A/N - hi guys! so I'm a complete newbie in the world of fanfiction - this is my first story. It just appeared in my head yesterday and demanded to be written. It turned out pretty depressing, so if you're looking for a light-hearted read, this isn't the story for you! I'd really appreciate reviews, especially any suggestions to improve my writing :) hope you enjoy!

I'm Emily. I'm 20, I'm a waitress, and I live in a small town in Kansas. And this is my story.

I guess you could say I'm a fan of the Supernatural books. Well, 'fan' may be putting it lightly. I don't even remember how old I was when I found the first book in my sleepy town's single, ancient book store. Twelve, maybe?

Suffice to say the books totally, completely took over my life from that moment onwards. I spent so many hours cuddled up on my window seat with pillows and hot chocolate, losing myself in the world of hunters. To me, it was a world of bravery, sacrifice and the unwavering love which bound them all and gave them the strength to carry on, no matter what. That kind of love just didn't fit into the small town where I'd lived for my whole life. Sure, I loved my parents and my older sister. Yeah, I loved my friends too. But there was just something so…mundane about it all. I couldn't imagine being in a situation where a member of my family had to sacrifice themselves to save another, or put themselves in horrifying danger while making a daring rescue.

I'd always been different from the rest of my family, never quite fitting in with their perfect lives. School, college, steady job, marriage, kids. That was the expected norm and I had to conform to it. It was the only way I would ever be a success in their eyes. It was the only way I could make them proud.

The thing is, I didn't want any of that. I wanted the danger, the rush of adrenaline sparking through your veins, making you feel truly alive, needed, like you had a purpose on this earth. I wanted to save people, hunt things. I wanted to hunt with the Winchesters, for them to call me family.

And here's where things get really interesting. You see, I have a little secret. I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out. I'm part of this online Supernatural fandom, where we all share our thoughts, our stories, our fan-art, that kind of thing. I've made a few friends thanks to this site, but there's this one girl in particular. Becky. She's possibly the only person I've ever met who could be a bigger fan of the Supernatural books than me. We'd known each other for a few years and messaged each other regularly. I think we both took comfort in knowing that we weren't alone in our love of Supernatural.

Anyway, a few months ago Becky sent me this really weird e-mail. She told me that she'd met Sam and Dean. Like, actually met them, in real life. At first I thought she was kidding me, but then she sent me the photos, and…I don't know, she was just so certain. The way she talked about them was so convincing, and something in those photos – in the hardened, wary eyes of the two men – told me that she was telling the truth. Supernatural, the world I'd grown up dreaming about, was real. Sam and Dean were real. Monsters were real.

Since then, I've been doing some research of my own. It started off as a joke, trawling through the news for possible cases and wondering if they were working them. Gradually, an idea started whispering itself into my mind, burrowing itself beneath my skin and making itself heard.

If I found a case close to home and hung around for long enough, maybe I could actually see…them…in person. Meet them. Tell them how much their lives meant to me, how grateful I was for all they had done. I could even become a hunter myself.

So I focused my research on places closer to home, although I always ended up convincing myself that each potential case was too far away, or not something the Winchesters would be likely to investigate, and I'd wait for another one. Looking back, I guess this was because deep down, I was terrified. It was all well and good imagining myself striding confidently into a monster's lair, saving the hostages and then introducing myself to an impressed Sam and Dean and convincing them to help me on the road to becoming a hunter. I honestly don't think I would have gone through with it at all, if it hadn't been for the sudden disappearances in my own town.

It started last week with a couple of high school kids, Matt and Kyle. I vaguely knew Matt, as his sister works at the same restaurant as me. At first we just assumed they'd run off on some stupid alcohol-fuelled adventure to get out of their exams, but then the first body turned up. It was Kyle. He was found in the woods just outside of town, and he'd died of bloodloss from a neck wound. The police said it was a wild animal attack, but I knew better.

Doesn't take a genius to work this one out, does it?

