Before It's Too Late: Chapter 5

Alex ran through the woods, panting as she trekked through the thick leaves and broken branches. Growling echoed through the vast woods in the midst of thundering footfalls, as Alex ran past tree after tree. After a while everything grew quiet. Alex slowed down and looked behind her, no longer seeing the beast that was chasing her. As she stood there, looking around the woods, trying to figure out which way was home, she heard a heavy footfall behind her. Slowly turning around, Alex saw the giant towering monster, drooling and waiting for her next move.

Frozen in fear all she could do was watch as the creature sniffed her out with his huge muzzle. After letting out a slight ‘huff’ the beast barred his big, strong, and sharp yellowed teeth. He growled low before letting out a thunderous, threatening bark that snapped Alex out of her fears as she stumbled backwards from the sound.

Not knowing where she was going, Alex made a run for it. She had to get away if she didn’t want be some hellhound chew toy. God knew she was big enough.

Out of nowhere a broken tree branch caught her foot, sending her down to the ground. Alex quickly looked behind her and saw that it was too late. The giant dog leapt for her, both enormous paws landing on either side of her, shaking the ground beneath her and rattling her bones. He looked down, let out a low growl, and snapped his head forward, widening his gaping maw.

Alex screamed as she opened her eyes, panting. She stared up at the ceiling as tears of relief rolled down her face. The nightmares always felt like reality until she would finally wake up in her own bed. Only this time, she knew she wasn’t in her bed. Alex looked to her right and didn’t see Kyle. Instead, she saw the coffee table and the television on the far side of the room.

Suddenly, realizing she screamed, Alex looked over to the couch, wondering if Sam had heard her, but he wasn’t there. Alex sighed with relief. “Thank God.”

Once her heart rate slowed back to normal and her breathing was even again, Alex decided to get off of the recliner. But before she did that, she glanced around, trying to locate everyone. Nobody else was walking around that she could see. She figured Sam got up early to take a shower since she could hear water running in the distance.

Alex slid down to the floor, lightly landing on her feet. As she straightened out her clothes, it was then that she realized her hands were still shaking and she knew exactly why. Alex looked up at the coffee table and everything else in the room. “I need to talk to Dean,” Alex finally reasoned. She knew Sam was more open and willing to talk, but she wasn’t ready to talk to him just yet. What about Kyle? Her conscience knew why, but always reminded her: you married him because you trust him and love him. So talk to him!

“If he really loves me than he should already know what’s wrong,” Alex whispered. That shut up her inner thoughts as she started walking through the dining room past the wooden legs of the table and chairs. She turned into the hallway and walked up to the basement door that was cracked open. Just as she was about to slip through, she saw a shadow moving up the stairs, followed by heavy footsteps on the wooden panels. Alex quickly backed away and up against the wall next to the door. She hugged the wall with her back, not wanting to get stepped on or kicked as Dean opened the basement door.

Craning her neck back, Alex stared way up at Dean’s towering form and gulped. Still want to tell him? Alex saw Dean rub his eyes as he closed the basement door and started walking away to the kitchen. Alex didn’t even come close to being eye level with Dean’s knees as he passed her by.

Dean walked into the dining room and suddenly remembered why they were there, and looked over to the recliner. Seeing the empty makeshift bed, Dean turned around to look down the hallway, wondering where Alex had slept, but something on the ground caught his attention. When he looked down he realized it was Alex. “Hey. Sleep well?”

“Yeah,” Alex muttered, looking down the hallway as she heard the water in the bathroom turn off.

Dean glanced down the hallway trying to figure out what she was looking at, but he saw nothing and looked back down at Alex. “Did you eat?”

“Huh?” Alex turned around, remembering the nightmare she just woke up from moments ago.

“Breakfast,” Dean clarified. “You know, it comes before lunch. Usually in the morning and there’s food involved.”

“Oh. Yeah. Right. No.” Alex rubbed her forehead.

“You feeling alright?” Dean tilted his head, taking a step closer as he tried to study Alex’s face. “You seem a little… out of it.”

