Rating/Warnings: Rated M for strong language (because some characters just have terrible manners), violence and gore, and possible 'adult situations' in future chapters.

Full Summary: Young, inexperienced newbie Jenna Chaunce isn't the type of person that should be out hunting monsters and other things that go bump in the night. Sensitive and borderline naive, she should be the cheerful girl at the local high school volunteering to walk the Girl Scouts around town selling cookies. But, due to a near-death experience that involved a werewolf and two brothers by the last name of Winchester, she wanted to step into their shoes and follow after their 'example, rescuing people who are in trouble from the 'supernatural', just like she was, now that she's all too aware of what else is out there, creeping around in the shadows of the world. So, when Jenna stumbles across a pack of isolated, 'vegetarian', tough guy vampires who like to think of themselves as good guys, she's more than a little shocked to find out that this group of 'bloodsuckers' doesn't have a clue that there are a lot more than just vampires out there. Dustin, Cole, Luca and Deacon are not your ordinary vamps- -hell, they aren't your ordinary anything- -but following after the girl after finding out the strange, terrifying truth about what else goes bump in the night wasn't something the young hunter thought would ever happen. But hey. Landing yourself a pack of studly vampires as your new partners can't be a bad thing...can it?

Disclaimer: The Winchester bros and everything created and dreamed up by the genius known as Eric Kripke is copyright to their respectable whoevers. Personally, I wouldn't want to live in this world, Winchester brothers or not (Okay, maybe I would as long as I get to be bffs with Castiel), but I adore it to pieces anyway. And yes. Canons will be making appearances later. This is not an OC only fic, though it is very OC heavy.

AN: The only reason I'm writing this is because the idea of it has been bouncing around in my head for a few months, actually. And when an idea sticks around for more than a week, it starts developing and is usually there to stay until I do something about it. Fellow authors, you know what I'm talking about? Of course you do lol. Damn...sticky ideas. But I like this one, so it's okay. This is one of those stories that just won't leave you alone until you write it. Y'know? That being said, I'd like to view this story as an exercise for myself as well, so please, feel free to give me some constructive criticism for it. I'm a happy learner, and I'll take any and all advice. And also, I apologize ahead of time for any spelling mistakes I might have missed. I edit everything I write, but I still miss things. Meh. I should get myself a beta reader, but...double meh.

Chapter 1

Silver is a girl's best friend

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The night was cold. Fog drifted through the streets, thick as pea soup as some would say. It hadn't started raining yet, but the air was thick and damp with the threat and feel of a storm. If you listened closely, you could hear deep, powerful thunder rolling off in the distance. The sounds of the town drowned out only some of the far-away crash of clouds getting friendly with each other.

But in her ears, all she could hear was the thud of her worn out shoes on the pavement, and the beating of her own heart. The thrum of blood rushing through her head as fear pumped adrenaline through her system and spurred her on, breathing hard, eyes narrowed at the fog.

The cool air made goosebumps appear on the skin of her arms beneath the two sweatshirts that covered her body, and on her knees as the holes in her dirty jeans let in more of the chilly atmosphere. Her hands were balled into fists so tight that her knuckles were white as she ran.

The edge of the town was in her sights. The change in scenery was sudden. From the brand new housing still up for sale to a two-lane paved road that stretched out by itself and disappeared into a curve in the forest that surrounded the town. It was empty, like the stretch of pavement behind her that curved back into civilization. Nobody was around.

Well…besides herself and the…

Concentrating on her breathing, and wondering where on earth her damn luck went, the girl looked over her shoulder, half expecting to see her pursuer right on her heels. But the shadowy shape was a good distance behind her, though the space between them didn't make her feel all that much safer. The thing was quicker than her, and gaining.

It was low to the ground, running on all fours, and she swore she saw the glint of long, pointed teeth in the misty air before whipping her head back around, rusty brown ponytail flipping out behind her, and focusing on the road again.

Sweet baby Jesus, she hoped that if it did catch her it finished her off quick.

She tried not to think about what small chance that was. Considering the grisly, bloody deaths that thing had on its resume before she tried hunting it down, she was in for a world of hurt if that thing got its claws in her.

The thin heels of her shoes scraped the cracked, old pavement, almost stumbling for a moment, and she thanked every little lucky star above that thick layer of fog and storm clouds that she didn't just pull the biggest horror movie cliché in the world and trip during the chase scene.

Running away from the town wasn't looking like such a good idea. Not that she'd had much of a choice—when you were trying to get away from something, especially if it's a game of tag that may very well end your life should you lose, it really wasn't up to you which direction you ended up going. And she hated the fact that she'd turned left instead of right earlier, because now she was just digging herself a cute, scenic forest road grave.

