She lay there on the bed wearing a tattered, blood-soaked shirt and torn shorts. She might have had blond hair, but it was so dirty and knotted, it's difficult to tell what color it is. Her eyes were closed and her breathing so shallow her chest barely moved. She slowly woke up, her jaw clenching on the disgusting rag tied in her mouth. Her eyes were glazed and it was evident she was weak to point of death. Besides her initial panic when waking, she seemed calm, too tired to move. Until she heard the footsteps. As they grew louder, she struggled against the restraints on her wrists and ankles that kept her chained to the bed. Her already chafed wrists began to bleed but she didn't seem to notice or care. Her eyes darted around the room, frenzied. A man entered the room; his hair fell to his shoulders and his clothes were dark and mismatched. When he spoke it was in a rasping voice that sent shivers down the poor girl's back.
The man leaned over the girl, shushing her muffled cries. "Hush. It's going to be alright now." He looked at her bleeding wrists and clicked his tongue. "You shouldna done that, girly. But I appreciate the appetizer." He sat on the bed and brought her wrist to his mouth, where he sucked her blood, doing the same for the other wrist. He brushed her mangled hair to show countless, tiny scabs at the base of her neck. An extra row of teeth slid from his gums and he leaned down to bite the girl's neck. She screamed through the rag, her neck on fire. AFter three minutes or so he pulled back, sitting up straight, and yanked a pinkish handkerchief from his pocket, which he used to soak up the blood still oozing from the bite marks. The girl pulled away, tears running down her face.
"You know something, Sweetheart?" The man had stood up and began pacing back and forth in front of the bed. "I'm almost sorry that you're here. It's not really your fault that your daddy killed my little girl and my wife; you can't pick your family. But someone needs to pay for what happened, and right now that's you. You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna lure your daddy here, he's gonna hear about all the deaths, all the little girls and boys sucked dry, come here, and meet me and my friends. And we'll see then just who the hunter is. How's that sound?" He went over and untied her gag. "Don't try screaming, no one will hear you anyway."
"You're… crazy…" The girl hadn't talked in over two weeks and her voice was barely more than a whisper. "My dad… is dead… I never knew him And what the heck is a hunter?" The man's face hardened and he drew back his hand and slapped her hard across her face.
"Your father's a murder! And he will pay for what he did to my family." With that, he retied the gag and walked away. "You'll get your food in a bit."
About six hours later, near five in the morning, Sam and Dean Winchesters stood outside a ramshackle house, each with a machete in their hand.
"You're sure this is it?" Dean turned to Sam, eyes hard. Sam nodded.
"You sure this is what you want to be doing? What with the darkness still around and Crowley doing who knows what?" Sam countered.
Dean looked down at his machete and wiped some dried blood off with his shirt. "Yeah. I know this crap is nothing, just wiping some vamps' nest, but at least we're doing something good instead of sitting around the bunker trying to figure this crap out." He looked at Sam. "Kids are dying; let's just focus on fixing that for now." Sam nodded and lead the way into the house.
"Michael!" A younger vampire, Hannah, ran through the house excited by the strange car outside. "Michael!"
"What Hannah? I'm sleeping." The man, the leader of the nest, was found collapsed on a bed, exhausted from his earlier hunt. The one girl didn't always satisfy, and Michael liked variety.
"Someone's here. There's a black car in the woods out front. Do you think it could be hunters? Maybe even the Winchesters?" The older vampire flew out of bed and to the windows searching the yard. When his eyes landed on the 67 Chevy Impala, he smiled maliciously, and leaned back and laughed coldly. He got up and went to gather everyone together.
"Anybody want a late night snack?" he called from the hallway. One by one doors opened to reveal five vampires in all. Michael looked at each of them carefully. "Our plan has finally come to fruition. Sam and Dean Winchester have decided to pay us a visit. Let's greet them, shall we?"
Sam and Dean entered from the back door, which opened into the kitchen. They moved quietly, years of experience having taught them to walk on the balls of their feet. They made it to the living room without incident, until two vampires jumped them from behind. One had its arms wrapped around Sam's neck and went to bite him. He grabbed the vampire's arms and flipped him onto the ground before slamming the machete's blade down, shearing off the vampire's head.
