"Happy birthday!" a small group of random clubbers cheered at a girl sitting at a table in a bar. Her face was flushed from embarrassment. The lights were too bright against her pale skin and the scene of the bar was far too loud for her liking.

"Thanks everyone," she replied with a somewhat forced smile. She held out a champagne glass. "Here's to 21 greats years!"

"And here's to many more," and older woman who looked strikingly similar to the girl said, clinking her glass against her daughter's.

"Cheers!" the group echoed and downed their drinks.

"Elsie! Come dance!" one tall girl said with a grin. "And if you still don't want to, drink until you change your mind!" Elsie rolled her eyes. Melissa was her best friend, but she was always a party girl. Parties were something she'd never understand.

"Give me a minute," she replied, turning to her mother. Her mother's eyes crinkled as she smiled and a lonely tear rolled down her cheek. Melissa was already heading out to the dance floor.

"Oh, Elizabeth!" she said, her voice cracking. "21 and getting your bachelors. I'm so proud!"

"Mom, relax," Elsie said as her mother pulled her into a huge hug. "I'm going to go see Melissa before she gets herself into trouble with a guy out there."

Her mother, Nora, nodded and pat her back. "Yeah, you should go do that. It's late, I'm going to head home to make sure your father gets to bed and doesn't stay up all night painting."

Elsie giggled. "Yeah, probably a good idea. You'd think he'd slow down in his old age."

"Old age," Nora said with a roll of her eyes. "He's only 54. That's hardly old age."

"Old age or not, he still shouldn't have the sleeping schedule of a frat boy." Her mother chuckled and gave her a quick squeeze.

"Alright, I'll be going then. Don't be out too late. And be safe! No drunk driving! Call me tomorrow morning?"

"Sure, mom, I'll call. It might be kind of late if Melissa has her way with me." Her mother's tired brown eyes narrowed at this.

"Don't let her," she warned before turning around. "Bye, my dear!"

"Bye mom," Elsie grumbled. Her mother never did approve of Melissa, all tracing back to the weekend she introduced Supernatural to Elsie. She instantly fell in love with the show and marathoned the first two seasons. She watched it religiously ever since. Her mother found the show extremely distasteful, which Elsie never understood. She wasn't religious or anything. Elsie was glad she lived with Melissa; she could watch season 4 in peace when it aired.

"Oh, crap," she muttered under her breath and she searched the crowd for her friend. Melissa had a knack at getting lost in the crowd. She was a trouble magnet, too. She was probably grinding on some creep. Elsie could feel her chest tighten with anxiety.

"Ah!" she exclaimed as someone bumped into her as she stood on her tiptoes to look over the crowd, searching for Melissa's unmistakable blue hair. "Sorry!"

"No, I'm the one that should be sorry," the tall man who bumped into her said. "I wasn't paying close enough attention."

"Well I shouldn't have been standing there like an idiot, so I'm sorry."

"I should have watched where I was going, so I'm sorry."

"How about we both be sorry and be done with it?" Elsie said with a nervous smile. Something about this man put shivers down her spine. He seemed nice enough, but his eyes were like cold steel. Something about him looked unnatural.

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea," he replied. "I'm... James," he said quickly, but Elsie could sense the moment of hesitation.

"Pleasure to meet you," Elsie said politely. "I'm Elsie."

"Elsie," he said thoughtfully. "That's a new one to me. I've heard many names in my time. Is it short for something?"

"Elizabeth."

"Ah, Elizabeth. What a classic name."

"Mhmm. Well, I'm sorry again James, but I have to find my friend. She has a particular talent for getting in trouble when I'm not around to keep her in check." She smiled briefly and walked away from him, but to her dismay, he followed.

"Maybe I could help?"

Elsie paused. "Ummm... Thanks, but I don't think that would be necessary. Have a nice night," she said with a final parting smile and quickly made her way through the crowd of people, her breath caught in her chest. She didn't look back. Luckily, she saw Melissa soon.

"Melissa," she said, exasperated. "There you are!"

"Hey!" Melissa said with a crooked grin. "Drunk enough?"

