"ℑ𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑜."

"𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝."

"𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤, ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑑𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑦'𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑤. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒."

"𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡?"

"𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡. 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢."

"𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢."

"𝐴𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 . . ."

"𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑒."

"𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡."

"𝑊𝑎𝑖𝑡! 𝐶𝑎𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦? 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒?"

"𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡. 𝑀𝑎𝑚𝑎'𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑."

"𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒."

"𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡. 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟. . . 𝑂𝑘𝑎𝑦, 𝑙𝑒𝑡'𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑑 . . . 𝐴𝑛𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑎. 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝐴𝑛𝑖. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠. 𝑈ℎ, 𝐿𝑢𝑐𝑖, 𝐺𝑎𝑏𝑒, 𝑅𝑎𝑙𝑝ℎ, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑀𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑦. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐻𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑟 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑒𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑗𝑜𝑏𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔."

"𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝐴𝑛𝑖'𝑠 𝑗𝑜𝑏?"

"𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝐴𝑛𝑖'𝑠 𝑗𝑜𝑏 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝑇𝑜 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚."

"𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡?"

"𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒."

"𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑦?"

"𝑌𝑒𝑎ℎ, 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑦."

"𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒? 𝐷𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝐴𝑛𝑖 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠?"

"𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑏𝑦, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 . . .  𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑡 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟."

A ringing phone ripped Nadia out of a hazy memory so suddenly that she woke up in a panic. It didn't help that the room was still dark. Her chest heaved, and her mind throbbed with a dull ache.

Like the voices, her dream wasn't clear, but she knew it was her mother's voice she had been hearing. It felt like one of the many storytimes she'd had with Vanessa. Nadia didn't understand why it was coming back so abruptly, seemingly out of nowhere.

She took a shaky breath and rubbed her eyes. The phone was still ringing. She pulled back the black-out curtains, getting a painful flash of sunlight in her face.

"Ugh!" She squinted, holding her hand up to shield her eyes.

It was the following day—she was supposed to go with the boys to talk to Jack.

"Hello?" Nadia answered groggily.

"Robin," said Dean, his voice laced with concern. "You okay? Sam said he knocked, but you didn't answer."

"Sorry," she mumbled, fumbling through her bag for her meds only to find it empty. She tossed the bottle across the room with a frustrated grimace.

"Nadia?"

"I'm sorry. I overslept, and I've got this excruciating headache. You guys go without me. I'd just be a drag."

"What? Are you..." Dean's tone dropped, clearly not wanting Sam to overhear. "Are you sure? I can stay behind. I could take care of you."

"What? So you can avoid being alone with Sam?" she managed a pained laugh.

"Are you sure you're not psychic?"

"At this point, I might be all of the above." She sighed. "Look, Dean, you'll be fine. Just focus on Jack."

"What about you?"

"I'll be okay too. I just need to rest. Don't worry about me."

"I'll try not to." Dean's voice softened, making her cheeks warm. "Oh, and Robin?"

"Yeah, Dean?"

"I forgot to thank you."

"For what?"

"For having my back."

"Don't mention it. It was nothing."

"No, it wasn't nothing. At least not to me."

"Right." Her voice was small.

"You rest up. I'll keep you posted."

"Alright, bye."

Nadia hung up and sat on the edge of the bed with a sigh. She didn't know what to make of the memory, but she was certain it was her medication that had blurred it.

Without her meds, though, she was left with an opportunity: to try and dig through her mind, see what she could remember. Maybe she could even uncover more about her mother. It seemed there was so much more to Vanessa than she had ever known.

But fear began to seep into her thoughts.

What if she remembered something she would've been better off not knowing?

Before she could talk herself out of it, Nadia closed the blinds and climbed back into bed.

Digging up memories turned out to be harder than she anticipated. Especially as the distorted voices crept in, turning everything into a blur.

For hours, she tossed and turned, crying, desperate for silence, desperate for peace.

It all seemed endless until, suddenly, she was pulled into the past. Only this time, she wasn't asleep.

"𝑀𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑦? 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠?"

"𝑀𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠?"

"𝑌𝑒𝑎ℎ, 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑑𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑦'𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦. 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠?"

"𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙, ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦. 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 . . . 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒."

"𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑡?"

"𝐵𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑎𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ; 𝑠𝑜 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠."

"𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟?"

"𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑢𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦, ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦, 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡. 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡."

....

"𝐴𝑙𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒?"

"𝑀𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑦, 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑑𝑜 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠?"

"𝐵𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡. 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑏𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑁𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎."

"𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑎 𝑔𝑜?"

"𝐼𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟. 𝐿𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒. 𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑦𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑑𝑜. 𝐷𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦."

....

"𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑦? . . . 𝑀𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑦, 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒."

"𝐼'𝑚 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦. 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢, ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦. 𝐼 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑠𝑜 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠."

