CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN:
GHOST OF YOU.

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THE DAY BIRDIE MET Kaiya near the end of their freshman year was still fresh in Birdie's mind as she stood in front of Kaiya's daunting front door.

She didn't think she'd be going back to Kaiya's anytime soon, but that changed when she got a text from Hiro a few days later, asking if she would stop by for a little bit to help him with packing up some boxes. She wasn't sure if she was ready to go back there just yet or could handle it. . .but she felt like she needed to go. Sam and Dean were already working another case after dealing with a vampire that turned out to be a shapeshifter, but Birdie assured them she'd be fine if they went on without her again. So, Birdie left Bobby's on her motorcycle and headed back to Kaiya's. Hiro's car was already parked in the driveway when she arrived, not another car in sight which left Birdie alone as she stood in front of the house——something she was quite familiar with.

A sigh left Birdie's lips, ducking her head down as she readjusted the pencil in her hand. Her dark curls dangled around her face, keeping most of her features out of sight from her fellow classmates. Chatter filled the dimly lit room as students chatted amongst themselves, divulging in teenage gossip or catching up with their friends that they missed over the weekend. Birdie didn't pay much attention as she sat by herself in the corner of the room, simply listening and observing those around her as she worked on her assignment.

The assignment was messily scribbled on a chalkboard——draw a sketch of your worst fear!——while they had the entire class period to complete it. It was easy enough, but when Birdie heard some the other students murmur spiders, cliffs, airplanes——she realized that her fears were quite different than those of her fellow peers.

If she were to draw one of her actual fears, her teacher most likely would contact her parents as well as the school counselor and that was one of the last things she needed; it would just be another thing to make the other kids avoid her as if she had the black plague.

"——old motel by my grandparents house."

"You're joking."

"No, I'm serious!" a girl with short blonde hair and a Backstreet Boys tee whispered not so quietly. Her back was turned towards Birdie, leaning close to a dark skinned girl with black hair who was nestled beside her in an identical band shirt. The blonde twisted in her seat, stealing a glance over shoulder. Birdie lifted her head, catching the girl's eye. She couldn't read the girl's expression, but she managed to hear part of what the girl said as she leaned even closer to her friend. "It's like a warped version of Running on Empty with Ri——"

"Hey." Birdie turned her head, doing a double take when she saw a girl standing off to the side of the table she was at. Her shiny black hair was pulled back in a braid, some strands sticking out near the end as if she'd been fiddling with it throughout the day. Her brown eyes were warm and inviting, a smile adorning her lips as she gazed down at Birdie. Birdie had seen her in class and in the halls, but she never really paid much attention to her——she didn't pay attention to anyone there, really. She saw the confusion on Birdie's face, a quiet laugh bubbling out of her mouth. "Sorry to bother you, but, uh. . .can I sit with you? My seat's kinda. . ."

Birdie followed the girl's gaze over to another table, brows raising in surprise when she saw a boy and girl flirting shamelessly back and forth, an empty seat slotted in between them with not much room for someone to actually sit there. She didn't blame the girl for not wanting to get in between that.

Then she faced the girl again, nodding her head. "Uh, yeah."

"Thanks," the girl warmly smiled, plopping down in the seat across from Birdie. She let out a content sigh and set her back in the empty chair next to her, pulling out her sketchbook. Birdie shifted and readjusted her grip on a pencil, twisting her lips as she glanced down at the doodle she'd drawn in the corner of the page; her way of keeping herself occupied without having to actually start on the assignment. She didn't pay much attention to the girl, keeping her gaze on her book. "What're you drawing?"

Birdie looked up, seeing the girl's eyes were pinned to her, her kind smile still on her lips as she held a pencil in her hand. She noticed the girl had an accent——British, it seemed. Birdie glanced down, leaning her elbows on the table. "Oh, I, uh. . .I'm just. . .doodling right now," she quietly answered, nonchalantly shrugging her shoulders. "I'm-I'm not sure what I wanna draw yet."

"Me either," the girl said, her smile widening a tiny smidge. She adjusted her sketchbook, sighing as she peered down at the blank page. "I kinda have a lot of fears, but I don't know which one to pick."

