"You never answered my question?" Dean said to Bella as they walked out from the diner together. He was glad breakfast was finally over, the mood had occasionally made him want to kill himself. "What exactly were you doing out there in the woods last night? I'm guessing it wasn't just to save us from being vampire-dinner." They stayed close to the house wall, seeking shelter from the pouring rain.
"What if it was? What else is there to do around here than chasing bloodsucking creatures?" She said keeping her eyes on the wet pavement in front of her. She took a deep breath. God, she loved the smell in the air when it rained, so fresh and pure. It felt cleansing.
"Right" He said and followed her gaze.
"Quit playing around and tell us what the hell you want." Sam said, obviously irritated by way she avoided their questions.
She glanced at the car parked on the street. "How long have you had that car?" She asked and nodded towards Dean's Chevrolet, ignoring Sam's comment.
"That's none of your business." He stated and crossed his arms over his chest. She looked over at him and sighed.
"Tell you what, take me for a ride and I'll tell you everything I know." Dean glanced over at his brother. Was she kidding him?
"Is that some kind of a joke? You said that you would tell us everything as soon as we left the diner. And guess what? We've left the diner."
"Technically I said that I would tell you everything after breakfast. And that could be anytime of the day. Or even tomorrow." She bit her lip when she noticed Sam's frantic face. "You really should relax Sam, you'll get wrinkles." She said with the same agitated tone he'd just used on her. She sighed again and tried to calm herself down. There was no point getting upset. "Listen, if you're really going to understand what's going on around here I need to show you something first." She told them truthfully and hoped that that was all she needed to say to convince them to trust her. She looked over at the empty playground across the street. Only a month ago children had swung on those swing sets, playing on that slide and generally had a good time just being kids. "I know you don't trust me, and frankly I wouldn't trust me either if I were in your shoes…" she started. "… but I promise, I have no reason to use you in any sort of way. And if I'd wanted to kill you I would have let the vampires do the dirty work for me last night."
Sam and Dean stared at each other for a moment. She was right. If she wanted them dead they probably would be already.
"You have nothing to lose." She reminded them and to her delight Dean started to dug into his pocket, fishing for his car keys.
"Let's go then." He said and walked out into the rain.
"Turn here." Bella said and pointed towards a small gravel road in front of them. Due to the dense vegetation it was almost invisible with the naked eye. Bella sat in the backseat, leaning forward to be able to see out through the windshield. She'd been here so many times before that she now knew the way by heart.
"What is this place?" Sam asked as they turned left and continued to cruise between the trees.
"You could say that this is the place where the magic happens." She said and got a look from Dean in the rearview mirror. "Drive until you see a glade, it shouldn't be more than a few hundred meters."
"Meters?" Dean asked and raised his right eyebrow. "Let's stick to a measure system we can all understand." He teased.
Bella smiled lightly. "Sure."
They drove in silence for another minute or two. It was a bumpy road and Dean was careful to avoid stone damage to his beautiful car. He knew how expensive it would be to repair. Suddenly they were surrounded by light, the forest had opened up in front of them and the glade became visible. Dean stopped the engine. "What now?" He asked looking around for a clue, something she'd wanted them to see. But there was nothing there but a fallen tree and a few rocks of various sizes. He started to feel the insecurity grow inside of him. Could she have fooled them? It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to do that. He searched for his gun on the floor next to his feet, trying not to draw attention to himself. Sam saw what he was doing and gave him a discrete nod in his direction. They needed to be ready to defend themselves if necessary.
"Follow me." Bella said and got out of the car. It was unpleasantly chilly and the rain had subsided. She looked around for a moment before walking up to the fallen tree, keeping her back against the car and the two brothers. She felt them eyeing her, waiting for her to say something.
"There's nothing here. What the hell did you want to show us?" Sam nearly bellowed. When he didn't get an answer he turned to Dean. "Let's get out of here, she's just a stupid girl screaming for attention."
"We're already out here Sam, we might as well let her show whatever she wanted us to see."
Bella closed her eyes, hearing the agitated voices behind her.
"Do you feel it," She said calmly but still loud enough for them to hear. Her eyes were still shut as she continued to stand still with her back against them.
"Feel what, Bella?" Dean wondered. "There's nothing out here." She turned around to face them. They were still waiting by the car, ready to leave at any minute now. She knew she couldn't let that happen, she needed them by her side in this. Fighting this alone was not an option.
"You're saying you don't feel anything?" She wanted to know.
"I'm feeling kind of pissed off right about now." Dean said a little louder than necessary.
Her eyes lit up by his choice of words. "Precisely." She simply said. "Can you feel the anger boiling inside of you? Or the feeling of wanting to hit something, or someone?" She took a deep breath and clenched her fists. She could most definitely feel something herself.
"What are you talking about?" Sam tried unsuccessfully to loosen up.
"This is what I wanted to show you. This is why I brought you out here. There is something in the area that makes people want to kill each other. And I don't know what, and I don't know how or even why… I just… know." She said and forced herself to stay calm. She would lie if she said she couldn't feel the heat on her cheeks, or the blood pumping through her veins. But she was strong, a lot stronger than she looked. She knew how to control herself a lot better than anyone else might.
Sam and Dean stared at each other.
"I think she's on to something." Dean said to his brother. "I mean, you have been a little... touchy lately."
"What's that suppose to mean? Touchy? I'm not touchy."
"I'm just saying Sam, you haven't exactly been yourself since we got here."
"We need to get out of here." Bella continued and hurried towards the car. "Before we do something we would later regret."
