Season 1, Episode 9: Twilight Zone

 Previous Episode

First Episode

A little before dawn, the morning after the visit from Morgan Magenta that had roused John Winchester's suspicions...

John eased open the side door, relieved to have finally found his way out of the next-door neighbor's garden.   It had taken him all night.  He wondered if the witch had finally gotten tired of toying with him, or if the spell had simply worn off.  Either way, it was clear that this house wasn't the only one in the suburban subdivision hiding a supernatural secret.  

All thoughts of witchcraft disappeared as John crossed over the threshold.  What had been going on in the A-frame all night while he was  lost in the neighbor's back yard like a damned fool?  John's heart rate sped up.   Had another hunter made their arrival?  Remembering Bobby's warning not to get his hopes up, John tried hard to convince himself that another hunter was the only possibility.   Never mind the ambiguous clues the house had seemed to offer last night.   Like the witch, it was messing with his head, he thought bitterly.   Maybe there was a link between Morgan Magenta and the A-frame.

Time enough to investigate that idea later, John decided.  Right now he just wanted a couple aspirin and a couple hours of sleep.   There was already a light on in the kitchen, he noted.

He moved with stealth,  in no mood to talk to any of the other residents...

"John Winchester, what were you doing outside at this hour of the morning?   And without a coat?   You tryin' to catch your death of cold?"   

John suppressed a sigh.  So much for avoiding conversation.

"'Morning, Ellen,"  he said dryly.  "I went out a little after midnight to try and clear my mind...And I got lost.  What are you doing up at this hour?"  John asked.   

Ellen's expression made it clear she thought he had a screw loose, but she gave up her interrogation, at least for the moment.  "Couldn't sleep.   Another one's comin' through.  I can feel it,"  she said as she bustled over to the cupboards.  "Come on, I'll fix you a cup of coffee."   

John couldn't feel anything different about the place.  All he felt was hung over.   And tired.   Damn that Morgan bitch.  

"I found proof that your precious little Morgan isn't harmless, after all,"  he said as he took a seat at the table.  Damn witch put a spell on me."

"Mm-hm,"  Ellen murmured, noncommittal, busy with coffee preparation.  "How so?"  

"I went to check out her place a little after midnight,"  John said.  "Her back yard is not a normal backyard.  It's a jungle over there.  She must have hexed me, 'cause it took me the better part of the night to find my way out."

Ellen turned to look at John.  "You been drinkin'?"

"What?  No!"

"Mm-hm..."  Ellen gave the shot glass and empty whiskey bottle on the counter a pointed look.

"All right, yes, I was drinking.  But not for the past five or six hours!  I'm cold sober, and I know what I saw, Ellen."  

Meanwhile, just as the two hunters suspected, a new suite of rooms had quietly added themselves onto the house.   The newest resident of the A-frame had already arrived.  She was still asleep.

A few minutes later, coffee was served.  

"You ever sleepwalk?"  Ellen asked casually, but John could see the concern in her dark brown eyes.  

"It wasn't a dream, Ellen.  Morgan admitted to being a witch--"  

"Well, she considers herself one--"  Ellen broke in.  

John cut her off.  "Bobby told me she says she's a Wiccan.  She's not a Wiccan, she's a witch.  An evil, hex-casting, magic-having witch.  I was trapped in her back yard all night."

"That just ain't possible.  There's no way Morgan could fool all of us into trustin' her,"  Ellen insisted.  "Besides, it's below freezin' out there.  If you were out all night you really would have caught your death.  But you're not even shiverin'."   Ellen touched John's bare forearm, exposed by his rolled-up sleeve.  "You're warm as toast."

John had to hold back a groan.   Between the hangover, the sleepless night, thinking about Mary... He was losing it.  

"I should have mentioned, it's summer over on Morgan's side of the fence."  

Ellen's brows drew together.  "Come again?"

"I'm a Winchester,"  Mary whispered hoarsely in her sleep. 

She shifted restlessly on the bed.  "I love you..."  Mary's voice rose as the nightmare got worse.  "Sam!  Dean!"

The nightmare sound was loud enough to jolt Mary awake.

"No,"  Mary screamed.  She sat up and looked around wildly, trying to process what she was seeing.  She tried to focus, to calm herself down, but her body shook with sobs.  

The screaming brought every hunter in the house on the run.  

John pushed his way to the front of the small crowd.  "That's my wife!"

"Mary!  Mary, it's okay.  I got you.  I'm here.  I'm right here,"  John babbled words of reassurance.  

It was Mary!  It was really her.  Hunter's instincts had him checking for signs of injury.  Was she wounded?   His mind's eye flashed back to that night and a shudder ran through him.   The night of Mary's death.  The blood, the helpless terror in her eyes looking down at him.  The flames. God, the flames!..   No, John told himself roughly.  Focus.

"Well, I'll be... It really is Mary."   Bobby stared. 

"Let's give them some privacy,"  Missouri said.  She shepherded the others out the door, closing it softly behind them.

John focused on his wife.   She was trembling, still crying hard, but she wasn't hurt.  He ran his hand gently through her hair, marveling as the soft strands slid between his fingers, a sensation he'd all but forgotten except in his dreams.  

 "It's okay, Mary.   You're okay," he kept on murmuring reassurance.  "You're here.  You're really here."  

"John!"  Mary clung to him.  

John wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight.  

Mary's crying jag subsided quicker than John would have thought possible.  But of course, he thought proudly, his wife had a will of iron.  

"That's better."  John couldn't help but laugh, pure joy and delight coursing over him, even as tears of his own ran down his face.  

"Hi, Mary."  

"Hi, John.  Fancy meeting you here."  She laughed too, and hiccuped, setting off another giddy laugh from John.  Mary gently touched his face, brushing away his tears.  

"Oh, John.  It's really you."  Her smile was radiant.  "But... Where are we?"  

"We're in heaven."

Next Episode

\

\