One Another's Angels, Part 6

Chapter 6: Locket

Trea felt as if she'd just gone through a dryer. She had been buffeted with so much wind she could still feel it on her skin. Groaning in pain, she sat up, putting her hand on her head as it throbbed with pain. It was then that she realized something was wrong. She was lying on a bed that had pale blue sheets and matching quilt. The room she was in was well lit, with a large window that had vibrant blue, translucent curtains with a glittery pattern on them hanging in front of it. There was a dresser against the wall she faced, opposite the foot of the bed, and what looked like a closet beside it. There were hardwood floors beneath her. A mirror hung beside the door.

"What in the hell...?" she muttered, confused and on edge. Out of habit, she reached up and grabbed the chain around her neck, pulling out the locket that hung on it, closing her hand around it.

The locket was pretty, golden in color with blackish detailing. It was shaped like a heart, and then there was a smaller black heart in the middle. Within that, there was a still-smaller raised heart with wings, and a small blue stone, which matched the stone in her anti-possession bracelet, above it. Her grandfather had given it to her the day she was born. A week later, he and her grandmother died on a hunt.  Her grandpa had given Kara, her mother, specific instructions about the locket. Trea was not to open the locked, polished wooden box that contained the locket until her sixth birthday, and, consequently, Kara was not to give her the key until that point. Trea had known about it all her life, and had always been curious about it, because neither she nor her mother knew what was inside. When the day finally came to open the box, there had been a note with it, saying that if Trea were ever in trouble and had no one to turn to, then she should open the locket. When she did, she would know what to do. The problem was, when she looked, she couldn't find a way to open it.

The door to Trea's left opened, and Trea jumped, jolting from her thoughts. A man appeared in the doorway. He was probably a little taller than Dean, with golden hair, tan skin, and charcoal grey eyes. He wore a red t-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. He looked completely normal, like someone you'd see walking on the street, playing football in a park somewhere, or even sitting behind a desk in corner office somewhere, and wouldn't think twice about. He would fit in anywhere. He could be anybody. This fact just put Trea more on edge.

"Who the hell are you?" Trea growled, sounding much more confident than she actually felt. "Where am I?"

"Hello, Trea," the man said gently, his smile warm and welcoming. Trea didn't buy it and kept her guard up.

"Where's Alex?" she pressed, hiding how eager she was to hear news on her best friend.

"Your friend got sucked up by the tornado like you did, my dear," the man smiled. Seeing the fear and concern in her eyes, he rushed to add, "and, also like you, he's fine. He's safe."

Trea calmed down a little bit, but only a little bit. "Why am I here?" she asked, secretly eyeing the door, debating whether or not to make a run for it and hoping her captor wouldn't notice.

The man seemed to notice anyway. "Let me save us both some time and trouble," he sighed. "Outside this door is a confusing labyrinth of hallways that wind through the entire house, which, by the way, is around 20,000 square feet, that is so confusing that even I get lost sometimes, and I've lived here for years. You would be found and brought back here in no time. Now, on the off chance that you get out of this house, we are surrounded by three hundred acres of untouched forest. If we didn't find you, you'd die pretty quickly. I don't want that to happen, so, please. Don't try it."

"Ok, then what do you want?" Trea asked warily, doing her best to hide how crushed his words made her.

"Let me introduce myself," The man smiled encouragingly. "My name is Gregory. What I want is simple: I want to help you, Trea."

"I don't need anybody's help," Trea snapped.

"Ah, but in this case, you do, my dear," the man, Gregory, chuckled.

Trea hesitated. "Ok, I'll play along," she said at last. "What do I need help with?"

"Realizing your full potential," Gregory said casually. "There is so much you don't know yet, so much that has been kept from you, things that I could tell you. Let me."

"Why the hell should I?" Trea asked, annoyed and wanting nothing more than to go home...well, as close to a home as she had: wherever Alex was.

"Because I have been watching you since you were born," Gregory began.

"Well that doesn't sound stalkerish at all," Trea hissed sarcastically. It was a habit whenever she was scared. She never showed when she was scared, hurt, or broken. She simply cracked jokes and pretended she didn't give a damn. She never, ever talked about how scared, guilty, or sad she felt. She would simply hide it, smother it, when she was around people, and when she was on a hunt, she channeled it into anger.

"And I, like several others, have recognized that you are an extraordinary girl," Gregory continued as if she hadn't spoken. "In a few years, who knows what you'll be able to do?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Trea shouted, losing her patience.

"You're a very different girl," Gregory told her, smiling a small half-smile. "I know it, Alex knows it, Sam and Dean know it, and Daniel sure as hell knows it. I'm just one of the only ones who know why."

"Who the hell is Daniel?" Trea asked, getting tired of this guy, her head beginning to ache.

Gregory chuckled. "Daniel is your own personal guardian angel, Trea."

Trea stared at the man in front of her. "Oh, God, help me..." she muttered under her breath. "I'm being held captive by a crazy person..."

"I'm not crazy," Gregory smiled warmly at the young girl. "You're a prophet of the Lord. It's only a matter of time before you start having visions. And, like all prophets, you have an angel who's watching your back, making sure you don't get killed."

"Angels aren't real!" Trea shouted, frustrated. "And if they were, then mine isn't doing a very good job! Alex and I almost get killed on a daily basis! I've never seen one, not once!"

"Well, you see, Trea," Gregory sighed, "angels usually don't like prophets to know that they are, in fact, prophets. If they do, it's not until they start having visions. You are a special case because you are a hunter. They can't interfere with your life any more than just saving it from time to time. So, they have to let you be in danger to some degree. But, lucky for Daniel, you have Alex."

"What does Alex have to do with any of this?" Trea asked.