Birdie fought back the urge to laugh——she was certain the girl didn't have the same fears that she did.

"Me either," Birdie chose to say instead.

A moment of silence overcame the girls as the class continued to work on the assignments and chat with each other, no one paying any attention to Birdie and the other girl. "You're new, right?" Birdie felt a twinge of panic strike her heart, but she pushed it down. She'd heard that question enough times to last her a lifetime from all of the schools she bounced around from while her parents worked case after case. Very rarely did those conversations go well for Birdie, either——she wasn't charismatic like Dean and could simply change the subject with just a bat of her eyes or cheeky smile. But, with the way the girl was smiling at her, it almost comforted Birdie in some strange way.

"Yeah," Birdie softly answered, thumb tracing over a ridge in her pencil as she bit the inside of her cheek. "I. . .I just moved here with my parents from. . .South Dakota."

"Ooh, that's nice," the girl smiled, eyes lighting up. "I've never been, but I've heard it's really beautiful there."

"Yeah, it is," Birdie said.

The girl repositioned herself in the chair, glancing down at her book when Birdie didn't elaborate further. "I'm Kaiya," she said, the corner of her lip tweaked upwards as she stared across at Birdie. When Birdie didn't respond, she raised her brows, a playful grin spreading on her face. "This is when you tell me your name."

Birdie breathed out a laugh. "Oh, uh, Birdie."

"Birdie?" the girl repeated, unable to hide her surprise. Birdie nodded, wondering what the girl would have to say about her name; she'd heard just about everything when it came to her name. Some people adored it and thought it was unique while others sneered and said her parents should be ashamed for naming their daughter that. However, the girl just smiled again. "I haven't heard anything like that before. I like it."

"Thanks," Birdie murmured. "I've had it all my life."

The girl giggled at that, Birdie unable to resist joining in after a few seconds. The girls from the other table glanced over when they heard the laughs, sharing a silent look with each other. Birdie could feel their stares on her and the girl, Kaiya, but she completely ignored it.

"You still not sure what you wanna draw?" Kaiya asked, beginning to lightly draw on the page in front of her.

Birdie heavily sighed, stealing a look at her doodle of John Winchester's Impala. John wasn't anywhere insight, only the back of Sam and Dean's heads visible inside the sleek black car. She could see Kaiya's head was tilted, trying to make out what it was. She pursed her lips and turned the page, shrugging her shoulders. "No, but I'll figure it out along the way."

"Me too," Kaiya said, turning her eyes towards her page as she and Birdie began to draw their greatest fears——both unaware that what Kaiya would draw would almost mirror what was to come.

Birdie soon found herself in the basement after being greeted by Hiro. He was mostly focusing on boxing up the more sentimental things that his parents wanted to keep at their house for safekeeping. Some of Kaiya's things had been set aside for Birdie to pick through——no doubt done solely by Hiro——while some boxes labeled as Birdie in the basement were also set aside for the woman. Haru and Rhea were going to take over the house payments until they figured out what they wanted to do with it, but Hiro didn't trust Kenji enough not to do something to Birdie's belongings so he'd asked her if she wanted to look through them to see if she still wanted any of it before Kenji came by in a few days.

Some sit-com was playing upstairs in the living room, the sound spilling into the basement as Birdie sat criss-cross on the floor, one of her cardboard boxes placed in front of her. Her phone was placed beside her, a frown on her lip as she considered calling Sam just to check in on him and Dean, and to distract herself from seeing what lay inside the box.

Leave him alone.

Birdie nodded to herself and reached forward, carefully removing the tape. She tilted it towards her as she opened it up, unable to keep herself from gasping aloud.

She reached inside, brows raised in utter surprise as she pulled out a large pile of sketchbooks——all of her sketchbooks that she'd gone through during high school. She placed them off to the side, picking the first one up with shock on her face. She really kept those? "She did," Birdie whispered, a sad smile appearing on her lips. "She kept 'em all."

