A.N: This is the first installment of what's going to be a continuous story (lasting about 10 - 20 chapters). It takes place during Season 4 in a somewhat AU world where hunters reacted a little differently to the idea of the Apocalypse coming to pass and how they were going to deal with it. You'll find many characters and scenario's are different from the show - but ultimately - I try to keep them close to character. So please enjoy and review! I'm very much interested in readers feelings and hopefully interest in the novel.

I obviously do not own Supernatural.

CHAPTER ONE – PULLING GOOD FROM THE BAD (on a decent mission)

Rain pelted against the rooftops of the dormitories and no matter how much Adam tried to sleep, he couldn't. Sam and Dean were his brothers and they were out with the actual hunters – making a difference; saving lives. They were out in the battlefield, stopping god-knows what from destroying the world as civilians all around the world knew it to be. People like Adam. Or at least like what Adam used to be. He'd led a normal life up until he'd been suck out and found by his two half-brothers; told he was needed for something. Something more than he could ever be prepared for – but something he needed to be apart of no-less. And here he was, sitting in at Venator Collegium – an academy raised by some of the greatest hunters known to the world in the middle of nowhere. An academy forged for one purpose; to mass produce the finest hunters ever seen in a matter of seven months. Hell had its army, but Earth – it was falling short of anywhere near enough to stand a fighting chance against Hell if the Apocalypse came to pass. There was no room for error anymore. Action needed to be taken and so the hunting community had met at a central roadhouse. There they'd decided to create this academy or school of sorts to raise young hunters; give them the skills they needed and unleashed a fight that Hell would have never expected. A fight that Lucifer himself would've been taken by. Though, the ethical issues stood out. Putting kids as young as fifteen with a sawn-off-shotgun and telling them that their life from here on out was killing the demons mommy and daddy told them weren't real? It was a harsh wake up call – but it had nothing on what was to come. All of the thoughts rushed him each night and Adam Milligan was never at peace. He hadn't had a good night sleep since he'd arrived here. The crap that he'd learned in a matter of days was immensely disturbing, let alone what months would and could do. He was being mentored by his two brothers, an old drunk and seemingly veteran hunter along with a whole bunch of other hopeful hunters. A force of genius, brute and excellence. If Adam was going to learn how to hunt – this was exactly how he was going to do it. Sitting up in his bed and shooting a glance over at the bed opposite him, the youthful hunter let out a low-pitched whistle.

"Hey!" he called. "Ben – you awake?"

A small figure sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"I am now, Adam. What's up?"

The boy had a round face and his hair was a dark brown, spiked in a similar fashion to the way Dean wore his. He had solid colored eyes and a more youthful face than any of the other hunters in the school. Ben was the youngest. He was Dean's boy; or step-son. Dean had made sure he was enrolled in the school right away. There was no way in hell that a Winchester was going to have his son unprepared when all hell broke loose. Though one thing dawned on everyone's mind. Ben wasn't ready for this. He was too young – and – to most, appeared too good for this line of work. He wasn't a bad person on a sane or realistic mission. He was an innocent kid, hoping that he didn't have to execute the arsenal of skills being taught to him. He just wanted to be a kid; nothing more, nothing less.

"Uh- it's nothing. Sorry I woke you." The older boy apologized, pulling a hand through his blond-brown hair, his blue eyes breaking through the darkness.

"No, it's okay. Come on. Tell me?"

"I've been thinking again." Adam responded after a pause. "About everything – about what's to come. About how you shouldn't be here, Benny."

"You've gotta' stop thinking about it. Just take it as the days go by, I guess? That's what I do. Besides; it's not our choice if I'm here or not – and someone's got to keep you sane, right?" Ben chuckled back, pulling the blankets off of him. "Dean's put me here for a reason; we've just got to trust that."

Adam nodded along. "I guess." He lipped. "I just can't help but feel like this is wrong. When I was your age I was running around pretending to enjoy baseball games when my dad decided to visit on the rare occasion here and there – and you – you're being told you're gonna' have to face the devil." Adam's voice stayed firm even despite how much he felt it trying to tremble.

"So what? My childhoods going to be more interesting than yours? You jealous or something?" Ben shot back cheekily, putting his step-fathers smile across his lips.

Adam couldn't help but chuckle back. "That's exactly it, man." Adam smiled back half-heartedly.

"You always know what to say, Benny. Put my mind at ease every time." Adam nodded honestly, his eyes snapping away abruptly when he heard the sound of a Chevy pulling up at the gate of the school. Bounding off his bed and racing for the window, Adam took a look towards the entrance. Sam and Dean were back from their hunt. Every instinct told Adam to race down stairs to the gate and make sure that they were okay; but logic told him otherwise. Most of the hunters said to trust your instincts, but Bobby always said to trust both. Put them together and rationalize. That's what Adam was going to go with. And so he thought and he felt and by the time he'd finished it all, the Chevy had vanished from the gate and tracked across the moist, muddy terrain and into its special assigned garage. Stepping his bare feet across the unkempt wooden floor, the young hunter pulled himself back into his bed and heaved in a sigh.

"Sam and Dean are back." He lipped back to Ben.

"That's some good news at least." Ben smile back positively.

"This is bullshit, Sam!" Dean cussed furiously as he pulsed quickly down the hallways, his legs carrying him as fast as they possibly could. "We got out hunting a demon and we get told that there's only three god-damn-seals left?" Dean snapped. "Are you kidding me!"

