Mysteries

Sam cried out in pain as his back slammed against a tree. He coughed and blinked, startled. The wind had been knocked out of him and he wheezed as he tried to get some air back into his lungs, feeling broken ribs pushing against his them as he breathed. Sam stood up slowly and watched as Dean, Cas, and the girl they were trying to save fought the demon, rather unsuccessfully. Sam still didn't understand why the demon was trying to attack this particular girl, nor why Castiel had said that it was "of utmost importance" to protect her. They traveled from Indiana to Massachusetts in record time to save this girl on nothing but the words of an angel. Hell, they didn't even know her name. Nevertheless, Sam rushed back into the fight.

By the time the battle was over and the demon was dead, Dean had a bloody, possibly broken, nose and a few cuts and bruises, Sam had several broken ribs and a few deep cuts, Cas was relatively unharmed aside from a black eye and a few cuts, and the girl was unconscious from slamming her head into a tree and lost a lot of blood due to a large gash in her forearm that was inflicted by the demon as he was trying to sacrifice her. Cas was carrying the unconscious girl as they made their way through the woods and back to the Impala.

"So, who the hell is this girl, Cas?" Dean asked.

"Um… Well, I'm not quite sure," Cas replied, studying the girl's features. She had fiery red hair that was cut to her shoulders and pulled back into a ponytail. She was incredibly pale, although a large part of that could have been due to blood loss. There was silence for a while, only the sounds of crickets and early autumn leaves crunching under their feet.

"Well why is she so special?" Sam tried, pushing a low hanging branch out of his way.

"She's a witch," Dean grumbled. "I noticed an altar when we visited her house. I don't understand why we saved her."

"She may be using her powers for witchcraft, but I don't think she would-or could-harm anyone. She has a certain, almost divine strength about her that I've never felt in a witch. And look," Cas said, nodding to the arm with the gash that was resting on her chest. A silver bracelet with a single round charm glinted in the moonlight that filtered through the trees. Sam and Dean could just make out what looked like a tree formed by seven swords on the charm.

"So, she's got a bracelet. So what?" Dean asked.

"That's not just any bracelet Dean," Cas explained. "That's the symbol of the seven swords of the Archangels. Humans consider it a symbol of divine love, strength, and protection."

"Woah woah woah. Slow down. There are seven Archangels?" Sam questioned.

"No, of course not. But some humans seem to think that there are. The point is, she has to believe in some form of God-based religion, or at least angels, to wear that bracelet," Castiel pointed out.

The trees slowly became less dense until they could make out the Impala through them. They continued making their way to the car and when they finally got to the parking lot where the Impala was, they all stopped and had to figure out what to do next.

"Where should we go? We need to take her with us. She won't survive long with this gash if we don't," Cas said.

"Well we can't take her to our motel. I still don't trust her. What if she betrays us?" Dean asked.

"Well then where-" Cas started.

"Why don't we just bring her back to her place?" Sam interjected. Cas and Dean agreed that that would be the best thing to do.

"Just don't get blood on the upholstery or I'll kill you," Dean warned as everyone got into the Impala and Castiel awkwardly laid the girl's head on his leg in the back seat.

"He means it," Sam said.