Sam stood by the window in his office. His head was down and his face was lightly pressed against the cool pane. He had taken off his suit coat and tie as he felt more relaxed then earlier in the court room. He wanted to smile, he wanted to cry but he didn’t know which to do. He had won the case for the mother of the baby that died while in her mother’s care. He wanted to be happy that his defense had saved the woman. So now why did he feel like he had made a mistake? Not that it mattered since his office defended those who couldn’t afford to pay for a lawyer. That was the curse of his position. His goal was to some day to have a law office of his own. He wanted a private practice where he could pick and choose the cases he would work. He wanted to help people in dire need and those who had been wronged, it was what he had been taught to do. He sighed before he heard someone come in the room. He turned to see that Lydia had arrived.

“Congrats,” she said as she went into his open arms.
She wore a light blue striped pantsuit and her long auburn hair hung in waves around her shoulders. Sam smiled when he saw her. She made everything okay again in his world. She had not come to court at his request since he was nervous about being first string in the case. As the assistant district attorney, he rarely had to speak in court, most often he was in charge of the paralegals and other office staff, but this time he had been given the opportunity to strut his stuff. He had to admit it had felt good.
“Thanks,” he whispered into her hair.

Lydia knew he had begun to doubt the mothers’ story near the end. He didn’t know why his feelings had changed maybe he had started to be more skeptical because his client seemed to be a bit arrogant after the statistics had been reviewed in court.
“You did your best and it turned out fine,” Lydia said as she looked in his eyes.
“You’re right, now I can focus on the mystery of Marianne for a while. The next few cases I have I am only helping with the research. I get a bit of a break.”
“I love the sound of that,” she said as she followed him before he cut off the light then shut the door.

That night Sam was thrashing in his sleep as the images came to him. He was running from someone or something. He held a bundle in his arms that seemed to be moving against his chest. His breathing was labored. He couldn’t catch his breath, and he struggled against the bundled as he feel to his knees. Someone was calling to him but it wasn’t his name that was being called, it was Joanna’s. He ran faster though it seemed he went in circles for quite a while until he didn’t feel as though he was being followed any longer. Up ahead he saw an opening and he headed toward it just before he felt pain his chest then his lungs seems to be giving out. He entered the dark cave slowly but with the intent to go in and hide.

Sam woke up with a start. He was covered in sweat as he looked questioningly around the room. He was the only one in the bed and he did not hear Marianne’s breathing as he usually did. He got up slowly, unsure of what to expect. He padded across the room in his bare feet to find the little girl missing. He bit his lip as he pondered where she could be. Then he sighed as he assumed Lydia must have her. He went into the shower to clean up, he figured he must smell awful.

He went into the large bathroom and removed his pajamas before he climbed into the stall after he moved back the glass shower door. At first he leaned against the wall as he tried to remember the dream or vision he wasn’t sure which it had been. “Joanna why don’t you just tell me what happening?” he said aloud, “I only want to help your child.”
After he felt refreshed he finally went downstairs to find Lydia after he checked in on his teenagers. They were both sound asleep in their beds, all is well with them.

Once he was in the kitchen, he found Lydia smiling as she talked to Marianne. The little girl was in her high chair jabbering away as though she understood. Sam smiled when he saw them.
“Hey, everything okay in here?”
“Oh we are fine. Marianne woke up and I didn’t want her to awaken you so we came down for a snack.”
“Well, it looks like you all are having fun.”
***

Across town Alyssa was dreaming of a little girl left alone in a cave. The little girl was the child soon to be called Marianne. Her mother died not long after her mother took her deep inside the dark cave while she was running from her murderer, her future husband. The ghosts in the cave saw the little one. The cave held the bodies of many that had been sacrificed. It was a haven of rest for those women, they had the power to protect the living at least in that place. More than once they had saved others though they never had the chance to save themselves. The Legend of the Cave had grown but no one had discovered it’s source. Alyssa screamed out in her sleep as she saw the ghost as they looked after the baby.

Dean stood at the door for a second, before he went in to gently shake his daughter.
“Alli, wake up.”
Alyssa woke up to see her father stood over her.
“Daddy?”
“Hey you having bad dreams in here?”
She only looked at him as she sat up in the bed, a he pushed her hair behind her ear.
“Go ahead you can tell me, tell me anything.”
“It was about Marianne and the cave.”

Dean encouraged her to tell him all she could remember even though she seemed a bit upset but intrigued.
“This time, Daddy, I felt more like I was watching and less like I was the one watching the dream.”
“Well that means something……I’m sure,” he said hesitantly.
He felt out of his area with Alyssa, he really needed to talk to his brother about the dream which may have been a vision from Joanna.

