Grace's eyes flickered open; the darkness that filled the room was soothing, as was the gentle breeze smoothing cool air against her skin. Despite this, there was an aching, craving sensation at the back of her throat. She realised that it was her thirst that had woken her, and reluctantly pulled the duvet back. The warmth of the summer had swayed her decision to wear a pair of pale blue, silk shorts and a matching sleeveless top, which she adjusted as she slowly made her way into the kitchen. She fumbled around for the switch before flicking it. The whole room was plunged into a bright light, making her squint hard. It didn't take long for her to grab a glass and slide it under the water dispenser built into her fridge. The water was cold and indescribably refreshing, and gone within seconds. Unfortunately, getting up for the drink had woken her up a little more than she had hoped and knew there was no chance of getting back to sleep. 6:27am, the clock flashed at her from the dim light of her bedroom. 'Late enough' she sighed internally, heading into the bathroom. She was a stunning girl, not that she would ever believe it. Her fair hair was silky and swept just past her shoulders, and her eyes, like amethysts. They were the most intriguing shade of violet. She filled her cupped hands with water before splashing it over her flawless skin. Bang. Grace's blood froze.
"What the hell was that?" she whispered under her breath, her heart rate rapidly increasing. Time seemed to slow down and she could hear her breath so loudly inside her head. 1 second… 2 second… 3 second... 4… 5. Grace screamed. A figure had appeared in the mirror behind her; she spun round flailing at its tall, muscular frame. He grabbed her with a strong grip and she struggled furiously against it, more screams being ripped from her lips. She was in a state of panic and whilst struggling like she was, she could not catch a glimpse at her intruder's appearance. He yanked her back, dragging her out of the bathroom. By then, another figure had appeared. Grace's fear and panic caused hot tears to roll down her face. As well as that, a burning sensation formed at her core. The screams she now let out were not due to fear, but to pain. There was a flash that could have been perceived as bright, but the blast was jet black in colour. The two men were thrown back and Grace fell to the floor with an unmerciful force. Her head was spinning, but was soon corrected with adrenaline. She forced herself to shake off the pain and push herself up as quickly as possible. She bolted from the bedroom and began sprinting through the apartment, towards the front door. Bursting out into the corridor, she ignored the series of elevator doors she sped past. Cursing at the fact she was so high up in the building, being on the 19th floor, she began her decent. The steel stairs clanked loudly as she bounded down them three at a time.
Back in the bedroom of her apartment, the two men had risen to their feet, still utterly confused and in a considerable amount of pain.
"What was that?" one asked, looking at his friend with wide eyes. The other shook his head in response.
"I don't know" he said quietly, before swiftly moving over to the window. He strained to look through the inky black night. There it was, his fears becoming reality, a dark hummer pulled up across the street and was evacuated in the most disorderly manor, all inside keen to get at what they'd come for. "They're here" he said, turning and trying to keep the slight sense of panic from his voice.
"Find the girl, Castiel. I'll be there as soon as possible" the other demanded, swooping down to pick up the desert eagle he'd dropped in the blast. Castiel frowned,
"Dean, I don't want to split up" he said gruffly, taking a step towards him.
"Just go Cas" he yelled, then felt bad for snapping. "You have to protect her, I'll be fine" he added considerably quieter. Castiel nodded reluctantly, but as soon as he'd agreed with Dean he was no longer in the bedroom, but standing in front of the running girl. Grace skidded to halt, avoiding a collision with one of her apparent captors. She couldn't even comprehend how he had just appeared in front of her like that, but before she had the chance to begin, her mind was overtaken with the fear of the approaching figures. Castiel noticed that she was staring behind him, terror flashing in her eyes. He spun round with a blade in hand, one he had concealed until this point. The dagger slipped through the flesh of an impending demon. Grace cried out, the shock of witnessing such a murder hit her suddenly. Several more advanced on him, but he made light work of disposing of them. Suddenly, he was caught off guard, and dropped his dagger, which clattered to the floor. He resorted to pressing his palm firmly to their heads, squinting as they expired with a bright light. Grace pressed her back to the wall of the building as one of demons, who had slipped past Castiel's guard, slowly moved in on her. He came uncomfortably close and Grace squeezed her beautiful eyes shut as he dragged a cold nail across her cheek. He laughed quietly, sadistically.
"You have no idea" he began, brushing his bottom lip against her skin, "what the boss has install for you" he grinned evilly. Grace had held her breath as his was so foul. Suddenly, pain twisted through his features and he fell to the floor. Behind him stood Dean, Castiel's blade in hand. With the other, he grabbed Grace's wrist.
"Come on" he said, pulling her away from the wall. "Cas" he called to his friend, who was still deep in a heated battle. He caught Castiel's attention and threw the dagger to him. He could then concentrate on pulling out a small lighter and igniting it, before lobbing it through the window of the hummer. "Cas come on" he called, beckoning his friend to follow as he hastily led grace to their own car. Castiel made his last move, incinerating a possible threat, before heading after Dean. He threw himself into the back of the car, as he did, a huge ball of fire exploded into the night sky. Dean peeled away, the car letting out a reluctant screech as it was forced forwards. Castiel watched through the back window as the last of the demon dirty-workers were consumed by the fireball. Grace's heart raced exceedingly fast and she breathed raggedly in the attempt to actually breathe at all. There were still tears rolling unwillingly down her cheeks and she was terrified.
"Who are you people?" she stuttered, barely able to speak. "I said, who are you?" she demanded, feeling suddenly angry. Castiel turned to her, guilt evident on his face.
"I'm really sorry about this" he said quietly before placing two fingers on her forehead. She was unconscious instantly, slumping back in her seat.
"That was too close" Dean said, not taking his eyes off the road ahead. "The round up is going to have to proceed a little quicker than we had hoped" he added. Castiel nodded in agreement.
"How many are there?" he asked, looking over at the girl, sleeping peacefully.
"With her secure, they are three more?" he replied. Castiel almost didn't take notice, but the information went in distantly. He carefully brushed her hair from her face.
"What is her name?" Dean looked round briefly to put Castiel's question into context.
"That one's Grace" he answered, turning back to concentrate on the road.
Sam sat at a laptop, scanning through the list of information which had popped up. He selected the documents belonging to a girl named Rauna, pronounced R-or-na, as he also had to search. The document showed college applications, GSCE's, personal statements, job interview notes.
A huge passion of mine is kickboxing, a hobby I was introduced to at a very young age, she had written. She went on to describe how female kickboxing is an act against sexism and a huge confidence boost against gender discrimination, but Sam had what he needed and went on to study the location of the collages and work placements she had applied for. Chicago, which was where the boys were currently based… Must be fate, Sam laughed to himself, looking up at the heavens. He soon found a kickboxing class in the area she was based and found a picture of her on the website. She was with her claimed best friend, Ellie Cameira, who was another target of theirs.