"No," Elsie sighed. "But I'm ready to go home. Now. Creeper alert."

"Oh, come on!" Melissa pouted. "I just met this awesome guy!" she leaned over and pointed to a dark haired man waiting on a bartender. "His name is Robbie, isn't he cute?"

"Lissa, please," Elsie begged. "I'm serious." She glanced over her shoulder to see James eyeing her from the side of the crowd.

"Well then go home," Melissa whined. "Don't ruin my fun, too." The dark haired man Melissa was with was walking back with two tall drinks in his hands.

"Fine," Elsie muttered. She knew better than to try to get between Melissa and a man she was attracted to. It never worked well. Elsie quickly weaved her way through the crowd and towards the exit, making sure to keep close to thick groups. Her heart was pounding. Something about James terrified her. She threw the door open and began to fast walk down to the parking lot.

"Going somewhere?" a deep voice asked as she felt a hand on her arm. Elsie let out a small squeal and turned to face an unfamiliar man. His eyes were a light, piercing blue. They were undoubtedly unnatural.

"Let me go," Elsie stammered. "Please. My family and friends will know I'm gone. We can work something out."

"They won't find you where you're going," he said with a grin. "Too bad you didn't stay with Naomi, she was going to make sure you got home safe and sound. Enjoy the trip."

A blinding white light appeared and Elsie felt a searing hot pain on her arm. She tried to let out a scream but it caught in her throat as she grew dizzy and faded into black.

...

"Ow... shit," Elsie croaked as her eyes flickered open. Her head was pounding so hard she thought she might bleed from her ears. She sat up gingerly and examined her arm. A huge, red hand print shaped burn was on it "Holy crap..." she whispered. It was definitely a third degree burn and it hurt like a mother fucker.

"Where the fuck am I?" she wondered aloud as her eyes scanned the room. It looked like she was in a supply closet of some sort. She stood up slowly and grimaced. Whatever that guy did to her, her body wasn't reacting well. She felt her limbs weighed a hundred pounds each and her muscles burned. She grabbed a rag from the closet and peeked her head out. No one. She took a step out and found a big pack of unopened water bottles. She opened one and poured it on her wound, cringing and biting back tears as it burned. She bit her lip and looked around. It looked like she was in a convenience store. She found rubbing alcohol and bandages and walked into the dingy, abandoned bathroom. She wet the rag with the alcohol and took a bracing breath before slowly pressing it to the wound. It stung so badly she almost dropped her supplies.

She continued despite the pain, thankful for her first aid training. After she was satisfied with her handiwork, she bandaged up her arm. Her face was sweating and tears left mascara runs down her cheeks and her hair looked like hell. She cleaned herself up the best she could in the bathroom before slowly leaving again. She entered the front of the store, which was completely abandoned, and looked out the window.

"What the hell?" she whispered. She was in the middle of nowhere- a desert. A lonely piece of junk car was in front of the derelict gas station. She grabbed a newspaper from the counter. "September...?" It was early May at home. She lived in San Diego, so it was already pretty warm, but it certainly wasn't hot like it was here. She went to the doors and tried to open them- but nothing.

"Fuck," she cursed. It was a deadbolt. She couldn't open it without a key. She ran a hand through her auburn waves and looked around from something to break the windows open with. Unfortunately, she didn't find many options. Everything was too light. Maybe the cash register... She forced it open and pulled the cash out and put it in her wallet. She felt a small twinge of guilt but pushed it aside. She was attacked. She needed to survive. She began to pick up the register when she heard some footsteps outside. She ducked behind the counter and grabbed an empty wine bottle. Not her first choice, but a crate full of them was there. She suspected an employee had a bit of a problem.

She held her breath as she heard the window smash. She crouched, ready to jump up if needed with her makeshift weapon ready. She peeked around the counter and could barely hold back her scream when she saw who was there. Dean. Fucking. Winchester. And this wasn't a dream, the mind numbing pain on her arm was proof of that. She must have been hallucinating. Something. Anything.

"Who's back there?" he asked in a loud and intimidating voice. She tried not to let out a fearful squeak.