Alex nodded her head, dropping her hand to her side as she looked up at Dean. “Yeah, sorry. I’m just really tired. I’m not a morning person.”

“And that is why they invented coffee,” Dean smirked.

Alex made a face. “Yuck.”

“Still don’t like it?”

“No,” Alex shook her head. “Just give me a glass of orange juice and I’m all set.”

“Yeah, well, I think we might have to improvise on the glass.” Dean turned to walk into the kitchen, but stopped when he caught a glance of Alex’s smaller and slower pace out of the corner of his eye. “Do you, uh, need a hand? Er, help?”

Alex looked up at Dean, who seemed so much farther away even though he had only taken two steps. “Oh, right,” she said, suddenly realizing she couldn’t eat on her own either. “Um… Sure. I guess.”

Dean took a few steps towards her and knelt down next to Alex, holding out his hands. Using the method he saw Kyle use the night before, Dean carried Alex into the kitchen and carefully placed his hands on the countertop, letting Alex get off of them. He watched as she slowly walked along the counter and looked around the room, taking everything in at once. Not sure what to say, Dean rubbed the back of his neck. As he was looking at Alex sitting there, rubbing her head, something occurred to him.

“You had a nightmare,” Dean stated and watched as Alex stopped walking. “Are you okay? I mean… Did you… You know?”

“Did I die?” Alex stared at the sink and shook her head, “No. I woke up right before.”

Dean was relieved to hear that, but he still didn’t think Alex was okay. Still having his own nightmares about Hell, Dean knew that Alex wasn’t all right. He knew what it was like to feel pain in your dreams and what it was like to die over and over again. But at the same time he didn’t know what it was like to feel the pain after you had awakened. “How bad was it?”

Alex folded her arms and shrugged. “It was fine, I guess.”

“Fine? Since when are nightmares fine? I’m no expert or anything, but I’m pretty sure they’re called nightmares for a reason.”

“I will be fine.” Alex looked up at Dean. “Is that better?”

Dean opened his mouth to say something, but Kyle beat him to it as he entered the kitchen. “Morning,” he said as he walked over to the corner of the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. He turned around and looked at Dean. “You want some?”

“Uh, sure.” Dean looked at Alex, but she looked away.

“Here,” Kyle held out a mug for Dean and he took it, taking a big gulp of coffee. Dean sighed with relief as he felt the warm liquid run down his throat.

“So, what’s the plan?” he asked as he leaned against the counter top so he was able to look at both Kyle and Alex who were across the small room from each other.

Kyle swallowed the coffee in his mouth. “I was going to stop by my grandmother’s house for a while and pick up a few books and see how Hana’s doing.” Kyle looked at Alex to see her reaction, but she just stood there staring at the countertop.

Dean nodded as he took another sip of coffee. At that moment Sam entered the kitchen, hair wet, dressed and ready for the long day ahead of him. Dean watched as Sam rubbed his left arm, but his gaze shifted when he caught sight of Alex out of the corner of his eye. She seemed to have noticed Sam’s gesture, too.

After sensing she was being watched, Alex cleared her throat and walked over to the edge of the counter and sat down with her legs hanging over the side. As she sat there, she risked a glance up at Dean only to find that he was still looking at her.

Dean shook his head and looked away as he gulped down more coffee.

“Were you guys still going to check the woods out today?” Kyle asked as Sam poured himself a cup of coffee.

“Yeah,” Dean answered, looking at Kyle. “I was thinking Sam and I could-“

“Actually, I was thinking I would stay here with Alex,” Sam chimed in. “That way I could start searching the internet and see if this sort of thing has ever happened before.” Sam looked over to Alex and along with Dean and Kyle, making sure she was okay with that decision.

For the first time that morning Kyle was able to get a good look at Alex. Whenever he would see her in the mornings he would always give her a kiss. It was just something he did to make her mornings easier. Seeing her wake up exhausted and distraught from her nightmares always made him feel helpless, and the kiss seemed to lessen that pain. Now here they were in the kitchen of their house and he couldn’t bring himself to kiss her. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, because he did. More than anything he wanted to kiss her. But now it just felt uncomfortable with Dean and Sam in the room, and the obvious size difference.