Sam did his best to keep in step with his brother; his longer legs making the task a little less difficult. But Dean was a man on a mission. His mind was set on one thing, and one thing only; letting Bobby and Rufus know exactly what the hell was going on out on the frontline.

"Dean." Sam struggled, trying to grab at his brother to stop him from simply barging into Bobby's quarters. "Dean stop!" Sam pushed, cornering his brother between a wall and himself. "What's wrong with you? You need to calm down. This is a good thing. At least now we know where the demons stand and we can get our act together and prevent the final seals from being broken. We're finally in step with the demons, and you're acting like it's already the end of the world!" Sam retorted; optimism seeping into his words.

"Oh, whoop-di-freakin'-do. You can be as optimistic as you want, Sam – but at the end of the day – three seals is a hell of a lot closer to the end of the world than seven!" Dean snapped back once more, forcing his hands into Sam's chest and parting the distance between him and his brother. He was back on his path towards Bobbys, but it wasn't long before Dean was whipped right back around by Sam's firm hand.

"Stop this crap, Dean!" Sam charged once more, stopping Dean right in front of him and forcing his older brother to face off with him. There was no denying that Sam knew exactly why Dean was this was. The whole Ruby thing. The whole Ruby thing that Sam had turned his back on because Dean had asked him to. But apparently that wasn't enough. Apparently the very idea of trusting a demon was too much for Dean to comprehend, and those few months that Sam had been working in hand with an evil son-of-a-bitch, he'd apparently assisted in the breaking of a few seals.

"Why don't you just have at me, Dean? We both know you need someone to blame – so here – plant one right here." Sam instructed, signalling towards his chin. "Come on!" his thunderous tone broke through the hallway and the sound of a creaking old door opening made the brothers fall silent. Bobby's tired eyes appeared from behind it and a brief silhouette of Rufus could be seen in the background.

"You boys get your asses in here. Causin' a right bloody shit-storm out in that hallway." Bobby signalled, opening the door wider as the two un-eased brothers made their way over. Shutting the door behind them, Bobby made his way to his desk, plodding his old body into it and pulling out four whisky glasses. Pouring his Johnny Walker: Blue Label into each, Bobby offered the drinks up to his company.

"Drink – then we'll talk." The headmaster-of-sorts uttered, downing his fiery and yet smooth liquor. Rufus did much the same, and his dark brown eyes tracked back over to Sam and Dean who followed in suit.

"So, how'd the hunt go? Gathering by the fuss you two idiots caused in the hall – I'm gonna' say not so crash hot?" Rufus spat, pulling his lips tight as he felt the liquor race through his throat. Nothing better than some Johnny Walker when the Apocalypse was on its way to bite you in the ass.

A exchanging of glances occurred between the two brothers and they shot a look over to Bobby and Rufus.

"Actually," Dean began. "According to Sammy here, it went pretty pitch-perfect." Dean winked sarcastically, placing his class onto Bobby's table.

"According to Sam?" Bobby repeated, narrowing his eyes uncertainly. "What d'you mean 'according to Sam'? You're both bloody hunters; a kills a kill in the book. There's no god-damn in-betweens here, boy!" the old trucker-cap shot.

"Well, apparently there is." Dean spoke suddenly back, looking over at Sam and giving him an encouraging wave. "Well come on, Sam. Fill 'em in. No need keeping them in suspense like it's some sort of M. Night Shyamalan movie."

Sam pulled a wary face, and he eyed the two elderly hunters off before speaking. Bobby was going to probably react the same way Sam had – but Rufus. He was a hunter that followed Dean's mind set a little more closely.

"The demon we killed…. It… it told us something." Sam began.

"Spit it out there, Sam." Rufus piped.

"It told us…. There aren't seven seals left. There are three." He spoke lowly.

"Well I'll be damned." Rufus smirked. "Ellen and Jo were right."

Confusion flashed over the Winchester's faces but Bobby and Rufus both seemed well and truly informed.

"We knew." Bobby spoke up. "Ellen and Jo dropped by not an hour ago – told us the same thin'. Apparently the demons are gettin' well on their way to raising hell-bitches left, right and center." Bobby spoke, watching Dean and Sam carefully.

"Bobby and I've decided to get a hunting party. The best students with the teachers – stop these last three seals from being broken. Otherwise, this hell raising thing; it's gonna' come a lot sooner than we were expecting – and we're just not ready yet." Rufus nodded, pouring himself another glass of Johnny Walker.

"Okay. So that was a lot different to how I expected everyone to react, but what the hell!" Dean smiled awkwardly, grinning his stupid 'look at me, I'm funny' face.

Taking a final swig of his newly poured liquor, Rufus leaned against Bobby's desk and used it as a comfort to his behind.

"We leave tomorrow; bright and early. Classes will roll as usual with some hunters filling in for you and your brother; so lore and weapons class is gonna' be covered by some of the young guys." Rufus informed simply.

"And the hunting parties? What are they?" Dean and Sam spoke, finishing one another's sentences.

"Keith Harmsworth, Dale Crawford and Adam Milligan." Bobby spoke up, reading off of the list in front of him.

"Well, looks like Adam's got his wish after all then, huh, Sammy? Get's to hunt with the big boys." Dean was unpleased and his sarcasm showed it. These kids weren't ready – but Bobby knew best and that's just what he had to trust in.