Daughter of the Legend: Soul on Fire (#Wattys2018)

Chapter Seventeen: The Curious Case of Rachel C. Winchester

Winchesters and company arrived outside the cemetery gates within ten minutes of the locked signal. A heavy silence weighed down upon the hunters. Castiel met them outside the boundaries of this hallowed ground.

"The warding is stronger now." The angel confirmed. Frustrated, Castiel stared at the invisible wards that surrounded the cemetery. "I have no way of joining you all." Jodie and Krissy exchanged worried looks. Cassidy put a hand on Castiel's arm.

"It's okay Cas. Just be here for us when we come back out." She looked back at the rest of the Team. "Are we ready?" Nods responded to the question. She looked at the Winchester Boys. "We will follow your lead."

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I felt the concrete scraping up the entirety of my back. I was being dragged, and the fuzziness had returned to be brain. My skin felt like it was covered in bruises. There was nothing I could focus on, and my mind was swallowed by the darkness.

I was awake, here in the black. It was familiar. A chill ran down my spine, I had been here after Lily had tortured me. It was sort of Limbo. Biting my lip, I tried to focus my energy to my surroundings. Another shiver rocked my focus.

"Come on, Rae. Remember what Cas taught you." I murmured closing my eyes tightly, "Remember." Another shiver ran down my spine, but this time, it wasn't from the warding. My eyes snapped open, my mother's words from a month ago resonated in my ears.

Remember. "What! What am I supposed to remember!" I was trying to think of the millions of things that she had said to me, messages from the dead were always so cryptic.

"Remember. Have hope because it means: hold on pain ends. You are smarter than you think, stronger than you seem, and braver than you believe." The words were were whispered, barely audible. I turned towards the voice. Like all the times I had needed her before, there she was.

"Mom..." She smiled at me, she was hard to see. Her apparition was transparent and kept flickering in and out. "You flipped the quote again." I breathed the words, a hurt smile and tears in my eyes.

"Remember." She whispered again, before flickering out of my vision. Unlike the last time she had said this to me, leaving me in a dark void, I was not afraid. I was reassured.

When I reopened my eyes, the dark textured walls of a cinder block room greeted me. Groaning, I sat up, feeling the electric burns under my skin. My mind felt like a bowl of melted ice cream, when suddenly it hit me again. Cassidy.

Jumping to my feet, I immediately went to find the door. There was just enough light to determine the shape of the room. My journey was cut short as the shackles on my wrists reignited. An overwhelming wave of rage blinded my sense. I grabbed onto the chains and ripped at them furiously. When the rage subsided and the chains didn't budge, I yelled "You bitch," to no one in particular.

The burn of the sigils lit me up like a Christmas Tree. Breathlessly, I pulled the chains once again before sitting down on the ground with a huff. "Piece of shit." I mumbled. I needed a plan, but my mind was actually fried and I was too frustrated to come up with a plan that would successfully get me out of here.

"Pulling on those won't do you any good." A female voice emerged from the darkness. It was unfamiliar to me, but in a world where shifters are around me, that didn't mean shit. My eyes narrowed at her slightly condescending tone.

"And why is that?"

"Because they are made of iron and angel blades. And watch your tone. Just trust me, I've been trying to break them for days." There was a slight movement near the wall directly across from me. "Besides, whatever is carved into them, doesn't seem to agree with you." The shuffle of chains on the floor, and the scuff of feet were accompanied by the appearance of dirty blonde hair and a very bruised face. She knelt down in the semi-circle of light that created the space between us.