IGNORANCE MAKES US PRETEND TO BE NORMAL

One of the things Cas had learnt from his many centuries of living and observing the strange activity of the human race, was that a hug could mean a thousand things. It could be a greeting, a hello, a 'I'm sorry' or a 'things will get better' type of embrace that will never erase from your memory like all of the important moments. A single hug could hold the most powerful of meanings, could contain the most love and compassion or the most hate and spite. It can mould a person into either the hero, or the villain.  

He was curious as to what made her the way she was. Maybe it was a troubled upbringing, an experience that couldn't be unseen no matter how many times she closed her eyes or how hard she squeezed them. This led him to believe that maybe someone she once trusted betrayed her, but left him frazzled when he tried to conjure up an explanation for why she would be around the Winchesters. 

Perhaps it was the death of a loved one. Death often had a way to twist someone's mind, creating a minion for his deeds. It shredded the person they once were, allowing them to be reincarnated as a new, darker version of themselves. He'd seen it happen to enough people in his time of living. 

Yet even with all of these possible explanations, he'd never seen something so evil and sinister. The colour of her soul made him quake in fright, made him turn his head over his shoulder one more time to check nothing was following him even when he was certain nothing or no one was. The girl with the fragile skin and feral eyes had made him uneasy, and that meant the Winchesters had gotten themselves into some deep shit. 

 Shaking off his nerves, Cas appeared in the bunker. He wasn't only scared as to how Dean would react with him running off to help Claire, but what Ebony would have in store for him this time. After she had threatened him in their first encounter had he fully understood why her soul was so dark, and as time passed, it seemed less likely to be because she was a supernatural monster. 

It was because she was a mundane monster.   

Still, he shrugged off his fear for the sake of Sam and Deans safety. They needed to know what she was like, where he went, and why she couldn't be trusted. He needed their help to delve in the past to find out who she really was, for if they didn't learn the enemy's weaknesses, they'd all be dead. 

Voices could be heard around the corner, and the clatter of cutlery. Cas felt like he was intruding when he marched into the library, throwing the door open and letting it slam against the wall. Silence blanketed the room, and all eyes were on him. Sam's soft gaze soothed Cas' doubts of coming back into the bunker, but when he caught sight of both Ebony's and Dean's stony glares he regretted stepping into the bunker at all. 

"Dean? Can we speak in private?" He let no emotion show on his face, becoming the trained soldier Heaven made him. 

"Now you're here?" Dean scoffed, standing up and kicking his chair aside. "Of freaking course, you only talk to us when you need us. You left me! I could've died!" 

Cas rolled his eyes, "Even if you died Dean, we both know you'd come back. Now, can we talk in private?" 

"Why should I talk to you when you left me, bleeding out, to kill them vamps that you knew couldn't be taken out alone!" 

"It was an emergency. You know I'd never leave you unless I thought you could handle it." Sam took his place by his brother, holding his shoulder to keep him from throwing a punch at the angel. Ebony ignored the drama, and kept on eating her food and leaning down to read the thick book in front of her during mouthfuls. 

"I obviously couldn't handle it! Did you see me get stabbed, or was that just a figment of my imagination?" 

"Dean-" Cas tried to speak, but Dean interrupted again. 

"I had to get back here on my own! I had to kill the vamps, on my own! I needed you Cas, and you weren't there." 

"Dean-" 

"Did you know that I fell down the stairs when I got here? Ebony found me half dead, lying in a pool of my own blood." Cas' guilt intensified.

"I had to go to Claire!" Cas shouted, advancing on Dean. "I promised Jimmy that I would look after his daughter, and I don't plan on breaking that promise." 

"She's not your daughter Cas. You're her dads killer, no matter what way you think it. Her dad is dead," Dean moved easily past Sam, poking at Cas' chest. "Because of you." 

"Don't tell me things I already know." Cas' eyes became downcast, and he grabbed Dean's forearm. "She prayed to me about someone following her. I found her before the Novak family tree could end." 

Dean pried Cas' fingers off of his arm. "You should've told me, instead of abandoning me!" 

"I admit what I did was wrong, but you have to understand that I did it for the right reasons." Cas darted his gaze over to Ebony and lowered his voice. "Have you noticed anything strange?" 

Ebony stopped eating, her fork frozen millimetres from her mouth. The book lay forgotten as she spoke to Castiel. "You know Cas, being strange isn't all that bad. I like to think that the rest of the human race is strange too, but too ignorant to notice," her eyes found Cas', and she winked playfully, "Too busy pretending to be who they say they are."

