Hi. So did you miss me? I missed this, and I never want to leave it again. It calms me, writing, and being a senior in college means 'calm' isn't really in my vocabulary.

Tonight it's not my novel bothering me, it's school. My first few assignments are due next week and this program I need for one of them just refuses to download on my computer.

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Fire, that's all I can remember about where I'm from. Well, not all, but that's all I want to remember. My childhood was pretty normal for someone who wants to forget that entire portion of your life. Well, except for the ritual. Every year around the anniversary of my birth, my father, our chief, would walk out to the forbidden part of our land and disappear for what seemed like forever. Once he had returned, my father looked younger, stronger than before he had left. No one knew what he did out there; no one, that is, until I turned five and he thought I was old enough to know the secrets all the great chiefs of the past had granted him on nights of the ritual. He led me out to the woods, his kind eyes shielding me from the horror that I would soon endure.

As we approached the darkest part of the woods something changed in him. The kindness in his eyes faded and a thirst arose within him I had never seen before. Within seconds he had darted off in the woods leaving me, a child of only five, to fend for herself.

Now that's not why I hate my childhood, my father may have left me that night, but what I didn't know was he was doing me a kindness, for what I didn't see in the dark kept me from losing him, losing my tribe, and losing my family.

That had all changed two years later, on the eve of my seventh birthday celebration. That was the night I decided to follow my father deeper into the woods. That was the night I decided to not shelter myself and venture out on my own. And that was the night that I lost everything.

I had found my father hunched over something about a mile from where he left me. As I approached his body became stiff and slowly his head started to pivot towards me. That's why I saw why he had let go of my hand a mile back, for what I saw hunched over that poor dead creature that night was no longer my father.

I ran as fast as I could back to my village, hoping that whatever my father had become he would soon be back to normal, for my sake and the sake of his people.

As I returned frantically to the village I was greeted with the warm embrace of my grandmother. "What is it child?" She saw the distressed look in my eye and knew then that I could not answer, whatever I had just seen too horrifying to recollect.

Seconds later it came, and it was no longer my father. It's bone even more exposed and eyes as red as the devil himself, my grandmother could do nothing but hold me, paralyzed with fear, while the rest of my father's people ran, screaming in terror at what their chief had become. My grandmother and I were soon yanked from our stationary position and were soon running too; running away from our home, our family, and who we were.

Just before my home vanished from sight, I looked back and saw the black smoke arising from the huts just out of view. I had known my uncle had stayed behind for a reason, I just didn't know that reason was to destroy our home.

While I watched our village burn to the ground, my grandmother had run back towards me, grabbing me by the shoulders as she shouted above all the chaos. "Emma that was your father, my son, and our chief. I had told him to stop playing with dark magic, but he did not listen and turned into that beast, as did his father before him. You need to run, break this horrible loop our family is trapped in. Our people will have no leader, and you will be safe from the fate of your father and my husband. Now go," she pointed west towards the setting sun. "There is a town. It's not close, but it's refuge. And I'd rather have you there then see what will happen tomorrow." She kissed me on the forehead and let me know how much she loved me while holding back tears. I did the same before I ran, crying all the way to the town for I knew I would never see her or any of my people again.

I ran through the night, making it to the small town just as dawn broke. The town was old and abandon at first glance. As I walked into the ghostly town I let my guard down, feeling calmer then I had all night…

"Hey kid!"

Until I had heard a husky voice approaching behind me. My body tensed up as I had pivoted to see a young man quickly approaching, his stride showing off his rage. When he got close enough to me, he grabbed a fist full of my shirt and hoisted me up, allowing me to look directly in his eye. "Are you one of them?"

I turned my head in confusion. Trying my best to stay calm in the face of a man, clearly three times my own age, that was obviously threatening me. "One of who?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" And like that I had fallen hard onto the ground. I had looked back up once the initial shock had disintegrated and saw tears fall from his face. "Your one of his soldiers here to collect. Well you're not taking him!" He started visibly sobbing as I stood, watching his movements as I did. "I didn't just sell my friggin soul just for you to take him away!"

I grabbed the hand he had almost limp at his side and he looked down to me. "I'm not who you think I am. Now please, help me."

I watched as his face twisted from rage to concern as he looked down at me. He hadn't noticed my oversized clothing or the dirt on my face with a few cleared streaks from where my tears fell. He let go of my hand and crouched down in front of me. "Kid, where are your parents?"

I looked him dead in the eye. "Gone."

He nodded and stood back up. "Follow me."

We walked into what used to be a store not far from where we had met and inside there was another man, younger and more confused.

"Sammy!" The one man let go of my hand and ran over to hug the other.

"Hey Dean, who's the girl?"

They both looked over in my direction and I looked back at them with a hurt expression. "My name's Emily. I had just lost my entire family." That's when it sunk in and I started sobbing again. My eyes were shut tight, but I wasn't startled when one of them ran up to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Dean we have to get her out of here, she's just a little kid." His hand disappeared, and my crying slowed enough to open my eyes and see Sam standing in front of me, turned toward Dean. "Pack the car, we're going to Bobby's."

"Hey, take it easy. You just woke up."

"So?" Sam walked over to the table and grabbed a handful of snakes. "I feel fine Dean and she needs help." He went towards the door as Dean looked at me, a little shock in his eye. "Besides, isn't that part of the job? Saving people?"

Dean offered a slight smile as he followed Sam out the door. "You're right." He looked back towards me before crossing the threshold to the outside. "You coming?"

And for the first time in the past 12 hours I smiled and soon ran out the door after him.

It wasn't long before we were on the road and I was laying down in the backseat with my eyes closed, pretending to sleep.

"What are we going to do Dean?"

"About hell or about the kid?"

"The girl obviously! I mean, we can't take her with us. Hunting isn't the safest, especially for someone her age."

"We'll give her to Bobby. He'll know what to do."