At first, the idea that vampires had come to my little town was so ridiculous it was almost laughable. But then, three days ago, there was another disappearance. And another only yesterday. Another body was found, with the same cause of death. Things were suddenly very serious, very scary, and very real. I wondered if I wouldn't rather have Supernatural safely confined to the pages of a book.

My boss rang me this morning to tell me not to bother coming in to work; with the recent disappearances and deaths, including the brother of one of the staff, he thought we should close the restaurant for a couple of days. So, with a free day ahead of me, I headed out into the brisk wintery air, needing to clear my head. I made sure to stick to the main, busiest streets.

As I was trying to battle my long, dark hair into a ponytail, the screech of tyres made me glance up. If I'd been in a cartoon, my jaw would have hit the floor. In fact, I think it almost did.

I'd know that car anywhere. Black. Impala. I even heard the faint strains of a guitar riff blasting out from the stereo as it sped past. My heart hammered and my hands were suddenly shaking. My head was light and I quickly leant against a shop window for support because my legs were threatening to collapse.

"What…what? It can't…" I muttered weakly. Pull yourself together, Emily! This is your chance!

Yes. I might never get the chance to see them again. These people were my heroes and I loved them like my own family. They had been there for me, both on paper in the stories I'd lost myself in as a teenager, and here, out in the real world, risking everything to keep us all safe. I had to meet them. If I didn't, I would regret it for the rest of my life.

Still shaking, I headed back home at a brisk jog, my mind racing. I had half a plan in mind.

I had an idea as to where the vampire nest was hiding. Cliché as it sounded, there was an abandoned warehouse down by the river on the outskirts of town – in the general direction of the woods where the two bodies had been found. It was where the high school kids used to hang out to get drunk before hitting the town. Easy pickings and isolated enough to allow the vampires to hunt without being seen by the locals.

Sam and Dean were in town, and I had a pretty good idea where they were headed. I would not – could not – let this opportunity go to waste.

I'd read the books. I knew what I was doing. I knew I wouldn't be able to fight off the vampires myself, but maybe I could sneak in there and free the hostages. I had no idea how long Sam and Dean would take to work out where the vamps were hiding out, and in that time another of the missing people could be killed, or turned. I couldn't let that happen.

Acting quickly in case I chickened out, I tied my hair back tightly, my grey eyes wide and determined in the mirror, and my face so pale my freckles stood out vibrantly. On an impulse, I grabbed the perfume my parents had got me for Christmas and quickly dabbed some on my wrists before I grabbed the car keys. It was a stupid, pointless act, I knew, but I'd had a crush on Dean since forever, and if there was a chance of meeting him… One last stop in the kitchen to pick up the sharpest knife I could find, and I headed out the door.

Once I was on the road, my hands gripped the steering wheel so hard the knuckles turned white. I focused on keeping my breathing steady as the old warehouse of crumbling brick loomed into view. I pulled into the wide, deserted car park and glanced around. No impala. Not yet. I stepped out the car and shut the door as softly as possible. The only sound came from the river rushing by on the other side of the warehouse.

You've read the books. You know what you're facing. You can handle this, I told myself as I made my way towards the crooked building. It was two storeys tall and pretty long, with a lot of potential places to keep hostages locked up. I'd just have to hope like hell that I wouldn't run into any vampires first. If I did, I was fairly confident they would lock me up with the rest and I'd have to go damsel-in-distress mode waiting for the Winchesters to find us. But I'd still get to meet them, just not in the blaze of glory I was hoping for.

I headed up to the rusted metal door hanging wearily from its broken hinges. With my slight frame I was able to slip inside without opening it any more than it already was. I found myself in a dusty, dark room that stretched out quite a long way. The only light filtered in through a row of narrow, filthy windows. It smelt of wet earth and rot.

A faint noise made me whip my head around in fear. I listened. Yes, there it was again. A distant sobbing, coming from a room off to my right. My heart was beating sickeningly fast, and there was a faint roaring in my ears. I was terrified, but in too deep to turn back now.

Sam and Dean will be here soon. They will be here soon.