“I don’t care, that’s fine with me,” Alex shrugged. “But, um… can I get something to drink?” Alex replied, looking up at them like a shy child. “Please? My throat’s really dry.”

After hearing what she had to say, everyone in the room suddenly felt guilty. Here they all had cups of coffee in their hands and none of them didn’t even bother to get Alex anything or even offer. They just weren’t used to having to take care of her. Dean was going to help her out after he set her down on the counter, but he got side tracked by the conversation he had with Alex about her nightmare, which he still planned on talking to her about later that day.

But out of all of them, it was Kyle who felt the most guilt. He should have known she wouldn’t be able to help herself. Knowing he messed up on this one little thing, he started to question how good of a father he was with Hana.

It was Sam who finally found something she could use as a cup: a bottle cap. He filled up the cap and carefully handed it to her, and waited to make sure she was able to drink out of it without much trouble.

“Thanks, Sam,” Alex said after swallowing some of the drink.

Sam smiled and picked up his own coffee. But before he took a sip, he paused, studying Alex for a minute. Sam looked at her with a feeling that something was different. Of course she’s different. She shrunk, he thought to himself. Sam shook off the feeling and went back to drinking his coffee.

After they finished up their coffee, Dean and Kyle both left the house. Dean went to search the woods, while Kyle was getting ready to head off to his grandmother’s house. As Kyle walked back into the kitchen, he glanced at Alex still sitting on the counter, watching Sam make himself something to eat.

“Hey,” Kyle began, not really sure what he was going to say. Sam and Alex both looked at him. Realizing Kyle wasn’t looking at him, Sam walked over to the fridge to give them some space. “Alex…” Kyle sighed, looking down at his shoes. He shook his head and looked back up at her tiny body sitting on their kitchen counter like a doll. “I’ll try to be back before lunch.”

“Okay.” Alex stared at Kyle for a minute, wondering what was going on, but he didn’t say anything. “Give Hana a kiss for me?”

“Absolutely.” Kyle relaxed a little and walked over to the garage door to leave. “I’ll see you later,” he said over his shoulder before closing the door behind him.

Sam walked back over to his plate of waffles, carrying a bottle of syrup. “Want some?”

“Um…” Alex thought about it for a minute. “No thanks.”

“You sure?” Sam asked as he set his plate up on the raised section of the counter where the stools were sitting on the other side.

“Yeah,” Alex sighed. “I’m not too hungry at the moment.”

“Well, when you do feel like eating, just let me know, okay?”

“Okay.” Alex let out a yawn.

“Do you want me to put you back on the chair so you can go back bed?” Sam offered noticing how tired she looked.

As she thought about it, Alex looked over to the living room and the now open curtains. “Uh, sure.” Alex saw Sam about to pick her up, but she quickly stopped him with his hands already outstretched. “I can wait.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” Alex smiled to show her sincerity. “Now go eat before your food gets cold.”

Sam smiled back as he walked around the counter to where the stools were and sat down. “Something tells me you’re not going to let Hana have desert until she eats all of her vegetables.”

“You know it.” Alex walked over to the raised section of the counter and folded her arms on top.

Sam picked up his fork and knife and cut off a piece of the waffle. Just as he was about to stab the food with his fork, he glanced at Alex. “Are you, uh, going to be alright?”

Alex looked up at Sam confused.

“I mean,” Sam began, feeling a little uneasy, “the first time this happened, last summer, you seemed a little uncomfortable whenever Dean ate anything around you. And with that nightmare you had about him…” Sam sighed. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay with me eating in front of you?” For some reason Sam had a feeling that this was going to be a bad idea. “I just don’t want you to freak out.”

“Well, I appreciate your concern. But,” Alex paused and shook her head. “Honestly? I’m not sure. But, then again, you don’t eat like a barbarian.” She gave a little shrug.

Sam looked down at his meal and then back to Alex.

