Until The End Of Time

Chapter 5. The aftereffect

Sam's hand was large with long fingers covered in calluses. It definitely was the hand of someone who often did hard labor or physical training. It was warm and dry that gave Kye an assuring feeling, but she found herself secretly and unreasonably expecting a tingle when their skins touched. That weird thought dampened her mood quickly. Kye turned away and pulled out a pair of mustard-colored slip-ons from the tote bag. She changed into them and handed the old sneakers back to Sam.

"Thank you for the shoes." She smiled. "Let's go."

They walked side by side to the kitchen. It was sunset but because of the rain earlier, the sky got much darker. All the outdoor lights were already turned on automatically. The silence started to wrap thickly around them. Kye slowed down in her pace and spoke quietly.

"Can I ask you something, Sam?"

"Sure, anything." Sam shrugged and looked down at her.

Her head was a little below his shoulders but she seemed much smaller and more fragile at the moment. Her arms folded tightly to her body, her thin eyebrows furrowed and her lower lip turned white because she was biting on it hard. Her little nose and cheeks were reddened due to the cold air. The wind blew her hair into a brown-colored mess. She looked like someone who had lost everything and was all alone in this world. The only things that still looked lively and beautiful on her face were the large sparkled brown eyes.

Kye reminded Sam of himself 16 years ago when they just got to the camp after losing their mom. At least he always had Dean. From what he heard, Kye had a mother and younger brother back in Ayham but there was no way to tell when or if she could ever see them again after what they pulled. Sam didn't know much about the relationship between Kye and the archangel, but he would not bet her safety on some feelings Michael may or may not have for her, and definitely not after the betrayal. The compound was also hundreds of miles outside of Ayham. To get back to the city, they would need to pass several checkpoints with the angels and human law enforcement employed by the Council, then the City Wall. Not impossible but also not a breezy task.

"Why me?" Kye's voice cut off Sam's train of thoughts. "What's so important about me that you guys were willing to trade the artifact for, right after you've just got it? It wasn't easy for anyone to get a hand on that thing in the past few years from what I've heard. Sure wasn't easy for me, no matter how much of an advantage you guys thought I had with Michael." She spurted out.

Her eyes started to fill up with tears of frustration. It was not a good feeling being kept in the dark, especially after everything she had put on the line and lost. Kye felt like she just made the biggest mistake and was now stuck with the consequences.

"Look," Sam clenched his hand in the pocket. It was hard to look into someone's eyes and lie, or not tell the whole truth. "I don't know the whole deal, but from what I've heard, the bosses have some new plan regarding the weapon." He gave her a vague answer. "About you, I really don't know what they have in mind. I'm sorry for what you've been through, but please believe me when I say this, we didn't mean for you to get hurt and will not let any harms come your way. I promise."

Kye was not very convinced by what he said but she bit her tongue and continued on her way. She didn't expect to get anything out of him anyway. Sam walked slowly behind while staring at the back of her head. He hated when the innocents got hurt in a fight like some kind of collateral damage, didn't matter if that fight was for a noble cause or had the whole of mankind's fate hung on to it.

The closer they got to the kitchen, the clearer the sounds of people talking and dinnerware clanking were. They stopped at the door and looked inside through the glass pane.