I had been with them for a while now, the Winchester brothers, and I think I had helped them a great deal. Maybe not as much as they helped me, but I like to think there were a few times when they wouldn't have made it out of a hunt alive if I hadn't been there. Of course, they probably risked themselves more than usual now, knowing that there was someone else in the world looking out for them other than each other.
"Maybe you did it on purpose." Sam's hypothesis stung like a djin's needle. I looked from him to Dean, but Dean wasn't looking at me. He was sighing into the corner of the room, clearly convinced by his brother.
"How could you think that?!" I was appalled. After all we had been through together. It was as if, from the beginning… "You've been waiting for this. The whole time. This whole freaking time!" My eyes started to well up as my heart sank lower. I know, I hate it, but I cry when I'm angry or frustrated.
Dean's resigned look to the floor confirmed it for me, and I couldn't help it anymore, and my tears betrayed me. But as betrayed as I felt by my own body, Sam and Dean not trusting me, after all this time, seemed like a much bigger betrayal.
I remembered back to when I first met them, and how it had been completely reversed. I didn't trust them at all, these strangers who go around saving people they never knew, and probably would never see again, risking their own lives every time. What was in it for them? Why were they doing it? When they first came to me, the first ones I saw being Dean and Castiel, I thought they were part of the crew that held me and the others captive, come to take me to my death at last.
But that's probably not how they saw it.
~ § ~
"Dean, get the door!" Two more demons found their heads full of white light before they collapsed onto the floor, dead. Castiel got up and rushed over to the hunter picking the lock on the next set of doors. If he was human, or maybe just incompetent, Castiel might have lost track of all the doors they had already come through. Surely, these were the last. "Dean, this is taking too long. Move aside." Dean jerked back as the angel knocked down the heavy wooden slabs into splinters, and followed him inside. Being careful as always, because backstabbing demons love hiding in corners and shadows, always ready to jump you if you don't get them first, Dean noticed this room was different from the others as he pushed aside lavish curtains draped onto the floor. The harsh red velvet matched the rest of the rooms décor, which was significantly more than the previous broken down rooms and hallways. What was so special about this room? Besides the disemboweled blonde lying in a pool of her own blood on the extravagant mahogany bed in the center of the room. Still ready to stab a demon in the throat, Dean moved over to the bed, lifting the satin comforter to glance under the bed until he was satisfied the room was clear of filth. Finally sheathing the demon knife, he stood up over the prone figure of the bloody girl lying atop the sheets. There was no way she was still alive under all that blood, but he checked for a pulse anyway. No luck, she was definitely –
"Dean. You might want to see this." Dean turned to look in the direction of Castiel's voice, and spotted what he meant right away. Wiping the blood covering his fingers onto his jeans, Dean walked over to the other side of the room where Castiel was standing over a heap of blankets on the floor in the corner. Twisted in the rags was a girl.
Dean knelt down while the angel took to look out position, and checked for a strangers pulse in as many seconds. Luckily, she had one. Moving her hair that looked like it had been darkened by lack of sunlight, he opened her eyes to check her pupil dilation. The hazel browns and greens around her pupil grew larger as her eyes were introduced to the dim lighting. Good. Movement alerted Dean, but it was only the girls arm, lying on top of her hip bone, which was a bit more prominent then it should have been, as it could be seen through her periwinkle silk nightgown. Her skin was unhealthy in ways that must have been caused by lack of water and proper hygiene, and a severe nutrient deficiency.
As she woke up from Deans checking of her vitals, she acted like she knew him, or at least knew why he was there. After her eyes had adjusted and settled upon his face, she said, "Come to take me away? She must have died rather quickly if it's my turn already." She attempted to get up, but she was so weak that it looked like the effort hurt her, and Dean wondered for a second why she even tried before he put an arm under her shoulders to help her. She seemed a little startled at this, like she hadn't at all expected assistance, but she quickly had her expression under control. When she started walking though, Dean had to redirect her to the door where their look out was watching, because the girl was aiming them in the wrong direction; the bed. When they got to the door, she was still looking back at the dead girl. "I thought you would have taken care of her body before you woke me. Is there another bed prepared?" She asked with a resigned sadness in her eyes.
Dean had to speak up. "I'm not one of the bad guys you know." A smile touched her mouth without touching her eyes. "Yeah, like I haven't heard that one before. All you guards are the same. I wonder if he knows what you do to us while he's having his fun." At this, Dean had to stop her at the door and put a hand on both of her arms to hold her up. "I'm really not one of those sons of bitches. I'm not a guard, I'm not a demon, and I'm not an asshole." He ignored the mocking sigh behind him. "We're here to save you, and anyone else who's still human in here." She looked at him like she thought this was the least funny joke she had ever heard, until she looked confused and asked "We?" Then she looked behind Dean to see Castiel looking up and down the hallway.
She screamed. Dean nearly dropped her in his panic to cover her mouth and shut her up. Shit. Any remaining demons would have heard that for sure. Dean turned. "A little help, Cas?" The angel turned towards him. "I'm not sure that would be wise." Dean looked strained at holding the girls scream in and craning his neck. "CAS. NOW." And Castiel laid a hand on the girl to quiet her. There was a little flash of light on her arm where Castiel held her, and then she felt too hot to touch for a second, and Dean almost let go of her completely.
She had stopped screaming, but she was staring at Cas like she couldn't fathom why he was here. Then she looked frantically at Dean. "Is he an angel? Why would you bring an angel here? You need to run. Go. If they get him, he's dead. Worse than dead. They'll take your grace," she whispered, turning to Castiel. "They'll take it and they'll shred it."
She was cut off when Dean scooped her up into his arms and motioned for Cas to lead on. "Sure. Awesome. Cas can handle a couple of demons. But we are getting out of here. Cas, do you know where Sam is?" The girl was about to respond, but she was cut off both by a spell of nausea and the sound of heavy footsteps from down the hall. Cas looked ready to stab a bitch, but when Sam came bounding around the corner, he relaxed. But Sam sure as hell didn't. "What the hell is he doing here, Dean? I told you he shouldn't be here!"
"Forget it, Sam. How did you find us?" Dean looked around the corner to be sure Sam wasn't followed. "I heard screaming. I thought it might be one of the girls. Hopefully still alive." Dean looked up. "Wait, does that mean you found others?" Sam nodded, but didn't look at Dean. His gaze fell to the girl in Dean's arms. "Yeah. Yeah, I did. We need to get out of here, now." Dean and Cas followed Sam as he started jogging away. "Sam, wait, what did you find? Any survivors?"
The last thing the girl heard before slipping into unconsciousness in the arms of an escaping Winchester was Sam breathing out, "No, Dean. No survivors."