If it dragged her into the woods, she doubted her body would ever be found. She didn't even know if anyone would bother looking for her.

The only thing tying her to the town behind her was a hotel key in her back pocket and a couple things she'd left in her room.

A snapping, sharp bark from the beast sent cold chills up her spine, and the adrenaline rush made her whole body feel as if it were filled with some sort of insanely sugar-concentrated energy drink. Maybe, coincidentally enough, that Monster stuff. Though she wasn't sure if there was even sugar in that drink, or if it was purely chemical—

She felt a rush of cool air hit her neck, and realized it had caught up, and had tried to swipe at her back with its claws.

"Nnaaah," was the sound she made, somehow forcing her legs to move quicker and work harder to gain a few more valuable inches between herself and her pursuer while the beast caught its balance after the failed attack. But as she ran, something caught her attention in the corner of her eye—an old dirt driveway, long unused and overgrown with weeds, leading into the forest, and she tilted her head to get a better look at it.

The same instant she glanced back, she saw the beast spring at her from the ground, catching the movement just in time and yelping, ducking out of the way, feeling those claws and its big body just barely miss her, and darted off to the side, not hesitating to look back as she ran for that trail.

Much better than a long stretch of empty road to nowhere, the trail could very well lead to something. A garage or shed—something she could find a bit of cover in at least.

The beast didn't take very long to catch itself and come after her. The image of a train with teeth came to her mind for a moment, but she shook her head and tried to focus on finding out if this idea was going to pay off or not—

There!

A small, run down cabin loomed up after she scrambled over the top of a small hill. The wood of the building was old, and the windows were boarded up. For a moment, the thought that the door might be bolted sent a jolt of liquid panic through her chest, but she pushed it aside and kept moving. Because this was really her last chance.

She jumped over the two steps leading up to the thin porch, and threw her shoulder into the door, her speed and momentum making something crack and letting her inside. Slipping on the wood, she had to spin and throw the door closed, just in time to see the beast jumping at her again. But when she threw herself against the door again, this time to keep it closed instead of breaking it open, the sturdy, heavy wooden thing held when the monster crunched into it.

"Thinkthinkthink," she chanted, closing her eyes tightly, biting back a yelp when the monster reared back and crashed into the door again. The impact made her whole body bounce against it, and her footing failed as she slipped and landed on her butt, kicking her legs to keep her back to the door, hands and nails digging into the wood beside her to help. "Thinkthinkthink!"

It was a shapeshifter, she was fairly sure. But it was strange—the silver eyed beast could shift between both animal forms and human, though its trademark, favorite form was the one trying to break through the door and eat her. Some sort of hybrid mix between a bear and a wolf.

Silver should work on it. Something silver. She didn't know what she'd do with a bit of silver if she got it, unless it was knife-shaped and pointy, but that was what she'd need. And of course, the only gun she had, along with her last silver bullet, was back in her hotel room.

"Shoot," she hissed. All she was doing now, then, was stretching out what nasty little remnants she had of her life.

A sound from somewhere else in the room made her look up. And her heart nearly stopped at the realization that she wasn't alone in the cabin.

Three large shadows stared at her from different places from the cabin's front entry room. She could see into a dark room out in front of her, where one of them was standing beside what looked like a couch. Another was almost directly to her right, standing in a doorway into another room. The third made her jump when he appeared, leaning against the door over her to help keep it closed, appearing from somewhere to her left.

"Did you piss off a bear or what, kid?" the man above her hissed, pushing against the door harder when the shapeshifter slammed against it again. "Damn thing's gonna break down the fucking door at this rate…"

Her breath caught in her throat for a minute. "D…do any of you have…" she began slowly, terror icing over every bone in her body. Oh God, there were actually people in this place. She'd lead the thing right to them. She was going to end up being the stupid idiot who ended up causing all of their deaths. "Silver," she said in a gasp.

The man above her glanced down. "What?"

"Silver!" she shouted over the roar of the shapeshifter outside. "Anything! Something silver!"

She had an idea. Albeit an incredibly…stupid one, but…

"The fuck you need silver for—"

"Don't ask me stupid questions!" she barked, wincing as she heard a crack behind her, those claws tearing chunks of the door away, thinning it. Soon enough, it could probably reach right through and grab one of them. "Anything! A watch or a ring!"

BANG went the door.

"NOW!"

