Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania (Five Years Ago)

"Kat, I gotta talk to you. I think we jumped into this relationship a littleprematurely. I don't see you...ever. My life ishereand yours isthere..." Darien, my boyfriend five year ago declaredcalmly,as we sat in the front seatsof his Toyota Camryoutside my house"...I think we should break up, but I also think we should just stay good friends. I'm a lot different from you. And you're a real catch, althoughit's kinda like I'm a dog... And you're a cat; they don't exactly seeeye to eye, Kat. I'm really sorry to pop this up on you, but I hope we can still be friends after all this..."

I gritted my teeth, frozen at the icywords that rolled offDarien's tongue. Was he really being serious? Dropping everything on a dime, casuallyout of the blue like it was something he had recited for heart felt like it was justprocessed through a meat grinder; my head waspounding through my skull, hoping toescape the cloudy thoughts running through my mind at thispoint of no return.

"Trust me," he continued,"This isn't exactly easy for me, but I can't hold onto something that I can't even see. We had a great month or so, but after you moved further away and going to different schools,we alsokinda left, and distance does make you drift apart." He briefly paused before continuing on with his confession."I've been thinking of a way to say this without hurting you. But there's no real way to say it without hurting you." Darien leaned over from the driver's seat, resting a hand on my shoulderlight-heartedly."I do care. Please don't get that twisted. Ijustreally can't do the distance and not being able to see or communicate with you..."

Blankly, I stared back at him. The silence was unbearable until it had beeninterrupted bythe sound of rain hammering againstthe metal frame of thecar. Darien was one personI never knewhow to take. You could never really tell if he was actuallybeing serious or being plainsarcastic. He always had a devilishly-rotten grinon his face as ifhe was up to no good, followed by some kind of smartass , hearing those words escape from Darien's lips made me weak from the inside out;shaky in the knees andthe tiny blonde hairs on my arms standingat attention. Howwas I supposed to respond to a confession like that?Okay, let's just be friends and forget any ofthis ever happened? Um- see,no that is not how things work in the World of many times as he told me that he cared,announcing tothe publicwhat a lucky manhe was to have me, I sensed a hunchdeep down in the pit of my stomach filled withdoubts from the very moment we became friends. Wemayhave been good friends at on point or another, but Darien pierced that dagger of rejection and the truth right through my beating heart. How was one supposed to goback to the way things used to be after all this? It wasn't even humanlypossible to jump off thatrunaway train going atfullspeed;I still loved him.

My fists were clenched in anger and frustration."So, maybe you're right. Maybe we should break-up but Darien, hear me out. You walk out that door, you're walking outon us for is no turning back. silenceDo you understand me!?This whole, 'going back to friends'… it's not going to cut it, sweetheart." I shot back at him harshly, overly-emphasizing about being just friends.

"You know what," I retorted with agitation in my voice,pushing his hand offmy shoulder, "I gotta go."

Hastily, I pushed the passenger door open before fleeing the car, racing off into the darknessbefore Dariencould get another wordout. I remember running, running for my life in the middle of the woods, unsure of where I even was at that point. But I didn't care because that one person, one person who I thought I would never let me down in fact did. I was helpless, vulnerable, overcoming heavy anxiety. My legsfinally buckled after only a minute of running, tears rushing like waterfalls as I lied on the muddy ground with my knees pulled to my chest.

From that moment on, reality only became more of a roller coaster for me.

Six monthsafter Darien and I broke up waswhen the most disastrous tragedy happened. I lost my family; astrong,lovingmother;a dedicated, hard-workingfather and a loyal, littlebrotherallto a powerful, unknownsupernatural creature. Yeah, all thoseghost and demon stories everyone thinks are myths are actually real life. I couldn't wrap my head around it myself until these two heroichunters came saved mefrom being live bait to whatever killed my family, prior to me being tied to the headboard of my bed like some sort of sex slave. I had just turned seventeen,so of courseI panicked. The supernatural life is the real deal? I kept telling myself I was in another frightening nightmare, but once Sam and Dean told me the possibilities of finding my family's killer, fearquickly formed into a ball ofrage.I wanted to hunt this thing down, even if I hadno idea what I was going after or what I was doing for that matter. I was just a junior in high school, 4.5 GPA and a full ride to Temple University. What was an orphan like going to do with herlife after losing everything she ever knew and loved?

Sam and Dean Winchestertook me under their wing. The convincing wasn't easy. Originally I was left with an aunt on my father's side, but I ran away and lived on my own for a few month. Running with minimalcash and nocreditcards was not my ideal lifestyle, but I managed until the two brothers found me after I reached out to them, telling them I needed their help. Needless to say, they weren't very happy with my choices but the puppy dogs eyes of mine were always a big seller.

Years went by and the three of us were fighting bad-ass demons, shape-shifters, ghoulsand other unnatural beingsalmost every waking moment. I had a lot to learn about hunting. After all under Sam and Dean's orders, I was forcedto stay behind for a wholeyear in ratty old motels and cheap rentalsbefore I was even given a chance togo out huntingwiththem on cases, until one day I got so frustrated I felt the need to let my voicebe heard, stompingmy foot down on howI was not a child anymore and tired of being treated like one.

I still remember that arrogant smirk on Dean's face as he veered his eyes from me toback at Sam. Sam on the other hand seemed a bit nervous, but nodded at Dean for his approval to let me tag along. After a long, tediouspersuasion, he finally agreed under histerms and conditions of course.

The monsterthat killed my family was still out there somewhere,needing to bestoppedbeforeit wipedout more innocent people… especially if it's more people that I lovedand caredabout dearly.