She sat it back on the pile and reached into the box again, quietly chuckling to herself when she saw a grainy polaroid photo of her and Kaiya. It was taken during Kaiya's sixteenth birthday at a bowling alley a few blocks away from Kaiya's old house. Serena had told Birdie she couldn't go because she was supposed to do research for her and Reese while they tried to stop a vengeful spirit, but Reese had said otherwise. And, to prevent Serena from finding out about it, he'd asked Bobby to help out and pretend like he'd come into town before discovering that they were working the same case so Serena wouldn't know they weren't getting their information from Birdie.

Birdie let out a quiet sigh at the memory and set the photo near her phone——she was going to be keeping that one.

She found a few more polaroids at the bottom of the box, a mix of her and Kaiya, the boys, and some of just Birdie that Kaiya had sneakily taken without Birdie ever realizing. A gloomy feeling had washed over Birdie as she set all of the photos beside her, frowning as she moved the box behind her and stood up. She grabbed another one that had her name written on the side, biting the inside of her cheek at what she tried to picture what might be inside. Then she plopped back down, unfolding the box since it wasn't taped like the one before.

This box was lighter than the first one, and as she grabbed the first thing inside, she found it was clothes. She pulled it closer and saw multiple shirts, sweaters, hoodies, and pants had been neatly folded. Birdie raised her brows and unfolded the shirt she had in her hand, unable to stop from laughing. It wasn't even her shirt——it was one she'd stolen from Sam a long time ago and claimed as hers. As she rummaged through the rest of the clothes, she realized most of them were ones she'd forgotten all about or ones she'd stolen from the boys or Kaiya; very few of them actually belonged to Birdie. Birdie sat up on her knees once the box was empty, using it to put the things she'd be keeping inside for the time being.

She wasn't sure where she'd put them so they were no longer in the house where Kaiya's parents or Kenji and Erity could snoop through them, but she could figure that out later. She saw one more with her name on it, her legs hesitating to take her over to it. She ignored the feeling and headed over, sinking to her knees in front of it. It'd be easier if she just got it over and done with. She quickly opened the last box, curiously peering inside. She wasn't sure what she was expecting to find, but it certainly wasn't more sketchbooks.

She glanced over her shoulder, tilting her head as she looked at the large pile of sketchbooks that were in the first box. She faced forward again, brows knitted together as she grabbed one. She flipped it open, doing a double take when she read Kaiya's name on the first page; maybe it wasn't Birdie's box, after all.

She went to put it back in the box, but then she noticed the year written in the far right corner: '99.

That was the year they met.

Birdie twisted her lips and adjusted her legs as she sat on the ground, placing the book in her lap. Sadly, she and Kaiya didn't get to be in the same art class for very long after Birdie was whisked away to another town, but their friendship had managed to last and strengthen even though they were miles apart for months at a time. Since they didn't go to school together anymore, though, Birdie never got to see what other assignments she would've had to do if she'd finished out her freshman year there.

She wondered if she should actually open it, but as if being controlled, she flicked it open and skimmed through the pages. Each one was dated in the top right corner, making it easier for Birdie to find the last few——the ones she would've had to do. She slowed down the closer she got to near the end of the year school, but suddenly she stopped when she saw one of the drawings. She focused on the date, pursing her lips as she thought for a moment.

Birdie tilted her head, reading the word near the bottom of the page that was scribbled under the assignment: demons.

The drawing hadn't been finished, but Birdie could make out a tall and narrow figure, sharpened claws for hands and large feet. Its lips were curled into a nasty snarl with their sharp teeth on full display, almost reminding Birdie of a vampire. However, that wasn't what caught Birdie's attention——the figure having white eyes did.

Birdie let out a shaky breath, slowly lifting her head.

Was there a specific reason the demon had white eyes?

Was she going to use a different color but never found the time?

There was no way it could've been that simple, though.

Birdie shook her head in disbelief and stood up with the book in hand, opening her mouth as if she was going to speak when she suddenly heard her phone begin to ring.

She quickly hurried over to the phone when she heard Sam's ringtone, snatching her phone up off the floor. "Hey," she softly said, clearing her throat as she adjusted the phone against her ear. "How's, uh, how's the case goin'?"

"Uh, honestly. . .not so good," Sam sighed.