Within ten seconds Dean was back behind the wheels of the car and drove forcefully away from the glade, stone damage or not. He could literally feel the anger leaving him the closer to town they got. He glanced to his right, Sam seamed calmer too. That's good.
They came to a stop outside the Fisherman's motel where he and Sam had spent the night. It was now eight minutes past two in the afternoon and the rain had yet again begun to fall from the dark sky.
"What the hell is going on here?" He asked calmly and stared at a spot on the dashboard.
"You tell me." Bella answered and leaned backwards against the seat. She was tired. She always felt drained after visiting that place. Still she didn't know why she insisted on going there. Maybe she was just as curious as everybody else in this damn small town, or maybe she simply wanted to tempt faith. She couldn't tell anymore.
"We should call Bobby." Sam said to Dean. "See if he knows something."
"Bobby?" Bella asked.
"A friend of ours. He if someone would know if something unusual was going on around here." He fished for the cell phone in his trousers and dialed the number before leaving the car along with the others.
"This Bobby, is he a hunter too?" Bella asked Dean as they left the parking lot and headed towards the motel room. Sam was already on the phone, explaining their eventful day to someone on the other line. He was walking a few feet behind them but she could still hear an occasional "yes" followed by a "thank you".
"He is. And a damn good one I might add. He would know what to do next." Dean reassured her and looked over at her pale face. She seemed uncertain and exhausted. There was still something she wasn't telling them, he was sure about it.
"Are you okay" He asked her and held the door for her.
"I'm fine, thank you" She gave him half a smile. "It's been one hell of a week that's all." They each took a chair around the circular table. Sam was still outside, talking to Bobby over the phone.
"What about you? Are you a hunter too?" Dean asked.
She rubbed her eyes and told herself there was no point keeping anything hidden anymore. It hadn't worked for her in the past and it would most definitely not work now. These were the guys she would have to work with from now on, the guys she would have to share her thoughts and ideas with. She just had to remember which secrets she couldn't let out. "My father was. I just picked up where he left off."
"He died?"
She looked at him across the table. "Is this an interrogation again?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm gonna leave it up to you whether you want to answer the question or not."
She chuckled lightly and gave him a sad smile. "My parents died when I was fourteen. My uncle taught me everything I know." Dean fought the urge to reach out for her hand that was lying vulnerable on the cold table.
"I'm sorry." He whispered.
"Everybody has their own sad little story." She said and caught his gaze. "I'm sure you have one too." She said letting him know she probably knew a bit more about him than he did about her.
"Bobby's gonna do some digging." Sam interrupted as he entered through the door and forced Dean and Bella to break eye contact. "But he knew about the weird activity over here. Something is definitely off." He tossed his wet jacket on a worn out armchair in the corner of the room and went to pick up his computer from under the bed. He wanted to check out the mail Bobby said he'd sent him.
"That's good." Dean told him and cleared his throat.
"Yeah, that's good." Bella agreed. "Listen guys, do you think you could give me a ride back into town. I'm feeling a bit tired."
"Sure, no problem." Dean got up from the chair. "If we're going to stay here for a while I need to make a quick stop at the grocery shop anyway."
"Pick up some chips" was the last thing they heard from Sam before they headed towards the parking lot.
The ride into town was quick, it wasn't more than a couple of miles.
"I'm sorry about Sam. He's not usually like this." He apologized when he came to a stop in front of Ruth's home, just around the corner from the diner where she and her husband Jerry worked.
"It's not his fault," she explained to defend Sam. "Some people are just more sensitive to this sort of thing than others. If he would just concentrate the anger will not affect him so much."
"Is that what you do? Concentrate?"
"I try." She answered. "I have to."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Haven't you asked me enough for today?" She chuckled lightly. "What do you want do know?"
"Why did you come here? You couldn't have known something was up until you got here and saw it for yourself. So… what brought you here in the first place?"
She bit her lip, a nervous habit she'd picked up a few years ago. "I followed a group of vampires here… and when I got here I noticed there was a whole nest that needed to be dealt with. So I stayed."
"And then weird things started to happen." It was more a statement than a question.
"And then weird things started to happen." She repeated.
They sat in silence for a moment. It felt nice, she thought. It had been a very long time since she'd been able to chare this, her life, with anybody.
"Can I ask you a personal question?" Dean asked and broke of the silence.
"Sure", she said reluctantly.
"How did your parents die?"
At first she didn't say anything, making Dean wonder if she'd even heard him, but before he could call her name she turned her head towards him.
"Car accident. They went over a bridge when we lived in London."
"You think there was anything… demonic behind it?"
"I now there was. My father was one of the greatest hunters in England, well known for his infinite knowledge and ability to fight of every demon he bumped into." She sighed and looked out through the windshield. "To say something demonic took his life is an understatement. He was wanted by every demon in Great Britain. His death was… unavoidable." She felt her eyes water but kept the tears from falling. She was good at that. "It was simply bad luck that my mother was there with him when it happened."
"I'm sorry."
"It was a long time ago, Dean." She looked at him again and gave him a crooked smile. "Can I ask you something too?"
He nodded.
"Are you happy? About how your life turned out?"
"You know, I used to love this hunting-thing in the beginning. I was always in control and felt invincible. Kicking a demon's ass was the best thing I knew, no one could touch me." He kept her gaze. "I was proud, you know, to follow my father's footsteps."
"But you're not happy?"
He looked away. "I wish I could say yes to that."
She nodded. "Thank you Dean." She said and touched him lightly on his arm before leaving him alone in the car. He knew that that "thank you" hadn't been for the lift into town.