The man to her right, still standing in the doorway, seemed to hesitate for a second before he shook his head and reached down for her, plucking her off the ground by her shoulders easily, holding her tight when she shrieked and tried to push away, trying to get back to the door. "Calm down, you're alright," was all he said before his eyes cut up to the man who'd been helping her. "Deacon, keep the door closed, the bear will get bored eventually—"

"Please!" God, she was desperate. They didn't understand that the damn monster would keep tearing at the door until it got inside. It wouldn't get bored. "Please, just…silver! Just a little piece of silver is what…" her voice trailed off and she shuddered. She felt sick, knowing what would happen if her stupid plan didn't work.

Deacon—the man at the door—growled under his breath when the shapeshifter crashed against it again. "What in the hell do you need silver for? Just…go sit in a corner 'til the thing leaves, Jesus."

She looked from Deacon to the man still holding onto her shoulders. Dark as it was, she couldn't see much of him, but she could see a few strands of his hair hanging in front of his eyes, which were catching what little light there was in the room and reflecting it back out like a mirror. "Please," she begged.

He hesitated again, and she almost hated him when he pressed her into the room where the other shadow was still standing. "Luca, keep an eye on her."

"Probably she's just scared out of her damn mind," called Deacon.

"I'm not—let go!" she yelled.

There was a gurgled, pained noise from outside the door, and the crashing stopped abruptly. Silence was all the four of them heard for a long time.

Deacon let out a curse, still holding the door closed however, but his tone suggested he was smiling. "Guess it got bored, eh? Bout damn time. We're going to have to replace the fucking door—"

"Jenna," a voice whispered. It was a soothing, calm sort of tone. Silvery and enticing. And it floated through the bottom of the door from the outside. "Jenna, come outside. Come outside, I've missed you."

Deacon looked back at her, eyes flashing in the dark. "…The hell is that?"

"Keep the door closed," was all she said, eyes widening. "Keep it closed."

"Running so hard," the shapeshifter purred. "You must be exhausted."

"Seriously, the fuck is that?" Deacon demanded. "Hey, you alright out there? The bear's gone right?"

"Stop talking to him!" she hissed. She tried to push at the man still holding her, but his grip seemed to tighten over her shoulders even more. "Don't open the door!"

"The hell not? If Yogi's still out there, it's not like I should just—"

"Get away from the door, you damned useless fodder," the shifter growled, and Jenna watched Deacon's body stiffen and stop the action of his arms moving from the door to open it. "She's my catch. Mine."

"…Kid, who is this guy?" Deacon was pushing against the door again.

"I just want some silver," she said absently, staring at the door. "He's…a…a-allergic," she whispered.

"Allergic to silver, allergic to silver," the shapeshifter repeated, tone mocking. "Girl I will tear out your damn innards with my teeth if I hear you say silver again," he snarled, voice losing that velvety, calming tone.

"Vampire," hissed the shifter, and Jenna almost winced as the grip on her shoulders tightened almost to the point of pain, and she felt the already tense air go electric. "Weak. You're weak, all three of you. Weaklings. You've got vermin blood in you, I can smell it. JENNA!" he snapped suddenly. "Jenna come outside or I'll kill you slow! I'll kill you slow and cut their heads off and—" The shapeshifter's voice melted into a stream of animalistic growls and grunts and roars, and she knew he was changing forms again.

"Please," she breathed, and the man holding her looked at her again. "Silver."

He hesitated, eyes nearly glowing in the dark, before releasing her and reaching down for his wrist, unclipping something that glinted in the dim light before handing it over to her slowly.

She looked down at it when she had it in her hands. It was a simple chain—thick and strong. "Real silver?"

The man who'd given her the bracelet grunted. "…Yeah," he told her. "Real silver. What are you going to—"

She didn't take the time to tell him what she wanted to do, mostly because she didn't really think any of them would let her. Jenna Chaunce only lunged away from him and back into the front entry room, ignoring the question Deacon shot at her as she jumped closer, and kicked out. Her foot connected with the back of the man's knee, making him shout out a curse and fall back for a moment, away from the door.

Be brave, her mind told her. Be brave, be brave, be brave. She took a deep breath,.

…Like the Winchester brothers.

Be brave. Be brave. Be brave.

The words were a chant in her head, blocking out everything. They made her forget about things like fear, and forget about the shifter calling the three men out as vampires. They silenced the ripping growl just on the other side of the door, the beating of her own heart, and the alarmed uproar that burst from the men in the room as she wrenched that door open and threw herself at the beast.

Surprise was the only thing she had to her advantage as she struck it in the chest, sending the monster stumbling back with her. That, and the thick chain of silver she hand clenched in her fingers.