Birdie frowned. "What? Why? What's wrong?"

"Dean's got. . .he's ghost sickness."

"Oh, no," Birdie whispered, her frown deepening. "Wait, what the hell does that mean? Is that even a real thing?"

"Apparently. But, Bobby thinks he found a way to kill the ghost that started it all," Sam explained.

Birdie puffed out a sigh, running her hand through her curls. "That's great. . .but how's Dean? What's going on with him?"

"That's actually why I called you. I. . .he doesn't have much time, but I'm not sure if leaving him alone is a good——"

"Yeah, 'course, uh. . .just text me the address, okay?"

"Are you sure, Bird? I know you're——"

"No, it's okay. Sam, I. . ." Birdie's eyes peered down at the drawing again, shaking her head as she quickly averted her gaze elsewhere. "Honestly, I need the distraction."

"Alright. I'm texting you now."

"Okay, and Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Please be safe."

"You too."

She quickly hung up, looking down when it chimed to see Sam had already texted her the address. She stuffed her phone in her pocket as her eyes roamed the basement, twisting her lips in thought. She didn't have time to take the boxes with her, and even if she did, it wouldn't fit on her motorcycle. She scrunched up her nose and turned on her heel, making her way up the basement stairs where she found Hiro sitting on the island counter, packing up some plates with intricate designs on them.

He looked up when he saw Birdie, offering her a warm smile. "Oh, hey. Are you already done?"

"Uh, yeah, well, yes and no," Birdie answered. "I. . .Sam and Dean need my help, but I don't have a way to take the box with me——"

"No problem," Hiro smiled, hopping down from the counter. "I can hold onto them for you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, yeah," he nodded, waving his hand as if it was nothing. "Just whenever you're ready, let me know."

"Alright, thank you so much, Hiro," Birdie said, giving him a kind smile. "I can't thank you enough for this."

"It was the least I could do," Hiro said, his smile cracking slightly. Birdie's expression softened; even now he was trying to be strong, but Birdie could see right through it. "I know-I know this must be hard for you, but if you ever need anything, you can call or text me. I'm here."

"Thanks, Hiro. I'll let you know when I can come back."

Hiro nodded with a small smile, walking Birdie to the front door. "Drive safe, Birdie."

"I will," she said, giving him a nod. She stepped off the front porch and jogged towards her motorcycle, aware that Hiro's eyes were still on her. She swung her leg over her bike after picking up her helmet, slipping it on over her head. She started the ignition, carefully backing out of the driveway to begin making her way towards the motel she would find Dean.

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Birdie raced down the hall of the Bluebird Hotel, her dark brown eyes skimming over the numbers on the doors. Her heart was racing as she rounded a corner, hoping to get Dean in time after Sam called her just a little bit ago to warn her that Dean might be having hallucinations when she arrived. The thought pushed Birdie to move faster until she found the door with the number ten on it. She halted to a stop and reached out for the doorknob, eyes widening when she saw it appeared to have been busted open by force. She heard a voice that sounded like a little girl coming from inside, brows knitting together as she cautiously pushed the door open. "Dean? You in here?"

She stepped into the room, gasping in horror when she saw a little girl with blonde hair in a pastel pink dress standing over Dean, her hands firmly placed on her hips. Dean was on his knees in front of the girl, eyes wide as he crumbled backwards, clutching his heart while his eyes stayed glued to the little girl.

Birdie hurried forward, sinking down next to Dean but he didn't realize she was there. "Dean!" Her head snapped to the side, doing a double take when she saw the little girl's face——Lilith.

Surely she wasn't really there, right?

No, Birdie wouldn't have been able to even get inside if Lilith was truly inside the room with Dean; it had to be a hallucination just like Sam had said Dean had started to have. But how was Birdie seeing it too then?

"Baboom, baboom!" Lilith shouted, smacking her little fists at her sides as she crept closer to Dean.

Birdie shook her head, gripping at Dean's jacket in hopes to get his attention. "Dean, come on," she frowned, desperately trying to get him to focus on her and calm his racing heart. "She's not real! She's not here! Dean, please!"