"I'm Elsie," she said quietly. "And I'm really lost right now." She slowly stood, her knees shaking and she looked at him more closely. He looked really bad, she had to admit. His lips were cracked and dry, his shirt and face were smudged with dirt and his pants had rips on them. A flannel was tied around his waist and sweat glistened on his forehead and left marks down the sides of his shirt at his pits.

"Where am I? Do you work here?"

"No, and I have no idea. Illinois somewhere, look," she said, pointing to the newspaper.

"September? Shit," he said.

"Here." She held a bottle of water to him, which he took and drank eagerly. "You should eat too, you look awful."

"Thanks," he answered, grabbing some candy.

"Are you hurt?"

"I don't think so. Who are you, anyways? How did I get here?" his eyes burned into hers threateningly. She could tell he was thinking it was her that brought him here.

"Elsie," she repeated. "And I'm guessing you walked, because I don't see another car out there." She was almost numb. She was so confused.

"Listen, sister," he said. "Elsie. Whatever. You're the only person around for miles. I'm not buying the whole lost girl crap. How did I get here? Why am I not dog food?"

"I really don't understand..." she said, beginning to feel dizzy. "Seriously, I just woke up here, but last I checked it was my birthday in May and now it's September and I'm not in California." She pushed her bangs out of her face and stepped back and leaned on the counter, deep in thought. "I'm still not fully convinced I'm not sleeping, even though my arm hurts like hell."

"Your arm?"

"Yeah, I have a nasty burn on my arm, no idea how I got it."

"Like this?" He pulled back the sleeve on his t-shirt to reveal an identical but less severe burn mark.

"Exactly..." she took a careful step forward and examined it from afar. "Do you need to clean it up? I used some bandages and rubbing alcohol on mine, it's in the bathroom."

"I'm good. Alright, well whatever this is, you're a part of it, so you're coming with me."

"Going with you where? No offense, but that really doesn't seem like it would be good for my health judging on how you look."

"To see my brother. And you're going, like it or not. You and these hand prints are the only clues I have. Come on." He turned to grab some more supplies and leave when suddenly the TV flicked on and showed static. "Damn," he cursed quietly. "Demons. Quick, take this, salt the doors and windows!" He threw her a kosher salt container and quickly went to work. She stood in stunned silence for a second and clumsily began doing the same when she suddenly heard a dull ringing and the ground began to shake. Dean began yelling and fell to the ground, clutching his ears in pain.

"What's going on?" she asked, nervous. She heard talking over the static and ringing but couldn't make out any words, and it wasn't nearly loud enough to make her react as violently as Dean was. The windows began to shatter, a shard whizzed past her face and cut her cheek. She ducked behind the counter again to protect herself from further damage as the shelves began to teeter dangerously and spilled their contents on the ground. Soon enough the rumbling passed and Dean stood tenderly, careful not to cut himself on the glass.

"Dean? A-are you alright?" she stammered. "What was that? What did you hear?"

"You didn't hear that? Are you crazy?! Come on, let's just get out of here before it comes back." He grabbed her wrist roughly and pulled her out the huge space where the door was and led her to the car. "Hmm..."

He took a good look at the car and quickly smashed open the window and unlocked the doors. He popped the trunk.

"Load up while I get the car started." Elsie nodded numbly and went back inside the building and took a huge breath of relief.

"What the hell, what the hell, what the hell," she muttered to herself quietly as she began to pace. "What the hell?!"

"Hey!" he heard Dean call from outside. She bit her bottom lip and took a bracing breath before filling her basket with water, salt and food. She went back out to him and placed most of what she gathered in the trunk but kept a bit to keep in the car to use while driving."Have any cash?" he asked. Elsie nodded again and handed him her wallet. She literally couldn't think anymore. She was more than content with handing it over and hyperventilating in the passenger seat until she woke up or snapped back into reality.

"Take what you need, I don't think any of that stuff is applicable anymore."

He raised a questioning eyebrow but didn't protest and buckled himself into the car.

"Where are we going?" she asked as she slid in next to him.

"To find a phone booth."