...

"𝑁𝑜𝑤, ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒?"

"𝑂𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑥 ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑖𝑥𝑡𝑦-𝑠𝑖𝑥𝑡𝑦 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑛."

"𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡?"

"𝐴 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑖𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑎𝑚 -"

Nadia comes out of the memory with a small gasp, her breath sharp in the quiet room. She gulps, staring into the darkness. It was still—her mind and the world around her. She climbs out of bed and opens the curtains to look at the moon.

Clutching her head, Nadia feels disoriented. She could've sworn she'd woken up hours ago and talked to Dean on the phone. How could it already be nighttime?

Staying calm, she sits down to gather her thoughts. She had forgotten how sad her mother used to get when people asked about her family life.

Now that she was reflecting on it, Vanessa had many sad days. She often worried about Nadia, too.

There wasn't a day that Vanessa didn't hug or kiss her like it would be the last time, as if she knew she'd die one day—sooner rather than later.

Nadia had never understood it, or at least never gave it much attention. She always assumed her mom would be there. She was just a child.

And the sixty-six seals? Vanessa wasn't just telling her biblical stories. She was teaching her—warning her.

But what would a CNA know about the apocalypse? Nadia would've expected her father to know more about it, not her mother.

By now, Rufus would've said something, even if he thought he'd be dead before it happened.

Overwhelmed, Nadia splashes some cold water on her face in the bathroom.

Drying her face, she pauses, sensing something—a familiar presence. She wasn't alone.

Nadia cautiously steps out of the bathroom, only to see a man staring out the window.

She flicks on the light. It's Castiel.

"Ever heard of a door?" she says, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I don't know what you mean," he replies, turning toward her.

"I mean... forget it. Dean's not here."

"I know," he says, turning fully to face her. "I'm here for you. I thought we could talk."

"We don't have anything to talk about."

"I thought you might reach out to me. I tried to reach out to you again, but..." He trails off, squinting.

Nadia hugs herself, feeling uncomfortable under his intense gaze. "What?"

"You're on some kind of medication. That's why you're not afraid or thrown off by my sudden appearance. You can feel me. You could probably hear me if I reached out."

"Maybe," she shrugs.

"You should stop taking them, you know," he says seriously. "They prevent you from reaching your full potential and even ruin your memories."

Nadia scoffs. "My full potential?"

"You do realize finding Dean wasn't an accident?"

"Was it you?" Nadia squints, suddenly suspicious. "The voice in my head?"

"Voice?" He frowns.

"Yeah," she says hesitantly. "There was a voice. It led me to Dean."

"Hm," he murmurs thoughtfully. "I wish I had answers for you. All I can tell you is that it wasn't me."

Nadia would have argued that he was lying, but she could sense the truth in his words.

"You're not like Dean," Castiel observes, his eyes scanning her. "You have faith. You have courage, but you'd rather stay in the dark. Why?"

"Simple," she says, reflecting on her memories. "I don't want to know what I have to sacrifice. You see, Dean's letting his insecurities get the best of him. He's not asking the right questions. The issue isn't who's involved—it's how, and what the ultimate cost will be."

Castiel smiles.

"What?" Nadia asks, confused.

"Nothing," he says, shaking his head. "I won't push. You can't avoid who you are forever. No one can."

"That's where you're wrong," she grimaces. "I know who I am. I—"

A sudden chill runs down her spine. She rolls her neck and squeezes her eyes shut. Something feels wrong. Very wrong. She can sense it.

"What is it?" Castiel asks, his tone softening.

Ignoring him, Nadia grabs her phone. There are a million missed calls and texts from Dean and Sam.

Jack wouldn't talk to them. They'd followed him all day, sure he was going to hurt some woman—but he didn't. They'd bashed in her door for nothing. They followed him back to his house, only to find Travis had gone there without telling them.

The last voicemail says they're going in to finish the case once and for all. It was sent hours ago. They should've been back by now.

"Nadia?" Castiel's voice breaks through her thoughts.

She blinks and remembers he's still there.

"The boys are in trouble," she says, quickly getting dressed. "I hate to cut this short, but—"

"It's okay. Duty calls," Castiel replies, watching her closely.

"Dean is not my duty, okay?!" she snaps defensively. "He's my friend, and so is Sam. They need my help."

"I don't think you understand, Nadia," Castiel says, his voice serious. "There's a way you see the world that's crucial for Dean. A way that's not ordinary, not mundane, I should say. He'll have to make many decisions, and you're the only one who can help him see them through."

"See them through to what—?"

Before she can finish, Castiel disappears, his wings flapping in his place.

"Well, goodbye to you too," Nadia mutters, hurrying out of the door and grabbing her jacket.