Hey pals, I hope you are going to have a wonderful start into the new year☺️
Here I have the second chapter, maybe you will like it🥰
After Life Chapter two
Dean leaves me and approaches Bobby, who stands up and holds his arms open to give Dean a warm, welcoming hug. It takes them a while before they let go of each other.
Bobby claps Dean’s shoulder before he offers him a seat. “Beer?” he asks and opens a tiny freezer.
Instinctively I take a step forward to observe what they are doing. They open the bottle and throw away whatever they just removed. They cling the bottles against one another and take a sip.
“So?” The man called Bobby speaks up. “What brought you here? A Vampire? Werewolf?”
Dean huff's grinning before he answers: “You won’t believe.”
“Dean, there is nothing we haven’t seen down there.”
“True, but it was just… A nail.”
“A what?”
“A big old rusty nail. During a hunt.”
“Idjit!” Bobby shouts out, and he arranges himself in his chair. I have no idea what he means by the word
“Idjit,” but I don’t have the guts to ask, and Bobby goes on: “At least, you left as a hunter.”
“Not very cheering, Bobby.” and Dean takes another sip from his bottle. I watch him licking a drop of the beer from his lips, and I can feel my face getting hot again. These feelings confuse me more and more.
“I’m happy to see you, even you could have taken a little more time to come here.”
“Bobby, believe me, I would rather be back again with Sammy. I can’t even imagine what he is going through at the moment.”
“It’s Sammy. He will make it.”
Dean rubs his palm over his face before he starts speaking again: “So, tell Bobby, how is life here?”
“It’s heaven Dean, literally. I mean, I have this cabin, my wife is with me. And over there…” he points in the distance, “lives Rufus with his wife.”
And finally, I can see Dean smiling. An honest smile. I still hide at the corner of the cabin. I just want to hear and see them without disturbing their reunion.
Then Dean asks: “And Mom and…?” But his words seem to be stuck in his throat.
“They live over there.” And again, Bobby points to a place in the distance. I follow his hand with my eyes, and far away, at the foot of the mountain, I can hardly see a small house.
I can hear Dean asking: “Are they ok?”
“Of course they are. But now I have a question too. Who is this friend of yours?” and his head makes a motion to the place I try to hide.
“She is not my friend, she is an angel.”
“An angel?” Bobby sounds surprised.
“Yes, it seems like Jack made a few changes in heaven.”
“I know, but I didn’t know they escort you now.”
“Maybe Jack wants to make sure I will not get in trouble. It wouldn't surprise me.” Dean answers, laughing.
I don’t know what got into me, but I take a step forward and say: “No, that's not the reason.”
Both men's heads turn to me, and immediately I stop in my tracks. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to disturb you,” I say quietly and take a step back.
“No, no, come back. What is the reason you accomplish Dean?” Bobby asks, and his eyebrows make his facial expression kind of angry.
I feel something in my stomach area, and again I can’t estimate where this is coming from.
I gulp and take a step forward before I say: “Jack wants to make sure that every soul coming here is greeted and accomplished as long as needed to adjust to the afterlife.”
Bobby grunts: “That sounds like you learned to recite that.”
“No, I didn’t,” I answer. “I just know what Jack wants us to do.”
“So, ” Bobby says again, ”you are not like the angels I met before? Cruel and trying to cage someone in?” His one eyebrow is arched.
I shake my head:” No, why would I do that?”
But instead of Bobby, Dean answers: “Because he just knows that kind of angels. And to be honest, me too.” His eyes land on me, and I try to hold his gaze, saying: “These angels don’t exist anymore. Jack awakened me and the others as mates.”
It took Dean a second, then he nods, and for the first time, he gives me a slight smile. His gaze shoots back in the direction Bobby showed before, and in his face, I can now recognize something. His forehead gets wrinkled, his eyebrows narrow, and he takes a deep breath. Then he asks quietly: “Evangeline?”
I tilt my head: “Yes?” I’m curious about what he wants.
“Can we… Would you, well, would you go there with me?” Dean looks back at me, and it's like his feelings are passed over to me. I can feel something like pain, guilt, and sorrow washing over me. When this is what he feels towards his parents, I wonder what happened on earth.
Naturally, I stretch out my arm, offering him my hand, and this time, he takes mine in his. His large hand covers mine completely, but it's a warm and tight grip that feels safe.