Dean grunted, his heart rate only increasing. "Baboom! Baboom!" He gasped moments later, sinking onto his back as he gripped at his throat, feeling himself struggling to breath.

"No, no, no!" Birdie shouted, shaking her head. God, not again. "Dean!"

"Baboom! Baboom! Baboom! Baboom!" Lilith's shouting grew louder and more frantic, Dean just looking straight through Birdie and at the white-eyed demon in front of them. He was desperately gasping for air, Birdie able to feel his thumping heartbeat on her hands as she firmly held his face in her hands, panicked eyes pinned to his fearful expression.

Dean loudly gasped, gruff hands falling from his neck as he stilled on the ground. Birdie's lips parted and she gazed down at Dean, heart sinking. Lilith's shouting abruptly stopped and Birdie glanced over her shoulder, noticing she was gone.

"Fuck, Dean, please, no, no. Don't do this," she whispered, adjusting her body as she could no longer feel his heartbeat. He was partially laid in her lap, her hand still resting on his cheek while his eyes blankly bored ahead. "Not again, I can't do this again——"

Dean suddenly gasped again, sucking in as much air as possible. Birdie jumped, relief instantly washing onto her features. Dean's eyes darted to her face, visibly relaxing when he felt her warm hand on the side of his face. He heavily panted, sucking in sharp breaths as he laid in her lap. Birdie's hand moved to rest on his chest, Dean stealing a look around the room as if making sure Lilith wasn't still there. He lifted up his left arm, looking at his forearm to see the redness that was there seconds ago was completely gone. Then his eyes darted to meet Birdie's gaze, letting out a sigh as he relaxed in her arms.

"You scared the absolute shit out of me, Dean," Birdie breathed out.

"Yeah, that makes two of us," Dean whispered, weakly coughing a few seconds later. Birdie breathed out a laugh, shaking her head. Dean grunted and sat up as Birdie helped him, mimicking her position. He slowly blinked, brows knitting together as he peered aside at the younger woman. "Wait, aren't you supposed to be with Hiro at Kai's?"

The corner of Birdie's lips curled into a small smile. "Well, when one of my boys is in trouble, I come runnin'."

Dean tiredly smiled at that, chuckling as he laid flat on the floor in front of Birdie. Birdie heavily sighed and scooted over to him, laying on the floor beside him without a second thought.

"So. . .Sam said you got scared of a cat——"

"I-I. . .it wasn't my fault, alright? It was the ghost sickness."

"Sure, sure, of course," Birdie said, falsely smiling as she turned her head towards Dean. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Dean."

Dean narrowed his eyes on her. "Says the girl who's scared of a tiny, little needle." Birdie's smile fell, her only response being the middle finger. Dean loudly laughed, closing his eyes. "Hey, didn't you say I could pick where you got the——"

"Wait, you hear that?" Birdie interrupted, furrowing her brows together. She sat up and reached into her pocket, peering down at her phone. "Oh, look, it's Sam——"

"It's not even ringing," Dean scoffed. "You changed his to a flippin' Celine Dion song——"

"Hey," Birdie sharply said, pointing a finger at Dean, "Don't you ever speak ill of Celine Dion."

Dean stared at Birdie for a few seconds, eventually sighing as he shook his head. He picked himself up off the ground, holding his hand out for Birdie. She gave him a small smile and slipped her hand into his, allowing him to help her back onto her feet.

Birdie turned her head, doing a double take when she saw two feet sticking out from underneath a quilt. "Uh, Dean?" Birdie asked, unable to take her eyes away. Dean followed her gaze, face falling. "Who, or what, the hell is that?"

"Uh. . .that would be. . .the sheriff," Dean answered. "He had the ghost sickness, too, but it got him before. . ." Birdie sighed to herself, eyes flicking back to Dean. "What do you say we go find Sam and Bobby?"

"Yeah, I'm sure they'd like to know you're not dead——again."

Dean snickered and nodded in agreement. "Wait," he said, pausing as he grabbed his jacket, "How're we getting there?"

"I do have a vehicle," Birdie said with a smirk.

"You okay to drive?" Dean wondered.