"Alex is Daniel's vessel," Gregory explained. "By taking over Alex's body, Daniel is able to protect you without tipping you off to who you really are."

Trea stared at him. "Ok so say you're not insane..." she said softly. "This Daniel guy...he's using Alex?"

"Oh, Alex is letting him, my dear," Gregory nodded. "The only way for an angel to take a vessel is for that angel to get that person to say yes. In his defense, Alex hates doing it, and only does it when he truly feels you're in danger of dying and he can't protect you."

"I don't believe you," Trea shook her head, looking down at the floor.

"I'm not lying. I swear, Trea, I will never lie to you," Gregory said sincerely.

"Why?" Trea asked, raising her head to look at him. "Why me? Why are these angels—if there really are angels, which I'm not convinced there are—so interested in me? Why not somebody else?"

"Because you are a prophet," Gregory told her for the second time. "Angels, as messengers of God, have a vested interest in keeping you, a source of God's word, alive."

"There is no God," Trea muttered bitterly.

"Well, it's true, He's sure let the place go, but He was here at least at one point," Gregory sighed. "Anyway, that's why they think you're special. I think you're special because I know exactly how special you are. Daniel has a hunch, but he couldn't even come close to imagining exactly how extraordinary you really are. You see, Trea, when you get older, and you start showing signs of being a prophet, you will also be able to do other things. For example, you will be able to hear angels talking in your head. There was a girl that your father and uncle met, named Anna. She could do that too, except she turned out to be an angel who fell from grace and became human."

"Well, then, you're wrong," Trea said firmly, "because I sure as hell am not an angel."

Gregory chuckled. "Don't be so sure," he said ominously. Trea was speechless, so he continued. "Anyway, to accompany that, you will also be able to listen in on demon conversations, too."

"Oh come on," Trea said doubtfully. "This is crazy! Just let me go home!"

"No," Gregory said simply. "You need to hear this. Now, to accompany that, you will also have the ability to tell where anyone, anywhere in the world, is, even if they are hidden from angels and demons alike, like Sam and Dean are. Like you are. Well, ok, Sam and Dean are only hidden from angels, but, you get the picture."

"Get out," Trea said softly, unable to hear any more of this.

"Trea," Gregory began.

"GET OUT!" Trea shouted at the top of her lungs. She picked up the lamp that was resting on the bedside table, throwing it at Gregory with all her strength. The man ducked, and it missed him by inches, shattering behind him in the hallway.

"I can see you want to be left alone," Gregory said, his eyes wide.

"Yeah, no shit Sherlock!" Trea said loudly, furious. "Now get the HELL OUT!" she roared. Gregory, being a smart man, ducked out of the room. Trea heard the tumblers click into place as he locked her inside.

Trea pulled her knees up to her chest, sobbing, wanting nothing more than to go home. Reaching her neck, she unclasped her necklace, taking it off, and then reclasping it in front of her, gripping the locket in her hand.

Then, suddenly, she stopped sobbing when one of the raised images on the front of the locket gave under pressure. Shocked, Trea raised her head and opened her hand, looking down at the locket she had had for six years now. Curious, she pressed down on the wing on her right. It took a little pressure, but, sure enough, it gave, moving into the locket just a little but not all the way. Shocked, she dropped the locket onto the bed. When she recovered, she picked it up again and tested the other raised images: the heart, the other wing, and the blue gemstone. They all gave a little bit and went into the locket. It was like a keypad, Trea realized. She had to enter the right combination in order for it to open. Grateful for something to occupy her mind, Trea began trying combinations...

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"Ok this is hopeless," Dean said, frustrated, slamming the book in front of him closed with a weary sigh. "We don't even know what we're looking for. Hell, we don't even know what to look for in these creatures to help narrow down the list of things we could be looking for!"

"Yeah, and we're never going to if you don't stop with that attitude," Sam muttered.

"How the hell are you always so calm?" Dean asked.

Sam closed the book he was reading and looked at his brother. "I'm not, Dean. I am freaking out right now! But I know that pacing the floor thinking about all the things that could have happened to her is not going to do a thing to find her. So, I am focusing all my energy on finding out why the hell someone would take her and who did it. I would appreciate it if you could do the same, because as you know, there are hundreds of thousands of creatures to go through and God knows how little time to do it!"

Dean stared at his brother, and knew he was right. He sighed.

"Alright," he sighed, shifting in Bobby's uncomfortable wooden chair. "You got anything so far?"

"Well, unfortunately, every creature is a possibility, because we really don't have any parameters to use to start eliminating them," Sam sighed. Dean looked about ready to die. Then both brothers jumped when Alex, Daniel, whoever, suddenly appeared.

"Hey," Dean sighed when he recovered. "Did you find anything?"

"Nothing yet," Daniel shook his head. "I asked around upstairs, but no one else has heard anything. By the way, Cas says hi. He wanted me to tell you that he's sorry he couldn't come and help right now, but if we need him, he'll be there."

"Yeah, sounds about right," Sam nodded.

Just then, Dean thought of something. "Wait a minute," he muttered. He raised his eyes to look at the teenage boy who stood in front of him. "Daniel, you said you felt like there was something different about Trea? You know, apart from the fact that she's a prophet and my daughter?"

Daniel nodded. "Yes," he confirmed. "Why? What are you thinking?"

"Maybe..." Dean sighed. "I don't know, maybe she has like Sam's psychic thing or something, you know, in addition to being a prophet? I mean, is that possible? With Yellow-Eyes gone, that is?"

"It's possible," Daniel acknowledged. "I'll look into it." With that, he once again disappeared.

"Great," Dean muttered after a while. "Yet another thing on our plate..."

"We're going to find her, Dean," Sam stated. His brother didn't answer, but he pulled another book off the tall stack on the table beside him, flipped it open, and began reading...

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