Dean stands up from his chair, looking back at Bobby, who looks at our intertwined hands and back to Deans' face. His mouth stands open for a second, but then he nods and says: “Go ahead, son, they will be glad to see you. Somehow at least.”
Dean nods and answers: “See you later, Bobby.”
After another look in the distance, Dean lets out a deep breath, and together, we leave the patio and start to walk away.
We walk for a while in silence. We both enjoy the sight of the woods and mountains ahead of us.
After a while, Dean’s voice reaches my ears: “Do we have to walk the whole way?”
I side-eye him and ask: “What do you mean?”
“I’m used to driving everywhere, not...”, and he gestures around with his free hand, “this here.”
“Oh, ok. Well, it's your heaven. When you want to drive, you can do that.”
He stops in his tracks, eyes wide open: “Wait, you mean, I can have my Baby here?”
“Baby?” I reclaim. “I didn’t know Babies could drive.”
Dean laughs out loud, around his eyes appear wrinkles, and the tone of his laughter is clear and honest.
When he comes down again, he returns: “Babies can definitely not drive. Baby is the name of my Impala.”
“What’s an impala?”
He shakes his head, still amused: “It’s getting better.”
I’m not quite sure why he said that and why he is still laughing.
“Are you laughing at me?” and I can’t help, but a feeling is coming from my feet, a tickle that hits my stomach. And in my brain, the word “fear” becomes manifest. This is fear? It's an awful feeling, and I want it to fade away.
I can see Dean’s arms open, showing me his palms when he says: “I’m sorry, I guess this confused you. I’m just not used to explaining what a car is.”
I stretch my chin, trying to seem confident: “I know what a car is, I just didn’t know humans have nicknames for their cars.”
“Not all, but this car means much to me, so what do I need to do to get it here?”
“Just imagine it, and it should appear.”
“That I can do.” and Dean closes his eyes, and in front of us, a black car appears.
He peaks through one of his eyes to see if something has changed. When he recognizes the car, his eyes shoot open: “Awesome!” Dean yells out and starts touching the metal. Slowly, he circles the car, not letting his hands off the car.
“And?” He looks at me from the other side of the vehicle.
“And what?” I ask back.
“What, what?” he yells. “This is my Baby. My car. I can’t believe it's really here.”
I observe Dean when he opens the door and falls into the seat. His palms grab the steering wheel, and his shoulders tighten a little. Then his fingers touch the velvet of the dashboard, almost tenderly. Maybe I will find out why this car is so important to him.
“Won’t you come in?” his question snaps me out of my thoughts.
“Uhm, how?” I reply and look at the door in front of me, but I have no idea how to open it.
Dean starts laughing: “You tell me, you can’t open a car door?” but he hops out of his seat and comes over to me. With an easy pull of his hand, he opens the door so that I can take place in the car.
“Thank you.” I look up at him, smiling.
He grins and shuts the door before he gets in the car himself again.
His fingers find something, I guess it's a key, which he turns, and a loud noise comes from the front of the car. I hadn't expected that, and the sound makes me startle a little. Dean's eyes turn to me, and he asks: “Scared yet?”
I shrug my shoulders: “I don’t know.” but my fingers are kneading each other without me noticing.
“Well, then just wait till this Baby hits her limit.” and with a big grin, he uses an arm near the wheel, and the car starts moving, first slowly, but with every second passed, we move faster than before.
My palms are pressed beside my legs, and my whole body stiffens while the trees flash by. I feel my head feeling dizzy, so I close my eyes and hope this drive won’t last long.
“Hey, are you ok?”
Dean’s voice hits my ears through the engine's tone, so I slowly open my eyes again. I acknowledge the trees don’t move that fast anymore. It seems like Dean slowed the car down.
I lean my head back, breathing heavily through my nose, and suddenly feel a touch on my shoulder. I peek and see Dean’s hand on me.
Once again, he asks: “Are you ok?”
I nod slightly: “I think so, I’m not used to driving.”
“Wait, you can fly, right? So, what's the difference?”
“Well, before I met you, there were no trees that would flash by. There were only clouds.”
“Clouds?” he asks, surprised.
“Yes, until we meet a soul, we are surrounded by clouds most of the time.”
“Seems better than the heaven before, I guess.”
“I don’t know, I was sleeping.”
“Sleeping?” He looks at me with arched eyebrows.
“Yes, Jack just woke me up a little before you arrived here.”