There was no door between the room I was in and the next. Flattening myself against the wall, I peeked inside. It was even darker in that room, but I just could make out three silhouettes huddled against the far wall, all bound by thick rope that seemed to be fastened to the wall. No-one else was in sight.

I slipped into the room and raised a finger to my lips when one of them gasped and let out a faint, fearful cry. "I'm here to get you out," I whispered.

Without hesitating, I bent down to examine the ropes. I began sawing at the knots binding the first man's wrists together behind his back and felt a rush of pride when they fell away.

As soon as he was freed, he grabbed my hands in a grip so tight it was almost painful. "Hurry, he'll be back any minute," he whispered hoarsely, his eyes wide. I nodded and moved onto the second hostage, a young woman. She started crying with relief when the ropes fell from her wrists. The two fled without waiting for us. I could hardly blame them.

I had a little more trouble with the last hostage. His ropes were very tight and I was afraid of cutting his skin, and he was beginning to panic.

"Hold still," I hissed. "I'm almost-"

Footsteps. There were footsteps in the room next door.

I squeaked in terror and sawed desperately at the man's rope. A shadow filled the doorway just as I cut through the final knot. I dragged the man upright and pushed him towards the only other door. For just a fleeting, soaring moment, I thought we were going to get away. I even got a glimpse of daylight before a hand clasped around my neck and dragged me roughly back inside. The man glanced back once, helplessly, before turning his back on me and running for his life.

The grip on my neck tightened before strong hands spun me round to face my captor. His face was pale and gaunt, his dry lips twisted in a mocking smile. And his eyes…oh, his eyes… Any shred of bravery I had dissolved when I saw the soulless monster looking out of those eyes. They say eyes are the windows to the soul? Well these were the windows to hell. I think I started crying. I heard loud, sobbing breaths and it took me a while to realise that they were coming from me.

The vampire closed its hands around my neck and lifted me up off my feet. The pressure on my windpipe was unbearable; the pain was burning, choking. Stars flashed before my eyes as he moved his face towards mine until our noses were almost touching.

You dare take my food supply?" he sneered, his voice cold and devoid of all emotion.
I could only let out a strangled whimper. Where were the heroes of my books now, when I desperately needed them? Why didn't they come?!

My vision was fading as I gasped for air that didn't come. For the first time in my life, I was faced with the very real possibility that I was going to die. Where were Sam and Dean now, when I so desperately needed them? In all my years of dreaming, I'd never once considered the thought that they wouldn't appear to save the day. They always did - they had to! I couldn't die here!
"But a pretty little thing like you," he crooned softly, like a twisted lullaby. "Now I bet you'd taste just divine. Almost worth losing the other three, in fact."

I blacked out for half a second before a searing pain ripped me back into consciousness. White hot agony sliced into my neck and I tried to scream but my lungs were out of air.
I'd been wrong to ever come here. I'd been so desperate to meet my fictional heroes, so blindly in love with my green-eyed hunter that I'd thrown my life away.

There was pain, and then there was cold, and then there was a numb nothingness.
I heard the sound of a door crashing to the ground. I heard men's voices shouting. Suddenly I was falling. The world was far away, the numbness closing in with deadly intent.

Oh God, I was so scared.

My eyes flickered open to see a flash of silver, and the vampire's body crumple to the floor at my feet.

No air. Can't breathe. Panic.

I felt gentle, calloused hands on my cheeks, fingers brushing over the burning pain in my neck. I drew in one long, ragged breath and my eyes found his. They were just like I'd always imagined.
"Hey, you stay with me, you hear me?"

His voice calmed me and I stopped fighting for air that wouldn't come. My eyelids fluttered.
He let out a frustrated cry. "We're losing her, Sammy."

There was no more pain. I was safe now. They had come, just like I knew they would.
With the last bit of strength I possessed, I reached one arm up and looked right into his eyes. I didn't want to die alone. His warm hand clasped my cold one tightly, and I knew he had understood.
"I'm right here. It's okay. I'm not leaving you."

I clung to the feeling of his hand on mine as the numbness took over.

They're here. Safe.

Peace.