Death in the Mountains

I don’t own any of the Supernatural or Sharyn McCrumb characters.

Nora Bonesteel sat in her living room, hands still for once, looking out over the mountains. She had a special supper cooking in the kitchen. Once again she was waiting for a visitor. She was not dreading this visitor coming to see her, but she was dreading his leaving. Nora knew she shouldn’t let her mind dwell on it, but after almost seven decades it was nigh impossible. A sharp tap on her screen door alerted her that Rattler had arrived. She tried, but a smile would not come to her lips.

Rattler and Nora sat down to their meal, begun with a prayer as always. They didn’t discuss what was coming, at least not at first. Old Rattler finally brought up the subject.

“Got a ride into town today from Sissy Morgan. I saw Zek Phillips to get all the papers in order,” Rattler said quietly.

“You found all the information you needed?” Nora asked a little surprised.

“Ravenmocker helped me.” Nora’s eyebrows rose.

“He usually doesn’t take note of such like.”

“No,” Rattler agreed, “but he did this oncet ‘cause it’s near the end.” Nora bowed her head for a moment. They had worked together for over seventy years now. She knew that he would probably go before her, but now that she was faced with it the sorrow almost overwhelmed even her. Nora had been nursed on the sorrows of life from a young child. She had the Sight powerful and early and she had seen too much too young for her to want to have the burdens of a family in addition to her duties. It was only now at the end of her life did she want the security of family and took joy in little Kayla and her parents Clayt and Kelly. Nora Bonesteel knew that she would also have Dean and Sammy as well as the new Guardians now, but none of them could replace Old Rattler.

“I’ll miss you,” she said simply. Anything else would cheapen how she felt. Rattler smiled.

“I know you will, and I’ll be a’missin you. We’ll only be apart for a few years. Take joy in the young ‘uns. That’s the only thing I envy you for. I’d like to spend some more time with those boys.” Nora laughed.

“I wish you’d be here to help me deal with them. We both know they’re going to be a handful and a half. Dean and Vera are going to squabble ‘til their last breath, for all they’ll come to love each other as family. Little Sammy is going to take a bit of work to find his way and get his feet under him, but he’ll be good in the end.” She closed her eyes, feeling tears coming. “Why does it have to be that way?” She whispered brokenly. She felt Rattler take her hand.

“I’m not a ‘fearin it Nora,” he said. “I’ll be a ’goin the way all old warriors want. Besides, my death and my blood will anoint and baptize a new warrior. We both know that,” Rattler said gently. “I have served with my life, and I’m proud to serve with my death. I might be over eighty, but that doesn’t mean my fightin’ days are over.” Rattler’s expression took on a certain pride. No matter what the picture shows at the movie theatres might say, it wasn’t just the young who could fight and protect.

Old warriors were warriors still.

* * * *

Vera began to wake up and groaned into her pillow.

“Glad you could join us, Sleeping Beauty. I was beginning to wonder if a peck would work or if I’d have to lick your tonsils.” Vera knew that voice. She pulled the blanket over her head. It sounded like her own private nightmare was sitting next to her bed. The blanket was jerked off. Vera looked up and glared at the all too cocky pretty boy who had helped turn her life upside down. The son of a bitch was smirking. She desperately wished she had the energy to punch him in the middle of his face and break his pretty little nose. Vera settled with cramming her pillow over her head. Maybe if she ignored him he’d go away. Vera felt her pillow being pulled out of her hands.

“Sweetheart, we need to talk.”

“Quit calling me that you gel-headed moron,” she snapped as she flipped over in bed. Gods, she still had a headache and her back hurt from lying in bed for so long. What time was it?

“Denial is not a river in Egypt, so why don’t you try to keep up with the conversation? My little bro is wigging out and there’s a demon roaming around out there. Communication is what we need right now, not more ‘tude.”

“Real original Dean. When did you get your Ph.D. in psych?”

Dean rolled his eyes. “When are you going to admit you’re a Guardian?”

Vera covered her face with her hands. “Why me?” She groaned.

“Don’t know, doesn’t matter. Get your shit together, ‘cause a lot of people need you, including Sammy. How’d you feel if you needed someone to help Jay and they wouldn’t?” Vera literally jumped. Dean had touched a raw nerve. “You tried calling Hunters, and you got me and Sammy. We aren’t what you wanted, but we’re what you’ve got. You certainly act like a Guardian trying to bring down this damned thing and not just protecting yourself and your coven. In a lot of ways you are acting like a Guardian, now just admit you are one and get over it. Quit being so damned stubborn.” Vera was on the verge of tears again. Damn it, she didn’t want this, but he was right. Her denials last night to Nora Bonesteel had been panic, not a refusal.

Deep down she knew she was a Guardian, but unlike someone younger who might revel in the thought of a life of adventure, Vera knew what being a Guardian meant. It was constant danger, not excitement. It was stress, not adventure. It was more sacrifice than glory. The lifetime she had spent getting herself through school, finding a job she loved and building this farm with her coven had been shattered and she didn’t like the way her new life was coming together.

