Emily's P.O.V
"Can't you just stop fighting for one day?!"
But they don't stop fighting. And they won't for a long time, because that's just how it is now. They bicker for a while, they start shouting, I leave the room to get away from it, and then it just gets worse. Sam, trying to defend me, will blame his brother for my exit, and Ellie, my best friend, will defend Dean and manage to worsen the argument. Even though after that they usually stop, they didn't today.
"Dean, don't you see?" I hear Sam shout from the room next door, "We could have saved her! We could have helped her! You just- Why can't you see the good in people?"
"Oh, I can see good in people, but only when they have it. That girl, she was mad! She helped kill her own family, and your saying she should still be alive? Maybe the madness is contagious!"
"Look Dean, she was innocent and scared, what else could she have done? She-"
"No! Enough Sam!" Ellie snaps, "Dean's right, she knew exactly what she was doing, there was no way we could have stopped her if we had been there, she probably would have just killed us as well!"
"No she wouldn't! You didn't know her did you? She was a kind, caring girl, she was just scared!"
"Woah, don't pick on her now, you'll regret that you know," Hearing the change of tone, I glance up from my knees where I had buried my head and watched Dean step in front of Ellie to face Sam up close, "Aw, little brother, did you just want to save the pretty girl?" Dean mocked, "What's wrong? Is Emily not good enough for you anymore?" As I started to stand up, I watched Sam grab Dean's collar and pin him against the wall, spitting an angry retaliation in his face. That's when the fight began. Punches followed every insult, there was smashed glass after every remark, they'll be lucky if they survive the night.
After seeing Ellie's failed attempt to break the men apart, I pull her out of the room and tell her we're leaving. There is nothing we can do but we are not staying in there to get injured, once the boys notice we're gone they will surely stop. They'll probably get worried about us, we are only here because there have been rumours of suspicious activity, but there is no evidence whatsoever. No deaths, no disappearances, only one story, and only one believer.
According to the legend, around these parts there were people who had the power to stay young forever, by shredding their skin. They get called the Elders. Being rejected by society, they took their families and their belongings off into the woods, built little houses in the trees, lived happily and never grew old. However, the ability wasn't passed on through generations, and as they continued to live on, they would have to watch their children, their grandchildren, their whole community grow up and die around them, while they never aged a day. Century after century of this would pass and eventually they got used to it, they could just accept death after that. But they also lost all concept of love and happiness, and their long adulthood made them forget being children. They would wander through their woods, ripping skin off when they felt like it, dismissing their families completely, and this upset the group. The adults didn't want to live like this, and they no longer associated with the Elders, so one night, they all got up and left, set off back to the village that their ancestors had come from originally. However, the Elders had learnt to hear further, to run faster, to fight better, to just be more able humans in their own infinity, and they noticed the town's empty beds while they were still sleeping. They couldn't stand rejection again, being left alone to start a new life again, like their old town had, so they went to stop their families. However, they were angry, they were scared, and they were tired, and their lack of love soon lead to a lack of life. The small group of the ancient soldiers destroyed them before they even made it out of the forest, and before they had even woken up. They had killed them all, except one girl, a young teenager, before they even knew that they were no longer sleeping in their beds, but were now standing in a dark forest with more blood on their hands than you could imagine. If they had left when they awoke, they probably would have died from the guilt and the pain, but the girl got there first. Apparently, she ripped them to pieces, tearing at their throats so that they couldn't scream. She had heard too much screaming that night. With her whole world destroyed around her, the sadness stopping her from going home, the fear stopping her from running away, the loneliness stopping her from staying put, she was driven insane. But that was years ago now, there is no way she could still be in the woods now. And not that she would pose a threat to us even if she was alive, thinking straight and had managed to see us through the trees. She's never even been anywhere else, let alone killed anyone. I'm pretty sure it's safe for us out there. We won't be gone for too long either, just long enough to stop the fight, then we'll come straight back.
I slip my feet into my shoes, swing my jacket over my shoulders and stepped out the door, glancing briefly at Ellie to check she was behind me, before continuing into the dark.
"Those two need to grow up, seriously, they've just argued and argued recently, it's tiring." I babbled. "We can come out here, have a wander 'round for half an hour, maybe even check out the legend a bit more, then we can head back, and if they haven't stopped fighting by then, we can step in." I continued to talk, telling Ellie about how Sam had told me that he was sick of all this hunting, all this killing, all the death, but how he still couldn't leave. I told her how Dean had told about how much he wanted me to look after her when he wasn't around, that he doesn't want anything to happen to her, that he doesn't need saving if she is put in danger. I told her that she was to do the same for Sam, that he was worth anything and everything, even my death, and that he was always to be helped before me. Or I would have told her these things, if she was actually there.
I joked about the four of us, and turned to see her reaction, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Ellie? Ellie?! Ellie, where've you gone?" I spun frantically, calling her name, when I backed up heavily into a tree.