At times, he wished they had never found Marianne but most often he was glad for his brother and the little girl that they had found one another, no matter how. Alyssa seemed to be sleepy again after she finished talking. Dean moved off the bed where he had sat, kissed her check and said good night again.
“Daddy, can you stay til I go back to sleep?”
“Sure,” he said as she moved over and he lay down again on top of the covers before she lay her head on his shoulder.
Maybe all of this would renew their close relationship, Dean certainly hoped so.

***


The next night the two families met for dinner at Cassie and Dean’s house. Sam was glad he had a chance to get together with Dean and his family for a change. It had been a while and he missed the normalcy of it when he was unavailable, though his family frequently had meals with them.

After dinner, all the adults gathered in the living room to chat about Sam and Alyssa's most recent dreams.
“Maybe we should have a séance,” Dean said with a smile.
Everyone glared at him and he shrugged as his smile turned into a frown.

“I don’t want the kids to get it in their heads that is how we solve things,” Cassie insisted.
“I agree,” Lydia said her Christian upbringing was at the forefront of her mind on the matter despite her hunting past.
With the exception of practical ways to kill evil she stayed away from the occult.
“We won’t,” Sam said as he rubbed his wife’s leg.
He realized she was sensitive about some things and it was only one of the many reasons that he loved her so very much.
“Just kidding.”

Between the two dreams, they determined that Joanna had been murdered by her boyfriend, sometime recently because the baby couldn’t have been left for very long since she was in good condition when the found except for a cold. The ghosts in the cave had saved the baby, which connected up with the rumors about the area they had run across.
“I think that there is some type of sacrificial ceremonies taking place in that area. Why else would there be so many missing women and children. Now with the new information about the spirits helping it only makes sense,” Sam said.
They all agreed.

{In the Invisible Realm}
Joanna was ecstatic, she was glad Sam loved Marianne. She was glad that she had heard enough about him to know he would a good father for her precious baby. She only wished she had lived though her life was in shambles when she died. Maybe it was always someone’s plan that she die to give her daughter a better life. She had to believe that. She sighed as she hovered in the room.

She wasn’t surprised when Mary showed up a few minutes later. The older woman talked with her frequently about her boys. Mary was proud that they had taken time off to have families though she still hoped to be avenged. She couldn’t be angry that they had children of their own despite the fact that she did worry about that scenario at times.

“You know they will do what they can for Marianne.”
“Yeah, I do.”
“I think that they have enough information to maybe figure out the mystery now.”
“Well most of it,” Joanna said as she bit her lip.
“Joanna?” Mary said with a raised eyebrow.
“I don’t want to overwhelm them and besides the longer she is with them the more they will love her,” she said as she dared not meet the older woman’s eyes.
Mary smiled, maybe Joanna had a point.

{Back to the Visible Realm}
Sam arrived home to find the kitchen wrecked. There was what looked like vomit on the floor by the table, on the counter set an open loaf of bread , a skillet sat cooling on the stove with food still inside, the table was set with a dish but it looked as though it had not been eaten from, he sighed. What the hell happened here?

For a moment he hesitated to go further into the house. But he took a deep breath as he yelled for Lydia. He walked slowly as he looked from left to right though he did not have a weapon he still had a few spidey senses. The rest of the house seemed neat and tidy which made him more concerned. He stood in his bedroom as he tried to remember if there was an appointment that Lydia had mentioned, but his memory came up empty.

He reached for his cell phone only to find out that it was turned off. Then he recalled that he had pushed it off to save time from fumbling through the device to put it on vibrate on the way to a meeting that morning. The musicals sounds of the cell phone reviving filled the room just before Sam saw how many message had come for him. Their were six marked urgent.

He held the phone to his ear to listen to the most recent one.
“Sam we are at the hospital, Marianne is really sick, please come as soon as you get this.” The message was four hours old. He left the house immediately and phoned Lydia on the way.
“Sorry, I just got the message” he explained.
“Oh Sam, she wouldn’t stop crying after she threw up, it broke my heart I had to get her to a doctor,” Lydia said, as Sam could tell she was almost in tears.
“How is she doing now?” he asked as he got in his car.
“They ran tests on her and think she should be fine. I’m sorry about the kitchen I didn’t want to waste any time.”
“No, you did the right thing, I’m on my way, see you in a minute,” Sam said as he put away the phone before he drove out of the drive way.

Cassie asked if Sam was on the way as Lydia returned to the waiting area with a small smile.
“He is, you know I feel like a new mother it has been so long since I had a little on in the house.”
Cassie smiled, she knew Lydia was a good mother.
“You did the right thing, it was not a time for guessing.”
“The way she was screaming I was afraid of her hurting something, though I believe when she threw up she frightened herself.”
“She scared you too,” Cassie said as Lydia sat down beside her.

