Chapter 5
"Ma'am? Ma'am, are you alright?" Roxanne stirred slightly as she tried to open her eyes. But they felt as though her eyelids were glued shut. Slowly, but surely, her other senses were beginning to return. Under her, she could feel the fluffiness of a mattress. She could detect the familiar scent of the musty, mildew aroma of the motel. Her sight was the last to return. But when she opened her eyes, she saw the two boys leaning over her. Roxanne went to sit up, but she gasped a loud when her chest throbbed painfully. There was also some sort of annoying buzzing in her ears. The first words that came through her lips were, "Where is it? Where did it go?" Her eyes darted at a surprisingly rapid rate as though she expected to see the demon hiding in the corner of the room. Dean looked at the other. "It got away. Sam get her some water." The one called Sam reached over to the bedside table and handed her a cup of water. But Roxanne angrily shoved it away, water sloshing from the glass. Anger was pulsing through her veins and it made her tremble with it. "Goddamn it! You two just had to butt in!" She tried to yell but it came out as a pissed off whisper, which was just as good. Roxanne could feel the itchy hair from the wig at the back of her neck and she snatched it roughly from her head and her sunglasses from her eyes so she could glare at them properly. She took savage pleasure in watching Sam and Dean shudder under the intensity of her glare. But on top of that fear, a look of dawning recognition crossed Sam's face as his eyes flickered to the knife that was still stuck in the wall. Roxanne followed his gaze, a tight-lipped smile playing on her lips. "Yeah. That was me. And I'd like my knife back if you don't mind." Roxanne said snidely. "Look, Lady! You could show just a little bit of gratitude for saving your ass!" Dean bellowed angrily. For a moment, Roxanne sputtered, lost for words. But once she started talking, the words came out with a ferocity that the air around her seemed to pulse with it when just a moment ago, she couldn't even manage it. "Are you blind or just plain stupid? I had it covered! I would have wasted that son of a bitch if you two didn't come blundering over with your fucking shotgun!" She spat, shifting her tri-colored eyes to the firearm in Dean's hand. "Yeah, because that wound clearly said you had that thing eating out of the palm of your hand." Dean grumbled. Her jaw clenched. "I didn't need you two half-wit as swipes to save my life!" "Look lady..." Roxanne cut across him sharply. "Call me lady one more time dude." Quicker than she expected her battered body to respond, she snatched a knife from her thigh and directed it toward him with a threatening grimace on her lips. Dean's eyes narrowed into a glare. "Give me a reason. You cost me my demon and I am not in the best of moods right now." Dean cocked his gun and pointed it down at her chest. Roxanne merely looked at him as she unbuttoned her tattered jacket to expose her slashed chest. "Go ahead and shoot me motherfucker." She taunted him. "No one's shooting anyone!" Sam yelled between the two of them. She looked at him and he immediately looked back. Really looked at her. "She's a demon." There was no telling if he had said that for Dean's benefit, or what he felt toward it. But whatever reason, Roxanne was immediately affronted. There was no way she was going to allow them to call her something as vile as a demon. "I'm not a demon you ignorant, ass backwards-" "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow your fucking head right off." Dean growled, glaring at her. Roxanne sighed deeply. "You shouldn't try to shoot my head off because first you would be dead before you can even put any pressure on the trigger. Second because it won't do a damn thing except give me a concussion and a headache. And Third because believe it or not, we're on the same side." "I seriously doubt that." Dean scoffed, his voice deep with resentment. "Dean, for once, can you not act like a dick?" Sam asked wryly. Dean shrugged his broad shoulders. "I could, but I wouldn't have be as charming, so why bother?" He asked, smirking. Sam rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything in response. "In any case, whether you want to admit it or not, you two need me. I know things about this demon that you don't." "Like what?" Dean's voice sounded doubtful. Gingerly, Roxanne pushed herself into a sitting position against the headboard, grimacing as the movement tugged at her wounds. She started to feel lightheaded and tired and she knew the demon's poison was coursing faster throughout her body. She warily dragged her fingers through her hair. "I've been slaying demons since before you two were born." She gave a short bark of a laugh that made her chest hurt. But she continued. "Actually, I'm willing to bet I've been hunting since before your granddaddy was born, too. And I've faced this thing before, so I could help." Roxanne blinked rapidly as gray blotches began to dot her vision. The blindness was starting. Thankfully, se had anti-venom available, but it was in her bag in the corner of her motel room. "What's the catch?" Dean questioned roughly. She had an answer ready. "I need someone to go to my room and get my first aid kit. The Monarch poison is spreading and if I don get the antidote soon, I'm as good as dead." She said, her eyes flickering between Dean and Sam. "Aren't you already...?" "Shut up, Dean." Sam barked before he could even finish, and then looked at Roxanne. "I'll go." "Sammy, are you crazy? She could be lying to us and your playing right into her pretty little manicured hands." Dean growled to Sam lowly. "Hey. Yeah, I'm still here ya know? And thanks for mentioning my hands." She smiled brightly and wiggled her fingers. Dean glowered at her. "Dean right now, we don't have a choice. She could help us find this thing." Without even waiting for him to answer, he turned his attention to Roxanne. "Room one fifteen?" Sam asked. She nodded as she reached into her pocket for her room key. But it was not an easy feat. Her hands were shaking violently and she couldn't maintain control. Her eyesight was beginning to fail as well. Roxanne finally got her hand around her key and held it out blindly. "Are you okay?" "No, I'm not. The poison is spreading and I can't see. Not to mention I'm losing control of my nervous system. But hurry up. Once the paralysis kicks in, I'm a goner." Roxanne left out the detail that a tingling sensation was beginning to creep from the tips of her toes to her ankles. Sam took the card and rushed from the room.