“Sam, seriously, just eat your food. If I feel uncomfortable, I’ll just look away. Besides, it’s not like I’m going to stare at you while you eat.”

With reluctance, Sam began eating his food. For a while he would glance at Alex, making sure she was alright. But by the time he was done eating, setting his fork and knife on his plate, he noticed that Alex was no longer standing up against the raised section of the counter. He quickly looked around and didn’t see Alex anywhere.

“Alex?” Sam got up and walked around the counter.

“What?”

Sam spotted her sitting down against the wall of the upper counter, looking tired. “Are you okay?”

“’M fine,” Alex muttered.

“You sure about that?” Sam watched Alex nod her head and he smiled, “You want to go back to sleep now?”

“Bathroom first if you don’t mind.” Alex let out a yawn.

“Of course.” Sam carefully slid his hand under Alex and carried her into the bathroom.

A few minutes later Sam was waiting for Alex to finish up washing her hands. As she went to climb out of the sink she lost her footing and slipped, catching herself before she got hurt. The last image from her nightmare flashed through her mind again.

“Whoa!” Sam quickly reached in and gently guided her out of the bowl.

Once she was on the counter and Sam pulled his hands away, Alex sat there on the cool surface for a minute. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, clearing her head of the horrible thought.

Sam could tell that something was wrong. “You alright?”

“I’m fine,” Alex lied, “Just tired.”

“Here, come on. I’ll take you to the living room.” Sam held out his hand and let Alex climb in the middle. Although he didn’t believe she really was fine, Sam didn’t push the subject.

By the time Sam reached the chair Alex slept on, she had practically fallen asleep in his arms. While being very careful, Sam slowly lowered Alex down on the blanket, and gently wrapped it around her. As he looked at her, Sam decided that it would be a good time to call up Dean and see if he made any progress. Sam pulled out his cell phone, dialed his brother’s number and waited for Dean to pick up.

“Everything okay?” Dean asked upon answering his phone.

“Yeah,” Sam said, glancing at Alex. He walked into the dining room where his laptop was sitting on the table. “How’s the search going?”

“Do you have any idea how hard it is trying to search the woods in the middle of autumn for clues? There are leaves and branches everywhere. I’ll be lucky if I can spot the ground,” Dean complained.

“Do you remember where you guys found her?” Sam opened up his laptop and booted it up.

“Yeah, I’m headed there right now.” Dean watched where he was stepping, making sure he wouldn’t miss anything. “I can’t believe this happened. Again. I mean, what are the odds of Alex shrinking twice? I’ve never even heard of anything like this. And I know you haven’t either.”

“I’m more worried about what did this to her,” Sam admitted. “You killed the fairy, so there’s no reason this should have happened. Unless there’s something else out there that can cause this, and we don’t know about it.”

“Well, something had to cause it, right?” Dean recognized the area and walked around for a bit. “So, there has to be a way to turn her back, or some other clue so we can stop this from happening again.”

“Dean, last time we got lucky. There might not be a cure this time around.”

Dean stopped walking. “Please tell me you did not say that in front of her.”

“Don’t worry, she’s sleeping.” Sam glanced at the chair again just to make sure.

“Sleeping, huh?”

“Yeah, why?”

Dean sighed. “She had another nightmare last night. She claimed that she was fine.”

“She’s been saying that a lot lately,” Sam noted.

“Yeah, and I’m not buying it.” As he walked along the river, Dean suddenly noticed something among the leaves. “Hey, I think I found something.” He crouched down and plucked the grey item up between his fingers.

“What is it?”

“It’s Alex’s sweater.” Dean stared in awe at the tiny piece of clothing, still amazed with this whole situation.

“Hey, is her cell phone in the pockets? Kyle said she never answered her phone,” Sam reminded him.

Dean carefully pinched the pockets, but didn’t feel anything. “No.” Dean glanced around the woods. “Hang on. I’m going to call her phone, see if I can find it.” After he hung up on his brother, Dean dialed Alex’s number. The phone kept ringing, but all Dean could hear in the woods was silence. When the voicemail picked up, he closed the phone. Dean sighed. “That can’t be good.”