And the Goddess-be-damned harbinger of the destruction of her life was a young punk that currently had his biker boot clad feet propped up on her bed. Fuck it, if she was going to get stuck with being a Guardian she would start doing it on her terms. She kicked Dean’s feet off her bed and swung her legs around as she sat up and then gripped her head to try to stop the pain. It was bearable now, she could think.

“Fine,” she gritted out. “Then I need to get up and get things done.”

“Sorry sweetheart, all you’re going to do is rest. Lay back down. You need to be able to train Sammy. He’s having problems learning from Jay.” Vera was about to kill him. Sweetheart! Problems with Jay? Hell, she’d figure that out later.

“My back is killing me from staying in bed so long and I need to take a shower. I can damned well make myself something to eat and I want to go out to the garden.” Dean frowned, but then stood up and offered his hand to help her get up.

When they clasped each other’s wrist as Dean helped Vera to stand she felt something, like a key in a lock. From the look on Dean’s face she could tell he had felt it as well. Vera had a brief glimpse of the future; the same one Sam had last night. Being a Guardian wasn’t going to be all loneliness, grief, sorrows, danger and sacrifice. There would also be family and love, laughter and support. Vera gave him a tentative smile, which Dean returned before they released each other’s wrists.

“Okay sweetheart, but you don’t move your ass past the back porch. Just remember I’m in charge until Nora Bonesteel and Old Rattler say otherwise.”

Vera snarled and hit him in the face with her pillow. “Jackass.”

Dean just laughed.

* * * *

Spencer, LeDonne, Martha and Kelly were all together at the sheriff’s office. The tiny county only had three officers and a full-time dispatcher. A larger neighboring county took care of third shift for them while they rotated first and second shifts between the officers. Kelly worked mainly first shift but would stay on after five if there was an emergency.

“The autopsies came back,” Spencer said with no preamble. “Except for the two Lee College kids, all of the other deaths appear to be from natural causes. All from dehydration, heart attack or stroke. The college kids, one male and the other female, both show signs of rape and torture before being strangled. All the others show signs of sexual activity and have been posed in a ritualistic manner to look like they are masturbating. We have two obvious murders, four bodies that look like homicides but the medical evidence doesn’t back it up, and two people reported missing. Anyone have any ideas?” Martha shook her head, even more sober than usual.

“We need to say something without causing a panic. The two missing persons reports are on hikers and they may not be anywhere near Wake County at all. The two homicides should be enough to keep people out of the woods. The others…we just need to keep looking at those,” Martha reasoned. LeDonne grunted.

“Are we sure those two brothers don’t have anything to do with this?” Spencer and Martha both shook their heads.

“No, they were in Chattanooga when the homicides occurred. We know this because Vera Kesterson said that they were with her nephew Jay and we have been able to account for most their time since they’ve been here. I think we need to just try to keep people out of the woods for now.” Spencer paused, his eyes thoughtful. “There is a lot of wilderness area in the national park, not to mention all the little caves, it’s hard to mount a search. Old Rattler and Clayt probably know the area better than anyone. Kelly, do you think that Clayt would be willing to help out?”

“You know he would in a heartbeat,” Kelly replied. Her voice carried the softer drawl of western Tennessee rather than the almost lilting accent of the mountains. Spencer was relieved. Most people who spent a lot of time in the woods only did so as sportsman, just for deer and turkey hunting or fishing. Old Rattler prowled the woods hunting many types of animals, fishing and herb gathering. He still depended on the wilderness to live. Clayt Stargill was a nature and history fanatic and had been prowling the woods following rare native butterflies and photographing endangered plants since he was a child. Between the two of them they had spent more time in the woods than most of the county. They knew almost all aspects of the wilderness around them, not just how to avoid bears and hunt in the fall. If anyone could help them uncover physical evidence of what was going on in the wilderness around them they could.

“Momma?” Kelly whirled around in her chair to see her 10-year-old daughter Kayla opening the door of the office.

“Kayla honey, I told you to be doing your homework. I’m almost done and then we can go home and you can feed the chickens.” Kelly thanked God for the thousandth time that she had married Clayt and he was such a good daddy. Her hand rubbed across her bulging belly, feeling her baby boy moving.

“But Momma, I got a bad feeling. Mamaw Nora always says to pay attention to those.”

The atmosphere in the office went from tense to icy. Kelly was beginning to come to terms with her daughter’s talents thanks to Clayt and Nora. For Martha, it was one of those things you knew happened but it was an unspoken rule that you didn’t talk about it, kind of like your parents having sex. Spencer went pale. After a brush with death a few years ago he knew all too well how real psychic ability was thanks to help from Nora. LeDonne had his own brush with death and psychics last year when Old Rattler rescued him from a bizarre situation. For Spencer and LeDonne both it was just one strange incident out of their lives so it was easier to bury it in denial than actually admit that the supernatural was out there. They both had enough problems with regular criminal activity let alone ghosts to the roster of job dangers.

