My name is Calla Burke, and I guess you could say that I'm a hunter, although my partners try to keep me out of the line of fire more often than not. If your reading this, you've probably heard of them...Sam and Dean Winchester. I know, I'm a lucky girl, but let me tell you how it happened.
I first met the Winchesters in 1994, the year that changed everything. They came to town to hunt down whatever it was that killed my mom and about a dozen other people across the county. John tried to talk to me, but he terrified me, so he put Sam and Dean into my school, with orders to try to get to know me, maybe find out what, if anything, I'd seen when my mom died. I was 13, in seventh grade. Dean was 15, but just a grade ahead of me, and took some remedial classes with my grade. Sam was only 11 and in sixth grade, but they placed him in a few of my classes as well, he was so smart. They tried so hard to be casual about getting to know me, but really? They were new, and I was the school freak, there was no logic other than they wanted something, and it wasn't hard for me to figure out what. So, at the end of the week, I handed Sam a note saying to meet me Saturday morning in the old churchyard, just him and Dean please, I wasn't sure I'd be able to talk if their dad came along. I went home that afternoon and sat shaking in my bedroom, not sure if they'd really show up alone, or at all, but needing to tell them what I knew.
I was in the church to get out of the wind when I heard John's car. I had really hoped that the boys would be able to come alone, but I went out to meet them anyway. To my surprise, Dean was driving! As soon as I was visible, he killed the engine and he and Sam stepped out. Dean somehow seemed more intimidating than he had in school, scanning the entire place like he'd never miss a detail. Sammy just looked determined, as if he expected something unpleasant, but necessary.
"Hi guys. I..I'm glad you came. Look, I know this is weird, but I just...I feel like I can trust you, so if you really want to know what happened the day my mom died, I'll tell you." It came out in a rush, verbal diarrhea brought on by my nerves. I could tell I'd surprised them, at least a little, by the looks they gave each other. Dean came around the front of the car to lean next to Sammy. "We're listening," the older brother ground out. It dawned on me then that Dean didn't like being caught off-guard, not even (or maybe especially not) by a teenage girl. I dropped my eyes to the gravel for a moment, silently asking for the strength to go through with this. When I looked back up, I made eye contact with Sam, and the compassion I saw there helped me start.
"It was three weeks ago Sunday. Mom and I always come...came...here on Sunday afternoons to water the flowers, rake leaves, mow, just whatever needed to be done." I started walking, knowing that they'd follow. "I was over here," I pointed to the nearly dead flower bed next to the old church, "weeding and cutting off dead blooms. Mom had gone around back to the caretaker's shed to get the mower. I thought I heard her call me, so I went to see what she wanted." My voice broke a little, but I turned to walk to where I'd last seen my mom alive. "I came around the side here..." Sammy took my hand as I paused at the corner. "It's alright to cry," he said softly, "we won't think any less of you." Dean made an odd noise, somewhere between a laugh and a snort. "Hell, even if you don't, Sammy probably will. Kid cries easier than most girls."
Sam shot Dean a look that should have left a bruise, but I giggled. It didn't take a genius to see that Dean's whole world pretty much revolved around his brother, or that Sammy thought Dean hung the moon, so their back and forth teasing was just boys being boys. I kind of envied them, I'm an only child. That thought that broke the thin dam holding back my tears. Suddenly I was sobbing, barely staying on my feet as my emotions ripped through me. Arms came around me; from the back, Dean's, awkwardly around my shoulders, but solid and comforting, and from the front, Sam's, one hand still holding mine, the other arm wrapping around my waist. It should have been weird, I mean, I barely knew them, but somehow I just felt safe and loved. As I slowly got myself under control again, I noticed that Dean was murmuring something near my ear. "Shh, I got you...you're not alone. We've got you, we know, it's okay...shh..." comforting nonsense, but it helped.
When I could talk again, I tried to apologize for spazzing out, but neither one wanted to hear it. So I went back to where I'd left off. "I came around here and saw mom laying on the ground over there," I pointed to the edge of the grounds, near the shed. "I ran over thinking she'd just slipped or something, but she was...she was dead. She'd been ripped open. I couldn't think, couldn't move for a minute. Then I heard something in the trees." Both boys were looking at the treeline as if they expected something to jump out at any moment. "I looked, afraid that whatever animal killed mom was still close, but it wasn't an animal. That's why everyone's saying that I'm a freak. When the cops said it was an animal attack, I kind of lost it. Spent a couple days in the psych ward because I kept trying to tell people that I saw it, and it wasn't a cougar, bear, dog, wolf, or coyote."
Dean was still watching the trees, but Sam was watching me now. I could see the question in his eyes, but he was waiting, letting me get to it in my own way. "At first I thought it was a woman coming towards me, and I yelled to warn her to be careful. But then..." I paused, swallowing hard, "it turned around. Whatever the hell it was, it had a face on both sides of it's head, and the other one was...horrible comes close. I must have passed out, because Father David found me next to mom a couple hours later when he came to lock the church up for the night. Everyone says it was just shock and I must have imagined it. But for some reason, you two haven't told me I'm crazy yet?" I made it a question.
"Crazy? You're definitely not crazy." Sammy was the one to answer. "Whether you imagined it or not, crazy would be thinking you saw what killed your mom and being too worried about what people think to tell anyone. Besides, things everyone else thinks are crazy, they're kind of the things my dad wants to know about."
