam whispered after a long moment of silence, his eyes fixed on where the dark sky was just beginning to lighten above the distant mountains, the light of dawn promising to break the spell that they seemed to sit under.
"Not even a little bit." Ali shook her head with a small, almost regretful smile; "You?"
"I hoped it wouldn't." He admitted softly, absently running his thumb back and forth over her hip where his hand rested. He hadn't intended for his gestures to become so affectionate, but when she hadn't pushed him away or laughed him off, it had simply been instinctual to touch her, to hold her like this. "I mean, I was kind of raised into this. Even when I tried to get out it just... It came after me."
Ali nodded against his shoulder, pressing a little closer in an attempt to comfort him. He had told her enough about what had happened when she had asked a little more about his visions. It had all come spilling out; Stanford, his girlfriend, the demon. Though she knew nothing she could say could erase the pain that filled his eyes when he spoke of them, she hoped her quiet presence would be enough.
"What about you? How did you get into all of this?"
She looked up at his question, her throat suddenly feeling dry as those searching hazel eyes latched on to hers. Almost as is he was watching, waiting for her to finally close off and lie.
"I..." She cleared her throat, breaking his gaze as she looked back to the lake. "I lost someone. My cousin." She admitted softly, "It was... I made a mistake. It was my fault." Drawing in a breath to steady herself, she carefully tried to sidestep around the nature of what had happened, trying to be as truthful as possible without fully revealing just how stupid she had been. "It's the usual hunter story, right?" She glanced back up to him with a weak smile; "I was fifteen; I wanted to finish high school, I wanted to stay in my hometown and... I screwed it up." She shook her head, looking down at where her hands had unconsciously knotted in her lap, biting her lip to force back the traitorous waver that had taken hold of her voice the moment Sam's arm had tightened comfortingly around her.
