Faith Healer

The drive is like a very good drug trip for me…

The world changes colors from time to time, and I start to hear Cthylla's heartbeat while smelling her sweet perfume more intensely.

So I close my eyes and let these new impressions invade my mind.

Thump-thump, Thump-thump

I concentrate on Cthylla's heartbeat while ignoring Shakira's screams through the player, and I nearly drift into sleep.

Thump-thump, Thump, Thump-thump

Suddenly, her heartbeat starts to break the rhythm, and I catch her glance at me as I open my eyes.

I mute the player and ask her, "Are you alright?"

She sighs and says, "Actually, I want to apologize…"

"If you're talking about the kidnapping stuff, then you've already made up for that. I can guarantee you that," I say with a grin, then use my newfound speed to catch her incoming fist.

Then relax back into my seat while holding her hand.

While she continues, "Not only about that. Actually, for everything. Since we met, you've only had trouble and haven't been able to live a peaceful life… while I play the damsel in distress most of the time… and can't even do something to help you."

She squeezes my hand tighter to show that she means it, but she doesn't have to, since I can hear her heartbeat increase as if she's in distress.

I look back at her and see tears welling up in her eyes. So I ask her, "Do you know how I kept my sanity for such a long lifespan?"

We are both immortal, but at the same time, our experiences as immortals are completely different.

She always lives a short lifespan until birthing her father, and then she goes to another world and repeats. Every new vessel is a new experience, and even though her fate is horrible, she can restart.

While I lived constantly in the same world that won't restart or stop for me…

She shakes her head, and I continue, "Since the day I decided to live forever, I've always needed an anchor or a goal that keeps me going and keeps me sane."

The problem is only that they were always temporary… It doesn't matter what I built up or how strong the relationship was; time destroyed them, and I win against it.

But with you, it's different. Time suddenly doesn't matter anymore… and I finally found something that won't simply disappear.

So believe me when I say that you do more than enough to help me, and if I need to save you countless times more or kill a god to keep it that way, I will."

I'm the only one who can truly say that nothing is really immortal…

And even if I will outlive everything, I will be gone in the end too. So with that in mind, everything can be killed with enough effort… including gods and eldritch beings.

She suddenly lets go of the steering wheel and hugs me.

"Thank you… I promise you to be the best lightweight anchor you ever had."

I chuckle, grab the steering wheel, to save us from being obliterated by a truck, then begin to caress her back. Is it love or dependency?

Probably both, but it doesn't matter in the end if we are both happy.

—

The rest of the drive is much calmer, and Cthylla sings happily along to the terrible music she likes so much, while I make plans to buy myself some earplugs for my now-sensitive ears…

"We should arrive at the holy place soon; just follow the other cars," I say to her when we arrive at a slightly remote area outside of Ford City.

At first, I was unsure if we are driving the right way, as the road has ended a long time ago, and we are now on a dirty field road. However, the countless cars in front of us seem to prove me wrong.

After ten minutes or so, we arrive at something that looks like an old ranch. On it, there is a big white tent in the middle of a dirty field and an old house next to it.

It looks quite run down, and it doesn't seem like the faith healer is making a lot of money with his activities. People are even standing around burning metal barrels to keep themselves warm.

"The Church of Roy Le Grange. Witness the miracle of faith healing. At least the people here seem to believe it," says Cthylla after reading the sign next to the tent.

She is right; probably 90% of the people here look ill, while the other 10% are the ones accompanying them...

"Yeah, seems like it… can you park the car behind the black Impala with the two guys next to it, who parked there like they own the place?" I ask her while pointing at the Impala and the brothers.

She parks the car behind them, and we get out.

And when Sam said that Dean was dying, he wasn't lying. Dean looks like shit and seems to be in pain.

We walk towards them, and I shake hands with Sam and Dean, saying, "Hi, you two. This is my partner in crime, Anna Milton."

"Hello, Aiden told me a lot of bad things about you two, so it's a pleasure to meet you both," Cthylla says with a bright smile and also shakes their hands while the brothers look at me strangely.

I shrug innocently and Sam says, "Hey, the pleasure is all ours, probably… I'm Sam, and this is my stubborn and dying brother, Dean."

"Hi," Dean says in a deep, manly voice to impress Cthylla, while shaking her hand but fails miserably as he looks like he is pooping right now…

When he sees that his 'charm' has no effect on her, he turns to Sam and says, "Who's the stubborn one here? We should simply let Aiden do it instead of some strange healer who will probably pickpocket me afterwards."

"Reverend Le Grange is a great man!" says a random woman passing by who overhears Dean.

"Yeah, that's good for him," Dean replies annoyed, while making painful grimaces.

So I listen to his heart which beats irregularly and even stops occasionally for a few seconds. It's a wonder that he can walk straight without collapsing…

However, since both Winchester brothers have extremely strong auras for regular humans, it's not surprising that they're probably more resilient than others.