Meanwhile, Dean had one sitting on top of him, repeatedly punching him. Dean's machete had slipped out of his hand and across the floor during the initial struggle. Sam turned around and swung his blade at the vampire, slicing his head clean off and causing the body to slump forward onto Dean.
"Thanks, Sammy." Dean shoved the still-bleeding body of the vampire to the side before grasping Sam's hand and standing up. He grabbed his machete and they swept the living room for any more vamps before heading upstairs. They split up, each taking one side of the hallway; Sam took the right, Dean took the left. Dean swiftly beheaded two vampires in his second room without issue. Sam, too, took out a vampire before entering Michael's room. After checking the room, he made his way over to the vanity mirror by the window. Taped to the mirror was a picture of a young girl, maybe thirteen, and a middle-age woman. He pulled the picture off the mirror to look at it closer, not paying attention to the bathroom, the one place he'd put off checking until the end. Michael leaped out of the bathroom and at Sam, knocking his machete loose. Michael locked his hands around Sam's neck, screaming.
"You have no right! No right to look at them, to touch that picture! I'm going to kill you for that!" His fangs slid down and just before they sank into his skin, Sam pulled a small knife from his belt. He stabbed it into the vampire's neck, who let go of Sam and stumbled backward, grabbing at the blade poking from his neck. Before he could pull it out, Sam kicked him to his knees, where he yanked the knife from his neck and slumped down. Sam pulled back to cut off his head, but stopped. Michael was trying to say something. He finally gasped out a few wet and garbled words.
"You're… too late… anyway… She's… going to… die." He let out a barking laugh. "He'll have to… kill her…" His laugh was cut short as Sam slammed his machete through the vampire's neck. More than a little disturbed, Sam picked up the picture from the floor where he'd dropped it. He shook his head and pocketed it before sweeping the rest of the rooms on his side.
"Everything alright?" Dean looked up at him curiously.
"Uh… Yeah. Yeah. C'mon, time to find the nest's food."
Down in the basement, Hannah and another vamp, Ryan, were watching the girl and waiting for the others to join them with the Winchesters. Hannah was pacing back and forth, anxious.
"I haven't heard anything. It's been a while. Do you think they're okay?" She turned to Ryan, who was sitting on the bed, licking his lips after a light snack provided by the girl.
"They're fine. It's five to two, maybe they put up a fight and Michael had to put 'em down. Quit worrying." He began to caress the girl, who was too weak to move away as his hand ran over her cheek. "Go check on them if you're worried." Hannah had stopped pacing and was looking intently at Ryan.
"Fine. I will. But don't mess around with her. You know that's not Michael's thing." She stomped up the stairs to the door. Peeking her head around the door, she slipped upstairs. As soon as she was gone, Ryan turned back to the girl.
"Mmm. It's a shame that you and I didn't meet on better turns. I would love to get you know you better." His hand slipped from her cheek to her shoulder. He pulled a knife from his pocket and the girl shrunk away, crying against the gag. Ryan used the knife to cut her shirt down the center, then put it back into his pocket. He leaned over to kiss her, but stopped when he heard a scream. "Hannah?" He stood up and made as if to go to the door. Suddenly, the door burst open, light streaming through the dark basement. Ryan stumbled back, but with no place to run, Dean finished him quickly.
Sam was already at the girl's side, checking her pulse. Dean came over and yanked the gag off before untying her bonds.
"Dude, one live meat? For at least seven vamps? This chick should be dead," Dean said, peering in concern at the girl.
"Yeah, and doesn't look like she was very well taken care of." Sam gestured to the ripped shirt and ribs poking out of her skin. "But she's still alive. We gotta get her to a hospital."
Without hesitation, Dean pulled his jacket off and draped it over the girl's naked-half naked chest before scooping up her emaciated body. Sam took the front, in case they missed a vampire while Dean carried the girl to the Impala. While Dean was gently laying her down in the backseat of Baby, the girl's eyes flickered open to reveal the greenest eyes Dean had ever seen.
"What…" She tried to speak but Dean shushed her.
"You're gonna be okay now, alright? Everything's going to be just fine." He smoothed her hair away from her face. She opened her mouth, trying to say thank you, but Dean shook his head. "Your welcome."