"Gotcha!" I heard a small voice whisper behind my ear. I glimpsed behind me to see a pair of cold, empty eyes staring back at me. The hairs on the back of neck tickled with the breeze of her breath, my hands started to shake with the adrenalin that had kicked in, so I just ran. I headed back towards the hotel, my feet slipping on the wet grass, getting closer to the exit of the trees, until she stepped unsteadily in front of me, blocking my escape. I sprinted back into the shadows, the image of her jagged nails sticking in my mind. I came into a small clearing with wet grass up to my waist and thick, tangled thorn bushes surrounding all ways out. A dead-end. I looked at her behind me, her run was disorientated and sloppy, but still fast enough to keep up with me. I crouched in the grass, and to steady myself I placed my hands down on something cold, sticky and rotting. I bit back a gasp as I noticed the dead body of a young woman beneath me. And several bodies around her, all of them lying messily in the mud, their eyes white and dead, their skin bitten away by bugs. I backed away slightly, returning my gaze to the girl who had now slowed down to a limp to study the clearing. I could see her clearly, her hair pale and grey, but matted and dripping with mud, her hands raw and bitten, with dried blood under her nails, and her crooked mouth was dry and cracked, twisted into a cold smile, showing off her broken and black teeth. As she stumbled forward, I scrambled into my pocket for my phone, dialling with unsteady hands. "Sam?" I whispered, trying to hold back the sobs. "Sam, I, er, can't really talk, I just, er, wanted to say, I love you so much, I love you more than anything and I don't want you to waste any time moping over me in the future, okay?" I breathed, tears rolling down my cheeks. "Oh, and I'm really sorry if you hear this next bit, it's not going to be pleasant..." I hung up the phone and braced myself for what was to come next.
Sam's P.O.V
I hear the other end of the line cut off and my heart drops. This can't be right. Emily can get her way out of any situation. She's not the best fighter, but hell is she smart. She can't - I must have misunderstood her. This isn't right.
'What's wrong, Sam? Sam?! Sammy, talk to me!' I feel two firm hands grip my shoulders, shaking me back into reality. 'Sam? Is it Ellie? Is it Emily?' I look into his big, green eyes, wishing that they were grey-blue, just so that I knew she was okay.
'W-we need to, er, h-help her...' I stutter between heavy breaths as I spin unsteadily towards the door, my head cloudy with panic. I grab a knife from the table on my way out and I can hear Dean's protesting calls behind me, but I ignore them and continue. The stars dance dizzily above me and the darkened trees blur in my vision. The only thing that stops me is when I feel a small figure crash into the side of me.
'Ah, oh, Sam, it's you... Er, what are you doing, what's going on?' Ellie begins to question, panicking. I push on, glancing around to find where she might have gone and heading towards a small pathway in the trees. She shouts 'Wait! Sam! Where's Emily?' but Dean tries to explain as he grabs her hand and pulls her alongside him as he races after me. I skid to a halt next to the first tree I come across. It's large and thick, with big, drooping leaves in the branches. As I study the area around it, I spot something small and glinting. I fumble in the wet grass before my hands discover a small, cold, decorated blade, with the letter E carved neatly into the handle, and protective symbols surrounding them. She always had her knife. She hated feeling unprotected. Despite barely ever using it, she never let go of her knife without a reason. I collapsed to my knees, unable to get up again, the weight that I had run from finally catching up to me.
Dean slows beside me, before continuing down a small gap in the growing bushes, Ellie racing beside him. I hear them scramble through the grass, but the sound of my heart in my heart in my head is louder. I push myself up and stumble backwards, away from the darkness, away from the dirt, away from all of it. Of all the places, she shouldn't have died here. Not like this. She deserved better. So much better. Her laughs can't echo happily here. Her eyes can't reflect the glow of the sun here. Her beauty can't shine here.
Ellie breaks through the trees, choking on her words, trying to form 'Sam, I'm so sorry... We tried...', then I see Dean, his arms carrying a limp body. As the moonlight hits her, Dean sets her down on the ground. I kneel by her and support her head against my arm. She has two deep gashes across her throat, but her mouth rests slightly open, like a her screams were cut off. The tips of her golden hair are dark with blood and the back of her head is wet with mud. I cling desperately around her, praying for a miracle, knowing this was all my fault. Knowing that if we hadn't been arguing, she wouldn't have left. Knowing that I should have been there for her when she needed me. Knowing that she isn't anymore. She's not going to laugh, she's not going to cry, she's not going to sing quietly under her breath or dance when she thinks no ones looking. She not going to mutter to herself and her eyes aren't going to glint as she lies about her identity. She's never going to get the life she wanted. And it's all over for her now, there's nothing left, and there's nothing I can do. A muscular hand rests on mine and I gaze up to see Dean looking sympathetically at me, tears staining his cheeks, and he tells me we have to go, we can take her back to the hotel and work out what to do about it, but we have to go now. I close my eyes gently and nod. Slowly, I stand, clasping Emily's body tightly. As I open my eyes again, I see both Ellie and Dean smiling reassuringly at me, but both have pain living in their eyes. As I gaze into their faces, someone jumps out of the shadows.
A cracked, distorted scream rings out as something attacks Dean, claws digging into his throat, cutting off any noise he might have made. Ellie shouts, pulling out a pistol and aiming perfectly at the figure, taking it down in one shot. A girl, in her late 20s, flakes of skin pealing around her eyes and her hands, mud woven into her skin, her eyes afraid and lonely, collapses off of my brother, his blood spilling onto the ground between them. His face mangled, blood and dirt mixing in his hair, sweat smearing it across his skin. Scratches open and swollen eyes, his face red, but turning paler. He coughs, blood spluttering out of his mouth and nose, and he chokes out one last breath, one last sentence.
'Don't cry Sammy, you're gonna be just fine...'