“We’ll go see Mamaw Nora soon, honey, okay?” Kelly said softly.

* * * *


Sam found himself standing on the banks of a river. Unlike the bright colors of the current season of late summer, the leaves here had taken on the colors of high autumn. The time of harvest. The trees were all yellows, reds, russets, browns and oranges. Leaves danced through the air on soft, warm winds that nonetheless had a cold edge. The sun was slanting its sunlight from the west, and storm clouds were beginning to build to the south.

Rattler was standing besides him. The old Guardian reached up and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Son,” he said, “I’m sorry to have to leave you so soon. None of us expected this. Just remember that the future ain’t fixed. Just ‘cause you See it doesn’t mean it won’t be a’changin on you. Tell your brother that I’m a’ sorry I won’t be there for him, but a few other folks are on their way. I left you a legacy, but you have to share it with your brother.”

Rattler walked into the river, and as he did so the waters turned blood red. Once he was up to his waist in bloody water he turned back towards the bank Sam stood on. The sunlight glittered on the water as Rattler stretched out his hand, beckoning to someone on Sam’s right. Sam looked and saw a figure, wearing what looked like a brown uniform. Other than that, he couldn’t tell if the person was male or female.

In the next moment, Rattler was baptizing the figure in the bloody water. Sam couldn't see what was happening since Rattler's body was blocking the view. The moment Rattler pulled the person out of water Sam heard an angry scream that sent shivers down his spine.

The person in the river with Rattler abruptly disappeared. Rattler turned to Sam and smiled. “Don’t be scared, little Sammy. You have a chance at a good life. Someone else will be a ‘visitin you tonight.” Rattler looked to the other side of the river. There was a tall Native American man standing there, grinning broadly. Rattler laughed.

“Ravenmocker! I should have known!”

“After everything, Little Brother, do you think I would leave this task to anyone else? Just because I don’t blind you doesn’t mean that I am not also a Being of Light. Unlike some of my brethren, I have no need of prisms, wings, halos or rainbows to do my Work.” Ravenmocker said the last sentence with disgust.

Ravenmocker looked at Sam for a moment with a serious expression before raising his hand…

Sam felt himself slamming back onto a bed. He looked up to see Jessica on the ceiling, her face fixed and her blood dripping onto his face. Fire burst out from her body, quickly spreading across the ceiling and down the walls. Sam stood on the bed. He began screaming and reaching up, trying to touch Jess, his hands burning from the fire all around her.

“I’m sorry!” He screamed. “I’m so sorry…I should’ve told you…Oh God, Jessica…I should have stayed with you...I should have stayed and died with you…” Sam could feel blood, sweat and tears literally mingling on his face. His hands and arms were burned to the bone; the smoke was searing his lungs as he stared into Jessica’s silent but agonized face, which was the only thing not burning.

Someone touched his arm. All at once the pain and heat stopped, even though he was still in the room with the fire, Jessica still above him Sam looked at his hands. They were whole again, untouched by the fire and his fingers no longer hurt. He turned and found himself face to face with Jessica. She was healthy, beautiful, and smiling.

“That is not me, Sam,” she said, motioning to the burning woman on the ceiling. “I am not here,” she continued. “This is only in your mind. I’m not in pain. I’ve Gone on.” Jess said all this simply. “I knew you were hurting and I wanted to help but I didn't want to make it worse for you by seeing me still Walking. I talked to Nora, and she helped me realize that I needed to Cross over.” She paused again, her smile brilliant.

“They Came for me when I Called them. Oh Sam, I wish you could have seen it! They are so beautiful. I haven’t Chosen what to do next, they have given me so many options I want to think about it. It is a great Honor, some of the things they have offered. So great.” Her eyes shone for a moment, like sapphires surrounded by opals.

“Just remember that I have loved you Sam, and I still do. Earthly love falls away, but love of the Soul is deeper, and my Soul loves you. I Chose this, I Chose it for you. You have the chance to do many great things, you and your brother. You will probably be offered the same Choices I have been given when you Cross. Don’t turn away new Love simple because we have Shared it. After this I can’t Touch your Life anymore Sam, not this one. It is forbidden. The Veil must be kept Intact. I will see you on the Other Side when it is your Time.” Sam felt her brush tears off of his face, as he stared at her dumbfounded. He didn’t understand everything she was saying to him.

“I’d like to say that I’ll be Watching you Sam, but I won’t. You need to live your life secure in my Love for you, but without worrying about my judgment. This,” Jessica said, gesturing with her hand to indicate not only the burning room around them but the circumstances of her death “is *not your fault*. You can never blame yourself for the actions of evil. You did not understand your dreams then, and you barely do now. You must forgive yourself. I would say that I forgive you, but there never was anything for me to forgive.” She smiled and then brushed her lips delicately across Sam’s cheek. “You need to wake up now. Your brother, your teacher and your familiar are all terrified for you. Remember that you still have those who Love you.”