Cas stood still, mouth agape. To him, it sounded like she was admitting to playing a game, but the Winchesters just heard it as another one of her quirky quotes. She'd put them under a spell, sewed their eyes closed and blocked their ears, making sure that they couldn't see or listen to the reality of her intentions. 

"I think you should leave," Dean didn't advance on Cas again this time, yet his icy gaze made him squirm and want to take a step back. 

"Dean." Cas pleaded, his once bright hope dimmed.

"If you come into this place again, I swear to God I will make you glow brighter than the Sun." 

 Cas felt anger stir within him, and he couldn't trap the words that fled out of his mouth, as though they were prisoners scrambling for freedom. "You can't let this girl twist your mind! Can't let her twist your morals! She's a foul, sinister creature," he pointed at Ebony, who had returned to eating her food and looked nonchalant about the drama around her. "Human or not." 

Ebony resisted the urge to be hurt by his bitter words. Yes, she knew she had become someone else, something else, that would make children wet the bed and call out for mommy, but she never thought it would suffice to be labelled as a 'creature'. She considered it an insult - not for the association to destruction and inhumanity; for the fact that she thought of it as an understatement. All creatures did was crawl into beds and provide exterminators with a job - to be called that was an embarrassment. 

The term 'monster' always had an appeal to her, for it meant power and strength. Monsters made everyone scream in terror and cross their fingers that they wouldn't prey on them that night - that was what she aspired to be. Being called a monster would have her jumping for joy. 

Cas disappeared, taking with him the fuel to Deans fire. Dean's body relaxed as soon as the featherless angel flew off, and he rubbed at his eyes tiredly. "I need a frigging drink." 

Ebony perked up, seizing an opportunity. "Good. I know a great place." 

Dean nodded, leaving the room after proclaiming that he was going to grab his jacket. 

"It's three in the afternoon," Sam chastised.

"Do you think that'll stop him?" Sam huffed, knowing Ebony was right. "Look, I know the place really well so if something happens, I know the emergency exits. And it's better than letting the raging alcoholic drink to his death on his own."

Sam bit his lip, contemplating the decision. "Come on Sam. Lighten up a little, it doesn't hurt to have a little break every now and then."

"Fine, but you're paying for the first round." 

"With what money?" Ebony smiled, baring her teeth. 

"Didn't you pack some?" Sam scratched at his head, confused. It nearly made Ebony laugh - it reminded her of when a chimp itched their privates. 

"Let me remind you the only reason I came to this bunker - I couldn't afford a motel." 

"You're on Dean Duty then. You make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." 

"Isn't that your job as his brother? I thought we were both looking after him!" 

"You mentioned going to a bar." 

"Because I thought he was going to go to one on his own! Remember last time he went out, he came back nearly dead, so I'm sorry for trying to protect your brother." Ebony bit down on her lip, watching cautiously for any looks to pass his face that might tell her that he knew. 

Sam cleared his throat, eyes slightly wide. "I'm sorry, how about we take shifts?" 

"Do you honestly trust me around your drunk brother?" 

"I trust you enough." 

* 

She told the brothers she forgot something inside, and strolled back into the bunker, calculating how long her task would take. She had about ten minutes before the brothers got suspicious and started looking for her, so she had to be quick. 

Going into the kitchen, she plucked up one of the sharpest blades, twirling it between her fingers and whistling as she walked into a corner where shadows hid the truth. Not wasting a moment, she sliced into her hand, not even wincing at the sight of blood bubbling up to greet her. She let her life drip from the knife as she raised her bleeding hand to the wall and drew swirls, dots and lines. 

Stepping back, she admired her work, taking great satisfaction from knowing that Castiel wouldn't be bothering her or the Winchesters for a long time. 

-

hello my glorious assbutts! I needed to vent and I honestly had no clue where else I could without being judged... 

remember that guy I really liked? I asked him out yesterday to go and see Doctor Strange at the weekend, and we'd been having a nice chat and all he said was maybe. to be honest, I'm not that bothered that he didn't speak to me for the rest of the day or tell me for certain (I don't have his number) but I'm just immensely proud of myself for doing it, even if it's made me look like a twat. the moral of this? If you want to do something, try. try, so that you don't spend your life regretting never even trying. yes, it may not end up the way you want but at least you know. 

also I've been noticing that not as many people are reading this. I'm not being ungrateful, I'm just confused as to why loads of people voted for the first part of this book and now I'm lucky to even get three votes. what have I been doing wrong? 

anyway, enough about me. how is everyone? has anything happened this week you need to get off your chest? 

adios assbutts!

-thirdwheelchurchill