I stare tentatively out my bedroom window, my legs curled up beside me and my head resting against the wall beside my bed. Out the window I can see the sky change from its original inky black, to a dark pinkish-crimson. I sigh, pulling my legs out infront of me, stretching out with a long yawn. The feeling of my muscles tightening and relaxing only makes me more tired, but I know that even if I tried, I wouldn't get back to sleep. I didn't get much sleep last night, then again I haven't since the accident. I shudder at the thought of what happened, something that has left me with horrifying nightmares and constant insomnia. I don't think I have gotten a full night of sleep since my last blackout. Sometimes when I am fed up with the exhaustion I drink until I pass out, and I finally can sleep fully through the night. I know it is horrible for me to do but it is hard to escape my dreams, the only escape is staying up to late all night and for anyone that has seen nightmare on elm street knows that that never works out.
I am quickly brought out of my tired daze by the sound of my lock clicking and my front door slowly swinging opened, squeaking loudly as it moves with its hinges. I am not scared, I know what to do in these situations, protect myself. I slowly reach under my pillow and pull out my long, freshly sharpened hunting knife, holding it close to me as I tiptoe quietly across the room. I press my back against the wall beside the open doorway and wait quietly, not making a sound as I wait for my chance to strike. I hear the person's footsteps getting closer and closer to me, each step sending a pang of anticipation to my chest. I wait in a ready position, the second I see them I will have the upper hand. My knife is up, one hand ready to push and my legs bent, ready to pounce, everything I have been trained to do. Finally I hear the footsteps reach the doorway, stepping right beside the shadows I am hidden in. In one swift motion, I grab the person by the scruff of their shirt and slam them roughly into the wall, holding my knife up against their throat.
"Wow!" the man says holding his hands up in surrender. "It's just me" I lower my knife to my side and glare at the man, no longer a stranger as I finally see his face out of the darkened shadows in the room. Dean WInchester, my older brother standing in front of me with a cocky smile spread across his face. I continue to glare at him, my eyes throwing daggers at him. You could say we left on bad terms, very bad terms.
"You have no right being here" I say my anger slipping out into every word I say. Dean looks at me with a slightly shocked, and slightly upset face.
"Look, Autumn, I'm sorry. I know the last thing you want right now is to see me but we need your help." He says walking towards me. I raise my eyebrow at him, we? Was dad here too? Suddenly a figure appears in the corner of my eye, Sam, my twin. He gives me a sheepish grin and I walk forwards, wrapping my arms around him, I was devastated when he left. I sigh loudly into him as we hug, it has been too long since I have seen my twin. I feel the need to hug Dean as well but the guilty look in his eyes makes me want to just give him a slight, reassuring smile,
"Nothing that happened that day was your fault Dean, it wasn't dads either." Dean looks at me with a guilty look. "I just can't hunt with people that don't trust me."
"What happened?" Sam asks, a look of worry spread across his face. He was already in university when it happened, but now wasn't the time to start the story. I pretend I didn't hear Sams' question and turn to Dean.
"I know Autumn, we aren't asking you to come back full time, we just need help." I nod silently sitting down on the couch, rubbing my aching head.
"With what?"
"Dad went on a hunting trip" Dean says "And he hasn't been back in weeks" I stare down at the ground, I don't know how well I can trust dad, he is my father but I still remember what happened when I think of him, almost like all the good thoughts I once had were gone. "I know you don't want anything to do with dad bu-"
"I will do it" I interrupt "He is still my father" I say running my fingers through my short brown hair. Sam looks at me with a confused look, He has no idea what is going one, why I am not trusting Dean and dad, and why I am not hunting with them anymore. I feel bad about him not finding out but I don't think I want to tell him quite yet. I nod my head and look at Dean,
"What case was he working when he disappeared?" I ask
"Some disappearances down in Jericho California" Dean reaches into his duffel bag and pulls out a few sheets of paper. My eyes scan quickly scan over the paper, taking in all the information. 10 disappearances in the span of 20 years, definitely weird, something is out there. I would think that dad could handle something so easy, he has never gotten into this kind of trouble on such an easy job. I raise one eyebrow slightly, reading over the information one last time. I look up at the boys with a confused look, this isn't weird to them?
"Give me half an hour to pack my stuff then we can head out." I stand up off the couch and walk to my bed again pulling my duffel bag out from under it. Dean nods lightly then leaves the room without a word, even with reassurance he feels guilty. I start to place clothing into the bag until I realize that Sam hadn't left the room with Dean.
"What happened that I don't know about Autumn?" I sigh quietly and sit down on my bed, my heart sinking down into my stomach.
"I don't want to relive it Sam" I close my eyes at the thought, just the thought leaves me with a pressing feeling in my chest. "I knew what the problem was and dad didn't trust me enough to go in and hunt it, he told me to wait out by the car while he and Dean did it instead. I don't know if he was trying to protect me or didn't believe I could do it but I got caught outside of the house and…" I stopped talking and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath in I stop the rising feeling of fear, I have to learn to push the fear away. "I got hurt, that's all. I decided to go my own direction after that, stick with the one person I know will always trust me, myself." I stand up and walk away from Sam, who at some point through my talk had sat next to me. I continue to grab clothing from my dresser, packing it away into the large duffel bag. "Why are you doing this hunt?" I ask Sam, who is still sitting awkwardly on his bed.
"Dean asked for help so I did" He says matter-of-factly. I nod quietly, trying to think of a way to get rid of the awkward silence around us.
"I don't thi-"
"I am sorry I left Autumn" Sam says, I knew the topic would come up and I wanted it to. He left me without visits and he didn't text or call me, he is my twin and all I want from him is to be there for me. I sigh and look down at my feet, apart of me wants to forgive him but the other half of me wants to walk away without a word. He knew me better than anyone, other than Dean, and he left, the other half of me gone without a word. I stand awkwardly in the middle of my room trying to make up my mind and I think Sam noticed. "You don't have to forgive me, I know I shouldn't have left you alone but I needed to do something that wasn't by dads rules, something that I liked doing." I nod my head and look up at him with a smile. I walk forwards and wrap my arms around him tightly, finally I have both of my brothers back, no longer separated, at least for the time being. I know that once we find dad we will all go our separate ways again but, I like it when we are all together, Dean the protective big brother and Sam my other, geeky half. I slowly pull away from Sma and grab my bag off my bed, swinging it over my shoulder and walking out the door, Sam walking slowly behind me.
"All ready?" Dean asks, a beer in hand. Obviously he raided my fridge, I saw it coming. I nod my head and grab a pack of smokes from my coat pocket, lighting one and walking out the door. I walk towards the car, only to have the smoke ripped from my mouth and dropped on the ground
"You are way to young to smoke" Dean says stepping on it. I roll my eyes
"Honestly Dean? I am 22 and my job is probably going to kill me before smoking does." I say lighting another one. Dean sighs and shares a very protective look with Sam, I have grown up a lot since last time I saw them both… I guess now would be a bad time to tell them I am gay.