As the beast snarled, its back paws slipped on the damp wood of the porch, sending the two falling back into the muddy grass in front of the cabin. When a hateful growl elicited from its throat, catching its balance as it opened its jaws wide, fear wasn't present in her system as she whipped her arm out, and reached into the monster's open maw, that fist clenched tight around the silver bracelet shoving down, down, down into the creature's throat.

A howl pierced her ears as the silver came into contact with such sensitive tissue, and its jaws snapped down. Pain pierced through the chant in her head as those teeth dug through her two sweatshirts and into her arm, but she closed her eyes, hissing as she unclenched her fingers and released the chain, tugging her arm back when the beast opened its mouth and tried to snap to get a better hold on her. In its panic and pain though, it released her completely, muscles heaving in its chest and stomach to cough the burning, agonizing silver thing back up.

But she clawed after it, wrapping her arms around its head, trying to force its jaws to stay closed as it heaved and choked, smoke and bubbling black blood oozing from in between its teeth.

The noises it made were terrible.

She held tight to it, at one point almost clinging to its muzzle with her whole body, every muscle in her straining to keep those teeth closed as it thrashed. Though as the terrified, pained sounds went on and on, she found that the words to her chant began to change.

Be brave, be brave , be brave, began to morph into something more like I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Pity flared through her. Evil and wicked and bloodthirsty as the shapeshifter was or not, trying to take a life always felt terrible to her. Even as this one reached up and raked its claws against her already damaged arm in a last ditch attempt to throw her off, she didn't feel angry. Or even scared.

She just wanted the damn things' pain to end.

The lurching and writhing slowed, the monster struggling until its energy drained from its body as fast as its lifeblood. With a heavy breath through its nose it collapsed to the earth in a heap, choking in a ragged breath once…twice…three times until she felt it exhale everything it had, and take in no more.

She didn't dare let go, though. Didn't dare loosen her grip until what felt like full minutes had gone by, and she began to feel the strain herself. Muscles weak, head dizzy and light, she relaxed her locked hold on the beast's head, scooting back through the bloody mud a bit until it lay there, only a few feet in front of her, eyes glassy, jaws still hissing with smoke as the blood pooling around its head still bubbled. It looked very much dead.

"…" The girl let out a shaky breath, realizing only then that she was trembling like a leaf hanging onto its branch for dear life. Her arm was shaking when she tried lifting it to assess the damage. It was dark, and difficult to see, but her shoulders almost sagged at how terrible it looked. The thing had not only bitten her, but with all that tugging she pulled, the teeth had ripped her as well. The claws of course had only made it worse. There were chunks of her missing. She could see bone glinting up at her at the bottom of one puncture wound.

But she only looked up slowly, remembering in the back of her mind somewhere that she had a first aid kit back in the hotel room she'd been staying at. All of her things were back in the same room. And…there was a hospital back in the town too…she could find it.

"C…can find it," she mumbled to herself. Her legs felt like they were going to give out beneath her as she pushed herself up to her feet with her good arm. Her vision blurred after her first step. Doubled after her third.

She fell to her knees on the fourth. "I…what…" It was hard to think straight. Hard to make sense of anything. She felt so light headed, and actually swayed where she was. Looking down at herself, soaked in blood, she let out a small, weak laugh. She couldn't believe it, really. And maybe it was denial that made all that blood look so damn funny to her. She didn't want to die.

"Dang," she whispered. It was the juiciest curse for the situation she could come up with.

Looking back up at the forest stretched out in front of her, she knew that just over that hill right there, she'd find the road back to the town. The town with the hospital. All she had to do was stand up and—

…But her thoughts ended there. Trying to stand again, her body and mind had given up on staying conscious, and she slumped forward towards the earth, all covered in dead leaves, twigs and specks of blood. She had nearly forgotten about the three men back in the cabin she was so desperate to save in the first place after bringing the shapeshifter right to them.

The three broad shouldered, bulky men were on the tiny porch at that point, two of them having made it as far as the bottom step down to the earth below, all of them stuck between a place where they wanted to help and where they wanted to just stare. Stunned silent, they hadn't budged much further than that. Witnessing a girl pull something like that over a thing like that… Honestly, knowing even where to begin would have been impressive.

"...Just…going to stand around?" Deacon growled, the first to break the quiet shock of what had just happened. He brushed passed the two on the bottom steps, growling under his breath as he stepped around the dead beast's carcass and drew closer to the girl. "…Luca, come and look at this," he muttered, catching the attention of the man on the very bottom step. "Her arm's…pretty fucked up." His voice was strained and he lifted a hand to cover his mouth, turning his head to look away from her.