“Does that…” he stutters, “does that mean you are what? Three days old?”
“Yes and no, I was just sleeping for a very long time, and I do know what happened on earth and heaven, at least the most essential parts.”
Dean remains silent for a while before he speaks up again: “Did you recognize, we are still driving?”
My gaze flutters out of the window, seeing the trees are still moving, but slower than before.
“Oh wow, no, I didn’t.” I turn towards the window and watch nature passing by. The different kinds of trees, flowers, even clouds and, it's weird that I can now glimpse them from a different perspective.
“It’s beautiful,” I speak out loud. “Look, birds.”
Dean is snorting behind me: “You never saw a bird before?”
“Not really, I do know them, but that's it. The earth must be a beautiful place if it looks like this.”
“It can be.” Dean’s tone changes, but I can’t identify what he wants to say.
While I still catch sights of the world around me, suddenly the car stops, with a squeaking sound, and my whole body shoots forward. Trying to hold me in place, I hear Dean shouting: “No, that's not possible!”
He makes the car move backward, and I take a look back. There is another building with a sign over the door: Harvelles Roadhouse.
Dean stops the car in front, and without even thinking of me, he storms out of the vehicle and disappears into the building. I take a look at my door, but again I don’t know how to open it from the inside, and I’m glad Dean left his door standing wide open. I climb over the seat.
I enter the house. It's a little bit dark inside, and my eyes need a second to adjust. After that, I see Dean’s back, and he is hugging a young woman. This hug seems to be more than an average hug, and I can hear Dean murmuring “I’m sorry” repeatedly. The woman pats his back, and maybe she is answering something, but I can’t hear her.
Unexpectedly, another older woman appears beside me.
“They haven't seen each other for a while,” she says.
I nod, answering: “I can feel that.”
“So, you are Dean’s angel?” she asks further.
“Yes, I’m.”
“Better be good to him, or I swear I’m going to hunt you,” she says thoughtfully.
My face turns to her very fast, her eyes are narrowed down, which makes her quite intimidating. I gulp hard before I answer: “Why would I be anything then good to him?”
“I know how angels are.”
I correct her by replying: “Were. How they used to be.”
She now looks me directly in the eyes. “So, not only has heaven changed? The angels changed too?”
I nod, smiling when she goes on with a deep sigh: “We are pleased heaven has changed. And even more to hear the angels too.”
I still smile at her, saying: “And I’m happy you are happy. I’m Evangeline.” I stretch out my hand, and she takes it, saying: “I’m Ellen. The one Dean can’t let go is Jo, my daughter.”
I look back to the two, and really, they are still intertwined in a hug. Slowly they let go of each other, and Jo’s face is wet from tears. She wipes her cheeks and takes a step back.
“I really don’t want to see you here. Don’t you need to save the world?” Jo tries to smile but fails, unfortunately.
Dean chuckles: “I guess I failed. Now it's on Sam and all the other hunters.”
Ellen leaves my side and finally hugs Dean too.
I look around and find a spot to sit, giving them space to talk.
Observing the building, I see a lot of pictures on the walls. Some have letters; others show people. In the middle of the room is a counter, where Dean and Jo sit, and Ellen stands behind, handing them bottles. It seems like humans enjoy the taste of beer.
I can hear Dean telling the story of his death again. And that he is now on his way, seeing his parents.
Then Jo turns her chair, leaning her elbows on the wood behind her. I feel caught, even though I didn't do anything, but the way she looks at me, makes me get up from my chair.
“I’m sorry, I….” I start to stutter, but she stops me.
“Don’t worry. I’m not as bad as I look. I’m just curious about the person who gets to spend a lot of time with Dean.” While she was talking, she approached me.
She sees me freeze up, not able to move, and even more not knowing what to do. I really need to learn a lot when it comes to interactions with human souls.
But finally, Jo gives me a liberating smile, and I can feel the heaviness falling from my shoulders.
“Come,” she says and links one arm through mine, pulling me with her. Confused, I look down at our arms, irritated by the motion, but it's a friendly feeling.
She pulls me with her and pushes me down to one of the stools, between her and Dean. Ellen places a bottle in front of me, like the ones Jo and Dean have. Jo grabs her and holds it high, looking at me, shaking her bottle slightly. I grab my bottle and do the same, but Ellen, Jo, and Dean just burst out laughing. Again I feel an emotion that I can’t interpret at first, but slowly the word “embarrassing” is formed in my head. My face gets hot, and I try to hide behind my hair, looking at my lap.
