Roads Untraveled ~ Sam Winchester

Chapter Forty-One - Answers

The phone rang for the sixty-fourth time.
Elizabeth sat shaking on her bed in the Bunker, hugging her knees, watching the 'Impala 2' letters go black once again.
She couldn't bring herself to lean over and pick it up.
She wasn't exactly sure how long it was between the last call and Sam bursting through her bedroom door, seeing her broken state, but it couldn't have been long.
"She's in here!" She heard him yell, but barely. Everything seemed muffled.
He ran over, sitting on the bed and scooping her up into his strong, protective grasp.
"Hey..." He whispered, running his fingers through her hair. "Baby, it's okay. I've got you. You're okay."
Dean and Castiel ran in, the scene unfolding before them making their hearts ache.
They came and sat on the bed, not bothering to say anything, just that they were there for her both literally and figuratively.

"You gotta help us figure out what the Hell's happening to her, man." Dean pleaded with his Angel later on that night.
They were sat at the dining table in the kitchen, Dean with a beer in hand.
"If I knew where to begin, I'd be there now." Cas sighed.
Dean frowned in thought.
"Is there any way you could... I dunno, tap into her mind like you did with that old guy who was making cartoons happen? See these visions and crap for yourself?" He asked, sipping his beer.
"The last time I did that I had my own grace and was at full power." Cas sighed, pausing to think. "Having said that, it seems like the only way we're going to find out what's going on."

The older brother and the Angel walked back into Elizabeth's room, where she was resting her head on Sam's chest as they laid together.
The younger brother frowned at the intrusion, silently asking what was going on.
Cas walked over to Elizabeth's bedside, crouching down and touching her upper arm.
"Elizabeth." He soothed. She turned over, laying her head on the pillow to look at him. "If you don't mind, I want to try something, to see if I can figure out what's happening to you."
Elizabeth simply nodded, sitting up.
Castiel held out a hand for her, leading her over to the desk chair.
He stood behind her, taking a deep breath as he placed his middle and index fingers on either side of her temples.
Bright, glowing orange veins protruded down either sides of Elizabeth's face, originating at Castiel's fingers.

Castiel looked around. He was in a dark, cavernous space, a sleeping girl, who couldn't have been older than six, laid on a stone bed, tied down with chains forged in Heaven.
He turned when the cave opened up behind him, but his attention was drawn back to the girl when her chains fell from her body, onto the floor.
She sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
Cas studied the girl intently, now that she had some light on her.
The off-white tunic she wore was tied in the middle with what appeared to be a vine and her feet were dirty and bare. Her skin was pale, almost translucent. Almost every sign pointed to malnutrition, except for the fact that she wasn't skin and bone. She was skinny, yes. But not a skeleton. Also, if malnourished, her burgundy hair would've been a lot thinner. But there it was, thick and glossy, trailing down her back in gentle waves. When her icy blue eyes caught the sunlight seeping into the cave, they looked almost white, like a zombie from a movie or something. But somehow, they still looked beautiful. She looked beautiful.
"Eden, it's time for you to show your uncle what you can do." A male voice spoke.
"Yes, uncle." The girl's tiny voice replied.
She hopped off the stone bed and wandered out of the cave, squinting at the light difference and, before Cas knew it, she'd disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The image melted away, sending Castiel into a new one.
A much younger Eden was crouched down a few feet in front of him in a garden he knew all too well. It was the Garden. She couldn't have been more than four years old. To her left, was a tiny rattle that resembled the tail of a Rattlesnake. He sensed someone coming up behind him, so turned around.
When he saw who it was, he gasped.
It was Eve.
She smiled down at the girl, watching as the toddler placed her delicate little hand on the grass. Cas frowned in curiosity, taking a step closer to see what she was doing.
Eden closed her eyes, feeling the blades of grass tickle between her fingers. She smiled, feeling her magic flow through the dirt, only to come back up. Castiel watched on as flowers sprang up under her hand. For the second time, he gasped.
"What are you, Eden?" He asked rhetorically.
Eve walked passed him, crouching down at her side.
"Well done, my precious one. Your Garden is looking more and more beautiful every day." She smiled, smoothing down Eden's hair, decorated with tiny flowers of various colours.
Eden smiled up at Eve, her cheeks bright red with seemingly eternal happiness.
"Thank you, mama." She said.
"Time to go, Flower. It's time to eat." Eve told her.
Eden picked up her rattle and got up with an excited shriek. As she ran off, more flowers grew inside every foot step.
Eve smiled as she watched her child run away from her. She looked around the garden, brushing her fingers up against a tree as she walked in the direction Eden had disappeared into.
"My beautiful Garden of Eden." She mused.
Castiel's eyes widened as he was brought out of the image.