"Can you show me about where it was?" Dean interrupted. I nodded, going to the spot where I was when I saw it, and pointing to roughly where it would have been. "The trees only extend another 30 feet or so that way, then you come out into the city park. They were planted to provide privacy for the church, way back when. They are about that thick all the way around three sides of the church property." Sam laughed and tried to turn it into a cough. "What?" I said, a little annoyed. "Sorry, you just kind of sounded like a real estate agent for a second there." The kid at least had the grace to look a little ashamed of himself. Dean made a disgusted noise and headed off into the trees.
"Stay put you two, I'm going to take a look and see if there's any tracks." he called over his shoulder. Sam's face was pure panic for a second "Dean! There won't be, it's been weeks. And Dad'll want to look for himself anyway, why don't you just wait?" I could tell that he didn't want his big brother to go off alone, but didn't dare say it straight out. So I added, "I really don't want to stay here any way." The shaking in my voice wasn't even an act. "Could you give me a ride home? I walked here, but it looks like it could rain any second."
I could tell Dean wasn't happy about it, but they gave me a ride home. Dean even walked me to the door when he realized my dad wasn't home. "You gonna be okay here by yourself? We could hang out if you need us to." His heart wasn't in it, but I appreciated the offer for what it was. "I'll be fine, you better go talk to your dad." He started to turn back to the car. "Oh, and Dean?" a little frown, he spun back to face me. "Thank you." I kissed him, just a quick peck, and bolted inside, kind of startled by my own boldness.
Monday at school, both brothers seemed to be avoiding me, which was really obvious because I had one or the other of them in almost every class. By the middle of the day, I was annoyed and embarrassed, wondering if it was because they told their dad what I saw and he said that I was crazy and they should stay away, or if it was because of the kiss. I made up my mind to catch Sam before he left our last class and ask him what was up. But just before last period ended, the principal came over the PA system, asking for me to come to the office. I glanced at Sammy, but he was reading as if he hadn't heard anything. I gathered my things and left the classroom, sick to my stomach and sure that I was about to be sent back to the psyche ward because I'd trusted them with the truth.
I wasn't terribly shocked to see my dad and John Winchester talking to the principal in his office. After a few minutes, they got up, shaking hands as they came out the door. My dad thanked the principal and told him that I probably wouldn't be back for a few days, and then I couldn't hear anymore. My heart was racing, drowning out any other sound. What had John told my dad? I mean, dad had heard the whole story before, but to get out of the psyche ward the first time I'd told them that I didn't know what I'd really seen, that I knew there's no way I'd seen a monster that day. I didn't realize I was near passing out until a warm hand wrapped around mine.
My eyes flew open to see Sam and Dean. Sammy had my hand, and Dean was between us and our fathers, with a look on his face I couldn't quite read. "We got here as soon as we could," Sam whispered, stepping close to me, "not sure what's going on, but you're not alone." He gave me one of his sweet, shy smiles. I sighed, and smiled back because I couldn't help it. I wasn't sure if the boys could help me at all, but it was nice to know that they were there for me.
John was the first one to realize his boys were there, and his eyebrows nearly met his hairline as he took it all in – Sammy holding my hand, practically joined to my hip, and Dean, braced between us and the adults like he would take them on if they got too close. "Boys..." John's voice made me quiver, it was so deep and somehow menacing. "Glad you could make it. Why don't we all head out to the parking lot, seems we need to talk, and I'm sure these fine folks would like us out of the way." He flashed a megawatt smile at the secretaries, who looked ready to do anything he asked, then turned and nodded to my dad to go ahead.
While dad and John walked ahead, Sammy and Dean positioned themselves on either side of me, and began whispering, telling me that they'd told their dad my story, and that they'd gone back to look for tracks despite the fact that they all knew there probably wouldn't be any after almost a month. Then they told me that John'd never heard of anything like it, so he called a buddy of his, and now they thought that it might have been something called a "Sharp Elbows" or "Two Face", some kind of Native American nasty. Right as we hit the door, Dean looked at me and said "I don't know what my dad told yours, but there's no way I'm letting them lock you up again, so just breathe, okay?" Surprisingly, I never doubted that a 15 year old boy would somehow stop them, Dean was just that convincing. It made me feel better, and gave me the courage to walk out into the parking lot with my head held high.
I saw John and my dad talking, leaned up against the Impala. It was a little thing, but seeing them relaxed took some of the fear away. I didn't think my dad would be calmly chatting if he was about to try to have me committed again. John looked up as we crossed the parking lot, a slight frown creasing his brow, as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. I wiggled my hand a bit in Sammy's, thinking maybe he should let go now that his dad and mine were both watching us, just as Dean threw his arm around my shoulders like it was something he'd done a thousand times. "Don't worry," he breathed near my ear, "Sammy and I know what we're doing." I tensed a bit, and then breathed it away. There was no point in fighting about it, and I was sure the boys were on my side. When we finally made it to the car (I swear the parking lot doubled in size during that walk!), Dean opened the rear passenger door, motioned Sam in, then me, and he got in last, pulling the door shut behind him, all without saying a word to either of our fathers. I saw John shake his head a little before he and my dad got in.