The Price of Freedom

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Castiel looked around. "Farrah."

She stopped a few yards ahead. "Yeah?"

Her brown hair was untamable, her green eyes wild and alert. She'd acquired a makeshift machete and carried it in her right hand.

"Something is wrong." She stood and waited for him to figure it out. When he did, his eyes popped open, he grabbed her hand, and he ran away.

"Castiel! What's going on?"

"Leviathan," he hissed. She whimpered and sped up, wishing she could just fly out of there.

Leviathans were nasty, terrible creatures that were hard to touch, let alone kill.

Why hadn't Sam or Dean done anything? she wondered. Where were they? After two months, had they given up?

No, no. Her timing was off. It felt like a day and ten years all at once. She had to think for a moment. Eleven months. She'd been in purgatory for eleven months.

They pulled to a stop at the bottom of a waterfall. Above it was a swirling vortex. She pulled out her knife. "Now or never, Castiel."

In seconds his soul was absorbed into her skin and she hugged her left arm close as she climbed desperately up the cliff edge. So close to freedom! She could feel it!

A figure was ahead of her. When she slipped, he grabbed her hand and helped her back up. "I'll let you go through," he said with an evil grin, "if you take me with you."

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Richard Roman, but you can call me Dick."

~

"Where is it?"

"Trunk, like always."

"No, it isn't. I just checked there."

"Well then I don't know, Sammy! Does it look like I have the inventory memorized?"

Sam took a deep breath. So, today was a bad day.

Dean had been having off days recently. He'd either sit and be cranky like today, or mess with the Impala angrily. On those days Sam tried to just walk away and not mess with him.

Sam grieved differently. He would have fits of anger randomly, and so took up a form of boxing to expel it.

Dean flipped open his laptop and searched for unusual patterns in anything, anywhere. Maybe she'd taken some time to get to the portal. That's all. She just took more time than he thought she would and now she's about to come back.

Nothing.

Eleven months she'd been gone. That's a lot longer than two hours.

In reference to never seeing her again, he could think only one thing-at least she wasn't mad at him when she left.