Sam walked in about fifteen minutes later. He still wore his suit from work, a dark blue pin stripe and he had on his tie. Lydia smiled with relief as she saw her handsome husband walk in the room as though he owned. His heart beat strong in his chest a the sight of her. At the house for a moment he thought there had been some sort of tragedy and had cursed his busyness for not taking care of his phone properly.

“Hey you two,” he said to the ladies.
“Hi,” Lydia said as she went into his strong arms.
She felt better, immediately. She felt safe and warm as she realized now that Sam had arrived things would be alright.
“Hi Cassie,” he said when Lydia released him so they could have a seat as they waited.
“Hi Sam, hey I’m going to go get the kids from the neighbors now that Sam is here,” she told Lydia as she picked up her purse to leave.
“Thanks for coming,” Sam said with a smile for his sister in law.
“No problem, that is what family is all about,” Cassie replied as she smiled at the couple before she walked away.

Lydia explained how she had prepared food for Marianne and the little girl had been fine then she suddenly spit her food up all over the floor before she began to wail.
“Sam I don’t know why it was just peas and carrots. They didn’t find anything lodged in her throat.”
Sam put his arm around her shoulders.
“Just a fluke thing probably. It is a good thing that you were quick to bring her in.”
“I felt so strange when I came in with her she was still crying and her face was red peopled turned to stare, I felt like I had done something.”
Sam frowned it wasn’t like Lydia to be so sensitive to what others thought around her. She was a confident woman that took care of things with care and thought she normally would not have mentioned this type of incident.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he looked in her eyes.
“Yeah I will be fine I guess part of me was concerned that someone would question why I was carrying a little Blonde baby,” she said sheepishly.
“Well you have every right she is ours for all intent and purposes. Are you sure there isn’t something else going on here?” he asked.
Lydia hesitated.
“Go ahead spill it you will tell me anyway,” he said as he raised her chin to look into her hazel eyes.

“I had a visitor today someone who said they had the wrong house but the guy made me nervous.”
“What do you mean?”
“He looked a bit unsavory, I don’t know like a drug addict or a con. He apologized and left but he seemed familiar like I had seen him around before.”
“Really? What did he look like?”
“Um, tall brunette, he wore a hat, jeans, a tee shirt and sneakers, nothing that would stand out except in our neighborhood he was out of place.”
“Promise you will be careful,” he hesitated to say it could be someone who had been convicted with his help. It was one of things he didn’t like about being a lawyer.
“Yeah, I called you about him but you didn’t get back to me.”
Sam told her about the cell phone issue. She understood that things happened it wasn’t his fault she insisted.

It was almost an hour before they were able to take Marianne home. No problems were found she was perfectly okay. Sam carried the little girl to the car for Lydia and buckled her in the car seat.
“Meet you back at home, okay.”
She nodded with a smile for him, “Okay.”

That night on the computer Sam checked to see if anyone had been released from jail since he began work. He found about five people that were on parole but none fit the description that Lydia had given. Most were of average height and had been put away for drug related crimes. Not the type of criminals that looked to retaliate on lawyers.

He scratched his head before he went in to research Joanna’s ex. It had been a few weeks since he dared to search for the guy. The last few times he had come empty since the young man had told his story of Joanna’s death. Either had moved on with his life or he was a sneaky one.

Sam came across a story about the man, Evan that showed he was engaged which he had not seen before. The picture of the woman looked uncannily like Joanna. She had brown hair and blue eyes plus she was straight out of high school. He bit his lip as he wondered why women got into bad relationships so young.

He really wanted to get the guy. He was the type of guy that gave men a bad name. On closer examination of the picture Sam noticed the girl was pregnant. Was Evan getting this girls to sacrifice their children? It was something that had bothered him about the dream of Joanna before. He reached for the phone to call Dean.

Cassie answered on the first ring.
“Hey Cas, is Dean there?”
“Yeah, Sam hold on.”
Lydia came in the room as he waited to talk to his brother. He pointed to the picture on the screen to show Lydia. She nodded as she read the small article and looked at the picture. Sam whispered the answer to her whispered question as he waited on the line.
“Yes, that is Joanna’s ex.”
She nodded, as she bit on her lip before she moved Sam’s chair so she could sit in his lap.

“Hey Dean, we need to go on a hunt.” Sam said into the mouthpiece.
Lydia could hear Dean’s laugh.
“No I’m serious,” Sam insisted, “This time for human prey.”
“Hey if it is a weekend I am in,” Dean said this time serious.
Sam explained the situation then hung up to pull Lydia close for a kiss, she wound her arms around his neck as he moaned. With the languish use of his tongue he explored her mouth and a moment later she led him away from the computer to the bed room.
He would worry about the mystery in the morning.

TBC