"I drove here, didn't I?"

"Yeah, I know, but still," Dean said, adjusting the collar of his jacket.

Birdie playfully rolled her eyes, fishing out her keys. "I appreciate the concern, but I'm fine. And, you know, if I can't for some reason, at least I got you with me."

Birdie leaned against Bobby's car beside him almost an hour later, facing Sam and Dean as they were parked a few miles away from the sawmill. Birdie squinted across at the Winchesters in order to make out their expressions, the sun that was shining in her eyes making it difficult. Dean reached into the backseat of the Impala, grabbing three beers out of a cooler that was inside. "So, you guys road-hauled a ghost. . ." He handed one to Sam, offering the other two to Birdie and Bobby. Bobby smiled and shook his hand, indicating that he didn't want one. Dean looked towards Birdie, smiling in approval as she accepted one. Dean stepped back towards the impala and mimicked Sam, opening up his beer. "With a chain?"

"Iron chain etched with spell work," Sam said, smiling towards Bobby.

Dean hummed, tilting his head as he lifted the beer. "That's a new one."

"It was what he was most afraid of," Sam said with a shrug. "It was pretty brutal, though." Bobby nodded in agreement, arms crossed as he glanced between the brothers.

"On the upside, I'm still alive, so uh, go team!" Dean smiled, raising his beer.

"Yeah," Sam said, turning his head towards Dean. "How you feelin', by the way?"

Dean nonchalantly shrugged. "Fine."

"You sure, Dean?" Bobby wondered. "'Cause this line of work can get awful scary."

Birdie snickered in amusement, taking a sip of her beer in a feeble attempt to hide her growing grin. "I'm fine," Dean firmly said, standing up straight with a stern expression. "You wanna go huntin'? I'll hunt. I'll fuckin' kill anything."

Sam looked away from Dean, sharing a look with Bobby and Birdie. "Awwww," Sam cooed.

"He's adorable," Bobby said. Birdie laughed, her, Sam and Bobby's laughs meshing together. Dean rolled his eyes, taking another sip of his beer. Bobby sighed a few seconds later, turning to move towards the driver's side of his car. "I gotta get outta here. You kids drive safe." Birdie moved to the side, taking a few steps to the right so she was beside Sam and facing Bobby.

"You too, Bobby," Sam said. Bobby opened his door, giving the three one last smile. "Hey, thanks."

Bobby sat down in the front seat and started up his car, driving away with one last wave. Birdie took a small sip of her beer as she watched him drive away, pursing her lips together.

Dean tilted his head and pulled his beer to his lips. Sam shifted, pushing some rocks away with his boot. "So uh. . .so, what did you see?" Sam asked Dean. "Near the end, I mean."

Birdie's eyes darted to Dean, flashes of Lilith instantly popping into her mind. "Oh, besides a cop beatin' my ass?" Dean retorted.

"Seriously."

Dean sucked in a sharp breath, staring at Sam. For a moment, Birdie thought she saw a hint of fear flash in his eyes, but it was gone with a blink of her eyes. She shook it off and took a few steps closer, catching his eye. "Howler monkeys," he finally answered. Sam shook his head, sighing as if he didn't believe Dean; even if she hadn't seen Lilith for herself, she wouldn't have believed Dean either. "Whole roomful of them. Those things creep me the fuck out."

"Right."

"No, just the usual stuff, Sammy," Dean said, catching Birdie's eye again. He noticed her expression, suddenly remembering seeing the panic on her face when she was in the room with him, almost like she had seen Lilith, too. "Nothin' I couldn't handle."

"Yeah," Birdie smiled. "Nothin' he couldn't handle, I'm sure."

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Okay, so I know parts of this chapter were probably confusing, but I promise it will all start to make sense as the story continues! I was gonna wait a little longer to post this chapter, but since today is Birdie's birthday, I had to post something!! + I made some edits that I posted on my Wattpad Instagram (samwnchesters.wp) if anyone wants to see them!

And, more exciting (and stressful) things are coming and I can't wait for y'all to see it all hehe!

Anyways, please don't forget to leave your feedback in the comments and I hope y'all enjoyed!