Wanted Dead or Alive | 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

9 - PROVENANCE

SEASON 1, EPISODE 19

Mara had always seen books as things of value. They more than made up for their cost in their worth, and in how much knowledge a single piece of paper could contain. In just one library there could be a lifetime's worth of information, or more, if a person deemed it necessary to scrawl that much information on scraps of looseleaf.

If they weren't advantageous to humans and supernatural beings alike for the information they contained, endless words of wisdom enclosed between two covers and a strip of binding, they were beautiful. As Mara stood in a New York library, using her finger to trace the letters of a book called 'A Tale of Two Cities', she couldn't help but stare, awestruck, at the way the sentences and phrases blended together to weave a story that had lasted through generations.

Her stupor of enchantment was broken when Dean Winchester, his eyebrows raised in curiosity, lifted the cover of Mara's book to read the title. Upon glancing at the front cover of the book, his brows furrowed in disapproval as he jested, "Really, Mara? 'A Tale of Two Cities'? For some reason, I don't think you're gonna find anything about Isaiah Merchant in there."

Mara closed the book that laid in her hands with a reluctant sigh, bidding farewell to the faded pieces of parchment as she slid it back into its place on the shelf. She wished she could hold that book in her hands forever. Or, at least, for however long it would take her to read it. As a reaper, she'd never been granted the privilege of leisurely reading. Even now, with her reaper duties far behind her, she had to disregard the beautifully stringed together words for a hunting mission.

It seemed that was how the Winchesters worked, though - all work and no play. They'd hardly left the shopping center when they'd driven to the nearest library, with no purpose but to conduct research for the case they were letting Mara help with: a painting that had a vengeful spirit attached to it. Mara hadn't even known it was possible for a spirit to attach itself to an object, and on top of that, the painting they'd burned the night before had reappeared in the auction house. The reappearance did nothing but make the whole situation more confusing for Mara and more anxiety-inducing for the Winchesters.

"Come on," Dean suggested, brushing his hand against Mara's shoulder in an attempt to draw her attention away from the shelves of books. "We're gonna look in the local history section while Sam and Kat talk to the librarian."

Mara followed Dean as he sauntered over to the back corner of the library. She couldn't help but notice how he held his broad shoulders, straight and pushed back as if he held all the confidence in the world between his two shoulder pads. Mara straightened her own shoulders, wondering if that's how humans were supposed to walk.

When they reached the shelves of books labeled 'Local History', Dean's steps slowed to an abrupt stop, causing Mara to stumble over her own feet as she tried to avoid walking into Dean. Perhaps she'd been following him a little too closely.