"Don't—don't touch her. All that blood…" Luca, the smallest of the three, made his way closer, kneeling down beside her as well. Deacon moved back, rustling up the leaves on the ground as he did. He took a deep breath in through his mouth and shuddered as he exhaled.

It was dark, and the fog blocked any source of light the moon could have given them…

But they could all see perfectly. Everything was as bright at night to them as it would be to anyone else during the day. Maybe even brighter.

"I've got my damn control under…control," Deacon snarled, voice a deep rumble in his chest.

Luca hissed in a breath, reaching up and running a hand through his dark, curly hair, narrowing his eyes at the girl's wounds before he shook his head and began to slip his arms under her limp, deadweight body.

"What the hell are we supposed to do with her?" Deacon kept his eyes trained away from her still, brows furrowed. "And what the hell was…what the hell was that?" he growled, and his eyes darted back to the dead beast behind him. "Did you see that? You saw all that, right? Heard it? The fuck are we supposed to—"

"Ignore it, for now," Luca said back, holding the young hunter close to his chest, dwarfing her. "It's dead. And Dustin is coming home tomorrow. So right now…we just need to make sure she makes it through the night."

"I don't think we should keep her here…" Deacon began, but stopped when Luca looked at him.

"What do you think we should do with her. Hm? I need to stop all this bleeding. Right now. I know you've seen all this damn blood," he said, moving back towards the cabin. "…Unless you don't actually want the kid to live to see tomorrow."

"No, I say we kill her and drink her down like she's made of fucking Fanta," Deacon hissed, narrowing his eyes, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "And she doesn't need our damn help, she needs a fucking hospital. All you'll do is stitch her up with dental floss and leave her with a whole lotta—"

"I," began Luca icily, making his way up the front steps of the cabin, passing the third, quiet man with a nod. "Was a doctor in a past life, Deacon. So you shut your mouth, or God help me I will sew it shut for you." He shot a scathing look over his shoulder. "With fucking dental floss." With that, he disappeared into the cabin through the clawed, ruined door, leaving Deacon glaring up at him from the bloody grass.

The third man looked his way, eyes flashing in the dark.

"…I think we should burn it," he said, voice soft.

"Burn what? The bear? Or did you mean the kid?"

The man was silent.

"Fuck, Cole, ease off. Calm down. I know what you meant," Deacon muttered, reaching up and rubbing at the back of his head, fingertips touching into his short black hair. "Don't know why we'd need to burn the thing—"

"Honestly, what do you think this creature is? What is the first thing that comes to mind after everything that's just happened?"

"…Could be a husky."

"…"

"A really big husky."

"My bracelet burned it from the inside out. To death. My silver bracelet." Cole's eyes narrowed. "…Silver," he added again. "She made a big deal about that little detail."

Deacon blinked, staring at him for a moment before he shook his head and let a small laugh escape his throat. "Nah. You aren't suggesting what I think you're suggesting. You really aren't."

"Why not?" Cole crossed his arms over his chest, tilting his head forward so that a few wispy strands of hair fell in front of his eyes. "We're here, aren't we?" He tilted his head a bit to the side. "We've got this little notch of the mythology books proved. And it spoke, Deacon. The thing threatened us—it knew what we were. It…changed."

"Yeah but...c'mon. Werewolves? That's stupid. I bet we were…pranked or something. That has to be it. Look, the thing doesn't even look like a werewolf. They're supposed to stand upright and stalk around and still be wearing their ripped up jeans. It isn't even a full moon. It looks like somebody just gave their stupid dog some steroids, is what it looks like."

"And vampires aren't supposed to have a second set of teeth above the first," Cole growled. "Vampires are supposed to turn to dust in the sun, and stakes through the heart are supposed to kill us."

"…Well that all just sounds stupid," Deacon muttered. He glanced up at Cole when the man shook his head and turned away from him. "Look," he started, sighing when Cole stopped and looked at him again. "…Look, I have no idea." Deacon grit his teeth, eyes dropping back down at the dead beast. "…I have no idea. I just don't."

"…Doesn't matter," Cole said quietly. "If she makes it through the night, we'll ask her when she wakes up."

"I wanna say that she just had a mental breakdown and decided to choke the mutt to death by shoving your bracelet down its throat, but…you're right. It sizzled it from the inside out. Smoking and everything. …I don't think even the worst allergy in the fuckin' world can do that to you. …Not to mention the…the talking…bit. I don't know what the fuck that means."

"…I don't think any of us do," Cole mumbled. "…Except for that girl." And with that, he turned away again, disappearing into the cabin as well, and Deacon was left alone on the bloody front lawn.