“I guess you haven’t met many humans, right?” Ellen asks and then clings her bottle against Jo’s to show me what I should have done.
“No, I’m her first.” I hear Dean answering, and through the strands of my hair, I can see him smiling and even winking at me. He caught me looking at him, and the same feeling as before washes through me. So, that means different situations can cause the same feeling.
I’m glad Dean changes the topic: “Do we need to sleep and eat here?”
Jo shakes her head: “You don’t need to, but you can, it doesn’t matter, but could you imagine a life without eating?”
“Hell, no.” he shouts, “I need pie to survive. And burgers.”
“That's the Dean I know.” Jo chuckles.
“Well, Dean, it's getting dark slowly. Do you want to take off, or do you wanna stay for the night?”
“I guess I will stay. We could talk a little more,” then he looks at me, “Is that ok with you?”
“Me? Yes, of course, I will just wait.” I answer, shrugging my shoulders.
Dean’s impression changes from joyful to downhearted, afraid I ask: “Did I say something wrong?”
Before he answers, he gulps loudly: “No, I just heard something like that before.” He takes a deep breath before he goes on: “A friend used this phrase before.” With an empty stare, he sips on his bottle. I’m curious what this is about, but it's not the right time to ask. I can sense Dean is sad, and it seems like Ellen and Jo notice that too, because from out of nowhere, Ellen places a pie in front of Dean.
“I guess apple is still your favorite?” She asks, chuckling.
“Hell, yes,” Dean shouts out and grabs the fork from Ellen's hand. He plunges into the thick of the pie, shoving a massive piece in his mouth.
“Hmmmm,” he grunts, chewing loudly. “That's good.” With the fork, he points down to the plate.
“Jo made it.” Ellen answers.
“You can bake?” Dean asks, surprised.
“Well, ” she answers smiling, “I had a few years to learn, right?”
Dean let his palm sink, but before he can say something, Jo goes on: “Don’t even think about apologizing again. I told you, I’m fine with how it is.”
I can hear them talking, but I’m not listening. All my senses are focused on this piece of pastry and apples. It smells so sweet and looks so juicy. All I want to do is bury my fingers in and shove it in my mouth. Uncontrolled, I lick over my lips when I recognize there is no more talking around me. I look up, seeing everyone staring at me.
“What?” I ask.
“You look like you never had something to eat before,” Jo answers, laughing.
“Well, I never had,” I answer, looking at her.
“What? How?” confused Jo gestures with her hands.
“Angels don’t need to eat or anything.” Dean answers instead of me. “Here.” he offers me his fork. “Try it.”
“Really? I don’t want to eat the pie away from you.” but I slowly take the fork out of his hand anyway.
Dean shoves the plate nearer, saying simultaneously: “Can’t believe I share a pie after not having pie in ages.”
His saying makes me feel miserable and guilty at once, so I lay the fork down on the wood.
“Well, more pie for me.” Dean laughs and takes back the fork to shove another piece of the pie in his mouth.
“Dean,” Jo yells. “She tries to be polite.”
“Her loss,” he murmurs full-mouthed and grinning.
Another kind of feeling hits me, and slowly, I stand up and say: “Well, I guess I will wait outside until you have slept.”
But Jo stops me: “You can wait here. No need to wait outside. It's getting dark.”
“Oh, that's fine. I never experienced the dark. I think I will enjoy it.”
Jo looks at Dean:” Say something, she is your angel.”
“What should I do? Chain her?” Dean replies, uninterested.
“Wouldn’t be your first.” Jo answers sarcastically. She stands up, approaches me and leads me to a couch in a corner. “At least wait here, ok?”
“If that's ok, then yes.” I look at Jo, smiling at her. She nods and starts cleaning the counter.
Ellen shows Dean a room next to the bar: “There you can sleep. Enjoy your first night in peace.” She pats his shoulder but then puts him into an embrace. “We missed you Dean.”
“I missed you too,” he answers, but he looks at Jo, and the sorrow from earlier today glimpses in his face once more. Jo comes up to Dean, hugging him good night before she leaves the room.
Dean still stands at the door frame, looking around the bar before his gaze lands on me. I smile and nod at him and with a weak grin, Dean enters the room, closing the door behind him.