"Shouldn't we go inside and get him healed? Instead of standing here? Look at him. This poor guy looks like horrible…" says Cthylla while pointing at Dean, then walks toward the entrance of the tent.

This statement shocks the self-loving Dean, and it's a wonder his heart didn't completely stop upon hearing it.

I grin and signal for them to follow her, while Sam tries to maintain a serious expression due to his brother's condition.

—

"You don't seem to be the only non-believer here," I say to Dean as we walk past a guy who is trying to convince the sheriff that the healer is an imposter.

"Yeah, because something like a miracle healer doesn't exist, and if it does, he is a witch or something else."

"Why are you so skeptical, after what we see nearly every day?" asks Sam, not understanding his brother's standpoint.

"Because what we see daily is mostly evil... that is why people like us exist."

"I think you should be more open. The world mostly works in shades of grey, and there is always a middle way. So you should probably listen to your brother and have a bit of faith," says Cthylla after hearing him, as we arrive at the entrance of the tent.

"Faith doesn't save people from evil—"

"Would we even know what good is without the evil? Maybe God placed the evil you're talking about in our ways for us to grow," interrupts a beautiful blonde woman.

Dean checks her out and says, "Maybe he does. I think you convinced me,"

I wanted to facepalm myself hearing him, while Sam and Cthylla rolled their eyes simultaneously.

"Yeah, for sure I did," says the woman without breaking her smile.

A smile I've seen so often, on people who use it as a wall to endure the pain. Considering she visits a miracle healer, the pain is probably not only mental...

Then he extends his hand and says, "I'm Dean. This is Sam, and these two are our acquaintances, Anna and Aiden."

The woman seems to have a thing for his pooping charm and takes his hand, saying, "Layla. So if you are not a believer, then why are you here?"

Dean shrugs and says with a smile, "Because my brother believes for both of us."

"Come on, Layla. Let's go inside. It's about to begin," says an older woman who stood nearby and leads her inside while Layla maintains her smile towards Dean.

Dean wanted to say something stupid, but Cthylla gives him a death stare, so he keeps it to himself while looking somewhat sad, then we also walk inside.

The tent is full of people, and on the other side is a small stage with a lectern for speaking.

"Yeah, peace, love, and trust all over," says Dean while looking at the cameras placed in the corners.

Do they have something important here, or is it to record the wonders from the miracle healer?

"We'll stay here. You guys can take a seat," I say to Sam and Dean. They nod, and Sam drags Dean to the second row.

Afterward, a middle-aged blind man enters with a woman leading him, and the tent becomes quiet.

'Can you sense something from him?' asks Cthylla telepathically, while watching them too.

'No, he's a normal human, nothing special about him.'

Then the blind man starts to preach, "Every morning, my wife, Sue Ann, reads me the news. It never seems good, does it? Seems like there's always someone committing some immoral, unspeakable act." The crowd loudly agrees, and he continues,

"But I say to you, God is watching. God rewards the good, and he punishes the corrupt. It is the Lord who does the healing here, friends. The Lord guides me in choosing who to heal by helping me see into people's hearts.

"Yeah, and into their wallets," Dean says quietly, but I pick it up, as does the preacher.

"You think so, young man?" says the preacher, and all attention is on Dean.

"I'm sorry," says Dean, probably more ashamed than sorry.

"No, don't be. What's your name, son?"

"Dean."

The preacher nods and then says, "Dean, I want you to come to me. I want to heal you, my boy."

These brothers... there is something about them, I can't put my finger on yet.

Dean hesitates to go to the man at first, but then gets persuaded by Sam and walks to the healer.

The preacher raises his hands and says with a smile while Dean stands awkwardly next to him, "Pray with me, my friends."

The crowd raises their hands and links them.

In the meantime, the healer places one hand on Dean's head and seems to pray for him.

Nothing happens at first, but then suddenly I sense something, and I know exactly what it is, even though I've never met one before.

I walk forward to get a better look at the stage, where a pale man in a black suit, who looks like a corpse himself, appears and walks towards Dean, placing his hand on him as well.

His aura feels cold and unnatural, and I get the same strange feeling people get when visiting a morgue.

'Rasiel, what is it?' asks Cthylla after seeing my behavior.

'A Reaper finally appeared,' I say and walk closer.

I watch Dean fall to the ground, and Sam rushes towards him while the Reaper steps away. Then he lifts his head and stares back at me.

After ten millennia, I can finally look one of Death's workers in the face.

So, there's a chance that Death himself also has a physical form in this world… and I can finally find out if Death himself can kill me.

But before I can come closer to ask him some questions, the Reaper looks at me as if he saw a ghost and steps back before vanishing completely.